The Mets didn't play the Cubs in the 1969 National League Championship Series; that lot fell to the Atlanta Braves, then in the NL West. The Cubs were then in the Eastern Division along with the Mets. What did happen between the two teams was that the Cubs had a precipitous late season collapse, which allowed the Mets to win the division. This turn of events was highlighted (or lowlighted, if you're a Cubs fan) during a game at Shea on September 9, when a black cat--Shea had a resident feline population, evidently attracted by a sizable rodent infestation--appeared in front of the Cubs dugout and circled the on deck circle, in which Chicago third baseman Ron Santo was warming up. The Mets went on to win the game 7-1, the division, the NLCS, and the World Series.
Yes, I hope it's 1969 again. I wondered what the number one song was for that year. It was a great time for pop music; Beatles and Stones, Sly and the Family Stone, Aretha Franklin, the Byrds, all the San Francisco psychedelia, and so on. So what was the number one song for the year? (Drumroll):
Well, it was a sweet year for the Mets. I hope 2015 is, too.
Vincent Francis Guzzo, Jr., better known as Frankie Ford, died September 29 at the age of 76. He was long active in the New Orleans R&B scene, and the photo at left shows him costumed as king of the Krewe du Vieux for Mardi Gras in 2009. He had one hit record, "Sea Cruise", which went to number 14 on the pop chart and 11 on the R&B chart in 1959. He also appeared in the movie American Hot Wax. .The clip above, from the NRRArchives, shows him on the Dick Clark show American Bandstand lip-synching his hit. I can remember around that time saving Beech-Nut gum wrappers which I mailed to get a 45 RPM EP that included, if my memory serves me well, "Little Star" by the Elegants, "You Cheated" by the Shields, "Rebel Rouser" by Duane Eddy, and "To Know Him is to Love Him" by the Teddy Bears (featuring Phil Spector), along with a couple of others that I can't recall.
