Felix Millan: 1973 N.L. Champion Mets Second Baseman (1973 - 1977)

Felix Bernardo Martinez Millan was born on August 21, 1943, in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. His parents were Victor & Anastasia Millan parents of eleven children. 

His father worked at a sugar cane plant & his mother took a job at a laundry to help make end meet. Growing up in the sugar cane fields he would swing a branch & dream of playing in the big leagues. He later said I prayed he could make enough money to help his parents.

The shy boy found happiness on a baseball field. After graduating high school, he joined the United States Army, although he missed home, he enjoyed his time there playing on the baseball teams.

At the suggestion of a friend, he began to write letters to a young girl named Mercedes. The two would write to each other four times a week & planned to see each other after his discharge. Her father checked up on him in Felix's hometown, finding out everyone spoke highly of "Nacho" Millan as he was known. The two dated & eventually married with her father's consent.

Felix the Cat: Felix earned the nicknamed “the Cat” for his quickness & as a reference to the popular cartoon character Felix the Cat.

In 1964 the five foot eleven, right hand hitting second baseman was first signed by the Kansas City A’s. He was then chosen by the Milwaukee Braves in the first-year draft, later that season. 

The solid hitting Millan hit .290 at A ball Daytona Beach, followed by two seasons batting over .300 at the next minor league levels. 

Hank Aaron's Roommate: Upon his arrival with the Braves, he was invited to stay with Hank Aaron at his home. The two were roommates in Millan's years with the Braves forming a friendship.

MLB Debut: On June 2, 1966, he made his MLB debut with the newly relocated Braves in Atlanta. He was the 27th major leaguer to be born in Puerto Rico. Millan collected s single in his first at bat, off the Giants Bob Bolin in a 5-0 loss to the Giants. 

Four Hit Game: On June 7th, in just his sixth career game, he had his first career four hit game, coming at Shea Stadium in a 11-6 win over the Mets. 

Millan would bat .280 but then get sidelined with a broken finger. When he was ready to return, he would play in the minor leagues until late September. 

In 1967 he started in Atlanta but was sent down to AAA Richmond, where he was named Minor League Player of the Year. He & teammate third baseman Bobby Cox led Richmond to an International League Pennant.

By 1968 he took over the Braves regular second baseman position from Woody Woodward. Millan established himself as an outstanding infielder & solid hitter. He batted .289 in "The Year of the Pitcher" tied with Willie Mays for twelfth best average in the NL. Millan also hit 22 doubles playing in 149 games. Millan would hit twenty or more doubles in four straight seasons.

In 1969 the steady Millan played in every regular season game becoming one of the league’s best defensive second baseman. He won his first Gold Glove that year leading all N.L. second baseman in put outs (373) & assists (444) while posting the league’s second-best fielding percentage (.980%).

He collected 174 hits (9th in the NL) with 23 doubles, 6 HRs 57 RBIs & 11 sacrifice hits (6th in the NL) while batting .267.

1969 All Star: That year he also made his first of his three straight All-Star teams. In the Mid-Summer Classic played in the Nation's Capital, Washington D.C. 

In the 3rd inning, Millan hit a double off the Oakland A's Blue Moon Odom. The double drove in the Mets Cleon Jones & Cincinnati's Johnny Bench, putting the NL up 5-1 on their way to a 9-3 victory. 

Although he was an All Star in 1970 & 1971, he would have no official at bats.

1969 NLCS: In 1969 the Atlanta Braves won 93 games, winning the NL West in the first year of divisional play. They faced the New York Mets in the first ever NLCS. 

In Game #1, Millan collected double off Tom Seaver & scored the Braves second run of the game. He later singled off Ron Taylor in the 9-5 loss at Fulton County Stadium. In Game #2 he collected two more hits & drew three walks in the 11-6 Mets win. He went 0-5 in the final Game #3. 

Millan batted .333 in the series, with a .467 on base percentage. The Mets swept the Braves in three games.

Six Hit Game: On July 6th, 1970, he began the first Braves player to collect six hits in a game. Felix collected a triple, double & four singles while driving in four runs on the day, in a 12-4 win over the Giants. It would be 37 years later until another Braves batter, Willie Harris matched the feat.

A month later on August 6th, he would collect five hits in a win at Dodger Stadium. Millan had career highs in batting hitting .310 (11th best average in the NL) on base % (.352%) & runs scored (100) & stolen bases (16). He also hit 25 doubles with 5 triples 2 HRs & 37 RBIs as the Braves fell to a fifth-place finish.

In 1971 he turned a career high 120 double plays at second base (second most in the NL) with a .982 fielding %. He hit .289 with twenty doubles & a career high eight triples (tied for fifth most in the NL).

In 1972 his average dropped to .257 & despite winning another Gold Glove the Braves decided to trade him for some pitching to help out their staff.

On November 1st, 1972, the Mets made one their best trades of that era, acquiring Millan & pitcher George Stone in exchange for Gary Gentry & Danny Frisella. 

At the time of the trade, his manager Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews tried to break the news gently to him. Millan thought to himself "What's to be sorry about, does he know how many Puerto Ricans live in New York?".

Mets Career: Millan would become a large piece of the 1973 Mets NL Pennant team, solidifying the middle infield with double play partner Bud Harrelson. Millan was just what the Mets needed in the line up as well, a solid #2 hitter who played every day & got on base a lot.

Tough Man to Strike Out: The Cat was always one of the toughest men in baseball to strike out, he would average the fewest strikeouts per at bat in the league, from 1973-1975. 

In those years he averaged over 600 at bats per season & Millan would never strike out more than 28 times in a season.

Choking Up on the Bat: Millan had a strange batting stance where he would use a small bat and choke way up on the handle in order to make contact. It almost looked as though the bottom of the bat would hit him in the stomach as he swung. 

1973 NL Pennant Season: On Opening Day 1973 he doubled to lead off the 4th inning & was the first Met to cross the plate for the season when he scored on Cleon Jones two run HR in Tom Seaver's 3-0 shut out against the Philadelphia Phillies. 

In the first four games of the season, he collected four hits in including an RBI triple in the Mets 5-4 win over the Cardinals. But in his first month in New York, he struggled batting just .158 through April. 

In May Millan went on a 13-game hit streak, gathering 27 batting .409 in that time. He had nine multi- hit games during that stretch. From May 7th to May 12th, he collected at least two hits in a game for five straight games. He also drove in a run in four straight games. In that time, he raised his average from .173 to .275.

Millan would miss the only ten games of his season that month with an injury.

Player of the Week Award: From June 10th to June 18th Millan was riding in a nine-game hit streak. Tat week he batted .517 with 15 hits, four multi-Hit games, three extra base hits & three RBIs earning him the NL Player of the Week Award.

Back-to-Back Three Hit Games: On June 12th he collected three hits off the Giants Juan Marichal in a 5-4 win at Shea. His 7th inning RBI single turned out to be the game winning run. The next night he collected three more hits, including the first of three HRs on the season. The solo shot came off Tom Bradley in a Tom Seaver 3-1 win over the Giants. Millan would have 17 games on the season where he had three or more hits.

Four Hit Games: On June 16th he had the first of four-four hit games on the season. He collected three singles with an RBI in a 102 win over the Padres at Shea Stadium.

On July 3rd, he collected four hits, with three singles & his third triple of the year in a 19-8 loss at Montreal. On July11th, he had his third four hit game in a loss to Houston. His last four hit game was in an 11inning win at Montreal in September.

Walk Off Hit: On July 9th, the Mets Tom Seaver gave up a HR to Lee May, it was the only run of
the game for Houston. Don Wilson held the Mets scoreless until the bottom of the 9th inning, when Jim Beauchamp's pinch-hit single tied up the game at one. 

In the bottom of the 12th, Willie Mays singled to left field with one out. He advanced on Wayne Garrett's grounder. Felix Millan then delivered the game winning hit off Jim York, driving in Willie Mays for the 2-1 win.

18 Game Hit Streak: From July 13th to August 1st, Felix then had an 18-game hitting streak, where he hit .413 with 31 hits. In that stretch he had eleven multi-hit games. He enjoyed ten different games where he had three hits or more in the summer alone. He was batting over .300 into early August.

Game Winning HR: On July 14th the Mets were tied 2-2 in Cincinnati going into the top of the 9th inning, when Jerry Grote tripled. Ted Martinez came in to pinch run & scored on a Passed ball from pitcher Don Gullet that got by Johnny Bench. 

Wayne Garret then singled & Millan blasted a rare HR, his second of the year sealing the Mets 5-2 win. He had driven in a run earlier in the game as well giving him a season best three RBI game.

On August 1st, the Pirates Steve Blass held the Mets to just three hits, with Millan collecting one of them. In the 2nd inning, he was hit by a pitch from Blass with the bases loaded bringing in the Mets third run of Tom Seavers four hit 3-0 shut out.

On August 22nd, with the Mets down 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th inning to the Dodgers, Felix singled off Jim Brewer to bring in Cleon Jones with the tying run. He advanced to second base & then scored the winning run-on John Milner's Walk off base hit.

Walk Off Hit: On August 24th, Millan singled off Juan Marichal in the bottom of the 10th inning, breaking up a scoreless tie for the walk off win. Jerry Koosman earned the ten-inning shutout win.

Pennant Stretch Run: The Mets were in last place as late as August 30th, six & half games out of first place in a five-team race. They would go 22-9 thru the rest of the season to capture the NL East. During the season many of the regular players were out with injuries with Millan being one of the steady players who didn't miss any time during the summer months.

In the final month of the 1973 regular season, Millan had 34 hits, including 14 multiple hit games., driving in nine runs, scoring ten runs & as playing his usual solid defense.

Millan had a great stretch run to the NL East title, hitting safely in eight of the first ten games of September. Each of those games were multi-hit games, including his fourth four hit game of the season, coming on September 7th, in the second game of a twin bill in Montreal. 

Bench Clearing Brawl: On September 2nd, Millan hit his third of the three HRs he hit on the season, although the Mets blew a three-run lead & took a late inning loss to the Cardinals in St. Louis. 

This game featured a bench clearing brawl that started when Cardinal's catcher Tim McCarver was trying to take out Millan during a double play in the 3rd inning. After Millan got kicked on his left side after the play, he went after the McCarver & the two rolled around the infield before it was broken up. There were no ejections. Millan later homered & McCarver drove in a run as well.

Starting on September 17th, the Mets faced the Pirates in five straight games starting out 3.5 games behind them in fourth place when the series began.

On September 18th in Pittsburgh, in an important divisional game, Millan came to bat with two on in the top of the 9th inning & the Mets down 4-1. He tripled off Ramon Hernandez driving in two runs & then scored the go ahead run on a Ron Hodges pinch hit single. The win brought the Mets within 2.5 games of the first place Pirates. 

The next night, Millan had an RBI single in the 7-4 win. As the series moved to New York, the Mets beat the Pirates 4-3 in the famous "ball on the wall game" in 13 innings, as rookie Ron Hodges drove in the walk off run, after tagging out the would be lead run in the top half of the inning. Millan collected two hits & walk in the victory, as the Mets moved to within a half game of first place.

They Mets would take four of five in the series & win six straight that week to take over first place. Millan hit safely in all four wins, drove in four runs & scored two runs.

The next night the Mets took over first place as they beat the Pirates 10-2 in front of 51,381 at Shea Stadium. In the bottom of the 8th, Millan singled off John Lamb scoring Tom Seaver in what was to be his 18th win of the season. Millan then scored on Rusty Staub's HR in the next at bat.

On September 25th at Shea, Millan's sac fly in the 5th inning was the first run of a key matchup between Steve Rogers & Jerry Koosman. Cleon Jones 6th inning HR was the difference in the 2-1 win keeping the Mets 1.5 games up with just five more to play.

Mets Clinch NL East: In the final series at Wrigley Field in a rainy Chicago, the Mets needed to win two games to clinch the NL Eastern title. Three days of rain postponed games until September 30th. 

Millan would hit safely in all three of the final regular season games, collecting five hits.

Mets Single Season Hits Record: On September 30th, Millan collected two hits. In the Mets three run 9th inning, Millan singled off Ray Burris setting a new Mets record with 183 hits in a season, passing Tommie Agee's 1970 mark of 182. 

On October 2nd, he went 2 for 5 with a pair of singles, scoring a run in the 5th inning of the Mets 6-4 win, clinching the NL East.  In the final 14 games of the season, Millan had six multi-hit games, collected six walks, scored six runs & drove in five runs. 

NL Sacrifice- Hits Record: Millan set an NL record with 18 sacrifice hits. His 18 sac hits were

second most in the league. He also hit 23 doubles, with three HRs 37 RBIs 35 walks a .332 on base % & .635 OPS. 

Mets Hits Record: Millan finished the season with 185 hits, setting a new Mets single season
record. 

Millan was primarily a singles hitter, gathering 155 singles in 1973 (2nd in the NL). He led the team in batting average (.290) games played (153) runs scored (82) triples (4) hit by pitches (6) & sacrifice hits (18). His 638 at bats set a new Mets franchise record.

#1 in At Bat to Strike Out Rate: Millan was the toughest man to strike out in the league, as he only struck out 22 times in 638 at bats. He would lead the NL in that category for three straight seasons.

At second base he made nine errors in 704 chances, posted a .989 fielding % (third best in the NL) turning 99 double plays (fifth most in the NL).

Honors: The New York sports writers voted him the “1973 Met of the Year”. Millan even earned some votes for the NL MVP. 

1973 Post Season- NLCS: In the 1973 NLCS win over the Cincinnati Reds, Millan batted .316 (6-19) scoring five runs, drawing two walks with a .381 on base percentage.

In the Game #1 loss at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium, he was 0-3 with a sacrifice.

In Game #2, Millan singled in the top of the 9th inning off Reds' pitcher Tom Hall. He then scored the Mets second run of the game on Cleon Jones base hit. The Mets would go on to win the game 5-0, behind Jon Matlack's two hit shutout, evening the series at one game each.

In Game #3 at Shea Stadium, Millan’s, 2nd inning single to right field, scored Don Hahn to give the Mets a 3 -1 lead. Millan also walked twice in the game as the Mets beat the Reds 9-2. 

This was in this game Bud Harrelson & Pete Rose had their famous fight & bench clearing brawl. After watching the double play get turned, Millan headed toward the dug out only to find his teammates running out of it. He turned around to join them in the scuffle.
In Game #4 four Reds pitchers held the Mets down just three hits, in the 12 inning 2-1 Cincinatti win. Millan collected two of those three hits. 

In the 3rd inning he singled off Fred Norman to drive in the Mets only run. He led off the 9th with a base hit off Don Gullet but was left stranded on 1st.

In the Game #5 Mets series clincher, Millan started the Mets 1st inning rally with a one out single off Jack Billingham. He came around to score on Ed Kranepool’s two run single.

In the 5th inning he added a sacrifice bunt advancing Wayne Garrett, in the Mets four run inning. The Mets went on to win the game 7-2 upsetting the mighty Big Red Machine & were headed to the World Series.

1973 World Series: The Mets went out to Oakland, California to face the reigning World
Champion Oakland A's. The series was filled with excitement as Willie Mays was returning to the Bay Area to close out his career in a World Series.

In Game #1 at Oakland Alameda Coliseum, Jon Matlack went up against Ken Holtzman. In the 3rd inning, the pitcher Holtzman doubled to left field. Next the sure handed Felix Millan let a Bert Campaneris ground ball roll under his glove into right field. 

He anticipated a bounce that never came, Holtzman scored putting the A’s up 1-0. It was shocking since Millan had only made nine errors all season.

Next, Mets pitcher Jon Matlack attempted to pick off Campaneris, but botched the throw, allowing him to steal second base. Campy would score on Sal Bando’s base hit. The two runs would be all Oakland needed as the Mets lost the Opener 2-1.

Game #2 was a World Series classic; the 12 inning Mets win lasted four hours & 13 minutes as the longest series game to date. Millan went 0-6, but was involved in a controversial play in the 10th inning. 

With Bud Harrelson on third & one out, Millan hit a fly ball off Rollie Fingers to shallow left field.
Joe Rudi made the catch, as Bud Harrelson tagged up & crossed the plate standing up, appearing to have avoided catcher Ray Fosse's tag. But Harrelson was called out at home plate, by umpire Augie Donatelli who fell down & was out of position to see the play or make the right call.

The controversial play is still legendary in Mets lore. The usually calm manager Yogi Berra came running out of the dugout screaming in a tirade at the umpire. 

Berra had been wearing a microphone for MLB films & the dialogue made it more memorable. Veteran Willie Mays, who was the on-deck batter, dropped to his knees with his arms spread, wondering in amazement how Donatelli missed the call. Video replay shows the tag was never made. The game continued as the Mets won it 10-7.

There was more controversy as A's second baseman Mike Andrews was charged with two errors in the Mets four run 12th inning. After the game A's owner Charlie Finley had him sign a document stating he was injured & couldn't plat in the remaining games. The A's players were outraged & stood behind their teammate. Even the Commissioner got involved forcing Finely to reinstate the player.

The Series & Andrews drama moved to New York for Game #3. In this classic matchup Tom
Seaver went up against Catfish Hunter, the leagues two best pitchers.

In the bottom of the 1st, Wayne Garret led off with a HR, Millan followed with a base hit off Hunter.  He advanced to third on Rusty Staub's single & then scored on Catfish's wild pitch.

Shockingly Millan made two more errors on the field, but none that caused any damage. The Mets lost the game 3-2 in 11 innings when a third strike got by catcher Jerry Grote. That runner eventually scored on Bert Campaneris' base hit.

Baseball Card Trivia: Millan is featured in the 1974 Topps baseball card set, for Game #3 card of the World Series. Bert Campaneris is shown sliding safe into second base, as Millan had just made the tag & the umpire is making a safe call. Short Stop Bud Harrelson is seen backing up the play.

In Game #4, Millan singled in the 1st inning off A's starter, Kenny Holtzman. He scored on Rusty Staub’s three run HR in the next at bat. The Mets evened the Series with a 6-1 win behind Staub's five RBI Game.

In the Game #5 Mets 2-0 win, Millan went hitless.

In Game #6 back at Oakland, Millan drove in the only Mets run of the game with an 8th inning
single off Darold Knowles, bringing them within a run. They would go on to lose the game 3-1 moving on to a Game Seven on Sunday.

In Game #7, Millan went 1-4 with a double in the 5-2 Mets loss. The Mets fell one game short of a championship.

Overall, at the plate Millan hit .188 in the World Series, going 6 for 32 with two extra base hits, a walk & a run scored.              

                                         

After the Pennant Season: On Opening Day in Philadelphia, Millan collected two hits & an RBI although New York fell short to the Phils 5-4. 

From April 27th to May 8th, Millan had nine multi-hit games, hitting safely in eleven of twelve games. He batted .440 in that time raising his season average to .357. 

On April 29th he hit his only HR of the season, a two-run shot off the Dodgers Don Sutton in an 8-7 loss in LA. 

But Millan struggled from there, as he hit .250 overall in May, then just .167 in June. Millan then missed over two weeks of action in July due to injuries. 

By then the 1974 Mets were in fifth place 8.5 games out & there were no miracle comebacks to be had.

Millan began August with a ten-game hit streak. From August 6th thru August 8th, he drove in runs in three straight games. On August 26th at Shea, the Mets were behind to the Astros 4-3. Millan's 9th inning bunt single scored Teddy Martinez with the games tying run. Rusty Staub then hit a walk off game winning single to beat Houston 5-4.

Record Breaker for Plate Appearances: On September 11th, in a classic 25 inning game with the Cardinals Millan set a record with 12 plate appearances. He collected four hits with a walk & a run scored in the 4-3 Mets loss.

On the season the Mets finished a disappointing fifth place. 

Sacrifice Hit Record: Millan set a new NL record with 24 sacrifice hits on the season, breaking his own record of 18.

Millan played in 136 games leading the league in sacrifice hits with 24. He hit .268 with one HR 15 doubles 2 triples 50 runs scored & 33 RBIs. He struck out just 14 times in 518 at bats, drew 31 walks, posted a .317 on base % & .628 OPS.

At second base he was third in the NL in put outs (374) fourth in games played (134) fifth in errors (15) posting a .979 fielding % while turning 81 double plays.

In the off season, the Mets brought in Dave Kingman, Joe Torre & Del Unser to help in run support. 

1975: Millan became the first Met in franchise history to play in all 162 regular season games. 

On Opening Day, Millan collected a hit off the Phillies Steve Carlton, in the bottom of the 9th inning of a 1-1 tie. He would come home to score the walk off winning run, on Joe Torre's base hit.

On April 27th, the Mets came back from six runs down to the Expos, sending eleven men to the plate in a six-run 7th inning. Millan contributed with a two-run single off Dave McNally in the 8-7 Met win.

Although Felix started out slow, ending the month of May hitting .245, he picked things up as the summer came on. 

On June 12th in Los Angeles, he helped Jon Matlack in his three-hit shutout by driving in the only two runs of the game, with a pair of RBI doubles off Dodger ace Don Sutton. 

Felix began July with four straight multi-hit games. He would repeat that feat the following week, as he began a 19-game hit streak.

That month, Millan hit safely in 23 of 24 games, batting .381 for the month.

Multi- Four RBI Game: On July 2nd, Millan drove in a season high four runs in a 7-2 win at Shea over the Chicago Cubs. Millan hit a two run double off Bill Bonham in the 5th inning & then a two-run single off Ken Frailing in the 6th inning.

Four Hit Game- as Joe Torre Sets Record for Most Double Plays Grounded Into: On July 21st, in a loss to Hoston at Shea, Millan had a four-hit game, collecting four singles off Bob Forsch. 

Each time after a Millan hit, Joe Torre grounded into a double play, setting the MLB record grounding into four double plays. After the game Torre joked to the press 

Quotes- Joe Torre: "I'd like to thank Felix Millan for making this all possible".

Four Hit Four RBI Game: On July 26th Millan had another four-hit game, all singles, collecting four RBIs in a 9-8 Mets win at Wrigley Field. In the 8th inning Felix tied the game with an RBI base hit off Darold Knowles. The game went to extra innings, in the top of the 10th, after Joe Torre put the Mets ahead, Millan added an important insurance run that saved the game, as he hit an RBI single off Oscar Zamora. The Mets would win it 9-8.

By the end of July, he got his average back up over .300 & remained near that mark most of August. In August he drove in ten runs in the month as well. 

From August 25th to September 7th, he had a 13-game hit streak batting .340 in that time.

Multi- Three RBI Game: On September 20th, Millan hit a three run double, clearing the bases
off Tom Hilgendorf in a 9-7 Mets win over the Phillies. It was his fourth game where he drove in at least three runs.

Mets Single Season Hit Record: On September 26th, in the first game of a double header, he collected two hits in a loss at Philadelphia. In the 12th inning, his infield single off Gene Garber set a new Mets record for hits in a season, passing his old mark of 185 set in 1973.

Single Season Franchise Records: In 1975 Millan set a Mets record at the time, with 191 hits in a season. It was the fifth most hits in the NL that season. Millan also set a team record with 676 at bats (second most in the NL) & 743 plate appearances (third in the NL).

Millan led the league in getting hit by pitches (12) finished third in the league with sac hits (17) & singles (151). 

Millan batted .283 hit 37 doubles (6th most in the league) while driving in a career high 56 runs.

Once again, he was the toughest man to strike out in the league for the third straight year with a 24.1 AB to SO rate.

He posted a .329 on base % & .677 OPS.

At second base he turned his Mets' career high 95 double plays, posted a .972 fielding % making a career high 23 errors (5th most in the NL).

Bicentennial 1976 Season: Millan started out hot, hitting safely in 15 of the first 20 games, batting .346 at the end of April. 

From April 16th to April 27th, in nine games where he had hits, all of them were muti-hit games.

On April 17th the Mets clobbered the Pirates 17-1, Millan had three hits with two runs driven in. On April 20th, he hit his only HR of the year, it came off the Cardinals Lynn Mcglothen in an 8-0 Mets win at Busch Stadium. 

From June 16th to June 28th, Millan had a twelve-game hit streak where he hit .340.

On July 18th, Mets veteran Mickey Lolich pitched a two-hit shutout over Atlanta, his best outing as a Met. Millan provided RBI single & Dave Kingman a solo HR in the 2-0 win. 

From August 1st to August 10th, Millan had a six-game hit streak. In his first four August games, he had two multi- RBI games. From August 14th to August 29th, Millan had an eleven-game hit streak where he collected 20 hits & batted .444.

Going into September Felix only had 21 RBIs, but that month, he drove in 13 of his 35 RBIs for the season. 

From September 10th to September 11th, he had another eleven-game hit streak, batting .375. 

The Mets were out of contention by summer as they would finish third 86-76 under manager Joe Frazier.

On the season Millan led the team with his .282 batting average, 150 hits, seven hit by pitches & 139 games played. He hit 25 doubles, with one HR, 55 runs scored & 35 RBIs. He posted a .341 on base % & .684 OPS. He struck out only 19 times in 530 at bats for a 27.9 at bat to strike out rate, second best in the NL.

 At second base he made 15 errors & posted a .979 fielding percentage.

1977: The season would be the start of seven bad years for Mets fans. After the passing of Joan Payson in 1975 the organization was left to her daughter & was being run by M. Donald Grant. the stubborn Grant didn't want to give into free agency & pay players high salaries. He got into a public feud with tom Seaver who was traded away in June in one of the worst nights in Mets history. 

Any few players left from the Mets good years were soon to de dealt away or demanded trades in the next year or two.

Millan was one of six players left from the 1973 pennant winners. 

At the end of May, after 31 games Millan was batting just .209. On June 2nd, he had a three-hit game, collecting two RBIs in a 7-4 win at Montreal. It was his first of five multi-RBI games where he drove in two runs.

On June 12th, Tom Seaver pitched his last game with the Mets. Millan got a hit & scored a run in Seaver's 3-1 win at the Astrodome.

In July, Millan would hit two HRs, On July 15th Millan homered, off the Pirates Jerry Ruess in a 6-1 win in the second game of a double header in Pittsburgh. On July 27th he hit a solo HR off Gary Lavalle in a 6-4 win over the Giants in San Francisco.

 

Fight With Ed Ott: On August 12th, in Pittsburgh, Pirates catcher Ed Ott slid hard into Millan at second base, trying to break up a double play. Millan was lying on the ground, face first, he got up shouting at Ott. Millan hit Ott in the face with the ball still in his hand. The big catcher grabbed Millan & slammed him hard into the Three Rivers Stadium Astroturf. 

The benches cleared & Ott was ejected from the game, later fine $250 by the league. Millan was carried off the field in a stretcher. His shoulder was seriously injured & he would be out for the rest of the year. 

For the season Millan hit .248 the worst mark since his 1967 season with two HRs 11 doubles two triples, 21 RBIs & a .294 on base %. 

Retirement: After the Mets dismal 1977 season, Millan felt it was time to move on. he was offered a contract to play in Japan.

Mets Career Stats: Millan is second on the Mets all-time list in games played at second base (674) six games behind Wally Backman.

 In his five-year Mets career, he is a .278 hitter, striking out only 92 times in 2677 at bats.

Millan has 743 Mets hits (19th on the Mets All Time list) He was hit by pitches 36 times (10th) has 2677 at bats (23rd) 111 doubles (26th) & has played in 681 Mets games (tied for 32nd all time).

Nippon Professional League: In 1978 he went to play in Japan, for
the Yokohama Taiyo Whales in their inaugural season. In his first season in Japan, he batted .287. 

Batting Title: In 1979 he won a Best Nine Award while becoming the first foreigner to win the Nippon batting title. He hit .346 for the second place Whales with just enough at bats to qualify. In 1980 he batted .286. In his three years in Japan, he struck out just 52 times in 1139 at-bats.

In 1981 he played one season in Mexico before retiring.

Career Stats: In his 12-year career, Millan played in 1480 games, batting .279 with 1617 hits, 229 doubles, 38 triples, 22 HRs 700 runs scored& 403 RBIs. He drew 318 walks, posted a .322 on base % & .665 OPS.

Jon Matlack, Felix Millan & Ron Swoboda

Trivia: Overall, in his career he averaged a strike out every 23.9 at bats which is the 65th best rate of all time. In 5791 at bats, he struck out 242 times.

At second base he played 1450 games (47th most all time) with 3495 put outs (33rd all time) 3846 assists (57th all time) posting a .980 fielding % turning 855 double plays.

Retirement: In the 1980's he worked as a Mets infield instructor in the Rookie League. He also worked as a Latin American coordinator for the Mets minor leagues. 

In 1989 he played in the Senior Professional League in Florida. 

Honors: In 1993 Millan was on hand for the 20th Anniversary of the 1973 Mets Pennant team. 

In 2008 he was at the closing ceremonies of Shea Stadium.

In 2013 he was on hand representing the New York Mets alumni, at the All-Star Game Fan Fest as the Mid-Summer Classic was held at Citi Field.

#24 Retirement: In 2022 Millan was on hand for the Mets Old Timers Day. He along with Jon Matlack, Ed Kranepool, Cleon Jones 7 Willie Mays' son, represented the 1973 Mets squad as the Mets retired Willie's Mets uniform #24.

Felix has appeared at baseball card shows, memorabilia events & at Mets Fantasy Camps thru the years. Millan has made alumni appearances at Citi Field & has done a One on One with Howie Rose.

Felix Millan Little League: In 1977 he founded the Felix Millan Little League in lower Manhattan. In 1993 that league won the New York State Little League World Series. 

Family: Felix & his wife Merci were married in 1962. 

They have been married for sixty-two years. Together they have two children, a son & daughter. Felix & his wife reside between Florida & Puerto Rico.