1971
From The Met Wiki
The Mets had their third consecutive winning season in 1971. Like the previous season, they had an 83-79 won-lost record for a .512 winning percentage. The team finished in a tie for the third place (with the Cubs) in the National League East Division. For the year, Tom Seaver led all N. L. pitchers with 289 strikeouts and topped the major leagues with a 1.76 earned run average.
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April
The season started well for the Mets. The team racked up 12 wins in 19 games for April. They ended the month in first place, one game ahead of the Montreal Expos. In the season opener at Shea Stadium on April 6, the Mets came out with a 4-2 win over the Expos in a game cut short to five innings due to snow. They had a pair of 11-inning victories over the Reds, 3-2 and 1-0, at Shea on April 10 and April 11, respectively. Gary Gentry pitched a one-hitter in the Mets’ 5-2 win over the Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader at Shea on April 18. At St. Louis on April 26, the Mets began a month-closing five-game winning streak with a 12-2 triumph over the Cardinals.
May
In May, the Mets continued to play well. They had a 15-11 won-lost record to end the month at a .600 percentage (27-18) on the season. Between May 3 and May 12, the team won six times on an eight-game home stand. They started an ensuing road trip with two wins in Pittsburgh, but dropped their next five games. The Mets chalked up a three-game sweep over the Braves at Shea from May 21 to May 23. Against the Phillies at Shea on May 25, they came away with a 5-4 win in 12 innings. The Mets won both games of a doubleheader, 5-1 and 2-1, at San Diego on May 29. At month’s end, the team was one-half game behind the Pirates and three games in back of the division-leading Cardinals.
June
The Mets were still rolling as the summer arrived. In June, they had 18 wins and a .621 winning percentage for the month. The Mets began June with a pair of victories at San Francisco and one at Los Angeles. The team went 4-5 on a home stand against the west coast teams (Padres, Giants, Dodgers) between June 8 and June 16. At Shea on June 19, the Mets came out with a 6-5 win over the Phillies in 15 innings. They started a four-game winning streak with a 2-1 triumph at Montreal on June 24. At Philadelphia on June 29, Seaver recorded his 1,000th career strikeout in a 3-0 Mets win. The Mets closed out the month with a 4-0 victory over the Pirates on June 30 at Shea, bringing them to only two games behind the first-place Bucs.
July
The month of July was a nightmare for the Mets. They lost 20 of 29 games and dropped to fourth place in the Eastern Division. The Mets began the month with five consecutive defeats before an 8-0 victory over the Expos in the second game of a doubleheader on July 5 at Shea. The team followed up with six straight losses, giving them a 1-11 July record before the All-Star Break. Following the mid-summer classic in Detroit, the Mets won three of eight games on a road trip. After returning home, they won two of three against the Astros and lost three of four to the Cardinals. Despite their troubles, the Mets closed July with 4-0 and 5-2 wins over the Cubs at Shea. They stood fourth in the East with a season record of 54-49 at the end of the horrid month.
August
The Mets continued to struggle in August. With 12 wins in 29 games, they played below the .500 mark for the second month in a row. The Mets dropped five of their first six August games before a pair of wins at Atlanta, the second of which was a 20-6 rout of the Braves on August 7. On a west coast trip from August 10 to August 18, they lost six of nine games. The Mets won both games of a doubleheader, 9-2 and 2-1, against the Dodgers at Shea on August 28. The month ended with the team in fourth place with a 66-66 won-lost record.
September
Things got a little better for the Mets in September. They compiled 17 victories to close the season four games over the break-even mark. The Mets began the month with a five-game winning streak that concluded with a doubleheader sweep, 6-5 (in 10 innings) and 3-0, at Philadelphia on September 4. The team won four consecutive games against the Phillies and Expos at Shea from September 10 to September 13. At Shea on September 26, Seaver pitched a one-hit shutout for a 3-1 Mets victory over the Pirates. Tom recorded his 20th win of the year in a season-closing 6-1 Mets win over the Cardinals on September 30 at Shea.
Award Winners
- Shortstop Bud Harrelson was a National League Gold Glove Award winner.
