Mets History Today: December 5th - Mets Sign Vince Coleman

 

NY Daily News, 12/6/1990

Happy Birthday Cliff Floyd and Wyatt Young.

After Free Agent Darryl Strawberry left the Mets for L.A., the Mets signed Vince Coleman to be there leadoff hitter.  While the Mets needed a leadoff hitter, the deal did not work out well for the Mets as injuries limited Coleman to 72 games in 1991 and 71 games in 1992. Then, in 1993, during one of the worst seasons in Mets History, Vince Coleman threw a firecracker towards some fans after a game in L.A. injuring 3 including a little girl.  The Mets ended up putting him on Administrative Leave and traded him to the Kansas City Royals for Ex-Met Kevin McReynolds after the season.

In 2023, Metsmerized called the Free Agent signing the worst ever by the Mets.

Vince Coleman Mets Stats:

Standard Batting Table

Season	Age	Team	Lg	WAR	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	rOBA	Rbat+	TB	GIDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos	Awards
1991	29	NYM	NL	1.0	72	318	278	45	71	7	5	1	17	37	14	39	47	.255	.347	.327	.674	92	.339	101	91	3	0	1	0	0	8/H
1992	30	NYM	NL	0.8	71	261	229	37	63	11	1	2	21	24	9	27	41	.275	.355	.358	.713	104	.337	103	82	1	2	2	1	3	78H
1993	31	NYM	NL	0.3	92	399	373	64	104	14	8	2	25	38	13	21	58	.279	.316	.375	.691	86	.329	87	140	2	0	3	2	1	7/H
13 Yrs				12.5	1371	5970	5406	849	1425	176	89	28	346	752	177	477	960	.264	.324	.345	.668	83	.333	84	1863	45	15	48	24	12	78H9D
NYM (3 Yrs)				2.1	235	978	880	146	238	32	14	5	63	99	36	87	146	.270	.336	.356	.692	93	.334	95	313	6	2	6	3	4	78H

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/5/2025.

More on the signing:

More on the Firecracker Incident:

On this Date in 2002, the Mets Signed Future Hall Of Famer Tom Glavine.  That deal turned out a lot better as Tom helped the Mets get to the playoffs in 2006.  He won his 300th game as a Met in 2007 but his loss on the last day of the season in 2007 doomed the Mets playoff chances that year concluding a historic collapse at the end of the season.

Tom Glavine's Mets Stats:

Standard Pitching Table

Season	Age	Team	Lg	WAR	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/BB	Awards
2003	37	NYM	NL	2.4	9	14	.391	4.52	32	32	0	0	0	0	183.1	205	94	92	21	66	7	82	2	0	2	791	93	4.74	1.478	10.1	1.0	3.2	4.0	1.24
2004	38	NYM	NL	4.0	11	14	.440	3.60	33	33	0	1	1	0	212.1	204	94	85	20	70	10	109	0	0	0	904	119	4.24	1.290	8.6	0.8	3.0	4.6	1.56	AS
2005	39	NYM	NL	4.1	13	13	.500	3.53	33	33	0	2	1	0	211.1	227	88	83	12	61	5	105	3	0	1	901	116	3.67	1.363	9.7	0.5	2.6	4.5	1.72
2006	40	NYM	NL	2.8	15	7	.682	3.82	32	32	0	0	0	0	198.0	202	94	84	22	62	7	131	6	0	1	842	114	4.30	1.333	9.2	1.0	2.8	6.0	2.11	AS
2007	41	NYM	NL	2.0	13	8	.619	4.45	34	34	0	1	1	0	200.1	219	102	99	23	64	2	89	4	0	2	855	97	4.86	1.413	9.8	1.0	2.9	4.0	1.39
				WAR	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/BB	Awards
22 Yrs				74.0	305	203	.600	3.54	682	682	0	56	25	0	4413.1	4298	1900	1734	356	1500	145	2607	66	7	65	18604	118	3.95	1.314	8.8	0.7	3.1	5.3	1.74
NYM (5 Yrs)				15.3	61	56	.521	3.97	164	164	0	4	3	0	1005.1	1057	472	443	98	323	31	516	15	0	6	4293	107	4.35	1.373	9.5	0.9	2.9	4.6	1.60

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/5/2025.

Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com: 

Born on this date:

• Al Moran (1938)
• Dave Hudgens (1956)
• Cliff Floyd (1972)
• Wyatt Young (1999)

Transactions:

Seattle Mariners drafted Rick Baldwin from the Mets on December 5, 1977.

New York Mets traded Tom Grieve and Kim Seaman to the St. Louis Cardinals for Pete Falcone on December 5, 1978.

Mets drafted Mike Howard from the Los Angeles Dodgers on December 5, 1978.

New York Mets traded John Mitchell and Joaquin Contreras to the Baltimore Orioles for Keith Hughes and Cesar Mejia on December 5, 1989.

New York Mets signed free agent Vince Coleman of the St. Louis Cardinals on December 5, 1990.

Toronto Blue Jays signed Pat Tabler of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 5, 1990.

Mets drafted Kevin Lomon from the Atlanta Braves on December 5, 1994.

Mets drafted Shawn Hare from the San Diego Padres on December 5, 1994.

Mets drafted Jason Hardtke from the San Diego Padres on December 5, 1994.

Florida Marlins signed Joe Orsulak of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 5, 1995.

Los Angeles Dodgers signed Orel Hershiser of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 5, 1999.

New York Mets signed free agent Brett Hinchliffe on December 5, 2000.

New York Mets signed free agent Tom Glavine of the Atlanta Braves on December 5, 2002.

New York Mets traded Gaby Hernandez and Dante Brinkley to the Florida Marlins for Paul Lo Duca on December 5, 2005.

New York Mets traded Blake Taylor and Kenedy Corona to the Houston Astros for Jake Marisnick on December 5, 2019.

Tampa Bay Rays traded RHP Sean Harney to New York Mets for Future Considerations. International Bonus Pool Money on December 5, 2024

National Pastime.com:

1990

Hoping to fill the void created by Darryl Strawberry's departure to LA as a free agent, the Mets make their first move into the free-agent market in 10 years when they sign Vince Coleman to a 4-year contract just shy of $12 million. The former St. Louis outfielder, who will spend time on the disabled list on five occasions during the next two seasons, will be hampered by injuries to his ribs and hamstrings during his stay with New York.

2001

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announces he wants to complete new stadium deals for the Mets and Yankees before he leaves office at the end of the month. Before the September 11 attacks, which dramatically changed the city's financial stature, the mayor believed an arrangement in which the city, the state, and the owners agreed to pay one-third of the cost of the new stadiums might complete the negotiations with the teams.

2002

The Mets sign the much sought after free-agent Tom Glavine to a three-year deal worth $35 million, with an option for an additional year that could increase the value of the contract to $42.5 million. The 36 year-old southpaw, who has compiled a 242-143 record along with a 3.37 ERA, will notch his 300th career win with New York in 2007.