The 1991 New York Mets season was the 30th regular season for the Mets. They went 77–84 and finished fifth in the National League East for their first losing season since 1983. The Mets were managed by Bud Harrelson and Mike Cubbage. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

Background The Mets were looking to return to the playoffs for the first time since 1988 in their first full season with Bud Harrelson as manager following the firing of Davey Johnson during the 1990 season. They started out the season strong, briefly holding first place in the National League East during April. They put together a ten-game winning streak in July, and by the 14th stood at 49-34, 2.5 games behind the division leading Pittsburgh Pirates.

From that point forward, the Mets' fortunes changed drastically. After finishing 6-11 in their final games in July, the Mets started August by losing five straight games. After defeating the Pirates in two games on August 7 and 8, they lost their next eleven games to not only fall below .500, but drop to fourth place in the division. As the slump continued into September, Harrelson was fired with seven games to go. Third base coach Mike Cubbage managed the Mets for the remainder of the year, finishing up with a series loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets finished with a 77-84 record, marking the first time since 1983 that they finished with a sub-.500 record.

Offseason November 13, 1990: Chris Jelic was released by the New York Mets. December 15, 1990: Bob Ojeda and Greg Hansell were traded by the Mets to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Hubie Brooks.Bob Ojeda page at Baseball Reference January 21, 1991: Rick Cerone was signed as a free agent by the Mets.Rick Cerone page at Baseball Reference

Regular season Howard Johnson set the Mets record for most RBIs in one season with 117.

Opening Day starters

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 2, 1991: Alex Diaz and Darren Reed were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for David Sommer (minors) and Terrel Hansen (minors).Alex Diaz page at Baseball Reference June 3, 1991: 1991 Major League Baseball draft Bill Pulsipher was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round. Player signed August 22, 1991.Bill Pulsipher page at Baseball Reference Jason Isringhausen was drafted by the Mets in the 44th round. Player signed May 24, 1992.Jason Isringhausen page at Baseball Reference July 15, 1991: Ron Darling and Mike Thomas were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for Tim Burke.Ron Darling page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1991 New York Mets Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 90 227 62 .273 2 16 1B 124 418 108 .258 4 51 2B 136 486 132 .272 9 62 3B 156 564 146 .259 38 117 SS 115 348 84 .241 6 36 LF 143 522 135 .259 16 74 CF 72 278 71 .255 1 17 RF 103 357 85 .238 16 50

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 Keith Miller 98 275 77 .280 4 23 Daryl Boston 137 255 70 .275 4 21 Mark Carreon 106 254 66 .260 4 21 Mackey Sasser 96 228 62 .272 5 35 Garry Templeton 80 219 50 .228 2 20 Charlie O'Brien 69 168 31 .185 2 14 Tom Herr 70 155 30 .194 1 14 Chris Donnels 37 89 20 .225 0 5 Todd Hundley 21 60 8 .133 1 7 13 37 6 .162 0 1 Tim Teufel 20 34 4 .118 1 2 Terry McDaniel 23 29 6 .207 0 2 12 11 2 .182 0 1 Kelvin Torve 10 8 0 .000 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 34 232.2 14 14 3.29 241 Frank Viola 35 231.1 13 15 3.97 132 Dwight Gooden 27 190.0 13 7 3.60 150 Ron Darling 17 102.1 5 6 3.87 58 Anthony Young 10 49.1 2 5 3.10 20 Sid Fernandez 8 44.0 1 3 2.86 31

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 Wally Whitehurst 36 133.1 7 12 4.19 87 Pete Schourek 35 86.1 5 4 4.27 67 Tony Castillo 10 23.2 1 0 1.90 10

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 John Franco 52 5 9 30 2.93 45 Jeff Innis 69 0 2 0 2.66 47 Alejandro Peña 44 6 1 4 2.71 49 Doug Simons 42 2 3 1 5.19 38 Tim Burke 35 3 3 1 2.75 34 Terry Bross 8 0 0 0 1.80 5 Rich Sauveur 6 0 0 0 10.80 4 Blaine Beatty 5 0 0 0 2.79 7 Julio Valera 2 0 0 0 0.00 3

Awards and honors

League leaders Howard Johnson – National League leader, home runs (38) Howard Johnson – National League leader, RBI (117)

All-Stars Frank Viola, Howard Johnson 1991 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: ColumbiaJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links 1991 New York Mets at Baseball Reference 1991 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com