Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing #45 : Brent Gaff "Give Him the Ball and Let Him Go"

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly rummage through the Mets’ attic, where we dust off the bubble-gum cards and game-used jerseys of the guys who made you squint and go, “Wait… didn’t he play for us?”

Last week, we looked back at Brian Cole, the five-tool comet who blazed through the Mets’ system before tragedy cut his story short. This week, we go back to the early ’80s before Doc, before Darryl, before the Home Run Apple even knew how to smile and meet a pitcher whose time in Queens was brief, but whose attitude was pure Mets blue-collar: Brent Gaff.

Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and raised in nearby Churubusco (which sounds less like a town and more like a Civil War battlefield), Gaff was drafted by the Mets in the 6th round of the 1977 draft. He wasn’t flashy no triple-digit heater, no Hollywood grin , just a compact right-hander who looked like he could fix your carburetor, strike out a cleanup hitter, and be home in time for supper.

And he could pitch. Sort of. Eventually.

His first pro stop in Wausau, Wisconsin was a lesson in humility: 1–13 with a 5.77 ERA. That’s not a record, that’s a cry for help. But like every good underdog story, Gaff regrouped. The next year, he flipped the script 10–5 with a 2.98 ERA proving that somewhere between the bratwurst stands and the bus rides, the kid had figured something out.

From there, he climbed the Mets’ ladder one rung at a time: Jackson, Tidewater, and finally Flushing, where in 1982 he got the call every minor leaguer dreams of.

On July 7, 1982, Gaff made his big-league debut against the Giants. He gave up a few runs but impressed his manager, George Bamberger, enough to earn a memorable quote:

“The kid’s got command and confidence. His attitude’s outstanding. He says, ‘Give me the ball and let me go.’”

That was Gaff in a nutshell no frills, no fear, and no sense of self-preservation when facing major league hitters.

Gaff had his moments. He quietly became a reliable swingman for a team still trying to remember what winning felt like. In 1984, his best year, he pitched in 47 games with a 3.63 ERA, walking 36 and striking out 42 the baseball equivalent of driving across the country on bald tires and still arriving on time.

Brent Gaff might not have had Dwight Gooden’s fastball or Jesse Orosco’s slider, but when he was on, he could make big-league hitters look like they were swinging underwater.

Among those he owned:

Ozzie Smith (0-for-7)

Tim Wallach (0-for-4, RBI, but hitless)

Mike Schmidt (0-for-2, K)

Andre Dawson (0-for-5)

And the guys who owned him:

Steve Garvey (6-for-11, .545)

Lonnie Smith (5-for-7, .714)

Ryne Sandberg (4-for-10, HR, 4 RBI)

Ron Cey (4-for-7, 4 RBI)

So yeah, Gaff could buzzsaw through a future Hall of Famer one inning and then serve up a hanging slider to the next. Typical early-’80s Mets moments of brilliance wrapped in unpredictability.

Just as the Mets were turning the corner as Doc Gooden and Ron Darling were warming up for takeoff Gaff’s arm gave out. A torn rotator cuff wiped out his 1985 season, and he never pitched another big-league inning. By the fall, the Mets released him, and he faded quietly back into the Indiana cornfields from whence he came.

There’s a bittersweetness to Gaff’s story. He wasn’t a star. He wasn’t even a fixture. But for a little while, he was a piece of the bridge between the grim ’70s and the glory days to come. He took the ball, he let it go — and for 84.1 innings in 1984, he belonged.

If you blinked, you might’ve missed Brent Gaff. But that’s kind of the point of this column, isn’t it? To remember the guys who showed up, gave everything they had, and left the jersey a little sweatier than they found it.

These days, Brent’s still got a mean curve — only now it’s built into his business. He owns and operates Gaffight Custom Rods in Albion, Indiana, crafting some of the finest, most customized fishing rods you’ll find anywhere. It’s the kind of precision work you’d expect from a guy who used to hit the black on a 3-2 count.

So if you bump into Brent Gaff today?

Give him the ball and let him go.