Keith Hernandez (The Mets Years 1983-1985)

Fresh off the St. Louis Cardinals 1982 Championship season, Keith Hernandez continued to have disagreements with St. Louis management. Hernandez & his already stormy relationship with Manager Whitey Herzog got even worse.

Herzog, didn't like him, he felt Hernandez was a chatterbox, he also felt he was a bad influence on the teams younger players. There were rumors of drug use, which Hernanez conformed he did once play a game under the influence of cocaine. Cocaine was everywhere in MLB in the late seventies / early eighties. Hernandez later testified that he believed 40% of players were using at that time.

Herzog also felt that Hernandez had other bad habits that were affecting his attitude & rubbing off on the team, especially it's young core players. In those pre Mets days, he was looked at as having a rather casual attitude toward the game with a lack of hustle.

Finally on the June 15th, 1983, Trade deadline, Keith Hernandez was traded to the New York Mets in exchange for Neil Allen & Rick Ownbey. It was a major acquisition for the Mets who had been toiling in last place for the past six years. It was the start of what turned the franchise around for the better for the rest of the decade.

Mets Career: At first Keith was unhappy about being traded from the reigning World Champions to the last place Mets, who's organization had been in shambles. He said it was like being traded to baseball Siberia. Tom Seaver approached him in the clubhouse & said welcome to the Stems, Mets spelled backwards.

On top of everything else his first marriage was ending in divorce. An emotional guy who reacts on impulse, he was depressed & very unhappy.

But he was soon convinced by Mets GM Frank Cashen, that there was a new vibe coming in the air at Shea Stadium, with lots of good young players in the minor leagues, ready to come up. Darryl Strawberry was that years NL Rookie of the Year, Ron Darling had made his debut & Dwight Gooden was waiting in the wings. Keith was still skeptical, but he bought into it & then his father also helped make his decision to stary.

Hernandez was soon rejuvenated with motivation, he had to prove the Cardinals & Herzog wrong. He needed to perform for his father & most importantly for himself.  He set out to be the best he could be, taking it to the highest level in the largest media market in the country. It was the start of his second career, even more legendary than the first years of his MLB life. The St. Louis All Star was now to become an All Star, Superstar in New York.

He was determined to prove the Cardinals wrong for trading him & this led to an even higher level of play. This also help fuel what became an intense rivalry between the Mets & Cards through the mid to late eighties.

At first base with his a glove & a ferocious style of playing the position, he became the best defensive first baseman of his time & possibly the best the position has ever seen. He would win eleven Gold Gloves in his career, six straight with the New York Mets. He would lead the league in double plays turned six times, assists five times, put outs four times, fielding twice & games played once.

He would anchor the Mets infield, positioning the fielders & coach his pitchers how to pitch to a hitter as well. He was animated & very intense on the field. He used to take pick off throws squatting in foul territory, as to make an easier tag to his right side. But the league famously stand in front of base runners, to block their view of the batter from them. Defensively, he would also play far off the bag, due to his great range closing up the infield gap to hitters.

His quickness allowed him to also stop balls hit down the line. He would often be used as a cutoff man from throws from the outfield as well, since he had such a strong accurate throwing arm. He was certainly the most aggressive first baseman, as he would run down the line when he thought a player was going to attempt to bunt and almost be in the batter's face. His reputation alone, discouraged many an opponent from attempting a sacrifice bunt.

Opponents Quotes: Pete Rose: While managing the Reds compared bunting against Hernandez to "driving the lane against Bill Russell". 

Jim Frey, the Chicago Cubs manager, said he wouldn't ask most pitchers to bunt against the Mets. "You're just asking for a force out at second, and now you've got your pitcher running the bases".

Hal Lanier: The Astros manager said the combination of Hernandez at first & any one of three Mets pitchers, Ron Darling, Roger McDowell or Jesse Orosco- made bunting against the Mets "near impossible."

The Met fans quickly fell in love with Keith & his intense style of play. Besides being a great defensive first baseman & one of the best hitters the franchise has ever had, he will always be remembered for his leadership. On the field or in the club house, he was a team leader & helped turn the Mets around from losers to a Championship caliber team in the mid-eighties. 

#17: When he arrived with the Mets he could not use uniform #37 that had been retired by the organization in honor of Casey Stengel. He insisted the unform number have a "seven" in it, in honor of Mickey Mantle, so he chose #17.

1983: Keith Hernandez made his Mets debut on June 17th, 1983 batting cleanup & playing first base in 9-7 loss to the Expos at Montreal. The losing pitcher was Tom Seaver, who had returned to New York in 1983 for one final Mets season after being left unprotected. That night Hernandez got two hits in four at bats.

On June 20th, he hit his first Mets career HR, a two run shot off John Stuper & his former Cardinal teammates, leading the team in a 6-4 win. On July 14th, he hit his fourth Mets HR, a three run shot helping in a 7-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds. In a two-week period in early July, he drove in eight runs over a nine-game span.

On July 22nd, the Mets entered the top of the 9th inning, down 2-1 to the Reds in a game at Riverfront Stadium. Hernandez hit a solo HR off Be Hayes to tie the game. Then two batters later, Daryl Strawberry hit a HR which turned out to be the games winning run.

Three days later, on July 25th, the Mets were down 4-1 to the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium. Hernandez helped in a four-run rally with an RBI base hit scoring Junior Ortiz, he then crossed the plate with the winning run-on George Foster's walk off base single. Keith closed out the month with RBIs in three straight games & closed out August driving in runs in three four games.

In September, he began the month with a two run HR in a 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres. On September 9th, he broke a 3-3 tie in Montreal with an RBI base hit driving in Mookie Wilson. The Mets won the game giving Tom Seaver his next to last win as a New York Met, Hernandez would not play in the game of Seaver's final Mets win on October 1st.

Hernandez finished out his first Mets season, playing in 95 games with them, leading the team in batting (.306) & on base % (.424%) with 9 HRs 8 doubles 64 walks & 37 RBIs. Overall, in 1983 in 150 games, with St. Louis & New York Hernandez batted .297 with 12 HRs 23 doubles 63 RBIs & a .396 on base %.

At first base he won his sixth straight Gold Glove Award & showed New York how to play first base. He led the league in put outs & double plays turned, coming in second in assists. 

Although the Mets finished sixth (68-94) & had gone through two managers; George Bamberger & Frank Howard, there were some positive signs.

First of all Hernandez, as well as the 1983 Rookie of the Year; Daryl Strawberry (26 HRs 74 RBIs), Mookie Wilson & his 54 team record stolen bases were all bright signs. 

The next season a young pitching staff would take over from the veterans, including 19-year-old phenom Dwight Gooden. With Davey Johnson at the helm as manager, the Mets would become contenders. 

1984: The season began with some excitement as Hernandez, was now going to play in his first full season with New York. He & some of the new young players brought a positive vibe to Shea.

After a four hit game on April 18th, he got hot bringing his average up to .300 by May 1st, That night he hit his first HR of the year, coming in an 8-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. Keith drove in runs in the next five games, which included a 2-0 Ron Darling shut out over the Houston Astros at Shea on May 4th. A week later he drove in runs in four more straight games, which included a stretch of seven of nine games with at least one RBI.

By June he was again batting .300 & would remain at that level the rest of the season. On June 5th, he drove in two runs, in Walt Terrell's complete game 3-0 shut out over the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

In the week of June 11th- June 15th, Keith had three multiple RBI games, including back-to-back shut outs from Ron Darling & Walt Terrell over his old St. Louis Cardinals team. In the first game Keith had a two run double & then a two run HR the next night. The Mets took three of four from the Cards.

Hernandez then followed up, by driving in runs in four straight games. On June 25th, he hit a three run HR & had three hits in a 10-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Shea Stadium.

By July the Mets found themselves in the middle of a pennant race, the crowds were once again filling up Shea Stadium & it was an exciting place to be. Hernandez drove in runs in ten of the first 15 games of the month as the Mets won 12 of 13 games including a stretch of eight straight.

On July 3rd, his two run HR in the bottom of the 6th inning off the Astro's Nolan Ryan, to put the Mets ahead in what was the games winning runs. After back-to-back multi RBI games, he had a three hit / three RBI day in Atlanta, in a 7-0 Mets win on June 14th.

On July 24th, he had a big three hit day, at Shea Stadium that included four RBI's in a 9-8 win over his old Cardinal teammates. In the bottom of the 9th inning, his base hit off Neil Allen (the player whom he was traded for) brought in Mookie Wilson with the games walk off winning run. 

In early August, the Mets were swept by the first place Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago in a big series. Keith had a three RBI day in an 8-6 loss in the midst of the series.

Keith & Rodney Dangerfield

On August 24th, he hit a two run HR & drove in three runs, but the Mets were beaten 6-5 by the San Francisco Giants. Two days later, on August 26th, he hit a two run HR & drove in two other runs, helping the Mets defeat the Giants 11-6 at Shea. In that game he had two hits & drew five walks. 

Three days later when the L.A. Dodgers came to town, Keith hit a walk off game winning double, off former Met Pat Zachry to score Danny Heep, who had reached on a pinch-hit base hit.

In September, the Mets entered month, five games in back of the Cubs, from September 7th to the 14th, Keith drove in runs in five of the seven games. Four of the games came against the Cardinals & Cubs. The Mets took two of three from Chicago at Shea, including a one hit shut out by Doc Gooden. In that game, Keith went 1-5 with an RBI in the 10-0 win, which centerfieldmaz attended.   

Hernandez had entered the month with a twelve-game hit streak & then hit safely in six straight, hitting in 19 of 21 games overall.

The Mets won 90 games, but fell short of catching the NL Eastern Champion Cubs finishing up second, six games out. It was the most games the team had won since the Miracle year of 1969 & their best finish since the 1973 NL Pennant season.

Keith Hernandez had a spectacular year, coming in second in the MVP Voting, winning his first of five straight Gold Glove Awards with the Mets. He finished the year batting .311 (7th best in the NL) he had 97 walks (second in the NL) hit 15 HRs with 31 doubles (7th in the NL) & 94 RBIs (8th in the NL) while posting the league's best on base % at .409%.

That year he set a record with 24 game winning RBIs, which was an official record at that time. 

Trivia: He also holds the all-time record of 129 game winning RBIs in his career. 

 At first base he was first in assists & double plays turned posting a .994% (3rd best in the NL).

1985: Keith Hernandez drove in the first run of the 1985 season, with an opening Day RBI single off the Cards; Joaquin Andujar. Hernandez had three hits & drove in two runs, but the Cards tied the game at 5-5. Then the newest Mets superstar: Gary Carter blasted a walk off HR, in his Mets debut for the 6-5 victory. 

Hernandez had three more hits the next day. 

On April 13th, his 6th inning sac fly off Tom Browning tied up a game with the Reds. The Mets won it on Darryl Strawberry's walk off HR off John Franco.

He then went on an RBI tear driving in runs in seven straight games. On April 16th, his 9th inning sac fly scored Mookie Wilson with the game winning run off the Pirates; John Candelaria in a 2-1 win at Pittsburgh. The next game, he drove in a run & then was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded scoring another run & getting credited with an RBI.

Then on April 19th, his 9th inning RBI single at Philadelphia, helped Doc Gooden to a 1-0 win over Steve Carlton & the Phillies. He closed out a strong April (batting .309) with a four-walk day in a 5-4 win over the Pirates at Shea Stadium.

He began May by hitting three HRs in the first nine games. The first came n Cincinatti in a 9-4 Mets win. Next on May 8th, he hit a two run shot off Atlanta's Len Barker in a 4-0 Ed Lynch win. Keith also drew three walks that game.

 A Little Help From Dad: A rare batting slump had him enter July batting just .251. He was down in the dumps & then reached out to his father who was such a strong influence in his life. His father, a minor league first baseman (1941-1949) had played ball with Stan Musial in the Navy during World War II. 

Keith credits his father with getting him out of the slump. While watching him on TV, he noticed he was not seeing the uniform numbers on his back as he was in full stride with his swing. 

This meant he was bailing out on inside pitches, trying to pull the ball & was more vulnerable to the outside pitches. Things got better and he began hitting well again throughout the summer.

In the six hour Fourth of July epic game in Atlanta, he went 4-10 with a HR & three runs batted in, in the Mets 16-13 nineteen inning affair. In that Atlanta series he had driven in five runs. 

The Mets went on a nine-game win streak, winning 15 of 17 games. As the Mets rolled into Cincinnati, Keith hit two HRs & drove in six runs in the three-game sweep. Hernandez hit safely in 25 of 27 games. 

He closed out the month driving in ten runs in a five-game span from July 24-the 29th & was back hitting over .290.

In a July 27th doubleheader sweep over the Astros, he drove in five runs in the two games collecting two hits with a pair of walks. On July 29th, Keith's two run double was enough to lead Rick Aguilera & the Mets to a 3-2 win over the Expos. 

On August 3rd, the Mets were down in the 9th inning, to the Cubs & closer Lee Smith in Chicago. With Wally Backman aboard, Hernandez doubled tying the game, in which the Mets went on to win 5-4.

On August 8th, Keith drove in three runs in a 14-7 romp over the Expos at Montreal. He then drove in another three runs as the Cubs came to Shea Stadium for a three-game sweep. On August 12th, Keith followed with another three RBI game in a 4-3 over the Phillies.

He began September by hitting HRs in back-to-back games at San Francisco & San Diego respectively. 

On September 12th, in a crucial series at Shea with the St. Louis Cardinals, Hernandez won the game with a walk off base hit off Ken Dayley scoring Mookie Wilson in the 7-6 win. The win kept the Mets in front of St. Louis by one game in the NL East Standings.

He closed out the year strong, hitting safely in all but one game from September 18th on, while driving in ten runs. On September 24th he had a three-hit game at Philadelphia & then added a four hit day three games later in a 8-7 loss at Pittsburgh. On October 3rd, he had a big five hit day driving in two of the Mets three runs in a 4-3 loss at St. Louis to the Cardinals.

The Mets had taken the first two games of the series to get within two games of the Cards in first place, the loss put them at three back with two games to play, eliminating them. The Mets split the final two games against the Montreal Expos & finished in second place three game out. That year the Mets had three players finish in the top ten in NL MVP balloting that season (Gooden 4th, Carter 6th and Hernandez 8th).

Hernandez finished 1985 batting .309 (6th best in the NL) with 10 HRs 34 doubles (5th in the NL) 91 RBIs (10th in the NL) & a .384 on base % (7th in the NL). 

He came in 8th in the MVP voting, won his second straight Mets Gold Glove award, leading the NL in fielding at .997% as well as in assists. His ten sac flies were second in the NL, as his 185 singles were 4th most in the league & his 263 times on base were third most.

Drama of The Pittsburgh Drug Trials: In September of 1985, Hernandez was called before a grand jury in Pittsburgh to testify in the in famous "Pittsburgh Drug Trails".  He was one of twenty-three players called to testify, including Willie Mays, Lee Mazzilli, Vida Blue, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Dale Berra & others. The players who testified were to be granted immunity for their testimony.

It was there where he publicly admitted to using cocaine back in his St. Louis Cardinals days, of the 1970's & early 1980's. It was here that it was also learned that while in St. Louis, much of the tension between Hernandez & former manager Whitey Herzog had a lot to do with his drug use.

 Eventually Hernandez had stopped using by 1982 & made a full recovery. Keith claimed that at least 40% of major leaguers were using. Although he would later backtrack, saying that that number could have been wrong. 

MLB suffered an embarrassing blow to the game, as players throughout the sport were exposed. It was the biggest scandal & the most penalties to be handed down since the 1919 Black Sox World Series scandal. 

Keith Greeting Former Manager Whitey Herzog
at St. Louis Cardinals Reunion

In the end seven men were convicted for distributing cocaine. 

Keith Hernandez & some other Players including Dale Berra, Dave Parker, Joaquin Andujar, Enos Cabell, Lonnie Smith & Jeffrey Leonard, were suspended for a year by MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth. But they would be allowed to play if 10% of their salary was donated to drug related community service. Of course, that's the way they went.