Keith Hernandez: The Mets Years- Part One (1983 - 1985)

Fresh off the St. Louis Cardinals 1982 Championship season, Keith Hernandez continued to have disagreements with St. Louis management. Hernandez & his already stormy relationship with Manager Whitey Herzog got even worse.

Turmoil With Whitey Herzog: The old school manager, Herzog didn't like things about Hernandez style of play. He felt Hernandez talked too much & was a chatterbox. He felt that at times his play was too casual & he lacked hustle because of that attitude. He felt Keith didn't run out easy ground ball outs & was too rebellious when told what to do. Herzog felt Hernandez was a bad influence on the teams' younger players. When there were rumors of drug use, Herzog wanted no part of that. 

Drug Use: Hernanez eventually confirmed he did once play a game under the influence of cocaine. In the late 1970's & 1980's cocaine was everywhere in MLB, it couldn't be ignored. Hernandez later testified that he believed 40% of players were using the drug at that time.

The Trade: On the June 15th, 1983, trade deadline, Keith Hernandez was traded to the New York Mets in exchange for reliever Neil Allen & pitcher Rick Ownbey. 

For the Mets, it was a major acquisition for a team who had been in fifth or last place the past six years. It was the start of what turned the franchise around for the better for the rest of the decade.

Mets Career & Uncertainty: At first Keith was unhappy about being traded from the reigning World Champions to the last place Mets, who's organization had been in shambles since the late 1970's. He said it was like being traded to baseball Siberia. 

When he arrived, Tom Seaver approached him in the clubhouse & said welcome to the Stems, Mets spelled backwards.

Also, his first marriage was ending in divorce. Being an emotional guy who reacts on impulse, he was depressed & very unhappy at his surroundings. 

Keith said he asked his agent, if he retired at the end of the season would he have enough money to live? The answer was no & unhappy Hernandez wept himself to sleep. Eventually things would get better for him, the Mets & the fans. But for now, he went through the motions.

#17: When Keith arrived with the Mets, he could not use uniform #37 that had been retired by the organization in honor of Casey Stengel. He insisted the unform number have a "seven" in it, in honor of Mickey Mantle, so he chose #17.

1983 Season: On June 17th, Keith Hernandez made his Mets debut in Montreal, batting cleanup & playing first base in a 9-7 loss to the Expos. That night Hernandez got two hits in four at bats. The Met's losing pitcher was Tom Seaver, who had returned to New York but just for one final Mets season a he was left unprotected at the end of the season. 

Hernandez would hit safely in his first five Mets games. In his first 16 Mets game he hit .443 with 27 hits & ten multi-hit games. He would have three muti-three hit games in that time.

First Mets HR: On June 20th, Hernandez hit his first Mets career HR, a two-run shot off the Cardinals John Stuper & his former Cardinal teammate in a 6-4 Mets win. His next two HRs came in losing efforts.

Multi- Three RBI Game: On July 14th, he hit his fourth Mets HR, a two-run shot off former Met Charlie Puleo helping in a 7-4 win over the Reds at Shea. He added an RBI hit, matching his season best three RBIs in a game.

On July 22nd, the Mets entered the top of the 9th inning, down 2-1 to the Reds in a game at Riverfront Stadium. Hernandez hit a solo HR off Ben Hayes to tie the game, then two batters later, rookie Daryl Strawberry hit a solo HR making it 3-2, which turned out to be the games winning run.

On July 25th, the Mets were down 4-1 to the Braves at Shea Stadium in the bottom of the 9th inning. Hernandez helped in the Mets four-run rally with an RBI base hit off Steve Bedrosian scoring Junior Ortiz. Hernandez then crossed the plate with the games winning run-on George Foster's Walk off base hit. From July 29th to July 31st, Keith drove in runs in three straight games.

In August he didn't drive in a run for 12 games before collecting an RBI. On August 19th, Keith drove in two runs for his eighth muti-RBI game of the year. He would have one more in September. 

Four Hit Game: On August 23rd, in an 8-3 win at San Diego, he had his first four hit game with the Mets, collecting four singles on the year. It was his second four hit game of the season.

On September 3rd, Keith hit his 12th HR of the year, a two-run shot off Tim Lollar in a 4-3 win over the Padres at Shea. On September 9th, Keith broke a 3-3 tie in the 7th inning, in Montreal with an RBI base hit off Dan Schatzeder driving in Mookie Wilson. The Mets won the game giving Tom Seaver his eighth victory, he would have just one more career win as a Met, Hernandez would not play in that game.

Hernandez finished out his first Mets season, playing in 95 games with them, leading the team in batting (.306) & on base % (.424%) He had 98 hits 9 HRs 8 doubles 64 walks & 37 RBIs. Keith posted a .424 on base % & .858 OPS.

Overall, in 1983 in 150 games between St. Louis & New York, Hernandez batted .297 with 12 HRs 23 doubles 63 RBIs. He posted a .396 on base % & .829 OPS.

Gold Glove: At first base he won his sixth straight Gold Glove Award & showed New York how to play first base. He led the league in put outs & double plays turned, coming in second in assists. 

Although the Mets finished sixth (68-94) & had gone through two managers; George Bamberger & Frank Howard, there were positive signs for the future. Hernandez was one reason, along with Rookie of the Year Daryl Strawberry (26 HRs 74 RBIs) as well as Mookie Wilson & his 54 (franchise record) stolen bases. Pitchers Jesse Orosco & Doug Sisk in the bullpen & a young Ron Darling. 

Keith's New York City: As far as New York City was concerned, as a Cardinals player, he always saw New York as a place to catch up on his reading & get more rest. As a rookie he was told by a veteran coach, never to go into Central Park, so he didn't see the city as a safe place.

But veteran Rusty Staub took Keith under his wing. He took him to museums, theater & to the great restaurants the city had to offer. He pointed out all the beautiful women everywhere you looked around the city. He also exposed him to the bars & night clubs around town, Hernandez's opinions changed & he would soon be king of the city.

Spring Training 1984: On the baseball side of things, it wasn't until Spring Training 1984, when GM Frank Cashen helped point out that the organization was loaded with young pitching talent. Ron Darling had just made his MLB debut & the Mets recently acquired Sid Fernandez. Then there was a 19-year-old fireball throwing phenom named Dwight Gooden ready to go.  

The years Cashen spent in rebuilding was finally coming of age & Shea Stadium was going to be an exciting place to play. Slugger, Darryl Strawberry was that years NL Rookie of the Year & impressed Keith with his talent. Mookie Wilson, Hubie Brooks & an exciting young second baseman Wall Backman, to go along with veteran George Foster made up the rest of the impressive team. 

And when Davey Johnson was named the manager, Keith knew he was the right guy for the job. Keith talked with his father about the Mets young talent & he agreed.

Hernandez was soon rejuvenated with motivation & determination. He knew how good a player he was & had to prove Herzog as well as the Cardinals they were wrong about him. Keith needed to perform at his best for his father, his brothers & most importantly for himself.  Keith Hernandez set out to be the best & would take it to the next level. He was now playing in the largest media market in the country for a team on the rise. It was the start of a second baseball career in his life & New York would be the place he became a legend for the rest of his life. 

Mets Cardinals Rivalry: From 1985 thru 1988 The Mets or Cardinals would win the NL Eastern division. The Mets would run away with the division in 1986 & 1988 but finish just three games behind St. Louis the other two seasons. They would battle in legendary pennant races in those years coming down to the final days of the season.  The desire of Hernandez to beat his old team, as well as the personal bitterness between him & Whitey Herzog fueled the rivalry through the mid to late eighties.

Best First Baseman of his Era: At first base Hernandez would win 11 straight Gold Glove Awards. He won six of them while wearing a Mets uniform. He became the best defensive first baseman of his time & arguably the best if not one of the best of all time. He would lead the league in double plays turned six times, assists five times, put outs four times, fielding twice & games played at first once.

Keith would anchor the Mets infield, positioning the fielders where he knew was best. From first base, he would coach his pitchers how to pitch to a hitter, as he knew all the hitters & their weaknesses. 

There may never have been a more intense payer in franchise history. Keith would charge down the line to get to balls. His quickness & agility had him play far off the bag, as he was able to snag balls hit to either side of him, closing up infield gaps & stopping balls hit down the line.

While holding runners on, he would famously stand in front of them, to block their view of the pitcher & batter. He would sometimes take pick off throws squatting in foul territory, to make an easier tag to his right side. 

Keith would often be the cutoff man from throws from the outfield since he had such a strong accurate throwing arm. 

He was aggressive when he thought a player was going to attempt to bunt, charging down the line to almost be in the batter's face. His reputation alone, discouraged many teams from even attempting a sacrifice bunt.

While managing the Reds, Pete Rose compared bunting against Hernandez to "driving the lane against Bill Russell". 

Cubs' manager, Jim Frey said he wouldn't ask most pitchers to bunt against the Mets. "You're just asking for a force out at second, and now you've got your pitcher running the bases".

Astros manager, Hal Lanier said the combination of Hernandez at first & any one of three Mets pitchers, Ron Darling, Roger McDowell or Jesse Orosco- made bunting against the Mets "near impossible."

Winning Over the Fans: The Met fans quickly fell in love with Keith & his intense style of play. Besides being a great defensive first baseman & one of the best hitters the franchise has ever had, he will always be remembered for his leadership. On the field or in the club house, he was the team leader. He is looked at as the player who helped turn the Mets around from losers to a Championship caliber team in the mid-eighties. Similar to what Tom Seaver was to the 1969 Mets.

1984: The season began with some excitement as Hernandez, was now going to play in his first full season with New York. He & some of the new young players brought a positive vibe to Shea.

After a hitless Opening Day, Keith collected his first hit of the season, an RBI double in a combined Ron Darling/ Doug Sisk three hit 2-0 shut out over the Reds in Cincinnati in the second game.

Four Hit Game: On April 13th, in a 11-2 loss to the Cubs, he had his first four hit game of the season. He would have another in late June in a win over the Phillies.

He closed out April with a seven-game hit streak & four straight multi-hit games. On April 29th, Keith hit his first HR of the season, a solo shot off the Phillies Dave Campbell in a 6-2 win. The next night, he hit HRs in back-to-back games, with a two-run shot off Dick Ruthven in an 8-1 win over the Cubs.

From April 29th to May 9th, Keith drove in runs in six straight games, with ten hits & two HRs.

Walk Off Sac Fly: On May 2nd, in a 3-3 tie with the Cubs at Shea, Hernandez hit a bottom of the 9th inning sac fly off Lee Smith to bring home Danny Heep with the games walk off game winning run.

On May 4th, he added an RBI single in Ron Darling / Jesse Orosco's 2-0 three hit shut out over the Astros at Shea. From May 1st to May 17th, he drove in at least one run in 12 of 17 games. 

On May 17th, in his old home area of San Francisco, he came to bat in the top of the 11th inning with the bases loaded of a 6-6 game. His RBI sac-fly off the Giants Mark Davis proved to be the games winning run. On May 25th, he had an RBI single off the Dodgers Rick Honeycutt in a 2-1 Dwight Gooden 14 strike out, win over L.A. at Shea.

In June he batted .343 with a .980 OPS. He got to .300 for the season once again & would remain at that level the rest of the way. On June 5th, he drove in two runs with two hits, in Walt Terrell's complete game 3-0 shut out over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Shea. 

From June 11th- June 15th, Keith had three multi-RBI games, including back-to-back shut outs from Ron Darling & Walt Terrell over his old Cardinals teammates in St. Louis. In the first game of the series, Keith hit a two run double & then a two run HR off Joaquin Andujar the next night. The Mets took three of four from the Cards in that series.

From June 19th to June 22nd, Hernandez followed up by driving in runs in four straight games. On June 21st, he had his second four hit game of the season. From June 20 to June 29th, he collected 18 hits to hit .514.

Multi- RBI Game: On June 25th in Philadelphia, Keith hit a three run HR off the Phillies Jim Kern, in a 10-5 Mets win, having the first of six games on the season where he would drive in three runs or more.

By July the Mets found themselves in the middle of a pennant race, the crowds were once again
filling up Shea Stadium & it was an exciting place to be. 

Hernandez drove in runs in ten of the first 15 games of the month as the Mets won 12 of 13 games including a stretch of eight straight. Overall, he drove in 23 runs that month & scored 17 runs.

On July 3rd, his two run HR in the bottom of the 6th inning off the Astro's Nolan Ryan, to put the Mets ahead 4-3 in what was to be the games winning runs. He then drove in runs in four of the next five games leading to the All-Star Break.

1984 All Star: At the halfway mark, he was batting .312 with 12 doubles & 45 RBIs. The Mets were in first place a half game ahead of the Chicago Cubs. Keith made his first All Star team since 1980 & third overall appearance. He did not get the start, as the Padres Steve Garvey did for the NL in the 3-1 win at Candlestick Park, San Francisco. Keith went 0-1 with a strike out in the game.

After the break, the Mets went to Atlanta & took three of four from the Braves. On July 12th, the Mets were down 6-3 in the top of the 9th inning, Keith's two run double off Donnie Moore, helped spark a five-run inning, in which the Mets went on to win 8-6.

Multi Three Hit-RBI Game: On July 14th, he had a three hit / three RBI game in Atlanta, including a two run HR off Gene Garber, as well as an RBI double & base hit, in the 7-0 Mets win.

Walk Off Hit & Multi- Four RBI Game: On July 24th, Keith had a big three hit day, at Shea Stadium in a 9-8 win over his old Cardinal teammates. In the bottom of the 10th inning, he came to bat against Neil Allen, the player whom he was traded for & singled to bring home Mookie Wilson with the games walk off winning run. The Mets swept the three-game set at Shea, with Keith hitting safely in all three games collecting six hits. 

Keith & Rodney Dangerfield

On July 25th, he drove in his 60th RBI of the season int he 9-3 win at St. Louis.

Mets Pennant 1984 Race: On July 27th, the Mets beat the Cubs behind Dwight Gooden 2-1 at Shea Stadium, putting them up a season high 4.5 games ahead in first place. They dropped the next seven straight games & although they contended, fell out of first place the rest of the year. 

Multi- Three RBI Game: In early August, the Mets losing streak continued, as they were swept by Cubs at Wrigley Field. On August 7th, in the first game of a double header, Keith had a muti-three RBI game, with a two run double & RBI single in the 8-6 loss.

On August 24th, in the second game of a double header split with the Giants at Shea, Keith hit a 2nd inning, two run HR off Mark Grant & added an RBI single as he drove in three runs, in the 6-5 loss. 

Multi- Four RBI Game: On August 26th, Keith matched his season best, four RBIs in a game, in an 11-6 Mets win over the Giants at Shea. He first hit an RBI double in the 1st inning, then in the 4th inning, he hit his 12th HR of the year, a three run HR off Mike Krukow. In the game Keith had two hits & drew three walks. 

Walk Off Hit: On August 29th, with the Mets & Dodgers tied 2-2 at Shea Stadium, Keith came to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning, facing former Met Pat Zachry with Danny Heep on second base. He hit the walk off game winning double, for his third walk off of the year in the 3-2 win.

In September, the Mets entered month, five games in back of the Cubs. In the first 12 games of the month, Keith batted .412 with nine RBIs, riding a 12-game hit streak. From September 7th to the 14th, Keith drove in runs in five of the seven games, with four of those games coming came against the Cardinals & first place Cubs. 

In an early September series with Chicago, the Mets took two of three from at Shea, including a one hit 10-0 shut out from Dwight Gooden. In that game, Keith went 1-5 with an RBI single. centerfieldmaz was in attendance for that exciting game.   

Keith closed out the rest of the month with five muti-hit games, giving him 49 on the season. He
had 12 games of three hits or more with two four hit games & 21 multi- RBI games as well.

The Mets won 90 games that year but fell short of catching the NL Eastern Champion Cubs finishing up second, six games out. It was the most games the team had won since the Miracle year of 1969 & their best finish since the 1973 NL Pennant season.

Gold Glove & 2nd in MVP Voting: Keith Hernandez had a spectacular year, coming in second in the MVP Voting, winning his first of five straight Gold Glove Awards with the Mets. 

Keith hit .311 (7th best in the NL). At Shea Stadium he batted .366 & .259 on the road. He drew 97 walks (second in the NL) & posted a .409 on base% (3rd best in the NL).

hit 15 HRs with He hit 31 doubles (7th in the NL) & collected 94 RBIs (8th in the NL). He had 171 hits, while hitting 15 HRs, scoring 83 runs & posting a .859 OPS.

At first base he was first in assists & double plays turned posting a .994% (3rd best in the NL).

Quotes- Tim McCarver: "Keith is the Baryshnikov of first baseman."

1985: On Opening Day against the Cardinals at Shea, Hernandez drove in the first run of the season, with an RBI single off the Cardinals Joaquin Andujar. He collected three hits & drove in two runs, in the 6-5 win highlighted by the newest Met Gary Carter's Walk off HR. Hernandez had three more hits the next day. 

On April 13th, his 6th inning sac fly off Tom Browning tied up a game with the Reds. The Mets won it on Darryl Strawberry's Walk off HR off John Franco.

From April 15th to April 22nd, Keith drove in runs in seven straight games. On April 16th, his 9th inning sac fly off the Pirates John Candelaria, scored Mookie Wilson with the game winning run of a 2-1 win at Pittsburgh. The next game, he drove in a run & was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded getting credit with an RBI.

On April 19th in Philadelphia, his 9th inning RBI single off Don Carman, helped Dwight Gooden to a 1-0 win over the Phillies. 

Four Hit Game: On April 27th in a loss to the Pirates at Shea Stadium, he had his first four hit game of the season. Hernandez would have seven four hit games on the season. 

The next afternoon in an 18 inning win over the Pirates, he collected four walks in the game, a season high. Keith closed out a strong April batting .309.

After not hitting any HRs in April Keith began May by hitting three HRs in the first nine games. On May 3rd, he hit his first in a 9-4 win at Cincinatti. On May 8th at Shea, he hit a two-run shot off Atlanta's Len Barker & drew three walks in a 4-0 Ed Lynch five hit shutout. On May 12th, his 1st inning solo shot led the Mets in a 3-2 win over the Phillies at Shea.

Over the next two months, Hernandez batted just .230 having one of the worst slumps in his Mets career. In June he drove in just seven runs & by July 1st his average dropped off to .251.

A Little Help from Dad After a Fallout: Keith's father John or Juan as he called him, had always been his biggest coach, a strong influence in his life, but a bit overbearing. Their relationship was complex, a love/hate- father/son drama. Juan was determined to have one if not all of his three sons become major leaguers. He pushed them hard & always demanded more.

Keith's father, John Hernandez had been a minor league first baseman (1941-1949). During World War II he had played baseball in the Navy with Stan Musial. When his baseball career didn't go any further, he became a fire fighter.

Keith had recently bought his father a satellite dish so he could watch him & his games on TV.  But he told his brother, Gary, the thought of their father watching & critiquing him began to drive him crazy. He felt it was contributing to his current hitting problems & mental block. 

The two went thru a period where they did not speak. During the batting slump nothing seemed to go right, the adjustments he made didn't help. Eventually Keith swallowed his pride & reached out to his father. After the awkwardness passed, they talked baseball.

Keith credited his father with getting him out of the slump. While watching his son on TV, he noticed Keith was not seeing the word Mets across the front of his uniform as he was in full stride with his swing. This meant he was bailing out on inside pitches, trying to pull the ball & was more vulnerable to the outside pitches. He took the advice & things got better.

Player of the Month Award: In July he started out with a six-game hit streak, then an eight-
game hit streak, followed by a ten-game hit streak. Overall, he hit safely in 24 of 27 games batting .398 with 41 hits, 12 doubles & 29 RBIs with 11 multi-hit games.

As Keith hit, the Mets won, from July 2nd to July 10th, the Mets went on a nine-game win streak, then winning 15 of 17 games.

Four Hit Game Hitting for the Cycle: On July 4th, in the six-hour 19 inning epic 16-13 Mets victory in Atlanta, he went 4-10 with three RBIs. It was his second four hit game of the season. He collected a two-run triple. triple, a double & a solo HR in the 8th inning off Steve Shields. & three RBIs. In that Atlanta series he had driven in five runs. 

Four Hit Game & HRs in Back-to-Back Games: On July 8th, as the Mets rolled into Cincinnati; Keith had his third four hit game of the year.  In the 7-5 win over the Reds he hit his 15th double & hit a two run HR off Joe Price.  Later in the 7th inning, he broke a 4-4 tie with an RBI base hit off Jay Tibbs. George Foster followed with a two run HR leading to the win. 

The next night in an 11-2 win over the Reds, Keith homered off Mario Soto for his 7th HR of the season. In the series sweep, he collected seven hits while driving in six runs in the series sweep. On July 10th, he broke a 1-1 tie in the 5th inning, with an RBI single off the Reds Tom Browning leading to the 2-1 win.

From July 20th to July 29th, Keith drove in 14 runs, with six multi-RBI games, including four straight. 

In a July 27th doubleheader sweep over the Astros at Shea, Keith drove in five runs in the two games collecting two hits with a pair of walks. On July 29th, Keith's 1st inning, two run double off Bryn Smith, was enough for Rick Aguilera to beat the Expos 3-2. 

Over the month of July, he batted .392 raising his average forty points to .291. He collected 12
doubles & drove in 29 runs with a 1.123 OPS. The Mets ended the month still two games behind the Cardinals.

On August 3rd, the Mets were down 3-2 to the Cubs at Wrigley Field in the 9th inning, Hernandez came to bat facing Cubs closer Lee Smith. Hernandez doubled scoring Wally Backman tying the game, in which the Mets went on to win 5-4 with a Howard Johnson 10th inning HR.

Five Hit Game- Multi Three RBI Game: On August 8th in a 14-7 Mets win in Montreal, Keith had a season high, five hit game. He drove in three runs for a team leading 63 RBIs on the season. Keith hit his 25th double of the season raising his average over .300 for the first time in three months.

As the Cubs came to Shea Stadium the Mets swept the three-game series & jumped into first place. In the first two games, he collected three hits & three RBIs.

Multi- Three RBI Game: On August 12th at Shea, Keith followed with another multi- three RBI game collecting an RBI double, RBI single & RBI sac fly in the 4-3 win over the Phillies. It was his fifth three RBI game of the season.

HRs in Back-to-Back Games: Hernandez began September by hitting HRs in back-to-back games. On September 1st, Davey Johnson gave him a day off in San Francisco as it seemed Keith was struggling & trying too hard in his home state area. 

Pinch Hit Game Winning HR: In the top of the 9th, the Mets were down 3-1, Rusty Staubs pinch hit RBI double got them to within a run.  Hernandez was sent up as a pinch hitter & connected for a two-run game winning HR off Mark Davis leading to the 4-3 win.

The next game in San Diego, he hit his tenth HR of the season, with a two-run shot off the Padres Bob Patterson in a 12-4 win. Keith also collected an RBI single earlier in the game for his sixth multi- three RBI game of the season.

On September 10th the Mets were up one game on the Cardinals in first place as they hosted St. Louis for three at Shea. The Mets won the first game with Keith collecting an RBI single. They were shut out 1-0 by John Tudor for ten innings in the second game. Dwight Gooden had shut out the Cards for nine innings then Jesse Orosco served up a HR to Cesar Cedeno in the top of the 10th.

Walk Off Single: On September 12th, with the two teams tied for first place, 46,295 fans filled Shea in a classic between the two rivals. Both starting pitchers had troubles, as Ed Lynch gave up five runs & Joaquin Andujar gave up six. 

In the bottom of the 9th, with the score tied, Mookie Wilson singled to start the inning. Hernandez won the game with a walk off base hit off Ken Dayley scoring Mookie in the 7-6 win. The win put the Mets in front of St. Louis by one game in the NL East.

From September 18th thru the end of the regular season, Hernandez hit safely in 16 of the final 17 games. He collected 31 hits with seven multi-hit games, driving in ten runs batting .463.

On September 18th, he collected his 30th double of the season, giving him his seventh 30 plus
doubles season, his second straight with the Mets.

Multi Three Hit Game: On September 24th he had a three-hit game at Philadelphia with a 1st inning sac fly in the 7-1 Mets win. 

The next game, he collected an RBI single in Dwight Gooden's 3-0 shut out & 23rd win of the season. 

Four Hit Game: On September 27th, he collected his sixth four hit game of the season, collecting his 31st double & scoring a run in a loss at Pittsburgh. Over the next two games he drove in runs in Mets wins at Pittsburgh.

As October began, the Mets were three games behind the Cardinals going into St. Louis for a three game series to decide the season. In the first game Ron Darling & John Tudor shut out their opponents into extra innings. In the top of the 10th, Darryl Strawberry hit a mammoth HR off the clock tower leading to a Mets win. The Mets won the next game with Keith going 1-4 putting them just one game back.

Five Hit Game: On October 3rd, in the series finale, Keith collected five hits, for his third five hit game of the season. In the 1st inning he singled off Danny Cox bringing in the first run. He singled in the 3rd, then added an RBI double in the 5th. He added another double in the 7th, his 34th of the year & another single in the 9th. 

The Mets took a devastating 4-3 loss putting them two games back. They would lose two of three to Montreal finishing second three games out.

 Mets MVP Voting: That year the Mets had three players finish in the top ten in NL MVP balloting that season (Dwight Gooden coming in fourth, Gary Carter coming in sixth & Hernandez coming in eighth).

Hernandez finished 1985 batting .309 (6th best in the NL) with 183 hits (8th most in the NL) he hit
10 HRs with 34 doubles (5th in the NL) 91 RBIs (10th in the NL) & 87 runs scored.

His ten sac flies were second in the NL, as his 185 singles were 4th most in the league & his 263 times on base were third most.

He struck out just 59 times, drew 77 walks posting a .384 on base % (7th in the NL) & .814 OPS.

MLB Record for Game Winning Hits: That year he set a record with 24 game winning RBIs, which was an official record at that time. He also holds the all-time record of 129 game winning RBIs in his career. 

Keith won his second straight Mets Gold Glove award, leading the NL in fielding at .997% as well as in assists. 

Drama of The Pittsburgh Drug Trials: In September of 1985, Hernandez was called before a grand jury in Pittsburgh to testify in the in famous "Pittsburgh Drug Trails".  He was one of twenty-three players called to testify, including Willie Mays, Lee Mazzilli, Vida Blue, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Dale Berra & others. The players who testified were to be granted immunity for their testimony.

It was there where he publicly admitted to using cocaine back in his St. Louis Cardinals days, of the 1970's & early 1980's. Much of the tension between Hernandez & former manager Whitey Herzog had a lot to do with his alleged drug use.

 By 1982, Hernandez had stopped using drugs. Keith claimed that 40% of MLB players were using, although he later said that the total could have been wrong. 

As players throughout baseball were exposed, MLB took a big blow. It was the biggest scandal & the most penalties to be handed down since the 1919 White (Black) Sox World Series scandal. 

In the end seven men were convicted for distributing cocaine. 

Keith Hernandez & some other Players including Dale Berra, Dave Parker, Joaquin Andujar, Enos Cabell, Lonnie Smith & Jeffrey Leonard, were suspended for a year by MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth. But they would be allowed to play if 10% of their salary was donated to drug related community service. Of course, that's the way they went.