The Box Score Project
Marion Mets Newsletter – Issue 35 (Online exclusive)
Welcome to the Box Score Project, my effort to collect newspaper box scores from every single Marion Mets game, from the team’s first season on the diamond in June 1965 to its final contest in late summer 1976.
If my math is correct, that’s 813 box scores covering 12 seasons. Shew, I’m already tired thinking about it.
Collecting that many box scores is a daunting task, for sure, but it will be worth it to help preserve the history of minor league baseball in Marion, Virginia.
You can watch the project here.
To get us going, below is the box score from the Mets’ first game, way back on June 25, 1965, in Johnson City, Tennessee. The game ended in a 9-6 loss for Marion, but as you can see in the box score, a lot happened. (Don’t worry, the Mets won their first home game in Marion the following night in dramatic fashion.)
Lefty Jim Jenkins started on the mound for Marion, and pitched “like a house afire for five frames,” the Smyth County News’ Howard Imboden reported. The 5-10, 170-pound Washington, D.C., native struck out 10 Johnson City Yankees and allowed only one hit in five shutout innings.
There’s another story here that the box score doesn’t reveal. This one involves Dick Jenkins. You can see he — D Jnkns — batted seventh in the lineup and was 1-for-3 at the plate with a run scored. One of those hits was a triple. What you can’t see in the box score is the results of Jenkins’s final at-bat.
The Marion right fielder led off the bottom of the eighth inning for Mets and was struck by a pitch that broke his left forearm.
The 22-year-old was fitted for a cast at the hospital in Johnson City and sent on his way. Jenkins had just arrived in Marion from the single A Greenville (S.C.) Mets. He was batting just .183 and the Mets organization sent him down to the rookie leagues “for more seasoning,” the Greenville News reported shortly after the demotion.
The broken arm proved to be devastating for Jenkins. His first game in Marion was his last, and the last game he ever played in the minor leagues.
Before you go, this is a reminder that I’m always looking for stories about the Marion Mets. If you were a player, fan, ball boy, concession stand worker… anything… and have a story to share, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me at chadoz97@gmail.com. Also, if you see something I missed or got wrong, send me a note.
And don’t forget to Connect with Marion Mets on Facebook.