Mets 1970's



1970-Mets were 3rd in the NL East with a record of 83-79, (12 points above .500) Manager-Gil Hodges

Other Notes: Mets General Manager John Murphy suffers a fatal heart attack, Bob Scheffing is named the new General Manager. Tom Seaver strikes out a record of 19 Padres. Cleon Jones has a 23 game hitting streak. Tommie Agee hits for the cycle, which consists of hitting a single, double, triple and homerun in a single game. Mets pitcher Tom Seaver homers off of Montreal's Rich Nye. Tom Agee wins the NL Gold Glove.

1971-Ranked 3rd, again. Surprisingly their record was the exact same as it was the previous season, (83-79.)

Other Notes: Don Hahn hits an inside-the-park homer off of Philadelphia's Woodie Fryman.

Buddy Harrelson wins the NL Gold Glove.

1972-The Mets once again ranked 3rd. This time, however, their winning percentage was .532, with a record of 83-73. On a sadder note, Mets manager, Gil Hodges passed away during Spring Training.


Other Notes: Hodges' #14 was retired.

Started the season off with a 11 game winning streak.

Tom Seaver pitches 8.1 perfect innings on July 4th before San Diego's Leron Lee singles.

Willie Mays homers in his first game as a Met.

Major Trades:


Nolan Ryan and 3 minor leaguers traded to the Angels for Jim Fregosi.

Willie Mays acquired from S.F. for Charlie Williams and $50,000.

1973-During the off-season the Mets acquired new manager, Yogi Berra. As a result, the Mets posted 1st in the NL East. They had a record of 82-79, with a winning percentage of .509. However Oakland took them in the Series, 4 games to 3. *Tug McGraw started the phrase, "You Gotta Believe"

Other Notes: Tom Seaver wins Cy Young Award.

Jim Fregosi sold to the Texas Rangers. (Mets for Fregosi by trading Nolan Ryan See "Other Notes" from 1972.)

1974-The Mets slumped and finished 5th in the NL East. ("I ain't in no slump, I just ain't hitting") The Mets record of 71-91, and winning percentage of .438, sent them plummeting into the cellar during the off-season.

Other Notes: Joe McDonald is named GM

John Milner's 20 home runs lead the Mets

Jon Matlack leads the NL in shutouts with 7

Ayala becomes the first Met to hit a homer in his first big league at bat!

Major Trades:

Ray Sadecki and Tommy Moore traded to Cardinals for Joe Torre.

1975-A standing tie of 3rd with St. Louis, (record of 82-80,) with a .506 Winning Percentage, sent NY Mets coach Yogi berra packing.

Other Notes: The Mets mourn the deaths of Casey Stengel and owner Joan Payson during the off season.

Mets rookie Mike Vail has a 23 game hitting streak.

Felix Millan plays in all 162 games

Tom Seaver wins Cy Young award

Major Trades

Joe Torre was acquired from the Cardinals.

1976-With new coach, Joe Frazier, the Mets ranked 3rd once again, but had a winning percentage of .531, (86-76 record.)

Other Notes: Dave Kingman sets an All-time Mets record with 37 home runs.

Tom Seaver strikes out 200+ for his 9th straight year.

Kingman hits a 630 foot home run at Wrigley Field.

Kingman hits 3 home runs in one game at Dodger Stadium

1977-After firing Frazier in the middle of the season, Joe Torre, took over. However, despite Torre's great record with the Yankees today, the Mets posted 6th, with a 64-98 record by seasons end. The Mets had a .395 winning percentage.

Other Notes: Torre becomes the NL's first player-manager since Solly Hemus did it in 1959, with the Cardinals.

Major Trades

Mets trade pitching ace Tom Seaver to the Reds in exchange for Steve Henderson, Pat Zachry, Dan Norman and Doug Flynn.

Kingman was traded to the Padres for Paul Siebert and Bobby Valentine.

1978-The following year the Mets posted the same ranking, (6th) with a record of 66-96, .407 winning percentage.

Other Notes: John Stearns breaks the major league record for steals by a catcher with 25.

1979-As the '70's drew to a close, the Mets still had the awful record of 63-99 on their shoulders, and they still ranked 6th in the NL East, with a winning percentage of 389.

Other Notes: Doug Flynn hits an inside-the-park home run


Major Trades

The Mets is put up for sale shortly after the season, and on January 24th, 1980, it is sold to a group headed by Nelson Doubleday & Co.

Frank Cashen named general manager

The Mets offer Pete Rose $1.5 million to join the team, but Rose chooses Philadelphia instead.


Please e-mail me at sagagrin@hotmail.com with more information