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Hobie Landrith

Hobie Landrith
Ultimate Mets Database popularity ranking: 458 of 1252 players
Landrith
Hobart Neal Landrith
Born: March 16, 1930 at Decatur, Ill.
Died: April 6, 2023 at Sunnyvale, Cal.
Throws: Right Bats: Left
Height: 5.10 Weight: 170

Hobie Landrith was the most popular Ultimate Mets Database daily lookup on March 16, 2015, March 16, 2022, April 8, 2023, April 9, 2023, and April 11, 2023.

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First Mets game: April 11, 1962
Last Mets game: June 6, 1962

Share your memories of Hobie Landrith

HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY:

Alex Simon
We have had the honor to meet Hobie and he is as fine a gentleman as you could ever meet. He was truly the proper pick as the first MET. He represents everything good about baseball. We hope many other fans get a chance to meet Hobie and enjoy his stories.

Robbie Doiron
I met Mr. Landrith at a S.F. Giants fantasy camp and immediately understood the meaning of "true gentleman". It was completely refreshing to chat, play for and admire a man who represents his family, sport and the Giants so magnificently. He truly is a hero for more reasons than just having played the game.

Ron from Tampa
June 30, 2001
 If I remember the story correctly, Landrith was the Mets' first pick in the 1962 expansion draft. Afterwards, when reporters asked Casey Stengel why the team had drafted a catcher as the first pick , he responded, in typical Stengelese, "You gotta have a catcher or else you'll have all passed balls"

John Herling
October 9, 2001
 Landrith had the dubious honor of being involved in the first bad trade in Mets history: while hitting and fielding well, Landrith was traded to Baltimore for the (in)famous Marv Throneberry! The trade was necessitated by an injury to the Mets' starting first baseman, Gil Hodges.

jamey bumbalo
November 25, 2005
 Hobie Landrith is the answer to the trivia questions about the first Met drafted and who was traded for Marvelous Marv Throneberry, but don't forget that he played 14 years in the majors, which is no small feat.

Jonathan Stern
December 2, 2005
 In Dick Schaap's book on the 1969 Mets, "The Year The Mets Lost Last Place," is a funny scene in which a now retired Hobie Landrith drops a can of paint while painting his house. Said Landrith, "That's why the Mets got rid of me."

Mike T.
March 8, 2011
 Last week I sent out a round of Through the Mail autograph requests. I've always had great luck with this and have hundreds of nice autographs from Mets players 1962 - 1975. Today I received two SASEs. It's (usually) great fun ripping them open to see what's inside. The first one was my returned cards (1962 Topps, 1991 WIZ) of Hobie Landrith. Unsigned and a scribbled note that read, "$5.00 per autograph". Hmmm... it took him as much time to write the note and pack up the cards than it would to just sign them.

The next was from Jim Hickman (1991 WIZ, 1982 Galasso and 1982 Galasso Team card) all signed, no mention of money. I wrote to Landrith some time ago (about 10 years) and received my 1962 Topps card in return with no mention of $$$. Must be tough times for an 80-year ex-middlin' player. That was the third time for Hickman over the last 10 or so years and again no mention of money (he even signed and returned the expensive 1962 Rookie card). Some players I guess are just happy to be remembered and some have a different approach to it. The only two I ever sent money to were Frank Thomas and Ron Hunt because of their bona fide charities.

Flitgun Frankie
November 17, 2020
 Having listened to all available 1962 Mets games, it struck me, from what you can pick up listening to a radio broadcast without seeing the game, that Landrith was a pretty good catcher. Considering he only played 23 games for them, the team just sounds a little better coordinated when Landrith was in the game, and coordination was something they badly needed. Their team catching may have been the worst in Major League history, and the only time they sounded on the ball was when Landrith was in the game. And I believe the catcher is the player who sets the tone for the whole team.

Of course, even if they kept him longer than they did, they still would have lost 120 games. Or maybe just 118. Just a pretty good catcher wasn't going to make that much of a difference on a team this bad. Even Johnny Bench couldn't have made that much of a difference. And getting Marv Throneberry and all the stories and legends he inspired I guess was worth it, especially considering that Landrith fared so poorly when he went to Baltimore.

NYB Buff
April 24, 2023
 Hobie was the third former Mets player (preceded by Dave Hillman and Frank Thomas) of at least ninety years of age that passed away over a five-month period between November 2022 and April 2023. He was the first to be selected by the team in the expansion draft and also the catcher in their inaugural game in 1962. Landrith's only home run as a Met was a walk-off winner against Warren Spahn in a doubleheader opener on May 12th at the Polo Grounds. He was later sent to the Orioles in exchange for Marv Throneberry.

An interesting note about Hobie is that he ended his career by playing for Gil Hodges with the Washington Senators in 1963.

RIP, Hobie.








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