1975 New York Mets season

Major League Baseball team season

1975 New York Mets

League| National League
Division| East
Ballpark| Shea Stadium
City| New York
Record| 82–80 (.506)
Divisional place| 3rd
Owners| Joan Whitney Payson
General managers| Joe McDonald
Managers| Yogi Berra, Roy McMillan
Television| WOR-TV
Radio| WNEW
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
| ← 1974 | Seasons | 1976 →

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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, ten and a half games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates.

## Offseason

[edit]

* October 22, 1974: Duffy Dyer was traded by the Mets to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Gene Clines.[1]
* December 3, 1974: Tug McGraw, Don Hahn, and Dave Schneck were traded by the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Del Unser, Mac Scarce and John Stearns.[2]
* January 9, 1975: Greg Harris was drafted by the Mets in the 4th round of the 1975 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase), but did not sign.[3]

## Regular season

[edit]

### Season summary

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

NL East Team  | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road

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Pittsburgh Pirates | 92 | 69  | .571  | —  | 52‍–‍28  | 40‍–‍41
Philadelphia Phillies | 86 | 76  | .531  | 6½  | 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

[edit]

1975 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  | MTL  | 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

[edit]

* April 4, 1975: Joe Nolan was traded by the Mets to the Atlanta Braves for Leo Foster.[4]
* April 12, 1975: Jesús Alou was signed as a free agent by the Mets.[5]
* April 25, 1975: Bill Laxton was signed as a free agent by the Mets.[6]

#### Draft picks

[edit]

* June 3, 1975: Butch Benton was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1975 Major League Baseball draft.[7]

### Roster

[edit]

1975 New York Mets

Roster
Pitchers

* 34 Bob Apodaca
* 45 Rick Baldwin
* 38 Jerry Cram
* 39 Nino Espinosa
* 19 Tom Hall
* 36 Jerry Koosman
* 38 Skip Lockwood
* 32 Jon Matlack
* 31 Harry Parker
* 33 Ken Sanders
* 33 Mac Scarce
* 41 Tom Seaver
* 40 George Stone
* 27 Craig Swan
* 48 Randy Tate
* 30 Hank Webb

|  | Catchers

* 15 Jerry Grote
* 42 Ron Hodges
* 16 John Stearns

Infielders

* 11 Wayne Garrett
*  3 Bud Harrelson
* 12 Jack Heidemann
*  7 Ed Kranepool
* 17 Félix Millán
*  5 Mike Phillips
*  2 Roy Staiger
*  9 Joe Torre

|  | Outfielders

* 23 Jesús Alou
*  1 Gene Clines
* 22 Bob Gallagher
* 21 Cleon Jones
* 26 Dave Kingman
* 28 John Milner
* 10 Rusty Staub
* 25 Del Unser
* 31 Mike Vail

Other batters

*  2 Brock Pemberton

|  | Manager

*  8 Yogi Berra
* 51 Roy McMillan

Coaches

* 24 Willie Mays
* 51 Roy McMillan
* 52 Joe Pignatano
* 54 Rube Walker
* 53 Eddie Yost

## Player stats

[edit]

| = Indicates team leader

|

| = Indicates league leader

|

### Batting

[edit]

#### Starters by position

[edit]

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

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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

[edit]

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

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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

[edit]

| = Indicates league leader

|

#### Starting pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

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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

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

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Hank Webb | 29 | 115.0 | 7 | 6 | 4.07 | 38

#### Relief pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | W  | L  | SV  | ERA  | SO

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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

[edit]

* Dave Kingman – Player of the Month, July 1975

All-Star Game

## Farm system

[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level  | Team  | League  | Manager

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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

[edit]

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

[edit]

* 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

* v
* t
* e

1975 MLB season by team

| AL East|

* Baltimore
* Boston
* Cleveland
* Detroit
* Milwaukee
* New York

|

AL West|

* California
* Chicago
* Kansas City
* Minnesota
* Oakland
* Texas

| NL East|

* Chicago
* Montréal
* New York
* Philadelphia
* Pittsburgh
* St. Louis

|

NL West|

* Atlanta
* Cincinnati
* Houston
* Los Angeles
* San Diego
* San Francisco

* 1975 MLB draft
* 1975 All-Star Game
* 1975 World Series

* v
* t
* e

New York Mets

* Established in 1962
* Based in Queens, New York

Franchise|

* History
* Brooklyn Dodgers
* New York Giants
* New York Metropolitans
* 1962 expansion
* expansion draft
* Seasons
* Records
* No-hitters
* Award winners and League leaders
* Players
* Hall of Fame
* Managers
* Coaches
* Owners and executives
* Broadcasters
* Kiner's Korner
* Radio network
* SportsNet New York
* Opening Day starting pitchers
* First-round draft picks
* Logos and uniforms

Ballparks|

* Polo Grounds
* Shea Stadium
* Citi Field

Spring training
Al Lang Stadium
Clover Park

Culture|

* Continental League
* Mr. Met
* Mrs. Met
* "Ya Gotta Believe!"
* Grant's Tomb
* Home Run Apple
* Generation K
* Sidd Finch
* The 7 Line Army
* Spider-Man's wedding (live performance)
* Rheingold Brewery
* Statue of Tom Seaver

| Books|

* Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?
* Sometimes You See It Coming

|

Movies|

* Game 6
* Frequency
* Mathematically Alive
* The Odd Couple

Music|

* "Let's Go Mets Go"
* "Lazy Mary"
* "Meet the Mets"
* "Narco"
* "New York Groove"
* "Ode to the Mets"
* "OMG"

TV show episodes|

* "The Boyfriend" (Seinfeld episode)
* "A Leela of Her Own" (Futurama episode)

Notable figures|

* Alex Anthony
* Jane Jarvis
* George Kalinsky
* Michael Sergio
* Sign Man
* Cow-Bell Man
* Grimace

Lore|

* 2018 MLB Little League Classic
* Miracle Mets
* Bill Buckner's 1986 World Series error
* Grand Slam Single
* MLB Puerto Rico Series
* Rick Camp Game

Rivalries|

* Atlanta Braves
* New York Yankees
* Subway Series
* 2000 World Series
* Philadelphia Phillies

Key personnel|

* Owner: Steve Cohen
* President of Baseball Operations: David Stearns
* General manager: Vacant
* Manager: Carlos Mendoza

World Series
championships (2)|

* 1969
* 1986

National League
pennants (5)|

* 1969
* 1973
* 1986
* 2000
* 2015

Division titles (6)|

* 1969
* 1973
* 1986
* 1988
* 2006
* 2015

Wild Card (5)|

* 1999 (tie-breaker game)
* 2000
* 2016
* 2022
* 2024

Minor league affiliates|

* Triple-A: Syracuse Mets
* Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies
* High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones
* Single-A: St. Lucie Mets
* Rookie: FCL Mets
* DSL Mets Blue
* DSL Mets Orange
* Player overview

Seasons (65)

1960s|

* 1960 · 1961 ·  1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969

1970s|

* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

1980s|

* 1980
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1990s|

* 1990
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2000s|

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2010s|

* 2010
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2020s|

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