Ultimate Mets Database - Memories of George Foster

Mr. Sparkle
I remember a fight in 86 when the benches cleared and George sat alone on the bench and watched while the rest of the team was on the field duking it out. Bad attitude, major NY flop. He was a waste of money.

I do however still have my Get Metsmerized t-shirt and team record album.

Bob
Remember this yo-yo's pledge that the low flying planes better watch out over Shea? Yep, he popped up a lot.

EG
February 14, 2001
I give him credit for being willing to sign with the Mets, but....has anyone been quicker to pull the race card as an excuse for your performance.

murphy
May 2, 2001
Foster's high pitched squeaky voice drove me nuts. Like nails on a chalk board.

ANewYorkGUY
May 24, 2001
Unquestionably the greatest disappointment in Mets Franchise History. A man heading for the Hall of Fame, comes to the Mets and becomes an average-to below average player. Here's an individual who has several seasons with Cinncinnati where he his over 50 homers and bats around .350. Incredibly strong arms, a picture-perfect swing and good outfielder and - he disappears with the Mets. Was he too old? Certainly not! Was he terrified of the NY media? Perhaps! I think he was brought here to carry the team in some of their poorer years - and wasn't up to the task. When they announced the "trade" I was ecstatic. I saw him setting Met's club records. It's ironic that he holds none. All I think of when I hear is name is what could have been.

Mike
July 30, 2001
I seem to remember that he was already tailing off before coming to the Mets. I was 9 in 1977, so my formative years as a Met fan were bleak and I only knew awful teams. When he came, he was at that point the best hope I'd ever had to watch a legitimate star. But even then I knew he was a second-tier star. Not like the Mets just traded for George Brett. Too bad about him missing out on championship.

Mudge01
August 12, 2001
My brother and I were at a game in San Fran in '84. My bro asked George Foster for an autograph. George whipped a card out of his back pocket and handed it over. It was a picture of George with some bats, autographed, with the following words: "What you are is God's gift to you. What you do with what you are is your gift to God."

Yeah, he was a New York bust. But I've got nothing bad to say about Mr. Foster.

Jim Snedeker
November 27, 2001
Never knew what happened with George. Perhaps it was the change of scenery, but he had to be one of the most disappointing acquisitions ever (oh, right--let's not forget Jim Fregosi).

I recall how when George failed to start hitting as a Met, we were all kind of puzzled. But no booing. Sure, he'll snap out of it. Give the guy a chance.

Then, as he continued to amass pop-flies and ground outs, a faint but recognizable din could be heard in various parts of the stadium. It was a din of frustration and disillusionment.

Finally, the Shea faithful had had enough, and the boo-birds began singing their lungs out. It was as if a dyke had been broken. It was actually a relief to hear the disappointment expressed so vociferously.

I felt bad for the guy. He's only human, and it just never worked out. I never read about him complaining, either. But still, George never gave us the excitement we expected from him.

Charlie
December 11, 2001
George's most memorable quote as a Met.

1986, on getting less playing time than he was used to:

"I don't want to say it's a racial thing, but..."

He was gone the next day.

Grover
January 6, 2002
To shut me up while tailing her at the grocery store, my mother pulled one of those "Starbooks" off the book rack. I was five. It was "The George Foster Story." It became one of those fads for me and my brother - the Starbook series. George Brett, Willie Stargell, Pete Rose, Walter Payton, among the features I recall. But I always returned to the first and Foster has been my all-time favorite player ever since. Wore #15 in baseball. Tried to always use a black bat. Batted closed stance with my hands high. Funny when, years later, lifelong habits reveal their roots.

Where Foster went, so did my allegiance. Thus, I traded my Reds pennant for a Mets pennant in '82. Box score after box score after box score. Eventually it became clear that the thrills of seeing an HR and the number between the (parenthesis) were faint resemblences of days past. Suddenly Foster was the sad story of sapped production and it became even more important for me to root for him. I was crushed when Mazzilli took his spot and he petered out with the ChiSox.

But I've learned that he's a respected and good man - albeit only through the rumor mill. The race card after an unexpected release from a team he helped build, one on the verge of a championship? And for Lee Mazzilli? Seems rather tame compared to the self- serving variety of off-the-cuff reactions fans hear today.

May the rumors be true and the memories of 13 homer seasons and August releases in New York be consumed by the magical run of 75-81, full of .300 averages, home run and rbi titles, and an MVP.

Bill
March 6, 2002
I never understood why George Foster claimed his diminished playing time was racially motivated, especially when he was replaced by Kevin Mitchell.

In 1987 the Mets held "Spuds Mackenzie Night." Budweiser had a limo drive into Shea from center field and the canine Bud mascot(Spuds) emerged from the limo and was seated in a director's chair behind home plate before the game.

Lupica wrote the next day that "The last dog to take a limo to Shea was George Foster."

STEVE B.
May 22, 2002
I remember the day the Mets made the trade. There would be no more "Roger Maris watches" in the newspaper. Finally a true hitting star, so few had been here before. In 1981, the year before with Cincinnati, he had 22 hrs, 90 Rbi in 108 games. 1982, 13 hrs, 70 Rbi with the Mets. He, like others before found to have basically to have warning track power at big Shea. Lots of pop-ups, lots of disappointment. Then the race card.

Greg
May 26, 2002
In the early 80's I had the good fortune of having a friend whose dad was an N.L. executive, so we used to get comp tickets in the Mets' wives section all the time. George Foster's wife was unquestionably the funniest heckler of her husband I ever heard. She gave him unrelenting crap all game long, and had everybody else cracking up. Many of the wives were barbie dolls, so it was especially funny to actually hear one with a brain and some chutzpah.

Bob Fancher
June 1, 2002
Perhaps I won't remember George for his power displays when he was with the Mets,but,I will always think of him as a caring, kind hearted human being. At a Hall of Fame game in the early 1980s in Cooperstown a little lad about 5 years of age ran onto the field during the game to get an autograph. George was playing center field. It was a sight I will never forget as he stood looking up at this 6 ft. plus athlete from his 3ft.height. George knelt down and handed his glove to the lad to hold while he signed the autograph for him.Then he said a few words,gave him a gentle tap on his rear-end and sent him off of the field as an appreciative crowd applauded.

Larry Burns
June 17, 2002
I know George did not have the Mets career fans and management hoped for when they signed him, but I always felt bad for George. He did all right at times, just not as well as he did when he was on the Big Red Machine. On the positive side, his free agent signing marked the turnaround from the moribund 1970s-early 1980s dark years. He was never appreciated due to his quiet demeanor and lack of production but he toiled away. I still think if George was the starting or part time leftfielder on the 86 Mets his signing would have been viewed as a success. Instead when he was not being used he intimated that it was due to racism. The Mets were not about to have their dream season fall apart over racial discord so they released him. What a sad way to end his tenure.

Shari
June 20, 2002
Everyone usually has such crappy memories of George, I remembered that he went from hitting 52 homers with the Reds to hitting 13 his first season with the Mets, but I do have a slightly nice memory of him, a June night game in 1984. I was leaving the Shea parking lot and I saw George pull out in his Mercedes, my friends and I screamed and yelled to him and we were waving-and he stopped his car smiled and waved back. Of course nothing came out at that time about his accusing the Mets of racism and not properly utilizing him.

mike
July 25, 2002
As an insomniac I can remember George appearing on the Joe Franklin Show in NYC hawking his LET'S GET METSMERIZED wares.

Robert
September 9, 2002
I think the fans would have been a lot more tolerant of his declining production had he shown a little desire. The guy would never slide, and never seemed interested in showing just a little bit of hustle on the field. How was he able to get away with that crap on the Big Red Machine? Or did he just stop caring when he came to a team obviously going nowhere? And then to have the nerve to pull the race card - whatever happened to him afterwards?

José Angel
January 11, 2003
I heard about 5 years ago that George had retired to a small town in Alabama where he went to church every night and led a quiet life away from the spotlight.

It must've been hard for him, after being such a big star for the Big Red Machine of the 70's, to see his career fading away right in front of guys like Carter, Hernandez and Strawberry, who where the ones taking the Mets all the way in '86. If I'm not mistaken, I think he was replaced in the roster that year by Lee Mazilli.

George should've never made those comments about race, but I think deep down inside he was a good guy going through a difficult time. I hope he's made his peace with baseball and with the Mets.

snw
April 1, 2003
I can't believe no one mentioned the most horrendous play I ever witnessed. I believe it was during his first season with the Mets. It was a day game at Shea and a ball was popped up into left field along the foul line. George jogs after it with his typical lack of hustle. The ballgirl completely loses her mind, gets up from her chair and puts her glove up to catch the ball. The wind carries the ball back into the field of play and the ballgirl, oblivious to everything, drifts into the field of play after the ball. George stops short and lets the ballgirl field the ball. Of course she drops it and the batter ends up with a double. Only George could get called off by a ballgirl.

Joe Figliola
April 2, 2003
Hey, snw, I remember seeing that game on TV and was completely appalled that no interference was called. I also remember this airhead of a ballgirl saying in the papers that she didn't know she was in the way. Yeah, right.

I think that later on, baseball did enforce a rule stating that if a ballperson interfered with a player on a fly ball, then the batter was out.

Too bad she was such a bubblehead. What a waste of great legs

Jim Snedeker
August 6, 2003
From a book of memorable quotes ("The 2,548 Best Things Anybody Ever Said"), they attributed this one to George:

"I don't know why people like the home run so much. A home run is over as soon as it starts....wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. The triple is the most exciting play of the game. A triple is like meeting a woman who excites you, spending the evening talking and getting more excited, then taking her home. It drags on and on. You're never sure how it's going to turn out."

Joe Figliola
October 10, 2003
I want to close the tale of George Foster and the ballgirl by saying that the game that snw referred was played at Pittsburgh, not Shea.

I knew one of the two Shea ballgirls at the time, Mary Jean, who was a fencer at St. John's University, where I graduated from in 1985. The other gal, Janet, was a member of the St. John's women's basketball team at the same time. Although I didn't know Janet, I spoke to Mary Jean a couple of times and believe you me, they know their baseball.

Bob P
June 5, 2004
George left us some mixed memories in his time as a Met, but the guy could flat out hit when he was younger.

In 1977, George led the NL in homers (52) and RBI (149). Jeff Burroughs finished second in the majors in homers that year with 41 (AL leader Jim Rice had 39). So that means George hit 27% more home runs than the runnerup.

And, not to sound like the geezer that I am--in those days 50 homers was a lot more impressive than it is today. But here are some facts: Foster was the first player in twelve years to hit 50 home runs. After George, it was another thirteen years until someone hit 50 again. So let's look at that again: between 1965 and 1990, the only man to hit 50 home runs in a season was George Foster.

One more thing: in that 1977 season, George hit .320. NL batting leader Dave Parker hit .338. If Foster had been able to come up with just ten more hits on the season--bloopers, check swings, line drives a few inches foul, balls that snuck through the hole--he would have won the triple crown.

Rev Matt
June 12, 2004
When Foster was first signed to the Mets he was the only real big bat in the line-up so pitchers would pitch around him. Then, once better hitters were brought into the line-up age caught up with him. A tiny reduction in bat speed turned what would have been home runs into warning track fly balls. He never made the adjustment to being a line-drive, opposite field hitter which might have extended his career. One interesting note is that Foster didn't take batting practice against live pitching. He preferred to practice off a batting tee.

He never really fit in with the party all night Mets of the mid-eighties.

I Met George Foster in 1994 at a card show he was doing with Pete Rose. Pete had a long line and was charging twenty dollars. George's line was short and he was only charging five or six dollars. I brought my copy of the "Get Metsmerized" album. When he saw it he burst out laughing, so much that Pete Rose looked up from his table to see what was so funny. He told the story to everyone listening how when rap first came out he had the idea to make a rap record, how they went into a recording studio on an off day. He then took a good long look at the picture, taking note that Dwight Gooden was the only one still with The Mets. I said that it was a shame they broke up that team so soon. Foster said that Cashen became more concerned with image than winning and had out smarted himself. He noted that most of the guys who they traded away turned their new teams into winners, especially Dykstra, Aguilera and Kevin Mitchell.

"They weren't bad guys at all," George said. "They were just young, that's all."

Kiwiwriter
June 18, 2004
I remember him when I worked for Mets Inside Pitch. He was aloof, alone, and really couldn't connect to or understand New York and its highly intense environment. He was amazed by the media attention and the high expectations. Cincinnati was a more laid-back town, I guess, and his good years there gave him a lot of fan support.

But New Yorkers know their baseball, are a tougher town, and demand excellence and hustle. Fail to show both, and New York fans will hate you. Show both, and New York fans will forgive you and love you.

Foster didn't show excellence or hustle, he didn't adjust his hitting style or media style to the city, and made the fatal mistakes of not running on the field to support the boys in a fight and blaming his troubles on racism. Called out on the latter by Davey Johnson, he backpedaled and got the axe. He had no business being a Met.

I met his wife one time, and she was a total opposite, bright, chatty, sharp.

rosanne
June 28, 2004
Growing up with two brothers who taught me at a young age to hate the Yankees (thank God for that), I chose to follow the Cincinnati Reds. I still to this day idolize Pete Rose and at the time of the loss to free agency I literally cried. I then chose for my favorite player George Foster. It was after George's coming to New York that I changed my allegience and from that point have avidly followed the Mets. As heartbreaking as it can be, my devotion to the Mets is unending. Thanks to George Foster another Met fan was created.

Kiwiwriter
September 8, 2004
Just read "The Bad Guys Won," which is the story of the 1986 Mets. The research is fine, but the writing is not very good -- a lot of sophomoric wisecracks masquerading as snarky humor -- but one of its better moments is the "Where are they now" section at the back.

It tells us that when Foster was eligible for the Hall of Fame in 1992, he dropped his normal moodiness and phoned up a bunch of BBWAA writers to ask "how my old pal Joe Schmedlap is doing." It was a play to gain votes.

Foster didn't even get enough votes to keep his eligibility on the ballot.

He said "Hello" when it was past time to say "goodbye."

MrBlondNYC
December 2, 2004
George opened up a camera/photo store in my neighborhood in 1987 or 1988. I remember he was there at the grand opening signing autographs with Barry Lyons. My friend and I were so excited to see George and my friend was a Yankee fan. But about 6 months later, it wasn't called George Foster's anymore.

One thing that really struck me about George was his reddish skin. When he played for the Reds he looked like a giant red thing.

RDF
January 10, 2005
My first year as a Mets fan was 1983. My mom took me and a buddy to a Mets-Phillies game in September. The Mets were closing out a lousy season and we bought tickets from the ticket window before game time - Field Box just a few rows behind first base.

Mets were down 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth and put two men on base. Foster hit a three run homer for a 6- 5 win. Does anyone remember that game?

Bob P
January 12, 2005
RDF, I can't say I remember the game, but I did some research and found the details.

It was Labor Day night. The Mets had jumped out to an early 3-0 lead but the Phils tied it in the fifth and then took the lead with two in the ninth off Jesse Orosco.

In the bottom of the ninth Mookie Wilson led off with an infield single off Al Holland, who was having a monster year in 1983. Hubie Brooks flied to center, but Keith Hernandez singled, putting runners at the corners. Foster followed with his 23rd home run to give the Mets a 6-5 win.

Mike
May 4, 2005
Awful Met, although a few people here pegged it right: he was already well into decline when he came here; we were just so bad then and had such little experience with good ballplayers that a lot, too much, was expected.

Jonathan Stern
January 26, 2006
Thanks to Tom Seaver, I was a Reds fan from 1979-1981. I even attended a number of games at now-defunct Riverfront Stadium. Although the Reds were no longer the Big Red Machine, they still played exciting baseball with many of the Machine's cogs in place - Foster being one of them. The Reds were larger-than-life and Foster seemed among the largest.

I was no longer following sports in 1982. But when Foster came to the Mets, it raised my eyebrows to say the least. When he hit 13 homers and was booed mercilessly, I remembered thinking the Mets were never going win. Ever. Foster seemed to go from a giant to a mere wisp of a man. The team looked hopeless, continuing to lose prolifically after Seaver's return to Shea. Little did I know that the winning (and my Mets fanhood) was about to begin... and that Foster would contribute little to it, before being shown the door on the eve of the 1986 postseason.

Joe From Jersey
February 12, 2006
Does anybody have the 1982 yearbook with both George's on the cover? (Foster and Bamburger) I still do and it said "By George, We Got It." It's a shame that George's stay in a Mets uniform wasn't the greatest but I have two memories of George that stick out:

Banner Day, 1982, me and my little cousin are waiting to get on the field, we had to get on line before the end of the game (the Mets won the 1st game) and while waiting to get on the field; there was George Foster by the Diamond Club door waving to the fans. Our entry was THE METS ARE GROWING A PENNANT ON THE FARM. (Didn't win though.)

Memory 2, sadly, was when the Mets let him go and they bought back Lee Mazzilli. A few years back, I was going to the movies with my friend when an African-American man saw my Mets jacket and said to me "The Mets are the KKK of baseball; They want nothing but Italians and Rednecks on their team." I was gonna answer back and say "What about Georgetown hoops and John Thompson?" but I thought better of it.

Ray Sauber
July 16, 2006
George was one of my favorites growing up. My friends and I would spend countless hours playing wiffle ball, and I always wanted to use the black plastic bat, and stand in the box with that menacing scowl like George always seemed to have. (or as menacing as an 11 year old kid can be.) He was signing autographs for charity in Cincinnati last weekend. A definite class act!

Sergio Leon
July 21, 2006
52 home runs in 1977 without steriods. What a great player he was. Too bad that he was not able to show it in New York.

JFK
July 21, 2006
I was about 13 years old when the acquired Foster and I knew then not to expect much from him. Look who was batting around him in Cincy---Rose, Morgan, Perez, Bench, etc. The Mets had Henderson, Flynn, Youngblood, Brian Giles, Mike Jorgenson. Just a slight difference. There was no way Foster was going to see a fat fastball with the Mets.

Alex
August 6, 2006
I remember thinking the Mets had sold out and become the Yankees when they acquired an over-the-hill expensive star like Foster. As a 10 year old in 1982, I preferred to root for my homegrown loveable losers. My dominant memory of George was watching him inevitably ground into double plays and kill innumerable rallies. They should have released him earlier or tried to trade him for some prospects; maybe then they would have won in '85. Besides his bad numbers, his dour personality and bummer vibe was a bad match for an exuberant, young team.

Jamey Bumbalo
November 3, 2006
Who knows why--the pressure of New York? he was over the hill? his apparent lack of all-out effort? his aloof personality?--but George Foster just didn't make the grade as a Met; he was a true disappointment. The whining about racism was too much. Some people have said he was replaced by Lee Mazzilli, but my memory, which may be wrong, is that Kevin Mitchell--a black man--replaced him.

VIBaseball
November 4, 2006
There really isn't any doubt, Jamey. Maz signed with the Mets on 8/3/86 after Pittsburgh cut him loose on 7/23. George was released on 8/7/86 and Maz was called up from Tidewater to replace him on 8/8. I looked back at the NY Times stories.

Mitch was with the team the whole year. It is true that he did see a good deal more playing time in left (as did Mookie) after Foster departed.

IntroMET
January 28, 2007
One thing about George that I did not like was after drawing a walk, he would, with both hands, toss his bat underhanded high into the air towards the Mets' dugout before trotting to first base. Watching this made me fear for the batboy. I was always thinking someone close by was bound to get hurt!

Mets713
February 11, 2007
I remember one game in 82 or 83 watching a Saturday night game against the Reds. Back then the Reds always beat the Mets hard. The Mets were down by two runs and Foster hits a long 3-run home run to take the lead. I got up from my chair and high five my uncle. Before the home run, my uncle was sharing how sad he felt for the man. He remember the Foster of the 70s. Then Bam! It's gone. There was hope. But then reality eventually hit us about Mr. Foster and the Mets.

When Beltran struck out in game 7, I had the same sad look like my uncle. I was too sad to get angry at the man. Baseball players are human. Piazza did same thing as Foster and swung at bad balls when he batted when he had no protection. They had two choices: 1) break the all time records in walks 2) swing and see what happens. Often the Mets fans are left with an age old reflection at the end of a game or lost season: What if?

Edward
March 9, 2007
One night when I was working in FAO Schwarz, this man comes up to me. I smiled as I greeted him. He says to me, "Do you know who I am?" and I am like "Hmm, you look familiar." Then my co worker whispered to me, "That's George Foster." I then said to him, "Oh yes, you're George Foster." Then I told him that I am a big Mets fan. He then gave me his autograph and smiled.

kevin
February 3, 2008
George put on a youth baseball clinic in my hometown of Anchorage Alaska last June. I had the pleasure of going to an autograph signing with him then talking baseball with him over dinner. To be able to ask him baseball questions about his career and the incredible throw he made in game 6 of the 1975 world series was a huge thrill for me. George signed autographs and posed for photos with fans of all ages and was accommodating to everyone. Don't believe all the things written about him. He is a class act and was a great baseball player.

Mark
June 21, 2008
Someone above makes a good point about George Foster. When he came over to the Mets they had little if any other "threats" in their lineup - so he probably got very few good pitches to hit.

Mook
June 25, 2008
Saw old George at the Met Game last week against Texas. Turned the countdown page. I think that the Mets should give Old George a glove and bat and stick him in LF. Bet he'd do better than 2 HRs in half a season!

Mike J
July 19, 2008
I'll always remember when Joe Franklin interviewed George Foster on his TV show and as the program was coming to a close Franklin asked, "Quickly, George, your favorite color?" I was rolling on the couch. Classic Joe Franklin.

pockmarx
October 6, 2008
I remember George Foster's first at bat in his first spring training game with the Mets. A pitch came in low and away and out of the strike zone. Foster tried to pull it and he hit a weak grounder to shortstop. I immediately got a bad feeling about this guy and his approach to hitting. During the next several seasons this kind of at bat would be repeated over and over again. Countless groundouts and double plays would follow. With the exception of a hot month during the 1985 season when Foster carried the team during a time when no one else was hitting, Foster was a lousy hitter. Anyone who thinks that dumping Foster in order to pick up Lee Mazzilli was racially motivated knows nothing about baseball. I saw Foster on some TV show soon after he signed with the White Sox following his release from the Mets. Foster still had the same arrogant smug attitude he displayed while with the Mets. He soon was released by Chicago who apparently didn't share George's lofty opinion of himself. Foster probably still sits at home to this day wondering when some team is going to offer him a job as a player.

Robert Wayne
April 22, 2009
My only dealing with George Foster was back in 1973. Cincinnati was doing great that season and they were here in Dixie playing the Astros, who were still pretty much an expansion team. Anyway, my dad gave me a ride to the hotel where the Reds were staying, across the street from the Astrodome. I got some of the Reds' autographs. I remember Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench being kind of snobby jerks. But Pete Rose, Clay Carroll, Sparky Anderson and George Foster were really nice guys to we kids who were bothering them for autographs.

Jack Pesserilo
May 15, 2009
Does anyone know why game 6 of the 1975 WS went to extra innings? It seems that the Red Sox had the winning run on third in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied. I believe the runner was Denny Doyle. There is 1 out. The batter (I don't remember who) sent a fly ball down the left field line. Guess who's playing LF for the Reds and makes the catch in front of the stands and throws out Doyle trying to score to win the game for the Red Sox? Yep it was Foster. In other words Foster set up Fisk's famous home run.

Bob P
May 18, 2009
Correct, Jack!

The Red Sox had the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth, and Fred Lynn at the plate. Lynn hit one high right down the left field line, and as you may be aware there is very little foul territory down the lines in Fenway.

Foster made the catch right near the wall and threw a strike to Johnny Bench, who tagged Denny Doyle. Rico Petrocelli then grounded out and the game went to extra innings.

Hank M
May 21, 2009
Jack, I remember that moment very well. The part of it that stands out for me was not the throw home, but the spot where George caught the ball and then threw it. He was standing right on the foul line, less than a foot from the side wall in front of the stands. It could have been a foul ball he caught, but with so little room between George and that wall, chances are it was going to be fair.

My father, who assumed it was clearly foul, was yelling 'What a jerk!' to George when he reached up to catch it. Since a runner can still advance on a foul fly that's caught, Dad thought George should have let it drop so that Doyle couldn't score. But George had no other choice than to make the catch. After his perfect throw, the next thing I heard from Dad was an unkind set of words for Doyle!

I felt like saying to my father, 'There's a reason why George Foster is playing in the World Series and you're watching him on TV', but I couldn't do that to Dad. That throw was a key moment in one of the greatest games ever. The thing that people don't realize is the good judgment George used just by catching that ball, which could have landed either fair or foul.

Rusty EH
January 31, 2010
The guy was the man in Cincy; he did not need to put any added pressure on himself. I bled Red in the 70's and my Dad taped 15 on every Reds helmet I had but Foster struggled in NY due to what we will never know. Thanks to the man who did not curse or drink, except for milkshakes. I have book reports from when I was a 4th grader at St. Bernadette's to prove it. I was an avid softball player and saw him at one of his nephew's games. What a great guy -- gave me a photo and signed it for me and did it with a genuine smile. He belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Feat Fan
February 2, 2010
Rusty, I'm glad that you have such a positive George Foster story and I'm not at all shocked to read that he's a good guy but BELONGS IN THE HALL OF FAME? For what, one very big season (77) and a handful of good ones? (And that may be generous.) Sorry, not even a thought for the HOF!

Gene Z
May 20, 2010
To this day and probably for the rest of my life, I'll remember George Foster for something he said to a sports caster or reporter on TV in 85 or 86. The Boo-Birds had been out in force and the reporter asked him how he felt about it. The question had been asked in a way that brought it to a personal level. He replied, "They're not booing me, they're booing my performance."

Thanks for that, Mr. Foster.

Jon K
June 16, 2010
I remember George Foster coming to my baseball camp at St Andrews School during the summer of 1991. He shared some very helpful hitting tips with us and was very friendly. He hung around for hours after his talk chatting with us and signing autographs.

David Kaplan
July 20, 2010
I am a lifetime New York Mets fan. In 1986 I lived in Cincinnati and went to see the Mets play a series there. I tried in vain for 2 days to get one autograph from George Foster. The first day I met him one to one outside the hotel. He had just signed several autographs for a few kids. He would not sign a baseball card I brought to him. He said "No cards!" Next day I met him again (one to one) and presented a hotel letterhead for him to sign. He turned his back on me (!) and did not sign the letterhead. At this point I gave up. The third and final day as several members of the team had arrived back to the hotel I followed Mookie Wilson in an attempt get his autograph. Between Mookie and me was George Foster again. As I went through the turnstile hotel entry door George somehow tripped the door and temporarily locked me in and he started laughing. Quite an experience regarding a baseball player which we all support financially. George was I believe the highest (or one of the highest) paid player at that time! Unfortunately a bad experience from a member of a team which I continue to support.

Joel
November 4, 2011
Foster definitely was on the decline and way overpaid (but was that his fault?) when he came to the Mets, however he actually had some decent seasons (28 HR's n 1983, 24 HR's in 1984 and 21 HR's in 1985).

I am sorry his Mets career ended the way it did but he was not the most articulate guy and made a verbal mistake. He always seemed like a decent human being and I agree, his personality really was far better suited for Cincinnati.

I am glad that Foster was invited back and came back to Shea for the last game.

I recall that even in 1986 he got some big hits and was NL player of the week at one point and did hit 13 home runs in 72 games.

I also recall a home run he hit off of Steve Carlton on a Friday night at Shea in which Dwight Gooden blew the Phillies away. He got booed because frankly his talent had declined.

Compared to the characters on the 1986 Mets - Foster seemed like a saint.

Old Fashioned Met
July 27, 2017
George had a very creative mind. As both a Red and a Met, he had a pair of sunglasses with red-tinted frames that he would wear for day games. He called them his "Rose-colored" glasses in Cincinnati in honor of one of his teammates. When he got to New York, he changed that term to "Strawberry-colored" in honor of one of his teammates. People can say what they want a about him, but Mr. Foster was a smart guy and a supportive team player.

James Martinson
February 28, 2023
The 86 Champs got a big boost late in the 1986 season when they released Foster, and called up Lee Mazzilli from Tidewater. By 1986, Foster was in full decline, and hardly a championship caliber player anymore. They had younger players who were much better, like Kevin Mitchell, who got increased playing time when George went Bye Bye. I doubt the Mets would have won the WS in 1986 if Foster would have been a regular during the playoffs and World Series. Mazzilli really helped the Mets in the 86 post season, getting on base in key situations.