3 former NY Mets players who went into the Hall of Fame wearing a rival’s cap

3) Richie Ashburn – Phillies in 1995

Here’s the thing about Richie Ashburn: his time as a Mets rival didn’t really happen. He was an original Mets player on the 1962 team and retired after the season. His stint with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1948-1959 never affected the Metropolitans because they weren’t even a thought. New York already had two National League teams eventually bound for California.

Ashburn ended up as a Veterans Committee Hall of Famer in 1995. A lifetime .308 hitter who managed to represent the Mets as an All-Star in 1962 in a season where he batted .306 while walking 81 times versus 39 strikeouts, the three-time league leader in hits and owner of two batting titles didn’t have the mammoth power numbers of some peers. Beloved in Philadelphia, Mets fans never had a chance to really claim his as their own (like we did with Carter) nor was there much animosity for all of the pain he caused as a rival (as in the case with Glavine).

More of a trivia question answer than anything else, the 1962 Mets actually had three future Hall of Famers. Alongside Ashburn, Gil Hodges played 54 games. The third was manager Casey Stengel whose time managing the Yankees put him into the Hall of Fame. It takes more than three Cooperstown-bound people to mix together for a winning recipe. Whether anyone ever passes them in every regard or not, the 1962 Mets remain MLB’s representative as the worst team in league history.