Brent Mayne: Short Time Mid Nineties Mets Reserve Catcher (1996)
Mayne attended Cal State Fullerton where he was an All-American & eventually was inducted in the Orange Coast College Hall of fame.
In 1989 the tall six-foot catcher was the Kansas City Royals first round draft pick (13th pick overall) out of California State University. As a catcher he was known as a fine defensive player, with a strong throwing arm who handled pitchers well.
In 1991 he batted .251 in 85 games with the Royals coming in eighth in the Rookie of the Year
voting. On August 26th, he was behind the plate for Bret Saberhagen's no hitter against the Chicago White Sox.
Walk Off Hit: On April 4th, in just his second Mets game, Mayne came to bat as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 9th inning facing Dennis Eckersley with the Mets down 9-9. Chris Jones had just reached on an error allowing Edgardo Alfonzo the score the tying run. Mayne singled into right field scoring Jones from second base for the win.
Overall, in 70 games on the season he batted .263, hitting a HR with six doubles & six RBIs. He
posted a .342 on base % & .696 OPS. After the season he was granted free agency & signed on with the Oakland A's.
Trivia: On August 22nd, 2000, he was brought in to pitch a tied game with the Braves in the 12th inning, by his Rockies manager Buddy Bell who ran out of pitchers. Mayne pitched a scoreless top of the 12th inning & became the first position player since Rocky Colavito (1968) to earn a victory when Adam Melhuse won the game with a walk off single off Stan Belinda. Mayne is the also the only catcher in the 20th century to get credited with a victory.
In 2004 at age 36, he caught 38.3% of runners trying to steal (2nd in the NL). That season he ended his playing career playing for Arizona & the Dodgers as a backup.
Behind the plate, he caught 1143 games (tied for 80th all time). He posted a .993 fielding % (44th best all time) with 6186 put outs & 59 double plays turned. He threw out 29% of would-be base stealers with 651 successful stolen bases on him.
MLB Debut: The next season he was brought up to the Royals big league squad for nine games. Mayne would spend six seasons in Kansas City sharing time behind the plate with Mike Macfarlane. Overall, he hit .244 for the Royals with 20 HRs & 205 RBIs in 664 games.
voting. On August 26th, he was behind the plate for Bret Saberhagen's no hitter against the Chicago White Sox.
In 1992 behind the plate, Brent threw out a career best 40% of would-be base stealers. By 1995 he was the main catcher seeing action in 110 games (103 behind the plate) batting .251.
Mets Career: In the winter of 1996, he was traded to the New York Mets for minor leaguer Al Shirley.
Mayne was Todd Hundley’s backup catcher for the fourth place Mets, under managers Dallas Green & Bobby Valentine. Due to Hundley’s durability behind the plate that season as he caught 150 games, Mayne only saw action at catcher 21 times. Mayne would throw out just one of the 23 base runners attempting to steal on him.
On April 25th, with the Mets down 3-1 in St. Louis, Mayne tied the game with a two run HR off Alan Benes. The Mets put up six more in the inning with a three run HR from Lance Johnson & highlighted by a two run HR from Butch Huskey enroute to a 9-3 win.
By the end of May, Brent was hitting .286 but saw his average drop to .260 by July 30th. He then collected seven hits in a seven-game span to start the month of August & brought his average up over .300.
posted a .342 on base % & .696 OPS. After the season he was granted free agency & signed on with the Oakland A's.
Post Mets Career: Mayne would bat .289 in 85 games at Oakland as the team's main catcher under manager Art Howe.
Mayne would move across the Bay to play in San Francisco (1998-1999) then Colorado (2000-2001). Over the 1999-2000 seasons he was a combined .301 hitter.
In 2001 Mayne went back to Kansas City spending three more years there (2001-2003) as the Ryals main catcher.
The 2003 Royals surprised everyone staying in the wild card hunt until the end of the season.
2004 Post Season: He made his only post season appearance with Los Angeles in that years NLDS loss to the Cardinals. In four games he collected two hits in six atbats.
Career Stats: In his 15-year career he batted .263 with 951 hits 38 HRs 178 doubles 359 runs scored & 403 RBIs. He struck out 580 times with 370 walks posting a .332 on base % & .627 OPS. playing in 1279 games.
Retirement: After his playing days he went on to serve on the board of directors for the Braille Institute. Mayne also wrote a book called "the Art of Catching".
Family: Brent & his wife Hillary live in California. Together they have three children.
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