(Centerfield Maz) Former Met Of The Day: John Stearns.

In 1975, Stearns began his Mets career as the backup to Jerry Grote only hitting .189 in 59 games. Stearns said he looked at the lineup card one day & saw he was on it with Tom Seaver pitching. In the 1st inning Pete Rose stepped in & he realized, he was in the big leagues! In 1976 he was sent down to Tidewater and was in the top 10 in batting. By 1977 he was the Mets starting catcher, he hit his only career grand slam in June and had two four RBI games. He was chosen for his first All Star game, and was hitting well over .300 by the break. He struggled in the 2nd half finishing up batting .251, with 12 HRs & 55 RBIs, leading the team with 12 doubles, & 77 walks. He would also lead his team in hit by pitches the nest two seasons.

In 1978 he had a slow April but he kick started himself by starting a bench clearing brawl, fighting with Gary Carter. In June Dave Parker crashed into him in a play at the plate. Stearns stood his ground, tagged out Parker to end the game and fractured big Dave’s cheekbone, sidelining him for two weeks. That season Stearns set a NL record for stolen bases by a catcher with 25, he also had career highs in HRs (15) & RBIs (73) & led the team in doubles with 25. He also caught a career high 141 games behind the plate.

In 1980 he was batting well over .300 into July and made another All Star team. It was the first time he got to bat in any of All Star games he made and grounded out in the 5th inning off Tommy John. In a June 12th game two drunken fans stormed the field and while security was trying to catch them, Stearns grew irritable. He left his position behind the plate ran into left field and tackled one of them down. On July 4th, Expo rookie Bill Gullickson threw at the Mets Mike Jorgenson. Stearns jumped from the dugout ran to the mound and leveled Gullickson to the ground. I think my favorite Stearns story was when in Atlanta, the Braves mascot Chief No-a-homa was annoying Stearns. He screamed at the mascot and chased him off the field. After the All Star game he had a multiple hit, three RBI game but then broke his finger on a foul tip, which pretty much ended his season. He ended up hitting a solid .285 with 25 doubles but didn’t hit any HRs.

He missed the first two weeks of 1981, then slowly came back& was back behind the plate in May, hitting well until the baseball strike halted play. He finished up hitting .271 in 80 games, but his power production was down hittingonly 1 HR with 12 doubles. Through all his injuries he still stole 12 bases. In 1982 he came back strong, hitting well over .300 in the first half making another All Star team. That May he stopped the Giants Greg Minton’s record streak of 254 innings without allowing a HR. After the break he had elbow problems and was sidelined for the rest of the year finishing up with a career best .293 average, hitting 25 doubles & stealing 17 bases. By 1983 the elbow injury cut his career short, and at age 32 he retired. In his career he played in 810 games, hitting .260 with 152 doubles, 46 HRs & 312 RBIs. In 699 games behind the plate he had a .985 fielding percentage.

Retirement: After baseball Stearns coached (1990’s/ 2005) & managed in the minors (Binghamton 2003-Tides 2004). During 1998-2001 he was the Mets bench coach under Bobby Valentine. In 2006 he moved over to managing the Nationals AAA level. He was at Shea for the closing ceremonies on its final day.