Thirty Years of Opening Days

Home sweet home.  (Photo by Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

 

For the first time in over 18 months, Citi Field opened its gates today for baseball-starved fans.  And just like they did on September 29, 2019, the Mets sent their fans home happy after walking off with a win.  Back then, the celebration came on a three-run homer by Dominic Smith.  Today, it was a combination of a Jeff McNeil game-tying birthday blast followed by a bizarre hit-by-pitch of Michael Conforto with the bases loaded.  The Mets scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Miami Marlins in the home opener by a score of 3-2.

Today's win marked the 30th consecutive Opening Day game that I attended in which fans were allowed in the building.  And the victory came thirty years to the day of my first home opener.

I've had many memorable moments throughout those three decades of Opening Day affairs.  I've seen a franchise's first game in 1993 when the Mets defeated the Colorado Rockies, 3-0.  Two years later, I saw the Mets erase a five-run deficit when I wasn't watching fans running on the field throwing dollar bills at players in New York's first home game after the eight-month players' strike.  I've also witnessed the fielding excellence of Rey Ordoñez in a 1996 Opening Day victory and saw Alberto Castillo's sole magical moment as a Met in a 1-0, 14-inning win two years later.  Two National League pennants have been raised with me in attendance and a new ballpark opened its doors with yours truly cheering the Mets on.

But my first home opener took place on April 8, 1991, exactly 30 years ago today.  And that one was special for more than just a Mets victory.  You see, that trip to the ballpark was also my first date.  And what better place to take someone special than Shea Stadium to see Mets legends Tommy Herr, Charlie O'Brien and new shortstop Howard Johnson taking the field against Von Hayes and the Philadelphia Phillies.  In fact, that game was more than just a first date; it also began an Opening Day tradition that has continued to this day. 

 

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I love my wife.  And I met her at a Mets game.  True story.  She was a blogger, as was I, and we were both going to "Build-A-Bear Night" at Citi Field on August 1, 2009.  So we decided to meet up on the Promenade Level before the game.  Of course, we had our new bears in tow, and I had a few other bears with me.  We talked about bears and the Mets, then saw the game separately from our regular seats.

Later that month, we went to our first game together.  Naturally, the bears were our chaperones.  We met up a few more times during the season's final month.  Then I asked her what she was doing during the off-season.  Notice I didn't say "during the winter" because to a Mets fan, there are only two seasons - baseball season and the off-season.  Well, that phrasing struck a chord with her.  Needless to say, what we did during the off-season was spend more time together and fall in love.  The following May, we got married, then waited two months to go on our honeymoon in San Francisco.  Why the wait?  Because the Mets weren't due to play the Giants on the road until July.  Yup, I gave her a diamond AFTER we got married.

I never said we were a conventional couple.

Almost 20 years before I met the love of my life, I went on my first-ever date.  The day was April 8, 1991, and my date's name was K.V.  (I'm using her initials in case she's reading this and doesn't want to be associated with a bear-carrying Mets fanatic.)  Most people go to the movies or dinner or a combination of the two on a first date.  Not me.  Where did I take K.V. on our date?  Like you need to ask...

It was Opening Day.  So we went to Shea Stadium.

The temperature that day was an unseasonably hot 90º.  At the time, it was the earliest date on the calendar that New York had ever registered a 90º reading.  We were both undergraduates at St. John's University, finishing up our sophomore years.  Her mother worked in the school library, so I had already gotten that first meeting with her out of the way.  We actually went to visit K.V.'s mother prior to leaving for Shea, at which time she told us to have a good time and stay out of the sun, if at all possible.

The Mets were fielding a brand-new team in 1991 as they embarked on what the team hoped would be its eighth consecutive winning season.  But this would also be the first time since 1983 that Davey Johnson wouldn't come out of the dugout during the Opening Day introductions, as Buddy Harrelson had taken over for the former skipper during the previous season.

K.V. confessed to me that it was her first baseball game as we proceeded to sit in our Upper Deck seats on the first base side.  I confessed to her that it was my first-ever date with anyone, to which she said, "Awww, and you chose me.  I'm so honored."

As the game began, I noticed that four of the starting nine players on the Mets had not been with the team at the beginning of the previous campaign.  Charlie O'Brien was calling the game behind the plate, while former Cardinal nemeses Tommy Herr and Vince Coleman were the Mets' new second baseman and center fielder, respectively.  Right field used to be where Darryl Strawberry had his patch, but he had left for Los Angeles as a free agent.  In his stead was a player who was very special to long-time Mets fans, including myself, but had not worn a Mets uniform since 1984.  And this was how he was re-introduced.

"Playing right field, No. 7.  Welcome back, Huuuubie Brooooks."

I'd have bought one of these, but I chose to save the money for my date.

 

Hubie Brooks made a quick impression on me during his first stint in New York.  It was Brooks who hit the first home run I ever saw in person.  On June 15, 1983, I was at Shea Stadium with my Little League teammates when Brooks took future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins deep in the fourth inning.  It was the only home run Brooks would ever hit off Jenkins in 18 career plate appearances, and one of only two hits he would muster off the pitching legend.

Eight years after I cheered Brooks as he touched home plate following his homer, I would cheer him again as he scored, although this time he touched the plate in a completely different way.

The Mets were leading the Phillies, 1-0, as the game headed into the bottom of the fourth.  Hubie Brooks led off the inning by roping a double to right field - his first hit as a Met in seven years.  Brooks then advanced to third on a fly ball by Howard Johnson.  Left fielder Kevin McReynolds failed to bring him home when he grounded out weakly to third base.  With two outs, Tommy Herr drew a walk to put runners on the corners.  That brought up Charlie O'Brien, whose .209 career batting average entering the game was six points lower than Mario Mendoza's .215 lifetime mark.

You read that right.  The namesake of the "Mendoza Line" was a better hitter than Charlie O'Brien.

Clearly, if the Mets were going to extend their lead, manager Buddy Harrelson was going to have to try something different.  So he did.  On an 0-1 pitch, Harrelson had Herr steal second.  When Phillies catcher Darren Daulton threw the ball to second in an attempt to nail Herr, Brooks darted for the plate, sliding home safely to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

The unexpected play caused K.V. and I to simultaneously jump out of seats and embrace.  Yup, it was our first hug, and Hubie Brooks made it happen.  With the Mets now holding a two-run lead, we decided to get some refreshing ice cream to cool down on the sweltering day.  By the time we got to the concession stand, John Kruk had homered off Dwight Gooden to cut the Mets' lead back to a single run.

Needless to say, we went back to our seats and didn't leave our section again until the final out was recorded.

In the seventh inning, as we were singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", K.V. accidentally bumped into my leg.  So I bumped her back.  We ended up doing what appeared to be a strange leg-bump dance for the duration of the song.  It was then that I realized that I could do something other than calculate players' batting averages in my head.  I could also flirt.  Score one for me.

Speaking of scoring, there were no more runs scored after Kruk's fifth-inning homer.  The Mets held on for a 2-1 victory, making my first date - and my first-ever Opening Day game - a complete success.

After the game, K.V. and I walked back to Main Street in Flushing, where we had two additional ice cream cones (mint chocolate chip for both of us), then we took the bus back to her house.  I was a gentleman, and didn't ask to go in, but she insisted.  I didn't spend much time inside, but when I left, I did get a kiss goodbye.

I scored more that day than the Phillies did.

K.V. and I continued to hang out during our remaining college years, but we never went to another Mets game.  We also didn't really date much more after that hot April afternoon.  Perhaps that's a good thing.  After all, had something happened between us, I might never have met my wife on "Build-A-Bear Night" nearly two decades later.

Hubie Brooks and I go way back.  He was responsible for the first home run I ever witnessed at a ballgame, and he was responsible for the first (and to this date, only) double steal I've ever had the privilege to see in person.  He may also have helped me get that special kiss at the end of my first date.

April 8, 1991 was most certainly a good day.

 

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Just like April 8, 1991 was a memorable day at Shea Stadium that culminated with a one-run victory by the Mets, April 8, 2021 was also one to remember at Citi Field, and not just because of the Mets' 3-2 walk-off win.  Today's game was the first in which fans were allowed to attend since before the pandemic caused daily fan attendance to be zero.  It was also the 30th consecutive Opening Day I've been fortunate to attend and the eleventh I've been to with my wife.

Many things have changed in this world since 1991.  Heck, mostly everything has changed just since the start of 2020.  But the more things change, the more one thing remains the same.  I'll always be present at a Mets home opener.  And I'll always be there with my favorite date.  There's no one else I'd rather open up a season with.
 

25 Years Ago: Memories of My First Opening Day Game (And My First Date)

The Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in their home opener today, 7-2.  It marked the 26th consecutive year I've attended the Mets' first home game of the season.  In fact, it was 25 years ago on this date that I attended my first home opener - a day in which the temperature reached a record high of 90 degrees, or about twice as many degrees as today's affair.

Speaking of dates, that game also marked the first time I went out on a date, because what better place to take your date than to Shea Stadium to see the rapidly declining post-Davey Johnson era Mets play?  So to mark the 25th anniversary of my first date and first home opener - a game in which the Mets were also playing gracious hosts to the Phillies - here is the happy recap of that game and date (plus some other interesting anecdotes).  Enjoy!

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I love my wife.  And I met her at a Mets game.  True story.  She was a blogger, as was I, and we were both going to "Build-A-Bear Night" at Citi Field on August 1, 2009.  So we decided to meet up on the Promenade Level before the game.  Of course, we had our new bears in tow, and I had a few other bears with me.  We talked about bears and the Mets, then saw the game separately from our regular seats. 

Later that month, we went to our first game together.  Naturally, the bears were our chaperones.  We met up a few more times during the season's final month.  Then I asked her what she was doing during the off-season.  Notice I didn't say "during the winter", because to a Mets fan, there are only two seasons - baseball season and the off-season.  Well, that phrasing struck a chord with her.  Needless to say, what we did during the off-season was spend more time together and fall in love.  The following May, we got married, then waited two months to go on our honeymoon in San Francisco.  Why the wait?  Because the Mets weren't due to play the Giants on the road until July.  Yup, I gave her a diamond AFTER we got married.

I never said we were a conventional couple.

Almost 20 years before I met the love of my life, I went on my first-ever date.  The day was April 8, 1991, and my date's name was K.V.  (I'm using her initials in case she's reading this and doesn't want to be associated with a bear-carrying Mets fanatic.)  Most people go to the movies or dinner or a combination of the two on a first date.  Not me.  Where did I take K.V. on our date?  Like you need to ask...

It was Opening Day.  So we went to Shea Stadium.

The temperature that day was an unseasonably hot 90º.  At the time, it was the earliest date on the calendar that New York had ever registered a 90º reading.  We were both undergraduates at St. John's University, finishing up our sophomore years.  Her mother worked in the school library, so I had already gotten that first meeting with her out of the way.  We actually went to visit K.V.'s mother prior to leaving for Shea, at which time she told us to have a good time and stay out of the sun, if at all possible.

The Mets were fielding a brand-new team in 1991 as they embarked on what the team hoped would be its eighth consecutive winning season.  But this would also be the first time since 1983 that Davey Johnson wouldn't come out of the dugout during the Opening Day introductions, as Buddy Harrelson had taken over for the former skipper during the previous season.

K.V. confessed to me that it was her first baseball game as we proceeded to sit in our Upper Deck seats on the first base side.  I confessed to her that it was my first-ever date with anyone, to which she said "Awww, and you chose me.  I'm so honored."

As the game began, I noticed that four of the starting nine players on the Mets had not been with the team at the beginning of the previous campaign.  Charlie O'Brien was calling the game behind the plate, while former Cardinal nemeses Tommy Herr and Vince Coleman were the Mets' new second baseman and center fielder, respectively.  Right field used to be where Darryl Strawberry had his patch, but he had left for Los Angeles as a free agent.  In his stead was a player who was very special to long-time Mets fans, including myself, but had not worn a Mets uniform since 1984.  And this was how he was re-introduced.

"Playing right field, No. 7.  Welcome back, Huuuubie Brooooks."

I'd have bought one of these, but I chose to save the money for my date.

Hubie Brooks made a quick impression on me during his first stint in New York.  It was Brooks who hit the first home run I ever saw in person.  On June 15, 1983, I was at Shea Stadium with my Little League teammates when Brooks took future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins deep in the fourth inning.  It was the only home run Brooks would ever hit off Jenkins in 18 career plate appearances, and one of only two hits he would muster off the pitching legend.

Eight years after I cheered Brooks as he touched home plate following his homer, I would cheer him again as he scored, although this time he touched the plate in a completely different way.

The Mets were leading the Phillies, 1-0, as the game headed into the bottom of the fourth.  Hubie Brooks led off the inning by roping a double to right field - his first hit as a Met in seven years.  Brooks then advanced to third on a fly ball by Howard Johnson.  Left fielder Kevin McReynolds failed to bring him home when he grounded out weakly to third base.  With two outs, Tommy Herr drew a walk to put runners on the corners.  That brought up Charlie O'Brien, whose .209 career batting average entering the game was six points lower than Mario Mendoza's .215 lifetime mark.

You read that right.  The namesake of the "Mendoza Line" was a better hitter than Charlie O'Brien.

Clearly, if the Mets were going to extend their lead, manager Buddy Harrelson was going to have to try something different.  So he did.  On an 0-1 pitch, Harrelson had Herr steal second.  When Phillies catcher Darren Daulton threw the ball to second in an attempt to nail Herr, Brooks darted for the plate, sliding home safely to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

The unexpected play caused K.V. and I to simultaneously jump out of seats and embrace.  Yup, it was our first hug, and Hubie Brooks made it happen.  With the Mets now holding a two-run lead, we decided to get some refreshing ice cream to cool down on the sweltering day.  By the time we got to the concession stand, John Kruk had homered off Dwight Gooden to cut the Mets' lead back to a single run.

Needless to say, we went back to our seats and didn't leave our section again until the final out was recorded.

In the seventh inning, as we were singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", K.V. accidentally bumped into my leg.  So I bumped her back.  We ended up doing what appeared to be a strange leg-bump dance for the duration of the song.  It was then that I realized that I could do something other than calculate players' batting averages in my head.  I could also flirt.  Score one for me.

Speaking of scoring, there were no more runs scored after Kruk's fifth-inning homer.  The Mets held on for a 2-1 victory, making my first date - and my first-ever Opening Day game - a complete success.

After the game, K.V. and I walked back to Main Street in Flushing, where we had two additional ice cream cones (mint chocolate chip for both of us), then we took the bus back to her house.  I was a gentleman, and didn't ask to go in, but she insisted.  I didn't spend much time inside, but when I left, I did get a kiss goodbye.

I scored more that day than the Phillies did.

K.V. and I continued to hang out during our remaining college years, but we never went to another Mets game.  We also didn't really date much more after that hot April afternoon.  Perhaps that's a good thing.  After all, had something happened between us, I might never have met my wife on "Build-A-Bear Night" nearly two decades later.

Hubie Brooks and I go way back.  He was responsible for the first home run I ever witnessed at a ballgame, and he was responsible for the first (and to this date, only) double steal I've ever had the privilege to see in person.  He may also have helped me get that special kiss at the end of my first date.

April 8, 1991 was most certainly a good day.
 

The Most With The Least: Mark Carreon (1989-91)

Throughout history, baseball players have begun their careers expecting to excel in one role before their managers found them to be better suited to play another role.  Players such as Rick Ankiel and all-time legend Babe Ruth famously began their careers as pitchers before shifting to the outfield.  Of course, Ankiel made the move to the outfield because he couldn't control where his pitches were going and Ruth made his transition because opposing pitchers couldn't keep his batted balls in the park.

Whereas players such as Ankiel and Ruth made position changes so they could help their teams by appearing more often at the plate, some players have been more useful to their teams by making fewer appearances in the batter's box.  Take, for example, a former Met who was a contact hitter and stolen base threat as an everyday player in the minor leagues before specializing in timely power hitting off the bench at the major league level.

For seven years in the Mets' minor league system, this player dreamed of becoming a major leaguer who would line drive an opposing pitcher to death, then frustrate the pitcher's battery mate by swiping a bag or two.  He didn't do much of that once he got called up to the Mets.  Nor did he find himself on the field all that often.  But he did find a way into the Mets' record books using a skill he never thought he'd use.

No one produced long balls in a pinch better than Mark Carreon.  (B. Bennett/Getty Images)

Mark Steven Carreon was the Mets' eighth round pick in the 1981 June amateur draft, taken five rounds ahead of Lenny Dykstra and four rounds before the Mets selected a skinny pitcher named Roger Clemens, who spurned the team to pitch against collegians in Texas.  While in the minors, Carreon saw players drafted in future years rocket past him to join the Mets, including 1982 draftees Dwight Gooden and Roger McDowell, who helped the team win a championship just four years after they were drafted.  Meanwhile, Carreon spent seven long years in the minors, excelling as a contact hitter with a tremendous eye at the plate (.308 batting average, 389 walks, 240 strikeouts in 3,517 plate appearances).  Carreon was also a speedster, producing three seasons of 30+ steals on his way to a seven-year total of 159 stolen bases in 201 attempts.  One thing he didn't do very well was hit for power, as evidenced by his 32 homers in over 3,500 plate appearances.

In his first seven minor league seasons, Carreon had proven that he could be a successful player at the next level.  But as an outfielder, Carreon's road to everyday success with the Mets was blocked by Kevin McReynolds, Darryl Strawberry, Mookie Wilson and fellow '81 draftee Lenny Dykstra, who were all established major leaguers by the late '80s.  Although Carreon finally made it to the majors as a late-season call-up in 1987, he was once again stuck at AAA-Tidewater for his eighth minor league season in 1988.

Carreon did finally show some power as a member of the Tides in 1988, blasting 14 homers in 102 games, but the extra power came at a cost, as he batted a career-low .263 and had more strikeouts (53) than walks (40).  Carreon was called up twice to the Mets in 1988, but only managed to get into seven games.

The 1989 season - Carreon's ninth in professional baseball - began with Carreon at Tidewater again.  Carreon had been a member of the Tides since late 1985 and was desperate for a break to finally latch on to a spot on the Mets' big league roster, especially with McReynolds, Strawberry, Wilson and Dykstra still manning the outfield at Shea Stadium.  But it wasn't an injury to an outfielder that got Carreon his much-deserved opportunity.  Rather, it was a trip to the disabled list by Mets catcher Gary Carter.

Carter, who was batting .114 at the time, was sidelined in mid-May by a swollen right knee.  The Mets were struggling on offense, batting .232 with a .299 on-base percentage through their first 30 games, and needed someone - anyone - who could help the team turn things around at the plate.  Carreon, who had 21 RBI in 32 games with Tidewater before his call-up, continued to hit at the major league level, collecting a run-scoring single as a pinch-hitter in his first at-bat following his promotion to the Mets.  Making the hit more noteworthy was that it came off Padres closer Mark Davis, who went on to win the Cy Young Award that year.

(B. Bennett/Getty Images)

Less than two weeks later, Carreon came up once again in a pinch-hitting role against the Padres.  This time, the Mets and Friars were hooked up in a pitchers' duel, with New York leading San Diego, 1-0, as the game entered the seventh inning.  The starting pitchers for the two teams were Ron Darling and Bruce Hurst, who had last matched up against each other in Game Seven of the 1986 World Series.  In that memorable game, Hurst had to watch from the bench as Ray Knight led off the seventh inning with a home run that swung the momentum of the game in the Mets' favor.  This time, Hurst was still on the mound when the seventh inning started, but the result was the same.  Leading off the seventh as a pinch-hitter for Darling, Carreon took Hurst deep down the left field line to give the Mets a two-run cushion.  The Mets then added another run late in the game to earn a hard-fought, 3-0 victory.

With Strawberry and McReynolds firmly entrenched in the corner outfield positions and with the newly-acquired Juan Samuel trying his best to play center field (Samuel came over from Philadelphia in a much-maligned trade for Dysktra and McDowell in late June), Carreon knew that the only way he'd stick with the Mets would be as a pinch-hitter.  And although he never fully embraced it, he flourished in his new role.

Just eleven days after delivering his first pinch-hit homer, Carreon came through again, although this time, his blast was directly responsible for a Mets victory.  Facing the Pirates' Bob Kipper in a 3-3 tie, Carreon batted for catcher Mackey Sasser in the seventh and homered to break the tie in the Mets' 4-3 victory.  Manager Davey Johnson was rewarded for his faith in the neophyte and lamented that he couldn't find a bigger role for him on the team.

"It's a tough role for a youngster," Johnson said.  "I have confidence in him, and he's had some big hits for us.  I really don't like to sit him."

Carreon started just 13 games for the Mets from the time he was called up in May until the end of August.  Although he didn't fare well as a starting player, he was phenomenal as a pinch-hitter.  On July 26, he hit his third pinch-hit home run of the season off tough Pirates left-hander John Smiley.  Then on September 22, he clubbed his fourth homer as a pinch-hitter, a shot that broke a 2-2 tie against Montreal that gave the Mets a 3-2 victory.  Carreon's deciding blast versus the Expos tied Danny Heep's single-season club record, which Heep set in 1983 when he produced four pinch-hit home runs of his own.  (The record has since been broken by Jordany Valdespin, who hit five home runs as a pinch-hitter in 2012.)

By the start of the 1990 campaign, the Mets had rid themselves of Lenny Dykstra and Mookie Wilson, and had pulled the plug on the Juan Samuel experiment.  Davey Johnson, who had always wanted to give more regular playing time to Carreon finally found a way to get him into the starting lineup by making him a part-time center fielder now that the Mets had put the Dykstra/Wilson/Samuel trio behind them.  Unfortunately, Johnson didn't stick around long enough to find out how Carreon would perform with the added playing time, as he was fired by the team in late May.

New manager Buddy Harrelson did not share Johnson's feelings on Carreon's ability to play regularly at the major league level.  Harrelson wrote Carreon's name in the starting lineup just 27 times after Johnson was fired and Carreon struggled, save for an eight-game stretch in June in which he batted .478 with four homers, which included his fifth career pinch-hit home run that took place during a wind-plagued doubleheader at Wrigley Field on June 13.

A year after batting .308 under Davey Johnson's tutelage in 1989, Carreon finished the 1990 season with a mediocre .250 batting average.  However, he did manage to hit ten home runs in just 188 at-bats.  In doing so, Carreon became the first Mets player to reach double-digit homers during a season in which he failed to collect 200 at-bats.  (Carreon's teammate, Tim Teufel, duplicated the feat, although Carreon reached the ten-homer mark before Teufel did in the 1990 campaign.)

During the 1990-91 off-season, Darryl Strawberry left the Mets to sign a free agent contract with his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers.  Although the Mets found Strawberry's replacement in Hubie Brooks, trading Bob Ojeda and minor league pitcher Greg Hansell to the Dodgers to acquire him, and also signed free agent Vince Coleman to play center field, Harrelson didn't get the best seasons from either player, and as a result, he had to mix and match his outfielders more often than he would have liked.  That allowed Carreon to start 53 games and surpass 200 at-bats for the first time in his career.  But even with the increased playing time, it was clear where Carreon's best role with the team was.

In 1991, Carreon produced a .245/.277/.281 slash line as a starting player, producing just five extra-base hits (four doubles, one home run) in 206 plate appearances.  But as a pinch-hitter, Carreon was otherworldly, putting up a .343/.425/.629 slash line.  He also matched his extra-base hit total as a starter in 166 fewer plate appearances, producing two doubles and three homers in 40 appearances as a pinch-hitter.  When Carreon went deep off Pirates starter Randy Tomlin on April 16, he matched the team record of six career pinch-hit homers, which had been shared by franchise greats Ed Kranepool and Rusty Staub.

On April 28, Carreon accomplished two things no Met had ever done with one swing of the bat.  When Carreon came up as a pinch-hitter against Pirates starter John Smiley in the fifth inning, he swatted his seventh career pinch-hit home run, breaking the franchise record.  He also became the first - and to this day, only - Mets player to ever hit multiple pinch-hit home runs off the same pitcher, having previously homered off Smiley as a pinch-hitter back in 1989.

Six days after his record-breaking homer, Carreon put the icing on his career pinch-hit home run record cake, blasting a game-tying home run off San Francisco Giants closer Jeff Brantley in the bottom of the ninth inning.  Carreon's shot came immediately after Mackey Sasser delivered a pinch-hit homer of his own, marking the first time in team history that the Mets had hit back-to-back pinch-hit home runs.  Sasser and Carreon's blasts sent the game into extra innings, and the Mets won the game in the 12th frame, when Howard Johnson connected on a two-run homer of his own.

Even though Carreon had become the biggest home run threat off the bench in franchise history, he was frustrated that he wasn't being asked to make a steadier contribution to the team, especially since he felt that his talents were being wasted on the bench.

Photo by Barry Colla

"It's unfortunate that my career is at a standstill when I'm 27 years old and at the peak of my abilities.  There is no doubt I want to play and no doubt I would do (just) about anything so that I can play. ... I'm being used for their convenience when I have so much to offer.  It's a dead end street.  I see my career going straight to nowhere."

Without an everyday role on the team, the Mets gave Carreon the opportunity to become a full-time player elsewhere.  On January 22, 1992, the Mets traded Carreon to the Detroit Tigers for left-handed relief pitcher Paul Gibson.  Gibson, who had a 3.88 lifetime ERA before coming to the Mets, was awful during his two-year tour of duty in New York, posting a 5.22 ERA and 1.57 WHIP in 51 appearances.  Through the 2015 season, Gibson's 5.22 ERA is the fifth-highest of any Mets pitcher with at least 50 appearances.  Only Frank Francisco (5.36 ERA, 56 appearances), Craig Anderson (5.56 ERA, 57 appearances), Ryota Igarashi (5.74 ERA, 79 appearances) and Mel Rojas (5.76 ERA, 73 appearances) were worse than Gibson.  Gibson is also one of five Mets pitchers to have a WHIP of at least 1.57 while appearing in 50 or more games for the team, joining Anderson, Igarashi, Paul Siebert and Dwight Bernard.

While Gibson was attracting the boo birds in New York, Carreon was singing a happy tune elsewhere.  Carreon had 300 at-bats for the first time in his career in 1992 as a member of the Tigers, then signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco Giants, for whom he had a banner season in 1995, batting .301 with 24 doubles, 17 homers and 65 RBI in 426 plate appearances during the strike-shortened season.  A year later, Carreon split the season between the Giants and Cleveland Indians, batting .281 and collecting a career-high 34 doubles for the two teams while driving in 65 runs for the second straight season.

Unfortunately, Carreon never played in the majors again after the 1996 season, despite the two fine years as an everyday player in 1995 and 1996.  Carreon played in Japan as a member of the Chiba Lotte Marines in 1997 and 1998, then played in the independent Texas-Louisiana League in 2000, ending his professional baseball career as a .340 hitter for the Jackson Diamond Cats, half a country away from the bright lights of New York City.

Carreon spend the entirety of his Mets career playing a waiting game.  From 1981 to 1988, he waited to get a chance to stick around in the majors.  He had just 21 major league at-bats before he finally got the chance to stay on the roster in May 1989.  Then after establishing himself as the team's top pinch-hitter in 1989, manager Davey Johnson gave Carreon a chance at more playing time as one of the team's center fielders in 1990.  Johnson's firing caused Carreon to wait some more on the bench under new manager Buddy Harrelson.  Finally, in 1991, Carreon seemingly broke just about every career pinch-hitting record he could break.  He broke all these records, yet couldn't get the break he really wanted until he was traded by the team in 1992.

From 1989 to 1991, Carreon batted .302 as a pinch-hitter with a .616 slugging percentage.  In all other situations, those numbers dipped to .262 and .378, respectively.  While in the minors, Carreon was a contact hitter with good speed and little power.  As a major league player with the Mets, he stole just five bases, but set a still-standing franchise record of eight pinch-hit home runs.

Mark Carreon wanted so much more out of his career in New York.  But in the little playing time he did receive, he had more success than anyone could have expected.  Pinch-hitters for the Mets can only dream to have the type of success Carreon had with the team.

Carreon's career didn't go straight to nowhere.  It went straight to the Mets' record books. (Photo by Barry Colla)

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
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

Mets Almost Traded For Randy Johnson In 1991

(Photo by Elaine Thompson/AP)

In 1991, the Mets posted their first losing season in eight years.  After winning 87 or more games from 1984 to 1990, New York finished the 1991 campaign with a disappointing 77-84 record.  As a result, general manager Al Harazin decided to shed salaries without going through a rebuilding phase.

Kevin McReynolds, one of the team's best offensive players during his five-year tenure in New York, was dealt to Kansas City.  Hubie Brooks, who returned to the Mets for one season as Darryl Strawberry's replacement in right field, was jettisoned to the Angels.

The McReynolds trade (which also sent Gregg Jefferies and Keith Miller to the Royals) brought two-time Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen to Flushing.  Saberhagen was part of Harazin's plan to create a top-notch starting rotation, as long-time Met Ron Darling had been traded to Montreal during the 1991 season and Frank Viola was about to leave via free agency.

But Saberhagen was not Harazin's first choice to lead a starting rotation that already featured David Cone, Dwight Gooden and Sid Fernandez.  His original plan was to send McReynolds to Seattle for one of the Mariners' top two young starting pitchers.

Coming to New York in exchange for McReynolds would have been either Erik Hanson, a 26-year-old right-hander who posted an 18-win, 211-strikeout campaign in 1990, or a lanky 28-year-old southpaw with a 37-34 career record, 4.01 ERA and a 1991 season in which he walked 152 batters - the first time since 1977 that a pitcher had issued over 150 bases on balls.

That skinny lefty was future Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson.

Harazin knew Seattle was in need of a left fielder, and was willing to part ways with the veteran McReynolds, who had signed a three-year, $10 million contract extension the previous off-season.

But Seattle did not want to trade Hanson or Johnson for McReynolds, whose salary was supposedly too high for the penny-pinching Mariners.  (Seattle's $17.5 million team payroll was the fifth-lowest in the majors in 1991.)  At least that's what Harazin was led to believe.

"The conversation we had with them was such that I didn't think they were interested in anyone's $3 million player."

That's when Harazin opted for Plan B, trading McReynolds and two others to Kansas City for Saberhagen and infielder Bill Pecota.  There was only one problem.  Seattle ended up trading for a left fielder who was due more money than McReynolds, and parted ways with three pitchers to get him.

Former Met Kevin Mitchell, who was traded for McReynolds just five years prior, was acquired by the Mariners from San Francisco for pitchers Bill Swift, Mike Jackson and Dave Burba.  Mitchell was due $10.5 million through the 1994 season, an average of $3.5 million per year.

Mitchell flopped in Seattle, hitting just nine home runs in 99 games after averaging 36 homers per season during his final three years in San Francisco.  McReynolds wasn't much better in Kansas City and was out of baseball after the 1994 season.

Randy Johnson, on the other hand, learned how to control his wildness.  After one more subpar season in 1992 (12-14, 3.77 ERA, league-leading 144 walks), Johnson became one of the game's most dominant pitchers.  Over his next dozen campaigns, the Big Unit posted three 20-win seasons (and four other years with 18+ victories) and won nine strikeout titles.  He also led the league in winning percentage four times, ERA four times, complete games four times, shutouts three times and WHIP on three occasions - all in a span of 12 years.  And most importantly, he never walked 100 batters in a season again.

Almost a quarter century ago, Seattle was willing to trade three pitchers to San Francisco for a left fielder making $10.5 million for three seasons.  Had they listened to Al Harazin, they could have saved half a million dollars over those three campaigns and would have lost just one pitcher to acquire the Mets' left fielder.

But Seattle would have potentially lost a future Hall of Famer in Randy Johnson.

Imagine how different the histories of two franchises would have been had the McReynolds-for-Johnson trade been consummated.

A "Best On The Worst" Side Story: The Dating Game with Hubie Brooks

I love my wife.  And I met her at a Mets game.  True story.  She was a blogger, as was I, and we were both going to "Build-A-Bear Night" at Citi Field on August 1, 2009.  So we decided to meet up on the Promenade Level before the game.  Of course, we had our new bears in tow, and I had a few other bears with me.  We talked about bears and the Mets, then saw the game separately from our regular seats.

Later that month, we went to our first game together.  Naturally, the bears were our chaperones.  We met up a few more times during the season's final month.  Then I asked her what she was doing during the off-season.  Notice I didn't say "during the winter", because to a Mets fan, there are only two seasons - baseball season and the off-season.  Well, that phrasing struck a chord with her.  Needless to say, what we did during the off-season was spend more time together and fall in love.  The following May, we got married, then waited two months to go on our honeymoon in San Francisco.  Why the wait?  Because the Mets weren't due to play the Giants on the road until July.  Yup, I gave her a diamond AFTER we got married.

I never said we were a conventional couple.

Almost 20 years before I met the love of my life, I went on my first-ever date.  The day was April 8, 1991, and my date's name was K.V.  (I'm using her initials in case she's reading this and doesn't want to be associated with a bear-carrying Mets fanatic.)  Most people go to the movies or dinner or a combination of the two on a first date.  Not me.  Where did I take K.V. on our date?  Like you need to ask...

It was Opening Day.  So we went to Shea Stadium.

The temperature that day was an unseasonably hot 90º.  At the time, it was the earliest date on the calendar that New York had ever registered a 90º reading.  We were both undergraduates at St. John's University, finishing up our sophomore years.  Her mother worked in the school library, so I had already gotten that first meeting with her out of the way.  We actually went to visit K.V.'s mother prior to leaving for Shea, at which time she told us to have a good time and stay out of the sun, if at all possible.

The Mets were fielding a brand-new team in 1991 as they embarked on what the team hoped would be its eighth consecutive winning season.  But this would also be the first time since 1983 that Davey Johnson wouldn't come out of the dugout during the Opening Day introductions, as Buddy Harrelson had taken over for the former skipper during the previous season.

K.V. confessed to me that it was her first baseball game as we proceeded to sit in our Upper Deck seats on the first base side.  I confessed to her that it was my first-ever date with anyone, to which she said "awww, and you chose me.  I'm so honored."

As the game began, I noticed that four of the starting nine players on the Mets had not been with the team at the beginning of the previous campaign.  Charlie O'Brien was calling the game behind the plate, while former Cardinal nemeses Tommy Herr and Vince Coleman were the Mets' new second baseman and center fielder, respectively.  Right field used to be where Darryl Strawberry had his patch, but he had left for Los Angeles as a free agent.  In his stead was a player who was very special to long-time Mets fans, including myself, but had not worn a Mets uniform since 1984.  And this was how he was re-introduced.

"Playing right field, No. 7.  Welcome back, Huuuubie Brooooks."

I'd have bought one of these, but I chose to save the money for my date.

Hubie Brooks made a quick impression on me during his first stint in New York.  It was Brooks who hit the first home run I ever saw in person.  On June 15, 1983, I was at Shea Stadium with my Little League teammates when Brooks took future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins deep in the fourth inning.  It was the only home run Brooks would ever hit off Jenkins in 18 career plate appearances, and one of only two hits he would muster off the pitching legend.

Eight years after I cheered Brooks as he touched home plate following his homer, I would cheer him again as he scored, although this time he touched the plate in a completely different way.

The Mets were leading the Phillies, 1-0, as the game headed into the bottom of the fourth.  Hubie Brooks led off the inning by roping a double to right field - his first hit as a Met in seven years.  Brooks then advanced to third on a fly ball by Howard Johnson.  Left fielder Kevin McReynolds failed to bring him home when he grounded out weakly to third base.  With two outs, Tommy Herr drew a walk to put runners on the corners.  That brought up Charlie O'Brien, whose .209 career batting average entering the game was six points lower than Mario Mendoza's .215 lifetime mark.

You read that right.  The namesake of the "Mendoza Line" was a better hitter than Charlie O'Brien.

Clearly, if the Mets were going to extend their lead, manager Buddy Harrelson was going to have to try something different.  So he did.  On an 0-1 pitch, Harrelson had Herr steal second.  When Phillies catcher Darren Daulton threw the ball to second in an attempt to nail Herr, Brooks darted for the plate, sliding home safely to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

The unexpected play caused K.V. and I to simultaneously jump out of seats and embrace.  Yup, it was our first hug, and Hubie Brooks made it happen.  With the Mets now holding a two-run lead, we decided to get some refreshing ice cream to cool down on the sweltering day.  By the time we got to the concession stand, John Kruk had homered off Dwight Gooden to cut the Mets' lead back to a single run.

Needless to say, we went back to our seats and didn't leave our section again until the final out was recorded.

In the seventh inning, as we were singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", K.V. accidentally bumped into my leg.  So I bumped her back.  We ended up doing what appeared to be a strange leg-bump dance for the duration of the song.  It was then that I realized that I could do something other than calculate players' batting averages in my head.  I could also flirt.  Score one for me.

Speaking of scoring, there were no more runs scored after Kruk's fifth-inning homer.  The Mets held on for a 2-1 victory, making my first date (and my first-ever Opening Day game; I hadn't mentioned that before, had I?) a complete success.

After the game, K.V. and I walked back to Main St. in Flushing, where we had two additional ice cream cones (mint chocolate chip for both of us), then we took the bus back to her house.  I was a gentleman, and didn't ask to go in, but she insisted.  I didn't spend much time inside, but when I left, I did get a kiss goodbye.

I scored more that day than the Phillies did.

K.V. and I continued to hang out during our remaining college years, but we never went to another Mets game.  We also didn't really date much more after that hot April afternoon.  Perhaps that's a good thing.  After all, had something happened between us, I might never have met my wife on "Build-A-Bear Night" nearly two decades later.

Hubie Brooks and I go way back.  He was responsible for the first home run I ever witnessed at a ballgame, and he was responsible for the first (and to this date, only) double steal I've ever had the privilege to see in person.  He may also have helped me get that special kiss at the end of my first date.

April 8, 1991 was most certainly a good day.
 

The Best On The Worst: Hubie Brooks

For nearly two decades, the third base position resembled a game of musical chairs for the Mets.  New York used 16 different players at the hot corner in their first 20 Opening Day games, with no third baseman starting more than two season openers.

Don Zimmer was the first third baseman in team history.  After getting the Opening Day nod in 1962, Zimmer went on to play just 13 more games at the position for the Mets.  Similarly, Opening Day starters Charlie Neal (1963), Ron Hunt (1964), Joe Foy (1970), Bob Aspromonte (1971) and Joe Torre (1975) all failed to play 100 games at the hot corner during their Mets careers.

Through 1981, only Wayne Garrett had played more than 250 games at third base for the Mets, as New York had tried (and failed) to acquire players to fill the void at the position for nearly two decades.  For example, in December 1969, the Mets traded Amos Otis to Kansas City for third baseman Joe Foy.  Otis went on to become a five-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner for the Royals, collecting over 2,000 hits in a big league career that lasted until 1984 and included five trips to the postseason.  Foy played one season with the Mets and was out of baseball following the 1971 season.  Two years after the Otis-for-Foy deal, the Mets acquired Jim Fregosi from the California Angels to play third base.  Fregosi played just 103 games at the hot corner and was a former Met by July 1973.  The man he was traded for, Nolan Ryan, went on to pitch seven no-hitters, struck out 5,714 batters and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.

Clearly, the Mets did not have much success cultivating third baseman or trading for them.  But by the time the team was about to begin its third decade in the National League, they had finally found their man.  And he ended up helping the team in more ways than anyone could have expected.

A young Hubie Brooks before he became the first true regular third baseman for the Mets.

Hubert Brooks was selected by the Mets with the third overall pick in the 1978 June amateur draft.  Like his future teammate, Craig Swan, Brooks went to Arizona State University, helping the Sun Devils to two College World Series appearances and one national championship.  Brooks got off to a slow start at Double-A Jackson in 1978, batting .216 in 45 games.  But Brooks became a hit machine in 1979, splitting time between Jackson and AAA-Tidewater.  The 22-year-old batted .309 with a .389 on-base percentage in 117 games, then followed up his tremendous '79 campaign by finishing ninth in the International League in batting average in 1980 with a .297 mark.

By September 1980, the magic of a promising season at Shea Stadium had long since faded, so the team decided to call up many of its minor league stars in the hopes that some might play well enough to stick around for the 1981 season.  Second baseman Wally Backman and center fielder Mookie Wilson were two of the prized prospects who made their major league debuts in September.  Two days after Backman and Wilson played in their first games, Hubie Brooks joined the party, becoming the team's latest third baseman.  Prior to Brooks' call-up, Elliott Maddox had played third base for the Mets since 1978.  Once Brooks made his debut, the higher-salaried Maddox started just six more games at the position and was released the following February, despite being under contract through the 1982 season.

Brooks had a terrific 24-game tryout with the Mets in 1980, batting .309 with a homer and 10 RBI.  With Maddox gone, there was no one in Brooks' way to claim the everyday job at third base in 1981.  Brooks delivered in his first full season in the majors, batting .307 with 21 doubles, four homers and 38 RBI in 98 games.  Brooks' 110 hits led the Mets, as no other player on the team managed to bang out 90 safeties during the strike-shortened 1981 season.  Brooks' .307 average was also good enough to place him eighth in the National League in batting.

For his efforts, Brooks finished third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, behind Fernando Valenzuela and Tim Raines.  Brooks became the seventh Met to finish in the top three after Ron Hunt (1963; 2nd place), Tom Seaver (1967; 1st), Jerry Koosman (1968; 2nd), Jon Matlack (1972; 1st), John Milner (1972; 3rd) and Steve Henderson (1977; 2nd).

After years of trying to find a regular third baseman (Garrett played in 711 games at third, but only played 100-plus games at the position in two of his eight seasons in New York), the Mets finally had their man in Hubie Brooks.  Not only was he among the top hitters in the league at a young age, but he was quickly becoming a fan favorite.  And he needed to be loved if he was going to get through a subpar 1982 campaign.

In 1982, Brooks struggled for the first time in the major leagues.  Through June 27, Brooks hit .262 with no homers in 231 plate appearances.  A hamstring injury kept him out of action for almost a month, but when he returned in late July, he performed even worse than he did in the first half, batting .239 with two homers and 16 RBI in 68 games.  One of the reasons for Brooks' poor season was his inability to come through with runners in scoring position, as the 24-year-old batted just .236 in those situations in 1982.  One year later, that problem was fixed.

Although Brooks hit just .251 overall in 1983, he batted .347 with runners in scoring position.  As a result, Brooks drove in 58 runs despite hitting only five homers.  His RBI total placed him third on the team, after sluggers George Foster (90 RBI) and Darryl Strawberry (74 RBI).

Hubie Brooks is congratulated by George Foster and Darryl Strawberry, the only Mets to have more RBI than Brooks in 1983.

Through four seasons as a Met, Brooks had hit just 12 homers, far fewer than what is normally expected from a corner infielder.  Although he had given the Mets a stable presence at a position that was known for its instability, he still had a lot of work to do to become the third baseman the Mets truly wanted.  The Mets hadn't had a third baseman hit more than 15 homers in a season since Garrett accomplished the feat in 1973 - the last time the Mets qualified for the postseason.  Brooks would eventually join Garrett in the pantheon of powerful third basemen, just in time for the team to return to contention for the first time since Garrett's last game as a Met.

In 1984, new manager Davey Johnson guided the Mets to their first winning season since 1976 and only the second 90-win campaign in club history.  Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry, who were in St. Louis and Tidewater, respectively, at the beginning of the 1983 season, were two of the Mets' top players going into the 1984 season.  Also new to the team were Ron Darling and rookie phenom Dwight Gooden, who would comprise two-fifths of the starting rotation for the rest of the decade.

With Brooks no longer needing to be one of the top offensive threats on the team, he went on to post his best season as a Met in 1984, although he started off poorly, batting .203 with eight RBI in the month of April.  He did, however, hit three homers in the season's first month.  It would be a portent of things to come for the once power-starved Brooks.

From May 1 to June 1, Brooks batted .398 and posted a .530 slugging percentage.  More importantly, he collected at least one hit in all 24 games he played, breaking Mike Vail's franchise-record 23-game hitting streak.  Brooks' 24-game skein would remain unsurpassed for nearly a quarter century, until David Wright hit in 26 straight games from 2006 to 2007.  Brooks' single-season record remained intact until Moises Alou posted a 30-game hitting streak in August and September 2007.  (Mike Piazza had tied Brooks' record with a 24-game streak of his own in 1999.)

After going 2-for-24 in his first six games following the 24-game streak, Brooks continued to pound the ball, batting .352 with ten doubles, five homers and 20 RBI over his next 43 games.  More importantly from a team perspective, the Mets went 31-12 over those games to move into first place in the NL East.  But when the Mets lost seven consecutive games in late July and early August to fall out of first place, general manager Frank Cashen decided the team needed to add a veteran presence to the lineup.  In late August, that presence arrived in the form of third baseman Ray Knight, which forced Hubie Brooks to move to the shortstop position in place of the light-hitting, but sure-handed Jose Oquendo.  The Mets never recovered from their seven-game losing streak, conceding the division to the Chicago Cubs, but Brooks finally had his breakout season, batting .283 with 16 homers and 73 RBI.

Brooks' offensive contributions at the shortstop position opened eyes in the Mets organization as well as another team up north.  And with the Mets seeking an upgrade at catcher after Mike Fitzgerald, Ron Hodges, Junior Ortiz and John Gibbons combined to hit .219 (129-for-588) with three homers and 56 RBI in 1984, the Montreal Expos began to engage in a discussion with Cashen and the Mets.  The Expos, needing offense and steadiness at the shortstop position (no Expo started more than 57 games at short in 1984 and the six players who played the position combined to hit .212 with no homers), coveted Hubie Brooks as well as a few other prospects in the Mets organization.  They would send the Mets perennial All-Star Gary Carter in exchange.  The deal was a no-brainer, as Carter would not only improve the Mets' offense dramatically, but he would help mold the young pitching staff into a powerhouse.  Once the Mets threw in pitcher Floyd Youmans, outfielder Herm Winningham and Fitzgerald, the Mets had their new catcher.  On December 10, 1984, Hubie Brooks became an ex-Met and the Gary Carter era began in New York.

Gary Carter waved hello to New York as Hubie Brooks said his goodbyes.

Carter produced two epic seasons for the Mets in 1985 and 1986, helping the Mets win their second World Series championship.  Meanwhile, Brooks continued to play for middle-of-the-division teams in Montreal during his five-year stay with the Expos.  However, his growth as a Met in 1984 continued as an Expo, as Brooks became one of the top offensive threats in the league.

In his first season with Montreal, Brooks produced career highs in hits (163), doubles (34), triples (7), runs scored (67) and RBI (100).  Brooks continued to be an exceptional hitter with runners in scoring position, as he achieved his first 100-RBI campaign despite hitting only 13 homers.  At the end of the season, Brooks received MVP consideration and won his first Silver Slugger Award.

Brooks continued to be a star in Canada, winning his second Silver Slugger in 1986 and making the All-Star team twice (1986, 1987).  Because of an assortment of injuries, Brooks played only 80 games in 1986 (his season ended, coincidentally, in a series against the Mets), but at the time of his season-ending thumb injury on August 1, Brooks was leading the league in batting with a .340 average.  He had also smacked 14 homers and driven in 58 runs, putting him on pace to become the power-hitting infielder the Mets had always wanted him to be.

From 1987 to 1989, Brooks averaged 29 doubles, 16 homers and 77 RBI for the Expos, producing his first 20-homer season in the majors in 1988.  After signing a free agent contract with his hometown Dodgers, Brooks put up his second 20-homer campaign in 1990.  But by then, Brooks was a right fielder, as he had been moved there by the Expos in 1988.  And when Los Angeles ripped Darryl Strawberry away from the Mets with a lucrative free agent deal, Brooks was a man without a position.  He was also about to be a man reunited with his former team.

A month after the Dodgers signed Strawberry, Brooks was traded back to the Mets for pitchers Bob Ojeda and Greg Hansell.  Brooks was a fan favorite during his first stint with the Mets in the early '80s.  But this was a new decade and Brooks was replacing one of the most popular players in franchise history.  The pressure proved to be too much for the Mets' new right fielder, as Brooks batted .238 with 16 homers and 50 RBI in 1991.  By comparison, in Strawberry's last season in New York, he had 21 homers and 56 RBI by the All-Star Break.

Brooks averaged 56 extra-base hits per season from 1984 to 1990, but produced half of that amount in '91, adding 11 doubles and one triple to his 16 homers.  As a result of his poor season, Brooks did not get another chance with the Mets to prove himself as a capable major league hitter.  After a one-year return (and seven years to the day after the Mets traded him to Montreal in 1984), Brooks was shipped back to California, this time to the Angels in return for outfielder Dave Gallagher.  Brooks was a part-time player for the Angels in 1992 before finishing out his career as a member of the Kansas City Royals in 1993 and 1994.  Although his career was over, Brooks had no regrets about his time in the big leagues, saying:

"The best thing that happened to me was to start my career where and when I did.  I really enjoyed it.  To see it change, it was so exciting to see. ... I never won (a World Series) and it would've been nice to have won one.  But that's how the game is.  That trade (for Gary Carter) had to be made for them to get what they wanted.  I've never felt bad about that.  Something had to go and it was me.  I never took it personal.  At least the Mets thought well enough of me to give me my first opportunity." 

Hubie Brooks played 15 seasons in the major leagues, but only six of them came with the Mets.  From 1980 to 1983, Brooks played on teams that finished in last place or next-to-last.  Then, after finally tasting success with the Mets in 1984, the team traded him to Montreal.  During his six seasons away from the team, the Mets won two division titles and were runners-up in the NL East the other four years.  But once Brooks returned in 1991, he was a shadow of his former self and so were the Mets, finishing below .500 for the first time since 1983.

When Brooks was traded to the Expos after the 1984 season, he was only the second Met to play in more than 250 games at third base, manning the hot corner in 516 contests.  He was also the first player in club history to have three seasons in which he played 100 or more games at third base, basically making him the first regular third baseman to suit up for the Mets in the team's first quarter century.

Brooks played his final game with the Mets in 1991, ending his second stint with the team among the team leaders in various offensive categories.  But among third basemen in franchise history, Brooks ranks in the top five in virtually every category.  For players who played at least 50% of their games at third base, Brooks ranks highly in hits (640; 4th among Mets third basemen), doubles (96; 3rd), triples (12; 5th), home runs (44; 5th), RBI (269; 4th) and runs scored (244; 4th).  Before Howard Johnson and David Wright became the best offensive third basemen in franchise history, the clear star at the position was Hubie Brooks.

In addition to his fine play as a Met, Brooks was also a great offensive player during the time between his two stints in New York, particularly as a shortstop.  Through the 2013 season, Brooks remains one of just seven National League shortstops to ever win multiple Silver Slugger Awards at the position, joining Garry Templeton (1980, 1984), Dave Concepcion (1981-82), Barry Larkin (1988-92, 1995-96, 1998-99), Edgar Renteria (2000, 2002-03), Hanley Ramirez (2008-09), Troy Tulowitzki (2010-11) and Ian Desmond (2012-13).

Brooks played 1,645 in the major leagues with five teams.  But he never made the playoffs with any of them.  Only 43 players have played in more games without appearing in the postseason.  And Brooks is one of only 32 players in history to play at least 15 seasons without a sniff of October baseball.  Of course, that's what happens when you play on just five winning teams in 15 years.  And that was expected if you were a member of the Mets in the early '80s or early '90s.

Hubie Brooks had the misfortune of playing for some lousy Mets teams during his decade and a half in the big leagues.  But if that's all you remember about Brooks, then you missed out on a pretty special ballplayer.  There was a reason why Brooks was cheered loudly with choruses of "HUUU-bie" during his time as a Met.  Ending a two-decade game of musical chairs at third base had quite a bit to do with that.  So did timely hitting on a team that desperately needed something to cheer about.  The kid from California was quite the hit in New York.

Hubie Brooks should be proud of his career.  He was certainly a fan-favorite playing for teams that did not have many fans.

Note:  The Best On The Worst is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting the greatest Mets players who just happened to play on some not-so-great Mets teams.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 6, 2014: Todd Hundley 
January 13, 2014: Al Jackson
January 20, 2014: Lee Mazzilli
January 27, 2014: Steve Trachsel
February 3, 2014: Rico Brogna
February 10, 2014: Skip Lockwood 
February 17, 2014: Ron Hunt
February 24, 2014: Craig Swan