The First Mets Regular Centerfielder: Jim Hickman (1962-1966)

James Lucius Hickman was born May 10, 1937 in Henning, Tennessee. The tall lanky six foot three, outfielder known as “Gentleman Jim” was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1956.

He toiled in the minor leagues five seasons, despite hitting over twenty HRs from 1957-1959 through the AA level. In 1961 he became an original New York Met, getting selected in the 1961 expansion draft.

He would spend five seasons in New York as the team’s first regular centerfielder. He would play all outfield positions, as well as first base & some third base in 624 career games as a Met, batting .241 with 60 HRs with 210 RBIs. He made his MLB debut as a pinch hitter in the Mets first home game at the Polo Grounds, going 0-1 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Three days later he made his first start in centerfield, and went hitless in two at bats. A week later on the road in Pittsburgh he had a big three hit day driving in two runs. The next week he hit his first career HR & followed up the next day with another HR, both coming at home in the Polo Grounds against the Philadelphia Phillies.

In May he hit three HRs in the first two weeks & on May 19th his 8th inning sac fly capped off a Mets four run rally driving in the winning run off Milwaukee's Lew Burdett. On July 22nd he drove in all three Mets runs in a 4-3 losing effort at Cincinnati. In August he had two more three RBI games but coming in Mets losses. On September 1st Hickman blasted two HRs in a game at St. Louis driving in three runs in the Mets 10-5 loss to the Cards. He finished the year with 13 HRs (3rd best on the club) 18 doubles, 46 RBIs & a .328 on base % while batting .245. He led the team strike outs (96) that season & again in 1963 (120).

In 1963 he hit a HR in his first game played, it came off Lew Burdette at Milwaukee. On April 21st he hit a grand slam HR off Milwaukee's Claude Raymond in an 8-5 Mets win at the Polo Grounds. He closed out April batting .315 with 14 RBIs. On May 10th he drew a bases loaded walk against the Reds, then in the bottom of the 8th he broke the tie game with a HR which turned out to be the games winning run. A week later in a wild home game, his 8th sac fly helped the Mets tie the game 12-12, and then Choo Choo Coleman's base hit in the next at bat, would bring home the winning run.

On June 2nd Hickman hit a walk off HR against the Pittsburgh Pirates & pitcher Roy Face. He had some shining moments as a Met and is in the history books with some firsts. On August 7th he became the first Met to hit for the cycle, coming at the Polo Grounds on in a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Two days later he hit a dramatic walk off grand slam HR off the Cubs' Lindy McDaniel giving the Mets a 7-3 victory in front of 11,000 fans at the Polo Grounds. Hickman would also be the hero to pitcher Roger Craig that day, since it was this win that ended his ridiculous 18 game losing streak.

He would hit two more HRs against the Cubs later in the month as well. On September 18th he would hit the last ever HR at the Polo Grounds in a 5-1 loss against the Philadelphia Phillies. For the season he led the team in HRs (17) and triples (6). He batted .229 with 21 doubles (second on the club to Ron Hunt) & a .291 on base %. That year in the outfield he played in 82 games making six assists with a .963 fielding%. He also played in 59 games at third base but made 14 errors in 162 chances.

On April 17, 1964 Hickman was the starting centerfielder, batting in the sixth position in the first game ever played at Shea Stadium. He goes down in the record books as the first to draw a walk & get hit by a pitch in the new ballpark. After a quick start the first week, he struggled batting just around the .200 mark in early June. From June 7th - June 14th Hickman hit three HRs & drove in eight runs, hitting safely in all but one of those games that week.

On July 26th he hit HRs in both ends of a double header against the Milwaukee Braves although the Mets lost both games. He hit well in August with a hit streak a streak of 12 out of 14 games where he drove in ten runs. On August 19th he hit a grand slam HR, driving in all four Mets runs in a 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. That season he hit a Mets career high .257 with 11 HRs, 14 doubles a .319 on base % & 57 RBIs.

In the outfield he had eight assists & posted a .976 fielding %. In 1965 Hickman would hit 15 HRs (3rd best on the team) with 18 doubles, 40 RBIs while batting .236 playing in 141 games. He had two multiple HR games that season as well as two four hit games on the road that September. On May 31st he drove in four runs against the Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago, including a two run HR leading the Mets to a 5-3 win. The next day he hit two HRs leading the Mets to a 10-5 win over the Cubs again.

Later that month he hit two HRs & drove in runs in three of the four games on road trip to Dodger Stadium. Hickman struggled in August with the exception of a three run bottom of the 8th inning game winning HR on August 22nd, to beat the Cardinals 7-5. On September 3rd he had a tremendous day, hitting three HRs in a game at St. Louis, all coming off future Mets pitcher Ray Sadecki. Hickman also had four hits on the day with four RBIs.

In 1966 he played in only 58 games, hurting his wrist in May & missing two months of action. He was hitting .237 with 4 HRs & 16 RBIs, when he got traded along with the popular Ron Hunt to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tommy Davis. Hickman was the last of the original Mets to play on the ball club at the time of his departure.

After one season batting a lowly .163 in Los Angeles he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Ted Savage & Jim Ellis. He would bat .223 in first year at Wrigley Field, followed up by a .237 mark in 1969. That season he was the team’s main right fielder and watched as his old team, now the Amazing New York Mets, took over first place from the Cubs. Hickman blasted 21 HRs with 11 doubles & 54 RBIs on the season.

Hickman helped the Cubs cause hitting a walk off HR against the Montreal Expos on June 22nd. On August 23rd he hit two HRs against the Houston Astros including a 7th inning grand slam that was the game winner. Hickman would have his best season in 1970 winning the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award, batting .315 with a 415 on base % (5th in the NL) 162 hits, 33 doubles, 32 HRs (10th in the NL) 115 RBIs (6th in the NL) 102 runs scored (10th in the NL) and 93 walks (9th in the NL)—all career bests that placed him 8th in the MVP voting.

He also made his only All-Star appearance that year & drove in the games famous winning run. In the 12th inning, he singled off the California Angels Clyde Wright, with Pete Rose on second base. As Hickmans hit went to the outfield Rose rounded third and proceeded to run over Cleveland Indian catcher Ray Fosse to score the game winning run. The play is still controversial today, since it was an All Star game & Rose could have just slid & would have probably scored.

Hickman came back to earth the next season but still had good numbers for the Cubs, 19 HRs 60 RBIs & a .256 average. In his years with the Cubs he hit four walk off HRs helping his team to victory. After hitting a solid .272 in 1972 he finished up his career with the ’74 St. Louis Cardinals hitting .267 in 50 games.

In his 13-year career, Hickman played 1421 games, batted .252 with 1002 hits 159 HRs, 163 doubles, 25 triples, 560 RBIs & a .335 on base %

Former New York Born Mets Pitcher: Nelson Figueroa (2008-2009)

Nelson Figueroa was born on May 18, 1974 in Brooklyn, New York.

He went to Abraham Lincoln High School in Coney Island, a school that has had some famous alumni including; the Mets Lee Mazzilli, Mel Brooks, Harvey Kietel, Lou Gossett Jr. John Forsythe, broadcaster Marv Albert, author Arthur Miller, singers Neil Sadaka & Neil Diamond, drummer Buddy Rich, & New York Knick Stephan Marbury.

He then attended Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts where he earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies while pitching on the baseball team. He was drafted by the hometown New York Mets in the 30th round of the 1995 draft, the 833rd pick overall.

Figueroa was 7-3 with the Kingsport Mets in the Rookie league in 1995, then 14-7 with a 2.04 ERA at A ball with Capitol City in 1996. By 1998 he was traded off to Arizona with Bernard Gilkey for Jorge Fabergas. He pitched for Arizona, Philadelphia, Milwaukee & Pittsburgh from 2000-2004 going 7-17 overall as a both a starter & middle reliever.

The tragedies of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, affected the New Yorker Figueroa, who is also an artist. He helped design patriotic t-shirts sold for charity by MLB in the aftermath of 9/11.

He had surgery on a torn rotator cuff, & then spent three seasons in the minor leagues as well as pitching in China. He also pitched for Puerto Rico in three World Baseball Classics.

In 2008 he got back to the big leagues, getting signed by the New York Mets. He had a good spring training making the squad as a long shot & appearing in two games in relief in the first week of the season.

On April 11, 2008 he was called to help out an ailing staff making a start against the Milwaukee Brewers. His family was on hand at Shea Stadium watching from Billy Wagner’s private box as he went six innings allowing only two hits, and striking out six while earning the win. He earned his second victory against the Braves at the end of April, allowing three runs while pitching into the 6th inning. 

In May he allowed nine earned runs over ten innings in two games, taking the losses in both of them getting designated for assignment on May 13th. He was brought back to the Mets bullpen in September finishing the year at 3-3 with a 4.57 ERA appearing in 16 games.

He signed a minor league contract for 2009 and got another chance to start at the big league level, for the Mets in April taking a loss.

He returned in August going 1-2 and then began September with five straight losing decisions. But on the last day of the season, he pitched the best game of his career in what turned out to be his Mets outing. He threw a four hit shutout against the Houston Astros at Citi Field in front of 38,000 fans, striking out seven batters. He finished the year at 3-8 with a 4.09 ERA, 59 strike outs in 70 innings in 16 games pitched.

In 2010 he pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies & Houston Astros earning a career high seven wins (7-4) with a 3.29 ERA.

In 2011 he began the year on the Houston staff going 0-3 in eight games getting sent down to AAA Oklahoma in early May. He finished up 6-7 there & pitched at AAA Scranton in 2012 at age 37 .

Former Eighties Mets Broadcaster: Steve Zabriske (1983-1989)

Steve Zabriske was born May13, 1947 in Palo Alto California. After college, Zabriskie began covering sports for a television station in Austin, Texas during the early 1970's.

The station made him change his name to Steve Zanon, saying his real name sounded to Polish. He then moved on to doing sports news in Tulsa, Oklahoma and became known as “the Big Z”.

He started doing MLB baseball games on the USA Network in the early days of cable television. In 1980, MLB did an early TV experiment that had 22 teams take part in Thursday Night Games of the week on the USA Network. Zabriskie did broadcasts for the last two years of its run from 1981-1982.

From there he joined the New York Mets broadcast team in 1983. Steve was the Mets Channel 9 & Sports Channel announcer along with Ralph Kiner & Tim McCarver from 1983 -1989. He was a very straight forward announcer with a dry sense of humor, his style worked well with Ralph Kiner.

His most famous broadcast was doing the play by play in the 9th inning in September 1986, when the Mets clinched the N.L. Eastern Title. As more games got onto cable TV, Zabriske fell out of the picture.

He had a brief stint on ESPN then disappeared from the broadcasting scene. In 2003 he wrote a children’s baseball book called “Be A Hitter”. These days Zabriske is the news director on KZST radio in Sonoma County California.

Brief Member of the 1969 Amazing Mets: Bobby Heise (1967-1969)

Robert Lowell Heise was born on May 12, 1947 in San Antonio, Texas. The six foot infielder attended Vacaville high school in Vacaville California, and played baseball in the Peninsula League during the winter of 1965.

Bud Harrelson was attending a game there that Heise was playing in one day. Harrelson was impressed on what he saw Heise do. Harrelson told Mets scout Roy Partee, “this kid Heise, has a little talent” so he checked him out. Partee & the Mets organization agreed, giving Heise a deal in 1966.

Heise first served in the U.S. Marines then went on to bat .298 at A ball in the Carolina League with the Durham Bulls. He got a big jump through the ranks, as he joined the Mets big league club on September 12th 1967 as the starting second baseman in a game against the Atlanta Braves. In his MLB debut he was 1-for-4, getting a base hit with two outs in the ninth inning. He represented the winning run but was caught stealing to end the inning, the Braves won it on Hank Aaron & Joe Torre's hits in the bottom of the inning.

Heise played in sixteen games that September going 20-62 good for a .323 average, he had four doubles & three RBIs. On September 19th he doubled off the Dodgers Bill Singer, driving in two runs tying the game. He would score on Tommy Davis' base hit helping the Mets to a 6-4 win.

Heise played 114 games at AAA Jacksonville the next year, with a lot of soon to be Mets like; Tug McGraw, Gary Gentry, Danny Frisella & Ken Singleton just to name a few. He was a September call-up once again batting only .217 in six games.

In 1969 he was the AAA Tidewater Tides main short stop, although he made 25 errors at the position. He got a four game September call up to the eventual World Champion Amazing Mets. He hit safely in three of the four games he played in, & did not make the post-season roster. After the World Series, on December 12th 1969 he was traded with Jim Gosger to the San Francisco Giants for Ray Sadecki and Dave Marshall.

In San Francisco, Heise was a utility infielder hitting his only career HR on June 30, 1970, off the San Diego Padres, Danny Combs at Candlestick Park. He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Floyd Wicker in June 1971 & hit .254 for the rest of the year.

He spent two seasons as utility man in Milwaukee, batting .266 in 1972, and .204 in 1973. He would end up spending brief periods of time in 1974 with the St. Louis Cardinals & the California Angels.

He then went to the Boston Red Sox for two seasons playing behind Rico Petrocelli & Butch Hobson at third. Rick Burlson at short, Jerry Remy & Denny Doyle at second. He was on the 1975 AL Champion Red Sox team, batting .214, driving in 21 runs with five game winning hits, playing in 63 games. His best day was during a July 6th doubleheader in Cleveland, where he went 4-for-7 with five RBIs on the day, against the Indians. He drove in three runs in a 5-3 Red Sox win in the first game of that twin bill.

In the post season, he watched from the bench not seeing any action in one of the greatest World Series ever played, as Boston fell to the Big Red Machine in seven games. Heise went to the Kansas City Royals in 1977 with his former minor league instructor from the Mets years, Whitey Herzog.

There got into 54 games for the NL Western Champion Royals, batting .258. In an 11 year career he hit .247 with 283 hits, one HR, 43 doubles, three triples, 104 runs scored, a .280 on base %, 86 RBIs & 30 sacrifice hits in 499 career games played.

Retirement: Bobby became a corrections police officer, at San Quentin prison and worked as a fire fighter for 16 years. He then retired, suffered a bout with cancer, beat it, and is now cancer-free.

Quotes:" You know, I have an American League Championship ring, and it says Boston Red Sox on it. And it's a thing that I'll get to pass down to my son, and he'll pass it down to his kid."

Former Bronx Born Mets Minor League Manager: Dan Monzon (1978-1982)

Daniel Francisco Monzon was born on May 20th, 1946 in the Bronx, New York. He attended James Monroe High School and was two years behind Ed Kranepool at the school.

The famous public high school also had famous alumni as Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, actor Danny Aiello & actress Estelle Reiner, mother of Archie Bunker’s son in law “meat head” Rob Reiner. It was Estelle Reiner who had the famous line in Harry met Sally saying “I’ll have what she’s having” in Katz’s delicatessen.

Also attending Monroe were the girl group The Chiffons, actors Robert Strauss & Lost In Spaces Jonathan Harris, as well as NFL players Wilbur Young & Darren Carrington.

Monzon would attend Buena Vista University getting signed by the Minnesota Twins in the second round of the 1967 draft as an infielder. In 1972 he hit .305 at AAA Portland in the Pacific Coast League making the Twins big league club in 1972.

As a utility player he saw action in 55 games batting .273 (15-55) with five RBIs. In 1973 he saw action in 39 games batting .239 stealing a base in each season. At second he backed up Rod Carew & at third played behind Steve Braun in those seasons.

He never appeared in the majors again, but became a successful manager in the Mets organization from 1978-1982. His highest finish was in 1980 with the Little Falls Mets, third place in the New York Penn. League.

In 1981 he took the Lynchburg Mets to the Playoff but lost in the first round. After managing he became a Mets scout through the 1986 Championship season.

Monzon moved on to the White Sox & Red Sox organizations in the late eighties. In 1995 he was killed in an automobile accident I Santo Domingo, he was just 49 years old.

Italian / American Pitcher: Barry Zito (1999-)

Barry William Zito was born on May 13, 1978 in Las Vegas Nevada.

His father was a musical arranger for Nat King Cole & his mother was a singer in Cole’s band The Merry Young Souls.

Barry was named after his uncle who practiced Zen & disappeared in the Big Sur Mountains of California in 1964.

Barry Zito is a surfer, guitar player & practices Zen like his uncle did. On the road the free spirited Zito, collects stuffed animals & lights incense to relax himself. 

The left handed Zito went to a Catholic high school at San Diego becoming a star pitcher. He attended the University of California at Santa Barbara All American Freshman honors, striking out 105 batters in 85 innings pitched.

He soon transferred to Pierce College so he would be eligible for the draft a year earlier, but decided to stay in school anyway for that time earning all state honors. He then transferred to USC becoming the Pac ten Pitcher of the Year going 12–3 with a 3.28 ERA, and 154 strikeouts in 113⅔ innings. Zito was originally drafted by both Texas & Seattle way down in the later rounds in 1998 but chose not to sign.

By 1999 he was one of the country’s top prospects getting chosen by the Oakland A’s in the first round, the ninth pick overall. In just a few months climbing through the ranks of the minors he was 6-1 getting promoted to the A’s staff in July.

He debuted at the Oakland Coliseum beating the Anaheim Angels allowing just one run over five innings on July 22nd, 2000. He was 3-4 entering the final month of the season, & he went on a roll as the rest of the A’s team did.

Zito was 5-1 in September allowing just eight runs in 42 innings pitched. Oakland went 22-7 in September finishing in first place, with it’s great pitching staff consisting of the famously named “Big Three”; Zito, Mark Mulder & Tim Hudson.

Post Season: In Game #4 of the ALDS with his teams back up against the wall trailing two games to one, Zito came out & shut down the A.L. New York club to just one run in 5.2 innings pitched as the A’s won 11-1 sending the Series to a Game Five.

In 2001 Zito found himself at 8-8 on August 15th. But from that point on he would not lose another game. He would win his last nine decisions finishing the year at 17-8 leading the league in starts (35), He would strike out 205 batters (4th in the AL) pitching in 214 innings with a 3.89 ERA (8th in the league). In that year’s ALDS he took a loss even though he pitched eight innings allowing just one run.

In 2002 he returned to have his best season, beating out Pedro Martinez for the Cy Young Award. Zito led the league in wins going 23-5 & starts (35) with a .821 winning % (second in the AL) a 2.75 ERA & 182 strike outs (both third in the AL) pitching in 229 innings.

Post Season: In the ALDS he earned the win in Game #3 against the Minnesota Twins pitching into the 7th inning. Zito was still effective but did not pitchat the same level of success as he did in his first three seasons.

In 2003 he was 14-12 with a 3.30 ERA (7th in the AL) pitching in 231 innings with 146 strike outs. He would fall to a 11-11 record in 2004 & a 14-13 record the next year.

In 2006 his final year of his contract he once again led the league in starts (35) going 16-10 (8th in the league in wins) with 151 strikeouts a 3.83 ERA (10th in the league) pitching 221 innings.


Mets Rumors:That summer he was rumored to be coming to the New York Mets in a deal for Lastings Millidge, what a steal that would have been no matter how much Zito would struggle in the future. If the Mets had him in the post season, there may have been a very different ending to the ’06 season. Instead the A’s GM Billy Beane decided to hold on to Zito for the rest of the year.

In his six years in Oakland, He threw 200 or more innings each year, never missed a scheduled start and led the AL in starts four times & made three All Star teams.

In the off season he hired Scott Boras as his agent & became the most sought after free agent of the winter. He ended up going across the Bay signing a huge contract of $126 million with the San Francisco Giants, becoming the highest paid pitched in baseball history.

He got along well with slugger Barry Bonds, & the two donned T-shirts that read “Don’t ask me, ask Barry” with an arrow pointing to the other Barry. On the mound he lost his first two games as a Giant, and returned to Oaklnad in an inter league game on May 18th. He allowed seven runs over four innings as the A’s beat their cross Bay rivals 15-4.

He came to New York arriving at Shea Stadium to the team he never signed with & beat the Mets 3-0 pitching in seven innings, besting his record to 5-5.

In June the A’s beat him again in San Francisco, and Zito struggled the ret of the year. He won his last two starts but still fell short of a winning record, going 11-13 with a 4.53 ERA.

The next year was worse, as he led the NL in losses going 10-17 with a 5.15 ERA. He had low run support in 2009 and fell to another losing season going 10-13. In 2010 he pitched in 34 games starting out the year at 5-0 with a 1.49 ERA through the first month of the season. He was 7-2 in early June but then everything fell apart. He would only win two more games on the season, losing 12 games finishing up at 9-14 getting left off the post season roster, as the Giants went on to win the World Series.

In 2011 he began the year at 0-1 then went on the DL for two months. He returned on June 28th & beat the Cubs in Chicago pitching seven innings allowing two runs earning the victory.

Zito won three straight including an eight inning one run performance at home beating the San Diego Padres. He lost his next three starts and then went down again until mid September. He ended up 3-4 with a 5.87 ERA in 13 games.

In 2012 he won his first start of the year, a four hit complete game shut out at Colorado against the Rockies. He went 5-2 into June when he pitched another four hit shut out, leaving in the 9th inning in a 2-0 win at Wrigley Field.

From August 7th on, Zito was outstanding, helping the Giants capture another Western title. He went 7-0 in that time, including a 5-0 September.

He finished the year at 15-8, second on his staff to Matt Cain & Madison Bumgarner, who both won 16 games. Zito struck out 114 batters walking 70 & posted a 4.15 ERA.

Post Season: In the NLDS he was roughed up by the Cincinnati Reds, allowing two runs by the 3rd inning & getting removed. The Giants went on to win the game & tie the series.

In the NLCS Game #5, he shut out the St. Louis Cardinals into the 8th inning, striking out six allowing just six hits. He earned the win, besting his post season record to 5-3. 

In the World Series sweep against the Detroit Tigers, he got to start the opener in San Francisco. He put in another great performance, allowing just one run on six hits, pitching into the 6th inning while earning the win.


He was back in the Giants rotation in 2013 & was 2-1 with a 4.86 through late April.
   
Personal: Zito created the charity Strikeouts for Troops, to which he donates $400 for every strikeout he throws.

The charity benefits hospitals for soldiers wounded in military operations.

In December 2011, Zito married the former Miss Missouri, Amber Seyer.

Legendary Mets Pitching Coach- Who Took His Staff to Two World Series: Rube Walker (1968-1981)

Albert Bluford Walker was born on May 16, 1926, in Lenoir, North Carolina.

He became known as Rube getting signed by the Chicago Cubs in the 1944. He spent four years in the minor leagues batting .354 at AA Nashville in 1947, which was good enough for him to make the 1948 Cubs squad.

He appeared as pinch hitter in the first two months of the season until getting his first start behind the plate on May 31st. Later that year he had big five RBI day, hitting his 5th HR of the year in a 10-1 win over the Pirates. Two days later he hit another HR & drove in four more runs. He hit a career best .275 in his rookie year, with 5 HRs 26 RBIs & a .371 on base %.

Behind the plate he caught 44 games throwing out 44% of would be base stealers. Walker would spend three and one half seasons in Chicago backing up catcher Mickey Owen, before getting traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers mid way through the 1951 season, along with Andy Pafko, & Wayne Terwilliger.

Walker would spend the next seven years in Brooklyn as Roy Campanella’s back up catcher. He would put up some impressive defensive numbers; like throwing out 60% or more of would be base stealers three times & 50% or more every year except 1954 when he nailed 47%. He had 19 or more assists three times and never made more than three errors in a season while with Brooklyn.

Walker was never known for his bat, batting a best .259 as a Dodger, in his first season playing at Ebbetts Field. He would drive in 20 runs or more three times never getting more than 166 at bats in a season (1957). Walker’s Dodgers would get to four World Series but he would only get to play in one of them.

In 1951 he was behind the plate, in two of the three games of the playoff series against the New York Giants, filling in for an injured Roy Campanella.

In the second game he hit a two run HR off Al Corwin in the 8th inning, of the Dodgers 10-0 win. The next day he was on the losing end of one of the most famous games in MLB history.

Walker was behind the plate, but claimed he didn’t call the pitch that Bobby Thomson would hit off Ralph Branca, for the famous "Shot Heard 'Round the World". The HR won the game, winning the pennant for the Giants in the Polo Grounds. At the plate that day he was 1-4 that day, with two strike outs. He did not play in the World Series.

The next year he saw the most action from July 12th through July 24th. In those two weeks he drove in six runs for the NL Champion Dodgers. On the season he batted .259 with one HR & 19 RBIs. He won another pennant there in 1953 as he hit .242 on the season & in 1954 he had his Dodger high five HRs in 155 at bats.

He averaged 50 games a year in Brooklyn and was a member of the 1955 Championship team, batting .252 with 2 HRs 13 RBIs & 5 doubles in 146 at bats. Again, he did not play in the World Series.

In 1956 he played in 54 games, batting .212 with three HRs & 20 RBIs behind MVP Campanella. In the 1956 Fall Classic he saw action in two games going 0-2.

Rube stayed on with Dodgers with the move to Los Angeles in 1958 and retired after that inaugural season. In his eleven year playing career he threw out 46% of would be base stealers, posting a .982 fielding %. He batted .227 with 35 HRs 69 doubles & 192 RBIs.

After retiring as a player, he would manage in the minor leagues from 1959 through 1954. He was then hired as a pitching coach under his former Dodger team mate Gil Hodges with the Washington Senators.

He would be one of the first successful pitching coaches who was not an actual former pitcher. Walker was a great instructor for his young pitchers, as he was patient, soft spoken and low key.


In 1968 he went with Hodges to the New York Mets and would remain there for 14 years, the longest tenure of any Mets coach besides Joe Pignatano who also served 14 seasons. He would revolutionize the modern day pitching rotation along with Hodges, as they developed the five man rotation.

He would serve as pitching coach for five different Mets managers (Gil Hodges, Yogi Berra, Roy McMillan, Joe Frazier & Joe Torre) through the 1981 season. Along the way he developed a lot of young Mets pitching talent, including Hall of Famers Tom Seaver & Nolan Ryan.

In 1969 it was Rube Walkers young pitching staff that became the best in baseball shocking the world by winning the World Series.

His staff was first in the league in wins (100) & shutouts (16), second in ERA (2.99) third in saves (35) & fourth in strike outs (1012). In the World Series they held the mighty Orioles down to just nine runs 44 innings & a .146 batting average.
 

Over the next two seasons, his staff had the N.L.’s best overall ERA both years (3.45 in 1970 & 2.99 in 1971). Over the next three seasons, the Mets pitching staff would be first in strike outs each year. In the 1972 season, young pitcher Jon Matlack won the Rookie of the Year Award.

In 1973 under manager Yogi Berra, Walker coached another great Mets staff, as Tom Seaver won his second Cy Young Award, Tug McGraw became one of baseballs best relievers & George Stone won 12 games going 12-3. The Mets would win the NL pennant holding the Big Red Machine, Cincinnati Reds to a .186 batting average & just eight runs over five games.

In the World Series the Mets came within one game of a Worlds Championship. Walkers pitching staffs would remain at the top of the league the next few seasons, posting the best ERA in 1976 (2.94) as well as most strikeouts that year & in 1975 as Tom Seaver won his third Cy Young Award.

Walker stayed with the Mets through the bad years of the late seventies, seeing his pitcher Craig Swan lead the league in ERA in 1978 & see Jerry Koosman finally win 20 games in 1976.

In 1981 when manager Joe Torre was fired, Walker left too, following Torre to Atlanta and coached the Braves staff.

There he helped guide a young staff to a 1982 NL Western title. Walker remained with the Braves through the 1984 season, and then served as a scout with the St. Louis Cardinals, until his passing in 1992.

He passed away from lung cancer at the age of 66 in North Carolina. Walker was involved with baseball for just under 50 years.

Mid Nineties Italian / American Mets Pitcher Turned Investment V.P.: Frank Seminara (1994)

Frank Peter Seminara was born on May 16, 1967 in Brooklyn, New York. The local boy attended Columbia University, learning finances & becoming the star pitcher for their baseball team. He was the last MLB pitcher to be drafted out of Columbia University where he received a B.A. in history.

In 1988 he was signed in the 12th round by the local A.L. New York club. The six foot two right handed pitcher, was eventually drafted away by the San Diego Padres (Rule V) in 1990.

He went 16-8 at A ball Prince William, earning the Carolina Leagues Pitcher of the Year Award that same year. The next season he was 15-10 at AA Wichita, making the Padres big league staff by 1992.

He went 9-4 that season in a solid rookie debut, posting a 3.68 ERA striking out 61 batters in 100 innings as the Padres number five starter. The following season he dropped to 3-3 and was demoted to the Padre’s bull pen as a reliever, making just 17 appearances on the year.

In December of 1993 he was traded to the New York Mets in a deal involving of a bunch of minor leaguers. He had gone 1-1 against the Mets the previous two seasons, now he was at home in New York, pitching at Shea Stadium.

He made his Mets debut on April 30th against the Los Angeles Dodgers, entering the game in the 8th inning earning no decision. Seminara would pitch in ten games for the ’94 Mets, going 0-2 allowing 12 runs in 17 innings, posting a 5.82 ERA.

On May 9th in Montreal he blew a 4-1 lead, allowing a two run HR to Larry Walker & a sac fly to Moises Alou. The Mets went on to win it on a 9th inning David Segui HR.

On May 26th he earned a loss in Pittsburgh against the Pirates & then another in Cincinnati to the Reds on June 5th. He was demoted back to the minors that week, getting released at the end of the season. From there he signed on with the Baltimore Orioles the next year but never pitched in the majors again.


In his brief three year career he pitched in 47 games going 12-9 with a 4.12 ERA, striking out 90 batters in 163 innings pitched.

Retirement: Since his baseball career he worked at Morgan Stanley & Salomon Smith Barney investment companies. Today Frank is a Senior VP of investments at USB bank on Avenue of the America’s in Manhattan. The Seminara group has been named to the Barons 1000th in March 2011.

Early Eighties Mets Second Round Draft Pick: Floyd Youmans (1982-1984)

Floyd Everett Youmans was born on May 11, 1964 in Florida. The right handed pitcher was a child hood friend of Dwight Gooden in Tampa. The two pitchers went to the same high school & were teammates on the baseball team.

In 1982 he was the New York Mets second round pick, behind Dwight Gooden and his future looked bright. He did well enough at A ball Columbia winning 12 games to get the promotion to AA in 1984. He then bounced back & forth from A to AA before getting traded to the Montreal Expos along with Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald and Herm Winningham in the Gary Carter deal.

Youmans went 20-8 in various levels of the Expos system and got called up in the middle of the season. He went 4-3 with a good 2.45 ERA (best on the staff) in 77 innings & 14 games for Montreal. In 1986 he threw two one hitters & was third in the league with 202 strikeouts, posting another good ERA (3.53). He had control issues which led to leading the league in walks (118) and a 13-12 record.

By 1987 it all fell apart as Youmans checked himself into rehab, he admitted to using cocaine & eventually alcohol. He was suspended sixty days for failing to comply with his drug-testing program & did not return to the majors that season. In December he was traded to the Phillies for Kevin Gross, by August he needed Arthroscopic shoulder surgery and his career was done.

Retirement: After five seasons he was 30-34 with a 3.74 career ERA, 424 strike outs in 539 innings pitched. He attempted comebacks; first during the 1993 Players Strike as a replacement player, & then in Canada but nothing came of either attempt. In 2008 & 2009, Youmans was the pitching coach for the Joliet Jackhammers of the Northern League.