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1979 New York Mets season

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[edit]

• 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[edit]

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[edit]

Record vs. opponents[edit]

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 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[edit]

Player stats[edit]

Batting[edit]

Starters by position[edit]

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

Other batters[edit]

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

Pitching[edit]

Starting pitchers[edit]

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

Other pitchers[edit]

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

Relief pitchers[edit]

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

Farm system[edit]

Notes[edit]

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.