Top Five Left Field Campaigns in Mets History

Perhaps no position in the field has had less constancy than left field for the New York Mets. In the past 58 seasons, no less than 268 players have manned left for New York, outnumbering any position, due in part to platooning, injury, odd trades and inconsistency that at times left fans and purists alike to wonder what was happening.

There were over a half a dozen years when over 10 different players manned left in one season, topped by 1988 when 15 different fielders trotted out to play left field led by cameos from Todd Haney and Craig Paquette.

Yet, with all the hustle bustle surrounding left field throughout Mets history, there have been a handful of times where there was some semblance of stability. After Frank Thomas started in left for the Mets first two seasons, Cleon Jones stabilized the position by starting the season opener in six of seven seasons in the late 1960s to the mid-1970s. The only other Mets to start Opening Day in left six times was Kevin McReynolds in the late 1980s until the mid-1990s.

Three Mets, Steve Henderson, George Foster and Cliff Floyd, were the Opening Day Starters on four different occasions. Recently, however, the Mets have not had the same starter in consecutive years opening in left since Eric Young in 2013-2014. Since then it has been Michael Cuddyer, Michael Conforto, Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Conforto again and last years starting left fielder, J.D. Davis. Maybe the new management team will bring an end to the merry-go-round that has been left field but as of now the position is still in flux.

Putting together a list of the five best seasons with so many players to choose from was arduous but ultimately fruitful as the final list spans the six decades the Mets have been in existence. If honorable mentions are included there are two players from the ’60s, two from the 70’s, one from the ’80s, three from the ’90s, two from the mid-2000s and one as recently as 2015. The list, then, gives a mini-history of a piece of the Mets and was nice to recount.

Here then are the top five seasons a left-fielder has had in Mets history:

5) Frank Thomas – 1962

Probably a surprise inclusion to some, Frank Thomas was the Mets first real slugger. Acquired from the Milwaukee Braves in a trade in 1961, Thomas spent about two and a half seasons with New York. Thrice an All-Star with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Thomas was known as a solid ball player on the field and very opinionated off the field.

Thomas’ 1962 season, taken in context, was remarkable to say the least. The expansion Mets, making their franchise debut, went 40-120 in their first season and ranked in the bottom of the league in most offensive (and defensive for that matter) categories. In this backdrop of losing and incompetence, Thomas swatted .266/329/496 with 34 home runs and 94 RBIs, good for an OPS 17% better than the National League average in 1962. In a lineup that offered little protection, those numbers are extraordinary.

The 34 homers were just one behind his career high and his RBI total was his third best. Despite having an All-Star caliber season, Thomas was snubbed for the All-Star Game in 1962 as Richie Ashburn got the nod as the Mets representative.

Thomas’ production fell in 1963, but he was still a feared hitter. In the late summer of 1964, he was traded to the Philadelphia Philles who were in the middle of a pennant race and were looking for extra bats.

Frank Thomas had a short tenure with the Mets, but his 1962 season set a standard in power hitting that lasted over a decade. Considering the team around him, Thomas’ 1962 season more than belongs on this list.

4) Kevin McReynolds – 1988

Known by many as one of the best left fielders in Mets history, McReynolds was the linchpin in a trade that sent Kevin Mitchell to the San Diego Padres in an eight-player deal after the 1986 season. The move paid immediate dividends as McReynolds, hitting behind Darryl Strawberry, had a productive 1987 season. He slashed .276/.318/.495 in his first season with New York

McReynolds’ peak season was in 1988 as he finished in third place for the NL MVP voting behind teammate Strawberry and winner Kirk Gibson. He batted .288 and finished with 27 home runs and 99 RBI that year. He also stole 21 bases without getting caught. His overall line was .296/.336/.495.

As important as his production at the plate, McReynolds provided a steadying effect in left field, a spot that in the year before his arrival, had seen 11 different players occupy the position at one time or another.

McReynolds had another solid season in 1989, as both Lenny Dykstra and Mookie Wilson were traded away that season. He also became the fifth Met to ever hit for the cycle on August 1.

Never a flashy player, McReynolds was instead a solid and durable player for New York. He started over 140 games in left four times in his career with the Mets. He finished his Met career with 758 start in left which is the second most in franchise history.

3) Yoenis Cespedes – 2015

A good number of Mets fans believe that their team’s run to the 2015 World Series began on July 31 of that year when New York acquired outfielder Yoenis Cespedes from the Detroit Tigers. They would not be wrong.

It had been a particularly sullen week for the Mets. A trade for Carlos Gomez fell through and the Mets suffered one of their worst losses of the season to the San Diego Padres. They were treading water at three games over .500 and trailing the division leading Washington Nationals. Then the Mets acquired Cespedes for two minor league pitching prospects and the rest is history.

Cespedes exploded onto the scene in Flushing hitting 17 home runs in a 31-game stretch from August 12-September 14. He breathed life into an offense that was average at best for the first half of the season and baseballs best in the second half. He also made some terrific throws from the outfield. None was more important than the throw he made in game one of the NLCS against the Chicage Cubs to nail Starlin Castro at the plate, preserving a then 1–1 tie. The Mets went on to win the all important first game, 4-2.

His offensive binge helped the Mets blow by the Nationals and win the NL East by seven games on their way to their fifth pennant.

Overall, his stats for 2015 with New York were : .287/.337/.604 with a .942 OPS. He won his only Golden Glove to date in 2015 (in left for for the Tigers, he did play slightly more center than left with Mets).

Cespedes went on to have another All-Star year in 2016 and many no doubt will argue that 2016 should be listed here rather than 2015. After all, Cespedes played only half a year in 2015 for New York with only 17 starts in left field.

But it is the rare athlete that can put a team on his back and carry them to the promised land. Even though the Mets fell short of a World Series title in 2015, Cespedes provided a spark in the the second half of 2015 (no matter where he played in the field) seldom seen in Mets history. For this, Yoenis Cespedes certainly deserves to be on this list.

2) Bernard Gilkey – 1996

Probably closer to 1A on this list rather than second place, lands a true one-year wonder, Bernard Gilkey. Originally a product of the St. Louis Cardinal organization, Gilkey came to the Mets prior to the 1996 season. It was the walk year in his contract and he certainly made the most of it securing one of the finest seasons a Mets position player has ever had.

Gilkey became one of the National League’s top hitters in 1996 by finishing with a .317 average, 108 runs scored, 181 hits, a Mets-record 44 doubles, 30 home runs, 117 RBI, 73 walks, 321 total bases, a .393 OBP and a .562 slugging percentage. He also had 18 assists from left field. Gilkey was also effective in the clutch, batting .406 (63-for-155) with runners in scoring position. He had an outlandish 8.1 WAR . These stats were all accomplished on a team that went 71-91. A truly remarkable year.

Gilkey was given a four-year contract and had a decent year in 1997, but his average fell to .249 with 18 homers and 78 RBIs. His 1998 season was much worse, and he ended up getting traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in July. He never found his 1996 success again for the rest of his career.

But this list isn’t for best careers, it is for best seasons. And for one shining moment, Bernard Gilkey was all-world. He was strangely snubbed by MVP voters only managing to finish 14th in the balloting. He will not be snubbed here.

1) Cleon Jones – 1969

Number one on the list goes to a cornerstone of the early Mets, Cleon Joseph Jones. A homegrown Met, Jones finished fourth in Rookie of the Year balloting in 1966. He had a fairly poor year in 1967, but seemed to have new life with the acquisition of his childhood friend, Tommie Agee, prior to the 1968 season.

In 1968, Jones, who had been playing center field, was moved to left to make room for the Gold Glove winning Agee. That year, Jones raised his average to .297, set a career high with 14 home runs and drove in 55 RBI. He also set career highs with 29 doubles and 23 stolen bases. But it was 1969 when Jones had his career year.

Jones got out of the gait fast in 1969, batting .341 with ten home runs and 56 RBIs in the first half of the campaign. He earned an All-Star berth as the starting left fielder. Jones went two-for-four in the Mid-Summer Classic as the NL won, 9-3. It was the only All-Star appearance of Jones’ career.

By the end of the season, Cleon set a new Mets standard with a .340 average. He also had 12 home runs, a career-high 75 RBI, 25 doubles, 16 stolen bases and a remarkable .422 OBP.

Jones batted a stellar .429 in the Mets’ three game sweep of the Atlanta Braves in the 1969 National League Championship Series. In game two of the series, Jones went three for five with a home run, two runs scored and three RBIs in the Mets’ 11–6 victory.

In the World Series, Jones was less effective gathering only three hits, but was the centerpiece of the famous “Shoe Polish Incident” which took place in game five against the Baltimore Orioles. Later in that game, Jones doubled, and two-batters later, scored the go-ahead run in the title clinching 5-3 victory. He famously caught the the final out of the series off the bat of Davey Johnson to secure the unlikely championship dropping to one knee in the process. When fans mobbed the Shea Stadium field, Jones had to leap over the left field wall for cover.

Jones was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1991. His .340 average in 1969 remained a team record until John Olerud batted .354 in 1998. Jones remains among the team’s all-time leaders in games played, at bats, and hits. His 800 starts in left field is also a Mets franchise record.

In June 2012, Jones was selected as the Mets’ “All-Time Leftfielder” by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters. He regularly visits Citi Field and was in attendance for both the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the Miracle Mets of 1969. He gets the close nod here over Gilkey for best individual season as well.