In 1983, Keith Hernandez joined the NY Mets and began to get them back into a winning way. The Mets had retired number 37 for former manager Casey Stengel, so Hernandez switched to number 17 upon joining the club midseason, which he wore for the remainder of his career. Under new manager Davey Johnson, the 1984 Mets had their first winning season since 1976, finishing 90–72, and six games ahead of the Cardinals in the NL East (6.5 games behind the eventual division winner, the Chicago Cubs). Hernandez finished second in the NL Most Valuable Player voting behind Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg, and emerged as the leader of the Mets' young core of ballplayers that included 1983 and 1984 Rookies of the Year Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, respectively. Inside the neck, is the Rawlings size 42 label, with a white strip tag below: 17 83 1 chain stitched in blue. Team name (Mets) across the chest, player number (17) below that and on the back, and player name (HERNANDEZ) is done on a white nameplate across the back - all done in blue on orange tackle twill. Hernandez has signed below player number on front, in blue marker, in our opinion rating 7-8. Hernandez was a midseason acquisition, so this jersey was a blank that was lettered up by the team midseason, possibly making this his first Mets jersey. This jersey is properly tagged, presented to us as game-used and in our opinion shows appropriate wear. Accompanied by a MEARS letter grading A10, as well as a full JSA LOA.