1980 New York Mets season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1980 New York Mets
Major league affiliations
National League (since 1962) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Shea Stadium (since 1964) New York, New York (since 1962)
1980 information
Owner(s)	Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr.
General manager(s)	Joe McDonald and Frank Cashen
Manager(s)	Joe Torre
Local television	WOR-TV
Local radio	WMCA (Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, Steve Albert)

The New York Mets' 1980 season was the 19th regular season for the Mets, who played played home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Joe Torre, the team had a 67-95 record yielding a 5th place finish in the National League's Eastern Division.

Contents 1 Offseason 1.1 The Beginnings of the 1986 Team 2 Regular season 2.1 On the field 2.2 Opening Day Starters 2.3 Season standings 2.4 Notable transactions 2.5 Roster 3 Player stats 3.1 Batting 3.1.1 Starters by position 3.1.2 Other batters 3.2 Pitching 3.2.1 Starting pitchers 3.2.2 Other pitchers 3.2.3 Relief pitchers 4 Farm system[6] 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Offseason

[edit] 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 ever paid for a ball club to that point), was headed by Nelson Doubleday, Jr. and Fred Wilpon. 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 spend money to get winning players and to make the club competitive.^{[citation needed]} These were the standard promises of new ownership; but in this case they were genuinely meant and acted upon. Over the next few years, Doubleday, Wilpon, and their associates would demonstrate their eagerness to restore the New York Mets. But years it would take before the new partners were able to tear down their club and transmute it into that desired status of contender.

Hired as architect of this rebuilding was a consummate professional. He was Frank Cashen, who had spent ten years in the front office of the Baltimore Orioles from 1966 to 1976, helping that organization become the most successful in baseball.^{[citation needed]} 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.

[edit] Regular season

[edit] On the field

Due to their last-place finish in 1979 New York Mets season, 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, who would be a big part of future Mets teams.

The team under Torre suffered their 4th straight losing season, 24 games out of first place. although the Mets moved up one place in the standings to fifth. They were right around .500 until losing 38 of their last 49 games, which may have led to attendance jumping nearly 400,000 to almost 1,200,000.

[edit] Opening Day Starters

• Doug Flynn
• Steve Henderson
• Mike Jorgensen
• Elliott Maddox
• Lee Mazzilli
• Jerry Morales
• John Stearns
• Craig Swan
• Frank Taveras

[edit] Season standings

Team	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
Philadelphia Phillies	91	71	.562	0
Montreal Expos	90	72	.556	1.0
Pittsburgh Pirates	83	79	.512	8.0
St. Louis Cardinals	74	88	.457	17.0
New York Mets	67	95	.414	24.0
Chicago Cubs	67	95	.395	27.0

[edit] 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.^[1]
  • Billy Beane was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (23rd pick).^[2]
  • June 3, 1980: Al Newman was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round of the 1980 amateur draft (Secondary Phase), but did not sign. ^[3]
• June 17, 1980: Kevin Kobel was traded by the Mets to the Kansas City Royals for Randy McGilberry.^[4]
• July 1, 1980: Randy Johnson was traded by the Mets to the Atlanta Braves for Bill Haselrig (minors).^[5]

[edit] Roster

1980 New York Mets roster view • talk • edit
Roster
Pitchers 46 Neil Allen 43 Juan Berenguer 28 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

[edit] Player stats

[edit] Batting

[edit] 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
2B	Flynn, DougDoug Flynn	128	443	113	.255	0	24
LF	Henderson, SteveSteve Henderson	143	513	149	.290	8	58

[edit] Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Jorgensen, MikeMike Jorgensen	119	321	82	.255	7	43
Moreno, JoséJosé Moreno	37	46	9	.196	2	9
Ramírez, MarioMario Ramírez	18	24	5	.208	0	0

[edit] Pitching

[edit] Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

[edit] Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

[edit] Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Kobel, KevinKevin Kobel	14	1	4	0	7.03	8

[edit] Farm system^[6]

• Class AAA: Tidewater Tides (International League; Frank Verdi, manager)
• Class AA: Jackson Mets (Texas League; Bob Wellman, manager)
• Class A: Lynchburg Mets (Carolina League; Jack Aker, manager)
• Class SS-A: Little Falls Mets (New York-Penn League; Dan Monzon, manager)
• Rookie: Kingsport Mets (Appalachian League; Chuck Hiller, manager)

[edit] References

1. ^ Darryl Strawberry page at Baseball Reference
2. ^ Billy Beane page at Baseball Reference
3. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/n/newmaal01.shtml
4. ^ Kevin Kobel page at Baseball Reference
5. ^ Randy Johnson page at Baseball Reference
6. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007

[edit] External links

• 1980 New York Mets
• 1980 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

v • d • e 1980 MLB season by team AL East Baltimore • Boston • Cleveland • Detroit • Milwaukee • New York • Toronto AL West California • Chicago • Kansas City • Minnesota • Oakland • Seattle • Texas NL East Chicago • Montréal • New York • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • St. Louis NL West Atlanta • Cincinnati • Houston • Los Angeles • San Diego • San Francisco 1980 Major League Baseball Draft • 1980 All-Star Game • 1980 World Series

v • d • e New York Mets Based in Queens, New York City, New York The Franchise History • Expansion Draft • Seasons • Records • Players • New York Mets Hall of Fame • Managers • Broadcasters • Opening Day starting pitchers • SportsNet New York Ballparks Polo Grounds • Shea Stadium • Citi Field • Spring Training: Al Lang Stadium • Tradition Field Culture Continental League • Mr. Met • Kiner's Korner • The Miracle Mets • Game 6 • Generation K • Grand Slam Single • The Catch • Home Run Apple • Sign Man • Cowbell Man • Curse of Ryan • 9/21/01 • "Meet the Mets" • George Kalinsky Key Personnel Owner: Fred Wilpon • COO: Jeff Wilpon • General Manager: Omar Minaya • Manager: Jerry Manuel Rivalries Philadelphia Phillies • New York Yankees • Subway Series • Atlanta Braves Important Figures William Shea • Joan Payson • Casey Stengel • Bob Murphy • Lindsey Nelson • Ralph Kiner • Gil Hodges • Ed Kranepool • Tug McGraw • Bud Harrelson • Tom Seaver • Jerry Koosman • Tommie Agee • Yogi Berra • Rusty Staub • Nelson Doubleday, Jr. • Frank Cashen • Davey Johnson • Dwight Gooden • Gary Carter • Ray Knight • Ron Darling • Mookie Wilson • Lenny Dykstra • Jesse Orosco • Keith Hernandez • Darryl Strawberry • David Cone • Gary Cohen • John Franco • Howie Rose • Bobby Valentine • Al Leiter • Edgardo Alfonzo • Mike Piazza • Robin Ventura • José Reyes • David Wright • Willie Randolph • Pedro Martínez • Carlos Beltrán • Carlos Delgado • Johan Santana • Francisco Rodríguez Retired Numbers 14 • 37 • 41 • 42 • Shea Championships 1969 • 1986 Pennants National League: 1969 • 1973 • 1986 • 2000 Other titles Eastern: 1969 • 1973 • 1986 • 1988 • 2006 • Wild Card: 1999 • 2000 Minors Player overview • AAA: Buffalo Bisons • AA: Binghamton Mets • A: St. Lucie Mets • Savannah Sand Gnats • Brooklyn Cyclones • Rookie: Kingsport Mets • Gulf Coast League Mets • DSL Mets • VSL Mets   Seasons (48) 1960s 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 1970s 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 1980s 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 1990s 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 2000s 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009