Wayne Garrett
From The Met Wiki
Wayne Garrett was an infielder for the Mets from 1969 to 1976. He played in 883 games for the team, mostly as a third baseman. Garrett had 667 hits and 295 runs batted in during his career with the Mets.
Garrett made his major league debut with the Mets on April 12, 1969. He singled off the Cardinals’ Dave Giusti in the game at Shea Stadium. On May 6, Wayne hit his first major league home run in the Mets’ 8-1 win over the Reds at Shea. In a 1-0 Mets victory at Shea on June 4, Garrett’s single in the 15th inning was misplayed by the Dodger’s Willie Davis, allowing Tommie Agee to score the winning run from first base.
On July 2, 1969, Garrett had four hits and four RBIs in the Mets’ 6-4 win in 14 innings at St. Louis. He played in all three games of the National League Championship Series against the Braves, batting .385 and hitting a home run to put the Mets ahead to stay in Game 3 at Shea on October 6. Wayne also played in Game 3 and Game 4 of the World Series against the Orioles.
In 1970, Garrett collected 93 hits for the season. He had 17 doubles, 4 triples, 12 homers and 45 RBIs in 114 games played. Wayne homered twice to drive in all the Mets’ runs in a 5-3 loss to the Dodgers on July 26. At Cincinnati on August 12, he had a single, two doubles and scored both Met runs in a 2-1 win over the Reds. Garrett had four singles and scored the winning run in the Mets’ 4-3 victory in 12 innings at St. Louis on September 1. He also hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning to give the Mets a 6-3 win over the Cubs at Shea on September 28.
Wayne spent the first half of the 1971 season on military duty. In his first game back with the Mets on July 24, he had three singles, three runs scored and two RBIs as the Mets defeated the Astros, 9-3, at Shea. The next day, he had two singles and an RBI in a 7-6 Mets win over Houston. At Atlanta on August 7, Garrett drove in three runs in the Mets 20-6 win over the Braves. Against the Expos at Shea on September 14, he hit his only home run of the year in the Mets’ 6-3 win.
Garrett shared the third base duties with Jim Fregosi in 1972. He batted .232 in 111 games and drew a team-high 70 walks. Wayne hit two home runs for the year, both of which came in Mets losses at Atlanta on June 12 and at St. Louis on August 7. Garrett had three singles in the Mets’ 1-0 win over the Pirates on September 18. He also had a single, two doubles and three runs scored in a 4-3 Mets win in 12 innings at Montreal on October 3.
In 1973, Garrett had the finest season of his career. He had a career-high 129 hits, including 16 home runs. In the Mets’ drive to the East Division title in September, Wayne batted .315 with 6 homers and 17 RBIs. Also in the pennant-winning year, Wayne led the Mets with 6 stolen bases.
On May 18, Garrett had a two-run homer and a run-scoring single in the Mets’ 4-3 win over the Pirates at Shea. He hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Mets a 5-2 win over the Padres on June 15. Wayne had three singles and three RBIs in a 10-3 Mets win over the Cardinals at Shea on August 6. He homered to lead off the first inning in the Mets' 7-0 victory at San Diego on August 15. Garrett also hit a leadoff homer in the first inning for a 1-0 Mets win at Montreal in a doubleheader opener on September 7.
Wayne had a single, a double and a run scored in the Mets’ 6-4 division-clinching victory at Chicago on October 1. He doubled and scored a run in the pennant-clinching Game 5 of the National League Championship Series against the Reds at Shea on October 10. Garrett also homered in Game 2 and Game 3 of the World Series against the Athletics.
In 1974, Garrett played in a team-high 151 games. For the season, he had 117 hits, 55 runs scored and again led the Mets in walks with 89. At Los Angeles on May 1, Wayne homered in the eighth inning to tie a game that the Mets went on to lose, 2-1, in the 14th. On June 8, he had two hits and drove in the winning run for a 14-inning, 6-5 Mets triumph at Houston. Also at the Astrodome, Garrett had three singles and two RBIs in the Mets’ 10-2 win on August 21. He also had a two-run single in the Mets' 3-2 victory in the second game of a doubleheader at Montreal on September 16.
Wayne hit .266 with 105 total bases in 1975. He scored 49 runs and had 34 RBIs in 107 games for the season. On Memorial Day at Shea, Garrett hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the ninth inning to give the Mets a 6-3 win over the Dodgers. He went on the disabled list with an ankle infection the next day. Against the Reds on July 22, he drove in two runs in the Mets’ 3-1 win at Shea. Wayne had a two-run homer and a bases-loaded walk in a 9-6 Mets win over the Expos at Shea on August 6. He also hit a three-run homer in the Mets’ 9-4 win over the Giants in the second game of a doubleheader at Shea on August 15.
Garrett played in 80 games for the Mets in 1976. He hit .223 with 4 home runs and 26 RBIs in his final year with the team. On April 17, Wayne had a single and two doubles with two runs scored in the Mets’ 17-1 win at Pittsburgh. He drove in all the Mets’ runs with a double and a home run in a 4-3 Mets victory at Montreal on May 21. Garrett also hit a clutch bases-loaded triple off Tug McGraw in the ninth inning for a 5-2 Mets win at Philadelphia on May 27.
On July 21, 1976, Garrett and Del Unser were traded to the Expos for Jim Dwyer and Pepe Mangual. Wayne played for the Montreal team until he was sold to the St. Louis Cardinals on the same date two years later. He ended his career with the Cardinals in 1978.
