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O.T.-Original Met,Jim Hickman dead at 79

R

RUhasarrived

All American
May 7, 2007
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Wikipedia has just listed his passing.No details.

Hickman was the 1962 Mets regular centerfielder after Stengel determined that Ashburn could no longer cover all of the ground at the Polo Grounds.

Later traded to the Cubs,he had the game winning hit in the 1970 All-Star game,the game in which Pete Rose's slide virtually ended Ray Fosse's career.
 
Thanks for letting us know. I was eleven when the original mets played. My recollection is that Ashburn retired after that season to become an announcer for the Phillies, a position he had until his sudden death from a heart attack. "Whitey," as people called him, was a beloved figure, both for his play and his announcing.

Ashburn took part in the game between the Phillies and Dodgers that decided the 1950 pennant. The Dodgers had a runner on second in the bottom of the ninth. The batter singled to center, and Ashburn threw the runner out at the place. In the top of the tenth, Dick Sisler homered, and the Phillies hung on to win the pennant.

Sorry to have drifted away from the topic. It gave me a pang to read your post. All of these players who were my heroes -- gone. At least they lived to ripe old ages.
 
RIP
jim_hickman_autograph.jpg
 
Weird things also associated to Jim Hickman.

1st Met to hit for the cycle
Last Met to hit a HR in the Polo Grounds
1st Met to hit 3 HRs in a game against St. Louis, his former team.
Last original Met to be traded

Very odd for one person and a popular Met. Nice career.
 
More Jim Hickman trivia:
  1. One of only two original Mets to subsequently make an All-Star game roster with another team. Can you name the other?
  2. One of only three original Mets to play in the majors into the 1970's. Can you name the other two?
 
Doctor Worm said:
More Jim Hickman trivia:
  1. One of only two original Mets to subsequently make an All-Star game roster with another team. Can you name the other?
  2. One of only three original Mets to play in the majors into the 1970's. Can you name the other two?
Click to expand...
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Question 2...Would guess one was Ed Kranepool although he came up during the 62 season, don't think he was on the team opening day.
 
Who was the first Met elected as a starter to an allstar game?.......( not chosen as a representative)
 
wheezer said:
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Question 2...Would guess one was Ed Kranepool although he came up during the 62 season, don't think he was on the team opening day.
Click to expand...
I was not counting him because he was not in the organization on opening day, having been drafted out of HS in June 1962. Not an "original Met" in my opinion. There are two others.
 
Doctor Worm said:
I was not counting him because he was not in the organization on opening day, having been drafted out of HS in June 1962. Not an "original Met" in my opinion. There are two others.
Click to expand...
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That is what I thought.... He came up at the end of the season.....
 
1962 was 2nd grade for me and the first year we all started collecting base ball cards.I remember Hickman looking like he should have been on the Andy Griffith show.Damned talented ballplayer
 
Chris Cannizzaro a catcher taken by the Mets in the 61 expansion draft lasted into the 70s
Choo Choo Coleman another catcher taken in that draft was one of my favorite expansion Mets because of his nickname ( his career didn't make it to the 70s)
 
In his book Can't Anyone Play This Game?, Jimmy Breslin quotes Stengel as saying that Canizzaro was his best catcher. "He throws very good." Talk about damning with faint praise!
 
Chris Cannizzaro is the answer to my other question as well. He made the NL All-Star team in 1969 with the expansion San Diego Padres, despite ending the season with a .220 batting average.

The other original Met who lasted into the '70s was a pitcher named Bob Miller. He went 1-12 for the 62 Mets, and got that one win on the next to last day of the season. Went on to have a nice career though, and got a ring with the 65 Dodgers. Ended his career with the Mets in 1974.

The pitching staff of the 62 Mets had more complete games (43) than wins (40)! My, how the game has changed.
 
Doctor Worm said:
Chris Cannizzaro is the answer to my other question as well. He made the NL All-Star team in 1969 with the expansion San Diego Padres, despite ending the season with a .220 batting average.

The other original Met who lasted into the '70s was a pitcher named Bob Miller. He went 1-12 for the 62 Mets, and got that one win on the next to last day of the season. Went on to have a nice career though, and got a ring with the 65 Dodgers. Ended his career with the Mets in 1974.

The pitching staff of the 62 Mets had more complete games (43) than wins (40)! My, how the game has changed.
Click to expand...
Wow, that's an interesting complete game stat.

For what it's worth, my favorite 62 player was Rod Kaneal. I still have all the 62 topps cards from the 62 team.
 
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Doctor Worm said:
Chris Cannizzaro is the answer to my other question as well. He made the NL All-Star team in 1969 with the expansion San Diego Padres, despite ending the season with a .220 batting average.

The other original Met who lasted into the '70s was a pitcher named Bob Miller. He went 1-12 for the 62 Mets, and got that one win on the next to last day of the season. Went on to have a nice career though, and got a ring with the 65 Dodgers. Ended his career with the Mets in 1974.

The pitching staff of the 62 Mets had more complete games (43) than wins (40)! My, how the game has changed.
Click to expand...
Seems like there were so many Miller's in baseball around that time, you needed a program to tell them apart.
Also, remember Sherman "roadblock" Jones a pitcher, might have pitched their first game ever. Don't think he ever missed a start. They were bad, but fun to watch.
 
rubaseball78 said:
Wow, that's an interesting complete game stat.

For what it's worth, my favorite 62 player was Rod Kaneal. I still have all the 62 tips cards from the 62 team.
Click to expand...
If you also have the Seattle Pilots cards, WOW. What a collection for memory sake alone. I collected the 1974 Topps Traded cards which were part of the regular series, but had traded across the face. Some nice players.
 
RUsince52 said:
Seems like there were so many Miller's in baseball around that time, you needed a program to tell them apart.
Also, remember Sherman "roadblock" Jones a pitcher, might have pitched their first game ever. Don't think he ever missed a start. They were bad, but fun to watch.
Click to expand...

In fact, the Mets in '62 had two pitchers named Bob Miller; one was right-handed and the other left-handed.
 
Doctor Worm said:
Chris Cannizzaro is the answer to my other question as well. He made the NL All-Star team in 1969 with the expansion San Diego Padres, despite ending the season with a .220 batting average.

The other original Met who lasted into the '70s was a pitcher named Bob Miller. He went 1-12 for the 62 Mets, and got that one win on the next to last day of the season. Went on to have a nice career though, and got a ring with the 65 Dodgers. Ended his career with the Mets in 1974.

The pitching staff of the 62 Mets had more complete games (43) than wins (40)! My, how the game has changed.
Click to expand...

I guess I'm confused. I thought it was Wheezer who asked the original question, and he was asking for the first Met to be an All-Star game starter rather than just a representative. That wouldn't be Cannizzaro, would it?
 
May not be a year one question, but maybe somebody knows..... What Met pitcher started both games of a doubleheader and lost, when Casey was the coach?
 
camdenlawprof said:
I guess I'm confused. I thought it was Wheezer who asked the original question, and he was asking for the first Met to be an All-Star game starter rather than just a representative. That wouldn't be Cannizzaro, would it?
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Ron Hunt was the first starting all star for the Mets.... Before that they might have had Gil Hodges as an added on allstar, each team had to have at least one representative.
 
We all know it took forever for the Mets to have someone throw a no hitter....... Few would know or care that early on, the Mets had a three pitcher combined no hitter in a pre season game..... I wish I had saved the newspaper box score because maybe I could have won a couple of bar room bets..... Even though it would be a sneaky wager and win.
 
I think Al Jackson won the most games for the Mets in their first season. Craig Anderson I think was like 3-21 or something like that. I was always a Yankee fan but in the Mets first few years I watched almost every game. They had Ashburn, Duke Snider, Frank Thomas, Gil Hodges, Charlie Neal and other former good players in 62 but most were on their last legs as far as baseball success was left for them. They might have had Don Zimmer too but I might be wrong. I still have a magazine with an insert of cards of the 62 Mets. I think they might be by TCMA or such. I think the backs were done in a sort of 54 Bowman style. I loved baseball in the 50's and the early 60's.
 
Who was the first #1 draft pick in the amature draft to retire without ever making it to that major leagues ? Of course he was a Met.
 
I just checked the 1962 Mets stats on google. I was wrong Roger Craig won 10 games with a record of 10-24. Al Jackson was 8020 and Jay Hook was 8-19. Frank Thomas hit 34 home runs and Marv Thronberry had 16. He played in the 50's for the Yankees. Clem Labine was also on the Mets for a cup of tea. Richie Ashburn hit .306 for the Mets. Gus Bell and Gene Woodling were also former good players who were on the Mets in 62. Woodling was always one of my favorite Yankees.
 
knights1212 said:
I think Al Jackson won the most games for the Mets in their first season. Craig Anderson I think was like 3-21 or something like that. I was always a Yankee fan but in the Mets first few years I watched almost every game. They had Ashburn, Duke Snider, Frank Thomas, Gil Hodges, Charlie Neal and other former good players in 62 but most were on their last legs as far as baseball success was left for them. They might have had Don Zimmer too but I might be wrong. I still have a magazine with an insert of cards of the 62 Mets. I think they might be by TCMA or such. I think the backs were done in a sort of 54 Bowman style. I loved baseball in the 50's and the early 60's.
Click to expand...

Here are the stats for the 1962 Mets. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/1962.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/1962.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/1962.shtml
As you can see Craig Anderson was 3-17, and Roger Craig was 10-24 (someone commented that a pitcher has to be awfully good to have 24 defeats!).
 
My reply disappeared,but everyone else covered the question. Zimmer started 1962 with the Mets, but was quickly sent to Cincinnati
 
wheezer said:
May not be a year one question, but maybe somebody knows..... What Met pitcher started both games of a doubleheader and lost, when Casey was the coach?
Click to expand...
I don't think this ever happened.

According to the linked article, the last pitcher to start both ends was Wilbur Wood in 1973. Al Santorini did it in 1971 but with an asterisk, he was pulled after one batter in game 1 in a righty/lefty gambit. Prior to that, the last man to do it was Don Newcombe in 1950.

The article is of course unofficial and I make no claims to its accuracy.
https://prestonjg.wordpress.com/200...games-of-a-doubleheader-in-the-major-leagues/
 
Doctor Worm said:
I don't think this ever happened.

According to the linked article, the last pitcher to start both ends was Wilbur Wood in 1973. Al Santorini did it in 1971 but with an asterisk, he was pulled after one batter in game 1 in a righty/lefty gambit. Prior to that, the last man to do it was Don Newcombe in 1950.

The article is of course unofficial and I make no claims to its accuracy.
https://prestonjg.wordpress.com/200...games-of-a-doubleheader-in-the-major-leagues/
Click to expand...
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I posted this because I remember it, but I could not find it through Google search either.... But I could swear it did happen.... I don't blame you for challenging it..... I will look further because now it bugs me
 
wheezer said:
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I posted this because I remember it, but I could not find it through Google search either.... But I could swear it did happen.... I don't blame you for challenging it..... I will look further because now it bugs me
Click to expand...
Not directly related, but in 1970 the Mets beat Denny Lemaster who started game 1 of a doubleheader, and then beat him again as a reliever in game 2.

I think that is the more plausible scenario... starter gets knocked out early in game 1, and comes back in relief in game 2.
 
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