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 

Our Ike Davis May Not Even Be The Best Ike Davis

Ike Davis is as confused about the title of this post as he is with a bat in his hands.

I'm sure you're looking at the title of this post, scratching your head and wondering what the fudge I'm talking about.  Well, the Ike Davis currently playing for the Mets is not the first player named Ike Davis to suit up for a major league team.  And with the way the 21st century Ike Davis is playing, the 20th century Ike Davis might soon be the better of the two Ikes.

Isaac Marion Davis (better known as Ike Davis) was a shortstop who played all or parts of three seasons for the Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox from 1919 to 1925.  The 20th century Ike Davis only compiled 732 plate appearances in the big leagues, but despite his lack of power (no home runs) and low batting average (.235), he found other ways to help his team win.

After Ike Davis Version 1.0 played in eight games for the 1919 Senators and ten games for the 1924 White Sox, he was named the Pale Hose's starting shortstop in 1925.  In his only year as a full-time player, 20th century Ike reached base 213 times in 146 games, collecting 135 hits, drawing 71 bases on balls and absorbing seven HBPs.  Old Man Davis also scored 105 runs in 1925, ripped 31 doubles and nine triples, and picked up 40 sacrifice hits while stealing 19 bases.

If you look at the American League leaderboard for 1925, you will find Davis' name everywhere.  He finished in the league's top ten in plate appearances (8th), runs scored (8th), walks (10th), stolen bases (4th), hit by pitch (8th) and sacrifice hits (2nd).  He wasn't just a good handler of the bat.  He also finished in the league's top ten in various defensive categories.  Davis had 472 assists at shortstop (2nd in the A.L.), made 313 putouts at short (3rd) and led the league with 97 double plays turned.  (He also committed a league-high 53 errors, but have you seen the gloves used by players back in the day?)

The first Ike never played in the majors again after 1925, and played his last game in the minors in 1928.  He then settled in Tucson, Arizona, where he lived until he passed away in 1984, three years before Isaac Benjamin Davis was born.

Ike B. Davis has played all or parts of four seasons for the New York Mets from 2010 to 2013.  After a promising rookie season in which he hit .271 with 19 homers and 71 RBI, Ike II got off to a wonderful start in 2011, batting .302 with seven homers and 25 RBI in 36 games before a fluke on-field injury cut his season short.

Since returning from his injury in 2012, Ike Davis Version 2.0 has been a shadow of his former self.  Although he did hit 32 homers and drove in 90 runs in 2012, Davis batted only .227 and struck out 141 times in 519 at-bats.  He's been even worse in 2013, managing a .143 batting average with four homers, nine RBI and 53 whiffs in 147 at-bats.  Combining his 2012 and 2013 seasons, Old Man (Before His Time) Davis has batted .209 with a .291 on-base percentage, striking out 194 times in 666 at-bats, while collecting only 139 hits.

The current Ike Davis has rarely appeared in the league's top ten in any offensive or defensive category.  He was the National League's fifth-leading home run hitter in 2012 and finished in the league's top ten in double plays turned by a first baseman in 2010 (2nd in the N.L.) and 2012 (4th), but that's pretty much it.

Ike Davis the First had a great season in 1925 but did not play in the majors after his one phenomenal campaign.  Ike Davis the Second has never had a great year by today's standards and is currently in the midst of a historically bad season.

It wouldn't take much for a player to have a better overall career than Isaac Marion Davis.  After all, he only played one full season in the majors and small snippets of two others.  But Isaac Benjamin Davis is on his way to becoming the second-best Ike Davis in major league history.  His current batting average over four seasons (.240) is getting dangerously close to his predecessor's .235 career mark.  And both players now have .324 lifetime on-base percentages.

Prior to the 2012 campaign, the Mets expected Ike Davis to be one of the offensive leaders on the team.  But not only has he failed to become that leader, he might not even be the best Ike Davis in history.  With every strikeout and defensive gaffe, 21st century Ike continues to close the gap between the Davises.  And if he doesn't watch out, the Mets' Ike Davis might just close out his stay in the majors almost as fast as 20th century Ike did.

On The Road With Joey & Iggy: The Real Chicago Bears

Hi, everyone!  We're Joey and Iggy Beartran and we'll be your tour guides today.  Where are we taking you?  How about the Windy City, the Second City, the city that Jake and Elwood tore apart (especially the cop cars).  We're talking about Chicago!  So sit back, have yourself a nice Polish sausage or some deep dish pizza and enjoy the ride.  Batter up!

We flew out to Chicago on Thursday morning, one day after the Mets completed their second 0-6 homestand since the All-Star Break.  Fortunately, the Mets were off on Thursday so they couldn't lose that night.  To celebrate the Mets' inability to lose that night, we had a delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy.  Then we made our way to the Loop and the Chicago River, where we found the famed Chicago Theatre.  Iggy was so excited, she shook her Mets pom pom in jubilation.  (I always wondered where she keeps that thing.  It's not like she has any pockets for it.)

That night, we wanted to experience what a pennant race feels like since the Mets haven't been involved in one since 2008.  So we hopped on the Red Line and got off at Sox-35th St.  It was time to visit U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox.

The White Sox, who are managed by the great singles hitter, Robin Ventura (the Grand Slam Single was a single and it was great), were hosting the team directly behind them in the American League Central, the Detroit Tigers.  At the time, the Tigers were one game behind the White Sox and were looking to pull into a first-place tie with the Pale Hose.

Although it was a cloudy night, we made it inside the ballpark on time and were looking forward to the first pitch.   But 7:10 PM came and went and there was no "play ball".  Why?  Because this happened...

No, we're not talking about blurry pictures.  We're talking about rain.  Lots and lots of rain.  Enough to delay the start of the game by one hour.  Then at around 8:15 PM, after we had sampled some of the tasty burritos and nachos the Cell had to offer, my colleague went out to snap more pictures of the field.  When he came back, he showed us this photo...

Clearly they didn't get the memo that we were only going to be in Chicago until September 15.

That's right, loyal readers.  Despite the fact that the game had playoff implications and was to feature an outstanding pitching matchup of Justin Verlander (the reigning AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner) against up-and-coming Chris Sale (a 16-game winner for the White Sox), the weather gods had something else to say.  The game was postponed, to be made up two days after we'd be returning to New York.

Sigh.

But the trip to the South Side of Chicago was not a complete washout, as we were able to get these photos inside the ballpark (see below).  The first one is the White Sox homage to "The Franchise", Tom Seaver, celebrating his 300th win with fellow future Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk in 1985.  The photo in the middle is another shot of Tom Terrific in his hideous mid-'80s White Sox duds, as he set the major league record for most Opening Day starts when he took the mound for the 16th time in the season's first game in 1986.  The bottom photo is a shot of John Travolta with various members of the late '80s Southsiders, including Fisk, Ozzie Guillen, Steve Lyons and future Mets centerfielder Lance Johnson.

Well, if we couldn't watch baseball in the South Side of Chicago, perhaps we'd be luckier on the North Side.  And lucky we were!

On Saturday, we made our way to the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field, by far the oldest ballpark in the National League.  It's about the same age as Jamie Moyer, who might just be the only person alive who can remember the last time the Cubs won the World Series (it was in 1908, for those who don't know).

The Cubs were entertaining the Pittsburgh Pirates on a beautiful late summer day, but it was us who were entertained.  Just check out the photos below!

No, the six-foot-tall bear in the photos is not related to us.  His name is Billy Cub and he and his siblings were standing near the corner of Addison and Clark Streets as well as the corner of Waveland and Sheffield Avenues.  The humans in the photos are our Studious Metsimus colleagues.  But you already knew that.

The game itself was all Pirates for the first seven innings.  Pittsburgh, who has slumped recently but is still fighting for the second wild card spot in the National League, scored in each of the first three innings and held a 7-3 lead going to the bottom of the eighth.  But the Cubs pushed across a run in the eighth to cut the Bucs' lead to three, then scored twice in their final at-bat before a bases loaded strikeout ended the rally and the game.  Even the Wrigley Field scoreboard operator was pretty bummed out about the failed comeback attempt by the home team.

Well, that does it for the recap on our trip to Chicago.  We visited U.S. Cellular Field on Thursday for the White Sox game that never started and Wrigley Field on Saturday for the Cubs game that almost never ended.  So what did we do on Friday?  Hmmm...

Maybe we took a side trip.  Maybe we went north to Milwaukee.  Maybe we visited Miller Park to see the Mets play the Brewers.  Maybe we did and maybe ... WE DID!

(Click on "WE DID!" for the recap of our Milwaukee trip.  But whether you click on the link or not, please try to keep quiet.  We're very tired after our trip to the great Midwest...)

This Weekend's Menu: Sausage And Cheese With A Side Order of Mets

I haven’t written here since Saturday and after today, I won’t be posting anything until Sunday at the earliest.  What’s the reason for this unusual hiatus?

It’s not because I’m upset over Frank Francisco’s unhappy birthday present to himself last night, as he turned a one-run nailbiter into a three-run cushion for the Nationals, which became magnified once Scott Hairston hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth off Sloth that would have tied the game.  (For those of you who don’t know, I refer to Nationals’ closer Tyler Clippard as “Sloth”, the hideously deformed character played by the late John Matuszak in “The Goonies”.  Read this piece from two years ago if you’re curious to find out why.)

It’s not because I feel like I’m going to jinx Jason Bay, who could break a 44-year-old team record if he continues to rack up the oh-fers at the plate.  In 1968, future World Series hero Al Weis posted the lowest batting average of any Met with at least 200 at-bats in a season, batting .172 in 274 at-bats for the Mets.  With 19 games to play, Bay is hitting .156 in 179 at-bats.

It’s not because I’m still swooning over my chance run-in with my second fav’rit Met of all-time, Edgardo Alfonzo, on Tuesday night at Citi Field.  (Mookie Wilson is my all-time fav'rit.  I hope that when I eventually do meet him, I don't screech like a Belieber.  No guarantees though.)  It was actually my second meeting with Fonzie, as we met earlier this spring in midtown Manhattan.  In that first meeting, he wasn’t happy that I didn’t have his last name on my personalized No. 13 jersey, but seemed to want to talk about “the movie with the bear” once he saw Studious Metsimus co-blogger Joey Beartran.

It’s not any of those things.  The reason why I won’t be writing for this site again until at least Sunday is because I’m taking the gang on a road trip.  The Studious Metsimus crew will be going to three games in three ballparks in three days.  There will be a Mets game thrown in there, but we’re also going to partake in some genuine pennant race baseball.

First, on Thursday night, we’ll be dialing in at U.S. Cellular Field in the South Side of Chicago watching the Detroit Tigers take on the Chicago White Sox.  Both teams are fighting it out for the A.L. Central division title and it looks as if that will be the only way for either team to make the playoffs, as the wild cards appear to be an East-West affair in the junior circuit, with the Yankees, Orioles, Rays, A’s and Angels all ahead of the Central division combatants.  As a bonus, Justin Verlander is due to start for the Tigers in this game against 16-game winner Chris Sale.

On Friday, we’ll be following the Mets as they take on Ryan Braun, Corey Hart and the new and improved former Met Carlos Gomez at Miller Park in Milwaukee.  The Brewers, who had been left for dead in the National League wild card race, have surged back onto the playoff radar.  With a 72-71 record after tonight's win, the Brew Crew is only three games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second wild card spot.  The Mets will try their best to play spoiler.

Finally, on Saturday afternoon, we’ll visit the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, where the Cubs will be entertaining the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Pirates are playing for a postseason berth for the first time since Barry Bonds couldn’t throw out Sid Bream at the plate in the 1992 NLCS, even though Bream would have had difficulty winning a race in which the other participants were Jason Phillips and a three-legged tortoise.  They’re also trying to end their 19-season streak of finishing below .500, the longest such streak by any team in North American professional sports.

Had Barry Bonds* been using what he said he didn't use, perhaps he could have gotten a little more on this throw.

In addition to the games, we will also attempt to have some sausage and cheese on our trip.  Studious Metsimus roving reporter/culinary expert Joey Beartran will try to find a good sausage in Chicago, while his sister (and occasional Studious Metsimus contributor with her “Gettin’ Iggy With It” pieces) Iggy Beartran will look for a cheesehead hat in her size in Milwaukee.

From Thursday to Saturday, we will be indulging in sausage and cheese with a side of Mets.  We’ll be back on Sunday to recap the three games, complete with plenty of exclusive photos.  Three games in three days in three ballparks, all with playoff implications.  If the Mets won’t give us a September to remember by being involved in a pennant race, we’ll find our own pennant race to be a part of.  See you Sunday!

One Season Wonders: Lance Johnson

The 1995 Mets were only two years removed from the team's first 100-loss season since 1967.  But they were one of the surprise teams in the National League, finishing in a second-place tie in the NL East with a 69-75 record in the strike-shortened season.  The future looked bright for the Mets, especially with Generation K, their highly touted trio of homegrown pitchers, about to make a splash.

However, one thing was missing for the Mets going into the 1996 season.  In 1995, the Mets traded their leadoff hitter, Brett Butler, to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the stretch run.  That left the Mets with a musical chairs situation in the leadoff spot, with Damon Buford, Joe Orsulak and Alex Ochoa trying to be the last person to sit on the leadoff seat.

Neither Buford, Orsulak or Ochoa figured to be the team's leadoff hitter in 1996, especially with general manager Joe McIlvane openly shopping for one.  Two months after the conclusion of the 1995 season, the Mets found their man in Chicago.  And he provided the team with the best season a leadoff hitter had ever produced to date.

"Leading off and playing center field, No. 1, Mook -- correction -- Lance Johnson!"

Kenneth Lance Johnson was not a young player when the Mets signed him.  At 32, he was entering a time in his life when speedsters tend to lose a step or two.  But the Mets decided to take a chance on Johnson after he had reached career highs in at-bats (607), hits (186), runs scored (98), home runs (10) and RBI (57), while batting .306 with 12 triples and 40 stolen bases in his final year with the White Sox.

Despite the fact that the Texas Rangers offered Johnson a three-year deal with a fourth-year option, guaranteeing him $8.35 million, the centerfielder chose to take his talents eastward, signing with the Mets for two years and $5.7 million.  Johnson settled on the Mets after talking to Bobby Bonilla, Daryl Boston and Mookie Wilson, all former Mets and good friends.

The Mets now had their leadoff hitter in place, but Johnson was a centerfielder.  Their Opening Day starter from the previous year, Brett Butler, had been the team's leftfielder.  That was also the position played by Damon Buford and Joe Orsulak.  One month after the Mets acquired Johnson, they orchestrated a trade for leftfielder Bernard Gilkey.

With the outfield set, the addition of a defensive wunderkind at short in Rey Ordoñez, and Generation K on the way, the Mets were ready to take the 1996 season by storm.  They didn't wait very long to make a positive impression on the fans, and Lance Johnson had a lot to do with it.

On April 1, before a packed house at Shea Stadium, the season opened ominously for the Mets, who fell behind early to the Cardinals by six runs.  But the Mets began to chip away at the lead and by the seventh inning, the Cardinals' lead had been halved.  After an exciting conclusion to the top of the seventh, where a perfect relay from Gilkey to Ordoñez helped nail Royce Clayton at the plate to keep the score 6-3, the Mets rallied for four runs in the bottom of the inning.  Smack dab in the middle of the rally was Lance Johnson.  The Mets' new centerfielder used his speed to generate a run, plating Ordoñez with an infield hit, then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Rico Brogna.  Johnson's run proved to be the difference in the 7-6 Mets' victory.

Although Johnson helped contribute to the Mets' Opening Day victory, he didn't start the season very well.  One month after the season opener, Johnson had a decent batting average (.272), but was only reaching base at a .286 clip, drawing three walks in the season's first month.  The Mets expected more from their leadoff hitter, and beginning with the second game of a doubleheader against the Montreal Expos on May 1, Johnson gave the Mets exactly what they wanted and more.

Photo by David G. Whitham

Over a six-game stretch from May 1 to May 7, Johnson batted .500 (14-for-28), scoring five runs and driving in another.  He also collected his seventh triple of the season, after hitting six in the season's first month.  The season was barely a month old and Johnson was already only three triples short of Mookie Wilson's single-season franchise record for three-base hits.  Before the season was half over, that record would be history.

On June 16, Johnson picked up his 11th triple of the season against the St. Louis Cardinals, breaking Mookie Wilson's club record that he set in 1984.  For Johnson, the moment was extra-special because it was the Cardinals who originally drafted him in 1984 before trading him to the White Sox just months after he played for St. Louis in the 1987 World Series.

By the All-Star Break, Johnson was already having an historic season for the Mets.  Through his first 87 games, One-Dog (as he was affectionately referred to by his teammates) was hitting .322 with 16 doubles, 13 triples and five home runs.  He also had 40 RBI out of the leadoff spot, which was an unusually high number for a No. 1 hitter.  What was not unusual for a leadoff hitter was his 65 runs scored and 28 stolen bases.

For his efforts, Johnson was selected to his first All-Star team, joining catcher Todd Hundley to become the first Mets' teammates in five years to represent the club in the Midsummer Classic.  Due to an injury to Padres' outfielder Tony Gwynn, Johnson started the All-Star Game and surprised everyone by playing the entire game, going 3-for-4 with two singles, a double, a run scored and a stolen base in the 6-0 National League victory.

Johnson continued to hit after the All-Star Break.  In his first 32 games after the break, Johnson had 12 multi-hit games and stole 14 bases.  However, the team, who had remained within a few games of the .500 mark for most of the season, was starting to feel the dog days of August, especially the young pitching staff.  Generation K had become Generation K.O., as Jason Isringhausen's ERA was climbing near 5.00 and Paul Wilson's ERA had already gone north of that mark.

By August 18, the Mets had fallen 20 games behind the first-place Braves.  One week later, manager Dallas Green was gone, replaced by Bobby Valentine.  Despite the poor play on the field and the upheaval in the clubhouse, Lance Johnson continued to shine.

Beginning with his 2-for-4 performance on August 14, Johnson hit .399 over the team's final 41 games.  In addition, the centerfielder scored 35 runs and drove in 20 more during the final quarter of the season.  Mostly everyone else wilted in the summer heat (save for Gilkey and Hundley), but Johnson just got better.  Despite not being a big on-base percentage player or a slugger, Johnson had an impressive 1.004 OPS over the last month and a half of the season, reaching base at a .426 clip and producing a .578 slugging percentage (13 doubles, six triples, two home runs in 173 at-bats).  The Mets finished the season with a disappointing 71-91 record, but Johnson's season was anything but disappointing.

For the season, Lance Johnson hit .333.  At the time, it was the second-highest batting average in team history (Cleon Jones hit .340 in 1969).  Johnson also became the second Met to play in 160 games (Felix Millan played 162 games in 1975) and the second to reach the 50-steal plateau (Mookie Wilson stole 58 bases in 1982 and 54 bases in 1983).  But there were a number of offensive categories in which Johnson was second to none.

In 1996, Johnson set the Mets' single-season record for at-bats (682), runs scored (117), hits (227), total bases (327), multi-hit games (75), singles (166) and triples (21).  He also had the rare distinction of having more stolen bases (50) than strikeouts (40).  To this day, Johnson still holds the single-season franchise records for hits, multi-hit games, singles and triples.

Following Johnson's record-setting campaign, the Mets rewarded him with a two-year contract extension worth $10 million, keeping him under the team's control until 1999.  But Johnson was also a year older, and a year closer to breaking down.  The 33-year-old Johnson started the 1997 season where he left off in 1996, hitting .309 with five stolen bases over the Mets' first 13 games.  But shin splints knocked Johnson out of the lineup on May 1 and he missed six weeks of action, returning to the Mets just in time to see Dave Mlicki shut out the Yankees in the first regular season Subway Series game on June 16.

By early August, Johnson was still hitting above .300, but he was hitting mostly singles.  His 17 extra-base hits (ten doubles, six triples, one home run) were a far cry from his 1996 production, when he finished the year with 61 extra-base hits.  Johnson also wasn't running as much, stealing 15 bases in 25 attempts.  His 60% success rate was well below his 77% career rate.  Despite Johnson's regression, the Mets were overachieving and competing in the National League wild card race.  However, the team was leading the league in blown saves and needed to improve their bullpen if they wanted to have a realistic shot at making the playoffs.

On August 8, the Mets made a deal to improve their bullpen, but the cost was steep, as they had to part ways with Lance Johnson.  In a six-player deal with the Chicago Cubs, the Mets sent Johnson, starting pitcher Mark Clark and backup shortstop Manny Alexander to the Windy City for centerfielder Brian McRae, closer Mel Rojas and set-up man Turk Wendell.  Although McRae went on to record a 20-20 season with the Mets in 1998 (21 HR, 20 SB), he never quite replaced Lance Johnson in center.  Meanwhile, Mel Rojas went on to become one of the most hated relievers in Mets' history.  However, Turk Wendell became one of the most successful middle relievers in team history, and was a key player in the Mets' postseason runs in 1999 and 2000.

The injuries that sidelined Johnson during the 1997 season continued to keep him off the field for extended periods of time over the next three years.  As a member of the Cubs in 1998 and 1999, Johnson missed a total of 145 games.  He then played 18 games for the Yankees in 2000 before being released on June 6, just four months before he would have gotten the chance to play against the Mets in the World Series.  Although Johnson was only 36 years old, he would never play in the major leagues again.

Although his career was cut short by injuries, Lance Johnson still had plenty to smile about.

Lance Johnson became an everyday player in 1990 as a member of the Chicago White Sox.  Over the next six seasons, he was one of the best leadoff hitters in the game not named Rickey Henderson, batting .289 and averaging 12 triples and 34 stolen bases per year from 1990 to 1995.  Then he became a Met in 1996 and obliterated his six-year averages.  But injuries and a subsequent trade in 1997 curtailed his career, ending it at a relatively young age.

The Mets did not play well as a team in 1996, finishing 20 games below .500.  But Lance Johnson did all he could to make the season a memorable one for Mets fans.  Mookie Wilson captured the fans' hearts with his speed and smile in the 1980s.  Two decades later, Jose Reyes did the same.  The Mets did not have many players like that in the 1990s, but for one season, they did.

Lance Johnson was Mookie Wilson after the fan-favorite retired and he was Jose Reyes before anyone knew who Reyes was.  But without his one magnificent season in 1996, perhaps no Mets fan would have known who Lance Johnson was.  It's amazin' what one wonderful season can do to a player.


Note: One Season Wonders is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets who had one and only one memorable season in New York.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:
 
January 2, 2012: Bernard Gilkey
January 9, 2012: Terry Leach 
January 16, 2012: George Stone
January 23, 2012: Roger Cedeño
January 30, 2012: Frank Viola
February 6, 2012: Joe Christopher 
February 13, 2012: Dave Magadan 
February 20, 2012: Pedro Martinez
February 27, 2012: Bret Saberhagen 
March 5, 2012: Robin Ventura 
March 12, 2012: Willie Montañez

It Was Never Meant To Lastings

How the mighty have fallen!  According to mlbtraderumors.com, former Mets prospect Lastings Milledge will not be playing in the United States in 2012.  Instead, he will be a member of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, earning $570,000 next year, plus performance bonuses.  Milledge also has a club option for the 2013 season.

Prior to the 2006 season, Milledge was the Mets' top minor league prospect as a 21-year old and was one of the top prospects in the country.  However, his flashiness (Milledge high-fived fans at Shea Stadium after an extra-inning game-tying home run) irked his teammates and rubbed opponents the wrong way.  In addition, Milledge was not exactly skilled at pitch selection (in 391 plate appearances as a Met, Milledge drew 25 walks while striking out 81 times).

As a result, the once highly-touted prospect was traded to Washington following the 2007 season for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider.  In 2008, Milledge appeared to be on the way to fulfilling the lofty expectations placed on him as a rookie in 2006.  In 138 games for the Nationals, he hit 14 home runs and stole 24 bases.  But that was the last time Milledge would be an everyday player in the major leagues, as injuries and poor performance derailed a once-promising career.

Since his kinda-sorta breakout season in 2008, Milledge has played for the Pirates and White Sox, but hasn't come close to replicating his one good season.  Milledge split the 2009 season with the Nationals and Pirates, combining to hit .279 with four home runs, 21 RBI and seven stolen bases in 244 at-bats.  In 2010, Milledge played the entire season in Pittsburgh, picking up 379 at-bats.  However, his production was not that far off from what he accomplished in 2009, despite the extra 135 at-bats (.277, 4 HR, 34 RBI, 5 SB).

Milledge signed as a free agent with the White Sox prior to the 2011 season but only played two games in Chicago before being sent down to AAA-Charlotte, where he returned to his 2008 form (.295, 12 HR, 27 SB).  Despite appearing to be back as the player the Mets expected him to be when they first called him up in 2006, Milledge was not re-signed by the White Sox following the 2011 season and was granted free agency.

Now in Japan for up to two years, Milledge will try to prove that he wasn't just a flash in the pan.  At age 26, he still hasn't entered his baseball prime and could potentially do well enough for the Swallows to draw the attention of a major league scout or two, but it's amazing how far his star has fallen.

After growing tired of him, the Mets turned Lastings Milledge into Ryan Church and Brian Schneider.  They then turned Church into Jeff Francoeur.  Francoeur was traded to Texas last year for Joaquin Arias, who is now in the Kansas City Royals organization.  The Mets now have nothing to show for Milledge.  Then again, Milledge had nothing to show for the Mets when he was here.

Some players have gone to Japan and returned to the United States to embark on a long, successful career (see Melvin Mora).  Perhaps this will be the case with Milledge, a player I once had such high hopes for.  Good luck, Lastings!  I've got a high-five waiting for you when you come back.

Regarding Terry Collins And Long Layoffs Between Managerial Jobs

On Tuesday, the Mets introduced Terry Collins as the 20th manager in franchise history. When Collins takes the field on Opening Day 2011, it will mark the first time he has done so as a manager in the major leagues since 1999.

If the 12-year gap between managerial gigs seems long to you, that's because it is. In fact, Collins has become only the fourth manager since 1900 to go at least 12 seasons between managerial jobs (not including interim managers or player/managers). The other managers prior to Collins to achieve this feat were:

• Chuck Dressen (1937 Reds, 1951 Dodgers)
• Burt Shotton (1933 Phillies, 1947 Dodgers)
• Paul Richards (1961 Orioles, 1976 White Sox)

Note: Shotton managed two games for the 1934 Reds.

So how did the long layoffs affect the previous three managers' ability to lead their teams? The results are mixed.

After managing the Cincinnati Reds for four seasons (1934-1937), never finishing higher than fifth place in the eight team National League, Chuck Dressen did not manage again until 1951, when he took over the reins of the Brooklyn Dodgers. That year, the Dodgers missed winning the National League pennant when the Giants' Bobby Thomson hit the "Shot Heard 'Round The World". However, in each of the following two seasons (1952 and 1953), Dressen led the Dodgers to the World Series.

When Dressen (see photo, right) became manager of the Dodgers in 1951, he replaced Burt Shotton, who had served as the Dodgers' skipper from 1947-1950.

Shotton had previously managed the Philadelphia Phillies for six years (1928-1933). He coached the Cincinnati Reds during the 1934 season and served as their manager for two games.

Later on, Shotton became was a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers and was perfectly content to serve in that capacity. However, when then-Dodger manager Leo Durocher was suspended for the entire 1947 season by Commissioner Happy Chandler, Shotton was asked to manage once again.

Prior to Shotton's arrival in 1947, the Dodgers had won only one National League pennant in 26 years, losing the 1941 World Series to the crosstown Yankees. Under Shotton's guidance, the Dodgers won the pennant in 1947 before succumbing to the Yankees again in seven games.

Leo Durocher returned from his suspenstion in 1948 and Shotton was moved into the Dodgers' front office. However, the players did not respond well to Durocher's return, as the defending National League champions began the season with a 35-37 record.

At the same time, New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham was looking to replace manager Mel Ott and contacted the Dodgers to ask for Shotton's services. Instead of Shotton moving over to the Polo Grounds, the Dodgers surprisingly sent Durocher to the Giants, replacing Leo once again with Shotton.

The Dodgers recovered nicely once Shotton was back in the dugout. Although they did not win the pennant, they went 48-33 under Shotton's tutelage. Their strong finish carried over into the 1949 season, as they won their second pennant in three years with Shotton as their manager. Of course, the Yankees defeated them for the umpteenth time in that year's Fall Classic.

Burt Shotton and Chuck Dressen each won two National League pennants with the Brooklyn Dodgers after not managing in the major leagues for 14 years. Only one manager went longer between managerial jobs. He didn't fare quite as well as Shotton and Dressen.

Paul Richards had managed in the major leagues for 11 seasons from 1951-1961, serving as the White Sox skipper from 1951-1954, followed by a seven-year stint as the manager of the Baltimore Orioles from 1955-1961.

It was Richards who took the Orioles from the bottom of the American League standings to contention. The Orioles franchise had not finished with a winning record since 1945, when they were the St. Louis Browns. However, in 1960, Richards guided them to an 89-65 record, good enough for second place in the American League.

The following season, the Orioles were once again a winning team. However, with a 78-57 record, Richards abruptly resigned as Orioles' manager to become the GM of the expansion Houston Colt .45s. Five years later, he became the general manager of the Atlanta Braves and put together the team that won the first National League West division title in 1969 before losing to the Miracle Mets in the inaugural National League Championship Series.

After the Braves faltered in 1970 and 1971, Richards was fired midway through the 1972 season. He did not work in baseball again until 1976, when he was offered his first managerial position in 15 years by the Chicago White Sox, the team he had previously managed in the 1950s. Unfortunately, his long layoff did not lead to brighter days for the White Sox during the bicentennial season.

Chicago finished in last place in the American League West in 1976 with a 64-97 record, leading the 67-year-old Richards to retire from managing at the end of the season. However, the following season, the White Sox rebounded from their last place finish to win 90 games.

Now it's Terry Collins' turn to return to the dugout after an absence of 12 years. The Mets are coming off consecutive fourth place finishes in the National League East. For some teams, a change in the dugout leads to a resurgence in the standings. But when that change brings in a manager who hasn't held that position in the major leagues for an extended period of time, how does that affect that team's ability to return to contention?

For the Brooklyn Dodgers, a long period of National League dormancy ended at the same time that Burt Shotton and Chuck Dressen returned from 14-year breaks as managers. However, for the Chicago White Sox, Paul Richards' return to the dugout did not help the White Sox in his one season there, but he did plant the seeds that blossomed into contention the year after his arrival and departure.

Terry Collins will have a difficult job ahead of him if he wants to bring the Mets back from the depths of the National League. However, if the past were to dictate what happens in the present, then perhaps it won't be as difficult as it seems.


Editor's note: Hey, guess what, kids? Thanks to the keen eye of the always amazin' Greg Prince (of Faith and Fear in Flushing fame), a fourth manager other than Terry Collins has been discovered (kinda like Columbus "discovering" a country that had already been discovered by Native Americans).

Larry Bowa managed the San Diego Padres in 1987 and 1988. His stay there was short-lived, primarily due to his awful 81-127 record. After leaving the dugout in the stadium formerly known as Bob Murphy's Brother Stadium, he did not manage again in the major leagues until 2001, when he took over for Terry Francona in Philadelphia.

Francona's Phillies finished in the National League East's cellar in 2000 (a year that should be quite familiar to Mets fans) with a 65-97 record. Bowa then took over the Phailin' Phils and led them to an incredible turnaround. The 2001 Phillies finished the season with an 86-76 record, only two games behind the division champion Atlanta Braves. For his efforts, Bowa was named National League Manager of the Year.

Bowa remained on board through 2004, at which time Charles Fuqua Manuel took over the team and turned them into perennial favorites to represent the National League in the World Series. The Mets have been Fuqua-ed ever since.