Bernard Gilkey: Mid Nineties Mets Outfielder (1996 - 1998)
.jpg)
MLB Career: It took the six-foot right-hand hitter to get to the major leagues, after batting .295 at AAA Louisville in 1990.
In 1991 he was back at AAA but then got to the big leagues for good seeing action in 81 games that year with the Cardinals.
By 1992 he was the team's regular left fielder hitting over .300 for two straight seasons. In 1992 he hit .320 with a .364 on base % while stealing 15 bases. In 1993 he hit .305 hitting 40 doubles (6th most in the NL) & scored 99 runs. In the outfield he led all left fielders with 19 assists, was third in put outs (207) .
After leading the league with five errors in left in 1992 he was second with eight in 1993. After an off year during the 1994 baseball strike shortened season where he hit just .253, he improved to .298 (with a .358 on base %) by 1995.
That year he hit 17 HRs with 69 RBIs & 12 stolen bases. In the off season he was traded to the New York Mets for Eric Ludwig & a pair of minor leaguers.
In 1991 he was back at AAA but then got to the big leagues for good seeing action in 81 games that year with the Cardinals.
By 1992 he was the team's regular left fielder hitting over .300 for two straight seasons. In 1992 he hit .320 with a .364 on base % while stealing 15 bases. In 1993 he hit .305 hitting 40 doubles (6th most in the NL) & scored 99 runs. In the outfield he led all left fielders with 19 assists, was third in put outs (207) .
After leading the league with five errors in left in 1992 he was second with eight in 1993. After an off year during the 1994 baseball strike shortened season where he hit just .253, he improved to .298 (with a .358 on base %) by 1995.
That year he hit 17 HRs with 69 RBIs & 12 stolen bases. In the off season he was traded to the New York Mets for Eric Ludwig & a pair of minor leaguers.
On Opening Day at Shea Stadium, Gilkey hit a 6th inning HR off the Cardinals Andy Benes. In the bottom of the 7th inning, he contributed in the Mets four run rally tying the game with an RBI single off Tony Fossas.
The next day Gilkey hit another HR driving in all three Mets runs in a 5-3 loss.
The next day Gilkey hit another HR driving in all three Mets runs in a 5-3 loss.
.jpg)
He would hit safely in his first eight games, driving in runs in his first four. In April he hit safely in 18 out his first 21 games, batting .333 with 6 HRs & 23 RBIs by the end of the month with six multi-RBI games. It was quite an impressive start in New York. Gilkey was a consistent hitter throughout the season, never falling below the .300 mark.
He continued to drive in runs, bringing in 12 runs in the first two weeks of May.
Multi RBI Game: On May 21st Gilkey hit a HR off the Dodgers Ismael Valdez, driving in all four Mets runs in Los Angeles but the Mets lost 6-4 to the Dodgers. In the three-game series at Dodger Stadium, he drove in seven runs.
On May 26th he drove in the only run of a Bobby Jones 1-0 win at Shea Stadium over the San Diego Padres. The win gave Jones his 5th win against one loss.
On May 26th he drove in the only run of a Bobby Jones 1-0 win at Shea Stadium over the San Diego Padres. The win gave Jones his 5th win against one loss.
.jpg)
Overall, in May Gilkey stayed hot driving in 24 more runs, and was batting .315 at the end of the month.
In June he had a ten-game hit streak and continued to drive in runs. On July 16th he drove in three runs including hitting an 8th inning HR off the Phillies Curt Schilling in the Mets 6-3 win over Philadelphia at Shea.
During the final week of July, Gilkey hit six HRs with 9 RBIs including a pair of multiple HR games.
From August 16th through August 25th, on a west coast road trip to California, Bernard had fourteen hits, with six doubles, while driving in sixteen runs.
hit game in a 12-11 loss to the Giants. In the three-game visit to San Francisco he drove in runs in all three games totaling seven RBIs.
Two days later he hit a three run HR off the Dodgers Antonio Osuna in another Met loss. He ended the road trip with a three run HR in Los Angeles off Ismael Valdez.
On September 3rd, when the Dodgers came to Shea, he a hit a 9th inning three run HR off Antonio Osuna bringing the Mets to within a run in the 7-6 loss. In his next game, coming at Atlanta Gilkey homered off the Braves Denny Nagel driving in three more runs in the game.
He closed out the year hitting safely in 16 of twenty games as the Mets finished in fourth place.
It is still the third highest WAR total in team history. Gilkey also set a Mets club record at the time by hitting 44 doubles (4th in the NL).
Although the Mets won just 71 games there were some highlights in the season. Gilkey’s great hitting season was over somewhat shadowed by two other Mets who set records of their won. Todd Hundley hit 41 HRs the most by a catcher in a single season & Lance Johnson set Mets records in hits (227) & triples (21).
.png)
Gilkey's Hollywood Debut: Gilkey’s good year did get him some respect, ranking him # 14 in the MVP voting. His celebrity legacy in New York was captured by Hollywood in the 1997 movie, “Men in Black”.
On June 5th, Armando Reynoso beat the Marlins with a five-hit shutout. Gilkey provided a two run HR off Kevin Brown in the 6-0 win.
Multi HR Game: On September 15th, he & Butch Huskey both had multi-HRs in the Mets 10-5 win. His first HR came off Jerry Spradin & his second, his 18th of the year came off Matt Beech.
Overall, in 1997 his average dropped 67 points from the previous year, falling to .249. Gilkey hit 17 HRs with 33 doubles 78 RBIs & led the league in sacrifice flies with 12. He struck out 111 times with 70 walks, posting a .338 on base % & .755 OPS, a big drop from the previous year.
Upon his return he had 14 hits hitting safely in seven straight games to close out the month. In that stretch he had five multiple hit games bringing his average back up to .291.
From there he fell into a big slump, batting just .141 from June 1st to July 9th seeing his average
fall to .228 with just five RBIs. Midway thru the season, after 82 games played, he was hitting .227 with 4 HRs 15 doubles & 28 RBIs.
Post Mets Career: In 29 games with Arizona that year he batted .248. In 1999 he hit .294 in 94 games as a fourth outfielder, with the first place Western Division Champion Diamondbacks.
In the outfield, Gilkey played in 966 games in left field (80th all time) making 102 assists (32 most
In 153 games he batted .317 (eighth best in the league) while finishing second on the club to Lance Johnson. He collected 181 hits with 30 HRs 73 walks a .393 on base % & .955 OPS. Gilkey also had speed stealing 17 bases.
In the outfield he played very well defensively, leading the league for the second time in his career in assists (18) posting a .982 fielding percentage (3rd best in the NL).
Although the Mets won just 71 games there were some highlights in the season. Gilkey’s great hitting season was over somewhat shadowed by two other Mets who set records of their won. Todd Hundley hit 41 HRs the most by a catcher in a single season & Lance Johnson set Mets records in hits (227) & triples (21).
.png)
Gilkey's Hollywood Debut: Gilkey’s good year did get him some respect, ranking him # 14 in the MVP voting. His celebrity legacy in New York was captured by Hollywood in the 1997 movie, “Men in Black”. In the film he gets hit in the head with a fly ball while looking up at the big spaceship over Shea Stadium, on its way to the 1964 World’s Fair Unisphere, in Flushing Meadows Park.
1997: Unfortunately, Gilkey was never able to match those numbers again. 1997 was Bobby Valentine's first full year as manager & things began to change. Gilkey struggled especially in the first half of the season, batting just .211 by the All Star break.
On May 9th he had a three hit game where he drove in three runs in a Mets 10-3 win in St. Louis. He ended July with three HRs, three doubles & nine RBIs in a 12-game span.
On June 5th, Armando Reynoso beat the Marlins with a five-hit shutout. Gilkey provided a two run HR off Kevin Brown in the 6-0 win.On July 19th he hit a three run HR breaking a 2-2 tie, against Cincinnati’s Bret Tomko leading the Mets to a 5-3 win over the Reds.
Four Hit Game: On August 27th in a 16-6 Mets win at Shea, Gilkey had a season high four hit game. He had an RBI double, RBI single & sac fly while driving in three runs.
Four RBI Game: On August 30th he hit a 9th inning three run HR off the Orioles Alan Mills & had an earlier RBI single for a season high four RBI game in the Mets 13-5 victory at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
Walk OFF HR: On September 13th he came to bat as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 11th inning in a 6-6 tie with the Expos. The Mets had Brian McRae & Luis Lopez on base as Gilkey hit a three-run walk off HR off Mike Thurman for the walk off win.
Overall, in 1997 his average dropped 67 points from the previous year, falling to .249. Gilkey hit 17 HRs with 33 doubles 78 RBIs & led the league in sacrifice flies with 12. He struck out 111 times with 70 walks, posting a .338 on base % & .755 OPS, a big drop from the previous year.
Defensively, once again he was one of the league's best left fielders, leading the NL in assists (17) for the second straight year, posting a .989 fielding % (3rd best in the NL).
1998: This season he started out well, with ten multi-hit games in April ending the month batting .314 with nine RBIs. But an injury at the end of the month kept him out until mid-May.
1998: This season he started out well, with ten multi-hit games in April ending the month batting .314 with nine RBIs. But an injury at the end of the month kept him out until mid-May.
From there he fell into a big slump, batting just .141 from June 1st to July 9th seeing his average
fall to .228 with just five RBIs. Midway thru the season, after 82 games played, he was hitting .227 with 4 HRs 15 doubles & 28 RBIs.
Only July 31st, he was traded along with Nelson Figueroa to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Willie Blair & Jorge Fabregas.
1999 Post Season- NLDS: In the NLDS loss to his old Mets teammates, Gilkey played in two games going 0-6.
In 2000 after 38 games, he was hitting just .110 & was released. He made two brief stops with the Boston Red Sox (2000) & the Atlanta Braves (2001) before finishing up his career at age 35.
Career Stats: In a twelve-year career Gilkey played in 1239 career games batting .275 with 1115 hits 118 HRs, 244 doubles 24 triples 606 runs scored 115 stolen bases & 546 RBIs. He struck out 708 times with 466 walks, posting a .352 on base % & .785 OPS.
In 2000 after 38 games, he was hitting just .110 & was released. He made two brief stops with the Boston Red Sox (2000) & the Atlanta Braves (2001) before finishing up his career at age 35.
Career Stats: In a twelve-year career Gilkey played in 1239 career games batting .275 with 1115 hits 118 HRs, 244 doubles 24 triples 606 runs scored 115 stolen bases & 546 RBIs. He struck out 708 times with 466 walks, posting a .352 on base % & .785 OPS.
all time in LF) making 1798 put outs there, posting a .982 fielding %.
Retirement: Gilkey is currently a coach with the A ball West Palm Beach Cardinals affiliate.
Family: Bernard & his wife Patrice have two sons together. They reside in the St. Louis area.
Comments