1975 New York Mets season

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.

1975 New York Mets
LeagueNational League
DivisionEast
BallparkShea Stadium
CityNew York
Record82-80
Divisional place3rd
OwnersJoan Whitney Payson
General managersJoe McDonald
ManagersYogi Berra, Roy McMillan
TelevisionWOR-TV
RadioWNEW
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
← 1974 Seasons 1976 →

Offseason

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Regular season

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Season summary

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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

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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 impinging on 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. [citation needed] 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

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NL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Pittsburgh Pirates 92 69 .571 52‍–‍28 40‍–‍41
Philadelphia Phillies 86 76 .531 51‍–‍30 35‍–‍46
New York Mets 82 80 .506 10½ 42‍–‍39 40‍–‍41
St. Louis Cardinals 82 80 .506 10½ 45‍–‍36 37‍–‍44
Chicago Cubs 75 87 .463 17½ 42‍–‍39 33‍–‍48
Montreal Expos 75 87 .463 17½ 39‍–‍42 36‍–‍45

Record vs. opponents

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


Notable transactions

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Draft picks

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Roster

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1975 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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

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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

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Starting pitchers

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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

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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

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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

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All-Star Game

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
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

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  1. ^ Duffy Dyer at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Del Unser at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Greg Harris at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Leo Foster at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Jesús Alou at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Bill Laxton at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Butch Benton at Baseball Reference

References

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  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
  • 1975 New York Mets at Baseball Reference
  • 1975 New York Mets at Baseball Almanac