Post by Sha-Le Unique on Mar 3, 2018 20:50:08 GMT -5
A week after teammate Joe Torre announced his retirement, fellow Mets great Dick Dietz called it a career after 16 major league seasons.
The converted catcher started his career with the Yankees in 1964, but got traded out west to the Giants in 1965. It was in San Francisco that Dietz became a star. His best season as a Giant was in 1971, which included a .269 average, 29 home runs, 96 RBI, 81 runs, 72 walks and an .840 OPS. But in 1973, the Giants decided to rebuild and traded both Dietz and the legendary Frank Robinson to the Mets for Dave Kingman and Dave Hamilton. Because of Torre's presence behind the plate, Dietz followed the footsteps of his Mets predecessor Gene Oliver (who also was a converted catcher acquired from the Giants back in 1965) and moved to first base.
Dietz became a great cleanup hitter behind Torre, a hitting machine. He helped lead the Mets to 4 straight NL East division titles between 1973-1976. After a down year in 1973, Dietz bounced back in a big way in 1974. His numbers that season featured a .279 average, 20 doubles, 41 home runs, 120 RBI, 107 runs, 72 walks and an .897 OPS. He won his first and only NL MVP Award that year and batted .361 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI that postseason as the Mets suffered the first of 2 bitter NLCS losses to the Padres. "The Mets have always been Joe's team since well before I arrived," Dietz said. "I'm just glad I was able to really do my part in 1974. Everything was just clicking that year I guess. Not to mention becoming the first 40-home run hitter in team history is pretty cool. I'm surprised Gene never reached 40 while he was here. He must've come close."
Dietz's career numbers include a .252 batting average, 2,033 hits, 257 doubles, 381 home runs, 1,307 RBI, 1,208 runs and 1,155 walks. He led the NL in home runs twice in 1972 and 1974, and led the league in RBI in 1974. His high walk totals helped boost his OBP all the way up to .346. He currently ranks among the top 25 in career home runs and is just outside the top 25 in career walks. He made 3 All-Star teams in 1966, 1968, and 1976.
Dietz had an important veteran clubhouse presence, along with Torre. "Dick was a dependable run producer. I always felt confident when he was at the plate with runners on in a big game. His MVP season was spectacular. He pretty much carried us in the second half down the stretch. He could hit the ball a mile and even the home crowd sometimes went silent momentarily in awe of what they just saw. That's how powerful Dick Dietz was!", exclaimed longtime teammate Tom Seaver. "Dick was always there for me when I needed someone to tell me to relax at the plate. I always wanted to be a home run-hitting slugger growing up and whenever Dick saw me try too hard, he told me to just stick to the same approach and that the power would come. I'm thankful I had a veteran like him look out for me right now," said third baseman and left flelder Gary Gray.
Dietz helped mentor current Met Gary Gray by preaching patience in more ways than one.
The Mets right now have a crop of young sluggers in the minor leagues that should be coming up within the next few seasons. It will be interesting to see which of them emerges as the most dependable slugger, as Seaver accurately described Dietz. The Mets now have two massive holes to fill in the lineup, but young team is starting to come together little by little.
