Tommie Agee
Center fielder for the Miracle Mets and AL Rookie of the Year.
Tommie Lee Agee (August 9, 1942 – January 22, 2001) was an American professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder. He was a key member of the New York Mets team that became known as the Miracle Mets, which defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series. Agee was a two-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and the American League Rookie of the Year in 1966.
Quick Facts
- Position
- Center fielder
- Bats
- Right
- Born
- 9 August 1942
- Birthplace
- Magnolia, Alabama, U.S.
- Died
- 22 January 2001
- Place of death
- New York City, New York, U.S.
- Debut league
- MLB
- Debut date
- September 14
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- Agee was born in Magnolia, Alabama, and played baseball and football at Mobile County Training School with future Mets teammate Cleon Jones.
- He signed with the Cleveland Indians for a $60,000 bonus after one season at Grambling State University.
- A middle school built on the property of his former nightclub in East Elmhurst, Queens, opened in 2022 as the Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus.
Career
Agee began his professional career in the Cleveland Indians' farm system, playing for the AAA Portland Beavers. He made his major league debut on September 14 at Metropolitan Stadium, pinch-hitting for pitcher Bill Dailey in a game the Indians lost 11-1 to the Minnesota Twins. Over the next two seasons, he received September call-ups and appeared in 31 games for Cleveland, batting .170 with one home run and five runs batted in. Following the season, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox along with Tommy John in a three-team blockbuster deal that sent All-Star Rocky Colavito to the Indians.
After batting .226 with the Pacific Coast League's Indianapolis Indians and .158 in ten games with the White Sox, Agee earned the starting center fielder job in spring training. He hit a two-run home run in the season opener and was batting .264 with nine home runs and 38 RBIs when he was named the White Sox's sole representative at the 1966 All-Star Game. He finished the season with a .273 batting average, 22 home runs, 86 RBIs, and 44 stolen bases, becoming the first MLB rookie to record more than 20 home runs and 40 stolen bases.
His performance earned him the American League Rookie of the Year award and a Gold Glove. Agee was batting .247 with ten home runs and 35 RBIs to earn his second consecutive All-Star selection, but his production fell off in the second half, and he ended the season batting .234 with 52 RBIs. The White Sox finished in fourth place, three games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox.
Retirement
After hanging up his cleats, Tommie Agee ran the Outfielder's Lounge, a bar close to Shea Stadium. He was the most involved of any ex-Met, showing up for charity work and youth baseball camps in New York City and his hometown of Mobile. He played himself on an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond with other 1969 Mets teammates. Agee was a regular at Shea for old-timers games and trading card events. He later earned spots in both the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
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