Rick Aguilera, sometime past midnight October 26, 1986, after giving up two runs in the top of the 10th inning only to see the Mets come back to score three runs and win Game Six of the 1986 World Series.1

“Maybe this is the best thing for me. Actually, I don’t remember what it feels like to start. But if I keep getting the ball in important situations, fine. I can get as much satisfaction out of a save as I used to get when I won as a starter.”

Rick Aguilera of the New York Mets, June, 19892

Largely remembered as an ace reliever for the Minnesota Twins, Rick Aguilera first came to the major leagues as a starter with the New York Mets and was their fifth starter as they cruised to the 1986 National League Eastern Division championship and went on to win the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Four years later he was in the bullpen in another city in another league.

Richard Warren Aguilera was born on December 31, 1961, in San Gabriel, California. In 1979, after batting .486 for Edgewood High School in West Covina, Aguilera was named to the All-California Interscholastic Federation second team as an infielder.

Originally selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 37th round of the 1980 amateur draft after he was MVP as a junior and senior in high school, Aguilera opted to attend Brigham Young University, where, when not on the ballfield, he majored in architectural design. At the collegiate level, his skills as an infielder were impeded by his slowness afoot. He remembered one of his coaches saying he “ran like a tombstone.” As a result, “By the end of my freshman year of college, I wasn’t getting a lot of playing time at third base, so they started working me off the mound. I’d always thrown the ball pretty hard, so that’s what made them think I could pitch.”3 In short order, Aguilera, who had had limited experience as a pitcher in high school and American Legion baseball, became a full-time pitcher, and was tutored by BYU pitching coach Bob Noel. He was noticed by the scouts, who were actually eyeing his teammates Cory Snyder and Wally Joyner.

After his junior year at BYU, where he spent the season coming out of the bullpen,4 Aguilera was drafted in the third round (58th overall) of the 1983 amateur draft by the Mets and signed by scout Roy Partee. He was still somewhat raw and had yet to show the composure that would later characterize his presence on the mound. He was described as a tense athlete who, BYU head coach Gary Pullins observed, “was ready to jump out of his skin in some of those close (relief) situations.”5

Aguiliera began his professional career in 1983 with Little Falls (New York) in the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League, going 5-6 with a 3.72 ERA. The following season, he moved up to Lynchburg in the Class-A Carolina League (8-3/2.34) and in June he was moved up to Jackson (Mississippi) in the Double-A Texas League. His first start for Jackson was not particularly good as he allowed three runs and three hits in his first inning of work against Shreveport.  In his next outing, against Arkansas, he allowed only two hits as Jackson won, 8-0.6 A month later, on July 29, Aguilera struck out 10 and did not allow a hit until the fifth inning as Jackson won 11-2. In his time with Jackson, he went 4-4, and over the course of the season, with Lynchburg and Jackson, struck out 172 batters in 155 innings. In 1985, Aguilera began the season at Triple-A Tidewater, where he recorded a 6-4 record with a 2.51 ERA before being called up to the Mets on June 10.

Aguilera’s first big-league appearance was in relief against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 12, 1985. He came into the game in the bottom of the 10th inning and retired all three batters. The Mets exploded for four runs in the top of the 11th, and Aguilera completed the game, striking out the last two batters for his first major-league win.

Aguilera started for the first time on June 16, losing to the Montreal Expos, 7-2. He remained in the starting rotation for the balance of the season. He pitched back-to-back complete-game wins on July 5 and 10, and went 3-1 with a 0.89 ERA in five July starts. He ended the year with a 10-7 record and 3.24 ERA while hitting an impressive .278.

As the Mets and Cardinals fought each other for the pennant, it became apparent that their three-game series in St. Louis in the last week of the season would be do-or-die. The Mets won the first two games to pull within one game of the division-leading Cardinals. Aguilera started the third game. Manager Davey Johnson observed, “I was asking a lot from a rookie pitcher. I was starting him in the most pressure-packed game we’ve played all year. He was pitching for the pennant in front of fifty thousand [the actual figure was 47,720] unruly Cardinal fans.”7

New York took the early lead when Keith Hernandez singled in Mookie Wilson in the top of the first inning. The Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the second and took a 3-1 lead in the fourth. Aguilera left the game for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning with the score 4-2 in favor of St. Louis. The Mets got within one run but lost the game, putting them two back with three to play. The Cardinals clinched the division two days later.

A year later, there would again be pressure, and the result would be much different, as Aguilera pitched in two games that no Mets fan of the era will ever forget. But to get to that point, the Mets would have to have their best regular season ever.     

Things started slowly for Aguilera in 1986. After three disappointing starts, during which he went 0-2 and failed to get past the sixth inning, he was moved to the bullpen, where he spent most of his time through the end of June. His low point came on May 13 against Atlanta in his second appearance in relief. Bruce Berenyi started for the Mets and New York led 3-2 after five innings. Aguilera entered the game to pitch the top of the sixth inning, and the Braves took the lead with three runs in the seventh inning. The turning point of the inning came when he was called for a balk, on a 3-and-2 pitch, by umpire Bob Davidson, and, in an unnerved state, gave up a home run to Claudell Washington on the next pitch.8 Aguilera stayed in the game until he was removed with one out in the ninth inning. He was charged with the loss and his record stood at 0-3 with an ERA of 8.38. He gave the folks behind home plate a good view of the back of his uniform as he allowed nine home runs in his first 18 innings of 1986.

Nevertheless, manager Johnson was not about to give up on him and, at the beginning of July Aguilera replaced Berenyi in the Mets’ starting rotation. He got his second win of the season on July 12, going seven innings as the Mets defeated the Braves 10-1. Johnson said, “That was the outing I was looking for. That was the Aguilera of last year. He was outstanding with everything. He mixed his pitches well … curve, split-finger fastball, and slider.” Aguilera said, “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. It couldn’t come at a better time, and now I’m ready to make a contribution in the second half.”9

But there would be a brief and surprising interruption. On July 18, during a series in Houston, Aguilera and three teammates were in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a team known for its rowdiness, four of the more quiet players were Aguilera, Bob Ojeda, Ron Darling, and Tim Teufel. They went to a place called Cooters Executive Games and Burgers to celebrate Teufel’s becoming a father for the first time.10 As they left Cooters, Tuefel was holding his unfinished glass of beer and was confronted by local policemen who were providing security for Cooters. A scuffle ensued, and the four players were arrested. In January 1987, misdemeanor charges against Aguilera and Ojeda were dismissed.11

In the first game after the Cooters incident, Aguilera struck out a career-high nine batters and pitched eight innings as the Mets defeated Cincinnati 4-2. He reeled off five straight wins between July 12 and August 7. Over this stretch, his ERA was 1.33. Aguilera credited his renewed success to his “slow curve that I could use to keep the hitters off stride.”12

The Mets were on a roll, and so was Aguilera. But in mid-September, the Mets were having trouble nailing down the Eastern Division championship. They lost six of seven, but on September 16 Aguilera righted the ship with a 4-2 win over the Cardinals, and the following evening, at Shea Stadium, the Mets defeated the Cubs in the clincher. In the delirium that erupted at the end of the game, one of the 47,823 exuberant fans in attendance knocked Aguilera to the ground, and Aguilera suffered a severe bruise to his shoulder that resulted in his missing his next start.13

The injury proved not to be serious and over the balance of the season, Aguilera went 2-1, to bring his record to 10-7. In the League Championship series with Houston, Aguilera, the Mets’ fifth starter, spent his time in the bullpen and pitched in two games, including the clincher.

That clincher, Game Six at Houston, was one for the ages. The Mets considered it a must-win: Although they were leading three games to two, Houston had Mike Scott waiting to pitch a potential Game Seven and the Mets had not been able to figure out Scott’s sinker all season. Houston took an early lead with three first-inning runs against Bob Ojeda, and Aguilera was summoned in the sixth inning. In three innings he allowed only one runner to reach first base and the score was 3-0 going into the top of the ninth inning. Aguilera was scheduled to lead off the top of the ninth for the Mets. As a hitter, he posed a threat. He had homered twice during the season and over the course of his career posted a decent .201 batting average. But there were good bats on the bench and strong arms in the bullpen. Len Dykstra pinch-hit for Aguilera and his lead-off triple propelled the Mets to a three-run inning that tied the game. Seven grueling innings later, the Mets had won, 5-4, and were on their way to the World Series.

Aguilera’s World Series performance went from being mildly disappointing in Game Two to a Game Six appearance that in short order changed from despair to delight in a game where viewers still remember what they were doing when the game reached its climactic ending with the Mets on top.

In Game Two, the Mets trailed 6-3 when Aguilera entered the game and pitched a scoreless sixth inning. However, the game was blown open in the seventh inning when he surrendered five consecutive singles to the Red Sox, who went on to win 9-3 and take a Series lead of two games to none.

Aguilera’s next appearance was in Game Six. Aguilera entered the game in the ninth with the score tied. He pitched a scoreless ninth inning, but the wheels came off in the 10th and he gave up two runs. In the bottom of the inning, with two outs and a runner on first, Kevin Mitchell pinch-hit for Aguilera, singled to keep the Mets alive and scored the tying run. The game ended shortly when Bill Buckner booted Mookie Wilson’s groundball. The win went to Aguilera, who despite a 12.00 Series ERA won arguably the most critical game of the 1986 season.

After successive 10-7 seasons, Aguilera sought to improve his effectiveness in 1987 with a new pitch, the split-finger fastball. Eventually the pitch would turn Aguilera’s career in a new direction, but it would take a while.

Aguilera struggled with injuries over the next two seasons, appearing in only 18 games in 1987 and 11 in 1988. His problems in 1987 began on May 26 when he felt a pain in his elbow while warming up. His stint on the disabled list, during which time he spent some time rehabbing at Tidewater, lasted until August. Despite limited duty in 1987, he ran off a streak of seven straight winning starts that lasted from May 20 to September 19, and finished the season with 11 wins. In 1988 elbow problems resurfaced and Aguilera was put on the disabled list on April 19. He was sent to Port St. Lucie and Tidewater in June on rehab assignments, and eventually had arthroscopic surgery on July 13, at which point he had an 0-4 record and an 8.41 ERA. He returned to the Mets during the final weeks of the season and pitched in three games. In the League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he pitched in three games, mostly in mop-up roles, as the Mets lost to the Dodgers in seven games.

The Mets moved Aguilera to the bullpen in 1989, and it was a successful transition. He got his first save on May 10 and eventually displaced Roger McDowell as the Mets’ closer. By mid-June Aguilera had a 3-1 record with six saves and a 0.84 ERA, with 51 strikeouts in 43 innings.

However, Aguilera was unhappy with the Mets. During the prior two seasons, when he was missing many games, his teammates were not conciliatory. As Howard Blatt of the New York Daily News noted, “He was painfully aware of the derisive whispers of his Mets teammates while he was sidelined with elbow pain in 1987 and 1988. Perhaps he even knew that some of them referred to him as ‘The Bearded Lady’ because of how they believed he babied his talented right arm.”14

In a season that saw much disassembling of the 1986 squad, Aguilera was dealt at the July 31 trading deadline, along with Kevin Tapani, David West, and Tim Drummond to the Minnesota Twins for Frank Viola and Jack Savage. At the time the Mets had lost seven games in a row, were looking to Randy Myers as their closer, and were in dire need, due to injuries to key personnel, of top-shelf starting pitching. In the long run, the Twins got the best of the deal as Aguilera and Tapani helped celebrate a world championship in 1991, while Viola, after winning 20 games in 1990, sank to 13-15 in 1991 for the fifth-place Mets, and left for free agency after the season.

On arrival in Minnesota, Aguilera was moved into the Twins’ starting rotation and he compiled a 3-5 record with a 3.21 ERA in 11 games. Those 11 starts were his last with the Twins for seven seasons. Before the 1990 season Aguilera got a call from Twins manager Tom Kelly. With the departure of Jeff Reardon to free agency, the Twins needed a closer. With the Mets, Aguilera’s bullpen role had been ill-defined. He had been a closer, but had also been used in long relief and as a mop-up man. With the Twins he would be the closer, but he still had some doubts. “Deep down, when I was first told by T.K. (Kelly) that I was going to be in this short role, I wondered if I would be able to handle the pressure of the job,” he said.15

As the Twins closer Aguilera got off to a spectacular start, saving four games in April and posting a 1.17 ERA. However, the team was not in contention and at the end of May was in sixth place, with a 23-25 record, trailing the first-place Texas Rangers by 5½ games. Then the Twins caught fire. From June 1 through 25, they won 21 of 23 games and took over first place. Aguilera pitched in 12 of the games and earned 10 saves. By season’s end he was third in the league with a career-high and team record 42 saves. He had his career best 2.35 ERA, and the Twins won their division by eight games. Aguilera was named to the first of three consecutive All-Star teams and finished 18th in the MVP balloting.

In the American League Championship Series, Aguilera pitched in three games and saved all three, including the decisive Game Five. In his 3⅓ innings of work he allowed no runs and one hit.

Aguilera pitched in four World Series games against Atlanta. He saved the first two games at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Game Three was tied 4-4 and went into extra innings. In the top of the 12th inning, the Twins mounted a threat. They loaded the bases with two outs and pitcher Mark Guthrie was scheduled to hit. Aguilera was warming up to take the mound in the bottom of the inning but his warmups were rushed to an unexpected conclusion. Manager Kelly was out of pinch-hitters and needed Aguilera’s services as a batter. He had not swung a bat in a game since leaving the Mets. Aguilera recalled the moment. “After I got the phone call, I wondered why they wanted me to hit. Then I realized we didn’t have any players left. It was definitely a little surprising but looking back at it now, there were not a whole lot of other alternatives.”16 He got good wood on the ball and it sailed to center field, but disappeared into the glove of Ron Gant. Aguilera then pitched the bottom of the 12th and, with two outs, gave up a game-winning single to Mark Lemke.

The Braves won the remaining two games at Atlanta and the teams returned to the noisy confines of the Metrodome with Atlanta needing one win to gain the championship. Game Six went into extra innings with the score tied 3-3, and Aguilera came on to pitch in the 10th inning. In two innings he allowed no runs and two hits. Both runners were erased; Terry Pendleton on a double play, and Keith Mitchell, pinch running for Sid Bream, caught stealing. In the bottom of the 11th, Kirby Puckett’s leadoff homer secured the win for the Twins and forced Game Seven. Only one pitcher was needed by the Twins in Game Seven as Jack Morris beat the Braves 1-0, and the Twins were the world champions.

Over the next two seasons Aguilera continued to excel and was named to two more All-Star teams. In his three All-Star games, all won by the American League, he pitched three innings, struck out five, and had a 3.00 ERA. The only blemish was a home run by Will Clark in 1992.

In 1992 for the second-place Twins, Aguilera pitched in 64 games and had 41 saves with an ERA of 2.84. He followed that up with 65 appearances and 34 saves in 1993, but the Twins dropped to fifth place. On June 6 of that season, Aguilera began a stretch that bordered on the unfathomable. He retired all four Cleveland batters he faced for his 16th save of the season. Over his next eight appearances Aguilera faced 23 batters, retired them all, and earned five saves. In the month of June he faced 42 batters in 13 games, and allowed but two hits and one walk. His ERA for the month was 0.00.

In the strike year of 1994, Aguilera pitched in 44 of the Twins’ 113 games, saving 23. He said he achieved success as a closer by not trying “to show any emotion at all, whether positive or negative, and that’s what works best for me. I don’t want to try to put any more importance on the last three outs of the game than the first three outs.”17 Life was good in Minneapolis. Rick and his wife, the former Sherry Snider, who had been his childhood sweetheart, had moved to Minneapolis with their young daughter and Sherry had gotten into the act when she contributed a recipe to a book called Home Plate Hits, Recipes from the Kitchens of the Minnesota Twins’ Wives, Players, and Staff, that was published early in 1994.18 And then, things would change. Before the strike in 1994, the Twins had a losing record, and things were not going well in 1995.  

A July 6, 1995, trade brought Aguilera to the Boston Red Sox, and at the time of the trade, the Red Sox were playing at Minneapolis. The timing and circumstances of the trade were steep with irony. Aguilera was, at midnight, to become a 10-and-5 man (10 years in the majors and 5 with the Twins), and have the right to veto a trade. As the trade was being finalized he was waiting his turn in the bullpen to go into a game against the Red Sox. Within 24 hours, he made his first appearance with Boston, and it was against his former teammates. The Red Sox took a 5-4 advantage into the top of the ninth inning, and Aguilera retired his former mates in order after surrendering a leadoff single to Chuck Knoblauch. His first save with the Red Sox was his 13th of the season and gave Boston a three-game lead in the AL East. He was 2-2 with 20 saves with the Red Sox in 30 appearances, as Boston won the American League East by seven games.

In the playoffs the Red Sox faced the Indians and were swept in three games. The first game of the series went into extra innings and after the Red Sox took the lead in the top of the 11th inning on a home run by Tim Naehring, Aguilera came in for the save but yielded a tying homer to Albert Belle. Cleveland went on to win the game in the 13th inning on a home run by Tony Peña off the Red Sox’ Zane Smith. That was Aguilera’s only appearance in the series.

Aguilera returned home to the Twins as a free agent the next year, signing a three-year contract, and was not only put in the rotation but was counted on to lead the staff.19 But an injury, alleged to have occurred when he picked up a suitcase during spring training, delayed his return and, except for a three-inning stint on April 20, he did not pitch regularly until  June. After an 8-6 campaign as a starter, he moved back to the bullpen in 1997. In 1998, he had a subpar season. In May 1999, with his potential free agency looming, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs with pitcher Scott Downs for pitchers Kyle Lohse and Jason Ryan. His 254 saves for the Twins were the franchise record until 2011, when he was passed by Joe Nathan.

With the Cubs Aguilera was reunited with former Mets teammate Ed Lynch, now the general manager of the Cubs. He was also reunited with Kevin Tapani.

Aguilera went 6-3 with eight saves for the Cubs in 1999, and was re-signed after the season, spending one more year in the majors. It was an unhappy and disappointing season for the Cubs and Aguilera. His season highlight came on June 2, when he recorded his 300th career save. But by July, there was frustration in Aguilera’s voice when he said, “Coming out of camp this year, or even when I was traded (to Chicago) last year, you think, ‘This is a good team.’ Then things fall apart. You find yourself shaking your head and saying, ‘What happened?’”20 After the season he retired.

After his playing days, the Aguileras returned to California to raise their family, which included a daughter Rachel Rae, born in 1991, and a son Austin, who was born in 1997. In 2008 Aguilera was elected to the Twins’ Hall of Fame. At the time he was the head baseball coach at the Santa Fe Christian School in Solana Beach, California. He held that position while his children attended school there.

When Aguilera retired after the 2000 season, he was eighth on the all-time saves list with 318. In 1998, as he was passing Dan Quisenberry on the list, Quisenberry was battling cancer. Putting things into perspective, Aguilera said, “Are we playing for glorification through numbers, or are we playing the game for the love of the game?”21

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also relied on:

Baseball-Reference.com

Smith, Claire. “Aguilera, a Quick Study in Relief, Is Now at the Head of the Class,” New York Times, October 20, 1991: S8.

Aguilera’s file at the Baseball Hall of Fame Library.

Notes

1 Malcolm Moran, “Even Mets Are Amazed,” New York Times, October 26, 1986: S-1.

2 Dan Castellano, “Amazing Transition,” The Sporting News, June 26, 1989: 14.

3 J.G. Preston, “Fire and Ice,” Twins Magazine, September 1993: 21.

4 Omaha World-Herald, May 13, 1983: 33.

5 Preston, 23.

6The Sporting News, July 16, 1984: 43.

7 Davey Johnson with Peter Golenbock, Bats (New York, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1986),  314.

8 Murray Chass, “Aguilera Falters as Mets Lose,” New York Times, May 14, 1986: D-29.

9 Los Angeles Times, July 13, 1986: 5.

10 Mookie Wilson with Erik Sherman, Mookie: Life, Baseball, and the ’86 Mets, (New York: Berkley Books, 2014), 137.

11 Joseph Durso, “Darling, Teufel Get Probation; Charges Dismissed for Two Others, New York Times, January 27, 1987: A-19.

12 Jack Lang, The Sporting News, July 28, 1986: 23.

13 Michal Martinez, “Aguilera Sits Out; Mets Lose,” New York Times, September 22, 1986: C-4.

14 Howard Blatt, “Aguilera Has Last Minny Ha-Ha,” New York Daily News, July 15, 1990: 48.

15 Preston, 21.

16 Jayson Stark, “Twins’ Aguilera a Pitcher Who Was Caught in a Pinch,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 24, 1991.

17 Preston, 25.

18 Ann Burckhardt, Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 13, 1994: 4T

19 Jon Souhan, Minneapolis Star Tribune, February 19, 1996: 1C.

20 Jon Souhan, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, July 14, 2000: 9C.

21 La Velle E. Neal III, Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 21, 1998: 4C.

Anderson, who had spent the previous six seasons in the pitching-rich New York Mets’ organization at Triple-A Tidewater, was 29 and knew he was running out of time.

“I told my wife (Rhonda) if I don’t get the chance this year, I’d be a coach or scout,” Anderson said. “I didn’t dream I’d get a chance. I just figured it would never come.”1

But the opportunity to pitch in the major leagues finally presented itself in 1986.

Anderson was born on November 29, 1956, in Everett, Washington, just north of Seattle. His father, Dick, was a lineman for a power company, and his mother, Jane, was a homemaker. The family also included four daughters.

As a youth Anderson played baseball and basketball, but in junior high he decided to focus on baseball. At Everett’s Mariner High School, he pitched a no-hitter and earned all-state honors as a senior in 1975. After high school, he spent two years at Everett Community College. A highlight of his two seasons with Everett was a no-hitter against Fort Steilacoom Community College (now Pierce College). After two seasons at Everett, Anderson enrolled at the University of Washington.

As a junior in 1978, Anderson led the Huskies in starts (13) and complete games (10) and was 5-6 with a 4.23 ERA to help the Huskies record their first winning season in 12 years. The Huskies, who won just 114 of 261 games between 1967 and 1977, were 29-16-2 in 1978. On April 14, 1978, at Washington’s Graves Field, Anderson pitched 10 no-hit innings in a 0-0 tie with Oregon State. The game was called after 10 innings because of darkness. “I think I walked 10 and struck out 10,” Anderson said. “I probably threw around 200 pitches.”2

In June of 1978, Anderson was selected by the Mets in the 24th round of the amateur draft. At 21, he began his professional career with Little Falls of the New York-Penn League. In 14 appearances with Little Falls, Anderson went 2-3 with two saves and a 2.25 ERA.

Anderson spent the 1979 season with Double-A Jackson (Texas League), going 8-11 with a 3.85 ERA. There were several highlights. On May 1, pitching for just the second time in 25 days because of rains and floods, Anderson scattered four hits and allowed just a ninth-inning solo home run in a 6-1 victory over Arkansas. He helped his cause by getting three hits.

“It was really a wet spring,” Anderson said. “Everything was flooded. The Pearl River flooded. We couldn’t get to the ballpark. We had to go to gyms to throw. It was crazy.”3

Eleven days after the victory over Arkansas, Anderson tossed a no-hitter in Jackson’s 8-0 victory over Shreveport in Jackson. Anderson, who walked three (the Mets turned three double plays) and struck out two, credited catcher Jody Davis. “Davis told me before the game that changeups would work with these guys,” Anderson said.4

Anderson began the 1980 season at Jackson but was promoted to Triple-A Tidewater (International League). With Jackson, he was 3-2 with four saves and with Tidewater he was 1-3 with one save. He spent the 1981 and 1982 seasons at Tidewater. In 1981 he was 3-5 with three saves in 37 relief appearances, and in 1982 he was 4-2 with two saves in 31 appearances.

He split the 1983 season between Tidewater and Jackson. In 15 appearances (14 in relief) for Tidewater, which was managed by Davey Johnson, Anderson was 2-1 with two saves and a 4.05 ERA. At Jackson, he made 12 starts and was 5-1 with a 3.59 ERA. In his only relief appearance he earned a save. Still, the Mets didn’t beckon; the 1984 and 1985 seasons were also spent at Tidewater. In 1984, he was 6-9 with three saves and a 3.38 ERA in 26 appearances (17 starts).  In 1985, he made a career-high 48 appearances (46 in relief) — going 6-3 with seven saves and a career-best 1.98 ERA.

Anderson returned to Tidewater for the 1986 season, but got a break in early June. Mets starting pitching Bruce Berenyi sprained an ankle while jogging. Anderson, five months shy of his 30th birthday, was called up to replace him.

On June 9 at Shea Stadium, Anderson, after 185 appearances with Tidewater, started against the Philadelphia Phillies. He went seven innings, allowing just four hits and no earned runs, walked two and struck out five. The Mets led 2-1 when Anderson was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Phillies eventually won the game, 3-2 in 10 innings.

“It’s remarkable what he did,” Davey Johnson said. “He’s been pitching in relief mostly, and this was only his third start all year. I’ll bet we start getting calls from other teams.”5

Anderson’s debut came with his parents in the stands and just two days after his wife had given birth to their second child.

“After all that time in the minor leagues I finally made it to the big leagues and I’m on the mound and Gary Carter is behind the plate,” Anderson said. “It was a dream come true. It was fun. My wife had just had a baby. I was at the hospital when they gave me the call that I was being called up.”6

After the game, Anderson was sent back to Tidewater, but he was called up again in mid-July. His second major-league appearance came July 20 against the Astros in Houston. Anderson pitched three scoreless innings of relief in the Astros’ eventual victory in 15 innings. Two days later, in Cincinnati, he pitched 1⅓ innings of scoreless relief in the Mets’ 14-inning victory over the Reds.

Anderson finally allowed an earned run in his fourth major-league appearance. In his second inning of relief against the Braves, in the second game of a July 26 doubleheader in Atlanta, Anderson allowed an earned run — the first after 12⅓ innings with no earned runs.

On August 6, Anderson earned his first major-league victory. He started and went five innings in the Mets’ 7-6 defeat of the Cubs in Chicago. Anderson allowed five hits and three runs (two on a fourth-inning home run by Jerry Mumphrey) and left the game with the Mets leading 6-3. Four days later, in Montreal, Anderson pitched three perfect innings in relief of starter Sid Fernandez to earn his first major-league save.

On August 14, in the second game of a doubleheader against St. Louis at Shea Stadium, Anderson suffered his first major-league loss. He allowed four runs in six innings in a 5-1 defeat by the Cardinals. On August 30 Anderson was sent back to Tidewater when the Mets recalled shortstop Kevin Elster from Jackson.

Back in Tidewater, Anderson helped the Tides, who finished fourth in the International League regular season, capture the league championship. In the deciding game of the Governors’ Cup series, Anderson tossed a four-hit shutout as the Tides defeated the Columbus Clippers, 2-0, in Norfolk to win the best-of-five series, 3-1.

Anderson then rejoined the Mets. On September 18 he pitched five shutout innings in a 5-0 defeat of the Cubs, outpitching future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux for his second victory. Anderson, who was 2-1 with a save and a 2.72 ERA in 15 appearances, was left off the Mets’ postseason roster, when the Mets kept just nine pitchers. But he remained with the team during the postseason as an insurance policy in case of injury. “Look at how many guys would die to put on a uniform and sit in the dugout for the playoffs and the World Series,” he said. “Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to. It’s an honor.”7

Late in spring training of 1987, Anderson and catcher Ed Hearn were traded to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher David Cone and outfielder Chris Jelic.  “Anderson can flat-out pitch, and Hearn was a big help to us last year,” Davey Johnson said. “But in both cases we have an abundance of people at their positions.”8

Anderson spent most of the 1987 season with Triple-A Omaha, where he was 6-5 with a 4.52 ERA in 14 starts. In six appearances with the Royals, he was 0-2. In 1988 he was 7-4 with a 2.62 ERA in 14 starts for Omaha, and 2-1 with a 4.24 ERA in seven appearances with the Royals.

After the 1988 season, Anderson became a free agent and signed a minor-league contract with the Detroit Tigers. “It didn’t include an invite to the big-league camp,” he said. “I told my wife it might be time to retire. My wife agreed. I got the opportunity to go into coaching. I never looked back.”9

The opportunity came from a tip from former teammate Ron Gardenhire, whom Anderson had known since 1980 in the Mets organization. Gardenhire, who was beginning his second season as a manager in the Minnesota Twins’ minor-league system, called Anderson. “I was set to retire,” Anderson said. “Ron said the Twins were looking for a pitching coach for their rookie ball team.”10

 “Our first day in Jackson, we worked out,” Anderson said. “And Ron said he and his wife couldn’t find an apartment. I said, ‘Why don’t you come live with my wife and I?’ ”11

At 32, Anderson began his coaching career with the Gulf Coast League Twins (in Sarasota). He then spent three seasons (1990-92) at Kenosha of the Class A Midwest League before moving up to Double-A Nashville in 1993. After two seasons in Nashville, Anderson moved up to the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake City.

At Salt Lake City the manager was former big-league catcher Phil Roof. “Rick has been with me for two years and he takes the pressure off my shoulders,” Roof said. “You can talk to the pitchers he has worked with and they will tell you he is a big part of their success. Rick is a student of the game and he has a lot of patience and just does a great job.”12

Anderson spent the next seven seasons at Salt Lake City. After the 2001 season, Gardenhire replaced Tom Kelly as the manager of the Minnesota Twins. Gardenhire, who had been a coach under Kelly since 1991, named Anderson his pitching coach.

Anderson and Gardenhire spent the next 13 seasons with the Twins. In their first season (2002), the Twins won the AL Central title to reach the postseason for the first time since 1991. The Twins reached the postseason six times in the first nine seasons under Gardenhire. But in 2014, after the Twins’ fourth consecutive 90-loss season, Gardenhire and Anderson were let go. In 2015 Anderson was living in Florida, taking time off from baseball.

Nearly 30 years after his major-league debut, Anderson said he still had fond memories of the 1986 Mets. “Being around those guys was great,” Anderson said. “To this day, I’m still friends with a lot of those guys. The reunions have been great.”13

Notes

1 The Sporting News, June 2, 1979.

2 Author’s telephone interview with Rick Anderson, May 15, 2015 (Hereafter Telephone interview).

3 Telephone interview.

4 The Sporting News, June 2, 1979.

5 New York Times, June 10, 1986.

6 Telephone interview.

7 New York Times, October 9, 1986.

8 New York Times, March 28, 1987.

9 Telephone interview.

10 Telephone interview.

11 Telephone interview.

12 Deseret News (Salt Lake City), April 5, 1995.

13 Telephone interview.

Walter Wayne Backman was born on September 22, 1959, in Hillsboro, Oregon, to Sam and Ida Backman. Sam was a railroad switchman who had spent a few years in the Pittsburgh Pirates system. Wally was the third of six children.1 Sam taught his son the game, while both parents instilled the desire to win. “I was raised to win. I credit my parents for that,” Backman said.2

Backman was drafted 16th overall in the 1977 June amateur draft out of Aloha (Oregon) High School. He was assigned to the Little Falls Mets of the New York-Penn League. There, Backman played in all but two of Little Falls’ games in 1977, mostly at shortstop.  The 17-year-old led the team in most offensive categories, including at-bats (255), runs (44), hits (83), stolen bases (20), and batting average (.325)

Backman continued his ascention in 1978, playing for the Lynchburg Mets of the Class-A Carolina League, where he helped lead the team to the league championship. He played the entire season at shortstop, and again showed off his offensive skills. Backman led the team in at-bats (494) and runs (86), and was second on the team with a .302 batting average. His speed was on display as well; he led the team in stolen bases (42) and triples (9), but his 99 strikeouts were the third most in the league. Bakcman’s fielding, however, was of concern. He had a .947 fielding average at shortstop and led the team with 30 errors. Despite the shaky fielding, the Mets promoted Backman to Jackson of the Double-A Texas League, most likely due to his offense and ability to get on base at a nearly .400 clip. 

Backman’s 1979 season was his first facing some challenges. His offensive numbers dipped, but he was still second on the team in runs (63) and led the team with five triples. Once again, his defensive skills were subpar: 30 errors with a .933 fielding percentage.

The Mets still liked what they saw offensively from Backman, enough to promote him to Triple-A Tidewater for 1980. The organization had a plan. Backman was switched to second base. In his limited action at shortstop that season, his fielding percentage was .931 but in games at second, it jumped to .965. His skills on offense became sharper. He was among the team leaders for most offensive categories. When the Mets made their September call-ups, Backman was on the list, and was immediately thrown into the fire. Mets second baseman Doug Flynn had fractured his right wrist on August 20, paving the way for Backman to play.3 Backman played in 27 of the Mets’ remaining 32 games, primarily at second. His fielding was stellar — only one error — and he batted .323 with a .396 on-base percentage, better than any of the Mets regular starters.

Backman’s 1980 call-up and 1981 spring training earned him a spot on the 1981 Mets as a reserve infielder.4 He played in 26 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter, before the Mets sent him back to Tidewater on June 8, just days before the players elected to strike. Backman was upset by the demotion and the lack of steady playing time.5 He played in only 21 games for Tidewater before tearing his rotator cuff. Backman missed the rest of the 1981 season while rehabbing the injury. 

After the 1981 season the Mets decided to retool their middle infield. They traded their starting shortstop, Frank Taveras, and their starting second baseman, Doug Flynn, with the idea of giving Backman a chance to take over second base, and Ron Gardenhire to take over at shortstop.6 New manager George Bamberger worked out the infielders at all positions during spring training in an effort to create a well-rounded infield.7 Backman batted.272 and his on-base percentage (.387, best among starters on team) was again his calling card, but he gained a reputation for bad defense, which he attributed to his rotator cuff injury. “I got labeled that year for a bad glove and it really bothered me,” he said a couple of years later. “The season before I tore my rotator cuff, and in 1982 it still bothered me.”8 Like 1981, Backman’s 1982 season ended early when he fell off a bicycle and broke his collarbone.9

Backman was on the trading block during the offseason but again found himself in the mix for a starting role on the 1983 Mets.10 He impressed the coaches with his offense during the spring. Bobby Valentine, the Mets’ infield coach, called Backman the best hitter11 but fans and writers still regarded him as a poor defender.12 He made the team, but played sparingly until he was sent down to Tidewater on May 17. The demotion upset Backman, and he requested a trade. “I’ll go and play hard, but at the end of the season I hope the Mets trade me or release me,” he said. “I really need to get away from this organization. There is no place in it for me.”13 Tidewater (and future Mets) manager Davey Johnson helped Backman get back on track. Backman praised Johnson. “The best thing that happened to me was having Dave Johnson as a manager last year,” he said in 1984. “Dave put me leadoff to begin the season. He saw what I could do and had confidence in me. That took a lot of the pressure off. I could relax and play my game.”14 Backman’s typical good offense became better, with a .316 batting average, but it was his defense that was the story. He made only 10 errors at second. Backman credited former second baseman Johnson with this turnaround too, saying, “In the field he showed me how to anticipate situations, and showed me what I’d been doing wrong on the double play.”15 Johnson’s work paid off, as Backman was the favorite for a Mets starting position entering 1984 spring training.  Johnson had also been named the Mets manager.16

In 1984 Backman started 108 games at second for the Mets, batted .280 and made only 10 errors at second base. For the first four months of the season, Backman platooned with Kelvin Chapman. When Chapman was sent down to the minors, Backman was given the job full-time job and he performed well offensively and defensively.17 The 98-win Mets finished in second, three games behind pennant winner St. Louis in the NL East.

Still, Backman’s splits against left-handers and right-handers (.122 and .324 respectively) were cause for concern, so before the 1986 season the Mets traded for Minnesota second baseman Tim Teufel.18 Backman initially took the trade in stride, saying, “They’re looking for anything to strengthen the team.”19 Meanwhile, he lost his arbitration case against the Mets. He asked for a salary of $425,000 but was awarded $325,000.20

Spring training did nothing to clear up the competition at second. Backman entered the season platooning with Teufel, playing against right-handed pitchers.21 He rose to the challenge, batting .320 as the Mets took first place on April 23 and never gave up the position. Backman played in 12 of the 13 Mets postseason games, batting .238 in the NLCS against Houston, and.333 in the World Series.

Before the 1987 season Backman signed a three-year, $2 million contract to continue to platoon at second for the Mets.22 Backman was outspoken about his teammates and their willingness to play hard. He and teammate Lee Mazzilli accused star outfielder Darryl Strawberry of faking an injury for two games. Strawberry responded, “I ought to bust that little redneck (Backman).”23

Backman had two solid seasons platooning for the Mets. However, the team wanted to give one of its top prospects, Gregg Jefferies, a chance at second so Backman was put on the trading block again, and in December 1988 he was traded to the Minnesota Twins for three minor-league pitchers. 

After a 100-win 1988 season, the Mets were expected to compete for the league lead, but a slow start to 1989 had people questioning many of the offseason moves, including the trade of Backman. One columnist called the trade of “feisty Wally Backman … a move more questionable with every lethargic game the Mets play.”24 But Backman was having his worst year ever in Minnesota, hitting .231 for the fifth-place Twins, and was released after the season. (The Mets finished in second place in the NL East and Jefferies was third in Rookie of the Year voting.) 

Backman bounced around once he left the Twins.  He spent 1990 with Pittsburgh, and 1991 and 1992 with Philadelphia, and was released by both teams. Before the 1993 season, he signed a minor-league deal with Atlanta, but was cut before the season began.25 He caught on with Seattle for 10 games, but was released on May 17. Backman retired to Oregon to live with his wife, Sandi, and his four children, but found himself wanting to get into managing.26

Backman spent his first three managerial years with independent teams. In 1997 he managed the Catskill (New York) Cougars of the Northeast League, but could muster only a 3-23 record. In 1998 Backman managed the Bend (Oregon) Bandits of the Western Baseball League. Just before spring training, he was bitten on the forehead by a poisonous spider. While recovering, he was hit by a foul tip while standing next to the batting cage, causing more swelling. Despite his travails, his team finished the season in second place at 43-46. He then spent two years with a Bend rival, the Tri-City (Washington) Posse. Backman finished that stint with an overall 88-92 record.27 The Chicago White Sox hired him to manage their Winston-Salem team in the Carolina League. He then spent two successful years with Double-A Birmingham, going 152-125 with the Barons. Backman’s outspoken personality got him fired, though, for openly campaigning for the job of White Sox manager Jerry Manuel.28

After the 2004 season the Mets fired manager Art Howe. Backman was mentioned as a potential replacement after he led the Lancaster JetHawks of the California League, an Arizona Diamondbacks farm team, to an 86-54 record and being named the Minor League Manager of the Year by The Sporting News. (His fiery personality continued to shine through; he was ejected six times and suspended for bumping an umpire.)29 Backman withdrew his name from Mets consideration when the Diamondbacks decided to interview him for their managerial opening.30

Backman was hired as the Diamondbacks’ manager on November 1, 2004, but was fired four days later after the New York Times ran a story about legal issues in his past that he had not disclosed to the Diamondbacks during his interview. His first wife, Maggie, had filed for a restraining order against him. (A judge later vacated the order.31) Backman had also been convicted of drunk driving in January 2001. He was sentenced to a year in jail, but served only one day, and the remainder of the sentence was suspended unless Backman committed another crime within five years. On October 7, 2001, Backman was charged with five misdemeanors stemming from an incident involving his second wife, Sandi. He again served one day in jail, and was placed on an alcohol-free one year probationary period. (Sandi later said the incident was overblown and “[t]he idea of Wally hitting me is comical.”32) In February 2003 Backman filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The Diamondbacks said they were unaware of any of the issues surrounding Backman.33 Backman later served 10 days in jail for violating the conditions of the 2001 suspended sentence.34

Backman remained out of baseball until 2007, when he took over the South Georgia Peanuts of the South Coast League. “[If] this is what I need to get another shot in Organized Baseball, I’ll do it,” he said.35 He shared his $40,000 salary with three of his coaches.36 While with the Peanuts, Backman unleashed a memorable on-field tantrum. One of his players was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. Backman emerged from the dugout to protect his player, and was thrown out of the game. He then littered the field with 22 bats and a bucket of baseballs.37 The incident was caught on tape for a TV show documenting the South Coast League, Playing for Peanuts. Even with this incident, Backman’s tenure with the Peanuts was successful. His team won the league championship and five Peanuts were signed to major-league contracts.38

Backman stayed in the independent leagues for 2008, managing the Joliet JackHammers of the Northern League. He lasted through mid-2009, when a 24-42 record got him fired. Backman acknowledged his failure to lead the team, saying, “The fans in Joliet deserve a winner. I’m disappointed that we could not get the job done.”39

Before the 2010 season, the Mets brought Backman back into the fold to manage the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League. He had not been affiliated with Organized Baseball since the Arizona firing, and quickly addressed that issue. “I take full responsibility for the things that I did wrong,” Backman said at his introductory press conference. “But I want to move forward again and to start here, I think, is a good start for me.”40 The Mets inserted a zero-tolerance clause in his contract.41

Backman responded by guiding the team to a league-best 51-24 record. Brooklyn lost in the playoff finals to Tri-City, but Backman made an impact on the Mets organization. When Jerry Manuel was fired as the Mets’ manager after a fourth-place finish, Backman was interviewed and considered a finalist, but lost out to Terry Collins.42 Instead, Backman was promoted to Binghamton (Double-A Eastern League) for the 2011 season. For 2012 he was promoted to manage Triple-A Buffalo. The team finished 67-76, and Backman was his typical outspoken self.  He described one of his pitchers as a “4-A guy” and opined “[f]or the major leagues, he has no real swing-and-miss pitch.”43

In 2013 the Mets switched their Triple-A affiliation to the Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast League. Backman led the team (81-63) to a first-place finish, but lost in the playoffs to Salt Lake.  In 2014 they finished first again with the same 81-63 record. Despite losing in the playoff semifinals again (this time to Reno), Backman was named PCL Manager of the Year. In 2015 the 51s missed the playoffs.

Backman also had a hand in the Mets’ success in 2015. Three pitchers who played important roles in the team’s march to the World Series, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, and Noah Syndergaard, as well as infielder Wilmer Flores, all played for Backman in the minors. Through the 2015 season, Backman had a 422-369 record while managing in the Mets organization. 

Notes

1 Jeff Pearlman, “Three Years Later, Backman Still Trying to Get to the Bigs,” ESPN, sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=pearlman/071022 (accessed December 1, 2015).

2 Ibid.

3 Joseph Durso,”Mets Lose 7th in Row; Flynn Idled 2-6 Weeks,” New York Times, August 21, 1980.

4 Joseph Durso, “Leary Earns a Place on Mets Roster and Will Face Cubs Sunday,” New York Times, April 6, 1981. 

5 Thomas Rogers, “Baseball Notebook: Mets’ Backman Expands Strike,” New York Times, June 16, 1981.

6 Murray Chass, “Mets Trade Flynn; Expos Get Taveras,” New York Times, December 12, 1981.

7 Jane Gross, “Met Plan: Versatile Infield,” New York Times, February 24, 1982.

8 William C. Rhoden, “Backman Fills Gap for Mets,” New York Times, July 12, 1984.

9 Ibid.

10 Joseph Durso, “Stearns on Disabled List, Seaver Ailing,” New York Times, March 28, 1983.

11 Gerald Eskenazi, “Mets Try 5 Players in Double-Play Role,” New York Times, March 21, 1983.

12 Joseph Durso, “Second Base Is Puzzling Mets,” New York Times, March 3, 1983

13 Joseph Durso, “Strawberry’s 3-Run Homer Paces Mets,” New York Times, May 18, 1983

14 Rhoden.

15 Ibid.

16 Lawrie Mifflin, “Backman Stays In Mets’ Plans,” New York Times, December 21, 1983.

17 “Backman Responds to Full-Time Duty,” Chicago Tribune, August 1, 1985.

18 Joseph Durso, “Backman Facing Challenge At Second Base,” New York Times, February 25, 1986.

19 Ibid.

20 Murray Chass, “Backman Loses Case to Mets,” New York Times, February 20, 1986.

21 Michael Martinez, “Backman is Facing Another Battle,” New York Times, March 30, 1986.

22 Murray Chass, “Mets Give Backman a $2 Million Pact,” New York Times, January 22, 1987.

23 Johnette Howard, “Strawberry’s Latest Strikeout May Be Last,” Washington Post, April 14, 1994.

24 George Vecsey, “Baseball, Everybody, Baseball,” New York Times, June 2, 1989.

25 “Braves Jettison Backman for Cabrera,” New York Times, April 2, 1993.

26 Filip Bondy, “Arachnophobia: Spider Bite Adds to Backman’s Web of Miserable Luck,” New York Daily News, May 24, 1998.

27 Ibid.

28 Jack Curry, “Backman Named Arizona’s Manager,” New York Times, November 2, 2004.

29 Lee Jenkins, “As Mets Look Ahead, They Look Back,” New York Times, September 23, 2004.

30 David Waldstein, “Mets Will Hire Backman to Manage In Brooklyn,” New York Times, November 14, 2009.

31 Pearlman.

32 Ibid.

33 Jack Curry, “The Past Costs Backman His Job, Four Days After He Received It,” New York Times, November 6, 2004.

34 “Sports Briefing,” New York Times, December 4, 2004.

35 Pearlman.

36 Jack Curry, “Backman Ready for His Show of Shows,” New York Times, June 17, 2007.

37 Pearlman.

38 Ibid.

39 oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3875509.

40 Ben Shpigel, “After 5 Years, Backman Gets a Second Chance,” New York Times, November 18, 2009.

41 Ibid.

42 David Waldstein, “Mets Choose the Intense Collins as Their Manager,” New York Times, November 22, 2010.

43 Hunter Atkins, “A Long Road Home, With Further Still to Go,” New York Times, June 17, 2012.

Instead hard luck and injury derailed Berenyi’s future. In 1982 he was saddled with a National League-leading 18 losses for the last-place Reds despite a respectable 3.36 ERA (league average: 3.60). Little success followed as Cincinnati, last in the league in runs scored in 1982, continued its offensive malaise. As losses mounted, the frustrated youngster petitioned for a trade. The appeal was granted and Berenyi found success with the young, emerging New York Mets. But shoulder problems developed and Berenyi was soon out of baseball. He concluded a seven-year major-league career with a pedestrian record of 44-55, 4.03 — a far cry from what was once projected.

Bruce Michael Berenyi was born on August 21, 1954, one of four children of Frank and Madeline F. (Sims) Berenyi, in Bryan, Ohio, in the state’s northwest corner. At 15 Frank had emigrated with his family from Hungary in 1938. He found early employment alongside his father in a sugar-beet refinery but, as the industry began dying out in Ohio, he settled into a long career in the motor-vehicle industry. On January 10, 1948, he married Ohio native Madeline Sims.1 They remained in Bryan until their passing in 1991 and 2008, respectively. 

Their children attended Fairview High School in Sherwood, Ohio. Bruce, their second son, excelled at baseball and eventually — as an admittedly late bloomer — basketball. In the early 1970s Berenyi entered Glen Oaks Community College in Centreville, Michigan. He soon attracted attention from major-league scouts. In 1975 the Detroit Tigers selected Berenyi in the 19th round of the June amateur draft. The first Glen Oaks player ever drafted — and through 2014 the only Viking to advance to the majors — Berenyi spurned the Tigers and transferred to Truman State University in northern Missouri. The next year he rewrote the record books for the TSU Bulldogs with the most strikeouts in a single game (21), most consecutive shutout innings (30), and most innings pitched in a season (65). He was named to the 1976 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s All-Conference team and the NCAA Division II All-District team. These achievements earned Berenyi a first-round selection by Cincinnati in June 1976.

Berenyi spent a short time in the Northwest League followed by promotion to the Shelby (North Carolina) Reds in 1977. A pedestrian start to the season unfolded into a brilliant second half campaign (7-4, 1.80 ERA in his final 13 appearances), placing Berenyi among the league leaders in wins (10), ERA (2.30), and strikeouts (120). Success followed him into the Double-A Southern League with the Nashville Sounds in 1978. Berenyi won his first five decisions, and seven of his first eight. On May 23 he twirled a one-hitter and struck out nine in a 4-2 victory over the slugging Columbus Astros (though he did exhibit a streak of wildness with seven walks and four wild pitches). A record of 8-2, 1.99 in his first 10 appearances2 captured considerable attention. A slight second-half sag did not detour Berenyi’s steady climb in the Reds’ farm system. 

At Cincinnati’s 1979 spring-training camp the Reds’ new pitching coach, Bill Fischer, enthused over his first glance at Berenyi: “[N]ow that I’ve had a chance to see [him] throw, I’m even more impressed.”3 Berenyi was assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis, where he got his first peek at what lay in store for him in Cincinnati. For the first of two consecutive years the Indians were last in the league in runs scored. The futility became blatantly clear on May 16 when Berenyi tossed a one-hitter against the Omaha Royals only to suffer a 1-0 loss. In his first nine appearances he possessed a league-leading ERA of 1.43 yet was saddled with four losses. Berenyi took matters into his own hands on June 1 in a scoreless duel against the Denver Bears, delivering the Indians’ first run with an RBI single in the eighth inning in a 2-0 win. Berenyi struck out 12 while also adding to his string of 38⅔ innings without surrendering an earned run. Even more remarkable was his dominance over the Bears that evoked comparisons to the four-man softball squad The King and His Court as the Indians’ catcher, first baseman, and second baseman accounted for nine of 12 assists, 24 of 27 putouts.

But the losses proceeded as the Indians scored more than two runs in only three of Berenyi’s first 15 starts. On June 30 he endured another heartbreaking loss, yielding just six hits and one earned run in a 2-0 loss to the Iowa Oaks. Berenyi finished with a pedestrian record of 9-9 despite a league leading 2.82 ERA. He paced the league in shutouts (3) and strikeouts (136) while disconcertingly leading in wild pitches (13) and placing second in walks (98). In a postseason poll of American Association managers Berenyi was voted runner-up to righty Dewey Robinson for the Allie Reynolds Award as the circuit’s best pitcher. Indianapolis skipper Roy Majtyka said, “[Berenyi] could be the nucleus of Cincinnati’s pitching staff in a couple of years.”4 This sentiment was echoed the following spring when pitching coach Bill Fischer predicted Berenyi as the Reds’ “sleeper” to enter the rotation.

But on the eve of the 1980 season the Reds, possessing few left-handed hurlers, chose southpaw rookie Charlie Leibrandt to proceed north while Berenyi was reassigned. The dejected Berenyi’s performance suffered considerably. On April 16 he surrendered his first home run in two years (a string of 168 innings). Over his first 48⅔ innings Berenyi yielded 38 walks and 9 wild pitches and had a 6.10 ERA. He grabbed a Houdini-like 3-1 win over the Evansville Triplets on May 28 by escaping numerous scoring opportunities after yielding 11 walks in six-plus innings. The three runs came from his first professional home run. Asked to assess the bizarre outing, Berenyi said, “I’m kinda happy. … I’m kinda embarrassed.”5  

Soon Berenyi began exhibiting the type of performances to which the organization was accustomed. On June 9 he struck out six consecutive Denver batters and appeared on track to break the league record of eight before being lifted after a 67-minute rain delay. Indians manager Jim Beauchamp explained, “Very few pitchers will return with the same stuff and there is always the chance they can get stiff. I would take a loss every day of the week instead of hurting an arm like Berenyi’s.”6 As for Berenyi’s abrupt turnaround:  “I convinced him that [his despondency over the spring demotion] was only hurting himself. Since then his pitching has been awesome.”7 As it turned out, Berenyi’s surge could not have been more propitious.

Since the spring Reds ace Tom Seaver had been struggling with shoulder problems that helped push his ERA over an uncharacteristic 4.00. In San Francisco on June 30 he did not make it past the fourth inning. The next day Seaver was placed on the 21-day disabled list and Berenyi was called up. On July 5 the 25-year-old made a forgettable major-league debut in Cincinnati against the Houston Astros, who jumped on him for six runs in the first inning. A more promising start occurred seven days later when Berenyi was locked in a tie against the Giants’ John Montefusco. Berenyi yielded two walks to start the sixth — nine walks total — and was lifted from the game. 

Berenyi curbed his wildness on July 18, yielding just six hits and three walks in seven innings to earn his first major-league win, an 8-3 victory over the New York Mets. A similar outing on July 23 resulted in a 7-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. His record on the year with the Reds was 2-2 and a 7.81 ERA with 23 walks in 27⅔ innings. When Seaver came off the disabled list on August 4, Berenyi was returned to Indianapolis. Control problems continued to plague him when he surrendered a bases-loaded walk in a 1-0 loss to Evansville. He concluded his last season in the Reds farm system with league-leading marks in walks (100) and, for the second consecutive year, strikeouts (121).

Significantly, throughout Berenyi’s five years in the farm system, the organization largely ignored his periodic complaints about arm soreness. Their skepticism stemmed from Berenyi’s ability to continually deliver the ball at 90-plus miles per hour. On the few occasions when the Reds acknowledged that there was a problem they tried to work with Berenyi on his mechanics in hopes of ameliorating the soreness, while going so far as to label him a hypochondriac. Their actions would eventually exact a heavy price.

After a strong start to the 1980 campaign, lefty Charlie Leibrandt struggled in the second half. The following spring the Reds felt he needed further development in the minors, thus opening the door for Berenyi to make the team. On April 14 the confidence shown the young righty was immediately rewarded with a two-hit shutout of the San Diego Padres. Four days later Berenyi labored against the St. Louis Cardinals, then delivered a strong performance against the Astros (despite six walks) to capture his second victory. His season continued to seesaw back and forth. On May 24 he complained about the umpire “squeezing the plate”8 as he threw 15 balls in succession for five walks in a 10-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. (As he left the field after having been removed from the game, a comment directed to umpire Randy Marsh earned Berenyi an ejection.) Two weeks later, in his last appearance before the 1981 players’ strike, Berenyi twirled his second major-league shutout, a one-hit, 10-strikeout outing against the Montreal Expos, a performance that catcher Joe Nolan described as a “once-in-a-lifetime”9 gem.10

Berenyi spent the two-month strike at his parents’ home in Sherwood, Ohio. He joked that he had no problem staying in shape during the layoff because in the 1,400-population village, “there aren’t many distractions for me.”11 His conditioning paid off when the season resumed in August. In 10 appearances after the strike, Berenyi compiled a 2.64 ERA (team ERA over the same period: 3.67) in 61⅓ innings with 68 strikeouts. This stretch included two career-high 12-strikeout performances, a shutout of the Mets and a 4-2 win over the Astros in which Houston manager Bill Virdon claimed Berenyi “show[ed] us the best stuff we’ve seen all season.”12 Berenyi’s record of 9-6, 3.50 in 126 innings earned him a tie for fourth in the balloting for the National League Rookie of the Year. He was named to the NL Topps All-Rookie team. The success prompted the aforementioned “untouchable” label assigned by the Reds’ general manager.

Over the winter Berenyi often commuted 340 miles round-trip to Cincinnati for special tutoring under Coach Fischer, his fierce advocate. Fischer sought to adjust Berenyi’s release point in order to improve his control. The strategy appears to have failed as Berenyi, for the second consecutive year, placed among the league leaders in wild pitches and walks. Starting 1982 soundly (4-1, 2.93) through the end of April, he followed on May 8 in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates abuot which The Sporting News stated that Berenyi “never was more overpowering.”13 He surrendered one “tainted”14 hit through eight innings but wound up with a no-decision when the game went into extra innings. Thereafter Berenyi struggled to get into the win column, usually had a hard time getting a win after having gone 4-1.

Despite a respectable 3.36 ERA (league average: 3.60) Berenyi was victimized by many heartbreaking losses. In two consecutive August starts he did not surrender an earned run but could not capture a win. In his final 12 appearances he was saddled with a record of 1-8 despite a solid 3.16 ERA over 79⅔ innings. (The victory was a shutout, seemingly the only way he could win a game). As the losses mounted so did Berenyi’s frustration. Through his agent, the 27-year-old requested a trade but the Reds were reluctant to part with the righty whom Philadelphia Phillies’ first baseman Pete Rose described among the league’s “fine crop of young pitchers.”15 Berenyi had the lowest home-run yield among National League starters but his run support was nonexistent. He lost four games by one run, six games by two and finished the year with a league-leading 18 losses.

He fared just slightly better in 1983. In 12 starts Berenyi had a superb 2.41 ERA that, for the offensively challenged Reds (next to last in the league in runs scored), got him a record of 0-7. He was injured in May and, perhaps unwisely, chose to pitch through it — he was 1-5, 6.11 in his next nine appearances. A respectable season-ending 3.86 ERA unduly merited a dismal 9-14 and once again Berenyi’s agent sought greener pastures for his client. This time the Reds tried to accommodate their disgruntled hurler. A trade to the New York Yankees for catcher Rick Cerone during the season was allegedly vetoed by the veteran backstop, whose contract contained trade restrictions. In October the Detroit Tigers aggressively pursued Berenyi for outfielder Glenn Wilson but the pursuit dried up when the Tigers successfully re-signed free-agent righty Milt Wilcox in November.

A glimmer of hope surfaced for the Reds in general — and Berenyi in particular — in the spring of 1984. Improved offense was expected with the signing of free-agent slugger Dave Parker, while Berenyi produced perhaps his finest Grapefruit League campaign: a 1.29 ERA. Though the Reds offense improved slightly over preceding seasons, it was largely nonexistent in Berenyi’s first four appearances. Burdened with a record of 0-3 (it easily could have been 2-2 with run support), he complained “I’m not a loser. I’ve never been a loser.”16 But a different picture emerged in May. In two of three starts Berenyi could not get a single out as his ERA shot above 6. Two promising starts in June were followed by a disastrous outing against the Astros on June 12. Three days later Berenyi was traded to the Mets for three minor-league prospects.

Since the notorious “Midnight Massacre” seven years earlier (when the Mets dumped 11 players via four trades in one day), the team had suffered through hard times. But in 1984, under the guidance of their new manager, Davey Johnson, the league’s youngest team was competitive again. When Berenyi joined the Mets he became the most senior member of the staff despite just four years of major-league service under his belt. Johnson, who’d been in awe of Berenyi’s slider in an April 4 match against the Mets, was elated with the addition:  “He’s going to fit right in here. … I liked what I saw from him the first time. He’s going to do just fine with us.”17 Berenyi’s season immediately turned for the better. With the Mets he went 9-6 with a 3.76 ERA and won five of his final six decisions. When Walt Terrell was traded to Detroit on December 7, Berenyi was projected as the Mets’ third starter in 1985.

But fate had something else in store as Berenyi struggled with a tender shoulder the following spring. He pitched only 13 Grapefruit League innings. These worries appeared to be for naught on April 12 when Berenyi came out of the gate with a spectacular seven-inning one-hit performance against his former teammates. The win was his only decision of the 1985 season. Berenyi pitched only 6⅔ more innings in two appearances before a tear in his rotator cuff was discovered. Surgery in May placed him on the shelf the rest of the season.

After the season Berenyi reported to St. Petersburg, Florida, to pitch in the winter Instructional League. But the shoulder did not respond. He instead rehabbed with Mets trainer Tom McKenna. Having to wait until spring to ascertain Berenyi’s status, the Mets traded with the Boston Red Sox for lefty Bob Ojeda. Even Berenyi sounded conflicted about a rapid return, stating, “It’s hard to keep from having second thoughts. Every now and then when you throw, your arm might feel funny. But then the next time, it doesn’t. You try to push it out of your mind but it’s difficult. Right now I feel great, and the doctor says there is no reason I can’t be ready for next season.”18

Berenyi reported to spring training early and began pitching throwing every other day under the supervision of pitching coach Greg Pavlick. When he experienced no pain, Davey Johnson predicted that “he will throw as hard as he used to, maybe even harder.”19 The manager confidently announced Berenyi’s return to the staff. But the righty did not begin the 1986 season in the rotation. In a cautionary approach, he was initially assigned to the bullpen and did not receive a starting nod until May 13. He started six more games but never worked beyond the sixth inning. Despite Johnson’s earlier optimism, Berenyi’s velocity was lacking. He proved hittable. Having generated a 6.35 ERA in July, Berenyi agreed to be assigned to the Tidewater Tides in the International League, where he showed little improvement. Shortly after the Mets secured a World Series win over the Red Sox, Berenyi was released. On January 23, 1987, he signed with the Montreal Expos and went to spring training as a nonroster invitee. It was not long before the shoulder problems resurfaced and he was released on March 11. Berenyi had a second surgery, whose success provided him the confidence to re-sign with the Expos in 1988. This stint also proved short-lived. In late February he signed a minor-league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but was released before the start of the season. With a major-league ledger of just 142 appearances, Berenyi retired from baseball.

Berenyi returned to the Sherwood, Ohio, home he had built on a 25-acre tract he purchased in 1984. With a second residence in Florida, he worked for a resort/golf course in North Miami in the winters. Berenyi retained the winter home while forsaking his native state for New Hampshire. In 1993 his collegiate exploits were recognized with his induction into the Truman State University Athletic Hall of Fame.

Unfulfilled were the grand expectations surrounding Berenyi when he made his way through the professional ranks. His complaints of arm soreness were ignored — even ridiculed — as the hard throwing righty advanced.  Those problems were unmistakable when two shoulder surgeries were unable to resurrect Berenyi’s once-promising path. Unknown is the career that might have developed had the Reds been more attentive when the aches and pains initially surfaced.  

Sources other than those cited in Notes:

The author wishes to thank SABR members Bruce Slutsky, Randy Rice, and Anne Surman for their assistance.

Baseball-reference.com

Ancestry.com

technicians.truman.edu/csweb07/hallOfFame3/myXML.xml

Notes

1 Madeline’s younger sister, Dorothy Louise, married pitcher Ned Garver, whose major-league career spanned 14 years.

2 “Southern Averages,” The Sporting News, July 1, 1978: 48.

3 “McNamara Checks Band, Finds All on Key,” The Sporting News, April 7, 1979: 11.

4 “American Association,” The Sporting News, August 4, 1979: 39.

5 “American Association,” The Sporting News, June 21, 1980: 37.

6 “Rain Stops Berenyi Streak,” The Sporting News, July 5, 1980: 39.

7 “End of Trail Looming for Seaver,” The Sporting News, July 19, 1980: 21.

8 “Berenyi Runs Wild,” The Sporting News, June 6, 1981: 26.

9 “Soto’s Spurt Spurs Reds,” The Sporting News, June 27, 1981: 33.

10 The victory was the last of four consecutive complete games for the rotation, a string that had not been reached by a Reds staff since five straight complete games in 1962.

11 “Reds: Pastore In Dark,” The Sporting News, August 8, 1981: 32.

12 “’Bullets’ Berenyi Finds the Range,” The Sporting News, October 3, 1981: 37.

13 “Reds Attack Dulled By Power Shortage,” The Sporting News, May 24, 1982: 34.

14 Ibid.

15 “Pete on Winning Side of Another Record,” The Sporting News, April 4, 1983: 6.

16 “Is Berenyi Trapped In Twilight Zone?” The Sporting News, April 16, 1984: 21.

17 “Young Hurlers Leading Mets,” The Sporting News, July 2, 1984: 21.

18 “N.L. East — Mets,” The Sporting News, January 6, 1986: 50.

19 “Pleasant Complications For Pitching-Rich Mets,” The Sporting News, March 31, 1986: 38.

It simply should not have taken six years for Gary Carter to get into the Hall of Fame. He was one of the best catchers of his era, and many observers put him in the top ten in major-league history. He was an outstanding defender with a strong arm who did all the other things expected of a receiver. He combined that with a powerful bat – Carter’s 298 homers as a catcher are sixth-most at that position – and a gung-ho competitive spirit. A broad grin and pumping fist were The Kid’s visual trademarks.

Carter’s best years came with the Montreal Expos in the late 1970s and early ’80s, but he was still in his late prime when he joined the New York Mets in 1985. Carter was the final ingredient that helped a promising young club become a World Series champion in 1986. He became the team’s cleanup hitter and handled its excellent pitching staff. One of those hurlers, Ron Darling, called Carter the moral compass of the hard-living squad.1

Knee injuries ground Carter down – in part because he always wanted to stay in the lineup. His last season as a full-time regular came at age 34 in 1988, though he hung on for four more years. Subsequently, he stayed involved in baseball as a broadcaster with the Florida Marlins and Expos. He then coached and managed in the minors, independent ball, and college, but his hopes of returning to the majors went unfulfilled. Alas, Carter also died in 2012 at the too-young age of 57.

For the definitive account of this man’s youth and family background, one must turn to Before the Glory (2007), by Billy Staples and Rich Herschlag. All the details one could want are in Carter’s chapter, as told by The Kid himself. Of necessity, this story offers only a tiny selection.

Gary Edmund Carter was born on April 8, 1954, in Culver City, California, near Los Angeles. He was the second of two boys born to James H. Carter and his wife Inge. Jim Carter, a mechanically minded man from Kentucky, moved to California after World War II to work in technical jobs in Hollywood. When Gary was born, he was working as an aviation-parts inspector for Hughes Aircraft Company.2 (The aerospace industry was a big employer in Southern California.)

Inge Charlotte Keller was born in Chicago in 1929. Her parents were German immigrants who came to the U.S. in the 1920s. Gary later attributed his athletic ability to Inge, a champion swimmer, although Gary himself said, “Funnily enough, I’m a terrible swimmer.”3 His older brother Gordon was also good enough to be a second-round draft pick of the California Angels in 1968 and the San Francisco Giants in 1971. Gordy played two years of Class A ball (1972-73) in the Giants organization.

Gary Carter started playing Little League at age six, but he also loved and was talented at football. In 1961, the National Football League sponsored the first Punt, Pass & Kick contest. At the Los Angeles Coliseum, seven-year-old Gary became the national champion in his age group. He was a finalist again two years later, but lost in sub-zero conditions in Chicago.

When Carter was 12 years old, his mother died at age 37 after a battle with leukemia. This crushing loss at a young age was at the root of Carter’s later charitable work, raising funds for leukemia research and on behalf of children with other disorders. Jim Carter took on the role of both parents, making great sacrifices for his boys. In addition to his job in procurement for McDonnell Douglas, another aerospace/defense company, he coached Gary at various levels of youth baseball and supported him in all his sporting endeavors.4 Brother Gordy was also a mentor and role model for Gary.

Carter followed Gordy to Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, California (the family had moved there when he was five). There he was a three-sport star, becoming captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams. He was also a member of the National Honor Society. In football, he was a high school All-America quarterback and received nearly 100 scholarship offers. He signed a letter of intent with UCLA. (If he had played for the Bruins, he would have competed with and/or backed up Mark Harmon, who went on to become a well-known actor.) Carter suffered torn knee ligaments in his senior year, however, and had to sit out the football season. Noted sports surgeon Dr. Robert Kerlan warned him that one more bad hit could end his athletic career.5

That prompted Carter to turn pro in baseball instead. The Expos had selected him in the third round of the 1972 amateur draft. He had played shortstop, third base, and pitcher for Sunny Hills – and only six games as a catcher.6 But scout Bob Zuk, special assignment scout Bobby Mattick, and farm director Mel Didier looked at the ruggedly built teenager (6-feet-2, 205 pounds) and envisaged him behind the plate. Zuk also craftily downplayed his interest in Carter, which enabled Montreal to draft him earlier than other teams expected.7

Although Carter was totally raw as a receiver, his ascent through the minors was rapid. He played in rookie league and Class A in 1972 and jumped to Double A for 1973. He got his first promotion to Triple A at the end of ’73 and needed just one more year at that level in 1974, when he became the Topps Triple-A All-Star catcher. He never returned to the minors except for a brief injury-rehab stint in 1989.

According to Carter, he got his enduring nickname – “The Kid” – during his first spring training camp with the Expos in 1973. “Tim Foli, Ken Singleton and Mike Jorgensen started calling me Kid because I was trying to win every sprint. I was trying to hit every pitch out of the park.”8 One history of the 1986 Mets, Jeff Pearlman’s The Bad Guys Won, wrote that pitcher Don Carrithers (an Expo from 1974 to 1976) sarcastically hyped “The Kid” as a way to get the goat of incumbent catcher Barry Foote. Pearlman then went on at length to describe how Carter’s naïve enthusiasm rubbed a lot of his teammates the wrong way. Another nickname – “Camera Carter” – later came from his love of doing interviews. “Lights” and “Teeths” were two more labels that captured the behind-the-back sniping in Montreal.9

Yet there wasn’t anything phony about Carter – his chatty, cheery exterior truly reflected what was in his heart. As Ira Berkow of the New York Times wrote upon Carter’s induction to Cooperstown, “He delighted in relationships.”10

In that first camp in 1973, Montreal assigned Carter to room with John Boccabella, a veteran catcher. “Boc” was traded for Carrithers toward the end of March 1974, and after the deal, Boccabella said of Carter, “He impressed me both as a player and a person. He learns fast and I think he has the stuff to become a superstar.”11

Boccabella’s personal influence on Carter was even stronger. The veteran was a man of deep religious faith who attended Mass daily and had led Sunday services for the Expos. Carter, who had lost his faith after his mother died, found it again. As his daughter Christy recalled in 2013, “John Boccabella led Dad to Christ and he accepted Jesus in his heart.”12

Carter told Montreal sportswriter Ian MacDonald about this himself in 1977. He called Boccabella “a beautiful guy. Always enthusiastic. Always up. Always reading from the Scriptures or [basketball coach John] Wooden’s book. I had met Wooden two or three times when I was being recruited by UCLA but I hadn’t read the book until Boccabella gave me a copy. It was overwhelming. It reinforced everything that I believed in and gave me the physical strength to practice my beliefs – to be happy to be alive, to be enthusiastic, to not fill your life with hate over the stupid things…I learned a lot from ‘Boc’ and I’ll always be grateful to him.” 13

Playing winter ball in Puerto Rico also aided Carter’s development. He played for the Caguas Criollos in the 1973-74 season. Montreal sent a number of its prospects to Caguas, which was loaded with future big-leaguers. One of them, Otto Vélez, called that club the best Puerto Rican team he ever played on – they became league champions and went on to win the Caribbean Series. Vélez told author Thomas Van Hyning, “There was no envy on that team, though there were many who could really play. Gary Carter wanted to become a better player, [Mike] Schmidt had to overcome a season with a lot of strikeouts.”14

Carter started that winter in Instructional League, but a month into the Puerto Rican season, Caguas needed a backup catcher. Montreal’s general manager, Jim Fanning, recommended the 19-year-old, who became the youngest member of the Criollos. He got a chance to play when the regular catcher, Jim Essian, got hurt. As was true everywhere Carter played, the fans loved him for his enthusiasm and desire to win.15 In the Caribbean Series, Carter hit a homer off Pedro Borbón of the Dominican Republic and was named the catcher on the series all-star team.

The Expos called Carter up to the majors for the first time in September 1974. He made his debut at Montreal’s old Jarry Park on September 16. On September 28, also at Jarry, he hit his first of 324 regular-season homers in the majors. It came against a great pitcher, Philadelphia’s Steve Carlton. In 27 at-bats, Carter got 11 hits for a .407 average.

Carter wore uniform number 57 in that brief appearance. The following season, Carter was assigned the number 8, and considered it fate. “I was born on April 8. I got married on February 8. We moved into our first home in California on November 8. And look at all the great players who wore No. 8. Carl Yastrzemski. Willie Stargell. Yogi Berra. Bill Dickey. Joe Morgan. Cal Ripken, Jr. All Hall of Famers. So when I was assigned No. 8, I remembered all those things and figured it would be a lucky number for me, and it was,” Carter wrote in 2008.16 He wore it for the rest of his career.

Carter played with Caguas again in the winter of 1974-75. He hit .261 with five homers and 32 RBIs; of interest was that he alternated between catcher and third base. Though the Criollos wanted him behind the plate, Jim Fanning sought to get him action at third and in right field. The experiment at the hot corner was curious, since one of Montreal’s other prize prospects was third baseman Larry Parrish.17

The Criollos made it to the league finals once more, and had they repeated as champions, the resulting trip to the Caribbean Series would have endangered Carter’s wedding date. The Bayamón Vaqueros won in seven games, though – and so, on February 8, 1975, Carter married his high school sweetheart, Sandra “Sandy” Lahm.18 At the time, Sandy was training to be a flight attendant. The couple spent their honeymoon in the Expos’ training camp at Daytona Beach!19 They later had three children: Christina (“Christy”), Kimberly (“Kimmy”), and Douglas James (“D.J.”).

In March 1975, sportswriter Brad Willson of the Daytona Beach News-Journal wrote a spring-training feature about Carter and his enormous promise. He quoted Karl Kuehl, who had managed Carter in the minors and in Instructional League, as well as Jean-Pierre Roy, the Montreal native and former Brooklyn Dodger who later went into broadcasting with the Expos. They both gave glowing assessments – but what mattered even more were the opinions of Fanning and manager Gene Mauch.

Fanning said that Carter’s tools were as good as those of any player they had, but added, “He also has the intangibles not all the others possess – desire, determination, and hustle. He’s a superkid.” After much deliberation, Mauch said, “Gary Carter is a highly gifted, intelligent young man. In every league in which he’s played, he’s adjusted to the caliber of play. In Double A, Triple A and winter ball he had some difficulty at first. But he adjusted; that’s where the intelligence comes in. I’ve seen players who can run better and who can hit better but I’ve never seen a better package. I’ve never seen someone who loves to play the game more.”20

Carter finished second in the voting for National League Rookie of the Year in 1975 behind San Francisco Giant pitcher John “The Count” Montefusco. He was also named to his first of 11 All-Star teams. That year, however, he started 80 games in right field and only 56 behind the plate. Carter and Barry Foote continued to share the catching duties for Montreal in 1976, though Carter missed most of June and July after breaking his thumb in a “spectacularly ugly” outfield collision with Pepe Mangual.21 It was his worst season in Montreal.

The Expos had a new young star in right field: Ellis Valentine, who had power and a cannon arm. Carter seized the catching job from Foote in 1977. From then through 1984, he started 89% of the games that Montreal played and posted an OPS of .823 (simple averages of seasonal statistics are distorted by the strike of 1981). He won three Gold Gloves in succession from 1980 through 1982 and was runner-up to Mike Schmidt for the NL’s Most Valuable Player award in 1980. His Wins Above Replacement (WAR) numbers were consistently high.

At the plate, Carter was an imposing figure. Players were not nearly as bulked up in that era, and Carter had one of the burlier upper bodies in the game then. He gave the impression of using his upper half and especially his forearms when he swung – it was a chopping horizontal stroke, like a lumberjack attacking a tree. He stood up almost straight at the plate, with just a slight knee bend; he held his bat high and nearly vertical.

As a receiver, Carter cited his own hard work and natural progression with experience, especially once he could focus on catching full-time. He also seconded the opinion that Norm Sherry, whom Expos manager Dick Williams had hired as catching coach after the 1977 season, had been a very helpful tutor.22

Carter remained one of the best in the game at stopping enemy runners. From 1974 through 1976, he threw out 49% of would-be base stealers (49 of 99). That ratio remained at 40% from 1977 through 1984 (481 of 1189). Larry Bowa, who stole over 300 bases in the majors, offered extra insight in 2003. “This guy put a little fear in you when you were on first base even if you got a good jump…A lot of catchers were on ego trips, they didn’t want you to steal, so they would call just fastballs…I respect Gary Carter because he would call breaking balls. He was not intimidated by any base stealer. He would call his game.”23

The Expos became one of the better teams in the National League in the late 1970s, thanks to Carter, Parrish, Valentine, André Dawson, pitcher Steve Rogers and other members of a homegrown core. In 1981, they made it to the postseason for the only time in the franchise’s history. Carter was 8 for 19 with two homers as Montreal beat the Phillies in five games in the NL Division Series. He was 7 for 16 in the NL Championship series against the Dodgers, and drew a walk in the bottom of the ninth after Rick Monday’s homer had put L.A. ahead. The Expos could not get the tying run in, though, and their chance for a pennant was gone. They fell back to third place in 1982, despite another strong year from their catcher.

Ahead of the 1983 season, Sports Illustrated put Carter on its cover, proclaiming him “The Best in the Business.” In the accompanying feature article, Ron Fimrite covered Carter’s game and personality in depth. Among the notable points, in summary:

Batting: It wasn’t just about slugging for Carter – he had worked to cut down on his strikeouts. “I’ve learned to be more disciplined,” he said. “If you want a sacrifice, I’ll do it. If you need someone to go to right field on the hit-and-run, I’ll do that.”

Fielding: Aside from his strong arm and quick release, Carter excelled at all the other valuable catching skills – framing pitches, blocking the plate, and calling the game. Fimrite also observed, “Carter’s nonstop commentary behind the plate has been known to drive even the most single-minded and level-headed hitters to distraction.”

Character: Beyond the ceaseless boyish enthusiasm (which caused cynics to doubt his sincerity), the genial Carter could also get angry on the field. He once shattered Bill Buckner’s bat and the two came to blows. Johnny Bench called Carter, “a fiery, forceful, aggressive player.”24

In February 1982, Carter had signed a seven-year contract for roughly $14 million plus incentives – then the sport’s richest deal, or close to it. “He’s a franchise-type player,” said Expos president (and general manager) John McHale. “If you can ever justify paying that kind of money, he’s one who earns it.”25 The Expos could not make it back to the playoffs, though, and owner Charles Bronfman was disappointed because he was also losing money on the club. In September 1983, Bronfman said, “Two months before Carter signed the contract, we were perfectly aware we were making a mistake. The next day and a month later we still knew we were wrong. I’ll know it until my dying day. And I’m not just saying that because Carter had a bad year.”26

Indeed, Carter had fallen off with the bat while battling assorted injuries. He bounced back in 1984, but Montreal still finished fifth in the NL East. The club decided it was time to reload and get value for their star. (John McHale also said that Carter wanted out, though Carter denied that he broached the idea.27) That December, after lengthy talks, the Expos traded the catcher to the Mets. They got four players in return: infielder Hubie Brooks, catcher Mike Fitzgerald, outfielder Herm Winningham, and pitcher Floyd Youmans. Brooks moved to shortstop and gave the Expos some solid (if not huge) years. Fitzgerald was a good defender, though not a big hitter, whose career was spoiled by a badly broken finger in 1986. Perhaps the biggest setback for Montreal was the talented Youmans, who developed arm and substance abuse problems.

Meanwhile, Carter fit in immediately with the Mets. On Opening Day 1985, he hit a game-winning homer in the 10th inning at Shea Stadium, smacking former Met Neil Allen’s 1-0 curveball over left fielder Lonnie Smith’s head and the fence. The delighted Met fans roared and Carter got his first-ever curtain call. “I learned right away that New York was going to be different,” Carter wrote later. “I was now playing for a special breed of fans. If hitting a walk-off home run in your first game with a new team is not special, I don’t know what is.”28

He set a career high with 32 homers that year while making less visible yet invaluable contributions. Manager Davey Johnson later called Carter “a one-man scouting system.” Both Johnson and Ron Darling observed how important the catcher’s detailed knowledge of hitters was to working with the talented but young staff.29

Carter was back on a home field with natural grass at New York’s Shea Stadium, which helped ease his main physical concern. In a 2010 interview, he referred to “that god-awful Olympic Stadium [in Montreal] that tore our knees up, ’cause I’ve had 12 knee surgeries and both my knees replaced.”30 Torn cartilage was a concern in mid-1985, but he gutted it out with a brace and waited until the season was over before getting arthroscopic surgery.

The Mets could not overtake the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985, but ran away with the NL East in 1986. Carter had his last truly big year, remaining a near-constant in the lineup except for a two-week stretch on the sidelines in August. (He hurt his thumb diving for a ball during one of his occasional starts at first base.) He finished third in the NL MVP voting.

During the National League Championship Series against the Houston Astros, Carter got just one hit in his first 21 at-bats. But in the bottom of the 12th inning of Game Five, with the count full, he hit a game-winning single. It was a grounder up the middle, past Astros reliever Charlie Kerfeld (who, according to some viewers, had taunted Carter by showing him the ball after making a behind-the-back play in Game Three). Carter said after the game, “I kept telling myself, ‘I’m going to come through here.’ I knew it was just a matter of time.” At that point – he had no idea of the drama to come – he also said, “It’s at the top of all the games I’ve ever played in.”31

After the Mets finally overcame the Astros – the concluding Game Six was an excruciating 16-inning battle – they faced the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. Carter was 8 for 29 (.276) with 9 RBIs. He cracked two homers in Game Four at Fenway Park as the Mets tied the Series. Yet his most crucial hit came three days later, in Game Six. Carter’s single in the bottom of the 10th sparked the most improbable two-out, three-run rally that snatched the championship away from Boston.

In 2012, teammate Bob Ojeda said, “If you watch the video with Gary walking to the plate, you see that sense of determination…in his step, in his swing. . .he was not going to make that out. You can see [it] in his face.”32 Carter told reporters exactly the same thing after the game. According to first base coach Bill Robinson, when Carter reached base, he let loose a rare expletive –“No f***ing way” – to intensify the statement.33 (Carter is credited with coining the euphemism “f-bomb” in 1988.34) It’s also noteworthy that he had donned his catcher’s gear, ready to play another extra inning, when the winning run scored on the ball that got by Bill Buckner.

In April 1987, Carter published the first of his three books, A Dream Season. That year, the physical pounding of his position became harder to endure. Ahead of the 1988 season, the Palm Beach Sun-Sentinel wrote, “It took six cortisone shots [for Carter] to get through last season – to sustain a troublesome ankle, knee, shoulder, back and elbow. No wonder his offensive production slipped (.235, 20 HR, 83 RBI).” Carter said, “I was hurting every day last year. I should have been put on the disabled list several times, but they weren’t disabling injuries. In my early- to mid-20s, a lot of the type of injuries I have today were easier to shake off. You learn to appreciate the good days in which you feel like a human being.”35

That spring, Davey Johnson also made Carter a co-captain of the Mets. In 2012, Johnson said, “I had a captain of the team – Keith Hernandez, he ran the infield – before Gary got there, but after seeing what he did, he was so special, I made him a co-captain. It was an honor he deserved.”36 The drop-off continued, however: even though Carter still started 116 games behind the plate, his basic batting line fell off to .242-11-46. His caught stealing percentage also hit a career low of 19%. He was 6 for 27 in his final postseason activity, as the Mets lost the NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The decline was even more severe in 1989 – Carter played in a career-low 50 games after knee problems forced another arthroscopy, costing him nearly three months from early May through late July. He hit just .183-2-15 in 153 plate appearances. The Mets released him (and Hernandez) after the season. In typical form, Carter said, “I know I can still play this game. I know there will be an opportunity out there.”37

In January 1990, he signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants. He platooned with another veteran, Terry Kennedy, who had been with the Giants during their pennant-winning season in 1989. Nonetheless, he still had the desire to play every day and didn’t want to hang on if he wasn’t contributing.38 Indeed, he made a respectable comeback (.254-9-27 in 92 games).

Even so, Carter became a free agent again, and did not sign with another team until March 1991. This time it was the Dodgers, the team he had followed as a boy. He made good on a non-roster invitation from manager Tommy Lasorda and backed up Mike Scioscia. When Scioscia was sidelined by a broken hand, Carter played every game for two straight weeks, including both ends of a doubleheader against the Braves. He did another creditable job (.246-6-26, while throwing out 32% of base stealers).

Late 1990 and early 1991 marked the release of a series of baseball novels for young adults under Carter’s aegis. The Gary Carter’s Iron Mask books followed a youth named Robbie Belmont – who wore number 8 and had been converted to catcher – from high school to the majors. Carter did none of the writing, but he signed the introductions and shared in the royalties. In 2014, author Robert Montgomery said, “I did meet with Gary before a game for an hour interview, and found him high-energy and very forthcoming. I sent him a few follow-up questions after the interview, which he promptly answered.”39

Carter did not file for free agency after the 1991 season, and the Dodgers placed him on waivers. As a result, he returned to Montreal in 1992 for his final year as a big-leaguer. He said it was something he’d always had in the back of his mind.40 At age 38, his teammates still called him “The Kid.” As it developed, he played more than any other catcher for the Expos that year, and though he didn’t hit much (.218-5-29 in 95 games), he still helped the team rebound from sixth place to second in the NL East. Carter went over the 2,000 mark in games caught and the 1,200 mark in RBIs in 1992, both milestones he wanted to achieve.

Carter’s career ended on an upbeat note. At Olympic Stadium on September 27, he drove in the game’s only run with a double. As he told it in 2004, “I had announced my retirement, and [manager] Felipe Alou said, ‘You will catch that game.’ In the seventh inning, in my last at-bat, I got the opportunity. Felipe Alou was going to pull me out of the game. He said, ‘Go on up there. Whatever happens, happens, but this is your last at-bat.’ It turned out to be a game-winner in front of that fan appreciation crowd. Nice way to finish.”41

After retirement, Carter became a color commentator on television for the Florida Marlins. He held that job for four years, but his contract was not renewed after the 1996 season.42 Shortly thereafter, he returned once more to the Expos, working in their TV broadcast booth from 1997 through 1999. His main focus in 2000 was golf with the Celebrity Players Tour. Carter felt a desire to get back on the field, though – as early as 1998, he had expressed managerial ambitions.43 In 2001 and 2002, he was a part-time roving catching instructor in the Mets minor-league system.44 He took on that role full-time in 2003 and became minor league catching coordinator in 2004.45

Off the field, Carter’s strong character manifested itself again in 1995, when the Internal Revenue Service began investigating active and retired ballplayers for failing to report income earned from appearances and autograph signings at baseball card shows. Under the microscope were Met stars Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra, Hernandez, Darling, and Carter. But when the IRS subpoenaed Carter to appear before a grand jury, they found that he was as honest about his taxes as everything else in his life. Carter spent $25,000 in accountants’ fees to produce his invoices and receipts. When he left the witness stand and the courtroom, he said, “There was nothing the US Attorney’s office was ever going to be able to question me about.”46 Carter was swiftly dropped from the probe.

On another front, the Gary Carter Foundation began operations in 2000. Its mission, through its own donations and funds raised externally, is to better the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of children in addition to supporting faith-based initiatives. Among the endeavors it supports is the Autism Project of Palm Beach County, Florida. The Carter family made its home there for many years.

Carter was finally elected to the Hall of Fame in 2003, his sixth year of eligibility. The vagaries of the process are well known, but his pattern was still unusual. In his case, “first-ballot” bias may have reflected his lack of milestone career numbers, yet Carter suffered an odd dip in his second year before gaining momentum.47 The voting disparities between him and two other top catchers of his day – Carlton Fisk and Lance Parrish – were also peculiar.48

Carter’s Hall of Fame plaque shows him in an Expos cap. He suggested that “it would be nice to have a split hat” that also featured the Mets, but the decision rested with the Hall, and he abided by it.49 During his induction speech, Carter grew very emotional as he honored his parents’ memory – Jim Carter had died that January, less than a month after his son was voted in – and thanked his brother Gordy.50

In 2004, the press bandied Carter’s name about as a future manager of the Mets after some grooming in the minors.51 He drew some flak for lobbying for the job with the big club that September, while Art Howe was still the incumbent.52 Carter got his first opportunity as a skipper in 2005 and led their rookie-ball club in the Gulf Coast League to a 37-16 record. He then had another winning season with the St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League (high Class A). In both 2005 and 2006, Carter was named Manager of the Year in his league. The Mets offered him a job with their Double-A affiliate, Binghamton, for the 2007 season. He turned down that promotion, however, citing the rigors of the long Eastern League bus rides.53

Carter was also disappointed not to have landed a coaching job with the Mets’ major-league squad – he wanted to bring his experience and inspiration. He hinted that it might have helped as the club folded down the stretch in 2007.54 As it developed, he took all of 2007 off. In 2008, though, he returned to managing with the Orange County Flyers (based in Fullerton) of the Golden Baseball League. That March Carter again voiced his desire to manage the Mets, while Willie Randolph still held the job.55 He stayed in Orange County and again was named Manager of the Year.

For the 2009 season, Carter was skipper of another independent team, the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League. After his year with the Ducks, he became head baseball coach at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida. That was near his home in Palm Beach Gardens. Carter joined his daughter Kimmy, who had been a star catcher in softball at Florida State University from 1999 through 2002. She was named head softball coach at PBA in 2007.

In May 2011, Carter began to experience headaches and forgetfulness. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. His case was inoperable, but he fought it with a course of radiation and chemotherapy, displaying the same positive outlook and competitive fire as always. Kimmy chronicled the grueling battle in an extensive journal on the website CaringBridge.org. The account was filled with hope and faith, which continued even after a magnetic resonance imaging scan showed the presence of several new spots on Carter’s brain in January 2012.

Carter’s assistants had taken over his coaching duties at Palm Beach Atlantic, but he visited his team on February 2, 2012, when it opened its season in Jupiter, Florida, against Lynn University. It was his last public appearance – two weeks later, he died in hospice care. He was survived by his wife, three children, and three grandchildren.

The Expos retired Carter’s uniform No. 8 in 1993, and it retains that status with the Washington Nationals (which the Expos became after the 2004 season). There have been frequent calls for the Mets to do likewise. In May 2013, the city of Montreal renamed a section of a street – adjacent to Jarry Park – Rue Gary-Carter. The following month, it inaugurated Gary Carter Stadium in Ahuntsic Park. A crowd of old Expos diehards greeted Gary’s widow Sandy and daughter Christy, who emphasized how much Montreal meant to the Carter family.

Gary Carter captured essential parts of himself in the titles of his two other books, The Gamer (1993) and Still a Kid at Heart (2008). Yet to round out the picture, one may choose from among the many tributes this man received from his teammates after his passing. Perhaps the most fitting came from Darryl Strawberry, “I wish I could have lived my life like Gary Carter…He was a true man.”

This biography is included in the book “The 1986 New York Mets: There Was More Than Game Six” (SABR, 2016), edited by Leslie Heaphy and Bill Nowlin.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Christy Carter Kearce for her input. Continued thanks to David H. Lippman for his input during peer review.

Sources

Internet resources

www.baseball-reference.com

www.retrosheet.org

www.garycarter.org

Books

Billy Staples and Rich Herschlag, Before the Glory, Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc., 2007.

Gary Carter and Phil Pepe, Still A Kid At Heart, Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books, 2008.

Billy Staples and Rich Herschlag, Before the Glory, Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc., 2007.

Notes

John Francis Cashen was born on September 13, 1925, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Cornelius Joseph “Connie” Cashen and the former Bridged Mary Ryan, both immigrants from County Tipperary in Ireland. Frank had two older sisters and a younger brother. Connie was the engineering supervisor for the Baltimore Public School System, while Bridged ran the strongly Irish-Catholic family. When his father came home from work, he would often take out his fiddle, or get out a book, and entertain the family for the evening. “I have always been incredibly proud of my parents,” Frank recalled.2 He attended St. Paul Parochial school and then Mount St. Joseph high school.

Cashen graduated at age 19 from Baltimore’s Loyola University in 1945, with a double major in English and philosophy.  In college he played a little basketball and baseball, though he claimed not to be particularly good at either.3 While still in high school he got a job as a copy boy for the Baltimore News-Post. He worked with the paper for 17 years, the last 15 of them as a sportswriter. It was while in the newspaper business that Cashen picked up his lifelong habit of wearing bow ties — because they were less likely to get dragged through ink or get caught in printing presses. During his years as a writer he attended night classes at the University of Maryland Law School, specializing in labor law, earned his law degree, and passed the Maryland Bar.

With his new law degree in hand, in 1959 Cashen took a job as the director of publicity for the Baltimore Raceway, working for Jerrold Hoffberger, a prominent Baltimore businessman whose main concern was as president and chairman of the National Brewing Company. Although he loved the newspaper work, Cashen’s growing family would eventually include seven children. “I’d reached a point where I could no longer say money didn’t matter,” he recalled.4 Cashen loved horses and life at the track, and he eventually ran a few racetracks for Hoffberger. 

After a few years, Cashen was transferred to the brewery, where he worked as Hoffberger’s personal assistant and then as the advertising director, helping promote the brewery’s brands, including National Bohemian (“Natty Boh”) and Colt 45. In 1965 he was turning 40 and had every reason to think he would play out his career at the brewery.

Hoffberger had long been the largest shareholder of the Baltimore Orioles (making “Natty Boh” the prime sponsor of the Orioles), and part of a group that had moved the team from St. Louis in 1953. In ensuing years he acquired more and more of the stock, finally acquiring controlling interest in 1965. Before his takeover, he had asked Cashen to spend a few months examining the business and preparing a report on the operation. A few months later, Hoffberger asked Cashen to run the Orioles, working alongside Lee MacPhail, the club’s longtime vice president and general manager. MacPhail, sensing a decline in his authority, soon resigned to become the chief assistant to baseball’s new commissioner, William Eckert. Cashen essentially became the CEO. He promoted farm director Harry Dalton to run baseball operations, and the two worked together on running the ballclub.

The Orioles had been a strong club for several years, winning 97 games in 1964 and 94 games in ’65. Just before leaving the club, MacPhail had worked out a six-player trade with the Cincinnati Reds that would principally acquire Frank Robinson at the cost of starting pitcher Milt Pappas. Cashen and Dalton agreed to make the deal, one of the best in team history. Robinson won the Triple Crown in 1966, and the team waltzed to an easy pennant and a four-game World Series sweep over the Dodgers, the first championship in franchise history. Not a bad start for Frank Cashen.

After battling several injuries in 1967, over the next year the Orioles made a few key trades for the likes of Don Buford and Mike Cuellar, hired Earl Weaver as manager, and won three consecutive pennants from 1969 to 1971. These were extraordinary teams, led by Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell, Paul Blair, and three dominant starting pitchers — Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, and Mike Cuellar. The team averaged 106 wins, won the AL East by an average of 15 games, and swept all three playoff series. Although most historians consider this to be one of the best teams in baseball history, their fame is tarnished somewhat because they managed to win only one of the three World Series. After losing to the Miracle Mets in 1969, they dominated the Reds in five games in 1970, then lost a classic seven game matchup with Roberto Clemente’s Pirates in 1971.

After the 1971 World Series, Dalton resigned to assume a similar position, though with more authority, with the California Angels. For the next four years Cashen performed the general-manager duties for the Orioles himself, and the club continued to contend. His most famous deal came just a few weeks after Dalton left, when Cashen traded an aging Frank Robinson to the Dodgers. Cashen felt the team had sufficient replacements (especially Don Baylor), though the players later claimed to have missed Robinson’s leadership. A teamwide batting slump dropped them to third place in 1972.

The Orioles bounced back with back-to-back division crowns in 1973 and 1974, both times losing in the ALCS to the Oakland Athletics, and then finished a strong second to the Red Sox in 1975. Much of the core from the Dalton teams — players like Brooks Robinson, Powell, and McNally — had slowed down considerably, but the team still had the great Jim Palmer, and was heavily fortified with players from the minors (Baylor, Bobby Grich, Al Bumbry) or acquired in Cashen deals (Ken Singleton, Tommy Davis, Mike Torrez, Lee May, Ross Grimsley). The mid-1970s Orioles were not the dynasty they had been, but they were still considered a top-notch organization.

By 1975 National Brewing was struggling, and Hoffberger merged the company with Carling. He asked Cashen to leave the Orioles and help manage the new organization. By 1979 Hoffberger no longer controlled the brewery, and had sold the Orioles. Cashen returned to baseball, working as an assistant to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn in New York. Kuhn delegated a lot of the office functions to Cashen, who helped set up the Jackie Robinson Scholarship Program in New York for minority students, and created a pension program for nonplaying personnel throughout the game.

He spent only about a year with Kuhn before answering the call to take over the New York Mets as chief operating officer and general manager in early 1980. The Mets were a terrible franchise at the time, with three straight 95-loss seasons, no talent on the farm, and dreadful attendance (fewer than 800,000 fans in 1979). “Talent-wise, we had nothing,” recalled Cashen. “Fan support, there was nothing. In my estimation it was as ugly as you could get. Just terrible. We needed a complete overhaul of everything.”5

Cashen told ownership that he needed at least four years to turn the organization around, and he began by revamping the scouting and minor league systems. Although the team remained dreadful through 1983, the organization started to draft and develop talent, coming up with Daryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Kevin Mitchell, Lenny Dykstra, Mookie Wilson, Rick Aguilera, and several others over the next few years. Unlike the more specialized front offices of today, Cashen ran everything in New York — marketing, TV and radio contracts, hiring announcers, public relations, and the baseball team.

Cashen made some early high-profile attempts to improve the big league team. He acquired sluggers Dave Kingman and Ellis Valentine in 1981, but neither helped much. Cashen dealt for George Foster in 1982, but the slugger’s days of stardom proved to be over. Cashen first hit the jackpot in June 1983 when he traded pitcher Neil Allen to St. Louis for first baseman Keith Hernandez. Coupled with the debut of Strawberry a month earlier, the Mets now had arguably the two best position players they had ever fielded. “He was our general and we became winners,” remembered Strawberry. “That’s the bottom line, and Shea Stadium was packed. He came in and turned this franchise around.’’6

Cashen’s biggest decision for 1984 was the hiring of a new manager — Davey Johnson, a bright mind whom Cashen knew from his Orioles days. (Johnson had been the club’s star second baseman during their glory years.) Johnson had managed in the system, and like Cashen wanted to play the kids rather than continuing to lose with veterans. In 1984 the Mets finally broke through, winning 90 games after having won fewer than 70 for seven consecutive seasons. The biggest improvement on the club was the pitching, which featured three rookies: Ron Darling (acquired from Texas), Sid Fernandez (acquired from the Dodgers), and 19-year-old phenom Dwight Gooden.

In the following offseason Cashen landed third baseman Howard Johnson and catcher Gary Carter in separate deals, and suddenly the Mets had one of the game’s best offenses to go with their great pitching. New York won 98 games in 1985 and took the Cardinals down to the season’s final days before falling three games short. While Carter, Hernandez and Strawberry had good years, it was Gooden who had a season for the ages — a record of 24-4, with a stunning 1.53 ERA.

After the 1985 season Cashen made another great trade, dealing unneeded players to the Red Sox for pitcher Bob Ojeda. The resultant Mets made a mockery out of the league in 1986, winning 108 games and waltzing to the division title, then survived two brutal playoff series to win their first title since 1969. It was an extremely well-balanced team, with the best offense and pitching in the league, and only one player accumulating 5 WAR (Hernandez). The club was filled with young stars and seemed poised to win several more championships. “He was by far the smartest baseball man I’ve ever been in contact with,” Ojeda said. “What the players loved about him was he cared more about you as a person than what you did on the baseball field.”7

The Mets did not win more championships, even with Cashen making two more great trades that winter, landing Kevin McReynolds and David Cone. Gooden entered drug rehab in April 1987, and it was Gooden’s problems more than any other that foretold the Mets’ decline. They remained a competitive team for several years, and won 100 games and the NL East in 1988, but were never again able to put it together as they had in 1986. Gooden and Strawberry, their two bright young stars, had good years remaining, but both had long battles with drugs and crime, likely costing Hall of Fame induction for both. Hernandez and Carter declined for more conventional reasons — aging, and the team appeared rudderless by 1990.

Cashen let Davey Johnson go during another second-place finish in 1990, and resigned himself after the 1991 squad finished fifth. He remained an adviser to the Mets for several years. Cashen was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1999, and the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2010.

Frank Cashen married Jean in 1951, and they raised five sons (Timothy, Brian, Sean, Gregory, and Terrance) and two daughters (Stacy and Blaise). In retirement, he and Jean lived in Easton, Maryland, where he followed the Orioles closely, and St. Lucie, Florida, where he spent time with the Mets every year in spring training. He died after a short illness on June 20, 2104, at Memorial Hospital in Easton. He was 88 years old, and he and Jean had been married for 64 years.

Cashen’s front-office record is extraordinary. He directed a great organization in Baltimore, and after taking over as GM, he made some great trades to keep the Orioles in contention and won two division titles in four years. In New York he inherited a mess, and used the Oriole model to build the organization — scouting, player development, and excellent young pitching. Although it ended sooner than he would have liked, the seven-year run (1984-1990) averaged over 95 wins per season, finishing first or second every year, and captured a title. This was the most successful period ever for the club, on and off the field — coupled with a down period for the Yankees, the Mets were by far the most popular team in New York for several years, giving hope that they could be so once again with another great team.

“I’ve just had an incredible amount of luck,” Cashen said late in life. “I was a writer by choice, a lawyer by education, a horseman by heritage, a brewery worker by necessity, and a baseball executive by good fortune.”8

Notes

1 Marty Noble, “Former GM Cashen dies at age 88,” mlb.com, June 30, 2014.

2 Frank Cashen, Winning in Both Leagues (Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2014), 14.

3 Cashen, Winning in Both Leagues, 59.

4 John Eisenberg, From 33rd St.  to Camden Yards (New York: Contemporary Books, 2001), 156.

5 Jeff Pearlman, The Bad Guys Won (New York: Harper, 2004), 24.

6 Kevin Kernan, “Loss of a Legend — Frank Cashen dies at 88,” New York Post, June 30, 2014.

7 Noble.

8 Kevin Willis, “Former Orioles and Mets GM Led Champions,” Loyola Magazine, July 22, 2011.

Born Timothy Michael Corcoran on March 19, 1953, in Glendale, California, he grew up playing sports. He attended both Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, California, and California State University Los Angeles before being signed as an amateur free agent by Detroit in 1974. Corcoran is one of 18 players from Mount San Antonio who have played in the major leagues (132 drafted). He played for Tigers’ Rookie League and Class A teams in his first year and worked his way up, playing at Double-A Montgomery in 1975 and 1976 and then 39 games for Triple-A Evansville in 1977 (hit .346) before earning a promotion to the major leagues in mid-May after a spring in which he hit .378. In an exhibition game against the Pirates, Corcoran helped the Tigers by hitting a home run in the bottom of the 13th inning for a 5-4 win. He followed that with a two-run homer in the 11th inning of a 3-1 win over the Phillies. Manager Ralph Houk stated, “The kid is opening a few eyes, isn’t he? He’s hot right now.”1

Corcoran played in 55 games with the Tigers in 1977, playing every outfield position and even as the DH in a couple of games. He hit .282 with 29 hits in 103 at-bats. His first big-league hit was a two-run homer in a 7-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on May 20. Corcoran’s play helped earn him a spot on the roster in 1978, when he played in 109 games in the outfield, 116 games overall, and batted .265. (When not on the field, he served double duty as the Tigers’ bullpen catcher.) Corcoran’s average was respectable but he hit only one home run in 363 plate appearances. He was a contact hitter with a good eye at the plate but was not a large man (5-feet-11, 175 pounds) and never generated the power that most teams demanded from their first basemen and corner outfielders. In 1979 Corcoran split his time between the Tigers and their Triple-A affiliate in Evansville and in 1980 played another 84 games with the Tigers, enjoying one of the most productive seasons of his major-league career. Performing mostly as a pinch-hitter and as a platoon first baseman against right-handed starters, Corcoran batted .288 with a .379 on-base percentage in 177 plate appearances. 

For three winters starting in 1977, Corcoran played in Venezuela for Leones del Caracas and Tigres de Aragua. He played in a total of 104 games, hitting .341 while knocking in 50 runs and scoring 54. 

Despite that solid performance, Corcoran could not find a regular spot in Detroit — he had become typecast as a Triple-A player. He spent most of the 1981 season at Evansville, where he hit .298 with a .400 OBP before the Tigers traded him to the Minnesota Twins late in the year.  On his ups and downs with Detroit, Corcoran explained, “I got 300 at-bats that year, but I was platooned in right field. It was the first time in Organized Ball that I’d ever been platooned, and I didn’t know how to handle it. It was a learning experience. Up and down.” He appeared in 22 games with the Twins that September, batting just .176, and drew his release near the end of spring training in 1982.  

The 29-year-old Corcoran signed with Philadelphia, where he spent the next two seasons in the minors, posting his usual solid averages and on-base percentages, but minimal power. Corcoran hit .289 for last-place Oklahoma City in 1982. In 1983 he played for the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate in Portland and hit .311 to help his club win the Pacific Coast League crown. His manager, John Felske, said, “If you look at him play once or twice, he might not do anything to excite you. But you watch him every day, and you find out that though he doesn’t have a great arm, he always throws accurately and quickly while also being an excellent defensive first baseman.”2 Corcoran’s performance earned him a brief call-up when the rosters expanded in September, and he appeared in three games for the pennant-winning Phillies. 

As the aging Phillies dipped to .500 in 1984, Corcoran spent the entire season in the major leagues and turned in a career year. Manager Paul Owens used him almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter through mid-June and he responded with an average of .409. When starting first baseman Len Matuszek went down with a broken finger, Corcoran finally received a chance to play every day. From June 10 until Matuszek returned to the starting lineup on July 27, Corcoran started 30 games and remained hot, posting a slash line of .366/.459/.554 with 5 home runs. He returned to his bench role in August and received a cluster of additional starts in September, finishing the year with an average of .341 to go with an OBP of .440. When asked about how the Tigers could have let him go Corcoran’s attitude was one of practicality. He stated, “No complaints. Detroit wanted a guy who could play every day in right field. They’d been trying to fill that position for a long time, and Kirk Gibson is doing the job pretty well now. But at that time, Gibson was in center, and they wanted a right fielder with power, whereas I can just hit a homer every now and then.”3 Corcoran also said the Tigers never lied to him about the role they wanted him to play as a platoon player. When they traded him to the Twins, he thought his chances would be better, but he was hurt when he arrived and never really got a good chance to show what he could do. 

When the Twins released him, Corcoran joined the Phillies because he had played in the Pacific Coast League before. His real break came with Portland and Corcoran credited manager John Felske for his return to the big leagues. “Thank God for John Felske,” he said. “I think he had a lot to do with me making the big club this year. He gave me a chance to play every day in Portland and he helped me this year in spring training. He gave me confidence. When I made the club, I knew exactly what my role was: I’d be a pinch hitter and fill in if somebody got hurt. Unfortunately, Lenny (Matuszek) got hurt, but I’m glad I was able to do the job when Paul (Owens) called on me.”4

The magic wore off in 1985, though, as Corcoran’s average tumbled to .217. Philadelphia cut him loose in December, and he signed a free-agent contract with the Mets in March 1986, near the start of their championship season. Corcoran was surprised by the release, saying, “’It was a heck of a Christmas present. They told me they needed a roster spot. And I’d just gone out and bought a new truck and a house. It was a shock.”5

The Mets had high hopes for Corcoran when they signed him because of his versatility. New York newspapers described him as a “crisp fielder and line-drive hitter with some long-ball power.”6 Due to his earlier catching duties, Corcoran told the Mets when he arrived that he had a catcher’s mitt if they needed him behind the plate. After he made a couple of appearances in April, New York assigned him to its Triple-A Tidewater club, and recalled him in June. His six games in 1986 were the last he played in the majors. He drew his release on June 9. He played in parts of the 1987 and ’88 seasons with Philadelphia’s Triple-A affiliate, the Maine Guides, before he called it quits at age 35. For Corcoran it always seemed he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, being traded to make room for younger players or filling in until a stronger player came back from injuries. Then there was no permanent place for him on any roster, though he played parts of nine seasons in the majors.

In 2000 the Anaheim Angels named Corcoran a scout. Since 2002 he has worked as a coach for the Angels Elite program, whose goal is to give the top 30 incoming high-school seniors in Southern California a chance to perform each summer for colleges, universities and the Angels. The coaches work one-on-one with the players, and the work yields results. Since the program began, 180 graduates of the Angels Elite squad have been drafted, including pitcher/shortstop Tyler Chatwood, a second-round pick for the Angels in 2008, who made his big-league debut for the club in 2011.7

Tim and his wife, Tina, have two children, Travis and Tara. Tara played soccer and volleyball in high school and went on to play soccer for Long Beach State.

Notes

1 “Tim Corcoran Has Night to Celebrate on St. Pat’s Day,” Gettysburg (Pennsylvania) Times, March 17, 1977.

2 Jack Lang, “Corcoran Finally Getting His Chance,” in Player File, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, New York.

3 Ted Meixell, “Tim Corcoran ‘Just Happy to Be on a Club with Chance to Win A Division’ Baseball,” articles.mcall.com/1984-08-02/sports/2433686_1_tigers-and-twins-minor-tim-corcoran.

4 Ibid.

5 “Mets’ Handyman Reports Equipped,” New York Times, March 2, 1986.

6 Joseph Durso, “Mets Get Corcoran, a Versatile Player,” New York Times, February 27, 1986.

7 angelselitebaseball.com/; Lyle Spencer, “Waiting Is the Hardest Part for Halos,” MLB.com, June 5, 2008.

All statistics come from baseball-reference.com/players/c/corcoti01.shtml. and purapelota.com/lvbp/mostrar.php?id=corctim001.

At every point along the way, there seemed to be just a few things burning brighter in Ron Darling’s vicinity, something that stole some of the spotlight. Perhaps in ’86 (and after) it was all the attention paid to the other members of that famous (or sometimes infamous) team. Or that though he started the seventh game in the ’86 World Series, more people remember the Bill Buckner blunder in Game Six. Or that the longest college no-hitter actually ended up in a loss for the Yale Bulldogs, Darling’s team. Or perhaps it is just that there is little in the way of “negative press” that might have made even bigger headlines.

In total though, it all adds up to the solid, successful multifaceted career of someone who left a positive mark wherever he went. His life before and after baseball has had highs and lows but his achievement continued with a level of consistency most pitchers would love when standing on the mound. The best introduction might just be, “This is Ron Darling. Have a chat with him. He’s smart, accomplished, and has some great stories to tell.”

Ronald Maurice Darling Jr. was born on August 19, 1960, in Honolulu but grew up in Red Sox country — Millbury, Massachusetts. His mother was Hawaiian-Chinese, while his father was French Canadian, leading Darling to be fluent in Chinese and French as well as his native English.1 When asked what the best 10 years of his life were, he said, “Right now I think from 10 to 20 were my favorite years. I had an idyllic family life, great parents, three younger brothers who adored me, thought I was the cat’s meow. Went to an amazing high school. Went to Yale between those years. Played in the Cape Cod League, which was the last time I had fun. Now we use that term loosely. The last time I had fun playing the sport, you know, because it was before I was a professional. Yeah, 10 to 20 was amazing, because it got real serious after that.”2

While Darling called his stretch in the Cape Cod League the last time he had fun in baseball, the league is serious business for major-league prospects. Part of the fun may have been due to the many roles he got to play. His major-league career as a starting pitcher overshadows the versatility he displayed throughout his years in the Cape Cod League. As an example, in the league’s all-star game at Yankee Stadium, he played left field but jumped in to pitch and retire the final two batters in a one-run game. It is also worth mentioning that he came close to hitting for the cycle in this game, missing only a triple.3 In 2002 Darling was inducted into the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame along with 11 others, including Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, and Buck Showalter. At the time, he was considered “one of the best-all around players in Cape league history.” His league statistics include a .336 batting average, six home runs, and a 4-3 pitching record.4

Darling attended Yale University from 1979 to 1981, leaving after his junior year for professional baseball. He majored in French and Southeast Asian history. Upon entering Yale, his plan was to play both football and baseball. Once there, though, he focused on baseball, not for lack of love of the sport. A Yale sports department publication quoted him as saying, “If there were five or six regrets in my life, one is that I didn’t continue to play football at Yale. I would’ve loved to play for Carm [referring to legendary Yale football coach Carmen Cozza].”5

At Yale Darling was a strong hitter (usually hitting second or third in the lineup) and a top pitcher. He was the Yale pitcher on the mound for an NCAA regional tournament game against St. John’s in 1981, called by some the “greatest college baseball game ever played.” Darling was up against opposing pitcher Frank Viola, who later became a fellow Met and a very good friend. For 12 innings the two teams fought until St. John’s eked out a 1-0 victory. In a powerful display of pitching prowess, Darling pitched a no-hitter for 11 of those innings and struck out 16. The game ended on a double steal by St. John’s.6 

In 1981, after his junior year at Yale, Darling was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the amateur draft. That year he pitched for the Rangers’ Double-A affiliate, the Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League, where he ended with a 4-2 record as a starting pitcher. Before the 1982 season he was traded to the Mets along with pitcher Walt Terrell for infielder-outfielder Lee Mazzilli, and pitched in 1982 and ’83 for the Tidewater Tides. Called up to the Mets in September 1983, he made his major league debut on September 6, starting and losing to the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0. Darling gave up one run in 6⅓ innings with six strikeouts and one walk. He started five games for the Mets in September, ending up with a 1-3 record and a 2.80 ERA.

In 1984 Darling won a spot in the starting rotation, but had a mediocre start to the season. In April and May he had a 3-3 record and a 4.61 ERA. But in June and July he won seven straight and finished the season 12-9 and with a 3.81 ERA. He finished fifth in the voting for the Rookie of the Year Award; teammate Dwight Gooden was the winner.

In 1985 Darling shaved almost a run off his earned-run average (2.90) and had a 16-6 record despite giving up a league-leading 114 walks. He was the number-two starter behind Gooden and made the All-Star team that year. He made his first major-league relief appearance in a celebrated 19-inning game against the Atlanta Braves, which the Mets won 16-13. Although the Mets (98-64) did not make the postseason, the strong season and Darling’s continuing improvement left them positioned well for the future.

The next year the Mets won the World Series over the Boston Red Sox with Darling as a key contributor. After posting a 15-6 record and a 2.81 ERA, he started World Series Games One, Four, and Seven, losing Game One, winning Game Four, and getting a no-decision in Game Seven. He posted a 1.53 ERA.

The years after the 1986 World Series were tough ones for the Mets and for Darling, described as “the dynasty that never happened.” While the team remained competitive for a few more years, the decline was clear. Darling continued to pitch solidly in 1987 with a 12-8 record but a 4.29 ERA. His highest career win total came in 1988 when he recorded a 17-9 record with a 3.25 ERA in 240 innings, another career high. Darling followed up in 1989 with a .500 record (14-14) and 3.52 ERA.

The 1990 season saw the Mets in transition, coming off a lackluster 1989 and management uncertainty. Darling found himself split between starting and a new role as a relief pitcher. The bullpen did not serve him well, and 1990 went down as Darling’s first losing season (7-9) with a bloated 4.50 ERA.

In 1991 Darling was again a starting pitcher; in fact, he started games for three teams. On July 15 he was traded along with pitcher Mike Thomas to the Montreal Expos for pitcher Tim Burke. Two weeks later, at the trading deadline, the Expos sent him to the Oakland Athletics for minor-league pitchers Matt Grott and Russ Cormier. With all the moving, Darling was 5-8 in the NL and 3-7 in the American league.

Darling had some success as a starter in Oakland, particularly in 1992, going 15-10. With his best stuff behind him, he made the adjustments that all major-league pitchers with long careers need to make. The A’s led the AL West Division that season. (Darling lost his only start in the ALCS as the Athletics fell to Toronto.)

Darling found the A’s welcoming and family-friendly.7 The good times in Oakland may have just added to the somewhat disheartening way that his playing career ended. On August 19, 1995, which also happened to be his 35th birthday, he was released; he chose to be released rather than be placed on the disabled list, which would have allowed him to remain with the team for the rest of the season. (He later admitted that he wasn’t prepared for the ending when it finally came, still believing he could fight his way back to a semblance of his prior performance. However that was not to be.8)

Darling won 136 major-league games and lost 116. His career ERA was 3.87. His performance on the mound could never be called flawless. There were times when he struggled with control (leading the National League in walks in 1985 was an example) but his “stuff” could be counted on to keep enough batters from putting together enough hits that runs would generally still be hard to come by. He also contributed through effective fielding, which earned him a Gold Glove in 1989. Darling was always a game-smart pitcher who was always ready to take the ball, and said he as proud of having a career that never included a trip to the disabled list.

For Darling, the 1986 Mets season and World Series win were important moments, but were just one stop in his multifaceted career of highs, lows, and reinvention. “I’m not always great at things, but I’m smart,” he told the New York Daily News.9

His post-baseball life has been active and never too far from the sport. He moved into broadcasting and was involved with various sportscasts and shows for several years. In 2005 Darling was the color commentator for the first Washington Nationals season. In 2006 he joined Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez in the broadcast booth for Mets games on the SNY network, and has won an Emmy award. As of 2015 he continued in the role of commentator/analyst.

In between the baseball, there was family, philanthropy, and writing a book. Darling and Antoinette Reilly, a model, were married in January 1986. They had two sons, Jordan and Tyler. They later divorced and in 2004 Darling married Joanna Last, a TV makeup artist.

In 2009 he founded the Ron Darling Foundation to help fund diabetes research (which his son Jordan contracted as an 11-year-old). The foundation later expanded its work to include collaborating with and donating to several organizations including Habitat for Humanity, the NYPD Foundation and Hurricane Sandy Relief.10

In 2009 Darling published a book, The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball and the Art of Pitching, in which he gave a detailed view of what is going on inside the head of a major-league pitcher — inning by inning, pitch by pitch. He combined moments from his own games with the Mets and the Athletics as well as key innings he witnessed as a broadcaster.

With his current days full as a New York Mets broadcaster, active philanthropist, father, and husband it seems his spectacular baseball career is certainly not Ron Darling’s whole story, but just an important chapter among many.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the following:

Darling, Ron.  The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball and the Art of Pitching (New York: Random House, 2009).

newyork.mets.mlb.com/team/broadcasters.jsp?c_id=nym.

“The Web of the Game,” The New Yorker, July 20, 1981.

All stats come from:  baseball-reference.com.

Notes

1 diabetesresearch.org/Ron-Darling-bio.

2  blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/06/ron_darling_on.php?page=2.

3  capecodbaseball.org/about/welcome/#sthash.DPgtxjXY.dpuf.

4 capecodbaseball.org/news/league/?article_id=241.

5 yalebulldogs.com/sports/m-basebl/2014-15/releases/20150227l81ndr).

6 nytimes.com/2012/06/09/sports/baseball/darling-viola-pitchers-duel-lives-on-in-st-johns-baseball-lore.html?_r=1.

7 nytimes.com/1992/10/10/sports/sports-of-the-times-darling-s-chess-comeback.html).

8 deadspin.com/5912078/how-a-career-ends-ron-darling-celebrated-his-35th-birthday-by-getting-cut-and-being-left-alone-at-home.

9 nydailynews.com/blogs/bitterbill/ron-darling-talks-mets-sny-blog-entry-1.2168993.

10 rondarlingfoundation.org/.

 — Jeff Pearlman, author of The Bad Guys Won!1

“The Dude would be an experience even if it had nothing to do with baseball. You could meet the Dude away from the field and come away dazed and confused as to what had just happened.”

— Phillies teammate Terry Mulholland2

“I wouldn’t call the Dude over to help me put a jigsaw puzzle together, but the guy was born to play baseball.”

— Phillies teammate Mitch Williams3

The Houston Astros led Game Three of the 1986 National League Championship Series, 5-4, over the Mets with a runner on and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Mets’ skinny, 160-pound center fielder Lenny Dykstra stepped up to the plate and cranked Houston closer Dave Smith’s 0-and-1 fastball over the wall in right field to give the Mets an improbable 6-5 victory. Dykstra leapt onto home plate amidst a sea of ecstatic teammates.

Seven years later, the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves were knotted at 3-3 in Game Five of the 1993 NLCS. In the top of the 10th inning, Philadelphia’s bulky, muscular, 200-pound center fielder Lenny Dykstra stepped to the plate and crushed Atlanta closer Mark Wohlers’ 3-and-2 pitch over the wall in right center to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead that proved to be the final score. As Dykstra rounded third and slapped hands with third-base coach Larry Bowa, he yelled “DIDN’T I???” as if he had called his own shot.

In March of 2012, Dykstra stood in a different arena — a Southern California courtroom. The graying, middle-aged Dykstra was there to receive a sentence of three years in a California state prison for grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. It was hardly his first encounter with the court system.

Lenny Dykstra always lived for the action. He went a million miles an hour, whatever the venue. He played hard, on and off the field, before, during, and after his major-league career. The attitude and tenacity that allowed him to become an all-star outfielder and build financial success in his post-playing days also likely shortened his playing days, ruined his finances, sent him to prison, and nearly cost him his life. Dykstra is many things, but boring has never been one of them.

Leonard Kyle Dykstra was born on February 10, 1963, in Santa Ana, California, to Jerry and Marilyn Leswick. He was the middle of three sons born to the couple, joining older brother Brian and younger brother Kevin. Three of his Leswick uncles played in the National Hockey League in the Original Six era. Jerry Leswick left his family when Lenny was a toddler. At about the same time, Marilyn met a man named Dennis Dykstra while both worked for the Pacific Telephone Company. Dennis was recently divorced and had three young daughters. The couple married and became a Brady Bunch-type family, with the boys taking the Dykstra surname when formally adopted by Dennis.

Given what the world would come to know of him, it is unsurprising that Dykstra was mischievous as a youth. One of his favorite stunts was stealing a fire extinguisher and spraying people outside Disneyland from the passenger seat of a car.4 The mischief also included getting busted sneaking into Angels Stadium on Christmas Day and playing around on the field.

Dykstra wasn’t much for books or studying, but he did find time in school to play football and baseball. During his freshman year at Garden Grove High School, Lenny became the first and only freshman to play on the varsity squad. Before the major-league draft in his senior year, 1981, he went to a Mets tryout camp. Asked by a Mets employee if he was the batboy, Dykstra retorted some version of “I’m Lenny Dykstra and I’m the best player you’re going to see today.”5 The Mets liked what they saw enough to draft Dykstra, but waited until the 13th round because they were convinced other teams were not very interested in him. (The Mets’ 12th-round pick was a pitcher from Texas named Roger Clemens. … He did not sign with the team.)

Dykstra had committed to play baseball at Arizona State and was not happy about being drafted so low. He eventually did sign with the Mets, but insisted that he was too good for rookie ball and should be sent directly to Class A. He won this battle with the Mets, and spent the rest of 1981 and all of 1982 with the Shelby Mets of the Class-A South Atlantic League.

In 1983 Dykstra really began to assert himself as a prospect. Playing for Lynchburg of the Class-A Carolina League, he hit .358 with a .472 on-base percentage and stole 105 bases on his way to league MVP honors. The next year, 1984, Dykstra put up another productive season, becoming the first player in the history of the Double-A Jackson franchise to score more than 100 runs in a season. For good measure, he met his future wife, Terri, while playing in Jackson. The couple married in 1985.

Dykstra spent the first month of the 1985 season with Triple-A Tidewater, but was called up to the Mets in early May and made his major-league debut on May 3. He led off and played center field against the Reds in Cincinnati. Dykstra got Lenny notched his first-major league hit in his second at-bat, a home run off Reds starter Mario Soto.

For the year, Dykstra played in 83 games, platooning in center with Mookie Wilson. About three-quarters of his plate appearances came against right-handed pitching, and his first big league hit turned out to be his only home run of the season. The Mets won 98 games in 1985, but finished three games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League East, New York’s second consecutive season of 90 or more wins that ended with a second-place finish and no playoffs.

Perhaps stung by coming up empty with good teams two seasons in a row, the Mets blew the doors off the NL East in 1986. They reached first place in the division 10 games in and never trailed again, posting a 108-54 record and winning the East by 21½ games.

The Mets were not just legendary on the field. They were notorious for their raucous, partying ways off the field as well. With a few exceptions, the squad ferociously attacked alcohol, drugs, chasing women, and every other activity young men with disposable income are susceptible to. The 23-year-old Dykstra was an important cog on and off the field. He remained a platoon player in center field with Mookie Wilson, but saw his playing time increase as Wilson missed significant time to injury. Dykstra hit .295 with a .377 on-base percentage and swiped 31 bases. He combined with second baseman Wally Backman to form a gritty 1-2 punch atop the Mets lineup and routinely wreaked havoc on opposing pitchers and defenses while setting the stage for the likes of Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez, and Gary Carter. Away from the field, Dykstra was one of the boys, with a particular affinity for gambling until the sun came up.

While the Mets were never seriously challenged in the regular season, the playoffs were a different matter. In the National League Championship Series, New York took on the NL West champion Houston Astros. But perhaps more than the Astros, the Mets took on one Astro in particular: pitcher Mike Scott. The former Met had had a relatively pedestrian career until he learned to throw a split-fingered fastball. The movement on the pitch left many around the league convinced that Scott was illegally scuffing the baseball. The Mets were among the believers.

Scott started Game One of the NLCS and was untouchable, pitching a shutout with 14 strikeouts. The performance only further established Scott’s place deep inside the Mets collective psyche.

The Mets won Game Two and then in Game Three trailed 6-5 going to the bottom of the ninth when Dykstra’s two-run shot off Astros closer Dave Smith rescued the game and put them up in the series. In Game Four Scott again shut down the Mets, this time allowing one run in another complete game. Game Five went to the Mets, sending the series back to Houston for an epic Game Six. The Mets had the chance to close out the series, but the specter of Mike Scott pitching a decisive Game Seven hung over the entire affair.

The Mets trailed 3-0 going in to the ninth inning when Dykstra led off as a pinch-hitter. He tripled to center and scored the first Mets run in a rally that tied the game. The teams traded single runs in the 14th, and then the Mets pushed three across in the 16th inning, punctuated by Dykstra’s RBI single. With the Mets up 7-4, the Astros scored twice before Mets reliever Jesse Orosco struck out Kevin Bass to end it. The Mets were headed to the World Series.

For the NLCS, Dykstra led the Mets in batting, on-base, and slugging averages, and was the only Met to homer aside from Strawberry. While he may have been the Mets’ best player in the series, MVP honors went to Mike Scott.

The Mets went on to defeat the Boston Red Sox in an equally epic seven-game affair. Dykstra again was central to the action, leading off Game Three in Boston with a home run off Oil Can Boyd to set the stage for a four-run first inning and a 7-1 win. He added another homer the next day, this time a two-run shot off Red Sox reliever Steve Crawford. Dykstra was one of six Mets to play in all seven games, hitting .296 with the two home runs, three RBIs, and four runs scored.

The 1987 and ’88 seasons went about the same as 1986 for Dykstra. He was a valuable, productive, and popular player for the Mets, but he was never able to shake the platoon label or usage by his manager Davey Johnson. He never exceeded 500 plate appearances in a season with the Mets, despite his consistent production and no time lost on the disabled list. The 1988 Mets again won 100 games, but were shocked in a seven-game NLCS loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Increasingly unhappy with his role as a part-time player for the Mets, Dykstra was traded on June 18, 1989, with relief pitcher Roger McDowell to the Philadelphia Phillies for infielder Juan Samuel. Free of the limitations placed on him in New York, Dykstra started 85 games the rest of the season and struggled as he never had in the majors. He hit only .222 with the Phillies and scuffled to a sub-.300 on-base percentage, both marks well below anything he had posted in his time with the Mets.

Coming into the 1990 season, Dykstra knew he would have his first real chance to be an everyday major-league center fielder. He responded to the opportunity by putting together his finest season to date, leading the National League in hits and on-base percentage, and making his first All-Star Game appearance as the starting center fielder for the NL team. He flirted with .400 for a while in early summer, but dismissed his chances, saying, “If I hit .400 this year, the world will end. It can’t be done, not with forkballs and relief pitchers and the schedule. I saw a lot of Rod Carew while I was growing up in Anaheim, and if he couldn’t do it, I sure as hell can’t. It’s hard enough just hitting four out of 10 balls, much less hitting them to where people ain’t even standing.”6 Dykstra finished the season at .325 with 9 home runs and career highs in RBIs (60) and stolen bases (33).

He also entered the 1990 season having added about 30 pounds of muscle in the offseason. He attributed the gains to “special vitamins,” even at the time seen as a smirking, winking nod to steroid use.

As the 1991 season began, Dykstra was coming off an All-Star season in his first full year as an everyday player. The 1991 season was, however, a disaster. Dykstra’s enjoyment of high-stakes poker games led to a spring-training meeting with Commissioner Fay Vincent that resulted in a stern warning to keep away from such activities. After never having been on the disabled list before, Dykstra missed two large segments of the season. In early May he nearly killed himself and Phillies catcher Darren Daulton when he drunkenly wrecked his sports car after teammate John Kruk’s bachelor party. Dykstra escaped with broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and a broken cheekbone, and Daulton suffered similar injuries. Dykstra missed nearly two months. Then in late August his season ended after he broke his collarbone again running into the outfield wall in Cincinnati. When he did play in 1991, Dykstra a productive, finishing the season with a .297 batting average and 24 stolen bases in 63 games played.

The 1992 season did not start much better. Leading off the Phillies’ season at home on Opening Day, Dykstra was hit on the wrist by a pitch from the Cubs’ Greg Maddux, breaking a bone and missing the next two weeks. A broken bone in his finger in August again ended his season prematurely. He played in 85 games and hit .301. For the 1991 and 1992 seasons, the Philadelphia Phillies were 76-72 with Dykstra playing and 72-104 without him. If he could ever stay healthy atop the Phillies’ lineup, which finished second in the NL in runs scored in 1992, the team could realistically compete for a playoff spot.

In 1993 everything came together for the Phillies. They got out of the gate with a 17-5 record and never looked back, winning their first NL East title and playoff berth since 1983. They never trailed after April 9, and led by as many as 11½ games with a final margin of three.

For his part, Dykstra had a career year. He played in 161 games, missing only the game after the Phillies wrapped up the division. He hit .305 with 19 home runs, 66 RBIs, and 37 stolen bases, all career highs. His 143 runs, 194 hits, and 129 walks all led the NL. If not for an otherworldly season by the Giants new star, Barry Bonds, Dykstra would have been the Most Valuable Player in the league. One sour note: Dykstra was left off the National League All-Star team.

The Phillies’ run to the playoffs was surprising to most observers. The team gained attention for its scraggly beards and shaggy hair, with more than one or two mullets prominent throughout the season. The colorful cast of characters included grown men known by nicknames such as Dutch, Wild Thing, Inky, Schil, and the doubly-dubbed Dykstra, known as either Dude or Nails.

“Dude” was a fairly straightforward moniker, ostensibly attached because of Dykstra’s inability to complete a sentence without using the term. “Nails” was more descriptive, as in “tough as.” Nails is a statement to the entire world that the bearer of the name was not one to be taken lightly or underestimated. Nails is tough, rugged. Nails would run into the wall to make a play. Nails would never stand for leaving the game with a clean uniform, but would scrap and fight for every pitch, every play of every game. Nails is hard-nosed and hard-working, and has the scrappy, underdog attitude needed to become a fan favorite in two of the most demanding sports cities in the world. Nails played hard all the time, on and off the field.

As the 1993 major-league playoffs dawned, Dykstra was known to the baseball world, but he was about to loudly announce his presence on the game’s biggest stage. The Phillies entered the National League Championship Series as decided underdogs against the two-time defending NL champion Atlanta Braves.

The teams traded blows through the first four games, leaving the series tied for game five in Atlanta. The Phillies led 3-0 entering the bottom of the ninth, when the Braves stormed back to tie it. Batting second in the top of the 10th, Dykstra hit a homer off  Mark Wohlers, providing the winning run for the Phillies in the pivotal Game Five. The Phillies clinched the series in the next game. For the series Dykstra hit .280 with five walks, two home runs, and five runs scored.

The 1993 World Series is best remembered for Joe Carter’s series-ending home run off Mitch Williams in Game Six, but the Phillies’ loss could not be pegged at all on Dykstra. He hit .348 with a .500 on-base percentage, scored 9 runs, hit 4 home runs, and stole 4 bases. In the wild 15-14 Game Four Toronto victory, Dykstra went 3-for-4, scored four runs, hit a double and two home runs, stole a base, and drove in four runs. After the season Dykstra was rewarded with a four-year, $25 million contract extension. How did Dykstra view his 1993 performance? “I basically went from star to superstar,” he said. “I basically proved I’m more than the best leadoff hitter in the game. It’s nice to have that recognition, but I’m more than a leadoff hitter. I proved I’m the impact player I’ve always considered myself to be, a situation hitter capable of getting the home run, double, walk, whatever the situation requires. I’ve worked hard and made myself into one of the top five players in the game. Do they pay leadoff hitters what they’re paying me?”7

“He was a red-light player,” said former Phillies coach John Vukovich. “But he was a horrible 10-2 player. What I mean is, he hated to play in a 10-2 game, whether we were ahead or behind. He’d lose focus. He only wanted to play with the game on the line all the time.”8

Dykstra gained a reputation as a money player. In the modern era of sabermetrics, the idea of a player being “clutch” — to rise up and play his best when it matters most — is generally dismissed. But the numbers with Dykstra tell a different story. In his 1,278 regular-season games, Dykstra hit a home run every 56 at-bats, and posted a slash line of .285/.375/.419, with a .793 on-base plus slugging (OPS). In his 32 playoff games, he hit a home run every 11 at-bats, with a slash line of .321/.433/.661 and a 1.094 OPS. The merits of clutch will remain debatable, but if any player has ever been clutch, it is Lenny Dykstra.

After the World Series whispers began to surround Dykstra, his bulked-up physique in particular. The formerly lithe and sinewy Dykstra was by now a beefy fireplug with a thick neck and rippling biceps. Anyone who had seen him over the course of a few seasons saw an obvious change in his physical appearance. Media outlets speculated on the cause of Dykstra’s transformation.9

In 1994 and ’95 Dykstra made the All-Star teams, but his production and health never again matched the lofty heights seen in the magical season of ’93. He missed a month of the strike-shortened 1994 season with appendicitis, and missed more than half of ’95 with a variety of ailments.

In 1996, at age 33, Dykstra left a May game against the Dodgers in the fifth inning and never appeared in a major-league game again. He was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal, and missed the rest of 1996 and all of ’97 before a short-lived comeback attempt in spring training in 1998 put the final end to his baseball career. MLB’s 2007 report on steroids in baseball, led by former Senator George Mitchell, identified Dykstra as having admitted to the commissioner’s office in 2000 that he used steroids during his career.10

After his playing days, Dykstra ran a chain of car washes in California, and seemed to be adjusting well to life after professional baseball. In the mid-2000s, in an odd twist, Dykstra began to emerge as a respected voice in the world of Wall Street stock picking. He was given a column by Jim Cramer of Mad Money TV fame.

By 2009, after a series of poor business deals and financial decisions turned sour, Dykstra had filed for bankruptcy protection. The sprawling map of plans turned bad included the purchase of a Southern California estate once owned by hockey great Wayne Gretzky, a high-end magazine aimed at professional athletes, and more spurned friends, associates, and even family members than anyone should have in a lifetime.

The number of cases and the litany of charges and countercharges are too long and complicated to enumerate. In 2012 Dykstra was sentenced to prison for what amounted to selling property that was to remain under the control of his bankruptcy trustee. He was released in the summer of 2013, after which he completed his court-mandated 500 hours of community service and resided with his ex-wife Terri, who had no plans to remarry him.11

Two of his three sons, Cutter and Luke Dykstra, played in the minor league systems of the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves, respectively.

The next chapters in Lenny Dykstra’s life are anyone’s guess. But if those already written tell us anything, they are likely to be anything but boring.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the text, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 Jeff Pearlman, The Bad Guys Won! (New York: Harper Collins, 2004), 151.

2 Robert Gordon and Tom Burgoyne, More Than Beards, Bellies, and Biceps (New York: Sports Publishing, 2002), 207.

3 Gordon and Burgoyne, 208.

4 Christopher Frankie, Nailed! (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2013), 16.

5 Frankie and Pearlman give variations of the same quote. Pearlman’s was the adult version. The spirit of the quote is identical in both sources.

6 Steve Wulf, “Off and Running,” Sports Illustrated, June 4, 1990.

7 Ross Newhan, “In Your Face, If Not Your Hair,” Los Angeles Times, March 20, 1994.

8 Gordon and Burgoyne, 208.

9 George Mitchell, “Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation Into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball.” (files.mlb.com/mitchrpt.pdf).

10 Mitchell, 150.

11 Richard Sandomir, “Lenny Dykstra: Out of Prison and Still Headstrong,” New York Times, August 3, 2014.

After 13 years in the major leagues and at the age of 37, Kevin Elster’s defensive skills still got noticed.

In 2002, after sitting out the 2001 season, Elster went to spring training with the New York Yankees. A pair of players who each knew what it took to play shortstop in the major leagues noticed Elster.

“Elster’s hands are as good as anyone I’ve ever seen,” Derek Jeter said.1

Former infielder Clete Boyer said Elster’s release was so quick and effortless, “it’s like he puts on a clinic” during infield practice.2

Early in Elster’s major-league career, Mets coach Bud Harrelson, who spent 16 years in the big leagues and won a Gold Glove at shortstop in 1971, said, “Defensively? I don’t mess with him. He’s got it all.”3

But it took a while for Elster’s skills to develop. Born on August 3, 1964, in San Pedro, California, Elster was encouraged to play baseball by his father, Don, who was one of his youth baseball coaches. After graduating from Huntington Beach Marina High School in 1982, Elster began his college baseball career at nearby Golden West College, a two-year college.

“Kevin told us we were the only one that recruited him,” said Golden West coach Fred Hoover. “We recruited him for his athletic ability. We couldn’t project then that he would be in the big leagues (as a regular) by 1988, but by the middle of his first season, we knew he had something special.”4 Before his second season at Golden West, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Elster was selected by the New York Mets in the second round of the January 1984 draft, and signed with the Mets after the college season. Elster, who had been offered a scholarship by Arizona State, received a reported signing bonus of $44,000.

The Mets assigned Elster, who wouldn’t turn 20 until August, to Little Falls of the New York-Penn League, where he began his quick ascent through the Mets’ minor-league system. In 71 games with Little Falls, Elster batted .257.

He opened the 1985 season with Lynchburg of the Class A Carolina League. In 59 games with Lynchburg he batted .295 with 7 home runs and 26 RBIs to earn a midseason promotion to Jackson of the Double-A Texas League. In 59 games with Jackson, he batted .257. Defensively, his range at shortstop was considered outstanding.

Elster returned to Jackson in 1986. In 127 games, he batted .269 with 52 RBIs. In late August, as the Mets were cruising to the NL East Division title, manager Davey Johnson was considering his postseason roster.

“You look at your ballclub and see where you have a weakness,” Johnson said. “I experimented with shortstop in the year, but I quit experimenting. As good as Rafael (Santana) has played, what if I have a bases-loaded situation and I’m down in a game? I would need another shortstop if I hit for him.”5

With a trade not considered realistic, Johnson said, “So, you go to your system. What’s the closest you’ve got at shortstop?”6

The closest was in Jackson, Mississippi, where manager Mike Cubbage informed the 22-year-old Elster that he was being called up by the Mets.

Elster’s major-league debut came on September 2, 1986, against the San Francisco Giants as an eighth-inning defensive replacement. The next day, Elster singled off Giants reliever Frank Williams in his first major-league at-bat (in the eighth inning of the Mets’ 4-2 victory).

Over the final month of the season, Elster played in 19 games and was 5-for-30. Given a spot on the postseason roster, he played in four games in the National League Championship Series against the Houston Astros and in one game in the World Series as a defensive replacement. 

Elster blossomed offensively in 1987. He opened the season at Triple-A Tidewater. In 134 games with the Tides, he batted a career-high .310 with 170 hits, 33 doubles, 8 home runs and 74 RBIs. In September, he was recalled by the Mets and he went 4-for-10 in five games.

After four seasons in the minor leagues, the Mets were so confident that Elster was ready to be their starting shortstop in 1988 that they traded Rafael Santana, their starting shortstop for the previous three seasons, to the New York Yankees in December 1987. And in spring training the Mets returned 20-year-old Gregg Jefferies, the minor-league player of the year the previous two seasons, to the minors with the plan of moving him from shortstop to third base or the outfield.

“Sure it puts pressure on me,” Elster said of the moves, “but all baseball players deal with pressure every game. You just have to learn to deal with it — how to turn it into good nervous energy.”7

For most of the next four seasons, Elster was the Mets’ regular shortstop.

As a rookie in 1988, Elster batted just .214 but made only 13 errors, none after July 19. (His errorless streak of 88 consecutive games at shortstop — then a major-league record — ended on May 9, 1989.) In the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Elster started three of the seven games (Howard Johnson started the others) and was 2-for-8.

In 1989 Elster showed some offensive improvement, hitting .231 with 10 home runs and 55 RBIs. Defensively, he was solid, making just 15 errors while compiling a .976 fielding percentage in 150 games. He led NL shortstops with 235 putouts.

Elster got off to a slow start in 1990, hitting just .207 in 92 games and committing a career-high 17 errors. In August he was placed on the disabled list because of shoulder pain. Later in the month Elster had surgery and missed the rest of the season.

Elster wasn’t expected to be ready for the start of the 1991 season, but he was on the Mets Opening Day roster.  Howard Johnson, the Opening Day shortstop, started the first six games before manager Bud Harrelson gave him a day off on April 14. Elster, making his first start, got three hits, including a double and home run, in the Mets’ 7-1 victory over the Montreal Expos. Elster made four starts in the next week and won back the starting job, as Harrelson shuffled his infield — moving Johnson to third and Gregg Jefferies to second.

On May 6 Elster was placed on the disabled list with a groin injury. After returning to the lineup, he struggled, hitting .194 in June and .176 in July. But he hit .297 in August and .260 in September to finish the season with a .241 batting average in 115 games.

In 1992 Elster’s shoulder problems returned in spring training. He opened the season with the Mets but played in just six games before returning to the disabled list on April 13. On May 7 Elster had surgery again and he missed the rest of the season.

The Mets didn’t offer Elster a contract after the 1992 season, and he became a free agent. In January of 1993, he signed a minor-league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He opened the 1993 season with the Dodgers’ San Antonio farm team in the Double-A Texas League. He batted .282 in 10 games before being released on May 17. On May 22, he signed a minor-league contract with the Florida Marlins but was released two weeks later.

In December of 1993, Elster signed with the San Diego Padres, but was released near the end of spring training. On May 1, 1994, he signed with the New York Yankees. He hit .240 in 44 minor-league games (three with Class A Tampa and 41 with Double-A Albany-Colonie). In late June the Yankees called him up and he played in seven games, going hitless, before returning to the disabled list with shoulder inflammation.

Off the field in 1994, Elster appeared in the Hollywood movie Little Big League.

Elster opened the 1995 season with the Yankees. In 10 games, he hit .118 and was released on June 8. He signed with Kansas City in late June and played in 11 games with Triple-A Omaha before being released. Elster quickly signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. After five games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he was called up by the Phillies (joining former Mets Sid Fernandez, Lenny Dykstra, and Gregg Jefferies). In 26 games with the Phillies, managed by former Met Jim Fregosi, Elster hit .208. He was released after the season and signed with the Texas Rangers for the 1996 season.

Completely healthy in 1996, Elster had a career year. He set career highs in games (157), at-bats (515), hits (130), doubles (32), home runs (24), RBIs (99) and batting average (.252) to earn AL Comeback Player of the Year honors from The Sporting News. He had a .981 fielding percentage and led AL shortstops with 285 putouts while committing just 14 errors.

After the season, Elster signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He broke his left wrist in a collision at first base with Kurt Abbott of the Florida Marlins and missed all but 39 games of the season. Released after the season, Elster returned to the Rangers for 1998. After hitting just .232 in 84 games, he was released by the Rangers on July 31.

Elster sat out the 1999 season, retiring to live in Las Vegas where he planned to open a bar, but in December of 1999 he got a phone call from former Mets manager Davey Johnson, now managing the Dodgers.

“Davey called out of the blue,” Elster said. “…He said that he needed a shortstop and invited me to come to the Dodgers spring training camp. I won the starting job.”8

Elster got off to a good start in 2000 — hitting three home runs and driving in four runs in the Dodgers’ 6-5 victory over the Giants on April 11 in the first game played in San Francisco’s Pacific Bell Park.

In 80 games with the Dodgers, Elster slugged 14 home runs (second-most of his career) and hit .227. After the season he retired. But in early 2002, the Yankees invited the 35-year-old Elster to spring training. “I figured, why not give this one more shot? I’ve got nothing to lose and it just might work out,” Elster said.9

But Elster did not make the Yankees’ regular-season roster as a backup infielder, despite his hands that were, according to Yankees scout Gene Michael still “the best in the world.”10

Sources

In addition to the sources in the Notes, the author also consulted:

baseball-almanac.com.

imdb.com.

Notes

1 Bergen County Record (Hackensack, New Jersey), February 23, 2002.

2 Ibid.

3 New York Times, July 31, 1988.

4 Orange County Register (Anaheim, California), March 30, 1988.

5 New York Times, September 2, 1986.

6 Ibid.

7 Orange County Register, March 30, 1988.

8 Utica (New York) Observer-Dispatch, September 7, 2013

9 Bergen County Record, February 23, 2002.

10 Ibid.