1988 New York Mets season

March 2026 November 2013 New York Mets 1988 New York Mets Insignia (1962 to 1992).svg National League East champions National League East Shea Stadium New York 100 60 y 1st Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr. Frank Cashen Davey Johnson WWOR-TV/SportsChannel New York(Ralph Kiner, Steve Zabriskie, Tim McCarver, Fran Healy, Rusty Staub) WFAN (Bob Murphy, Gary Thorne, Charlie Slowes)WJIT (Spanish)(Juan Alicea, Billy Berroa) The 1988 New York Mets season was the 27th regular season for the Mets. They went 100–60 and finished first in the National League East. They were managed by Davey Johnson. They played home games at Shea Stadium. The Mets would go on to lose to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS in seven games. Offseason December 11, 1987: Jesse Orosco was traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Mets to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers sent Jack Savage to the Mets, and the Oakland Athletics sent Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst to the Mets. The Dodgers sent Bob Welch and Matt Young to the Athletics, and the Athletics sent Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell to the Dodgers.Jesse Orosco at Baseball-Reference December 11, 1987: Rafael Santana and Victor Garcia (minors) were traded by the Mets to the New York Yankees for Darren Reed, Phil Lombardi, and Steve Frey.Rafael Santana at Baseball-Reference March 26, 1988: Randy Milligan and Scott Henion (minors) were traded by the Mets to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Mackey Sasser and Tim Drummond.Randy Milligan at Baseball-Reference Regular season August 9: The Mets participated in the first official night game at Wrigley Field, which the Cubs won, 6–4. Season standings New York Mets Record vs. opponents NYM Notable transactions August 4, 1988: Tom McCarthy and Steve Springer were traded by the Mets to the Chicago White Sox for Mike Maksudian and Vince Harris (minors).Mike Maksudian at Baseball-Reference August 22, 1988: Héctor Ramírez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.Héctor Ramírez at Baseball-Reference Roster 1988 New York Mets Roster Pitchers 15 Rick Aguilera 44 David Cone 12 Ron Darling 50 Sid Fernandez 16 Dwight Gooden 40 Jeff Innis 26 Terry Leach 27 Bob McClure 42 Roger McDowell 43 John Mitchell 48 Randy Myers 45 Edwin Núñez 19 Bob Ojeda 31 Gene Walter 46 David West Catchers  8 Gary Carter 33 Barry Lyons  2 Mackey Sasser Infielders  6 Wally Backman 21 Kevin Elster 17 Keith Hernandez  9 Gregg Jefferies 20 Howard Johnson 29 Dave Magadan 25 Keith Miller 11 Tim Teufel Outfielders 32 Mark Carreon  4 Lenny Dykstra 13 Lee Mazzilli 22 Kevin McReynolds 18 Darryl Strawberry  1 Mookie Wilson Manager  5 Davey Johnson Coaches 23 Bud Harrelson 52 Greg Pavlick 34 Sam Perlozzo 28 Bill Robinson 30 Mel Stottlemyre Game log Regular season New York Mets 1962thru1992; 1988 Game LogOverall: 100–60 (Home: 56–24; Away: 44–36) y New York Mets 1962thru1992; April: 15–6 (Home: 6–2; Away: 9–4) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/Streak GB |- style="background:#cfc;" | 1 || April 4 || 3:25pm EDT || @ Expos || W 10–6 || || || || || 55,413 || 1–0 || W1 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 || April 6 || 7:35pm EDT || @ Expos || L 1–5 || || || || || 11,112 || 1–1 || L1 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 3 || April 7 || 7:35pm EDT || @ Expos || W 8–5 || || || || || 10,193 || 2–1 || W1 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 || April 8 || 7:35pm EDT || @ Phillies || L 1–5 || || || || || 21,921 || 2–2 || L1 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 5 || April 9 || 3:20pm EDT || @ Phillies || L 3–9 || || || || || 30,994 || 2–3 || L2 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 6 || April 10 || 1:35pm EDT || @ Phillies || W 4–3 || || || || || 51,781 || 3–3 || W1 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 7 || April 12 || 1:35pm EDT || Expos || W 3–0 || || || || || 48,719 || 4–3 || W2 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 8 || April 14 || 1:40pm EDT || Expos || W 1–0 || || || || || 19,612 || 5–3 || W3 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 9 || April 15 || 7:35pm EDT || Cardinals || W 3–0 (6) || || || || || 33,094 || 6–3 || W4 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 10 || April 16 || 1:30pm EDT || Cardinals || W 6–4 || || || || || 40,582 || 7–3 || W5 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 11 || April 17 || 1:35pm EDT || Cardinals || W 3–2 || || || || || 48,760 || 8–3 || W6 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 12 || April 18 || 7:50pm EDT || Phillies || L 7–10 || || || || || 14,931 || 8–4 || L1 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 13 || April 19 || 7:37pm EDT || Phillies || L 2–10 || || || || || 24,555 || 8–5 || L2 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 14 || April 20 || 7:41pm EDT || Phillies || W 6–2 || || || || || 27,714 || 9–5 || W1 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 15 || April 22 || 8:35pm EDT || @ Cardinals || W 4–0 || || || || || 47,207 || 10–5 || W2 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 16 || April 23 || 8:05pm EDT || @ Cardinals || W 12–9 || || || || || 45,110 || 11–5 || W3 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 17 || April 24 || 2:15pm EDT || @ Cardinals || L 4–5 || || || || || 41,617 || 11–6 || L1 || |- y New York Mets 1962thru1992; May: 19–9 (Home: 9–5; Away: 10–4) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/Streak GB |- y New York Mets 1962thru1992; June: 15–13 (Home: 11–4; Away: 4–9) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/Streak GB |- y New York Mets 1962thru1992; July: 14–12 (Home: 9–5; Away: 5–7) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/Streak GB |- y New York Mets 1962thru1992; August: 15–14 (Home: 7–7; Away: 8–7) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/Streak GB |- y New York Mets 1962thru1992; September: 20–6 (Home: 12–1; Away: 8–5) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/Streak GB |- y New York Mets 1962thru1992; October: 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Away: 0–0) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/Streak GB |- |- style="text-align:center;" | Legend:      #cfc darkgray = Win      #fcc darkgray = Loss      #bbb darkgray = PostponementBold = Mets team member Postseason Game log New York Mets 1962thru1992; 1988 Postseason game log: 3–4 (Home: 1–2; Away: 2–2) y New York Mets 1962thru1992; NL Championship Series: vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 3–4 (Home: 1–2; Away: 2–2) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Location (Attendance) Series Box/Streak |- style="background:#bfb;" | 1 || October 4, 1988 || 8:28p.m. EDT || @ Dodgers || 3–2 || || || || 2:45 || Dodger Stadium (55,582) || NYN 1–0 || W1 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 2 || October 5, 1988 || 10:08p.m. EDT || @ Dodgers || 3–6 || || || || 3:10 || Dodger Stadium (55,780) || TIE 1–1 || L1 |- style="background:#bbb;" | — || October 7, 1988 || 8:28p.m. EDT || Dodgers || colspan=8| Postponed (rain); Makeup: October 8 |- style="background:#bfb;" | 3 || October 8, 1988 || 12:20p.m. EDT || Dodgers || 8–4 || || || || 3:44 || Shea Stadium (44,672) || NYN 2–1 || W1 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 4 || October 9, 1988 || 8:22p.m. EDT || Dodgers || 4–5 (12) || || || || 4:29 || Shea Stadium (54,014) || TIE 2–2 || L1 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 5 || October 10, 1988 || 12Noon EDT || Dodgers || 4–7 || || || || 3:07 || Shea Stadium (52,069) || LAN 3–2 || L2 |- style="background:#bfb;" | 6 || October 11, 1988 || 8:22p.m. EDT || @ Dodgers || 5–1 || || || || 3:16 || Dodger Stadium (55,885) || TIE 3–3 || W1 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 7 || October 12, 1988 || 8:22p.m. EDT || @ Dodgers || 0–6 || || || || 2:51 || Dodger Stadium (55,693) || LAN 4–3 || L1 |- |- style="text-align:center;" | Legend:      #cfc darkgray = Win      #fcc darkgray = Loss      #bbb darkgray = PostponementBold = Mets team member 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 Gary Carter 130 455 110 .242 11 46 1B Keith Hernandez 95 348 96 .276 11 55 2B Wally Backman 99 294 89 .303 0 17 3B Howard Johnson 148 495 114 .230 24 68 SS Kevin Elster 149 406 87 .214 9 37 LF Kevin McReynolds 147 552 159 .288 27 99 CF Len Dykstra 126 429 116 .270 8 33 RF Darryl Strawberry 153 543 146 .269 39 101 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 Mookie Wilson 112 378 112 .296 8 41 Dave Magadan 112 314 87 .277 1 35 Tim Teufel 90 273 64 .234 4 31 Mackey Sasser 60 123 35 .285 1 17 Lee Mazzilli 68 116 17 .147 0 12 Gregg Jeffries 29 109 35 .321 6 17 Barry Lyons 50 91 21 .231 0 11 Keith Miller 40 70 15 .214 1 5 Mark Carreon 7 9 5 .556 1 1 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 Dwight Gooden 34 248.1 18 9 3.19 175 Ron Darling 34 240.2 17 9 3.25 161 David Cone 35 231.1 20 3 2.22 213 Bob Ojeda 29 190.1 10 13 2.88 133 Sid Fernandez 31 187.0 12 10 3.03 189 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 Rick Aguilera 11 24.2 0 4 6.93 16 David West 2 6.0 1 0 3.00 3 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 Randy Myers 55 7 3 26 1.72 69 Roger McDowell 62 5 5 16 2.63 46 Terry Leach 52 7 2 3 2.54 51 Gene Walter 19 0 1 0 3.78 14 Bob McClure 14 1 0 1 4.09 7 Jeff Innis 12 1 1 0 1.89 14 Edwin Núñez 10 1 0 0 4.50 8 John Mitchell 1 0 0 0 0.00 1 NLCS 1988 National League Championship Series Game 1 October 4: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Team123456789RHENew York000000003381Los Angeles100000100240WP: Randy Myers (1–0)  LP: Jay Howell (0–1)HR: NYM – None.; LA – None. Game 2 October 5: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Team123456789RHENew York000200001360Los Angeles14001000X670WP: Tim Belcher (1–0)  LP: David Cone (0–1)  SV: Alejandro Peña (1)HR: NYM – Keith Hernandez (1); LA – None. Game 3 October 8: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Team123456789RHELos Angeles021000010472New York00100205X892WP: Randy Myers (2–0)  LP: Alejandro Peña (0–1)HR: LA – None.; NYM – None. Game 4 October 9: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Team123456789101112RHELos Angeles200000002001571New York0003010000004102WP: Alejandro Peña (1–1)  LP: Roger McDowell (0–1)   SV: Orel Hershiser (1)HR: LA – Mike Scioscia (1), Kirk Gibson (1); NYM – Darryl Strawberry (1), Kevin McReynolds (1) Game 5 October 10: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Team123456789RHELos Angeles0003300017120New York000030010491WP: Tim Belcher (2–0)  LP: Sid Fernandez (0–1)  SV: Brian Holton (1)HR: LA – Kirk Gibson (2); NYM – Lenny Dykstra (1) Game 6 October 11: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Team123456789RHENew York1010210005110Los Angeles000010000152WP: David Cone (1–1)  LP: Tim Leary (0–1)HR: NYM – Kevin McReynolds (2); LA – None. Game 7 October 12: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Team123456789RHENew York000000000052Los Angeles15000000X6100WP: Orel Hershiser (1–0)  LP: Ron Darling (0–1)HR: NYM – None.; LA – None. Awards and honors Keith Hernandez, Gold Glove Award Keith Hernandez, Major League record, most Gold Gloves by a first baseman (it was also his 11th consecutive Gold Glove)Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 47, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0 Kevin McReynolds – Player of the Month, September 1988 Gary Carter – 300 career home runs, and set record for career putouts for a catcher 1988 MLB All-Star Game Gary Carter David Cone Dwight Gooden Darryl Strawberry Team leaders Games – Darryl Strawberry (153) At-bats – Kevin McReynolds (552) Home runs – Darryl Strawberry (39) Runs batted in – Darryl Strawberry (101) Batting average – Wally Backman (.303) Hits – Kevin McReynolds (159) Doubles – Kevin McReynolds (30) Triples – Mookie Wilson (5) Walks – Howard Johnson (86) Stolen bases – Len Dykstra (30) Wins – David Cone (20) Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Tidewater Tides International League Mike Cubbage AA Jackson Mets Texas League Tucker Ashford A St. Lucie Mets Florida State League Clint Hurdle A Columbia Mets South Atlantic League Butch Hobson A-Short Season Little Falls Mets New York–Penn League Bill Stein Rookie Kingsport Mets Appalachian League Bobby Floyd Rookie GCL Mets Gulf Coast League John TamargoLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Lucie, KingsportJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 References External links 1988 New York Mets at Baseball Almanac 1988 New York Mets at Baseball Reference 1988 New York Mets schedule and stats at MLB.com The 1988 New York Mets at Retrosheet Category:New York Mets seasons New York Mets Category:National League East champion seasons Category:1980s in Queens