Brooklyn Born- 1999 New York Mets Wild Card Champion Utility Player: Shawon Dunston (1999)

-
Shawon Donnell Dunston was born March 21, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, the same school as Danny Kaye, Shelly Winters, Riddick Bowe & Grandpa Al Lewis had all gone too.

Dunston was a slick fielding short stop with a strong throwing arm, getting drafted in the first round (the number one pick overall) for the Chicago Cubs in 1982. In the rookie league he batted .321 then moved up to A ball where he would bat .310 in the mid western league. He made the jump right through to AAA the next year & made his MLB debut in 1985.

He would spend eleven years in Chicago making two All Star teams, working as a double play partner with Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg. In his first full season he led the NL in errors at short (32) while also leading in assists (465) & put outs (320). Two seasons later he stole 30 bases for the first time in his career. He would steal a career high 32 in 1997 (9th in the league) & steal 20 or more bases five times overall.

He hit a career high 17 HRs twice (1986 & 1990) while driving in 60 or more runs four times. His batting average seemed to get better as his career moved ahead, in 1995 his last year in Chicago (the first time around) he batted .296 playing in 127 games.

In 1996 he signed with the San Francisco Giants as a free agent & batted .300 for the first time in his career playing a full season. He had batted .315 in an injury ridden 1992 season (19 games). The next year he signed back with the Cubs & was traded to the Pirates where he once again hit .300 overall on the season.

Over the next two years he would pack his bags quite often, playing for Cleveland, San Francisco, St. Louis & then the New York Mets. At this point in his career he had primarily become an outfielder, leaving the short stop position. He arrived in New York on July 31st, 1999 going to the Cardinals in exchange for Craig Paquette.

He was happy to be playing in his hometown, for the team he had rooted for while growing up in Brooklyn. He debuted the next day entering the game in the 3rd inning in Milwaukee. He got two hits & an RBI,  in the Mets 7-2 win over the Brewers. 

 The next day he made his first start & had three hits with another RBI in the Mets 10-3 victory. Dunston hit well with the Mets playing in 22 games that August, having six multiple hit games. He raised his average to .317 at the end of the month. 

 On August 30th, Dunston entered the game in the 8th inning as a pinch hitter, getting a base hit to bring home a run. The next inning he doubled scoring Benny Agbayani & Edgardo Alfonzo in the Mets 17-1 win over the Astros in Houston.  On September 12th he had another multi RBI game, driving in three runs in a 10-3 win in Los Angeles. He played in 42 games for the 1999 Wild Card winning Mets, batting .344 with six doubles 16 RBIs 4 stolen bases & 12 runs scored.

Post Season: In the 1999 NLDS against the Arizona Diamond Backs, he got the start in centerfield in Game #1 going 1-3 being pulled for a pinch hitter late in the game. Overall he went hitless in the next three games as a pinch hitter. In Game #1 of the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves, he reached on an error as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning scoring a run on Todd Pratt’s base hit off John Rocker.

He went hitless as a pinch hitter in the next two games & then appeared in the marathon Game #5 at Shea Stadium. In the bottom of the 15th inning he lead off with a walk & scored the tying run on Todd Pratts base hit, setting the stage for Robin Ventura’s grand slam single. Overall in the post season he was 2-13 with a stolen base & a run scored.

In the 2000 season he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals batting .250 & appearing in his second straight post season. In the NLCS he faced off against his old Mets team mates, going 2-6 with a double & a run scored. Dunston played out his last two season with the San Francisco Giants retiring in 2002.

In his 18 year career he batted .296 with 1597 hits 292 doubles 62 triples 150 HRs 668 RBIs 212 stolen bases & a .296 on base %. 
In 1363 games at short stop he posted a .967 fielding % making 205 errors in 6223 chances. He also played 242 games in the outfield, 25 games at second, 11 games at third & 16 games at first,

 Retirement: Dunston works as a special assistant for the San Francisco Giants & resides in Freemont California.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former Mets Broadcaster: Fran Healy ( 1984-2005)

-
Image
Francis Xavier Healy was born on September 6, 1946 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The big six foot five catcher, attended American International University at Springfield. In 1964 he was signed by the Cleveland Indians, spending five years in their minors leagues. In 1968 he was drafted as the 56th pick in the expansion draft, chosen by the Kansas City Royals. He would make his MLB debut playing six games there in 1969 & spending the next year in the minors. In October of 1970, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Bob Garibaldi. Healy played in 47 games for the 1971 Western Division Champion Giants, as the backup catcher to Dick Dietz. He hit .280 with two HRs & 11 RBIs. He did not play in the NLCS & after hitting just .152 the next year in 45 games, he was traded back to Kansas City. He became the Royals main catcher in 1973 playing solid behind the plate, throwing out 44% of would be base stealers. That year he had the distinction of catching Steve Busb
Read more

Remembering Mets History: (1977) The Felix Millan / Ed Ott Brawl In Pittsburgh

-
Image
Friday August 12th, 1977: Joe Torre's last place Mets (47-66) traveled to Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh for a double header with Chuck Tanner's second place Pirates (66-49). The bad times were underway for the late seventies Mets and tonight marked the end of another key player's career from the 1973 NL Champion team. In the first game of a double header, Jerry Koosman (8-13) took a 3-1 loss to Jim Rooker (10-6) & the Pirates. Both pitchers went the distance, with Koosman giving up three runs on six hits & Rooker giving up the lone Met run on nine hits. In the night cap Mets started Bob Myrick against Pittsburgh's  Bruce Kison.  In the 2nd inning Myrick himself added an RBI base hit making it 1-0 Mets. Lee Mazzilli added a two run HR in the 4th putting the Mets up 3-2. The Mets were battling, but the Pirates tied it up at 3-3 in the sixth inning.  Met Manager; Joe Torre made a double switch bringing in Felix Millan to play second base, as Do
Read more

The 1970's Oakland A's Ball Girls- (MLB's First)

-
Image
In the days of the early seventies the Oakland A's won three straight Championships & changed the face of baseball forever.  The team's controversial owner was known to be cheap in paying his star players & known to meddle in the teams on field affairs. He drove managers crazy & even had Dick Williams resign after winning his second straight World Series. But Finley also revolutionized baseball in many other ways. He was instrumental in getting the designated hitter in the American League & have the World Series played at night, so fans could attend after work. He gave his players fancy names like Catfish, Blue Moon & True Blue.  When his star Reggie Jackson refused to shave his beard, he encouraged the whole team to grow facial hair by paying them $200 each.  The A's team even grew their hair long, a sign of the times. But before that baseball players had not had facial or long hair since the 1800's.  He introduced bright colored yello
Read more

Remembering Bobby Ojeda's Tragic Boating Accident (1993)

-
Image
Steve Olin, Tim Crews & Bob Ojeda March 22 nd 1993: was an off day from Spring Training, for three Cleveland Indians pitchers; Former Mets 1986 World Champion pitcher; Bobby Ojeda, Tim Crews & Steve Olin. The three friends, took out an 18-foot open-air bass boat & went out fishing & gator hunting in the darkness of the evening on Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tragedy struck, when the boat rammed into a private dock that jutted out some 250 feet into the still waters. Two other Cleveland Indians personnel had arrived to meet the fishing party just as the horror took place. They heard Bob Ojeda saying they needed help. The two men jumped into the water and called out for someone to call 911. 27 year old pitcher; Steve Olin was killed instantly. 31 year old pitcher; Tim Crews was alive but was struggling to breathe suffering from massive head wounds. Bobby Ojeda was in & out of shock, he was suffering from head lacerations but was coherent. The
Read more

Remembering Vixen Founder / Guitarist; Jan Kuehnemund (1961-2013)

-
Image
centerfieldmaz was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Jan Kuehnemund, the founding member of the all female metal band Vixen. Jan was a fantastic guitarist, song writer & women pioneer in Heavy Metal. I am a huge fan of hard rock all girl bands & Vixen were one my long time favorites. Janice Lynn Kuehnemund was born November 18th, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota. The female guitarist formed one of the first all female Metal bands in Minnesota with singer Janet Gardner while in high school in 1980. By 1985 they moved the band to Los Angles California, to be part of the Heavy Metal scene. In 1987 the classic Vixen line up of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar) Janet Gardner (vocals/ guitar) Share Pederson (bass) & Roxy Petrucci (drums) formed & released their debut album the following year. Vixen 1988 In a world of all male Heavy Metal bands during its heyday, Vixen were groundbreaking in being an all female metal band. The Runaways, with Joan Jett & Lita Ford
Read more