Tommie Agee
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Tommie Lee Agee (August 9,1942 in Magnolia, Alabama - January 22,2001 in New York, New York) was a centerfielder most noted for making what were arguably two of the greatest catches in World Series history. Agee was the 1966 Rookie of the Year, a two-time All-Star, and a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and he 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 scored 98 runs, drove in 84, and stole 44 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 so good, despite another all-star selection, and he was dealt to the New York Mets. His first season in New York 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 average and only 17 RBIs.
The 1969 Mets were known as the "Miracle Mets" for their worst-to-first turnaround in the National League, and Agee's personal turnaround played a big part. 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 (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_69ws_gm3_balnym), in which he hit a home run and made two incredible catches that saved five runs. This game was the highpoint 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.
YEAR TEAM AGE G AB R H 2B 3B HR HR% RBI BB SO SB CS AVG SLG OBA OPS
1962 Indians 19 5 14 0 3 0 0 0 0.00 2 0 4 0 0 .214 .214 .214 .429
1963 Indians 20 13 27 3 4 1 0 1 3.70 3 2 9 0 0 .148 .296 .207 .503
1964 Indians 21 13 12 0 2 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 3 0 0 .167 .167 .167 .333
1965 Whitesox 22 10 19 2 3 1 0 0 0.00 3 2 6 0 1 .158 .211 .238 .449
1966 Whitesox 23 160 629 98 172 27 8 22 3.50 86 41 127 44 18 .273 .447 .326 .773
1967 Whitesox 24 158 529 73 124 26 2 14 2.65 52 44 129 28 10 .234 .371 .302 .672
1968 Mets 25 132 368 30 80 12 3 5 1.36 17 15 103 13 8 .217 .307 .255 .562
1969 Mets 26 149 565 97 153 23 4 26 4.60 76 59 137 12 9 .271 .464 .342 .806
1970 Mets 27 153 636 107 182 30 7 24 3.77 75 55 156 31 15 .286 .469 .344 .812
1971 Mets 28 113 425 58 121 19 0 14 3.29 50 50 84 28 6 .285 .428 .362 .790
1972 Mets 29 114 422 52 96 23 0 13 3.08 47 53 92 8 9 .227 .374 .317 .692
1973 Astros 30 83 204 30 48 5 2 8 3.92 15 16 55 2 5 .235 .397 .294 .691
Cardinals 30 26 62 8 11 3 1 3 4.84 7 5 13 1 0 .177 .403 .239 .642
TOTALS 109 266 38 59 8 3 11 4.14 22 21 68 3 5 .222 .398 .281 .680
TOTALS 1129 3912 558 999 170 27 130 3.32 433 342 918 167 81 .255 .412 .320 .732
LG AVERAGE 3954 480 1011 157 30 94 2.39 447 386 614 58 35 .256 .382 .324 .706
POS AVERAGE 4019 541 1076 170 39 97 2.40 446 370 647 101 53 .268 .401 .331 .733
YEAR TEAM RC RCAA RCAP OWP RC/G TB EBH ISO SEC BPA IBB HBP SAC SF GIDP OUTS PA POS
1962 Indians 1 -1 -1 .230 2.45 3 0 .000 .000 .214 0 0 0 0 0 11 14 LF
1963 Indians 1 -3 -3 .079 1.13 8 2 .148 .222 .310 0 0 0 0 1 24 29 RF
1964 Indians 0 -2 -2 .000 0.00 2 0 .000 .000 .167 0 0 0 0 0 10 12 RF
1965 Whitesox 1 -2 -2 .153 1.50 4 1 .053 .105 .190 1 0 0 0 1 18 21 RF
1966 Whitesox 87 18 9 .599 4.69 281 57 .173 .280 .499 3 10 5 4 17 501 689 CF
1967 Whitesox 58 1 3 .508 3.63 196 42 .136 .253 .432 5 8 1 2 14 432 584 CF
1968 Mets 26 -17 -25 .278 2.28 113 20 .090 .144 .332 3 4 3 1 8 308 391 CF
1969 Mets 90 21 12 .611 5.60 262 53 .193 .303 .512 2 3 6 2 5 434 635 CF
1970 Mets 100 10 2 .544 5.59 298 61 .182 .294 .518 3 2 1 2 11 483 696 CF
1971 Mets 68 19 16 .641 5.61 182 33 .144 .313 .510 2 2 4 1 12 327 482 CF
1972 Mets 46 -7 -10 .432 3.48 158 36 .147 .270 .407 6 4 1 3 18 357 483 CF
1973 Astros 21 -5 -10 .399 3.44 81 15 .162 .225 .412 1 1 0 0 4 165 221 LF
Cardinals 3 -6 -6 .121 1.37 25 7 .226 .323 .343 0 0 0 0 8 59 67 CF
TOTALS 24 -11 -16 .332 2.89 106 22 .177 .248 .396 1 1 0 0 12 224 288
TOTALS 502 26 -17 .519 4.33 1613 327 .157 .266 .459 26 34 21 15 99 3129 4324
LG AVERAGE 495 0 0 .500 4.27 1510 280 .126 .230 .423 47 25 34 29 88 3129 4429
POS AVERAGE 540 44 0 .533 4.66 1613 305 .134 .238 .446 37 26 31 27 75 3129 4472
TOMMIE AGEE LEAGUE LEADERSHIP RANKINGS
1966 AL GAMES T6TH 160; AT BATS 2ND 629; RUNS T3RD 98; HITS 4TH 172; SINGLES T6TH 115; DOUBLES T10TH 27; TRIPLES T4TH 8; STRIKEOUTS 3RD 127; STOLEN BASES 3RD 44; CAUGHT STEALING 2ND 18; RUNS CREATED T9TH 87; TOTAL BASES 5TH 281; EXTRA BASE HITS T7TH 57; HIT BY PITCHES T2ND 10; GIDP T6TH 17; PLATE APPEARANCES 4TH 689; OUTS 3RD 501
1967 AL GAMES T8TH 158; DOUBLES 8TH 26; STRIKEOUTS 3RD 129; STOLEN BASES 3RD 28; CAUGHT STEALING T4TH 10; HIT BY PITCHES T6TH 8
1968 NL STRIKEOUTS 9TH 103; CAUGHT STEALING T10TH 8; WORST RCAP 1ST -25;
1969 NL STRIKEOUTS 6TH 137; CAUGHT STEALING T9TH 9;
1970 NL AT BATS T5TH 636; RUNS T6TH 107; STRIKEOUTS 2ND 156; STOLEN BASES 6TH 31; CAUGHT STEALING T2ND 15; PLATE APPEARANCES 10TH 696; OUTS 4TH 483
1971 NL STOLEN BASES T4TH 28
1972 NL CAUGHT STEALING T8TH 9; GIDP T3RD 18