Original 1962 Mets Second Baseman: Charlie Neal (1962-1963)
Charles Leonard Neal was born on January 30, 1931 in Longview Texas. Neal began in the Negro Leagues with the Atlanta Black Crackers. He was signed as an infielder by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950. It took him six years to crack the big league Dodgers squad with such a talented infield of Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson & Jim Gilliam. In his minor league years he hit over .300 three times & over .270 all but once.
He debuted in Brooklyn in 1956, batting .287 in 136 at bats with two HRs five doubles eleven stolen bases (9th in the NL) & 14 RBIs. He got to play in his first World Series going 0-4 as a pinch hitter. In 1957 he took over as the Dodger short stop when Pee Wee Reese moved over to third base. Neal batted .270 with 12 HRs 13 doubles 11 stolen bases & 62 RBIs.
In 1958 at the Dodgers moved west, Neal moved over to play second base. Long time second baseman Jim Gilliam moved to play outfield & Don Zimmer took over at short. Neal posted a .976 fielding % (5th in the NL) making 343 assists (5th in the NL) &with 334 out outs (3rd in the NL) making 17 errors (3rd most in the NL). At bat he had his most productive year in HRs with a career high 22, nine doubles six triples 61 walks 65 RBIs a .341 on base % & a .254 average.
In the 1959 Dodgers Championship season, he led the league in triples (11) & sacrifice hits (21). That season he hit 19 HRs, scored 103 runs (6th in the league) and had career highs with 83 RBIs, 30 doubles (9th in the NL) 60 extra base hits & 17 stolen bases (7th in the NL) , earning him 20% of the MVP voting. Neal led the NL second baseman in fielding (.989) double plays (110) & put outs (386) which won him a gold glove.
Post Season: In Game #2 of the 1959 World Series against the Chicago White Sox, he hit a pair of HRs off Bob Shaw driving in three runs at Comiskey Park, leading the Dodgers to a 4-3 win. In Game #2 he drove in Maury Wills in the bottom of the 8th inning with an insurance run in the Dodger 3-1 win. Overall he had a big series, hitting .370 (10-27) second only to Gil Hodges with players who had more than four at bats. He hit two HRs driving in six runs, with two doubles and four runs scored in the Series.
On April 28th at the Polo Grounds he hit two HRs against the Philadelphia Phillies helping the Mets to their second win an 8-6 victory against ten losses. In the month of April Neal hit three HRs drove in nine runs & batted .310 leading the team as one of their top hitters.
On May 20th he hit the first of three Mets HRs in the top of the 7th inning against the Milwaukee Braves. In mid June he drove in runs in five of seven games. In the first week of August had six RBIs& in the month drove in 17 runs with nine multi hit games.
In September he would hit safely in ten of eleven games he played in. Neal would play in 136 games in 1962, batting .260 with 11 HRs, 58 RBIs and a team leading 9 triples & 9 sacrifice hits. He primarily played second for the Mets, but also had time at third & short. By far he was their best defensive infielder posting a .970 fielding %. In 1963 he struggled at the start not getting to the .200 mark until May.
He hit his first HR that month then two more in June, but after 72 games he was batting .225 with just 18 RBIs. The Mets traded him to the Cincinnati Reds along with Sammy Taylor for catcher Jesse Gonder. Neal finished out his career that year, posting the leagues fourth best fielding % as a third baseman (.955) batting just .211.
In his eight season career he hit .259 with 858 hits 87 HRs 113 doubles 461 runs scored 38 triples 48 stolen bases a .329 on base % & 391 RBIs
Passing: In 1996 Neal passed away from heart failure in Dallas, Texas at age 65.
In his eight season career he hit .259 with 858 hits 87 HRs 113 doubles 461 runs scored 38 triples 48 stolen bases a .329 on base % & 391 RBIs 
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