I met Tommie Agee one time at the bar in the Charcoal Room at Shea Stadium. Most of the people had left to go to their seats but there was a rain delay at the start of the game and I had stayed back. It was probably 1987. He grabbed a paper “Met” napkin off the bar top and signed it, “Best Wishes, Tommie Agee”. It only took a minute or two and then he left.
Now you could look back at Endy Chavez’s catch in 2006 against the St. Louis Cardinals and say that was the best play a Met outfielder ever made or maybe the Ron Swoboda World Series catch. Certainly Mookie Wilson and Lenny Dykstra made their fare share of great plays as well. To me though, the two catches Agee made in Game Three of the 1969 World Series still represent the epitome of speed, range, and glovework.
Agee hit a home run to lead off the game against Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles. The Mets held a 3-0 lead when Gary Gentry faced Elrod Hendricks in the fourth inning with two on and two out. Hendricks hit a deep fly to left-center and Agee gave chase. He snagged the ball at full speed on the warning track with a backhand outstretched glove. Almost the entire ball was visible when he turned back towards the infield.
Then in the seventh, Gentry walked the bases loaded with two out. Gil Hodges sent the signal to the bullpen and Nolan Ryan came into the game in relief to face Paul Blair. After two strikes, Blair hit a deep line drive to right-center and again Agee gave chase. The day was windy and the ball dipped and moved as it approached the outfield fence. Again, Agee made a sensational catch with a final dive and slide across the edge of the warning track. This time, the baseball was visible through the webbing of his glove as he tumbled after the catch.
Earl Weaver, manager of the Orioles, said that he had seen center fielders make one play like Agee made but never two like that in a game. The Mets went on to win the game 5-0 and they went on to beat the Orioles in five games.
So Tommie Agee signed that napkin and walked to the left out of the Charcoal Room and I headed to the right to go to my seat to watch whatever game it was.
Sadly, of course, Agee passed away in 2001 in Manhattan after suffering a heart attack.
So now I’m just taking a moment to say, “Best Wishes, Tommie Agee”.
You’re on fire Jim. Thanks for sharing such a cool story. Agee’s WS was just magical, even miraculous!
Jim
Great article on Tommy. As a kid seeing those catches they were so impressionable that I thought for certain they had to be the most impossible and greatest catches in baseball history…perhaps they were…In any event, I too met Tommy. It was at a business meeting in Mineola NY in the early 90’s. What a great guy. It’s funny how we think our childhood sports heroes were larger than life. I remember it was not until many years after he played that I looked at Tommy’s stats and saw they were a “good ordinary”….As a youngster I probably would have guaranteed his number sand abilities were right up there with Mays.
Great article, keep em coming
Jake
I too was fortunate to meet Tommie Agee. It was at a 25 year anniversary recognition of the 69 Mets. Got a chance to sit and talk with him and he was still in awe that people still remembered the 69 team. He told me that every day when he walked through Manhattan someone would come up and shake his hand or someone across the street would shout out and give a thumbs up. He laughed when he told me that often him and his wife would be out for dinner and when he asked for the check he was told it was taken care of. Told him Met fans will never forget the 69 team. A real humble guy who still didn’t understand the importance of that season to us Met fans. Glad to spend a few minutes with a real class person.