Stats in His Mets Career
380 Games, 226 Runs 370 Hits, 90 Doubles, 52 Home Runs, 223 RBI, .273 Batting Average.
His Mets Moment
Lets face facts right off the bat, we all know the real Mets Moment that Bernard Gilkey had in his 2 1/2 year stay with the team.
In the Movie Men In Black, Gilkey is playing Center Field in a Mets-Braves game when the batter hits a fly ball to him.
At The Same Time, the Giant Bug’s spaceship flies over Shea Stadium at the same time and catches the attention of Gilkey who cant seem to get his eyes off of the large craft.
The Flyball comes down a hits him square on the head and he is knocked out as the crowd at Shea groans at fact the ball was not caught.
Gilkey had one great season with the Mets, that was in 1996 when he had the season of a lifetime, which included him setting the record for Doubles by a Met in one season.
He was let go in the 1998 season, traded to Arizona along with Nelson Figueroa (yes, the same one you are thinking of) for Willie Blair, Jorge Fabregas and cash.
He did have a very solid career in the field as you will see in the Fast Facts, he was someone who always had a knack for getting guys out on the base-paths.
Never a Gold Glover, or an MVP or anything more then a solid major leaguer for ten years, Gilkey had a career defined by one season above all else.
Oh and he is a Movie Star, cant beat that can you?
Fast Facts
Finished 14th in the MVP Voting for the National League in 1996
Set the Mets single season record for doubles with 44 in the 1996 Season.
His Wins Above Replacement (WAR) was 8.1 for the 1996 season, according to Baseball-Refrence that is considered an MVP Season.
8th All Time in Outfield Assists in only 364 Games played in the Outfield.
Only Three Players in Mets History have played more games in the Outfield and had a higher fielding percentage then Gilkey’s .986 (Beltran, Mazilli and, Dykstra)
Other Players of Note to Wear Number 23 as a Met
Joe Christopher (1962-1965), Jesus Alou (1975), Doug Flynn (1977-1981), Bud Harrelson (1986-1988), Tim Bogar (1993-1995), Jermaine Allensworth (1998), Pat Mahomes (1999-2000), Matt Lawton (2001), Jason Phillips (2003-2004), Kaz Ishii (2005), Julio Franco (2006-2007), Marlon Anderson (2007-2007), Brian Schneider (2008-2009), Chris Carter (2010), Blaine Boyer (2011)
Previous Best: #1 Mookie Wilson, #2 Bobby Valentine, #3 Bud Harrelson, #4 Lenny Dykstra, #5 David Wright, #6 Wally Backman, #7 Jose Reyes, #8 Gary Carter, #9 Todd Hundley, #10 Rusty Staub, #11 Wayne Garrett, #12 Ron Darling, #13 Edgardo Alfonzo, #14 Gil Hodges, #15 Jerry Grote. #16 Dwight “Doc” Gooden, #17 Keith Hernandez, #18 Darryl Strawberry, #19 Bobby Ojeda, #20 Tommy Agee, #21 Cleon Jones
Coming Up, The Best Met Player Ever to wear Number Twenty Four.
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