University of Virginia Library

Summer Super Bowl

Mets, Orioles Open Series In Baltimore

By Rick Pearson

Are the New York Mets really a
team of destiny? Can practically
the same lineup that led the
Amazins' to a ninth-place finish last
year propel them all the way to the
World Championship? Or, will the
sheer power and class, of a
Baltimore team that apparently has
no weaknesses simply overpower
the New Yorkers? These mysteries
are plaguing the minds of millions
of Americans as baseball
approaches the climax of a season
that has generated more public
interest than any other since the
Cincinnati Red Stockings went
undefeated one hundred years ago.
They will all be answered in the
best-of-seven game World Series
beginning tomorrow in Baltimore
Municipal Stadium at 1 p.m.

The Series presents probably the
most exciting match-up that could
have been devised from the new
four-division setup. Not only did
the Mets and Orioles produce the
two best regular-season records, but
the battle will also provide the third
chapter in the bitter War of two
Cities, Baltimore and New York.

Last January, the New York Jets
struck the first blows of this
now-frantic struggle for prestige
when they overcame huge odds to
beat the Baltimore Colts in
football's Super Bowl. Above all,
Baltimore loves their Colts, and this
loss brought blood to the eyes of
every loyal Baltimorean.

In April, the Bullets,
regular-season champions of the
National Basketball League's East,
were crushed by the New York
Knicks in the playoffs. Now, it is
up to the Orioles, a team the town
has tried desperately to ignore, to
regain the honor of Baltimore.

All odds must favor the Birds,
for their lineup is, man for man,
one of the best baseball has seen.
They won 109 games in a 162-game
schedule, and this total most likely
would have been 120, except for a
two-week letdown before sweeping
the Minnesota Twins in the
playoffs.

But the Mets are not to be
scorned. After seven years in which
they never finished better than
ninth place, they won 100 games
this year. They have momentum,
youth, and lots of desire.

But most of all, the Mets have
destiny. Two weeks ago, Steve
Carlton of the Cardinals, another
group of Birds that didn't make it,
struck out 19 Mets, a new record,
but the Mets beat him. Destiny!