| 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.
See main article: 1961 MLB expansion draft.
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:
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.
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.
| Name | Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CF | ||
| 18 | SS | ||
| 4 | 2B | ||
| 25 | LF | ||
| 3 | RF | ||
| 14 | 1B | ||
| 17 | 3B | ||
| 5 | |||
| 38 | SP |
| 1962 New York Mets | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | CatchersInfielders | Outfielders | ManagerCoaches (Third base) (Hitting) (First base) (Pitching) | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 | 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 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 233.1 | 10 | 24 | 4.51 | 118 | |
| 36 | 231.1 | 8 | 20 | 4.40 | 118 | |
| 37 | 213.2 | 8 | 19 | 4.84 | 113 | |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
See also: Minor League Baseball.