Remembering Mets History (1986) Mets Release George Foster

August 6, 1986: After hearing boo's most of the season by the Shea Stadium fans, on this night, the Mets issued a statement that George Foster had been released.

In his last twelve games, Foster was 2-28 with one RBI & ten strike outs. On the season he was batting .227 with 13 HRs & 38 RBIs in 72 games.

Foster had lost the respect of his teammates during the July 22nd brawl in Cincinnati in which he was the only player not to leave the dugout in the bench clearing incident. He later commented it would have set a bad example for kids.

Shortly before that incident, Mets manager Davey Johnson made the decision that Kevin Mitchell would take over as the main left fielder replacing Foster. 

At this point of the season the Mets were thirty five games above .500 with a 16.5 game lead in first place. They were in Chicago for a double header at Wrigley Field. 

The previous day, George Foster had allegedly made some controversial racial statements to the Gannet Westchester-Rockland paper.

Quotes- George Foster: "I'm not saying it's a racial thing but it seems to be the case in sports these days. When a club can replace a George Foster or Mookie Wilson with a more popular white player. I think the Mets would rather promote a Gary Carter or Keith Hernandez to the fans so parents who want to can point to tem as role models for their children, rather than a Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden or George Foster."

Foster called a team meeting the next day telling his teammates his quotes were taken out of context.

Quotes- George Foster: "I never said race had anything to do with who plays. I even prefaced
my remarks by saying I didn't want it to be racial. How could it be construed as such when Kevin Mitchell isn't white?"

Mets manager Davey Johnson said he would no longer feel comfortable with Foster playing for the team.

Quotes- Davey Johnson: "Normally I wouldn't comment on something a player is quoted as saying but this is an affront to me. He was alluding to my integrity as a baseball manager. I can not have anybody on the club who questions my motives." 'In the four years he's been here he's been streaky. This year with the emergence of Kevin Mitchell, I couldn't afford the luxury of waiting for George. My job is to put the best nine players out there."

Veteran Lee Mazzilli who had recently been acquired from the Pirates was to be called up from AAA Tidewater to fill the roster spot.

Darryl Strawberry commented that he was disappointed the way the organization handled the situation & that who knows maybe he would be next. Mookie Wilson stated that he thought Foster's comments were taken out of text.

Foster would soon get picked up by the Chicago White Sox where he would hit .216 with one HR in 15 games. At the end of the season he officially retired at age 37.

Foster's History: In the 1970's with the Reds, George had been one of the games biggest sluggers, leading the NL in RBIS three straight years (1976-1978) & twice in HRs (1977-1978). In his time with the Big Red Machine, he won an MVP Award, was runner up the next year, won three pennants & two World's Championships. Foster did not like the nightlife, he did not drink or smoke, he had problems getting along with both hid Reds & later his Mets teammates as well. 

After the 1981 season & after problems in Cincinnati, he was let go to free agency getting signed by the Mets in one of the biggest contracts in baseball at the time. In his defense he had no protection in a weak line up & his stats drastically fell off. 

In 1983 he hit 28 HRs with 90 RBIs but only batted .241. As the Mets got better & contended in 1984, Foster 24 HRs with 86 RBIs while hitting .269. 

In 1985 he hit 21 HRs with 77 RBIs batting .263. By 1986 with a powerful Mets line up & poor play, Foster didn't fit in anymore. 

In the two brawls mentioned above, being the last out of the dugout then not getting out of the dug out at all, didn't help. The newspaper comments were the last straw. 

In 2008, Foster, the Mets & the fans forgot all about the drama as he was on hand for the closing ceremonies at Shea Stadium.

Foster ended his career with 348 HRs & 1239 RBIs with an .818 OPS & .274 batting average.