Tim Teufel, Infielder, Cotuit Kettleers

         The Clemson Tiger batted .351 for the Kettleers in 1979 and set a league record with 16 home runs , RBI (52) and runs (48). Named to both the All-Star and All-League teams as the starting second baseman. After signing with the Minnesota Twins, he starred for the New York Mets for 11 seasons.
He may have only hit 86 home runs and driven in 379 runs in his career, but Tim Teufel was one of the most popular players to wear a New York Mets uniform and a member of a World Series Championship.

    The Greenwich, CT native played in 1,073 games in his career and hit .254. In 1986, he hit .444 in 9 at-bats in the World Series, adding a home run and an RBI.

    In the first game of the 1986 World Series, he made a costly error when on a routine grounder from Rich Gedman. The error allowed Jim Rice to score the only run of the game and to give the Red Sox the win.

    That error was later overshadowed by the error involving Boston's Bill Buckner.

    Prior to joining the Minnesota Twins organization, Tim Teufel played for the Clemson University baseball team in 1979 and 1980. In 1980, he hit .387 with 11 HR and 66 RBI and was named All-American, All-ACC and All-District. He hit .367 in 101 games at Clemson with 24 HRs and 116 RBIs. He also had 26 stolen bases.

    He made his debut with the Minnesota Twins on Sept. 3, 1983 and he had one of his best games on Sept. 16 when he went 5-5 with 2 home runs and a triple. The next season, he hit .262 with 14 home runs and finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting.

    In 1984, the second baseman was involved in just 81 double plays -- an American League record for the fewest ever by a second baseman.

    On Jan. 16, 1986, Minnesota traded Teufel and minor league player Pat Crosby to the New York Mets for Billy Beane, Bill Lathan and Joe Klink. He "platooned" at second base with Wally Backman and hit .247 with 20 doubles in 279 at-bats.

    Mets fans like the his plate rituals which came to be known as the "Teufel Shuffle." In 1987, he hit .308 with 14 home runs in 299 at-bats. He became the starter in 1988, but struggled on offense and was sidelined by an injury. He hit just .238 and lost the second base job to Greg Jeffries in 1989. In 1991, he was traded to the San Diego Padres for Garry Templeton.

    He retired at the end of the 1993 season and worked for awhile as an investment banker.

    He later worked for the New York Mets organization served as a scout, instructor, infield coordinator and manager in the Mets' instructional league.

     Recently, he was named manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones, a short-season affiliate of the New York Mets.

      Sources: Total Baseball, Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia, "Greenwich native Teufel named manager of Brooklyn Cyclones," Jesse Quinlan. Dec. 5, 2002, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.; Collegiate Collection: Clemson Cards.