# 1970 New York Mets season

The 1970 New York Mets season was the ninth regular season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Gil Hodges, the team had an 83–79 record and finished in third place in the National League East, six games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates.

## Offseason

* December 3, 1969: Amos Otis and Bob Johnson were traded by the Mets to the Kansas City Royals for Joe Foy.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 89 | 73 | .549 | — | 50‍–‍32 | 39‍–‍41 |
| Chicago Cubs | 84 | 78 | .519 | 5 | 46‍–‍34 | 38‍–‍44 |
| New York Mets | 83 | 79 | .512 | 6 | 44‍–‍38 | 39‍–‍41 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 76 | 86 | .469 | 13 | 34‍–‍47 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 73 | 88 | .453 | 15½ | 40‍–‍40 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Montreal Expos | 73 | 89 | .451 | 16 | 39‍–‍41 | 34‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1970 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 8–4 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 13–5 | 5–7 | — | 15–3 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 9–3 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 5–7 | 3–15 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 10–8 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–5 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 6–6 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| New York | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–10 | — | 13–5 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 7–11 | 5–13 | — | 4–14 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 6–6 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 14–4 | — | 6–6 | 4–8 | 12–6 |
| San Diego | 9–9 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 6–6 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 11–7 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 13–5 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 11–7 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* July 12, 1970: Don Cardwell was purchased from the Mets by the Atlanta Braves.

### Roster
## 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 | Jerry Grote | 126 | 415 | 106 | .255 | 2 | 34 |
| 1B | Donn Clendenon | 121 | 396 | 114 | .288 | 22 | 97 |
| 2B | Ken Boswell | 105 | 351 | 89 | .254 | 5 | 44 |
| SS | Bud Harrelson | 157 | 564 | 137 | .243 | 1 | 42 |
| 3B | Joe Foy | 99 | 322 | 76 | .236 | 6 | 37 |
| LF | Cleon Jones | 134 | 506 | 140 | .277 | 10 | 63 |
| CF | Tommie Agee | 153 | 636 | 182 | .286 | 24 | 75 |
| RF | Ron Swoboda | 115 | 245 | 57 | .233 | 9 | 40 |

#### 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 |
| Art Shamsky | 122 | 403 | 118 | .293 | 11 | 49 |
| Wayne Garrett | 114 | 366 | 93 | .254 | 12 | 45 |
| Ken Singleton | 69 | 198 | 52 | .263 | 5 | 26 |
| Dave Marshall | 92 | 189 | 46 | .243 | 6 | 29 |
| Duffy Dyer | 59 | 148 | 31 | .209 | 2 | 12 |
| Al Weis | 75 | 121 | 25 | .207 | 1 | 11 |
| Mike Jorgensen | 76 | 87 | 17 | .195 | 3 | 4 |
| Ed Kranepool | 43 | 47 | 8 | .170 | 0 | 3 |
| Ted Martínez | 4 | 16 | 1 | .063 | 0 | 0 |
| Rod Gaspar | 11 | 14 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Foli | 5 | 11 | 4 | .364 | 0 | 1 |
| Leroy Stanton | 4 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 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 |
| Tom Seaver | 37 | 290.2 | 18 | 12 | 2.82 | 283 |
| Jerry Koosman | 30 | 212.0 | 12 | 7 | 3.14 | 118 |
| Gary Gentry | 32 | 188.1 | 9 | 9 | 3.68 | 134 |
| Jim McAndrew | 32 | 184.1 | 10 | 14 | 3.56 | 111 |

#### 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 |
| Ray Sadecki | 28 | 138.2 | 8 | 4 | 3.89 | 89 |
| Nolan Ryan | 27 | 131.2 | 7 | 11 | 3.42 | 125 |

#### 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 |
| Ron Taylor | 57 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 3.93 | 28 |
| Tug McGraw | 57 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 3.28 | 81 |
| Danny Frisella | 30 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3.02 | 54 |
| Rich Folkers | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6.44 | 15 |
| Don Cardwell | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.48 | 8 |
| Cal Koonce | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.27 | 10 |
| Ron Herbel | 12 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1.38 | 8 |
| Dean Chance | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13.50 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Tommie Agee – Player of the Month, June 1970
All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tidewater Tides | International League | Chuck Hiller |
| AA | Memphis Blues | Texas League | John Antonelli |
| A | Visalia Mets | California League | Joe Frazier |
| A | Pompano Beach Mets | Florida State League | Gordon Mackenzie |
| Rookie | Marion Mets | Appalachian League | Terry Christman |