Tom Brennan: MONUMENTAL METS' MISTAKES: VOL. 1

MONUMENTAL

METS

MISTAKES

My brother Steve suggested, and he and I collaborated on, writing articles about five specific transactions the Mets should’ve done or...should’ve not done, that were Monumental to the (lack of) success of this franchise over its nearly 60 years of existence.

Everyone can make mistakes – but you want to avoid Monumental Mistakes like these five if you want to have a successful franchise.

 

Today is Monumental Mistake # 1:

A. Not drafting Reggie Jackson – and drafting Steve Chilcott instead. 

This one was a big mistake, even if Chilcott had remained completely healthy:

An L.A. Times article from August 20, 1994 noted that Chilcott, to that date, was the only #1 overall draft pick to never make the majors. 

Meanwhile, Reggie Jackson, an obscure player most of you probably do not know about, is in the Hall of Fame, deemed Mr. October, and hit 563 career home runs. 

You can google him if you’ve never heard of him, for more details.

Anyway, here are a few excerpts from that article from 26 years ago:

Chilcott played parts of 7 minor league seasons….for practical purposes, Chilcott’s career ended at 2nd base one night in th…Florida State League, about a year into his career. Chilcott’s playing days were dotted with injuries, but none…more…(impactful) than his shoulder problems. “I just couldn’t throw a ball hard enough to break a pane of glass,” said Chilcott.

“Chilcott was (described by his H.S. teammates as)…everything that you’d want an athlete to be…the epitome of a ballplayer…he could throw the ball a long way and…really a strong, physical kid.” With a muscular 5-foot-11, 185-pound frame, a strong arm and a powerful left-handed bat, he was a scout magnet.  (Casey Stengel himself scouted him).

Chilcott split his first season (1967) between the…Appalachian League and…NY-Penn League…hitting .290 with six home runs and 45 runs batted in through 79 games. 

(In) game No. 79,…when the pitcher whirled and threw to second, Chilcott dove into the bag with his right arm. His injury (was what turned out to be) a chronic recurrent posterior semi-dislocation.  He underwent surgery in 1969, but (other) problems (included) an infection after he fouled a ball off his shin sent him to the hospital for a month, and…a broken hand on a foul tip. (H)is shoulder continued to bother him (requiring) cortisone shot…At 24, his baseball career was over.”

Let me continue by noting that after being hurt in 1967, Chilcott only had 89 at bats in 1968 and 1969.  In 1969, meanwhile, with the Oakland As, the little-known Jackson had 47 HRs, 118 RBIs, and  was 5^th in AL MVP voting. 

Chilcott was lousy in a partial season in 1970, but offered a glimmer of hope by having a good year in A ball in 1971, with 17 HRs and 68 RBIs in 91 games, but at that point, he was essentially done, with just 54 minor league at bats in 1972 before hanging it up.  Meanwhile, the obscure Mr. Jackson (google him) had 157 HRs through 1972

But despite the Chilcott injuries that could not be foreseen at the time of the draft, who did everyone think would have been the better pick, and future player, on draft day?  Chilcott…or Jackson?

A writer from Baseball Hot Corner, Rocco Costantino, wrote in 2016 that Reggie Jackson was the consensus top pick.  He noted that “The general consensus pick was Reggie Jackson, who had just wrapped up an incredible career at Arizona State…(and) completely dominated the sport on his way to earning All-America honors.”  

He added that “Jackson was generally considered the best amateur baseball player in the country.  Surely the Mets would make the simple choice to add this budding superstar to their franchise, right?  Instead, the Mets pulled a fast one and went with Steven Chilcott, a 17-year-old high school catcher….

"To be fair, Chilctott was a good prospect, but he was seen as an obvious project…The Mets stated they took Chilcott because he played a prime position of need and because he had the endorsement of the legendary Casey Stengel, but there were always rumors of the Mets passing on Jackson for racial reasons as well. Either way, the Mets passed on someone who had every tool in the shed for a 5’11” kid who was years away from playing.”

So, not picking Reggie, even on draft day, was a Monumental Mistake.  Go against the consensus at your own risk.  It was a Mistake that impacted the Mets franchise incredibly going forward.  After all, without Reggie Jackson, the Mets won the 1969 World Series.

Imagine him having hit 47 HRs and 118 RBIs in 1969 instead with the Miracle Mets, and teaming up for many seasons to follow on the Mets with Tom Seaver. 

That could have been, if not for the Monumental Mets Mistake, a baseball marriage extending into the 1980s, with likely with a few more New York Mets World Championships in the 1970’s. 

But Jackson, due (let’s be frank) to Mets’ stupidity, was never a Met.  Then, the matter was compounded with the next of the Monumental Mets Mistakes, to be covered in the next segment of this series:

Trading the Great Tom Seaver.

Until then, my friends.