Tag Archives: Mets
Frank Thomas
Frank Thomas (Baseball. Born, Pittsbugh, PA, June 11, 1929.) It perhaps said more about the early Mets than about his ability that Frank Joseph Thomas was the first real star of the team. Thomas was a dead pull hitter from the right side whose stroke was ideally suited to the leftfield confines of the Polo […]
Arthur Richman
Arthur Richman (Sportswriter. Born, New York, NY, Mar. 21, 1926; died, New York, NY, March 25, 2009.) A sportswriter with the Daily Mirror for the last two decades of the paper’s existence, Arthur Sherman Richman then became an executive with the Mets and, later, the Yankees. Richman’s career in New York sports spans more than […]
Rusty Staub
Rusty Staub (Baseball. Born, New Orleans, LA, Apr. 1, 1944.) For most of three decades, Daniel Joseph Staub was part of the New York baseball scene as a Mets outfielder, the major leagues’ top pinch-hitter, and then as a Mets broadcaster. After nine seasons with Houston (1963-68) and Montreal (1969-71), Staub came to the Mets before […]
Mel Stottlemyre
Mel Stottlemyre (Baseball. Born, Hazelton, MO, Nov. 13, 1941.) Signed by the Yankees in 1961, Melvin Leon Stottlemyre became the team’s best pitcher during the second half of the decade. Following an 11-season career (1964-74), Stottlemyre embarked on a 25-year coaching career in which he handled Mets and Yankees pitchers during periods of prolonged success. He […]
Darryl Strawberry
Darryl Strawberry (Baseball.) Born, Los Angeles, CA, Mar. 12, 1962.) Cocaine destroyed the career of a likeable, popular slugger who might have been New York’s biggest baseball hero since Babe Ruth. Darryl Eugene Strawberry defeated colon cancer but couldn’t whip his addiction. The No. 1 selection overall by the Mets in the June 1980 amateur draft, […]
Casey Stengel
Casey Stengel (Baseball. Born, Kansas City, MO, July 30, 1889; died, Glendale, CA, Sept. 30, 1975.) Charles Dillon Stengel for two decades was, perhaps, the most recognizable figure in baseball. His period of great recognition began twenty years after his active playing career ended. Casey Stengel was a better-than-journeyman outfielder. He played with five National League […]
Duke Snider
Duke Snider (Baseball. Born, Los Angeles, CA, Sept. 19, 1926; died, Escondido, CA, Feb. 27. 2011.) As the lefthand-hitting slugger and superstar centerfielder, Edwin Donald Snider was one of the main forces that carried the Dodgers to five pennants and a world championship in the team’s final nine seasons at Ebbets Field. “The Duke of Flatbush” […]
Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver (Baseball. Born, Fresno, CA, Nov. 17, 1944.) Tom Seaver’s arrival at Shea Stadium wasn’t as heralded as it should have been, but it probably could never have been heralded enough, considering what he meant to the New York Mets. Justifiably called “the Franchise,” George Thomas Seaver was an overpowering righthander who gave the Mets […]
Dave Kingman
Dave Kingman (Baseball. Born, Pendleton, Ore., Dec. 21, 1948.) A gangling 6’6” go-for-broke slugger, David Arthur Kingman hit 154 homers in two tours with the Mets (1975-77, 1981-83) and two more for the Yankees in 1977, when he played for four teams. Kingman had 442 homers in his 16-year career (1971-86) with seven teams, but […]
Joe King
Joe King (Sportswriter. Born, Jersey City, NJ, May 19, 1908; died, Ridgewood, NJ, Apr. 16, 1979.) Recognized as one of the first writers to see pro football as a major national sport, Joseph King began his career as a yachting writer. King joined the Evening Telegram in 1930. The paper became the World-Telegram in 1931 […]
