1970 05-18 Mets at Expos

The Thomas Paine Podcast presents a riveting live broadcast of a historic 1962 National League matchup between the New York Mets and Montreal Expos at Jarry Park on Victoria Day, drawing a record crowd of 31,004—marking a milestone in Canadian baseball history. The game began with the Mets, defending World Series champions, holding a narrow lead in the Eastern Division, facing a struggling Expos team at 12-21. After a tightly contested first five innings tied at 1-1, the Mets surged in the eighth inning with three consecutive home runs by Dave Marshall, Joe Foy, and Jerry Grody, seizing a 4-1 lead and electrifying the crowd. However, the Expos staged one of the most dramatic comebacks in baseball lore, scoring five runs in the ninth inning to tie the game at 4-4. The turning point came when Tug McGraw walked Adolfo Phillips and allowed a key ground ball through the infield, followed by an intentional walk to Ron Fairley, setting up Bob Bailey’s walk-off grand slam home run to left field. Bailey’s towering opposite-field blast secured an 8-4 victory for the Expos, capping a thrilling reversal of fortune and cementing the game as a legendary moment in both franchises’ histories. The broadcast, anchored by Bob Murphy, Ralph Kaner, and Lindsey Nelson, captured every emotional high and strategic twist, highlighting the resilience of both teams and the growing national appeal of baseball in Canada.