1989 New York Mets season

The 1989 New York Mets season was the 28th regular season for the Mets. They went 87–75 and finished second in the National League East, six games behind the first place Chicago Cubs. The Mets did not make the postseason for the first time since 1987. They were managed by Davey Johnson. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

1989 New York Mets
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Shea Stadium
City	New York
Record	87–75 (.537)
Divisional place	2nd
Owners	Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr.
General managers	Frank Cashen
Managers	Davey Johnson
Television	WWOR-TV/SportsChannel New York (Ralph Kiner, Steve Zabriskie, Tim McCarver, Fran Healy, Rusty Staub)
Radio	WFAN (Bob Murphy, Gary Cohen) WJIT (Spanish) (Juan Alicea, Billy Berroa, Armando Talavera)
← 1988 Seasons 1990 →

Offseason

• December 11, 1988: José Martínez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.^[1]
• February 20, 1989: Don Aase was signed as a free agent by the Mets.^[2]
• March 2, 1989: Darryl Strawberry threw a punch at Keith Hernandez during team picture day. The two shouted at each other and were restrained by teammates until Strawberry left the area.^[3]
• March 30, 1989: Mike Maksudian was released by the Mets.^[4]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	93	69	.574	—	48‍–‍33	45‍–‍36
New York Mets	87	75	.537	6	51‍–‍30	36‍–‍45
St. Louis Cardinals	86	76	.531	7	46‍–‍35	40‍–‍41
Montreal Expos	81	81	.500	12	44‍–‍37	37‍–‍44
Pittsburgh Pirates	74	88	.457	19	39‍–‍42	35‍–‍46
Philadelphia Phillies	67	95	.414	26	38‍–‍42	29‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1989 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	8–10	8–10	6–10	6–6	2–10	8–4	4–8	7–11	6–12	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	7–5	5–7	7–5	10–8	10–8	10–8	12–6	8–4	6–6	11–7
Cincinnati	10–8	5–7	—	8–10	8–10	4–8	4–8	4–8	7–5	9–9	8–10	8–4
Houston	10–8	7–5	10–8	—	10–8	4–8	6–6	9–3	7–5	8–10	8–10	7–5
Los Angeles	10–6	5–7	10–8	8–10	—	7–5	5–7	6–6	7–5	6–12	10–8	3–9
Montreal	6–6	8–10	8–4	8–4	5–7	—	9–9	9–9	11–7	5–7	7–5	5–13
New York	10–2	8–10	8–4	6–6	7–5	9–9	—	12–6	9–9	5–7	3–9	10–8
Philadelphia	4–8	8–10	8–4	3–9	6–6	9–9	6–12	—	10–8	2–10	4–8	7–11
Pittsburgh	8–4	6–12	5–7	5–7	5–7	7–11	9–9	8–10	—	3–9	5–7	13–5
San Diego	11–7	4–8	9–9	10–8	12–6	7–5	7–5	10–2	9–3	—	8–10	2–10
San Francisco	12–6	6–6	10–8	10–8	8–10	5–7	9–3	8–4	7–5	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	9–3	7–11	4–8	5–7	9–3	13–5	8–10	11–7	5–13	10–2	5–7	—

Opening Day starters

• Gary Carter
• Kevin Elster
• Dwight Gooden
• Keith Hernandez
• Gregg Jefferies
• Howard Johnson
• Kevin McReynolds
• Darryl Strawberry
• Mookie Wilson^[5]

Notable transactions

• June 9, 1989: Lou Thornton was signed as a free agent by the Mets.^[6]
• June 18, 1989: Lenny Dykstra, Roger McDowell and a player to be named later were traded by the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Juan Samuel. The Mets completed the deal by sending Tom Edens to the Phillies on July 27.^[7]
• July 31, 1989: Mookie Wilson was traded by the Mets to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Jeff Musselman and Mike Brady (minors).^[8]
• July 31, 1989: Rick Aguilera, David West, Kevin Tapani, Tim Drummond and a player to be named later were traded by the Mets to the Minnesota Twins for Frank Viola. The Mets completed the deal by sending Jack Savage to the Twins on October 16.

Roster

1989 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers 49 Don Aase 38 Rick Aguilera 38 Blaine Beatty 44 David Cone 12,15 Ron Darling 50 Sid Fernandez 16 Dwight Gooden 36 Manny Hernandez 40 Jeff Innis 26 Terry Leach 31 Julio Machado 42 Roger McDowell 43 John Mitchell 13 Jeff Musselman 48 Randy Myers 19 Bob Ojeda 26 Kevin Tapani 26 Frank Viola 46 David West 47 Wally Whitehurst		Catchers  8 Gary Carter 39 Phil Lombardi 33 Barry Lyons  2 Mackey Sasser Infielders 21 Kevin Elster 17 Keith Hernandez  9 Gregg Jefferies 20 Howard Johnson 10,29 Dave Magadan 15 Jeff McKnight 25 Keith Miller 27 Tom O'Malley 35 Craig Shipley 11 Tim Teufel		Outfielders 32 Mark Carreon  4 Lenny Dykstra 13 Lee Mazzilli 22 Kevin McReynolds  7 Juan Samuel 18 Darryl Strawberry  4 Lou Thornton  1 Mookie Wilson		Manager  5 Davey Johnson Coaches  3 Bud Harrelson 52 Greg Pavlick 34 Sam Perlozzo 28 Bill Robinson 30 Mel Stottlemyre

Game log

Regular season

1989 Game Log Overall: 87–75 (Home: 51–30; Away: 36–45)
April: 12–10 # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
May: 13–14 # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
June: 15–11 # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
July: 13–15 # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB – July 11 1989 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim
August: 19–10 # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
September: 14–15 # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
October: 1–0 # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak GB
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Mets team member

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	Barry Lyons	79	235	58	.247	3	27
1B	Dave Magadan	127	374	107	.286	4	41
2B	Gregg Jefferies	141	508	131	.258	12	56
3B	Howard Johnson	153	571	164	.287	36	101
SS	Kevin Elster	151	458	106	.231	10	55
LF	Kevin McReynolds	148	545	148	.272	22	85
CF	Juan Samuel	86	333	76	.228	3	28
RF	Darryl Strawberry	134	476	107	.225	29	77

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
Mookie Wilson	80	249	51	.205	3	18
Tim Teufel	83	219	56	.256	2	15
Keith Hernandez	75	215	50	.233	4	19
Mackey Sasser	72	182	53	.291	1	22
Lenny Dykstra	56	159	43	.270	3	13
Gary Carter	50	153	28	.183	2	15
Keith Miller	57	143	33	.231	1	7
Mark Carreon	68	133	41	.308	6	16
Lee Mazzilli	48	60	11	.183	2	7
Phil Lombardi	18	48	11	.229	1	3
Lou Thornton	13	13	4	.308	0	1
Jeff McKnight	6	12	3	.250	0	0
Tom O'Malley	9	11	6	.545	0	8
Craig Shipley	4	7	1	.143	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
David Cone	34	219.2	14	8	3.52	190
Sid Fernandez	35	219.1	14	5	2.83	198
Ron Darling	33	217.1	14	14	3.52	153
Bob Ojeda	31	192.0	13	11	3.47	95
Dwight Gooden	19	118.1	9	4	2.89	101
Frank Viola	12	85.1	5	5	3.38	73

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
David West	11	24.1	0	2	7.40	19
Blaine Beatty	2	6.0	0	0	1.50	3

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
Randy Myers	65	7	4	24	2.35	88
Don Aase	49	1	5	2	3.94	34
Rick Aguilera	36	6	6	7	2.34	80
Jeff Innis	29	0	1	0	3.18	16
Roger McDowell	25	1	5	4	3.31	15
Jeff Musselman	20	3	2	0	3.08	11
Terry Leach	10	0	0	0	4.22	2
Julio Machado	10	0	1	0	3.27	14
Wally Whitehurst	9	0	1	0	4.50	9
Kevin Tapani	3	0	0	0	3.68	2
John Mitchell	2	0	1	0	6.00	4
Manny Hernández	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

Awards and honors

• Gary Carter, Catcher, Roberto Clemente Award

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tidewater Tides	International League	Mike Cubbage
AA	Jackson Mets	Texas League	Steve Swisher
A	St. Lucie Mets	Florida State League	Clint Hurdle
A	Columbia Mets	South Atlantic League	Bill Stein
A-Short Season	Pittsfield Mets	New York–Penn League	Tim Blackwell
Rookie	Kingsport Mets	Appalachian League	Jim Eschen
Rookie	GCL Mets	Gulf Coast League	John Tamargo

^[9]