1988 New York Mets season

1988 New York Mets
1988 New York Mets
National League East Champions
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Shea Stadium
City	New York
Record	100–60 (.625)
Owners	Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr.
General managers	Frank Cashen
Managers	Davey Johnson
Television	WWOR-TV/SportsChannel New York; (Ralph Kiner, Steve Zabriskie, Tim McCarver, Fran Healy, Rusty Staub)
Radio	WFAN ; (Bob Murphy, Gary Thorne, Charlie Slowes); WJIT (Spanish); (Juan Alicea, Billy Berroa)

The 1988 New York Mets season was the 27th regular season for the Mets. They went 100–60 and finished first in the National League East. They were managed by Davey Johnson. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

The Mets would go on to lose to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS in seven games.

Offseason

December 11, 1987: Jesse Orosco was traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Mets to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers sent Jack Savage to the Mets, and the Oakland Athletics sent Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst to the Mets. The Dodgers sent Bob Welch and Matt Young to the Athletics, and the Athletics sent Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell to the Dodgers.^[1]
December 11, 1987: Rafael Santana and Victor Garcia (minors) were traded by the Mets to the New York Yankees for Darren Reed, Phil Lombardi, and Steve Frey.^[2]
March 26, 1988: Randy Milligan and Scott Henion (minors) were traded by the Mets to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Mackey Sasser and Tim Drummond.^[3]

Regular season

August 9: The Mets participated in the first official night game at Wrigley Field, which the Cubs won, 6–4.

Season standings

v
t
e
NL East
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Mets	100	60	.625	—	56‍–‍24	44‍–‍36
Pittsburgh Pirates	85	75	.531	15	43‍–‍38	42‍–‍37
Montreal Expos	81	81	.500	20	43‍–‍38	38‍–‍43
Chicago Cubs	77	85	.475	24	39‍–‍42	38‍–‍43
St. Louis Cardinals	76	86	.469	25	41‍–‍40	35‍–‍46
Philadelphia Phillies	65	96	.404	35½	38‍–‍42	27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1988 National League record v t e 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	5–13	5–13	4–14	4–8	4–8	6–6	5–5	8–10	5–13	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	6–6	7–5	4–8–1	9–9	9–9	8–10	7–11	8–4	5–7	7–11
Cincinnati	13–5	6–6	—	9–9	7–11	5–7	4–7	9–3	7–5	10–8	11–7	6–6
Houston	13–5	5–7	9–9	—	9–9	6–6	5–7	8–4	8–4	6–12	7–11	6–6
Los Angeles	14–4	8–4–1	11–7	9–9	—	8–4	1–10	11–1	6–6	7–11	12–6	7–5
Montreal	8–4	9–9	7–5	6–6	4–8	—	6–12	9–9–1	8–10	4–8	7–5	13–5
New York	8–4	9–9	7–4	7–5	10–1	12–6	—	10–8	12–6	7–5	4–8	14–4
Philadelphia	6-6	10–8	3–9	4–8	1–11	9–9–1	8–10	—	7–11	4–7	7–5	6–12
Pittsburgh	5–5	11–7	5–7	4–8	6–6	10–8	6–12	11–7	—	8–4	8–4	11–7
San Diego	10–8	4–8	8–10	12–6	11–7	8–4	5–7	7–4	4–8	—	8–10	6–6
San Francisco	13–5	7–5	7–11	11–7	6–12	5–7	8–4	5–7	4–8	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	9–3	11–7	6–6	6–6	5–7	5–13	4–14	12–6	7–11	6–6	5–7	—

Notable transactions

August 4, 1988: Tom McCarthy and Steve Springer were traded by the Mets to the Chicago White Sox for Mike Maksudian and Vince Harris (minors).^[4]
August 22, 1988: Héctor Ramírez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.^[5]

Roster

1988 New York Mets

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

5 Davey Johnson

Coaches

Game log

Regular season

1988 regular season game log: 100–60 (Home: 56–24; Away: 44–36)

April: 15–6 (Home: 6–2; Away: 9–4)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
1	April 4	3:25 pm EDT	@ Expos	W 10–6	55,413	1–0	W1
2	April 6	7:35 pm EDT	@ Expos	L 1–5	11,112	1–1	L1
3	April 7	7:35 pm EDT	@ Expos	W 8–5	10,193	2–1	W1
4	April 8	7:35 pm EDT	@ Phillies	L 1–5	21,921	2–2	L1
5	April 9	3:20 pm EDT	@ Phillies	L 3–9	30,994	2–3	L2
6	April 10	1:35 pm EDT	@ Phillies	W 4–3	51,781	3–3	W1
7	April 12	1:35 pm EDT	Expos	W 3–0	48,719	4–3	W2
8	April 14	1:40 pm EDT	Expos	W 1–0	19,612	5–3	W3
9	April 15	7:35 pm EDT	Cardinals	W 3–0 (6)	33,094	6–3	W4
10	April 16	1:30 pm EDT	Cardinals	W 6–4	40,582	7–3	W5
11	April 17	1:35 pm EDT	Cardinals	W 3–2	48,760	8–3	W6
12	April 18	7:50 pm EDT	Phillies	L 7–10	14,931	8–4	L1
13	April 19	7:37 pm EDT	Phillies	L 2–10	24,555	8–5	L2
14	April 20	7:41 pm EDT	Phillies	W 6–2	27,714	9–5	W1
15	April 22	8:35 pm EDT	@ Cardinals	W 4–0	47,207	10–5	W2
16	April 23	8:05 pm EDT	@ Cardinals	W 12–9	45,110	11–5	W3
17	April 24	2:15 pm EDT	@ Cardinals	L 4–5	41,617	11–6	L1

May: 19–9 (Home: 9–5; Away: 10–4)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB

June: 15–13 (Home: 11–4; Away: 4–9)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB

July: 14–12 (Home: 9–5; Away: 5–7)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB

August: 15–14 (Home: 7–7; Away: 8–7)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB

September: 20–6 (Home: 12–1; Away: 8–5)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB

October: 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Away: 0–0)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak	GB

Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Mets team member

Postseason Game log

1988 Postseason game log: 3–4 (Home: 1–2; Away: 2–2)

NL Championship Series: vs. New York Mets 3–4 (Home: 1–2; Away: 2–2)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak

Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Mets team member

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
C	Gary Carter	130	455	110	.242	11	46
1B	Keith Hernandez	95	348	96	.276	11	55
2B	Wally Backman	99	294	89	.303	0	17
3B	Howard Johnson	148	495	114	.230	24	68
SS	Kevin Elster	149	406	87	.214	9	37
LF	Kevin McReynolds	147	552	159	.288	27	99
CF	Len Dykstra	126	429	116	.270	8	33
RF	Darryl Strawberry	153	543	146	.269	39	101

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
Mookie Wilson	112	378	112	.296	8	41
Dave Magadan	112	314	87	.277	1	35
Tim Teufel	90	273	64	.234	4	31
Mackey Sasser	60	123	35	.285	1	17
Lee Mazzilli	68	116	17	.147	0	12
Gregg Jeffries	29	109	35	.321	6	17
Barry Lyons	50	91	21	.231	0	11
Keith Miller	40	70	15	.214	1	5
Mark Carreon	7	9	5	.556	1	1

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
Dwight Gooden	34	248.1	18	9	3.19	175
Ron Darling	34	240.2	17	9	3.25	161
David Cone	35	231.1	20	3	2.22	213
Bob Ojeda	29	190.1	10	13	2.88	133
Sid Fernandez	31	187.0	12	10	3.03	189

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
Rick Aguilera	11	24.2	0	4	6.93	16
David West	2	6.0	1	0	3.00	3

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
Randy Myers	55	7	3	26	1.72	69
Roger McDowell	62	5	5	16	2.63	46
Terry Leach	52	7	2	3	2.54	51
Gene Walter	19	0	1	0	3.78	14
Bob McClure	14	1	0	1	4.09	7
Jeff Innis	12	1	1	0	1.89	14
Edwin Núñez	10	1	0	0	4.50	8
John Mitchell	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

NLCS

Game 1

October 4: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	8	1
Los Angeles	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	4	0
WP: Randy Myers (1–0) LP: Jay Howell (0–1)
HR: NYM – None.; LA – None.

Game 2

October 5: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	6	0
Los Angeles	1	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	6	7	0
WP: Tim Belcher (1–0) LP: David Cone (0–1) SV: Alejandro Peña (1)
HR: NYM – Keith Hernandez (1); LA – None.

Game 3

October 8: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	7	2
New York	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	5	X	8	9	2
WP: Randy Myers (2–0) LP: Alejandro Peña (0–1)
HR: LA – None.; NYM – None.

Game 4

October 9: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
Los Angeles	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	5	7	1
New York	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	10	2
WP: Alejandro Peña (1–1) LP: Roger McDowell (0–1) SV: Orel Hershiser (1)
HR: LA – Mike Scioscia (1), Kirk Gibson (1); NYM – Darryl Strawberry (1), Kevin McReynolds (1)

Game 5

October 10: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles	0	0	0	3	3	0	0	0	1	7	12	0
New York	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	4	9	1
WP: Tim Belcher (2–0) LP: Sid Fernandez (0–1) SV: Brian Holton (1)
HR: LA – Kirk Gibson (2); NYM – Lenny Dykstra (1)

Game 6

October 11: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	1	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	5	11	0
Los Angeles	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
WP: David Cone (1–1) LP: Tim Leary (0–1)
HR: NYM – Kevin McReynolds (2); LA – None.

Game 7

October 12: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2
Los Angeles	1	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	6	10	0
WP: Orel Hershiser (1–0) LP: Ron Darling (0–1)
HR: NYM – None.; LA – None.

Awards and honors

Keith Hernandez, Gold Glove Award
Keith Hernandez, Major League record, most Gold Gloves by a first baseman (it was also his 11th consecutive Gold Glove)^[6]
Kevin McReynolds – Player of the Month, September 1988
Gary Carter – 300 career home runs, and set record for career putouts for a catcher

1988 MLB All-Star Game

Gary Carter
David Cone
Dwight Gooden
Darryl Strawberry

Team leaders

Games – Darryl Strawberry (153)
At-bats – Kevin McReynolds (552)
Home runs – Darryl Strawberry (39)
Runs batted in – Darryl Strawberry (101)
Batting average – Wally Backman (.303)
Hits – Kevin McReynolds (159)
Doubles – Kevin McReynolds (30)
Triples – Mookie Wilson (5)
Walks – Howard Johnson (86)
Stolen bases – Len Dykstra (30)
Wins – David Cone (20)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tidewater Tides	International League	Mike Cubbage
AA	Jackson Mets	Texas League	Tucker Ashford
A	St. Lucie Mets	Florida State League	Clint Hurdle
A	Columbia Mets	South Atlantic League	Butch Hobson
A-Short Season	Little Falls Mets	New York–Penn League	Bill Stein
Rookie	Kingsport Mets	Appalachian League	Bobby Floyd
Rookie	GCL Mets	Gulf Coast League	John Tamargo

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Lucie, Kingsport^[7]

References

^ Jesse Orosco at Baseball-Reference
^ Rafael Santana at Baseball-Reference
^ Randy Milligan at Baseball-Reference
^ Mike Maksudian at Baseball-Reference
^ Héctor Ramírez at Baseball-Reference
^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 47, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

1988 New York Mets at Baseball Almanac
1988 New York Mets at Baseball Reference
1988 New York Mets schedule and stats at MLB.com
The 1988 New York Mets at Retrosheet

[1] Jesse Orosco at Baseball-Reference

[2] Rafael Santana at Baseball-Reference

[3] Randy Milligan at Baseball-Reference

[4] Mike Maksudian at Baseball-Reference

[5] Héctor Ramírez at Baseball-Reference

[6] Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 47, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

[7] Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

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