It was the year of the pitcher, and Tom Seaver progressed nicely in his second year for the Mets. He threw in 26 2/3 more innings then he did the year before, yet he gave up the same amount of hits and gave up 30 less walks to improve his WHIP to a very impressive 0.980 (second best in the NL to Cy Young winner Bob Gibson). He also gave up four fewer homers and struck out 35 more batters.
Seaver didn’t get much run support to start the season. Through his first seven starts, he was 1-3 despite posting a very impressive 1.83 ERA. In his second start, he pitched ten shutout innings and didn’t get a decision. He earned his first shutout and had his best start of the season on June 10 when he pitched ten innings of four hit ball. His ERA could have finished below 2.00 if it weren’t for a couple of mediocre outings near the end of the year.
The Mets didn’t finish last that year, but they came very close. They finished a mere one game ahead of the last place Houston Astros with a 73-89 record, making Seaver’s season that much more impressive.
Here are the numbers:
Wins 16
Losses 12
Games 36
Games Started 35
Complete Games 14
Innings Pitched 277 2/3
Hits 224
Runs 73
Earned Runs 78
Walks 48
Strikeouts 205
ERA 2.20
Runs Saves Above Average 25
Shutouts 5
H/9 7.26
BR/9 9.08
SO/9 6.64
BB/9 1.56
SO/BB 4.27
Neutral Wins 18
Neutral Losses 10
