Cliff Floyd: 2006 N.L. Eastern Champion Mets Outfielder (2003-2006)

Cornelius Clifford Floyd was born on December 5, 1972, in Chicago Illinois. His father worked two jobs in order to have the family live in a safe suburb outside of Chicago.

Cliff was a star baseball player but passed up college baseball scholarships when the Montreal Expos made him their first-round pick (14th pick overall) in 1991. 

He hit 16 HRs with 98 RBIs & a .304 average in A ball in 1992 getting promoted the next year. He went from AA to AAA quickly hitting a total of 28 HRs & 119 RBIs, which earned him a September cup of coffee.

In 1994 he made the regular Expos squad as an outfielder.

 This was Felipe Alou's first place Expo team that may have very well won it all if not for the Baseball strike cancelling the rest of the season. 

In 100 games he batted .281 with 4 HRs 41 RBIs 19 doubles & a .332 on base %. He came in fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting. He suffered an injury limiting him to just 29 games in 1995, then slowly began to develop in Montreal through the 1996 season.

Floyd was then traded to the Florida Marlins just in time to win the World Series there in 1997. In 61 games he hit 6 HRs and drove in 19 runs batting .234 with 24 walks & a .354 on base %. I

1997 Post Season: In the World Series against the Cleveland Indians, he went 0-2. 

By the next season he was becoming a solid player hitting 22 HRs with 90 RBIs, but injuries kept nagging him. If Floyd was healthy, he may have been one of the games top players, in 1999 he was limited to just 69 games batting .303.

His next three years in Florida were big ones, he drove in over 90 runs each year hitting over 22 HRs as well. 

His biggest year was 2001 when he hit 31 HRs with 44 doubles (7th in the NL) 123 runs scored (6th in the NL) 103 RBIs batted .317 stole 18 bases & posted a .390 on base %. 

2001 All Star: At first, Floyd was not named to the 2001 All Star team. He publicly criticized the NL All Star manager Bobby Valentine’s decision not to name him to the squad. 

After an injury opened a position, Bobby Valentine indeed named him to the squad; it was Floyd's only All-Star appearance of his career.  He went 0-2 in the NL loss at Safeco Field.

In July of 2002 Floyd went from Florida with Wilton Guerrero & Claudio Vargas back to Montreal for Graeme Lloyd, Mike Mordecai, Carl Pavano & Justin Wayne.

Two weeks later he was dealt to the Boston Red Sox for Sun Woo Kim & a minor leaguer. Overall, on the season he hit 28 HRs with 79 RBIs combined and batting .288. 

Mets Career: For 2003 he was signed by the New York Mets as a free agent. Floyd would spend the next four seasons as the Mets left fielder, when he wasn’t injured or on the disabled list.

Cliff Floyd debuted on Opening Day 2003 going went 0-4 in the Mets Opening Day loss to the Chicago Cubs. The next day he hit a two run HR, leading the club to a 4-1 home victory. 

In May he hit eight HRs with 24 RBIs, including a grand slam in Milwaukee on May 4th, leading to a 5-3 Mets win. In June he hit HRs in back-to-back games during interleague play when the Mets hosted the Seattle Mariners.

Three days later he drove in five runs, with a HR & three hits in the Mets 8-2 victory against the Texas Rangers in Arlington.

 After a decent July he drove in a dozen runs in the first part of August, including a four RBI Day on August 16th against the Colorado Rockies.

Then on August 18th, his season was cut short as he went down with injury. 

In his first season in New York, Floyd hit .290 playing in 108 games. 

He tied for the team lead in HRs with Jeromy Burnitz (18) and also lead the club in walks (51). He also hit 25 doubles while driving in 68 runs with a .376 on base%.

2004: Floyd began the season with a HR in the third game of the year, helping in a 3-2 Mets win. But then he missed a month of action going down on the DL once again. 

He returned in mid-May, and in his second game back hit a grand slam off the Astros Roy Oswalt in Houston. 

Walk Off Hit: On May 18th he drove in the winning run with a walk off single against the St. Louis Cardinals & former Met; Jason Isringhausen. 

In the week of June 10th, Floyd drove in runs in five of six games, although the Mets lost all but one of them. 

On June 29th he led the team to a win bashing a pair of HRs in Cincinnati against the Reds in a 7-5 win. He had a good start to July hitting three HRs with nine RBIs in the first week of the month.

On July 3rd he hit a big three run HR at Shea Stadium, off Jose Contreras leading the Mets to a 10-9 Subway series win. 

He started out August with a bang as well, driving in seven runs in the first week of that month. 

On August 14th he hit a two run HR & drove in another run, leading the Mets to a 4-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

In September his only HR came against the Atlanta Braves in a 7-0 Mets win. 

His season ended early, as he got injured again on September 18th. 

He finished the 2004 season batting .260 with 18 HRs 26 doubles 63 RBIs (second most on the club) & a .352 on base %, (second to Mike Piazza .362%). That year the Mets finished fourth under Art Howe.

2005: the Mets were improving, with a new manager Willie Randolph & the off-season signings of Pedro Martinez & Carlos Beltran. Floyd would have his best season in New York that year as well. Mainly because he stayed healthy playing in 150 games. 

He led the club with a career high 34 HRs (8th in NL). He drove in with 98 runs (second to David Wright's 102) with 22 doubles, a .273 batting average, 12 stolen bases & a .358 on base %.

Defensively he was second among left fielders with a .993 fielding % making 15 assists. That year he received votes for the NL MVP Award. 

The Mets lost an opening Day heartbreaker in Cincinnati 7-6, but Floyd began the season with a three day, highlighted by a two run HR. 

On April 9th, he started a streak driving in runs in five straight games. He hit HRs in Atlanta & Philadelphia in that stretch. Floyd had an early season 20 game hitting streak, while driving in 20 runs in the month of April.

On April 25th, he hit a two run HR in a 5-4 win over the Braves at Shea Stadium. Two games later he hit another two run HR in a loss to the Braves. He would drive in runs in seven of nine games going into early May.

On May 13th he hit two HRs against the St. Louis Cardinals, driving in both runs of a Tom Glavine combined five hit shutout. On May 27th, he doubled off Brian Moehler driving in the only run of the game, in Pedro Martinez & Braden Looper's 1-0 win.

Floyd had a hot June hitting in all but four games, batting .323 with nine HRs five doubles & driving in 20 runs. On June 5th, he hit two HRs driving in four runs, off Al Levine, in the second game of a 12-1 double header sweep over the San Francisco Giants. On June 11th, he hit a huge three run walk off three run HR, against the L.A. Angels Brendan Donnelly for a 5-3 Met win. 

Big Subway Series: On June 24th, Floyd opened up the subway series matchup across town, with a HR off Mike Mussina in a 6-4 Mets win. The next day June 25th, he hit two HRs off Sean Henn, driving in four runs in the Mets 10-3 victory, as the Mets took the first two games of the subway Series.

From July 19th to July 25th, he drove in runs in six of seven games.

In August he drove in runs in nine of his first twelve games played, raising his average to .290. That month he had 27 hits with 16 RBIs. In September he hit HRs in back-to-back games against his old Marlins teammates. 

Grand Slam: On September 15th he hit a grand slam HR off the Nationals Livan Hernandez in a 6-5 Mets loss at Shea Stadium. It was his fifth career grand slam & his third with the Mets.

It was his fourth career grand slam. The HR put the Mets ahead, but they lost the game when Vinny Castilla singled home the winning run off Roberto Hernandez in the top of the 10th inning.

Two games later Floyd would once again have back-to-back HR games, the first against Tim Hudson & the next off John Thompson at home against the Atlanta Braves.  He finished the month with seven HRs & 18 RBIs.

2006 NL Eastern Champion Season: In 2006 he was surrounded by a good hitting team & better protected in the lineup. His long personal history of injuries began to wear him down & wind down his career early. 

This year he would miss almost fifty days of the season, with injuries to his Achillies, his ankle, missing most of June then most of August.

When he was in the lineup he wasn't the same hitter. In April he drove in eleven runs with two HRs coming in wins at Washington & in San Francisco, but he hit just .185 on the month. 

On May 5th, in an extra inning affair with the Braves, Billy Wagner gave up an 11th inning HR to Wilson Betemit putting Atlanta ahead. Floyd delivered a solo HR to tie it back up in the bottom of the inning. The Mets won it in the 14th on David Wright's walk off single. 

Floyd struggled & did not reach the .200 mark until May 18th. Two days later he homered in a subway series loss extra inning loss.

 On July 6th he drove in two runs in a 7-5 win over the Pirates. 

Five RBI Game: Then on July 8th in a big 17-3 win over the Marlins, Floyd had a big three hit five RBI Day, where he hit a two run HR off Jason Vargas. He hit a two run double, walked with the bases loaded & also scored three runs.

Multi HR- Grand Slam- Five RBI Game: On July 16th Floyd a 5th inning solo HR off the
Cubs Sean Marshall. In the Mets big eleven run 6th inning, Floyd led the scoring with his sixth career grand slam, also coming off Marshall, giving him another big five RBI game in the 13-7 Mets win.

On September 2nd, he drove in two runs with a double & sac fly in a 4-2 win over the Astors in Houston. In a mid-September series in Florida, he collected four hits with his 11th HR & three runs driven in against his old Marlins teammates. 

Mets Clinch the East: On September 18th, he singled in the 6th inning off the Marlins Renyel Pinto driving in the Mets fourth run of the 4-0 victory in which the Mets clinched the NL East. Floyd made the final putout of the game in left field.

Floyd only appeared in 97 games for the 2006 Mets NL Eastern Division winning season, batting .244 with 11 HRs 26 doubles 44 RBIs & a .324 on base %.

2006 Post Season-NLDS: He had a good NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, starting out Game #1 with a 4th inning HR off Derek Lowe at Shea Stadium in the Mets 6-5 win.

In Game #2 at Shea, Cliff had a 6th inning single off Brett Tomko, & scored a run-on Julio Franco's force play, in the Mets 4-1 win. 

In Game #3 at Los Angeles, the Mets scored three 1st inning runs off Greg Maddux. Floyd contributed with an RBI single to left field, making it a 3-0 game. He added another single in the 4th inning. The Mets won the game 9-5 sweeping the series three games to none.

Overall, Floyd batted.444 getting four hits in nine at bats, with a HR & two RBIs, drawing a walk & scoring three runs.

2006 NLCS: His NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals wasn’t as good. He was injured again and just went 0-3 appearing as a pinch hitter. 

His last Mets at bat came in the 9th inning of Game #7, when he struck out looking, to Adam Wainwright for the first out of the inning. 

Mets Career Stats: In his four-year Mets career, he played in 468 Mets games batting .268 with 81 HRs 92 doubles 5 triples & 273 RBIs. He stole 32 bases with a .354 on base % & a .832 OPS. Floyd played 443 games in left field for the Mets, fifth most in team history.

Post Mets Career: The Mets did not resign him in the off season & Floyd went home to Chicago
signing a one-year deal with the Cubs.

There he batted .284 with 9 HRs & 45 RBIs in 108 games. In 2008 he went to Tampa playing for the AL Champion Rays as a fourth outfielder. In 80 games he hit .268 with 11 HRs 13 doubles & 39 RBIs. 

2008 Post Season: In ALCS he played in two games against the Chicago White Sox. He drove in a run with a double in the final Game #4 clincher. 

2008 ALCS: In the ALCS win over the Boston Red Sox, Floyd saw action in four games. In Game #2 he hit a solo HR off Josh Beckett in the Rays 9-8 win. Overall, he was 2-10 in the series.

2008 World Series: The Rays won the AL Pennant & Floyd got to another World Series. He played in just one game, going 1-3. Overall, he was 4-11 in that post season with a HR & two RBIs.

In 2009 he played in ten games with the San Diego Padres but was released in October.

Career Stats: In a 17-year career Floyd played in 1621 lifetime games hitting .278 with 1479 hits 340 doubles 23 triples 233 HRs & 865 RBIs. He drew 601 walks with a .358 on base% & .840 OPS. He also struck out 1064 times & was hit by 91 pitches.

In the outfield he played 1252 games making 54 errors in 2210 chances with a .976 fielding% making 76 assists.

Retirement:  Cliff Floyd lives in South Florida with his longtime partner & wife Mary. They have two children together. 

Charity Work: The Floyd's are involved in an annual bowling charity in South Florida, which involves the Miami Marlins team as well.

Business: Cliff & Mary Floyd have gone into business with UnFranchise & have become executive coordinators in Market America & shop.com.

In Spring Training 2015, he broadcast his first Mets game for SNY as an analyst with Gary Cohen. He had a small part time job with them during the season.

Floyd also has worked as an analyst for FOX Sports baseball Night America, Sirius radio's MLB Network, the MLB TV Network, Fox Sports Florida as a Marlins broadcaster & as of 2018 Sportsnet as an analyst with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Honors: Cliff Floyd was on hand in New York for festivities surrounding the 2013 MLB All Star Game at Citi Field. 

In July 2016, Floyd was also on hand at Citi Field with Edgardo Alfonzo & Al Leiter when the Mets retired Mike Pizza's #31.

Old Timers Day: In 2022 he was on hand for the Mets Old Timers Day celebration game.

Quotes- Cliff Floyd: " NY fans, there is something about how, they know what your about, whether you are real or fake, they can pull the fake out pretty easily. You come to New York to play, you need to step your mind up, step your game up."