playing, and they walked off the field together. Jones explained that Hodges was his favorite manager, and that he would never publicly embarrass a player. According to Jones, neither party ever revealed the contents of the conversation. Jones believes that the fear instilled in other players by the incident was the turning point in the season. World Series champions The Mets won 38 of their last 50 games, and finished the 1969 season with 100 wins —- eight games better than the second place Cubs. Jones ended the season with a .340 batting average, which was third in the league behind Pete Rose and Roberto Clemente, and was second on the team in home runs, RBIs and runs scored, behind Tommie Agee in all three categories. Jones batted a stellar .429 in the Mets' three game sweep of the Atlanta Braves in the 1969 National League Championship Series. In game two of the series, Jones went three for five with a home run, two runs scored and three RBIs in the Mets' 11–6 victory. The Mets were heavy underdogs in the 1969 World Series but took a 3–1 series lead. The Orioles were ahead 3–0 in game five when Jones led off the sixth inning. Dave McNally struck Jones in the foot with a pitch, however, home plate umpire Lou DiMuro ruled that the ball missed Jones. Gil Hodges emerged from the dugout to argue, and showed DiMuro the shoe-polish smudged ball. DiMuro reversed his call, and awarded Jones first base. The following batter, Donn Clendenon, hit a two-run home run to pull the Mets within a run of Baltimore. Following an Al Weis solo home run in the seventh to tie the game, Jones led off the eighth inning with a double off the wall that missed being a home run by about , and scored on Ron Swoboda's double two batters later. With the Mets leading 5–3 in the ninth inning, Orioles second baseman Davey Johnson hit a 2-1 fastball which Jones caught near the warning track to win the World Series. 1973 World Series Early in the 1970 season, Jones suffered through the worst slump in his career that saw his batting average reach .167 on May 26. His average improved to .251 by the time he began a then-club record 23-game hitting streak on August 25. For the season, he wound up hitting .277. In 1971,