1980 New York Mets season

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.

1980 New York Mets
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr.
General manager(s)Frank Cashen
Manager(s)Joe Torre
Local televisionWOR-TV
Local radioWMCA
(Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, Steve Albert)
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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 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 invest money to acquire winning players and develop a competitive club,[1] though it took a few years before the new partners were able to rebuild a solid contender.

In February, the new owners hired 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, a key figure of future Mets teams.

Under Torre, the team suffered their 4th consecutive losing season, 24 games out of first place, although the Mets moved up one place in the standings to fifth. They even flirted with .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 9171 0.562 — 49–32 42–39
Montreal Expos 9072 0.556 1 51–29 39–43
Pittsburgh Pirates 8379 0.512 8 47–34 36–45
St. Louis Cardinals 7488 0.457 17 41–40 33–48
New York Mets 6795 0.414 24 38–44 29–51
Chicago Cubs 6498 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—8–42–167–1111–75–73–95–711–112–611–66–6
Chicago4–8—7–51–115–76–1210–85–138–104–85–79–9
Cincinnati16–25–7—8–109–93–98–47–56–615–3–17–115–7
Houston11–711–110–8—9–105–78–43–97–511–711–77–5
Los Angeles 7–117–59–910–9—11–17–56–66–69–913–57–5
Montreal7–512–69–37–51–11—10–89–96–1210–27–512–6
New York9–38–104–84–85–78–10—6–1210–81–113–99–9
Philadelphia7-513–55–79–36–69–912–6—7–118–46–69–9
Pittsburgh1–1110–86–65–76–612–68–1011–7—6–68–410–8
San Diego6–128–43–15–17–119–92–1011–14–86–6—10–87–5
San Francisco6–117–511–77–115–135–79–36–64–88–10—7–5
St. Louis6–69–97–55–75–76–129–99–98–105–75–7—

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
1BLee Mazzilli152578162.2801676
2BDoug Flynn128443113.255024
3BElliott Maddox130411101.246434
LFSteve Henderson143513149.290858
CFJerry Morales9419349.254330

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
Mike Jorgensen11932182.255743
José Moreno37469.19629
Mario Ramírez18245.20800

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
Mark Bomback36162.21084.0968

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
Neil Allen59710223.7079
Kevin Kobel141407.038
Juan Berenguer60105.797
Scott Holman40001.293

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
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
  1. "Mets Are Now Rebuilding On Solid Financial Ground". The New York Times. January 25, 1980. p. B6.
  2. Steadman, John (April 15, 1992). "With Tip of Cap to Hoffberger, Mets Turn Out to Thank Cashen". The Baltimore Sun.
  3. Darryl Strawberry page at Baseball Reference
  4. Billy Beane page at Baseball Reference
  5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/reynoro02.shtml
  6. Rick Ownbey page at Baseball Reference
  7. Al Newman page at Baseball Reference
  8. Kevin Kobel page at Baseball Reference
  9. Randy Johnson page at Baseball Reference

References
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