Jay Hook Brought the NY Mets to Town

Thanks to Jay Hook, the New York Mets marched, or rode, down Center Street in Grayslake in the summer of 1963.      

Hook, a 1954 graduate of Grayslake High School, was a major league baseball pitcher for eight years from 1957 through 1964, first with the Cincinnati Redlegs (Reds) and later with the Mets.

It was Jay Hook Day on that summer day in 1963 when the community honored their hometown baseball hero with a parade and other events. The Hook family came to the area from England before the turn of the century. Hook's grandfather was one of the signers of the petition to incorporate Grayslake. His father, Cecil, owned and operated Cec's Drug Store, where almost every day during the baseball season, baseball was the topic of discussion and debate at the soda fountain counter.

Jay Hook was born Nov. 18, 1936 in Waukegan. After graduating from Grayslake High School and playing baseball and studying engineering at Northwestern University, the 20-year-old Hook was a baseball bonus baby out of Northwestern signing with the Reds in 1957. He was picked up by the Mets in the National League expansion draft in 1962 when the Mets became the first National League team in New York since the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958.    

He played under the legendary manager Casey Stengel and with ex-Brooklyn Dodger Hall of Famers Gil Hodges and Duke Snider and other well-known seasoned players. Don Zimmer, former Chicago Cubs manager, was also a member of that team. The Mets that year played in the old Polo Grounds, home of the departed Giants, while Shea Stadium was being built.   

Unfortunately, the 1962 Mets broke the league record for most losses during the season - 120. "We've got to learn to stay out of triple plays," Stengel said at the time to the delight of the sports writers.

Hook started and won the first game in Mets franchise history when he pitched a five-hit, 9-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field. It was the Mets first regular-season win that year after nine defeats.

A few years later in 1969, the hapless Mets became the Amazin' Mets and broke the hearts of Chicago Cubs fans when they won the National League pennant and won the World Series in five games over the Baltimore Orioles. Hook pitched his first major league game with the Reds on Sept. 3, 1957 at the age of 20. He pitched his last game on May 3, 1964.

In his eight-season career, Hook had a record of 29-64 with 394 strikeouts and a 5.23 ERA in 752.2 innings pitched. During his eight-year career, he always wore number 47 on his jersey. After earning a master's degree in thermodynamics, Hook retired from baseball in 1964 at the age of 28.   

His first job after his professional baseball career was with Chrysler Corporation in Detroit followed by employment at Rockwell International and Masco Corporation. He is now retired and lives in Michigan.

Hook is one of the athletes featured in the sports exhibit   The Museum, at 164 Hawley Street, is open Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. and during downtown Grayslake events.

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