Ken Singleton: Early Seventies Mets Outfielder (1970-1971)
Kenneth Wayne Singleton was born June 10, 1947 in Manhattan, New York City. He was raised in Mt. Vernon, New York, in the same house where Brooklyn Dodger Ralph Branca once lived.
Singleton attended school on Long Island at Hofstra University getting drafted by the home town New York Mets in the first round of the 1967 draft.
He was a highly touted prospect, after batting .316 with the A ball Visalia Mets in 1968 he was promoted finishing the year at AAA. As the Mets were winning the 1969 World Series, Singletin was batting .309 at AA Memphis.
At AAA Tidewater in 1970 he batted .388 with 17 HRs & 46 RBIs. That summer he made his MLB debut, starting in left field on June 24th in a game against the Chicago Cubs.
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In 1971 he became the Mets main right fielder playing along side Tommie Agee & Cleon Jones. On April 23rd he hit his first HR & later helped the Mets to a win at Wrigley Field with a two run single in the top of the 11th inning. After that he had a dismal May, & found himself batting at .175 in early June.
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Throughout the year he drew a lot of walks which kept him on base quite often. He had a strong September hitting six HRs while driving in 18 runs. He drove in seven runs over a five game span in early September gathering eight hits in that stretch.
In the last game of the 1971 season he went out with a bang going 3-4 against the St. Louis Cardinals, hitting two HRs, driving in four runs in the Mets 6-1 victory. The win helped Tom Seaver earn his 20th win of the season. It would be Singletons last game as a Met.

Although he showed great promise for the future, the Mets had a chance to acquire Rusty Staub from Montreal, and Singleton was the main chip in getting him. Just after the sudden death of Gil Hodges & right a the 1972 season was to begin, he went to Montreal along with Tim Foli & Mike Jorgenson for Rusty Staub.
Singleton became the Expos everyday outfielder batting .274 with 14 HRs & 50 RBIs. By 1973 he was one of the leagues top players, batting .302 (8th in the NL) leading the NL in on base percentage (.426) & in games played (162).
He hit 23 HRs with 103 RBIs (5th in the NL), scored 100 runs, drew 123 walks (2nd in the NL) and placed 9th in the leagues MVP voting. His numbers fell off to 9 HRs the next year batting .276, while still posting a .385 on base %.
Then, In a wacky trade in December 1974 the Expos traded him, along with Mike Torrez to the Baltimore Orioles for Rich Coggins, Dave McNally & Bill Kirkpatrick.
Singleton arrived in Baltimore just after the Orioles dominating championship years, but he would remain there for the next decade. He became one of their best players. until the Cal Ripken era began & with the club won another Championship. He hit over .290 five times, and had four 20 plus HR seasons along with three 99 plus RBI years.
Post Season: He had a great ALCS hitting .375 in the Series. In the clinching Game #4, he went 3-4 with a sac fly RBI & an RBI double. He had a good World Series as well, leading all Orioles hitters with ten hits, batting .357 with two RBIs.
In 1981 he set a record by gathering ten hits in ten straight at bats, he went 4-4 in two games on August 26th & 27th, then returned to get two more hits in his first two at bats the next day.
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Post Season: He hit .250 in the ALCS & only got one at bat in the World Series because the designated hitter rule was not yet enforced in World Series play.
He retired after the 1984 season with a life time.282 average 246 HRs 317 doubles 25 triples 1263 walks 1065 RBIs & a .388 on base % playing in 2082 games. He played in three All Star Games and although he never led the league in walks he was second in that category six times.

He then moved to the YES Network since it's inception 1997. He announced he will retire after the 2021 season.
Family: He is cousin of former NBA player & current L.A. Clippers coach Glen "Doc" Rivers.
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