All three of those deceased ex-Mets also had Phillies ties. We know about Stearns and West. Jeff Innis finished his career in 1995 pitching for SWB which was the Phillies' AAA affiliate.
That Stearns-McGraw trade certainly turned out well for both teams although the Phillies benefited more team-wise. Stearns was probably for the Mets what Lieberthal was for the Phillies, a good catcher for them for several years--and quite possibly one of the top five catchers in club history--but is rarely remembered or acclaimed because his career ran its course before the team got good or really good.
