M.U.M.'s The Word (Most Underrated Mets): Sid Fernandez

When you think of the best trades in Mets history, a few of them immediately come to mind. Who can forget the 1983 trade that brought Keith Hernandez to the Mets for Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey? How about the deal that netted Gary Carter from Montreal prior to the 1985 season for Hubie Brooks and a bevy of not-ready-for-prime-time prospects? More recently, there was the 1998 deal in which the Mets traded three minor leaguers (including Mookie Wilson's stepson) for Mike Piazza.

However, one trade that doesn't always make the list of "best trades ever" was a deal pulled off by Frank Cashen in December of 1983. The trade between the NL West champion Dodgers and the NL East cellar dweller Mets hardly registered a blip on the baseball radar when it occurred, but when all was said and done, the exchange of utility man Bob Bailor and pitcher Carlos Diaz for infielder Ross Jones and Charles Sidney Fernandez became one of the biggest steals in franchise history.

Whether in color or in black and white, Sid Fernandez was one of the best pitchers in franchise history.

The 1983 Mets finished the season in last place with a 68-94 record. Although the team didn't do well in the standings, it did plant the seeds for improvement in 1984. With the promotion of rookie sensation Darryl Strawberry in May and the trade for first baseman Keith Hernandez in June, two key pieces of the offense were in place. Now it was time to upgrade the pitching staff.

The starting rotation at the end of the 1983 season featured Tom Seaver, Mike Torrez, Ed Lynch and two young pitchers who had been acquired from the Texas Rangers for fan-favorite Lee Mazzilli. Those two pitchers were Walt Terrell and Ron Darling.

Terrell was a hard luck pitcher for the Mets, starting 56 games in his three years with the team, but only winning 19 of them despite a 3.53 ERA. Darling, on the other hand, became a mainstay in the Mets' rotation for the remainder of the 1980s.

The Mets still needed starting pitchers once the 1984 season began. They fully expected Tom Seaver to be part of their 1984 rotation, but he was left unprotected in the free-agent compensation draft and was claimed by the Chicago White Sox. Also, Mike Torrez was reaching the end of his career. After making his major league debut during the same season that Seaver broke in (1967), Torrez lost a career-high 17 games in 1983. But he was still a Met in 1984, hanging on by a thread to his spot in the starting rotation.

The Mets filled one of their rotation spots with rookie phenom Dwight Gooden. They decided to go with another promising prospect, Tim Leary, to fill the role of fifth starter. That experiment ended in early May, after Leary faced 19 Reds batters and allowed 11 of them to reach base (six hits, five walks). A month later, Mike Torrez was released by the Mets, after going 1-5 with a 5.02 ERA in eight starts. That opened up a spot in the rotation, a spot that was filled by Sid Fernandez.

Sid Fernandez had been one of the Dodgers' top minor league prospects. In three minor league seasons from 1981-1983, El Sid went 32-11 and was virtually unhittable. In 60 starts, he struck out 560 batters in 401.2 innings, while allowing only 268 hits. After he was traded to the Mets prior to the 1984 season, he continued to confound batters at Tidewater, allowing only 69 hits in 105.2 innings over 17 starts. Soon after Torrez's release, the Mets called up Sid Fernandez and he was immediately inserted into the starting rotation, making his Mets debut on July 16, 1984.

Fernandez had an Amazin' start to his Mets career, winning his first three starts. He had a good, but not great, half season for the Mets in 1984, finishing the year with a 6-6 record and a 3.50 ERA. He also only struck out 62 batters and allowed 74 hits over 90 innings with the Mets. The dominant Sid Fernandez from the minor leagues had been reduced to a mediocre major league pitcher. That would not last very long.

Although Sid Fernandez finished the 1985 season with a 9-9 record, don't let his .500 winning percentage fool you. He was one of the most dominant pitchers in the major leagues that year. In 26 starts, spanning 170.1 innings, Sid struck out 180 batters. However, what was more incredible was the 108 hits he allowed.

Sid Fernandez gave up five hits or less in 21 of his 26 starts. Only once in those 26 starts did he give up more than four runs in a game, and when he did so against the Reds on July 22, he struck out 13 batters in the same game.

Unfortunately, the Mets wasted many of Sid's great performances in 1985, scoring three runs or less in half of his starts. Despite his lack of run support, Sid's mark of 5.7 hits per nine innings was the best in the major leagues in 1985. In fact, at the time, it was the sixth lowest mark in major league history, not much higher than Nolan Ryan's 5.3 H/9IP when he set the major league record in his first season with the Angels in 1972.

Sid Fernandez was here to stay in the big leagues. However, the Mets had fallen short in their quest to reach the postseason in 1984 and 1985. Fernandez needed to step up in a big way in 1986 if the Mets were finally going to play October baseball. He responded with his best season yet.

According to Davey Johnson, the Mets were not only going to win the division in 1986; they were going to dominate. One player who was particularly dominant in 1986 was Sid Fernandez. Prior to the All-Star Break, Sid was having a Cy Young Award-caliber season. In 16 starts leading up to the Midsummer Classic, Fernandez rolled to a 12-2 record and a 2.67 ERA. In 118 innings, he struck out 103 batters and gave up only 74 hits. Opposing batters hit only .180 against him. For his efforts, Sid was picked for the first time to represent the National League in the All-Star Game.

If Sid Fernandez wore #50 in honor of his home state of Hawaii, was he wearing #10 in this picture to honor his time at Tidewater? (Virginia was the 10th state to join the union.)

Sid Fernandez finished the 1986 season with a career-high 16 wins (against six losses) and 200 strikeouts. It was on to the NLCS against the Houston Astros, where Sid drew the unenviable task of facing the man with the right scuff, Mike Scott, in Game 4. Scott won his second game of the series against the Mets in Game 4, but Fernandez pitched very well for the Mets, allowing three runs on three hits in six innings of work. The Mets eventually won the NLCS in six games and moved on to the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. It was there that Sid Fernandez had perhaps the most important pitching performance of his career.

Despite his good outing in Game 4 of the NLCS, Sid was relegated to the bullpen for the World Series, as the Mets went to three starters (Ron Darling, Dwight Gooden, Bob Ojeda) against the Red Sox. His first World Series appearance did not go very well, as he faced four batters in Game 2 and gave up one run on three hits. However, the Red Sox already had a comfortable lead at the time, so Sid's performance did not affect the game's outcome.

In Game 5, Dwight Gooden started for the Mets and was hit hard, giving up four runs (three earned) on nine hits and two walks. The Mets were down 4-0 when Gooden was removed from the game for Sid Fernandez. Sid pitched the last four innings for the Mets (the Red Sox did not have to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning), allowing no runs on three hits. He struck out five batters and walked no one. His Game 5 performance did not lead the Mets to victory, as they lost 4-2, but did show that the dominant Sid Fernandez was back on top of his game, and that was most evident in the seventh and deciding game.

After the Mets rallied for three improbable runs in the bottom of the tenth inning of Game 6, it was on to Game 7. Because of a rainout, the game was pushed back from Sunday night to Monday night, allowing the Red Sox to scratch Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd from his start and replace him with Bruce Hurst, who had defeated the Mets in Game 1 and Game 5. The Mets responded with Ron Darling, who had pitched well in his Game 1 loss and his Game 4 victory. Game 7, however, was a different story.

Darling struggled early, giving up three runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. The key blows were back-to-back home runs by Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman to lead off the second inning. Darling hit Dave Henderson with a pitch to lead off the fourth inning. After Spike Owen flied out to right field, Henderson was then sacrificed to second by pitcher Bruce Hurst. That was all for Darling, as Davey Johnson replaced him with Sid Fernandez.

Fernandez walked Wade Boggs, but then retired Marty Barrett on a fly ball to right field to end the inning. The Mets were still down 3-0, but Fernandez was able to stop the bleeding. His next two innings gave the Mets all the confidence they needed to make one final comeback.

With the Mets still struggling at the plate against Bruce Hurst, Fernandez made sure that they would not have to come back from more than a three-run deficit. He pitched a perfect fifth inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced, then repeated the feat in the sixth inning. The Shea Stadium crowd was rejuvenated by Sid's electric performance. The electricity finally reached the Mets' bats in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Fueled by Sid Fernandez's yeoman-like effort, the Mets tied the game with three runs in the sixth inning. They followed that up with three more runs in the seventh inning and two insurance runs in the eighth inning. The offensive outburst led the Mets to an 8-5 victory and their first World Championship since 1969.

Although Sid was not credited with the victory for his performance (that honor went to Roger McDowell, who allowed the Red Sox to close to within a single run in the top of the eighth inning after the Mets had taken a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh), it was his masterful work that set the stage for the Mets' comeback. Without Sid cauterizing the Mets' wounds with his blazing heater, the Red Sox might have been the ones to celebrate on the Shea Stadium field that night instead of the Mets.

Sid Fernandez had pitched the game of his life under the biggest spotlight. He did it just weeks after turning 24. Although Sid had his World Series ring, he still had the majority of his career ahead of him. What he did over the next seven seasons is what made him one of the best pitchers in Mets history.

Fernandez followed up his spectacular 1986 season with a solid year in 1987, winning 12 games against eight losses. After winning nine of his first 12 decisions, he was selected to his second All-Star Game. Then in late July, the injury bug that struck the Mets pitching staff all year found its way to Sid Fernandez. Sid missed nearly a month of action on the DL before returning to the team in late August. He went on to make seven more starts for the Mets in 1987, but was a shadow (albeit a large shadow) of his pre-injured self, compiling a 5.34 ERA after his return from the DL.

After his injury-plagued 1987 season, Sid went on to record one of the best prolonged stretches of excellence since Tom Seaver's first stint with the Mets. From 1988-1993, Sid pitched to the tune of a 2.98 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He led the league in winning percentage once (1989, when he finished with a 14-5 record) and was the league leader in fewest hits allowed per nine innings twice (1988, 1990). In fact, during the entire six-year period from 1988-1993, Sid Fernandez pitched 964 innings and allowed only 694 hits. Over those six years, Sid made 151 starts. That averages out to 4.6 hits allowed per start OVER A SIX YEAR PERIOD!

I've heard of guys pitching from the stretch, but this is ridiculous.

One of the reasons why this long stretch of dominance over National League batters has been overlooked was Sid's won-loss record over the period. From 1988-1993, Sid's record was only 55-49. In fact, if you take out his 1989 season, when he went 14-5, Sid actually had a losing record over the other five seasons (41-44).

Despite the mediocre record, Sid still finished his Mets career after the 1993 season with 98 victories, placing him fifth on the all-time list behind Tom Seaver (198 wins), Dwight Gooden (157 wins), Jerry Koosman (140 wins) and Ron Darling (99 wins). His victory total is also second on the all-time list for left-handed pitchers behind Koosman.

If you look at the Mets' career leaderboard, you will find Sid Fernandez's name everywhere. In addition to the wins, Sid finished in the top ten in ERA (10th, 3.14), WHIP (3rd, 1.11), H/9IP (2nd, 6.6), innings pitched (5th, 1584.2), strikeouts (4th, 1,449), games started (4th, 250) and shutouts (8th, 9).

Sid Fernandez was also one of the best Shea Stadium pitchers of all-time. In 124 games at Shea (123 starts), Sid was 58-31 with a 2.52 ERA and a WHIP of 1.00. He also struck out better than a batter per inning (825 Ks in 821.2 IP). In those 124 games at Shea Stadium, opposing batters hit only .182 against him (531 hits in those 821.2 IP). To beat Sid Fernandez at Shea Stadium, teams had to outpitch him because they surely weren't going to beat him with the bat.

When you think of the best Mets pitchers of all-time, the obvious names that stand out are Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and Jerry Koosman. But given his overall numbers and his extended period of dominance against National League hitters, would it be unreasonable to suggest that Sid Fernandez is the fourth-best pitcher in franchise history? Without question, he is the second-best left-handed starting pitcher in Mets history after Jerry Koosman.

The Mets had Sid Fernandez on their team for ten seasons (1984-1993). His arrival coincided with the revival of the franchise and his departure occurred simultaneously with their return to the bottom of the National League East standings. During his decade at Shea, fans were treated to one of the best pitchers they'd ever see in a Mets uniform. Unfortunately, he was never the ace of the staff and was never treated like one. But he had an ace of a career, a career that is unquestionably one of the most underrated careers in franchise history.