Mets legend admits some of today’s players don’t know who he is: ‘My ego can take that’

Before Keith Hernandez became part of one of MLB’s best game booths with the New York Mets on SNY, he was an outstanding first baseman who won two World Series, an MVP and 11 Gold Gloves.

But clearly, time away from the game — his last season was in 1990 with Cleveland — has done a lot to diminish his standing among some current players, who are not as attuned to the history of baseball (his belief). He told ex-Marlins executive David Samson on his “Nothing Personal” podcast on Dec. 23 that, yes, there are times when this generation identifies the five-time All-Star as solely a broadcaster.

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“I’ve got a lot of players, to be honest with you, that would come up with the Mets and didn’t know who the hell I was,” said Hernandez, who played seven seasons with the Mets and won the 1986 World Series. “I had a player actually — I went up to introduce myself — and he grabbed my credentials, looked at my credentials to see who I was in spring training.

“I can take that. My ego can take that, but I do find it very interesting that they’re not steeped in baseball tradition.”

Not only did Hernandez accumulate 60.3 WAR (Baseball Reference), which ranks 21st all-time among first basemen, but he was also among the slickest fielders at the position, even later in his career when he won his final Gold Glove at 34 with the Mets in 1988. Hernandez posted a .296/.384/.436 line with 162 career home runs, 1,071 RBIs and a 128 OPS+, power numbers that are light for a first baseman and have undoubtedly contributed to him not being in the Hall of Fame.

Hernandez has been in the SNY booth since 2006, alongside play-by-play voice Gary Cohen and analyst Ron Darling.

But, as Hernandez revealed, he’s not the only legend today’s players weren’t aware of: free agent first baseman Pete Alonso didn’t know Harmon Killebrew, the Hall of Famer who played from 1954-75, Hernandez learned on a bus ride — until Hernandez sent him his Baseball Reference page.

“He came up to me: He said, ‘Holy cow. He’s pretty good,” said Hernandez, who likens Alonso to a modern Killebrew, the slugger who finished with 573 career home runs.

“I go, ‘Yeah.’”