For a great many years the position of third base seemed like a black hole for the New York Mets. Every season someone would be handed the job, only to stumble and struggle his way towards anonymity. There were a great many short term positives, but not that many who embraced the job year after year.
The first one that comes to mind and without a doubt the best of the bunch was injury plagued David Wright. When you hit a combined AA/AAA .341 with 18 HRs and 57 RBIs to go along with 22 SBs in about 2/3 of a season as a 21 year old, you get everyone salivating about what you might turn into at the major league level. Throw in some stellar defense to go along with that major bat and you have the makings of a future star. Needless to say the Mets never really saw him deliver at the level they had hoped as his health put a major damper on what might have been. Still, when he hung up his career he had hit .296 with 242 HRs and 947 RBIs, averaging 25 HRs and 99 RBIs per season. Throw in seven All Star appearances, a pair of Gold Gloves, a pair of Silver Sluggers, and six times in the MVP voting. Had his health cooperated he might have had a road towards Cooperstown.
It's a steep drop-off after that, but Howard Johnson was a true find for the New York Mets when he was obtained for the rather paltry price of Walt Terrell who finished his career under .500. Johnson became famous for his long ball, much to the chagrin of Cardinals' skipper Whitey Herzog who felt he was corking his bat. HoJo played for the Mets between 1985 and 1993. While his .251 batting average wasn't exceptional, he averaged 27 HRs, 88 RBIs and 28 SBs per season. The switch hitter was right in the midst of the New York Mets drive for the 1986 World Series championship with his power and speed always making for memorable moments.
It was in the offseason of 1998 that the Mets signed All Star free agent Robin Ventura who had become a star with the White Sox. He spent three years with the Mets during which he earned a Gold Glove for his defense while providing formidable offense as well. He hit .260 as a Met while averaging 28 HRs and 98 RBIs per season. He was a professional on the field, though nothing he did with the bat nor glove will compare to his rainy day imitation of one Mike Piazza. He was gone too soon in an ill-fated deal with the Yankees for David Justice.
One of the Mets more exciting home grown prospects was Hubie Brooks who played mostly third base during his career. He batted a nice .272 with a little bit of power that would emerge later and flashes of a more dominant bat. He averaged just 8 HRs but drove in 64 per season during his Met tenure, but upon leaving Shea he went on to win a pair of Silver Sluggers and appear twice as a National League All Star. In his first season in Montreal he hit .310 and drove in 100 which took some of the sting out of losing Gary Carter. He did one more season in 1991 with the Mets at age 34 and his age was starting to show, but he was popular when he was here as a new ballplayer for the Mets.
No examination of third basemen would be complete without a few lines about Terry Collins' least favorite ballplayer, Wilmer Flores. Although he seemingly was miscast defensively wherever he was tried, Flores was a late inning and extra inning hero. No one will forget his tearful reaction to the incorrect report mid-game that he was being traded for Milwaukee Brewer Carlos Gomez. During his Mets career Flores was never a regular but somehow wormed his way into quite a few games, hitting .262 while averaging per 162 games 19 HRs and 71 RBIs. He never won any awards nor made any All Star games, but there were fans just as weepy when they thought he was being banished out of Citi Field.
Do any other third baseman deserve consideration here?
5 comments:
I think Fonzie played there a bit, though he was more famous for his contributions at 2B.
3B used to be the position that the Mets just couldn't fill with talent until HoJo came around. You were right to put David Wright on top of the list.
I remember the '69 Mets filling the spot with Ed Charles and Wayne Garrett, who probably hit around .200 between the two. No one from that team makes the list.
Todd Frazier? Nah. Joe Torre? Uhh-uhh. But as a 34-36 year old in decline, he played more 1B than 3B for the Mets. Great until 30, then decent from 31-33, then decline from 34-36, his Mets years, during which he averaged a GIDP every 19 plate appearances.
David Wright also had a form of the dreaded "Over 30" virus that disables so many formerly excellent players. I fear Escobar may have caught the Over 30 virus. He needs to get blood work to confirm that.
I have an antidote soon. Mark Vientos mono-homer antibodies. You can't fake age 22 in baseball.
A Ventura negative is the following: He and Todd Ziele campaigned to keep Gary Sheffield in his prime from coming to the Mets.
All Sheff did when he went elsewhere was hit like an absolute beast. So...Ventura may have been a net negative for just that reason alone.
I know I am beating the "over 30" dead horse a lot, but Hojo had his huge 38 HR, 117 RBI Mets season at age 30.
The next two seasons, 690 plate appearances and just 14 HRs and also a significant drop in batting average and RBIs.
He slipped further with the Rockies at 33, and stunk in his last season at 34.
Me? I'd not sign virtually any hitter that commits me to many contractual years after age 30.
A great article (for someone other than me) to write is to take the Mets' top 10 hitters who've played several Mets years in their 20's and also in their 30's, and look at the drastic post-30 drop off, almost every time.
My recommendation? Steve Cohen ought to have Billy Eppler write that story. Hopefully a non-fiction version.
Roy Staiger?
And we can't talk about third basemen without talking about two of the worst trades in Mets history: Jim Fregosi and Joe Foy.
Me personally, I was always a Wayne Garrett fan when I was a kid. I think something about the shared trait of red hair.
Post a Comment