1971 New York Mets season

1971 New York Mets
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Shea Stadium
City	New York
Record	83-79
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	Joan Whitney Payson
General managers	Bob Scheffing
Managers	Gil Hodges
Television	WOR-TV
Radio	WJRZ/WNBC-FM (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
← 1970 Seasons 1972 →

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.

Offseason

• October 20, 1970: Larry Bearnarth was purchased from the Mets by the Milwaukee Brewers.^[1]
• November 30, 1970: Joe Foy was drafted by the Washington Senators from the New York Mets in the 1970 rule 5 draft.^[2]
• January 28, 1971: Benny Ayala was signed by the Mets as an amateur free agent.^[3]
• March 30, 1971: Dean Chance and Bill Denehy were traded by the Mets to the Detroit Tigers for Jerry Robertson.^[4]
• March 31, 1971: Ron Swoboda and Rich Hacker were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for Don Hahn.^[5]
• Prior to 1971 season: Frank Estrada was acquired by the Mets from the Mexico City Reds.^[6]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburgh Pirates	97	65	0.599	—	52–28	45–37
St. Louis Cardinals	90	72	0.556	7	45–36	45–36
Chicago Cubs	83	79	0.512	14	44–37	39–42
New York Mets	83	79	0.512	14	44–37	39–42
Montreal Expos	71	90	0.441	25½	36–44	35–46
Philadelphia Phillies	67	95	0.414	30	34–47	33–48

Record vs. opponents

1971 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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.^[7]

Roster

1971 New York Mets roster
Roster
Pitchers 38 Buzz Capra 34 Danny Frisella 39 Gary Gentry 36 Jerry Koosman 32 Jon Matlack 43 Jim McAndrew 45 Tug McGraw 31 Don Rose 30 Nolan Ryan 33 Ray Sadecki 41 Tom Seaver 42 Ron Taylor 35 Charlie Williams		Catchers 10 Duffy Dyer  5 Frank Estrada 15 Jerry Grote Infielders  2 Bob Aspromonte 12 Ken Boswell 22 Donn Clendenon 19 Tim Foli 11 Wayne Garrett  3 Bud Harrelson  7 Ed Kranepool 17 Ted Martínez  6 Al Weis		Outfielders 20 Tommie Agee 25 Don Hahn 21 Cleon Jones 16 Mike Jorgensen 18 Dave Marshall 28 John Milner 24 Art Shamsky 29 Ken Singleton 23,44 Leroy Stanton		Manager 14 Gil Hodges Coaches  8 Yogi Berra 52 Joe Pignatano 54 Rube Walker 53 Eddie Yost

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

Notes

References

• 1971 New York Mets at Baseball Reference
• 1971 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.