Content deleted Content added
BurmaShaver (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
mNo edit summary |
||
Line 5:
An [[outfielder]] who batted and threw right-handed, Hickman played for the [[New York Mets]] (1962-1966), [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] (1967), [[Chicago Cubs]] (1968-73) and [[St. Louis Cardinals]] (1974).
Hickman was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur [[free agent]] prior to the [[1956 in baseball|1956]] season. He spent six seasons in the Cardinals’ [[farm system]] until he was selected by the New York Mets in the [[expansion draft]]. In his five seasons with the Mets, with whom he played 624 games, Hickman [[batting average|batted]] .241 with 60 [[home run|home runs]] with 210 [[run batted in|RBI]].
Hickman has three places in Mets history. He is the first Met to [[hit for the cycle]] (against the Cardinals on [[August 7]], [[1963 in baseball|1963]]) and the first to hit three home runs in one game (also against the Cardinals, on [[September 3]], [[1965 in baseball|1965]], all three home runs coming off Ray Sadecki). He also hit the last ever home run at the [[Polo Grounds]] in the final game ever played there, a [[September 18]], [[1963 in baseball|1963]] loss to the [[Philadelphia Phillies]].
Perhaps the best season of Hickman’s career was [[1970 in baseball|1970]] while with the Cubs. He batted .315 with 162 [[Hit (baseball)|hits]], 33 [[Double (baseball)|doubles]], 32 home runs, 115 runs batted in, 102 [[Run (baseball)|runs scored]] and 93 [[Base on balls|walks]]—all career highs which won him the [[The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award|Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award]]. He also made his only [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] appearance at the newly opened [[Riverfront Stadium]] where, in the 12th inning, his RBI single drove in [[Pete Rose]] for the winning run, Rose barreling over [[Cleveland Indians|Cleveland Indian]] catcher [[Ray Fosse]] to score the run.
In his 13-year career, Hickman batted .252 with 159 home runs and 560 runs batted in in 1421 [[games played]].
| |||