Keith Hernandez's highlights with the Mets
Gary and Keith Hernandez before a game against the Marlins at Citi Field on Saturday. Credit: Noah K. Murray
Highlights of Keith Hernandez with the Mets:
The acquisition
There is no Mets highlight list that does not include the trade on June 15, 1983, that sent Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey to the Cardinals for Hernandez. It altered a decade of baseball for the Mets.
Phone a friend (or brother)
Hernandez was 0-for-3 in Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS before calling his brother, Gary, from the clubhouse. With advice from Gary, Hernandez lashed an RBI double and scored the tying run in a three-run ninth inning to tie it in Houston. The Mets won, 7-6, in 16 innings to advance to the World Series.
Everything on the line
Trailing Boston, 3-0, in Game 7 of the 1986 World Series, Hernandez had a two-run single in a three-run sixth inning and added a sacrifice fly in the seventh as the Mets won, 8-5.
Mr. 2,000
His 2,000th major-league hit came Sept. 15, 1987, an infield single against the Cubs.
The streak
Hernandez won his 11th straight Gold Glove in 1988, his sixth straight with the Mets. Howie Rose, radio voice of the Mets, called Hernandez, “The greatest defensive first baseman in the history of baseball” when introducing him during Saturday’s ceremonies to retire his No. 17.
