The 1993 New York Mets season was the 32nd season in the history of the franchise. They played all of the home games at [[Shea Stadium After a tumultuous season the year before, the Mets were looking to improve on their 72-90 season and perhaps get back into contention for the National League Eastern Division Instead, the team performed significantly worse and sank further back in the standings, while the turmoil surrounding them continued into 1993.
For the first time since 1967, the Mets lost 100 games in a season. Their 59 wins were the least in a full 162 game season since 1964, when they won 53. Their 103 losses were the fifth most in franchise history, only trailing the first four teams the Mets fielded. They finished in seventh and last place in their division, their first last place finish since 1983, and recorded the worst record in baseball in 1993.
Background
The 1993 Mets entered the season after a disappointing 1992 campaign where their major player acquisitions, designed to help the team return to contending for a division title, largely fizzled out. Their biggest acquisition, outfielder Bobby Bonilla, did not perform up to fans' expectations and was frequently booed by the local fans. Pitcher Bret Saberhagen and second baseman Willie Randolph, two more major pickups in the previous offseason, were injured much of the season and largely ineffective. One of the few bright spots was Eddie Murray, who led the team with 91 RBI to go along with 16 home runs, but besides he and Bonilla (74 RBI, 19 home runs) no Met reached 50 RBI or 15 home runs. Murray's .261 average led the regulars, who all struggled to record hits; shortstop Dick Schofield, for instance, recorded over 400 plate appearances but could not manage to reach 100 hits. Howard Johnson, the 1991 National League home run and RBI champion, also battled injuries and saw his totals fall off significantly. The pitching staff was not much better off, as Dwight Gooden recorded his worst season as a major leaguer and the team left a hole in its rotation by trading away ace David Cone in August; Gooden's 12 wins led the team.
Manager Jeff Torborg, who had come off two consecutive winning seasons with the Chicago White Sox, found himself unable to maintain control of the team. He had a particularly testy relationship with outfielder Vince Coleman, which eventually resulted in the former stolen base king's suspension in September.
Offseason
The Mets were not as aggressive in pursuing other players as they had been in 1992 but made a splash in a trade, acquiring All-Star shortstop Tony Fernández in a trade with the San Diego Padres. Another significant acquisition was veteran starter Frank Tanana, who had spent the last eight years with the Detroit Tigers and would give the rotation an additional veteran to go with Gooden, Fernandez, and Saberhagen.
December 2, 1992: Roger Mason was signed as a free agent by the Mets.[3]
December 17, 1992: Roger Mason and Mike Freitas (minors) were traded by the Mets to the San Diego Padres for Mike Maddux.[3]
December 22, 1992: Mauro Gozzo was signed as a free agent with the New York Mets.[4]
December 28, 1992: Eric Bullock was signed as a free agent by the Mets.[5]
Regular season
The Mets first game of the season was reminiscent of the first game of their 1969 championship season, as they hosted an expansion team in their very first game in franchise history; this time, the Colorado Rockies.
Once again, trouble courted the Mets in 1993. After Bob Klapisch and John Harper's chronicle of the 1992 season, The Worst Team Money Could Buy, came out early in the season, Bobby Bonilla confronted Klapisch after a game and tried to provoke him into a physical confrontation. In June, Bret Saberhagen filled a Super Soaker water gun with bleach and shot it at reporters in the clubhouse. Vince Coleman once again found himself in trouble when he struck Dwight Gooden with a golf club while swinging it wildly in the clubhouse and injured him. Later in the season, while in the car of Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Eric Davis, Coleman tossed a lit firecracker toward a crowd of autograph seekers at Dodger Stadium, injuring three people when it exploded. This proved to be the last straw for the Mets and Coleman; he was placed on administrative leave following the incident and the team later announced that Coleman would not be with the team going forward.
After thirty-eight games, the Mets had decided enough was enough and relieved Torborg of his duties as manager. He became the third straight Mets skipper to be fired before the end of the season, following Davey Johnson and Bud Harrelson. Dallas Green, who had not managed a team since he was fired by the New York Yankees as their manager during the 1989 season but had been serving as a scout for the Mets, was promoted to replace him. With the team standing at 13–25, Green recorded only forty-six victories in his abbreviated first campaign and brought the Mets home with the worst record in baseball.
Al Harazin, who took over the general manager duties after Frank Cashen retired and was the man who made all of the moves that changed the franchise's direction in the 1992 offseason, resigned his position in June of 1993 after ownership decided to separate the business operation of the team from the baseball operation; Harazin was offered the position of vice president of business operation but declined, stating that it would feel "awkward" and that it would be "in the best interest for all concerned" for him to resign after thirteen years working for the Mets.[6] In July, the Mets hired Joe McIlvane to take over as general manager and executive vice president of baseball operations; he had previously worked with the team as a scout and assistant to Cashen before leaving to become general manager of the San Diego Padres, from whom he had resigned earlier in 1993 following the team's trading away of several star players.
Despite the poor record, some positives came from the Mets' lineup. Bonilla returned to the All-Star Game and hit a career high 34 home runs. Second baseman Jeff Kent, in his first full year as a starter, added 21 home runs with 80 RBI. Eddie Murray tallied 27 home runs, led the team with a .285 average, and recorded 100 RBI, the first time he had done that since he was with the Baltimore Orioles in 1985. 1993 also saw the debut of Bobby Jones, a rookie who would become a frontline starter for the Mets in the coming years.
Anthony Young
One of the stranger stories of the 1993 season was the losing streak recorded by pitcher Anthony Young. After winning his first two decisions of the 1992 season, Young would lose his final fourteen of the year. He picked up right where he left off in 1993, dropping thirteen straight games where he factored into the decision[7] and breaking a record that was held by Boston Braves pitcher Cliff Curtis, who lost 23 straight decisions over the course of the 1910 and 1911 seasons.
Young's losing streak was snapped at 27 on July 28 against the expansion Florida Marlins. Young allowed an unearned run in the top of the ninth to give the Marlins a 4–3 lead.[7] The Mets scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth against closer Bryan Harvey to win the game 5–4. The win was the only one Young recorded in 1993, and he went on to finish with a team high sixteen losses in thirty-nine appearances with ten starts.
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; OPS = OBP + SLG (On base + slugging percentage)
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