Sid Fernandez was always the forgotten member of the New York Mets great pitching staffs.
Regardless of the heartache Gooden gave the New York Mets organization, and the fans, he is forever loved as Doctor K. Darling won a lot of games as a Met, but he was not the dominant ace that he might have been on any other staff and, yet, fans adore Ronny…especially as a broadcaster. David Cone…oh Coney…he had a few good seasons as a Met but saved his best performances for the Yankees. The fans crave bringing Frankie Viola back to the club as a coach and revere him…yet he had but one good season after being acquired in a trade that cost the Mets Rick Aguilera.
And then there was Sid Fernandez. Regardless of the kind of numbers Sid put up…fans would not include him in the conversation with all of the others. In fact, you would often hear him being referred to as “Fat Sid” and that is hugely unfair. In fact, El Sid was actually the most consistent of the Mets starters, while also the most quiet, compared to his teammates in the rotation.
To really appreciate what Fernandez did as a New York Met, it is helpful to run some comparisons to some of the other great starting pitchers to toe the rubber at Shea Stadium and Citifield. Let’s see how El Sid measures up…
Seasons: Seaver 12; Koosman 12: Gooden 11; Fernandez 10; Darling 9; Matlack 7; Cone 7; Ryan 5; Leiter 4; Santana 4; Viola 3
Wins: Seaver 198; Gooden 157; Koosman 140; Darling 99; Fernandez 98; Leiter 95; Matlack 82; Cone 81; Santana 46; Viola 38; Ryan 29
ERA: Seaver 2.57; Matlack 3.03; Koosman 3.09; Gooden 3.10; Cone 3.11; Fernandez 3.14; Santana 3.18; Viola 3.31; Leiter 3.42; Darling 3.50; Ryan 3.58
WHIP: Seaver 1.076; Fernandez 1.113; Gooden 1.175; Cone 1.192; Matlack 1.195; Santana 1.201; Koosman 1.219; Darling 1.228; Viola 1.240; Leiter 1.300; Ryan 1.398
Strikeouts: Seaver 2,541; Gooden 1,875; Koosman 1,799; Fernandez 1,449; Cone 1.172; Darling 1,148; Leiter 1,106; Matlack 1,023; Santana 607; Ryan 493; Viola 387
Strikeouts/9 innings: Ryan 9.0; Cone 8.7; Fernandez 8.2; Gooden 7.7; Santana 7.6; Seaver 7.5; Leiter 7.3; Koosman 6.4; Matlack 6.4; Darling 6.4; Viola 6.2
Complete Games: Seaver 171; Koosman 108; Gooden 67; Matlack 65; Cone 34; Darling 25; Fernandez 23; Ryan 13; Viola 12; Leiter 10; Santana 9
Shutouts: Seaver 44; Koosman 26; Matlack 26; Gooden 23; Cone 15; Darling 10; Fernandez 9; Leiter 7; Santana 6; Viola 4; Ryan 2
Fernandez certainly deserved much more respect than he received during his Mets playing days…and after. In reality, Fernandez was right up there with some great pitchers, and was more consistent and reliable than Gooden was during his time with the Mets. Gooden had two great seasons but was rather pedestrian after that. Fernandez was perhaps not as dominant during a single season, but was certainly better over the same stretch of time.
Unfortunately for Mets fans his quiet demeanor made him appear aloof. Kevin McReynolds was accused of not hustling, and not caring. None of which was true. But in the world of Darryl Strawberrys, Dwight Goodens, Lenny Dykstras, and Roger McDowells, the fans unfairly let McReynolds know that he wasn’t quite welcome in their domain of “demonstrative over indulgence.”
Fernandez just went about his business and did it quite well…not really caring that Gooden was grabbing all of the headlines. Just like Koosman was ok with Seaver capturing all of the glory. But eventually Kooz got to be honored alongside Seaver. So, too, should El Sid be honored alongside Doc.
