Keith Hernandez

Full Name: Keith Hernandez	Primary Position: 1B
Height/Weight: 6' 0"/180	First Game: August 30, 1974
Birthdate: October 20, 1953	Final Game: July 24, 1990
Birthplace: San Francisco, California	MLB Experience: 17 years
Bat/Throw: Left/Left

Biography[]

Keith Hernandez was born on October 20, 1953 in San Francisco, California), and attended Capuchino High School and the College of San Mateo (also known as San Mateo Junior College).

Hernandez was drafted by the Cardinals in the 42nd round of the 1971 draft, as the 776th overall player. He quickly rose to the upper echelon in the League. In 1979, he led the league with a .344 batting average, 48 doubles, and 116 runs scored, and went on to share the National League MVP award with Willie Stargell.

Hernandez was quickly given the nickname "Mex," apparently because his teammates, given his surname, believed he was of Mexican descent. They were incorrect—Hernandez is of Spanish descent—but the nickname stuck.

In 1982, the Cardinals won the World Series, defeating the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games. In Game 6, Hernandez and Cardinal catcher Darrell Porter hit home runs in a 13-1 St. Louis victory.

After several disagreements with Cardinal management, Hernandez was traded to the Mets on June 15, 1983. The Cardinals received pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey in return. While this trade was probably the best in Mets history, it was a terrible one for the Cardinals.

In 1985, Hernandez's cocaine use, which had been the subject of persistent rumors and the chief source of friction between Hernandez and Cards manager Whitey Herzog, became a matter of public record as a result of the Pittsburgh trial of drug dealer Curtis Strange. Hernandez is believed to have stopped using cocaine since.

Hernandez wore uniform number 18 for the first two years of his career. In 1976, he switched to number 37, insisting that his uniform number end with a 7. The Mets had retired number 37 for former manager Casey Stengel, so Hernandez switched to number 17, which he wore for the remainder of his career. His arrival and veteran leadership seemed to give the Mets confidence and credibility. In 1984, his first full season with the team, the Mets improved from a record of 68-94 to 90-72. The Mets finished second behind the Chicago Cubs in 1984 and the Cardinals in 1985, but won the World Series in 1986. The following season, Hernandez was named the first team captain in franchise history.

Hernandez was often compared to New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly. Both had won several Gold Gloves, a batting title and a Most Valuable Player award. Unfortunately, both players also had their careers curtailed by back injuries. Hernandez also suffered from knee and hamstring problems. By 1988, at the age of just 34, Hernandez began a sharp decline, and the Mets chose not to re-sign him after his contract ran out at the close of the 1989 season.

On December 7, 1989, the Cleveland Indians signed Hernandez to a contract, but back injuries led to his appearance in only 43 games in the 1990 season. Hernandez retired after the season.

Post Baseball Career[]

In 1997 Hernandez was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame. In 2002, in celebration of the Met's 40th anniversary, fans voted Hernandez as the Met's all-time first baseman. However, the voting body for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), was never convinced by Hernandez' qualifications. In 2004, after a nine year period of eligibility, Hernandez failed to garner the requisite 5% of the votes that are necessary to remain on the following year's ballot. Hernandez received 22 votes with the threshold for that year being 25.

Hernandez' last opportunity for Hall of Fame consideration remains with the Veterans Committee, where his name will appear on their ballot no earlier than 2011, which is twenty years from the date of his retirement.

In 1991, Mets pitcher David Cone switched from 44 to 17 in tribute to Hernandez. Former teammates Ron Darling, Bob Ojeda and Roger McDowell all wore number 17 in tribute to Hernandez for teams they played for after leaving the Mets.

Hernandez authored Pure Baseball: Pitch by Pitch for the Advanced Fan, which gives fans a detailed pitch-by-pitch player's look into baseball strategy, and currently serves as the Mets game analyst on SportsNet New York, where he recently found himself in hot water after making inappropriate remarks about the San Diego Padres team trainer, who happened to be female.

Statistics[]

Batting Stats[]

Year	Team		G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	3B	BB	SO	HBP	SH	SB	IBB	GDP
1974	STL	N	14	34	3	10	0	2	.294	.415	.441	1	2	7	8	0	0	0	0	1
1975	STL	N	64	188	20	47	3	20	.250	.309	.362	8	2	17	26	0	0	0	2	5
1976	STL	N	129	374	54	108	7	46	.289	.376	.428	21	5	49	53	3	2	4	5	8
1977	STL	N	161	560	90	163	15	91	.291	.379	.459	41	4	79	88	1	3	7	11	17
1978	STL	N	159	542	90	138	11	64	.255	.351	.389	32	4	82	68	2	1	13	11	12
1979	STL	N	161	610	116	210	11	105	.344	.417	.513	48	11	80	78	1	0	11	5	9
1980	STL	N	159	595	111	191	16	99	.321	.408	.494	39	8	86	73	4	1	14	4	14
1981	STL	N	103	376	65	115	8	48	.306	.401	.463	27	4	61	45	2	0	12	6	9
1982	STL	N	160	579	79	173	7	94	.299	.397	.413	33	6	100	67	2	1	19	19	10
1983	STL	N	55	218	34	62	3	26	.284	.352	.431	15	4	24	30	0	0	1	5	2
1983	NY	N	95	320	43	98	9	37	.306	.424	.434	8	3	64	42	2	2	8	9	5
1983	TOT	N	150	538	77	160	12	63	.297	.396	.433	23	7	88	72	2	2	9	14	7
1984	NY	N	154	550	83	171	15	94	.311	.409	.449	31	0	97	89	1	0	2	12	9
1985	NY	N	158	593	87	183	10	91	.309	.384	.430	34	4	77	59	2	0	3	15	14
1986	NY	N	149	551	94	171	13	83	.310	.413	.446	34	1	94	69	4	0	2	9	14
1987	NY	N	154	587	87	170	18	89	.290	.377	.436	28	2	81	104	4	0	0	8	15
1988	NY	N	95	348	43	96	11	55	.276	.333	.417	16	0	31	57	1	0	2	3	11
1989	NY	N	75	215	18	50	4	19	.233	.324	.326	8	0	27	39	2	0	0	3	4
1990	CLE	A	43	130	7	26	1	8	.200	.283	.238	2	0	14	17	1	0	0	3	2
Total	NL		2045	7240	1117	2156	161	1063	.298	.386	.440	424	60	1056	995	31	10	98	127	159
Total	AL		43	130	7	26	1	8	.200	.283	.238	2	0	14	17	1	0	0	3	2
Total			2088	7370	1124	2182	162	1071	.296	.384	.436	426	60	1070	1012	32	10	98	130	161

Fielding Stats[]

Year	Team		POS	G	GS	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	TP	AVG
1974	STL	N	1B	9	8	76	70	1	2	8	0	.973
1975	STL	N	1B	56	48	440.1	469	36	2	34	0	.996
1976	STL	N	1B	110	97	884.2	862	107	10	87	0	.990
1977	STL	N	1B	158	150	1345	1453	106	12	146	1	.992
1978	STL	N	1B	158	148	1327.2	1436	96	10	124	0	.994
1979	STL	N	1B	160	156	1413	1489	146	8	145	0	.995
1980	STL	N	1B	156	156	1368.1	1572	115	9	146	0	.995
1981	STL	N	1B	98	97	873.2	1054	86	3	99	1	.997
1981	STL	N	LF	3	2	9	2	0	0	0	0	1.000
1981	STL	N	OF	3	2	9	2	0	0	0	0	1.000
1982	STL	N	LF	2	2	13	1	0	0	0	0	1.000
1982	STL	N	1B	157	153	1370	1586	135	11	140	0	.994
1982	STL	N	RF	2	2	16	4	0	0	0	0	1.000
1982	STL	N	OF	4	4	29	5	0	0	0	0	1.000
1983	STL	N	1B	54	53	491.1	581	51	6	62	0	.991
1983	NY	N	1B	90	89	785.1	837	96	7	85	0	.993
1983	TOT	N	1B	144	142	1276.2	1418	147	13	147	0	.992
1984	NY	N	1B	153	152	1338.2	1214	142	8	127	0	.994
1985	NY	N	1B	157	152	1387	1310	139	4	113	0	.997
1986	NY	N	1B	149	146	1302	1199	149	5	115	0	.996
1987	NY	N	1B	154	151	1315.2	1298	149	10	110	0	.993
1988	NY	N	1B	93	90	767.1	734	77	2	63	0	.998
1989	NY	N	1B	58	55	473.2	405	31	4	22	0	.991
1990	CLE	A	1B	42	38	320	340	20	2	28	0	.994
Total			LF	5	4	22	3	0	0	0	0	1.000
Total			OF	7	6	38	7	0	0	0	0	1.000
Total			1B	2012	1939	17279.2	17909	1682	115	1654	2	.994
Total			RF	2	2	16	4	0	0	0	0	1.000

Career Highlights[]

All-Star Games: 5 (1979, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1987)
World Series Champion: 2 (1982, 1986)
1979 MLB MVP
Winner of 11 consecutive Gold Glove awards ('78-'88)

Transactions[]

Selected by St. Louis Cardinals in the 42nd round of the free-agent draft (June 8, 1971).
Traded by St. Louis Cardinals to New York Mets in exchange for Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey (June 15, 1983).
Granted free agency (November 13, 1989).
Signed by Cleveland Indians (December 7, 1989).

Keith Hernandez

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