centerfield maz

Amos Joseph Otis was born on April 26, 1947 in Mobile, Alabama.  Otis grew up in the same Mobile area as Met outfielders, Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee & the Hammer, Hank Aaron. The speedy five foot eleven Otis was originally signed by the Boston Red Sox as a short stop in the 5th round of the 1965 draft. He was sent to the Appalachian League that same year, where he batted .329.  I n 1966 he was the New York Penn. Leagues All Star first baseman, playing for A ball Oneonta. That same year the New York Mets Player of development, Whitey Herzog who was running a highly talented farm system, managed to draft Otis away from Boston.  In 1967 the with the Mets organization he batted .268 & stole 29 bases after being promoted to AAA Jacksonville. MLB Debut- Mets Career: Otis got a September call up making his MLB debut on September 6th, pinch running for Tommy Davis at Shea Stadium in a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The next night he came in to play third base and the

Walter Richard Whitehurst was born on April 11, 1964, in Shreveport, Louisiana. The tall six-foot three right hander was drafted by the Oakland A’s in the third round of the 1985 draft. In December 1987 Whitehurst came over to the New York Mets in huge three team trade involving the Oakland A's & Los Angeles Dodgers.  The Mets received Whitehurst & Kevin Tapani, as long time Mets reliever Jesse Orosco, Alfredo Griffin & Jay Howell went to the Dodgers with Bob Welch & Matt Young both going to Oakland.   In 1988 Whitehurst was 11-10 with a 3.05 for the Mets at AAA Tidewater, (tied for second with John Mitchell) behind Dave West for most wins. Whitehurst then went 8-7 with a 3.25 ERA the following season for the Tides. His best pitch was his sinking fastball, although it too was not overpowering. Mets Career: Wally made his MLB debut at Shea Stadium in July 1989 in a game against the Houston Astros. He allowed two runs in one inning pitched of relief while ea

Wednesday April 25th, 2012: A crowd of 20,683 came out to Citi Field tonight to see Terry Collins Mets (10-8) take on Ozzie Guillen's Miami Marlins (7-10).  The starting pitchers for the game, were the Mets R.A. Dickey & the Marlins veteran, Mark Buehrle. But tonight's game would be highlighted by a Mets franchise milestone, as David Wright would pass Darryl Strawberry for most RBIs in Mets Team history with 735. Both starting pitchers, pitched well early on. R.A. Dickey & Mark Buehrle held their opponent down to just one hit through the first four innings. In the top of the 5th, R.A. Dickey would give up a HR to Omar Infante putting  the Marlins up 1-0. In the home 6th inning, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, led off the inning getting hit by a pitch. Ruben Tejada flew out to center & Daniel Murphy grounded out to force Nieuwenhuis at second base.  David Wright stepped in & blasted Buehrle's pitch for a two run HR to left center field. The HR was significant because

Saturday April 18th, 1970: On this afternoon matinee at Shea Stadium, Gil Hodges' reigning World Champion New York Mets were still flying high, nine games into the 1970 season.  The Mets were at 5-4 at this point while on their first home stand of the season. Today they hosted Frank Lucchesi's Philadelphia Phillies in front of 23, 500 fans at Shea. Today  the Mets young fireball throwing pitcher, Nolan Ryan was making his first start of the 1970 season.  He went up against the Phillies Jim Bunning, who was familiar with Shea Stadium, having had pitched a perfect game there on Father's Day 1964. Today would be a historic day for Nolan Ryan as he would reach one of many, many milestones to come in his career. Today he would throw his first one hit game. Of course, Ryan would go onto throw an MLB record seven no hitters, but he would also throw 12 one hit games, also an MLB record tied with Bob Feller. In the top of the 1st inning, the Phillies Denny Doyle led off w

Sunday A pril 18th , 1971 :     This was the Mets eighth game of the season. It was the first game of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader at Shea  Stadium for Gil Hodges New York Mets (5-2) hosting Danny Murtaugh's Pittsburgh Pirates (6-4).  The 1971 Pirates would go on to win the World Series beating the Baltimore Orioles in seven games that year.  The Mets sent 24-year-old Gary Gentry to the mound to face the Pirates Luke Walker. Gentry was a fine young pitcher for the Mets starting out in the 1969 Championship season of his rookie year, going 13-12 with a 3.43 ERA. He earned the win the night the Mets clinched the NL East & was the winning pitcher in Game 33 of the World Series. In New York, Gentry was pitching in the shadows of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman & Nolan Ryan.  Gentry would pitch four seasons for the Mets going 41-42 with a 3.56 ERA. He struck out 563 batters & walked 324 in 789 innings pitched in 131 appearances 9121 starts). Gary Gentry started out th

Carlos Ivan Beltran was born April 24th, 1977, in Manati, Puerto Rico. The six foot one Beltran was a star outfielder & volleyball player in his high school.  The   switch-hitting  outfielder was drafted in the second round of the 1995 draft by the Kansas City Royals at age 18. He was highly touted as a five-tool  player. quickly getting called up to the big leagues by 1998. Mets Career: In 2005 Beltran took over the centerfield job from Mike Cameron. Cameron moved over to left field but was not happy with the move. Quotes- Mike Cameron:  " Carlos is no doubt one of the best, if not the best defensive centerfielders in the game, and one of the best in Mets history. He plays with a smooth style, covers great range, goes back on a ball better than anyone, and had a strong accurate arm." Beltran quickly became popular with  the fans. Beltran & Pedro Martinez also acquired that off season, via free agency, help changed the organization around.  That year, the Met