1965 New York Mets season

1965 New York Mets
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Location
Shea Stadium (since 1964)
New York (since 1962)
Other information
Owner(s)	Joan Whitney Payson
General manager(s)	George Weiss
Manager(s)	Casey Stengel, Wes Westrum
Local television	WOR-TV
Local radio	WHN (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
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The 1965 New York Mets season was the 4th regular season for the Mets. They went 50–112 and finished 10th in the NL. They were managed by Casey Stengel and Wes Westrum. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

Offseason

• November 23, 1964: Warren Spahn was purchased by the Mets from the Milwaukee Braves.^[1]
• November 30, 1964: Duke Carmel was drafted from the Mets by the New York Yankees in the 1964 rule 5 draft.^[2]
• December 7, 1964: Tracy Stallard and Elio Chacón were traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Gordie Richardson and Johnny Lewis.^[3]
• January 15, 1965: George Altman was traded by the Mets to the Chicago Cubs for Billy Cowan.^[4]
• April 27, 1965: Yogi Berra signed as a free agent by the Mets.^[5]

Regular season

Former Yankee great Yogi Berra came out of retirement and signed with the Mets as player–coach. He would only play 4 games, and on May 9, 1965 he appeared in his final game as a player. It was 3 days shy of his 40th birthday. He served as coach the rest of the way 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.^[6] 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 in July 1965 after Spahn's release. When Casey Stengel was injured on August 30, 1965 and stepped down as skipper, Westrum became manager.

Season standings

National League	W	L	GB	Pct.
Los Angeles Dodgers	97	65	--	.599
San Francisco Giants	95	67	2	.586
Pittsburgh Pirates	90	72	7	.556
Cincinnati Reds	89	73	8	.549
Milwaukee Braves	86	76	11	.531
Philadelphia Phillies	85	76	11.5	.528
St. Louis Cardinals	80	81	16.5	.497
Chicago Cubs	72	90	25	.444
Houston Astros	65	97	32	.401
New York Mets	50	112	47	.309

Record vs. opponents

1965 National League Records Sources:
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

• April 27, 1965: Yogi Berra was signed as a free agent by the Mets.^[7]
• May 17, 1965: Yogi Berra was released by the Mets.^[7]
• June 8, 1965: 1965 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Nolan Ryan was drafted by the Mets in the 12th round.^[8]
  • Don Shaw was drafted by the Mets in the 35th round.^[9]
• July 17, 1965: Warren Spahn was released by the Mets.^[1]
• July 21, 1965: Jesse Gonder was traded by the Mets to the Milwaukee Braves for Gary Kolb.^[10]
• August 5, 1965: Billy Cowan was traded by the Mets to the Milwaukee Braves for players to be named later. The Braves completed the deal by sending Lou Klimchock and Ernie Bowman to the Mets on September 25.^[11]

Roster

1965 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers 31 Larry Bearnarth 41,42 Jim Bethke 26 Galen Cisco 38 Dave Eilers 22 Jack Fisher 29 Rob Gardner 15 Al Jackson 25 Gary Kroll 17 Frank Lary 45 Tug McGraw 16,35 Larry Miller 21 Bob Moorhead 34,36 Dennis Musgraves 27 Tom Parsons 18 Dennis Ribant 41 Gordie Richardson 45 Dick Selma 21 Warren Spahn 43 Darrell Sutherland 28 Carl Willey		Catchers  8 Yogi Berra  5 Chris Cannizzaro 12 Jesse Gonder 10 Greg Goossen 17 Jimmie Schaffer 49 John Stephenson 19 Hawk Taylor Infielders 10 Kevin Collins  3 Bud Harrelson  2 Chuck Hiller 33 Ron Hunt  6 Bobby Klaus  7 Ed Kranepool 11 Roy McMillan  1 Charley Smith		Outfielders 23 Joe Christopher  3 Billy Cowan  9 Jim Hickman 21,34 Cleon Jones 18 Gary Kolb 24 Johnny Lewis 16,48 Danny Napoleon 14 Ron Swoboda		Manager 37 Casey Stengel 51 Wes Westrum Coaches  8 Yogi Berra 52 Don Heffner 53 Sheriff Robinson 21 Warren Spahn 51 Wes Westrum

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

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	Cannizzaro, ChrisChris Cannizzaro	114	251	17	46	.183	0	7	0
1B	Kranepool, EdEd Kranepool	153	525	44	133	.253	10	53	1
2B	Hiller, ChuckChuck Hiller	100	286	24	68	.238	5	21	1
3B	Smith, CharleyCharley Smith	135	499	49	122	.244	16	62	2
SS	McMillan, RoyRoy McMillan	157	528	44	128	.242	1	42	1
LF	Swoboda, RonRon Swoboda	135	399	52	91	.228	19	50	2
CF	Hickman, JimJim Hickman	141	369	32	87	.236	15	40	3
RF	Lewis, JohnnyJohnny Lewis	148	477	64	117	.245	15	45	4

^[12]

Other batters

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
Christopher, JoeJoe Christopher	148	437	38	109	.249	5	40	4
Cowan, BillyBilly Cowan	82	156	16	28	.179	3	9	3
Gonder, JesseJesse Gonder	53	105	6	25	.238	4	9	0
Kolb, GaryGary Kolb	40	90	8	15	.167	1	7	3
Berra, YogiYogi Berra	4	9	1	2	.222	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	BB	SO
Fisher, JackJack Fisher	43	253.2	8	24	3.94	68	116
Jackson, AlAl Jackson	37	205.1	8	20	4.34	61	120
Spahn, WarrenWarren Spahn	20	126	4	12	4.36	35	56
Gardner, RobRob Gardner	5	28	0	2	3.21	7	19

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
Cisco, GalenGalen Cisco	35	112.1	4	8	4.49	58
Kroll, GaryGary Kroll	32	87	6	6	4.45	62
Parsons, TomTom Parsons	35	90.2	1	10	4.67	58
Willey, CarlCarl Willey	13	28	1	2	4.18	13

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
Bearnarth, LarryLarry Bearnarth	40	3	5	1	4.60	16
Richardson, GordieGordie Richardson	35	2	2	2	3.78	43
Bethke, JimJim Bethke	25	2	0	0	4.28	19
Ribant, DennisDennis Ribant	19	1	3	3	3.82	13
Eilers, DaveDave Eilers	11	1	1	2	4.00	9

Farm system

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]

Notes

1. Warren Spahn page at Baseball Reference
2. Duke Carmel page at Baseball Reference
3. Gordie Richardson page at Baseball Reference
4. George Altman page at Baseball Reference
5. Yogi Berra page at Baseball Reference
6. Daley, Arthur (July 16, 1965). "Strong Minded Spahn Ignoring Sign Posts of Retirement?". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
7. Yogi Berra page at Baseball Reference
8. Nolan Ryan page at Baseball Reference
9. Nolan Ryan page at Baseball Reference
10. Jesse Gonder page at Baseball Reference
11. Billy Cowan page at Baseball Reference
12. 1965 New York Mets page at Baseball Reference
13. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1965 New York Mets
• 1965 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com