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1962 New York Mets season

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1962 New York Mets
Inaugural Season
File:NewYorkMets.gif
BallparkPolo Grounds
CityNew York
OwnersJoan Payson
ManagersCasey Stengel
TelevisionWOR-TV
RadioWABC (AM)
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
Seasons 1963 →

The 1962 New York Mets season was the first regular season for the Mets, as the National League returned to New York City for the first time since 1957. They went 40–120 and finished tenth and last in the National League, 60+1⁄2 games behind the NL Champion San Francisco Giants, who once called New York home. The Mets' 120 losses are the most by any MLB team in one season since 1899; since then, the 2003 Detroit Tigers have come the closest to matching this mark, at 43-119.

The team lost its first game 11–4 to the St. Louis Cardinals on April 11, and went on to lose its first nine games. After a 12–19 record on May 20 after sweeping a doubleheader, the Mets lost their next 17 games. They also lost 11 straight from July 15 to July 26, and 13 straight from August 9 to August 21. Their longest winning streak of the season was three.[1]

The Mets were managed by Casey Stengel and played their home games at the Polo Grounds, which was their temporary home while Shea Stadium was being built in Queens. They are rather infamous for their futility, and were one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball history. The pitching staff allowed the most runs (948) in the majors.

Despite the futility of the team, fans came out in droves. Their attendance of 922,530 was good enough for 6th in the National League that year.

The season was chronicled in Jimmy Breslin's humorous best-selling book Can't Anybody Here Play This Game? The title came from a remark made by Manager Casey Stengel expressing his frustration over the team's ineptitude.

Offseason

  • July 20, 1961: Paul Blair was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.[2]
  • October 16, 1961: Billy Loes was purchased by the Mets from the San Francisco Giants.[3]
  • November 28, 1961: The Mets traded a player to be named later and cash to the Milwaukee Braves for Frank Thomas and a player to be named later. The deal was completed on May 21, 1962, when the Mets sent Gus Bell to the Braves, and the Braves sent Rick Herrscher to the Mets.[4]
  • January 30, 1962: Joe Ginsberg was signed as a free agent by the Mets.[5]
  • March 2, 1962: Billy Loes was returned by the Mets to the San Francisco Giants.[3]

Expansion draft

Main article: 1961 MLB expansion draft

Regular season

Season standings

National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
San Francisco Giants 103 62 .624 — 61‍–‍21 42‍–‍41
Los Angeles Dodgers 102 63 .618 1 54‍–‍29 48‍–‍34
Cincinnati Reds 98 64 .605 3½ 58‍–‍23 40‍–‍41
Pittsburgh Pirates 93 68 .578 8 51‍–‍30 42‍–‍38
Milwaukee Braves 86 76 .531 15½ 49‍–‍32 37‍–‍44
St. Louis Cardinals 84 78 .519 17½ 44‍–‍37 40‍–‍41
Philadelphia Phillies 81 80 .503 20 46‍–‍34 35‍–‍46
Houston Colt .45s 64 96 .400 36½ 32‍–‍48 32‍–‍48
Chicago Cubs 59 103 .364 42½ 32‍–‍49 27‍–‍54
New York Mets 40 120 .250 60½ 22‍–‍58 18‍–‍62

Opening Day lineup

The first game in franchise history was played on the road, at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, on Wednesday night, April 11, 1962. The Mets fell behind 5–0 early, then narrowed the deficit to one run, but ultimately lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 11–4. Former Brooklyn Dodgers Gil Hodges and Charlie Neal homered for the Mets, whose home opener at New York's Polo Grounds would wait until their second-ever official game, on Friday, April 13, 1962.

  1 Richie Ashburn    CF
18 Félix Mantilla    SS
  4 Charlie Neal     2B
25 Frank Thomas LF
  3 Gus Bell RF
14 Gil Hodges 1B
17 Don Zimmer 3B
  5 Hobie Landrith C
38 Roger Craig P

Record vs. opponents

1962 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team CHC CIN HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SF STL
Chicago — 4–14 7–11 4–14 8–10 9–9 10–8 4–14 6–12 7–11
Cincinnati 14–4 — 13–5 9–9 13–5 13–5 8–10 13–5 7–11 8–10
Houston 11–7 5–13 — 6–12 7–11 13–3–1 1–17 5–13 7–11 9–9–1
Los Angeles 14–4 9–9 12–6 — 10–8 16–2 14–4 10–8 10–11 7–11
Milwaukee 10–8 5–13 11–7 8–10 — 12–6 11–7 10–8 7–11 12–6
New York 9–9 5–13 3–13–1 2–16 6–12 — 4–14 2–16 4–14 5–13
Philadelphia 8–10 10–8 17–1 4–14 7–11 14–4 — 7–10 5–13 9–9
Pittsburgh 14–4 5–13 13–5 8–10 8–10 16–2 10–7 — 7–11 12–6
San Francisco 12–6 11–7 11–7 11–10 11–7 14–4 13–5 11–7 — 9–9
St. Louis 11–7 10–8 9–9–1 11–7 6–12 13–5 9–9 6–12 9–9 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1962 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 H Avg. HR RBI
C Chris Cannizzaro 59 133 32 .241 0 9
1B Marv Throneberry 116 357 87 .244 16 49
2B Charlie Neal 136 508 132 .260 11 58
3B Félix Mantilla 141 466 128 .275 11 59
SS Elio Chacón 118 368 87 .236 2 27
LF Frank Thomas 156 571 152 .266 34 94
CF Jim Hickman 140 392 96 .245 13 46
RF Joe Christopher 119 271 66 .244 6 32

[18]

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
Richie Ashburn 135 389 119 .306 7 28
Rod Kanehl 133 351 87 .248 4 27
Gene Woodling 81 190 52 .274 5 24
Sammy Taylor 68 158 35 .222 3 20
Choo Choo Coleman 55 152 38 .250 6 17
Gil Hodges 54 127 32 .252 9 17
Cliff Cook 40 112 26 .232 2 9
Gus Bell 30 101 15 .149 1 6
Ed Bouchee 50 87 14 .161 3 10
Joe Pignatano 27 56 13 .232 0 2
Sammy Drake 25 52 10 .192 0 7
Don Zimmer 14 52 4 .077 0 1
Rick Herrscher 35 50 11 .220 1 6
Hobie Landrith 23 45 13 .289 1 7
Harry Chiti 15 41 8 .195 0 0
Jim Marshall 17 32 11 .344 3 4
Bob Smith 8 22 3 .136 0 2
John DeMerit 14 16 3 .188 1 1
Ed Kranepool 3 6 1 .167 0 0
Joe Ginsberg 2 5 0 .000 0 0

[18]

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
Jay Hook 37 213.2 8 19 4.84 113
Roger Craig 42 233.1 10 24 4.51 118
Al Jackson 36 231.1 8 20 4.40 118

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Bob L. Miller 33 143.2 1 12 0 4.89 91
Craig Anderson 50 131.1 3 17 4 5.35 62
Bob Moorhead 38 105.1 0 2 0 4.53 63
Willard Hunter 27 63 1 6 0 5.57 40
Sherman Jones 8 23.1 0 4 0 7.71 11
Galen Cisco 4 19.1 1 1 0 3.26 13
Larry Foss 5 11.2 0 1 0 4.63 3

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Ray Daviault 36 81 1 5 0 6.22 51
Ken MacKenzie 42 80 5 4 1 4.95 51
Vinegar Bend Mizell 17 38 0 2 0 7.34 15
Bob G. Miller 17 20.1 2 2 1 7.08 8
Dave Hillman 13 16.2 0 0 1 6.32 8
Herb Moford 7 15 0 1 0 7.20 5
Clem Labine 3 4 0 0 0 11.25 2

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

Richie Ashburn

  • #3 in NL in bases on balls (81)

Roger Craig

  • MLB leader in losses (24)
  • #2 in NL in home runs allowed (35)
  • #3 in NL in earned runs allowed (117)

Jay Hook

  • #4 in NL in earned runs allowed (115)
  • #4 in NL in home runs allowed (31)

Al Jackson

  • #2 in NL in losses (20)

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Frank Verdi and Johnny Vander Meer
C Santa Barbara Rancheros California League Gene Lillard
D Quincy Jets Midwest League Ken Deal
D Auburn Mets New York–Penn League Dick Cole

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Auburn

Syracuse affiliation shared with Washington Senators

Notes

  1. ^ 1962 New York Mets Schedule
  2. ^ Paul Blair page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ a b Billy Loes page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Frank Thomas page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ a b Joe Ginsberg page at Baseball-Reference
  6. ^ Gus Bell page at Baseball-Reference
  7. ^ Ed Bouchee page at Baseball-Reference
  8. ^ Hobie Landrith page at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ a b Harry Chiti page at Baseball Reference
  10. ^ Bobby Gene Smith page at Baseball-Reference
  11. ^ Don Zimmer page at Baseball Reference
  12. ^ a b "Mets Obtain Three Players". The Gazette. Montreal. Associated Press. May 7, 1962. p. 22. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  13. ^ a b Vinegar Bend Mizell page at Baseball Reference
  14. ^ Flurry of trades as Majors cut their rosters
  15. ^ "Gary Landrith Replaces Father". Schenectady Gazette. Associated Press. June 8, 1962. p. 22.
  16. ^ Ed Kranepool page at Baseball Reference
  17. ^ Galen Cisco page at Baseball Reference
  18. ^ a b 1962 New York Mets Statistics and Roster – Baseball-Reference.com

References

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