1964 New York Mets season

1964 New York Mets
Major league affiliations
National League (Since 1962)
Location
Shea Stadium (Since 1964) New York, New York (Since 1962)
1964 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

• October 10, 1963: Jack Fisher was drafted by the Mets from the San Francisco Giants in a 1963 special draft.

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. His strikeout of John Stephenson capped the performance.

Another high point was Shea Stadium's hosting of the All-Star Game. 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	GB	Pct.
St. Louis Cardinals	93	69	--	.574
Cincinnati Reds	92	70	1	.568
Philadelphia Phillies	92	70	1	.568
San Francisco Giants	90	72	3	.556
Milwaukee Braves	88	74	5	.543
Los Angeles Dodgers	80	82	13	.494
Pittsburgh Pirates	80	82	13	.494
Chicago Cubs	76	86	17	.469
Houston Colt .45s	66	96	27	.407
New York Mets	53	109	40	.327

Notable transactions

• April 6, 1964: Darrell Sutherland was selected off waivers by the Mets from the Philadelphia Phillies as a first-year waiver pick.
• April 23, 1964: Chico Fernández, Bobby Catton (minors), and cash were traded by the Mets to the Chicago White Sox for Charley Smith.
• August 7, 1964: Frank Thomas was traded by the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Wayne Graham, Gary Kroll, and cash.
• August 8, 1964: Frank Lary was traded by the Mets to the Milwaukee Braves for Dennis Ribant and cash.
• August 27, 1964: Jerry Koosman was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.

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. 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.

Roster

1964 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers 20 Craig Anderson 38 Ed Bauta 31 Larry Bearnarth 26 Galen Cisco 39 Steve Dillon 22 Jack Fisher 24 Jerry Hinsley 47 Jay Hook 38 Willard Hunter 15 Al Jackson 25 Gary Kroll 17 Frank Lary 21,45 Ron Locke 27 Tom Parsons 17 Dennis Ribant 36 Tracy Stallard 47 Tom Sturdivant 43 Darrell Sutherland 43 Bill Wakefield 28 Carlton Willey		Catchers  8 Chris Cannizzaro 12 Jesse Gonder 19 Hawk Taylor Infielders  6 Larry Burright  4 Wayne Graham  3 Tim Harkness 33 Ron Hunt 10 Rod Kanehl  6 Bobby Klaus 21 Ed Kranepool 11 Roy McMillan 40 Al Moran  7 Amado Samuel  1 Charley Smith 16 Dick Smith 49 John Stephenson		Outfielders  2 George Altman 23 Joe Christopher 17 Larry Elliot  9 Jim Hickman 25 Frank Thomas		Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 53 Mel Harder 52 Don Heffner 54 Sheriff Robinson 51 Wes Westrum

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

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

See also: Minor league baseball

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

References

• 1964 New York Mets
• 1964 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.