1991 New York Mets season
Major League Baseball team season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1991 New York Mets season was the 30th regular season for the Mets. They went 77–84 and finished fifth in the National League East for their first losing season since 1983. The Mets were managed by Bud Harrelson and Mike Cubbage. They played home games at Shea Stadium.
.svg)
| 1991 New York Mets | |
|---|---|
| |
| League | National League |
| Division | East |
| Ballpark | Shea Stadium |
| City | New York |
| Record | 77–84 (.478) |
| Divisional place | 5th |
| Owners | Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr. |
| General manager | Frank Cashen |
| Managers | Bud Harrelson, Mike Cubbage |
| Television | WWOR-TV/SportsChannel New York (Ralph Kiner, Tim McCarver, Fran Healy, Rusty Staub, Don Criqui) |
| Radio | WFAN (Bob Murphy, Gary Cohen, Charlie Slowes) WSKQ-FM (Spanish) (Juan Alicea, Billy Berroa, Renato Morffi) |
Background
The Mets were looking to return to the playoffs for the first time since 1988 in their first full season with Bud Harrelson as manager following the firing of Davey Johnson during the 1990 season. They started out the season strong, briefly holding first place in the National League East during April. They put together a ten-game winning streak in July, and by the 14th stood at 49-34, 2.5 games behind the division leading Pittsburgh Pirates.
From that point forward, the Mets' fortunes changed drastically. After finishing 6-11 in their final games in July, the Mets started August by losing five straight games. After defeating the Pirates in two games on August 7 and 8, they lost their next eleven games to not only fall below .500, but drop to fourth place in the division. As the slump continued into September, Harrelson was fired with seven games to go. Third base coach Mike Cubbage managed the Mets for the remainder of the year, finishing up with a series loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets finished with a 77-84 record, marking the first time since 1983 that they finished with a sub-.500 record.
Offseason
- November 13, 1990: Chris Jelic was released by the New York Mets.[1]
- December 15, 1990: Bob Ojeda and Greg Hansell were traded by the Mets to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Hubie Brooks.[2]
- January 21, 1991: Rick Cerone was signed as a free agent by the Mets.[3]
Regular season
Howard Johnson set the Mets record for most RBIs in one season with 117.
Opening Day starters
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 52–32 | 46–32 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 84 | 78 | .519 | 14 | 52–32 | 32–46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 78 | 84 | .481 | 20 | 47–36 | 31–48 |
| Chicago Cubs | 77 | 83 | .481 | 20 | 46–37 | 31–46 |
| New York Mets | 77 | 84 | .478 | 20½ | 40–42 | 37–42 |
| Montreal Expos | 71 | 90 | .441 | 26½ | 33–35 | 38–55 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
| Atlanta | — | 6–6 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 9–3 | |||||
| Chicago | 6–6 | — | 4–8 | 9–3 | 2–10 | 10–7 | 11–6 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 10–8 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 7–11 | 8–4 | — | 9–9 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 2–10 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 4–8 | |||||
| Houston | 5–13 | 3–9 | 9–9 | — | 8–10 | 2–10 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 5–7 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 11–7 | 10–2 | 12–6 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 6–6 | |||||
| Montreal | 7–5 | 7–10 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 7–5 | — | 4–14 | 4–14 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 7–11 | |||||
| New York | 3–9 | 6–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 14–4 | — | 11–7 | 6–12 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–11 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 10–8 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 14–4 | 7–11 | — | 6–12 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 6–12 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 3–9 | 11–7 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 12–6 | 12–6 | 12–6 | — | 7–5 | 7–5 | 11–7 | |||||
| San Diego | 7–11 | 8–4 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 9–3 | |||||
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–11 | — | 4–8 | |||||
| St. Louis | 3–9 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 8–4 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- April 2, 1991: Alex Diaz and Darren Reed were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for David Sommer (minors) and Terrel Hansen (minors).[4]
- June 3, 1991: 1991 Major League Baseball draft
- Bill Pulsipher was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round. Player signed August 22, 1991.[5]
- Jason Isringhausen was drafted by the Mets in the 44th round. Player signed May 24, 1992.[6]
- July 15, 1991: Ron Darling and Mike Thomas were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for Tim Burke.[7]
Roster
| 1991 New York Mets | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | Rick Cerone | 90 | 227 | 62 | .273 | 2 | 16 |
| 1B | Dave Magadan | 124 | 418 | 108 | .258 | 4 | 51 |
| 2B | Gregg Jefferies | 136 | 486 | 132 | .272 | 9 | 62 |
| 3B | Howard Johnson | 156 | 564 | 146 | .259 | 38 | 117 |
| SS | Kevin Elster | 115 | 348 | 84 | .241 | 6 | 36 |
| LF | Kevin McReynolds | 143 | 522 | 135 | .259 | 16 | 74 |
| CF | Vince Coleman | 72 | 278 | 71 | .255 | 1 | 17 |
| RF | Hubie Brooks | 103 | 357 | 85 | .238 | 16 | 50 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Miller | 98 | 275 | 77 | .280 | 4 | 23 |
| Daryl Boston | 137 | 255 | 70 | .275 | 4 | 21 |
| Mark Carreon | 106 | 254 | 66 | .260 | 4 | 21 |
| Mackey Sasser | 96 | 228 | 62 | .272 | 5 | 35 |
| Garry Templeton | 80 | 219 | 50 | .228 | 2 | 20 |
| Charlie O'Brien | 69 | 168 | 31 | .185 | 2 | 14 |
| Tom Herr | 70 | 155 | 30 | .194 | 1 | 14 |
| Chris Donnels | 37 | 89 | 20 | .225 | 0 | 5 |
| Todd Hundley | 21 | 60 | 8 | .133 | 1 | 7 |
| Jeff Gardner | 13 | 37 | 6 | .162 | 0 | 1 |
| Tim Teufel | 20 | 34 | 4 | .118 | 1 | 2 |
| Terry McDaniel | 23 | 29 | 6 | .207 | 0 | 2 |
| Chuck Carr | 12 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 1 |
| Kelvin Torve | 10 | 8 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Cone | 34 | 232.2 | 14 | 14 | 3.29 | 241 |
| Frank Viola | 35 | 231.1 | 13 | 15 | 3.97 | 132 |
| Dwight Gooden | 27 | 190.0 | 13 | 7 | 3.60 | 150 |
| Ron Darling | 17 | 102.1 | 5 | 6 | 3.87 | 58 |
| Anthony Young | 10 | 49.1 | 2 | 5 | 3.10 | 20 |
| Sid Fernandez | 8 | 44.0 | 1 | 3 | 2.86 | 31 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wally Whitehurst | 36 | 133.1 | 7 | 12 | 4.19 | 87 |
| Pete Schourek | 35 | 86.1 | 5 | 4 | 4.27 | 67 |
| Tony Castillo | 10 | 23.2 | 1 | 0 | 1.90 | 10 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Franco | 52 | 5 | 9 | 30 | 2.93 | 45 |
| Jeff Innis | 69 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.66 | 47 |
| Alejandro Peña | 44 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 2.71 | 49 |
| Doug Simons | 42 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5.19 | 38 |
| Tim Burke | 35 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2.75 | 34 |
| Terry Bross | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.80 | 5 |
| Rich Sauveur | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 4 |
| Blaine Beatty | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.79 | 7 |
| Julio Valera | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
Awards and honors
League leaders
- Howard Johnson – National League leader, home runs (38)
- Howard Johnson – National League leader, RBI (117)
All-Stars
Frank Viola, Howard Johnson 1991 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbia[8]