David Wright became the youngest ever New York Met to reach 1,000 hits on Tuesday night when he lined an RBI single to right field off the Dodgers Ramon Troncoso in the fifth inning of the second half of a twi-night doubleheader.
Wright, who is 27 years and 127 days old, is the eighth Met with 1,000 career hits. He is also the fastest player to reach the milestone in a Mets jersey, recording the historic feat in his 868th career game.
Mike Piazza had held the record of 935 games, while Darryl Strawberry previously held the record for being the youngest Met to 1,000 hits at 28 years and 173 days.
Wright is now in some elite company, joining the likes of fan favorites Mookie Wilson and Edgardo Alfonso. With just 30 more hits, Wright will surpass Strawberry, Piazza, and Bud Harrelson on the Mets all-time list and move into the top five.
Here's a look at the other Mets to reach the 1,000-hit milestone.
• Ed Kranepool is the all-time Mets hits leader with 1,418, but it took the career .261 batter 1,283 games to record his landmark base knock. The 28-year-old left fielder made history in the ninth game of the 1974 season with a single in the eigth inning off Cubs reliever Jerry Morales.
• Cleon Jones currently ranks second on the Mets hits leaderboard with 1,188, but it is possible that Wright will challenge this mark by the end of 2010 or very early 2011. Jones had his 1,000th hit two days before 31st birthday in August 1973, doubling in a third-inning run against the Pirates. It was his 1,007th game as a New York Met.
• The No. 3 all-time Mets hits leader is Edgardo Alfonso (1,136), who accomplished the feat as a 28-year-old in April, 2002. His 1,000th hit came in the bottom of the seventh inning against Javier Vazquez and the Montreal Expos. It was the shortstop's 962nd game as a Met.
• Mookie Wilson currently sits at No. 4 with 1,112 hits. He hit his 1,000th hit—a line drive single to left field—off future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine leading off the bottom of the fourth inning of a 6-1 victory over the Braves 22 years ago. Wilson was 32 years and five months old when he joined the 1,000-hit club.
• Bud Harrelson took the second longest of any of the eight Mets to reach 1,000 hits. He needed 1,258 games to reach the four-figure milestone, which he met one day before his 33rd birthday. In the first game of a doubleheader against the Phillies, Harrelson led off the fifth inning with a double to center field against Randy Lerch. The Mets went on to win the game 6-5 in the 10th inning.
• Before Wright accomplished the feat on Tuesday night, the previous Met to reach 1,000 hits was catcher Mike Piazza. Piazza, who had 896 hits in his six years as a Dodger before coming to New York, secured his place in the Met record books when he broke a 3-3 tie against the Braves with an eighth-inning three-run home run off Jim Boyer. Piazza, playing his 935th game as a Met, was two months shy of his 37th birthday when he had his 1,000th hit. He currently sits sixth all-time with 1,028.
• Darryl Strawberry, previously the youngest Met to record 1,000 hits, made history in his 1.084th career game with an eight-inning double off Giants' pitcher Jeff Brantley. Straw played just 25 more games as a Met before being granted free agency and signing with the Dodgers.
According to a report on MLB.com, Wright joins Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and Joe DiMaggio as the only players in the history of New York baseball to have at least 1,000 hits and 143 home runs in his first 868 games.
Here are some other milestones for David Wright.
First career hit: July 22, 2004, a double to left field of Zach Day in his second game.
500th career hit: June 12, 2007, a single to centerfield off Hong-Shih Kuo.
998th career hit (surpassing Howard Johnson for eighth all-time on the Mets hits list): April 27, 2010, a single off Hideki Kuroda.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments