1964 New York Mets
LeagueNational League
BallparkShea Stadium
CityNew York
OwnersJoan Whitney Payson
General managersGeorge Weiss
ManagersCasey Stengel
TelevisionWOR-TV
RadioWHN
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
Seasons

The 1964 New York Mets season was the third regular season for the Mets. They went 53–109 and finished tenth in the National League, 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. This was Stengel's final full season as manager.

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 9369 0.574 — 48–33 45–36
Philadelphia Phillies 9270 0.568 1 46–35 46–35
Cincinnati Reds 9270 0.568 1 47–34 45–36
San Francisco Giants 9072 0.556 3 44–37 46–35
Milwaukee Braves 8874 0.543 5 45–36 43–38
Pittsburgh Pirates 8082 0.494 13 42–39 38–43
Los Angeles Dodgers 8082 0.494 13 41–40 39–42
Chicago Cubs 7686 0.469 17 40–41 36–45
Houston Colt .45s 6696 0.407 27 41–40 25–56
New York Mets 53109 0.327 40 33–48 20–61

Record vs. opponents

1964 National League record

Sources:
Team CHC CIN HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SF STL
Chicago —6–1211–710–88–1011–76–129–99–96–12
Cincinnati 12–6—12–614–4–19–911–79–98–107–1110–8
Houston 7–116–12—7–1112–69–95–135–137–118–10
Los Angeles 8–104–14–111–7—8–1015–3–18–1010–86–1210–8
Milwaukee 10–89–96–1210–8—14–410–812–69–98–10
New York 7–117–119–93–15–14–14—3–156–127–117–11
Philadelphia 12-69–913–510–88–1015–3—10–810–85–13
Pittsburgh 9–910–813–58–106–1212–68–10—8–106–12
San Francisco 9–911–711–712–69–911–78–1010–8—9–9
St. Louis 12–68–1010–88–1010–811–713–512–69–9—

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
CJesse Gonder1313412892.2707350
1BEd Kranepool11942047108.25710450
2BRon Hunt12747559144.3036426
3BCharley Smith12744344106.23920582
SSRoy McMillan1133793080.2111253
LFGeorge Altman1244224897.2309474
CFJim Hickman13940948105.25711570
RFJoe Christopher15454378163.30016766

[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
Rod Kanehl982542559.2321113
Hawk Taylor922252054.2404230
Larry Elliot802242751.2289221
Bobby Klaus562092551.2442113
Frank Thomas601971950.2543191
Chris Cannizzaro601641151.3110100
Amado Samuel53142733.232050
Tim Harkness391171133.2822131
Dick Smith46941421.223036
John Stephenson375729.158120
Wayne Graham203313.091000
Al Moran162225.227040
Larry Burright3700.000000

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
Jack Fisher40227.210174.23115
Tracy Stallard36225.210203.79118
Al Jackson40213.111164.26112
Galen Cisco36191.26193.6278

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
Dennis Ribant1457.2155.1535
Frank Lary1357.1234.5527
Carl Willey1430.0023.6014
Darrell Sutherland1026.2037.769
Gary Kroll821.2014.1524
Tom Parsons419.1124.1910
Jerry Hinsley915.1028.2211
Craig Anderson413.0015.545
Jay Hook39.2019.315

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
Willard Hunter413354.4122
Bill Wakefield623523.6161
Larry Bearnarth445534.1531
Ron Locke251203.4817
Tom Sturdivant160015.9718
Ed Bauta80215.403
Steve Dillon20000.000

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. ↑ "Box Score of Game played on Friday, April 17, 1964 at Shea Stadium".
  9. ↑ "Moehringer: One last trip home - ESPN Page 2".
  10. ↑ "1964 New York Mets Statistics".

References

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