1969 New York Mets season
The 1969 New York Mets season was the team's eighth as a Major League Baseball franchise and culminated when they won the World Series over the Baltimore Orioles. They played their home games at Shea Stadium and were managed by Gil Hodges. The team is often referred to as the "Amazin' Mets" or the "Miracle Mets".
The 1969 season was the first season of divisional play in Major League Baseball. The Mets were assigned to the newly created National League East division. In their seven previous seasons, the Mets had never finished higher than ninth place in the ten-team National League and had never had a winning season. They lost at least one hundred games in five of the seasons. However, they overcame mid-season difficulties while the division leaders for much of the season, the Chicago Cubs, suffered a late-season collapse. The Mets finished 100–62, eight games ahead of the Cubs. The Mets went on to defeat the National League West champion Atlanta Braves three games to none in the inaugural National League Championship Series. The Mets then went on to defeat the American League champion Baltimore Orioles in five games. First baseman Donn Clendenon was named the series' most valuable player on the strength of his.357 batting average, three home runs, and four runs batted in.
On Saturday, August 22, 2009, many of the surviving members of the 1969 championship team reunited at the New York Mets' present park, Citi Field.
Offseason
- October 14, 1968:
- October 16, 1968: Sold Don Bosch to the Montreal Expos
- December 4, 1968:
Trades
Spring training
The 1969 New York Mets held spring training at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, for the 8th season.Regular season
The Mets had never finished higher than ninth place in a ten-team league in their first seven seasons. As an expansion team, they went 40–120 in 1962, the most losses by an MLB team in one season in the 20th century, and the 1962 Mets'.250 winning percentage was higher than only the.248 posted by the 1935 Boston Braves.The Mets never had been over.500 after the ninth game of any season. Seven years after their disastrous inaugural season, "The Amazin' Mets" won the World Series, the first expansion team to do so.
1969 was the first year of divisional baseball, precipitated by the expansion of each league from 10 to 12 teams.
The Kansas City Royals and Seattle Pilots joined the American League. The San Diego Padres and Montreal Expos joined the National League. Before 1969, the first place team in each league advanced directly to the World Series. Under the new structure, each league was divided into East and West divisions, each comprising six teams, with the divisional winners facing off in a best-of-five playoff for the right to represent their league in the World Series. The Mets were slotted in the National League Eastern Division, along with the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the upstart Montreal Expos, and the St. Louis Cardinals, who had been World Champions in 1964 and 1967 and losers of the 1968 World Series. For the first time since joining the National League in 1962, the Mets could finish no lower than 6th. The New York Times journalist, Joseph Durso, predicted the Mets would finish 4th in the East, ahead of the Pirates and the Expos.
On Tuesday April 8, with 44,541 fans in attendance at Shea Stadium, the Mets and the Expos played the first international baseball game in major league baseball history. The Mets had lost seven straight opening day games since joining the national league in 1962. That dubious record reached eight when the Expos prevailed in a 11-10 slugfest, despite the Mets' scoring four runs with two down in the bottom of the ninth, highlighted by a pinch hit three-run homer by Duffy Dyer. Apparently, this was axiomatic Mets baseball, as one columnist described the Mets as "masters of the lingering death."
The Mets took the next two games from the Expos, but then lost six of the following 7 games, bringing their record to 3-7. Another season of mediocrity seemed ordained. But after a 9-14 start, the Mets won 9 of their next 13 games, including consecutive shutouts in late April against the Cubs and Expos. When Tom Seaver shutout the Atlanta Braves 5-0 on May 21, the Mets were 18-18, their best start in franchise history. But the Mets lost their next five games, starting with a 15-3 drubbing from the Atlanta Braves, followed by a 3-game sweep by the Astros, who outscored the Mets 18-4, and finishing with a loss at Shea Stadium to the lowly Padres. At the end of play on May 27, the Mets' record stood at 18-23. Then, in late May, the Mets reeled off a club-record 11 straight wins, which included three walk-off wins and dominant pitching, as the Mets pitching staff yielded a stingy 2-runs per game. Starting with their 42nd game, the Mets went 82–39, including an astonishing 38-11 in their last 49 games.
Despite that performance, the Mets suffered two mid-season three-game series sweeps at the hands of the Houston Astros, who manhandled the Mets all season, taking 10 of the 12 games the teams played.
They were also no-hit by Bob Moose of the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 20, only five days after becoming the first major league team to strike out 19 times in a nine-inning game, a game they won, 4–3, on a pair of two-run home runs by Ron Swoboda, against the Cardinals' Steve Carlton.
Trailing the Chicago Cubs for much of the season, the Mets found themselves in third place, 10 games back, on August 14 but they won 14 of their last 17 games during August, and 24 of their 32 games during September and October, to surge past the Cubs, finishing 100–62, eight games ahead of the Cubs. That 18 game differential is one of the largest turnarounds in MLB history.
Season standings
National League East
Record vs. opponents
Schedule and results
Regular season
All times are EASTERN time- All games broadcast on WJRZ and METS RADIO NETWORK
Postseason
- 1969 NLCS broadcast on WJRZ and METS RADIO NETWORK
Attendance
Notable Achievements of 1969 Mets
- The Mets pitching staff led the major leagues with 28 shutouts. To put that in context, in the past 100 years only the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals had more shutouts than the 1969 Mets, and it's worth noting that the Cardinals accomplished that feat in what is widely regarded among baseball fans as "the year of the pitcher." Pitchers so dominated baseball in 1968 - the average MLB batting average was.237, 13 of the 20 teams had earned run averages below 3.00, and Carl Yastrzemski, who batted.301, was the only American League hitter with a.300 batting average - that Major League Baseball owners voted to lower the height of the pitching mound from 15 inches to 10 inches and reduce the size of the batters' strike zone.
- From September 5, 1969 through September 28, a span of 25 games, the Mets' pitchers combined for an astonishing 10 shutouts. Opponents scored an average of 1.84 runs per game during that span. If you exclude a Friday night double header on September 19th when the Pirates scored 8 runs in both games, the pitching staff yielded a meager 30 runs over 23 games. In the last 100 years, no pitching staff has thrown 10 shutouts over a 25-game span.
- The Mets were 41-23 in games decided by one run, a 64% winning percentage, which led the National League. Id.
- Only the 1978 San Francisco Giants have exceeded the 64 one-run games the Mets played during 1969. The Mets were World Champions; the Giants didn't make the playoffs.
- Measured by traditional baseball metrics, the 1969 Mets are one of the two worst hitting teams to have won the World Series in the last 50 years, which makes their accomplishment even more remarkable. No World Champion during this 50-year span had a lower slugging percentage then the.351 posted by the Mets. The Mets' had an OPS of.663 in 1969. Since 1969, the only World Champion with a lower OPS is the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers.
Roster
The Final Out
With two outs in the top of the ninth inning, starting pitcher Jerry Koosman faced Orioles second baseman Davey Johnson. After taking a pitch of two balls and one strike, Johnson hit a fly-ball out to left field which was caught by Cleon Jones.Hall of Fame members who played in the 1969 World Series
Three future Hall of Fame members were on the Mets' roster: pitcher Tom Seaver, a young Nolan Ryan, and New York Yankees legend Yogi Berra, who was their first base coach. Berra was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972, Seaver in 1992, and Ryan in 1999.The Baltimore Orioles boasted four future Hall of Famers on their roster: pitcher Jim Palmer, outfielder Frank Robinson, third baseman Brooks Robinson, and manager Earl Weaver.
Opening Day starters
- Tommie Agee
- Ken Boswell
- Ed Charles
- Rod Gaspar
- Jerry Grote
- Bud Harrelson
- Cleon Jones
- Ed Kranepool
- Tom Seaver
Notable transactions
- June 13, 1969: Al Jackson was purchased from the Mets by the Cincinnati Reds.
- June 15, 1969: Kevin Collins, Steve Renko, Bill Carden and Dave Colon were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for Donn Clendenon.
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 | 113 | 365 | 92 | .252 | 6 | 40 | |
| 1B | 112 | 353 | 84 | .238 | 11 | 49 | |
| 2B | 102 | 362 | 101 | .279 | 3 | 32 | |
| 3B | 124 | 400 | 87 | .218 | 1 | 39 | |
| SS | 123 | 395 | 98 | .248 | 0 | 24 | |
| LF | 137 | 483 | 164 | .340 | 12 | 75 | |
| CF | 149 | 565 | 153 | .271 | 26 | 76 | |
| RF | 109 | 327 | 77 | .235 | 9 | 52 |
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 |
| 100 | 303 | 91 | .300 | 14 | 47 | |
| 103 | 247 | 53 | .215 | 2 | 23 | |
| 118 | 215 | 49 | .228 | 1 | 19 | |
| 62 | 211 | 49 | .232 | 0 | 10 | |
| 72 | 202 | 51 | .252 | 12 | 37 | |
| 66 | 177 | 37 | .209 | 4 | 21 | |
| 61 | 169 | 35 | .207 | 3 | 18 | |
| 48 | 93 | 14 | .151 | 0 | 4 | |
| 29 | 74 | 19 | .257 | 3 | 12 | |
| 16 | 40 | 6 | .150 | 1 | 2 | |
| 10 | 15 | 2 | .133 | 0 | 1 | |
| 4 | 10 | 3 | .300 | 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 |
| 35 | 233.2 | 13 | 12 | 3.43 | 154 | |
| 36 | 273.1 | 25 | 7 | 2.21 | 208 | |
| 32 | 241 | 17 | 9 | 2.28 | 180 | |
| 30 | 152.1 | 8 | 10 | 3.01 | 60 | |
| 27 | 135 | 6 | 7 | 3.47 | 90 |
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 |
| 25 | 89.1 | 6 | 3 | 3.53 | 92 | |
| 23 | 63.2 | 1 | 4 | 2.40 | 27 |
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 |
| 59 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 2.72 | 42 | |
| 42 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 2.24 | 92 | |
| 40 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 4.99 | 48 | |
| 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10.64 | 10 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.71 | 5 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 3 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.25 | 0 |
NLCS
Game 1
Saturday, October 4, 1969, at Atlanta Stadium in AtlantaGame 2
Sunday, October 5, 1969, at Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta, GeorgiaGame 3
Monday, October 6, 1969, at Shea Stadium in Queens, New YorkWorld Series
Game 1
Saturday, October 11, 1969, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, MarylandGame 2
Sunday, October 12, 1969, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, MarylandGame 3
Tuesday, October 14, 1969, at Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens, New YorkGame 4
Wednesday, October 15, 1969, at Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens, New YorkGame 5
Thursday, October 16, 1969, at Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens, New YorkIn popular culture
In the movie Oh, God!, God, as played by George Burns, explains to John Denver that "the last miracle I performed was the 1969 Mets."Part of the movie Frequency is set in Queens, New York, in 1969, as firefighter and avid Mets fan Frank Sullivan and his family follow the "Amazin's" throughout the World Series.
In Moonlighting, Season 2, Episode 13, "In God We Strongly Suspect", when David is attempting to define the parameters of Maddie's skepticism and atheism by inviting her to provide logical explanations for various phenomena seemingly beyond man's understanding, he mentions the "'69 Mets" which she immediately dismisses as "a myth and a hoax".
In his song "Faith and Fear in Flushing Meadows", twee/folk artist Harry Breitner makes mention of Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman.
In the TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond episode "Big Shots", Ray and Robert visit the Baseball Hall of Fame to meet members of the '69 Mets.
In the film Men in Black 3, set shortly before the Apollo 11 launch in July 1969, Griffin, an alien from the fifth dimension who can see the future, says the Mets' title is his favorite human history moment for "all the improbabilities that helped".
In the TV show Growing Pains, the family's name was the Seavers and their neighbors were the Koosmans.
Awards and honors
Awards
Records
Batting Feats
Pitching Feats
Batting Milestones
Pitching Milestones
40th Major League Baseball All-Star Game
Outfielders| Pos | # | Player | League | AB | H | RBI |
| LF | 21 | National League Starter | 4 | 2 | 0 |
Pitchers
Draft
| Date | Round | Pick | Player | Position | Hometown/School |
| June 5, 1969 | 1 | 4 | Randy Sterling | RHP | Key West, Florida |
| June 5, 1969 | 2 | 28 | Joe Nolan | C | St. Louis, Missouri |