Mystery Batting Leaders
by Bob Tompkins

(Below is the article as it first appeared on Rounding Third's website in January of 2003. But the 2003 season brought into being a new all-time Mets batting leader. Read the article below to see my methodology, and then go to the bottom of the page to see the new champion unveiled!)

Quick: Who's the all-time leader in career batting average as a New York Met? If you answered Keith Hernandez, Mike Piazza, or Cleon Jones … you're right. And if you answered Gary Bennett, you're right, too.

How can this be? Because when I asked the question, I didn't give you specific enough boundaries to for you to be able to provide a valid answer. It all depends on how many plate appearances a player has accumulated. For example, Gary Bennett (along with two others) went 1-for-1 in his Mets career, giving him a career Met batting average of 1.000. So he's the all-time leader, right? Well … of course not. So, say you only want to include players who have been up to the plate 5,000 times for the Mets—that would winnow out the chaff, right? Yes, it would, and it would leave you with only one player in history: Ed Kranepool, who had a career batting average of .261. He's the all-time leader then, right? Well … of course not.

In my thinking, to qualify as the all-time Met batting leader, a player should have been up to the plate 1,000 times as a Met (the equivalent of two full seasons, or three or four years as a part-timer). And the all-time Met batting champ with at least 1,000 career plate appearances for New York is none other than … Lance Johnson! Did you see that coming?

But some of you may not be satisfied with that 1,000-plate-appearance stipulation. "Too many!" say some; "Too few!" say others. So, just because I know you're as curious about this subject as I am, what follows below is the list of all-time New York Met batting average leaders at every possible break (which will lead us by default to the career leader in at-bats for the Mets, Mr. Kranepool). You can decide for yourself who your batting champion is. Enjoy!

At least 1 at-bat: 1.000 In 1990, Dave Liddell became the first Met to ever begin and end his career with a perfect 1.000 batting average. Two years later, Rodney McCray appeared in 18 games for the Mets, but only came up to bat once, getting a single. And in 2001, the afore-mentioned Gary Bennett completed this threesome with a base hit in his only at-bat with the Mets. (When I first wrote this article, I neglected to take into account pitchers' batting; adding them into the mix brings our total of 1.000 hitters to five, with Ray Searage in 1981 becoming the first Met to turn the trick, and Eric Cammack in 2000 hitting a triple in his only big-league at-bat! RWT 9/30/2003)
At least 2 at-bats: .500 Another threesome at this level, all of who went 1-for-2 in their Mets career. Francisco Estrada turned the trick in 1971, Greg Harts did it in 1973, and Brook Fordyce smacked a double for his lone Met hit in 1995. (Again, adding pichers' batting into the mix changes the picture considerably. Topping this category is Mike Draper, who at 2-for-3, had a .667 career batting average. Mets pitchers had .500 batting averages all the way up to 10 at-bats! Those batting champions include Dave Eilers, Billy Connors, Jack Aker, Blaine Beatty, and Bobby M. Jones (each 1-for-2), Greg McMichael (2-for-4), and the 10 at-bat champion, Gerry Arrigo (5 hits, including 2 doubles). RWT 9/30/2003)
At least 3 at-bats: .417 At the end of 2002, Brady Clark went 5-for-12 for the Mets after coming over from the Reds. (Adding in his 2008 NY cameo, friend Brady falls off the list entirely, but still hit a nice .350 for his Met career in 20 at-bats. RWT 4/25/2008)		At least 13 at-bats: .407 Herm Winningham went 11-for-27 with a double and a triple in 1984, his lone trial with New York.
At least 28 at-bats: .348 The first player on this list who had an extended stretch of time with the Mets, infielder Bob Johnson hit .348 in 230 at-bats in 1967.		At least 231 at-bats: .326 Here's my pick for your all-time Mets batting champion, Lance Johnson, who batted a sterling .326 in 947 at-bats (1,014 total plate appearances) in 1996-97.
At least 948 at-bats: .315 You'll get no argument from me if you want to declare your batting champion at this level: John Olerud hit .315 in 1,662 at-bats for the Mets from 1997-99.		At least 1,663 at-bats: .309 No argument here, either. Mike Piazza has hit .309 for the Mets so far in his Mets career (2,391 at-bats through the 2002 season). (By the time Mikey's tenure was through, he would be bumped down a spot on this list, with his .296 average in 3,478 career at-bats dropping him behind Keith Hernandez, but displacing Edgardo Alfonzo entirely. RWT 4/25/2008)
At least 2,392 at-bats: .297 Another all-time Met hero, but that career batting average dips below .300 for the first time. We can't call him our all-time champion, can we? Nevertheless, Keith Hernandez hit a superb .297 in over 3,000 times up to the plate with the Mets. (Keith will be bumped from this list by a certain young Mr. Wright sometime later this season. So far David is hitting .311 in over 2,100 at-bats. RWT 4/25/2008)		At least 3,165 at-bats: .292 Edgardo Alfonzo has the highest all-time career batting average for any Met who tallied at least 1,000 base hits (1,136-for-3,897). (A true statement when it was written, but as noted above, Fonzie has been displaced by Mike Piazza. RWT 4/25/2008)
At least 3,898 at-bats: .281 Cleon Jones, the first long-duration Mets batting star, scored that .281 mark in over 4,000 at-bats in the 1960s and '70s.		At least 4,224 at-bats: .261 Ed Kranepool's .261 batting average looked better in his generation than it does now, and until someone else comes up to the plate 5,436 times for the Mets, he'll always be on this list!

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And now, at last, a new all-time Mets batting champion, dethroning about 15 fellows from the lists above: pitcher Jason Roach, who went 2-for-2 in his two games with the Mets in 2003.

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