Rich Puig

Richard Gerald Puig

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.
• High School Hillsborough High School
• Debut September 13, 1974
• Final Game September 25, 1974
• Born March 16, 1953 in Tampa, FL USA

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Biographical Information

The first Puig to come to the majors was Rich Puig with the New York Mets in 1974. He was in four games, playing 20 innings at second base and two innings at third base.

Rich was born in Tampa, FL, about four years after Steve Garvey was born there. He went to the same high school as Dwight Gooden and Gary Sheffield (albeit years before them) and was drafted out of there in the first round of the 1971 Amateur Draft.

While he was not a particularly strong hitter in the minors, he rose up quickly through the levels, presumably on the basis of his good fielding at second base. The Mets' second basemen from 1972 to 1974 were Ken Boswell and Felix Millan, neither of whom were particularly strong hitters either, although Millan did hit singles fairly well. Millan would hold the position through 1977.

Rich came to the majors in September under manager Yogi Berra. He made his debut at third base against the Chicago Cubs on September 13th, and then started the next day against the Cubs, playing second base and hitting second in the lineup. A few days later he again started, played second, and hit second in the lineup, against the Montreal Expos and their catcher Gary Carter, who was making only his second career start behind the plate, while the Mets used Tom Seaver as their starter. In Puig's last game, against the Philadelphia Phillies, he played second base and led off the lineup, getting two plate appearances before Ted Martinez pinch-hit for him. Overall, he went 0 for 10 in his cup of coffee.