National League Standings, September 29, 1974
METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE SEPTEMBER 29, 1974 GAME:
AP-Queens
May 14, 2003
This was Fan Appreciation Day at Shea. All fans passing the turnstiles received a Mets tote bag. It was the first time my friends and I attended a game without adult supervision. We had a group of about twelve 11 and 12 year olds. We waited in a long line for our $1.30 GA tickets. They were stamped "Standing Room Only". Despite the disappointing season, Shea was packed. Nobody knew where the "Standing Room Only" area was so we wound up running around the ballpark and missing most of the game. At one point we were on the terrace above the 341 mark in RF and watched a young Nino Espinosa tune up the bullpen. A security guard directed us to seats in the last row of seats (row V) in the RF upper level. We finally sat in the top of the seventh just in time to see Bob Apodaca lose his no-hit bid! A wild day for a bunch of kids, we missed most of the game but I was just the first of endless treks to Shea for my for my buddies and me.
billy
October 21, 2008
I still have my tote bag, and pics of the game. I was 9, sitting on the Mets side. There was a rain delay. Bob Apodaca was great that day.
Dave VW
April 7, 2025
Bob Apocada tosses the only complete game of his career as the Mets snap a 6-game losing streak with a 7-2 win in front of a packed house at Shea.
Apodaca looked like a true future star against the 1974 NL East champion Pirates. He didn't allow a batted ball to reach the outfield until the 5th inning, didn't allow a hit until Gene Clines had a pinch-hit single with one out in the 6th, and entered the 9th inning with a 1-hitter intact. However, even with such a dominant performance, Apodaca wouldn't get another starting opportunity until the 1976 season.
The Mets lineup was as ragtag as you could get, what with Cleon Jones, John Milner, Bud Harrelson and Jerry Grote all out of the lineup. But even with Bennie Ayala hitting cleanup and George Theodore 5th, they managed 7 runs on 11 hits, taking advantage of an injury-plagued Ken Brett and the backend of the Pittsburgh bullpen. Brett only retired 3 batters before getting the hook, his shortest outing of an All-Star 1974 campaign. The Mets also didn't strike out at all in the game, one of three times during the season they had no Ks. As luck would have it, this was the only one of those three times they would win the game.
For the Pirates, John Morlan and Juan Jimenez were two of the pitchers used in the relief, both appearing for the last time in the Major Leagues. Morlan didn't retire any of the 4 batters he faced in the 6th, while Jimenez pitched a scoreless 9th.
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