1970
From The Met Wiki
The Mets entered the 1970 season as baseball’s reigning champions. In defense of their title, they followed up with an 83-79 record and in third place in the National League East. The team finished six games behind the division-winning Pittsburgh Pirates.
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April
As World Champions, the Mets’ season began with higher hopes than those of previous years. The team started off with a 5-3 victory in 11 innings at Pittsburgh on April 7 for its first ever win of a season opener. They defeated the Phillies, 7-0, at Shea Stadium on Nolan Ryan’s one-hitter with fifteen strikeouts on April 18. In the finale of the team’s eight-game home stand on April 22, Tom Seaver struck out the last ten batters (for a game total of 19) in a 2-1 Mets win over the Padres. The Mets won three of six games at Los Angeles and San Francisco from April 24 to April 30. They ended the month with a 10-9 won-lost record.
May
The Mets stayed above the .500 mark in May. They won 15 of 29 games to end up two games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs at month’s end. At Chicago on May 13, the Mets defeated the Cubs by a 4-0 score on Gary Gentry’s one-hit shutout. Seaver made it two consecutive one-hitters for the Mets (and three on the season) two days later in a 4-0 win at Philadelphia. The Mets concluded May with an 11-game home stand, ending with a doubleheader sweep (14-4 and 4-3 in 14 innings) over the Astros on May 31.
June
The Mets played at a high level in June. They won 15 of 25 games for a .600 winning percentage for the month. At Houston on June 8, the team ended a five-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory at Houston. Between June 12 and June 20, they won five times on a seven-game home stand. The Mets entered first place in the East Division with a five-game sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley Field between June 22 and June 25. At Shea on June 30, they ended the month with a 7-6 triumph over the Pirates. June concluded with the Mets at the top of the division with a 40-33 record, two games ahead of the second-place Pittsburgh team.
July
The Mets continued to win in July. They had a .536 percentage for the month, which ended with them in first place in the East. After starting July with three straight losses, the Mets went on a seven-game winning streak that featured Tommie Agee’s hitting for the cycle and Seaver’s first major league home run. The team went 3-5 on a west coast trip following the All-Star Break. At Shea on June 24, Agee stole home in the 10th inning to give the Mets a 2-1 win over the Dodgers. They closed out the month with a 6-5 victory over the Padres at Shea. This win gave the Mets a one-half game divisional lead over the Pirates.
August
In August, the Mets fell on hard times. They had 13 wins and 18 losses and dropped into third place. To begin the month, the team lost three of five games at home. Between August 5 and August 16, the Mets won six times during a 13-game road trip. Following a two-game split with the Astros at Shea, the Mets continued the home stand by splitting a four-game series with the West Division-leading Reds and losing two of three to the Braves. The Mets lost all three games of a weekend series at Houston before an 11-5 win at St. Louis on August 31. Despite their struggles, the team ended August only one and one-half games out of first place.
September/October
The Mets got back to playing .500 ball in September. They had a 15-14 won-lost record during their unsuccessful run to a second division title. After beginning the month with a 4-3 win in 12 innings at St. Louis, the Mets split their next four games to conclude a road trip. They followed up with a home stand in which they won six of nine games from September 7 to September 13. At Montreal on September 15, Cleon Jones hit safely in his 23rd consecutive game. The team swept a two-game series at Philadelphia on September 22 and September 23, but lost all three games of an ensuing series at Pittsburgh that clinched the division title for the Pirates. The Mets then closed out the ’70 season with a split of four games with the Cubs at Shea from September 28 to October 1.
Award Winners
- Agee became the first Mets player ever to win a Gold Glove Award.
