1988 New York Mets season
The 1988 New York Mets season was the 27th regular season for the Mets. They went 100–60 and finished first in the National League East. They were managed by Davey Johnson. They played home games at Shea Stadium.
The Mets would go on to lose to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS in seven games.
Offseason
- December 11, 1987: Jesse Orosco was traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Mets to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers sent Jack Savage to the Mets, and the Oakland Athletics sent Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst to the Mets. The Dodgers sent Bob Welch and Matt Young to the Athletics, and the Athletics sent Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell to the Dodgers.
- December 11, 1987: Rafael Santana and Victor Garcia were traded by the Mets to the New York Yankees for Darren Reed, Phil Lombardi, and Steve Frey.
- March 26, 1988: Randy Milligan and Scott Henion were traded by the Mets to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Mackey Sasser and Tim Drummond.
Regular season
- August 9: The Mets participated in the first official night game at Wrigley Field, which the Cubs won, 6–4.
Notable transactions
- August 4, 1988: Tom McCarthy and Steve Springer were traded by the Mets to the Chicago White Sox for Mike Maksudian and Vince Harris.
- August 22, 1988: Héctor Ramírez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Gary Carter | 130 | 455 | 110 | .242 | 11 | 46 |
| 1B | Keith Hernandez | 95 | 348 | 96 | .276 | 11 | 55 |
| 2B | Wally Backman | 99 | 294 | 89 | .303 | 0 | 17 |
| 3B | Howard Johnson | 148 | 495 | 114 | .230 | 24 | 68 |
| SS | Kevin Elster | 149 | 406 | 87 | .214 | 9 | 37 |
| LF | Kevin McReynolds | 147 | 552 | 159 | .288 | 27 | 99 |
| CF | Len Dykstra | 126 | 429 | 116 | .270 | 8 | 33 |
| RF | Darryl Strawberry | 153 | 543 | 146 | .269 | 39 | 101 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Mookie Wilson | 112 | 378 | 112 | .296 | 8 | 41 |
| Dave Magadan | 112 | 314 | 87 | .277 | 1 | 35 |
| Tim Teufel | 90 | 273 | 64 | .234 | 4 | 31 |
| Mackey Sasser | 60 | 123 | 35 | .285 | 1 | 17 |
| Lee Mazzilli | 68 | 116 | 17 | .147 | 0 | 12 |
| Gregg Jeffries | 29 | 109 | 35 | .321 | 6 | 17 |
| Barry Lyons | 50 | 91 | 21 | .231 | 0 | 11 |
| Keith Miller | 40 | 70 | 15 | .214 | 1 | 5 |
| Mark Carreon | 7 | 9 | 5 | .556 | 1 | 1 |
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Dwight Gooden | 34 | 248.1 | 18 | 9 | 3.19 | 175 |
| Ron Darling | 34 | 240.2 | 17 | 9 | 3.25 | 161 |
| David Cone | 35 | 231.1 | 20 | 3 | 2.22 | 213 |
| Bob Ojeda | 29 | 190.1 | 10 | 13 | 2.88 | 133 |
| Sid Fernandez | 31 | 187.0 | 12 | 10 | 3.03 | 189 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Rick Aguilera | 11 | 24.2 | 0 | 4 | 6.93 | 16 |
| David West | 2 | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 | 3 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Randy Myers | 55 | 7 | 3 | 26 | 1.72 | 69 |
| Roger McDowell | 62 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 2.63 | 46 |
| Terry Leach | 52 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2.54 | 51 |
| Gene Walter | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.78 | 14 |
| Bob McClure | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.09 | 7 |
| Jeff Innis | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.89 | 14 |
| Edwin Núñez | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 8 |
| John Mitchell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
NLCS
Game 1
October 4: Dodger Stadium, Los AngelesGame 2
October 5: Dodger Stadium, Los AngelesGame 3
October 8: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New YorkGame 4
October 9: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New YorkGame 5
October 10: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New YorkGame 6
October 11: Dodger Stadium, Los AngelesGame 7
October 12: Dodger Stadium, Los AngelesAwards and honors
- Keith Hernandez, Gold Glove Award
- Keith Hernandez, Major League record, most Gold Gloves by a first baseman
- Kevin McReynolds – Player of the Month, September 1988
- Gary Carter – 300 career home runs, and set record for career putouts for a catcher
- Gary Carter
- David Cone
- Dwight Gooden
- Darryl Strawberry
Team leaders
- Games – Darryl Strawberry
- At-bats – Kevin McReynolds
- Home runs – Darryl Strawberry
- Runs batted in – Darryl Strawberry
- Batting average – Wally Backman
- Hits – Kevin McReynolds
- Doubles – Kevin McReynolds
- Triples – Mookie Wilson
- Walks – Howard Johnson
- Stolen bases – Len Dykstra
- Wins – David Cone