The best NY Mets cameo continues to belong to one of their underrated stars

Over the years, approximately 1,252 men have donned the orange and blue for the New York Metropolitans. We all remember The Franchise, The Captain, Doc, Darly, Piazza, Keith, and Koosman. However, there are Mets that have unfairly been lost to time. Players who not only contributed and earned a special place in Mets lore but also in the hearts of fans.

One of these Amazin' men wasn't only a solid ball player but a movie star to boot. A movie star is a bit of a stretch, but the man did have one of the greatest athlete cameos in cinema history. The man I speak of is none other than Bernard Gilkey.

The "Gilkey-Way"

The Left Fielder from St. Louis, Missouri, started his career in 1990 for his hometown Cardinals before being traded to the Mets in 1996. Gilkey would only play 3 of his 12 big league seasons with the Amazins' but his impact was definitely felt.

From 1996 to 1998, the man who should have been known as the belted 52 Home runs and 223 RBIs. His best season in orange and blue was also his career best, and it came in 1996. It wasn't exactly a banner year for the Mets, with the team finishing in 4th place with a 71-91 record and having to witness their cross-time rival Yankees win their first championship in 18 years. But despite the team's disappointment, Gilkey undeniably balled out! In '96, he hit 30 home runs and drove in 117 RBIs while batting .317. If that slash line wasn't enough, he also set the Met's all-time single-season double record, which still stands at 44. Not only did Bernard hit that season, he also flashed the leather and led the league with 18 outfield assists.

From the Big Leagues to the Big Screen

If that wasn't enough, our man Bernard would follow up his stellar 1996 with an unforgettable 1997. Not on the field where his numbers dropped significantly, but he made an impact at the box office. Bernard would make a memorable cameo in the Will Smith Comedy Classic' Men in Black.' Gilkey would play himself in the role that had him going back on a fly ball, but instead of catching it, he gets distracted by a spaceship overhead, and the ball hits him in the head. Comedy Gold from the man who should have been known as "Gilkey-Way." Get it? Gilkey-Way? Milky Way? It was a movie about outer space, and … anyway, in a 2020 interview, while being inducted, Gilkey described his short-lived movie career as 'pretty strange' but fun. 

"My agent at the time called me and I was in the middle of trying to transition to playing in New York and he said that somebody called from Columbia Pictures and would you be interested in doing a sci-fi movie," Bernard said. "I thought he was kidding, so I didn't pay any attention to it and a couple weeks later he said they really want to know if you're gonna do it or not. Tommy Lee Jones is gonna be in it and Will Smith and then I said 'Oh are you serious?" The rest is cinema history. 

While not a household name, Mets fans of a certain age will fondly remember Gilkey as a talented player and franchise face from the latter half of the Mets post-'80s slide into obscurity in the 1990s. Bernard will forever be in Mets fans' hearts and on our TV screens, provided you have a Peacock or Amazon Prime Video account.