Tom Brennan - THE METS' BEST HITTER OF THE 1970'S

Early Rusty Staub Picture

Recently, I did an article on the Mets' best hitter of the 1960s.

One challenge in the 1960s, as opposed to subsequent decades, is that the 1960s had just 8 Mets seasons, not 10.  That was a good thing, the way the Mets played during most of the 1960's.  

They could have done with just 8 years in the 1970s with the way they (didn't hit) in the first Mets decade without a World Championship.

Back on April 28th, I concluded in an article that Cleon Jones was the Mets' best hitter of the mostly woeful then supremely wonderful, 1960's.  Check the article out in the side bar if interested.

Moving on to the next decade, the 1970s started well, with the 1970 Mets scoring 695 runs, up from 632 runs in world champ 1969.

During the rest of the decade, the Mets failed to score 4 runs per game in any of the seasons, with 5 seasons of under 600 runs, and a low of 528 runs (3.26 runs per game) in 1972.  By comparison, the Mets had 791 runs (4.88 runs per game) in 2019.  Despite starting the decade's first 4 seasons 21 games over .500, the last 6 seasons were 106 games below .500.  

During the 1970s, the Mets' best hitter, hands down, was Rusty Staub, La Grand Orange.

In 524 games, between 1972 (when he played just 62 games) and 1975, Rusty hit .280, with 540 hits, including 99 doubles, SEVEN triples, 62 HRs and 287 RBIs - and less than 200 Ks and a .362 OBP.  In his last 1970s Mets season in 1975, he knocked in a Mets season record 105 runs, a record that stood for more than a decade.

He got traded and did amazingly well his first 3 years with his new team, the Tigers.

He returned to the Mets from 1981 to 1985 and was a supreme pinch hitter during that stretch.  Pure gold.

A close runner up was the ladies' heart throb, Lee Mazzilli.  

Also playing in just 4 1970s seasons, from 1976 (partial) to 1979, Lee hit .273, with 88 doubles, 12 triples, 29 HRs and 193 RBIs, along with 81 steals, 244 walks, and a 1979 All Star Game appearance.

Close behind, John Milner was my 3rd choice.  A decent power bat, Milner played 741 games as a Met from 1971 to 1977, but hit just .245 and had just 338 RBIs to go along with his 94 Mets home runs.  The 338 RBIs, with a peak of 72, were not terrific.

Next on my list were three other fellas:

Ed Kranepool, who played the enirety of the 1970s, was not top 3 due to his lack of power and speed.   

Felix Millan (a low production .278 over 5 seasons)

And Dave Kingman (82 homers in 315 games).  Kong would have been higher, and perhaps on top, on the Mets 1970s hitters list had he not played in so few 1970s Mets games. He hit 96 more homers in 376 games in the 1970s after leaving the Mets. In total, he hit 255 homers in the 1970s, many still to be found in earth's orbit.

Lastly, a special mention for Jerry Grote, whose bat was nothing special, but for his overall game, he was a strong Mets contributor in the 1970s.