Tug McGraw was a Mets reliever for nearly a decade, serving as the emotional heart of the franchise in its early era. McGraw posted a 9-3 record with 12 saves during the 1969 championship season. By 1973, McGraw pitched a career-high 118 2/3 innings with 25 saves. His famous “Ya Gotta Believe!” phrase inspired the […]

“Ya Gotta Believe!” Tug McGraw used this rallying cry as the Mets made an impossible postseason run in 1973 by barely taking the NL East division title, pulling an upset NLCS victory and appearing in the World Series. McGraw, the closer, was an emotional leader for the Mets, recording a pair of saves in the […]

Reliever Tug McGraw went to work in the final two games of the 1973 NLCS against the Cincinnati Reds. In Game 4, he entered in the 7th inning and remained until the 11th, keeping the Mets alive in the extra-inning affair. McGraw picked up the save in Game 5 by recording the last two outs. […]

MLB went down as the Year of the Pitcher in 1968, and the Mets had a bullpen set to follow the trend for the ’69 season. Tom Seaver was a 25-game and Cy Young Award winner. Seaver and Jerry Koosman were named All-Stars, while Ron Taylor and Tug McGraw had double-digit saves. The entire staff […]

Young fans at a 2016 game used a Mets slogan passed down for generations: “Ya Gotta Believe!” The Tug McGraw rallying cry from the 1973 World Series captured the fighting spirit of the underdog Mets from their early days in 1962 to the present. That optimistic belief had been evident when the Mets appeared in […]