1975 New York Mets season

March 2026 November 2013 New York Mets 1975 New York Mets Insignia (1962 to 1992).svg National League East Shea Stadium New York 82 80 y 3rd Joan Whitney Payson Joe McDonald Yogi Berra, Roy McMillan WOR-TV WNEW (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy) The 1975 New York Mets season was the 14th regular season for the Mets, who played their home games at Shea Stadium. Initially led by manager Yogi Berra followed by Roy McMillan, the team had an 82–80 record and finished in third place in the National League East, ten and a half games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates. Offseason October 22, 1974: Duffy Dyer was traded by the Mets to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Gene Clines.Duffy Dyer at Baseball Reference December 3, 1974: Tug McGraw, Don Hahn, and Dave Schneck were traded by the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Del Unser, Mac Scarce and John Stearns.Del Unser at Baseball Reference January 9, 1975: Greg Harris was drafted by the Mets in the 4th round of the 1975 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase), but did not sign.Greg Harris at Baseball Reference Regular season Season summary After the Mets' lackluster 1974 season, changes were made to improve the team. On February 28, the Mets scored a coup. For cash estimated at around $100,000, they acquired the San Francisco Giants' explosive home run hitter, Dave Kingman. A moody but undeniable talent, Kingman had batted just .223 for San Francisco in 1974, striking out every third at-bat, but many of his 18 home runs had traveled breathtaking distances. Kingman, the Mets hoped, would provide the home run power the club lacked, as well as generate some excitement. The Mets were indeed stronger in 1975. Their .256 batting average was the highest in club history, and Kingman did supply some wallop with a then team-record 36 home runs, while Rusty Staub's 105 RBIs made him the first Met to drive in 100. As before, the club's greatest strength lay in its pitching, topped by Tom Seaver's 22–9 record, good enough for a third Cy Young Award. Jerry Koosman was 14–13 and Jon Matlack 16–12, but beyond that no pitcher won more than seven. At season's end, they concluded with an 82–80 record and a tie for third. Firings and tragedies The Mets' marginal 82–80 record also resulted in the dismissal of manager Yogi Berra on August 6. His replacement for the rest of the season was coach Roy McMillan. Also gone, a week earlier, was Cleon Jones, released outright. As the season rolled to an end, there was a quick succession of news stories involving the Mets. On September 29, Casey Stengel died of cancer in California at the age of 85. A few days later, on October 4, the club's principal owner, Mrs. Joan Payson, died at the age of 72. In between these two passings, on October 3 the club announced the hiring of their fifth full-time manager. The new man was Joe Frazier, former major league infielder and manager of the Tidewater Tides in 1975. Frazier was the first Mets skipper to not have played or managed for a New York team prior to managing the Mets, having been promoted from within the organization. June 2009 Frazier had led the Tides, the Mets' top farm club, to a first-place finish in the International League, earning him the Sporting News award for Minor League Manager of the Year. Season standings New York Mets Record vs. opponents NYM Notable transactions April 4, 1975: Joe Nolan was traded by the Mets to the Atlanta Braves for Leo Foster.Leo Foster at Baseball Reference April 12, 1975: Jesús Alou was signed as a free agent by the Mets.Jesús Alou at Baseball Reference April 25, 1975: Bill Laxton was signed as a free agent by the Mets.Bill Laxton at Baseball Reference Draft picks June 3, 1975: Butch Benton was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1975 Major League Baseball draft.Butch Benton at Baseball Reference Roster 1975 New York Mets Roster Pitchers 34 Bob Apodaca 45 Rick Baldwin 38 Jerry Cram 39 Nino Espinosa 19 Tom Hall 36 Jerry Koosman 38 Skip Lockwood 32 Jon Matlack 31 Harry Parker 33 Ken Sanders 33 Mac Scarce 41 Tom Seaver 40 George Stone 27 Craig Swan 48 Randy Tate 30 Hank Webb Catchers 15 Jerry Grote 42 Ron Hodges 16 John Stearns Infielders 11 Wayne Garrett  3 Bud Harrelson 12 Jack Heidemann  7 Ed Kranepool 17 Félix Millán  5 Mike Phillips  2 Roy Staiger  9 Joe Torre Outfielders 23 Jesús Alou  1 Gene Clines 22 Bob Gallagher 21 Cleon Jones 26 Dave Kingman 28 John Milner 10 Rusty Staub 25 Del Unser 31 Mike Vail Other batters  2 Brock Pemberton Manager  8 Yogi Berra 51 Roy McMillan Coaches 24 Willie Mays 51 Roy McMillan 52 Joe Pignatano 54 Rube Walker 53 Eddie Yost Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader 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 Jerry Grote 119 386 114 .295 2 39 1B Ed Kranepool 106 325 105 .323 4 43 2B Félix Millán 162 676 191 .283 1 56 SS Mike Phillips 116 383 98 .256 1 28 3B Wayne Garrett 107 274 73 .266 6 34 LF Dave Kingman 134 502 116 .231 36 88 CF Del Unser 147 531 156 .294 10 53 RF Rusty Staub 155 574 162 .282 19 105 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 Joe Torre 114 361 89 .247 6 35 John Milner 91 220 42 .191 7 29 Gene Clines 82 203 46 .227 0 10 John Stearns 59 169 32 .189 3 10 Mike Vail 38 162 49 .302 3 17 Jack Heidemann 61 145 31 .214 1 16 Jesús Alou 62 102 27 .265 0 11 Bud Harrelson 34 73 16 .219 0 3 Cleon Jones 21 50 12 .240 0 2 Ron Hodges 9 34 7 .206 2 4 Roy Staiger 13 19 3 .158 0 0 Bob Gallagher 33 15 2 .133 0 0 Brock Pemberton 2 2 0 .000 0 0 Pitching = Indicates league leader 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 Tom Seaver 36 280.1 22 9 2.38 243 Jerry Koosman 36 239.2 14 13 3.42 173 Jon Matlack 33 228.2 16 12 3.38 154 Randy Tate 26 137.2 5 13 4.45 99 George Stone 13 57.0 3 3 5.05 21 Craig Swan 6 31.0 1 3 6.39 19 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 Hank Webb 29 115.0 7 6 4.07 38 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 Bob Apodaca 46 3 4 13 1.49 45 Rick Baldwin 54 3 5 6 3.33 54 Tom Hall 34 4 3 1 4.75 48 Ken Sanders 30 1 1 5 2.30 8 Skip Lockwood 24 1 3 2 1.49 61 Harry Parker 18 2 3 2 4.41 22 Jerry Cram 4 0 1 0 5.40 2 Nino Espinosa 2 0 1 0 18.00 2 Mac Scarce 1 0 0 0 ---- 0 Awards and honors Dave Kingman – Player of the Month, July 1975 All-Star Game Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Tidewater Tides International League Joe Frazier AA Jackson Mets Texas League John Antonelli A Visalia Mets California League Jack Aker A Wausau Mets Midwest League Owen Friend Rookie Marion Mets Appalachian League Chuck Hiller and Billy Connors LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tidewater 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 1975 New York Mets at Baseball Reference 1975 New York Mets at Baseball Almanac Category:New York Mets seasons New York Mets season New York Mets season Category:1970s in Queens