3 future Hall of Fame players who were flops with the NY Mets

The New York Mets have had some talented players over the years. Some have even been Hall of Famers. Actually, Mets fans know that there are only two players who are in the Hall AS New York Mets – Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza.

But there were others who are in the Hall who, at one time, wore the Mets orange and blue. Nolan Ryan, Eddie Murray, Rickey Henderson, and Billy Wagner all performed well and did nothing to tarnish their Hall of Fame careers while toiling briefly for the Mets.

There were three, though, who were considered the most talented of their day, only to fail miserably in a Met uniform.

1) Warren Spahn was not able to continue his winning ways with the New York Mets

Spahn was already on his way to the Hall of Fame as the winningest left handed pitcher in baseball history when he came to the Mets. And there was no reason to think he may be slowing down.

From 1947 to 1963 Spahn won 335 games, winning at least 20 games an astounding 13 times in 17 seasons. He led the NL with complete games 9 times, completing more than 20 games a total of 12 times during that same period.

Spahn would go 23-7 with a 2.60 ERA and a league-leading 22 complete games while throwing 259 innings for the Milwaukee Braves in 1963 at age 42. But then he would suffer the worst season of his career in 1964, finishing 6-13 with a 5.29 ERA, with the least amount of starts since his rookie season of 1946.

The Mets took a flier on him during the winter of 1964. It was a time when the Mets were still in their infancy and just trying to fill their roster with big names until the organization built its foundation. And that worked for some other big names at the end of their careers – like Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Richie Ashburn. And the Mets were SO bad that it couldn’t be any worse, right?

Well, Spahn started 19 games for the Mets in 1965, and went 4-12 with a 4.36 ERA. The highlight of his tenure? That came when the Mets signed Yogi Berra to be a player-coach and the two teamed in one game to be the oldest battery in Major League history.

Spahn was released in July and, although he was picked up by the San Francisco Giants for their stretch drive to the ’65 World Series, he would finally retire after that season.

Spahn was one of the top pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball. But you could never tell by watching him pitch in a Mets uniform.