Jerry Grote, beloved former Mets catcher and starting member of the franchise’s first-ever World Series championship team in 1969, dies during heart surgery at the age of 81.

Jerry Grote, the catcher who helped transform the New York Mets from perennial losers to 1969 World Series champions, died Sunday. He was 81 years old.

Grote suffered from heart problems and died at the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute at St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said.

Grote was scheduled to undergo surgery and died of respiratory failure during the procedure, Horwitz said.

A two-time All-Star, Grote played 16 seasons in the major leagues and hit .252 with 39 home runs and 404 RBIs.

“The backbone of a young Mets team that has captured the hearts of New York City,” Mets owner Steve Cohen and his wife Alix said in a statement.

Grote remained active as a Met for decades, recognized as a member of the “Miracle Mets.”

Grote had played two seasons with the Houston Colt .45s when the Mets acquired him in October 1965 for a player, who turned out to be pitcher Tom Parsons.

Launched as an expansion team in 1962 to replace the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, the Mets finished ninth or tenth in their first seven seasons before a remarkable turnaround in 1969.

“We weren’t supposed to do anything,” Grote said during the 50th anniversary celebration in 2019. “And we did everything.”

Grote assembled a young pitching staff led by Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Gary Gentry, the Mets overtook the Chicago Cubs and moved into first place for the first time in their history on September 10.

They finished 100-62 to win the NL East by eight games, then swept three games from Atlanta in the inaugural NL Championship Series and beat heavily favored Baltimore in a five-game World Series.

“He was the glue that held the team together,” Mets star Cleon Jones said in a statement.

Grote was an All-Star for the first time in 1968, starting for the NL in the All-Star Game at the Houston Astrodome and hitting .282.

He hit .252 with six home runs and 40 RBIs in 1969, starting 100 games behind the plate. The night the Mets took the division lead, he caught all 21 innings in a doubleheader sweep of Montreal.

Grote caught every round of the playoffs. He hit a two-out single against Dave McNally in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the World Series to put runners on the corners, and Al Weis followed with an RBI single that lifted the Mets to a 2–1 victory .

Grote doubled Dick Hall in the top of the 10th inning of Game 4, and pinch runner Rod Gaspar scored on JC Martin’s sacrifice fly for another 2-1 victory.

“Without Jerry, we won’t win in 1969,” Mets outfielder and first baseman Art Shamsky said in a statement. ‘It’s that simple.’

Grote was the Mets’ leading catcher from 1966 to 1971, then began sharing time with Duffy Dyer in 1972. He helped the Mets win another National League pennant in 1973. Praised for his defense, Grote made his second all-star team in 1974.

“He was the best catcher I ever pitched to,” Mets pitcher Jon Matlack said in a statement.

Grote was not a big power hitter throughout his career, hitting only 39 home runs and collecting 404 RBIs.

Grote was not a power hitter, hitting only 39 home runs, but was an excellent defensive catcher.

Following the emergence of John Stearns, Grote was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in August 1977, became a free agent after the 1978 season, and then retired.

He changed his mind three years later and parted ways in 1981 with Kansas City and the Dodgers. He had a career-best seven RBIs on June 3, 1981, hitting a grand slam against Ken Clay of Seattle.

Gerald Wayne Grote was born in San Antonio on October 6, 1942.

He was a three-sport star at MacArthur High and attended Trinity University in San Antonio, where he learned catching skills with the help of former big leaguer Del Baker, an advisor to the team.

Days before the amateur draft, Grote was signed by Houston recruiter Red Murff in 1962 and made his big league debut on September 21, 1963.

Grote entered the fifth inning against Philadelphia at Colt Stadium and hit a sacrifice fly off Dallas Green in his first plate appearance.

Grote was traded to the Mets after Murff moved to New York and recommended his acquisition.

Divorced twice, Grote is survived by his third wife, Cheryl; son Jeff; daughters Jennifer Jackson and Sandy Deloney; and daughter-in-law Laurel Leudecke, according to the Mets.