Jim Hickman, who supplied batting punch for the New York Mets during their futile early years and then became an All-Star for the Chicago Cubs, died Saturday in Jackson, Tenn. He was 79.
His death was confirmed by his son Mike, who did not specify the cause.
Hickman, a lanky right-handed batter, played in the outfield and at first and third base in a 13-year major league career. In his years with the Mets (1962-1966), first at the Polo Grounds and then at Shea Stadium, he set several team milestones.
He was the first Met to hit a grand slam, the first to hit three home runs in a single game and the first to hit for the cycle. He was also the last Met to hit a home run at the Polo Grounds, connecting off the Philadelphia Phillies' Chris Short on Sept. 18, 1963.
Taking advantage of the Polo Grounds' short left-field line, Hickman hit 30 home runs for Casey Stengel's Mets in their first two seasons, when they lost a total of 231 games. His most memorable one came on Aug. 9, 1963, two days after he hit for the cycle against the St. Louis Cardinals, when his grand slam in the ninth inning off the Cubs' Lindy McDaniel gave the Mets a 7-3 victory that ended pitcher Roger Craig's stretch of 18 consecutive losses.
Hickman was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in November 1966. He was the last Met remaining from the expansion draft that stocked the team's inaugural roster.
Dealt to the Cubs after one year in Los Angeles, Hickman was platooned for a while, then flourished at the plate after the Cubs' manager, Leo Durocher, made him a regular late in the 1969 season.
He hit 21 home runs for the 1969 Cubs, who were overtaken by the long-downtrodden Mets in their startling run to a World Series championship. The next year he hit 32 home runs, drove in 115 runs, batted .315 and was eighth in the balloting for the National League's most valuable player. He was also an All-Star that year for the only time in his career.
Hickman became a footnote to a notorious moment in All-Star Game history when he delivered a 12th-inning single at the 1970 game in Cincinnati, driving in Pete Rose with the winning run. Rose scored when he barreled into the American League catcher, Ray Fosse, instead of sliding, and severely injured Fosse's shoulder.
He was born in Henning, Tenn., on May 10, 1937. He signed with the Cardinals organization in 1956 and played in their minor league system until he joined the Mets.
Having missed three months of the 1966 season with a wrist injury, Hickman was traded to the Dodgers along with Ron Hunt, the Mets' star second baseman, for Tommy Davis, a two-time NL batting champion.
Hickman played five seasons with the Mets, one with the Dodgers, six with the Cubs and a final year with the Cardinals. He retired after the 1974 season with a .252 career batting average and 159 home runs.
Sports on 06/28/2016