Ty Wigginton: The Last Mets Third Baseman Before the David Wright Era (2002 - 2004)

Ty Allen Wigginton was born on October 11, 1977, in San Diego, California. The stocky six-foot, 230-pound right hand hitting infielder attended UNC Ashville College where he still holds many hitting records. 

Wigginton became the first alumni to make the major leagues when he was drafted by the New York Mets in 1998 in the 17th round.

 
Wiggy hit over 20 HRs with 70 plus RBIs at A ball St. Lucie in 1999 & then did the same at AA Binghamton in 2000.

Mets Career: In 2002 he began the year at AAA Norfolk. On May 15th he was brought up to the Mets making his debut the next night striking out as a pinch hitter.

Mets Trivia: On May 17th, he became the 124th third baseman in Mets history.

That May Wigginton appeared in just six games as pinch hitter & pinch runner. On May 29th he collected his first career hit, a pinch-hit single off Randy Wolf in a 4-3 win over the Phillies.

He was sent back down to AAA Norfolk where he batted .300, with six HRs, then returned to the Mets in August. 

Four Hit Game: On August 4th, in his first game back up he made his first MLB start. Wigginton became the first player to have four hits in his first career start since the Rockies Derrick Gibson in 1998. In the bottom of the 3rd, he also hit his first career HR, a three-run shot off Arizona's John Patterson. 

On August 16th he hit his second HR of the year in a loss to the Dodgers. On August 24th he was optioned to AAA Norfolk returning for a third sting with the Mets in September. On September 4th & 5th he hit HRs in back-to-back games with the Marlins. 

Multi- Three RBI Game: On September 8th, Ty hit a 1st inning two run double then added his fifth HR of the year in the 6th inning, to match a season best three RBIs in an 11-3 Mets win at Philadelphia. It was the start of a five-game hit streak.

In September Wigginton had five multi- hit games & kept his average over .300 for the season.

Wigginton showed some promise hitting .302 with 6 HRs 8 doubles & 18 RBIs. He posted a .354 on base % & .889 OPS in 46 games (116 at bats).

2003: Wigginton became the Mets primary third baseman for Art Howe's fifth place Mets. 

Multi- Three RBI Game: On April 8th he hit his first HR of the year, driving in three runs leading the Mets to a 4-1 victory in Florida. He would have seven multi-Three RBI games on the season, while hitting HRs in four of those games.

Two days later he homered again in a loss to the Marlins. On April 25th, Wigginton singled off the Diamondbacks Miquel Batista putting New York ahead in a game they would win 4-2.

Four Hit Game: On May 2nd, he had his second career four hit game, collecting two doubles while driving in two runs in a 9-3 win at Milwaukee. 

On May 12th & 13th in Colorado, he became the first Mets player to hit three run triples in back-to-back games. From May 27th to June 5th, Ty hit .406 with ten hits, four multi-hit games hitting five extra base hits with nine RBIs.

Muti- HR Six RBI Double Header: On June 5th Wigginton hit HRs in both ends of a double header against the Brewers at Shea Stadium. He drove in three runs in each game, totaling six overall in the twin bill, although the Mets lost both games. 

Four Hit Game: On June 12th in Arlington Texas, Ty had his third career four-hit game. He doubled twice off Colby Lewis, with a pair of singles as he drove in three runs in the Mets 11-0 shut out.

Mets One Hitter: On June 17th in Florida, he hit his 5th HR of the year, a solo shot & one of four Mets runs in the combined Mets one hitter over the Marlins by Jae Seo, David Weathers & Armando Benitez.

On July 6th he doubled off the Reds Scott Williamson in the top of the 8th inning, tying up the game at 5-5. The Mets went on to a 7-5 victory.

In mid-July, he drove in runs in four of six games, while on a six-game hit streak. That month he had his best month batting .289 with 4 HRs & 17 RBIs.

From August 13th to August 21st, he had four multi-RBI games, driving in nine runs, all coming in Mets wins. On the season he would have 19 multi-RBI games.

Mets Rookie Doubles Record: On August 17th, he hit his 29th double of the season, a two-run ground rule double off Colorado's Jason Jenkins, setting a Mets rookie record in a 6-4 win over the Rockies at Shea. 

On August 21st he hit a three run HR off the Padres Oliver Perez in San Diego, leading the Mets to a 5-1 win. The next day he hit another HR in Los Angeles off Hideo Nomo.  Overall that August he drove in 15 runs with 11 extra base hits but hit just .222.

Music Trivia- Jiggy: Over the course of the summer, the fans adopted the song “Getting’ Jiggy With It" changing the words to "Getting Wiggy with it” in his honor. 

That season Wigginton made the Topps Rookie team & came in eighth, one spot behind teammate Jose Reyes in the Rookie of the Year voting. 

Mets Trivia: Wigginton set Mets rookie records with 146 hits, 36 doubles, 53 extra base hits & 573 at bats. He also played in 156 games, second most for a Mets rookie since Lee Mazzilli (159 games) in 1977. 

Wigginton led the team in hits, doubles as well as RBIs (71) triples (6) runs (73) & slugging percentage (.396). He also led the team in strikeouts (124). Ty would bat .255 hit 11 HRs with a .714 OPS.

 At third base he led the league in put outs with 117, posting a .962 fielding % making 16 errors (5th in the NL). 

2004: On Opening Day, he walked with the bases loaded off Russ Ortiz in the Mets 7-2 win in Atlanta. 

Multi- Four BI Game: On April 8th he had a three-hit four RBI Day in a 10-8 win over the Braves in Atlanta.  In the top of the 2nd, he hit a two run HR off John Thompson, then added a two-run single in the 7th inning.

In late April he went on the DL for two weeks. 

On May 9th he tied up the game with the Brewers with an 8th inning two run single off Dave
Burba. The Mets won it in the extra innings on Kaz Matsui's ground rule walk off double.

Five Hit Game: On May 10th, he had a career high five hit game, with four singles & a double in a loss at Arizona.

On May 22nd, his two-run HR off the Rockies Vladimir Nunez in the bottom of the 8th inning, put the Mets ahead & proved to be the game winning runs in the 5-4 win.

 At the end of the month, he homered in back-to-back games with the Marlins, both Mets losses. But from there he went on a HR drought, not homering for the next 25 games.

In June he had four multi- RBI games & would have 18 multi- RBI games on the season.

Six RBI Subway Series & Multi- HR Game: On July 2nd, Ty drove in a run in the first subway series game at Shea Stadium that weekend. On July 3rd, he hit a two run HR off Jose Contreras in the 10-9 Mets win.

  

On the Fourth of July he had one of his biggest days as a Met, hitting a pair of HRs driving in three runs, in the Mets 6-5 Subway series win. In the 2nd inning he hit a two-run shot off Javier Vazquez then added a solo shot off Tom Gordon in the 8th. In the three-game Mets sweep he collected six hits with two HRs & six RBIs.

Walk Off Hit: On July 15th he came to bat with the bases loaded & one out in the bottom of the 11th inning of a 2-2 tie with the Philes at Shea. He hit a ground ball to pitcher Roberto Hernandez that couldn't be fielded cleanly, Vance Wilson scored from third with the walk off winning run. 

David Wright Era Begins: On July 21st the highly touted Mets prospect David Wright was brought up & would take over as the team's third baseman for the next 12 years, setting many of the club's all-time records. 

Wiggy’s days in New York were numbered. 

Thru July, after 86 games played, he was batting .284 with 12 HRs 23 doubles & 42 RBIs. Ty hit safely in 21 of his last 27 games with the Mets. 

Big Trade to Pittsburgh: On July 31st, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a highly publicized deal for Jeff Keplinger, but more importantly Kris & Anna Benson.

Mets Career Stats: In three seasons with the Mets Wiggy played in 288 games. He batted .270 with 270 hits 67 doubles 8 triples 29 HRs 131 RBIs a .27 on base % & a .767 OPS. He played 235 games at third base for the Mets - tenth most all time.

Post Mets Career: Wigginton didn’t play much in Pittsburgh hitting .220 the rest of the year playing in 58 games. The next season he played behind Freddy Sanchez who batted .291. Ty hit .258 with 7 HRs & 25 RBIs in 57 games. Overall, at three positions he made 22 errors. 

In December he was released & signed with the Tampa Devil Rays. In 2006 he rebounded to rejuvenate his career, hitting 24 HRs with 25 doubles & 79 RBIs while batting .279 playing in 122 games for the fifth place Rays.

In 2007 he started the season with Tampa hitting 16 HRs & batting .275. 

In July 2007 he was traded to the Houston Astros for Dan Wheeler. Wigginton became a very popular player in his short time in Houston. He finished that season with 22 HRs 33 doubles & 67 RBIs batting .278, striking out 113 times. 

In 2008, he had his only full season with the Astros hitting .285, his career best as a full-time player. Ty hit 23 HRs with 22 doubles 58 RBIs & a .876 OPS. He was let him go to free agency upsetting the fans.

In 2009 he signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles, hitting .273 with 11 HRs 19 doubles & 41 RBIs in 122 games. That season he missed some time on the DL battling injuries.

In 2010 Ty hit 22 HRs with 73 RBIs, but his batting average dropped 25 points to .248, while playing in 154 games. 

2010 All Star: That year he made his first & only All-Star team. He did not get an at bat in the game coming in for defense in the 7th inning. The NL won the game 3-1 in Anaheim, California.

The slow footed Wiggy grounded into 23 double plays on the year (4th in the AL).

That December, he signed with the Colorado Rockies. On April 11th he got his 1000th career hit, a HR off the San Francisco Giants Matt Cain. It was also his first Rockies HR. That year he hit 15 HRs with 47 RBIs batting .242. 

In November 2011, his contract was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies. In Philly he would get a lot of playing time as Ryan Howard went down with injury for most of the early part of the season. 

Wiggy also got to play at third base & some games in the outfield. He saw action in 125 games batting .235 with 11 HRs & 43 RBIs for the third place Phils.

In 2013 he signed on as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals but only hit .158 & was released in July. In 2014, the Miami Marlins also gave him a minor league deal but he was released that March ending his MLB career.

In his 12-year career Wigginton played for eight teams. The journeyman batted .261 with 1170 hits 169 HRs 245 doubles 14 triples & 594 RBIs.

He walked 371 times posting a .323 on base % & a .758 OPS. In his career he struck out over 100 times in a season three times, totaling 891 K's while playing in 1362 games.

Retirement: In 2015 he became a high school baseball coach in North Carolina. He was named the 2022 R&L County Coach of the Year.

Family: Ty & his wife Angela have three children, two sons & a daughter. 

In December 2006 his wife Angela, went into unexpected labor while on the phone with the 911 operator. Ty had to go into action & helped deliver his son Cannon.