3 Mets fan favorites who were ruined after a position change

2) Howard Johnson

Howard Johnson was one of the best offensive players to ever put on a Mets uniform. HoJo had a great blend of power, from both sides of the plate, and speed.

Johnson was a part-time third baseman and shortstop his first two seasons in 1985 and ’86, as the Mets had Ray Knight to man third base. But after Knight left following the ’86 World Series Championship, Johnson grabbed hold of the everyday job at third and had a five-year run that saw him average 31 homers, 95 RBI, and 32 stolen bases.

HoJo was a three-time member of the 30-30 club…hitting at least 30 home runs and stealing at least 30 bases in 1987, 1989, and 1991. He led the NL in home runs and RBI in that ’91 season.

And then came 1992. He played a good third base. He actually played a pretty good shortstop whenever Davey Johnson wanted more offense in the lineup. So why not put him in centerfield? Well…apparently the Mets hierarchy didn’t learn anything after the Juan Samuel debacle. And just like Samuel, Johnson looked horrible in the outfield and, suddenly, looked horrible at the plate.

The move also caused him some nagging injuries, eventually learning that he had broken his wrist. He was never the same. He ended up in Colorado with the Rockies for a season, moved on to the Cubs, but could never get back to the player he was before trying to be a centerfielder.

3) Todd Hundley

Todd Hundley came up with a name that had some significance in Mets lore. His dad, Randy Hundley, was the catcher for the 1969 Chicago Cubs that lost out to those Miracle Mets. Randy was a good player. But Todd…he was believed to be a lot better.

It took Todd a while to get going, but once he did, and became a full-time player, he displayed the kind of power that the Mets hadn’t had since….since…a productive Howard Johnson.

In 1996, Hundley broke out and hit 41 home runs with 112 RBI, while hitting .259 and making his first All Star appearance. He followed that up with another All Star campaign in 1997, hitting .273 with 30 dingers and 86 RBI.

The two-time All Star catcher was still only 28 years old when the Mets surprised the baseball world by acquiring another All Star catcher, Mike Piazza, from the Florida Marlins a month into the 1998 season. While it would have made sense for the Mets to include Hundley in such a trade – All Star catcher for All Star catcher – apparently either the Marlins preferred the others they received in the trade or the Mets were not exactly confident that they could re-sign Piazza after the season was over and he became a free agent.

Piazza was a first baseman in college who converted to catcher to get to the Major Leagues quicker. But the Mets had John Olerud at first base and Piazza wasn’t exactly good or comfortable there anyway. (We would discover that in depth later on.)

So in their infinite wisdom to switch players to other positions…and their absolute success rate with such moves…they decided to move Hundley out to left field. Now they didn’t attempt such a move during the off-season, during spring training. They did it smack in the middle of the season.

The results were just embarrassing. It was really unfair to Hundley…to stick him out there and make him look helpless.

The move to left field destroyed him. Hundley would end up hitting just .161 with 3 HR and 12 RBI, playing just 53 games. He would go on to play two seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and even two seasons with his dad’s Cubs. But like Mazzilli and Johnson before him, he was never the same.