| New York Mets | |
| Season: | 1974 |
| League: | National League |
| Division: | East |
| Ballpark: | Shea Stadium |
| City: | New York |
| Record: | 71-91 |
| Divisional Place: | 5th |
| Owners: | Joan Whitney Payson |
| General Managers: | Bob Scheffing |
| Managers: | Yogi Berra |
| Television: | WOR-TV |
| Radio: | WHN (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy) |
The 1974 New York Mets season was the 13th regular season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Yogi Berra, the team finished the season with a record of 71–91, placing fifth in the National League East. This was the first time the Mets had a losing season since 1968.
| 1974 New York Mets | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | CatchersInfielders | Outfielders | ManagerCoaches | ||||||
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 | 97 | 319 | 82 | .257 | 5 | 36 | |
| 1B | 137 | 507 | 128 | .252 | 20 | 63 | |
| 2B | 136 | 518 | 139 | .268 | 1 | 33 | |
| SS | 106 | 331 | 75 | .227 | 1 | 13 | |
| 3B | 151 | 522 | 117 | .224 | 13 | 53 | |
| LF | 124 | 461 | 130 | .282 | 13 | 60 | |
| CF | 110 | 323 | 81 | .251 | 4 | 28 | |
| RF | 161 | 561 | 145 | .258 | 19 | 78 | |
Note: 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS-OF | 116 | 334 | 73 | .219 | 2 | 43 | ||
| OF | 93 | 254 | 52 | .205 | 5 | 25 | ||
| 2B-3B | 96 | 222 | 48 | .216 | 2 | 15 | ||
| 1B | 94 | 217 | 65 | .300 | 4 | 24 | ||
| C | 63 | 142 | 30 | .211 | 0 | 10 | ||
| C | 59 | 136 | 30 | .221 | 4 | 14 | ||
| LF-PH | 60 | 76 | 12 | .158 | 1 | 1 | ||
| OF-PH | 23 | 68 | 16 | .235 | 2 | 8 | ||
| OF | 26 | 33 | 3 | .091 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1B-PH | 11 | 22 | 4 | .182 | 0 | 1 | ||
| OF | 7 | 12 | 3 | .250 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2B-3B | 4 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | ||
| C-PH | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | 265.1 | 13 | 15 | 2.41 | 195 | |
| 35 | 265.0 | 15 | 11 | 3.36 | 188 | |
| 32 | 232.0 | 11 | 11 | 3.20 | 201 | |
| 15 | 77.0 | 2 | 7 | 5.03 | 29 | |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 131.0 | 4 | 12 | 3.92 | 58 | ||
| 35 | 103.0 | 6 | 6 | 3.50 | 54 | ||
| 34 | 103.0 | 8 | 8 | 3.41 | 46 | ||
| 7 | 30.1 | 1 | 3 | 4.45 | 10 | ||
| 3 | 10.0 | 0 | 2 | 7.20 | 8 | ||
| 3 | 9.1 | 1 | 1 | 4.82 | 2 | ||
| 2 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.00 | 2 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | IP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3.58 | 35 | 78.0 | ||
| 41 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 4.16 | 54 | 88.2 | ||
| 24 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3.48 | 18 | 41.1 | ||
| 10 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1.61 | 8 | 22.1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 1.0 |
See also: Minor League Baseball.
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Victoria
The Mets' tour of Japan began with its departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport on October 23. The team's charter flight included stops to pick up players in San Francisco and Anchorage, Alaska, the latter for Jerry Koosman. Two nonparticipants were Ray Sadecki and Duffy Dyer who were both traded, the former to the St. Louis Cardinals for Joe Torre on October 13 and the latter to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Gene Clines on October 22. Torre was the only one of the two new Mets to participate in the tour.[4] [5] Starters Rusty Staub, Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson and Cleon Jones elected to forego the tour for various personal reasons.[6] The ballclub arrived at Haneda Airport on October 24 after a combined 21-hour flight.[7]
Both Torre and Tom Seaver were dealing with health issues, shoulder for the former and back and hip for the latter.[7]
| Game | Month | Date | Day | Place | Opponent | W/L/D | Score | Mets Starting Pitcher | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OCT | 26 | SA | Tokyo | Yomiuri Giants | L | 7 - 10 | Tom Seaver | Sadaharu Oh grand slam off Jerry Cram in eighth. John Milner, Wayne Garrett and Dave Schneck each homer.[8] | |
| 2 | OCT | 28 | M | Tokyo | Yomiuri Giants | D | 4 - 4 | Jon Matlack | 4 - 2 lead disappears as Jack Aker walks five Giants batters in ninth. Don Hahn homers. | |
| 3 | OCT | 29 | TU | Sapporo | Yomiuri Giants | |||||
| 4 | OCT | 30 | W | Sendai | Yomiuri Giants | L | 2 - 3 | Tom Seaver | Seaver allows two runs in first six innings. Deciding run off Hank Webb in seventh. Ed Kranepool solo home run.[9] | |
| 5 | OCT | 31 | TH | Kōriyama | Yomiuri Giants | D | 3 - 3 (9) | Bob Apodaca | Milner game-tying solo homer in ninth; Jack Aker's final Mets appearance before waived on NOV 6.[10] | |
| 6 | NOV | |||||||||
| 7 | NOV | |||||||||
| 8 | NOV | 4 | M | Tokyo | Yomiuri Giants | L | 4 - 10 | Tom Seaver | 17 hits combined off Seaver, Webb, Cram and Bob Miller. Milner homers.[11] | |
| 9 | NOV | 6 | W | Niigata | Yomiuri Giants | L | 4 - 9 | Randy Tate | Tate gives up three runs in first; Dave Schneck and Joe Torre each hit a homer.[12] | |
| 10 | NOV | 7 | TH | Toyama | Yomiuri Giants | W | 6 - 3 | Jon Matlack | Twelve hits for Mets; single, double and three RBI for Torre.[13] | |
| 11 | NOV | 9 | SA | Osaka | Yomiuri Giants/Nankai Hawks | W | 6 - 4 | Jerry Koosman | Milner and Kranepool each hit a home run.[14] | |
| 12 | NOV | |||||||||
| 13 | NOV | 12 | TU | Matsuyama | Yomiuri Giants | W | 7 - 5 | Jon Matlack | Kranepool homers twice despite Matlack surrendering five runs in first three innings.[15] | |
| 14 | NOV | 14 | TH | Hiroshima | Yomiuri Giants/Hiroshima Toyo Carp | W | 4 - 0 | Jerry Koosman | Torre hits three-run homer in fourth; Koosman pitches a five-hit shutout.[16] | |
| 15 | NOV | 16 | SA | Fukuoka | Yomiuri Giants/Taiheiyo Club Lions | L | 0 - 2 | Tom Seaver | Seaver takes shutout into eighth, but Mets batters combine for only two hits.[17] | |
| 16 | NOV | 18 | M | Kokura | Yomiuri Giants | W | 9 - 5 | Homers by Félix Millán and Teddy Martínez spark a five-run ninth-inning rally.[18] | ||
| 17 | NOV | |||||||||
| 18 | NOV |