Unlike Horner,who was assigned to the Atlanta Braves' major league roster upon signing,Brooks was assigned to the double A Jackson Mets,where he batted .216 with 3 home runs and 16 RBIs in 45 games. The following season,with fellow Mets prospect Wally Backman playing short for Jackson,Brooks was converted to a third baseman. He also played some outfield with the triple A Tidewater Tides in 1980.
New York Mets
Brooks debuted as a September call-up in 1980. In 24 games,Brooks batted .309 with 1 home run and 10 runs batted in. He won the starting job at third out of Spring training1981 and quickly became a fan favorite,batting over .300 for most of the strike shortened season. He finished the season at .307 with four home runs and 38 RBIs to finish third in National LeagueRookie of the Year voting behind Fernando Valenzuela and Tim Raines.
Given the Mets' longstanding challenges in maintaining a consistent third baseman,Brooks remained popular in New York City despite being a below-average fielder and as power hitter. (He tied a modern major league record by committing three errors in one inning his rookie season.)[3]
He set a Mets record with a 24-game hitting streak from May 1 to June 1,1984;during this period,he batted .398 in 83 at-bats. (The record has since been tied by Mike Piazza in 1999 and broken by David Wright with 26 and Moisés Alou with 30 in 2007.) He was having his best season statistically—having already set career highs in home runs (13) and RBIs (61)—when the Mets acquired third baseman Ray Knight from the Houston Astros on August 28. Brooks was subsequently shifted to short for the rest of the season by Mets managerDavey Johnson.[4]
Plugged into the clean-up spot in Montreal's batting order,Brooks blossomed into a Silver Slugger Award–winning shortstop in 1985. He drove in a career-high 100 runs,which led the team and was second only to Cal Ripken Jr. among major league shortstops (110). Brooks was batting .333 with 14 home runs and 54 RBIs at the 1986 All-Star break to earn his first All-Star selection.[6] Five games after the break,however,he tore ligaments in his left thumb,ending his season.[7] He was named the NL's Silver Slugger at short for a second season in a row regardless of his time missed.
Three games into the 1987 season,Brooks was again sidelined by injury,this time by a hairline fracture of his right wrist.[8] When he returned to the field,he resumed his role as the top slugging shortstop in the National League. Despite having missed more than a month of play with his wrist injury,Brooks clubbed 7 home runs and drove in 30 runs to earn his second consecutive All-Star nod. The game went into extra innings and was won by the National League when Brooks and Ozzie Virgil Jr. scored on Tim Raines' triple in the thirteenth inning.[9]
Following an injury to minor league outfield prospect Larry Walker playing winter ball,the Expos shifted Brooks to right field for the 1988 season. Despite his disappointment with the situation,[10] Brooks responded with one of his best offensive seasons,batting .279 with 90 RBIs and a career-high 20 home runs. He spent one more season in right field for the Expos before departing via free agency.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Atlanta Braves expressed interest in signing Brooks and returning him to third base for the 1990 season.[11] However,Brooks ultimately opted to sign with his home teamLos Angeles Dodgers and remain in right field. His contract contained a clause that disallowed him to be traded back to the Expos or to any American League team except the California Angels.[12]
Brooks batted .266 with 20 home runs and 91 RBIs in his only season with the Dodgers,after which he was traded back to the New York Mets for pitchers Greg Hansell and Bob Ojeda.[13]
Brooks was unhappy about this trade,[14] and it resulted in a poor performance on the field. He batted .238 with 16 home runs and 50 RBIs through 103 games when his 1991 season was cut short by a pinched nerve in his back.[15]
California Angels
On December 10,1991,the Mets traded him to the California Angels for outfielderDave Gallagher,[16] reuniting him with his former Expos manager,Buck Rodgers. Brooks was used as the designated hitter by Rodgers,and batted .213 with 7 home runs and 30 RBIs until a sprained neck sidelined his 1992 season.[17] He returned in the beginning of September,with John Wathan replacing Rodgers as manager,but hit just one home run and drove in just six in limited play over the rest of the season.
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals signed Brooks to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring training for the 1993 season. He made the club as its right-handed bat off the bench and batted .303 as a pinch hitter. He remained in that role through the midpoint of the 1994 season when he was released to make room for a re-activated Wally Joyner,who was returning from the disabled list.[18]
At the time of his dismissal, Brooks was the active major league leader in games played without making it to the post season (1,645). After the end of his career, Brooks received no votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America for the Baseball Hall of Fame and was subsequently removed from the ballot.[19] He collected career-highs in home runs (20) in 1988 and 1990. He collected his career-high RBI total (100) in 1985, and he finished 8th in batting average (.307) in 1981.
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