Tommie Agee
From The Met Wiki
Tommie Agee was a center fielder for the Mets from 1968 to 1972. In his five seasons in New York, Agee hit 82 home runs and drove in 265 runs. Tommie also had 92 stolen bases as a Met.
Agee came to the Mets with Al Weis from the Chicago White Sox (with whom Tommie won the American League Rookie of the Year in 1966) in a six-player trade on December 15, 1967. In 1968, Tommie struggled with a season batting average of .217 with only 5 homers. Still, he had a game-winning single in the ninth inning for a 2-1 Mets triumph over the Reds at Shea Stadium on May 16. Five days later, he hit two homers and scored the winning run in the Mets' 4-3 victory over the Pirates in 17 innings. Agee also had a homer and a two-run single in a 4-0 Mets win at St. Louis on August 27.
In the Mets World Championship season of 1969, Tommie led the team in many categories. His 26 homers, 76 runs batted in and 97 runs scored were all team highs for the year. He made history by becoming the first (and only) player ever to hit a homer into Shea Stadium's upper deck seats in the Mets' 4-2 win over the Expos on April 10. Tommie hit a 14th inning home run off the Giants' Juan Marichal to give the Mets a 1-0 win at Shea on August 19. In a key game against the Cubs on September 8, Agee hit a two-run homer and scored the winning run in a 3-2 Met victory.
In the 1969 National League Championship Series, Agee hit .357 with two home runs as the Mets swept the Atlanta Braves in three straight games. In Game 3 of the World Series, he hit a leadoff homer in the first inning of the Mets' 5-0 win over the Orioles. Tommie also made two outstanding defensive catches that prevented five runs in the game.
Agee became the first Mets player ever to win a National League Gold Glove Award in 1970. For the season, he set team records with 107 runs, 182 hits, 31 stolen bases and 298 total bases. Tommie also led the Mets with 30 doubles, 24 home runs and a .286 batting average in '70. On July 6, Agee hit for the cycle in the Mets' 10-3 win over the Cardinals at Shea. His steal of home in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Mets a 2-1 win over the Dodgers on July 24. Tommie had two singles, two doubles, a triple and four runs scored in a 12-9 Mets win at Pittsburgh on August 8. In the first game of a doubleheader on August 23, he hit two home runs in the Mets' 5-4 win over the Reds at Shea.
In 1971, Tommie was a Mets co-leader with 14 home runs (tied with Cleon Jones and Ed Kranepool) and 28 stolen bases (tied with Bud Harrelson.) He hit .285 for the year and had 50 RBIs. Agee singled home the winning run in the 11th inning in the Mets' 3-2 triumph over the Cubs at Shea on May 3. At Shea on August 29, his pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth inning gave the Mets a 4-3 win over the Dodgers. Tommie also had a homer and two singles in the Mets' 7-1 win at Philadelphia on September 3.
Despite missing time with injuries in 1972, Agee led the Mets with 96 hits and 23 doubles for the season. He hit a grand slam in the Mets' 6-1 win at Los Angeles on April 28. Tommie hit a two-run homer in the tenth inning to give the Mets an 8-6 win over the Padres at Shea on May 7. He also homered in three consecutive games and drove in five runs from August 12 to August 15.
Agee homered off Steve Carlton to lead off the game in an eventual 2-1 Mets win over the Phillies at Shea on September 24. The homer was the last one for Tommie as a Met. At Pittsburgh on September 29, he singled home the Mets' only run for a 1-0 win over the Pirates. This was Agee's last RBI with the team.
On November 27, 1972, Agee was traded to the Houston Astros for Rich Chiles and Buddy Harris He split the 1973 season between the Astros and Cardinals. In 1974, Tommie was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers during spring training, ending his career.
Agee passed away on January 22, 2001. One year later, he was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame.
