1988 New York Mets season

The 1988 New York Mets season was the 27th regular season for the Mets. They went 100–60 and finished first in the National League East. They were managed by Davey Johnson. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

1988 New York Mets
National League East Champions
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Shea Stadium
City	New York
Record	100–60 (.625)
Owners	Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr.
General managers	Frank Cashen
Managers	Davey Johnson
Television	WWOR-TV/SportsChannel New York (Ralph Kiner, Steve Zabriskie, Tim McCarver, Fran Healy, Rusty Staub)
Radio	WFAN (Bob Murphy, Gary Thorne, Charlie Slowes) WJIT (Spanish) (Juan Alicea, Billy Berroa)
← 1987 Seasons 1989 →

The Mets would go on to lose to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS in seven games.

Offseason

• December 11, 1987: Jesse Orosco was traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Mets to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers sent Jack Savage to the Mets, and the Oakland Athletics sent Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst to the Mets. The Dodgers sent Bob Welch and Matt Young to the Athletics, and the Athletics sent Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell to the Dodgers.^[1]
• December 11, 1987: Rafael Santana and Victor Garcia (minors) were traded by the Mets to the New York Yankees for Darren Reed, Phil Lombardi, and Steve Frey.^[2]
• March 26, 1988: Randy Milligan and Scott Henion (minors) were traded by the Mets to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Mackey Sasser and Tim Drummond.^[3]

Regular season

• August 9: The Mets participated in the first official night game at Wrigley Field, which the Cubs won, 6–4.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Mets	100	60	.625	—	56‍–‍24	44‍–‍36
Pittsburgh Pirates	85	75	.531	15	43‍–‍38	42‍–‍37
Montreal Expos	81	81	.500	20	43‍–‍38	38‍–‍43
Chicago Cubs	77	85	.475	24	39‍–‍42	38‍–‍43
St. Louis Cardinals	76	86	.469	25	41‍–‍40	35‍–‍46
Philadelphia Phillies	65	96	.404	35½	38‍–‍42	27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1988 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	5–13	5–13	4–14	4–8	4–8	6–6	5–5	8–10	5–13	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	6–6	7–5	4–8–1	9–9	9–9	8–10	7–11	8–4	5–7	7–11
Cincinnati	13–5	6–6	—	9–9	7–11	5–7	4–7	9–3	7–5	10–8	11–7	6–6
Houston	13–5	5–7	9–9	—	9–9	6–6	5–7	8–4	8–4	6–12	7–11	6–6
Los Angeles	14–4	8–4–1	11–7	9–9	—	8–4	1–10	11–1	6–6	7–11	12–6	7–5
Montreal	8–4	9–9	7–5	6–6	4–8	—	6–12	9–9–1	8–10	4–8	7–5	13–5
New York	8–4	9–9	7–4	7–5	10–1	12–6	—	10–8	12–6	7–5	4–8	14–4
Philadelphia	6-6	10–8	3–9	4–8	1–11	9–9–1	8–10	—	7–11	4–7	7–5	6–12
Pittsburgh	5–5	11–7	5–7	4–8	6–6	10–8	6–12	11–7	—	8–4	8–4	11–7
San Diego	10–8	4–8	8–10	12–6	11–7	8–4	5–7	7–4	4–8	—	8–10	6–6
San Francisco	13–5	7–5	7–11	11–7	6–12	5–7	8–4	5–7	4–8	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	9–3	11–7	6–6	6–6	5–7	5–13	4–14	12–6	7–11	6–6	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• August 4, 1988: Tom McCarthy and Steve Springer were traded by the Mets to the Chicago White Sox for Mike Maksudian and Vince Harris (minors).^[4]
• August 22, 1988: Héctor Ramírez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.^[5]

Roster

1988 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers 15 Rick Aguilera 44 David Cone 12 Ron Darling 50 Sid Fernandez 16 Dwight Gooden 40 Jeff Innis 26 Terry Leach 27 Bob McClure 42 Roger McDowell 43 John Mitchell 48 Randy Myers 45 Edwin Núñez 19 Bob Ojeda 31 Gene Walter 46 David West		Catchers  8 Gary Carter 33 Barry Lyons  2 Mackey Sasser Infielders  6 Wally Backman 21 Kevin Elster 17 Keith Hernandez  9 Gregg Jefferies 20 Howard Johnson 29 Dave Magadan 25 Keith Miller 11 Tim Teufel		Outfielders 32 Mark Carreon  4 Lenny Dykstra 13 Lee Mazzilli 22 Kevin McReynolds 18 Darryl Strawberry  1 Mookie Wilson		Manager  5 Davey Johnson Coaches 23 Bud Harrelson 52 Greg Pavlick 34 Sam Perlozzo 28 Bill Robinson 30 Mel Stottlemyre

Game log

Regular season

1988 regular season game log: 100–60 (Home: 56–24; Away: 44–36)
April: 15–6 (Home: 6–2; Away: 9–4) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB 1 April 4 3:25 pm EDT @ Expos W 10–6 55,413 1–0 W1 2 April 6 7:35 pm EDT @ Expos L 1–5 11,112 1–1 L1 3 April 7 7:35 pm EDT @ Expos W 8–5 10,193 2–1 W1 4 April 8 7:35 pm EDT @ Phillies L 1–5 21,921 2–2 L1 5 April 9 3:20 pm EDT @ Phillies L 3–9 30,994 2–3 L2 6 April 10 1:35 pm EDT @ Phillies W 4–3 51,781 3–3 W1 7 April 12 1:35 pm EDT Expos W 3–0 48,719 4–3 W2 8 April 14 1:40 pm EDT Expos W 1–0 19,612 5–3 W3 9 April 15 7:35 pm EDT Cardinals W 3–0 (6) 33,094 6–3 W4 10 April 16 1:30 pm EDT Cardinals W 6–4 40,582 7–3 W5 11 April 17 1:35 pm EDT Cardinals W 3–2 48,760 8–3 W6 12 April 18 7:50 pm EDT Phillies L 7–10 14,931 8–4 L1 13 April 19 7:37 pm EDT Phillies L 2–10 24,555 8–5 L2 14 April 20 7:41 pm EDT Phillies W 6–2 27,714 9–5 W1 15 April 22 8:35 pm EDT @ Cardinals W 4–0 47,207 10–5 W2 16 April 23 8:05 pm EDT @ Cardinals W 12–9 45,110 11–5 W3 17 April 24 2:15 pm EDT @ Cardinals L 4–5 41,617 11–6 L1
May: 19–9 (Home: 9–5; Away: 10–4) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
June: 15–13 (Home: 11–4; Away: 4–9) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
July: 14–12 (Home: 9–5; Away: 5–7) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
August: 15–14 (Home: 7–7; Away: 8–7) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
September: 20–6 (Home: 12–1; Away: 8–5) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
October: 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Away: 0–0) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Mets team member

Postseason Game log

1988 Postseason game log: 3–4 (Home: 1–2; Away: 2–2)
NL Championship Series: vs. New York Mets 3–4 (Home: 1–2; Away: 2–2) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Mets team member

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	Gary Carter	130	455	110	.242	11	46
1B	Keith Hernandez	95	348	96	.276	11	55
2B	Wally Backman	99	294	89	.303	0	17
3B	Howard Johnson	148	495	114	.230	24	68
SS	Kevin Elster	149	406	87	.214	9	37
LF	Kevin McReynolds	147	552	159	.288	27	99
CF	Len Dykstra	126	429	116	.270	8	33
RF	Darryl Strawberry	153	543	146	.269	39	101

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
Mookie Wilson	112	378	112	.296	8	41
Dave Magadan	112	314	87	.277	1	35
Tim Teufel	90	273	64	.234	4	31
Mackey Sasser	60	123	35	.285	1	17
Lee Mazzilli	68	116	17	.147	0	12
Gregg Jeffries	29	109	35	.321	6	17
Barry Lyons	50	91	21	.231	0	11
Keith Miller	40	70	15	.214	1	5
Mark Carreon	7	9	5	.556	1	1

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
Dwight Gooden	34	248.1	18	9	3.19	175
Ron Darling	34	240.2	17	9	3.25	161
David Cone	35	231.1	20	3	2.22	213
Bob Ojeda	29	190.1	10	13	2.88	133
Sid Fernandez	31	187.0	12	10	3.03	189

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
Rick Aguilera	11	24.2	0	4	6.93	16
David West	2	6.0	1	0	3.00	3

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
Randy Myers	55	7	3	26	1.72	69
Roger McDowell	62	5	5	16	2.63	46
Terry Leach	52	7	2	3	2.54	51
Gene Walter	19	0	1	0	3.78	14
Bob McClure	14	1	0	1	4.09	7
Jeff Innis	12	1	1	0	1.89	14
Edwin Núñez	10	1	0	0	4.50	8
John Mitchell	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

NLCS

Main article: 1988 National League Championship Series

Game 1

October 4: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	8	1
Los Angeles	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	4	0
WP: Randy Myers (1–0)  LP: Jay Howell (0–1)
HR: NYM – None.; LA – None.

Game 2

October 5: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	6	0
Los Angeles	1	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	6	7	0
WP: Tim Belcher (1–0)  LP: David Cone (0–1)  SV: Alejandro Peña (1)
HR: NYM – Keith Hernandez (1); LA – None.

Game 3

October 8: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	7	2
New York	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	5	X	8	9	2
WP: Randy Myers (2–0)  LP: Alejandro Peña (0–1)
HR: LA – None.; NYM – None.

Game 4

October 9: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
Los Angeles	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	5	7	1
New York	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	10	2
WP: Alejandro Peña (1–1)  LP: Roger McDowell (0–1)   SV: Orel Hershiser (1)
HR: LA – Mike Scioscia (1), Kirk Gibson (1); NYM – Darryl Strawberry (1), Kevin McReynolds (1)

Game 5

October 10: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles	0	0	0	3	3	0	0	0	1	7	12	0
New York	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	4	9	1
WP: Tim Belcher (2–0)  LP: Sid Fernandez (0–1)  SV: Brian Holton (1)
HR: LA – Kirk Gibson (2); NYM – Lenny Dykstra (1)

Game 6

October 11: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	1	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	5	11	0
Los Angeles	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
WP: David Cone (1–1)  LP: Tim Leary (0–1)
HR: NYM – Kevin McReynolds (2); LA – None.

Game 7

October 12: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2
Los Angeles	1	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	6	10	0
WP: Orel Hershiser (1–0)  LP: Ron Darling (0–1)
HR: NYM – None.; LA – None.

Awards and honors

• Keith Hernandez, Gold Glove Award
• Keith Hernandez, Major League record, most Gold Gloves by a first baseman (it was also his 11th consecutive Gold Glove)^[6]
• Kevin McReynolds – Player of the Month, September 1988
• Gary Carter – 300 career home runs, and set record for career putouts for a catcher

1988 MLB All-Star Game

• Gary Carter
• David Cone
• Dwight Gooden
• Darryl Strawberry

Team leaders

• Games – Darryl Strawberry (153)
• At-bats – Kevin McReynolds (552)
• Home runs – Darryl Strawberry (39)
• Runs batted in – Darryl Strawberry (101)
• Batting average – Wally Backman (.303)
• Hits – Kevin McReynolds (159)
• Doubles – Kevin McReynolds (30)
• Triples – Mookie Wilson (5)
• Walks – Howard Johnson (86)
• Stolen bases – Len Dykstra (30)
• Wins – David Cone (20)

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tidewater Tides	International League	Mike Cubbage
AA	Jackson Mets	Texas League	Tucker Ashford
A	St. Lucie Mets	Florida State League	Clint Hurdle
A	Columbia Mets	South Atlantic League	Butch Hobson
A-Short Season	Little Falls Mets	New York–Penn League	Bill Stein
Rookie	Kingsport Mets	Appalachian League	Bobby Floyd
Rookie	GCL Mets	Gulf Coast League	John Tamargo

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Lucie, Kingsport^[7]

References

1. Jesse Orosco at Baseball-Reference
2. Rafael Santana at Baseball-Reference
3. Randy Milligan at Baseball-Reference
4. Mike Maksudian at Baseball-Reference
5. Héctor Ramírez at Baseball-Reference
6. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 47, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

• 1988 New York Mets at Baseball Almanac
• 1988 New York Mets at Baseball Reference
• 1988 New York Mets schedule and stats at MLB.com
• The 1988 New York Mets at Retrosheet