Ken Oberkfell named Mets bench coach
By john • Jun 17th, 2008 • Category: ken oberkfell, major leagues, new york mets, top story
Known maybe more for his beard then his on field performances the much acclaimed if not legendary king of 80’s baseball cards is expected to be named the new bench coach of the New York Mets following Tuesdays departure of manager Willie Randolph.
Randolf will be replaced at the helm by former Chicago White Sox manager Jerry Manuel.
Prior to his recent promotion Oberkfell had been managing the Met’s Triple-A team the Ne Orleans Zepherys of the Pacific Coast League.
His playing career spanned 16 seasons of mediocrity following his signing with the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1975.
Oberkfell went on to play with the Atlanta Braves in the late 80’s and later with the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Fransisco Giants, Houston Astros before retiring with the California Angels in 1992.
For his career Oberkfell was a .278 hitter with 44 home runs and 446 RBI in 1602 games over 16 seasons. He never had double digit home runs in any season and his career high for RBI’s in any season was 48 which he accomplished twice.
Oberkfell was a member of the 1982 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals, hitting .292 in that series.
In 2005 he was named the minor league manager of the year by Baseball America.
Oberkfell’s return to the big screen will undoubtedly again make the beard a thing of the times.
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