1980 New York Mets season

March 2026 November 2013 New York Mets 1980 New York Mets Insignia (1962 to 1992).svg National League East Shea Stadium New York 67 95 y 5th Nelson Doubleday, Jr. Frank Cashen Joe Torre WOR-TV WMCA(Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, Steve Albert) The 1980 New York Mets season was the 19th regular season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Joe Torre, the team had a 67–95 record and finished in fifth place in the National League East, twenty-four games behind the first place Philadelphia Phillies. Offseason The beginnings of the 1986 team On January 24, 1980, ownership of the team changed hands. The group that bought the Mets for an estimated $22 million (the largest amount paid for a ball club to that point) was headed by Nelson Doubleday Jr. and Fred Wilpon.Group Led by Doubleday Buys Mets for a Reported $21 Million Joe Durso The New York Times January 25, 1980 A1 Joe Durso Doubleday was head of the old and distinguished publishing company that bore his name, while Wilpon was a highly successful real-estate developer. The new owners promised to invest money to acquire winning players and develop a competitive club,Mets Are Now Rebuilding On Solid Financial Ground The New York Times January 25, 1980 B6Durso Joe https://www.nytimes.com/1980/01/26/archives/mets-new-owners-pledge-resurgence-wilpon-is-president-no-game-plan.html Mets' New Owners Pledge Resurgence - Wilpon Is President The New York Times January 26, 1980 July 11, 2012 Joe Durso though it took a few years before the new partners were able to rebuild a solid contender. In February, the new owners hired Frank Cashen, who had spent ten years in the front office of the Baltimore Orioles from 1966 to 1976, during which time the Orioles went to four World Series, winning two. During his tenure, the Mets would see what some called a "resuscitation",Steadman John April 15, 1992 With Tip of Cap to Hoffberger, Mets Turn Out to Thank Cashen The Baltimore Sun https://www.baltimoresun.com/1992/04/15/with-tip-of-cap-to-hoffberger-mets-turn-out-to-thank-cashen/ eventually leading to the team's first World Championship in 17 years. After leaving the Orioles, Cashen worked outside of baseball for three years before joining commissioner Bowie Kuhn's office as administrator of baseball. It was from this job that the Mets wooed him and installed him as executive vice president and general manager.Kuhn Aide Is Selected by Mets Joseph Durso The New York Times February 21, 1980 D19 Joe Durso Regular season On the field Due to their last-place finish in 1979, the Mets had the first pick in the 1980 Major League Baseball draft. They used it to select an 18-year-old outfielder from Los Angeles, Darryl Strawberry, a key figure of future Mets teams. With the twenty-third pick, they selected Billy Beane, later the protagonist in Moneyball. Under Torre, the team suffered their 4th consecutive losing season, 24 games out of first place, although the Mets moved up one place in the standings to fifth.Mets to Rehire Torre as Manager Today The New York Times October 6, 1980 C8 They even flirted with .500 (until losing 38 of their last 49 games), which may have led to attendance jumping nearly 400,000 to almost 1,200,000. The team had the motto "The Magic is Back" during the 1980 season. Notable highlights from the season included three come-from-behind wins in five days: 5–4 and 6–5 over the Dodgers June 10 and 12 (after trailing 4–0 and 5–0), and 7–6 over the Giants on the 14th after trailing 6–0. The Mets fell to earth in a five-game sweep at Shea by the eventual champion Phillies in mid-August, before which they were 56–57. Their final home series against the Pirates drew just over 5,900 fans for three games combined.Mets Bow to Pirates In Shea Finale, 10-5 Joseph Durso The New York Times October 2, 1980 D19 Joe Durso The construction of the then-state-of-the-art DiamondVision electronic scoreboard in center field for 1981 resulted in a sharp increase in ticket prices following this season, e.g., with General Admission seating rising from $1.50 to $4.00. Season standings New York Mets Record vs. opponents NYM Opening Day starters Doug Flynn Steve Henderson Mike Jorgensen Elliott Maddox Lee Mazzilli Jerry Morales John Stearns Craig Swan Frank Taveras Notable transactions June 3, 1980: 1980 Major League Baseball draft Darryl Strawberry was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (1st pick). Player signed July 11, 1980.Darryl Strawberry page at Baseball Reference Billy Beane was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (23rd pick).Billy Beane page at Baseball Reference Ronn Reynolds was drafted by the Mets in the 5th round. Player signed June 7, 1980.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/reynoro02.shtml Ronn Reynolds Stats Rick Ownbey was drafted by the Mets in the 13th round.Rick Ownbey page at Baseball Reference Al Newman was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round of the Secondary Phase, but did not sign.Al Newman page at Baseball Reference June 17, 1980: Kevin Kobel was traded by the Mets to the Kansas City Royals for Randy McGilberry.Kevin Kobel page at Baseball Reference July 1, 1980: Randy Johnson was traded by the Mets to the Atlanta Braves for Bill Haselrig (minors).Randy Johnson page at Baseball Reference Roster 1980 New York Mets Roster Pitchers 46 Neil Allen 43 Juan Berenguer 36 Mark Bomback 26 Ray Burris 33 Pete Falcone 48 Ed Glynn 32 Tom Hausman 17 Scott Holman 31 Roy Lee Jackson 49 Kevin Kobel 59 Ed Lynch 49 Dyar Miller 20 John Pacella 45 Jeff Reardon 30 Mike Scott 27 Craig Swan 40 Pat Zachry Catchers 15 Butch Benton 42 Ron Hodges 12 John Stearns  6 Alex Treviño Infielders 25 Bill Almon 28 Wally Backman 39 Hubie Brooks 23 Doug Flynn  2 Mike Jorgensen 21 Elliott Maddox 2,19 Phil Mankowski 16 Lee Mazzilli  4 José Moreno 3,61 Mario Ramírez 58 Luis Rosado 11 Frank Taveras Outfielders  6 José Cardenal  5 Steve Henderson 17 Jerry Morales  8 Dan Norman 15 Claudell Washington  1 Mookie Wilson 18 Joel Youngblood Manager  9 Joe Torre Coaches 53 Chuck Cottier 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 Alex Treviño 106 355 91 .256 0 37 1B Lee Mazzilli 152 578 162 .280 16 76 2B Doug Flynn 128 443 113 .255 0 24 SS Frank Taveras 141 562 157 .279 0 25 3B Elliott Maddox 130 411 101 .246 4 34 LF Steve Henderson Steve Henderson (baseball) 143 513 149 .290 8 58 CF Jerry Morales 94 193 49 .254 3 30 RF Joel Youngblood 146 514 142 .276 8 69 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 Mike Jorgensen 119 321 82 .255 7 43 John Stearns 91 319 91 .285 0 45 Claudell Washington 79 284 78 .275 10 42 Bill Almon 48 112 19 .170 0 4 Mookie Wilson 27 105 26 .248 0 4 Wally Backman 27 93 30 .323 0 9 Dan Norman 69 92 17 .185 2 9 Hubie Brooks 24 81 25 .309 1 10 José Moreno José Moreno (baseball) 37 46 9 .196 2 9 Ron Hodges 36 42 10 .238 0 5 José Cardenal 26 42 7 .167 0 4 Mario Ramírez Mario Ramírez (baseball) 18 24 5 .208 0 0 Butch Benton 12 21 1 .048 0 0 Phil Mankowski 8 12 2 .167 0 1 Luis Rosado 4 4 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 Ray Burris 29 170.1 7 13 4.02 83 Pat Zachry 28 164.2 6 10 3.01 88 Craig Swan 21 128.1 5 9 3.58 79 Mike Scott 6 29.1 1 1 4.30 13 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 Mark Bomback 36 162.2 10 8 4.09 68 Pete Falcone 37 157.1 7 10 4.52 109 John Pacella 32 84.0 3 4 5.14 68 Roy Lee Jackson 24 70.2 1 7 4.20 58 Ed Lynch 5 19.1 1 1 5.12 9 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 59 7 10 22 3.70 79 Jeff Reardon 61 8 7 6 2.61 101 Tom Hausman 55 6 5 1 3.98 53 Ed Glynn 38 3 3 1 4.13 32 Dyar Miller 31 1 2 1 1.93 28 Kevin Kobel 14 1 4 0 7.03 8 Juan Berenguer 6 0 1 0 5.79 7 Scott Holman Scott Holman (baseball) 4 0 0 0 1.29 3 Farm system Minor League Baseball 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 Dan Monzon Rookie Kingsport Mets Appalachian League Chuck Hiller Notes 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 1980 New York Mets at Baseball Reference 1980 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:New York Mets seasons New York Mets season New York Mets Category:1980s in Queens