Ron Hodges Leads a Bevy of Backup Backstops

Ron Hodges spent a dozen years with the Mets, but most of them were spent on the bench.

Most Mets fans know that Ed Kranepool played 18 seasons in New York, spending his entire major league career in a Mets uniform.  But only one other player spent as many as a dozen seasons with the Mets without ever wearing another big league uniform.  And that player spent more time on the bench than he did on the field.  It seems like there was always someone in front of him on the depth chart, but that doesn't mean he wasn't one of the more valuable players on the team.

Ron Hodges was a Met from 1973 to 1984, beginning his career on the "Ya Gotta Believe" Mets and playing his final game just as the Mets started to believe in contention once again.  During his first three seasons in New York, Hodges served as Jerry Grote's backup.  Once Grote was supplanted behind the plate, John Stearns became the team's No. 1 catcher.

The late '70s and early '80s saw Stearns and Alex Treviño splitting time as the team's catcher, with Hodges serving as the club's third option.  Finally, once injuries took Stearns out of the picture and a blockbuster trade for slugger George Foster removed Treviño from the equation, Hodges became the Mets' starting catcher in 1983.

Hodges' 11th year in the majors produced his first season with 300 or more plate appearances.  But by then, Hodges was 34 years old and wasn't nearly as mobile behind the plate or as productive with the bat (0 HR, 21 RBI) as he was as a part-timer from 1973 to 1982.  Rookie Mike Fitzgerald took over the gig behind the plate in 1984, relegating Hodges to the bench and eventually his release following the '84 season.

Ron Hodges didn't play much in his twelve seasons as a Met, but he did endear himself to fans with his patience at the plate and his grittiness behind it.  Despite a .240 career batting average, Hodges reached base at a .342 clip, making him one of just four players in Mets history to have an on-base percentage at least 100 points higher than his batting average.  The others are Wayne Garrett (.237 BA, .348 OBP), John Olerud (.315 BA, .425 OBP) and Robin Ventura (.260 BA, .360 OBP).

In addition to being half of the "my career OBP is 100 points higher than my lifetime batting average" club, Garrett and Hodges were also instrumental in one of the most pivotal defensive plays in club annals.  On September 20, 1973, with the Mets needing a win over the first place Pirates to move to within half a game of the division lead, the two teams squared off in an extra-inning affair at Shea Stadium.  Garrett started the game at third base, while Hodges began the game on the bench.  But in the tenth inning, manager Yogi Berra inserted Hodges into the game and moved Garrett from third to short.  Three innings later, with Richie Zisk on first, Bucs' rookie Dave Augustine lifted a long fly ball to left field that just missed being a crushing two-run homer by inches.  Instead, it bounced high off the wall into Cleon Jones' glove.  As the Mets' shortstop, Garrett cut off Jones' throw to the infield and fired a strike to Hodges, who tagged out Zisk to prevent the Pirates from taking the lead.  Hodges' tag saved the game (and perhaps the season) in the top of the 13th inning, just minutes before his run-scoring single gave the Mets a thrilling extra-inning victory.  True to his title as backup catcher, Hodges remained on the bench for the rest of the 1973 season, with Jerry Grote starting every game during the Mets' amazing run to the NL East title.

Hodges was the Mets' elder statesman of the backup catching crew, but there have been some others who have been produced some memorable moments.  Below are five of the backup catchers whose names became part of Mets lore.

Duffy Dyer

After a one-game tryout with the Mets in 1968, Duffy Dyer was the Mets' third-string catcher in 1969.  But back-to-back doubleheaders in mid-August created the need for just the second start by Dyer on the season.  Dyer capitalized on the rare opportunity, hitting a three-run homer to turn a 2-0 deficit against the San Diego Padres into a 3-2 lead, which was also the final score.  The Mets were nine games behind the first place Cubs entering the game.  They were eight games out after Dyer's well-timed blast led the Mets to victory, a win that began a stretch in which New York won 36 of 46 games to overtake Chicago.

Dyer played with the Mets until 1974, but like Hodges, he was only the team's No. 1 catcher in one season (1972).  Dyer was a member of two pennant-winning teams, but never caught a game in the Fall Classic.  His sole postseason appearance in a Mets uniform came as a pinch-hitter in Game 1 of the 1969 World Series, grounding out for starting pitcher Tom Seaver.  Dyer batted .219 in 375 games as a Met, but had his brightest moment as a Met very early in his career.  That bright moment helped steer his teammates toward their improbable first World Series championship.

Mackey Sasser

Just prior to the beginning of the 1988 season, Mackey Sasser was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Mets.  Sasser played five seasons in New York, beginning his career with the Mets backing up future Hall of Famer Gary Carter and ending it as the No. 2 guy behind the team's soon-to-be single-season home run leader Todd Hundley.  In between Carter and Hundley, Sasser was the team's No. 1 catcher for one year.  And in that one-year opportunity, Sasser did something with the bat that no Mets catcher had done before him and only two Mets catchers have done since.

In 1990, Sasser played 100 games for the Mets, finishing the year with a .307 batting average.  In doing so, Sasser became the first catcher in team history to bat over .300 in a year in which he played more than half the team's games behind the plate.  (Since then, only Mike Piazza and Paul Lo Duca have been able to duplicate Sasser's feat.)  But Sasser's infamous inability to throw the ball back to the pitcher without double and triple pumping caused the Mets to look past his productive bat and look forward to Hundley as the team's top catcher.  Rick Cerone and Charlie O'Brien split catching duties in 1991, and Hundley took over the job in 1992.  Sasser finished his Mets career with a .283 batting average in 420 games.

Todd Pratt

If starting catcher duties were determined by overexuberance, then Todd Pratt would have had a steady job for his entire career.  Pratt was a Met from 1997 to 2001, never collecting more than 160 at-bats in any of his five seasons with the team.  But he was always the first player to celebrate a key hit produced by one of his teammates.  Pratt's premature celebration in Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS caused Robin Ventura's game-ending drive over the right field wall to forever be known as the Grand Slam Single.  And who can forget Pratt jumping for joy outside the Mets dugout on June 30, 2000 after Mike Piazza's three-run homer capped a miraculous ten-run inning against the Braves?  But Pratt's biggest moment as a Met allowed his teammates to celebrate one of his titanic blasts.

With Piazza sidelined with a thumb injury, Pratt temporarily took over starting duties for the Mets as the 1999 NLDS returned to Shea Stadium for Game 3.  With New York needing one win to wrap up its first postseason series victory in 11 years, Pratt stepped up to the plate with one out in the bottom of the tenth inning in a 3-3 tie.  Arizona had their closer, Matt Mantei, on the mound when Pratt lofted a high fly ball to straightaway center field, 410 feet from home plate.  But Gold Glove center fielder Steve Finley mistimed his jump, allowing Pratt's blast to clear the wall just over Finley's glove.  The homer gave the Mets a 4-3 win and a date with the Atlanta Braves in the League Championship Series.  To this day, it remains the only postseason series-ending home run hit by a Met in team history.  And it was by far, the most memorable of the 18 home runs hit by Pratt in his five-year career in Flushing.

Ramon Castro

Ramon Castro was never the team's top catcher in his four-and-a-half years with the Mets.  In his first year with the team in 2005, he was the backup catcher to all-time team legend Mike Piazza.  He then backed up Paul Lo Duca in 2006 and 2007, and was Brian Schneider's caddy in 2008 and 2009.  Castro had a powerful bat, and it was that bat that provided his two biggest moments as a Met.  Neither moment helped the Mets make the playoffs, but both blasts did give fans hope that the team would be playing in October.  Of course, one of those long fly balls didn't exactly leave the park.

On August 30, 2005, with the Mets competing for a wild card spot after three consecutive losing seasons, New York welcomed wild card leader Philadelphia to Shea Stadium for the first game of a critical three-game series.  The Mets trailed the Phillies by a game and a half entering the series opener, and trailed them, 4-3, going to the bottom of the eighth inning.  But Castro's three-run homer off Ugueth Urbina gave the Mets a 6-4 lead, and allowed the Mets to pull to within half a game of the wild card lead.  The Mets failed to make the playoffs in 2005, just as they failed in 2007.  But Castro did everything he could to try to push the Mets toward October in the latter year.  New York was down by a touchdown after Tom Glavine allowed seven first-inning runs to the Florida Marlins, but the Mets scored a run in the bottom of the first and loaded the bases with two outs for Ramon Castro.  A grand slam would have cut Florida's lead to 7-5, and Castro almost granted Mets fans with their wish, but his deep fly ball off Dontrelle Willis settled into the glove of left fielder Cody Ross just shy of the left field wall.  Castro hit 33 home runs in nearly five years as a backup catcher for the Mets.  The team's history might have been very different had he hit 34.

Omir Santos

Here's the only backup catcher of the five that technically wasn't a backup.  Omir Santos was a Met for just one season (2009), but because of an April injury to starting catcher Brian Schneider, Santos was afforded the opportunity to catch for the Mets.  With Schneider out, Santos was supposed to split his playing time with Ramon Castro.  Instead, he parlayed one memorable moment into becoming Schneider's backup, causing Castro to become expendable after nearly five years with the team.

In the month following Schneider's injury, neither Castro nor Santos started more than four consecutive games for the Mets.  On May 23, when the Mets visited Fenway Park to take on the Boston Red Sox, it was Santos' turn behind the plate.  The Mets were trailing by a run going into the ninth inning and were down to their last out when Santos hit a two-run homer off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, or so he thought.  Originally, the umpires ruled that the ball hit off the top of the Green Monster and came back into play, forcing Santos to settle for a long double.  But after further review, the ball was correctly ruled to be a home run, giving the Mets a 3-2 lead, which the bullpen held on to after the Mets infield made several stellar defensive plays in the bottom of the ninth.  A week after Santos' heroics, Castro was traded to the Chicago White Sox.  Once Schneider returned from the disabled list, the right-handed hitting Santos became part of a catching platoon with the lefty-swinging Schneider.  Santos ended up leading all Mets catchers in games played in 2009, but he was never the No. 1 guy behind the plate in his only year with the team, a year in which he produced 22 extra-base hits and 40 RBI in just 281 at-bats.  Of course, one of those extra-base hits and two of those RBI were slightly more memorable than the others.


A big tip of my Mets cap goes out to Mike Geraghty, who suggested the idea for this piece in honor of long-time Mets backup catcher Ron Hodges, as today is Hodges' 65th birthday.  If you haven't done so yet, you can follow Mike on Twitter at @IguanaFlats.  You'll be glad you did.
 

The Mets Who Believed A Walk Was As Good As A Hit

Lucas Duda is a great admirer of pitches.  After all, he's kept the bat on his shoulder for 91% of first pitches he's seen and 68% of all pitches, regardless of the count.  By not taking his hacks at the plate, Duda has walked 21 times through the Mets' first 26 games.  But by the same token, it's quite a challenge to pick up a hit without swinging at a pitch every so often.  That would explain why Duda only has 19 hits.

Through the season's first month, the Mets' leftfielder has reached base via a hit two fewer times than he has taken ball four.  How rare has this been in franchise history?  Almost as rare as a Rey Ordoñez home run.

Let's take a look at the players who have come closest to accomplishing this rare feat for the Mets, considering only those players who played regularly or semi-regularly and had no more than 20 more hits than walks (min. 300 PA).

   

Player	Year	Plate Appearances	Hits	Walks
Elio Chacon	1962	449	87	76
Bobby Klaus	1965	337	55	45
Joe Foy	1970	399	76	68
Wayne Garrett	1970	454	93	81
Ken Singleton	1971	366	73	61
Wayne Garrett	1972	377	69	70
Bud Harrelson	1974	412	75	71
Wayne Garrett	1976	305	56	52
Ron Hodges	1983	305	65	49
Robin Ventura	2001	549	108	88

As you can see from the list above, there have been just ten instances in Mets history in which a player with at least 300 plate appearances came within 20 walks of his full-season base hit total.  Wayne Garrett is the only player to accomplish the rare feat more than once, doing it three times.  Garrett is also the sole player to have more walks than hits in a season in which he compiled at least 300 plate appearances.

But why stop with 300 plate appearances?  Why not delve a little deeper to see how many players had more walks than hits, regardless of the number of plate appearances?  So that we don't have players with one hit and two walks on the list, let's just consider players with at least twenty hits and walks.  The list is shorter than Bill Pulsipher's career in New York.

 

Player	Year	Plate Appearances	Hits	Walks
Wayne Garrett	1972	377	69	70
Ron Hodges	1984	132	22	23
Tom Herr	1991	192	30	32
Rickey Henderson	2000	124	21	25
Jay Bell	2003	142	21	22

That brings us back to Lucas Duda.  With 19 hits and 21 walks in his first 99 plate appearances, Duda is one hit away from joining the walk firm of Garrett, Bell, Henderson, Herr and Hodges.  But since Duda stands to collect far more at-bats than his colleagues in the firm did in their unusual seasons, he might end up etching his name on the list that includes those everyday players with the best eyes and most patience at the plate.

Players such as Wayne Garrett, Bud Harrelson, Ron Hodges and Robin Ventura were fan-favorites during their time in New York, but none of them hit for a particularly high average.  Hodges was a .240 hitter in 12 years as a Met, while Garrett (.237) and Harrelson (.234) were regularly out of contention for the batting title by late April.  Ventura did hit .301 in his first year in New York, but hit .232 and .237 in his other two seasons as a Met.  They couldn't hit, but they didn't have to.  They found other ways to reach base.

Lucas Duda is hitting .250 through the Mets' first 26 games.  But with two more walks than hits, his on-base percentage sits at an impressive .424.  Duda is never going to compete for a batting title, but like a number of Mets before him, he doesn't have to.  He can still contribute to the team's offense even with his share of oh-fers at the plate, as long as those oh-fers include a walk or two.

Little leaguers are taught that a walk is as good as a hit.  For Lucas Duda and a select number of players in Mets history, it appears that major leaguers have been taught that mantra as well.

D'Arnaud Hoping To Go Where No Met Has Gone Befo'

The Mets have had a number of great catchers in their half century of existence.  Jerry Grote was behind the plate for two pennant winners, nurturing a young and dominant pitching staff.  John Stearns was a four-time All-Star who was at times the best player on his team.  Ron Hodges was always No. 2 on the depth chart but in his 12 seasons in New York, but was the perfect complement to Grote and Stearns.

Gary Carter was a tremendous leader, who molded a young staff into an elite squad and ignited a memorable World Series rally.  Todd Hundley evolved from a good-field, no-hit catcher to a two-time All-Star and one of the best power-hitting catchers the Mets had ever employed to date.  Of course, the best power-hitting catcher in team history replaced Hundley, as Mike Piazza made the position his own for eight seasons.

All six of those catchers combined to crouch behind the plate for approximately forty seasons, making the catcher's position one of the most stable in team history.  But Jerry Grote wasn't a homegrown Met, playing for the Houston Colt .45s in 1963 and 1964 before being traded to the Mets in 1965.  John Stearns played in 810 games over his major league career, but 809 of them came in a Mets uniform, as he made his major league debut as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1974 before being traded to New York in the Dave Schneck trade (although most of you might refer to it as the Tug McGraw trade).  Gary Carter and Mike Piazza were All-Stars in Montreal and Los Angeles, respectively, before going on to great things with the Mets.

Of the six main catchers in team history, only Ron Hodges and Todd Hundley made their major league debuts as members of the Mets.  But Hodges was mostly a backup catcher, surpassing 155 at-bats in a season only twice in his 12-year career.  That leaves Todd Hundley as the most productive catcher in franchise history who made his way onto the major league scene as a member of the New York Mets.  But even Hundley didn't become a star until half a decade into his Mets career.

Over his first five major league seasons, Hundley batted a mere .219 with 35 HR and 136 RBI, reaching base at a .271 clip.  Although Hundley was showing signs of having some pop in his bat, he was pretty much an automatic out when he wasn't hitting the ball over the wall.  But in 1995, Hundley started to show signs that he was about to break out, hitting a career-high .280 and showing a more selective eye at the plate, as evidenced by his .382 on-base percentage.  Sure enough, his next two seasons were some of the best produced by a catcher in team history.

In 1996, Hundley went where no Kingman or Strawberry had gone before, becoming the first player in club annals to reach and surpass the 40 HR plateau.  Hundley also set a franchise record for catchers by driving in 112 runs.  In 1997, Hundley became the first Met catcher to hit 30 or more home runs in consecutive seasons, despite collecting 123 fewer at-bats than he did in his historic 1996 campaign.  He also set a career high with a .394 on-base percentage, a far cry from the .271 mark he posted from 1990 to 1994.  For his efforts, Hundley was selected to play in the All-Star Game in both 1996 and 1997.

In nine years as a Met, Hundley hit .240 with 124 HR and 397 RBI to go with a .323 on-base percentage.  No other catcher in Mets history who began his major league career in New York has been able to approach those numbers.

Enter Travis d'Arnaud.

Although it took a Cy Young Award winner (and two catchers) to pry d'Arnaud and friends away from the Blue Jays, the 23-year-old has the credentials to become the most successful catcher to make his big league debut as a Met.  In 2011, his first season above A-ball, d'Arnaud had a .311/.371/.542 slash line.  He also collected 33 doubles, 21 HR and 78 RBI in 114 games.  In 2012, d'Arnaud improved his slash line to .333/.380/.595.  A knee injury limited him to 67 games, but not before he amassed 21 doubles, 16 HR and 52 RBI.  If you double his games to 134 (which is about average for a No. 1 catcher in the major leagues), his cumulative numbers would project to 42 doubles, 32 HR and 104 RBI.  And this is for a catcher who is still years away from entering his prime.

As a 23-year-old in 1992, Hundley hit .209 with 17 doubles, seven homers and 32 RBI in 123 games for the Mets.  At the same age, d'Arnaud surpassed all of those numbers while playing in only 67 games at AAA-Las Vegas.

It's true that playing in the altitude of Las Vegas helps a hitter's offensive numbers.  But if that's the case, then what's the explanation for d'Arnaud collecting 38 doubles, 13 HR and 71 RBI as a 20-year-old in 2009 for the Lakewood BlueClaws?  For those who do not know, Lakewood is in New Jersey, a state that's known more for its attitude than its altitude.

Lakewood's height might not have helped Travis d'Arnaud, but d'Arnaud helped Lakewood reach new heights.

Travis d'Arnaud will make his major league debut for the Mets at some point during the 2013 season.  Whether it be on Opening Day or midway through the season, d'Arnaud will bring his potent bat to Citi Field when he steps up to the plate for the first time.

The Mets have had some excellent catchers in their 50-plus seasons.  Some of them have been defensive stalwarts while others have been powerful producers at the plate.  But most of them played elsewhere before coming to the Mets.

Todd Hundley is the best hitting catcher who made his major league debut as a Met.  And that's with a .240 batting average over nine seasons in New York.  If Travis d'Arnaud can produce anything near what he has shown he's capable of doing, then he can potentially surpass all of Hundley's marks before he's out of his twenties.  If he does, d'Arnaud can indeed go where no Met catcher has gone before. 

Ghosts of Metsimus Past: No Experience Required (Unless If You Want To Win)

Welcome to another edition of Ghosts of Metsimus Past, where we have a Dickens of a time bringing back classic Studious Metsimus posts from the past.  In today's installment, we'll conjure up a post that was originally published on November 29, 2011.

It was around this time a year ago that the Mets allowed Jose Reyes to pack his suitcase for the warmth of South Florida.  Twelve months and one fire sale later, Reyes will now be trading in his new park in warm Miami for a new parka in chilly Toronto.  While Reyes is trying to figure out what the currency exhange rate is in Canada, his former infield partner in New York is counting the currency in his recently expanded bank account.

When Wright steps onto the field on Opening Day 2013, he will become the first Met since Mookie Wilson to be a Met for ten seasons.  In 2014, Wright will become the first player to be a Met for over a decade.  Who was the last player to accomplish this rare combination of loyalty and longevity?  Well, that's where this edition of Ghosts of Metsimus Past comes in.  Enjoy!

With the impending departure of Jose Reyes, the Mets will be left with David Wright and Mike Pelfrey as the only two players who have been with the team for at least five seasons, with Wright making his debut in 2004 and Pelfrey making his first major league appearance in 2006.  It would also leave David Wright as the only player left from the Art Howe era.

If Reyes has indeed played his last game as a Met, he will have played a total of nine seasons in New York, falling one year short of the decade mark.  That got me thinking.  Do you remember the last non-pitcher to play at least ten seasons for the Mets?  Would you believe it was Mookie Wilson?

Even before his famous ten-pitch at-bat in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Mookie Wilson was a beloved Met.  He was admired by the fans and respected by his teammates.  He was also a player the team wanted to have around, as he made his major league debut as a September call-up in 1980 and remained with the team until he was traded to the Blue Jays in 1989.

Mookie Wilson played for the Mets in every season in the '80s, experiencing the highs ("little roller up along first") and lows (George Foster).  He was also the last everyday player to suit up for the Mets at least once in ten consecutive seasons.  (Lee Mazzilli also played ten years for the Mets, but his time was split into two stints, from 1976-1981 and from 1986-1989.)

To find the last non-pitcher who played more than ten seasons in New York, you have to go all the way back to a player who played his first game for the Mets during their "Ya Gotta Believe" pennant-winning season in 1973.  Ron Hodges played 12 seasons for the Mets, ending his career in 1984.  However, despite the fact that Hodges was a non-pitcher, he was far from an everyday player, never collecting more than 250 at-bats in a single season.

How much time has passed since Ron Hodges became the last non-pitcher to play more than ten seasons with the Mets?  Let's just say color photography didn't exist back then.

It's amazin' that the Mets haven't had an everyday player spend ten years with the team in over two decades and even more amazin' that it's been over a quarter century (more than half of their existence) since a non-pitcher surpassed the decade mark.

In fact, in addition to Wilson, Mazzilli and Hodges, the only other everyday players to play at least ten seasons for the Mets in their fifty-year history are John Stearns (1975-1984), Ed Kranepool (1962-1979), Jerry Grote (1966-1977), Bud Harrelson (1965-1977) and Cleon Jones (1963, 1965-1975).  That's a total of eight everyday players in 50 years to play at least ten years with the Mets.  Compare that with 15 such players on the Astros (who also came into existence in 1962).

Free agency has definitely changed the landscape of the game.  Since its advent in the 1970s, players have been more likely to move from team to team than they are to stay with one franchise.  However, every team has a homegrown star or exceptional player that they try to lock up for as long as possible.  Not every team can boast a Tony Gwynn (20 years in San Diego) or Cal Ripken, Jr. (21 years in Baltimore), but they can claim a Jay Buhner (14 years in Seattle) or Mike Sweeney (13 years in Kansas City).

It's not only small market teams that keep their players around.  Large market teams do it as well.  For example, that other team that plays in New York (their name escapes me at the moment) has had a number of ten-year everyday players since they started winning division titles and World Series championships.  Players such as Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada all played key roles on those teams.  None of those players was playing in the major leagues the last time the Mets had a non-pitcher play at least ten years for them.

Don't look at us like that, Jose.  It's true.  You really would have been the first Met everyday player since 1989 to play at least ten years with the team had you decided to stay.

 

If Jose Reyes leaves the Mets during the offseason, he will fall one year short of reaching the decade mark, leaving it up to David Wright to try to end the streak in 2013.  Of course, he might be traded by then.  If that ends us happening, the longest-tenured everyday player on the Mets would be (get ready for this) Angel Pagan, assuming he's still on the team as well.

A good team has to have youth and a core of veterans who can share their wisdom and experiences with those novices.  Players who have seen the highs and lows (a la Mookie Wilson) are always key members of a winning team.  They've been in the clubhouse long enough and can help bring the team together in ways that can't be seen in a boxscore.

It's been almost a quarter century since the Mets have had a veteran like Mookie Wilson play at least ten years with the team.  It's also been a quarter century since the Mets last won a championship.  That's not a coincidence.

Lifetime Mets, We've Had A Few (But Just Enough To Mention)

With apologies to Frank Sinatra, the Mets have had very few players who spent their entire professional careers with the team.  I'm talking about players who originally signed with the Mets, came up through their minor league system and spent their entire major league careers wearing the orange and blue.

So many players spent a decade or more with the Mets, but all of them managed to play at least one game for another team.  Players such as Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Buddy Harrelson all came up through the Mets' minor league system and were teammates for most of their careers, but none of them retired as Mets.

Tom Seaver played for the Reds, White Sox and Red Sox after leaving New York (twice).  Jerry Koosman pitched for the Twins, Phillies and White Sox after playing his final game for the Mets.  And Bud Harrelson stuck around for a few years, toiling for the Phillies and Rangers once his days in New York were through.

There have also been a handful of players who most people don't remember as playing for an organization other than the Mets.  Do you remember Cleon Jones as a member of the White Sox?  No?  He was indeed a member of the Pale Hose, albeit for only 12 games in 1976 after playing a dozen years in New York.  How about Craig Swan?  The former ERA champion who led the Mets in wins during the Dark Ages of 1977-1983 finished his career with a two-game stint as a California Angel.  John Stearns played in a total of 809 games during his ten years in New York.  But the Bad Dude made his major league debut in 1974 for the Philadelphia Phillies, spending less time in Philly (two at-bats) than a cheesesteak spends in Rusty Staub's hands.

So which players can be considered true lifetime Mets?  Only three players who played at least seven years with the team fall into this category.  Let's take a look at that loyal trio.

Ed Kranepool

Of course the list has to begin with Steady Eddie.  Kranepool is the franchise's all-time leader in many categories due to his longevity with the team.  After the Mets drafted him in 1962 out of James Monroe High School in the Bronx, Kranepool made his major league debut as a 17-year-old on September 22, replacing Gil Hodges at first base in a blowout loss to the Cubs just days before the end of the team's inaugural season.  Seventeen years and eight days later, Kranepool played his final game for the Mets, collecting a double as a pinch-hitter for starting pitcher John Pacella.

In an interesting piece of symmetry, Kranepool began his career by replacing a Brooklyn legend and ended it by pinch-hitting for a kid from Brooklyn.  (Pacella was born in Brooklyn in 1956, 11 months after Hodges won is only championship in the borough.)

Ed Kranepool played 18 seasons in the big leagues, all with the Mets, before being granted free agency after the 1979 season.  When no other team offered him a contract, Kranepool chose to retire at the age of 35.

Ron Hodges

Look up the term backup catcher in a baseball dictionary and Ron Hodges' picture will more than likely accompany the definition.  Although Hodges played 12 years with the Mets, beginning in 1973 with the "Ya Gotta Believe" Mets and ending in 1984, the first year of Davey and Doc, he was rarely the No. 1 option behind the plate.

Stuck behind Jerry Grote for the first four years of his career, Hodges continued to be the Mets' backup catcher when John Stearns took over for Grote in 1977.  Stearns went on to become the first non-pitcher to represent the Mets as a National League All-Star four times.  Hodges went on to familiarize himself with the Shea Stadium bench.  However, with Stearns suffering from an assortment of injuries in the early '80s, Hodges began to receive more playing time.

In 1982, his tenth season with the Mets, Hodges collected 200 at-bats in a season for the first time.  The following year, Hodges surpassed the 100-game mark for the only time in his career.  In 1984, Hodges went back to being a backup, this time to Mike Fitzgerald, before being released after the season at the age of 35.

David Wright

When Mike Hampton decided to leave the bright lights of New York to get a Rocky Mountain high for himself, his wife and his school-age children, the Mets were rewarded with a "sandwich pick" in the 2001 amateur draft.   With that pick, the team selected third baseman David Wright, a Mets fan who grew up watching the team's future stars in Tidewater and Norfolk.  Since then, Wright has become one of the team's biggest stars.

Wright made his way up the minor league ladder quickly, making his major league debut on July 21, 2004, batting seventh and playing third base against the Montreal Expos.  He's been a fixture at the hot corner ever since.

Now entering his ninth year with the Mets, Wright is the team's all-time leader in doubles, extra-base hits, total bases and RBI.  By year's end, Wright could potentially also be the team leader in runs scored, base hits and walks.  And just think, before Wright made his major league debut, the Mets used to go through third basemen like Davey Johnson went through bottles of Rolaids.


Of all the players who played more than seven seasons in Flushing, Ed Kranepool, Ron Hodges and David Wright are the only three to be drafted and signed by the Mets, played their way through their minor league system and suited up for no other team but the Mets.  Out of all the pitchers in team history, only Jeff Innis (1987-93) and Mike Pelfrey (2006-12) were Mets for as many as seven seasons, without having ever known another organization since the day they were drafted.

Chipper Jones is about to end an 18-year career in the major leagues, all with the Atlanta Braves.  Mariano Rivera is expected to do the same for the Yankees.  This comes a year after his long-time teammate, Jorge Posada, called it a career after 17 years in pinstripes.  And I'm not even going to mention Derek Jeter (even though I just did).  All of these players have had long, successful careers with the only organization they've ever known.  But the Mets have only produced three such players who played for the team for just half the time of Jones, Rivera, Posada and Jeter.

The Mets have had very few "lifetime" players, and even fewer who played at least a decade for the team.  It's something that they will hopefully correct with David Wright leading the way, followed by the abundance of young homegrown players currently on the team.