Five Mets players who lived up to the hype during their time in New York

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NEW YORK, NY – MAY 28: Darryl Strawberry #18 of the 1986 New York Mets greets fans on the red carpet before the game between the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field on May 28, 2016 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The New York Mets are honoring the 30th anniversary of the 1986 championship season. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

The hype for athletes on New York sports teams is greater in the Big Apple than anywhere else. These New York Mets players managed to live up to the hype of their arrival.

New York Mets fans know how to get excited about their young or recently acquired players. Though there have been many major busts in franchise history, some men have lived up to the hype.

I don’t have the benefit of truly knowing how much hype there was for older players such as Tom Seaver. Back then, I’m not sure anyone but the most devoted sports fans really even knew much about the guys yet to make their big league debut. So, with this in mind, there’s a bias in favor of guys who began their careers a little more recently.

In other words, you don’t have to yell at me to get off your lawn; I’m not even standing on it.

Darryl Strawberry

With the first overall pick in the 1980 MLB Draft, the Mets selected outfielder Darryl Strawberry. Straight out of high school, Strawberry joined the Mets organization. In 1983, he made his debut and put together a Rookie of the Year winning season.

Strawberry was more than a one-hit wonder. He was an All-Star every season thereafter during his Mets tenure. He managed to set multiple franchise records during the time, even hitting a franchise-best 252 home runs. At the time, he also owned the single-season record with 39 bombs.

It’s hard to live up to the expectations of being the first player taken in a draft. Often, these men fall short of those lofty expectations. In the history of the MLB Draft, only Ken Griffey Jr. and Chipper Jones have been selected first and gone into Cooperstown. Harold Baines will join them in the summer of 2019.

Strawberry isn’t quite a Hall of Fame level player, but he is one of the greatest Mets to put on a pair of cleats. He certainly lived up to the massive hype and even managed to help bring this team a championship while doing so.

Dwight Gooden

Two years after the Mets took Strawberry, they selected another high school kid. Though Dwight Gooden wasn’t the first overall pick, he was taken fifth in 1982.

In 1984, Gooden shined under the bright lights. He had one of the greatest rookie seasons in MLB history. He was a teenage stud whose hype only grew the following year with his historic 1985 campaign.

As a sophomore. Gooden won the Cy Young and raised the bar even higher for himself. Over the next few seasons, he continued to pitch like an ace, although, he never did have the same dazzling numbers he did in years one and two.

Gooden’s story did eventually take a turn for the worst with off-field issues derailing what could have been a much more lucrative career. Many of these misfortunes occurred after he made his mark in Mets history. That’s something we can never take away.

Mike Piazza

It’s not every day your team gets a future Hall of Fame player in an early-season trade. Well, in 1998, the Mets landed Mike Piazza in a deal with the Florida Marlins only days after he was traded to South Beach from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The trade set the franchise up for years to come, offering a stable bat in the middle of the lineup.

Piazza was already in his seventh season when he joined the Mets. One of baseball’s biggest underdogs in history if not the biggest, the former 62nd round draft pick represented the baseball team in Flushing every year at the All-Star Game except once when he was injured for most of the year. He was, without a doubt, the greatest hitting catcher of all-time.

The hype for Piazza was real. And he didn’t disappoint in the least bit.

Most of all, he helped them become a serious contender in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Piazza was instrumental in making sure the Mets went to the postseason in 1999 and 2000. Without him, I don’t know where this franchise would have been.

Carlos Beltran

Quite possibly the biggest free agent signing the Mets ever made, outfielder Carlos Beltran joined the organization ahead of the 2005 season. He signed a lucrative deal and in the years that followed, established himself as one of the greatest outfielders the team has ever known.

Beltran smashed home runs, won Gold Gloves, and gave a team looking to rebound from some down years a little more hope. Even though all of the stories ended badly during his time with the blue and orange, Beltran was indeed Amazin.

While some may still hold a grudge against him for his strikeout in the 2006 postseason, it overlooks all of the good he did in the regular season and even in that series. Beltran is one of the least appreciated Mets in recent years. All that’s missing from his resume is a World Series appearance. Unfortunately, his time in Flushing ended before he could take the team there.

David Wright

Finally, there’s David Wright. The Captain. The face of the franchise.

Wright’s hype wasn’t an outstanding one from the very beginning. However, as a first-round draft pick and someone who lit up minor league pitching shortly before his big league promotion, he’s a noteworthy member of this list. Plus, how can you ever leave him off of any positive lists about this organization?

If the mascot wasn’t named Mr. Met, you can bet we’d refer to Wright as this moniker. He is everything this franchise wants its players to be. From the way he plays the game to the way he treats the fans, he’s the perfect baseball player you could ask for.

The hype, while not quite as elevated as other draft picks, trade acquisitions, or free agent signings, was still high for the high school kid from Virginia. Wright led the team to many victories and helped shape the franchise for the better.

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An honorable mention goes out to Johan Santana. While he did pitch well, and even secured the lone no-hitter in franchise history, injuries took their toll on him far too great to sneak into the elite category. The hype for him was great. He needed health to meet it.

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