Davey Johnson was at Shea Stadium for both of the Mets’ World Series-clinching victories of the 20th century, but his vantage point for the first was far different from the second.
In 1969, he hit the fly ball that Cleon Jones caught in leftfield to secure a five-game upset of Johnson’s Orioles and give the fledgling franchise its first championship.
In 1986, he was in the Mets’ dugout as their manager when Jesse Orosco struck out Marty Barrett to end Game 7 against the Red Sox as they earned their second (and most recent) title.
Such was the long and varied baseball life led by Johnson, who died at age 82 on Friday. Johnson's wife, Susan, confirmed his death to Mets team historian Jay Horwitz . Horwitz said Johnson died at a hospital in Sarasota, Florida, after a long illness.
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