1981 New York Mets season

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox baseball team season The 1981 New York Mets season was the 20th regular season for the Mets. They went 41–62 and finished in fifth place in the National League East. They were managed by Joe Torre. They played home games at Shea Stadium. The season is remembered for a summer strike that cut the season in half.

Offseason

• November 16, 1980: Kevin Mitchell was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.
• December 15, 1980: José Moreno and John Pacella were traded by the Mets to the San Diego Padres for Randy Jones.
• December 15, 1980: Rick Sweet was purchased by the Mets from the San Diego Padres.
• December 16, 1980: Rusty Staub was signed as a free agent by the Mets.
• December 19, 1980: Mike Cubbage was signed as a free agent with the New York Mets.
• January 13, 1981: Randy Milligan was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (3rd pick) of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft.

Regular season

Season standings

NL East First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Philadelphia Phillies	34	21	.618	—
St. Louis Cardinals	30	20	.600	1+1⁄2
Montreal Expos	30	25	.545	4
Pittsburgh Pirates	25	23	.521	5+1⁄2
New York Mets	17	34	.333	15
Chicago Cubs	15	37	.288	17+1⁄2

NL East Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Montreal Expos	30	23	.566	—
St. Louis Cardinals	29	23	.558	1⁄2
Philadelphia Phillies	25	27	.481	4+1⁄2
New York Mets	24	28	.462	5+1⁄2
Chicago Cubs	23	28	.451	6
Pittsburgh Pirates	21	33	.389	9+1⁄2

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1981: John Csefalvay (minors) was traded by the Mets to the Houston Astros for Gary Rajsich.
• April 5, 1981: Dan Boitano was purchased by the New York Mets from the Milwaukee Brewers.
• April 6, 1981: Butch Benton was sent to the Chicago Cubs by the New York Mets as part of a conditional deal.
• May 29, 1981: Jeff Reardon and Dan Norman were traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for Ellis Valentine.
• June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft
  • John Christensen was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round.
  • Roger Clemens was drafted by the Mets in the 12th round, but did not sign.
  • Lenny Dykstra was drafted by the Mets in the 13th round. Player signed July 3, 1981.
  • Lou Thornton was drafted by the Mets in the 19th round.
• June 15, 1981: Bill Latham was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.
• August 19, 1981: Mike Marshall was signed as a free agent by the Mets.

Roster

colspan="10" style="Template:Baseball primary style; text-align: center;" | 1981 New York Mets
colspan="10" style="Template:Baseball secondary style; text-align: center;" | Roster
Pitchers 13 Neil Allen 36 Dan Boitano 33 Pete Falcone 20 Greg Harris 32 Tom Hausman 25 Randy Jones 43 Terry Leach 38 Tim Leary 59 Ed Lynch 28 Mike Marshall 49 Dyar Miller 47 Jesse Orosco 25 Charlie Puleo 44 Jeff Reardon 34 Dave Roberts 30 Mike Scott 44 Ray Searage 27 Craig Swan 40 Pat Zachry		Catchers 42 Ron Hodges 12 John Stearns  6 Alex Treviño Infielders  6 Wally Backman  4 Bob Bailor  7 Hubie Brooks  3 Mike Cubbage 23 Doug Flynn 19 Ron Gardenhire 15,17 Brian Giles 22 Mike Jorgensen 26 Dave Kingman 10 Rusty Staub 11 Frank Taveras		Outfielders 15 Mike Howard 16 Lee Mazzilli 17 Ellis Valentine  1 Mookie Wilson 18 Joel Youngblood		Manager  9 Joe Torre Coaches 53 Chuck Cottier 45 Bob Gibson 51 Deron Johnson 52 Joe Pignatano 54 Rube Walker

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

style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="5%" | Pos	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="16%" | Player	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | G	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | AB	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | H	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | Avg.	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | HR	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | RBI
C	John Stearns	80	273	74	.271	1	24
1B	Dave Kingman	100	353	78	.221	22	59
2B	Doug Flynn	105	325	72	.222	1	20
SS	Frank Taveras	84	283	65	.230	0	11
3B	Hubie Brooks	98	358	110	.307	4	38
LF	Lee Mazzilli	95	324	74	.228	6	34
CF	Mookie Wilson	92	328	89	.271	3	14
RF	Ellis Valentine	48	169	35	.207	5	21

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="16%" | Player	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | G	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | AB	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | H	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | Avg.	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | HR	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | RBI
Rusty Staub	70	161	51	.317	5	21
Alex Treviño	56	149	39	.262	0	10
Joel Youngblood	43	143	50	.350	4	25
Mike Jorgensen	86	122	25	.205	3	15
Bob Bailor	51	81	23	.284	0	8
Mike Cubbage	67	80	17	.213	1	4
Ron Gardenhire	27	48	13	.271	0	3
Ron Hodges	35	43	13	.302	1	6
Wally Backman	26	36	10	.278	0	0
Mike Howard	14	24	4	.167	0	3
Brian Giles	9	7	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="16%" | Player	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | G	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | IP	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | W	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | L	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | ERA	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | SO
Pat Zachry	24	139.0	7	14	4.14	76
Mike Scott	23	136.0	5	10	3.90	54
Ed Lynch	17	80.1	4	5	2.91	27
Greg A. Harris	16	68.2	3	5	4.46	54
Randy Jones	13	59.1	1	8	4.85	14
Tim Leary	1	2.0	0	0	0.00	3

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="16%" | Player	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | G	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | IP	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | W	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | L	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | ERA	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | SO
Pete Falcone	35	95.1	5	3	2.55	56
Dave Roberts	7	15.1	0	3	9.39	10
Craig Swan	5	13.2	0	2	3.29	9
Charlie Puleo	4	13.1	0	0	0.00	8

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="16%" | Player	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | G	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | W	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | L	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | SV	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | ERA	style="Template:Baseball primary style" width="9%" | SO
Neil Allen	43	7	6	18	2.97	50
Ray Searage	26	1	0	1	3.68	16
Dyar Miller	23	1	0	0	3.29	22
Terry Leach	21	1	1	0	2.55	16
Tom Hausman	20	0	1	0	2.18	13
Mike Marshall	20	3	2	0	2.61	8
Jeff Reardon	18	1	0	2	3.45	28
Dan Boitano	15	2	1	0	5.51	8
Jesse Orosco	8	0	1	1	1.56	18

Farm system

Template:MLB Farm System LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Jackson

External links

• 1981 New York Mets at Baseball Reference
• 1981 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com