Tim Teufel: 1986 World Champion Mets Infielder (1986 - 1991) / Mets Coach (2012 - 2016)

Timothy Shawn Teufel was born on July 7, 1958, in Greenwich, Connecticut. His father William was a carpenter & his mother Marjorie took care of the family's three sons.

Teufel attended St. Mary’s High School in Greenwich, then moved on to Clemson University. The six foot right-handed hitting infielder, was a star baseball player there getting drafted by both the Milwaukee Brewers (1978) & the Chicago White Sox (1979).

He did not sign either time. In 1980 he did sign as a second-round pick of the Minnesota Twins. In his third minor league season he hit 27 HRs & batted .323 for the AAA Toledo Mud hens, getting a September call up to the Twins big league team.

MLB Debut: On September 3rd, Teufel made his MLB debut going 1-4 playing second base in a 13-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. He hit well during the month, batting .308 (24-78) with three HRs, seven doubles & six RBIs. 

On September 16th he had a 5 -5 day with two HRs against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Metro dome.

In 1984 he was an official rookie & became the Twins regular second baseman, replacing John Castino. He put up career highs with 14 HRs & 61 RBIs (which were matched again in 1987) as well as hitting thirty doubles, batting .262, while playing in 157 games.

He came in fourth place in the Rookie of the Year voting, behind Alvin Davis, Mark Langston & teammate Kirby Puckett.

On the field he posted a .984 fielding % (fourth in the league) leading all A.L. second baseman in games (157) & assists (485). 

The following season he put up similar numbers batting .260 with 10 HRs 24 doubles a .335 on base % & 50 RBIs. He made 12 errors at second base in 813 chances with a .980 fielding %. 

On January 16, 1986, he was traded to the New York Mets for Billy Beane, Bill Latham and Joe Klink.

Mets Career: Teufel was brought in to share time with Wally Backman at second base in Davey Johnsons platoon system. Teufel was used mainly against left-handed pitchers although he actually hit right hander’s better. 

The Teufel Shuffle: Tim had a classic stance while at bat, as he shook his hips while waiting on a pitcher to throw the pitch. The distinct batting stance became known as “the Teufel Shuffle”.

Multi-RBI Game in Mets Debut: On April 12th, 1986, in his first Mets game Teufel collected three hits & three RBIs in seven at bats, coming in a 14 inning 9-8 Mets loss at Philadelphia. 

On April 21st, he doubled home Lenny Dykstra in the bottom of the 9th inning, tying a game up against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He scored the winning run when Gary Carter singled him home for a walk off win. On April 27th, he hit a two run HR off the Cardinals John Tudor in a 5-3 Mets win at Busch Stadium.

Walk Off Hit: On May 12th in a scoreless game with the Braves at Shea Stadium, Teufel singled in the bottom of the 9th inning off Paul Assenmacher, scoring Ray Knight with the only run of the game, for the walk off win. Teufel collected three hits in the game.

Walk Off Grand Slam: On June 10th, Teufel had one of his biggest thrills, as he came to bat as a pinch hitter, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning in a 4-4 tie with the Phillies at Shea Stadium. He blasted a walk off grand slam HR off Tom Hume for the 8-4 dramatic victory. 

It was just the fourth Mets Walk off grand slam HR in team history & the first in 16 seasons. In 1963 Tim Harkness & Jim Hickman both accomplished the feat. Then 17 years later Mike Jorgensen was the last to do it in a win over the L.A. Dodgers.

'86 Mets Off the Field Drama: On July 19th, Teufel was involved in an infamous bar fight at a Houston night club, along with teammates Ron Darling, Bobby Ojeda & Rick Aguilera. The players were out celebrating the birth of Teufel's first son. 

The players got into a scuffle with off duty police men working as bouncers at the club. It began when Teufel was asked to leave, then tried to exit with a beer bottle. He was shaken up by the incident saying he had received a bad beating. Ojeda & Aguilera spent 11 hours in jail, Teufel & Darling got a years' probation. There was a lot of media attention, the end results wound up being a $200 fine for each player.

Around this time, the usually quite mild mannered Teufel had had enough of Darryl Strawberry's taunting & confronted him on a plane ride. From that point on he became a better ball player as well as no longer being the subject of Straw & others jokes.

Back on the field Teufel struggled at the plate batting only .230 by the middle of August.

Four Hit Game: On August 26th, Teufel had a four-hit multi-RBI game in an 11-6-win San Diego. In the 1st inning, he hit his third HR of the season, a solo shot off Dave Dravecky. He later drove in runs on a single & fielder's choice.

Teufel finished off the regular season batting .247 with 69 hits 4 HRs 20 doubles & 31 RBI. He posted a .324 on base % & .693 OPS. 

Trivia: Teufel would hit 20 or more double in five straight seasons (1984-1989).

Defensively at second base in 84 games he posted a .971 fielding %, five points higher than his fellow second baseman Wally Backman. Teufel made seven errors in 315 chances, turning 28 double plays.

1986 Post Season- NLCS: Teufel played in two games of the 1986 NLCS win over the Houston Astros, getting one hit in six at bats. 

In Game #3 at Shea Stadium, he got the start going 0-3 in the Mets 6-5 win, highlighted by Len Dykstra Walk off HR.

In the classic Game #6, sixteen inning marathon at the Houston Astrodome. Teufel played the first nine innings getting a hit going 1-3. He was removed in the extra innings getting replaced at second base by Backman.

1986 World Series: Teufel played in three games of the 1986 World Series. In Game #1 at Shea Stadium, Tim got the tart at second base. In that game, after Billy Joel had sung the National Anthem, Ron Darling & Bruce Hurst matched zeros through the evening.

In the 7th inning, Boston's Jim Rice drew a leadoff walk, then advanced on a wild pitch & a grounder which got him to third base. Next, Boston catcher Rich Gedman hit a ground ball to Teufel at second base. But the sure out turned nightmare, as the ball went under Teufel’s glove allowing Rice to score the lone run of the game. 

The error & lack of run support ruined Ron Darlings strong pitching performance, putting the Mets down one game to none in the Series.

Trivia: It was a strange flashback to Game #1 of the 1973 World Series when a Felix Millan error at second base helped the Oakland A’ s to a 2-1-win, spoiling Jon Matlack’s fine pitching performance.

At bat that night, Teufel collected two of the Mets four hits in the game. 

In Game #5 at Fenway Park, he got another start, with the Series tied at two games each. In the 8th inning, with the Mets down 4-1, Teufel hit a HR off Red Sox pitcher, Bruce Hurst.

In the final Game #7 victory at Shea Stadium, Teufel got the start going 0-2 getting removed for a pinch runner in the 6th inning. Overall, in the Series he batted .444 (4-9) with a HR, a double an RBI & a walk.

After the Championship: In 1987 Tim had a great start to the season, batting .400 until mid-May with four multi-hit games in his first 14 games played.

Pinch Hit- Walk Off HR: On May 1st, in a 6-6 tie with the Montreal Expos, Tim came to bat as a pinch hitter & hit a walk off HR off Bob McLure to beat the Expos 7-6. 

HRs in Three Straight Games: From June 9th to June 12th, on a wild road trip he hit HRs in three straight games while driving in nine runs in that time. On June 9th he hit a two run HR at Wrigley Field off Greg Maddux in a 6-5 loss. The next day he hit a three run HR off Scott Sanderson in a 10-2 Mets win at Wrigley.

Grand Slam HR: On June 12th, he capped off his third straight HR game with a grand slam HR in Pittsburgh off the Pirates Bob Walk in a 10-2 Mets win. It was his second career grand slam.

He began July driving in runs in three straight games. In the month he would bat .370 with twenty hits & 12 RBIs.

Multi HR Game: On July 5th, he had his only multi-HR game of the season, with two off the
Reds Tom Browning in a loss at Riverfront Stadium.

Multi-Four RBI Game: On July 24th Teufel collected three hits, with a three run HR off the Astros Bob Knepper, driving in four runs on the night leading the Mets to a 7-4 win at Shea Stadium.

On July 28th at Busch Stadium, Teufel came up with the Mets down 4-3 to the Cardinals in the 9th inning. He singled up the middle off Todd Worrell bringing in two runs putting the Mets in front for good in the 6-4 win. 

Teufel hit steadily through August as well, batting .348 with ten RBIs, a seven-game hit streak ending the month batting .340. 

He saw more playing time in September but tailed off to bat just .247 in the month, but still finished the season with a career best .308 average.

Multi-Four RBI Game: On September 20th, he matched his season high, four RBIs in a loss at Pittsburgh.

 From September 18th through the 21st he hit HRs in three of four games, in Pittsburgh & Wrigley Field, driving in eight runs. 

During a ten-game stretch from September 18th-September 27th Teufel drove in ten runs while collecting 14 hits, keeping the Mets in the pennant race. The Mets were just 1.5 games out on September 19th but went .500 the rest of the way to finish three games behind the Cardinals.

For the year Teufel matched his career highs in HRs (14) RBIs (61) & career highs in OPS (.943) & on base % (.398) as he played in 97 games on the season. At second base he played in 92 games with a .972 fielding % turning 43 double plays making ten errors.

1988- NL Eastern Champs Season: When the season began, Tim was supposed to be the Mets main second baseman, but he struggled in April batting just .190.

Bench Clearing Brawl: On April 30th in Cincinnati, Teufel was collected two singles off Reds pitcher Tom Browning. He then annoyed Browning by stepping out of the box during a pitch & umpire Eric Greg called a balk on Browning. The bases were loaded a run scored. He then plunked Teufel in the back with a pitch. Darryl Strawberry ran out of the dugout & charged the mound as a brawl ensued. The Mets won the game 6-5.

 In the first four games of May he hit two HRs & drove in five runs. On May 11th in Houston, the Mets were down 8-5 to the Astros when he hit a bases clearing three run double off Dave Smith to tie the game. The Mets went on to a 9-8 victory in ten innings.

Then an injury followed & he missed a month of action from mid-May to mid-June. He was batting .250 at the All-Star break but began continued to struggle as Wally Backman was batting .303. 

Walk Off Sac Fly: On August 14th, Tim came into a tied game at Shea with the Expos in the 7th inning & drew a walk. The game went into extra innings & in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded he hit a line drive off Tim Burke into centerfield. Although the out was made, Howard Johnson scored from third base with the walk off win.

Multi- RBI Game: On August 22nd, in an NLCS preview, Teufel hit a base clearing three run double off the Dodgers John Tudor to match his season high single game RBI mark. The Mets won the game 7-1 as they took ten of eleven games from the Dodgers in the regular season.

Teufel saw action in 90 games, batting .234 with four HRs & 31 RBIs. He hit 20 doubles, making it
his fifth straight season with at least 20 doubles. He posted a .306 on base % & 658 OPS. He never matched the previous year’s numbers again in his career.

1988 Post Season- NLCS: In the 1988 NLCS he played in just one game in the series upset by the Los Angeles Dodgers. In Game #4 he went 0-3 in the Mets loss.

1989: A hot prospect named Gregg Jefferies took over at second base and Teufel split time with him there (40 games) as well as playing some first base (33 games). 

He began the year batting .300 into early May but wasn't driving in any runs. In June he missed three weeks of action to injury.

Teufel didn't hit his first HR until July 3rd, it came in a 3-1 win at Houston. The Mets would finish second (87-75) in a disappointing season.

Another Brawl with the Reds: On July 8th, at Shea Stadium Tim had a big game going 4-4 with three hits off none other than Tom Browning. In the 8th inning with the Mets ahead 8-0 Rod Dibble hit Teufel in the back with a fast ball. Teufel saw Dibble grinning & he charged the mound & bloodied Dibbles lip. 

Benches cleared & a brawl ensued. After order was restored, Dibble began to mouth off again & Teufel went after him again as another brawl took place.

In 83 games (219 at bats) Teufel's numbers dropped off to .256 average, with only two HRs, seven doubles & 15 RBIs. His days of being an everyday player were over as he now was reduced to being a utility player once again.

1990: Teufel played in 80 games in the Mets second place finish as an all-around infielder batting .246. But he found his power stroke again hitting 10 HRs with 11 doubles in 175 at bats.

On May 6th he hit a three run HR off Houston's Jim Deshaies, driving in a season high four runs leading the Mets to a 7-4 win over the Astros.

In August Teufel hit HRs in three of the first four games of the month. He hit a total of six that month driving in ten runs, enjoying two four game hit streaks. He closed out the season hitting HRs in the last two games of the year against the NL Eastern Champion Pirates. 

In 1990 he batted .246 with 10 HRs 11 doubles & 24 RBIs.

In 1991after twenty games he was batting a lowly .118 & got traded to the San Diego Padres for veteran Garry Templeton, who retired after one season in New York.

Mets Career: Teufel played 325 games at second base for the Mets (11th most All Time) playing in 463 career Mets games overall. 

In those six years he hit .254 with 35 HRs 87 doubles 3 triples 182 runs scored & 164 RBIs. He struck out 227 times with 154 walks, a 336 on base % & .747 OPS.

Post Mets Career: Teufel played three seasons in San Diego, as a utility infielder getting into 95 games or more each season. 

For the rest of 1991 he hit 11 HRs with 42 RBIs a .334 on base % & .722 OPS in 97 games for the third place Padres. He hit .224 the next year as San Diego finished third again. In 1993 the team fell to 7th place, winning just 61 games. Tim hit .250 then retired after the season.

Career Stats: In his 11 year career, Teufel batted .254 with 789 hits 86 HRs 185 doubles 12 triples 3415 runs scored & 379 RBIs. He struck out 531 times with 87 walks posting a .336 on base % &.740 OPS in 1073 games played. 

At second base he played 806 games with a .980 fielding % is making 68 errors turning 364 double plays. He also played 99 games at third base & 83 games at first.

Retirement: After playing days Teufel became a long-time manager in the Mets organization.

In 2003 he was manager of the A ball Brooklyn Cyclones, where he finished in second place with a 47-28 record. 

He moved to the advanced A ball, St. Lucie Mets from 2004-2005, stopping one season with the Savanna Sand Gnats (2007). He was back to St. Lucie in 2008 & 2009, going 66-68 in the latter year. 

In 2010 he was manager of the AA Binghamton Mets going 66-76. In 2011 he was promoted to the AAA Buffalo Bison’s where he was 61-82 coaching many of the Mets 2012 players.

Mets Third Base Coach: In 2012 he was promoted to the big-league club as the Mets third base coach under manager Terry Collins. He was an aggressive third base coach who loved to wave runner's home. He did a fine job in four seasons in that role. After two straight post season appearances, he did not return in 2017.

Spring Training 2013: photo-centerfieldmaz

Teufel remained popular with the fans & was well as respected by players. The Mets were thinking of giving him the batting coach job in the 2015 off season but instead chose to go with Kevin Long.

Honors: Tim was on hand for the 20th anniversary of the 1986 Championship team & the 30th anniversary celebration at Citi Field in 2016.

In 2008 he attended the closing ceremonies of Shea Stadium. 

In February 2011 although he wasn’t accused of any wrong doings, Teufel was sued by investors for profits he made through Bernard Madoff investments.

Tim Teufel Celebrity Golf Tournament: The event celebrated its 25th year in 2015, played at Tamarack Country Club in Teufel's hometown of Greenwich Connecticut. 

Quotes- Tim Teufel: "It's rewarding to see a tournament like this go on for a long period of

time, especially through the economic turmoil a few years ago. What a venue we have here at Tamarack, which has been so nice for letting us hold the event here every year."

Family: Tim & his wife Valerie have been married for forty years. They lived in Greenwich, Connecticut & now West Palm Beach, Florida.

Valerie has been a real estate agent in West Palm beach for 15 years.