# 1983 New York Mets season

The 1983 New York Mets season was the 22nd regular season for the Mets. They went 68–94 and finished in sixth place in the National League East, twenty-two games behind the first place Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets were managed by George Bamberger and Frank Howard. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

## Offseason

* December 10, 1982: Mike Scott was traded by the Mets to the Houston Astros for Danny Heep.
* December 16, 1982: Charlie Puleo, Lloyd McClendon, and Jason Felice (minors) were traded by the Mets to the Cincinnati Reds for Tom Seaver.
* January 13, 1983: The Mets traded a player to be named later to the Boston Red Sox for Mike Torrez. The Mets completed the deal by sending Mike Davis (minors) to the Red Sox on February 15.

## Regular season

* May 6, 1983: Darryl Strawberry made his major league debut.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 84 | 78 | .519 | 6 | 41‍–‍40 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Montreal Expos | 82 | 80 | .506 | 8 | 46‍–‍35 | 36‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 79 | 83 | .488 | 11 | 44‍–‍37 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Chicago Cubs | 71 | 91 | .438 | 19 | 43‍–‍38 | 28‍–‍53 |
| New York Mets | 68 | 94 | .420 | 22 | 41‍–‍41 | 27‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1983 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 10–8 |
| Cincinnati | 6–12 | 8–4 | — | 5–13 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 7–11 | 7–5 | 13–5 | — | 6–12 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 2–10 |
| Los Angeles | 11–7 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 12–6 | — | 7–5 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–6 | 6–12–1 | 5–13 | 9–3 |
| Montreal | 5–7 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 8–10–1 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–9 |
| New York | 4–8 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 6–12 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–12 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 1–11 | 10–8–1 | 12–6 | — | 11–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 14–4 |
| Pittsburgh | 6–6 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–11 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 9–9 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6–1 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 3–9 | — | 11–7 | 6–6 |
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 13–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 4–8 |
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 3–9 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 4–14 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 8–4 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Bob Bailor
* Hubie Brooks
* George Foster
* Brian Giles
* Ron Hodges
* Mike Howard
* Dave Kingman
* Tom Seaver
* Mookie Wilson

### Notable transactions

* April 7, 1983: Clint Hurdle was signed as a free agent by the Mets.
* June 6, 1983: 1983 Major League Baseball Draft
** Stan Jefferson was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (20th pick).
** Matt Williams was drafted by the Mets in the 27th round, but did not sign.
* June 15, 1983: Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey were traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Keith Hernandez.
* July 22, 1983: Scott Dye (minors) was traded by the Mets to the Oakland Athletics for Kelvin Moore.

### 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 | Ron Hodges | 110 | 250 | 65 | .260 | 0 | 21 |
| 1B | Keith Hernandez | 95 | 320 | 98 | .306 | 9 | 37 |
| 2B | Brian Giles | 145 | 400 | 98 | .245 | 2 | 27 |
| SS | José Oquendo | 120 | 328 | 70 | .213 | 1 | 17 |
| 3B | Hubie Brooks | 150 | 586 | 147 | .251 | 5 | 58 |
| LF | George Foster | 157 | 601 | 145 | .241 | 28 | 90 |
| CF | Mookie Wilson | 152 | 638 | 176 | .276 | 7 | 51 |
| RF | Darryl Strawberry | 122 | 420 | 108 | .257 | 26 | 74 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Bailor | 118 | 340 | 85 | .250 | 1 | 30 |
| Danny Heep | 115 | 253 | 64 | .253 | 8 | 21 |
| Dave Kingman | 100 | 248 | 49 | .198 | 13 | 29 |
| Junior Ortiz | 68 | 185 | 47 | .254 | 0 | 12 |
| Rusty Staub | 104 | 115 | 34 | .296 | 3 | 28 |
| Mark Bradley | 73 | 104 | 21 | .202 | 3 | 5 |
| Ronn Reynolds | 24 | 66 | 13 | .197 | 0 | 2 |
| Tucker Ashford | 35 | 56 | 10 | .179 | 0 | 2 |
| Wally Backman | 26 | 42 | 7 | .167 | 0 | 3 |
| Gary Rajsich | 11 | 36 | 12 | .333 | 1 | 3 |
| Clint Hurdle | 13 | 33 | 6 | .182 | 0 | 2 |
| Ron Gardenhire | 17 | 32 | 2 | .063 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Jorgensen | 38 | 24 | 6 | .250 | 1 | 3 |
| Mike Fitzgerald | 8 | 20 | 2 | .100 | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Bishop | 3 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Howard | 1 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 1 |
| John Stearns | 4 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 | 34 | 231.0 | 9 | 14 | 3.55 | 135 |
| Mike Torrez | 39 | 222.1 | 10 | 17 | 4.37 | 94 |
| Ed Lynch | 30 | 174.2 | 10 | 10 | 4.28 | 44 |
| Walt Terrell | 21 | 133.2 | 8 | 8 | 3.57 | 59 |
| Ron Darling | 5 | 35.1 | 1 | 3 | 2.80 | 23 |
| Tim Leary | 2 | 10.2 | 1 | 1 | 3.38 | 9 |

#### 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 |
| Scott Holman | 35 | 101.0 | 1 | 7 | 3.74 | 44 |
| Craig Swan | 27 | 96.1 | 2 | 8 | 5.51 | 43 |
| Neil Allen | 21 | 54.0 | 2 | 7 | 4.50 | 32 |
| Tom Gorman | 25 | 49.1 | 1 | 4 | 4.93 | 30 |
| Rick Ownbey | 10 | 34.2 | 1 | 3 | 4.67 | 19 |

#### 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 |
| Jesse Orosco | 62 | 13 | 7 | 17 | 1.47 | 84 |
| Doug Sisk | 67 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 2.24 | 33 |
| Carlos Diaz | 54 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2.05 | 64 |
| Brent Gaff | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.10 | 4 |

## Awards and honors

* Darryl Strawberry, Rookie of the Year
* Keith Hernandez, Gold Glove
All-Star Game
* Jesse Orosco, Pitcher

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tidewater Tides | International League | Davey Johnson |
| AA | Jackson Mets | Texas League | Bob Schaefer |
| A | Lynchburg Mets | Carolina League | Sam Perlozzo |
| A | Columbia Mets | South Atlantic League | John Tamargo |
| A-Short Season | Little Falls Mets | New York–Penn League | Mike Cubbage |
| Rookie | GCL Mets | Gulf Coast League | Vern Hoscheit |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tidewater, Lynchburg