Tommie Agee

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Full Name: Tommie Lee Agee Primary Position: OF,CF Height/Weight: 5' 11"/195 First Game: September 14, 1962 Birthdate: August 9, 1942 Final Game: September 30, 1973 Birthplace: Magnolia, Alabama MLB Experience: 12 years Died: January 22, 2001 Deathplace: New York, New York Bat/Throw: Right/Right

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[edit] Biography

Tommie Agee (Tommie Lee Agee) was born on August 9, 1942 in Magnolia, Alabama. He made his Major League debut on September 14, 1962 for the Cleveland Indians. In 1966, his rookie year, he hit .273 with 22 home runs and 86 RBI. Agee played for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros over the course of his 12 year career.

There is some disagreement on what was Tommie Agee's most productive season. Some believe that it was 1970, when he slugged 24 home runs, stole 31 bases, hit for a .286 average and knocked in 75 runs. However, others believe that it was 1966, when he slugged 22 home runs, stole 44 bases and knocked in 86 runs. However, most people would agree that his most notable season has to be 1969. Coming off a terrible season the year before, Agee led the Miracle Mets to the most improbable World Series title, sharing the outfield and the offense with childhood friend Cleon Jones. Agee's performance in Game 3 of the fall classic ranks as one of the greatest in series history: he belted a homer in his leadoff at-bat, which was all the Mets would need en route to a 5-0 victory. But it was his stunning catches in right and left center that truly won the game, as there were a total of five runners on base when he robbed Ellie Hendricks and Paul Blair of extra base hits. Often called the turning point in the series, Agee's heroics helped turn baseball's lovable losers into World Champions.

Although he's most noted for making what were arguably two of the greatest catches in World Series history, Agee was also the 1966 Rookie of the Year, a two-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2002. His major league career spanned five teams: Cleveland Indians (1962-64), Chicago White Sox (1965-67), New York Mets (1968-72), Houston Astros (1973) and St. Louis Cardinals (1973).

Tommie Agee was a star at Grambling State University and was signed by the Indians for a $60,000 bonus. He made only a few token appearances for the team over the next few years before being traded to the White Sox before the 1966 season. That year, a solid season in which he had 98 runs, 84 runs batted in, and 44 stolen bases, earned him the Rookie of the Year award, a Gold Glove, and a trip to the 1966 All-Star game.

His follow-up performance the next year was not nearly as impressive, despite another all-star selection: on a team loaded with pitching and short on offense (no regular batted over .250), he batted .234 with 14 home runs and 52 RBI's. The team's lack of offense possibly cost the White Sox the American League pennant; they had battled with the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox (the eventual AL champions) until the final week of the season. At the end of the season, Agee and Al Weis were traded to the New York Mets in a six-player deal, with four players (one of whom was Tommy Davis) going to the White Sox. The trade re-united Agee with childhood friend Cleon Jones.

Agee's first season in New York (1968) was also a disaster: he was beaned by the very first pitch he saw in spring training and went 0-34 at the beginning of the season on his way to a .217 batting average and only 17 RBI's.

The 1969 Mets were known as the "Miracle Mets" for their turnaround in the National League, and Agee's personal turnaround played a big part. On April 10, 1969, he hit a tremendous home run halfway up in the left field upper deck at Shea Stadium which still is today the highest hit part in Shea Stadium. He was commemorated by painting a large circle where he hit his home run stating his name, number, and the date he hit his home run. That season, he scored 97 runs and played brilliant defense, leading to a second Gold Glove. In the 1969 World Series, he was instrumental in the Mets' victory in Game 3, in which he hit a home run and made two incredible catches that saved five runs. This game was the high point of his career, though he was productive over the next two years and stitched together a 20-game hitting streak in 1970. After retirement, he operated the Outfielder's Lounge near Shea Stadium. In 2001, Tommie Agee died of a heart attack at age 58.

[edit] Trivia

• Agee was one of three New York Mets to hit a World Series leadoff home run, which he did in the third game of that 1969 World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. Wayne Garrett (a teammate of Agee's on the 1969 champions) hit one in the 1973 World Series against the Oakland Athletics; Lenny Dykstra hit his in the 1986 World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Coincidentally, Garrett's and Dykstra's home runs, like Agee's, also occurred in a Game Three.

• The second of Agee's two game-saving catches in that Game Three was on a Paul Blair fly ball with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. Blair was the first batter Nolan Ryan would face in a World Series—Ryan's only "Fall Classic" in his 27-year career.

• Agee was the only player ever to hit a home run into the upper deck at Shea Stadium. A memorial was put near where the ball landed with Agee's number 20.

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• Signed as an amateur free agent by Cleveland Indians (1961).
• Traded by Cleveland Indians with Tommy John and John Romano to Chicago White Sox as part of 3-team trade in which Kansas City Athletics sent Rocky Colavito to Cleveland Indians; Chicago White Sox sent Jim Landis and Mike Hershberger to Kansas City Athletics; Chicago White Sox sent Cam Carreon to Cleveland Indians (January 20, 1965); and Chicago White Sox sent Fred Talbot to Kansas City Athletics (February 10, 1965).
• Traded by Chicago White Sox with Al Weis to New York Mets in exchange for Tommy Davis, Jack Fisher, Billy Wynne and Buddy Booker (December 15, 1967).
• Traded by New York Mets to Houston Astros in exchange for Rich Chiles and Buddy Harris (November 27, 1972).
• Traded by Houston Astros to St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Dave Campbell and cash (August 18, 1973).
• Traded by St. Louis Cardinals to Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Pete Richert (December 5, 1973).
• Released by Los Angeles Dodgers (March 26, 1974).

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