1989
From The Met Wiki
In 1989, the Mets closed their most successful decade with another winning season. The team had a won-lost record of 87-75 and finished second in the National League Eastern Division. They ended the ‘80s with 816 regular season victories.
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April
The Mets started the ’89 season with 12 wins and 10 losses in April. They won on Opening Day for the fifth straight year by defeating the Cardinals, 8-4, on April 3 at Shea Stadium. The Mets lost seven of their next nine games before a 5-2 win over the Phillies at Shea on April 17. From April 22 to April 29, the team won six in a row. They ended the month one game behind the first-place Cardinals in the division.
May
May was a troublesome month for the Mets. The team won only 13 of 27 games for a .481 winning percentage. They started the month with a two-game sweep at Atlanta that brought them to the 2,000-win mark in their history. After splitting a four-game home stand, the Mets won two of three at Cincinnati. The team followed up with a record of 4-5 against the west coast teams at Shea. The Mets closed out May with a 3-2 win in 10 innings at San Francisco on May 31 to snap a four-game losing streak. The team stood third in the N. L. East, two and one-half games behind the division-leading Cubs.
June
The Mets rebounded with a winning record in June. They had 15 wins and 11 losses to stay above the break-even point on the season. The team began the month with a 3-2 victory over the Pirates in 11 innings on June 2 that began a three-game series sweep. They lost five of seven at Chicago and Pittsburgh before winning two of three against the Cubs at Shea. In a slugfest at Philadelphia on June 16, the Mets came away with a 15-11 win over the Phillies. The team completed a three-game sweep of the Phils with a 5-1 victory at Shea on June 25. At Cincinnati on June 30, the Mets closed the month with an 11-1 win over the Reds. They were two games behind the front-running Expos with a season mark of 40-35.
July
In July, the Mets staggered through a month in which they won 13 and lost 15. The team lost four of six games before three straight wins just before the All-Star Break. After being swept by the Astros in a doubleheader at Shea, the Mets won their next six in a row from July 18 to July 23. The winning streak was followed by seven consecutive defeats to end the month. The team dropped to fourth place and was seven games behind division-leading Montreal.
August
Things turned around for the Mets in August. The team went 19-10 and improved its position in the standings. On the first day of the month, Kevin McReynolds hit for the cycle in an 11-0 victory at St. Louis. The Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Expos with a 2-1 win in 14 innings at Shea on August 6. Following a pair of shutout in Philadelphia, the Mets began a home stand with 5-1 and 6-4 wins over the Cardinals for a doubleheader sweep on August 10. They won nine and lost five during the stint at Shea before getting swept in a three-game series at San Diego. The Mets ended August with three straight wins at Los Angeles from August 28 to August 30. They had a season record of 72-60 that placed them two and one-half games behind the Cubs and in a second-place tie with the Cardinals.
September/October
Over their last thirty games of the season, the Mets broke even at 15-15. The team fell short in its quest for a division title. They started September with three consecutive losses at San Francisco and a 7-3 defeat to the Cubs on Labor Day at Shea. The Mets won three of their next four games before ending their home stand with two losses to the Pirates. On a ten-game road trip between September 11 and September 21, the team won five times. They won three of six at Shea from September 22 to September 27. The Mets closed out the ’89 season by sweeping the Pirates in a four-game series at Pittsburgh from September 29 to October 1. The team ended up six games in back of the division-winning Cubs.
Award Winners
- Gary Carter was the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award
- Ron Darling won a National League Gold Glove Award
- Howard Johnson won a National League Silver Slugger Award
- Jerry Koosman was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame
