1962 New York Mets season explained

New York Mets
Season:1962
League:National League
Ballpark:Polo Grounds
City:New York
Record:40–120 (.250)
League Place:10th
Owners:Joan Payson
General Managers:George Weiss
Managers:Casey Stengel
Television:WOR-TV
Radio:WABC (AM)
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)

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 (.250) and finished tenth and last in the National League, games behind the NL Champion San Francisco Giants, who had once called New York home. The Mets were the latest team to be 60+ games behind in a division before the 2018 Baltimore Orioles finished 61 games behind the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. The Mets' 120 losses are the most by any MLB team in one season since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (20–134, .130). Since then, the 2003 Detroit Tigers, 2018 Orioles, and 2023 Oakland Athletics have come the closest to matching this mark, at 43–119 (.265), 47–115 (.290), and 50–112 respectively. The Mets' starting pitchers also recorded a new major league low of just 23 wins all season.[1]

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. Having repaired their record to 12–19 on May 20 after sweeping a doubleheader against the Milwaukee Braves, 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.[2]

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 remain infamous for their ineptitude and were one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball history. Their team batting average, team earned run average (ERA), and team fielding percentage were all the worst in the major leagues that season.[3]

Despite the team's terrible performance, fans came out in droves. Their season attendance of 922,530 was good enough for sixth 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 poor play that year, the first for a long time partnership with TV partner WOR-TV.

Offseason

Expansion draft

See main article: 1961 MLB expansion draft.

1961 minor league affiliates

The Mets and Houston Colt .45s were established on October 17, 1960, giving them time to acquire minor league professional players, sign amateur free agents (there was no first-year MLB draft until 1965) and enter into working agreements with minor league affiliates during the 1961 season. New York had formal working agreements with three minor league baseball teams in 1961:

Regular season

As an expansion team, the Mets were not expected to do well. They finished last in the National League, and they also finished 24 games behind their expansion brethren, the Colt .45s.

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 2–0 and 5–2 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.

Opening Day Lineup
Name Position
1 CF
18 SS
4 2B
25 LF
3 RF
14 1B
17 3B
5
38 SP
[11]

Notable transactions

Roster

1962 New York Mets
Roster
PitchersCatchersInfieldersOutfieldersManagerCoaches (Third base) (Hitting) (First base) (Pitching)

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C 59 133 32 .241 0 9
1B 116 357 87 .244 16 49
2B 136 508 132 .260 11 58
3B 141 466 128 .275 11 59
SS 118 368 87 .236 2 27
LF 156 571 152 .266 34 94
CF 140 392 96 .245 13 46
RF 119 271 66 .244 6 32
[21]

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
135 389 119 .306 7 28
133 351 87 .248 4 27
81 190 52 .274 5 24
68 158 35 .222 3 20
55 152 38 .250 6 17
54 127 32 .252 9 17
40 112 26 .232 2 9
30 101 15 .149 1 6
50 87 14 .161 3 10
27 56 13 .232 0 2
25 52 10 .192 0 7
14 52 4 .077 0 1
35 50 11 .220 1 6
23 45 13 .289 1 7
15 41 8 .195 0 0
17 32 11 .344 3 4
8 22 3 .136 0 2
14 16 3 .188 1 1
3 6 1 .167 0 0
2 5 0 .000 0 0
[21]

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
42 233.1 10 24 4.51 118
36 231.1 8 20 4.40 118
37 213.2 8 19 4.84 113

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLSVERASO
33 143.2 1 12 0 4.89 91
50 131.1 3 17 4 5.35 62
38 105.1 0 2 0 4.53 63
27 63.0 1 6 0 5.57 40
8 23.1 0 4 0 7.71 11
4 19.1 1 1 0 3.26 13
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

PlayerGIPWLSVERASO
36 81.0 1 5 0 6.22 51
42 80.0 5 4 1 4.95 51
17 38.0 0 2 0 7.34 15
17 20.1 2 2 1 7.08 8
13 16.2 0 0 1 6.32 8
7 15.0 0 1 0 7.20 5
3 4.0 0 0 0 11.25 2

Awards and honors

League top five finishers

Richie Ashburn

Roger Craig

Jay Hook

Al Jackson

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

1962 minor league affiliates

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pitching Game Finder: From 1908 to 2018, Pitcher Won, as Starter, sorted by smallest Performances matching selected criteria by a Team . Baseball Reference. August 29, 2018.
  2. Web site: 1962 New York Mets Schedule by Baseball Almanac. Baseball Almanac.
  3. Web site: 1962 MLB Team Statistics. Baseball Reference. 19 January 2018.
  4. Web site: Paul Blair Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  5. Web site: Billy Loes Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  6. Web site: Frank Thomas Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  7. Web site: Joe Ginsberg Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  8. Web site: Gus Bell Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  9. Web site: Ed Bouchee Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  10. Web site: Hobie Landrith Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  11. Web site: New York Mets at St. Louis Cardinals Box Score, April 11, 1962 . Baseball-Reference.com . . May 17, 2022.
  12. Web site: Harry Chiti Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  13. Web site: Bobby Smith Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  14. Web site: Don Zimmer Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  15. News: Mets Obtain Three Players. December 13, 2015. Associated Press. The Gazette. May 7, 1962. Montreal. 22.
  16. Web site: Vinegar Bend Mizell Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  17. Web site: The Times-News - Google News Archive Search.
  18. News: Gary Landrith Replaces Father . . . 22 . 8 June 1962 .
  19. Web site: Ed Kranepool Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  20. Web site: Galen Cisco Stats - Baseball-Reference.com.
  21. Web site: 1962 New York Mets Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com.