New York Mets: Six wacky batting stances the fans will never forget

Unconventional, unique, and sometimes plain weird, these New York Mets are remembered for their one-of-a-kind batting stances.

The New York Mets have been blessed with many hitters who were memorable largely for their batting stance. Some MLB hitters adopt an extremely crouched approach to hitting, while others hold the bat so high above their heads that they might as well buy an extra ticket for it to sit in the upper decks.

I often wonder how players such as Craig Counsell or any other baseball players with memorable batting stances develop such a stance. It must help them hit in some way, or else they wouldn’t do it. Baseball players are notorious creatures of habit, though, so whatever batting habits they develop early on in their careers have a good chance of sticking around, no matter how goofy they look.

Among the vast array of Mets hitters through the years, here are a few who had particularly notable batting stances, in no particular ranking order.

Felix Millan

Though the Mets made it to the World Series in 1973, their lineup throughout the mid ’70s was never the most powerful force in the National League. Through those lean years, second baseman Felix Millan was a consistent threat at the plate and imprinted himself on many Mets fans with his unforgettable stance. He played for the Mets from 1973 through 1977, having spent the first seven years of his career with the Atlanta Braves.

Millan, nicknamed “The Cat,” hit for a .278 average across his five years in Queens, averaging nearly 150 hits and over 20 doubles per season. His claim to fame, batting stance-wise, was that he choked up on the bat to an almost cartoonish degree. Millan could often be found choking up close to a foot from the bat knob, giving the appearance of a modified bunt approach while clearly aiming for a hit.

It may have looked unusual at the plate, but Millan’s approach helped him put the ball in play at a historic rate. In 12 full major league seasons, the most he ever struck out in a season was 35 times, which came in 1969 when he played a full 162 games with the Braves. In seven of his 12 seasons, including all five of his years with the Mets, he walked more times than he struck out. Millan’s ability to make contact made him the toughest hitter in the National League to strike out in four separate years, including 1973-1975 in Flushing.

Millan put together a productive big league career on both sides of the ball. His memorable stance led to over 1600 career hits, three All-Star appearances, and a top-twenty finish in the 1973 NL MVP voting. He was also a very dependable fielder, earning two Gold Glove awards at second base in 1969 and 1972.

Millan could have enjoyed an even longer playing career if not for a nasty collision-turned-fight with Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Ed Ott. On August 12, 1977, Ott slid hard into Millan at second base while attempting to break up a double play, knocking him over. Millan felt that Ott had slid a bit too hard and punched him in the face. Ott, in retaliation, picked up Millan and slammed him to the ground, breaking Millan’s collarbone and ultimately ending his major league career.

Despite this unceremonious end, Millan is fondly remembered by Mets fans for always putting the bat on the ball, all thanks to his extremely choked-up batting stance.

Julio Franco

If you tell a Mets fan, “name the oldest player in franchise history,” they will likely respond “Julio Franco” with no hesitation. He was the resident “old geezer” on the roster for the Mets in 2006 and 2007, at the tail end of a 23-year MLB career that began in 1982 with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Aside from being years older than most of his Mets teammates, Franco was also known for his unusual batting stance. He stood in the box with the bat high above his head and the top of the bat pointed directly at the pitcher. From there, when the pitch was delivered, his bat swung down low through the strike zone and, very often, made solid contact.

Franco’s long career led to an impressive resume when he finally hung up his big league cleats in 2007. He finished his MLB tenure with over 2500 hits, a career .298 batting average, over 1100 RBI, and five Silver Slugger awards. Franco only garnered 1.1% of the vote on the 2013 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot and fell off after one year, but he was no doubt one of the steadiest and most reliable hitters in baseball for over two decades.

He also became the oldest MLB hitter to ever hit a home run when he slammed one out of the park against the San Diego Padres on April 20, 2006.

As of 2020, Franco can still be occasionally spotted taking batting practice or swinging in a cage somewhere. He made waves on Twitter back in July of 2020 for a video that showed him taking swings in a cage while looking sharp in a street-ready getup of jeans, dress shoes, and a plaid shirt.

Former Mets pitcher Collin McHugh, who was managed by Franco in the Mets’ Gulf Coast League, had this to say about the ageless hitter:

Franco only spent parts of two seasons with the Mets, but he will always be loved by the Flushing Faithful for his solid bench play and memorable batting stance.

Moises Alou

Another Mets bench player from the mid-2000s who turned heads with an unusual batting stance was Moises Alou. He resided in Flushing in 2007 and 2008, which of course are better known for the collapses that occurred at the end of each season. Nonetheless, amidst some nagging injuries and disappointing team finishes each of the two years he spent in Flushing, Alou was one of the best pure hitters to ever suit up for the Mets.

Alou’s unusual batting stance had several elements to consider. He stood bow-legged with his knees buckled inwards, which set him apart from his fellow ballplayers who nearly always stood with their knees pointing straight ahead. Alou was also famous for never wearing batting gloves, which by the mid-2000s had become commonplace across all of baseball. Finally, he held the bat almost directly perpendicular to the ground while he awaited each pitch.

This batting stance clearly served him well throughout his prolific 17-year big league career. He amassed north of 2100 hits, 1100 RBI, 330 home runs, and 1200 RBI while hitting for a career .303 batting average. Alou finished top-25 in MVP voting seven times, was selected to six All-Star games, and won two Silver Slugger awards.

As a Met, his biggest claim to fame besides his batting stance was when in 2007, at age 40, he batted .341 in 87 games and put together a 30-game hitting streak that is, to date, the longest hitting streak in Mets history.

The Flushing Faithful often serenaded Alou with extended shouts of “Alooooouuuu” when he came up to bat or got a big hit, which no Mets fan or player could have mistaken for booing. He retired as a Met after the 2008 season and deserved every cheer and “Aloooouuu” he received while at Shea.

Gary Sheffield

The 2009 Mets were notorious for featuring a rash of injuries almost unmatched in Mets history, but among the season’s highlights were the efforts of Gary Sheffield. The slugger spent the final year of his splendid 22-year career in Flushing, retiring after the 2009 season. Sheffield had spent a few years across town with the New York Yankees from 2004-2006, but it was in Queens that Sheffield hit one of the most memorable home runs of his career.

Sheffield’s batting stance was one that impressionable young kids watching baseball and molding their own hitting technique would not easily forget. He stood crouched over the plate and wiggled his bat back and forth before every pitch so violently that it looked like he was either waving to someone in the crowd with the bat or wafting away any baseball demons that had been following him that day.

One wonders how he ever managed to line up the bat with the ball in time to make contact, but Sheffield did that plenty of times while he was on the field. He finished his career with many Hall of Fame-worthy numbers: 509 home runs, a career .292 batting average, nearly 2700 hits, and over 1600 career RBI.

While with the Mets, he made headlines when he hit his 500th career home run on April 17, 2009. He is, to date, the only member of the Mets to ever hit a 500th career home run, though of course 499 of Sheffield’s home runs came before he arrived in Flushing.

Sheffield has been on the Hall of Fame ballot every year since 2015, and his vote percentage has increased during that time from 11.7% in 2015 to 30.5% in 2020. His chances at HOF induction are marred by connections to PED use, bad defensive metrics throughout his career, and potentially the fact that he played for many different teams.

Nonetheless, Sheffield’s indelible batting stance and home run history has etched him a place in the canon of Mets lore, whether or not he eventually makes it to the Hall of Fame.

Rickey Henderson

To round out our list of “memorable Mets batting stances” is a Hall of Famer who spent part of the twilight of his career in Queens. Rickey Henderson played for the Mets in 1999 and their World Series-appearance year of 2000, though the Mets released him in May well before they faced the Yankees in that year’s Fall Classic.

When Henderson prepared to bat, he appeared even shorter than his 5’10” height thanks to his pronounced crouch over the plate and high leg kick. With that approach, it is remarkable that he ever hit a pitch above the knees.

“I must be doing something right, because kids keep telling me they’re using my stance,” said Henderson in a 1981 interview with Sports Illustrated. “I can see the ball better this way than standing up. Stand-up hitters see only the top half of the ball. I see the whole thing.”

His strike zone was small because of his stance, but clearly it helped Henderson rather than hurt him. He is a member of the 3,000-hit club and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer. His quick bat speed overcame any inefficiencies that his stance may have brought on, and Henderson found himself on base enough times throughout his career to become the all-time leader in stolen bases by a long shot. His 1406 career steals put him nearly five hundred ahead of Lou Brock, whose 938 swiped bags are second on the all-time list.

“You can say that you slow down with old age, but I still work hard, read pitchers and get good jumps,” said Henderson after he signed with the Mets in December of 1998. “Base stealing is about getting good jumps not about speed. . . That’s why I keep going. I want to go out and challenge Ty’s and Babe Ruth’s [all-time runs and walks records]. It makes you want to keep playing.”

While with the Mets, Henderson was not quite the base stealer he had been earlier in his career but was a threat to steal nonetheless. In 152 games with the Amazins across 1999 and 2000, Henderson stole 42 bases, scored 106 runs, and collected 159 hits. He came to the Mets motivated to continue producing out of the leadoff spot, and that is exactly what he did.

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All of these players approached hitting somewhat unconventionally, but their unique stances made them especially memorable Mets players. The Amazins have not had a particularly unusual batting stance come through Queens in quite some time, but I look forward to rooting for the next Mets player that makes me furrow my brow in confusion whenever they step up to bat.