1966 New York Mets season

Major League Baseball team season

1966 New York Mets

League| National League
Ballpark| Shea Stadium
City| New York
Record| 66–95 (.410)
League place| 9th
Owners| Joan Whitney Payson
General managers| George Weiss, Bing Devine
Managers| Wes Westrum
Television| WOR-TV
Radio| WHN
(Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
| ← 1965 | Seasons | 1967 →

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The 1966 New York Mets season was the fifth regular season for the Mets. They went 66–95 and finished ninth in the National League. They were managed by Wes Westrum. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

1966 marked the first season in which the Mets avoided a last place finish, as well as the first time they did not lose at least 100 games. It was also the first time their record was above .500 at any point of the season, as they stood 2-1 after taking two of three games in the opening series with the Atlanta Braves.

## Offseason

[edit]

* October 20, 1965: Charley Smith and Al Jackson were traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ken Boyer.[1]
* November 29, 1965: Al Luplow was purchased by the Mets from the Cleveland Indians.[2]
* November 30, 1965: Joe Christopher was traded by the Mets to the Boston Red Sox for Ed Bressoud.[3]
* January 6, 1966: Gary Kroll was traded by the Mets to the Houston Astros for Johnny Weekly and cash.[4]

## Regular season

[edit]

* September 11, 1966: Pitcher Pat Jarvis of the Atlanta Braves becomes the first of 5,714 strikeout victims of Nolan Ryan's career.[5]

### Season standings

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

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

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Los Angeles Dodgers | 95 | 67  | .586  | —  | 53‍–‍28  | 42‍–‍39
San Francisco Giants | 93 | 68  | .578  | 1½  | 47‍–‍34  | 46‍–‍34
Pittsburgh Pirates | 92 | 70  | .568  | 3  | 46‍–‍35  | 46‍–‍35
Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 75  | .537  | 8  | 48‍–‍33  | 39‍–‍42
Atlanta Braves | 85 | 77  | .525  | 10  | 43‍–‍38  | 42‍–‍39
St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 79  | .512  | 12  | 43‍–‍38  | 40‍–‍41
Cincinnati Reds | 76 | 84  | .475  | 18  | 46‍–‍33  | 30‍–‍51
Houston Astros | 72 | 90  | .444  | 23  | 45‍–‍36  | 27‍–‍54
New York Mets | 66 | 95  | .410  | 28½  | 32‍–‍49  | 34‍–‍46
Chicago Cubs | 59 | 103  | .364  | 36  | 32‍–‍49  | 27‍–‍54

### Record vs. opponents

[edit]

1966 National League record

* v
* t
* e

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

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

### Notable transactions

[edit]

* April 3, 1966: Tom Seaver was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.[6]
* June 4, 1966: Galen Cisco was released by the Mets.[7]
* June 7, 1966: Duffy Dyer was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (9th pick) of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase).[8]
* June 10, 1966: Bob Shaw was purchased by the Mets from the San Francisco Giants.[9]
* August 6, 1966: Ralph Terry was purchased by the Mets from the Kansas City Athletics.[10]

### Roster

[edit]

1966 New York Mets

Roster
Pitchers

* 34 Gerry Arrigo
* 31 Larry Bearnarth
* 38 Dave Eilers
* 22 Jack Fisher
* 20 Bob Friend
* 29 Rob Gardner
* 27 Dallas Green
* 32 Jack Hamilton
* 28 Bill Hepler
* 45 Tug McGraw
* 16 Larry Miller
* 30 Dennis Ribant
* 41 Gordie Richardson
* 47 Dick Rusteck
* 34 Nolan Ryan
* 39 Dick Selma
* 26 Bob Shaw
* 43 Darrell Sutherland
* 38 Ralph Terry

|  | Catchers

* 20 Choo-Choo Coleman
* 10 Greg Goossen
* 15 Jerry Grote
* 12 John Stephenson
* 19 Hawk Taylor

Infielders

* 14 Ken Boyer
*  1 Ed Bressoud
*  3 Bud Harrelson
*  2 Chuck Hiller
* 33 Ron Hunt
*  7 Ed Kranepool
* 11 Roy McMillan
* 17 Dick Stuart

|  | Outfielders

* 42 Larry Elliot
*  5 Shaun Fitzmaurice
* 9,27 Jim Hickman
* 21 Cleon Jones
* 24 Johnny Lewis
* 18 Al Luplow
* 23 Billy Murphy
* 48 Danny Napoleon
*  4 Ron Swoboda

Other batters

*  6 Lou Klimchock

|  | Manager

*  9 Wes Westrum

Coaches

*  8 Yogi Berra
* 52 Harvey Haddix
* 54 Whitey Herzog
* 53 Sheriff Robinson

## 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 | Jerry Grote | 120 | 317 | 75 | .237 | 3 | 31
1B | Ed Kranepool | 146 | 464 | 118 | .254 | 16 | 57
2B | Ron Hunt | 132 | 479 | 138 | .288 | 3 | 33
SS | Ed Bressoud | 133 | 405 | 91 | .225 | 10 | 49
3B | Ken Boyer | 136 | 496 | 132 | .266 | 14 | 61
LF | Ron Swoboda | 112 | 342 | 76 | .222 | 8 | 50
CF | Cleon Jones | 139 | 495 | 136 | .275 | 8 | 57
RF | Al Luplow | 111 | 334 | 84 | .251 | 7 | 31

#### 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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Chuck Hiller | 108 | 254 | 71 | .280 | 2 | 14
Roy McMillan | 76 | 220 | 47 | .214 | 1 | 12
Larry Elliot | 65 | 199 | 49 | .246 | 5 | 32
Johnny Lewis | 65 | 166 | 32 | .193 | 5 | 20
Jim Hickman | 58 | 160 | 38 | .238 | 4 | 16
John Stephenson | 63 | 143 | 28 | .196 | 1 | 11
Billy Murphy | 84 | 135 | 31 | .230 | 3 | 13
Hawk Taylor | 53 | 109 | 19 | .174 | 3 | 12
Bud Harrelson | 33 | 99 | 22 | .222 | 0 | 4
Dick Stuart | 31 | 87 | 19 | .218 | 4 | 13
Danny Napoleon | 12 | 33 | 7 | .212 | 0 | 0
Greg Goossen | 13 | 32 | 6 | .188 | 1 | 5
Choo-Choo Coleman | 6 | 16 | 3 | .188 | 0 | 0
Shaun Fitzmaurice | 9 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 0
Lou Klimchock | 5 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0

### 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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Jack Fisher | 38 | 230.0 | 11 | 14 | 3.68 | 127
Dennis Ribant | 39 | 188.1 | 11 | 9 | 3.20 | 84
Bob Shaw | 26 | 167.2 | 11 | 10 | 3.92 | 104

#### 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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Jack Hamilton | 57 | 148.2 | 6 | 13 | 3.93 | 93
Rob Gardner | 41 | 133.2 | 4 | 8 | 5.12 | 74
Bob Friend | 22 | 86.0 | 5 | 8 | 4.40 | 30
Dick Selma | 30 | 80.2 | 4 | 6 | 4.24 | 58
Tug McGraw | 15 | 62.1 | 2 | 9 | 5.34 | 34
Gerry Arrigo | 17 | 43.1 | 3 | 3 | 3.74 | 28
Dick Rusteck | 8 | 24.0 | 1 | 2 | 3.00 | 9
Larry Miller | 4 | 8.1 | 0 | 2 | 7.56 | 7
Nolan Ryan | 2 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 15.00 | 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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Bill Hepler | 37 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3.52 | 25
Darrell Sutherland | 31 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4.87 | 23
Larry Bearnarth | 29 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4.45 | 27
Dave Eilers | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.67 | 14
Gordie Richardson | 15 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9.16 | 15
Ralph Terry | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.74 | 14
Dallas Green | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 1

## Farm system

[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level  | Team  | League  | Manager

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AAA | Jacksonville Suns | International League | Solly Hemus
AA | Williamsport Mets | Eastern League | Bill Virdon
A | Auburn Mets | New York–Penn League | Clyde McCullough
A | Greenville Mets | Western Carolinas League | Pete Pavlick
Rookie | Marion Mets | Appalachian League | Buddy Peterson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Auburn, Marion

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Charley Smith page at Baseball Reference
2. ^ Al Luplow page at Baseball Reference
3. ^ Joe Christopher page at Baseball Reference
4. ^ Gary Kroll page at Baseball Reference
5. ^ Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 32, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7
6. ^ Tom Seaver page at Baseball Reference
7. ^ Galen Cisco page at Baseball Reference
8. ^ Duffy Dyer page at Baseball Reference
9. ^ Mets buy Bob Shaw from Giants
10. ^ Ralph Terry page at Baseball Reference

## References

[edit]

* 1966 New York Mets at Baseball Reference
* 1966 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
* Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

* v
* t
* e

1966 MLB season by team

American League|

* Baltimore
* Boston
* California
* Chicago
* Cleveland
* Detroit
* Kansas City
* Minnesota
* New York
* Washington

National League|

* Atlanta
* Chicago
* Cincinnati
* Houston
* Los Angeles
* New York
* Philadelphia
* Pittsburgh
* St. Louis
* San Francisco

* 1966 MLB draft
* 1966 All-Star Game
* 1966 World Series

* v
* t
* e

New York Mets

* Established in 1962
* Based in Queens, New York

Franchise|

* History
* Brooklyn Dodgers
* New York Giants
* New York Metropolitans
* 1962 expansion
* expansion draft
* Seasons
* Records
* No-hitters
* Award winners and League leaders
* Players
* Hall of Fame
* Managers
* Coaches
* Owners and executives
* Broadcasters
* Kiner's Korner
* Radio network
* SportsNet New York
* Opening Day starting pitchers
* First-round draft picks
* Logos and uniforms

Ballparks|

* Polo Grounds
* Shea Stadium
* Citi Field

Spring training
Al Lang Stadium
Clover Park

Culture|

* Continental League
* Mr. Met
* Mrs. Met
* "Ya Gotta Believe!"
* Grant's Tomb
* Home Run Apple
* Generation K
* Sidd Finch
* The 7 Line Army
* Spider-Man's wedding (live performance)
* Rheingold Brewery
* 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 figures|

* Alex Anthony
* Jane Jarvis
* George Kalinsky
* Michael Sergio
* Sign Man
* Cow-Bell Man
* Grimace

Lore|

* 2018 MLB Little League Classic
* Miracle Mets
* Bill Buckner's 1986 World Series error
* Grand Slam Single
* MLB Puerto Rico Series
* Rick Camp Game

Rivalries|

* Atlanta Braves
* New York Yankees
* Subway Series
* 2000 World Series
* Philadelphia Phillies

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
* 2015

Division titles (6)|

* 1969
* 1973
* 1986
* 1988
* 2006
* 2015

Wild Card (5)|

* 1999 (tie-breaker game)
* 2000
* 2016
* 2022
* 2024

Minor league affiliates|

* Triple-A: Syracuse Mets
* Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies
* High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones
* Single-A: St. Lucie Mets
* Rookie: FCL Mets
* DSL Mets Blue
* DSL Mets Orange
* Player overview

Seasons (65)

1960s|

* 1960 · 1961 ·  1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969

1970s|

* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

1980s|

* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989

1990s|

* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999

2000s|

* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009

2010s|

* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019

2020s|

* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

* Category
* Commons

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