NY Mets managers ranked based on their playing career

When it comes to New York Mets managers, success as a player doesn’t always translate into success as a manager. The Mets have had some successful managers on their payroll, but they weren’t always the most talented players. And they have had successful players that haven’t exactly done too well as Mets managers.

I thought it would be fun to rank the top 5 Mets managers, not as managers, but as players. The main criteria would be that they had to have managed the Mets for at least one full season. So that would immediately eliminate a pretty good player in Frank Howard from the list.

And even though Bud Harrelson is a beloved Met, and managed for more than a full season, his stats couldn’t get him to crack the Top 5. Bobby Valentine…who had a pretty good run as Mets manager, just didn’t cut it as a player…having been cut down in the beginning of his once-promising career when he ran into a wall and never fully recovered.

5) Mets manager Davey Johnson

Davey Johnson played a role in both of the Mets World Championships. As the second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles, he flew out to Cleon Jones in leftfield to make the last out of the 1969 World Series. And after the Orioles’ architect, Frank Cashen, was brought to the Mets to build a champion, Johnson was brought into the organization as a minor league manager and then elevated to Mets manager in 1984. He led the Mets to their second, and last, World Championship in 1986.

As a player, Johnson was a three-time Gold Glove-winning, slick-fielding second baseman, teaming with shortstop Mark Belanger and third baseman Brooks Robinson to be one of the best fielding infields of all-time. Johnson could also handle the bat, hitting for a .261 career average and was a clutch run-producer. He was pretty much forgotten in a lineup that included Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson, as well as power-hitting first baseman Boog Powell.

But following a trade to the Atlanta Braves after an injury-riddled 1972 season, Johnson banged 43 home runs in 1973. He led the Braves in home runs that season, as third baseman Darrell Evans hit 41 dingers and some guy named Henry Aaron was third with a mere 40. It was the first time in Major League history that a team had a trio hit 40 or more home runs.

Johnson was never able to duplicate that season, or even come close to it. Not surprisingly, he had a huge drop-off the following season, although not awful. But injuries got the best of him and his playing days were soon over. Oh…and although Johnson is the most successful manager in Mets history, he is the only one of the Top 5 to never suit up for the Mets as a player.

3) Met manager Joe Torre

Joe Torre was an all-star catcher with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for slugger Orlando Cepeda. With St. Louis already having Tim McCarver behind the plate, Torre played the corner infield positions for the Cardinals.

Torre was a nine-time all-star and won a Gold Glove Award as a catcher, while batting .297 over his career accumulating over 2,400 base hits including over 250 home runs. In 1971 he collected a league-leading 230 hits to lead the NL with a .363 batting average and he was named the NL MVP.

Torre was brought to the Mets at the age of 34 to play third base, but he would just turn out to be another failed attempt at stability in that position for the Mets. His playing time in a Mets uniform was not indicative of the kind of offensive player Torre was. He is probably most famous for grounding into four consecutive double plays in a game. And he blamed it all on Felix Millan who singled ahead of him all four times.

Torre played two seasons as a part-time player, never playing more than 114 games. In his third season, 1977, he became the player-manager, but retired to manage full-time after appearing in just 26 games, and just in time for the Midnight Massacre

His best playing days were in another uniform other than the Mets and, obviously, the Hall of Fame manager had his best managerial days in another uniform other than the Mets.

2) Mets manager Gil Hodges

Gil Hodges should be in the Hall of Fame. That is the clearest message to send when talking about Hodges.

Hodges was a power-hitting first baseman, slugging 370 career home runs, for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was an eight-time all star and won 2 Gold Glove awards. Hodges was the big run-producer in the middle of the lineup for the Dodgers in Brooklyn when he averaged well over 100 RBI per season.

Hodges lost two seasons due to his time in the Marines during WWII and still put together some Hall of Fame worthy numbers. His value to the Dodgers was immeasurable and was the quiet leader on a team of big names like Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo, and, of course, Jackie Robinson. Yet for some reason, he is the one who has repeatedly, and undeservedly, gotten overlooked.

He was an original Met in 1962. But at 38 years of age, he was already three seasons away from being productive, yet hit nine home runs in 54 games playing part-time. He retired a short time into the ’63 season after just 11 games.

1) Mets manager Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra is a legend…an absolute legend. He is, of course, a Hall of Fame catcher. He was the kind of hitter you wish the players of today would look at and try to emulate. Why? He didn’t LOOK like a ballplayer. He didn’t look like he spent much time in the gym. But the man could flat out hit. And he could hit ANYTHING. He was the best “bad ball” hitter probably to ever play the game.

Yogi hit .285 for his career with 358 home runs. But that doesn’t even tell the story. He accumulated over 2,100 base hits while striking out a mere 414 times in 8,364 plate appearances. He actually walked nearly 300 times more than he struck out and the most he ever struck out in a single season was 38 times. Unfathomable in today’s game.

And…AND…the guy could play the outfield. And he played it well. When Elston Howard came up to be another all star catcher for the Yankees, Yogi would play leftfield.

Yogi had retired as a player with the Yankees following the 1963 season to manage the team for the 1964 season. The Yanks lost the ’64 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals and the team fired Yogi in an ugly way.

The Mets saw a great PR opportunity and jumped on it, bringing Yogi to Flushing as a player-coach for the Mets for the 1965 season. At the age of 40, Yogi played in four games and made nine plate appearances, getting two hits. He spent the next six seasons as a Mets coach until being called upon to manage the team in 1972 following the sudden death of Hodges.

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Yogi was also an extremely knowledgeable player. He knew every player and knew their tendencies. He was on top of everything. A true field general. On the field. However, he simply couldn’t be as successful once he got in the dugout. Unfortunately.