Tommie Agee who had three cups of coffee with the Cleveland Indians from 1962 to 1964 was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1966 as a member of the White Sox. But his production started to fall off over the next two seasons and the White Sox decided they had seen enough and shipped him to the Mets. Though he struggled in his first season in New York, he turned out to be a god send in helping the Mets win the 1969 World Series.
In 1969 Tommie Agee hit .271 while leading the Mets in home runs (26), RBI’s (76) and runs scored (97). Agee got off to a strong start in 1969 hitting two home runs during the third game of the season against the Montreal Expos, one of which was hit to section 48 of the upper deck in Shea Stadium, becoming the first and only player to hit a home run into the upper deck.
Even though Agee had a brilliant regular season in 1969, it was his brilliant postseason performance which cemented his legacy in Mets history. After hitting .357 with two home runs and four RBI’s in the National League Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves, Agee continued his superb play in the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles.
After the Mets split the first two games in Baltimore they returned home looking to win their first World Series title. Tommie Agee led off game three of the series with a home run off of Baltimore ace and future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer to give the Mets an early 1-0 lead. A lead they would not relinquish due in large part to the defensive heroics of Agee in centerfield. Agee made two spectacular catches in centerfield saving at least five runs from scoring. The Mets would win the game by a score of 5-0 and never look back as they shocked the world and won their first World Series title in five games.
Agee continued his stellar play in 1970 hitting a career best .286 while once again leading the Mets with 24 home runs and 75 runs batted in, In 1970 Agee also became the first player in franchise history to win a gold glove.
In 1970 Agee set the following franchise records, which have all since been broken:
Most At-bats - 636
Most Runs - 107
Most Hits - 182
Most Stolen Bases - 31
Most Total Bases - 298
Though Agee still led the Mets in 1971 with 14 home runs, sharing the honor with Ed Kranepool and Cleon Jones, knee injuries affected his production in 1971 and 1972 prompting the Mets to trade him to the Houston Astros following the 1972 season for Rich Chiles and Buddy Harris.
He would go on to play for the Astros and Cardinals in 1973 but was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to the 1974 season ending his playing career.
In five seasons with the Mets Tommie Agee hit .262 with 82 home runs and 265 RBI’s in 661 games. He also played 8 postseason games hitting .250 with 3 home runs and 5 runs batted in.
Tommie Agee was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2002 but unfortunately was not able to enjoy the moment as he passed away in January 2001.
While with the Mets Tommie Agee wore number 20.
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