In 1973, Koosman and Seaver and the Mets brought me back to baseball. I had sworn off in 1971 when MLB announced that it was Shorting our second Nats team off to some tank town in Texas. Crazy George Allen announced that summer that he would lead the Redskins to the NFL playoffs in retaliation for Baseball having insulting the Nation's Capital. Everyone, including me, thought George was delusional, since the Skins had not come close to the playoffs since about 1945, but the whole town became football happy.
Hal-way through the 1973 baseball season, the Mets were no place, but then no other NL East teams were so much better. I had moved to NYC in 1969. Tug McGraw began to scream, "Ya gotta believe!" after every win. Koosman and Seaver kept winning games. Gradually, baseball became worth attention again, even though DC no longer had a team. Koosman had been hurt in 1971 and no longer had the same fastball, but he was still great.
Good for you, Jerry.
