1981 New York Mets season explained

New York Mets
Season:	1981
League:	National League
Division:	East
Ballpark:	Shea Stadium
City:	New York
Owners:	Nelson Doubleday, Jr.
General Managers:	Frank Cashen
Managers:	Joe Torre
Television:	WOR-TV
Radio:	WMCA (Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, Steve Albert, Art Shamsky)

The 1981 New York Mets season was the 20th regular season for the Mets. They went 41–62 and finished in fifth place in the National League East. They were managed by Joe Torre. They played home games at Shea Stadium. The season is remembered for a summer strike that cut the season in half.

Offseason

• November 16, 1980: Kevin Mitchell was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.^[1]
• December 15, 1980: José Moreno and John Pacella were traded by the Mets to the San Diego Padres for Randy Jones.^[2]
• December 15, 1980: Rick Sweet was purchased by the Mets from the San Diego Padres.^[3]
• December 16, 1980: Rusty Staub was signed as a free agent by the Mets.^[4]
• December 19, 1980: Mike Cubbage was signed as a free agent with the New York Mets.^[5]
• January 13, 1981: Randy Milligan was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (3rd pick) of the 1981 Major League Baseball Draft.^[6]

Regular season

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1981: John Csefalvay (minors) was traded by the Mets to the Houston Astros for Gary Rajsich.^[7]
• April 5, 1981: Dan Boitano was purchased by the New York Mets from the Milwaukee Brewers.^[8]
• April 6, 1981: Butch Benton was sent to the Chicago Cubs by the New York Mets as part of a conditional deal.^[9]
• May 29, 1981: Jeff Reardon and Dan Norman were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for Ellis Valentine.^[10]
• June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball Draft
  • John Christensen was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round.^[11]
  • Roger Clemens was drafted by the Mets in the 12th round, but did not sign.^[12]
  • Lenny Dykstra was drafted by the Mets in the 13th round. Player signed July 3, 1981.^[13]
  • Lou Thornton was drafted by the Mets in the 19th round.^[14]
• June 15, 1981: Bill Latham was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.^[15]
• August 19, 1981: Mike Marshall was signed as a free agent by the Mets.^[16]

Roster

1981 New York Mets roster
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		Outfielders		ManagerCoaches

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		80	273	74	.271	1	24
1B		100	353	78	.221	22	59
2B		105	325	72	.222	1	20
SS		84	283	65	.230	0	11
3B		98	358	110	.307	4	38
LF		95	324	74	.228	6	34
CF		92	328	89	.271	3	14
RF		48	169	35	.207	5	21

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
	70	161	51	.317	5	21
	56	149	39	.262	0	10
	43	143	50	.350	4	25
	86	122	25	.205	3	15
	51	81	23	.284	0	8
	67	80	17	.213	1	4
	27	48	13	.271	0	3
	35	43	13	.302	1	6
	26	36	10	.278	0	0
	14	24	4	.167	0	3
	9	7	0	.000	0	0

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
	24	139.0	7	14	4.14	76
	23	136.0	5	10	3.90	54
	17	80.1	4	5	2.91	27
	16	68.2	3	5	4.46	54
	13	59.1	1	8	4.85	14
	1	2.0	0	0	0.00	3

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
	35	95.1	5	3	2.55	56
	7	15.1	0	3	9.39	10
	5	13.2	0	2	3.29	9
	4	13.1	0	0	0.00	8

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
	43	7	6	18	2.97	50
	26	1	0	1	3.68	16
	23	1	0	0	3.29	22
	21	1	1	0	2.55	16
	20	0	1	0	2.18	13
	20	3	2	0	2.61	8
	18	1	0	2	3.45	28
	15	2	1	0	5.51	8
	8	0	1	1	1.56	18

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Jackson

References

• Book: Johnson. Lloyd. Wolff. Miles. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 2nd. Durham, North Carolina. Baseball America. 1997. 978-0-9637189-8-3.

External links

• 1981 New York Mets at Baseball Reference
• 1981 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mitchke01.shtml Kevin Mitchell page at Baseball Reference
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/morenjo01.shtml Jose Moreno page at Baseball Reference
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/sweetri01.shtml Rick Sweet page at Baseball Reference
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/staubru01.shtml Rusty Staub page at Baseball Reference
5. Web site: Mike Cubbage Stats.
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/millira01.shtml Randy Milligan page at Baseball Reference
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/rajsiga01.shtml Gary Rajsich page at Baseball Reference
8. Web site: Dan Boitano Stats.
9. Web site: Butch Benton Stats.
10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/reardje01.shtml Jeff Reardon page at Baseball Reference
11. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/chrisjo02.shtml John Christensen page at Baseball Reference
12. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/clemero02.shtml Roger Clemens page at Baseball Reference
13. https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/dykstle01.shtml Lenny Dykstra page at Baseball Reference
14. https://www.baseball-reference.com/t/thornlo01.shtml Lou Thornton page at Baseball Reference
15. https://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lathabi01.shtml Bill Latham page at Baseball Reference
16. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/marshmi01.shtml Mike Marshall page at Baseball Reference