6 Legendary 'Miracle Mets' Meet Fans At Stew Leonard's In Norwalk

NORWALK, CT — Customers at Stew Leonard's got a chance to step right up and meet legendary players for the 1969 New York Mets during a special event Monday afternoon at the store's Norwalk location. Fans gathered in a line that went out the door as they waited to meet Art Shamsky, Ed Kranepool, Cleon Jones, Ron Swoboda, Duffy Dyer and Jim McAndrew.

Senator Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) was also in attendance for the event, which celebrated both the 50th anniversary of the team's historic 1969 series, which resulted in their first World Series Win, and Stew Leonard's 50th year in Norwalk.

"We’re very, very excited to have everyone here," store owner Stew Leonard, Jr. said to the crowd gathered at the start of the event. "We have become friends now over the last couple days. [The players] are such gentlemen, and they’re great people...they’ve treated our team members at Stew Leonard’s with such respect."

The event also acted as a fundraiser for the Alzheimer's Association in light of the recent announcement that legendary Mets Hall of Famer and longtime Greenwich resident Tom Seaver has been diagnosed with dementia. Leonard estimated that the store would raise roughly $10,000 as a result of the event.

"It feels great to be here, because 1969 is a very special year, with some friends we hadn’t seen in a while and for a good cause," Shamsky said. "The 1969 Mets were really a special team, as history has proven. Fifty years later people still love us and want to be around us, and for us to be out here at Stew Leonard’s, it's just a great time."

Similar events were held at the store's East Meadow, N.Y., location Sunday afternoon and the Yonkers store Monday morning. Leonard, who spoke warmly with customers at the Norwalk store during the event, said the opportunity to have six baseball legends at his store was "unbelievable" and even went as far as to call it "a home run."

"Before I met these men, I read about them and obviously admired what they did, but I would say I admire them more after spending some time with them," Leonard said. "They are genuinely great human beings. There was no arrogance at all. They were just down to Earth great people and it was just a pleasure to see how much they enjoyed talking to all these fans like this. "

Customers brought posters, programs, newspaper articles and other treasured pieces of Mets memorabilia for the players to sign. Norwalk resident Scott Winter went a step further and brought an actual set of chairs from Shea Stadium he purchased after it's demolition in 2009.

"I was actually going to Shea Stadium in 1969," Winter said as he loaded his newly signed seats into a Stew's carriage. "When they took the stadium down, they sold a bunch of these chairs for charity, and they charged $869, which is for their ‘69 and ‘86 World Series wins."

At the start of the event, Leonard estimated roughly 1,000 customers showed up to meet the six "Miracle Mets." He later said he was thrilled to see how happy customers were and was delighted to see the excitement on all of their faces.

It was also the perfect way to kick off the store's celebration of their 50-year history in Norwalk.

"It’s incredible. I’m very excited about that," Leonard said. "I feel very welcome in the city. A lot of these people are families that I’ve known through school. I’ve lived here all my life, and it’s a cool place to live."

For Leonard, the icing on the cake was the money the store was able to raise for the Alzheimer's Association. According to Kristen Cusato, Director of Communications for the Alzheimer’s Association Connecticut Chapter, a large number of families in Connecticut are currently dealing with the disease.

"Seventy-eight thousand people in Connecticut have Alzheimer’s, and there are 178,000 caregivers, so we just want people to know that you don’t have to do this by yourself; you can reach out for help," Cusato said. "There’s so much help out there. You need to take care of yourself as a caregiver, it’s really important. Then you can be a good caregiver to your person with dementia."

According to Cusato, the association raises money for research, offers support groups and even has free education classes around the state. They also have a 24/7 helpline anyone with questions can call: 1-800-272-3900.

"Stew Leonard’s is such a great partner with the community and we were so happy that they talked about us and want to help us continue to help more families," Cusato said, "because he serves a great number of families and we do as well, so I think it is a great partnership."