1974 New York Mets season

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
LeagueNational League
DivisionEast
BallparkShea Stadium
CityNew York
Record71-91
Divisional place5th
OwnersJoan Whitney Payson
General managersBob Scheffing
ManagersYogi Berra
TelevisionWOR-TV
RadioWHN
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
Seasons

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings
NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Pittsburgh Pirates 8874 0.543 — 52–29 36–45
St. Louis Cardinals 8675 0.534 1½ 44–37 42–38
Philadelphia Phillies 8082 0.494 8 46–35 34–47
Montreal Expos 7982 0.491 8½ 42–38 37–44
New York Mets 7191 0.438 17 36–45 35–46
Chicago Cubs 6696 0.407 22 32–49 34–47

Record vs. opponents
1974 National League record

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta—4–87–11–16–128–109–38–48–44–817–18–109–3
Chicago8–4—5–74–82–105–138–108–109–96–66–65–13
Cincinnati11–7–17–5—14–46–126–69–38–48–412–611–76–6
Houston12–68–44–14—5–136–66–66–65–77–1110–88–4
Los Angeles 10–810–212–613–5—8–45–76–64–816–212–66–6
Montreal3–913–56–66–64–8—9–911–79–96–64–88–9
New York4–810–83–96–67–59–9—7–117–116–66–66–12
Philadelphia4-810–84–86–66–67–1111–7—10–85–78–49–9
Pittsburgh8–49–94–87–58–49–911–78–10—9–38–47–11
San Diego1–176–66–127–112–166–66–67–53–9—11–75–7
San Francisco10–86–67–118–106–128–46–64–84–87–11—6–6
St. Louis3–913–56–64–86–69–812–69–911–77–56–6—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster
1974 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders 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 Grote9731982.257536
1BJohn Milner137507128.2522063
2BFélix Millán136518139.268133
SSBud Harrelson10633175.227113
3BWayne Garrett151522117.2241353
LFCleon Jones124461130.2821360
CFDon Hahn11032381.251428
RFRusty Staub161561145.2581978

Other batters

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-OFTed Martinez11633473.219243
OFDave Schneck9325452.205525
2B-3BKen Boswell9622248.216215
1BEd Kranepool9421765.300424
CDuffy Dyer6314230.211010
CRon Hodges5913630.221414
LF-PHGeorge Theodore607612.15811
OF-PHBenny Ayala236816.23528
OFJim Gosger26333.09100
1B-PHBrock Pemberton11224.18201
OFBruce Boisclair7123.25001
2B-3BRich Puig4100.00000
C-PHIke Hampton440.00001

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
Jon Matlack34265.113152.41195
Jerry Koosman35265.015113.36188
Tom Seaver32232.011113.20201
George Stone1577.0275.0329

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
Harry Parker40131.04123.9258
Bob Apodaca35103.0663.5054
Ray Sadecki34103.0883.4146
Craig Swan730.1134.4510
Hank Webb310.0027.208
Randy Sterling39.1114.822
Nino Espinosa29.0005.002

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 IP
Bob Miller582223.583578.0
Tug McGraw4161134.165488.2
Jack Aker242123.481841.1
Jerry Cram100131.61822.1
John Strohmayer10000.0001.0

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tidewater Tides International League John Antonelli
AA Victoria Toros Texas League Joe Frazier
A Visalia Mets California League Nolan Campbell
A Anderson Mets Western Carolinas League Owen Friend
A-Short Season Batavia Trojans New York–Penn League Wilbur Huckle
Rookie Marion Mets Appalachian League Chuck Hiller

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Victoria

Japan tour

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.[6]
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][11]
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.[12]
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.[11]
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

Notes
  1. Buzz Capra page at Baseball Reference
  2. "1974 New York Mets Roster by Baseball Almanac".
  3. Bob Myrick page at Baseball Reference
  4. "Mets Finally Get Torre in Trade for Sadecki and Minor Leaguer," The New York Times, Monday, October 14, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  5. Eskenazi, Gerald. "Mets Get Clines in Dyer Trade," The New York Times, Wednesday, October 23, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  6. Durso, Joseph. "Another Diplomatic Success," The New York Times, Tuesday, October 29, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  7. Durso, Joseph. "Warm Tokyo Welcome Starts Met Orientation," The New York Times, Friday, October 25, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  8. Durso, Joseph. "Tom Terrific and Mr. Oh," The New York Times, Sunday, October 27, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  9. "Yomiuri Giants Beat Mets Again, 3–2," The Associated Press (AP), Wednesday, October 30, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  10. "Mets Tie on Milner's Homer," The Associated Press (AP), Thursday, October 31, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  11. "Mets Lose Again; Aker Waived," The Associated Press (AP), Wednesday, November 6, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  12. Durso, Joseph. "Mets, Good Diplomats, Lose Again," The New York Times, Tuesday, November 5, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  13. "Mets Finally Beat Yomiuri Giants," The Associated Press (AP), Thursday, November 7, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  14. "Met Homers Turn Back Japanese," The Associated Press (AP), Saturday, November 9, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  15. "Mets Win and Go Over .500," The Associated Press (AP), Tuesday, November 12, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  16. "Mets Begin to Win in the East," The Associated Press (AP), Thursday, November 14, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  17. "Mets Set Again in the East," The Associated Press (AP), Saturday, November 16, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  18. "Mets Beat Yomiuri Giants 9–5," The Associated Press (AP), Monday, November 18, 1974. Retrieved March 19, 2024.

References
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