In last night’s episode of Mad Men, Don Draper got rip-roaring drunk in the middle of the day and decided he wanted to go to a Mets game. The show’s timeline says it’s 1969 but we have no idea what the exact day was—until now. Here’s an extensive breakdown of the game Don Draper missed.
We start with Don reading a local paper…
Nixon on Koreans: Flights start again with protection
This headline is in reference to an incident that took place on Tuesday April 15th, 1969, commonly called the EC-121 shootdown incident. A United States recon plane was shot by a North Korean MiG over the Sea of Japan. President Richard Nixon chose not to retaliate but rather continued flights with “protection” less than a week later.
Frazier the Key Tonight
This headline is in reference to Walt Frazier and the New York Knicks who were playing the Boston Celtics in a best of 7 playoff series. Because we know the game took place on a Friday (Peggy told Don to have tags by Monday) and within a week of the April 15th incident referenced above, it must be April 18th. The Knicks lost that game 106-105.
Don returns to the office on a Monday. We know this because his secretary asks about the weekend.
We now assume it is April 21st. At lunch, Don begins to drink heavily and calls his buddy Freddie Rumsen, tells him he wants to go to the Mets game.
Of course, if you watched the episode, you know Don never makes it to Shea stadium. He wakes up in a drunken stupor and asks Freddie…
Well Don, to answer your question, the Phillies won the game 2-1 in extra innings. Philadelphia third baseman Tony Taylor knocked in Larry Hisle with a single to right field in the top of the 11th inning.
Good thing Don didn’t go to the game. With an extra innings affair, who knows how many Old Fashioned’s he would have downed.