1963 New York Mets season

1963 New York Mets
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Location
Polo Grounds (since 1962)
New York (since 1962)
Other information
Owner(s)	Joan Whitney Payson
General manager(s)	George Weiss
Manager(s)	Casey Stengel
Local television	WOR-TV
Local radio	WABC (AM) (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
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The 1963 New York Mets season was the second regular season for the Mets. They went 51–111 and finished 10th in the NL, 48 games behind the World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They were managed by Casey Stengel. They played their home games at the Polo Grounds, the second and final season there for the Mets before moving to Shea Stadium the following season.

Offseason

Advertisement for the 1963 Mets' ticket schedule, showing box seats for $3.50 and bleachers for $0.75.

• October 11, 1962: Ron Hunt was purchased by the Mets from the Milwaukee Braves.^[1]
• October 14, 1962: Norm Sherry and Dick Smith were purchased by the Mets from the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[2]
• November 26, 1962: Paul Blair was drafted from the Mets by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1962 first-year draft.^[3]

Regular season

On June 14, Duke Snider of the Mets hit his 400th home run against the Cincinnati Reds. The opposing pitcher was Bob Purkey. The homer came in the 6,783rd at bat of his career.^[4] Snider became the ninth player to reach 400 homers. Along with Eddie Mathews, Snider became part of the first duo to reach the 400-plateau in the same season.^[4] Afterwards, Mets outfielder Jimmy Piersall told Snider that he could get more publicity for his 100th home run.^[5] Nine days later, on June 23, Piersall ran the bases backward after hitting the 100th home run of his career off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Dallas Green.^[6] He was released by the Mets one month later, with that home run being the only one he hit in a Mets uniform.

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	99	63	0.611	—	50–31	49–32
St. Louis Cardinals	93	69	0.574	6	53–28	40–41
San Francisco Giants	88	74	0.543	11	50–31	38–43
Philadelphia Phillies	87	75	0.537	12	45–36	42–39
Cincinnati Reds	86	76	0.531	13	46–35	40–41
Milwaukee Braves	84	78	0.519	15	45–36	39–42
Chicago Cubs	82	80	0.506	17	43–38	39–42
Pittsburgh Pirates	74	88	0.457	25	42–39	32–49
Houston Colt .45s	66	96	0.407	33	44–37	22–59
New York Mets	51	111	0.315	48	34–47	17–64

Record vs. opponents

1963 National League Records Sources:
Team	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MIL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Chicago	—	9–9	9–9	7–11	12–6	11–7	9–9	8–10	10–8	7–11
Cincinnati	9–9	—	11–7	8–10	10–8	10–8	8–10	11–7	8–10	11–7
Houston	9–9	7–11	—	5–13	5–13	13–5	8–10	6–12	8–10	5–13
Los Angeles	11–7	10–8	13–5	—	8–10–1	16–2	7–11	13–5	9–9	12–6
Milwaukee	6–12	8–10	13–5	10–8–1	—	12–6	10–8	7–11	10–8	8–10
New York	7–11	8–10	5–13	2–16	6–12	—	8–10	4–14	6–12	5–13
Philadelphia	9–9	10–8	10–8	11–7	8–10	10–8	—	13–5	8–10	8–10
Pittsburgh	10–8	7–11	12–6	5–13	11–7	14–4	5–13	—	5–13	5–13
San Francisco	8–10	10–8	10–8	9–9	8–10	12–6	10–8	13–5	—	8–10
St. Louis	11–7	7–11	13–5	6–12	10–8	13–5	10–8	13–5	10–8	—

Notable transactions

• May 8, 1963: Larry Foss was traded by the Mets to the Milwaukee Braves for Chico Fernández.^[7]
• May 23, 1963: Gil Hodges was traded by the Mets to the Washington Senators for Jimmy Piersall.^[8]
• July 1, 1963: Charlie Neal and Sammy Taylor were traded by the Mets to the Cincinnati Reds for Jesse Gonder.^[9]
• July 29, 1963: Jacke Davis and cash were traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Duke Carmel.^[10]
• July 27, 1963: Jimmy Piersall was released by the Mets.^[11]
• September 5, 1963: Ron Swoboda was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.^[12]

Roster

1963 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers 20 Craig Anderson 19,38 Ed Bauta 31 Larry Bearnarth 26 Galen Cisco 13,38 Roger Craig 39 Steve Dillon 47 Jay Hook 15 Al Jackson 19 Ken MacKenzie 41 Grover Powell 29 Don Rowe 36 Tracy Stallard 28 Carl Willey		Catchers  8 Chris Cannizzaro 17 Choo-Choo Coleman 12,16 Jesse Gonder  5 Norm Sherry 16 Sammy Taylor Infielders  6 Larry Burright 7,12 Chico Fernández 18 Pumpsie Green  3 Tim Harkness 14 Gil Hodges 33 Ron Hunt 40 Al Moran  4 Charlie Neal 43 Ted Schreiber  2 Marv Throneberry		Outfielders  1 Duke Carmel 23 Joe Christopher  1 Cliff Cook  9 Jim Hickman 22 Joe Hicks 34 Cleon Jones 10 Rod Kanehl 21 Ed Kranepool 34 Jimmy Piersall 16 Dick Smith 4,11 Duke Snider 25 Frank Thomas		Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 52 Solly Hemus 51 Cookie Lavagetto 54 Clyde McCullough 53 Ernie White

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
2B	Hunt, RonRon Hunt	143	533	135	.272	10	42
LF	Thomas, FrankFrank Thomas	126	420	109	.260	15	60
RF	Snider, DukeDuke Snider	129	354	86	.243	14	45

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
Carmel, DukeDuke Carmel	47	149	35	.235	3	18
Fernández, ChicoChico Fernández	58	145	29	.200	1	9
Piersall, JimmyJimmy Piersall	40	124	24	.194	1	10

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
Willey, CarlCarl Willey	30	183	9	14	3.10	101

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
Cisco, GalenGalen Cisco	51	155.2	7	15	4.34	81
Anderson, CraigCraig Anderson	3	9.1	0	2	8.68	6

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
Bearnarth, LarryLarry Bearnarth	58	3	8	4	3.42	48
Bauta, EdEd Bauta	9	0	0	0	5.21	13

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

• Duke Snider, outfield, reserve

^[13]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Buffalo Bisons	International League	Kerby Farrell
A	Salinas Mets	California League	Ken Deal
A	Raleigh Mets	Carolina League	Clyde McCullough and Tommy Byrne
A	Quincy Jets	Midwest League	Sheriff Robinson and Wally Millies
A	Auburn Mets	New York–Penn League	Dick Cole

Notes

1. Ron Hunt page at Baseball Reference
2. Norm Sherry sold to Mets
3. Paul Blair page at Baseball Reference
4. Duke Snider | The Baseball Page
5. Ultimate Mets Database – Jimmy Piersall
6. Jim Piersall – stats photos pics mets – NYFS nyfuturestars.com
7. Chico Fernández page at Baseball-Reference
8. Jimmy Piersall page at Baseball Reference
9. Jesse Gonder page at Baseball Reference
10. Duke Carmel page at Baseball Reference
11. Jimmy Piersall released by New York Mets
12. Ron Swoboda page at Baseball Reference
13. http://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1963as.shtml

References

• 1963 New York Mets
• 1963 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. p. 767. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.