1963 New York Mets season

Major League Baseball team season

1963 New York Mets

The Mets playing against the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium on September 10, 1963.

League| National League
Ballpark| Polo Grounds
City| New York City, New York
Record| 51–111 (.315)
League place| 10th
Owners| Joan Whitney Payson
General managers| George Weiss
Managers| Casey Stengel
Television| WOR-TV
Radio| WABC (AM)
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
Stats| ESPN.com
Baseball Reference
| <- 1962 | Seasons | 1964 ->

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The 1963 New York Mets season was the second regular season for the Mets. They went 51–111 and finished tenth in the National League, 48 games behind the World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They were managed by Casey Stengel. They played their home games at the Polo Grounds, the second and final season there for the Mets before moving to Shea Stadium the following season.

## Offseason

[edit]

Advertisement for the 1963 Mets' ticket schedule, showing box seats for $3.50 and bleachers for $0.75.

* October 11, 1962: Ron Hunt was purchased by the Mets from the Milwaukee Braves.[1]
* October 14, 1962: Norm Sherry and Dick Smith were purchased by the Mets from the Los Angeles Dodgers.[2]
* November 26, 1962: Paul Blair was drafted from the Mets by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1962 first-year draft.[3]

## Regular season

[edit]

On June 14, Duke Snider of the Mets hit his 400th home run against the Cincinnati Reds. The opposing pitcher was Bob Purkey. The homer came in the 6,783rd at bat of his career.[4] Snider became the ninth player to reach 400 homers. Along with Eddie Mathews, Snider became part of the first duo to reach the 400-plateau in the same season.[4] Afterwards, Mets outfielder Jimmy Piersall told Snider that he could get more publicity for his 100th home run.[5] Nine days later, on June 23, Piersall ran the bases backward after hitting the 100th home run of his career off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Dallas Green.[6] He was released by the Mets one month later, with that home run being the only one he hit in a Mets uniform.

### Season standings

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

National League Team  | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road

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Los Angeles Dodgers | 99 | 63  | .611  | —  | 50‍–‍31  | 49‍–‍32
St. Louis Cardinals | 93 | 69  | .574  | 6  | 53‍–‍28  | 40‍–‍41
San Francisco Giants | 88 | 74  | .543  | 11  | 50‍–‍31  | 38‍–‍43
Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 75  | .537  | 12  | 45‍–‍36  | 42‍–‍39
Cincinnati Reds | 86 | 76  | .531  | 13  | 46‍–‍35  | 40‍–‍41
Milwaukee Braves | 84 | 78  | .519  | 15  | 45‍–‍36  | 39‍–‍42
Chicago Cubs | 82 | 80  | .506  | 17  | 43‍–‍38  | 39‍–‍42
Pittsburgh Pirates | 74 | 88  | .457  | 25  | 42‍–‍39  | 32‍–‍49
Houston Colt .45s | 66 | 96  | .407  | 33  | 44‍–‍37  | 22‍–‍59
New York Mets | 51 | 111  | .315  | 48  | 34‍–‍47  | 17‍–‍64

### Record vs. opponents

[edit]

1963 National League record

* v
* t
* e

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Team  | CHC  | CIN  | HOU  | LAD  | MIL  | NYM  | PHI  | PIT  | SF  | STL
Chicago | — | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 7–11
Cincinnati | 9–9 | — | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 11–7
Houston | 9–9 | 7–11 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13
Los Angeles | 11–7 | 10–8 | 13–5 | — | 8–10–1 | 16–2 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 12–6
Milwaukee | 6–12 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 10–8–1 | — | 12–6 | 10–8 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 8–10
New York | 7–11 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 2–16 | 6–12 | — | 8–10 | 4–14 | 6–12 | 5–13
Philadelphia | 9–9 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 13–5 | 8–10 | 8–10
Pittsburgh | 10–8 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 5–13 | 11–7 | 14–4 | 5–13 | — | 5–13 | 5–13
San Francisco | 8–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 13–5 | — | 8–10
St. Louis | 11–7 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 10–8 | —

### Notable transactions

[edit]

* May 8, 1963: Larry Foss was traded by the Mets to the Milwaukee Braves for Chico Fernández.[7]
* May 23, 1963: Gil Hodges was traded by the Mets to the Washington Senators for Jimmy Piersall.[8]
* July 1, 1963: Charlie Neal and Sammy Taylor were traded by the Mets to the Cincinnati Reds for Jesse Gonder.[9]
* July 29, 1963: Jacke Davis and cash were traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Duke Carmel.[10]
* July 27, 1963: Jimmy Piersall was released by the Mets.[11]
* September 5, 1963: Ron Swoboda was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.[12]

### Roster

[edit]

1963 New York Mets

Roster
Pitchers

* 20 Craig Anderson
* 19,38 Ed Bauta
* 31 Larry Bearnarth
* 26 Galen Cisco
* 38,13 Roger Craig
* 39 Steve Dillon
* 47 Jay Hook
* 15 Al Jackson
* 19 Ken MacKenzie
* 41 Grover Powell
* 29 Don Rowe
* 36 Tracy Stallard
* 28 Carl Willey

|  | Catchers

* 8 Chris Cannizzaro
* 17 Choo-Choo Coleman
* 16,12 Jesse Gonder
* 5 Norm Sherry
* 16 Sammy Taylor

Infielders

* 6 Larry Burright
* 12,7 Chico Fernández
* 18 Pumpsie Green
* 3 Tim Harkness
* 14 Gil Hodges
* 33 Ron Hunt
* 40 Al Moran
* 4 Charlie Neal
* 43 Ted Schreiber
* 2 Marv Throneberry

|  | Outfielders

* 1 Duke Carmel
* 23 Joe Christopher
* 1 Cliff Cook
* 9 Jim Hickman
* 22 Joe Hicks
* 34 Cleon Jones
* 10 Rod Kanehl
* 21 Ed Kranepool
* 34 Jimmy Piersall
* 16 Dick Smith
* 11,4 Duke Snider
* 25 Frank Thomas

|  | Manager

* 37 Casey Stengel

Coaches

* 52 Solly Hemus
* 51 Cookie Lavagetto
* 54 Clyde McCullough
* 53 Ernie White

## Player stats

[edit]

### Batting

[edit]

#### Starters by position

[edit]

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

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C | Choo-Choo Coleman | 106 | 247 | 44 | .178 | 3 | 9
1B | Tim Harkness | 123 | 375 | 79 | .211 | 10 | 41
2B | Ron Hunt | 143 | 533 | 135 | .272 | 10 | 42
SS | Al Moran | 119 | 331 | 64 | .193 | 1 | 23
3B | Charlie Neal | 72 | 253 | 57 | .225 | 3 | 18
LF | Frank Thomas | 126 | 420 | 109 | .260 | 15 | 60
CF | Jim Hickman | 146 | 494 | 113 | .229 | 17 | 51
RF | Duke Snider | 129 | 354 | 86 | .243 | 14 | 45

#### Other batters

[edit]

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

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Ed Kranepool | 86 | 273 | 57 | .209 | 2 | 14
Rod Kanehl | 109 | 191 | 46 | .241 | 1 | 9
Joe Hicks | 56 | 159 | 36 | .226 | 5 | 22
Joe Christopher | 64 | 149 | 33 | .221 | 1 | 8
Duke Carmel | 47 | 149 | 35 | .235 | 3 | 18
Norm Sherry | 63 | 147 | 20 | .136 | 2 | 11
Chico Fernández | 58 | 145 | 29 | .200 | 1 | 9
Jesse Gonder | 42 | 126 | 38 | .302 | 3 | 15
Jimmy Piersall | 40 | 124 | 24 | .194 | 1 | 10
Cliff Cook | 50 | 106 | 15 | .142 | 2 | 8
Larry Burright | 41 | 100 | 22 | .220 | 0 | 3
Pumpsie Green | 17 | 54 | 15 | .278 | 1 | 5
Ted Schreiber | 39 | 50 | 8 | .160 | 0 | 2
Dick Smith | 20 | 42 | 10 | .238 | 0 | 3
Sammy Taylor | 22 | 35 | 9 | .257 | 0 | 6
Chris Cannizzaro | 16 | 33 | 8 | .242 | 0 | 4
Gil Hodges | 11 | 22 | 5 | .227 | 0 | 3
Cleon Jones | 6 | 15 | 2 | .133 | 0 | 1
Marv Throneberry | 14 | 14 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 1

### Pitching

[edit]

#### Starting pitchers

[edit]

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

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

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Roger Craig | 46 | 236.0 | 5 | 22 | 3.78 | 108
Al Jackson | 37 | 227.0 | 13 | 17 | 3.96 | 142
Carl Willey | 30 | 183.0 | 9 | 14 | 3.10 | 101

#### Other pitchers

[edit]

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

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

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Galen Cisco | 51 | 155.2 | 7 | 15 | 4.34 | 81
Tracy Stallard | 39 | 154.2 | 6 | 17 | 4.71 | 110
Jay Hook | 41 | 152.2 | 4 | 14 | 5.48 | 89
Grover Powell | 20 | 49.2 | 1 | 1 | 2.72 | 39
Craig Anderson | 3 | 9.1 | 0 | 2 | 8.68 | 6

#### Relief pitchers

[edit]

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

Player  | G  | W  | L  | SV  | ERA  | SO

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Larry Bearnarth | 58 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 3.42 | 48
Ken MacKenzie | 34 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4.97 | 41
Don Rowe | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.28 | 27
Ed Bauta | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.21 | 13
Steve Dillon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 1

## Awards and honors

[edit]

All-Star Game

* Duke Snider, outfield, reserve

[13]

## Farm system

[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level  | Team  | League  | Manager

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|
|

AAA | Buffalo Bisons | International League | Kerby Farrell
A | Salinas Mets | California League | Ken Deal
A | Raleigh Mets | Carolina League | Clyde McCullough and Tommy Byrne
A | Quincy Jets | Midwest League | Sheriff Robinson and Wally Millies
A | Auburn Mets | New York–Penn League | Dick Cole

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Ron Hunt page at Baseball Reference
2. ^ Norm Sherry sold to Mets
3. ^ Paul Blair page at Baseball Reference
4. ^ a b Duke Snider | The Baseball Page
5. ^ Ultimate Mets Database – Jimmy Piersall
6. ^ Jim Piersall – stats photos pics mets – NYFS nyfuturestars.com
7. ^ Chico Fernández page at Baseball-Reference
8. ^ Jimmy Piersall page at Baseball Reference
9. ^ Jesse Gonder page at Baseball Reference
10. ^ Duke Carmel page at Baseball Reference
11. ^ Jimmy Piersall released by New York Mets
12. ^ Ron Swoboda page at Baseball Reference
13. ^ "1963 All-Star Game".

## References

[edit]

* 1963 New York Mets at Baseball Reference
* 1963 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
* Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. p. 767\. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1963 New York Mets season.

* 1963 New York Mets season at Baseball Reference

* v
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1963 MLB season by team

American League|

* Baltimore
* Boston
* Chicago
* Cleveland
* Detroit
* Kansas City
* Los Angeles
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* Washington

National League|

* Chicago
* Cincinnati
* Houston
* Los Angeles
* Milwaukee
* New York
* Philadelphia
* Pittsburgh
* St. Louis
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* 1963 All-Star Game
* 1963 World Series

* v
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New York Mets

* Established in 1962
* Based in Queens, New York

Franchise|

* History
* Brooklyn Dodgers
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Ballparks|

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Spring training
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Culture|

* Continental League
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* Grant's Tomb
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* Rheingold Brewery
* Grimace
* Statue of Tom Seaver

| Books|

* Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?
* Sometimes You See It Coming

|

Movies|

* Game 6
* Frequency
* Mathematically Alive
* The Odd Couple

Music|

* "Let's Go Mets Go"
* "Lazy Mary"
* "Meet the Mets"
* "Narco"
* "New York Groove"
* "Ode to the Mets"
* "OMG"

TV show episodes|

* "The Boyfriend" (Seinfeld episode)
* "A Leela of Her Own" (Futurama episode)

Notable people|

* Alex Anthony
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* Michael Sergio
* Sign Man
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Lore|

* 2018 MLB Little League Classic
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Rivalries|

* Atlanta Braves
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* Subway Series
* 2000 World Series
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Key personnel|

* Owner: Steve Cohen
* President of Baseball Operations: David Stearns
* General manager: Vacant
* Manager: Carlos Mendoza

World Series
championships (2)|

* 1969
* 1986

National League
pennants (5)|

* 1969
* 1973
* 1986
* 2000
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Division titles (6)|

* 1969
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Wild Card (5)|

* 1999 (tie-breaker game)
* 2000
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* 2022
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Minor league affiliates|

* Triple-A: Syracuse Mets
* Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies
* High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones
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* Player overview

Seasons (65)

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