Tag at the Plate: Mets 1978 Yearbook

Baserunners beware of this “Bad Dude.” The 1978 Mets yearbook featured starting backstop John Stearns stretching for a tag at home. Stearns, who was coming off an All-Star season, earned the nickname “Bad Dude” because he was a tough son of a gun behind the plate. The Mets valued his no-nonsense demeanor as evidenced by the fact that he would go on to play more games as catcher in 1978 than any other season in his career.