1979 New York Mets season
Major League Baseball team season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1979 New York Mets season was the 18th season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Joe Torre, the team had a 63–99 record and finished in sixth place in the National League East, thirty-five games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates. This was also the first season that the players' names appeared on the back of the uniforms.
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| 1979 New York Mets | |
|---|---|
| |
| League | National League |
| Division | East |
| Ballpark | Shea Stadium |
| City | New York |
| Record | 63–99 (.389) |
| Divisional place | 6th |
| Owners | Charles Shipman Payson |
| General manager | Joe McDonald |
| Manager | Joe Torre |
| Television | WOR-TV |
| Radio | WMCA (Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, Steve Albert) |
Offseason
- October 2, 1978: Paul Siebert was traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bob Coluccio.[1]
- December 4, 1978: Bobby Brown was drafted by the Mets from the New York Yankees in the 1978 rule 5 draft.[2]
- December 5, 1978: Tom Grieve and Kim Seaman were traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Pete Falcone.[3]
- December 8, 1978: Jerry Koosman was traded by the Mets to the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named later and Greg Field (minors). The Minnesota Twins completed the trade by sending Jesse Orosco to the Mets on February 7, 1979.[4]
- March 25, 1979: Bobby Brown was selected off waivers from the Mets by the Toronto Blue Jays.[2]
- March 27, 1979: Nino Espinosa was traded by the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Richie Hebner and José Moreno.[5]
Regular season
The 1979 season was worse than 1978. The Mets were in last place by mid-May,[6][7] and finished the season in last place for the third straight year.[8][9] Attendance was below 1 million for the first time in team history, hitting a record low of just 788,000.[9]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 48–33 | 50–31 |
| Montreal Expos | 95 | 65 | .594 | 2 | 56–25 | 39–40 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 86 | 76 | .531 | 12 | 42–39 | 44–37 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 84 | 78 | .519 | 14 | 43–38 | 41–40 |
| Chicago Cubs | 80 | 82 | .494 | 18 | 45–36 | 35–46 |
| New York Mets | 63 | 99 | .389 | 35 | 28–53 | 35–46 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
| Atlanta | — | 4–8 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 1–9 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 4–8 | |||||
| Chicago | 8–4 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–10 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 10–7 | 6–12 | 8–4 | |||||
| Houston | 11–7 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 10–8 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 14–4 | 7–11 | 6–6 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 6–12 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 8–10 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 6–6 | |||||
| Montreal | 9–1 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 15–3 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | |||||
| New York | 8–4 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–9 | 3–15 | — | 5–13 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 7–11 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 5–7 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–11 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–11 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 11–7 | |||||
| San Diego | 12–6 | 3–9 | 7–10 | 4–14 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 | |||||
| San Francisco | 7–11 | 4–8 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 | |||||
| St. Louis | 8–4 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — | |||||
Opening Day starters
Notable transactions
- June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball draft
- Tim Leary was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (2nd pick).[10]
- Ron Gardenhire was drafted by the Mets in the 6th round.[11]
- Dave Smith was drafted by the Mets in the 27th round.[12]
- Bill Mooneyham was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (22nd pick) of the secondary phase, but did not sign.[13]
- June 15, 1979: Bob Myrick and Mike Bruhert were traded by the Mets to the Texas Rangers for Dock Ellis.[14]
- August 12, 1979: Willie Montañez was traded by the Mets to the Texas Rangers for two players to be named later. The Rangers sent Ed Lynch to the Mets on September 18 and Mike Jorgensen on October 23 to complete the deal.[15]
- August 20, 1979: Ray Burris was selected off waivers by the Mets from the New York Yankees.[16]
- September 21, 1979: Dock Ellis was purchased from the Mets by the Pittsburgh Pirates.[14]
Roster
| 1979 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 | John Stearns | 155 | 538 | 131 | .243 | 9 | 66 |
| 1B | Willie Montañez | 109 | 410 | 96 | .234 | 5 | 47 |
| 2B | Doug Flynn | 157 | 555 | 135 | .243 | 4 | 61 |
| SS | Frank Taveras | 153 | 635 | 167 | .263 | 1 | 33 |
| 3B | Richie Hebner | 136 | 473 | 127 | .268 | 10 | 79 |
| LF | Steve Henderson | 98 | 350 | 107 | .306 | 5 | 39 |
| CF | Lee Mazzilli | 158 | 597 | 181 | .303 | 15 | 79 |
| RF | Joel Youngblood | 158 | 590 | 162 | .275 | 16 | 60 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elliott Maddox | 86 | 224 | 60 | .268 | 1 | 12 |
| Alex Treviño | 79 | 207 | 56 | .271 | 0 | 20 |
| Ed Kranepool | 82 | 155 | 36 | .232 | 2 | 17 |
| Dan Norman | 44 | 110 | 27 | .245 | 3 | 11 |
| Bruce Boisclair | 59 | 98 | 18 | .184 | 0 | 4 |
| Gil Flores | 70 | 93 | 18 | .194 | 1 | 10 |
| Ron Hodges | 59 | 86 | 14 | .163 | 0 | 5 |
| Kelvin Chapman | 35 | 80 | 12 | .150 | 0 | 4 |
| José Cardenal | 11 | 37 | 11 | .297 | 2 | 4 |
| Sergio Ferrer | 32 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Foli | 3 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craig Swan | 35 | 251.1 | 14 | 13 | 3.29 | 145 |
| Pete Falcone | 33 | 184.0 | 6 | 14 | 4.16 | 113 |
| Kevin Kobel | 30 | 161.2 | 6 | 8 | 3.51 | 67 |
| Dock Ellis | 17 | 85.0 | 3 | 7 | 6.04 | 41 |
| Pat Zachry | 7 | 42.2 | 5 | 1 | 3.59 | 17 |
| Juan Berenguer | 5 | 30.2 | 1 | 1 | 2.93 | 25 |
| Ray Burris | 4 | 21.2 | 0 | 2 | 3.32 | 10 |
| John Pacella | 4 | 16.1 | 0 | 2 | 4.41 | 12 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Hassler | 29 | 80.1 | 4 | 5 | 3.70 | 53 |
| Tom Hausman | 19 | 78.2 | 2 | 6 | 2.75 | 33 |
| Mike Scott | 18 | 52.1 | 1 | 3 | 5.33 | 21 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neil Allen | 50 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 3.55 | 65 |
| Dale Murray | 58 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4.82 | 37 |
| Ed Glynn | 46 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 3.00 | 32 |
| Wayne Twitchell | 33 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 5.23 | 44 |
| Dwight Bernard | 32 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4.70 | 20 |
| Skip Lockwood | 27 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 1.49 | 42 |
| Jesse Orosco | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.89 | 22 |
| Jeff Reardon | 18 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1.74 | 10 |
| Roy Lee Jackson | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.20 | 10 |