1979 New York Mets season

1979 New York Mets
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Shea Stadium
City	New York
Owners	Charles Shipman Payson
General managers	Joe McDonald
Managers	Joe Torre
Television	WOR-TV
Radio	WMCA (Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, Steve Albert)
Seasons

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. This was also the first season that the players names appeared on the back of the uniforms.

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

• v
• t
• e

NL East

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

1979 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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

• Kelvin Chapman
• Doug Flynn
• Richie Hebner
• Steve Henderson
• Elliott Maddox
• Lee Mazzilli
• Willie Montañez
• John Stearns
• Craig Swan

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 46 Neil Allen 43 Juan Berenguer 28 Dwight Bernard 26 Ray Burris 35 Dock Ellis 33 Pete Falcone 48 Ed Glynn 44 Andy Hassler 32 Tom Hausman 31 Roy Lee Jackson 49 Kevin Kobel 38 Skip Lockwood 22 Dale Murray 61,47 Jesse Orosco 20 John Pacella 45 Jeff Reardon 30 Mike Scott 27 Craig Swan 36 Wayne Twitchell 40 Pat Zachry		Catchers 42 Ron Hodges 12 John Stearns  6 Alex Treviño Infielders 10 Kelvin Chapman  1 Sergio Ferrer 23 Doug Flynn 19 Tim Foli  3 Richie Hebner  7 Ed Kranepool 25 Willie Montañez 11 Frank Taveras		Outfielders  4 Bruce Boisclair  6 José Cardenal 17 Gil Flores  5 Steve Henderson 21 Elliott Maddox 16 Lee Mazzilli  8 Dan Norman 18 Joel Youngblood		Manager  9 Joe Torre Coaches 53 Chuck Cottier 24 Willie Mays 52 Joe Pignatano 51 Dick Sisler 54 Rube Walker

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

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tidewater Tides	International League	Frank Verdi
AA	Jackson Mets	Texas League	Bob Wellman
A	Lynchburg Mets	Carolina League	Jack Aker
A-Short Season	Little Falls Mets	New York–Penn League	Matt Galante
A-Short Season	Grays Harbor Mets	Northwest League	Dan Monzon

Notes

1. Paul Siebert page at Baseball Reference
2. Bobby Brown page at Baseball Reference
3. Kim Seaman page at Baseball Reference
4. Jerry Koosman page on Baseball Reference
5. José Moreno page at Baseball Reference
6. Abel, Allen (September 20, 1979). "Pennant fever is long gone". The Globe and Mail. p. P47.
7. Strauss, Michael (May 8, 1979). "Dodgers Beat Mets, Falcone, 5-2". The New York Times. p. B11.
8. 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.
9. Durso, 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.
10. Tim Leary page at Baseball Reference
11. Ron Gardenhire page at Baseball Reference
12. Dave Smith page at Baseball Reference
13. Bill Mooneyham page at Baseball-Reference
14. Dock Ellis page at Baseball-Reference
15. Willie Montañez page at Baseball-Reference
16. Ray Burris page at Baseball Reference

References

• 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.