1977 New York Mets season

MLB yearly infobox alt
name = New York Mets
season = 1977
misc =

current league = National League
y1 = 1962
division = Eastern Division
y2 = 1969
Uniform logo =
ballpark = Shea Stadium
y4 = 1964
city = New York, New York
y5 = 1962
owners = Lorinda de Roulet
general managers = Joe McDonald
managers = Joe Frazier and Joe Torre
television = WOR-TV
radio = WNEW/WNYC
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)The New York Mets' 1977 season was the 16th regular season for the Mets, who played played home games at Shea Stadium. Initially led by manager Joe Frazier followed by Joe Torre, the team had a 64-98 record yielding a 6th place finish in the National League's Eastern Division.

Offseason

Regular season

A Nightmare Season

1977 was a bad year for the New York Mets as they finish last place for the first time since 1967, the year Tom Seaver was a rookie. Now in his 11th year as a Met, Seaver was at odds against Met chairman Donald Grant all season over money. It came to an head on June 15, when Grant traded Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds.

From a public-relations perspective, the trade was a disaster. That the Mets were a failing team was apparent. But Seaver was for Mets fans more than a mound spectacular; he was a still highly effective symbol of past glory, and he installed pride in the fans. Whatever else they might not have had, they still had as their very own the man generally acclaimed as baseball's premier pitcher. No matter how abrasive the relationship between Seaver and his employers had become, dealing him away was a serious miscalculation.

In return fot the man who had become known, aptly, as "Tom Terrific", The Mets received some good ballplayers. The Reds sent them slick-fielding seconmd baseman Doug Flynn, pitcher Pat Zachry, and outfielder Steve Henderson, each of whom gave the team some fine moments. Also in the deal was outfielder Dan Norman, who never quite made it in New York.

But there was more on that June 15. the Mets also traded their home-run-hitting threat Dave Kingman to the San Diego Padres for infielder Bobby Valentine and pitcher Paul Siebert. The rationale for this trade was that Kingman as probably going to become a free agent at the end of the season and the club would lose him anyway. But coming on top of the Seaver trade, aligned with the fact that the team got very little in return for their big buster, the kingman trade only added to the growing disenchantment at Shea Stadium, and June 15, would forever be known to Mets fans as the "Midnight Massacre".

Joe Torre Takes Helm

Earlier in the year, on May 31, the Mets had fired manager Joe Frazier and replaced him with Joe Torre. Torre, who soon retired as a player, was the club's sixth manager and in certain respects his appointment reestablished theNew York connection of Mets managers. Although he had spent mosdt of his fine career with the Milwaukee Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals, Torre had grown up and played his first baseball in Brooklyn. When the thirty-six-year-old Torre retired as aplayer that June, he left behind a .297 lifetime batting average for his eighteen years in the major leagues, including an MVP season in 1971 when he led the league with a .363 batting average.

Torre was an able manager, with a veteran's incisive insights into the game and the ability to handle and motivate players. But it was the old story--a last place team was a last-place team no matter how able the manager. The Mets did have some promising new players in outfielder Lee Mazzilli and catcher John Stearns, but there wasn't enough sock in the lineup. the once powerful pitching staff had also taken on a leaner look. Seaver was gone, and in 1977 Jerry Koosman was 8-20 and Jon Matlack (who was traded that December) was 7-15.

eason standings

Notable transactions

*June 7, 1977: Bud Black was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round of the 1977 amateur draft (Secondary Phase), but did not sign. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/blackbu02.shtml Bud Black page at Baseball Reference] ]
*June 14, 1977: Jeff Reardon was signed by the Mets as an amateur free agent. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/reardje01.shtml Jeff Reardon page at Baseball Reference] ]
*June 15, 1977: Tom Seaver was traded by the Mets to the Cincinnati Reds for Pat Zachry, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, and Dan Norman. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/seaveto01.shtml Tom Seaver page at Baseball Reference] ]
*June 15, 1977: Mike Phillips was traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Joel Youngblood. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/y/youngjo02.shtml Joel Youngblood page at Baseball Reference] ]
*June 15, 1977: Dave Kingman was traded by the Mets to the San Diego Padres for Bobby Valentine and Paul Siebert. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/siebepa01.shtml Paul Siebert page at Baseball Reference] ]

Roster

Pitching

tarting pitchers

References

* The New York Mets, The Official 25th Anniversary Book, Donald Honig, 1986

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/1977.shtml 1977 New York Mets]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1977&t=NYN 1977 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com]