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Kevin Elster

Kevin Elster
Ultimate Mets Database popularity ranking: 49 of 1218 players
Elster
Kevin Daniel Elster
Born: August 3, 1964 at San Pedro, Cal.
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Height: 6.02 Weight: 180

Kevin Elster has been the most popular Ultimate Mets Database daily lookup 13 times, most recently on December 15, 2020.

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First Mets game: September 2, 1986
Last Mets game: April 12, 1992

Share your memories of Kevin Elster

HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY:

Mr. Sparkle
December 21, 2000
He was a pretty decent player but I think he may have cared more about chasing skirt than ground balls. All things considered I can't say I blame him.

NL
March 17, 2001
A top 10 Mets dog. Talented but unfocused, he was a major contributor to the team not building on its success of the mid '80s.

Wayne
June 1, 2001
I think all of you have a problem with knowledge of this game. Elster was the probably the best fielding shortstop next to Ozzie Smith but when you hit .200 everyone thinks you can't field. Wake up people.

Larry
June 20, 2001
I cant remember if it was 1988 or 1989, but in a spring training game against the baltimore orioles in Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Kevin Elster hit a homer in a 7-4 win that I had the priviledge of catching, at the time I was only 9 or 10 years old and was my favorite player.

Toby
November 1, 2001
All I know is that he was one of the best fielders I have ever seen.

Just because he is smoothe does not mean he is lazy. He did set the record for most errorless games in a row in the NL. Every Team he played for won.

He shows up to the Rangers, and they win the divison for the first time. He leaves, and they lose. He comes back the next year and the win it again.

Mike
November 29, 2001
Anybody recall when he charged the mound? I forget who drilled him, but it was back in May 1990 if I'm not mistaken.

Danny Erickson
January 12, 2002
I look back and remember how Kevin was a pretty lousy hitter with the Mets. It's amazing how he rose from the dead with the Texas Rangers. Kevin was a product of the 1980's. A time when ballplayers were good. That's why he feasted upon the piss-poor pitching of today's game.

Mr. Sparkle
January 21, 2002
Please don't make the Yankees!!! Once again Steinbrenner gives a dig to Met fans by trying to revive an ex-Mets career. I HATE them!!!! Please don't make the Yankees!!!

Jim Snedeker
December 11, 2002
I just heard a story that during a 1986 game against the Padres, Kevin was in the clubhouse shagging one of the Padres' girlfriends. Any truth to that? (Talk about smooth!)

Jeff
November 11, 2003
Kevin Elster was a good defensive shortstop but I really don't think he was as good as Bud Harrelson. Also, he didn't have the agility that Rey Ordonez had. He was never thought of as a strong hitter in the minors until he hit over .300 at AAA in 1987. That had me believing that he would be a decent major league hitter and perhaps that Mets shortstop for the next 15 years. He never lived up to his potential. Did you realize that in game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Davey actually let him hit with two outs in the 7th. You're seven out away from losing the WS and you let a guy who hit .269 at AA and was 5 for 30 with ZERO RBI's in the big bat in such a critical situation? Can anyone explain this?

Bob P
November 27, 2003
A couple of comments...first, Elster statistically was an "average" shortstop in the field. His range factor and fielding average for his career were both just barely above the league average. So while he looked smooth (as many have said) his stats say he didn't get to a lot of balls that the really good fielders did. FYI, Harrelson and Ordonez both had better range factors and fielding averages compararble to the league averages.

Secondly, in the Game Six situation, Davey had already pinch-hit for Santana in the 5th inning with Danny Heep (that's when the Mets tied the score at 2-2). There were two outs and nobody on and the pitcher's spot up next when Elster batted against Clemens. From what I recall watching at the time (I know, 17 years is a long time for a precise memory) I wasn't surprised that he didn't send a pinch-hitter up there. His choices were Mazzilli (who at that point in his career was a singles hitter), HoJo (who would bat for Elster in the ninth inning), Ed Hearn, who never pinch-hit, and the righty platooners, Mitchell and Teufel. All these years later it seems like it would have made sense to send HoJo up there against Clemens since HoJo used to murder hard throwing righties, but again, I don't recall second-guessing Davey at the time. Maybe someone else can shed some more light.

Kiwiwriter
August 10, 2004
I remember him as a fine defensive shortstop and was truly amazed when he had 99 RBIs in Texas. Somebody must have been tanking it.

Despite his underachieving, he had a quote in the Klapish-Harper "Worst Team Money Could Buy" book that I liked. He'd go to the mound in a tough situation and tell the pitcher to just let the guy hit a ground ball. "Give me love and I'll take care of you," he said.

I say that to people when they need my help on projects at work or at home, as part of explaining to them that they have to support me with the material I need to do the job and let my bosses know I did a good job after it.

Odd source, but there it is.

Photolita
March 29, 2005
Does anyone know what he's up to now? Last I heard he was opening some restaurant in Vegas but that was a while ago. I keep waiting to hear his name pop up in some Spring Training talk, maybe trying to catch on with another team!

KMT
April 5, 2005
Too bad he couldn't stay healthy! He was smooth on defense and hit enough. Thought Davey Johnson and all should have hit him 2nd in the order. He would have been a better hitter seeing better pitches! Batting before the pitcher most of his career didn't help! His re-hab gave him power towards the end and he had a great season with the Rangers.

Jonathan Stern
April 13, 2005
Was it rehab that enabled Elster to have that great season in Texas? Or was it steroids? That's the way baseball is right now. You just don't know about anyone.

Elster was injured too soon for many of us to enjoy him and his defensive prowess. Many of his throws from shortstop resembled shaky "flutter-balls" launched by aging quarterbacks. And he never was much of a hitter for us. However, he did and still does have that "1986" manner about him, for better or for worse.

Tom Guadagno
May 21, 2005
I have a signed official baseball by Kevin Elster my father got at a Met game many years ago. My friends say it is worthless but I remember Kevin Elster from the 90's and I don't care. It means a lot to me to have his autograph.

David_J
June 3, 2005
For what its worth, we loved him here in Texas. Some for his offense, others for his looks. All I can say is that I never saw or experienced any of egotistical aspects of his personality. It may have to do with the fact that he was getting a "2nd chance" to resurrect his career with the Rangers which he did quite well the first time around. He wasn't the reason we got to the division title but he definitely had a lot to do with it. He may not have the range or power of A-Rod or Ozzie's smoothness but he gave 110% every time I saw him play. I'm sure he did come across a little too laid back but it was that type of personality and confidence that kept him from committing "rushed" errors when the game was on the line. I always knew when it hit his glove that it was a sure out.

One of my last memories of him was with the Rangers and it wasn't on the field either. He stopped in at a local pub after a game wearing surfer shorts and flip- flops talking to everyone that had something to say to him (as well as the ladies). He may have been an ass in his early years with the Mets but we truly enjoyed his new attitude in Texas. It isn't very often players will open themselves up in a public place immediately after a game. I call that down-to- earth.

Photolita
August 24, 2006
It was so great seeing him this past weekend during the 86 reunion. That was a lot of fun. I was dying to get his autograph but I couldn't get anywhere close enough. I was also dying to ask him to marry me but I thought, hey, perhaps just an autograph would be more appropriate! Very cool ceremony none the less, so amazing to see the whole team back together.

Mr. Sparkle
September 8, 2006
He was one guy from 86 during the 20th anniversary that I totally did not recognize. He totally let himself go. He looks like he probably drinks a case of beer a night.

Joe Figliola
October 4, 2006
I agree with Sparkle-puss about Elster's appearance. The only thing that looked different on Kevin at '86 night was how thin his hair was. I thought Sparkly's beer belly remark, however, was a bit insensitive. You can get a gut drinking alcohol or soda or through inactivity. As Tony Randall once said: "Never assume, because when you assume you..." oh, you know the rest.

Joe Figliola
November 18, 2006
I think we all wish that our favorite Mets players could remain forever young. It seems that those who haven't seen Elster for a long time expected to see that skinny kid with the layered hair parted in the middle. Unfortunately, time and inactivity sometimes changes you; however, there are those (such as myself) who can still look in the mirror and through hard work can proudly say that they still weigh the same and still have all his hair as they did 20 years ago.

Dave Harper
September 28, 2007
Kevin was a friend of mine in Dallas when I got to play "back-up" for him on the Rangers' team. He was both a great player and a genuinely great guy! I blew my arm out there after only two months. I would like to find out how to write him an e-mail.

Photolita
February 25, 2010
I just have to say, I love how this dialog is still going after all these years! Someone has to get Kevin to drop by one day and leave a comment! I'm getting a new Mets jersey made up with #21 "Elster" on it. I have to because every other time I buy a player jersey they either go down for the season or get traded. I can't jinx anyone else's career so this is my only option. So if you see an Elster jersey at CitiField, you'll know it's me!

Tim
January 9, 2011
Kevin is a good friend of a friend of mine and I can't even get an autograph from him, despite the fact that I am a diehard Mets fan since 1984. I am needing only 6 autographs to complete the 86 Mets team and his is one. From what I hear, Kevin is totally against signing autographs or doing anything along those lines.

I remember seeing him in Candlestick Park and telling him that the friend said hello - remind you that he is a VERY good friend - and Kevin simply said "Ok, tell him hi." His blood pressure didn't rise a bit. Perhaps if the friend was a girl it might have been different. I can't help but think that his relationship with Mex and the girls was part of the downfall of the Mets - that and the abysmal trades of Wally and Nails. Damn Cashen - should have stuck with what was working!!!!

Rick
January 4, 2013
I worked for the Tides when Kevin played in Triple A. At first he seemed to be very stand-offish to me but one of the other players told me that Kevin was always afraid that people only wanted to get close to him because he played professional baseball. Since our birthdays were only two days apart I had Chuck, the bartender in the stadium restaurant, make me Kevin's favorite drink as a birthday gift on the night of the last home game before the team went on the road. It was in his locker when the game ended. Kevin came to the office and thanked me. When that road trip was over I returned to the office after the first home game and found a whiskey sour waiting for me as a birthday gift. After that night Kevin was great toward me and always had time to talk about non-baseball items. Perhaps the secret was that I never asked anything of him, not even an autograph. When he went to the Mets and they came down for an exhibition game Kevin always came to the office to say "Hi". To this day he remains one of my favorite people.

T. O'Toole
January 23, 2013
As a 25+ year film veteran, I worked with Kevin Elster during the summer + autumn of 1993 on the film Little Big League shot in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN. He was a decent, funny guy. Not all the current and former players appearing in the film [at that time] were. Leon Durham was super cool. Sandy ALomar, Jr. was super funny. Sure, Kevin was a ladies man, but he showed up every day and worked hard. As a life-long baseball fan it was fun to share memories with him over a beer or three after work. He'd ask me about movie stars I worked with; I'd ask him about pitchers he hated to face. Everyone wants to know about something else. Hope he is well.

Beth Ann Clark
July 14, 2020
I have fond memories about Kevin. He was an awesome shortstop- very smooth and not many errors. And I know why the ladies admired him. ????

LG
March 13, 2024
Talents with accomplishments didn't match up...
Blame to go around; trying to make him a kind of opposite field spray didn't help








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