As most Mets fans know by now, David Wright, otherwise known as "Captain America," celebrated his 10th anniversary in the majors on July 21st. Hard to believe. Seems like just yesterday he made his debut in 2004, and helped lead the Mets to the NL East crown in 2006. Even after that heartbreaking loss to the Cardinals in the 2006 NLCS, Mets fans thought Wright and company would lead us to the promised land soon after. Well, we all know what happened in the following two seasons (more than that actually). I won’t rehash it here, and quite frankly, it’s not something I want to even go near…
Actually, celebrating this great anniversary got me to thinking. As a Mets fan for 40+ years, I can recall vividly the black hole that for many years was third base for the Mets. Wright holds the distinction as the longest-tenured third baseman in Mets history, having played more than 1,450 games at the hot corner. In second place on this list is Howard Johnson, who played 835 games at third. In the not too distant future, Wright will have doubled that mark. The third base issues for the Mets became a running joke from the very beginning. Don Zimmer was the very first third baseman in 1962, and including Wright, there have been 153 Mets to play third base. Of course, some played only one game there, but nevertheless it was historically a problematic position for the Mets until the 1980’s arguably, when Hubie Brooks, then Howard Johnson brought some much-needed stability to the position.
In looking back at some of the players who held forth at third base, it isn’t difficult to be amazed at the ineptitude that defined this position. It’s not completely that these were bad baseball players, although perhaps this is true of some – anyone remember Joe Foy? Who thought it would be a good idea to trade a future star named Amos Otis to Kansas City for Joe Foy? This goes down in Mets history as the first horrible trade for a third baseman; there’s still another even worse one that will be mentioned. So maybe it is partly true in that Foy leads the way as a bad ballplayer that played third for the Mets. In reality, it’s that no one ever seemed to work out. Chalk it up to a combination of players that were near the end of their careers, were moved to third from other positions where they performed better, or maybe didn’t get the opportunity to prove themselves.
There are some names that should bring back good memories for Mets fans. Included are the aforementioned Hubie Brooks, and Howard Johnson. Brooks, who in the early ‘80’s appeared to be the future, turned into a solid major leaguer, and ultimately helped land Gary Carter. We all know the end of that story. Of course, HoJo was part of the ’86 championship team, and developed into the first "real" star third baseman for the Mets. I would be remiss not to mention Ed Charles, who brought veteran leadership in helping the Mets win that ’69 championship, and Ray Knight, who in a 1986 platoon with Johnson, fulfilled a similar role to that of Charles, and provided a fiery attitude to the Mets lineup. Robin Ventura came to the Mets in the late ‘90’s and helped the Amazin’s to a couple of playoff appearances, in 1999 and 2000. Another very popular Met, Edgardo Alfonzo, needs to be mentioned here as well.
Some of the more dubious names? Well, I suppose this would make up the majority of the list. In perusing Mets rosters over the years, we can add the following: Pumpsie Green (where did that nickname come from anyway?), Rod Kanehl, Bob Aspromonte, Roy Staiger, Tucker Ashford, Bobby Bonilla (yikes!), and Fernando Tatis. And now, the other bad trade. Could the trade for Joe Foy be topped? The answer is a resounding yes. How about Nolan Ryan (and three minor leaguers) for Jim Fregosi? As if trading Ryan wasn’t bad enough (hindsight is indeed 20/20), Fregosi wasn’t even a third baseman. He was a shortstop, and the Mets front office thought it was be a good idea to move him to third base. That, of course, didn’t work out, and no need for me to highlight Ryan’s post-Mets career.
So, as we celebrate David Wright’s ten year anniversary, we also in some way, celebrate the Mets third base history. I suppose it can be argued that the Mets were due to finally land a third baseman of Wright’s stature; a player that would become the face of the franchise. Captain America has put up some great numbers for the Mets, and when all is said and done, he will be the career leader in many statistical categories. For now, anyway, Mets fans can finally truly laugh at the early third base trials and tribulations. And, hopefully, Wright will be the player to lead the Mets to glory once again.
Copyright 2014 Eric Slater
Follow me on Twitter: @ericsslater