Mets History, As Told Through Hardware

The Mets have never been big on awards. In its history, the franchise has had one Batting Champion, four Rookies of the Year, eighteen Gold Glove winners, five Cy Young Award winners, three Home Run Champions and no MVPs. That’s in the span of 53 seasons, folks. While collecting trophies is nice, winning pennants is better, and as can be seen from Mets lore, the two don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand. But sometimes, taking home some hardware does point to something.

For instance, the very first MLB award ever won by a New York Met was Tom Seaver’s 1967 Rookie Of The Year plaque. No one can argue that that award wasn’t a sign of good times to come. The surprise was how fast those good times – and the Mets’ second major award – would arrive. Seaver was the runaway Cy Young Award winner in 1969, his 25-7 record dovetailing nicely with the team’s 100-62 mark. Seaver’s next Cy Young win would come in another surprise-pennant year, 1973. He would win again in 1975, when nothing of note happened – other than disappointment. Jon Matlack would take home another Rookie Of The Year award for the franchise in 1972 – and become an anchor of that 1973 pitching staff himself.

Seaver’s roommate back then was shortstop Bud Harrelson, who was rewarded for five years worth of slick play when he won the Gold Glove in 1970. Centerfielder Tommie Agee was similarly recognized that same year. While stellar defense was a hallmark of the Seaver-era contending teams, Harrelson’s and Agee’s were the only awards it garnered between 1969 and 1980. That year, Doug Flynn – part of the ransom for the Cincinnati Reds’ taking possession of Seaver, sob! – was recognized for his ability to pick it. As a contemporary fan, it was heartening to see a Met recognized by the big guys for the first time in ten years. See? “We” are getting better! Flynn’s 1981 teammate, Dave Kingman would moonwalk home with the franchise’s very first Home Run title in 1982.

The trend would continue the following year, when a lanky fella, euphoniously named Darryl Strawberry would lope off with a Rookie Of The Year award of his own. Strawberry was the total package: he also made off with one of the team’s ultra-rare Home Run crowns, poking 39 in 1988 – yet another division-winning campaign. This Mets’ “Golden Era” was recognized in the awards to Strawberry, in Keith Hernandez’s perennial run of Gold Gloves, in Dwight Gooden‘s phenomenal first two years in the bigs — a Rookie Of The Year and a Cy Young back-to-back! — and in Howard Johnson’s every-other-year cycle of success, which included a Home Run title of his own in 1991. For good measure, Ron Darling would also chip in with a Gold Glove in 1989.

When the Mets were ready to contend again after the doldrums of the mid-‘90s, it was again the defense that would point the way. Spectacular fielding shortstop Rey Ordonez would define the term “Gold Glove SS” from 1997-1999. He was joined on the left side of the infield by super-smooth Robin Ventura — another ’99 Gold Glover — and with first baseman John Olerud and second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo formed what Sports Illustrated called “The Greatest Infield Ever.”

Recently, we fans have been treated to Carlos Beltran‘s all-around excellence, Gold Gloves from David Wright, Jose Reyes’s – sob! again! – 2011 batting title and R.A. Dickey’s Cy Young Award performance of 2012. All this, of course, is preamble to Juan Lagares’s already-won Gold Glove and Jacob deGrom’s pending coronation as the Mets’ fifth Rookie Of The Year award winner.

Will 2014 silverware signal a fun 2015? Here’s hoping.

Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley.