Keith Hernandez Earned His Place Among Mets Greats
Long overdue honor for a resumé that speaks for itself...
When Keith Hernandez was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the New York Mets for a pair of 25-year-old right-handers in Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey on June 15, 1983, the Redbird stalwart, 1979 National League co-MVP (with Willie Stargell), and 1982 World Series champion wanted no part of the basement-dwelling Metsies.
“How much better could things get at that point? That’s what I was asking myself,” Hernandez told the late, great Marty Noble in 2014 (MLB.com). “I knew I could play. But did I want to play in New York for a bad team?”
And yes, the Mets were bad. From 1978 through 1982, they had winning percentages of .407, .389, .414, .398, and .401. Their high-water mark for wins in a season during that stretch was 67 in 1980. Putrid.
Sure, the future was bright with stars Darryl Strawberry (drafted 1980) and Dwight Gooden (1982) on the way and a championship-minded front office steering the ship. But going from the penthouse to the boiler room was an understandably tough pill to swallow for Hernandez.
In fact, he briefly considered retiring from the game altogether.
“You know me, crazy, impulsive Keith,” he told Noble. “But yeah, I thought about it. I didn’t want to be here. I talked to my brother about it and I called [my agent]. He said ‘not a chance.’”
Over the next six months — with a loving, lasting impression made by fellow Mets favorite Rusty Staub and New York City in itself pushing the sails — Hernandez’s tune changed. He bought into what the Mets were doing and what the city had to offer a star ballplayer in his prime. The $8.4 million the Mets offered him over five seasons likely sweetened the pot a bit, too.
And wouldn’t you know it? The long climb out of the basement wasn’t that long at all. The Mets won 90 games in 1984 behind Hernandez and the young core of Strawberry, Gooden, Ron Darling, Wally Backman, Mookie Wilson, Jesse Orosco, Sid Fernandez, Ed Lynch… you know how the story goes from here.
After acquiring All-Star catcher Gary Carter from the Expos that offseason and nearly usurping the Cardinals from atop the NL East in 1985, Mets manager Davey Johnson famously told his crew in camp the following spring that they’d dominate, which they did, and the rest is history.
As for Hernandez, it’s plausible to opine that none of it would have happened without him. His .290/.387/.429 line over seven seasons in Queens (80 HR, 939 doubles, 129 OPS+, 880 games) speaks for itself, as do his 11 Gold Glove Awards (MLB record for 1B, all won consecutively; five with the Mets).
From 1984 through 1987, Hernandez hit .305/.396/.440 (eighth-best batting average in MLB over that span; OBP seventh) with 136 wRC+ (17th) and 20.1 fWAR (12th). In the Mets world title campaign in 1986, he slashed .310/.413/.446 with the 16th-highest single-season wRC+ and fWAR in team history (146 and 5.8, respectively).
But what Hernandez brought to New York was much more than a consistently solid bat and elite-grade leather. He brought veteran leadership. He brought championship experience. He brought credibility. He brought the lessons he learned from his own mistakes to a clubhouse full of young men at times seemingly eager to make a handful (or two) of their own.
The magic of that process and its championship culmination have led to many more tremendous times. Entering his 16th season as an analyst in the SNY booth alongside Darling and future Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen, Hernandez has developed a storied relationship with a fan base who, despite a few flubs and missteps over the years, absolutely adores him.
The Under New Management Metropolitans, who as of late seem extremely eager to please its long-suffering supporters, took notice of that adulation and acted on it. About time.
On Tuesday, the Mets announced in a team release that Hernandez’s uniform number 17 will be retired in a pregame ceremony at Citi Field on July 9 versus the Marlins, joining Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, Jerry Koosman, Gil Hodges, Casey Stengel, and Jackie Robinson along the facing of the upper deck roofing in left field.
“I’m thrilled. This is truly a special honor that lasts beyond a lifetime,” he said. “I can’t thank Steve and Alex Cohen and the Mets Hall of Fame committee enough. I was very emotional when Steve called to let me know about the number retirement. This is the highest honor an organization can bestow upon a player. I also want to thank Mets fans, who have treated me like family since I arrived in 1983.”
High times. Get your tickets to the July 9 festivities here.
Never any paywalls. Once it leaves my head, it’s yours. If you want to pay me for my work, it’s greatly appreciated.
Become a paid subscriber below, or if you enjoyed the story, drop a buck or two in our Venmo account (@TheAppleNYM)