Tom Brennan - THE METS' BEST HITTER OF THE 1990'S

The 1990's certainly had some mighty interesting Mets hitters:

Howard Johnson (HoJo) hit 38 HRs and plated 117 in 1991, very impressive.

Bobby Bonilla had a solid first year for the Mets in 1993, with 34 HRs and 87 RBIs in just 139 games.

Lance Johnson, who arguably had (at least for me) the Mets' best offensive season ever in 1996, when he hit .333 with 227 hits, 21 triples, and 50 steals.

Todd Hundley, who smacked a then-Mets-record 41 HRs and drove in 112 in that same 1996.

Bernard Gilkey, with 77 extra base hits, a .317 average, and 117 RBIs in that same 1996.

John Olerud, who hit a Mets record .354 in 1998 with 93 RBIs.

Mike Piazza's stunning 1999, when he had 40 HRs, 124 RBIs, and hit .303.

Robin Ventura hitting a lusty .301 with 38 doubles, 32 HRs and 120 RBIs in 1999.

Rocket Roger Cedeno, who hit .313 with an abundant 66 steals in, yes, 1999.

John from Albany would yell at me if I did not note that Edgardo Alfonso had 41 doubles, 27 HRs, 108 RBIs, and hit .304 in (when else?) 1999.

Hey, and Darryl Strawberry clocked 37 HRs and drove in 108 in 1990 (yeah, but where was he in 1999?)

Let's also remember that speedster Vince Coleman stole 99 bases in his 235 Mets games, so he was impactful, too.

Sorry, all you Butch Huskey fans, he was not good enough as a Met to be in this group, despite that one monstrous 500 foot plus HR he hit in 1997 into the 600 section deck in Philadelphia.  That one would have made Pete Alonso's jaw drop.

But who hit the best of them all, from 1990-99, for these Mets?

Well, let's eliminate some of the guys right off the...ahem...bat: Speedsters Coleman, Cedeno, Johnson, and yes, Strawberry were not with the Mets long enough in the 1990s to be the best of the decade.  And Gilkey's one huge season was an aberration.   Also, Ventura only had that great season in his one year in the 90's, so he falls out of contention, too.

What about the rest?  

Eddie Murray was kinda dour-looking, but the Hall of Famer actually hit very well in his 310 Mets games in 1992 and 1993, with 65 doubles, 43 HRs, and 193 RBIs at age 36-37.   He was a tiger with RISP as a Met, too.

Bobby Bonilla had an uneven Mets stint.  Prior to the Mets, he put up excellent numbers in Pittsburgh, and then hit like heck from mid 1995 to 1997, but that was after leaving the Mets.  He was the poster child of a (close to) great hitter everywhere else being a solid but much more mediocre as a Met (95 HRs, 295 RBIs, .270 in 515 Mets games). 

OK, those guys are out too, in this "best of the 1990s competition."

So, let's get down to real contenders for best Mets hitter in the 1990s.

HoJo was great in 1991, very good in 1990, but tailed off greatly in 1992 and 1993 before going to LAD.  Had HoJo's best years all fallen in the 1990s, he would have been the likely winner of best 1990s Mets hitter, but a number of his best seasons were in the late 1980s, especially 1987 and 1989 when he averaged 36 HRs and 100 RBIs.

Alfonso got into 677 games from 1995 thru 1999, and over a 150 game average, he hit .290, with 14 HRs and 75 RBIs.  He hit over .300 in two of those seasons.  In total, he had 62 HRs and 339 RBIs in the 1990s.  Too bad Alfonso's superb 2000 season fell (barely) in the next decade.

Todd Hundley followed that great 41 HR season with a 30 HR season, and spent almost 9 years in the 1990s with the Mets.  But he was banged up in some seasons, hit not so well in others, and ended up with good but not great numbers (118 doubles, 124 HRs, 397 RBIs, .240) as a Met over 829 games, and 2,549 at bats.   Still, he had the most prolific total numbers of the 1990s as a Mets hitter.

Mike Piazza only got in 250 games in 1998 and 1999 - but what games those were.  He drove in 200, hit 58 doubles and 63 HRs, and had a .322 average.  His next 3 seasons were stellar, too, but fell in the next decade.  With all due respect to David Wright and others, Piazza in his prime (1998-2003) was probably the best hitter in Mets history.

Lastly, John Olerud was simply superb in his 3 year stint, in 1997-99, missing under 10 games, and hitting .315 with 109 doubles, 63 HRs, 288 runs and 291 RBIs, to go along with a .425 OBP.

Winner?  

I go with quality over quantity, and have Mike Piazza as the best hitter of the 1990s for the Mets, barely edging out John Olerud.

Moving on, in descending order, my:

 # 3? Tremendous Todd Hundley.  

# 4? Excellent Eddie Alfonso.  

# 5?  Steady Eddie Murray.  

# 6? Lightning Lance Johnson.  

# 7? Hammerin' HoJo.  

# 8? Boppin' Bobby "Bo" Bonilla.

And that, my friends, is my call for the 1990's.  What's yours?