Jim Hickman: The Mets First Regular Centerfielder (1962-1966)

James Lucius Hickman was born May 10, 1937, in Henning, Tennessee. The tall lanky six foot three, Hickman known as “Gentleman Jim” was originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1956.

Hickman toiled in the minor leagues for five seasons, despite hitting over twenty HRs from 1957-1959 at the AA level. 

In the 1961 expansion draft, he was selected by the New York Mets becoming an "original Met".

Quotes- Jim Hickman: "I was 25 when I came to the Mets. It was a hard place to adjust. I'd get into a traffic jam on the way to the ballpark & somebody would cuss me out & heck I'd feel bad about it the rest of the day."

1962: He made his MLB debut as a pinch hitter, going 0-1, in the Mets first home game at the Polo Grounds, in a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Three days later he made his first start in centerfield, going hitless in two at bats. On April 22nd, on the road in Pittsburgh he had a big three hit day driving in two runs. 

First Career HR: On April 28th, he hit his first career HR a solo shot off the Phillies Ed Keegan in an 8-6 Mets win at the Polo Grounds. He hit another HR the next day in another win over the Phillies.

In May, Hickman hit three HRs in the first two weeks of the month. On May 19th, his 8th inning sac fly capped off a Mets four run rally driving in what was the winning run off Milwaukee's Lew Burdett. 

On July 22nd he drove in all three Mets runs in a 4-3 losing effort at Cincinnati. In August Jim had two more multi-RBI games- driving in three runs although they came in Mets losses.

Multi-HR Game: On September 1st, Hickman blasted two HRs in St. Louis driving in three runs in the Mets 10-5 loss. His first came off Ray Washburn & then his second was a 9th inning solo shot off Lindy McDaniel.

Hickman finished the year batting .245, with 13 HRs (3rd best on the club) 18 doubles, two triples 46 RBIs &54 runs scored. He walked 47 times with a .328 on base % & .729 OPS. Hickman struck out often, 96 times as he led the team in that category & would strike out 90 plus times in each of his first three seasons.

1963: In his first game of the season, he hit a HR off the Braves Lew Burdette in a 5-3 loss at Milwaukee. 

Grand Slam HR: On April 21st in the first game of a double header sweep at the Polo Grounds, Hickman hit a grand slam HR off Milwaukee's Claude Raymond in an 8-5 Mets win. He added a sac fly RBI to have his season best five RBI game.

That week he drove in runs in five straight games, collecting ten RBIs. Hickman closed out April batting .315 with 14 RBIs. 

On May 10th, in a 3-2 win over the Reds, Jim drew a 6th inning bases loaded walk for his first RBI. Later in the bottom of the 8th, he broke up a 2-2 tie with a solo HR off Jim O'Toole which turned out to be the games winning run. 

Two days later in a wild home game with the Reds, his 8th sac fly helped the Mets tie the game 12-12. Choo-Choo Coleman's base hit in the next at bat, would bring home the winning run in the 13-12 victory.

Walk Off HR: On Sunday June 2nd, in the second game of a double header sweep over the Pirates, Hickman came to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning & hit a walk off HR off the Pirates' Roy Face. 

Hickman had some shining moments as a Met and is in the history books with team some firsts.

First Met to Hit for the Cycle: On August 7th, at the Polo Grounds, Hickman became the first Met to hit for the cycle, coming in a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. In the 1st inning he singled then doubled in the 2nd inning. 

In the 4th, he tripled bringing in Tracy Stallard putting the Mets up 3-1. In the 6th inning he led off with his tenth HR of the season, a solo shot off Barney Schultz making it 7-3.

Walk Off Grand Slam: Two days later Hickman hit a dramatic walk off grand slam HR off the Cubs' Lindy McDaniel giving the Mets a 7-3 victory in front of 11,000 fans at the Polo Grounds. It was the first walk off grand slam in Mets history, giving Hickman another Mets first.

Hickman would also be a hero to pitcher Roger Craig that day, as Craig earned the victory, ending his personal 18 game losing streak.

Hickman would hit two more HRs against the Cubs later in the month as well. 

Last HR at the Polo Grounds: On September 18th he would hit the last ever HR to be hit at the Polo Grounds. It came off the Phillies Chris Short in a 5-1 loss to Philadelphia. 

For the 1963 season Hickman led the team in HRs (17) & triples (6). He batted .229 with 113 hits 21 doubles (second on the club to Ron Hunt) & 53 runs scored. He struck out a career high 120 times (leading the club again) & walked 44 times with a .291 on base % & .690 OPS.

That year in the outfield he played in 82 games making six assists with a .963 fielding%. He also played in 59 games at third base but made 14 errors in 162 chances.

1964: On April 17th, Hickman was the starting centerfielder, batting in the sixth position in the first game ever played at Shea Stadium. He goes down in the record books as the first Met to draw a walk & get hit by a pitch in the new ballpark.

After a quick start the first week, batting .400 in his first five games, he struggled batting around the .200 mark until early June. From June 7th - June 14th Hickman hit three HRs & drove in eight runs, hitting safely in all but one of those games that week.

On June 7th, his HR, was the only Mets run in the second game of a double header with the Dodgers that was called after five innings ending in a tie. 

Game Winning Pinch Hit: On July 22nd, Hickman came to bat as a pinch hitter in the top of the 10th inning at Cincinnati, with two men on & two outs. He singled off Billy McCool bringing in Ron Hunt in what was the games winning run in the 4-3 win.

On July 26th, he hit HRs in both ends of a double header against the Milwaukee Braves although the Mets lost both games. 

He hit well in August with a hit streak a streak of 12 out of 14 games where he drove in ten runs. 

Grand Slam HR: On August 19th Hickman hit 6th inning grand slam HR off the Pirates Vern Law, driving in all four Mets runs in a 4-2 Mets win over Pittsburgh at Shea Stadium. 

That season Jim hit a Mets career high .257 with 105 hits 11 HRs, 14 doubles a triple 57 RBIs & 48

runs scored. He struck out 90 times, walked 36 times with a .319 on base % & .696 OPS. In the outfield he had eight assists & posted a .976 fielding %. 

1965: Hickman had a slow start to the year, batting under .200 until May 31st. 

Multi-Four RBI Game: On May 31st, in the first game of a double header at Wrigley Field, Hickman hit a three run HR off the Cubs Cal Koonce. He added a 4th inning RBI single to have a season best four RBI game in the 5-2 Mets win. He would match that total two more times on the season. 

Multi HR Game: The next day he hit two HRs with four RBIs in the 10-5 win over the Cubs at Wrigley. The HRs coming off Bob Buhl & Lindy McDaniel.

Later that month he hit two HRs & drove in runs in three of the four games on a road trip to Dodger Stadium. 

Hickman struggled in August but did hit a three-run bottom of the 8th inning game winning HR on August 22nd, helping beat the Cardinals 7-5. 

Three Straight HRs: On September 3rd, Hickman had a tremendous day, setting a Mets record hitting three straight HRs off Cardinals pitcher & future Met-Ray Sadecki. Hickman also had four hits on the day with the four RBIs. 

Quotes- Jim Hickman: "Man I sure wanted that fourth one".

Hickman would have another four-hit game in a loss at Philadelphia during a seven-game hit streak later that month.

In 1965, Hickman would hit 15 HRs (3rd best on the team) with 18 doubles, 40 RBIs & 32 runs scored while batting .236 playing in 141 games. He struck out 76 times, 14 less than the previous year. He walked 27 times posting a poor .291 on base % & .697 OPS.

1966: He would only play in only 58 games this year, after breaking his wrist in a May 17 inning game with the Giants. He would miss two months of action. 

Jim was hitting .237 with 4 HRs & 16 RBIs, when he got traded along with the popular Ron Hunt to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Tommy Davis. Hickman was the last of the original Mets to play on the ball club at the time of his departure.

Hickman spent five seasons with the Mets primarily as their first regular centerfielder. In 624 Mets games, he would play all outfield positions, as well as first base & some third base in 624 career games as a Met, batting .241 with 60 HRs with 210 RBIs. 

Post Mets Career: After one season batting a lowly .163 in Los Angeles, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Ted Savage & Jim Ellis. 

Hickman would spend six seasons in Chicago enjoying success as a popular Cubs outfielder.

In 1969 Hickman was the Cubs main right fielder on talented team loaded with three future Hall of Famers in its everyday lineup. The Cubs jumped out into first place & were the NL East favorites. But Hickman & the Cubs watched his old team, now the Amazing Mets take over first place in September then go on to win the most unlikely World Series championship.

 

That year Hickman would hit 21 HRs with 54 RBIs & bat .237 in his first year at Wrigley Field, followed up by a .237.

2 Walk Off HRs: Hickman helped the Cubs first place bid in June, hitting two walk off HRs in the same week. The first on June 22nd, in the first game of a double header, off the Expos Donnie Shaw, a former Mets teammate. On June 26th, he hit his second walk off of the week, coming off the Pirates Bruce Dal Canton.

Trivia: In his six years with the Cubs, Hickman hit four walk off HRs helping his team to victory. 

Grand Slam HR: On August 23rd he hit two HRs against the Houston Astros including a 7th inning grand slam that was the game winner.

1970 NL Comeback Player of the Year: In 1970 Hickman batted .315 with a 415 on base % (5th in the NL) & 1.001 OPS, collecting 162 hits with 33 doubles, 32 HRs (10th in the NL) 115 RBIs (6th in the NL) 102 runs scored (10th in the NL) & 93 walks (9th in the NL)—all career bests that placed him 8th in the MVP voting.

In May he homered off both Tom Seaver & Jerry Koosman in wins over the Mets.

1970 All Star Game: That year he made his only All-Star appearance & was the hero of the game in the center of a drama filled action packed controversial ending. 

In the bottom of the 12th inning, with Pete Rose on second base, Hickman singled off the Angels Clyde Wright. Rose rounded third & came into the plate, barreling over Cleveland Indians' catcher Ray Fosse. Rose was safe as Hickman had the walk off hit, but Fosse was lying on the ground in pain. 

The controversial play was unpopular with many people, even though it was legal at the time, it took place in an All-Star game. Today, it could never happen as knocking over the catcher has been banned.

It is speculated Rose could have just slid around Fosse & probably would still have scored. For Fosse, he suffered a dislocated shoulder & although he had a fine career, he was never the same player. He would win three straight World Seres with the Oakland A's (1972-1974) as their main catcher.

After the All-Star Season: Hickman came back to earth the next season but still had good numbers for the third place Cubs, with 19 HRs 60 RBIs, a .256 average & .791 OPS. 

In 1972 he won a May Player of the Week Award & would hit a solid .272 on the season. In 1973 at age 35, he dropped to .244 playing in just 92 games.

In the Spring of 1974, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Scipio Spinks. There he batted .267 in 50 games, but was released in July, ending his MLB career.

Career Stats: In his 13-year career, Hickman played 1421 games, batted .252 with 1002 hits 159 HRs, 163 doubles, 25 triples, 560 RBIs & 518 runs scored. He struck out 832 times with 491 walks a .335 on base % & .760 OPS.

Retirement: After his playing days, Hickman ran a 250-acre farm in Henning, Tennessee raising
Soybeans & cotton. He ran into financial troubles & had trouble staying afloat. From 1987-2007 he became a minor league hitting instructor for the Reds.

Honors: Hickman was elected to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

Family: Jim married his high school sweetheart Juanita "Nita" (Scott) in 1956. They were married for 56 years until she passed away in 2012. Together they had four sons & nine grandchildren.

Passing: In 2016 Hickman passed away at the age of 79.