Reversal of Misfortune...A Mets Dynasty

[gern11]

That sound you heard was the Mets' organization crashing back to Earth. After establishing itself as the measuring stick in baseball throughout the 1970s, New York made a surprisingly quick return to its orgins, sprialing into the depths of the NL East with a demise I certainly didn't think would unfold so quickly.

The final standings...


Losing big pieces like Cecil Cooper and Reggie Jackson to free agency left voids to be filled and those who did turned out to be more problematic than imaginable.

Thus, a rebuild is officially underway. Johnny Bench is on the trading block, granting his wishes. Others may join him. For the first time in awhile, we should have a favorable position in the draft and there are some generational guys in the '80 pool, including Tony Gwynn.

[gern11]

[gern11]

[gern11]

[gern11]

Johnny Bench and Vida Blue each invoked their no-trade clause at the deadline and became impossible to move.

The two will be most likely moving now, each opting out of the final year of their contract to test free agency.

Even more painful, so too, is Nolan Ryan, a lifetime personal favorite who we will try to keep as best we can.

As for Bench and Blue, both were invaluable lynchpins in our dynasty and they can go find contenders that can squeeze out the remain talent. Blue won the '76 Cy Young and was a member of six World Series winners.



Bench is arguably the most decorated player in franchise history. Few dared to challenge his arm and he was a savage in the post season, yet throughout his time in New York, he was rarely happy or warmly received in the clubhouse. I had no choice but to keep him and suffer the occasional issues for the good of the team's performance.


The voids they leave are vast but, hopefully, their exits will ease some financila strains.

[gern11]

We have tendered free-agent offers to retain SS Robin Yount, LF Jim Rice and RHP Nolan Ryan.

Yount has agreed to terms on a 3-year deal. We await the other two.

[gern11]

So, we secured what we perceive were the three biggest and most attractive fish potentially leaving our pond with lucrative deals.

Robin Yount, Jim Rice and Nolan Ryan have all been reeled in. Now, we begin the youth movement to surround them as well as George Brett.

[gern11]

For the second year in a row, George Brett was named NL MVP.

[gern11]

I hate to do it, but we have traded RHP Tom Seaver to the Brewers, who are developing into perennially contenders in the AL East, in exchange for 23-year-old OF Kirk Gibson.

Another huge salary is off the books. Seaver is aging and struggled last year. We have some guys on the verge of being called up, but, primarily, I want to vanquish older guys when the opportunity arises.

Was happy we got him two rings while he was in Queens.



Gibson will give us a fiery competitor and we're banking on some leadership through example from him.

[gern11]

We just cut ties with our veteran backstop but as of Nov. 30, 1980, we've offered him and CF Al Cowens free-agent deals.

At 32, Bench requested a six-year deal at $1.6 million per. We countered with two years, he came back with four and now we await on a three-year deal.

Cowens, 29, hit .280 in Oakland last year with 10 homers and 64 RBI. If we can land him, Rick Manning goes back to a fourth outfielder.

We have also tested the waters on another former Met in RF Warren Cromartie. Made a three-year offer for the 27-year-old.

Stay tuned.

[gern11]

Johnny Bench is back to play first base and maybe catch once a week. Enos Cabell will be a back-up corner infielder. Jim Rice, Rick Manning and Al Cowens comprise the starting outfield.

Wally Backman gets the nod to open '81 at 2nd base with stalwarts Robin Yount and George Brett on the left side. John Wathan will assume catching role.

The rotation is combination of experience and youth. Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan and Mike Scott at the top with Dave Stewart and rookie Dave Dravecky on the back end. Kent Tekulve will close with Rick Camp, Jesse Orosco, Lee Smith and Bobby Cuellar among the pen corps.

[gern11]

Mets finish April at 8-9 and with Steve Carlton heading to the 15-day IL with shoulder tendinitis.

One of the more unsettling stats of the initial 15 game is the Mets went 2-6 in games decided by a run, four on the deciding run being scored in the ninth inning or later. Mets are 2-3 in extra-inning affairs.

[gern11]

Mets went 20-8 in May and begin June atop the NL East





Our offense...


Our pitchings...

[gern11]

The Mets can be mildly pleased with their first-half performance, buidling as much as an eight-game cushion before settling for where we are at on the eve of the All-Star Game.


Throwing a little shade over the first-place position with the loss of 3B George Brett, who is leading the NL in batting at .329. Brett is dealing with a strained back that sent him to the IL, where he will be for the next three weeks. Enos Cabell assumes his place at 3rd base.

[gern11]

After a one-year absence that seemed at the time to more likely signal start of a demise rather an uncharacteristic blip, the New York Mets are heading back to the post season.

New York claimed the NL East going away and will catch an old nemesis of the past, the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS.

Also, for the first time in this dynasty, the Mets and the Yankees will have NYC abuzz with playoff fever.



Our final offensive stats...


Our final pitching numbers...

[gern11]

[gern11]

[gern11]

[gern11]

Mets completed the two-game sweep in San Francisco with a 3-1 victory.

Kirk Gibson was instrumental. In the fourth, he delivered a one-out single, stole second and third and scored on a sac fly by Johnny Bench for a 1-0 lead. Gibson added an RBI triple in sixth and Jim Rice scored Robin Yount with a base hit in the eighth.

Steve Carlton worked eight solid frames, conceding a run with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, ending the Giants' scoreless string at 14 2/3 innings.

[gern11]

John Stearns unloaded a two-run homer off Mike Scott in the fifth as San Francisco took Game 3, 2-1, to cut the Mets NLCS lead in half.

The homer tarnished a decent start by Mike Scott. Robin Yount had three hits, including an RBI double in the seventh. Al Cowens went to third on a play but, with one out and the infield in, George Brett grounded to second baseman Jeff Cox, who fired to Stearns at the plate to cut down the potential tying run.

In the eighth, Jay Loviglio lined a one-out single and tried to score all the way from first on a double by Johnny Bench, only to be thrown out by CF Omar Moreno.