New York Mets First Base Coach: Tom Goodwin (2012-2013)

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Thomas Jones Goodwin was born on July 27th, 1968 in Fresno, California. The six foot one, left hand hitting outfielder attended Cal State University at Fresno. There he played baseball, football & basketball. He was originally drafted as a 6th round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986 but chose not to sign.

He was a member of the 1988 USA gold medal winning Olympic baseball team. He stole nine bases, & hit .250 scoring nine runs in the 12 games. In 1988 he was the Los Angeles Dodgers first round draft pick. He was a great base stealer, stealing 82 bases at the A ball & AA ball levels in 1990. In 1991 he stole 48 bases at AAA Albuquerque, getting a September call up to the Dodgers for 16 games.

Goodwin played three seasons with the Dodgers as a backup outfielder, never making it as a top player. In 1994 he was placed on waivers & got picked up by the Kansas City Royals. With the Royals he stole fifty or more bases for three straight seasons, coming in second in the league twice & third one time.

He would also lead the AL in sac hits two straight seasons while hitting over .280 both times as well. In those Royals season, he posted career highs in steals with 66 & caught stealing with 22 in 1996.

In 1997 he had career highs in doubles (26) & was traded to the Texas Rangers for Dean Palmer. He spent three years in Texas hitting .290 with six triples in 1998. In 2000 he signed with the Colorado Rockies putting up big numbers in Rocky Mountain air, 5 Hrs 8 triples & 47 RBIs in 91 games.

He was traded back to the Dodgers later that season for Todd Hollinsworth. Overall in 2000 he hit two grand slam HRs & had an inside the parker as well. He spent two more season with the Dodgers (200-2001) then moved on to the San Francisco Giants (2002). .

In 2003 he signed a two year deal with the Chicago Cubs. He only hit one HR as a Cub, it was a May 22nd game winner against Scott Sauerback of the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 3-2 win. In 2005 he played in the independant Atlantic League before retiring.

In a 14 year career he hit .268 with 1029 hits 369 stolen bases 125 doubles 39 triples 24 HRs 284 RBIs & a .332 on base %. He was a solid centerfielder posting a .991 fielding % making 22 errors in 2402 chances with 24 assists.

Retirement: In 2012 he was named the New York Mets first base coach under manager Terry Collins.
He holds the same position in 2013.

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