1969 New York Mets
World Series Champions National League Champions National League East Division Champions
Bullpen coachJoe Pignatano, third base coachEddie Yost, and first base coachYogi Berra in September 1969.
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Shea Stadium
City	Flushing,Queens,NY, U.S.
Record	100–62 (61.7%)
Divisional place	1st place
Owners	Joan Whitney Payson
General manager	Johnny Murphy
Manager	Gil Hodges
Television	WOR-TV (Lindsey Nelson,Bob Murphy,Ralph Kiner)
Radio	WJRZ/WABC-FM (Nelson, Murphy, Kiner)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
← 1968 Seasons 1970 →

The1969 New York Mets season was the team's 8th as aMajor League Baseball (MLB) franchise and culminated when they won theWorld Series over theBaltimore Orioles. They played their home games atShea Stadium and were managed byGil Hodges. The team is often referred to as the "Amazin' Mets" (a nickname coined byCasey Stengel, who managed the team from their inaugural season to 1965) or the "Miracle Mets".

The 1969 season was the first season of divisional play in Major League Baseball. The Mets were assigned to the newly createdNational League East. In their seven previous seasons, the Mets had never finished higher than ninth place in the ten-teamNational League and had never had a winning season. They lost at least one hundred games in five of the seasons. However, they overcame mid-season difficulties while the division leaders for much of the season, theChicago Cubs, suffered a late-season collapse. The Mets finished 100–62 (their first winning season), eight games ahead of the Cubs. They went on to defeat theNational League West championAtlanta Braves three games to none in the inauguralNLCS, and defeated theAmerican League champion Orioles in five games.First basemanDonn Clendenon was named the World Series'most valuable player on the strength of his .357batting average, threehome runs, and fourruns batted in.

On Saturday, August 22, 2009, many of the surviving members of the 1969 championship team reunited at the Mets' present park,Citi Field.^[1]

• October 16, 1968: SoldDon Bosch to theMontreal Expos^[2]

The Mets heldspring training atAl Lang Stadium inSt. Petersburg, Florida, for the 8th season.

The Mets had never finished higher than ninth place in a ten-team league in their first seven seasons. As anexpansion team, they went 40–120 in 1962, the most losses by an MLB team in one season in the 20th century, and the1962 Mets' .250 winning percentage was higher than only the .248 posted by the1935 Boston Braves.

The Mets never had been over .500 after the ninth game of any season. Seven years after their disastrous inaugural season, "The Amazin' Mets" (as nicknamed by previous managerCasey Stengel) won theWorld Series, the first expansion team to do so.

1969 was the first year of divisional baseball, precipitated by the expansion of each league from 10 to 12 teams.^[3] TheKansas City Royals andSeattle Pilots joined theAmerican League. TheSan Diego Padres andMontreal Expos joined theNational League. Before 1969, the first place team in each league advanced directly to theWorld Series. Under the new structure, each league was divided into East and West divisions, each comprising six teams, with the divisional winners facing off in a best-of-five playoff for the right to represent their league in the World Series. The Mets were slotted into theNational League East division, along with theChicago Cubs,Philadelphia Phillies,Pittsburgh Pirates, expansionMontreal Expos, and theSt. Louis Cardinals, who had been World Champions in1964 and1967 and losers of the1968 World Series. For the first time since joining the National League in 1962, the Mets could finish no lower than 6th.^[4]The New York Times journalist,Joe Durso, predicted the Mets would finish 4th in the East, ahead of the Pirates and the Expos.^[5]

On April 8, with 44,541 fans in attendance atShea Stadium, the Mets and the Expos played the first international baseball game in MLB history. The Mets had lost seven straightOpening Day games since joining the National League in 1962. That dubious record reached eight when the Expos prevailed in an 11–10 slugfest, despite the Mets scoring four runs with two down in the bottom of the ninth, highlighted by a pinch hit three-run home run byDuffy Dyer. Apparently, this was axiomatic Mets baseball, as one columnist described the Mets as "masters of the lingering death."^[6]

The Mets took the next two games from the Expos, but then lost six of the following 7 games, bringing their record to 3–7. After a 9–14 start, the Mets won 9 of their next 13 games, including consecutive shutouts in late April against the Cubs and Expos. WhenTom Seaver shut out theAtlanta Braves 5–0 on May 21, the Mets were 18–18, their best start in franchise history. But the Mets lost their next five games, starting with a 15–3 drubbing from the Braves, followed by a 3-game sweep by theHouston Astros, who outscored the Mets 18–4, and finishing with a loss atShea Stadium to the lowlySan Diego Padres.^[7] At the end of play on May 27, the Mets' record stood at 18–23. Then, in late May, the Mets reeled off a club-record 11 straight wins, which included three walk-off wins and dominant pitching, as the Mets pitching staff yielded a stingy 2-runs per game. Starting with their 42nd game, the Mets went 82–39 (a .678 winning percentage), including an astonishing 38–11 in their last 49 games.^[8]

Despite that performance, the Mets suffered two mid-season three-game series sweeps at the hands of the Astros, who manhandled the Mets all season, taking 10 of the 12 games the teams played. They were also no-hit byBob Moose of thePittsburgh Pirates on September 20, only five days after becoming the first major league team to strike out 19 times in a nine-inning game, a game they won, 4–3, on a pair of two-run home runs byRon Swoboda, against the Cardinals'Steve Carlton.

Trailing theChicago Cubs for much of the season, the Mets found themselves in third place and 10 games back on August 14^[9] but they won 14 of their last 17 games during August, and 24 of their 32 games during September and October, to surge past the Cubs, finishing 100–62, eight games ahead of them. That 18 game differential, recovering from being 10 games behind the Cubs to finish 8 games ahead of them, is one of the largest turnarounds in MLB history.

All times areEastern Time

• All games broadcast onWJRZ andMets Radio Network

With two outs in the top of the ninth inning, starting pitcherJerry Koosman faced Orioles second basemanDavey Johnson (who later managed the Mets to theirsecond World Series championship in 1986). After taking a pitch of two balls and one strike, Johnson hit a fly-ball out to left field which was caught byCleon Jones.^[11]

Two futureHall of Fame members were on that Mets' roster: pitcherTom Seaver, who won 25 games en route to winning theCy Young Award, and a youngNolan Ryan playing in his third season. Seaver was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992 and Ryan in 1999. ManagerGil Hodges was elected to the Hall in 2022. Bench coachYogi Berra and Director of Player DevelopmentWhitey Herzog are also in the Hall of Fame.

TheBaltimore Orioles boasted four future Hall of Famers on their roster: pitcherJim Palmer, outfielderFrank Robinson, third basemanBrooks Robinson, and managerEarl Weaver.

• Tommie Agee
• Ken Boswell
• Ed Charles
• Rod Gaspar
• Jerry Grote
• Bud Harrelson
• Cleon Jones
• Ed Kranepool
• Tom Seaver

• June 13, 1969:Al Jackson was purchased from the Mets by theCincinnati Reds.^[12]
• June 15, 1969:Kevin Collins,Steve Renko, Bill Carden (minors), and Dave Colon (minors) were traded by the Mets to theMontreal Expos forDonn Clendenon.^[13]

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Saturday, October 4, 1969, atAtlanta Stadium inAtlanta

Sunday, October 5, 1969, at Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia

Monday, October 6, 1969, atShea Stadium inQueens, New York

Saturday, October 11, 1969, atMemorial Stadium inBaltimore, Maryland

Sunday, October 12, 1969, atMemorial Stadium inBaltimore, Maryland

Tuesday, October 14, 1969, atShea Stadium inFlushing,Queens, New York

Wednesday, October 15, 1969, atShea Stadium inFlushing,Queens, New York

Thursday, October 16, 1969, atShea Stadium inFlushing,Queens, New York

In the movieOh, God!, God, as played byGeorge Burns, explains toJohn Denver that "the last miracle I performed was the 1969 Mets."

Part of the movieFrequency is set in Queens, New York, in 1969, as firefighter and avid Mets fan Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid) and his family follow the "Amazin's" throughout the World Series.

InMoonlighting, Season 2, Episode 13, "In God We Strongly Suspect", when David is attempting to define the parameters of Maddie's skepticism and atheism by inviting her to provide logical explanations for various phenomena seemingly beyond man's understanding, he mentions the "'69 Mets" which she immediately dismisses as "a myth and a hoax".

In his song "Faith and Fear in Flushing Meadows", twee/folk artist Harry Breitner makes mention ofTom Seaver andJerry Koosman.

In the TV sitcomEverybody Loves Raymond episode "Big Shots", Ray and Robert visit theBaseball Hall of Fame to meet members of the '69 Mets.

In the filmMen in Black 3, set shortly before theApollo 11 launch in July 1969, Griffin, an alien from thefifth dimension who can see the future, says the Mets' title is his favorite human history moment for "all the improbabilities that helped".

In the TV showGrowing Pains, the family's name was the Seavers and their neighbors were the Koosmans.

In the TV SitcomThe Simpsons episodeMoneyBart,Homer Simpson says the 1969 Mets will live on forever.

Nolan Ryan's 1969 championship ring on display at the Nolan Ryan Exhibit Center

Outfielders

Pitchers

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Memphis^[15]

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