1964 New York Mets season

1964 New York Mets
Major League affiliations
Location
  • 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 WHN
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
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The 1964 New York Mets season was the third regular season for the Mets. They went 53–109 and finished 10th in the NL, 40 games behind the World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals. They were managed by Casey Stengel. They played home games at Shea Stadium, which opened on April 17 of that year.

Offseason

Regular season

One high point of Shea Stadium's first season came on Father's Day, when Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jim Bunning threw a perfect game against the Mets, the first in the National League since 1880. For perhaps the only time in the stadium's history, the Shea faithful found themselves rooting for the visitors, caught up in the rare achievement, and roaring for Bunning on every pitch in the ninth inning.[2] His strikeout of John Stephenson capped the performance.

Another high point was Shea Stadium's hosting of the All-Star Game. Johnny Callison's ninth-inning three-run home run off Dick Radatz capped a four-run rally and gave the National League a 7–4 win over the American League in that game, which evened the series at seventeen wins for each league.

The stadium also saw pitcher Masanori Murakami of the San Francisco Giants become the first Japanese player to appear in the Major Leagues. He entered the game in the ninth inning of the Giants' 4–1 loss to the Mets

Unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight in the final hectic weekend of the 1964 season, the Mets relished the role of spoiler, beating the Cardinals in St. Louis on Friday and Saturday (keeping alive the hopes of the Phillies, Giants, and Reds) before succumbing to the eventual National League champions on Sunday.

Season standings

National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 93 69 0.574 — 48–33 45–36
Philadelphia Phillies 92 70 0.568 1 46–35 46–35
Cincinnati Reds 92 70 0.568 1 47–34 45–36
San Francisco Giants 90 72 0.556 3 44–37 46–35
Milwaukee Braves 88 74 0.543 5 45–36 43–38
Pittsburgh Pirates 80 82 0.494 13 42–39 38–43
Los Angeles Dodgers 80 82 0.494 13 41–40 39–42
Chicago Cubs 76 86 0.469 17 40–41 36–45
Houston Colt .45s 66 96 0.407 27 41–40 25–56
New York Mets 53 109 0.327 40 33–48 20–61

Record vs. opponents

1964 National League Records

Sources:
Team CHC CIN HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SF STL
Chicago — 6–12 11–7 10–8 8–10 11–7 6–12 9–9 9–9 6–12
Cincinnati 12–6 — 12–6 14–4–1 9–9 11–7 9–9 8–10 7–11 10–8
Houston 7–11 6–12 — 7–11 12–6 9–9 5–13 5–13 7–11 8–10
Los Angeles 8–10 4–14–1 11–7 — 8–10 15–3–1 8–10 10–8 6–12 10–8
Milwaukee 10–8 9–9 6–12 10–8 — 14–4 10–8 12–6 9–9 8–10
New York 7–11 7–11 9–9 3–15–1 4–14 — 3–15 6–12 7–11 7–11
Philadelphia 12-6 9–9 13–5 10–8 8–10 15–3 — 10–8 10–8 5–13
Pittsburgh 9–9 10–8 13–5 8–10 6–12 12–6 8–10 — 8–10 6–12
San Francisco 9–9 11–7 11–7 12–6 9–9 11–7 8–10 10–8 — 9–9
St. Louis 12–6 8–10 10–8 8–10 10–8 11–7 13–5 12–6 9–9 —

Notable transactions

Shea Stadium

The Mets' new home park was originally to be called "Flushing Meadows Stadium" – the name of the public park on which it was built – but a movement was launched to name it in honor of William A. Shea, the man who brought National League baseball back to New York. After 29 months and $28.5 million, Shea Stadium opened on April 17, 1964, with the Mets losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates, led by Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazeroski, 4–3 before a crowd of 50,312.[8] Shea was a circular stadium, with the grandstand forming a perfect circle around the field and ending a short distance beyond the foul lines. The remainder of the perimeter was mostly empty space beyond the outfield fences. This space was occupied by the bullpens, the scoreboard, and the centerfield "batter's eye" backdrop. The stadium boasted 54 restrooms, 21 escalators and seats for 57,343. It was big, airy, sparkling, with a massive 86' x 175' scoreboard. Also, rather than the standard light towers, Shea had lamps along its upper reaches, like a convoy of semis with their brights on, which gave the field that unique high-wattage glow. Praised for its convenience, even its elegance, Shea was deemed a showplace.[9]

Roster

1964 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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 R H Avg. HR RBI SB
C Gonder, JesseJesse Gonder 131 341 28 92 .270 7 35 0
1B Kranepool, EdEd Kranepool 119 420 47 108 .257 10 45 0
2B Hunt, RonRon Hunt 127 475 59 144 .303 6 42 6
3B Smith, CharleyCharley Smith 127 443 44 106 .239 20 58 2
SS McMillan, RoyRoy McMillan 113 379 30 80 .211 1 25 3
LF Altman, GeorgeGeorge Altman 124 422 48 97 .230 9 47 4
CF Hickman, JimJim Hickman 139 409 48 105 .257 11 57 0
RF Christopher, JoeJoe Christopher 154 543 78 163 .300 16 76 6

[10]

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
Kanehl, RodRod Kanehl 98 254 25 59 .232 1 11 3
Thomas, FrankFrank Thomas 60 197 19 50 .254 3 19 1
Stephenson, JohnJohn Stephenson 37 57 2 9 .158 1 2 0
Graham, WayneWayne Graham 20 33 1 3 .091 0 0 0
Burright, LarryLarry Burright 3 7 0 0 .000 0 0 0

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
Fisher, JackJack Fisher 40 227.2 10 17 4.23 115
Stallard, TracyTracy Stallard 36 225.2 10 20 3.79 118
Jackson, AlAl Jackson 40 213.1 11 16 4.26 112
Cisco, GalenGalen Cisco 36 191.2 6 19 3.62 78

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
Lary, FrankFrank Lary 13 57.1 2 3 4.55 27
Sutherland, DarrellDarrell Sutherland 10 26.2 0 3 7.76 9
Kroll, GaryGary Kroll 8 21.2 0 1 4.15 24
Parsons, TomTom Parsons 4 19.1 1 2 4.19 10
Hinsley, JerryJerry Hinsley 9 15.1 0 2 8.22 11
Anderson, CraigCraig Anderson 4 13 0 1 5.54 5

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
Wakefield, BillBill Wakefield 62 3 5 2 3.61 61
Bearnarth, LarryLarry Bearnarth 44 5 5 3 4.15 31
Hunter, WillardWillard Hunter 41 3 3 5 4.41 22
Bauta, EdEd Bauta 8 0 2 1 5.40 3
Dillon, SteveSteve Dillon 2 0 0 0 0.00 0

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Buffalo Bisons International League Whitey Kurowski
AA Williamsport Mets Eastern League Ernie White
A Salinas Mets California League Kerby Farrell
A Auburn Mets New York–Penn League Clyde McCullough
Rookie Cocoa Mets Cocoa Rookie League Ken Deal

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Auburn

Notes

  1. ↑ Jack Fisher page at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ White, Gordon S. Jr. (June 22, 1964). "Bunning Pitches a Perfect Game; Mets Are Perfect Victims, 6 to 0". New York Times. p. 1. The Phils won the contest...before 32,904 fans who were screaming for Bunning during the last two innings...Yesterday's perfect pitching turned the usually loyal Met fans into Bunning fans in the late innings. From the seventh inning on...Bunning had the crowd...behind him.
  3. ↑ Darrell Sutherland page at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Charley Smith page at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Frank Thomas page at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ Dennis Ribant page at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ Jerry Koosman page at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=196404170NYN
  9. ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=moehringer/080929&sportCat=mlb
  10. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/1964.shtml

References

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