| 1965 New York Mets | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Shea Stadium |
| City | New York |
| Record | 50–112 (.309) |
| League place | 10th |
| Owners | Joan Whitney Payson |
| General manager | George Weiss |
| Managers | Casey Stengel,Wes Westrum |
| Television | WOR-TV |
| Radio | WHN (Ralph Kiner,Lindsey Nelson,Bob Murphy) |
The1965New York Mets season was the fourth regular season for the Mets. They went 50–112 and finished tenth and last in theNational League. They were managed byCasey Stengel andWes Westrum. They played home games atShea Stadium, where they drew 1.77 million paying fans, third in the National League (and over 500,000 more fans than theNew York Yankees).
As WOR-TV, the team' television broadcaster, began to be broadcast on cable starting that year via microwave relay thru theWWOR 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.
Former Yankee greatYogi Berra, fired as manager of the Bombers even after he had led them to theAmerican Leaguepennant and into the seventh game of the1964 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 apinch hitter in Game 3 of the1963 World Series on October 5; batting forJim Bouton, Berralined out to right field offDon Drysdale.[6] With the 1965 Mets, Berra appeared in only four games, with two starts atcatcher, and made twohits in nineat 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 the1971 season and proved to be a valuable asset to the team, especially with young talent likeJerry Grote coming up.
Following the 1964 season, the Milwaukee Braves sold pitcher Warren Spahn to the Mets. Braves managerBobby 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.
| 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 |
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 | — | |||
| 1965 New York Mets | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers
Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 |
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 |
| = Indicates league leader |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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| World Series championships (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| National League pennants (5) | |||||||||||||||||
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