The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of the Mets: Jerry Koosman

"We're No. 2!  We're No. 2!"

Those are words you will never hear at a sporting event.  In baseball, like in any other sport, the object is to come out on top, not ride someone else's coattails.  But for one Mets pitcher, being No. 2 became second nature.

He was the first runner-up in the Rookie of the Year vote in 1968.  Eight years later, he finished second in the Cy Young Award ballot.  And for over a decade, he was No. 2 in the starting rotation behind the team's first Hall of Famer.

But when the stakes were highest, it was this perennial second fiddle who became the team's top banana.  He was on the mound when the club won its first championship in 1969 and helped fuel a miraculous late-season run to the postseason four years later.  Just imagine how drastically different the history of the franchise would have been had it not been for the pitcher who wasn't "The Franchise".

Jerry Koosman strikes a pose at Shea Stadium.  (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Jerome Martin Koosman might never have been a Met if not for his catcher in the Army.  After he was drafted to serve in the military in 1962, Koosman went to basic training and was eventually transferred to Fort Bliss in Texas where he could play baseball.  His catcher at Fort Bliss was the son of an usher at the newly-opened Shea Stadium.  Word of Koosman's pitching prowess eventually traveled from the mouth of a catcher to the ears of an usher to the office of farm director - and future general manager - Joe McDonald, who sent scout Red Murff to watch Kooz perform on the mound.  Murff loved what he saw and offered Koosman a $2,000 bonus to sign with the Mets.  Wanting more money, Koosman rejected the offer, only to eventually sign when the amount of the offer went down by 20 percent.

Koosman's first year as a pro in 1965 was mostly forgettable, as he combined to go 5-13 with a 4.61 ERA between Single-A Greenville and Double-A Williamsport.  The southpaw was nearly released by the Mets after his subpar season, but the team decided against it.  It wasn't because they thought Koosman would turn a corner in his second professional campaign; it was because he owed the team fifty bucks.

In 1966, Koosman - with his newly-learned curveball - showed tremendous improvement on the mound (and supposedly settled his loan), going 12-7 with a brilliant 1.38 ERA at Single-A Auburn.  As Koosman was fulfilling his potential, future teammate Tom Seaver was toiling at Triple-A, completing a .500 campaign with an ERA north of 3.00.  Despite the varying degrees of success from Koosman and Seaver in the minor leagues, the dynamic duo made their major league debuts one day apart in April 1967, with Seaver starting the second game of the season for the Mets and Koosman pitching in relief the following night.

Seaver remained with the team the entire season and became the first Met to win the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award.  Koosman, on the other hand, made just three starts and six relief appearances in 1967, with the Mets losing each of Koosman's nine games.  However, because he spent most of the season in the minors (he was demoted to AAA-Jacksonville in mid-May and wasn't called back up until early September), Koosman retained his rookie status for the 1968 campaign.  And under new manager Gil Hodges, Koosman got every opportunity to shine as a full-time starting pitcher.

In 1968, Koosman was tabbed by Hodges to be the team's No. 2 starter.  After not having appeared in a Mets victory in 1967, Koosman pitched a complete-game shutout at Dodger Stadium in the team's second game of the '68 campaign.  Koosman's next start took place in the Mets' home opener on April 17.  A delighted crowd of 52,079 witnessed Koosman's second shutout in as many starts, as well as the first-ever victory by the Mets in a home opener.  Koosman went on to pitch five more shutouts in his rookie year and his ERA didn't rise above 2.00 until his next-to-last start of the season.  He also had a brilliant 12-inning performance in which he allowed no runs to the San Francisco Giants but was saddled with a no-decision because the Mets couldn't find a way to cross the plate in their 17-inning, 1-0 defeat.  The lack of run support would become a common theme for Koosman throughout his career.

Although Koosman finished the 1968 season with 19 wins, a 2.08 ERA (fourth in the N.L.) and 178 strikeouts (tenth in the league), not to mention earning a save in that summer's All-Star Game, he failed to become the Mets' second consecutive Rookie of the Year, as Johnny Bench and his just okay numbers (.275, 15 HR, 82 RBI) edged out Kooz by a single vote.  But just as Bench didn't succumb to the sophomore slump, neither did Koosman.  In fact, Koosman did far more in 1969 than anyone could have imagined.

Koosman pitches with bunting adorning the Shea Stadium walls.  And no, it wasn't Opening Day.  (Bettmann/Getty Images)

After making four starts in April, Koosman missed nearly a month of action with an injury.  But in his second start following his stint on the disabled list, Koosman became the first Met to strike out 15 batters in a game, as he pitched ten shutout innings in the Mets' 1-0, 11-inning victory over the San Diego Padres.  Koosman didn't earn the win - there goes that lack of run support again - but the team did, and that hard-fought effort kicked off a franchise-record 11-game winning streak that instantly made the Mets contenders for the first time in their brief history.  

Koosman's performance against the Padres began a six-start stretch in which he was practically unhittable and virtually unscored upon.  Kooz allowed just 32 hits and two earned runs in 53 innings, with the Mets winning five of those six starts.  (The one loss came in a game in which Koosman allowed no earned runs.)

In July, the Mets hosted the Cubs at Shea Stadium in a series remembered for Seaver's Imperfect Game (Seaver retired the first 25 batters before allowing a single to Jimmy Qualls).  But it was Koosman who provided the opening act to Seaver's headlining effort, as Kooz outdueled future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins to earn a complete-game victory.  Three months later, Koosman delivered another statement to the Cubs, one that let Chicago know that the Mets weren't going to be anyone's pushovers.

The Mets had pulled to within 2½ games of the first-place Cubs when the North Siders made their final trip to Shea Stadium in early September for a two-game series.  Once again, the memorable moment occurred in Seaver's start, as Tom Terrific was on the hill when a black cat wandered onto the field and walked in front of Chicago's dugout.  The cat may have been given credit for delivering the knockout punch on the Cubs' season, but it was actually Koosman who supplied the first blow to Chicago in the series opener.

In the bottom of the first, Cubs' manager Leo Durocher wanted to set the tone for the series and ordered pitcher Bill Hands to throw at Mets' leadoff hitter Tommie Agee.  Hands threw a fastball that was up and in to Agee, but did not hit him.  Not liking what he saw, Koosman retaliated in the top of the second, drilling Ron Santo with a pitch.  Koosman's message to Durocher kept the Cubs on their heels all game, as the lefty went on to strike out 13 batters - the second-highest total of his career - in the Mets' 3-2 victory.

Four days after Koosman's victory over the Cubs, the Mets swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning both games, 1-0, with Koosman and fellow moundsman Don Cardwell driving in the only runs in each game.  Cardwell's feat wasn't totally unexpected, as the veteran right-hander knew how to handle a bat.  Entering the game, Cardwell had amassed 15 homers and 51 RBI in 749 career plate appearances.  But Koosman was the definition of "automatic out" at the plate, as he was just 10-for-161 with 102 strikeouts for his career up to that point.

"Kooz kept telling me he hit a line drive," Cardwell said of the rare occurrence.  "I checked with the other guys and they said, 'Cardy, he hit it off the end of the bat, it was a blooper.'"

The face of a man who doesn't hit bloopers.  (Focus On Sport/Getty Images)

Of course, Koosman was convinced the ball was hit solidly off his bat, even if it wasn't.  But no one needed to be convinced that the Mets were about to clinch their first postseason appearance.  Koosman's 1-0 win over the Pirates was the first of three complete-game shutouts he pitched in September, helping the Mets coast to the first-ever N.L. East title.  Koosman finished the regular season - his second as an All-Star - with a 17-9 record, 2.28 ERA, 180 strikeouts (despite spending most of May on the disabled list) and a career-best 1.058 WHIP.

Koosman's first postseason start didn't go according to plan, as he allowed six runs and was knocked out of the game in the fifth inning.  But the Mets bailed him out by doing what they had rarely done before in a Koosman start; score a plethora of runs.  In fact, the Mets' 11-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game Two of the NLCS marked the first time in Koosman's 70 career starts that the team reached double digits in runs scored.

Kooz's next playoff start was a complete turnaround from his first.  After the Mets lost Seaver's start in Game One of the World Series, Koosman carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of Game Two before Paul Blair singled to lead off the frame.  Blair later stole second and scored the tying run on a single by Brooks Robinson.  The Mets retook the lead in the eighth on a run-scoring hit by Al Weis and Koosman and closer Ron Taylor did the rest, keeping the Orioles off the scoreboard in the ninth to tie the series.

After Koosman got the Mets back on the winning track, New York returned to Shea Stadium and promptly won Games Three and Four.  Manager Gil Hodges then gave the ball to Koosman for Game Five, hoping the lefty would pitch the Mets to a championship.  Koosman got off to a rough start, allowing home runs to pitcher Dave McNally and slugger Frank Robinson.  But after Robinson's blast, which gave Baltimore a 3-0 lead, Koosman settled down, retiring 19 of the next 21 batters to face him.

In the sixth, the Mets began their rally with a little help from Koosman's foot.  Cleon Jones, who had just two hits in 18 at-bats in the World Series, led off the inning by appearing to get out of the way of a ball in the dirt.  But manager Gil Hodges convinced home plate umpire Lou DiMuro that Jones had been hit by the pitch, presenting a ball stained with shoe polish as evidence.  DiMuro agreed with Hodges, sending Jones to first.  Koosman, though, had an idea whose shoe polish was on the ball.

"(The ball) came to me," Koosman recalled.  "I wasn't sitting but a couple of yards from Gil and he says 'slide it on your shoe and throw it here' and I did it.  And he took it and he walked out to the umpire with it.  And there was shoe polish on the ball.  Whether it was mine or Cleon's is debatable.  I didn't have time to look (to see if there was shoe polish on it), it all happened so fast.  Hodges was way ahead of me.  He was a genius."

Hodges' quick thinking gave the Mets a base runner.  One batter later, it gave the Mets two runs, as Donn Clendenon followed Jones' phantom HBP with a lead-slicing home run.  As Koosman continued to mow down Orioles' hitters, the Mets proceeded to take apart the Orioles' pitchers.  Light-hitting Al Weis tied the game in the seventh with a rare home run.  The Mets then took the lead an inning later on a run-scoring double by Ron Swoboda and an an error by first baseman Boog Powell.  This time, Koosman wouldn't need relief help from Taylor, as he pitched a scoreless ninth, retiring Davey Johnson on a fly ball to Jones to end the game and give the Mets an improbable World Series victory.

The No. 2 pitcher in the Mets' rotation was No. 1 after defeating the Orioles.  (Walter Iooss Jr./Getty Images)

Alas, neither Koosman nor the team could repeat the success from 1969 in subsequent seasons, as the Mets won exactly 83 games in each year from 1970 to 1972.  Koosman dealt with nagging injuries in the first two seasons following the team's championship, missing three weeks in 1970 and over a month in 1971, then was relegated to the bullpen by new manager Yogi Berra after a poor start to the 1972 campaign.  After going 36-21 with a 2.18 ERA in his first two full seasons in the majors, Koosman was a disappointing 29-30 with a 3.41 ERA from 1970 to 1972.  Koosman entered the 1973 campaign determined to turn his career around.  It nearly took him the entire season, but Koosman kept his promise and delivered one of the most memorable stretch runs in franchise history.

The 1973 season began with Koosman almost being traded to the San Francisco Giants for slugger Dave Kingman, but general manager Joe McDonald turned down the deal because the Giants wanted Jon Matlack instead.  With Koosman still on the team, the Mets got off to a great start, going 12-8 in April and ending the month on a high note, as Koosman pitched a complete-game shutout in the month's final game.  The victory earned Koosman (4-0, 1.06 ERA in April) his first N.L. Player of the Month Award.  Koosman eventually ran his record to 5-0 before losing 14 of his next 17 decisions.  Once again, Koosman was victimized by poor run support during his rough patch, more so than any of his pitching brethren.  From May 27 to August 14, the Mets scored one run or fewer 25 times; 11 of those games were started by Koosman.  So if the Mets weren't going to score for Koosman, he would have to keep opposing hitters from circling the bases.  He did just that, and in doing so, helped the Mets go from last to first in the span of six weeks.

On August 19, the Mets were 12 games under .500 and bringing up the rear in the mediocre N.L. East.  Then Koosman defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1, with the Reds' only run scoring on an error.  After allowing the unearned run to cross the plate, Koosman proceeded to toss 31⅔ consecutive scoreless innings, setting a new franchise record that wouldn't be broken for nearly four decades.  As Koosman was putting up zeroes, the Mets were reeling off wins, and by the time Koosman allowed his next run on September 7, the Mets had leapfrogged over two teams and were just four games out of first place.  Incredibly, New York continued to win and chip away at the deficit.  When the Mets faced the first-place Pirates at Shea Stadium on September 20, they were just 1½ games out of first.  And that's when "The Ball on the Wall" became part of the Mets' lexicon, which of course, happened in a game started by Koosman.

Koosman pitched eight solid innings, allowing just one earned run and four hits, but got a no-decision because, you know, run support.  In the top of the 13th inning, the Mets kept the Pirates off the scoreboard when Cleon Jones fielded Dave Augustine's double off the top of the left field wall, then fired to shortstop Wayne Garrett, who made a perfect throw to catcher Ron Hodges to nail Richie Zisk at the plate.  Hodges then delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the frame.  A day later, the Mets completed the sweep of the Bucs to move into first place by half a game.

Once the Mets took over the lead in the N.L. East, they never gave it up, as Koosman made two starts in the season's final week and failed to allow an earned run in either of them.  For the second time in five seasons, the Mets were N.L. East champions, and Koosman was one of the main reasons why the team was playing in October again.  In his final ten starts, Koosman went 6-1 with a 1.30 ERA.  That included a start on September 11 in which he allowed six runs to the Phillies.  Take out that start - his only loss during the season's final six weeks - and his ERA was just 0.65.

The Mets' opponent in the NLCS was the Cincinnati Reds, who were attempting to win their third pennant in four seasons.  Koosman refused to be intimidated by the Big Red Machine, even after Pete Rose and Buddy Harrelson started a bench-clearing brawl at second base in the fifth inning.  Despite the long wait for the fight to settle and for the fans to stop throwing things at Rose when he took the field in the bottom of the fifth, Koosman was not rattled, allowing no runs and only two hits the rest of the way.  His complete-game victory gave him a 3-0 postseason record in four starts, with the Mets winning the game in which Koosman earned a no-decision.

The Reds could only watch from the dugout as Koosman defeated them in the NLCS.  (Focus On Sport/Getty Images)

The World Series against the Oakland A's did not have the happy ending the Mets were hoping for, as the Mets dropped the series in seven games.  Koosman started two of the three games won by New York in the series and put the Mets within a victory of the title pitching on short rest in Game Five.  The A's may have led the American League in runs scored in 1973, but none of that mattered to Koosman, who shut them out for 6⅓ innings in the critical fifth game.  Short rest clearly didn't affect Koosman in his Game Five victory.  The same could not be said for Seaver and Matlack, as both pitchers fell behind early in Games Six and Seven and the team couldn't recover.  Koosman could only watch from the bullpen, where he was warming up to come into Game Seven in relief had his manager deemed it necessary.

"I never got into that ballgame," Koosman said.  "That's the game I remember most, being in the bullpen and just so ready to come in."

The Mets needed seven wins in the 1973 postseason to win the championship.  They managed just six, with Koosman starting half of the team's victories.  In fact, between 1969 and 1973, Koosman made six postseason starts for the team.  The Mets won all six.  On a team with two former Rookie of the Year Award winners (Seaver, Matlack), it was Koosman who became their most dependable postseason pitcher.  A year later, he became the team's best pitcher.

With Seaver enduring the worst season of his eight-year career in 1974 (11-11, 3.20 ERA), it was Koosman who carried the load for the team, winning 15 games for the first time since 1969 and pitching a career-high 265 innings.  Unfortunately, the rest of the club couldn't follow Koosman's lead.  Kooz finished the year with a 15-11 record.  The team's other pitchers were a combined 56-80.  It was New York's first losing season since Koosman's rookie year.

The Mets recovered to win 82 games in 1975, winning the final game of the season to finish above .500.  Koosman had a strong finish for the team, pitching to a 2.41 ERA in his final ten appearances, which included two saves in a couple of rare relief efforts by the lefty.

In 1976, the Mets got off to a poor start and were out of contention by the middle of June.  On the morning of June 23, the Mets' record was 33-37 and they were 14½ games behind the first-place Phillies.  Koosman was also off to a mediocre start, as he was 6-6 with a 4.36 ERA.  But just as the Mets found their second wind as spring turned to summer, so did Koosman.  The Mets went 53-39 in their last 92 games, with Koosman being the team's main contributor, going 15-4 with a 1.79 ERA in 20 appearances (19 starts).  The year ended with the Mets winning 86 games - the second-highest total in franchise history at the time - and Koosman posting his first 20-win season.  Koosman finished the year with a 21-10 record, 2.69 ERA, 1.096 WHIP and a career-high 200 strikeouts.  But just as he did eight years earlier when he finished behind Johnny Bench in the Rookie of the Year vote, Koosman had to settle for second-best on the 1976 Cy Young Award ballot, as the Padres' Randy Jones took home the prize as the league's top pitcher, even though Koosman had a higher winning percentage, lower ERA and more than twice as many strikeouts as Jones had.

The 1976 season signified the last hurrah for Koosman and the Mets, as the dawn of the free agent era caused the team to count its pennies rather than use them to bring the top tier of talent to Flushing.  As a result, the team plummeted in the standings in 1977.  By the time the trade deadline arrived in mid-June, the Mets were ten games under .500 and mired in last place.  They were also a team of disgruntled players, as several veterans were becoming well aware that if they were going to continue playing in New York, they would have to do so earning far less money than if they were playing somewhere else.  Tom Seaver was the first to go.  He would be followed by Dave Kingman, who became a Met just two years earlier without the Mets having to trade Koosman or Matlack to acquire him.  Two months later, catcher Jerry Grote was dealt away, followed by Matlack and Harrelson during the off-season.  Needless to say, Koosman was not happy with the state of the Mets.

"How could they trade him?" Koosman said about his long-time pitching mate.  "Tom was one of the first, and after Tom we kept dropping like flies.  (General manager Joe) McDonald was making trades that just did not make sense.  We were not getting better.  We were getting worse.  It was like every general manager in the league was taking advantage of us."

"Pssst, Jerry.  We're trading you next."  (William N. Jacobellis/NY Post Archives)

Through all the tumult, Koosman remained, even though he had just followed up his first 20-win campaign with his first season of 20 losses.  Koosman finished the 1977 campaign with an 8-20 record, despite having a respectable 3.49 ERA and a league-leading 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings.  But on a team that finished dead last in batting average, on-base percentage, runs scored and home runs, it should come as no surprise that in 16 of Koosman's 20 losses, the Mets scored no more than two runs.

It was more of the same for Koosman in 1978, as he went 3-15 with a 3.75 ERA and watched his teammates score two runs or fewer in ten of the 15 defeats.  The pitcher who was second in the Rookie of the Year vote, second in the Cy Young balloting and second to Tom Seaver in virtually every pitching category didn't want to spend another second in New York.  At the conclusion of the 1978 campaign, Koosman demanded a trade back home to Minnesota and the Mets obliged, shipping him to the Twins for minor league pitcher Greg Field and a player to be named later, who ended up being Jesse Orosco.  Koosman's departure was bittersweet, but all parties involved ended up benefiting from the transaction.

"It was sad to leave New York, but New York was in a rebuilding process at the time," Koosman said.  "I wanted to move on and play for a club that had a chance to win."

Of course, Orosco became a mainstay in the Mets' bullpen for eight seasons and became as good a postseason pitcher for the Mets as Koosman was, winning three games in the 1986 NLCS and saving two others in that year's World Series, including the seventh and deciding game against the Boston Red Sox.  Koosman, meanwhile, had already retired before the Mets won their second championship, but not before he won 82 more games in the majors, including the second 20-win season of his career in 1979 while he was pitching for the Twins.  Koosman also made a return to the postseason in 1983 as a member of the Chicago White Sox, pitching one game in relief in the ALCS against the Baltimore Orioles.

In all, Koosman won 222 games in the majors, with 140 of them coming in a Mets uniform.  Only Seaver and Dwight Gooden ended their Mets careers with more.  Seaver, Koosman and Gooden are also the answer to just about every trivia question pertaining to the top three starting pitchers in franchise history.  But Seaver and Gooden were right-handed pitchers.  No discussion about the greatest left-handed pitchers in club annals can be had without Koosman being mentioned at the top.  The pitcher who was constantly No. 2 throughout his career with the Mets has no rival among southpaws.

Jerry Koosman played his first game with the Mets on a squad that would go on to lose over 100 games.  When Koosman played his final game in New York, he was on a team that nearly reached triple digits in losses.  In between, Koosman became the greatest postseason pitcher in franchise history despite playing for a team that provided him with very little offensive support.  Koosman also provided many key late-season moments that helped the team qualify for the playoffs.  And of course, Koosman never let anyone intimidate him, always pitching with ice in his veins and a fire in his heart.

With a career that lasted nearly two decades, including a dozen seasons in a Mets uniform, Koosman lived through all the highs and lows a player can experience in baseball, but one of those moments always stood out above the others.  That's what becoming a champion tends to do to a player.

"It is no doubt the highlight of my baseball life," Koosman said.  "Winning the World Series changes your life.  There's a closeness that comes from it, you're kind of like brothers to your teammates.  You have a much different relationship with them when you have that in common."

For a player who had become accustomed to being second-best, finishing on top made it all worthwhile.

Koosman and Seaver will always be linked, especially as champions.  (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Note: The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of the Mets was a thirteen-part weekly series (that's "was" - as in the past tense of "is" - because you just read the final installment) spotlighting those Mets players and personnel who experienced the best of times and the worst of times with the team.  For previous installments, please click on the names below:

January 2, 2017: Tom Seaver
January 9, 2017: Mike Piazza
January 16, 2017: Wally Backman
January 23, 2017: Daniel Murphy
January 30, 2017: Frank Cashen
February 6, 2017: Ed Kranepool
February 13, 2017: Doug Sisk
February 20, 2017: Joan Whitney Payson 
February 27, 2017: John Franco and Armando Benitez 
March 6, 2017: Dwight Gooden
March 13, 2017: Bobby Valentine
March 20, 2017: Jesse Orosco

 

The Most With The Least: Wayne Garrett (1969-76)

In the early 1980s, James Ingram sang, "I did my best, but I guess my best wasn't good enough."  The opening line from his hit song, "Just Once", referred to a relationship that continued to fail despite the repeated attempts to make it work.  The lyric could also apply to an infielder on the Mets who gave his best effort to the team for nearly eight full seasons, yet could never do enough to satisfy the club.

Although this player was equally adept at three infield positions (second base, shortstop and third base), the Mets already had two middle infielders starting most of their games in Ken Boswell and Bud Harrelson.  The team then acquired three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner Felix Millan to play second, leaving third base as the only position with a vacancy sign on it.

Despite having good pop and a tremendous eye at the plate, the Mets were still reluctant to give this young and talented player a longer look at third base.  As a result, the club made two ill-advised trades to acquire veteran players who were deemed better suited to handle the hot corner.  Neither third baseman panned out in New York, while the players they were traded for went on to become legends for their respective teams.  And while all this was happening, the player who was never trusted to play third base on a regular basis ended up having a solid career of his own - one that could have produced fantastic numbers had the team just had a little more faith in his abilities.

Wayne Garrett could have solved the third base conundrum, if only the Mets had noticed.  (Focus On Sport/Getty Images)

In 1965, Ronald Wayne Garrett, a 17-year-old infielder from Sarasota, Florida, was selected by the Milwaukee Braves in the sixth round of the inaugural June amateur draft.  A year later, the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta, just as Garrett was moving from one minor league affiliate to another.  Following the 1968 campaign - his fourth in the Braves' system - Garrett was scooped up by the New York Mets in the Rule 5 draft, which required him to stay on the Mets' 25-man roster for the entire 1969 season.

Even before Garrett took the field for the first time as a Met, the team had already set its sights on acquiring a regular third baseman in five-time All-Star Joe Torre.  But Mets general manager Johnny Murphy decided not to complete the deal with the Braves, as Atlanta GM Paul Richards was asking for outfielder Amos Otis and pitcher Nolan Ryan in return - a price Murphy considered too steep.  When their plans to acquire Torre fell through, the Mets decided to go with an assortment of players at third base, hoping to find one player who could stand out above the others.

Although Garrett was in the starting lineup as the Mets' third baseman more than any other player on the roster in 1969, he still only started 63 games at the position, as manager Gil Hodges used Ed Charles at the hot corner 45 times and Bobby Pfeil on 40 occasions.  The three players combined to produce a .222 batting average and .281 slugging percentage.  At a position known for power hitting, Garrett, Charles and Pfeil hit just four home runs between them in 780 at-bats.  But as the sole left-handed hitter among the three third basemen, Garrett got the nod to start at the hot corner in the National League Championship Series against the Braves, who used right-handed starting pitchers in all three games.  The move paid off for the Mets, as Garrett reached base seven times in the series, tying him for the team lead.  Garrett didn't just reach base often; he also reached base during key moments of the series.

In Game One, the Mets trailed the Braves, 5-4, as the teams moved to the eighth inning.  Garrett began the frame with a double off starting pitcher and future Hall of Famer Phil Niekro.  He then scored the tying run on a single by Cleon Jones.  Garrett's hit kicked off a five-run rally by the Mets, giving them a 9-5 lead, which became the final score an inning later.

Garrett contributed in several ways in Game Two, coaxing a walk from pitcher Ron Reed in the first inning, then participating in a double steal with Jones, which eventually led to the game's first run.  Two innings later, Garrett delivered an RBI single off reliever Paul Doyle to give the Mets a 6-0 lead.  In his next at-bat, Garrett doubled and scored to increase the lead to 9-1.  The extra runs were crucial, as the Braves rallied for five runs in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 9-6.  But the bullpen combo of Ron Taylor and Tug McGraw kept Atlanta off the scoreboard the rest of the way to seal the victory for the Mets.

The third game saw the series go back to New York, and Garrett saved his most clutch at-bat for the Shea faithful.  Trailing 4-3 in the fifth inning after Orlando Cepeda took Nolan Ryan deep for a two-run homer, Garrett returned the favor, blasting a go-ahead two-run shot of his own off Braves starter Pat Jarvis.  The Mets then tacked on two more runs to win the game and the series, with Garrett fielding a Tony Gonzalez grounder and throwing to first baseman Ed Kranepool for the pennant-clinching out.

Garrett's star turn in the NLCS didn't lead to many at-bats in the World Series, as the American League champion Orioles used left-handed starting pitchers in four of the five games.  But Garrett still reached base twice in four plate appearances in the Fall Classic to give him an impressive .357/.500/.714 slash line in the 1969 postseason.

This was one of Wayne Garrett's few at-bats in the 1969 World Series.  (Focus On Sport/Getty Images)

Despite Garrett's heroics in October, the Mets did not trust him to be the team's starting third baseman in 1970.  A year after not wanting to trade Amos Otis to the Braves for Joe Torre, general manager Johnny Murphy parted ways with the outfield prospect, sending Otis to the Kansas City Royals for third baseman Joe Foy.  Within six weeks of the deal, Murphy suffered two massive heart attacks and died.  The Mets' dreams of repeating as world champions, along with Foy's career, died as well in 1970.

Foy, who was never comfortable defensively at third base, committed 18 errors in 94 starts at the position for the Mets in 1970.  He also underachieved as a hitter, batting .236 with 12 doubles, six homers and 37 RBI in his one season in New York, after averaging 20 doubles, 13 homers, 61 RBI and a .250 batting average in his first four major league seasons.

While Foy was flushing away his career in Flushing, Garrett was continuing his development as a fine major league player.  Garrett started 67 games at third base and 34 games at second.  Despite collecting only 366 at-bats (just 44 more than Foy had in 1970), Garrett was third on the team in homers (12), second in runs scored (74), second in walks (81), fourth in slugging percentage (.421), third in OPS (.811) and he led the Mets with a .390 on-base percentage.  With the Mets losing Foy to the Washington Senators in the 1970 Rule 5 draft, Garrett's road to the starting third base position appeared to be free of obstacles.  That is, until the United States military came a-callin'.

Because of the ongoing conflict in Vietnam, Garrett was required to spend the first half of 1971 on active duty.  Once he completed his service, the Mets sent him to AAA-Tidewater, where he hit three home runs in 11 games.  With Garrett away, the Mets handed over the third base job to veteran Bob Aspromonte, who was the last member of the Brooklyn Dodgers to play in the majors (he had one at-bat for Brooklyn in 1956).  The 33-year-old Aspromonte - who was nearly ten years Garrett's senior - hadn't started more than 74 games at the hot corner in any season since 1967, but Hodges inserted him in the starting lineup at third base in 73 of the Mets' first 95 games.  Aspromonte was a disappointment as Garrett's fill-in, batting .244 with a .298 on-base percentage and grounding into as many double plays (12) as he had doubles (7) and homers (5) combined.  Just as disappointing was Wayne Garrett, who returned from Tidewater in late July to bat just .213 with one homer and 11 RBI in 235 plate appearances.

General manager Bob Scheffing, who took over for Johnny Murphy after his untimely passing, had grown impatient with the lack of production at third base.  Garrett's poor production despite having been away from baseball for several months while serving his country led Scheffing to make what many still consider to be the worst trade in franchise history, as he sent Nolan Ryan and three other players to the California Angels for shortstop Jim Fregosi, who had never played a single inning at third base in his 11 seasons with the Angels.  Scheffing assumed Fregosi could make a smooth transition from one infield position to another, yet failed to consider that Fregosi's offensive production in 1971 (.233, 5 HR, 33 RBI in 107 games) was eerily similar to what the Mets got from Aspromonte in the same campaign (.225, 5 HR, 33 RBI in 104 games).  Needless to say, Fregosi was a bust as a Met, while Ryan embarked on a Hall of Fame career as an Angel.

(Focus On Sport/Getty Images)

Garrett did not perform particularly well as the understudy to Fregosi in 1972, batting .232 with two homers and 29 RBI in 298 at-bats, but despite the low batting average, he still managed to lead the team with a .374 on-base percentage (Fregosi reached base at a relatively unimpressive .311 clip).  In doing so, Garrett accomplished something no other Met - past or present - has been able to match.  During the 1972 campaign, Garrett collected 69 hits and walked 70 times in 114 games, making him the only Mets player who played in at least 100 games to have more walks than hits.  The only players to come close to matching Garrett were Bud Harrelson in 1974 (75 hits, 71 walks in 106 games) and Ike Davis in 2013 (65 hits, 57 walks in 103 games).

When the 1973 season started, the Mets were four years removed from their world championship season and had yet to win more than 83 games or finish higher than third place in the division in any subsequent season.  Once again, the Mets turned to Fregosi at third base, with the veteran starting seven of the team's first eight games.  But by early May, Fregosi's batting average had dipped below .200, he had yet to produce a home run and he had driven in just three runs, all while striking out once every four at-bats.  Meanwhile, Wayne Garrett was off to a fantastic start, posting a .268/.388/.439 slash line in his first 99 plate appearances through the middle of May.  In early June, shortstop Bud Harrelson was placed on the disabled list with a fractured wrist, moving Fregosi to his natural position and allowing Garrett to become the team's everyday third baseman for the first time in his five-year career.  By late June, Fregosi was still not producing at the plate, causing the Mets to cut ties with the six-time All-Star by selling his contract to the Texas Rangers.

With Garrett finally entrenched as the team's starting third baseman, the 25-year-old produced his best season in the majors.  In July, Garrett reached base 50 times (31 hits, 19 walks) in 128 plate appearances and he also scored 19 runs while driving in a dozen.  Even though Garrett was finally enjoying personal success, the team was not, as the Mets found themselves in last place with a 58-70 record on August 26.  But on August 27, in the Mets' 6-5 victory over the San Diego Padres, Garrett reached base four times as the team's leadoff hitter and scored the run that gave the Mets a lead they never relinquished.  That win began a season-ending stretch in which the Mets went 24-9, overtaking every team in the N.L. East to win their second division title in five years.  A key reason for New York's surge from worst to first was the play of Wayne Garrett.

Beginning with his effort on August 27, Garrett started 30 of the Mets' final 33 games, producing an impressive .328/.415/.603 slash line.  Garrett collected 16 extra-base hits (seven doubles, two triples, seven homers) and scored 26 times during the five-week stretch.  He also drove in 18 runs - a phenomenal total for a leadoff hitter in such a short period of time.  On the defensive side, Garrett played a key role in the memorable "Ball On The Wall" play, which took place on September 20 against the first place Pittsburgh Pirates.  In the top of the 13rd inning, Bucs outfielder Dave Augustine hit a long fly ball that bounced off the top of the left field fence, staying in the park before it settled into the glove of left fielder Cleon Jones.  Jones then fired the ball to cutoff man Garrett, who had replaced Bud Harrelson at shortstop three innings earlier, and Garrett threw a perfect strike to catcher Ron Hodges to nail Richie Zisk at the plate.  The Mets won the game in the bottom of the 13th on an RBI single by Hodges and moved into first place the following night.  Less than two weeks later, they were crowned champions of the National League East.

Looking back at the pivotal play that helped propel the Mets into first place, Jones admitted that he knew the ball was not going to clear the left field fence, and credited Garrett's positioning as the cutoff man as the main reason why the Mets were able to retire Zisk at the plate.

"Luckily, Garrett was at short," said Jones.  "If Harrelson had been there, he would have taken the relay much further in the outfield and we would never have gotten Zisk."

YouTube video courtesy of Warren Zvon

In 1973, Garrett started 118 games at third base - the first time he started more than 70 games at the position.  Garrett produced career highs across the board, finishing the regular season with 20 doubles, 16 homers, 58 RBI and 74 runs scored.  He was either first, second or third on the team in almost every offensive category and finished fourth in the National League in assists by a third baseman (280) and second in double plays turned (36) despite not starting at the hot corner in 43 of the team's 161 games played.

Garrett's second trip to the postseason wasn't as productive as his first, as he reached base just twice in 24 plate appearances against the Cincinnati Reds.  But he made up for it in the World Series, reaching base ten times in the seven-game loss to the Oakland A's.  Garrett homered off Vida Blue in Game Two and led off Game Three with a home run against future Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter.  But he also made the final out of the Fall Classic, popping out to shortstop Bert Campaneris with two runners on base when a third home run of the series would have tied the game.

After a disappointing end to the 1973 season, Garrett went into the 1974 campaign knowing he was the everyday third baseman for the first time in his career.  Garrett started a career-high 136 games at third in 1974, but the team suffered through its first losing season since 1968 - when Garrett was still bouncing around in the Braves' organization.  Garrett continued to be one of the Mets' more productive players at the plate (13 HR, 53 RBI, 89 walks), but his teammates were not as successful with a bat in their hands, as the Mets finished the season at or near the bottom of the league in many offensive categories.

Although Garrett had proven himself to be a capable third baseman and one of the better offensive players on the team in 1973 and 1974, the front office felt the Mets needed to upgrade their offense, acquiring power-hitting Dave Kingman to play left field and 15-year veteran Joe Torre to play third base - the same Joe Torre who could have been a Met six years earlier had the Mets wanted to part ways with Amos Otis and Nolan Ryan.

Once again, Garrett stood to lose playing time to a more experienced player and once again, Garrett's replacement did not perform well.  Just four years removed from his MVP season in which he led the league in batting average (.363) and RBI (137), Torre had the worst full season of his career, batting a career-low .247.  Torre's six home runs ended a streak of 12 consecutive seasons in which he reached double digits in homers.  He also managed just 35 RBI in 400 plate appearances, or more than 100 fewer than he had during his MVP campaign.

What made Torre's acquisition seem like more of a bust was that Garrett - who was never a high-average hitter - produced a higher batting average (.266) than Torre.  Garrett also matched Torre in homers and finished just one RBI short of Torre's total, even though Garrett had nearly 100 fewer at-bats than Torre did in 1975.  And for the third time in his seven seasons with the team, Garrett led the Mets in on-base percentage, this time with a robust .379 mark.

Wayne Garrett poses with The Coop and Joey Beartran in 2011.  (Photo by Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

In 1976, the Mets posted the second-highest win total in franchise history, going 86-76 under new manager Joe Frazier.  But Garrett was long gone before the team got to celebrate its successful season.  After starting 58 of the team's first 90 games at third base, Garrett was traded to the Montreal Expos, ending his long career with the Mets.  At the time of the trade, Garrett was among the team leaders in runs scored and walks, but he was only hitting .223 and had produced just four homers - his lowest total in four years.  Although Garrett did not believe the Mets would trade him, he knew his lack of production wasn't doing him any favors.

"I am surprised, certainly, but it hasn't been a good year for me," said Garrett.  "I guess that was the reason (for the trade)."

Garrett played nearly eight seasons with the Mets, reaching the postseason twice.  His three postseason homers have been surpassed by just seven Mets players (through 2015) and only eight Mets have walked more times in the playoffs than Garrett, who drew nine bases on balls in 17 career postseason games.  When he played his final game for the Mets in 1976, Garrett ranked among the team's all-time leaders in several offensive categories, despite starting more than 70 games at his familiar third base position in just two of his eight seasons with the team.  Garrett was fifth in hits (667), eighth in doubles (93), tied for fourth in triples (20), ninth in homers (55), sixth in RBI (295), fourth in runs scored (389), fourth in stolen bases (33) and second in walks (482).  Through the 2015 season, Garrett still ranks in the team's all-time top thirty in hits, triples, RBI and runs scored.  He's also in the top twenty in games played (883; 16th), on-base percentage (.348; 19th) and WAR (13.9; 19th).  And only David Wright, Darryl Strawberry, Bud Harrelson and Howard Johnson drew more walks in their Mets careers than Garrett.

Despite the Mets' best efforts to replace him at third base with players such as Joe Foy, Jim Fregosi and Joe Torre, Garrett ended up playing 711 games at the position for the Mets, while Foy, Fregosi and Torre combined to play just 287 games at the hot corner.  To this day, only David Wright and Howard Johnson have played more games at third than Garrett.

Wayne Garrett probably would have liked to play more for the Mets, but the team always felt there was someone better suited to play third base.  After not wanting to part ways with Amos Otis and Nolan Ryan for third baseman Joe Torre in 1969, the Mets eventually did trade away both players in separate deals for two third basemen who both flopped in Flushing.  Otis went on to become a five-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and had four top-ten finishes in the MVP vote, while Ryan became the greatest strikeout pitcher and no-hit artist of all-time, eventually being inducted in the Hall of Fame and having his number retired by every team he played for after he left the Mets.

In Matthew Silverman's book, "Swinging '73: Baseball's Wildest Season", Garrett explained how he never changed his approach to playing the game even as the Mets were constantly trying to change the identity of their starting third baseman.

Image courtesy of Topps

"I would just go out and play.  I'd play every game the same, as hard as I could. ... I can't go out and make demands.  They're the ones that make the choices as to who plays and who doesn't play.  I'd just do the best that I could and if they wanted to play me at third base, then I'd play third base."

For nearly eight full seasons, Wayne Garrett did his best for a team that always seemed ready to replace him.  But the Mets constantly wanted the next best thing at third base instead of using a player they already had.  And through it all, Garrett just kept on chugging, making his way up the Mets' all-time leader board even as the team kept sitting him on the bench more often than he probably deserved.

The team lost so much when it traded away Amos Otis and Nolan Ryan.  Imagine what the Mets could have gained had they just noticed that the solution to their third base conundrum was wearing No. 11 the whole time.


Note:  The Most With The Least was a thirteen-part weekly series (that's "was" - as in the past tense of "is" - because you just read the final installment) spotlighting those Mets players who performed at a high level without receiving the accolades or playing time their more established teammates got, due to injuries, executive decisions or other factors.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 4, 2016: Benny Agbayani
January 11, 2016: Donn Clendenon
January 18, 2016: Tim Teufel
January 25, 2016: Hisanori Takahashi
February 1, 2016: Chris Jones
February 8, 2016: Claudell Washington
February 15, 2016: Moises Alou
February 22, 2016: Pat Zachry
February 29, 2016: Art Shamsky
March 7, 2016: Mark Carreon
March 14, 2016: Jose Valentin
March 21, 2016: Pat Mahomes

The Most With The Least: Donn Clendenon (1969-70)

Every player goes through a slump at some point in his career.  But some slumps last longer than others and can alter the course of a player's career.  Take, for example, the case of Dick Stuart - a promising young first baseman who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Stuart was a great power hitter who averaged 37 HR and 119 RBI per 162 games played during his first four seasons in the majors.  His middle-of-the-order presence helped the Pirates win the World Series in 1960 - just his third year in the big leagues.  His best season came in 1961, when he made the National League All-Star squad and batted .301 with 35 HR and 117 RBI.  But a year later, he slumped badly, batting a measly .228 and hitting just 16 homers.  His poor production coupled with his shoddy fielding - he wasn't nicknamed "Dr. Strangeglove" for nothing - led to a trade to the Boston Red Sox following the 1962 campaign.

Backing up Stuart at first base in 1962 was a more well-rounded athlete who had already toiled in the minors for parts of six seasons.  Between 1961 and 1962, he played 89 games at the major league level before settling in as the Pirates' regular first baseman in 1963.  But the same slump that ended Stuart's tenure with the Pirates also affected his replacement, except that his slump lasted for two full seasons and threatened to end his career.  But a change of scenery, followed by a change of his role on the field caused a renaissance of this player's career, one that would take him down the road to a championship and to become an unlikely team record-holder.

The Mets needed Donn Clendenon in the worst way when they acquired him in 1969.  (AP Photo)

Donn Alvin Clendenon played nine games with the defending World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates in 1961, followed by an 80-game stint in 1962.  During his 89-game role as Dick Stuart's backup, he made solid contact (.304 batting average), was patient at the plate (.379 on-base percentage), showed power potential (22 extra-base hits) and even had a little speed (16 stolen bases).  Most importantly, he wasn't an embarrassment on the field when he traded in his bat for a glove, unlike Stuart, who probably wished the designated hitter had already entered the baseball lexicon.

Although Clendenon didn't possess the brute strength Stuart had, he still put up solid numbers from 1963 to 1965, averaging 28 doubles, 10 triples, 14 homers, 72 RBI and 14 stolen bases per season.  He then had a breakout year in 1966, batting .299 with 28 home runs and 98 RBI.  He also boasted a .520 slugging percentage and .878 OPS, both of which placed him in the National League's top ten for the 1966 season.

But Clendenon's production at the plate dropped off dramatically in 1967, as he produced a .249/.298/.370 slash line and saw his OPS drop by more than 200 points (.668).  The following season saw just a slight recovery in his numbers (.257/.309/.399) but also saw Clendenon strike out a whopping 163 times, which was the highest single-season total ever posted by a National League hitter up until that point.

Pittsburgh decided to part ways with the 33-year-old Clendenon at the conclusion of the 1968 campaign, exposing him to the expansion draft, where he was selected by the Montreal Expos with their sixth pick.  Three months after the draft, Clendenon was traded to the Houston Astros for Rusty Staub, but Clendenon refused to report to Houston.  The Astros had just hired Clendenon's former manager in Pittsburgh - Harry Walker - to be their new skipper and Clendenon did not have an amicable relationship with Walker, to say the least.  Clendenon also did not view Houston as a favorable city for him to play in, as many businesses were still using racist tactics against African-Americans.  With Clendenon refusing to leave the Expos to go to Houston, Montreal sent two other players (including future All-Star and World Series champion Jack Billingham) plus $100,000 to the Astros in lieu of Clendenon to complete the trade.

Clendenon's change of scenery from Pittsburgh to Montreal did not change his production at the plate.  His breakout 1966 campaign appeared to be his career year, as he batted just .240 with four homers and 14 RBI during his first two months with the Expos.  Clendenon appeared to be washed up just weeks before his 34th birthday.  That is, until Mets manager Gil Hodges came calling for his services.

"Are you there, Donn?  It's me, Gil."  (Herb Scharfman/Getty Images)

Back in 1964, Clendenon had sought out Hodges in an attempt to improve his fielding.  After watching Dick Stuart botch his way out of Pittsburgh with every bobble he made at first base, Clendenon knew he had to be a stalwart at the position, and so he contacted Hodges - the winner of the first three Gold Glove awards handed out to first basemen for defensive excellence - for advice on how not to fall into the same defensive traps Stuart got caught in.  Five years later, it was Hodges who wanted assistance from Clendenon.

By mid-June in 1969, the Mets had established themselves as a surprise contender in the National League East.  New York was coming off a franchise-record 11-game winning streak and was looking to upgrade an offense that had scored three runs or less in 35 of their first 57 games.  The team was also looking for a right-handed hitter who could complement the lefty-swinging Ed Kranepool at first base.  Kranepool had a torrid start in 1969, batting .324 with 16 RBI in his first 22 games, but he batted just .204 over his next 27 contests.  Kranepool's backup at the time was Cleon Jones, who started 12 games at the position over the season's first two months.  But Jones was a natural outfielder and had not played first base in his career prior to the 1969 campaign.  Hodges needed a natural first baseman to play against left-handed pitchers to allow Jones to play his preferred defensive position and give Kranepool more time to figure out how to regain his hitting stroke.  Hodges found his man on June 15, as the Mets sent four players and a player to be named later to the Expos for Donn Clendenon.

One of the problems Clendenon had during his final years in Pittsburgh and his short stay in Montreal was that he was being counted on to be an everyday player.  Clendenon was a month shy of his 34th birthday when he was traded to the Mets.  He was already past his prime when he slumped for two and a half seasons.  But he could still hit left-handed starters extremely well (.309/.364/.489 vs. LHP in 1967 and 1968).  Hodges realized that and rested him against most right-handed pitchers.  And the results were spectacular.

Clendenon played in 72 games for the Mets following the trade, making 46 starts.  His overall production as a Met was good (.252, 12 HR, 37 RBI), but he was absolutely spectacular against left-handed pitching, posting a .318/.384/.557 slash line against southpaws.  Clendenon's presence in the lineup was the boost the Mets desperately needed, as the team scored four or more runs in 26 of his 46 starts.  Most importantly, the team was 32-14 in Clendenon's starts, which helped them pass the Chicago Cubs to win their first division title.

With the Atlanta Braves using nothing but right-handed starting pitchers in the National League Championship Series, Clendenon did not see any action in the Mets' three-game sweep of the Braves.  But that changed in the World Series against the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles, as the Mets were set to face left-handed starters Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally in four of the first five games.  Clendenon took advantage of his playing time in the Fall Classic, going 2-for-4 with a double in the Mets' Game One loss.  He then homered off McNally in the Mets' 2-1 victory in Game Two and continued his long ball assault on the Orioles' lefty starters in Games Four and Five.

Clendenon's second-inning homer off Cuellar was the only run the Mets scored in the first nine innings of Game Four - a game the Mets won in the tenth.  Then, with the Mets down 3-0 to the Orioles in the sixth inning of Game Five, Clendenon hit a two-run blast against McNally immediately after Cleon Jones - the man he essentially replaced as the team's right-handed hitting first baseman - was famously hit by a pitch on his shoe.  New York scored three more runs to win the game and the series, with Clendenon (.357/.438/1.071) winning the World Series Most Valuable Player award, an honor he felt was more about his teammates than any one individual.

"There is no most valuable player on this team --- we've got lots of them."

--Donn Clendenon, following the 1969 World Series




Clendenon made the most of his playing time for the Mets in 1969, and that continued into the 1970 campaign, when he had one of the most productive seasons in franchise history for an everyday player who didn't quite play every day.

Continuing to use his successful platoon system, Gil Hodges started Clendenon in just 96 of the team's 162 games in 1970.  As a result, Clendenon produced only 396 official at-bats in his first full season as a Met, which probably cost him a chance to be an All-Star for the first time.  Through games of July 9, Clendenon started just 37 games, but batted .331 with 10 HR and 37 RBI in 163 at-bats.

Clendenon entered the month of August still wielding a hot bat, as evidenced by his .316 batting average, .561 slugging percentage and his club-record seven-RBI game on July 28 against the San Francisco Giants.  As a result, Hodges felt the need to give Clendenon more opportunities to start, even against right-handed pitching, especially with the Mets in contention for a second straight division title.

The Mets were in first place by half a game over the Pirates and held a two-game lead over the third-place Cubs as the calendar turned from July to August.  Clendenon started 51 of the team's final 60 games and carried the team on his back.  His 29 RBI in August set a club record for the month which was not surpassed until 1998, when Mike Piazza drove in 30 runs in the month of August.  (Through 2015, only seven Mets players have driven in more than 29 runs in any calendar month.  Besides Piazza, the list includes Tommie Agee, Dave Kingman, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter, Howard Johnson and Carlos Beltran.)

Clendenon followed up his hot August with a solid September, driving in another 21 runs in the season's final month.  In doing so, he became the first Met to have back-to-back months with 20+ RBI and the first to drive in 50 or more runs over a two-month period.  (Through the 2015 campaign, only Gary Carter, Mike Piazza and Carlos Beltran have joined Clendenon as players who drove in 50+ runs over two consecutive calendar months.)

Although the Mets fell short in their quest to return to the postseason, finishing six games behind the eventual N.L. East champion Pirates, Clendenon finally had a return to his prior glory.  Despite having fewer than 400 at-bats, Clendenon produced 22 homers and 97 RBI, breaking Frank Thomas's team record for RBI in a single season.  Clendenon also batted .288 and had a .515 slugging percentage - only the second time in his career he had surpassed the .500 mark in slugging percentage - becoming the first Met to play at least 100 games and slug over .500 in the same season.

AP Photo

One of the most overlooked numbers in Clendenon's 1970 campaign was the Mets' record in his starts.  When Clendenon was in the starting lineup, the team went 52-44.  When he wasn't, the team was 31-35.  A few more starts earlier in the season could have given Clendenon his first 100-RBI campaign.  More importantly, it could have given the Mets the few extra wins they needed to repeat as division champions.  Voters for the National League MVP award certainly noticed how valuable Clendenon was to the Mets when he was in the starting lineup, as he finished 13th in the MVP vote, ahead of teammates Tommie Agee, Buddy Harrelson and Tom Seaver and just seven votes behind his former Pirate teammate, Roberto Clemente.  It was the only time in Clendenon's 12-year career that he received consideration as the league's most valuable player.

Clendenon played one more season with the Mets in 1971, but by then, the 36-year-old's skills had begun to fade.  Clendenon batted .247 with 11 homers and 37 RBI in 88 games and was subsequently released by the Mets at the conclusion of the season.  He played his final year in the big leagues as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1972, batting .191 with just nine RBI in 61 games for the Redbirds.

After playing parts of two seasons in Pittsburgh in 1961 and 1962, Donn Clendenon became an everyday player for the Pirates in 1963, turning in four solid seasons as a member of the Bucs.  However, two poor campaigns led to Pittsburgh cutting ties with the once-promising slugger after the 1968 season, just as they had done with his predecessor at first base once his skills eroded.  Their inability to notice that Clendenon was better served as a part-time player who could mash left-handed pitching led directly to his acquisition by the Mets to do just that.

Gil Hodges used Clendenon just enough to help the team win the World Series in 1969 and then used him as much as he could in a failed attempt to get them back to the promised land.  Hodges, who once helped Clendenon become a better fielder in 1964, helped him become a better hitter five years later, and lengthened the career of a player who was thought to be washed up following the 1968 campaign.

In parts of three seasons with the Mets, Donn Clendenon came up to the plate less than 1,000 times.  But he made the most of those scattered trips, winning a World Series most valuable player award and setting the franchise record for RBI in a single season.  When the Mets acquired Clendenon, it was the first baseman who won a chance to revive his career.  But when the Mets played Clendenon, it was the team who had the best chance of winning.

Donn Clendenon may not have gotten the most playing time during his short tenure with the Mets, but he certainly gave the most of his ability, allowing the team to remain contenders for the postseason after several years of just being playoff pretenders prior to his arrival in New York.


Note:  The Most With The Least is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets players who performed at a high level without receiving the accolades or playing time their more established teammates got, due to injuries, executive decisions or other factors.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 4, 2016: Benny Agbayani

One Mo-MET In Time: Al Weis

Baseball does not discriminate when it comes to players of all shapes and sizes.  Babe Ruth was powered by hot dogs instead of hormones, yet still became a legendary home run hitter who also pitched and hit for a high average.  On the other end of the spectrum, players like Freddie Patek and Jose Altuve were vertically challenged - neither measured more than 5' 6" tall - but were not challenged by much else on a baseball diamond, as Patek was a three-time All-Star in the 1970s and Altuve won a batting title and a Silver Slugger award in 2014.

Of course, a man of Ruth's size hitting majestic home runs is not really considered far-fetched.  Similarly, smaller players like Patek and Altuve stroking singles and stealing bases (both players won stolen base titles) are not beyond the scope of anyone's imagination.

But what happens when a player accomplishes something noteworthy on the field that his body is not built for?  And what happens when that player achieves his unlikely feat on the biggest stage of them all?  It happened to one particular member of the Mets in 1969, and his unexpected performance helped the team win its first championship.

Al Weis touched us all when he touched them all in the 1969 World Series.  (Getty Images)

Albert John Weis was originally signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1959 as a rail-thin middle infielder, making his debut with the Pale Hose three years later.  Although Weis was a switch-hitter and solid defensive player, he had trouble cracking the White Sox lineup, even after club legends and future Hall of Famers Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox had left the team.

Only once did Weis manage more than 210 at-bats with the White Sox in parts of six seasons, as he was used mostly as a pinch-runner and late-inning defensive replacement.  From 1962 to 1967, Weis started just 247 of the 521 games he played in, and once the South Siders reacquired Aparicio from the Baltimore Orioles following the 1967 campaign, the writing was on the wall for Weis.  He was no longer needed.

On December 15, 1967, just two weeks after the White Sox brought back Aparicio, Weis and future World Series hero Tommie Agee were traded to the Mets for Tommy Davis, Jack Fisher, Billy Wynne and Buddy Booker.  Weis, whose final year in Chicago was shortened by a knee injury suffered in a collision with Frank Robinson, was finally going to get the opportunity to start with the Mets under first-year manager Gil Hodges.

Hodges had great faith in Weis, despite his anemic .172 batting average in 301 plate appearances during his first year in New York.  But with a young pitching staff, Hodges needed the dependable up-the-middle defense provided by Weis in more than just late-inning situations.  As a result, Weis started 77 of the 90 games he participated in - by far the greatest percentage of his career.

Weis "improved" his batting average to .215 in 1969, but also collected a career-high 13 extra-base hits in 247 at-bats.  Weis split his time between the two middle infield positions, filling in admirably for regular shortstop Bud Harrelson when Harrelson's military duties caused him to miss several weeks during the summer.

From June 25 to July 20, Weis started 25 consecutive games at shortstop, batting .259 with eight extra-base hits and 14 RBI in just 85 at-bats.  During that stretch, Weis collected his only two home runs of the season, with both coming against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.  The extra-base bonanza was particularly surprising, especially when considering that Weis had collected only 43 extra-base hits in 1,420 lifetime plate appearances prior to his month-long residence at shortstop.  Just four of those 43 extra-base hits were home runs, and all came on the road.  Incredibly, Weis never hit a home run in Chicago as a member of the White Sox.  But he hit two in back-to-back games in the Windy City as a member of the Mets.

Once Harrelson returned from his military obligations, Weis went back to filling in wherever Hodges needed him, playing 28 games at second, 17 contests at short, pinch-running ten times and even making a cameo appearance for one inning at third base.  This continued into the postseason, as Weis appeared as a pinch-runner in Game One of the inaugural National League Championship Series and also played second base during the late innings of the Mets' three-game sweep over the Atlanta Braves.  But once the World Series began, Hodges went with a strict platoon at second base, playing lefty hitter Ken Boswell against right-handed pitchers and switch-hitter Weis against southpaws.  That meant Weis would start Games One and Two against Baltimore's magnificent lefties, Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally.

Given the opportunity to perform on the game's largest stage, Weis thrived.  He drove in the Mets' only run in their Game One loss, then produced the game-winning hit in Game Two when he delivered an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning that scored Ed Charles with the tie-breaking run.

Right-hander Jim Palmer started Game Three when the series shifted to Shea Stadium, allowing Hodges to start Boswell at second base in the Mets' 5-0 victory, but Orioles manager Earl Weaver went back to the dynamic duo of Cuellar and McNally for Games Four and Five.  That meant Boswell was back on the bench and Weis was manning second base.  It was a decision that would pay dividends in the most unexpected way.

In the critical Game Four, Weis delivered two hits in his first three at-bats, then came up to the plate in the tenth inning of a 1-1 game with no outs and Rod Gaspar on second base.  Gaspar was in the game as a pinch-runner for catcher Jerry Grote, who had led off the inning with a double.  Weis had already reached base in eight of his first 12 at-bats in the World Series.  It became nine of 13 when he was intentionally walked by Orioles reliever Dick Hall.  The free pass ended Tom Seaver's day after ten strong innings - Seaver was due to bat after Weis - and set up a potential rally-killing double play.  But Baltimore never recorded another out in the inning, as pinch-hitter J.C. Martin dropped a bunt that new pitcher Pete Richert fielded and threw into Martin's wrist.  The error allowed Gaspar to score the winning run.  It also allowed the Mets to potentially end the World Series the following day at Shea Stadium.

After scoring a total of two runs in the previous three games, the Orioles put up a three-spot against Mets starter Jerry Koosman in the third inning of Game Five.  A two-run homer in the sixth inning by Donn Clendenon (which followed Cleon Jones's infamous Shoe Polish incident) cut Baltimore's lead to a single run.  Koosman then retired the Orioles in order in their half of the seventh inning.  Al Weis was due to lead off the bottom of the seventh against Dave McNally.  What happened next was something Weis had never done before and never did again.

Video courtesy of MLB.com's YouTube channel

With Dave McNally clearly still reeling from the events of the previous inning, Weis surprised everyone in the ballpark by hitting a game-tying home run into the left field bleachers - the first and only time he ever went deep in front of his home fans.  The 57,397 fans at Shea Stadium went crazy, and broadcaster Lindsey Nelson also showed disbelief at what had unfolded before his eyes.

"The Mighty Mite has become the hitting star of the World Series for the New York Mets," said Nelson in response to Weis's heroics.  "That is his fifth hit in this World Series."

Although the Mets had not yet taken the lead, the Orioles' confidence had left them almost as quickly as Weis's ball left the yard.  And once Ron Swoboda delivered the go-ahead run an inning later, followed by a run-producing error by first baseman Boog Powell, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the Mets were going to win the World Series, which is exactly what they did once Cleon Jones squeezed Davey Johnson's long fly ball on the edge of the left field warning track.

Although Clendenon received a trophy and a new car as the MVP of the 1969 World Series, batting .357 and clubbing three of the team's six Fall Classic homers, Weis received the lesser known Babe Ruth Award, which was given out by the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America to their World Series' most valuable player.

Prior to the trade that sent Al Weis and Tommie Agee to New York, the Mets had never won more than 66 games in a season.  Although the Mets surpassed 70 wins for the first time in 1968, both Weis and Agee had subpar seasons, combining to hit .198 with only 27 extra-base hits in 642 at-bats.  But both players rebounded in 1969, contributing greatly to the Mets' unexpected success.

Al Weis hit seven regular season home runs during his ten-year major league career.  Two of them came in 1969 in back-to-back games against the Chicago Cubs, the team the Mets had to pass in their quest for the division title.  None of the seven came in his home park - not at White Sox Park (as Comiskey Park was known from 1962 to 1975) and not at Shea Stadium.  The only home run Weis ever hit at home did not occur during the regular season.  Rather, it took place in a World Series-clinching game.

The Mets were trailing the Orioles by a run in the bottom of the seventh inning and were facing the prospect of returning to Memorial Stadium in Baltimore for a potential Game Six.  But once Weis delivered his jaw-dropping blast, the Mets never trailed again.  The next time the Mets would get together after Game Five would not be in Baltimore, but in the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan to celebrate their miraculous championship with a ticker tape parade.

Donn Clendenon and Al Weis celebrate after both hit home runs to erase Baltimore's three-run lead.  (NY Times photo)

Al Weis wasn't acquired by the Mets for his bat.  In fact, the Long Island native was one of the worst hitters in franchise history.  His .191 batting average and .253 slugging percentage in 714 plate appearances with the Mets were both lower than Dwight Gooden's figures in the same categories.  (Doc produced a .197 batting average and .260 slugging percentage in 837 plate appearances as a Met.)

No other position player with as many plate appearances as Weis batted lower than .219 (Duffy Dyer and Dave Kingman both produced that mark) and no other non-pitcher slugged lower than .275 (Roy McMillan flexed his muscles to put up that number).

But somehow, Weis led the Mets with a .455 batting average in the 1969 World Series and hit one of the biggest home runs in franchise history in the Fall Classic.  The home run in Game Five off Orioles starter Dave McNally was not a first for Weis, as he had taken McNally deep before as a member of the White Sox in 1964.  However, it was the first time he had ever homered while wearing his home whites.  It was also the last time he ever hit a ball out of his home ballpark.

In a year full of miracles, Al Weis saved the best miracle for last.  The 1969 Mets had to contend with players leaving for military training, black cats running on the field and baseballs stained with shoe polish.  They also had to contend with the Chicago Cubs during the regular season, the Atlanta Braves during the National League Championship Series and the 109-win Baltimore Orioles in the Fall Classic.  The Mets vanquished all of those threats mostly with quality pitching.  But on occasion, they needed to pull a rabbit out of their hat to help them reach the pinnacle of the baseball world.  And sometimes, that rabbit was in the form of a mighty mite named Al Weis.

Some players have the bodies to hit towering home runs.  Others are built to be scrappy players - players who don't have all the talents required to succeed on the baseball field, but will always find a way to beat you.  For ten seasons, Al Weis was a 160-pound scrappy utility player - the prototypical good-field, no-hit middle infielder.  But on one magical day at Shea Stadium, Weis was so much more than that.  He may not have had the body to hit many home runs throughout his career.  But his body of work will always have that wonderful moment in time when he showed that even the littlest player can come up with the biggest hit.

"I had an average career in the majors as a utility man.  But I had two good weeks of baseball and they came in the 1969 World Series."

--Al Weis, 1969 World Series champion




Note:  One Mo-MET In Time is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets players who will forever be known for a single moment, game or event, regardless of whatever else they accomplished during their tenure with the Mets.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 5, 2015: Mookie Wilson 
January 12, 2015: Dave Mlicki
January 19, 2015: Steve Henderson 
January 26, 2015: Ron Swoboda
February 2, 2015: Anthony Young
February 9, 2015: Tim Harkness
February 16, 2015: Kenny Rogers, Aaron Heilman, Tom Glavine
February 23, 2015: Mike Vail
March 2, 2015: Matt Franco
March 9, 2015: Shawn Estes
March 16, 2015: Dae-Sung Koo