Only two players (Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza) sport Mets hats on their Hall of Fame plaques. But while the Mets have produced few all-time greats, many baseball legends have made pit stops in Flushing.
Below are some of the historic milestones that players have reached in a Mets uniform.
Duke Snider: 400th home run
Duke Snider was already a New York baseball icon when he joined the Mets for his penultimate season in 1963.
The Duke of Flatbush hit 14 homers for the Mets, including his 400th career shot on June 14, 1963 at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. Snider asked to be traded to a contender the following season, and though the Dodgers expressed some interest in reacquiring him, the Mets ultimately sold Snider to the Giants.
Carlos Delgado: 400th Home Run
Carlos Delgado joined the 400-home run club in grand style.
Facing the Cardinals on August 22, 2006, Delgado homered twice. He put the Mets on the board with a solo shot in the second, then plated four more runs with a missile into the right-field seats in the fifth. Delgado’s grand slam, the 400th home run of his career, would be overshadowed by teammate Carlos Beltrán’s walk-off homer in the ninth inning.
Overall, it was a night to remember for “Los Dos Carlos.”
Tom Glavine: 300th Win
Tom Glavine was never fully accepted by Mets fans.
Despite his Hall of Fame credentials, the Flushing Faithful could never quite forget that his best years were with their archrivals, the Atlanta Braves. The crafty lefty would never equal what he achieved in Atlanta, but he was reliable nonetheless, posting double-digit win totals every year from 2004 to 2007 and earning two All-Star selections in that span.
Glavine was wearing a Mets uniform when he entered the 300-win club on August 5, 2007. In a game nationally televised on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, Glavine employed his trademark precision to last into the seventh inning at Wrigley Field. A terrific all-around athlete, Glavine even drove in a run with a single in the second.
Glavine’s effort included just one strikeout, but as the pitcher remarked afterwards, “It was an exercise in hitting my spots and changing speeds and letting the guys behind me do their work.”
The southpaw was just the fifth lefty to earn 300 wins (Randy Johnson would become the sixth in 2009), and 23rd pitcher overall.
Gary Sheffield: 500th Home Run
Sheffield was a last-minute addition to the Mets roster in 2009, inking a deal just days after his release from the Tigers. Even at 40 years old, Sheffield could strike fear into the heart of an opponent.
Sheffield’s bat speed remained largely intact, as demonstrated by the violent torque of his signature bat wiggle. On April 17th, he employed that lightning-quick stroke to rip a line drive around the left-field foul pole at Citi Field. The home run, Sheffield’s first as a Met, was also the 500th of his big league career. Sheff was the 25th player in MLB history to reach the milestone, and the first player to hit his 500th homer in a Mets uniform.
Jason Isringhausen: 300th save
The term “Generation K” is synonymous with disappointment and futility. In the mid-1990s, a trio of up-and-coming pitchers (Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson, and Bill Pulsipher) was viewed as the next generation of Mets aces. The hype around these prospects was immense, but the promise they held never materialized into on-field greatness in New York.
It was not all doom and gloom for these three pitchers, however. Righty Jason Isringhausen came into his own after leaving the Mets and transitioning to a full-time relief role. He became an elite closer for the A’s and enjoyed a highly successful seven-year run with the Cardinals.
Isringhausen’s career came full circle when he returned to the Mets at age 38 in 2011. He made 53 appearances for that club and picked up his 300th career save on August 15th at Petco Park. After missing the entire 2010 season to recover from his third Tommy John operation, Isringhausen battled back to remind the baseball world of his surprising longevity.
Robinson Canó: 2,500th hit
No matter how you feel about Robinson Canó, there’s no denying that he’s one of the most accomplished second basemen to ever grace the diamond.
Canó’s legacy is now marred by positive PED tests that call into question all of his accolades and achievements. But from a pure numbers standpoint, the sweet-swingin’ Dominican has few equals. In 2019, his first season with the Mets, Canó laced a double for his 2,500th hit in the majors. Only five other Dominican players — Albert Pujols, Adrian Beltre, Vladimir Guerrero, Julio Franco, and Manny Ramirez — have ever reached that mark.
Searle’s Final Say
Even in lean years, Mets fans have been fortunate enough to witness all-time greats don the orange and blue. Some were past their prime when they landed in Queens, but their milestone achievements gave us greater appreciation for their body of work.
