NY Mets: The five best Mets managers in franchise history

New York Mets managers have led the organization to two championships, and seven playoff appearances. Which of those Mets managers is the best of all-time?

Who is the best manager in New York Mets history? It’s a debate I don’t think fans have enough. Is it because the answer is obvious or because we’re so torn on the topic?

The interesting thing about Mets managerial history is that one of the most well-known managers of all-time owns the worst winning percentage of any skipper. Case Stengel was the first manager in team history and he had to suffer through those grueling early days. By the time his job was over, he owned a .302 winning percentage as the Amazins’ leader.

Stengel is not one of our best managers in franchise history. It’s impossible to judge him anyway because of how bad those early Mets teams were.

The list of the greatest skippers to suit up for the Mets includes everything from longtime managers to former great players to a combination of both.

Who is the greatest Mets manager of all-time? We hope to answer the question.

New York Mets all-time greatest managers – No. 5: Willie Randolph

Willie Randolph may not be the first Mets manager that comes to mind. However, from 2005-2008, he helped lead this team out from the rough early 2000s and into a competitive era as brief as it was.

In his 555 games at the helm, the Mets went 302-253. This gave him an overall winning percentage of .544 which happens to be the second-best in franchise history.

Given this, why isn’t he higher on our list?

Randolph only made it to the postseason once with the Mets. The 2006 run was the lone time he got to taste playoff success with them. The collapse in 2007 does some damage to his ranking as should the length of time he spent with the club. Randolph failed to make it through the 2008 season. If the results in the standings stay the same, it might be for the best.

After all, the Mets had yet another poor finish in 2008 under Jerry Manuel.

Randolph got results rather quickly which may have led to his downfall in some ways. Because the team went backward after 2006, he’s not remembered for what he is: a pretty darn good Mets manager.

New York Mets all-time greatest managers – No. 3: Bobby Valentine

No manager in Mets history has won more playoff games than the great Bobby Valentine. In two postseason trips, Bobby V won 13 games as the skipper in the postseason. He also did pretty well in the regular season, going 536-467. His .534 winning percentage ranks third all-time among all managers.

Valentine arrived at the perfect time for the Mets. Just as they were looking to put the forgettable early 1990s in the past, he swooped in and took over.

Of course, Valentine had some advantages other managers didn’t. His tenure as the dugout’s leader included years of having Mike Piazza in the middle of the lineup. Even so, we need to give him credit for bringing the Mets back to the postseason in 1999. Prior to this trip, they had not played beyond the regular season since Ron Darling’s loss in the 1988 NLCS.

In many ways, Valentine was the ideal manager for the Mets. He had a personality you could love or hate depending on how the team was doing. As we later saw when he managed the Boston Red Sox later on, when things go bad, they get really rough.

The highlight of Valentine’s time with the Mets came in 2000 when he helped take the team to the World Series. However, his most memorable moment happened one year earlier.

After getting ejected, Valentine returned the dugout in a disguise best served for a playing card in the game Guess Who? The iconic image of Valentine wearing sunglasses and a fake mustache is forever cemented in baseball lore.

As ridiculous as it was, it also served as a reminder of how much fun baseball can be.

New York Mets all-time greatest managers – No. 2: Davey Johnson

No manager won more games as the Mets manager than Davey Johnson. From 1984-1990, he went 595-417. The .588 winning percentage beats all others to hold his position. He’s an easy choice for our list of the greatest Mets managers of all-time.

Johnson wasn’t just a great regular season manager. He was also the first to make a pair of trips to the postseason. In 1986, he was the one who set the lineup card for the championship squad. Two years later, he helped take the team to Game Seven of the NLCS. He came one game within becoming the very first manager to appear in more than one World Series for the organization.

The timing worked out well for Johnson. After the Tom Seaver trade in 1977, things seemed to go downhill for the organization. Finally, after years of suffering, they were back in contention with franchise legends like Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter coming to town via trade and draft picks like Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry blossoming into stars.

Personally, I think Johnson hasn’t gotten a fair shake at the Hall of Fame. Wherever he went he seemed to have success managing. For several decades he helped turn teams around. While with the Mets, however, he had his best run.

I always find it ironic that Johnson was present for both World Series wins in Mets history. Back in 1969, he was on the Baltimore Orioles. And speaking of 1969, we have one more manager to look at. That man is the best manager to ever wear the orange and blue.

New York Mets all-time greatest managers – No. 1: Gil Hodges

Gil Hodges is his name. He was the manager who led the Amazin Mets to glory in 1969. He is the best manager the club has ever had.

Hodges first took the reins in 1968. The miserable decade of losing baseball was about to end on a positive note. The team now had the pitching to compete and some players with a whole lot of heart.

In his second year as the manager, the Mets went 100-62. They swept the Atlanta Braves in MLB’s inaugural NLCS then proceeded to beat the Baltimore Orioles in five games. Hodges’ playoff record finished at 7-1 and the first-ever championship for the team in Queens.

During the regular season, Hodges managed to lead the Mets to a 339-309 record which comes out to a .523 winning percentage. While not phenomenal, his biggest contribution was how he took an underdog team all the way to a parade few saw coming.

Sadly, Hodges passed away in April of 1972. He was only 47 with plenty of years left to give to baseball.

Every year when the Hall of Fame vote comes up, Hodges is one of those guys mentioned as a snub. It’s not for his managerial history, but what he did as a player primarily with the Brooklyn Dodgers. What he managed to do as the Mets manager just adds to his Cooperstown case. It also put him in great favor with the men he managed. It seems you can’t go long without hearing about how a former player or teammate of his wants to see him make it into the Hall of Fame.

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Hodges helped change the perception of Mets baseball. That reason alone is enough to declare him the best manager the Mets have ever had.