# 1974 New York Mets season

The 1974 New York Mets season was the 13th regular season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Yogi Berra, the team finished the season with a record of 71–91, placing fifth in the National League East, seventeen games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates. This was the first time the Mets had a losing season since 1968.

## Offseason

* March 26, 1974: Buzz Capra was purchased from the Mets by the Atlanta Braves.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | 52‍–‍29 | 36‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 86 | 75 | .534 | 1½ | 44‍–‍37 | 42‍–‍38 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 80 | 82 | .494 | 8 | 46‍–‍35 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Montreal Expos | 79 | 82 | .491 | 8½ | 42‍–‍38 | 37‍–‍44 |
| New York Mets | 71 | 91 | .438 | 17 | 36‍–‍45 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Chicago Cubs | 66 | 96 | .407 | 22 | 32‍–‍49 | 34‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1974 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 4–8 | 7–11–1 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 17–1 | 8–10 | 9–3 |
| Chicago | 8–4 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 2–10 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–13 |
| Cincinnati | 11–7–1 | 7–5 | — | 14–4 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 12–6 | 8–4 | 4–14 | — | 5–13 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 8–4 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 10–2 | 12–6 | 13–5 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 16–2 | 12–6 | 6–6 |
| Montreal | 3–9 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 9–9 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–9 |
| New York | 4–8 | 10–8 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 7–11 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–12 |
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 11–7 | — | 10–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 9–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | — | 9–3 | 8–4 | 7–11 |
| San Diego | 1–17 | 6–6 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 2–16 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 3–9 | — | 11–7 | 5–7 |
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 7–11 | — | 6–6 |
| St. Louis | 3–9 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 9–8 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Wayne Garrett
* Jerry Grote
* Don Hahn
* Bud Harrelson
* Cleon Jones
* Jerry Koosman
* Félix Millán
* John Milner
* Rusty Staub

### Notable transactions

* June 5, 1974: Bob Myrick was drafted by the Mets in the 20th round of the 1974 Major League Baseball Draft.

### 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 | 97 | 319 | 82 | .257 | 5 | 36 |
| 1B | John Milner | 137 | 507 | 128 | .252 | 20 | 63 |
| 2B | Félix Millán | 136 | 518 | 139 | .268 | 1 | 33 |
| SS | Bud Harrelson | 106 | 331 | 75 | .227 | 1 | 13 |
| 3B | Wayne Garrett | 151 | 522 | 117 | .224 | 13 | 53 |
| LF | Cleon Jones | 124 | 461 | 130 | .282 | 13 | 60 |
| CF | Don Hahn | 110 | 323 | 81 | .251 | 4 | 28 |
| RF | Rusty Staub | 161 | 561 | 145 | .258 | 19 | 78 |

#### Other batters

Note: 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 |
| SS-OF | Ted Martinez | 116 | 334 | 73 | .219 | 2 | 43 |
| OF | Dave Schneck | 93 | 254 | 52 | .205 | 5 | 25 |
| 2B-3B | Ken Boswell | 96 | 222 | 48 | .216 | 2 | 15 |
| 1B | Ed Kranepool | 94 | 217 | 65 | .300 | 4 | 24 |
| C | Duffy Dyer | 63 | 142 | 30 | .211 | 0 | 10 |
| C | Ron Hodges | 59 | 136 | 30 | .221 | 4 | 14 |
| LF-PH | George Theodore | 60 | 76 | 12 | .158 | 1 | 1 |
| OF-PH | Benny Ayala | 23 | 68 | 16 | .235 | 2 | 8 |
| OF | Jim Gosger | 26 | 33 | 3 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| 1B-PH | Brock Pemberton | 11 | 22 | 4 | .182 | 0 | 1 |
| OF | Bruce Boisclair | 7 | 12 | 3 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| 2B-3B | Rich Puig | 4 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| C-PH | Ike Hampton | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Jon Matlack | 34 | 265.1 | 13 | 15 | 2.41 | 195 |
| Jerry Koosman | 35 | 265.0 | 15 | 11 | 3.36 | 188 |
| Tom Seaver | 32 | 232.0 | 11 | 11 | 3.20 | 201 |
| George Stone | 15 | 77.0 | 2 | 7 | 5.03 | 29 |

#### 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 |
| Harry Parker | 40 | 131.0 | 4 | 12 | 3.92 | 58 |
| Bob Apodaca | 35 | 103.0 | 6 | 6 | 3.50 | 54 |
| Ray Sadecki | 34 | 103.0 | 8 | 8 | 3.41 | 46 |
| Craig Swan | 7 | 30.1 | 1 | 3 | 4.45 | 10 |
| Hank Webb | 3 | 10.0 | 0 | 2 | 7.20 | 8 |
| Randy Sterling | 3 | 9.1 | 1 | 1 | 4.82 | 2 |
| Nino Espinosa | 2 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.00 | 2 |

#### 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 | IP |
| Bob Miller | 58 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3.58 | 35 | 78.0 |
| Tug McGraw | 41 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 4.16 | 54 | 88.2 |
| Jack Aker | 24 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3.48 | 18 | 41.1 |
| Jerry Cram | 10 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1.61 | 8 | 22.1 |
| John Strohmayer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 1.0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tidewater Tides | International League | John Antonelli |
| AA | Victoria Toros | Texas League | Joe Frazier |
| A | Visalia Mets | California League | Nolan Campbell |
| A | Anderson Mets | Western Carolinas League | Owen Friend |
| A-Short Season | Batavia Trojans | New York–Penn League | Wilbur Huckle |
| Rookie | Marion Mets | Appalachian League | Chuck Hiller |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Victoria

## Japan tour

The Mets' tour of Japan began with its departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport on October 23. The team's charter flight included stops to pick up players in San Francisco and Anchorage, Alaska, the latter for Jerry Koosman. Two nonparticipants were Ray Sadecki and Duffy Dyer who were both traded, the former to the St. Louis Cardinals for Joe Torre on October 13 and the latter to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Gene Clines on October 22. Torre was the only one of the two new Mets to participate in the tour. Starters Rusty Staub, Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson and Cleon Jones elected to forego the tour for various personal reasons. The ballclub arrived at Haneda Airport on October 24 after a combined 21-hour flight.
Both Torre and Tom Seaver were dealing with health issues, shoulder for the former and back and hip for the latter.
| Game | Month | Date | Day | Place | Opponent | W/L/D | Score | Mets Starting Pitcher | Notes |
| 1 | OCT | 26 | SA | Tokyo | Yomiuri Giants | L | 7–10 | Tom Seaver | Sadaharu Oh grand slam off Jerry Cram in eighth. John Milner, Wayne Garrett and Dave Schneck each homer. |
| 2 | OCT | 28 | M | Tokyo | Yomiuri Giants | D | 4–4 | Jon Matlack | 4–2 lead disappears as Jack Aker walks five Giants batters in ninth. Don Hahn homers. |
| 3 | OCT | 29 | TU | Sapporo | Yomiuri Giants | | | | |
| 4 | OCT | 30 | W | Sendai | Yomiuri Giants | L | 2–3 | Tom Seaver | Seaver allows two runs in first six innings. Deciding run off Hank Webb in seventh. Ed Kranepool solo home run. |
| 5 | OCT | 31 | TH | Kōriyama | Yomiuri Giants | D | 3–3 (9) | Bob Apodaca | Milner game-tying solo homer in ninth; Jack Aker's final Mets appearance before waived on NOV 6. |
| 6 | NOV | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | NOV | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | NOV | 4 | M | Tokyo | Yomiuri Giants | L | 4–10 | Tom Seaver | 17 hits combined off Seaver, Webb, Cram and Bob Miller. Milner homers. |
| 9 | NOV | 6 | W | Niigata | Yomiuri Giants | L | 4–9 | Randy Tate | Tate gives up three runs in first; Dave Schneck and Joe Torre each hit a homer. |
| 10 | NOV | 7 | TH | Toyama | Yomiuri Giants | W | 6–3 | Jon Matlack | Twelve hits for Mets; single, double and three RBI for Torre. |
| 11 | NOV | 9 | SA | Osaka | Yomiuri Giants/Nankai Hawks | W | 6–4 | Jerry Koosman | Milner and Kranepool each hit a home run. |
| 12 | NOV | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | NOV | 12 | TU | Matsuyama | Yomiuri Giants | W | 7–5 | Jon Matlack | Kranepool homers twice despite Matlack surrendering five runs in first three innings. |
| 14 | NOV | 14 | TH | Hiroshima | Yomiuri Giants/Hiroshima Toyo Carp | W | 4–0 | Jerry Koosman | Torre hits three-run homer in fourth; Koosman pitches a five-hit shutout. |
| 15 | NOV | 16 | SA | Fukuoka | Yomiuri Giants/Taiheiyo Club Lions | L | 0–2 | Tom Seaver | Seaver takes shutout into eighth, but Mets batters combine for only two hits. |
| 16 | NOV | 18 | M | Kokura | Yomiuri Giants | W | 9–5 | | Homers by Félix Millán and Teddy Martínez spark a five-run ninth-inning rally. |
| 17 | NOV | | | | | | | | |
| 18 | NOV | | | | | | | | |