David Cone: The Mets Years (1987 - 1992) (2003)
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The six foot one, right-handed Cone was selected in the third round of the 1981 draft by his hometown K.C. Royals.
In 1982 he won 16 games (16-3) with a 2.08 ERA between Ft. Myers & Charleston. He posted losing records the next two season, before going 8-4 at AAA Omaha in 1986.
MLB Career: Cone was brought up to the big leagues in 1986 making eleven brief relief appearances for the Royals.
Just as Spring Training was ending in 1987, he was traded along with Chris Jelic to the New York Mets for Ed Hearn, Rick Anderson and Mauro Gozzo. The Royals owner later called it the worst trade in the team's history.
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Mets Career: Cone debuted for the Mets without much fanfare, pitching in the fourth game of the season in relief of Rick Aguilera, in a loss to the Atlanta Braves. Cone allowed a 9th inning RBI base hit to Ken Griffey earning the loss.
Bobby Ojeda was limited to just seven starts, Dwight Gooden missed time at the start of the season for drug rehab, Rick Aguilera made 18 starts going an impressive 11-3. So David Cone was certainly a nice addition & needed to fill in the holes.
1988 NL Eastern Champion Season: Cone started out the first month in the bullpen, earning two victories thanks to late inning Mets rallies. He also was credited with one hold.
It wasn't until June 7th when he gained his first loss, which was his 14th appearance of the year.
Cone Heads: Back at home, the Shea Faithful who were always known to be creative, began a fan club for Cone on days he pitched, calling themselves: the Cone Heads. They could be seen in the stands at Shea just as the K corner was seen on days where Dwight Gooden pitched.
On July 22nd he won his first game after the break, beating the Braves at Shea Stadium, allowing just one run on six hits, while fanning seven in the complete game win.
In mid-August Cone had consecutive starts where he struck out 12 batters in each game. The first came against the Montreal Expos & the second coming against the San Francisco Giants on the road. After losing that game he went on to win his last eight starts of the year.
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Cone went on to lead the NL in winning percentage with a .870 %. He was 20-3 (3rd most wins in the league) with a 2.22 ERA (second best in the NL) 213 strikeouts (second in the NL) in 231 innings pitched.
Cone stated in his column, that Dodger ace Orel Hershiser was lucky to get as far as the 8th inning in the game. He also blasted Dodger reliever Jay Howell, calling him a high school pitcher because he threw curve ball after curve ball. The Dodgers used this as bulletin board material & went on to beat Cone knocking him out after just two innings while allowing five earned runs in Game #2.
Cone returned to beat Tim Leary in Game #6, pitching a complete game one run five hitter sending the NL Championship Series to a Game seven. The Mets were shut out 6-0 behind Orel Hershiser who allowed just five hits along the way, advancing L.A. to the World Series & an eventual upset over the Oakland A's.
He won his third game on May 6th, beating Jim Clancy & the Astros in a one run five hitter, but it took another six weeks, which was seven starts & a relief appearance before earning another win.
On August 18th, Cone won a 3-2 game over Orel Hershiser & the Dodgers at Shea. Howard Johnson & Darryl Strawberry drove in runs but the difference was Hershiser's wild pitch that scored Kevin McReynolds in the 6th inning. On August 29th he won a 2-1 thriller over John Wetteland & the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
On August 18th he struck out a season high 13 batters in a complete game 9-2 win in San Francisco over the reigning NL champion Giants. It was the seventh time he reached double figures in strikeouts that season, he would do it two more times.
In September he struck out twelve batters in two separate games going 4-3 in the month.
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That year the Mets finished second again, four games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Cone would go on to lead the NL in strikeouts, the first of two straight seasons, posting 233 K's for 1990. He went 14-10 with a 3.23 ERA while tossing six complete games. He was third behind Frank Viola's twenty wins & Dwight Gooden's 19 wins on the staff. He made 30 starts pitching in 211.2 innings while walking 65 batters.
After two straight losses, he pitched a complete game win over the Cards where he struck out 12 & then had a one run 8-1 Mets win at Wrigley Field Chicago. On June 4th he gave up two runs unearned in a win at Riverfront Stadium over the Reds.
On July 29th he pitched a three hitter in Los Angeles beating the Dodgers 5-1, with seven strike outs, walking just one. He then lost three straight decisions.
In back-to-back losses to the Cubs, he allowed 11 runs in just six innings, first giving up six runs in two innings at Shea, then allowing five runs in four innings at Wrigley Field.
1992 & More Drama: During Spring Training 1992 he was accused of another rape scandal which also included teammates Daryl Boston & the troubled Vince Coleman. Some reports said that Cone had been dating the woman at the time & they were involved in a ménage trios. That news was upsetting to his new fiancée. Eventually once again, the charges were dropped.
Later that year his dramas continued when three women accused him of exposing himself to them
& Masturbating to them while in the Shea Stadium bullpen.
Two Hitter: On April 28th he tossed a two-hit shutout over the Houston Astros at Shea Stadium,
the only hits came from Jeff Bagwell & pinch hitter Benny Distefano. Cone struck out 11 batters without walking anyone.
From June 16th through August 2nd Cone would win eight straight decisions. He would strike out ten or more batters in five games & throw two complete game victories. At the end of the first half, he was 9-2 with a 2.35 ERA with 154 strikeouts & six games with double figures in Ks.
1992 All Star: Cone made his second All Star appearance representing the Mets as the team's sole representative, at the game in San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium. Cone pitched a perfect 4th inning striking out Wade Boggs. The NL lost to the AL 13-6.
But the organization wasn’t happy with the ongoing sexual accusations & all the bad press that surrounded him. Finally, they had enough, on August 27th David Cone was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Jeff Kent & Ryan Thompson.
Mets Career Stats: In his Mets career Davis Cone is 81-51, (9th most wins in Mets history). He struck out 1172 batters (6th on Mets all-time list) walking 431 in 1209 innings of work (11th on Mets all-time list). He posted a 3.13 ERA (9th on Mets all-time list) making 169 starts (12th on Mets all-time list) he had 15 shut outs (5th on Mets all-time list) with 34 complete games (7th in the Mets all-time list).
Post Mets Career: In Toronto Cone went 4-3 the rest of the regular season then went on to win his first World Series Championship.
1992 World Series: In the World Series he earned two no decisions against the Atlanta Braves. In Game #2 at Atlanta, he allowed three runs over five innings in the 5-4 loss as he faced off against John Smoltz.
In Game #5 Cone allowed just one run over six innings then exited as the game went into extra innings. The Jays won it in the top of the 11th on a Dave Winfield two run double. This was the start of Cones new reputation becoming a big game post season pitcher. Although he never dominated again as he did in his first Mets season, he would become a hired gun, helping to bolster pitching staffs in the heat of a pennant race.
Cy Young Award: Next season, he found himself back in Kansas City with the Royals, winning the 1994 Cy Young Award, he went 16-5 with a 2.94 ERA (3rd in the AL). He pitched three shut outs & posted a 762 winning % (5th in the AL) playing in his third of five career All Star Games.
Before the 1995 season he was traded to Toronto for two minor leaguers. At the end of July, he was traded to the AL New York team for three minor leaguers. Overall, he won 18 games between the two teams & found new life in the twilight of his career.
Cone would have another twenty-win season (1998) win four World Series titles & throw a perfect game before it was all over in 2003.
Return to the Mets: He was brought back to the Mets in 2003 for nostalgic reasons, but was clearly washed up, as he went 1-3 appearing in five games posting a 6.50 ERA.
Career Stats: In his 17-year career Cone won 194 games (135th most wins all time) while losing 126 games. He struck out 2668 batters (27th all time) with 1137 walks (66th most all time) 56 complete games, 22 shut outs & a 3.46 ERA in 450 games pitched 419 starts.
He threw 149 wild pitches (38th most all time) hit 106 batters (71st all time) & allowed 258 HRs (107th all time) & 115 earned runs (178th all time) in 2898 innings (152nd all time) in 450 games.
Retirement: After his playing days the Mets offered him a broadcasting job but chose to stay home with his family. He later took a job at the YES network broadcasting for the AL New York team.
Just as Spring Training was ending in 1987, he was traded along with Chris Jelic to the New York Mets for Ed Hearn, Rick Anderson and Mauro Gozzo. The Royals owner later called it the worst trade in the team's history.
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Mets Career: Cone debuted for the Mets without much fanfare, pitching in the fourth game of the season in relief of Rick Aguilera, in a loss to the Atlanta Braves. Cone allowed a 9th inning RBI base hit to Ken Griffey earning the loss. He pitched three more relief appearances in April getting credit for two holds. In his first start he gave three runs in a no decision to the Expos, in a Mets loss. On May 12th, Cone won first game with a two run, four hit complete game win in Cincinnati. He followed that up with a win over the Giants at Shea.
After two more starts, he was sent back to AAA Tidewater until late August. In his return he finished off a loss at Wrigley Field. On August 20th, Cone got a relief win at home over the San Francisco Giants pitching four shutout innings.
The 1987 Mets had been chasing the Cardinals most of the year, in September they got to within 1.5 games but could never defend their title. Ron Darling was the only starter to not miss time in the rotation, he won 12 games. Sid Fernandez was also a main stay with 28 starts & 12 wins as well.
On September 13th, Cone had impressive win over Danny Cox beating the Cardinals at Shea Stadium, avoiding a series sweep & keeping them 2.5 games back. The Mets had a four-game win streak to stay at 1.5 games back for the next week before falling out of the race. The Mets finished second winning 92 games (92-70).
Cone dropped three straight decisions from September 17th to September 29th & finished the year with a relief appearance in St. Louis, against the NL Eastern Champion Cardinals.
On the year Cone was 5-6 with 68 strike outs 44 & walks in 99.1 innings pitched, posting a 3.71 ERA with one save. Cone made 21 appearances with 13 starts
Injuries again to the starting staff forced him to fill in the rotation spots where he excelled.
Pitcher of the Month Award: On May 3rd, he made first start, he would shut out the Atlanta Braves with a complete game at Shea Stadium, striking out five batters scattering eight hits. From there the Mets went on a long west coast road trip, Cone picked up three straight wins with victories at Houston, Los Angles & San Diego. In those three games he allowed just two earned runs in 21 innings of work.
Cone won the NL Pitcher of the Month Award for May, as he went 5-0 allowing only three runs in 37 innings of work with 34 strike outs.
Cone won the NL Pitcher of the Month Award for May, as he went 5-0 allowing only three runs in 37 innings of work with 34 strike outs.
On June 2nd, he had a one run ten inning performance against the Chicago Cubs although he earned a no decision in the 2-1 win where Howard Johnson hit a walk off HR.
On June 19th Cone pitched a two-hit shutout against Philadelphia striking out seven Phillies in a 6-0 Shea win.
By now David Cone was earning the reputation as another Mets star pitcher. By the All Star break the surprising Cone was 9-2 with a 2.50 ERA.
1988 All Star: Cone was named to his first All Star squad joining teammates Dwight Gooden, Gary Carter & Darryl Strawberry at the Mid-Summer Classic in Cincinnati. Cone pitched a scoreless 5th inning, striking out Paul Molitor in the 2-1 AL win.
1988 All Star: Cone was named to his first All Star squad joining teammates Dwight Gooden, Gary Carter & Darryl Strawberry at the Mid-Summer Classic in Cincinnati. Cone pitched a scoreless 5th inning, striking out Paul Molitor in the 2-1 AL win.
On July 22nd he won his first game after the break, beating the Braves at Shea Stadium, allowing just one run on six hits, while fanning seven in the complete game win.
He would win three straight decisions, on August 2nd he beat the Chicago Cubs, throwing another complete game, one run performance where he struck out nine.
From July 10th through the rest of the regular season, Cone went 11-1, with an incredible stretch of winning his last eight in a row, helping the Mets capture the Eastern title. In the final two months of the season, he struck out ten or more batters in a game five different times.
One Hitter: On August 29th Cone threw a one hitter at Shea Stadium, against the San Diego Padres. The only hit came in the 4th inning, a double off the bat of the batting champ Tony Gwynn. It was the 17th one hitter in Mets history, the first since 1985.
In 1988 Cone had great control of his pitches, having possibly his best season. He used a cut fastball, nasty slider, curve, changeup & a lethal splitfinger, which he used as his out pitch.
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He came in third in the Cy Young voting as well as the top ten in the league's MVP voting. Beyond his 20 victories, he also had two games where he pitched 10 innings allowing only one run but got a no decisions.
1988 Post Season- NLCS & Newspaper Writer: In 1988 the Mets won the NL Eastern Title & Cone covered the Mets for a local paper during the post season. He was involved in controversy after the Mets Game #1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
1988 Post Season- NLCS & Newspaper Writer: In 1988 the Mets won the NL Eastern Title & Cone covered the Mets for a local paper during the post season. He was involved in controversy after the Mets Game #1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cone returned to beat Tim Leary in Game #6, pitching a complete game one run five hitter sending the NL Championship Series to a Game seven. The Mets were shut out 6-0 behind Orel Hershiser who allowed just five hits along the way, advancing L.A. to the World Series & an eventual upset over the Oakland A's.
1989: Cone took a loss in his first start, then won his next two decisions. On April 25th he pitched into the 9th inning, beating Zane Smith & the Atlanta Braves 2-1.
On June 21st, he shut out the Expos for seven innings, in a 2-0 win. From there Cone won eight straight decisions, going a perfect 4-0 in July. On July 3rd he beat the Astros with a five hitter at the Astrodome, beating Jim Deshaies 3-1. When the Astros came to Shea on July 19th, Cone then threw a four hit, two run victory striking out eight in a 6-2 win.
On August 8th he shut out the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium, allowing just six hits in a 9-0 win. Next, he beat the Cardinals allowing just a run over eight innings.
On September 4th Cone struck out a season high eleven Chicago Cubs but allowed five runs taking a 7-3 crucial loss. At the end of the day the Mets fell to 4.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs with St. Louis & Montreal also ahead of them.
In his last outing of the year with the Mets now out of the race, Cone had a fine close to his year. Cone pitched a three-hit shutout against the Pirates in Pittsburgh, where he struck out ten.
From late June through the end of the year, he was 11-4 helping the Mets fight for the pennant, although they would lose out the Eastern Division to the Chicago Cubs. Cone went 14-8 on the 1989 season posting a 3.52 ERA striking out 190 batters (4th in the NL) pitching in 219 innings. His strike out per nine inning ratio was fourth best in the NL (7.78). He tossed two shut outs with seven complete games while walking 74 batters.
At the plate he hit a career best .234 with two doubles & four RBIs. Cone drove in four runs or more for the next four seasons.
From late June through the end of the year, he was 11-4 helping the Mets fight for the pennant, although they would lose out the Eastern Division to the Chicago Cubs. Cone went 14-8 on the 1989 season posting a 3.52 ERA striking out 190 batters (4th in the NL) pitching in 219 innings. His strike out per nine inning ratio was fourth best in the NL (7.78). He tossed two shut outs with seven complete games while walking 74 batters.
1990: The season started with Cone not getting his first win until mid-May, although he had recorded seven or more strike outs in five of six starts. On June 4th he struck out twelve batters, it was the first of four times he struck out that many.
On June 9th he won the first of six straight decisions. On June 19th Cone pitched a four-hit shutout, beating the Cardinals 6-0 at Shea Stadium. A 3-2 win over John Tudor in St. Louis followed, then on June 30th, although he earned no decision, he started a four-game stretch where he would reach double figures in strikeouts. After three more consecutive wins, he lost a 1-0 game to Joe Magrane, with Willie McGee's HR being the difference.
In August he pitched into the seventh inning or beyond four of five times. He went 3-2 that month besting his record to 10-7.
In September he struck out twelve batters in two separate games going 4-3 in the month.
Two Hitter: On September 26th, he threw a two-hit, eight inning shutout in Montreal, with Larry Walker collecting both hits. Cone struck out seven with four walks.
In his final start, he went the distance, giving up one run on just three hits to the Pirates, striking out 12, to reach double K figures for the ninth time of the year.
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Cone would go on to lead the NL in strikeouts, the first of two straight seasons, posting 233 K's for 1990. He went 14-10 with a 3.23 ERA while tossing six complete games. He was third behind Frank Viola's twenty wins & Dwight Gooden's 19 wins on the staff. He made 30 starts pitching in 211.2 innings while walking 65 batters.
1991: After seven winning seasons, where the Mets never finished lower than second place, 1991 began a downswing of six straight losing seasons.
Cone fell off to a .500 season, with a 14-14 record as the team finished in fifth place (77-84) under managers Bud Harrelson & Mike Cubbage. he began with a 2-0 start, with wins on the road in Pittsburgh & Montreal. On May 3rd he shut out the Giants for eight innings, striking out nine allowing no walks & just four hits for his third win.
On June 9th, he lost a 1-0 game in Houston getting beaten by Pete Harnisch. His next start was a no decision against the Astros, where he allowed just one run in eight innings. In his last four starts he had just allowed three earned runs in 35 innings to lower his ERA to .264.
On July 13th, he struck out 13 batters in a 3-1 win over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium, to get himself to 9-5 at the All-Star break with a .266. ERA.
On July 29th he pitched a three hitter in Los Angeles beating the Dodgers 5-1, with seven strike outs, walking just one. He then lost three straight decisions.
Nine Pitch Inning K's the Side: On August 30th in a game at Riverfront Stadium against the Cincinnati Reds he threw nine pitches and struck out the side in a 3-2 Mets win. In the game he would go on to strike out nine batters to earn his 12th win.
Drama: On the next to last day of the season, a New Jersey woman accused Cone of raping her in a Philadelphia Hilton Towers hotel room back in September. The controversy surrounded him & tarnished his image; the charges were eventually dropped.
19 Strike Out Game: The next day, on the last day of the 1991 regular season he had an incredible outing in Philadelphia to beat the Phillies. Cone went into the record books tying an old NL record held by two Hall of Famers, the Mets Tom Seaver & Philadelphia's Steve Carlton, when he struck out 19 batters in a game.
Drama: On the next to last day of the season, a New Jersey woman accused Cone of raping her in a Philadelphia Hilton Towers hotel room back in September. The controversy surrounded him & tarnished his image; the charges were eventually dropped.
Cone had four innings where he got all three outs by strike outs. Short stop Kim Batiste got the golden sombrero by striking out four times. Wes Chamberlain & Doug Lindsey both struck out three times each.
Cone pitched a three hit shutout that day walking just one batter. He joked that the only place he felt safe, where the Philadelphia PD couldn't get him, was on the pitcher's mound.
For 1991 Cone struck out 241 batters leading the NL for the second straight year, while also posting the league's best strike out per nine inning ratio (9.3) for the second straight year as well. He pitched a career high up to that point 232 innings (5th in the NL) walking 73 batters, while making 34 starts. Cone posted a 3.29 ERA, pitching two shut outs & five complete games (7th in the NL).
1992 & More Drama: During Spring Training 1992 he was accused of another rape scandal which also included teammates Daryl Boston & the troubled Vince Coleman. Some reports said that Cone had been dating the woman at the time & they were involved in a ménage trios. That news was upsetting to his new fiancée. Eventually once again, the charges were dropped.
& Masturbating to them while in the Shea Stadium bullpen.
Through all these accusations, he was surrounded by the drama. Fans would make gestures at him; the newspapers ran comics poking fun at him. He received obscene phone calls, sexual & threatening letters. He even appeared on Howard Stern's K-Rock show & 66WNBC Don Imus' radio shows taking some comedy abuse pointed at him.
On the mound, he started Opening Day in St. Louis, earning no decision, allowing two runs in eight innings against the Cardinals. On April 11th he allowed four runs to the Expos in Montreal before returning back home to get his first win on April 17th, which also came against the Expos.
On the mound, he started Opening Day in St. Louis, earning no decision, allowing two runs in eight innings against the Cardinals. On April 11th he allowed four runs to the Expos in Montreal before returning back home to get his first win on April 17th, which also came against the Expos.
the only hits came from Jeff Bagwell & pinch hitter Benny Distefano. Cone struck out 11 batters without walking anyone.
In his next start he threw a five-hit shutout against the Braves in Atlanta. After a loss he went on a great streak, first pitching back-to-back shutouts in San Diego & San Francisco on the California road trip.
From June 16th through August 2nd Cone would win eight straight decisions. He would strike out ten or more batters in five games & throw two complete game victories. At the end of the first half, he was 9-2 with a 2.35 ERA with 154 strikeouts & six games with double figures in Ks.
By late August the Mets were in fifth place 15 games back of the NL East. As for Cone, he was pitching well enough to be 13-7 with a 2.88 ERA. He was on his way to a career high 261 strikeout season. Although he was also leading the NL in walks (82) & it was only the end of August.
Mets Career Stats: In his Mets career Davis Cone is 81-51, (9th most wins in Mets history). He struck out 1172 batters (6th on Mets all-time list) walking 431 in 1209 innings of work (11th on Mets all-time list). He posted a 3.13 ERA (9th on Mets all-time list) making 169 starts (12th on Mets all-time list) he had 15 shut outs (5th on Mets all-time list) with 34 complete games (7th in the Mets all-time list).
Post Mets Career: In Toronto Cone went 4-3 the rest of the regular season then went on to win his first World Series Championship.
1992 Post Season- ALCS: In the ALCS against the Oakland Athletics Cone went 1-1 taking the victory in Game #2 at Skydome. He allowed just one run on five hits over eight innings of work.
In Game #5 Cone allowed just one run over six innings then exited as the game went into extra innings. The Jays won it in the top of the 11th on a Dave Winfield two run double. This was the start of Cones new reputation becoming a big game post season pitcher. Although he never dominated again as he did in his first Mets season, he would become a hired gun, helping to bolster pitching staffs in the heat of a pennant race.
Cy Young Award: Next season, he found himself back in Kansas City with the Royals, winning the 1994 Cy Young Award, he went 16-5 with a 2.94 ERA (3rd in the AL). He pitched three shut outs & posted a 762 winning % (5th in the AL) playing in his third of five career All Star Games.
Before the 1995 season he was traded to Toronto for two minor leaguers. At the end of July, he was traded to the AL New York team for three minor leaguers. Overall, he won 18 games between the two teams & found new life in the twilight of his career.
Return to the Mets: He was brought back to the Mets in 2003 for nostalgic reasons, but was clearly washed up, as he went 1-3 appearing in five games posting a 6.50 ERA.
Career Stats: In his 17-year career Cone won 194 games (135th most wins all time) while losing 126 games. He struck out 2668 batters (27th all time) with 1137 walks (66th most all time) 56 complete games, 22 shut outs & a 3.46 ERA in 450 games pitched 419 starts.
He threw 149 wild pitches (38th most all time) hit 106 batters (71st all time) & allowed 258 HRs (107th all time) & 115 earned runs (178th all time) in 2898 innings (152nd all time) in 450 games.
Family: Cone married Lynn DiGioia in 1994, together they have a son. They divorced in 2011.
He later had a long romance with Taja Abitol who he met at her upper west side restaurant in 2007. They broke up in 2022.
Honors: Cone attended the Mets 2022 Old Timers Day at Citi Field.
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