2001 New York Mets season

The 2001 New York Mets season was the 40th regular season for the Mets. The 2001 Mets entered the season as defending National League champions, aiming to win the National League East from the Braves and return to a second consecutive World Series and win it. The Mets went 82–80 and finished third in the National League East, six games behind the first place Atlanta Braves. They were managed by Bobby Valentine. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

Offseason

December 6, 2000: Turk Wendell was signed as a free agent with the New York Mets.
December 11, 2000: Tsuyoshi Shinjo was purchased by the New York Mets from the Hanshin Tigers.
January 5, 2001: Jorge Velandia was signed as a free agent with the New York Mets.

Regular season

The Mets played the first game in New York after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11. The game was played on September 21 and it was a 3–2 victory over the Atlanta Braves, thanks to a go-ahead two-run home run from Mike Piazza in the eighth inning which is still largely relevant.

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

May 9, 2001: Doug Linton was signed as a free agent with the New York Mets.
June 5, 2001: David Wright was drafted by the New York Mets in the 1st round of the 2001 amateur draft. Player signed July 12, 2001.
July 23, 2001: Todd Pratt was traded by the New York Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Gary Bennett.
July 25, 2001: Doug Linton was purchased by the LG Twins of Korea from the New York Mets.
July 27, 2001: Turk Wendell was traded by the New York Mets with Dennis Cook to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bruce Chen and Adam Walker.
July 30, 2001: Rick Reed was traded by the New York Mets to the Minnesota Twins for Matt Lawton.

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	Mike Piazza	141	503	151	.300	36	94
1B	Todd Zeile	151	531	141	.266	10	62
2B	Edgardo Alfonzo	124	457	111	.243	17	49
SS	Rey Ordóñez	149	461	114	.247	3	44
3B	Robin Ventura	142	456	108	.237	21	61
LF	Benny Agbayani	91	296	82	.277	6	27
CF	Jay Payton	104	361	92	.255	8	34
RF	Timo Pérez	85	239	59	.247	5	22

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
Tsuyoshi Shinjo	123	400	107	.268	10	56
Desi Relaford	120	301	91	.302	8	36
Joe McEwing	116	283	80	.283	8	30
Matt Lawton	48	183	45	.246	3	13
Lenny Harris	110	135	30	.222	0	9
Darryl Hamilton	52	126	27	.214	1	5
Mark Johnson	71	118	30	.254	6	23
Todd Pratt	45	80	13	.163	2	4
Darren Bragg	18	57	15	.263	0	5
Vance Wilson	32	57	17	.298	0	6
Alex Escobar	18	50	10	.200	3	8
Jorge Toca	13	17	3	.176	0	1
Jorge Velandia	9	9	0	.000	0	0
Jason Phillips	6	7	1	.143	0	0
Gary Bennett	1	1	1	1.000	0	0

Pitching

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
Kevin Appier	33	206.2	11	10	3.57	172
Al Leiter	29	187.1	11	11	3.31	142
Glendon Rusch	33	179.0	8	12	4.63	156
Steve Trachsel	28	173.2	11	13	4.46	144
Rick Reed	20	134.2	8	6	3.48	99
Bruce Chen	11	59.2	3	2	4.68	47
Brett Hinchliffe	1	2.0	0	1	36.00	2

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
Dicky Gonzalez	16	59.0	3	2	4.88	31

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
Armando Benítez	73	6	4	43	3.77	93
John Franco	58	6	2	2	4.05	50
Rick White	55	4	5	2	3.88	51
Turk Wendell	49	4	3	1	3.51	41
Dennis Cook	43	1	1	0	4.25	34
Jerrod Riggan	35	3	3	0	3.40	41
Donne Wall	32	0	4	0	4.85	31
Grant Roberts	16	1	0	0	3.81	29
Tom Martin	14	1	0	0	10.06	12
C.J. Nitkowski	5	1	0	0	0.00	4
Brian Rose	3	0	1	0	4.15	4
Pete Walker	2	0	0	0	2.70	4
Mark Corey	2	0	0	0	16.20	3
Desi Relaford	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

Awards and honors

John Franco, Lou Gehrig Award

2001 MLB All Star Game

Mike Piazza, catcher
Rick Reed, reserve pitcher

Farm system

LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Brooklyn