My name is Russ Cohen and I'm a Mets junkie. I admit it. I’ve been watching this team since '68 or '69 and I’ve lived through the good and the bad. After getting a copy of Mets 162-0 by Howie Karpin I was certainly intrigued.

I like the foreword by David Wright and the opening chapter has a picture of Tom Seaver’s infamous one-hitter, one of many, that he got against the Cubs in 1969 when Jimmy Qualls got Chicago’s only hit. I actually have a lithograph of this moment so to me this book got off on the right foot!

The first of the many short stories was the Benny Agbayani pinch hit grand slam in 2000 to help the Mets beat the Cubbies, while in Japan. That was the first-ever game recap we ever posted on www.baseballology.com then our only domain. I was up early that day and was thrilled with the results that’s for sure.

Oddly enough every short story is about a Mets win, they are all “Happy Recaps” so that’s how they accomplished the 162-0 it took them over a span of 50 years to make that happen.

One I got the gist of the book I was on a quest to see how many of these games I watched and saw live. And then I found it! It was 1983 opening day with Tom Terrific on the mound. It was one of the hardest games to get into in Mets history and Seaver and Doug Sisk outdueled Steve Carlton (page 10).

Page 12, April 7, 1984 I was getting ready to attend the University of Houston and here was a young phenom, Dwight Gooden who got a five-inning win at the Astrodome. I watched that game on television and dreamed of seeing a ballgame there the next season.

The “Midnight Massacre” reminds me about the saddest day of my pro sports life when I woke up to read in June of ’77 that Seaver had been traded to the Reds.
I love the Richie Ashburn story, and then the Jimmy Piersall story is below that. Ok, we had a chance to interview Piersall about that he was disrespectful to Casey Stengel even then, so many years later. It made me sick but I’m glad it’s in the book because this book leaves no stone unturned!

I will keep this book until the day I die and look back and so many of these games with a big smile. Howie knows the Mets like few others could.

I personally want to thank Howie for mentioning me in the book that was a thrill as well. Triumph has a bit hit on their hands.

162-0: Imagine a Mets Perfect Season