Member-only story
Larry Lambert’s All New York Mets Team, Pitchers
They had some great ones.
In putting together the All-Mets team when it came to position players, there were some positions that were somewhat threadbare. That’s not true of the pitchers. There is greatness and depth. We’ll start with the guy I think is the consummate Met.
Starting pitcher: Tom Seaver Tom had great stuff and pitched with tremendous intelligence. Seaver helped the Mets transition from expansion team patsy to world series champion. In Tom’s 12 seasons with the Mets, Tom had five 20-win seasons. In 1969, the year of the “Miracle Mets” Seaver went 25–7 with an ERA of 2.21. His WAR that season was 7.2. In 1971 and 1973 it was over 10. He led the league in strikeouts five seasons. For his Mets career, he finished at 198–124 with an ERA of 2.57. His total WAR for his 12 years with the Mets was 76.1. Tom Seaver, for me, is the greatest Met.
Starting pitcher: Dwight Gooden If Tom Seaver was ice, Dwight Gooden was fire. Doc burst on the scene in 1984 and won the National League Rookie of the Year award with a 17–9 record to go with an ERA of 2.60. He also led the league in strikeouts with 276. The next year was the greatest of his career when he went 24–4 with an ERA of 1.53. He had a WAR of 12.2 for the year. While Doc never had another season like that, he did have seven more seasons of double-digit…
