List of New York Mets Opening Day starting pitchers

The New York Mets are a Major League Baseball franchise from Flushing, Queens, in New York City, New York who play in the National League East division. The New York Mets have used 19 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 47 seasons. The 19 starters have a combined Opening Day record of 24 wins, 11 losses (24–11) and 12 no decisions. No decisions are only awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game.

Tom Seaver holds the Mets' record for most Opening Day starts with 11, and has an Opening Day record of 6–0. He also has the most starts in Shea Stadium, the Mets' current home ballpark. Dwight Gooden holds the Mets' record for most Opening Day wins with seven Opening Day wins against one Opening Day loss. Al Jackson and Roger Craig share the worst winning percentage as the Opening Day starting pitcher with a record of 0–2.

From 1968 through 1983, Mets' Opening Day starting pitchers went 16 consecutive years without a loss. During this period, Tom Seaver won six starts with five no decisions, Craig Swan won two starts, and Jerry Koosman, Pat Zachry and Randy Jones won one start apiece. Furthermore, in the 31 year period from 1968 through 1998, Mets' Opening Day starting pitchers only lost two games. During that period, they won 19 games with 10 no decisions. The only losses during this period were by Mike Torrez in 1984 and by Dwight Gooden in 1990.

Overall, Mets Opening Day starting pitchers have a record of 0–1 at the Polo Grounds and a 13–5 record with 4 no decisions at Shea Stadium. In addition, although the Mets were nominally the home team in 2000, the game was played in Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. [cite web|title=Box Score Mets vs. Cubs March 29, 2000|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200003290.shtml|accessdate=2008-09-20|publisher=Baseball-Reference] Mike Hampton started the game in Tokyo and lost, making the Mets' Opening Day starting pitchers' combined home record 13–7, and their away record 11–4. The Mets went on to play in the National League Division Series (NLDS) playoff games in mlby|1969, mlby|1973, mlby|1986 and mlby|2000, and won the 1969 and 1986 World Series championship games. Tom Seaver (1969 and 1973), Dwight Gooden (1986) and Mike Hampton (2000) were the Opening Day starting pitchers when the Mets played in the NLDS, and they had a combined Opening Day record of 2–1.

Key

Pitchers

References

*cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/opening.shtml|title=New York Mets Opening Day Starters and Results|publisher=Baseball-Reference|accessdate=2008-09-07