Former Mets reliever Jeff Innis passed away from cancer on Sunday, according to Mets historian Jay Horwitz. He was 59.
Innis played seven seasons in the big leagues–all with the Mets. He played with the team from 1987 to 1993, a stretch during which he had 287 relief appearances and threw 360 innings. “It seemed like he came out of the bullpen every day,” Horwitz wrote.
Armed with a submarine-style delivery, he was a middle reliever and setup man for his whole career (he saved just five games despite finishing 126). His role was exemplified by this stat: he once went a whole season–69 appearances in 1991–where he didn’t record a win or save. It was a major-league record.
His 288 total game appearances–he made one start his first year with the team–rank 12th all-time among Mets pitchers.
In recent weeks, Innis’ family started a GoFundMe to help move Innis from a Houston medical facility to Atlanta, where he resided, so he could live his final days surrounded by his loved ones. The family had a $15,000 goal. As of Sunday afternoon, the family raised over $75,000. The extra funds will help pay for “impending hospital bills and funeral arrangements,” his family said.
“He loved the fans and never shied away from any autographs,” Horwitz wrote in a blog post.
“Jeff Innis was just a decent and humble guy who never made a big deal that he was a major league player.”
Innis had battled cancer since 2017. As recently as this fall, Innis participated in the Mets’ annual Fantasy Camp alongside former teammate Dwight Gooden. He was a graduate of Illinois University, and he is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 2008 for his dominance in the league in the summers of 1981 and 1982.
Innis is survived by his wife Kelly and his children, Keenan and Shannon.
