Three Former Mets Up For Enshrinement In The National Baseball Hall Of Fame

Three former Mets are on the ballot for enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall Of Fame: Rickey Henderson, Mo Vaughn, and David Cone.

Henderson, considered by many to be the greatest lead-off hitter of all time, played for nine different teams during his 25 year career. He had stints with the following teams: Oakland (4 times), New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, LA Dodgers, Boston, San Diego, Anaheim, Seattle, and the Mets.

Henderson finished with 2,295 runs scored, 1406 stolen bases, and 3,055 career hits. He played on two championship teams; the 1989 Oakland A's and the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays. He played for the Mets in 1999, before being released by the Mets in 2000. It is perceived that the Mets released Henderson during the 2000 season due to his antics during game 6 of the 1999 NLCS, where the Mets mounted a comeback against the Braves, and Henderson was in the locker playing cards.

Mo Vaughn, which many consider one of the worst trades the Mets made, played for the Mets in 2002 and part of 2003 before retiring (due to an arthritic knee). The Mets traded starter Kevin Appier for Vaughn, who was then with the Angels. Vaughn was a shadow of his gargantuan hitting self when the Mets landed him. He was still recovering from a torn biceps muscle Under the watchful eye of Steve Phillips and Bobby Valentine, the Mets decided to trade for Vaughn after watching him take cuts in the batting cage up in Connecticut.

Vaughn was voted AL MVP in 1994 while with the Boston Red Sox. He finished with 328 career home runs, 1,064 RBI, and a .298 batting avg. During his 12 year Major League career he played with three teams: Red Sox, Angels, and Mets.

David Cone was obtained by the Mets from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Ed Hearn, Rick Anderson, and Mauro Gozzo for Cone and Chris Jetic on March 27, 1987. His best year was arguably 1988, when he posted a 20-3 record with a 2.22 ERA. He finished second in the Cy Young award to Orel Hershisher. Cone did win the AL Cy Young award in 1994 while pitching with Kansas City. He played for KC (2 times), NY Mets (2 times), Toronto Blue Jays, Yankees, and Boston during an illustrious 17 year career. His career recored stands at 194-126 with a 3.46 ERA.

Cone also was part of one of the worst trades in Mets history. The Mets traded Cone to Toronto for Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson. Although Kent has gone onto a potential Hall Of Fame Career, his time spent in NY was less noteworthy.

Also up for election are:

Jay Bell

Mark Grace,

Matt Williams

Greg Vaughn

Ron Gant

Jesse Orosco - Orosco is best remembered for striking out Billy Doran of Houston to get the Mets to the 1986 World Series, and for striking out Marty Barrett to end the 1986 World Series.

Dan Plesac.

Of these three (listed above) potential Hall Of Famers, I believe only Henderson will be enshrined.

Will this be the year for Jim Rice? Jack Morris? Andre Dawson? I believe all three of these players have earned the right to be elected to the Hall.

Source: The Sports Network