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's Eastern Division.

1975 New York Mets
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
OwnersJoan Whitney Payson
General managersJoe McDonald
ManagersYogi Berra, Roy McMillan
Local televisionWOR-TV
Local radioWNEW
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
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Offseason

Regular season

Season summary

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

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. 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
NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Pittsburgh Pirates 9269 0.571 — 52–28 40–41
Philadelphia Phillies 8676 0.531 6½ 51–30 35–46
New York Mets 8280 0.506 10½ 42–39 40–41
St. Louis Cardinals 8280 0.506 10½ 45–36 37–44
Chicago Cubs 7587 0.463 17½ 42–39 33–48
Montreal Expos 7587 0.463 17½ 39–42 36–45

Record vs. opponents
1975 National League record

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta—5–73–1512–68–108–44–85–74–87–118–93–9
Chicago7–5—1–117–55–79–97–1112–66–125–75–711–7
Cincinnati15–311–1—13–58–108–48–47–56–611–713–58–4
Houston6–125–75–13—6–128–44–86–66–59–95–134–8–1
Los Angeles 10–87–510–812–6—5–76–67–55–711–710–85–7
Montreal4–89–94–84–87–5—10–87–117–117–55–711–7
New York8–411–74–88–46–68–10—7–115–138–48–49–9
Philadelphia7-56–125–76–65–711–711–7—11–77–57–510–8
Pittsburgh8–412–66–65–67–511–713–57–11—8–45–710–8
San Diego11–77–57–119–97–115–74–85–74–8—8–104–8
San Francisco9–87–55–1313–58–107–54–85–77–510–8—5–7
St. Louis9–37–114–88–4–17–57–119–98–108–108–47–5—

Notable transactions

Draft picks

Roster
1975 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CJerry Grote119386114.295239
1BEd Kranepool106325105.323443
2BFélix Millán162676191.283156
SSMike Phillips11638398.256128
3BWayne Garrett10727473.266634
LFDave Kingman134502116.2313688
CFDel Unser147531156.2941053
RFRusty Staub155574162.28219105

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
Joe Torre11436189.247635
John Milner9122042.191729
Gene Clines8220346.227010
John Stearns5916932.189310
Mike Vail3816249.302317
Jack Heidemann6114531.214116
Jesús Alou6210227.265011
Bud Harrelson347316.21903
Cleon Jones215012.24002
Ron Hodges9347.20624
Roy Staiger13193.15800
Bob Gallagher33152.13300
Brock Pemberton220.00000

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
Tom Seaver36280.12292.38243
Jerry Koosman36239.214133.42173
Jon Matlack33228.216123.38154
Randy Tate26137.25134.4599
George Stone1357.0335.0521
Craig Swan631.0136.3919

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
Hank Webb29115.0764.0738

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
Bob Apodaca4634131.4945
Rick Baldwin543563.3354
Tom Hall344314.7548
Ken Sanders301152.308
Skip Lockwood241321.4961
Harry Parker182324.4122
Jerry Cram40105.402
Nino Espinosa201018.002
Mac Scarce1000----0

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
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
  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
  • 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
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