1965 New York Mets season

The 1965 New York Mets season was the fourth regular season for the Mets. They went 50–112 and finished tenth and last in the National League. They were managed by Casey Stengel and Wes Westrum. They played home games at Shea Stadium, where they drew 1.77 million paying fans, third in the National League (and over 500,000 more fans than the New York Yankees).

1965 New York Mets
LeagueNational League
BallparkShea Stadium
CityNew York
Record50–112 (.309)
League place10th
OwnersJoan Whitney Payson
General managersGeorge Weiss
ManagersCasey Stengel, Wes Westrum
TelevisionWOR-TV
RadioWHN
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
← 1964 Seasons 1966 →

As WOR-TV, the team' television broadcaster, began to be broadcast on cable starting that year via microwave relay thru the WWOR EMI Service throughout much of the Northeastern United States, it made the Mets the first major league team to broadcast its games via satellite to viewers outside its home city. Home and away games were aired on cable to regional viewers in this part of the country. This is the first season to feature numbers on the front of both home and away jerseys.

Offseason

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Regular season

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Former Yankee great Yogi Berra, fired as manager of the Bombers even after he had led them to the American League pennant and into the seventh game of the 1964 World Series, signed with the Mets as player–coach during the off-season. Before managing the 1964 Yankees, his last appearance in a game had been as a pinch hitter in Game 3 of the 1963 World Series on October 5; batting for Jim Bouton, Berra lined out to right field off Don Drysdale.[6] With the 1965 Mets, Berra appeared in only four games, with two starts at catcher, and made two hits in nine at bats. On May 9, 1965, he appeared in his final game as a player, three days shy of his 40th birthday. He then served as the Mets' first-base coach through the 1971 season and proved to be a valuable asset to the team, especially with young talent like Jerry Grote coming up.

Following the 1964 season, the Milwaukee Braves sold pitcher Warren Spahn to the Mets. Braves manager Bobby Bragan predicted, "Spahnie won't win six games with the Mets." Spahn took on the dual role of pitcher and pitching coach in New York but won only four and lost twelve.[7] Spahn was put on waivers on July 15, 1965, and released on July 22, 1965. He immediately signed with the San Francisco Giants, with whom he finished the season.

Wes Westrum had joined the Mets as a coach in 1964 and became pitching coach on July 14, 1965, after Spahn's release. When manager Casey Stengel fell and broke his hip on July 25 while celebrating his upcoming 75th birthday at Toots Shor's in Manhattan, Westrum was named interim manager, a position in which he served until Stengel formally retired on August 30, when Westrum became the Mets' official manager, the second in their four-year history.

Season standings

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National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 97 65 .599 50‍–‍31 47‍–‍34
San Francisco Giants 95 67 .586 2 51‍–‍30 44‍–‍37
Pittsburgh Pirates 90 72 .556 7 49‍–‍32 41‍–‍40
Cincinnati Reds 89 73 .549 8 49‍–‍32 40‍–‍41
Milwaukee Braves 86 76 .531 11 44‍–‍37 42‍–‍39
Philadelphia Phillies 85 76 .528 11½ 45‍–‍35 40‍–‍41
St. Louis Cardinals 80 81 .497 16½ 42‍–‍39 38‍–‍42
Chicago Cubs 72 90 .444 25 40‍–‍41 32‍–‍49
Houston Astros 65 97 .401 32 36‍–‍45 29‍–‍52
New York Mets 50 112 .309 47 29‍–‍52 21‍–‍60

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team CHC CIN HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SF STL
Chicago 7–11 8–10 8–10 9–9 11–7–1 8–10 5–13 6–12 10–8–1
Cincinnati 11–7 12–6 6–12 12–6 11–7 13–5 8–10 6–12 10–8
Houston 10–8 6–12 5–13 4–14 14–4 6–12 8–10 3–15 9–9
Los Angeles 10–8 12–6 13–5 10–8 12–6 9–9 9–9 10–8 12–6
Milwaukee 9–9 6–12 14–4 8–10 13–5 6–12 9–9 10–8 11–7
New York 7–11–1 7–11 4–14 6–12 5–13 7–11–1 4–14 5–13 5–13
Philadelphia 10–8 5–13 12–6 9–9 12–6 11–7–1 8–10 8–10 10–7
Pittsburgh 13–5 10–8 10–8 9–9 9–9 14–4 10–8 11–7–1 4–14
San Francisco 12–6 12–6 15–3 8–10 8–10 13–5 10–8 7–11–1 10–8
St. Louis 8–10–1 8–10 9–9 6–12 7–11 13–5 7–10 14–4 8–10


Notable transactions

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Roster

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1965 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

Batting

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Starters by position

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Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
C Chris Cannizzaro 114 251 17 46 .183 0 7 0
1B Ed Kranepool 153 525 44 133 .253 10 53 1
2B Chuck Hiller 100 286 24 68 .238 5 21 1
3B Charley Smith 135 499 49 122 .244 16 62 2
SS Roy McMillan 157 528 44 128 .242 1 42 1
LF Ron Swoboda 135 399 52 91 .228 19 50 2
CF Jim Hickman 141 369 32 87 .236 15 40 3
RF Johnny Lewis 148 477 64 117 .245 15 45 4

[12]

Other batters

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

Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
Joe Christopher 148 437 38 109 .249 5 40 4
Bobby Klaus 119 288 30 55 .191 2 12 1
Ron Hunt 57 196 21 47 .240 1 10 2
Billy Cowan 82 156 16 28 .179 3 9 3
John Stephenson 62 121 9 26 .215 4 15 0
Jesse Gonder 53 105 6 25 .238 4 9 0
Danny Napoleon 68 97 5 14 .144 0 7 0
Gary Kolb 40 90 8 15 .167 1 7 3
Cleon Jones 30 74 2 11 .149 1 9 1
Hawk Taylor 25 46 5 7 .152 4 10 0
Bud Harrelson 19 37 3 4 .108 0 0 0
Jimmie Schaffer 24 37 0 5 .135 0 0 0
Greg Goossen 11 31 2 9 .290 1 2 0
Kevin Collins 11 23 3 4 .174 0 0 0
Yogi Berra 4 9 1 2 .222 0 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA BB SO
Jack Fisher 43 253.2 8 24 3.94 68 116
Al Jackson 37 205.1 8 20 4.34 61 120
Warren Spahn 20 126.0 4 12 4.36 35 56
Rob Gardner 5 28.0 0 2 3.21 7 19
Dick Selma 4 26.2 2 1 3.71 9 26

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Galen Cisco 35 112.1 4 8 4.49 58
Tug McGraw 37 97.2 2 7 3.32 57
Gary Kroll 32 87.0 6 6 4.45 62
Tom Parsons 35 90.2 1 10 4.67 58
Frank Lary 14 57.1 1 3 2.98 23
Carl Willey 13 28.0 1 2 4.18 13
Dennis Musgraves 5 16.0 0 0 0.56 11

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Larry Bearnarth 40 3 5 1 4.60 16
Gordie Richardson 35 2 2 2 3.78 43
Larry Miller 28 1 4 0 5.02 36
Jim Bethke 25 2 0 0 4.28 19
Dennis Ribant 19 1 3 3 3.82 13
Darrell Sutherland 18 3 1 0 2.81 16
Dave Eilers 11 1 1 2 4.00 9
Bob Moorhead 9 0 1 0 4.40 5

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
AAA Buffalo Bisons International League Sheriff Robinson and Kerby Farrell
AA Williamsport Mets Eastern League Kerby Farrell and Bunky Warren
A Auburn Mets New York–Penn League Clyde McCullough
A Greenville Mets Western Carolinas League Ken Deal
Rookie Marion Mets Appalachian League Pete Pavlick

[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Warren Spahn". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  2. ^ "Duke Carmel". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  3. ^ "Gordie Richardson". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  4. ^ "George Altman". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Yogi Berra". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  6. ^ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Los Angeles Dodgers 1, New York Yankees 0". Retrosheet. October 5, 1963. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  7. ^ Daley, Arthur (July 16, 1965). "Strong Minded Spahn Ignoring Sign Posts of Retirement?". St. Petersburg Times. p. 39. Retrieved September 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Nolan Ryan". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  9. ^ "Don Shaw". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  10. ^ "Jesse Gonder". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  11. ^ "Billy Cowan". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  12. ^ "1965 New York Mets Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  13. ^ Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-93-239117-6.
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