About Tommie Lee Agee

Tommie Lee Agee was born August 9, 1942 in Magnolia, Alabama. He was a center fielder most noted for making what were arguably two of the greatest catches in World Series history, both of which occurred in the same game. 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 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, on a team loaded with pitching and short on offense (no regular batted over .250), he batted .234 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs and was once again an all-star selection. At the end of the season, Agee was traded to the New York Mets in a six-player deal and the trade re-united Agee with childhood friend Cleon Jones.

Agee's first season in New York (1968) was difficult: he was beaned by Bob Gibson on 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 RBIs.

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 in a game against the "new" team, the Montreal Expos, he hit a tremendous home run halfway up in the left field upper deck at Shea Stadium, a feat that has not been matched before or since. Jones says the ball was still rising when it came into contact with the stands. To commemorate the homer, there is a painted sign in that part of the stadium with Agee's name, uniform number, and the date. That season, he hit 26 homers. scored 97 runs, and played brilliant defense.

In the 1969 World Series, he was instrumental in the Mets' victory in Game 3, which Sports Illustrated said was perhaps the greatest single performance by a center fielder in Series history. In the first inning of Game 3, Agee hit a leadoff home run off Jim Palmer for what would eventually be the game winning hit and RBI, as the Mets shut out the Orioles, 5-0. In the same game, Agee also made two incredible catches that potentially saved five runs. The first was a two-on, two out liner to left center by Elrod Hendricks, for which Agee had to sprint across the outfield and snare the drive in the webbing of his glove, a millisecond before he hit the wall. The second catch was on a fly ball hit by Paul Blair with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, for which Agee had to sprint toward the right center field warning track. As he zeroed in on the ball, the wind blew it down and away from him, forcing Agee to lunge into a headfirst dive, after which he rolled in the warning track but held onto the ball. At that moment, Blair was rounding second. Had Agee missed the ball, the Orioles might have had an inside the park grand-slam home run.

This game was the turning point in the 1969 World Series, and to many, the high point of Agee's career. He remained productive over the next two years and stitched together a 20-game hitting streak in 1970, hitting .286 and in 1971 hit .285. He was traded to the Houston Astros after the 1972 season, a year in which his performance fell off sharply.

After retirement, he operated the Outfielder's Lounge near Shea Stadium. Agee was also known as the most active former Met, taking part in many charitable events and children's baseball clinics around the New York area. On January 22, 2001, Tommie Agee died of a heart attack, in New York City, at age 58. He is survived by his wife, Maxcine and daughter, J'Nelle.

View Tommie’s amazing 1969 World Series Catches!!

Option #1 - click here >>

Option #2 - click here >>

Clip is called 5 - Amazin' catches in '69 Series