'69 Mets: Gary Mintz

Gary Mintz of South Huntington attended the Mets

Gary Mintz of South Huntington attended the Mets game on Aug. 19, 1969. (Credit: Newsday / Andreas C. Constantinou)

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Gary Mintz,48, South Huntington.

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The first game I ever witnessed at Shea Stadium was on Aug. 19, 1969, Mets against the Giants. My dad was a huge Giants fan and me, being his son, wanted to do nothing but emulate him. My father never did wrong in my eyes, but to this day I still question why he made me like the Giants.

Juan Marichal had started against Gary Gentry. Marichal pitches 13 scoreless innings. The Giants go out for the top of the 14th but me, being [8 years old], needed to use the bathroom. My dad was a huge Marichal fan so he wasn't getting out of his seat. He made my brother Jeff take me.

Back then at Shea, when something happened the whole place would erupt and you could hear it in the bathroom. We rushed out and saw [Tommie] Agee rounding third base. [Jeff] started beating me up and screaming, "You idiot!" He was a Mets fan and he was upset and blamed me for making him miss it. He was punching me pretty hard in my shoulders and back.

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