Unofficial fan projectWright, Reyes, and Beltran
Tom Glavine
Starting pitcher · Mets 2003–2007
The part fans remember
What the numbers leave out.
The longtime Mets rival became a reliable veteran in Queens. His strong 2006 season helped the club win its first division title in 18 years.
Glavine signed with the Mets before 2003 after spending his whole career tormenting them with Atlanta. The first year went badly, and many fans wondered whether a longtime rival would ever look right in blue and orange. He adjusted his approach, regained his command, and gradually became the reliable veteran the Mets had expected.
His best Mets season came in 2006, when he won 15 games and helped the club win the division. With injuries damaging the rotation, Glavine started and won the first game of both playoff rounds. In 2007 he earned his 300th career victory, a real honor that came in a Mets uniform.
Then came Game 162. With a playoff place still possible, Glavine allowed seven runs while recording only one out, and the collapse was complete before the afternoon had settled in. He returned to Atlanta after the season. His Mets story has value and achievement, but it ends with one of the hardest innings fans have ever watched—and there is no honest way around it.
The honest version
The best stretch
Glavine’s best Mets stretch came after a difficult adjustment from Atlanta. He had spent years frustrating New York with command and changing speeds, then had to prove that approach could still work while wearing the other uniform. By 2005–07 he had settled in, made two All-Star teams, and supplied important innings for the club that finally broke Atlanta’s hold on the division.
The part that got messy
His 2006 postseason was strong, including a win in the Division Series and effective work in the NLCS. Unfortunately, one final start changed the tone of his entire Mets stay. On the last day of 2007, with the season on the line, Glavine allowed seven runs in the first inning. The collapse was a team-wide failure, but the image of the veteran ace unable to escape the inning became its ending.
Why fans still care
Mets fans never loved Glavine the way they loved homegrown stars, partly because he had been a longtime Brave and partly because of that final game. A fair history still sees 61 Mets wins, a 300th career victory, and real value on a contender. His story is not warm, but it is important: a Hall of Fame pitcher whose solid run in Queens will always be judged through one awful afternoon.
Glavine is one of the hardest Mets to summarize honestly. He was a Hall of Fame pitcher, reached 300 wins in a Mets uniform, and helped carry the 2006 rotation. He was also the former Brave on the mound for the disastrous first inning of Game 162 in 2007. Both things are true. Mets history is not only celebration, and his chapter cannot be told without the discomfort.
Signature Mets momentEarned his 300th major-league win while pitching for the Mets in 2007.
The short list
The stuff worth remembering.
- 01Two-time Mets All-Star
- 022006 NL East champion
- 03National Baseball Hall of Fame