Steve Henderson
From The Met Wiki
Steve Henderson was an outfielder for the Mets from 1977 to 1980. He had a .287 batting average in 497 games with the team. Henderson hit 35 homers and drove in 227 runs as a Met.
Henderson was one of four players acquired by the Mets from the Reds’ organization in a trade for Tom Seaver on June 15, 1977. He batted .297 over the rest of the ’77 season to begin his career as a major leaguer. At Shea Stadium on June 21, Steve hit his first major league home run. It was a three-run blast in the 11th inning that gave the Mets a 5-2 win over the Braves. He had a single, double, homer and three RBIs in a 5-3 Mets victory over the Pirates on July 16 at Shea. In the second game of a doubleheader the next day, Henderson drove in five runs with a sacrifice fly and a grand slam in the Mets’ 9-3 triumph over the Bucs. He had a triple and a two-run homer in the Mets' 8-7 win over the Dodgers in 12 innings at Shea on August 1. Steve had a sacrifice fly and a two-run homer to lead the Mets to a 4-0 victory over the Braves in a twinbill opener at Shea on September 2. He also had three RBIs with a double and a home run in the Mets’ 7-1 win at Pittsburgh on September 27.
In 1978, Henderson led the Mets with 156 hits (including a team-record tying 9 triples) and 83 runs scored. He had 234 total bases for the season. In the first game of a doubleheader at Shea on April 9, Steve hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the Mets’ 6-5 victory over the Expos. The following day, he had an RBI double and a two-run homer as the Mets defeated the Cubs, 6-0, at Shea. Henderson had four singles, the last of which drove in the winning run in the 10th inning for an 8-7 Mets triumph over the Braves at Shea on May 18. He hit a game-winning double in the bottom of the 10th for a 6-5 Mets victory over the Phillies on May 21 at Shea. Steve had two RBIs, the first of which was a leadoff homer in the first inning in a 3-0 Mets win over the Expos at Shea on June 20. He also had a pair of doubles and a single to drive in three runs in a 12-3 Mets triumph over the Reds on July 26 at Shea.
A sprained left ankle limited Henderson to 98 games in 1979. He hit .306 with 29 extra-base hits during the year. Steve had a two-run single in the Mets’ 10-6 victory in the season opener at Chicago on April 5. He hit a home run in a 4-0 Mets win on May 11 at San Diego. Henderson and a single, triple and three RBIs in the Mets’ 9-8 win in 11 innings at Chicago on June 30. He singled three times, scored twice and drove in two runs in a 12-5 Mets victory over the Dodgers on July 12 at Shea. Steve had a single, a triple and a home run in the Mets’ 7-6 win over the Giants at Shea on July 13. At Chicago on September 25, he singled to drive in the winning run in the 10th inning for a 4-3 Mets victory over the Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader.
Henderson had a team-leading .290 batting average in 1980. For the season, he had a team-high 8 triples and drove in 58 runs. Steve had three singles and a run scored in a 3-2 Mets win over the Expos at Shea on April 16. He singled four times and had three RBIs in a 6-4 Mets victory over the Pirates in a doubleheader opener on June 8 at Shea. Henderson had an RBI single and a game-winning three-run homer in the ninth inning for a 7-6 Mets triumph over the Giants at Shea on June 14. He drove in four runs with two homers in the Mets’ 9-2 win on July 15 at Atlanta. Steve hit a game-tying three-run homer in the seventh inning of the Mets’ eventual 5-4 victory over the Astros at Shea on August 1. He also had a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Mets a 10-7 win over the Cubs on September 14 at Shea.
On February 28, 1981, Henderson was traded to the Cubs for Dave Kingman. He batted .265 in 174 games over two seasons with the Chicago team. Steve played for the Seattle Mariners in 1983 and 1984 before spending three years with the Oakland Athletics. He ended his career with the Houston Astros in 1988.
