Ultimate Mets Database - Memories of Bruce Berenyi

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Bruce Berenyi
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Memories of
Bruce Berenyi

Bruce Berenyi
Ultimate Mets Database popularity ranking: 178 of 1252 players

Bruce Michael Berenyi
Born: August 21, 1954 at Bryan, O.
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Height: 6.03 Weight: 215

Bruce Berenyi was the most popular Ultimate Mets Database daily lookup on August 21, 2020.

First Mets game: June 17, 1984
Last Mets game: July 9, 1986

Share your memories of Bruce Berenyi

HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY:

Dave Nesor
The only thing that I remember about Bruce Berenyi is that in the 1984 Mets yearbook it said that he was a huge collector of the Beatles!!!

Jon
January 29, 2001
He pitched fairly well for us after coming over from Cincinatti early in '84. On his good days, he'd strike out a lot of guys, which always fooled me into thinking he was going to get better.

Joe Figliola
July 24, 2001
Yes, Bruce was a big Beatles fan (so am I)! Another yearbook mentioned that he owned more than 400 LPs

thelius
November 24, 2001
I was at the game at Riverfront August 22, 1981 when Berenyi, a member of the Reds shutout the Mets 2-0 throwing a 2 hitter walking 0 and striking out 14. I remember Dave Kingman being a real jerk and Mike Jorgensen signing my scorecard at the urging of a fine looking young lady who was grabbing his ear. I was 11 years old.

Danny Erickson
March 10, 2002
It's a shame that Bruce hurt his arm. I think he could of filled many roles and contributed to the Mets success.

Peter Stratakos
July 26, 2002
Berenyi definitely had some talent early on...but I remember one hot summer night in 1984 where he got lit up like a Christmas tree. The Mets were losing 8-0 in the second inning. I'll never forget because about 12 of us went to the game, and after the 2nd inning, Harry M. Stevens was our best friend, and the most popular man in the ballpark.

James Caldwell
August 16, 2002
I remember a story involving Bruce and Lenny Dykstra - seems that when Berenyi was trying to come back from his injury in 1985, they wanted him to pitch one of those simulated games early one afternoon. Davey Johnson or Stottlemyre or someone asked (more likely ordered) Dykstra, then the rawest of rookies, to be one of the batters for Berenyi. Dykstra did some very loud complaining about having to put in this work, and did it in Berenyi's presence. Berenyi's response was to either knock him down or outright plunk him during said simulated game. Does anyone else remember hearing about this?

Ray Sauber
March 26, 2003
The first game that I attended as a kid was June 7, 1981 Reds vs Expos. Berenyi mowed down the Expos at will that day. A one-hitter, and the only hit was a single to right by Andre Dawson in the 4th. I also got my first autograph that day....Joe Nolan of the Reds. He hit a home run....his only one all year.

mets
May 29, 2003
Berenyi had pretty good stuff but had arm trouble. This was typical of the Reds, the team that traded him to the Mets. The Reds had many young pitchers with talent at one time: Wayne Simpson, Gary Nolan, Don Gullett, Bill Bonham and they all had arm problems. Berenyi is also the nephew of Ned Garver, the one time St. Louis Brown who 20 games with them in 1951.

Kiwiwriter
July 19, 2004
He had a hard heater and explosive stuff. Then he exploded his arm, and that was that.
In 1993, I read a Jack Anderson column that talked about him suing the Feds over tax troubles in a class- action case. Apparently baseball was not "bery, bery, good" to him. He was bankrupt or something.
"The Bad Guys Won" says he works in a golf club in Florida now. Wow.

Metsmind
July 23, 2004
I remember the night the Mets announced the aquisition of Bruce Berenyi. It was right near the (old) trade deadline of June 15, and it was very significant in that it meant that the Mets had made a decision. Even though they had acquired Keith a year earlier, this was THE move that changed the Mets from a rebuilding franchise to a team looking to win NOW. Of course, they fell short of the Cubs that fall, but Berenyi's arrival told us all that management was in the hunt for real.

Bob P
August 3, 2004
Ray Sauber's March 2003 memory of Berenyi with the Reds convinced me to look up the game...and wow-what a performance by Bruce.
On a Sunday afternoon at Riverfront Stadium, Berenyi retired the first eleven batters of the game. Andre Dawson singled with two outs in the fourth and was left at first. Bruce then retired the next ten batters before walking Warren Cromartie to lead off the eighth. But then came a DP grounder to Dave Concepcion, and then Berenyi got the last four outs.
He finished the game with a one-hitter, walking one and striking out ten (Tim Raines struck out three times). He also pitched to just 28 batters, thanks to just the one hit, one walk, and DP. Bruce led the league is most batters walked in 1981, but this game was not the reason why.
Bruce appeared in just 36 games as a Met over three seasons. He was only able to stay healthy enough to pitch in 142 games over seven seasons.

KMT
March 13, 2005
Bruce helped turn the Mets around in that unforgettable '84 season! The Mets were so bad for so long, THEN BOOM, 90 wins! I remember Bruce could throw so hard, and had a good curve. He kept them in most of the games. It was a real shame his arm gave out, at least he got some of the '86 World Championship money and a ring!

Jonathan Stern
March 14, 2005
Back in the late 70's-early 80's, I rooted to a certain extent for the Reds, thanks mostly to Tom Seaver. I remember all the raves in the Cincy programs and media guides about Berenyi, then (an up-and-comer) and vaguely recall seeing him pitch at Riverfront Stadium. He and Fred Norman were each seen as potential successors to Seaver. Neither were.
When the mid-eighties Mets brought me back to baseball after a strike-induced hiatus of a few years, I remembered Berenyi (and Ray Knight, of course) from the Reds and was happy to see him in Flushing. Too bad there wasn't more to his career.

Bob Schwartz
September 21, 2005
I met Bruce Berenyi a couple of years ago at a Super Bowl party in Ft. Lauderdale, where he now lives. Apparently, he's one of a small number of former major league players who have come out as gay after their playing careers ended. When I met him, he was playing on a team in the Ft. Lauderdale gay softball league.

JQ
July 16, 2006
The Victor Zambrano of the 80's, except we didn't trade a number one draft choice to get him. Great arm, poor control, still a "prospect" in his late 20's. As soon as he started getting it together, he blew his shoulder out.

JFK
September 3, 2007
I always remembe people saying that Bruce had a "heavy fastball"--little rotation and difficult to drive. Shame about his arm troubles.

Edgy DC
October 13, 2008
>>>>JQ: The Victor Zambrano of the 80's, except we didn't trade a number one draft choice to get him.
Actually, that's exactly what the Mets did, trading Eddie Williams, the number four pick of the 1983 draft --- 11 slots ahead of where Kazmir was taken 19 years later --- along with 1980's second rounder Jay Tibbs and toss-in Matt Bullinger. The Mets payed dearly for the guy.

Michael
November 11, 2008
It's a shame he couldn't stay healthy....Bruce had REAL talent in his arm.