1980 New York Mets season

1980 New York Mets
Major League affiliations
Location
  • New York (since 1962)
Other information
Owner(s) Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr.
General manager(s) Frank Cashen
Manager(s) Joe Torre
Local television WOR-TV
Local radio WMCA
(Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, Steve Albert)
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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.

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 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,[1] but it would take years before the new partners were able to tear down their club and rebuild a contender.

Hired as architect of this rebuilding was 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",[2] 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.

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, 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. The team had the motto the "Magic is Back" during the 1980 season.

Season standings

NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Philadelphia Phillies 91 71 0.562 — 49–32 42–39
Montreal Expos 90 72 0.556 1 51–29 39–43
Pittsburgh Pirates 83 79 0.512 8 47–34 36–45
St. Louis Cardinals 74 88 0.457 17 41–40 33–48
New York Mets 67 95 0.414 24 38–44 29–51
Chicago Cubs 64 98 0.395 27 37–44 27–54

Record vs. opponents

1980 National League Records

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta — 8–4 2–16 7–11 11–7 5–7 3–9 5–7 11–1 12–6 11–6 6–6
Chicago 4–8 — 7–5 1–11 5–7 6–12 10–8 5–13 8–10 4–8 5–7 9–9
Cincinnati 16–2 5–7 — 8–10 9–9 3–9 8–4 7–5 6–6 15–3–1 7–11 5–7
Houston 11–7 11–1 10–8 — 9–10 5–7 8–4 3–9 7–5 11–7 11–7 7–5
Los Angeles 7–11 7–5 9–9 10–9 — 11–1 7–5 6–6 6–6 9–9 13–5 7–5
Montreal 7–5 12–6 9–3 7–5 1–11 — 10–8 9–9 6–12 10–2 7–5 12–6
New York 9–3 8–10 4–8 4–8 5–7 8–10 — 6–12 10–8 1–11 3–9 9–9
Philadelphia 7-5 13–5 5–7 9–3 6–6 9–9 12–6 — 7–11 8–4 6–6 9–9
Pittsburgh 1–11 10–8 6–6 5–7 6–6 12–6 8–10 11–7 — 6–6 8–4 10–8
San Diego 6–12 8–4 3–15–1 7–11 9–9 2–10 11–1 4–8 6–6 — 10–8 7–5
San Francisco 6–11 7–5 11–7 7–11 5–13 5–7 9–3 6–6 4–8 8–10 — 7–5
St. Louis 6–6 9–9 7–5 5–7 5–7 6–12 9–9 9–9 8–10 5–7 5–7 —

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster

1980 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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
1B Mazzilli, LeeLee Mazzilli 152 578 162 .280 16 76
2B Flynn, DougDoug Flynn 128 443 113 .255 0 24
3B Maddox, ElliottElliott Maddox 130 411 101 .246 4 34
LF Henderson, SteveSteve Henderson 143 513 149 .290 8 58
CF Morales, JerryJerry Morales 94 193 49 .254 3 30

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
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

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
Bomback, MarkMark Bomback 36 162.2 10 8 4.09 68

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

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
Allen, NeilNeil Allen 59 7 10 22 3.70 79
Kobel, KevinKevin Kobel 14 1 4 0 7.03 8
Berenguer, JuanJuan Berenguer 6 0 1 0 5.79 7
Holman, ScottScott Holman 4 0 0 0 1.29 3

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
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

References

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