Former New York Mets catcher John Stearns passed away on Thursday after a long battle with the cancer at the age of 71. Stearns had made his final public appearance less than a month ago during Old Timers' Day at Citi Field where he appeared noticeably frail and thin.
It was a far cry from his aggressive disposition which earned him the nickname "Bad Dude" following home plate collisions with Dave Parker and Gary Carter. A two sports star at the University of Colorado, the Philadelphia Phillies made Stearns the second overall pick in the country in the 1973 MLB Draft just behind David Clyde of the Texas Rangers and ahead of future Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Dave Winfield.
After playing a single game with the Phillies in 1974, Stearns would be sent to the Mets in a deal which included reliever Tug McGraw. Stearns would play for the Mets for the next 10 seasons earning four NL All-Star Team selections between 1977 and 1982. His best overall season came in 1978 when he hit a career high 15 HR and 73 RBI along with 25 stolen bases which set a NL record for catchers which stood broken in 1998 by Jason Kendall of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Stearns' playing career came to an end in 1984 at the age of 33. In 810 big league games, Stearns collected 696 hits for a lifetime batting average of .260 with 46 HR and 312 RBI along with 91 stolen bases.
Stearns would spend the better part of the next 30 seasons employed as a coach, minor league manager and scout with the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, Seattle Mariners and New York Mets organizations before health problems forced him to bow out of baseball in 2014.
I leave you with Stearns recounting his collision with Parker which resulted in broken jaw for The Cobra and a Mets win. R.I.P.
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