# 1971 New York Mets season

The 1971 New York Mets season was the tenth regular season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Gil Hodges, the team posted an 83–79 record and finished the season tied for third place in the National League East, fourteen games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates.

## Offseason

* October 20, 1970: Larry Bearnarth was purchased from the Mets by the Milwaukee Brewers.
* November 30, 1970: Joe Foy was drafted by the Washington Senators from the New York Mets in the 1970 rule 5 draft.
* January 28, 1971: Benny Ayala was signed by the Mets as an amateur free agent.
* March 30, 1971: Dean Chance and Bill Denehy were traded by the Mets to the Detroit Tigers for Jerry Robertson.
* March 31, 1971: Ron Swoboda and Rich Hacker were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for Don Hahn.
* Prior to 1971 season: Frank Estrada was acquired by the Mets from the Mexico City Reds.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 52‍–‍28 | 45‍–‍37 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 90 | 72 | .556 | 7 | 45‍–‍36 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Chicago Cubs | 83 | 79 | .512 | 14 | 44‍–‍37 | 39‍–‍42 |
| New York Mets | 83 | 79 | .512 | 14 | 44‍–‍37 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Montreal Expos | 71 | 90 | .441 | 25½ | 36‍–‍44 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 67 | 95 | .414 | 30 | 34‍–‍47 | 33‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1971 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 9–9 |
| Cincinnati | 9–9 | 6–6 | — | 5–13 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 7–5 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 2–10 |
| Los Angeles | 9–9 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 10–8 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 |
| Montreal | 5–7 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–9 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–5 | 7–5 | 4–14 |
| New York | 5–7 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 13–5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 10–8 |
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 7–11 | 2–10 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–10 | 5–13 | — | 6–12 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 9–3 | 3–9 | 11–7 |
| San Diego | 7–11 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 5–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 11–7 | 9–3 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 13–5 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 6–6 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 14–4 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 16, 1971: Jimy Williams was purchased by the Mets from the Montreal Expos.

### 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 | 125 | 403 | 109 | .270 | 2 | 35 |
| 1B | Ed Kranepool | 122 | 421 | 118 | .280 | 14 | 58 |
| 2B | Ken Boswell | 116 | 392 | 107 | .273 | 5 | 40 |
| SS | Bud Harrelson | 142 | 547 | 138 | .252 | 0 | 32 |
| 3B | Bob Aspromonte | 104 | 342 | 77 | .225 | 5 | 33 |
| LF | Cleon Jones | 136 | 505 | 161 | .319 | 14 | 69 |
| CF | Tommie Agee | 113 | 425 | 121 | .285 | 14 | 50 |
| RF | Ken Singleton | 115 | 298 | 73 | .245 | 13 | 46 |

#### 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 |
| Tim Foli | 97 | 288 | 65 | .226 | 0 | 24 |
| Donn Clendenon | 88 | 263 | 65 | .247 | 11 | 37 |
| Dave Marshall | 100 | 214 | 51 | .238 | 3 | 21 |
| Wayne Garrett | 56 | 202 | 43 | .213 | 1 | 11 |
| Don Hahn | 98 | 178 | 42 | .236 | 1 | 11 |
| Duffy Dyer | 59 | 169 | 39 | .231 | 2 | 18 |
| Art Shamsky | 68 | 135 | 25 | .185 | 5 | 18 |
| Ted Martínez | 38 | 125 | 36 | .288 | 1 | 10 |
| Mike Jorgensen | 45 | 118 | 26 | .220 | 5 | 11 |
| Leroy Stanton | 5 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 0 | 2 |
| John Milner | 9 | 18 | 3 | .167 | 0 | 1 |
| Al Weis | 11 | 11 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Frank Estrada | 1 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 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 | 36 | 286.1 | 20 | 10 | 1.76 | 289 |
| Gary Gentry | 32 | 203.1 | 12 | 11 | 3.23 | 155 |
| Jerry Koosman | 26 | 165.2 | 6 | 11 | 3.04 | 96 |
| Nolan Ryan | 30 | 152.0 | 10 | 14 | 3.97 | 137 |
| Jon Matlack | 7 | 37.0 | 0 | 3 | 4.14 | 24 |

#### 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 | 34 | 163.1 | 7 | 7 | 2.92 | 120 |
| Charlie Williams | 31 | 90.1 | 5 | 6 | 4.78 | 53 |
| Jim McAndrew | 24 | 90.1 | 2 | 5 | 4.38 | 42 |

#### 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 |
| Danny Frisella | 53 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 1.99 | 93 |
| Tug McGraw | 51 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 1.70 | 109 |
| Ron Taylor | 45 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3.65 | 32 |
| Buzz Capra | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8.44 | 6 |
| Don Rose | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tidewater Tides | International League | Hank Bauer |
| 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 | Chuck Hiller |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Visalia