Gregg Jefferies: One Time Top Mets Prospect Whose Career Never Took Off in NY (1987 - 1991)

Gregg Scott Jeffries was born August 2, 1967, at Burlingame, California. His father Rich was a baseball coach in San Bruno, California. He trained his son hard, six days a week, sometimes eight hours a day. He had the young Gregg swing a bat underwater to gain quickness & help his swing.

Jeffries was drafted right out of high school in San Mateo, California, in the first round (20th pick overall) in 1985.

Jefferies had a great minor league career, winning two minor league MVP Awards & two Player of the Year Awards (1986 -1987). He was on the cover of Baseball America, a record five times.

Jefferies was one of the most hyped-up prospects of the 1980's & was looked at being the next great Mets hitter.

Mets Manager Davey Johnson: "He could hit .300 on his head”. 

In 1986 he blew thru the ranks of A ball, even hitting twice for the cycle at Lynchburg where he batted .354 in 95 games. He finished that year at AA Jackson playing in five games batting .421. In 1987 he batted .367 at AA Jakson with 20 HRs & 101 RBIs & a 1.021 OPS.

MLB Debut: In September of 1987, at age 19 Jefferies got a Mets call up. On September 6th, he debuted as a pinch hitter in the 14th inning of a 3-2 loss in Los Angeles. He hit a foul pop up that was caught. 

On September 25th, he collected his first hit, an RBI double off the Pirates Barry Jones in a 10-2 win at Shea. Overall, in six games he was 3-6 as a pinch hitter on the season. The Mets were 2.5 games out of first, but they went 5-5 the rest of the way & finished second to the Cardinals.

In 1988, Gregg spent most of the year at AAA Tidewater, mainly because there was nowhere to put him on the talented big-league club. There he hit .282 with 28 doubles 7 HRs & 61 RBIs in 132 games.

1988 NL Eastern Champs: The Mets promoted him at the end of August, to prep him for the playoffs. He went on a tear right away, getting nine hits in his first five games, batting .475. 

In his first game on August 28th, he doubled in a 7-4 Mets loss to the Giants. 

On August 29th his second game of the season, he hit a two run HR off the Padres Eric Show, in the Mets 6-0 win over San Diego at Shea Stadium.  He also doubled for the second straight game. 

From September 1st to September 9th, Jefferies hit four HRs driving in seven runs. On September 2nd, he collected three hits, another double & a HR off the Dodgers Tim Leary, in an 8-0 win at Shea.

On the Mets next Road trip, his two run HR was only Mets runs of 3-2 loss at Pittsburgh. On September 8th, he collected three hits with his fourth HR in a 13-6 in at Wrigley Field. On September 9th, he had his second straight three hit game & hit his fifth HR in a 7-3 win up in Montreal. By games end he was batting .422.

On September 12th, he drove in a run in a 3-2 win over the Pirates, highlighted by Gary Carter's Walk off HR off Jeff Robinson.

Walk Off Hit: On September 16th, Jefferies' came to bat against the Expos' Joe Hesketh in the bottom of the 9th in a 3-3 tie game. His base hit to centerfield scored Keith Miller with a walk off game winner to defeat 4-3. 

Jefferies would stay hot all through the September Pennant race, batting .321 in 109 at bats, with 6 HRs, 8 doubles & 17 RBIs. Although he only played 29 games, he did receive votes for the Rookie of the Year Award.

1988 Post Season- NLCS: In the 1988 NLCS loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the young Jefferies played in all seven games. He would play mostly at third base, while slugger Howard Johnson was moved over to short stop. 

In Game #1 at Dodger Stadium, Greg collected three hits & scored a run. With the Mets down 2-0 in the top of the 9th inning Jeffries led off with a single off Orel Hershiser. He advanced & then scored on Darryl Strawberry's double. The Mets went ahead on Gary Carter's two run double to win the first game 3-2.

In the Game #2 loss, he went 1-3 with a walk & a double off Tim Belcher. In the Game #3 win at Shea Stadium, he was 1-3 with a single & a walk off Hershiser. In the Mets five run-8th inning he was hit by a pitch from former Met Jesse Orosco.

In the Game #4 extra inning loss, he was 0-5 but walked in this third straight game.

In the Mets Game #5 loss at Shea Stadium, Jefferies collected two hits & drove in a run. In the bottom of the 8th with the Mets down 6-3, Jefferies singled to bring home Lenny Dykstra with the Mets fourth run. But with Kevin McReynolds up he was struck by a batted ball on the basepaths & was ruled out.

After going hitless in Game #6 at L.A. he collected two of the Mets five hits off Orel Hershiser in the final Game #7 loss. Overall, Jefferies batted .333 (9-27) with two doubles, an RBI & four walks. It would be his only post season appearance.

1989: The Mets had to find a place for him on the field and ended up trading away the popular Wally Backman to open up the second base spot. 

Gregg Jeffries found himself on the cover of Sports Illustrated & with a Starting Lineup Action figure before he even played one full season.

Unpopular With Teammates: All of the hype & poster juggling around the youngster who had yet proven himself, upset the core players from the 1986 Championship team. It was the start of his troubles.

On Opening Day, Jeffries collected a pair of hits in the win over the Cardinals at Shea. 

But Gregg struggled for the first two months, not getting over the .200 mark until late June. 

Walk Off Hit: On June 15th, Jefferies came to bat in the bottom of the 12th inning on a 3-3 tie with the Cubs. With two on & two outs, he won the game with a walk off single off Pat Perry.

Multi- Four RBI Game: The next day he had a four RBI game in a 15-11 Mets win at Philadelphia. Jefferies started out with a hit a two-run single in the Mets eight run first inning. In the 9th inning he then hit a two run HR off Steve Bedrosian to total four RBIs.

In July he hit safely in 16 of 20 games driving in eight runs, but at the end of the month was batting just .228. In August things got worse, he drove in just three runs that month & missed a week of action.

Multi- Five RBI Game: On September 7th, Gregg had his biggest day of the year, hitting a pair of HRs & driving in five runs in a 13-1 Mets romp over the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea. In the 3rd inning, he hit a two run HR off Ted Power. In the 5th he hit a three run HR off Bob Tewksbury, for his 6th HR of the season. 

Brawl With the Phillies: On September 27th in the final home game of the season, Jefferies was facing the former Mets reliever, Roger McDowell in the 9th inning. He grounded out to second base to end the game. McDowell apparently made a comment to Jefferies & Gregg didn't like it, then he charged the mound, eventually tackling Mcdowell. Jefferies said he was upset at a brushback pitch from an earlier game. In any event, the fight broke out, Benches & bullpens emptied onto the field. Everyone gathered around the pitcher's mound, breaking up those in the midst of the fight before order was restored.

On the year the Mets finished second six games behind the Chicago Cubs, Jefferies batted .258 with 12 HRs 28 doubles 72 runs scored & 56 RBIs playing in 141 games. He struck out 46 times with 39 walks posting a .314 on base % & .706 OPS. Jefferies stole an impressive 21 bases in 27 attempts.  

At second base he made 12 errors posting a .975 fielding % turning 41 double plays.

Black Bats: Jefferies had his own custom made black SSK bats. He kept them in his own equipment bag & didn't want them dropped in the pile of other players bats. After each game he would run them down with alcohol. 

Jefferies Drama: His locker was placed next to Mets Captain, Keith Hernandez. Keith tried to give the kid advice, but Jefferies wouldn't listen. Keith would tell him you might not want to rub hits out of that bat after a game, wait until tomorrow. He told him if he had to do it after a game, he should do it facing his teammates in the locker room, not with his back to them.

He irked his teammates on more than just the bats. Hernandez said, Jefferies would act like he had already won three batting titles. Jefferies once criticized Darryl Strawberry for wanting to always be in the limelight.

Mets Manager Davey Johnson felt Jefferies would walk to slowly to the dugout after making an out. He was known at times to throw his bat or toss things in frustration. 

He earned a reputation for complaining & not hustling when things weren't going his way.  

It may not have been fair that he had received so much hype before his arrival & it certainly was a lot to live up to. Coming to the late 1980's Mets was also a difficult thing for a young 19-year-old player. The team played hard, lived hard & rode their rookies hard as well. 

Quotes- David Cone: "It was the roughest group to break in with, the Mets of that era-tough as they come. We self-policed & we ran rookies hard. It was a different generation of players. The veterans were hard on him. Once you were on the wrong side with that group it was impossible to recover."

Jefferies would never adapt well to the pressures of playing in New York.  The fans were not satisfied either, they wanted more from him & the team. Jefferies wasn't putting up the super star numbers expected of him & he heard it in the from them & the media. The fact the Mets would finish in second place again, didn't help.

 Just three years after the World Championship, the fans were expecting another World Series & they demanded a big output from the team's top players. Jefferies became a target of the team's inability to capture the NL East in his first few seasons. 

1990: Things did get better for Jefferies at the plate this season. He hit more doubles, leading the NL in that category & raised his average 25 points higher than the previous year. He began the year with a nine-game hit streak, by mid-May he was batting over .300 & would stay there until early September.

From May 24th to May 26th, he homered in three straight games with the Padres, he collected five hits with a pair of double & drove in six runs in the three games.

From June 6th through June 16th Jefferies had an eleven-game hit streak, batting .447 in that time, while driving in eight runs with five straight multi-hit games. In a four-game series with the first place Pirates, he drove runs in each game as the Mets took three of four at Shea. The Mets won 15 of 16 games & got themselves into a tie for first place.

Multi- Four RBI Game: On June 24th, Gregg led the Mets offense with a season high for RBI game in a 6-5 win at Shea Stadium. He hit a two run HR off the Phillies Marvin Freeman & had an RBI on a fielder's choice. In the 9th inning with the Mets down by two, Jefferies drove in a run with an RBI single off in the also collected an RBI single off former Met Roger McDowell. Tim Teufel brought Jefferies & Dave Magadan home with a walk off two run single.

In July he had ten multi- hit games. From July 31st to August 4th, he drove in runs in five straight

games. On August 3rd, he topped off a Mets top of the 9th inning three run rally in St. Louis, driving in what was the winning run with a single off reliever Lee Smith.

Multi - Three RBI Game: On August 8th, he hit a two run double & an RBI single helping the Mets beat the Phillies 8-4 at Shea Stadium. 

In September Jefferies had his worst slump of the year, batting just .209 in the month. He fell from a .297 average to finish the year at .283. 

He led the NL in doubles (40) & scored a career high 96 runs. He hit .283 with 15 HRs, three triples & 68 RBIs. He struck out fewer times than he walked (46) posting a .337 on base % & .771 OPS.  At second he posted a .976 fielding % making 12 errors turning 49 double plays.

1991: On Opening Day drove in the Mets first run of the year with a first inning double, leading to a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. On April 20th he broke a 1-1 tie in Montreal with an 8th inning double scoring the game winning run. After missing the first two weeks in May he hit safely in 12 of 14 games raising his average up to .284.

On May 28th he had a season high three RBI game, collecting three hits in a 9-8 win at Wrigley Field. Jeffries would drive in three runs in a game five times on the season. From June 2nd to June 6th, he drove in runs in four straight games, with another multi- Three RBI game in a loss at Cincinnati.

From June 19th to June 28th, in a course of nine games Gregg hit four of the nine HRs he had on the season. In early July he missed a week of action, then returned to drive in ten runs in his first eight games back with four multi- RBI games. He peaked at a .287 batting average.

Open Letter to WFAN: Jefferies wrote an open letter to Sports Radio 66 WFAN, when it was a fairly new radio station with the all-sports format.

In it he defended himself, for caring too much, not being considered a friend by his teammates & not anointing himself as the future of the Mets, a label put on him by management & the media.

He criticized his teammates for not supporting him. He stated that he supports his teammates when they need it & he does not belittle them in the media, like what is done to him. 

Jefferies claimed he always took responsibility for his actions & mistakes as well as any errors he made. He said he goes to plays whatever position management tells him to play & always gives the fans 100%.

But this only hurt his popularity even more. Now he was looked at as a crybaby & the fans let him have it even harder. When he came to bat, he heard the Shea Stadium boo birds. If he made a mistake or didn't get a hit in a key spot those boo's only get louder, as did the insults.

After the letter became public, the Mets held a team meeting that was said to have gotten pretty fired up. 

At the time the team was just two games out of first. They moved on & competed in the first half of the season. But from July 15th to the end of the season they went 28-50 finishing in fifth place an overall 77-84, their worst in eight seasons. 

From that point in July, Jefferies batted .267 with just two HRs & 24 RBIs thru the final 75 games.  

He ended the season batting .272 with 19 doubles, two triples, 9 HRs 59 runs scored & 62 RBIs. He stole 26 stolen bases, the most in his Mets career. He struck out just 38 times with 47 walks posting & a .336 on base % & .711 OPS in 136 games.

Jefferies time was up in New York, that December he was traded along with Kevin McReynolds & Keith Miller to the Kansas City Royals for All Star pitcher Bret Saberhagen.

Years later, Ron Darling said Jefferies was ahead of his time in the way players evolved. Looking back, he probably wasn't ready to play in New York during that era. As time heals many wounds, Jefferies says he forgives his teammates.

Quotes- Gregg Jefferies: " That was the era. It's not their job to coddle me. Thay had enough pressure on their plate. You don't think Keith Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry & Gary Carter had pressure. They were the faces of New York. Thay had their own issues. I needed to take care of me. I had to learn as I was playing."

Mets Career Stats: In his five-year Mets career, Jefferies played in 465 games (56th on the Mets all-time list) batted .276 with 472 hits 42 HRs 96 doubles 9 triples 246 runs scored & 205 RBIs. He stole 63 bases, struck out 134 times walked 140 times posted a .332 on base % & .765 OPS. For the Mets he played at second & third base.

Post Mets Career: In 1992 Jefferies hit .285 with 10 HRs & 75 RBIs for the fifth place Royals. He then got traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Felix Jose & Craig Wilson.

Cardinals Career: Gregg would play two seasons in St. Louis, for manager Joe Torre, making the All-Star team both years

In 1993 he moved over to play first base & had his best career year. He hit .342 (3rd in the NL) with a .408 on base %. He hit 16 HRs with 24 doubles 89 runs scored & 83 RBIs. Greg stole a career best 46 bases (4th most in the NL).

In the 1994 strike shortened season he hit .325 (7th in the NL) with 12 HRs 55 RBIs. After off season contract disputes with Cardinals management & was let go to free agency. 

Phillies Career: In 1995 Jefferies signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies. He would play parts of four seasons in Philly (1995-1998).

In 1995, he once again landing in the top ten in batting hitting .306, with 31 doubles & 35 stolen bases. 

Hit For the Cycle: On August 25th in a 17-4 win over the Dodgers at Veterans Stadium, he hit for the cycle. In the 1st inning, Jefferies hit a two run HR off Hideo Nomo. In the 3rd, he hit a two-run triple off Nomo as well. He later singled off Jim Bruske & then doubled off John Cummings. He matched a season high four RBIs in the game. He was the first Phillie since Johnny Callison in 1963 to hit for the cycle.

In 1996 he hit .292 playing in 104 games but dropped off to a .256 average the next season. In the middle of the 1998 season, he was traded to the Anaheim Angels for a player to be named later.

 In 19 games there he hit .347 under manager Terry Collins, as the Angels finished second. After the season he was let go to free agency & signed with the Detroit Tigers. 

In 1999 & 2000, he played as a reserve player for the Tigers where he finished up his career.

Tigers Manager Phil Garner offered him a bench coach job for the 2001 season, but Jefferies declined the offer.

Career Stats: Overall, in 14 seasons he played for six different teams. Gregg hit .289 with 1593 hits, 300 doubles, 27 triples 126 HRs, 761 runs scored & 663 RBIS. He struck out 348 times with 472 walks, posting a .344 on base % & .765 OPS. He stole 196 bases in 259 attempts.

Defensively Jefferies played at first base (380 games) outfield (369 games) second base (346 games) third base (277 games) & DH (48 games).

Retirement: Greg was living in Pleasanton, California where he was a hitting instructor at Total Players Center. He then opened his own Sports Academy in Anaheim, California. 

He looks back at his time in New York, wishing he was a little more mature, saying the 1988 playoffs spoiled him & he misses the chance of not playing in a World Series.

Family: Greg has been married twice & has four children. He & his second wife Jeannie (Marshall) now live in Las Vegas.

In 2015 his son Jake Jefferies was selected by the Washington Nationals.