Former 1986 Met of the Day: Keith Hernandez (1984-1990)

Keith was born October 20, 1953, in San Francisco, California. Mex was drafted in 1971 by the Cardinals way down in the 42nd round, due to the fact he sat out his senior year because of problems with his coach. He came up to the big leagues for a cup of coffee in 1974, and played in the 25 inning marathon at Shea Stadium against the Mets. By 1976 he was the Cardinals every day first baseman, batting .289 and maturing into the hitter he would become. In 1977 he hit over .290, driving in & scoring over 90 runs, with 41 doubles. He took a nosedive in 1978 hitting just .255.

Defensively he became one of the league’s best first baseman, winning his first of eleven consecutive Gold Glove awards. In 1979 he won the NL MVP Award (along with Willie Stargell) leading the league in batting (.344) doubles (48) and runs scored (116). He also made his first All Star appearance while driving in a career high 104 runs. He followed up in 1980 by falling three points short of another batting title, losing out to none other than Bill Buckner. He hit .300 again in the strike shortened 1981 season and came in just short at .299 in 1982. That season he drove in 94 runs as the Cardinals won the World Series, defeating the Brewers in seven games.

Post Season: In the 1982 NLCS Keith hit .333 against Atlanta. In the World Series he had seven hits, four walks, two doubles and eight RBIs against the Brewers including a Game #6 HR. In Game #7 he came to bat in the 6th with the bases loaded down 3-1, and drove a base hit to right centerfield tying the game.

In St. Louis he did not get along with manager Whitey Herzog, or upper management. Herzog thought Hernandez was too carefree and in June 1983 he was traded to the last place Mets for Neil Allen & Rick Ownbey. At first it was a tough transition for Keith to go from a World champion to last place, he said it was like going to Siberia. The trade turned out to be one of the best in Mets history.

In New York, Keith set out to prove the Cardinals wrong and he helped heat up the rivalry. He became one of the most intense players in the game, and most influential of all the 1980’s Mets. He became one of the most clutch hitters in Mets history, working pitchers to go deep into the count until he got the pitch he wanted.

In his first four seasons in New York he hit over .300 and was amongst the league’s best in hits, runs scored & walks. He was one of the best defensive first baseman in the eighties winning six more gold gloves. His throwing arm was so accurate he was used as a cutoff man more than the second baseman. He was one of the toughest first baseman to bunt against, and many teams didn’t even bother. He used to take pickoff throws while squatting in foul territory so that he could make tags to his right more easily. Eventually the league made that style illegal. His quick instincts allowed him to play further off first base which made his second baseman play more to their right, filling up holes.In 1984, he made the All Star team hitting .311 with 31 doubles, 97 walks a .409 on base percentage, 94 RBIs, & 15 HRs. In 1985 he set a record with 24 game winning RBIs, an official stat at the time. and hit .309, with 10 HRs, 34 doubles and 91 RBIs but the Mets lost out to his rival Cardinals in September. That season he was involved in controversy over the wide spread use of cocaine in baseball. He admitted to using in his days with the Cardinals at the trials.

In 1986 Keith and the Mets rolled over the Cardinals and anyone else in their way. He hit .310 with a .413 on base percent and led the league with 97 walks.

Post Season: In the 1986 NLCS he had two hits with two walks & two RBIs off Nolan Ryan in Game #2, evening the Series. He got two more hits in Game #3, before getting shut down by Mike Scott in Game #4. Hernandez was very vocal about accusing Scott of scuffing up the baseballs while on the mound. In the final Game #6 Hernandez doubled in the 9th inning driving in Mookie Wilson to bring the Mets within a run. He then scored the tying run after two walks & a Ray Knight sac fly. 

With the Mets ahead -4, the Astros made a comeback of their own scoring two more runs in the bottom of the 16th. Keith famously told Jesse Orosco if he threw another curve ball they'd fight. Orosco listened got the final out & the Mets advanced to the World Series. Overall he batted .269 with 7 hits including a double, a triple, three walks & 3 RBIs.

In the World Series he went 6 for 26 (.231) with 4 walks & 4 RBIs. In the first two games he only got one hit, then had a two hits & walk in the Mets 7-1 win in Game #3.

In Game #6 Hernandez made the second out of the 10th inning, it seemed it was all over. He went into the club house because he didn’t want to see the Red sox celebrate on Sheas turf. He sat down with a beer and the Mets rallied, he was coming back to the dugout and realized “there are hits in that chair” and went back to that seat and watched the miraculous come back on T.V.

He came to bat in the 6th Inning of Game #7 with the bases loaded and the Mets down 3-0. Keith singled to center scoring Lee Mazzili & Mookie Wilson, bringing the Shea crowd to life. In the 7th inning he scored Rafael Santana on a sac fly as well.  

The following season, he was named the first captain in Mets history and made his fifth All Star appearance. He hit a career 18 HRs and drove in 88 runs. It was the 1st time he didn’t hit .300 since coming to New York, posting a .290 average. In 1988 he began to suffer from back problems that would end his career. He was limited to 95 games and hit only .276 as the Mets again won the East, but lost the Playoffs to the Dodgers.

Post Season: Keith went 7-26 with six walks in the NLCS, hitting a HR with 5 RBIs. He posted a .406 on base percentage.

By 1989 Hernandez was winding down because of the bad back. He couldn’t play the field like he use to and his hitting fell off to a low .233 in 75 games. It was sad for Met fans as he was released that fall. He signed with Cleveland but back injuries caused him to only play 43 games and bat .200.

He retired at the end of the season with a .296 lifetime batting average. After 17 seasons he played in 2088 games, with 2182 hits (180th all time) 426 doubles (126th all time) 162 HRs, 1071 RBIs (214th all time) 1070 walks (85th all time) 71 sac flies (127th all time) & a .384 on base percentage (142 all time). Keith finished with the 36th best fielding percentage of all time (.994%) his 1882 assists at first base are 3rd most of all time, his 17909 put outs are 20th all time for first basemen & his 2014 games at first are 20th all time.

Four of Keiths old teammates; Ron Darling, Bob Ojeda, David Cone and Roger McDowell all wore number 17 in his honor after they left the Mets.

Retirement: Hernandez has been a popular broadcaster for the Mets since 2001. He has written three books, "If at First" (a diary of the 1985 season) "Pure Baseball", and "Shea Goodbye" recounting the last season at Shea Stadium. In 1992 he guest starred as himself in the sitcom Seinfeld, and became a TV icon. He is also a spokesperson for the Just for Men hair-care line, along with former Knicks star Walt Frazier.

He currently lives with his second wife Kai in Jupiter Florida & Sag Harbor on Long Island. Rusty Staub gave Kai away at their Jupiter, Florida wedding. Keith was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame and was voted the Mets' all-time first baseman.

Keith was on hand for Mike Piazza Night, Ralph Kiner & Bob Murphy nights. As well as the 20th Anniversary celebration of the 1986 championship team & closing ceremonies of Shea Stadium.

Keith has been a longtime Mets broadcaster & now works on SNY with Gary Cohen & Ron Darling. He adds some color & laughter to the booth as well as critisism. He gets on players who don't paly up to his standards. He has done everything from fall asleep in the booth, to saying a female San Diego trainer shouldn't be in the dug out because she is female. He had to publicly apologize for that one. We love ya Kieth, especially on moustache day!!