David Cone
From The Met Wiki
David Cone was a pitcher for the Mets from 1987 to 1992 and in 2003. He pitched in 187 games with the team. Cone had 81 wins and 1172 strikeouts as a Met.
Cone came to the Mets from the Kansas City Royals just prior to the ’87 season. He missed eleven weeks during the year with a broken finger and was limited to 21 games appearances. At Cincinnati on May 12, David got his first win as a Met with a complete game four-hitter for a 6-2 victory. He suffered his injury when hit by a pitch in the Mets’ 4-3 win at San Francisco on May 27. Cone pitched four innings of scoreless relief for the win as the Mets defeated the Giants on August 20 at Shea Stadium. He allowed three hits in seven and a third innings to earn the win in the Mets’ 9-1 victory at San Diego on September 1. He was also the winning pitcher in a 4-2 Mets triumph over the Cardinals on September 13 at Shea.
In 1988, Cone had a 20-3 won-lost record with a 2.22 earned run average. He led the Mets with 213 strikeouts in the team’s division-winning season. At Shea on May 3, David pitched a complete game shutout and hit a double in the Mets’ 8-0 win over the Braves. He hurled nine shutout innings, but got a no-decision in a 2-1 Mets victory over the Cubs on June 2 at Shea. Cone shut out the Phillies on two hits for a complete game win in a 6-0 Mets victory at Shea on June 19. He pitched a one-hitter for a 6-0 complete game win over the Padres on August 29 at Shea. David recorded his 20th win of the season with a 4-2 complete game victory over the Cardinals at Shea on September 30. He also pitched all nine innings for a 5-1 Mets triumph in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series on October 11 at Los Angeles.
Cone was the Mets’ leader with 33 starts and 219 and two-thirds innings pitched in 1989. His total of 7 complete games was also a team high for the season. On April 25, David struck out ten batters and recorded a win in the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Braves at Shea. He pitched a five-hitter with eight strikeouts for a 2-1 Mets win over the Astros at Shea on May 6. At Philadelphia on August 8, Cone pitched a six-hit shutout for a 9-0 Mets triumph over the Phillies. He allowed four singles in pitching a complete game for a 2-1 Mets win at Los Angeles on August 29. David also had ten strikeouts and pitched a three-hit shutout in the Mets’ 7-0 triumph on September 29 at Pittsburgh.
David had a National League-leading 233 strikeouts in 1990. He recorded 14 wins and posted a 3.23 ERA for the year. Cone was the winning pitcher and got two singles in the Mets’ 6-4 victory at San Diego on May 19. He struck out ten batters and got the win in a 6-3 Mets triumph on July 14 at Cincinnati. David had 13 strikeouts and a pair of singles to lead the Mets to a 9-2 win at San Francisco on August 18. He pitched a five-hit shutout for a 4-0 Mets victory over the Padres on August 28 at Shea. Cone fanned 12 batters and pitched a complete game three-hitter in the Mets 4-1 win at Pittsburgh on October 1.
Cone struck out 241 batters to lead the NL again in 1991. He led all Mets pitchers with 5 complete games and a 3.29 ERA during the season. David had twelve strikeouts and a two-run single to lead the Mets to a 6-2 win over the Cardinals on May 24 at Shea. He fanned 13 in eight innings to pick up the win in a 4-2 Mets triumph at Cincinnati on June 4. Cone pitched a three-hitter in the Mets’ 5-1 victory on July 29 at Los Angeles. He combined with Jeff Innis for a one-hitter in a 2-1 Mets loss at St. Louis on September 14. David had a complete game one-hitter with 11 strikeouts for a 1-0 Mets win over the Cardinals on September 20 at Shea. He also recorded 19 strikeouts in pitching a three-hitter for a 7-0 Mets win at Philadelphia to close the season on October 6.
In 1992, David pitched five shutouts among his seven complete games with the Mets. He had 214 strikeouts to lead the team for the third year in a row. At Shea on April 28, Cone struck out 11 batters and pitched a two-hitter for a 4-0 Mets win over the Astros. He had a five-hit shutout and a two-run single in the Mets’ 7-0 victory at Atlanta on May 3. David had a complete game shutout for an 8-0 Mets triumph on May 19 at San Diego. He fanned 10 hitters and hurled a shutout in a 6-0 Mets win at San Francisco on May 24. Cone had 11 strikeouts in seven innings pitched to get the win in the Mets’ 6-2 victory over the Cardinals on June 21 at Shea. He also struck out 13 in a complete game shutout for a 1-0 Mets win over the Giants at Shea on July 17.
On August 27, 1992, Cone was traded to the Blue Jays for Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson. He recorded four wins during the rest of the regular season with the Toronto team, which went on to win the World Series. David pitched for the Royals, Yankees and Red Sox over the next ten years. After not pitching in the 2002 season, Cone signed with the Mets as a free agent in February of 2003.
David pitched in five games for the Mets in the ’03 season. In his first appearance of the year on April 4, he hurled five innings of two-hit ball in the Mets’ 4-0 victory over the Expos at Shea. This was the last win for Cone in his career. He announced his retirement from baseball on May 30.
