The MMO team will be going all around the field, sharing our favorite Mets players by position.
Next up, right field.
Ryan Finkelstein
If you ask me this same question in a year, when Michael Conforto is hopefully signed to an extension and coming off another big season, the answer would be the current Mets right fielder. Yet my gut reaction when thinking about this question was to acknowledge one of the best free-agent signings in recent memory, Curtis Granderson.
The Grandy Man more than lived up to the four-year, $60 million deal he signed with the Mets prior to the 2014 season. He hit 95 home runs, 106 doubles and 12 triples in a Mets uniform, all while getting on-base at a .341 clip. He was also class personified, bringing a beaming smile to the Mets both on and off the field.
Logan Barer
I was sitting down the right field line, a few rows up from the field, with a runner on second base. I was begging the other team’s hitter to smack a hard base hit to right, and for their foolish third base coach to wave them home. Why was I hoping for the other team to get a hit, you ask? Because Jeff Francoeur was playing right field.
That’s exactly what happened. Base hit to right, and as if they didn’t do a second of research, the third base coach sent the runner around third. Frenchy fielded the ball and fired an absolute missile towards home plate. The throw was from about probably 200 feet away, but the ball was never more than 10 feet off the ground. The runner was out by a mile — it wasn’t even close. With love to Michael Conforto, when you can do that, you’ll be my favorite right fielder.
Sal Manzo
While I love the current Mets right fielder (how can you not, right?), I have to give the nod to the great Curtis Granderson. The Grandy Man was as steady a player the Mets have seen at the position, and was the unsung hero during their playoff run to the 2015 World Series.
Granderson graciously accepted a change in his lineup positioning — from a middle-of-the-order slugger to a quality leadoff hitter that had a knack for the walk. Even more than his on-field success, Granderson represented the franchise with the ultimate class and made Mets fans proud to root for such a great person.
Rich Sparago
Right field is a position that has been held by several really good Mets. We can think about Curtis Grandson, Darryl Strawberry, and Michael Conforto, to name a few. But my favorite all-time Mets right fielder is Le Grand Orange, Rusty Staub. Rusty was the right fielder when I started following the Mets. When he came over from the Montreal Expos, the Mets had acquired a genuine star. Though he missed much of his first season in 1972 because of injuries, he was the key offensive player on the 1973 NL Championship team.
Rusty had a good postseason in 1973, then went on to be the first Met to drive in 100 runs in a single season in 1976. After he was traded for no good reason after the 1976 season, he retuned in 1981 and remained on the team through 1985 as a top-notch pinch hitter. One distinguishing factor about Rusty is his work off the field. After his playing career, he established a cause to raise money for the families of NYC fire and police workers who had lost their lives in the line of duty. Staub was also involved in other Mets charities, and worked in the Mets’ television booth. Rusty passed away in 2018, but remains in the hearts and minds of Mets fans from his years with the team.
Michael Mayer
Curtis Granderson was one of the best free agent signings in recent Mets history and hopefully Michael Conforto ends up staying in New York for a long time, but the answer here is definitely Darryl Strawberry. Darryl still leads the Mets with 252 home runs and his 36.6 WAR is second among position players in team history. He had such a sweet left-handed swing and what he did from day one in the big leagues was impressive.
All of that being said, when I hear right field for the Mets, I think of Ron Swoboda in the 1969 World Series. Swoboda did everything in the series, he hit .400, knocked in the winning run in the clincher, and made that brilliant catch in right field.
Joe D.
That’s a tough one. It’s the one position where we had several great players, and when all is said and done, Michael Conforto could be the best of all of them. But for me, Rusty Staub was my absolute favorite. Besides his potent bat, he was a leader on the field and in the clubhouse. He was also tough as nails, playing with a busted shoulder in the 1973 World Series and driving in six runs. His shoulder was so bad he had surgery the day after the A’s won the series. I cried when the Mets traded him, but was so happy when he returned for a second stint. He set all kinds of pinch-hitting records. I remember how Shea Stadium would explode with chants of “Rusty! Rusty!” whenever he stepped onto the on-deck circle. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it. Rusty was the best.
Michelle Ioannou
I want to say Michael Conforto. I really do. But, right now others stand out in my mind as my favorite — and those others are Rusty Staub and Curtis Granderson. Staub is one I did not see play, but heard all about growing up. Grandy, though, I did get to see play, always with a smile on his face. But if I had to choose one Mets right fielder, it would be Darryl Strawberry. He is one that I did not get to watch play while wearing blue and orange, but I wish I did. He was such an asset to the 1986 team — nevermind the fact that he won NL Rookie of the Year in 1983 and made it to the All-Star teams eight straight times from 1984 to 1991 (that last time, unfortunately, not being with the Mets).
