It came on July 29, 1976 — 9 years to the day that The Door's "Light My Fire" reached #1 on Billboard.

Due to the Mets being desperate to find starters following Seaver, Matlack and Koosman in 1975, Tate got rushed to the majors at just 22 years old. My first exposure to him came when I recently listened to that season's Mayor's Trophy exhibition against the Yankees. He entered the game in the 7th inning and gave up 6 runs while only getting two outs as the Mets lost, 9-4. He obviously had some bright spots over the course of the remainder of the season, but further seasoning in the minors would have served him much better instead of being thrust into the big league spotlight so quickly.

After spending most of the 1975 season in the Mets rotation, Tate wound up back in the minors the following year and never made it back. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn rotator cuff a few years later that forced an early retirement. And according to Wikipedia, he died from COVID back in 2021.

Hello? Is this thing on?

Anyway, Whitehurst was one of that sort of pitcher that the Mets love to put on their roster...and keep on their roster...year after year after year, despite not being particularly good, thus wasting a spot that could be going to someone else who might be better.

There's always at least one of them around—the 2020s version, for example, is Tylor Megill.

Outwardly, his numbers weren't terrible—his Mets ERA was 3.83—but his 11-22 record with the club is telling. If you wanted to keep a lead, he couldn't hold it; if you wanted to not be put in a losing position, he'd put you there.

Intriguingly, he was once traded with Raul Casanova for Tony Fernandez (1992). Sixteen years later (2008) Casanova eventually found his way back to NY, thus undoing part of that deal, nearly two decades later.

Anywho, I've written Whitehurst three autograph requests in my day; he has yet to sign.

The Mets traded a decent prospect in Lindsay Gulin to get him. Gulin never reached the majors, but played 16 years professionally.

Also, I've written Wilkins two autograph requests in my day; he has yet to respond.

He was just a great ballplayer. With the Mets he had two 90+ run seasons, three 40+ steal campaigns, two 50+ steal campaigns and from 1985 to 1988, he rattled off an excellent 118 OPS+. In 1984, he had 28 doubles, 10 triples, 10 homers and 46 steals, making him part of a pretty elite group I'm sure—I can't imagine many people are part of the 20-10-10-40 club. He thrice paced the league in double plays turned as a center fielder. He led the league in ABs in 1983.

Of course I've seen the clip of him getting his hit a gazillion times, and that must be mentioned, too.

I also remember his time as the Mets first base coach in the late '90s and early '00s, which were my formative years as a Mets fan.

I've seen him in handful of Mets documentaries and he really does seem like a standup guy. I was especially impressed by his attitude in the documentary about Dwight Gooden, "The Good Doctor."

In the Mets Hall of Fame project I ran on another website, he was elected as a player on his first try, with 88.8% of the vote. He was elected as a coach on his third try, with 75% of the vote.

I've also sent him two autograph requests in my day, with no success.

But pound for pound, he was probably the most disappointing member of Generation K, from a Mets perspective.

He was a #1 overall pick and was once rated the #2 prospect in the game by Baseball America (Pulsipher was a 2nd round pick, Isringhausen a 44th round pick; peak ranks were 12 and 37, respectively).

Wilson pitched just a year with New York, while the other two got multi-season trials. He was perhaps the worst performer in NY (5.38 ERA, 75 ERA+) among them, as Isringhausen had a 4.59 ERA and 88 ERA+ and Pulsipher had a 4.63 ERA and 88 ERA+.

He's also the only one the Mets didn't eventually bring back for a round two. Isringhausen returned in 2011 after not pitching for the club since 1999 and Pulsipher came back in 2000 after departing in 1998.

On the bright side, he did hit his only career homer as a Met.

Also, I've sent him three autograph requests in my day. He signed once, in 2019.