1985 New York Mets season

1985 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)
Local radio	WHN (Bob Murphy, Gary Thorne, Juan Alicea (SP))
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The New York Mets' 1985 season was the 24th regular season for the Mets. They went 98-64 and finished 2nd in the NL East. They were managed by Davey Johnson. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

Offseason

• December 3, 1984: Lou Thornton was drafted from the Mets by the Toronto Blue Jays in the rule 5 draft.^[1]
• December 10, 1984: Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham, and Floyd Youmans was traded by the Mets to the Montreal Expos for Gary Carter.^[2]
• January 3, 1985: Rusty Staub was signed as a free agent by the Mets.^[3]
• January 18, 1985: The Mets traded Tim Leary to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of a 4-team trade. The Kansas City Royals sent Frank Wills to the Mets. The Texas Rangers traded Danny Darwin and a player to be named later to the Brewers. The Brewers sent Jim Sundberg to the Royals. The Royals sent Don Slaught to the Rangers. The Rangers completed the deal by sending Bill Nance (minors) to the Brewers on January 30.^[4]

Regular season

• Gary Carter led the Mets in HR and RBI.
• July 4, 1985: Keith Hernandez hit for the cycle in a 16-13 game that lasted 19 innings vs. the Atlanta Braves.
• July 11, 1985: Nolan Ryan got the 4000th strikeout of his career by striking out Mets player Danny Heep.
• July 20, 1985: Darryl Strawberry had 7 RBIs in a game versus the Atlanta Braves.

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	101	61	0.623	—	54–27	47–34
New York Mets	98	64	0.605	3	51–30	47–34
Montreal Expos	84	77	0.522	16½	44–37	40–40
Chicago Cubs	77	84	0.478	23½	41–39	36–45
Philadelphia Phillies	75	87	0.463	26	41–40	34–47
Pittsburgh Pirates	57	104	0.354	43½	35–45	22–59

Record vs. opponents

1985 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	7–11	8–10	5–13	3–9	2–10	10–2	6–6	7–11	10–8	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	5–6	5–7	5–7	7–11	4–14	13–5	13–5	8–4	6–6	4–14
Cincinnati	11–7	6–5	—	11–7	7–11	8–4	4–8	7–5	9–3	9–9	12–6	5–7
Houston	10–8	7–5	7–11	—	6–12	6–6	4–8	4–8	6–6	12–6	15–3	6–6
Los Angeles	13–5	7–5	11–7	12–6	—	7–5	7–5	4–8	8–4	8–10	11–7	7–5
Montreal	9–3	11–7	4–8	6–6	5–7	—	9–9	8–10	9–8	5–7	7–5	11–7
New York	10–2	14–4	8–4	8–4	5–7	9–9	—	11–7	10–8	7–5	8–4	8–10
Philadelphia	2-10	5–13	5–7	8–4	8–4	10–8	7–11	—	11–7	5–7	6–6	8–10
Pittsburgh	6–6	5–13	3–9	6–6	4–8	8–9	8–10	7–11	—	4–8	3–9	3–15
San Diego	11–7	4–8	9–9	6–12	10–8	7–5	5–7	7–5	8–4	—	12–6	4–8
San Francisco	8–10	6–6	6–12	3–15	7–11	5–7	4–8	6–6	9–3	6–12	—	2–10
St. Louis	9–3	14–4	7–5	6–6	5–7	7–11	10–8	10–8	15–3	8–4	10–2	—

Opening Day starters

• Wally Backman, Second Base
• Gary Carter, Catcher
• George Foster, Outfield
• Dwight Gooden, Pitcher
• Keith Hernandez, First Base
• Howard Johnson, Third Base
• Rafael Santana, Shortstop
• Darryl Strawberry, Outfield
• Mookie Wilson, Outfield

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1985: Gordon Dillard was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft (Secondary Phase), but did not sign.^[5]

Roster

1985 New York Mets roster
Roster
Pitchers 38 Rick Aguilera 31 Bruce Berenyi 12 Ron Darling 50 Sid Fernandez 27 Wes Gardner 16 Dwight Gooden 29 Tom Gorman 33,44 Bill Latham 26 Terry Leach 36 Ed Lynch 42 Roger McDowell 48 Randy Myers 45 Randy Niemann 47 Jesse Orosco 35 Joe Sambito 40 Calvin Schiraldi 39 Doug Sisk		Catchers  8 Gary Carter 13 Clint Hurdle  9 Ronn Reynolds Infielders  6 Wally Backman  2 Larry Bowa 11 Kelvin Chapman 19 Ron Gardenhire 17 Keith Hernandez 20 Howard Johnson 22 Ray Knight  3 Rafael Santana		Outfielders 35 Billy Beane 21 Terry Blocker  7 John Christensen  4 Lenny Dykstra 15 George Foster 25 Danny Heep 44 Tom Paciorek 10 Rusty Staub 18 Darryl Strawberry  1 Mookie Wilson		Manager  5 Davey Johnson Coaches 23 Bud Harrelson 51 Vern Hoscheit 28 Bill Robinson 30 Mel Stottlemyre 26 Bobby Valentine

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	Carter, GaryGary Carter	149	555	156	.281	32	100
1B	Hernandez, KeithKeith Hernandez	158	593	183	.309	10	91
2B	Backman, WallyWally Backman	145	520	142	.273	1	38
3B	Johnson, HowardHoward Johnson	126	389	94	.242	11	46
SS	Santana, RafaelRafael Santana	154	529	136	.257	1	29
LF	Foster, GeorgeGeorge Foster	129	452	119	.263	21	77
CF	Wilson, MookieMookie Wilson	93	337	93	.276	6	26
RF	Strawberry, DarrylDarryl Strawberry	111	393	109	.277	29	79

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Heep, DannyDanny Heep	95	271	76	.280	7	42
Knight, RayRay Knight	90	271	59	.218	6	36
Dykstra, LennyLenny Dykstra	83	236	60	.254	1	19
Christensen, JohnJohn Christensen	51	113	21	.186	3	13
Hurdle, ClintClint Hurdle	43	82	16	.195	3	7
Staub, RustyRusty Staub	54	45	12	.267	1	8
Beane, BillyBilly Beane	8	8	2	.250	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games played; GS = Games Started; CG = Complete Games; SHO =Shutouts; IP = Innings Pitch; W = Wins; L = Loses; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Gooden, DwightDwight Gooden	35	35	16	8	276.2	24	4	1.53	268
Darling, RonRon Darling	36	35	4	2	248.0	16	6	2.90	167
Lynch, EdEd Lynch	31	29	6	1	191.0	10	8	3.44	65
Fernandez, SidSid Fernandez	26	26	3	0	170.1	9	9	2.80	180
Aguilera, RickRick Aguilera	21	19	2	0	122.1	10	7	3.24	74
Berenyi, BruceBruce Berenyi	3	3	0	0	13.2	1	0	2.63	10

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Leach, TerryTerry Leach	22	55.2	3	4	2.97	30
Latham, BillBill Latham	7	22.2	1	3	3.97	10

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
McDowell, RogerRoger McDowell	62	6	5	17	2.83	70
Orosco, JesseJesse Orosco	54	8	6	17	2.73	68
Sisk, DougDoug Sisk	42	4	5	2	5.30	26
Gorman, TomTom Gorman	34	4	4	0	5.13	32

Awards and honors

• Dwight Gooden, Associated Press Athlete of the Year
• Dwight Gooden, National League Cy Young Award Winner
• Dwight Gooden, National League Pitching Triple Crown
• Dwight Gooden, The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year
• Keith Hernandez, National League First Base Gold Glove
• Gary Carter, National League Catcher Silver Slugger
• Keith Hernandez – Player of the Month, July 1985
• Keith Hernandez – Hernandez set a major league record for game-winning runs batted in (24) in 1985
• Gary Carter – Player of the Month, September 1985
• Rafael Santana – Led NL Shortstops in Putouts (301)

All-Star Game

• Darryl Strawberry, Right field, Starter
• Gary Carter, Catcher
• Ron Darling, Pitcher
• Dwight Gooden, Pitcher (Injured, did not play)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tidewater Tides	International League	Bob Schaefer
AA	Jackson Mets	Texas League	Sam Perlozzo
A	Lynchburg Mets	Carolina League	Mike Cubbage
A	Columbia Mets	South Atlantic League	Bud Harrelson and Rich Miller
A-Short Season	Little Falls Mets	New York–Penn League	Dan Radison
Rookie	Kingsport Mets	Appalachian League	Tucker Ashford

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tidewater, Jackson

References

1. Lou Thornton at Baseball Reference
2. Gary Carter at Baseball Reference
3. Rusty Staub at Baseball Reference
4. Danny Darwin at Baseball Reference
5. Gordon Dillard page at Baseball Refefence

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

External links

• 1985 New York Mets
• 1985 New York Mets at Baseball Almanac