NewYork.Mets.com

By Kevin T. Czerwinski / MLB.com

Joe Pignatano (right) with Al Leiter during a 30th-anniversary reunion of the 1969 Mets. (Kathy Willens/AP)

The former Brooklyn Dodger, along with Rube Walker, was the longest tenured coach in Mets history. Pignatano began a 14-year run in 1968, joining Gil Hodges as part of the staff that would lead New York to the top of the baseball world in 1969. Pignatano served under five managers in Queens through the 1981 season.

From beginning to end, however, Pignatano, 73, experienced the best and worst of New York baseball, as the Mets won the World Series in '69, went to another in 1973, and then crashed to the bottom of the National League East. Through it all, he never stopped tending his garden in the bullpen, never stopped enjoying the likes of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack, never stopped being one of the unsung heroes in Mets history.

A Brooklyn native, Pignatano had a six-year Major League career in which he served mostly as a backup catcher. He played eight games for Brooklyn in 1957, suffering a broken heart with the rest of the borough when the team moved to Los Angeles following that season. Pignatano spent three more years with the Dodgers before going to Kansas City and San Francisco, eventually closing out his playing days in 1962 with the Mets in their first season.

He kept a close relationship with Hodges, his former Dodgers teammate, after he left Los Angeles. It was his relationship with Hodges that would help him find his true niche as a coach. Pignatano was a member of Hodges' coaching staff in Washington and joined him when he became the Mets' skipper in 1968.

"We worked together, we did everything together," Pignatano said of his relationship with Hodges and long-time pitching coach Rube Walker. "On the road, we were always together. We talked about what we had to do and then we went out and did it. All three of us came from Washington and we inherited Yogi [Berra] and he fit just like a glove.

"Do I deserve any credit? Like they say, the manager can only win three, five, maybe 10 games a year. The things that rubbed off on the players from Gil and us probably helped but I would say it was more Gil than the coaches. We just did what he wanted, did what he said. The team always said that we did a great job and held them together but we were just doing what Gil wanted."

Pignatano says that 1969 was easily the greatest experience of his career. He worked with the Mets' relievers, helping groom a young Tug McGraw, who would go on to become one of the best relievers in team history.

"McGraw had to be the best," said Pignatano, who still lives in Brooklyn. "But [Cal] Koonce did a good job, [Ron] Taylor and [Don] Cardwell did nice jobs, too. But the guy that did the greatest job was McGraw."

"The big guy [Hodges] died first and then [team owner Joan Payson] went," Pignatano said. "Gil did one hell of a job. We don't win without him. He made all the changes. He was the one that acquired [Donn] Clendenon [in June 1969]. He was the one that got [Tommie] Agee. He was the one who turned the pitching staff around.

"But we couldn't do anything because the man wouldn't let the purse strings go after that. The man I'm talking about is Mr. [Charles] Payson. We had some bad teams and we had no money. Mrs. [Lorinda] de Roulet [Joan Payson's daughter] tried but the old man wouldn't let go of the money. When Mrs. Payson died, things really changed."

The two constants, however, were Pignatano and Walker. The duo was part of Berra's staff as well as that of Roy McMillan and Joe Frazier, who followed Berra. They remained in the fold when Joe Torre took over as manager in 1977 but couldn't overcome new ownership's desire for a fresh start after Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday bought the team from the Payson family. When Torre was relieved of his duties, the coaching staff was let go as well.

Pignatano coached for the Braves for three years and then spent several seasons in the minor leagues before retiring in 1986. He still goes to Shea Stadium a few times a year with his grandson, Joe. He also takes in a few Yankees games and gets to see Torre.

"Things like what happened to us in the late '70s happen," said Pignatano, who is one of the many who continues to lobby for Hodges' induction into the Hall of Fame. "When I was playing with the Dodgers, we had a great club. We finished third and then we went out to Los Angeles and finished a half-game out of last. The same club won the whole ball of wax the next year. One day to the next, things aren't always peaches and cream."

But Pignatano never complained. He got to play an inning in the 1959 World Series, pointing out that had southpaw Billy Pierce pitched for the White Sox, he would have played more in that Series.

"To me, that one inning was fantastic," said Pignatano, whose best season was 1961, when he hit .243 with 22 RBIs for the Kansas City A's. "The greatest thing I ever wanted to do was be a ballplayer. And then I got to go to the World Series. I only played the one inning, but I got there. I never got a hit in the Series, but I got there.

"The greatest thing of all, though, was being able to spend 15 years in my hometown. I played here one year with the Dodgers and was with the Mets. I was at home. How can you beat that?"

Kevin Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.