Being a Mets fan has seemingly more often been about suffering through disappointment than it has been a celebration of success. As much as we all view the game as a series of individual challenges, no single player can alone deliver a victory to his team. Consequently, all we can do is appreciate what individuals have done whether or not it has led to a change in the standings.
Today we're going to look at some of the best first basemen ever to wear a Mets uniform. I have set an arbitrary two-season minimum for this evaluation which would rule out individuals who soared for one year only to depart.
The flip side, of course, is that simply being around for a great many years is not in and of itself a guarantee to belong on this list. No one has anything bad to say about Ed Kranepool, for example, but he was not ever an All Star caliber player, let alone the best player on his own team.
Any time this topic arises, everyone immediately applauds now broadcaster but then stellar fielding first baseman Keith Hernandez. He is clearly one of the best of all time when it came to positioning himself, making plays and helping keep opposing runners from scoring. With the bat he was certainly commendable, having achieved a NY Mets career average of .296 during his six-plus years at Shea Stadium.
People who have been reading me for a long time know I will already advocate John Olerud as the superior Mets player in this role. His fielding was commendable and during his major league career he did win a couple of Gold Gloves as a testament.
Late in his career the Mets obtained slugger Carlos Delgado, and for once the newcomer did not disappoint. He was at best an average fielder, but made up for that shortcoming with the wood in his hands. As somewhat expected, his batting average was not quite up to the level of the previous two at .267, but his run production was even better. He averaged 36 HRs and 117 RBIs per full season. Wow!
Although still early in his career, you have to include current first baseman Pete Alonso in this upper tier. He's been here since 2019 and has delivered in a big way. In addition to his back-to-back Home Run Derby titles at the All Star Game, he has a Rookie of the Year Award on his mantle and has delivered in a big way.
Missing from this list are some other notable contributors like Dave Kingman. Yes, he was a feared slugger, but his career batting average as a Met was just .219.
Donn Clendenon was one of the finishing pieces that propelled the 1969 Mets into a World Series championship, but his efforts were not quite up to the standards set here by the others finishing as a Met hitting .264 with 25 HRs and 94 RBIs.
John Milner was another contender but his numbers paled as well, with his best single season being 23 HRs and 72 RBIs but only hitting .239.
Is there anyone you feel deserves to share the stage with the top five picks?
7 comments:
I'd give Keith the slight edge, since he helped win us a WS.
Olerud, though was 15-43 with 12 RBIs in his one Mets playoff year, not shabby.
Olerud's 3 years were at age 28-30. Keith went from 29 to 35 as a Met, so the latter few years were decline years, so it is a bit of comparing apples to oranges.
WAR-wise in their careers, Keith had a very slim edge (60 vs. 58).
Murray was very clutch - and very dour.
If Milner makes the list, we gotta get Duda in there. Although not all at first base (no fault of his), he had 125 Mets HRs and 378 RBIs. He was my most disappointing - I felt he should have done better.
Clendenon did have the most RBIs per at bat of any Met in a season ever, in 1970 - 97 in 400 ABs. Had he gotten 600 at bats at that pace, he'd have had 145 RBIs.
My favorite large park memory of Clendenon was the one year as a Pirate that he hit 3 HRs in cavernous Forbes Field - and 25 on the road.
Like Reese, I have always thought that Olerud was the best Mets 1Bman ever, but Pete could change my thinking in the next few years.
I think you got 'em, Reese. There have been quite a few good ones but your top 5 is correct. Pete has slugged with the best of them in the last few years, and he says he wants to work on his defense until he can win a gold glove. That would be wonderful, but it takes more than thousands of ground balls. Did you see the way he botched that run-down last week? even as a little league coach I was embarrassed for him. First step forward is to learn all the fine points of infield defense.
The other thing Keith brought is strong leadership on the field. He was constantly talking up the infield, coordinating the defense, advising the pitchers. Pete doesn't need to do this, as Lindor has taken on that role.
Those guys were pretty good, but the guy with the initials M.E.T., also known as Marvelous Marv has to be on the list, no?
Mack
Pete should be the Best DH the mets ever had. He should be taken off 1St base every chance we get.
Maybe Vientos, or maybe Baty can man 1st but Pete need to adapt to the DH role... end of story...
I gotta choose Olerud over Hernandez
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