The 1988 New York Mets season was the 27th regular season for the Mets. They went 100–60 and finished first in the National League East. They were managed by Davey Johnson. They played home games at Shea Stadium.
The Mets would go on to lose to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS in seven games.
Offseason December 11, 1987: Jesse Orosco was traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Mets to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers sent Jack Savage to the Mets, and the Oakland Athletics sent Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst to the Mets. The Dodgers sent Bob Welch and Matt Young to the Athletics, and the Athletics sent Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell to the Dodgers.Jesse Orosco at Baseball-Reference December 11, 1987: Rafael Santana and Victor Garcia (minors) were traded by the Mets to the New York Yankees for Darren Reed, Phil Lombardi, and Steve Frey.Rafael Santana at Baseball-Reference March 26, 1988: Randy Milligan and Scott Henion (minors) were traded by the Mets to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Mackey Sasser and Tim Drummond.Randy Milligan at Baseball-Reference
Regular season August 9: The Mets participated in the first official night game at Wrigley Field, which the Cubs won, 6–4.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions August 4, 1988: Tom McCarthy and Steve Springer were traded by the Mets to the Chicago White Sox for Mike Maksudian and Vince Harris (minors).Mike Maksudian at Baseball-Reference August 22, 1988: Héctor Ramírez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.Héctor Ramírez at Baseball-Reference
Roster 1988 New York Mets Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches
Game log Regular season
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 1 || April 4 || 3:25pm EDT || @ Expos || W 10–6 || || || || || 55,413 || 1–0 || W1 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 || April 6 || 7:35pm EDT || @ Expos || L 1–5 || || || || || 11,112 || 1–1 || L1 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 3 || April 7 || 7:35pm EDT || @ Expos || W 8–5 || || || || || 10,193 || 2–1 || W1 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 || April 8 || 7:35pm EDT || @ Phillies || L 1–5 || || || || || 21,921 || 2–2 || L1 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 5 || April 9 || 3:20pm EDT || @ Phillies || L 3–9 || || || || || 30,994 || 2–3 || L2 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 6 || April 10 || 1:35pm EDT || @ Phillies || W 4–3 || || || || || 51,781 || 3–3 || W1 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 7 || April 12 || 1:35pm EDT || Expos || W 3–0 || || || || || 48,719 || 4–3 || W2 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 8 || April 14 || 1:40pm EDT || Expos || W 1–0 || || || || || 19,612 || 5–3 || W3 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 9 || April 15 || 7:35pm EDT || Cardinals || W 3–0 || || || || || 33,094 || 6–3 || W4 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 10 || April 16 || 1:30pm EDT || Cardinals || W 6–4 || || || || || 40,582 || 7–3 || W5 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 11 || April 17 || 1:35pm EDT || Cardinals || W 3–2 || || || || || 48,760 || 8–3 || W6 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 12 || April 18 || 7:50pm EDT || Phillies || L 7–10 || || || || || 14,931 || 8–4 || L1 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 13 || April 19 || 7:37pm EDT || Phillies || L 2–10 || || || || || 24,555 || 8–5 || L2 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 14 || April 20 || 7:41pm EDT || Phillies || W 6–2 || || || || || 27,714 || 9–5 || W1 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 15 || April 22 || 8:35pm EDT || @ Cardinals || W 4–0 || || || || || 47,207 || 10–5 || W2 || |- style="background:#cfc;" | 16 || April 23 || 8:05pm EDT || @ Cardinals || W 12–9 || || || || || 45,110 || 11–5 || W3 || |- style="background:#fcc;" | 17 || April 24 || 2:15pm EDT || @ Cardinals || L 4–5 || || || || || 41,617 || 11–6 || L1 ||
|- style="text-align:center;" | Legend: = Win = Loss = PostponementBold = Mets team member
Postseason Game log
|- style="background:#bfb;" | 1 || || 8:28p.m. EDT || @ Dodgers || 3–2 || || || || 2:45 || Dodger Stadium (55,582) || NYN 1–0 || W1 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 2 || || 10:08p.m. EDT || @ Dodgers || 3–6 || || || || 3:10 || Dodger Stadium (55,780) || TIE 1–1 || L1 |- style="background:#bbb;" | — || || 8:28p.m. EDT || Dodgers || colspan=8| Postponed (rain); Makeup: October 8 |- style="background:#bfb;" | 3 || || 12:20p.m. EDT || Dodgers || 8–4 || || || || 3:44 || Shea Stadium (44,672) || NYN 2–1 || W1 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 4 || || 8:22p.m. EDT || Dodgers || 4–5 || || || || 4:29 || Shea Stadium (54,014) || TIE 2–2 || L1 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 5 || || 12Noon EDT || Dodgers || 4–7 || || || || 3:07 || Shea Stadium (52,069) || LAN 3–2 || L2 |- style="background:#bfb;" | 6 || || 8:22p.m. EDT || @ Dodgers || 5–1 || || || || 3:16 || Dodger Stadium (55,885) || TIE 3–3 || W1 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 7 || || 8:22p.m. EDT || @ Dodgers || 0–6 || || || || 2:51 || Dodger Stadium (55,693) || LAN 4–3 || L1
|- style="text-align:center;" | Legend: = Win = Loss = PostponementBold = 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 Gary Carter 130 455 110 .242 11 46 1B Keith Hernandez 95 348 96 .276 11 55 2B Wally Backman 99 294 89 .303 0 17 3B Howard Johnson 148 495 114 .230 24 68 SS Kevin Elster 149 406 87 .214 9 37 LF Kevin McReynolds 147 552 159 .288 27 99 CF Len Dykstra 126 429 116 .270 8 33 RF Darryl Strawberry 153 543 146 .269 39 101
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 112 378 112 .296 8 41 Dave Magadan 112 314 87 .277 1 35 Tim Teufel 90 273 64 .234 4 31 Mackey Sasser 60 123 35 .285 1 17 Lee Mazzilli 68 116 17 .147 0 12 Gregg Jeffries 29 109 35 .321 6 17 Barry Lyons 50 91 21 .231 0 11 Keith Miller 40 70 15 .214 1 5 Mark Carreon 7 9 5 .556 1 1
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 Dwight Gooden 34 248.1 18 9 3.19 175 Ron Darling 34 240.2 17 9 3.25 161 David Cone 35 231.1 20 3 2.22 213 Bob Ojeda 29 190.1 10 13 2.88 133 Sid Fernandez 31 187.0 12 10 3.03 189
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 Rick Aguilera 11 24.2 0 4 6.93 16 David West 2 6.0 1 0 3.00 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 55 7 3 26 1.72 69 Roger McDowell 62 5 5 16 2.63 46 Terry Leach 52 7 2 3 2.54 51 Gene Walter 19 0 1 0 3.78 14 Bob McClure 14 1 0 1 4.09 7 Jeff Innis 12 1 1 0 1.89 14 Edwin Núñez 10 1 0 0 4.50 8 John Mitchell 1 0 0 0 0.00 1
NLCS
Game 1 October 4: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Team123456789RHENew York000000003381Los Angeles100000100240WP: Randy Myers (1–0) LP: Jay Howell (0–1)HR: NYM – None.; LA – None.
Game 2 October 5: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Team123456789RHENew York000200001360Los Angeles14001000X670WP: Tim Belcher (1–0) LP: David Cone (0–1) SV: Alejandro Peña (1)HR: NYM – Keith Hernandez (1); LA – None.
Game 3 October 8: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Team123456789RHELos Angeles021000010472New York00100205X892WP: Randy Myers (2–0) LP: Alejandro Peña (0–1)HR: LA – None.; NYM – None.
Game 4 October 9: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Team123456789101112RHELos Angeles200000002001571New York0003010000004102WP: Alejandro Peña (1–1) LP: Roger McDowell (0–1) SV: Orel Hershiser (1)HR: LA – Mike Scioscia (1), Kirk Gibson (1); NYM – Darryl Strawberry (1), Kevin McReynolds (1)
Game 5 October 10: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Team123456789RHELos Angeles0003300017120New York000030010491WP: Tim Belcher (2–0) LP: Sid Fernandez (0–1) SV: Brian Holton (1)HR: LA – Kirk Gibson (2); NYM – Lenny Dykstra (1)
Game 6 October 11: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Team123456789RHENew York1010210005110Los Angeles000010000152WP: David Cone (1–1) LP: Tim Leary (0–1)HR: NYM – Kevin McReynolds (2); LA – None.
Game 7 October 12: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Team123456789RHENew York000000000052Los Angeles15000000X6100WP: Orel Hershiser (1–0) LP: Ron Darling (0–1)HR: NYM – None.; LA – None.
Awards and honors Keith Hernandez, Gold Glove Award Keith Hernandez, Major League record, most Gold Gloves by a first baseman (it was also his 11th consecutive Gold Glove)Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 47, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, Kevin McReynolds – Player of the Month, September 1988 Gary Carter – 300 career home runs, and set record for career putouts for a catcher 1988 MLB All-Star Game Gary Carter David Cone Dwight Gooden Darryl Strawberry
Team leaders Games – Darryl Strawberry (153) At-bats – Kevin McReynolds (552) Home runs – Darryl Strawberry (39) Runs batted in – Darryl Strawberry (101) Batting average – Wally Backman (.303) Hits – Kevin McReynolds (159) Doubles – Kevin McReynolds (30) Triples – Mookie Wilson (5) Walks – Howard Johnson (86) Stolen bases – Len Dykstra (30) Wins – David Cone (20)
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Lucie, KingsportJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
References
External links 1988 New York Mets at Baseball Almanac 1988 New York Mets at Baseball Reference 1988 New York Mets schedule and stats at MLB.com The 1988 New York Mets at Retrosheet