Dave Magadan
From The Met Wiki
Dave Magadan was a first baseman and third baseman for the Mets from 1986 to 1992. He batted .292 in 701 games in his seven seasons with the team. Magadan had 21 home runs and 254 runs batted in during his years in New York.
Magadan was drafted by the Mets out of the University of Alabama in 1983. He made his major league debut three years later. He got a pinch-hit single off San Diego's Ed Wojna in his first at bat in the Mets' 6-5 win at Shea Stadium on September 7. Ten days later, Dave got three singles and drove in the winning run as the Mets defeated the Cubs, 4-2, to clinch the National League East Division title. For the '86 season, Magadan got 8 singles in 10 games played and had a .444 batting average.
In 1987, Dave hit .318 in 85 games as a utility infielder. He hit his first major league home run on April 20 off the Pirates' John Smiley at Pittsburgh. Magadan went 5-for-5 in the Mets' 7-4 win over the Astros at Shea on July 24. He also had four singles in a 6-3 Mets loss to the Cubs on August 9.
In the 1988 season, Magadan played 112 games and batted .277 for the Mets. He had 87 hits for the year, including 15 doubles. On June 4, Dave got three hits in the Mets' 6-5 win over the Cubs in 13 innings. His only homer of the season came against the Pirates at Shea on June 20. In the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers, Dave was hitless in three pinch-hitting appearances.
Magadan had three triples to tie for the team lead in 1989. For the season, he hit .286 with 4 homers and 41 RBIs. Dave got a game-winning single in the 11th inning for a 4-3 Mets victory over the Padres on May 13 at Shea. Against the Pirates on June 2, he hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th to give the Mets a 3-2 win. Magadan also had a two-run single that put the Mets ahead to stay in a 10-4 win at Philadelphia on September 13.
Dave had his best season as a Met in 1990. His .328 batting average was third highest in the National League. He also led the Mets with 6 triples for the season. In a game at Chicago on June 12, Magadan had a triple, a home run and 6 runs batted in as the Mets defeated the Cubs, 19-8. Three days later, he had two singles and two doubles in a 7-5 win in Pittsburgh. On July 25 at Philadelphia, Dave got a single, double and homer with three RBIs in the Mets' 10-9 win over the Phillies. Magadan also drove in three runs with four hits in a 7-1 Mets win at Chicago on September 28.
In 1991, Magadan had 108 hits in 124 games played. His 83 walks led the team as did his .378 on base percentage. Dave got three singles in a 9-3 Mets win at Pittsburgh on April 15. He hit a run-scoring double in the eighth inning to give the Mets a 9-8 win at Chicago on May 28. Dave also hit a three-run homer at St. Louis in a 10-5 Mets win on May 31.
Magadan played his final season with the Mets in 1992. He batted .283 with 3 homers and 28 RBIs in 99 games. On May 9, he hit a three-run homer off Roger McDowell in the ninth inning to give the Mets a 5-2 win over the Dodgers at Shea. In his final game as a Met, he got a run-scoring single in a 4-3 loss to the Cubs on August 8.
Dave played nine more major league seasons with six other teams. He was the starting third baseman for the Florida Marlins in their inaugural game in 1993. Magadan also spent time with the Mariners, Astros, Cubs and Athletics. He ended his career with the San Diego Padres in 2001.
