1964 New York Mets season

March 2026 November 2013 New York Mets 1964 New York Mets Insignia (1962 to 1992).svg National League Shea Stadium New York 53 109 y 10th Joan Whitney Payson George Weiss Casey Stengel WOR-TV WHN (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy) The New York Mets played their third regular season in 1964. 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 October 10, 1963: Jack Fisher was drafted by the Mets from the San Francisco Giants in a 1963 special draft.Jack Fisher page at Baseball Reference 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.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. Bunning Pitches a Perfect Game; Mets Are Perfect Victims, 6 to 0 June 22, 1964 Gordon S. Jr. White New York Times 1 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 New York Mets Record vs. opponents NYM Notable transactions April 6, 1964: Darrell Sutherland was selected off waivers by the Mets from the Philadelphia Phillies as a first-year waiver pick.Darrell Sutherland page at Baseball Reference April 23, 1964: Chico Fernández, Bobby Catton (minors), and cash were traded by the Mets to the Chicago White Sox for Charley Smith.Charley Smith page at Baseball Reference August 7, 1964: Frank Thomas was traded by the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Wayne Graham, Gary Kroll, and cash.Frank Thomas page at Baseball Reference August 8, 1964: Frank Lary was traded by the Mets to the Milwaukee Braves for Dennis Ribant and cash.Dennis Ribant page at Baseball Reference August 27, 1964: Jerry Koosman was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.Jerry Koosman page at Baseball Reference 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.http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=196404170NYN Box Score of Game played on Friday, April 17, 1964 at Shea Stadium 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.https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=moehringer/080929&sportCat=mlb Moehringer: One last trip home - ESPN Page 2 Roster 1964 New York Mets Roster Pitchers 20 Craig Anderson 38 Ed Bauta 31 Larry Bearnarth 26 Galen Cisco 39 Steve Dillon 22 Jack Fisher 24 Jerry Hinsley 47 Jay Hook 38 Willard Hunter 15 Al Jackson 25 Gary Kroll 17 Frank Lary 45 Ron Locke 27 Tom Parsons 17 Dennis Ribant 36 Tracy Stallard 47 Tom Sturdivant 43 Darrell Sutherland 43 Bill Wakefield 28 Carlton Willey Catchers  8 Chris Cannizzaro 12 Jesse Gonder 19 Hawk Taylor Infielders  6 Larry Burright  4 Wayne Graham  3 Tim Harkness 33 Ron Hunt 10 Rod Kanehl  6 Bobby Klaus 21 Ed Kranepool 11 Roy McMillan 40 Al Moran  7 Amado Samuel  1 Charley Smith 16 Dick Smith 49 John Stephenson Outfielders  2 George Altman 23 Joe Christopher 42 Larry Elliot  9 Jim Hickman 25 Frank Thomas Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 53 Mel Harder (Pitching) 52 Don Heffner (Third base) 54 Sheriff Robinson (Bullpen) 51 Wes Westrum (First base) 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 C Jesse Gonder 131 341 28 92 .270 7 35 0 1B Ed Kranepool 119 420 47 108 .257 10 45 0 2B Ron Hunt 127 475 59 144 .303 6 42 6 3B Charley Smith 127 443 44 106 .239 20 58 2 SS Roy McMillan 113 379 30 80 .211 1 25 3 LF George Altman 124 422 48 97 .230 9 47 4 CF Jim Hickman Jim Hickman (1960s outfielder) 139 409 48 105 .257 11 57 0 RF Joe Christopher 154 543 78 163 .300 16 76 6https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/1964.shtml 1964 New York Mets Statistics 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 Kanehl 98 254 25 59 .232 1 11 3 Hawk Taylor 92 225 20 54 .240 4 23 0 Larry Elliot 80 224 27 51 .228 9 22 1 Bobby Klaus 56 209 25 51 .244 2 11 3 Frank Thomas Frank Thomas (outfielder) 60 197 19 50 .254 3 19 1 Chris Cannizzaro 60 164 11 51 .311 0 10 0 Amado Samuel 53 142 7 33 .232 0 5 0 Tim Harkness 39 117 11 33 .282 2 13 1 Dick Smith 46 94 14 21 .223 0 3 6 John Stephenson John Stephenson (baseball) 37 57 2 9 .158 1 2 0 Wayne Graham 20 33 1 3 .091 0 0 0 Al Moran 16 22 2 5 .227 0 4 0 Larry Burright 3 7 0 0 .000 0 0 0 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 Fisher 40 227.2 10 17 4.23 115 Tracy Stallard 36 225.2 10 20 3.79 118 Al Jackson 40 213.1 11 16 4.26 112 Galen Cisco 36 191.2 6 19 3.62 78 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 Ribant 14 57.2 1 5 5.15 35 Frank Lary 13 57.1 2 3 4.55 27 Carl Willey 14 30.0 0 2 3.60 14 Darrell Sutherland 10 26.2 0 3 7.76 9 Gary Kroll 8 21.2 0 1 4.15 24 Tom Parsons Tom Parsons (baseball) 4 19.1 1 2 4.19 10 Jerry Hinsley 9 15.1 0 2 8.22 11 Craig Anderson Craig Anderson (right-handed pitcher) 4 13.0 0 1 5.54 5 Jay Hook 3 9.2 0 1 9.31 5 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 Hunter 41 3 3 5 4.41 22 Bill Wakefield 62 3 5 2 3.61 61 Larry Bearnarth 44 5 5 3 4.15 31 Ron Locke 25 1 2 0 3.48 17 Tom Sturdivant 16 0 0 1 5.97 18 Ed Bauta 8 0 2 1 5.40 3 Steve Dillon Steve Dillon (baseball) 2 0 0 0 0.00 0 Farm system Minor League Baseball 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 2 References 1964 New York Mets at Baseball Reference 1964 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 Category:New York Mets seasons New York Mets season New York Mets Category:1960s in Queens