How The Cubs & Mets Did Against All Other Teams Down The Stretch In 1969

The Cubs had a 9 game lead in the NL East over both the Mets and Cards at the close of play on Aug. 16. The Cubs were 75-44 (.630 winning%) while the Mets were 64-51 (.557 winning%). A 9 game lead is the highest lead the Cubs had that year.

At the close of play on Sept. 23, the Mets were 95-61 while the Cubs were 89-67. The Cubs were 6 games out with 6 left to play for each team. Both teams won the next day, so the Mets clinched on the 24th.

The Cubs were 90-67. That means they had gone 15-23 from Aug. 17-Sept. 24. The Mets went 32-10. The Mets won the only two games between them during this stretch. 

If the Cubs had gone 21-17 (.553 winning%) during this stretch, the two teams would have been tied with five games left. It seems like a .630 team should have been able to go .553 when it really counted (that is if they really were a .630 team-they could have been lucky up to Aug. 16).

The Mets were 30-10 (.750) outside of the two games against the Cubs. It might be tough hold off a team that does that. But the Cubs sure did not help themselves by going 15-23 (.395). Teams should not expect to win a pennant playing like that down the stretch.

The schedule favored the Mets in one big way-they had more games against the three worst teams in the league: the Phillies, Expos and Padres. The Mets went 13-1 against those teams during this stretch. That was one-third of their games.

The Cubs, on the other hand, had only 8 games against these teams in this stretch (with none vs. the Padres) and went 3-5.

The Mets were actually 10 games out at the close of play on Aug. 13, but they were in third place (that is the most games out they were the whole year). The Cards were 9 games out in second place. The Mets were 62-51. So from that point until Sept. 24, they went 34-10 (.773). On Aug. 16 the Mets swept a double header against the Padres. That means the Mets went 15-1 against the three worst teams in the league during the stretch when they went from being 10 games out until the day they clinched (the Mets did not play on Aug. 14 or Aug, 15).

The two tables below show how each team did against all the other teams in the league during this stretch. The last column in each table shows that team's winning pct. for the whole season.

Cubs Vs.	W	L	W-L%		Mets Vs.	W	L	W-L%
Mets	0	2	0.617		Braves	0	0	0.574
Braves	4	2	0.574		Cubs	2	0	0.568
Giants	1	1	0.556		Giants	4	3	0.556
Reds	2	4	0.549		Reds	0	0	0.549
Pirates	0	3	0.543		Pirates	5	4	0.543
Cards	3	4	0.537		Cards	4	0	0.537
Dodgers	0	0	0.525		Dodgers	4	2	0.525
Astros	2	2	0.500		Astros	0	0	0.500
Phillies	1	3	0.389		Phillies	3	1	0.389
Expos	2	2	0.321		Expos	5	0	0.321
Padres	0	0	0.321		Padres	5	0	0.321