1980 New York Mets season

The beginnings of the 1986 team

On January 24, 1980, ownership of the team changed hands.^[1] The group that bought the Mets for an estimated $22 million (the largest amount paid for a ball club to that point) was headed by Nelson Doubleday Jr. and Fred Wilpon.^[1] Doubleday was head of the old and distinguished publishing company that bore his name, while Wilpon was a highly successful real-estate developer. The new owners promised to invest money to acquire winning players and develop a competitive club,^[2][3] though it took a few years before the new partners were able to rebuild a solid contender.

In February, the new owners hired Frank Cashen,^[4] who had spent ten years in the front office of the Baltimore Orioles from 1966 to 1976, during which time the Orioles went to four World Series, winning two.^[4] During his tenure, the Mets would see what some called a "resuscitation",^[5] eventually leading to the team's first World Championship in 17 years. After leaving the Orioles, Cashen worked outside of baseball for three years before joining commissioner Bowie Kuhn's office as administrator of baseball. It was from this job that the Mets wooed him and installed him as executive vice president and general manager.^[4]

On the field

Due to their last-place finish in 1979, the Mets had the first pick in the 1980 Major League Baseball draft. They used it to select an 18-year-old outfielder from Los Angeles, Darryl Strawberry, a key figure of future Mets teams. With the twenty-third pick, they selected Billy Beane, later the protagonist in Moneyball.

Under Torre, the team suffered their 4th consecutive losing season, 24 games out of first place, although the Mets moved up one place in the standings to fifth.^[6] They even flirted with .500 (until losing 38 of their last 49 games), which may have led to attendance jumping nearly 400,000 to almost 1,200,000. The team had the motto "The Magic is Back" during the 1980 season. Notable highlights from the season included three come-from-behind wins in five days: 5–4 and 6–5 over the Dodgers June 10 and 12 (after trailing 4–0 and 5–0), and 7–6 over the Giants on the 14th after trailing 6–0. The Mets fell to earth in a five-game sweep at Shea by the eventual champion Phillies in mid-August, before which they were 56–57. Their final home series against the Pirates drew just over 5,900 fans for three games combined.^[7]

The construction of the then-state-of-the-art DiamondVision electronic scoreboard in center field for 1981 resulted in a sharp increase in ticket prices following this season, e.g., with General Admission seating rising from $1.50 to $4.00.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters

• Doug Flynn
• Steve Henderson
• Mike Jorgensen
• Elliott Maddox
• Lee Mazzilli
• Jerry Morales
• John Stearns
• Craig Swan
• Frank Taveras

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1980: 1980 Major League Baseball draft
  • Darryl Strawberry was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (1st pick). Player signed July 11, 1980.^[8]
  • Billy Beane was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (23rd pick).^[9]
  • Ronn Reynolds was drafted by the Mets in the 5th round. Player signed June 7, 1980.^[10]
  • Rick Ownbey was drafted by the Mets in the 13th round.^[11]
  • Al Newman was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round of the Secondary Phase, but did not sign.^[12]
• June 17, 1980: Kevin Kobel was traded by the Mets to the Kansas City Royals for Randy McGilberry.^[13]
• July 1, 1980: Randy Johnson was traded by the Mets to the Atlanta Braves for Bill Haselrig (minors).^[14]

Roster

Batting

Pitching