Mets History Today: January 19th - Happy Birthday Jon Matlack

Jon Matlack 2001 Upper Deck Baseball Card

Good Morning.  Born Today Anthony Young and Happy Birthday Jon Matlack. 

Jon Matlack turns 76 today.

He was the Mets 1st Round Draft pick in 1967.

Jon will always be known best for his role in the 1973 National league Championship and win in the 1973 World Series.  He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1972.  In 7 years for the Mets he went 82-81, 3.03 ERA, 26 Shutouts, 1023 Ks.  He led the league in shutout with 7 in 1974 and 6 in 1976.

Victimized like many Mets pitchers in the early 70's by lack of run support, Matlack was a .500 pitcher for the Mets despite his low ERA.  His 26 shutouts are tied with Jerry Koosman for second all-time in Mets history behind Tom Seaver's 44.  

New York Mets traded Jon Matlack and John Milner to the Texas Rangers for Willie Montanez, Ken Henderson and Tom Grieve on December 8, 1977.   

Standard Pitching Table

Season	Age	Team	Lg	WAR	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/BB	Awards
1971	21	NYM	NL	0.1	0	3	.000	4.14	7	6	1	0	0	0	37.0	31	18	17	2	15	0	24	0	0	3	153	83	3.07	1.243	7.5	0.5	3.6	5.8	1.60
1972	22	NYM	NL	6.1	15	10	.600	2.32	34	32	1	8	4	0	244.0	215	79	63	14	71	14	169	2	1	7	1003	145	2.66	1.172	7.9	0.5	2.6	6.2	2.38	ROY-1
1973	23	NYM	NL	4.3	14	16	.467	3.20	34	34	0	14	3	0	242.0	210	93	86	16	99	14	205	2	0	6	1011	114	2.98	1.277	7.8	0.6	3.7	7.6	2.07
1974	24	NYM	NL	9.1	13	15	.464	2.41	34	34	0	14	7	0	265.1	221	82	71	8	76	11	195	5	1	4	1076	149	2.42	1.119	7.5	0.3	2.6	6.6	2.57	AS
1975	25	NYM	NL	1.8	16	12	.571	3.38	33	32	0	8	3	0	228.2	224	105	86	15	58	6	154	1	1	7	954	102	2.87	1.233	8.8	0.6	2.3	6.1	2.66	AS
1976	26	NYM	NL	4.2	17	10	.630	2.95	35	35	0	16	6	0	262.0	236	94	86	18	57	5	153	3	3	13	1054	111	3.05	1.118	8.1	0.6	2.0	5.3	2.68	AS,CYA-6
1977	27	NYM	NL	1.0	7	15	.318	4.21	26	26	0	5	3	0	169.0	175	86	79	19	43	7	123	2	2	2	702	89	3.54	1.290	9.3	1.0	2.3	6.6	2.86
1978	28	TEX	AL	6.2	15	13	.536	2.27	35	33	2	18	2	1	270.0	252	93	68	14	51	4	157	4	0	8	1097	165	2.71	1.122	8.4	0.5	1.7	5.2	3.08
1979	29	TEX	AL	0.6	5	4	.556	4.13	13	13	0	2	0	0	85.0	98	43	39	9	15	1	35	1	0	1	355	101	3.85	1.329	10.4	1.0	1.6	3.7	2.33
1980	30	TEX	AL	4.3	10	10	.500	3.68	35	34	1	8	1	1	234.2	265	111	96	17	48	1	142	0	0	9	985	106	3.10	1.334	10.2	0.7	1.8	5.4	2.96
1981	31	TEX	AL	-0.8	4	7	.364	4.14	17	16	0	1	1	0	104.1	101	59	48	8	41	1	43	1	0	2	447	84	3.98	1.361	8.7	0.7	3.5	3.7	1.05
1982	32	TEX	AL	2.2	7	7	.500	3.53	33	14	11	1	0	1	147.2	158	64	58	14	37	4	78	2	1	2	622	110	3.69	1.321	9.6	0.9	2.3	4.8	2.11
1983	33	TEX	AL	-0.2	2	4	.333	4.66	25	9	7	2	0	0	73.1	90	43	38	7	27	1	38	3	0	4	330	86	4.19	1.595	11.0	0.9	3.3	4.7	1.41
13 Yrs				38.9	125	126	.498	3.18	361	318	23	97	30	3	2363.0	2276	970	835	161	638	69	1516	26	9	68	9789	114	3.06	1.233	8.7	0.6	2.4	5.8	2.38
162 Game Avg				3.9	13	13	.498	3.18	36	32	2	10	3	0	237	228	97	84	16	64	7	152	3	1	7	980	114	3.06	1.233	8.7	0.6	2.4	5.8	2.38
NYM (7 Yrs)				26.6	82	81	.503	3.03	203	199	2	65	26	0	1448.0	1312	557	488	92	419	57	1023	15	8	42	5953	115	2.88	1.195	8.2	0.6	2.6	6.4	2.44
TEX (6 Yrs)				12.4	43	45	.489	3.41	158	119	21	32	4	3	915.0	964	413	347	69	219	12	493	11	1	26	3836	112	3.33	1.293	9.5	0.7	2.2	4.8	2.25
NL (7 Yrs)				26.6	82	81	.503	3.03	203	199	2	65	26	0	1448.0	1312	557	488	92	419	57	1023	15	8	42	5953	115	2.88	1.195	8.2	0.6	2.6	6.4	2.44
AL (6 Yrs)				12.4	43	45	.489	3.41	158	119	21	32	4	3	915.0	964	413	347	69	219	12	493	11	1	26	3836	112	3.33	1.293	9.5	0.7	2.2	4.8	2.25

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/18/2026.

Standard Pitching Table

Season	Age	Team	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/BB	Awards
1973	23	NYM	NL,WS	2	2	.500	1.40	4	4	0	1	1	0	25.2	12	7	4	2	8	0	20	1	0	0	98	3.07	0.779	4.2	0.7	2.8	7.0	2.50
1 Yr				2	2	.500	1.40	4	4	0	1	1	0	25.2	12	7	4	2	8	0	20	1	0	0	98	3.07	0.779	4.2	0.7	2.8	7.0	2.50
162 Game Avg				17	17	.500	1.40	34	34	0	9	9	0	214	102	60	34	17	68	0	170	9	0	0	833	3.07	0.779	4.2	0.7	2.8	7.0	2.50
WS (1 Yr)				1	2	.333	2.16	3	3	0	0	0	0	16.2	10	7	4	2	5	0	11	1	0	0	67	3.89	0.900	5.4	1.1	2.7	5.9	2.20
NL (1 Yr)				1	0	1.000	0.00	1	1	0	1	1	0	9.0	2	0	0	0	3	0	9	0	0	0	31	1.57	0.556	2.0	0.0	3.0	9.0	3.00

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/18/2026.

Born on this date:

• Jon Matlack (1950)
• Anthony Young (1966)

Transactions:

Seattle Mariners signed Brent Mayne of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 19, 1997.

New York Mets signed free agent Allen Watson of the Anaheim Angels on January 19, 1999.

Colorado Rockies signed Steve Reed of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 19, 2003.

New York Mets signed free agent Darren Oliver on January 19, 2006.

New York Mets signed free agent RF Scott Hairston on January 19, 2006.

Seattle Mariners claimed Chasen Bradford of the New York Mets on waivers on January 19, 2018.

Detroit Tigers signed Erasmo Ramirez of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 19, 2021.

Baseball Reference:

2010 - Free agent catcher Bengie Molina re-signs for one year with the Giants in what is considered a surprise move, first because top catching prospect Buster Posey seems poised to play regularly for San Francisco, and also because the Mets had been expected to bring in Molina to be their starting catcher this season.