#673) SHANE SPENCER

Shane Spencer signed with the New York Mets as a free agent on January 29, 2004. He entered spring training camp that season with the team expecting him to form a right field platoon with his longtime friend, Karim Garcia. "The fact that we're close will help us this season," Spencer said. "If I am doing something wrong, he'll tell me what he is seeing, and I'll do the same. We have a respect for each other. We've seen both sides of this game—the top and the losing side."

The gentlemen were indeed close and on one occasion, during spring training camp, their off-field actions brought them trouble. After leaving a bar in Port St. Lucie, Florida the pair were involved in an altercation with several local men. The Mets fined the two outfielders a reported $1,000 each for the incident. "I'm certainly disappointed," the team owner, Fred Wilpon was quoted. Following their investigation, the St. Lucie Police Department dropped all charges days later.

Shane made his Mets' debut in the second game of the 2004 season. He delivered two hits during a wild 10-18 loss to the Braves in Atlanta on April 7th. In 74 games that year he would hit for a .281 batting average with four home runs and 26 RBIs. A freak accident on July 24th landed Spencer on the disabled list. Shane sliced open the heel of his right foot in a strange sequence of events at a Manhattan bar. The New York Times reported that Spencer had chosen to visit the bar after completing a team sponsored cruise around New York Harbor to benefit the Mets Foundation. Shane was sitting at the bar wearing a pair of leather sandals. As he got up, the sandals partially slid off his feet. Stepping down he felt something dig into the back of his right heel. After a few moments, Spencer noticed the blood and broken glass around his foot. "It was a pretty big gash," Shane said. "It makes me mad. You don't go on the D.L. for something stupid. I kind of laugh about it, but at the same time, it's hard." Paramedics took him to St. Vincent's Hospital where five stitches were required to close the cut.

The New York Mets released Shane on August 7, 2004.

Shane Spencer became the hitting coach for the Lake Elsinore Storm, and signed his card in the set for my friend, Mike during their 2009 season.