1987 New York Mets season

The New York Mets' 1987 season was the 26th regular season for the Mets. The Mets entered the season as the defending World Series champions. They went 92–70 and finished 2nd in the NL East. They were managed by Davey Johnson. The team played home games at Shea Stadium.

1987 New York Mets
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Shea Stadium (since 1964) New York (since 1962)
Other information
Owner(s)	Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr.
General manager(s)	Frank Cashen
Manager(s)	Davey Johnson
Local television	WOR-TV/SportsChannel New York (Ralph Kiner, Steve Zabriskie, Tim McCarver, Fran Healy, Rusty Staub)
Local radio	WHN (Bob Murphy, Gary Thorne) WJIT (Spanish) (Juan Alicea, Billy Berroa)
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Offseason

• November 12, 1986: Ron Gardenhire was traded by the Mets to the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named later. The Twins completed the deal by sending Dominic Iasparro (minors) to the Mets on April 4, 1987.[1]
• December 9, 1986: Heathcliff Slocumb was drafted from the Mets by the Chicago Cubs in the 1986 minor league draft.[2]
• December 11, 1986: Kevin Mitchell, Stan Jefferson, Shawn Abner, Kevin Armstrong (minors) and Kevin Brown (minors) were traded by the Mets to the San Diego Padres for Kevin McReynolds, Gene Walter, and Adam Ging (minors).[3]
• December 17, 1986: Doug Gwosdz was traded by the Mets to the Seattle Mariners for Ricky Nelson.[4]
• February 9, 1987: Clint Hurdle was signed as a free agent by the Mets.[5]
• March 27, 1987: Ed Hearn, Rick Anderson, and Mauro Gozzo were traded by the Mets to the Kansas City Royals for David Cone and Chris Jelic.[6]

Regular season

• June 5, 1987: A mock ceremony called "Spider-Man's wedding" took place to promote a special wedding issue of the Amazing Spider-Man comic book at home plate in front of more than 45,000 fans just before the New York Mets played the Pittsburgh Pirates. Actors portrayed as fictional comic book characters Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson (wearing a wedding gown designed by Willi Smith), participated in the ceremony. Stan Lee, publisher of Marvel Comics and co-creator of Spider-Man officiated the ceremony prior to the Mets match.[7]

Standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	95	67	0.586	—	49–32	46–35
New York Mets	92	70	0.568	3	49–32	43–38
Montreal Expos	91	71	0.562	4	48–33	43–38
Philadelphia Phillies	80	82	0.494	15	43–38	37–44
Pittsburgh Pirates	80	82	0.494	15	47–34	33–48
Chicago Cubs	76	85	0.472	18½	40–40	36–45

Record vs. opponents

1987 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	6–5	8–10	8–10	6–12	3–9	7–5	7–5	7–5	6–12	8–10	3–9
Chicago	5–6	—	6–6	8–4	6–6	10–8	9–9	8–10	4–14	9–3	5–7	6–12
Cincinnati	10–8	6–6	—	13–5	10–8	6–6	7–5	5–7	4–8	12–6	7–11	4–8
Houston	10–8	4–8	5–13	—	12–6	7–5	6–6	6–6	6–6	5–13	10–8	5–7
Los Angeles	12–6	6–6	8–10	6–12	—	3–9	6–6	2–10	6–6	11–7	10–8	3–9
Montreal	9–3	8–10	6–6	5–7	9–3	—	8–10	10–8	11–7	9–3	5–7	11–7
New York	5–7	9–9	5–7	6–6	6–6	10–8	—	13–5	12–6	8–4	9–3	9–9
Philadelphia	5-7	10–8	7–5	6–6	10–2	8–10	5–13	—	11–7	8–4	2–10	8–10
Pittsburgh	5–7	14–4	8–4	6–6	6–6	7–11	6–12	7–11	—	8–4	6–6	7–11
San Diego	12–6	3–9	6–12	13–5	7–11	3–9	4–8	4–8	4–8	—	5–13	4–8
San Francisco	10–8	7–5	11–7	8–10	8–10	7–5	3–9	10–2	6–6	13–5	—	7–5
St. Louis	9–3	12–6	8–4	7–5	9–3	7–11	9–9	10–8	11–7	8–4	5–7	—

Milestones

• Howard Johnson became the eighth member of the 30–30 club by hitting for at least 30 home runs and getting at least 30 stolen bases in the same season. Johnson was the first infielder to join the 30–30 club.
• Darryl Strawberry became the second Met in the season and the tenth member overall of the 30–30 club

Notable transactions

• May 11, 1987: Ricky Nelson was traded by the Mets to the Cleveland Indians for Don Schulze.[8]
• June 2, 1987: 1987 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Todd Hundley was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round. Player signed June 15, 1987.[9]
  • Eric Hillman was drafted by the New York Mets in the 16th round of the 1987 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1987.[10]
  • Anthony Young was drafted by the Mets in the 38th round. Player signed June 6, 1987.[11]
• September 15, 1987: Jeff Richardson and Shane Young (minors) were traded by the Mets to the California Angels for John Candelaria.[12]

Roster

1987 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers 15 Rick Aguilera 45 John Candelaria 44 David Cone 12 Ron Darling 32 Tom Edens 50 Sid Fernandez 38 Bob Gibson 16 Dwight Gooden 40 Jeff Innis 26 Terry Leach 42 Roger McDowell 43 John Mitchell 48 Randy Myers 19 Bob Ojeda 47 Jesse Orosco 49 Don Schulze 39 Doug Sisk 31 Gene Walter		Catchers  8 Gary Carter 33 Barry Lyons Infielders  2 Bill Almon  6 Wally Backman 21 Kevin Elster 17 Keith Hernandez  7 Clint Hurdle 20 Howard Johnson 29 Dave Magadan 25 Keith Miller 25 Al Pedrique  3 Rafael Santana 11 Tim Teufel		Outfielders 32 Mark Carreon  4 Len Dykstra 13 Lee Mazzilli 22 Kevin McReynolds 18 Darryl Strawberry  1 Mookie Wilson Other batters  9 Gregg Jefferies 27 Randy Milligan		Manager  5 Davey Johnson Coaches 23 Bud Harrelson 51 Vern Hoscheit 34 Sam Perlozzo 28 Bill Robinson 30 Mel Stottlemyre

Player stats

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	139	523	123	.235	20	83
1B	Keith Hernandez	154	587	170	.290	18	89
2B	Wally Backman	94	300	75	.250	1	23
3B	Howard Johnson	157	554	147	.265	36	99
SS	Rafael Santana	139	439	112	.255	5	44
LF	Kevin McReynolds	151	590	163	.276	29	95
CF	Lenny Dykstra	132	431	123	.285	10	43
RF	Darryl Strawberry	154	532	151	.284	39	104

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Mookie Wilson	124	385	115	.299	9	34
Tim Teufel	97	299	92	.308	14	61
Dave Magadan	85	192	61	.318	3	24
Lee Mazzilli	88	124	38	.306	3	24
Barry Lyons	53	130	33	.254	4	24
Bill Almon	49	54	13	.241	0	4
Keith Miller	25	51	19	.373	0	1
Mark Carreon	9	12	3	.250	0	1
Kevin Elster	5	10	4	.400	0	1
Al Pedrique	5	6	0	.000	0	0
Gregg Jefferies	6	6	3	.500	0	2
Clint Hurdle	3	3	1	.333	0	0
Randy Milligan	3	1	0	.000	0	0

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Ron Darling	32	207.2	12	8	4.29	167
Dwight Gooden	25	179.2	15	7	3.21	148
Sid Fernandez	28	156	12	8	3.81	134
Rick Aguilera	18	115	11	3	3.60	77
John Mitchell	20	111.2	3	6	4.11	57
Bob Ojeda	10	46.1	3	5	3.88	21
Don Schulze	5	21.2	1	2	6.23	5
John Candelaria	3	12.1	2	0	5.84	10
Tom Edens	2	8	0	0	6.75	4

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Terry Leach	44	131.1	11	1	3.22	61
David Cone	21	99.1	5	6	3.71	68

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Jesse Orosco	58	3	9	16	4.44	78
Roger McDowell	56	7	5	25	4.16	32
Doug Sisk	55	3	1	3	3.46	37
Randy Myers	54	3	6	6	3.96	92
Gene Walter	21	1	2	0	3.20	11
Jeff Innis	17	0	1	0	3.16	28
Bob Gibson	1	0	0	0	0.00	2

Awards and honors

• Darryl Strawberry – Player of the Month, September 1987

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tidewater Tides	International League	Mike Cubbage
AA	Jackson Mets	Texas League	Tucker Ashford
A	Lynchburg Mets	Carolina League	John Tamargo
A	Columbia Mets	South Atlantic League	Butch Hobson
A-Short Season	Little Falls Mets	New York–Penn League	Rich Miller
Rookie	Kingsport Mets	Appalachian League	Bobby Floyd

[13]

References

1. Ron Gardenhire page at Baseball Reference
2. Heathcliff Slocumb page at Baseball Reference
3. Stan Jefferson page at Baseball Reference
4. Doug Gwosdz page at Baseball Reference
5. Clint Hurdle page at Baseball Reference
6. David Cone page at Baseball Reference
7. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/02/style/spider-man-to-wed-model.html
8. Don Schulze page at Baseball Reference
9. Todd Hundley page at Baseball Reference
10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hillmer01.shtml
11. Anthony Young page at Baseball Reference
12. John Candelaria page at Baseball Reference
13. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

• 1987 New York Mets
• 1987 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com