M.U.M.'s The Word (Most Underrated Mets): John Stearns

On December 3, 1974, the Mets traded away one of their most beloved players when Tug McGraw was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies. The boisterous reliever had coined the phrase "Ya Gotta Believe" during the 1973 season; a phrase that became the rallying cry for Mets fans as they watched their team go from last place in the NL East to the seventh game of the World Series in a span of less than two months.

The trade, which included outfielders Don Hahn and Dave Schneck, was orchestrated because the Mets thought McGraw was breaking down due to shoulder problems he experienced during the 1974 season. In return, the Mets received pitcher Mac Scarce (who faced one batter during his Mets career), outfielder Del Unser and a young catcher whose major league résumé up to that point consisted of one game. The Mets may have traded away one of the best relievers in franchise history, but in return, they received a player that ended up having a pretty good career in his own right.

Even in his younger days, John Stearns was always one bad dude.

John Hardin Stearns was 23 years old when he took over as Jerry Grote's main backup catcher in 1975. In each season from 1972-1974, Grote played in fewer than 100 games due to an assortment of injuries. It was clear that his time as the Mets' No. 1 catcher was coming to an end. But Stearns didn't exactly hit his way into the starting lineup during his rookie season, as he finished the 1975 season with a .189 batting average in 59 games.

In 1976, Stearns started off the season poorly, batting .067 (1-for-15), prompting manager Joe Frazier to use Ron Hodges whenever Jerry Grote was given the day off. As a result of his anemic start, Stearns was sent down to AAA-Tidewater, a move that ended up energizing (and perhaps saving) his career.

Now playing every day at Tidewater, John Stearns found his batting stroke and eye, hitting .310 over 102 games and reaching base at an astounding .437 clip. In 410 plate appearances, Stearns displayed a keen eye for the strike zone, as evidenced by his 71 walks. He also became an excellent contact hitter, striking out only 29 times. Stearns' breakthrough season at Tidewater earned him a September call-up to the Mets, where he continued to hit at a blistering pace. In his first nine games after being recalled to the major leagues, Stearns hit .455 and reached base in half of his plate appearances (15 hits and three walks in 36 plate appearances). The .067 hitter from earlier in the season was long gone. The new and improved John Stearns was here to stay.

In 1977, Stearns had supplanted Jerry Grote as the Mets' No. 1 catcher. The 25-year-old was now calling pitches for Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack on a regular basis, a dream job for most catchers. That dream ended abruptly, as the tumult within the organization reached its crescendo on June 15, when the so-called Midnight Massacre ended the Mets career of Tom Seaver.

By the time the 1977 season came to its conclusion, the Mets had finished with their worst record (64-98) in ten years. In addition to trading away their top pitcher (Seaver), the Mets dealt their top power hitter (Dave Kingman), as well as the man Stearns replaced in the lineup, with the trade of Jerry Grote to the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 31.

Despite the team's awful showing in 1977, John Stearns' first full season in the majors was quite a success. Although Stearns finished the year with a .251 batting average, his on-base percentage was a healthy .370. He led the team in walks (77), doubles (25) and home runs (12, tied with John Milner and Steve Henderson). For his efforts, Stearns was chosen to represent the National League in the All-Star Game, making him the Mets' sole representative in his first year as the Mets' everyday catcher.

The 1978 Mets entered the season with the lowest expectations of any team since the late '60s. After a last place finish in 1977 and the subsequent dismantling of the pitching staff (Jon Matlack had been traded to the Texas Rangers during the offseason), manager Joe Torre was given very little to work with. The Mets had hardly any offense to speak of, hitting only .245 as a team and banging out a measly 86 home runs during the 1978 season. But they did have one bright spot in the lineup.

In an otherwise miserable season, John Stearns continued to shine. He hit .264 and set career highs in runs scored (65), home runs (15), RBI (73) and stolen bases (25). With his 25 steals, Stearns set the modern National League record for stolen bases by a catcher. (Editor's note: Roger Bresnahan stole 34 bases for the New York Giants in 1903, but split his time between catcher, first base, third base and the outfield.)

Despite his excellent performance, Stearns was not chosen to play in the 1978 All-Star Game, as he was bypassed for Braves' catcher Biff Pocoroba. Yes, that's the same Biff Pocoroba who was hitting .262, with eight doubles, four home runs, 24 RBI, 16 runs scored and no stolen bases at the All-Star Break. (Stearns' line at the break was .265, 11 doubles, 7 HR, 32 RBI, 33 runs scored and 11 steals.) It would turn out to be Pocoroba's only trip to the All-Star Game.

In the late '70s, if you looked up the word "embarrassing" in the dictionary, you might have seen a photo of the 1979 Mets next to the definition. Those Mets were more than just embarrassing; they were difficult to watch. Craig Swan was a 14-game winner in 1979 and pitched ten complete games. No other Met pitcher won more than six games or completed more than one. As awful as the pitchers were, the hitters were just as bad. The Mets hit only 74 home runs in 1979, which was the fewest full-season total in franchise history (a record that stood for all of one season). The team hit .250 (10th in the 12-team National League) and was next-to-last with 593 runs scored, which was 24 fewer than the original 1962 Mets scored. Most importantly, the Mets finished dead last in the standings, as their 63-99 record was the worst record in the National League.

John Stearns was not immune to the Mets' failures in 1979, as he batted a career-low .243. Despite the fact that he recorded 61 more at-bats than he did in his stellar 1978 season, Stearns hit six fewer homers and "only" stole 15 bases (in 30 attempts). For the first time in his career, Stearns' batting eye failed him, as he registered more strikeouts (57) than walks (52). He also let out his "bad dude" persona on several occasions in 1979, most notably during his fight with Gary Carter after a home plate collision in the fourth game of the season. Naturally, he was rewarded for his efforts by being selected to his second All-Star Game, although he never got into the game.

Did John Stearns fight Gary Carter because he thought he was elbowed or was it really because he was secretly jealous of Gary Carter's hair?

In 1980, the magic was supposedly back at Shea Stadium, or at least that's what the marketing department led us to believe. John Stearns was just hoping that the magic was back in his game after his subpar 1979 season.

Eschewing power for a higher average, Stearns tore up National League pitching over the first two months of the season. In April and May, his Dudeness was among the league leaders in batting average, hitting a robust .320, with almost twice as many doubles (17) as strikeouts (9). Stearns did not have any home runs, but was still scoring and driving in runs (20 runs scored, 20 RBI in his first 41 games). His new approach at the plate did not go unnoticed, as Stearns was selected to participate in the All-Star Game for the third time in four seasons.

As Stearns was soaring, so were the Mets. On July 15, the Mets defeated the Braves in Atlanta to reach the .500 mark. With a 42-42 record, the Mets had their fans believing that the magic was indeed back, as they found themselves only 3½ games behind the first place Expos. However, just as soon as Mets fans started believing in their team, their hope was taken away from them, and it all started with an injury to their All-Star catcher.

On July 26, John Stearns was listed as the Mets' starting catcher, batting fifth in the lineup. Stearns never got a chance to hit in the game, as he suffered a broken right index finger on a foul tip by Reds' leadoff hitter Dave Collins in the first inning. The injury abruptly ended the 28-year-old Stearns' season, as he was immediately placed on the disabled list. The Mets would go on to lose that game to the Reds, which became a common theme over the final two months of the season. After their best start in years, the Mets dropped 53 of their final 78 games, finishing the year with a 67-95 record, good enough for fifth place in the National League East.

Before the 1981 season began, John Stearns suffered a freak injury, twisting his right ankle after he stepped on a baseball during a workout at Wrigley Field on the day before Opening Day. Stearns did not appear in a game until April 22, when he was used as a pinch-hitter, and did not start a game until six days later, when he played third base against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He did not become the regular catcher until mid-May and was still not hitting home runs, but his average remained near .300 for most of the year's first half, until the players' strike put the season on hold in June.

At the time of the strike, the Mets had a 17-34 record, with basically no chance of making the playoffs. However, on August 6, the owners decided to split the season into two halves, with the pre-strike division leaders meeting the post-strike division leaders in a special divisional round of the playoffs. Therefore, when regular season play resumed on August 10, the slate was wiped clean for the Mets and every other team that had played poorly in the first half.

The strike apparently gave the Mets time to think about what went wrong in the first half. Once the Mets took the field on August 10, they played like a different team. They won six of their first ten games and were competing for the second-half division title. On September 16, John Stearns gave the Mets and their fans a reason to celebrate with something he hadn't done in two years.

Steve Carlton was coming off a season in which he had won the Cy Young Award. Entering his September 16 start against the Mets, the man known as "Lefty" certainly had the credentials (12-3, 2.31 ERA) for another Cy Young. But he also had an interesting history against the Mets, including the game on September 15, 1969 when he became the first pitcher in the major leagues to strike out 19 batters in a nine-inning game. However, Carlton lost that game as he gave up a pair of two-run homers to Ron Swoboda.

Twelve years and one day later, it would be déjà vu all over again for Carlton against the Mets, as the southpaw struck out 15 batters, but lost the game when John Stearns hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning. The blast was Stearns' first in over two years and turned a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead, a lead that Neil Allen protected in the ninth inning.

Why is this man smiling? He couldn't keep Ron Swoboda or John Stearns in the ballpark.

The victory also began a stretch where the Mets won five out of six games. After their 13-inning win against the Pirates on September 21, the Mets' second half record stood at 20-20, putting them within striking distance of the St. Louis Cardinals, who at 22-17, were only 2½ games ahead of the Mets in first place. But the Mets' quest for an unlikely postseason appearance ended soon after their extra-inning victory over the Pirates, as they only won four of their remaining 13 games. The Cardinals also slumped, allowing the Montreal Expos to sneak past them and win the second-half NL East title by half a game. To this day, it remains the only postseason appearance in the 42-year history of the Expos/Nationals franchise.

In 1982, John Stearns came out of the box on fire. Going into June, Stearns was among the league leaders in batting average (.327), was scoring runs (crossing the plate 27 times), stealing bases (7 SB in 12 attempts) and was back to driving the ball all over the field. His 14 extra-base hits (10 doubles, one triple, three home runs) through the end of May matched his extra-base hit total for all of 1981.

Stearns' knack for the extra-base hit was never more evident than on Father's Day (June 20). The Mets and Cardinals were deadlocked in a 2-2 game when Stearns led off the ninth inning with a double. Although Stearns did come around to score the go-ahead run, the bullpen coughed up the lead in the bottom of the ninth, when Mike Scott (yes, THAT Mike Scott) gave up a two-out game-tying home run to Keith Hernandez (yes, THAT Keith Hernandez) to send the game into extra innings.

It didn't take too long for John Stearns to come up again and play the role of extra-base hero. In the tenth inning, after Ellis Valentine had struck out with two men on base, Stearns unloaded a triple off future Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter, scoring both runners. This time, the Mets were able to hold the lead, winning the game 5-4. The victory raised the Mets' record to 34-30 and left them only three games behind the first-place Cards.

For the fourth time in six years, Stearns earned the title of National League All-Star, representing the Mets in the Midsummer Classic. In doing so, he became the first position player in Mets' history to be selected to four All-Star teams. But that All-Star selection would be his last, as Stearns began experiencing right elbow pain. He made his last start behind the plate on August 12, made two pinch-hitting appearances after that, and was placed on the disabled list a week later with tendinitis in his right elbow. It was an injury he never recovered from.

Stearns went on to make three pinch-running appearances in September and continued to suffer from the effects of his elbow injury for the rest of his career. As a result, Stearns was limited to four pinch-running appearances in 1983 (no official at-bats) and one pinch-running appearance in 1984 before finally getting a chance to hit on September 1, 1984. It was his first time at bat in over two years. So what did Stearns do after two years without a bat in his hands? Naturally, he hit a double as a pinch-hitter, and came around to score in a 10-6 victory over the Padres. Stearns would eventually return to catch the final two games of the season, a season that saw the Mets finish with only their second 90-win season in franchise history.

Those last two appearances behind the plate would mark the end of John Stearns' career as the Bad Dude became the Retired Dude following the 1984 season. After his retirement, Stearns remained in the Mets' family, becoming the team's bench coach in 2000 and third base coach in 2001.

John Stearns finally made it to the World Series as bench coach for the 2000 Mets.

John Stearns was the type of player who never took the passive approach on the field. If an opposing pitcher went head-hunting after a teammate, Stearns would protect him, as he did in 1980 when Expos' rookie Bill Gullickson buzzed Mike Jorgensen with a pitch and Stearns (who wasn't even in the Mets' lineup) took exception, tackling Gullickson and starting a bench-clearing incident. It wasn't the only time Stearns would exhibit his football mentality on the field, as he tackled Atlanta's Chief Noc-A-Homa during a game in 1977 and did the same to an unruly fan who ran on the field during a game in 1980.

Although Stearns never had league-leading numbers or was the best catcher in the game, he did have a hard-nosed approach that is essential to winning games. Unfortunately, the Mets didn't do much winning during his time with the team, preventing Stearns from receiving more recognition for his accomplishments.

John Stearns was never the type of player who would fill up the boxscore, but he was the man you would most want as your teammate. Stearns once said "the monster's out of the cage" in reference to Mike Piazza. However, when Stearns took the playing field as a Met, he was the monster being left out of his cage. His teammates knew it, opposing players knew it and All-Star Game voters knew it. It's time for this underrated Met to receive the recognition he deserves.