Ultimate Mets Database - Memories of Felix Millan

Logan Swanson
April 22, 2001
I don't get it. Felix gets his collar bone broken by Ed Ott, but he's well enough to play in Japan? I'm sure Felix could have played another couple of years for the Mets. He sure would have hit better than Doug Flynn.

murphy
May 2, 2001
I saw him once on Kiner's Korner. It was hysterical. He couldn't speak a word of english. Of course, Ralph Kiner has enough trouble with english, too. I am pretty sure that Felix was the inspiration for Chico Escuela. "Baseball been berry berry good to me."

John Reilly
May 4, 2001
Felix was as steady as a rock, a consistent hit machine year in and year out, a great double play partner for Bud Harrelson, with a consummate professional approach to the game. I remember Felix played in an Old Timer's Game (I believe in 1984), and Ralph Kiner had him on Kiner's Korner. Felix said, "It's great to be home." Ralph said he thought Felix's home was in Puerto Rico, but Felix said "Shea is always my home".

That's right, Felix the Cat. Shea is your home. We love ya.

Anthony
May 9, 2001
By 1976 I liked this guy so much that my 1st car was a mail jeep which I fixed up with a paint job, curtains etc and I had letter decals speelling out "Felix Cool Cat" on the back in honor of Felix "the cat" Millan. Very good doubleplay man too !!

Danny Erickson
August 16, 2001
Everybody remembers the fight with Ed Ott, but Felix also had a fight with Tim McCarver. I remember Tim slid hard into Felix and that started their fight. I don't remember much else. I'm surprised big mouth McCarver never brought it up.

the other jeff
December 29, 2001
I was in Three Rivers the day Felix Millan got in the fight with Ed Ott. Kevin describes it exactly the way I remember it. I also remember Ed Ott giving him a few short punches after making the initial impact. I talked to John Stearns one day about it, and he said that the other infielders were so horrified about it, they couldn't move to come to Millan's aid. As for Kevin's not having good feelings about Ed Ott, what can you expect a college wrestler and legitimate tough guy to do when someone sucker punches you WITH THE BALL?

Frank L.
February 15, 2002
I remember Felix had very very small feet. I think a size 5 and 1/2. How I remembered I asked him during batting practice while he was signing autographs

Jim Snedeker
March 11, 2002
Always liked Felix. It was exciting when he came to the Mets, since he had a good reputation preceeding him. And I think he was one of the first Latino "name" players to play for the Metsies.

Unfortunately, the one thing I remember him most for was a Buckner-style error (through the wickets) he made during the '73 Series against Oakland, which helped the A's win that day. If he hadn't made that error, and everything else stayed the same, the Mets would have been 1973 World Champs.

Kimberly
April 2, 2002
Felix was a wonderful person. Not only was he a great ball player, but he had such a wonderful personality. He was very friendly and kind. My mother and I got to know him and his family very well when we would come to Shea Stadium early to watch batting practice. We made special banners for the Mets and participated in the banner parades. We have made a special banner for Felix calling him "Felix the Cat" Man and "Put Millan First". There were times we use to travel with the Mets. I was very upset and hurt when Ed Ott came at him the way he did in Pittsburgh. I am thankful for the times we shared back then.

Tommy Lo
May 14, 2002
Felix is the reason I am a Mets fan today. I'll never forget the way he played the game and choked up on that bat. It was a dream come true when I went to Shea for the first time with my Mom and Dad and saw Felix play in person.

Shari
May 16, 2002
I will never forget watching the Mets vs. the Pirates in the late 70's & watching Ed Ott the Pirates catcher body slam Felix right down over second base. I remember being horrified. After that Felix went to play ball in Japan and we never saw him again.

NL
October 13, 2002
I think he Millan is one of the more underappreciated players in Mets history. He was a solid, winning player and certainly one of their all time best second basemen. It seemed like he held the team record for hits in a season for about a million years.

Pedro Cruz
October 21, 2002
My father is from Yabucoa, Felix hometown in Puerto Rico. They are friends. He is a great citizen and human being.

Metsmind
December 25, 2002
Felix may still be my favorite Met of all time. I learned to hit like him, to talk like him (in English with a thick spanish accent), and to hustle like him.

For all the lousy trades Mets mgmt has made, this one (sorry Buzz and Danny Frisella) is one of the few steals in Mets history. Millan and Staub owned the Mets hitting records for over a decade.

And his skills (and the team quality) had started to erode before Ed Ott put him out of his misery.

Mr. Met
March 10, 2003
He was a great piece of the '73 Mets puzzle. Like everybody above, I remember Felix being the ONLY guy who would sign autographs after games. Tom Seaver wouldn't even look at the fans after the game. I loved Tom, but it was embarrasing that he would try to hide behind Felix, who was signing autographs, as he kept his head down going to his car.

But this isn't about Tom Seaver.

Has anybody ever choked up on the bat as much as Felix? If it wasn't for Fonzie, this guy would have been the best Mets second baseman ever.

Joe Figliola
March 20, 2003
Great contact hitter. I remember on radio hearing that the only other player besides Millan who choked up that high on the bat was a backup catcher named Ken Suarez of the Texas Rangers.

It bothered me a little bit how Felix was let go to Japan after '77. He was a solid, consistent player. Even in '74, when his average tapered off due to an ear problem, I think he still maintained his reputation as the toughest batter to strike out in baseball.

Millan's home run hitting is tough to recall. The only one I remember was the one he hit in a rain-shortened losing game to the Pirates in '75.

cory
March 26, 2003
When I was about 12 or 13 years old I saw Felix Millan at an autograph signing in the Staten Island Mall. {Free of course back then.} After the signing he ducked out through the service exit and I knew where this came out in the parking lot, so my friends and I ran outside to meet him without all the crowd. Well, he was with one other gentleman and they could not find their car. We had more laughs helping him that day. One of my friends had just bought a whiffle ball and bat and Felix took the time out to hit a couple of balls to us on the grass area adjacent to the parking lot. We eventually did find his car.

snw
April 1, 2003
I don't know where the joke started, but growing up I always heard the Mets traded him to a Japanese team for catcher's equipment. Actually believed that for awhile.

Mark
March 4, 2004
The first time I ever heard of Felix Millan was when I got his baseball card in 1969. I saw that the year before he had hit .289 with the Braves and I thought he must be a good hitter (remember this was 1968 when .289 almost got you into the top ten). With the Mets he was a good hitter and had a solid glove. Some of my high school buddies tried to blame him for losing the 73 World Series (give me a break we could blame Harry Parker or Willie Mays too). The Mets were just lucky to be there. Traveled to Puerto Rico several years ago on business and saw him in a restaurant. Spoke to him and thanked him for his good years with the Mets. He was very nice, but I understood I was bothering him while he was with his family. Great guy!

Lisa Capella
October 7, 2004
Still have my autographed glove by Felix. What a complete class act he was. My favorite Met (and prob. always will be).

Jonathan Stern
January 18, 2005
I thought it was Pepe Mangual who inspired SNL's Chico Esqualez character.

Speaking of late-night comedy, here's a strange memory. In the prologue to Dave Letterman's first book of Top Ten lists, Letterman mentions Felix Millan. The "joke" was that, evidently, Dave thought that he was writing an introduction to a book about the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team, not to a compilation of his Top Ten Lists. So the intro is completely straight and commemorative... about the hockey team. Millan is quoted by Dave as saying about the victory over the Soviets, "I really didn't think they could do it."

Your guess is as good as mine as to why this particular introduction was written for this particular book. And why it was Millan and only Millan, of all people, who Dave chose to quote.

Ken
March 17, 2005
I remember him just showing up in 74. The wide open glove. I also loved the spin to throw to first on a double-play. He used to flip up in the air. Was good with the bare hand scoop then throw to first. Had 2 numbers: 16 the first year, and then 17.

I have seen the comments about Nino Espinosa's hair. What about Felix? He had the 'fro going, and that cool moustache.

I am sure any of you who played ball as a kid in the street, or a parking lot in the 70's, you know the 1 on 1 with the strike zone spray-painted on the wall, when #2 came up in your batting order you were Felix, and you had to choke up on the bat.

Bob R
July 25, 2005
There's been a lot of discussion about bad Met trades, and there's been plenty of them, but Felix Millan may have been one of the best trades the team ever made. In his first season with them, he batted .290 with 185 hits, including 23 doubles. Felix was also terrific turning double-plays. There's no way they would have won the '73 pennant without him. His 5-year average with the Mets was a solid .278, making him one of the best second basemen in their history. I can still see him choking way up on his bottle bat, spraying hits through the infield. They also picked up George Stone in that trade, a key pitcher on that '73 pennant-winning team. To get Millan and Stone, they gave up Gary Gentry, whose career was almost over, and Danny Frisella, a good relief pitcher who later tragically died in a car accident.

Hiroyuki
September 23, 2005
I lived in Queens during the 70s in my formative years and I hated to have to move to Japan in '76 because I knew I wasn't going to be able to watch the Mets anymore. (No major league coverage in Japan back then.)

Then it was a pleasant surprise to find Felix on the Yokohama Whales roster in 1978. While Felix was not my most favorite Met, I followed his action nontheless and was really proud of him when he got the leading hitter title in '79.

During the 3 years he was in Japan, Felix played in 325 games as a second baseman and batted .306 (.346 in his best year) overall. During the 3 years he was struck out only 52 times, and in his final year he was at bat 332 times and got struck out only 12 times !

While Felix homered only 12 times in 3 years in Japan, one of them was a grand slam. Felix's leading hitter title also goes down in Yokohama history as he is the first leading hitter ever for the Yokohama team.

He is still well remembered here for his distinctive batting style and for his solid performance.

John O'Hare
November 6, 2005
Felix was my favorite player in the early '70's, Just like everyone else, I choked up like him, and was surprised how well I could hit like that!

A few years ago, my wife gave me a Mets Dream Week for my 40th birthday, and Felix was my coach. He was such a nice guy and a gentleman. At lunch the first day, I feel a tap on my shoulder, and it's Felix asking if he may sit next to me to eat! HE was asking MY permission! Imagine that! Of course, I nearly choked on my food offering him a seat. Good player, but even a better man. If you read this Felix, I hope all is well, and you gave me memories forever

DT
December 1, 2005
Felix was one of my favorite players too. When you look at him in the context of pre-steroid middle infielders he stacks up very nicely. True pro. May biggest memory of Felix was listening on the radio to the game he went 4-4 in. Joe Torre followed his 4 singles by grounding into 4 double plays. I remember them asking Felix about his day after the game and he replied that everytime the dust cleared from sliding into second he was staring at the umpire with his thumb in the air. Thanks for the memories Felix, and best of luck in the future.

Roscoe Bernard
December 1, 2005
Can't recall anyone before or since that choked up like The Cat. Great bunter, never struck out. I also remember him as a fine fielder and felt terrible when he made those errors against the A's in the '73 series. I still remember Bill Gallo's cartoon in the Daily News after that game with Felix wearing the goat's horns.

Joel
March 1, 2006
Millan was a fine player but a bit of a jerk. Once the Dodgers Don Sutton hit him with a pitch late in a game putting the tying run on base and Millan wanted to fight him! I remember when he made the stupid mistake of picking a fight with a fomrer college wrestler named Ed Ott. Ott body slammed him and his career was over due to a broken collar bone.

Mary
May 24, 2006
Felix was my favorite player as a kid. He was the reason I played second base (not only in softball, but in boy's little league too). I choked up on the bat like him, I batted second in the order like him and my nickname was even Felix for a few years. My family and I were on vacation that horrible August day in 1977 and I have never actually seen footage of the incident with Ed Ott. I don't think I want to. I just remember crying when I heard the news.

Mario Navetta
May 24, 2006
Many years ago, when Ralph Kiner hosted his post game show for the Mets, he had as his guest Felix Millan, a fairly good hitting second basemen. While his batting average demonstrated his proficiency with a bat, his brain had a poor record when it came to English comprehension. Ralph posed a long, detailed query as to what would Felix do if he had,"...runners on first and third, one out, a hard hitting pitcher at the plate, with the next batter not known for his batting against lefties, etc, etc" Felix listened attentively, occasionally nodding his head in seeming understanding. Ralph's question ended with, "And what would do in that situation?" Felix's response was as quick as his double play bullets to first base, "Jees, Ralph!"

You had to love the guy! Needless to note, Ralph, too, is one of a kind.

Sol Rosenkranz
May 31, 2006
One time Ralph Kiner asked Felix if he ever hit against a submarine pither. Felix replied that he always wanted to go for a ride in a submarine but hadn't as of yet, could Ralph help him. In his broken English it was hysterical!

Another time Bob Murphy asked Felix if he like eating bananas. Felix looked at Bob as though he had lost it.

There are many Felix stories like that, but he was a nice man and a very good player. I hope life after baseball has been good to him.

ANTHONY MARTI VENDING
September 8, 2006

As a kid I loved Felix Millan. I remember choking up really high up on my dad's bat. I swung as hard as I could and the bat handle hit me in the stomach. It hurt like hell! I never choked up after that but still always loved Felix.

K.A.
September 8, 2006
As a Mets fan right from the very beginning, I recall watching games in the 70's after Felix was on the team. It seems like whenever Felix came to bat, you could always count on him getting a hit and getting on base. He was a great and reliable player. Later, in 1989, it was fun to see him playing in the Senior Professional League, on the Legends team. An appropriate team for a Legend to play on.

Jamey Bumbalo
November 14, 2006
Felix Millan was a heck of a ballplayer. It seems like he's almost a forgotten Met, but he sure played well. Can anyone recall a player who choked up like Felix? He could slap a pitch anywhere with that batting approach. One of his Mets baseball cards shows him choking up almost halfway on the bat. Today, it seems like no one chokes up at all--if guys did, they'd hit for a higher average. I remember watching a game in Montreal in 1974 and when he came up to bat, I assured my family that he never struck out--well, of course he did strike out. Nevertheless, I recall Felix fondly.

Julio
June 12, 2007
My family always used to tell me that Felix was my uncle. I never paid much attention to that until one day I was on vacation with my dad in Puerto RIco (Yabucoa) and I met him! I was so thrilled. He has a stadium up there named after him and if only everyone that saw me knew he was my uncle! He was a great 2nd baseman, which is now my position.

mrs. Evelyn Argudo
July 21, 2007
In 1972 I instantly became a Mets fan. I was 12 and to this day I LOVE THE METS and I always wonder about Felix Millan. He was my favorite player. When I was in middle school I got a shirt with his last name and I was so proud to wear it during gym!! May God bless him always; he will forever hold a place in my heart. Today my son and daughter ages 11 and 13 and my husband all are true Mets fan and all because of FELIX MILLAN.

Joe
July 22, 2007
I remember Felix playing in Yabucoa PR around 1962 maybe, I was much younger. He stood out among other players, he was the best. His wife back then was my best friend's sister. I was watching Cesal Millan's dog show tonight and it hit me "Millan", and the memories came back. I've been online for the last few hours trying to find how to contact him, no luck. If anyone has info on how I can contact him let me know. I knew Felix's wife's family very well, they live right up the road. I knew of Felix's family but my Dad knew them well. I hope someone can help, if you knew him we can just talk about old times. Have a nice one.

Peyton
August 26, 2007
When I was 8 years old in 1973 I played 2nd base in Little League and Felix Millan was my favorite player. I also played ice hockey and when it was time to get our jerseys, my dad asked me what number I wanted. I told him #16. He asked me what pro hockey player wears #16. I told him it is Felix Millan's number. My dad laughed.

JW
September 18, 2007
Only 10 years old when he began playing, I don't have recollections of him. However, just last night, he gave my 10-year-old son hitting instruction at a sports academy in central Florida. Excellent instructor producing good results from youngsters. Still looks like he could bang out a few doubles. Thank you Mr. Millan for giving back to our community.

Manny Fernandez
September 21, 2007
Felix is probably my closest friend after my wife and kids. He and his wife Mercy are the greatest role models I have ever met. I suggest that he be given the job as Mets manager because of many attributes. Loyalty to the Mets and a great teacher he has worked with many of the major league players over the last 25 years as a coach and teacher. Believe it or not one of his jobs with the Mets was to teach players like Fonzi and others English when they were in the rookie league. After he retired from playing baseball he went to college and earned his Masters degree. He currently does Dream Week for the Mets and Braves and does some P.R. engagements. He always says that Hank Aaron and Tom Seaver were his best teammates and that he learned a lot from them. He truly loves his wife and children and his Granddaughters. You might not know this but his grand daughter Jernie Talles is a rising country vocalist.

Nancy M. Ortiz-Beard (Millan)
March 2, 2009
Hi to all. I was scanning the internet for some information when I came across this website.

Felix is a cousin of mine whom I just finally recently met in 2008. Because he was always traveling and I was born in NYC/raised in Cleveland, I never met him. I did meet his wife Mercy and since I have met him find him to be very genuine.

My mother and his father were siblings, both deceased.

It is nice to read so many positive things about him.

Vince the Moob
June 12, 2009
Nelson Fox was my first baseball hero. I loved to watch this little guy choke up on half the bat and get more than his share of hits. When Felix Millan came to the Mets he was the closest thing to Nellie Fox possible.

When the rumors of a Mets and Braves trade was in the papers the first stories reported that Millan and Earl Williams were coming to the Mets. I was overjoyed because both these guys could hit and the Mets even to this day rarely valued offensive players. I was hoping that Williams would replace Grote's dead bat at catcher and Millan would replace the long and tedious trail of no hitters at second. Williams didn't get here but Millan did.

With today's new and sophisticated metrics we can see that guys who have their offensive value tied up in batting average are usually overrated. But I still enjoyed Felix's time here and I have forgiven him for his costly error in the 1973 World Series. Guys who get the most out of their specific and limited talents are guys who I most identify with.

Mike from da Bronx
June 30, 2009
You forgot to add that not only did Nellie and Felix get their fair share of hits, they rarely struck out and always moved the runners over. Millan was very underrated.

JFK
January 2, 2010
Felix Millan is my all time favorite Met player. It seemed he hit a double in every game I watched him in. Truly an under rated player. I wish him, his family and fans a most happy new year for 2010 and beyond. Felix you are a true professional. God bless.

Frank the Met
January 4, 2010
I agree that Felix Millan is one of the most underrated Mets in history. You rarely hear his name when all-time great or favorite Mets are discussed. In fact, you hear names who were not as good or impactful as Millan. But he was a very key everyday player in the 1973 pennant drive. He was a terrific contact hitter, a good hit-and-run man, and had a good glove. It's unfortunate that he is remembered for making the error that cost the Mets Game 1 of the 1973 World Series. But the Mets lost that game 2-1 because they couldn't hit, not because of Millan. He was a guarantee to hit .280 every year. It was one of the few good trades the Mets made, getting Millan and George Stone to help them come within one game of winning it all.

Aase2Zim
January 10, 2010
What few folks ever mention about Millan was that he was tough as nails. For someone who wasn't all that big, he had no problem whatsoever with playing the physical game. I do remember him going in hard on Johnny Bench during the '73 playoffs, determined to knock him into next week (and he just about did). It may have caught up to him in 1977 though, in that dust-up at second with the Pirates' Ed Ott. That was a sad way to end his time with the Mets, and in MLB. Millan did go on to play in Japan afterward, however, and quite successfully.

Eugene
February 6, 2010
I would like to add that Felix is a man of integrity, I have had the privilege of being close to him, have seen him in his relationship with the public young and old and he is loved. Has a great wife (Mercy), He is a great role model for young people. Above all he has the good qualities of a Christian.

felix fan too
June 16, 2010
I was nine years old when the Mets let Felix go following the 1977 season. I was already a big Mets fan and Felix was my favorite player. When I heard that Felix had been let go, I went into a rage and tore all my Mets paraphernalia, pictures, pennants, and posters off my bedroom walls. Being just a kid, I didn't understand the business part of baseball. All I knew was my team had betrayed me by dumping my favorite player, and I hated them for that. I eventually got over it, but it took a while.

Paul
August 9, 2010
He was a good player for the Mets, but I couldn't understand why I never saw him on Kiner's Korner. After reading some of the above stories about his English, now I know why.

WHIP
September 21, 2010
My favorite Met while growing up. I actually still am partial to the number 17 and choose it whenever possible. (Also because of Keith Hernandez.) He choked up at least halfway up the bat, had amazing bat control and was darn near impossible to strike out.

Gr8 Call Ump
January 9, 2011
Three things come to mind when you mention Felix Millan: 1. The choking up on the bat that I have never seen duplicated since. How he did that is remarkable! 2. The error in game 1 of the '73 Series. 3. Being body slammed by Ed Ott.

Remember as a young kid looking at a Mets Yearbook from either '73 or '74 and thinking that Met coach Roy McMillan's name was pronounced the same way...lol!

Felix D. Cat
February 25, 2012
Felix was one of my all-time favorite Met players. I always wondered how he could get so many hits choking up on the bat the way he did. He was the only high- average hitter the Mets had during the 1970s.

To this day, I believe that Felix made a uniform number deal with teammates Ted Martinez and Dave Schneck. In the 1973 championship season, he wore No. 16 while Martinez and Schneck had 17 and 23, respectively. One year later, Felix donned 17 (the number he wore with the Braves) while Martinez took 23 and Schneck had 16. I can't remember any other trio of players that rotated uniform numbers like that.

One other Millan memory has to do with my grandfather, who always enjoyed a good laugh. Grandpa would jokingly pronounce his name "Filet Mignon". Ah, the good old days!

Hope you are well, Felix, wherever you are!

Jane Allen Quevedo
January 4, 2013
Felix Millan fans will be interested to learn that he tells his personal story in the book Tough Guy, Gentle Heart, and I had the privilege of helping him write it.

Pete Lugo
February 1, 2013
He is now retired and is a great golf player; a real gentleman and a wonderful human being on the golf course.

TheIceDog
April 15, 2013
Every Mets fan will never forget Felix "The Unlucky Cat" Millan for costing them the 1973 World Series. Not only with his infamous error but his lousy .188 batting average.

Who can forget Millan sucker punching Pittsburgh's Ed Ott with the baseball still in his hand after a hard slide at second base? Big mistake as Ott, who could have killed the very weak Millan, scooped him up and body slammed him to the dirt. Felix sustained a broken collar bone, a separated shoulder and most likely a concussion. In all his years living in the United States the only English word he could comprehend or say was, "Pepsi", lol. He was indeed a character.

Get's by Buckner
April 22, 2013
He choked up on the bat so high that it is no wonder he only hit 8 homers as a Met. When we were kids playing wiffle ball, we would always try to mimic his batting style with our hands at the top of the bat. I could be wrong, but didn't Jane Jarvis play the theme to Felix the Cat when he went to bat?

Vito
September 25, 2013
One of the coolest Mets of all time. He made every play in the field and watching him hit with his hands a third of the way up the bat was awesome. I've never seen anyone else hit like him. Best of all, when I was a kid in the 70s, he could be counted on to sign autographs after every game. No matter what game we went to, he was always talking to fans in the player's parking lot signing everyone's stuff. He always tried to sign everything for everyone. A very nice guy and a very underrated all-time Met. Thanks Felix.

O. B. White
July 21, 2019
Felix was a fine-fielding second baseman who had a bad luck experience in Game 1 of the '73 World Series. It was his error that allowed the Athletics to score a run and go ahead to stay. On the play, Millan had his glove on the ground like he should have when the ball took a tricky hop. He raised the glove about a foot, but the ball then moved downward. Noticing the rising ball, Felix adjusted and got fooled when it sank on him suddenly. It then went right between his legs for an unfortunate bad memory. The Mets didn't come back and were left with a one-game Series deficit.

Nobody should hold anything against Felix for that error. It was the devil who made that ball bounce the way it did!

Simons Steven
September 3, 2020
I saw him play as a kid in Atlanta as a Met. He was so kind...came up to me, gave me an autograph and talked to me for a bit. That was mid 70's I believe and I've never forgotten it. Thank you Felix for making a young kids day!