Welcome to UnforMETable, a new show from Amazin’ Avenue that looks back on less heralded, more obscure, but quintessential Mets players from the past
This week, Rob Wolff travels back to 1983, when the Mets had a group of young starting pitching on the cusp of the major leagues. Rick Ownbey was considered the most major league-ready of these as he excelled in a AAA rotation with Ron Darling and Walt Terrell, while further down in the minors a recent first round pick named Dwight Gooden was just starting his journey.
Ownbey would make his debut before any of them, and while his major league career was less extensive or notable, he would soon be a piece in a trade that would bring in a Mets icon that would be the centerpiece of that 1980s squad—Keith Hernandez.