Top Five Center Field Campaigns In Mets History

The success of the New York Mets as a franchise has been largely due to excellent pitching and solid defense. Unfortunately the offense has not seen the same success in large parts of Mets history. That’s not to say, however, there hasn’t been some great offensive performances for New York, some even memorable.

In fact there’s a long list of clutch hits from well known players, some of which will figure prominently as we shift our focus to the outfield. We focus here on center field, and the five best seasons at that position in the near 60 year history of the New York Mets.

Center field has been home to a diverse group of players since 1962 when Jim Hickman took the field in the franchise opener. From 1962 to present, 182 different ball players have roamed the expanse of center for New York with notables including Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, Lee Mazzilli, Lenny Dykstra, Mookie Wilson, Carlos Beltran, Juan Lagares, and more.

Wilson leads the franchise in games played in center field with 907, almost 200 games more than Carlos Beltran with 723. Lagares is next with 615 which is just a couple dozen more games than Tommie Agee, who is fourth (591). Lee Mazzilli rounds out the top five with 572 games played.

Lagares has been the Opening Day starter on six different occasions with Wilson, Beltran and Agee next with five. Even though there has been quite a few players who have manned center for the Mets, the position has seen long periods of stability.

Before we go on with the five greatest seasons, a few notes and ground rules. It would be simple to take the easy way out and list Beltran’s top five seasons and call it a day. Though Beltran figures prominently below, it was important to give a little historical bend on this as there have been others who contributed wonderful seasons nevertheless. A ‘season’ also includes the post-season as a couple of those listed made their marks in the playoffs more than anywhere else.

So here are the best five seasons a Mets center fielder has ever had:

5) Lee Mazzilli—1979

Lee Mazzilli, known for his New York roots and boyish good looks, was a mainstay for the Mets from 1976 to 1981. Unfortunately, those years were largely lean ones for the Mets, but Mazzilli stood out as a above average fielder and hitter. His breakout year was 1978 with a .273 average, 16 home runs and 61 RBI. However, his best season was a year later in 1979 when he batted a career high .303 with 15 home runs and a career high 79 RBI. He also had 181 hits, 34 doubles, 34 stolen bases, a .395 OBP., and a .844 OPS, a career high.

Maz, as he is affectionately known, made his only All-Star appearance in 1979. He had a game-tying home run in the eighth inning and a bases loaded walk in the ninth to bring in the winning run. Pundits feel that Mazzilli should have been the All-Star MVP instead of Dave Parker.

Mazzilli was traded to the Texas Rangers after the 1981 season at age 26, which was initially a trade most Mets fans disdained. New York received Ron Darling and Walt Terrell in return. Later, Terrell was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Howard Johnson. Both Darling and Johnson turned out to be major cogs for the 1986 championship team.

Mazzilli was also a part of the championship team when he re-signed with the Mets after the Pittsburgh Pirates released him. Maz hit .400 in the 1986 World Series, and started the Mets comeback in the sixth inning of game 7 with a single, (followed by a single by Mookie Wilson), that eventually tied the game at 3-3.

As a New York Yankees coach, Mazzilli won his second World Series in 2000.

Lee Mazzilli was a popular Met during his two stints with the team. His 1979 season certainly belongs on this list as is due recognition for his plaudits in the 1970s and even in the mid- to late 1980s.

4) Mookie Wilson—1987

When dealing with the 1987 campaign of one William Hayward “Mookie” Wilson, it’s necessary to fact check first and note that technically Lenny Dykstra played more games in center than Wilson. Before the internet crashes with at-home umpires crying ‘foul’, Mookie Wilson is noted here for his tenure and an excellent 1987 season.

Wilson only played 65 games in center in ’86, the fewest since his rookie year of 1980. He did have more appearances in 1987, though he found himself in a platoon situation with logjam in the outfield due to the acquisition of Kevin McReynolds. Both Wilson and Dykstra were upset over the situation and Wilson went so far as to request a trade.

The trade was obviously denied as he went on to have a his one of his best years at the plate, hitting a career high .299. He hit nine home runs, 34 RBI, and had 21 stolen bases in 1987. He then batted .296 with eight home runs, 41 RBI, and 15 stolen bases in 1988 as the Mets made the playoffs again. Both years he platooned with Dykstra but had over 400 plate appearances in each season.

Since Wilson’s numbers are similar in both seasons, either year could have been chosen for this list. Realizing that the Mets went to the playoffs in ’88, it would be tempting to choose this year instead, but Mookie stole more bases and had a higher OPS in ’87 than in ’88 and that’s why this seldom looked at year for Mr. Wilson (a year sandwiched by playoff appearances) is noted.

Whatever year is recognized, Mookie Wilson will always be a New York favorite and was a popular inductee into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1996. The speedster who has a smile that could light up Brooklyn is listed in some annals as the Mets best center fielder in team history. That is for the aficionados to argue. Here, the former Mets stolen base champ is included for many good years, especially at the end of the 80s and an attitude that made him a fan favorite.

3) Tommie Agee—1969

Tommie Agee will always endear himself to Mets fans with to his steady performance in the field and at the plate. Add that to the fact that he was taken from us far too early (at age 58), and the legend grows even stronger.

Agee, who was Rookie of the Year for the Chicago White Sox in 1966, came to the Mets in a trade after the 1967 season. For the next five years, he amassed 591 appearances in center for New York, becoming a fixture for the young franchise. However he didn’t have a particularly good start in Queens, batting just .217 with five home runs and 17 RBIs in 1968.

1969 turned out to be a different story completely, as Agee hit .271 while leading the club with 26 home runs, 97 runs scored and 76 RBIs. He was one of three Mets (Cy Young Award winner Tom Seaver and Cleon Jones the other two) to receive MVP consideration as he finished sixth. At season’s end, he was named the Sporting News NL Comeback Player of the Year. But it was in the playoffs in 1969 where Agee made an indelible mark.

Agee batted .357 with two home runs and four RBIs in the Mets’ three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves in the first ever National League Championship Series. Then in the World Series against the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles, Agee had a game which Sports Illustrated called the greatest single performance by a center fielder in World Series history.

It was game three, with the series tied at a game apiece, that the Agee legend blossomed. He led off the first with a solo home run off Jim Palmer and then made two of the best catches in WS history. Catch number one came in the fourth inning off the bat of Elrod Hendricks with two runners on. The second came in the seventh inning with the bases loaded off the bat of Paul Blair. His two tremendous catches potentially saved five runs and allowed the Mets to take the pivotal third game and the series lead.

In 1970, Agee batted .286 with 24 home runs and 75 RBI along with a 20-game hitting streak in April and May – and was named Player of the Month in June, and his only Gold Glove Award. Although his regular season stats in 1970 were a bit better than they were in 1969, Agee’s playoff performance puts that year on this list.

Tommie Agee was voted posthumously into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2002. He is also regarded by some as the greatest center fielder in Mets history. He is certainly in the argument.

2) Carlos Beltran—2008

Carlos Beltran’s career stats are impressive. He is a nine-time All-Star (four with the Mets), *World Series Champion*, two-time Silver Slugger (2006 and 2007) and three time Gold Glove winner (2006-2008). Beltran was Rookie of the Year in 1999 and a Roberto Clemente Award recipient in 2013.

For New York, Beltran had several of the greatest seasons ever had by a Met center fielder from 2006-2009. Two of those seasons are recognized in this list and although any of them could have been chosen, the 7.0 WAR in 2008 and 8.2 WAR in 2006, (both career highs) place those seasons atop this list.

One of the greatest two-way players in history (certainly Mets history) he was as fluid in the field as he was at the plate, making spectacular catch after spectacular catch. He was also known for his clutch hitting but sadly will be remembered for the clutch hit he did not get against Adam Wainwright in the 2006 NLCS.

In 2008, Beltran had a strong season, batting .284 and finished with 27 home runs and 112 RBI. He also had 116 runs scored, 40 doubles, and a .376 OBP, and won his third consecutive Gold Glove Award. Beltran also notably hit the last Mets home run in Shea Stadium history during the season’s final game. His overall line was .286/.376/.500 and a .876 OPS.

1) Carlos Beltran—2006

The best season a Mets center fielder has ever had is undoubtedly Beltran’s 2006 campaign. He hit a respectable .275 with 41 homers (tying Todd Hundley‘s team record set in 1996), 116 RBI, 38 doubles and a .982 OPS. He won his first of three consecutive Gold Gloves, made another All-Star team, and was often a human highlight-reel in the outfield.

His 127 runs scored gave him sole possession of the Mets’ single season franchise mark. He and teammate Jose Reyes won the Silver Slugger Award at their respective positions, as well as tying for the major league lead in times reached base on an error (13).

Beltran’s defensive stats were just as impressive. He made only two errors in 372 chances to give him a .995 fielding percentage, and recorded 13 outfield assists and six double plays. He also won a Fielding Bible Award as the top fielding center fielder in MLB. Beltran came in fourth in 2006 in MVP voting. A truly wonderful year that deserves top accolades.

Carlos Beltran was much more than the last Met to bat in the 2006 NLCS (he did hit three home runs in that series after all). He was a remarkably skilled multi-tooled player, who some put in the same breath as David Wright as the Mets all-time position player. That is up for debate, but Carlos Beltran certainly had the best two (and perhaps more) seasons a Mets center fielder has ever had.