Keith Hernandez has been driving to Flushing for nearly 40 years, originally to Shea Stadium as first baseman of the New York Mets and more recently to Citi Field as the team’s broadcaster. It’s a commute he’s all too familiar with.
But something was a little different when he arrived Saturday.
“I just drove in right now and I saw all the No. 17 jerseys out there, which was kind of touching and nice,” Hernandez said.
The No. 17 that Hernandez wore as the first captain in franchise history, as a Gold Glove winner and as a member of the 1986 World Series champions, now will forever be worn only in the stands. The Mets retired Hernandez’s jersey number during a ceremony at Citi Field on Saturday, making him just the sixth member of the organization to receive the honor, in addition to Jackie Robinson, whose No. 42 is retired throughout baseball.
Hernandez’s No. 17 was unveiled alongside the numbers of Gil Hodges (14), Mike Piazza (31), Jerry Koosman (36), Casey Stengel (37) and Tom Seaver (41).
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“I am absolutely humbled and proud that my number will be up in the rafters for eternity along with Casey, Gil, Tom, Mike and Jerry,” Hernandez said during the ceremony. “Sixty years of New York Mets. I thank you all, I am truly overwhelmed.”
A logo of Hernandez in his defensive stance at first base covered home plate during the ceremony. The Mets logo on the famed Home Run Apple was covered by Hernandez’s No. 17. The number also was erected behind second base and cut into the grass in centerfield.
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Hernandez was joined on the field by members of his family, his SNY broadcast partners Gary Cohen and Ron Darling, former Mets Mookie Wilson, Tim Teufel, Ed Lynch and Piazza, as well as Mets manager Buck Showalter and Mets owner Steve Cohen.
Cohen and Showalter presented Hernandez with a mosaic portrait made of over 6,000 Hernandez baseball cards and Strat-O-Matic cards of the Mets’ 1986 roster. Hernandez then approach the podium, with the sellout crowd breaking into a a chant of “Keith Her-nan-dez!”
“Should I step out of the box?” Hernandez joked. “You guys are great.”
Hernandez was acquired by the Mets in a 1983 mid-season trade with the St. Louis Cardinals for Rick Ownby and Neil Allen. The deal sent Hernandez, who by the time of the trade had already won the 1979 MVP award and five Gold Gloves Awards, from the defending World Series champions to a perennial last-place team.
“June 15, 1983,” Hernandez said during his speech of the day he was traded. “I learned and read that it was a joyous day in the nation. Little old me in St. Louis wasn’t very happy. What did I know? A life and career changing event. I cannot tell you. I remember (former Mets general manager) Frank Cashen talking to me on the phone, our first conversation, saying ‘Welcome to the Mets. We have not squandered our draft picks and we feel we’re ready to turn the corner.’ I was disbelieving. The last place Mets for the last seven years. But when I went to spring training in 1984 and I saw the group of talented athletes, all young, bright eyed and bushy tailed looking up at me, I knew we had something special. And we did.”
Hernandez, a three-time All-Star during his six-plus seasons with the Mets, has the third highest batting average in franchise history at .297. In his first full season with the team in 1984, Hernandez finished second in National League MVP voting after hitting .311 with 15 home runs and 94 RBIs. He’d win six of his 11 consecutive Gold Glove awards with the Mets, establishing himself as arguably the greatest defensive first baseman of all time, particularly when charging a bunt or turning a double play.
Hernandez, who was named captain of the Mets in 1987, credited his younger teammates in New York for giving his career a renewed purpose.
“I was a little listless at this stage of my life, in my career, having won the final brass ring, a World Series championship in St. Louis,” he said during the ceremony. “I needed another goal and I came here and these young guys inspired me and rejuvenated my career. I never dreamed that we would turn it around so quickly. And I say we, it’s a team. I’ve always felt myself just a player, one of 25, nothing special about me. Just one of the guys, having a great time, working hard, and working hard for a championship. And we did! In three years.”
In addition to the No. 17 jerseys scattered around Citi Field, some also wore Hernandez’s trademark mustache. That included current Mets first baseman Pete Alonso … and Mr. Met.
Hernandez was greeted after the ceremony by a former member of the New York Yankees who once shared an equally-famous mustache and a similar skill set at first base: Don Mattingly, now the manager of the Miami Marlins, who played the Mets on Saturday.
“When you get to the big leagues, I wanted to be a good defensive player, and Keith was like the standard of how you play first,” Mattingly told the New York Post on Thursday. “Definitely a guy that I paid attention to, and really tried to see how he handled certain situations.”
Hernandez threw out the ceremonial first pitch to his brother Gary, but he did so from first base instead of the mound. He then took a lap around the field to greet fans.
Hernandez said prior to his jersey retirement ceremony that, having been in the broadcast booth since 1999, he’s accustomed to looking down at the action on the field, having lost the perspective of performing in front of what he called a “full house.” That changed Saturday when he stepped back onto the field to find the stands filled with fans – many wearing his No. 17 jersey.
“I will definitely look around and it will be a different perspective, feel like old times,” Hernandez said. “But I’ll be in a suit instead of a uniform.”
