Merrick Senior Citizen Plays in All-Star Softball Game

80 year-old First Base Coach Joe Prinzivalli of Point Lookout watches as 81 year-old First baseman Jim Giangrosso of Merrick makes the play during the annual Bristal All-Star game played at Cantiague Park in Hicksville. The players aged 80-92 play two doubleheaders a week. The All-Star game commemorated the 50th Anniversary of the 1969 Mets World Series victory.

The Bristal All-Stars, softball players in their 80’s and 90’s who play two doubleheaders a week in the New York Senior Softball Association (NYSSA) gathered at Field “A” at Cantiague Park, in Hicksville, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Mets World Series victory against the Baltimore Orioles. The Mets defeated the Orioles 6-4 in the commemorative game.

From their birth in 1962 until the start of the 1969 baseball season the Mets were lovable losers. But all that changed when the Mets defeated the favored Baltimore Orioles in five games to win the 1969 World Series. For Met fans October 16, 1969 was viewed as a greater miracle than Neil Armstrong walking on the moon on July 20, 1969. The 1968 Mets won just 73 games and finished 16 games under .500, in ninth place – twenty-four games out of first place. They won 100 games in 1969 to win the NL East by eight games. The 1969 Mets were managed by Gil Hodges. Tom Seaver won 25 games. Cleon Jones batted 340 and Tommie Agee hit 26 homeruns.

The Bristal All-Stars paid special tribute to Tom Seaver and Bud Harrelson who are dealing with dementia related issues and to Ed Kranepool who recently received a lifesaving kidney transplant. While the Mets have won just two World Series titles, compared to the twenty-seven won by the Yankees, the 1969 Mets team is among the most beloved in the history of baseball.