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Jeff Kent: Mid Nineties Mets Second Baseman & New Hall of Famer (1992 - 1996)

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Jeffrey Franklin Kent was born on March 7, 1968, in Bellflower, California a suburb of Los Angeles. His father was a motorcycle cop who didn't stand for nonsense or small talk. As a kid Kent was into motor cross & surfing, not watching baseball on TV because he later said it was too boring. His father did take him & his brother to baseball games. Kent did play baseball in little league & in school. At high school Kent & his attitude problem caused a serious run in with his baseball coach which got him removed from the team. He attended the University of California at Berkley, playing for the Golden Bears. The six foot one right hand hitter, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 20th round of the 1988 draft. He played three brief seasons in the minors, showing power hitting 16 HRs in 1990 at AA ball. MLB Career: He got onto the Blue Jays Opening Day roster in 1992 debuting on April 12th getting his first career hit that day, a 6th inning doubl...
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John Stephenson: Former Mets Catcher Who Caught Nolan Ryan's First Game (1964-1966)

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John Herman Stephenson was born on April 13, 1941, in South Portsmouth, Kentucky. The educated Stephenson earned a degree at William Carey College, in Mississippi.  In 1963 the five foot eleven left-handed hitting catcher went from A ball right up to the Mets big league team in 1964. Mets Career- 1964 : Stephenson made the club out of Spring Training and appeared as a pinch hitter in the 5-3 Opening Day loss.  On April 17th, in the first game ever played at Shea Stadium John struck out as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning of the 4-3 loss to the Pirates.   Stephenson would appear mostly as a pinch hitter & in 14 games at third base, but he didn’t hit much.  Trivia: On Father’s Day 1964 he was the final out of Jim Bunnings's perfect game pitched against the Mets at Shea Stadium. First Career HR: On June 29th, Stephenson's was playing at third base & batting in the leadoff spot in a game in San Franciso. He led off ...
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Dan Warthen: 2015 NL Champions Mets Pitching Coach (2008 - 2017)

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Daniel Dean Warthen was born on December 1, 1952, in Omaha, Nebraska. Warthen was an All-American High School quarterback, getting college scholarship offers from Nebraska, USC, UCLA, & Northwestern universities.   Warthen chose to play baseball instead, getting drafted in the second round, by the Montreal Expos in 1971.  The left hander would get brought up to the majors in May 1975 making his debut, pitching a scoreless inning against that year's World Champion, Big Red Machine. He pitched in relief in his first few outings, going 4-2 with three saves toward the end of July.  He was thrown into the Expo rotation finishing the season at 8-6 with 3.11 ERA, striking out an impressive 128 batters in 167 innings. He also walked 87 batters. The following year he was 2-10 as he walked 66 batters in 90 innings pitched, allowing 53 earned runs. He would only pitch 20 more games in the majors at Montreal, going to the Philadelphia Phillies & Houston ...
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