Unofficial fan projectSeaver, the Miracle, and Two Pennants
Cleon Jones
Left fielder · Mets 1963, 1965–1975
The part fans remember
What the numbers leave out.
Jones was the best hitter on the Miracle Mets and a steady presence through the 1973 pennant. His final catch sealed the first championship.
Jones signed with the Mets as a teenager and grew from the early losing clubs into the best hitter on a world champion. After several uneven seasons, everything came together in 1969. He hit .340, made the All-Star team, and finished third in the batting race while giving a pitching-heavy team the dangerous bat it needed.
The World Series gave Jones two permanent moments. In Game 5, a pitch bounced near his foot, manager Gil Hodges produced a shoe-polish-marked baseball, and Jones was awarded first base before Donn Clendenon homered. Later, with two outs in the ninth, Jones caught Davey Johnson’s fly ball in left and dropped to one knee as the Mets became champions.
He remained a strong hitter and helped the club win another pennant in 1973, although injuries affected his later years. Jones was released in 1975 after a dispute with manager Yogi Berra, giving his Mets career an uncomfortable ending. The final catch still rises above it all: Cleon Jones owns the exact instant the miracle became complete.
The honest version
The best stretch
Jones’s 1968–70 peak reached its height during the miracle. In 1969 he hit .340, finished third in the batting race, and gave a pitching-heavy team the dependable middle-of-the-order bat it badly needed. His calm swing and ability to use the whole field made him different from the power hitters around him. The championship team’s best regular hitter was a Met who had survived the losing years.
The part that got messy
His final catch of Davey Johnson’s fly ball remains one of the cleanest ending images in baseball history: Jones settling under it in left, dropping to a knee, and running toward the celebration with the ball. Earlier in that same game, the famous shoe-polish incident helped start the comeback when Gil Hodges showed the ball had hit him. Jones was connected to both the argument and the final peace.
Why fans still care
He stayed long enough to help win the 1973 pennant, which kept his story from being a one-season miracle. There were later conflicts and an awkward end, but his place is safe. Jones grew with the franchise, became an All-Star, hit at an elite level during its most surprising season, and caught the ball that allowed Mets fans to say they were world champions for the first time.
Jones was the best hitter on the 1969 champions and the man who caught the last out, yet his smooth game can be overshadowed by the pitching stories. He hit .340 that year, gave the lineup credibility, and came through in the World Series. The image of him dropping to one knee with the ball in his glove is the exact second the Miracle Mets became world champions.
Signature Mets momentCaught the final out of the 1969 World Series.
The short list
The stuff worth remembering.
- 01Hit .340 in 1969
- 021969 All-Star
- 031969 World Series champion