The1979New York Mets season was the 18th season for the Mets, who played home games atShea Stadium. Led by managerJoe Torre, the team had a 63–99 record and finished in sixth place in theNational 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.
| 1979 New York Mets | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg) | ||||
| League | National League | |||
| Division | East | |||
| Ballpark | Shea Stadium | |||
| City | New York | |||
| Record | 63–99 (.389) | |||
| Divisional place | 6th | |||
| Owners | Charles Shipman Payson | |||
| General managers | Joe McDonald | |||
| Managers | Joe Torre | |||
| Television | WOR-TV | |||
| Radio | WMCA (Ralph Kiner,Bob Murphy, Steve Albert) | |||
| ||||
Offseason
edit- October 2, 1978:Paul Siebert was traded by the Mets to theSt. Louis Cardinals forBob Coluccio.[1]
- December 4, 1978:Bobby Brown was drafted by the Mets from theNew York Yankees in the 1978rule 5 draft.[2]
- December 5, 1978:Tom Grieve andKim Seaman were traded by the Mets to theSt. Louis Cardinals forPete Falcone.[3]
- December 8, 1978:Jerry Koosman was traded by the Mets to theMinnesota Twins for a player to be named later and Greg Field (minors). The Minnesota Twins completed the trade by sendingJesse Orosco to the Mets on February 7, 1979.[4]
- March 25, 1979: Bobby Brown was selected off waivers from the Mets by theToronto Blue Jays.[2]
- March 27, 1979:Nino Espinosa was traded by the Mets to thePhiladelphia Phillies forRichie Hebner andJosé Moreno.[5]
Regular season
editThe 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
edit| 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
editSources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MTL | 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
edit- Kelvin Chapman
- Doug Flynn
- Richie Hebner
- Steve Henderson
- Elliott Maddox
- Lee Mazzilli
- Willie Montañez
- John Stearns
- Craig Swan
Notable transactions
edit- 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 andMike Bruhert were traded by the Mets to theTexas Rangers forDock 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 sentEd Lynch to the Mets on September 18 andMike Jorgensen on October 23 to complete the deal.[15]
- August 20, 1979:Ray Burris was selected off waivers by the Mets from theNew York Yankees.[16]
- September 21, 1979: Dock Ellis was purchased from the Mets by thePittsburgh Pirates.[14]
Roster
edit| 1979 New York Mets | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches | ||||||
Player stats
editBatting
editStarters by position
editNote: 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
editNote: 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
editStarting pitchers
editNote: 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
editNote: 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
editNote: 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 |
Farm system
editSee also:Minor League Baseball
Notes
edit- ^Paul Siebert page at Baseball Reference
- ^abBobby Brown page at Baseball Reference
- ^Kim Seaman page at Baseball Reference
- ^Jerry Koosman page on Baseball Reference
- ^José Moreno page at Baseball Reference
- ^Abel, Allen (September 20, 1979). "Pennant fever is long gone".The Globe and Mail. p. P47.
- ^Strauss, Michael (May 8, 1979). "Dodgers Beat Mets, Falcone, 5-2".The New York Times. p. B11.
- ^Durso, Joseph (September 12, 1979). "Mets Beaten by Phillies, 5-2".The New York Times. p. B6.
The New York Mets continued their relentless march towards...the lowest attendance in the club's 18-year history.
- ^abDurso, Joseph (November 6, 1979). "Sale of Mets Is Broached At Stockholders Meeting".The New York Times. p. C14.
The Mets...finished in last place...for the third straight time, before a record low attendance of 788,000 fans.
- ^Tim Leary page at Baseball Reference
- ^Ron Gardenhire page at Baseball Reference
- ^Dave Smith page at Baseball Reference
- ^Bill Mooneyham page at Baseball-Reference
- ^abDock Ellis page at Baseball-Reference
- ^Willie Montañez page at Baseball-Reference
- ^Ray Burris page at Baseball Reference
References
edit- 1979 New York Mets at Baseball Reference
- 1979 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997).The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.