Ray Knight
From The Met Wiki
Ray Knight was a third baseman for the Mets from 1984 to 1986. He had a .271 batting average in 254 games played with the team. Knight hit 18 homers and drove in 118 runs as a Met.
Knight came to New York from the Houston Astros for three minor league players on August 28, 1984. In his Mets debut the following day, he singled and scored the team’s first run in a 3-2 win over the Dodgers at Shea Stadium. Ray hit his first home run as a Met in a 6-2 victory over the Expos at Shea on September 21. In the Mets’ 90th and final win of the season on September 29, Knight had a double and three singles at Montreal.
In 1985, Knight shared the duties at third base with Howard Johnson. He also missed time with injuries and appeared in only 90 games. For the year, Ray collected 59 hits, including 12 doubles and 6 home runs. Against the Giants at Shea on May 17, he hit a two-run homer to tie a game that the Mets went on to win, 3-2 in 12 innings. Ten days later, Knight had a double, a homer and 4 RBIs in the Mets’ 8-1 win at Shea over the Dodgers. He hit a three-run homer in a 16-4 Mets victory over the Astros in the opener of a doubleheader at Shea on July 27. Ray also singled four times and drove in three runs in the Mets’ 5-1 win over the Padres at Shea on August 24.
Knight became the Mets’ primary third baseman in 1986. He batted .298 with 11 homers and 76 RBIs in the team’s championship year. Ray’s season got off to a solid start with 6 homers (among 15 hits) and 12 RBIs in April. Against the Pirates on April 21, Knight hit a game-tying, two-run homer in the eighth inning before the Mets won, 6-5, in the ninth. He also homered twice in the Mets’ 9-0 win at St. Louis on April 25.
On July 3, 1986, Ray struck out in his first four times at bat against the Astros. He ended the night by hitting a home run in the bottom of the tenth inning to give the Mets a 6-5 win. Ray also provided clutch hitting on August 3 with a two-run double in the eighth and a run-scoring single in the 10th for a 4-3 Mets win over the Expos at Shea. Four days later in Chicago, he had four singles and two RBIs in a 12-3 Mets victory. Knight also singled four times and drove in three runs in the Mets’ 11-6 win at San Diego on August 26.
Ray hit a two-run single to put the Mets ahead to stay in a 4-2 win at St. Louis on September 16. This victory assured the Mets of at least a tie for the National League East Division championship. They clinched the title with a 4-2 win over the Cubs at Shea the next night.
In Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Houston, Knight hit a game-tying sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning. He also had an RBI single to put the Mets ahead in the 16th. The team held on for a 7-6 triumph over the Astros to win the pennant. In the World Series, Ray hit .391 with a home run and 5 RBIs against the Red Sox. He scored the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning of Game 6 to complete an amazing 6-5 comeback win for the Mets. In Game 7, he homered to give the Mets the lead for good in an 8-5 Series-clinching triumph. Knight was named Most Valuable Player of the Series.
Following the ’86 championship, Knight became a free agent and signed with the Baltimore Orioles. He played the 1987 season with the Orioles and finished his career with the Detroit Tigers in 1988. Ray later became a television commentator for ESPN, a coach and manager for the Cincinnati Reds and a broadcaster for the Washington Nationals.
