| Cornelius Clifford (Cliff) Floyd
graduated from Thornwood High School in South Holland, IL, where
he played baseball and basketball...In his senior year he led
his baseball team to the State Championship and the basketball
team to the Sectional Finals...The basketball team lost to the
eventual State Champion, Proviso East, which featured three future
NBA first round picks including the San Antonio Spurs' All-Star
shooting guard Michael Finley...Also played football his freshman
and sophomore years...Named Chicago Tribune's Athlete of the Year
in 1991, joining a group that included San Francisco 49ers Tai
Streets (1995) and former New York Giants quarterback Kent Graham
(1987)...Donated $2,500 to The Starting Place, a drug intervention
program for teenagers, in 1998 and 1999...In 1999, he donated
$250 for every home run he hit and base he stole to the Marlins
Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program, totaling $4,000...Served
as the Honorary Chairman for the Marlins program, donating $9,500
to the program in 2000...Donated $2,500 to both the American Lung
Association and the Kidney Foundation of South Florida in 2000,
serving as a spokesperson for the American Lung Association's
"Strike Out Asthma" program...Donated two $2,000 scholarships
for students to attend Florida International University each year
from 1999-2001...Provided dinner, an autographed photo and tickets
to every Saturday home game in 2001 to a group of 25 area youths
nicknamed the "Cliffhangers"...Chosen as the team finalist
for the Roberto Clemente Man of the Year Award presented by John
Hancock in 2000 and 2001 for exemplifying the game of baseball,
sportsmanship, community involvement and contribution to the team...Established
Floyd's Bunch, through which he sent children's groups in the
New York area to games during the 2004 and 2005 seasons...Assumed
then-teammate Mike Cameron's Catches for Kids program to benefit
the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation following Cameron's
season-ending injury on August 11, 2005...Through the program,
Floyd donated $100 for every catch he made at Shea between August
30th and the end of the season for a total contribution of $3,000.
2006 Highlights:
Injuries played a major part of Floyd's season, as he missed a
total of 47 days due to a sprained left ankle and a strained left
achilles. It is the eighth year in which Floyd has had to deal
with some type of injury, and he played in only 97 games, the
least amount for him in a season since 1999, when he appeared
in only 69 contests for the Marlins. Although Floyd caught the
final out to secure the Mets' NL East title, and he was able to
make his second appearance in the postseason, the season turned
into his least productive in terms of runs (45), homers (11) and
RBIs (44) since 1999, when he scored 37 runs, and had 11 homers
and 49 RBIs. His .244 batting average was the worst since he batted
.234 in 61 games with the Marlins in 1997.
2005 Highlights:
Established career highs in home runs and walks...Led the NL with
15 outfield assists...The 15 assists were the most by a Met outfielder
since Bernard Gilkey had 17 in 1997...Ranked eighth in the NL
in home runs...Had 13 intentional walks which was tied for eighth
in the League...Was the second hardest player to double-up in
the National League...Grounded into a double play once every 110.0
at-bats...Batted .290 (118-407) with 25 home runs and 73 RBI vs.
righthanded pitchers...With runners in scoring position, he hit
.296 (45-152) with 11 home runs and 70 RBI...Played in 150 games,
the most games since he appeared in 153 contests in 1998 with
Florida...Had five home runs and 13 RBI in his last 17 games of
the year...Hit safely in 18 of his last 26 games, with seven home
runs and 18 RBI in those contests...Registered his 34th home run
of the season on October 2nd vs. Colorado (off Aaron Cook)...The
34 home runs were the most by a Mets player since Mike Piazza
hit 36 home runs in 2001...Belted his 32nd home run, September
18th vs. Atlanta (off John Thomson) to set a career high...Collected
his 31st home run of the season on September 17th vs. Atlanta
(off Tim Hudson) to tie his career best...Also had 31 home runs
in 2001 as a member of the Marlins...Had a season-high four RBI
on September 15th vs. Washington, June 5th vs. San Francisco and
June 25th at Yankee Stadium...Hit his fifth career grand slam,
September 15th vs. Washington (off Livan Hernandez)...Became the
12th Mets player to hit 30 or more home runs in a season when
he hit his 30th home run, September 15th vs. Washington...The
others are: Mike Piazza, Mike Cameron, Robin Ventura, Todd Hundley,
Bernard Gilkey, Bobby Bonilla, Howard Johnson, Darryl Strawberry,
Gary Carter, Dave Kingman and Frank Thomas...Picked up his 1,200th
career major league hit on August 2nd vs. Milwaukee...Hit .323
(31-96) with nine home runs and 20 RBI in June...Collected his
second multi-steal game of the season with two steals, June 30th
vs. Philadelphia...Recorded his 12th career multi-home run game
and third of the season, June 25th at Yankee Stadium (both off
Sean Henn)...Blasted a game-winning, three-run home run with two
outs in the bottom of the 10th inning on June 11th vs. the Angels
(off Brendan Donnelly) to give the Mets a 5-3 win...It was his
third career walk-off home run and first as a Met...Collected
his 11th career multi-home run game on June 5th vs. San Francisco
(Game Two)...Had a solo shot off Jim Brower and a two-run home
run against Al Levine...Had an RBI double in the fourth inning
to help Pedro Martinez score a 1-0 victory on May 27th at Florida...Hit
two solo shots off Jason Marquis on May 13th vs. the Cardinals
for his 10th career multiple-home run game in a 2-0 win...Established
a career-best 20-game hitting streak, April 8th-May 4th...Hit
.395 (30-76) with 16 runs, three doubles, seven home runs, a stolen
base and 23 RBI in that span...The batting streak was the second
longest by a lefthander in club history (John Olerud hit in 23
straight games in 1996)...The streak is also tied for the seventh
longest in franchise history...The 20-game hitting streak was
tied with teammate Jose Reyes for the second longest streak in
the NL...Only Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins had a longer streak
(36 games)...Batted .366 (26-71) with six home runs and 21 RBI
in April...Reached base safely in his first 23 games of the year...Became
the fourth Met to reach base safely in his first 23 contests to
begin a season...John Olerud reached safely in his first 30 games
in 1999, Kevin McReynolds, 24 games in 1989 and Buddy Harrelson,
23 games in 1970...Set a Mets record for the longest batting streak
in the month of April with 16 games...Rey Ordonez had a 14-game
batting streak in April, 1996...Stole second base twice in the
second inning on April 21st at Florida...Became the first major
leaguer to steal second base twice in the same inning since Atlanta's
Otis Nixon did it on July 22, 1991... It was Cliff's first multi-steal
game since September 25, 2001 as a member of the Marlins at Atlanta...Had
42 multi-hit games: 36, two-hit contests and six, three-hit games...Recorded
25 multi-RBI contests: three, four-RBI games; three, three-RBI
contests and 19, two-RBI games.
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