his first 8), manager Joe Torre stuck with Wilson in center field for 26 of the 31 games remaining on the Mets' schedule. Mets stolen base king Wilson again got off to a slow start in , with his batting average dipping to .203 on May 24. When Torre shifted Lee Mazzilli, who had been the Mets' center fielder and the face of the organization since his rookie year in , to left field to make room for Mookie in center, he began to turn it around. He ended the first half of the strike-shortened season at .288 with 11 stolen bases, 21 runs scored and a .340 on-base percentage leading off for the Mets. His average dipped to .259 in the second half; however, he still stole 13 bases and scored 28 runs. Two of the three home runs he hit in 1981 came in the second half, and both were of the game winning dramatic variety. On August 25, he hit a ninth-inning homer off Houston Astros closer Joe Sambito to carry the Mets to a 2–1 win. On September 20, he took St. Louis Cardinals closer and future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter deep with Frank Taveras on first for the come from behind victory. With Wilson and fellow rookie Hubie Brooks now at the top of the Mets' lineup, the perennial cellar dwellers managed to compete in the second half of the season, finishing 5.5 games back of the National League East division winning Montreal Expos. Mookie became a fixture atop the Mets' lineup through , and was soon himself the face of the organization. In , he stole at least one base in each of his first five games on his way to breaking Frank Taveras' team record with 58 stolen bases. He passed Mazzilli to become the team's all-time stolen base leader in 1984 (he has since been passed in both categories by José Reyes). Wilson suffered the first injury of his career in , missing two months of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. He returned in September, but in a very limited role. The second major injury of his career came the following spring, when Mets shortstop Rafael Santana nailed Wilson in the eye with a thrown ball during base running drills. Wilson needed to be carted off the field and required 21 stitches. When he returned in