1981
From The Met Wiki
The Mets had 41 wins and 62 losses in 1981. A mid-season strike by Major League Baseball players reduced the number of games played and cut the season into two official halves. In the first half, the Mets ended up with a fifth-place position in the National League East Division standings. The team concluded the second half of the season fourth in the division.
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April
The Mets got off to a rough start in ’81. They won four times and lost ten in April. In the season opener at Chicago on April 9, the Mets recorded a 2-0 win over the Cubs. The team won its home opener, 5-3, over the Cardinals at Shea Stadium on April 15. The Mets concluded their first home stand of the year with two wins in five games. They ended the month with six straight losses.
May
The Mets had another losing record in May. The team went 11-17 for a .393 winning percentage during the month. From May 1 to May 10, the Mets won four games and lost six against the Padres, Giants and Dodgers at Shea. They ended a nine-game losing streak with a 4-3 win in 10 innings at San Francisco on May 20. At Shea on May 25, the Mets gave the World Champion Phillies a Memorial Day blasting with a 13-3 triumph. They ended the month by defeating the Cubs, 3-2, at Shea on May 31 for their fifth win in seven games. The Mets concluded May in fifth place in the N. L. East.
June
In June, the Mets played only nine games before the beginning of the players strike. The team won only twice during the month. They posted a 6-2 victory over the Phils on June 3 and a 3-1 triumph at Houston on June 7. At Shea on June 11, the Mets were defeated by the Reds, 5-2, in their last game before the stoppage in play. The team was 15 games behind the front-running Phillies, who were declared the division champions for the season’s first half.
July
There were no games played in July due to the strike.
August
In August, the Mets played 21 games after the strike ended. They won 11 times while losing 10 for the month. At Chicago on August 10, the Mets defeated the Cubs, 7-5, in 13 innings in their first game of the official second half of the season. The team beat the Cubs twice more in the next three games of the series and won two of three against the Phillies at Shea between August 14 and August 16. They won three and lost four on an ensuing road trip to Atlanta and Cincinnati. Against the Astros and Reds at Shea from August 25 to August 30, the Mets had three wins and three losses. A 6-1 defeat at Houston on August 31 concluded the month with the Mets tied with the Cubs for third place in the division’s new standings.
September/October
Over the rest of the season, the Mets had a 13-18 won-lost record. They ended up five and one-half games behind the first place Expos in the second half. Following a pair of losses at Houston to start September, the Mets recorded 4-1 and 4-2 wins over the Braves at Shea on September 4 and September 5, respectively. The team lost five of seven games at Pittsburgh and St. Louis before dropping two of three to the Phillies at Shea. On September 18, the Mets began a four-game winning streak with an 8-1 victory over the Cardinals at Shea. They stopped a five-game skid with a 2-1 win at Montreal on September 27. The Mets concluded September with a 7-0 win at Philadelphia on September 29 and a 2-1 triumph over the Cubs at Shea on September 30. At Shea on October 4, the team finished off its season with a 2-1 victory over the Expos.
Award Winners
- Joan Payson and Casey Stengel became the first inductees of the Mets Hall of Fame
