The View From The Rear View Window - Tommie Agee

The View From The Rear View Window - Tommie Agee

by Michael Jawitz, AKA: Grubby Glove

Tommie Agee. When Gil Hodges took over as Manager of the Mets during the 1967 – 1968 off season, he quickly realized the team needed a quality, reliable center fielder. Having spent the previous five seasons managing the Washington Senators, Hodges was a witness to the outstanding season Tommie Agee had in 1966, one that was good enough for the youngster to earn the American League’s Rookie of the Year Award. Although Agee had slumped in 1967, Hodges still had confidence in the young man from Mobile, Alabama, and was surely behind the trade in which the Mets acquired Agee from the Chicago White Sox on December 15, 1967. Unfortunately, Agee slumped again in 1968, hitting only .217 with a mere five home runs.

Everything changed in 1969. Moved to the lead-off position in the batting order, Agee’s slash line of .271/.464/.806 coupled with 26 home runs helped catapult him to National League Comeback Player of the Year Award (The Sporting News). His spectacular defensive play in the World Series against the mighty Birds of Baltimore earned him the respect of baseball fans in general and Mets fans in particular. Any story on Tommie Agee must include this iconic image from game three, featured here on a 1970 Topps World Series subset card.

Mets fans were excited to see the 1970 season begin, and they were not disappointed with Agee’s performance, which included a .286 batting average, 24 home runs, 31 stolen bases and a Gold Glove Award for his excellence with the glove. The team itself was still quite good, but in the wake of their unexpected World Series triumph the rest of the teams in the division improved themselves, and the Mets dropped to third in the NL East.

His performance in 1971 and 1972 suffered due to knee injuries, and Agee was traded to Houston in November, 1972. Tommy Agee died at the age of 58 after suffering a heart attack in January, 2001. He was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2002.