Ultimate Mets Database - Memories of Todd Hundley

Audrey
Todd Hundley is my favorite player. I loved him since I was 8 years old. He is such a great guy and such a great team leader. It is so upseting that he got injured and that he was traded. I cried when he was. I went to the Met game on August 6th to see him. It was so great to see him at Shea Stadium. I got to get his autograph and I got to exchange some words with him.

Mary Dattner
When Todd was a NY Met, he was the greatest and I am sure he still is. He is a team player and a good baseball player and I feel very bad he was injured. I wish him the best of luck in LA and I hope he hits 41 home runs again for the LA just not when he plays the METS. I also remember his dad when he played against the METS in the 1969 Eastern Division leading up the playoffs. Its just funny that after all those years his son would play on the very same team his dad lost to in 1969. Good Luck to Todd in his future on the LA Dodgers.

Robert Ford
I remember watching Todd develop from a skinny, weak-hitting catcher to a cog in the Mets lineup. I was at Shea on Labor Day 1996 when he hit his 39th HR, tying Darryl Strawberry's then-team record en route to 41. I sure hope he rebounds from his shoulder injury, but it looks like it may have curtailed his once brilliant career.

niks
Todd Hundley was a bright spot on some really sorry Met teams in the early '90s. When he went for elbow surgery, and the Mets acquired Piazza, I'm sure we were all excited about the prospect of having Piazza and Todd in the same lineup. Unfortunately, things didn't work out for Todd and the Mets when he came back. I wish him luck in LA, and thank him for keeping some excitement in watching the sorry Mets.

Mr. Sparkle
Here's a guy that I went from hating to loving. When he first came up he couldn't hit a lick. Within a few years he became a team leader and a major offensive force. I used to argue with some that he was better than Piazza because he was better defensively and had just as much power. Now that Piazza's a Met I realize that arguement was ridiculous. He was an all-star however. Too bad the outfield experiment didn't work. He was the worst outfielder I've ever seen. I'm glad he got a standing ovation when he came back as a Dodger. He's a class act.

Ed Horatio
Todd was one of the bright spots in a rather bad period of Met history. However, he should have learned how to play leftfield. He should have told the Mets that he was willing to go to the Fall Instructional league, winter ball, and then a full spring training. He would have been great to have in the Met lineup today.

Mackey Sasser
December 18, 2000
Todd wasn't much of a catcher but man could he play the outfield!!!

goreking
January 16, 2001
Gulp...gulp...gulp...Three shots for Todd!

Slim Greek Jim
January 19, 2001
He's no Ron Hodges. Ron hodges drank milk.

EG
February 14, 2001
Deserves a lot of credit for being willing to embarass himself by learning the OF in the Bigs with no experience, to try to help the team. A lot of players with big egos wouldn't have jeapordized their image.

Solid player.

Henny
April 4, 2001
i want to share with you a great story that happened to me and my brother with Todd. my brother had just came out of the hospital and we took him to a met game. we always stand in the back of the stadium to wait for the players to come out and beg for attention. well Todd came out with his beautiful wife and kids and started to leave. we yelled out that my brother had just gotten out of the hospital and really wanted his signiture. he came out of the fenced parking lot and took a picture with me and my brother aside frome signing some cards. once players saw him doing this carl everette and alex ochoa came out of their cars to take pictures with us and other players signed our cards. I felt on top of the world thanx to Todd!

kinerskorner
June 16, 2001
watching hundley develop and set the Mets single season homer record was one of the few reasons to watch this team during the early-mid 90s dark age. one thing I find ironic is that his page in the 92, when he was still up and down from the minors, said that he was an outstanding defensive catcher who had "the potential to be an above-average major league hitter" or something similar. gotta love those scouting reports...

Jersey Joe
August 30, 2001
I'm obviously in the minority, but I despise Todd Hundley. He, more than anyone, represents the losing Mets teams of the 90's .... and enough of this crap about being the lone shining star. Todd was and still is a big LOSER.

How about buttoning up your shirt all the way, tough guy ??? One of the most arrogant Met losers of all time. At least the guys back in the late 70's kept their mouths shut.

Wow, I really loathe this loser.

Brian
January 14, 2002
Bobby V claimed that Todd had a drinking problem and didn't get enough sleep at night. Well, if a six pack each night was the reason for his 41 homers in '97, then I think Bobby V should have demanded that all his players get liquored up prior to games.

Jim Snedeker
January 25, 2002
Ever watch the 1969 NLCS highlights against the Braves, where in one of the games a Met is called safe at home on a close play, and the Braves catcher is so angry at the call that he starts jumping up and down, up and down?

The catcher is Randy Hundley, Todd's dad.

EG
January 26, 2002
Jim, it's not the Braves, it's the Cubs. And I think it was the September series, with the famous black cat game.

Jimmy Sheppard
January 27, 2002
Ever since I was four years old, right at the beginning of Todds Career he has been my favorite player. I have watched him as much as possible, collected all of his stuff, and admired him for the way he carries himself on and off the field. He is a class act and a great guy. The Mets never should have gotten rid of him. He will always be my favorite player and I beileve that baseball would be much better if there were more people like Todd.

Jim Snedeker
January 30, 2002
Thank you, EG, for the correction. I actually realized this the next day, because I could hear Bob Murphy's call in my head, and whne the arguing started, he says "Here comes Leo Durocher!" And I knew the Lip was managing the Cubs that year.

Jon
February 3, 2002
Boy did the press had a field day with the "Sleep- gate" incident. You had to laugh when you saw this headline on the backpage:

GRUMPY TODD: I'M NOT SLEEPY, DOPEY

straightjacketk
May 28, 2002
I was there the night of 1998 when he returned and played left field, with limited success (although he did get a loud ovation every time he caught a fly ball). I was also there when he returned in 1999 with the Dodgers, to another standing ovation. He reminds me of John Stearns in some ways, having played on some of the most awful Met teams of their history and being the most marketable player during them. It's too bad that like Stearns, he left right before the team started the climb upwards towards contention. In any event, we owe a lot to Todd as Met fans for giving us something and someone to cheer for when the Mets were terrible.

Matt Van Riper
June 29, 2002
Todd Hundley was in my mind the best catcher in the game. He was the Mets' leader up until he was traded. When the team needed a boost of energy, he rose to the challenge. In 1996, Todd hit 41 home runs to break Roy Campanella's (40)record for homers, Last but not least, Todd was and still is a good guy a great teammate to be around.

Steven G
November 10, 2002
Todd Hundley was a class act, a stand-up guy, and one of many players that Bobby "It's all about me" Valentine bashed in the media.

One thing that was never mentioned while Todd was on the Mets was the fact that he could not hit right- handed. They would always talk about the power- hitting switch hitter, but never brought up his weak right-handed hitting. There was quite a disparity in his statistics between right-handed and left-handed.

Does anybody else remember this?

Etch 35
April 5, 2003
He was my favorite player for a while there. A good catcher with power. Got injured and got replaced by a future Hall of Famer who hits better than him. But in fairness, Todd was better defensively.

He must have been very upset when the Mets picked up Mike Piazza, but I give him credit for at least trying to learn to play outfield. He got kind of a raw deal with the way they just threw him out there, and even more so with the way Bobby buried him in the press. There was no reason for that.

Has never been the same since the big injury. But I wish him well all the same. I remember some really big home runs from Todd.

Frank Grimes
April 16, 2003
I loved Todd Hundley too but he TRIED to play the outfield, my ass. Yes, he played out there but no, he did not give it a good effort. He was a joke in the outfield. I felt bad for him but he played the outfiled like Rosanne Barr sings tha national anthem.

Robo
June 26, 2003
Let me say this-- when the Mets first decided to weed Hundley out of the order after his injury (i.e. putting him out in left field), and then replacing him with the offensive phenom Mike Piazza, I felt a little bad in the way the Mets handled his dismissal... But now, one of the BEST moves ever!

Steve C.
September 3, 2003
As a long time Met fan, I remember Todd Hundley fondly for his many years of service in the 1990s. However, that much said, I think Todd Hundley is one of the most overrated players in the eyes of many Met fans.

People think of Todd as a killer slugger. Statistically, it's simply not true. Granted, he does hold the Met single season home run record and his 41 HR/112 RBI year was a great one. However, outside of that one year, he was not a particularly adept hitter. His next best year he had 30 HRs/86 RBI. Outside of that, he never had more than 16 HR or 53 RBI in any other season. Also, he only was a career .240 hitter with the Mets.

Don't get me wrong: I liked Todd Hundley, and I thought he was a bright spot during an otherwise uneventful time for the team. And, I agree that for a while he was the second best power-hitting catcher in the league. However, he definitely wasn't in the same "league" as Piazza. When Piazza was acquired, there were a lot of Hundley devotees who were complaining about the move. We may have all loved Todd Hundley, but his numbers just weren't as glamorous as some people like to remember them. If you remove 1996 from the equation, his contributions seem rather unremarkable.

Jonathan Stern
November 15, 2003
I was in Montreal in '97, watching the Mets take on Les Expos. After a night game, my friends and I went to a bar. I'm not one for the bar scene, so I left for my hotel room around 12:30 AM or so. The next morning, my friends told me that Todd Hundley had showed up - and stayed until after 4:00 AM, chatting and drinking the night away. There was a game the next day. Joe Orsulak was an Expo at the time, and he showed up a little later. My friends described his demeanor as "scary." If I remember correctly, Orsulak was going through a rough time as far as his family's health. As for Hundley, let's just say I wasn't too surprised by "Sleepgate," which took place later on.

How's that for gossip?

Hoose
February 27, 2004
When the media insisted on beating us over the head with the exploits of the Yankees and their media darling, squeaky clean, boy band sensation/shortstop, it was ever so refreshing to have a beer-swilling, chain-smoking antihero like Todd Hundley as the face of our franchise. The Mets gained instant credibility the day they traded for Mike Piazza, but they lost much of their underdog charm.

P.S. Anybody know where I can get one of those old “Todd Squad” T-Shirts?

Mark
March 13, 2004
This guy could flat out hit - lefthanded. He also had a good glove behind the plate, like his father. Too bad everything didn't work out with the Mets for Todd.

Tom Shannon
March 25, 2005
Dare I suggest that steroids may have had something to do with Todd's breakout 41 homer season? It seems a little Brady Andersonish to me....

Whatever, his 1990 Topps Tiffany Card was a prize for a few years as a result.....

George Felonbrenner
May 11, 2005
Three Mets players hold a special place in my childhood heart: John Franco, Howard Johnson, and Todd Hundley. Todd made it really fun to be a Mets fan. We Mets fans don’t have much in terms of WS and NL trophies, but we do have our favorites, like Todd, who gave it their all every game, the games exciting, and gave us HOPE!

I remember how me and my friend (two belligerent Mets fans) would reason how Hundley was better than Piazza - “look at the defense” we carped! Hell, we even went out of our way to check Hundley’s name on tons of All Star ballots. Hundley should rightfully start the game!

Great catcher and a solid hitter who had many flashes of brilliance. The 41 HR season was a thrill to experience. Take that Piazza!

It was quite trippy when Piazza came to the Mets. Before you knew it, Piazza and Hundley traded places. Sadly, this was the end of Hundley. The Mets made a fool out of him by putting him in the OF. Yet, Hundley tried and boy did I pray that it would work out. But, he was never able to recover from his injury and was sent to LA. There, he hasn’t done much and word is he might need further surgery.

Hopefully, one day, Todd will return as a coach for the Mets.

James Damion
July 12, 2005
It was great watching Todd developas both a catcher and a hitter. I was sad to see him go even though it was to make room for Mike Piazza behind the plate. He always had that gamer look. Any picture you saw he had that "I will kick your ass, drink your beer and take your woman while I catch a double header in the rain on 2 hours sleep" look.

DB
December 28, 2005
Brian McRae has recently said that the good Mets teams of the late 1990s were juiced up on 'roids. McRae, who does not speak of the 2000 and 2001 teams of which he did not play, claims to have been offered and denied steroids. This could have resulted in Hundley's power surge. However, I doubt that any catcher, especially Hundley, could have juiced up. The 41 Homer season of 1996 was truly amazing, and, if not for the injury, I firmly believe that Hundley would have hit significantly more home runs after the 1997 season.

Joe From Jersey
December 28, 2005
Yes, he was a pure power hitter that found himself odd-man out when the Mets got Piazza and he tried leftfield which was much worse than when Piazza tried first base. But my one memory of Todd was when he appeared on a baseball sketch with other major leaguers on Saturday Night Live in December 1997. Helen Hunt (who was hosting) played the mom and Chris Kattan played the son who wanted to become a baseball player when he grew up and all of a sudden Todd appears in his Mets uniform and says to Chris, "Follow Your Dreams". Then other ballplayers appeared in their uniforms and then Will Ferrell showed up in the sketch and he wasn't wearing a uniform but had a big dog with him. One of my favorite SNL sketches of all time. I was crying on the floor watching it. Does anyone remember this sketch like me?

Bklyn Met
January 26, 2006
I have no idea if Todd was on roids or not but it sure fit the mold!! He was a narrow shouldered small catcher in his first few years, looked so small compared to other catchers. It seemed so quick that he gained all this muscle, if I had to bet I would put my money on YES!!!

Jonathan Stern
February 1, 2006
I once stood next to Todd in a Montreal hotel lobby in 1997. We didn't make eye contact - I'm generally inclined to leave these guys alone. I remember thinking that I wouldn't want to arm wrestle him. He was big and strong, all right. I also remember wondering if he had always been that way. He didn't look like that in 1993.

Colin
August 24, 2006
Todd Hundley has been and will always be my favorite Mets player and baseball player in general. I think he was the best Met of the 90's.

Jonathan
August 31, 2006
Todd Hundley took my sharpie from me when I was a kid and wrote down the name of a golf course for his pal and never signed my ball. I'm not sure if he even returned my sharpie. I even had a #9 jersey on that day. If I see him today, I'll punch him in the groin. Hundley sucks. The man had one memorable year, all the rest are entirely forgettable. I'm glad that didn't shake me from being a fan of the Mets, but it very well could have. Anyway, Jeff Kent was my hero, not some bum catcher.

flushing flash
October 4, 2006
Todd's 829 games are fifteenth on the Mets all time list, and are the most of any Met who never played on a World Series team. Rey Ordonez played in over 900 games, but he was on the 2000 team even though he didn't actually play in the Series due to injury.

Damion
May 28, 2007
I don't know what it was about Hundley. I loved him while he was here but he always had this pissed off look on his face. Maybe it was from losing so often. I don't know. Looking back I can only think about steroids possibly inflating his home run total.

Paul Romano
September 16, 2007
I still wear my Blue #9 Todd Hundley T-shirt to the ballpark for extra luck and it used to double as my undershirt when I played catcher in HS. He was my favorite Met since I was in 2nd grade and if it wasn't for this guy, dare I say I may have shifted to the Evil Empire when I didn't know any better. Thank you Todd!

My favorite memory wasn't the home runs of 96, or the all-star games, or even that first interleague game at Yankee Stadium (Mlicki Shutout!). No it was Hundley's last game catching for the Mets after getting absolutely lampooned by the organization in LF. It was in Montreal and the Mets had a one run lead coming into the bottom of the 9th, after a couple big hits from Hundley who was starting the day game instead of Piazza. Still in the pennant race mind you. Anyway, with 1 out to go in the game the tying run was being waved in on an extra base hit and Hundley took one of the biggest hits I've ever seen a catcher take and held onto the ball to record the final out. Pretty much knowing that his time at Shea had come and gone it gave me one last chance to smile and be proud of "my guy", Todd Hundley.

He also had a gnarly Indian tattoo on his arm!!!

JFK
December 12, 2007
I wonder if Hundley's name will be mentioned in the Mitchell report. A light hitter that all of a sudden became a power hitter at the same time the clubhouse attendant that plead guilty to steroid distribution was there.

Adam
December 17, 2007
JFK: Bingo!

Not only that, but he introduced LoDuca to them while a Dodger.

Feat Fan
December 21, 2007
He had his moments but let's face it, he's no Randy Hundley!

edd ie kraska
January 2, 2009
No one have been a greater catcher than Todd Hundley. He was my favorite player in 1990. Where are you now, Todd Hundley?

Feat Fan
January 9, 2009
We'll tell John Bench, Carlton Fisk, Thurman Munson and Mike Piazza about this! Hundley, a career .225 hitter who juiced his way into folklore!

Emma Hundley
February 5, 2011
Todd Hundley is my dad. He's a great man and I'm happy you guys liked him. Yeah so what, he took steroids. He's still a great player. I remember going to the games, but I was a baby. It was so fun. I wish he still played.

Sha-Le
January 23, 2013
To this day, I still wonder what the 1999 and 2000 seasons would have been like if Hundley never got hurt and the Mets had never acquired Piazza. Would Hundley have led the Mets to the 2000 World Series? We will never know. Only thing for sure is that Hundley was never the same after that elbow injury.

I liked Hundley back then and he was a great leader in 1997 as the Mets fell just short of a postseason berth. However, once Piazza was here, he gave the Mets a lot more at the plate than Hundley could ever provide.

Nonetheless, I still think Hundley is under-appreciated as far as it goes with comparing the Mets' best 90s hitters and best catchers. He was the offensive face of the franchise from 1996-1997, but instantly somewhat forgotten once Piazza arrived.