# 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.
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.
* 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.
* March 26, 1988: Randy Milligan and Scott Henion (minors) were traded by the Mets to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Mackey Sasser and Tim Drummond.

## Regular season

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

### Season standings

vteNL 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 recordvte 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).
* August 22, 1988: Héctor Ramírez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.

## 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)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB
1April 43:25 pm EDT@ ExposW 10–655,4131–0W1
2April 67:35 pm EDT@ ExposL 1–511,1121–1L1
3April 77:35 pm EDT@ ExposW 8–510,1932–1W1
4April 87:35 pm EDT@ PhilliesL 1–521,9212–2L1
5April 93:20 pm EDT@ PhilliesL 3–930,9942–3L2
6April 101:35 pm EDT@ PhilliesW 4–351,7813–3W1
7April 121:35 pm EDTExposW 3–048,7194–3W2
8April 141:40 pm EDTExposW 1–019,6125–3W3
9April 157:35 pm EDTCardinalsW 3–0 (6)33,0946–3W4
10April 161:30 pm EDTCardinalsW 6–440,5827–3W5
11April 171:35 pm EDTCardinalsW 3–248,7608–3W6
12April 187:50 pm EDTPhilliesL 7–1014,9318–4L1
13April 197:37 pm EDTPhilliesL 2–1024,5558–5L2
14April 207:41 pm EDTPhilliesW 6–227,7149–5W1
15April 228:35 pm EDT@ CardinalsW 4–047,20710–5W2
16April 238:05 pm EDT@ CardinalsW 12–945,11011–5W3
17April 242:15 pm EDT@ CardinalsL 4–541,61711–6L1 :
May: 19–9 (Home: 9–5; Away: 10–4)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
June: 15–13 (Home: 11–4; Away: 4–9)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
July: 14–12 (Home: 9–5; Away: 5–7)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
August: 15–14 (Home: 7–7; Away: 8–7)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
September: 20–6 (Home: 12–1; Away: 8–5)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
October: 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Away: 0–0)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ StreakGB :
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)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ 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
### 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)
* 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

| 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