But Brogna was good. He played only one full season with the team and excelled, hitting 22 homers with 76 RBI in 1995. The year before, he had a .351/.380/.626 slash line in 39 games. Even in his 'down' year of 1996, he still managed a 100 OPS+. So all told, his 162 game averages with NY were 26 HR, 90 RBI a .291/.342/.495 slash line and a 121 OPS+. Not bad!

And all the Mets had to do to get him was trade Alan Zinter, who didn't even debut in the majors until 2002, when he was 34.

Also, I've written him two autograph requests in my day, in 2005 and this year, both through his home address, but he hasn't responded.

And, while he's a long shot for the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, he does have his supporters (especially with the advent of WAR and other sabermetrics). He also had plenty of supporters in the Mets Hall of Fame project I run on another website, as he was elected with 87.50% of the vote on just his second try.

Not bad for a guy we traded three inconsequential players for! The Mets don't really end up on the winning side of transactional 'steals,' but they definitely did with this one. Ed Hearn, Mauro Gozzo and Rick Anderson for David Cone (and Chris Jelic)...I'll take it!

He didn't wow me in his debut in 2023, but I also didn't realize he stole 7 bases in 26 games, which is pretty impressive.

In typical Mets fashion, he's going to be out for much of 2024 with an injury.

He's been a 20-20 guy in the minors, so what does that translate to in New York Mets terms? Three stunted seasons and a .190 average? Probably will be something like that.

Hope for the best, expect the worst: The New York Mets.™

We Mets fans will always see Endy in every positive way.

Many tend to remember him for the catch in game 7 of the 2006 NLCS (as many should), but many also tend to forget that he hit over .300 (in limited at-bats) during the 2006 season, and almost hit .300 again in 2007 (in limited at-bats).

He was also a SENSATIONAL defensive outfielder (left-center-right), who had a strong AND accurate throwing arm, and could cover lots of ground.

His career changed for the best when Randolph was his manager, who changed his swing and told him to stop hitting the ball in the air and to use his speed.

Again, he only played 3 seasons, was mostly a bench player, but he is one of the most beloved Mets players in history.

With that said, I really do wish he would have gotten a hit in the bottom of the 6th inning with two outs and the bases loaded off Suppan in game 7, but the Mets just couldn't hit Suppan or Weaver in that NLCS.

He had a killer first professional season, though. As an 18-year-old in 1992, he went 8-0 with a 1.35 ERA in rookie and Low-A ball.

In 2003, he signed a card through the mail for me care of the Cardinals in 11 days.

Anyway, I've sent him two autograph requests in my day. The first was through the Charlotte Knights in 2008 and the second was nearly a decade later through his home address, in 2017. He has yet to respond.

Where'd THIS guy come from???

Bob’s family had a small farm of sorts near our place in the Spring Grove area of Illinois.My grandfather Pa used to go to their place for eggs.

Bob was my grade school and high school hero - he was a really great kid AND leader. I NEVER saw Bob put down or, in any way, demean a boy with lesser skills. He was the perfect combination of great player and great leader, imo. When at St Peter’s, Bob insisted ALL the boys in the upper grades must be allowed to play. We often had ten men on a team or more, just so everyone could play. Sure, it wasn’t REALLY baseball, or football, but, this was long before there was were little leagues. Now, how many jocks would do that, instead of making sure they, themselves, had fun?

Bob was also good football player and was the starting QB at Grant HS in Ingleside, ill.

I don’t think things went as well as they could have for Bob in his early adult years, but I lost track of him as we moved on.

I can only hope he had a good life - because he deserved it.

...but by the end of April, he was hitting .256. And he never really recovered, and all he gave the Mets, for the most part, was headaches and frustration. He resuscitated our hopes in July by hitting .336 that month, though by and large highlights became few and far between.

Still, he finished 6th in Rookie of the Year voting in 2004—and it wasn't a weak crop that year, either. Future Met Jason Bay won, while Matt Holliday, Aaron Miles and Khahil Greene also earned support.

Anyway, by 2005 he was a non-factor and by 2006 all he could get the Mets in a trade was journeyman Eli Marrero from the Rockies.

(And, of course, when he leaves the Mets he puts it together to hit .345 with Colorado, then .288 the next year and .293 with Houston in 2008).

Matsui was just an underwhelming guy. He had great power and speed and averages in Japan and didn't give us any of them.

After his stay in the majors, he returned to Japan, where he played until 2018, when he was 42. He finished his career with nearly 2,900 hits, 250 homers, 500 steals and over 1,500 runs at all levels.