The New York (born) Mets: Part II

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Last month, Part I covered the first half of a mythical all time team of Mets players who were born in New York City. To refresh, they were Ed Kranepool at first, T. J. Rivera at second, Ted Schreiber at short, Bobby Bonilla at third and Paul Lo Duca at catcher. Now for the rest of the team.

LF… Tommy Davis, Brooklyn born in 1939. Davis signed with his hometown Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956, and went on to a long MLB career. He broke in with the L.A. Dodgers and was a hit machine with plenty of power. He looked like he was on his way to a Hall of Fame career, but early in 1965 he suffered a badly fractured ankle sliding into a base, and was never the same player again. He only played one year for the Mets, 1967. He put together a pretty good season that year with a line of .302/.342/.440 in 154 games with 621 PA. After ‘67 he was traded to the White Sox in a multi-player deal that brought Tommie Agee to the Mets, so indirectly Davis contributed to the Met’s ‘69 WS by making the Agee trade possible..

CF… Lee Mazzilli, born in Brooklyn in 1955. The switch-hitter had two stints with the Mets, from 1976 to 1981, and again from 1986-1991. At his peak he had great value both from his hitting and speed. Probably his best season was 1979 when he played 158 games, made the All-Star team and had a slash line of .303/.395/.449. In 1980 he stole 41 bases in 56 attempts for the Mets. He had two hits in five AB in the ‘86 World Series, scoring two runs.

RF… Ken Singleton, born in Manhattan in 1947. The switch-hitter was chosen by the Mets as the first round, third overall selection in the 1967 draft. Singleton played only two years for the Mets, 1970 and 1971. In ‘71 he was in 115 games, with a .245/.374/.393 slash line. He showed great potential but was sent to Montreal in the Rusty Staub deal before the 1972 season. Although Staub contributed to the Mets, Montreal got the better of the deal as Singleton had a long career at high level for Montreal and later Baltimore.

SP (LH) Pete Falcone, born in Brooklyn in 1953, played 10 years in the Majors. Falcone toiled for the Mets from 1979-1982, pitching some relief as well as starts. In 1982 he posted an 8-10 record with a 3.84 ERA in 171 IP. He is a cousin of long-time Mets bullpen coach Joe Pignatano.

SP (RH) Ed Lynch, another Brooklyn native, was born in 1956. Lynch hurled for the Mets from 1980-1986. Early in the ‘86 season he was dealt to the Cubs, so he was not around for the World Series. His best year was probably 1985 as the Mets fell just short of catching the Cardinals. That year he pitched 191 innings with a 10-8 record and an ERA of 3.44. After his active playing days he became an MLB executive, serving notably with the Cubs as their GM from 1994-2000.

RP…John Franco, born in Brooklyn in 1960. The crafty lefty was a key part of the Mets bullpen for 14 years, from 1990 to 2004. He was a finesse pitcher with fine control and a dangerous changeup. For most of his tenure he was the team’s closer, but he did have set-up duties for the last few years. His lifetime ERA with the Mets was a pretty good 3.10. His best season was probably 1990, when he lead the NL in saves with 33, made the All-Star team and won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award. Franco served as the team’s Captain from 2001 until his retirement after the 2004 season. He was known for his inspirational responses to the 9/11 terror attacks. He won the Lou Gehrig award for 2001.

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