1968 New York Mets season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1968 New York Mets season was the seventh regular season for the Mets. They went 73–89 and finished ninth in the National League, twenty-four games behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals They were managed by Gil Hodges. They played home games at Shea Stadium.
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| 1968 New York Mets | |
|---|---|
| |
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Shea Stadium |
| City | New York |
| Record | 73–89 (.451) |
| League place | 9th |
| Owners | Joan Whitney Payson |
| General manager | Johnny Murphy |
| Manager | Gil Hodges |
| Television | WOR-TV |
| Radio | WJRZ/WABC-FM (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy) |
Offseason
- November 28, 1967: Clyde Mashore was drafted by the Mets from the Cincinnati Reds in the 1967 rule 5 draft.[1]
- November 28, 1967: Darrell Sutherland was drafted from the Mets by the Cleveland Indians in the 1967 minor league draft.[2]
- November 29, 1967: Bill Short was sold to the New York Mets by the Pittsburgh Pirates.[3]
- December 15, 1967: Tommy Davis, Jack Fisher, Billy Wynne, and Buddy Booker were traded by the Mets to the Chicago White Sox for Tommie Agee and Al Weis.[4]
- March 28, 1968: Clyde Mashore was returned by the Mets to the Cincinnati Reds.[1]
Regular season
1968 marked the beginning of Gil Hodges' tenure at the helm. A former infielder with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he replaced Salty Parker as manager. Despite the team's 9th place finish, the Mets managed to narrowly avoid yet another last place ranking, and boasted their best record since their inception in 1962. They would go on to stun the baseball world the following year when they won the World Series.
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 47–34 | 50–31 |
| San Francisco Giants | 88 | 74 | .543 | 9 | 42–39 | 46–35 |
| Chicago Cubs | 84 | 78 | .519 | 13 | 47–34 | 37–44 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 83 | 79 | .512 | 14 | 40–41 | 43–38 |
| Atlanta Braves | 81 | 81 | .500 | 16 | 41–40 | 40–41 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 80 | 82 | .494 | 17 | 40–41 | 40–41 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 76 | 86 | .469 | 21 | 41–40 | 35–46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 76 | 86 | .469 | 21 | 38–43 | 38–43 |
| New York Mets | 73 | 89 | .451 | 24 | 32–49 | 41–40 |
| Houston Astros | 72 | 90 | .444 | 25 | 42–39 | 30–51 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL | |||
| Atlanta | — | 8–10 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 12–6–1 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 5–13 | |||
| Chicago | 10–8 | — | 7–11 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 9–9–1 | 9–9 | |||
| Cincinnati | 8–10 | 11–7 | — | 9–9 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 10–8–1 | 8–10 | 7–11 | |||
| Houston | 7–11 | 8–10 | 9–9 | — | 11–7 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 5–13 | |||
| Los Angeles | 9–9 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 7–11 | — | 7–11 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 9–9 | |||
| New York | 6–12–1 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–12 | |||
| Philadelphia | 7–11 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 | |||
| Pittsburgh | 12–6 | 8–10 | 8–10–1 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 9–9 | — | 7–11 | 6–12 | |||
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 9–9–1 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 11–7 | — | 10–8 | |||
| St. Louis | 13–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–10 | — | |||
Roster
| 1968 New York Mets | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Jerry Grote | 124 | 404 | 114 | .282 | 3 | 31 |
| 1B | Ed Kranepool | 127 | 373 | 86 | .231 | 3 | 20 |
| 2B | Ken Boswell | 75 | 284 | 74 | .261 | 4 | 11 |
| SS | Bud Harrelson | 111 | 402 | 88 | .219 | 0 | 14 |
| 3B | Ed Charles | 117 | 369 | 102 | .276 | 15 | 53 |
| LF | Cleon Jones | 147 | 509 | 151 | .297 | 14 | 55 |
| CF | Tommie Agee | 132 | 368 | 80 | .217 | 5 | 17 |
| RF | Ron Swoboda | 132 | 450 | 109 | .242 | 11 | 59 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art Shamsky | 116 | 345 | 82 | .238 | 12 | 48 |
| Al Weis | 90 | 274 | 47 | .172 | 2 | 14 |
| Phil Linz | 78 | 258 | 54 | .209 | 0 | 17 |
| J.C. Martin | 78 | 244 | 55 | .225 | 3 | 31 |
| Jerry Buchek | 73 | 192 | 35 | .182 | 1 | 11 |
| Larry Stahl | 53 | 183 | 43 | .235 | 3 | 10 |
| Kevin Collins | 58 | 154 | 31 | .201 | 1 | 13 |
| Don Bosch | 50 | 111 | 19 | .171 | 3 | 7 |
| Greg Goossen | 38 | 106 | 22 | .208 | 0 | 6 |
| Bob Heise | 6 | 23 | 5 | .217 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Jorgensen | 8 | 14 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Duffy Dyer | 1 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Seaver | 36 | 278.0 | 16 | 12 | 2.20 | 205 |
| Jerry Koosman | 35 | 263.2 | 19 | 12 | 2.08 | 178 |
| Don Cardwell | 29 | 180.0 | 7 | 13 | 2.95 | 82 |
| Dick Selma | 33 | 170.1 | 9 | 10 | 2.75 | 117 |
| Nolan Ryan | 21 | 134.0 | 6 | 9 | 3.09 | 133 |
| Jim McAndrew | 12 | 79.0 | 4 | 7 | 2.28 | 46 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Jackson | 25 | 92.2 | 3 | 7 | 3.69 | 59 |
| Danny Frisella | 19 | 50.2 | 2 | 4 | 3.91 | 47 |
| Les Rohr | 2 | 6.0 | 0 | 2 | 4.50 | 5 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Taylor | 58 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 2.70 | 49 |
| Cal Koonce | 55 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 2.42 | 50 |
| Bill Short | 34 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4.85 | 24 |
| Bill Connors | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9.00 | 8 |
| Don Shaw | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.75 | 11 |
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Jacksonville, Marion