Mookie Wilson
From The Met Wiki
Mookie Wilson was an outfielder for the Mets from 1980 to 1989. He batted .276 in 1116 games with the team. Wilson had 281 stolen bases in his ten seasons as a Met.
Wilson joined the Mets as a rookie in 1980. He collected 26 hits over the final month of the season. In a three-game series at San Diego from September 4 to September 6, Mookie got his first career hit (a single), stole his first base and had a three-hit game. He had a triple and three singles in the Mets’ 10-7 win over the Cubs at Shea Stadium on September 14. Wilson singled, tripled and scored the winning run in a 9-6 Mets win in 11 innings at Pittsburgh on September 20. He also had two stolen bases and two runs scored in the Mets’ 5-2 victory on October 4 at St. Louis.
In 1981, Wilson led the Mets with 8 triples and 49 runs scored. He had a .271 batting average over 92 games played in the strike-shortened season. At Shea on April 15, Mookie had a two-run triple and a single in a 5-3 Mets win over the Cardinals in the home opener. He had four hits, two stolen bases and three runs scored in a 6-1 Mets victory over the Cubs at Shea on May 29. Wilson hit his first career home run in the Mets’ 9-7 loss on June 2 at Philadelphia. He tripled twice in a 6-4 Mets defeat at Atlanta on August 20. Mookie hit a home run in the eighth inning to break a tie and give the Mets a 2-1 victory over the Astros at Shea on August 25. He also hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to give the Mets a 7-6 win over the Cardinals on September 20 at Shea.
Mookie set a Mets record with 58 stolen bases in 1982. He also tied a team mark with 9 triples for the season. Wilson had a 13-game hitting streak, going 19-for-58 (.328) from April 13 to April 28. He had three singles, two stolen bases and two RBIs in the Mets’ 6-3 win at Los Angeles on May 3. Mookie singled three times and had a stolen base in a 6-2 Mets victory over the Cardinals on June 12 at Shea. He had three singles and two stolen bases in the Mets’ 5-2 win at Pittsburgh on August 7. Wilson broke Frank Taveras’s team record (set in 1979) with his 43rd stolen base of the year in the second game of a doubleheader at Chicago on August 15. He became the first Met ever to reach the 50-steal mark for a season on August 29 against the Braves at Shea.
In 1983, Wilson was the National League leader with 638 at bats. He had 138 singles and 25 doubles to lead the Mets for the year. At Pittsburgh on May 14, Mookie singled three times and stole two bases in a 6-2 Mets victory. He had a pair of singles, a triple and three runs scored in a 10-1 Mets triumph in the first game of a doubleheader at St. Louis on June 28. Wilson homered in the 10th inning for a 2-1 Mets win over the Braves at Shea on July 26. He scored from second base on an infield groundout in the 12th inning to give the Mets a 1-0 win over the Pirates in a doubleheader nightcap on July 31 at Shea. Mookie did the same thing in the ninth inning for a 2-1 Mets victory over the Expos at Shea on August 3. He also had a double, three singles and three stolen bases in the Mets’ 7-6 loss to the Cubs on September 17 at Shea.
Wilson set a new Mets record with 10 triples in 1984. His 46 stolen bases, 88 runs scored and 154 games played were also leading totals for a Mets team that won 90 games for the season. Mookie started the year with a six-game hitting streak, batting .400 (10-for-25) from April 2 to April 11. He hit .483 (14-for-29) during a seven-game streak from May 9 to May 16. From June 8 to June 23, Wilson hit safely in 15 consecutive games by going 22-for-67 (.328) as the Mets entered first place in the National League East. He singled three times, homered and had a stolen base in a 14-4 Mets victory over the Reds at Shea on July 7. Mookie also singled, doubled and drove in three runs in a 10-0 Mets win over the Cubs on September 7 at Shea.
In 1985, Wilson spent two months on the disabled list. An operation on his right shoulder reduced his playing time to only 93 games for the year. Mookie batted .276 for the third straight season and had 30 extra-base hits in ’85. On May 11, he had two hits, a stolen base and three runs scored in the Mets’ 4-0 win over the Phillies at Shea. He singled four times and scored twice in an 8-1 Mets victory over the Dodgers at Shea on May 27. Wilson had two singles, a home run and four RBIs in the Mets’ 6-3 win over the Expos on June 21 at Shea. He homered in the 14th inning to give the Mets a 4-3 triumph at Los Angeles on September 8. Mookie also singled. doubled, homered and stole a base in the Mets’ 6-2 victory on September 15 at Montreal.
Mookie had 264 total bases and hit .289 in 1986. He missed the first month of the season after suffering an eye injury in Spring Training, but came back to become an every day player. As the Mets headed towards the World Championship, Wilson split time between left field and center field in ‘86. On May 23, he had five hits for eight total bases in the Mets’ 7-4 loss at San Diego. Mookie singled, doubled, homered and had a stolen base in a 10-4 Mets win in the second game of a doubleheader at Pittsburgh on June 6. At Houston on July 17, Wilson walked in his only three plate appearances and scored three runs as the Mets defeated the Astros, 13-2. He went 4-for-8 with four RBIs in a pair of 7-6 Met victories at Chicago on August 6. Mookie also had three singles in a 6-5 Mets win (the team’s 100th of the season) on September 25 at Chicago.
Wilson had seven hits and three stolen bases in the ’86 World Series against the Red Sox. In Game 6 of the Series on October 25, he escaped an inside pitch that got away to allow Kevin Mitchell to score the tying run in the 10th inning. Mookie followed by reaching on an error that brought home Ray Knight to win the game for the Mets and even the Series at three games apiece. The Mets went on to win Game 7 two nights later.
In 1987, Wilson reached a career-high .299 batting average. He had 175 total bases in 124 games played during the year. On April 21 and April 22, Mookie went 6-for-8 with three RBIs and three stolen bases in 9-6 and 8-7 Met wins at Pittsburgh. He singled, doubled and homered in a 6-4 Mets triumph over the Dodgers on May 22 at Shea. Wilson singled three times and stole two bases in a 10-7 Mets victory at Montreal on June 18. He had two singles, two stolen bases and three runs scored in the Mets’ 9-6 win over the Cardinals on July 1 at Shea. Mookie also hit a three-run homer in an 11-5 Mets victory at Philadelphia on September 9.
Wilson had 112 hits and 15 stolen bases in 1988. He had a team-leading five triples and a .345 on-base percentage in the Mets’ division-winning season. At Philadelphia on April 10, Mookie drove in three runs with two homers to lead the Mets to a 4-3 victory. He had an 11-game hitting streak from April 17 to May 2, batting .302 with a 13-for-43 mark. Wilson had a double and a two-run single in a 7-2 Mets win over the Astros at Shea on July 2. He scored twice in a 9-run first inning that led to a 13-6 Mets victory on August 16 at San Francisco. Mookie had an RBI single and a three-run homer in the Mets’ 7-5 win at Pittsburgh on September 5. He singled three times and scored a run in a 3-1 triumph over the Phillies at Shea on September 22 that gave the Mets the National League East Division title. In Game 3 of the ’88 National League Championship Series, Wilson had a run-scoring single in the Mets’ 8-4 victory over the Dodgers on October 8 at Shea.
In 1989, Wilson played in 80 games for the Mets. He had 72 total bases in his final season as a player in New York. Mookie had two singles and a home run in the Mets’ 9-4 win at St. Louis on April 14. He singled twice, doubled and drove in two runs in an 8-2 Mets victory on May 26 at Los Angeles. Wilson hit a double, scored a run and stole his last base as a Met in the team’s 6-4 triumph at Atlanta on July 15. He got his final Mets hit with a first-inning leadoff single on July 28 at Chicago.
On August 1, 1989, Wilson was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitchers Jeff Musselman and Mike Brady. He batted .298 in 54 games for the Jays in their successful run to the American league East Division Championship. Wilson played two more seasons with the Toronto team, ending his career with another division champion in 1991.
Wilson was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1996. From 1997 to 2002, he served on the team’s coaching staff. Mookie was the manager for the Mets’ minor league affiliates in Kingsport, Tennessee in 2003 and 2004 and in Brooklyn in 2005. He returned to the Mets' staff as the team's first base coach in 2011.
