The New York Mets - 1962 onwards

[Westheim]

Please enter this dungeon at your own peril.

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The New York Mets were a result of the Dodgers' and Giants' leap cross-country in 1958, and the budding of a third league to rival the American and National League circuits in the years that followed. The league never came to be, with many of the people driving the new vessel ultimately suckered into getting expansion teams in the existing leagues. This gave Los Angeles a second team in 1961, as well as Washington a second chance at that Senators thing. In 1962, the National League expanded to Texas and into the harshly deserted, decent NL neighborhoods of New York.

The New York Mets were born to be the team owned by extravagant child star turned winemaker Dylan Wright. His wine tasted sour. So would the early Mets.

Populated at a premium with the runts of the litter of the eight established NL teams, the Houston Colt .45s and Mets would have a hard time establishing a footing in the enlarged NL.

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This will be my new secondary dynasty. It will be of a shorter form, like the 1950 Tigers I once did, because there's only so much time in the week and I have yet to win the lottery to devote myself to gaming full time.

The 1950 Tigers fell into the hole of "too much information" due to historical minor leagues and all that fluff. Those have been culled. I will use an old school standard draft for MLB rookies, and a reserve roster for excess personnel.

I will play out all my games, then present my findings in standardized posts, detailing the week's results, daily heroics (not that many early on, I'm sure), and special focus on highlights of the week and general issues with the roster (very many early on, I have no doubts).

Should the Mets ever make the playoffs or be even relevant in September, grander reports might spring from it.

I will also try to get as many real historical Mets aboard as feasible, but won't break down the team to trade one Met for three others, nor take a bozo in the first round because no other Mets are in the draft. In the end, I am the one who has to have some sort of fun with this, too.

Updates might be irregular. Sometimes I might do two weeks in a day. Sometimes I might do one a week. The Raccoons remain the primary focus of OOTP's worst manager.

[Westheim]

Reserved for some stats stuff to be added at a later date.

[Westheim]

The 1962 Mets were built through the expansion draft and whatever else could be fished out of the icy rivers in February and March.

The Mets call 35 players their own as the season begins, only 12 of which are pitchers, and of which not even half will be even remotely useful. Acquiring some more pitching will be high on the list here.

There's also 23 position players, including five catchers, few of them worth much. There's a somewhat respectful middle of the order to be made out between Richie Ashburn, Frank Thomas, and Gil Hodges. There's also six third basemen, none of which can handle a glove. Defense will be at a premium. So will be offense.

The real 1962 Mets didn't lose three games for every game they won for no reason.

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I will also go to some length to give Mets the correct uniform number as far as possible. Sammy Drake here already wears a number he didn't wear as a Met, because of too much overlap with other players. It's alright - he might never appear in a game for the Mets after all...

[Westheim]

Week 1 (April 9-15, 1962)

The Mets would play their first ever games in St. Louis as guests of the Cardinals. Roger Craig would face Bob Gibson in the franchise’s very first game. Felix Mantilla was the Mets’ first ever batter. He weakly grounded out to Dal Maxvill at short.

The Week That Was

Mon – 4/9 – scheduled off day
Tue – 4/10 – @ Cardinals – L 6-0
Wed – 4/11 – @ Cardinals – L 9-1
Thu – 4/12 – scheduled off day
Fri – 4/13 – vs Pirates – L 10-6 … Hodges 2-4; Landrith 1-2, 2 BB; Marshall 2-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI;
Sat – 4/14 – vs Pirates – L 9-6 … Ashburn 2-4, BB, RBI; Neal 2-4, 2B; Kanehl (PH) 2-2, BB;
Sun – 4/15 – vs Pirates (1) – L 9-1 … Mantilla 2-4, 3B; Hodges 2-4, 3B;
Sun – 4/15 – vs Pirates (2) – L 10-2 … Neal (PH) HR, RBI; Moford 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Labine 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Weekly record: 0-6
Weekly runs scored: 16-53
Power Rankings: 20th

AL Player of the Week: NYY CF/1B/RF Mickey Mantle (.643, 2 HR, 9 RBI)
NL Player of the Week: PIT 1B Donn Clendenon (.444, 1 HR, 7 RBI)

Plays of the Week

The first batter ever pitched to by somebody wearing a Mets hat was Minnie Minoso. He hit a home run to left.

After getting slaughtered in St. Louis, the Mets hosted the Pirates at the Polo Grounds on the weekend. Twice early on they had big, come-from-behind extra base hits to take a lead. Don Zimmer doubled in a pair in the second inning to take a 2-1 lead, and after that went bust, Jim Marshall hit a 3-run homer (the Mets’ first-ever homer) to right in the fourth, putting New York up 5-3. Gil Hodges and Hobie Landrith each scored on both plays. Then Jay Hook came apart with great noise and the Mets lost anyway.

Around the Leagues

April 10 – In the Colt .45s’ first ever game, SP Ken Johnson (1-0, 0.00 ERA) shuts out the Cubs on two hits and strikes out ten batters for a 2-0 victory.
April 11 – Dodgers CF Willie Davis (.500, 1 HR, 6 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 12-8 win at home against the Reds. The 21-year-old Davis has exactly four hits and drives in five runs in the showcase.
April 12 – WAS SP Dave Stenhouse (1-0, 0.00 ERA) shuts out the Tigers in a 5-0 win, whiffing six in going the distance.
April 13 – Orioles SP Steve Barber (1-0, 0.00 ERA) zips a no-hitter against the Red Sox, striking out eight against only one walk in a 7-0 win for Baltimore.
April 14 – Cubs 1B Ernie Banks (.391, 3 HR, 5 RBI) hits his 300th home run in a 9-5 defeat suffered at the hands of the Cardinals.
April 14 – The Tigers’ SP Jim Bunning (1-0, 2.08 ERA) spins a 2-hit shutout in a 3-0 win over the Yankees.
April 15 – NYY outfielder Mickey Mantle (.643, 2 HR, 9 RBI) pays back the Tigers by hitting for the cycle in a 14-2 blowout. He has four hits and drives in five runs.
April 15 – WAS SP Tom Cheney (1-0, 3.52 ERA) has two hits and 11 strikeouts in a 4-0 shutout of the Indians.

Reasons to resort to wining

First-ever Mets hit? Frank Thomas, a single. First walk drawn? Charlie Neal. First double play grounder? Hobie Landrith, right afterwards.

Scoring a run took taking to the field on day two, but then the Mets had their first-ever lead right in the first inning, with Richie Ashburn doubling off Larry Jackson and scoring on Gil Hodges’ single. That Wednesday game also turned out to be the first in which the Mets made four errors on defense. Al Jackson was charged with eight runs in five innings, six of which were unearned.

The first injury occurred on Saturday, when Roger Craig pitched to three batters before spraining an ankle. He’ll be out for two weeks. For a team that already has no pitching (or offense, or defense, or prospects, or hope, or luck) that’s already a terrible blow. In response to that injury, the Mets did their first-ever trade, sending 35-year-old catcher Joe Ginsberg, who had been on the 25-man roster, but had not appeared in a game, to the Red Sox for 26-year-old right-hander Galen Cisco, who had pitched to a 6.71 ERA for the ’61 Sox. As a bonus, the Mets got 19-year-old left-hander Billy MacLeod. Cisco and Ray Daviault were both added to the roster for the scheduled Sunday double-header.

Next week, more of these two teams that already murdered us this week. Also, a smattering of the fellow expansioneers, the Colt .45s.

[Westheim]

Week 2 (April 16-24 1962)

This week featured the first instance of wrap-around series ending on Monday. While my OCD would not be diagnosed until ’68, this irked me greatly even back then, to the extent to confuse the front office personnel and players around me. The players were more confused by *this* than by getting their heads beaten in to the tune of nine runs per game.

The Week That Was

Mon – Apr 16 – vs Colt .45s – L 7-3 … Neal (PH) 1-1;
Tue – Apr 17 – vs Colt .45s – L 5-4 … Mantilla 2-5, 2B; Ashburn 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Chacon 2-4, BB; Coleman 3-5, 2 RBI; Anderson 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K;
Wed – Apr 18 – vs Cardinals – L 10-2 … Zimmer 2-4; Christopher (PH) 1-1; Labine 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;
Thu – Apr 19 – vs Cardinals – W 6-5 … Ashburn 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Landrith 2-4, HR (4), 2 RBI; Marshall (PH) 1-1;
Fri – Apr 20 – off day
Sat – Apr 21 – @ Pirates – L 5-3 … Ashburn 0-1, 3 BB; Christopher (PH) 1-1, 3B, 2 RBI;
Sun – Apr 22 – @ Pirates – L 6-4 … Mantilla 2-5; Ashburn 3-5; Neal 2-4, RBI; Kanehl (PH) 1-1, 2B;
Mon – Apr 23 – @ Pirates – L 4-0 … Christopher (PH) 1-1; Thomas 2-4;

Weekly record: 1-6
Weekly runs scored: 22-42
Power Rankings: 20th (same)

AL Player of the Week: KC LF/RF Gino Cimoli (.459, 4 HR, 12 RBI), hitting .444 (8-18) with 3 HR, 9 RBI
NL Player of the Week: PHI OF/1B/3B Don Demeter (.327, 3 HR, 10 RBI), batting .440 (11-25) with 2 HR, 8 RBI

Plays of the Week

Still hunting for their first-ever victory, the Mets reduced a Bob Miller- and Sherman Jones-induced 5-1 deficit on Tuesday to 5-4 in the sixth inning, then had two runs on in the seventh, and a full set with two outs against Jim Umbricht in the eighth. Rod Kanehl, Richie Ashburn, and Jim Marshall had all reached by drawing a walk, and were now waiting on Charlie Neal to deliver the score-flipping knock – or at least hold out to draw another ball four. On 3-1, Neal poked, flew out, and the Mets lost their eighth out of eight attempts.

Thursday saw something entirely new for this ramshackle team – a *pitchers’ duel*! Al Jackson and Bob Gibson were holding court in a scoreless game through the middle of the fifth, with two hits for the Cards and one for the Mets. Out of the blue, Rod Kanehl opened the bottom 5th with a homer to left, giving the Mets their first lead of the week (…). Joe Christopher hit an infield single, and Hobie Landrith slugged another bomb to center to extend the lead to 3-0. The Cardinals then sent ten batters to the plate in the sixth, ravaged Jackson for five runs, including a game-tying 3-piece by Ken Boyer, and took it all away again.

That game saw the Mets 5-4 behind in the ninth inning against Lindy McDaniel. Jim Marshall had a pinch-hit single in Chacon’s place. With two outs Felix Mantilla walked, moving the tying run into scoring position for Richie Ashburn, who hit a 2-1 pitch into the gap in left-center. Marshall scored to stave off defeat, and Mantilla was sent around and scored to seal victory for the very first time! (wipes a tiny tear away)

Finally on Monday in Pittsburgh, the Mets were utterly dominated by Bob Friend, who was spotted four runs that the Pirates beat out of Bob Miller over five and two thirds. The shutout was one out from being completed when Joe Christopher landed a pinch-hit single. Frank Thomas found another hole for another single, and Friend walked Jim Marshall. Charlie Neal appeared as the tying run all of a sudden, batting all of .194. He grounded out on the first pitch.

Around the Leagues

April 19 – The Colt .45s beat the Cubs, 10-7. All of Houston’s runs score in the third inning against Don Cardwell (0-2, 7.71 ERA) and Cal Coonce (0-0, 6.75 ERA).
April 21 – CIN OF Vada Pinson (.289, 3 HR, 10 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 4-hit effort against the Giants. The Reds win, 10-6, with Pinson driving in the margin of victory himself.

Reasons to resort to wining

Ha-hah, stupid Cards. Lost a game to us!

Meanwhile, the Mets are a smooth 0-7 against the Pirates. Coincidentally, Pittsburgh is also where Dylan Wright is growing wine. I am dutifully telegramming him the daily details of defeat, although he could see for himself in person on the weekend…

A simultaneously drenched and parched pitching staff sent Ray Daviault into battle as a starter on Wednesday. He lasted two innings, pummeled for eight runs. His ERA is almost as high as his uniform number.

Injuries are no help here. Sherman Jones tweaked his shoulder on Saturday and would miss two weeks. He was shifted to the DL. Roger Craig, who had been expected back next weekend, would miss another week with the sprained ankle continuing to act up. Getting Craig back into the rotation would make that collection of misery almost replacement level worthy…!

Craig Anderson notched the team’s first-ever win in relief after nine straight defeats to begin the Mets’ existence. [This is the same as in real life, although in real life they went to 1-9 against the Pirates due an earlier rainout that did not occur here.]

Next week will allow the Reds and Phillies to beat up on the Metsies for the first time. In fact, the schedule gets a little unimaginative from here on out. It’s two weeks with the Reds and Phillies, then two weeks with nothing but the Cubs and Braves, then two weeks devoted exclusively to the west coast teams, casually lumping the Colts into the discussion here, too.

[Westheim]

Week 3 (April 24-29, 1962)

The Mets would play two in Cincinnati on the way home, lining up Al Jackson and Jay Hook for the occasion. Those two would also feature in a Sunday double-header at home against the Phillies, the last two of four games against the Phils.

How about setting a new team record and winning TWO games in a single week, boys?

The Week That Was

Tue – April 24 – @ Reds – W 7-5 (10) … Ashburn (PH) 2-2; Landrith 2-5; Marshall 2-4; Christopher (PH) 1-1, HR (1), 2 RBI; Hodges (PH) 1-1;
Wed – April 25 – @ Reds – W 4-3 … Mantilla 2-4, BB, RBI; Thomas (PH) 1-1, RBI; Marshall (PH) 1-2, BB, HR (2), RBI; Anderson 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (1);
Thu – April 26 – off day
Fri – April 27 – vs Phillies – L 3-0 … Foss 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;
Sat – April 28 – vs Phillies – W 4-3 … Mantilla 2-5, 2B; Hodges 2-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Kanehl 2-4, RBI; Landrith (PH) 1-1; Miller 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K, W (1-2) and 0-0, 2 BB, RBI;
Sun – April 29 – vs Phillies (1) – L 3-2 … Jackson 8.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K;
Sun – April 29 – vs Phillies (2) – L 9-8 … Mantilla 2-3, 2 RBI; Christopher 2-5, RBI; Marshall 2-5, 2 RBI;

Weekly record: 3-3
Weekly runs scored: 25-26
Power Rankings: 20th (same)

AL Player of the Week: NYY RF/CF Roger Maris (.369, 4 HR, 19 RBI), hitting .478 (11-23) with 2 HR, 11 RBI
NL Player of the Week: PIT SS Johnny Logan (.405, 5 HR, 16 RBI), hitting .600 (15-25) with 3 HR, 7 RBI

Plays of the Week

On Tuesday, Al Jackson 2-hits the Reds through five innings and drives in one run for a 2-0 lead, then implodes for a 4-spot in the sixth. The Mets trail until Joe Christopher lifts them with a 2-out, 2-run home run in the ninth inning off Jim Brosnan, then break that tie in their first-ever overtime contest when Felix Mantilla hits another 2-run home run to left. Another run is cobbled together and Bob Moorhead is tasked with getting three outs. Vada Pinson doubles, Cookie Rojas singles. Moorhead gets Frank Robinson for the second out, but plates a run with a wild pitch, 7-5, then loads the bases by hitting both Wally Post and Marty Keough. After a few choice words from Casey Stengel he remains in to face right-handed catcher Hank Foiles, who pops out on the first pitch. Ken MacKenzie wins in relief.

Bob Miller lasts only six innings on Saturday, but does not allow a run and instead draws a bases-loaded walk off Dennis Bennett to push home the game’s first run in what eventually becomes a 4-3 win and the first Mets win actually claimed by a starting pitcher. Bennett walks seven in his first start of the year and winds up the loser.

The first leg of the Sunday double-header sees Al Jackson hold the Phillies to five hits and no runs through seven while leading 2-0 on homers by Jim Marshall and Choo Choo Coleman before it all goes wrong. Ted Savage, Tony Gonzalez, Frank Torre, and Tony Taylor all clip Jackson for singles and two runs before Sammy White grounds to short with two outs, and Elio Chacon flubs that ball, too. Jackson faces Bobby Wine with three on and two outs and escapes on a groundout. Jackson gets another no-decision while Bob Moorhead gets the L after being taken deep by Clay Dalrymple in the ninth.

Around the Leagues

April 27 – NYY SP Whitey Ford (2-1, 1.82 ERA) throws a PERFECT GAME with seven strikeouts against the Senators in Washington. The Yankees win 2-0, with Tom Tresh (.256, 2 HR, 3 RBI) providing a home run. Although the Senators go 27 up, 27 down, the game takes quite long at two hours and 14 minutes.
April 27 – The Red Sox wrestle down the White Sox, 2-1 in 19 innings. In five-and-a-half hours, both teams use an unheard of 12 pitchers between them.
April 28 – SF INF Jim Davenport (.323, 0 HR, 8 RBI) smacks five hits in the Giants’ 17-0 rout of the Cubs. Davenport hits a triple and four singles and drives in two runs in the effort.

Reasons to resort to wining

Blink once, and the Mets have a winning streak! Both the wins in Cincy were comebacks in the late innings. Clem Labine was the winner on Wednesday, with Jay Hook having been chewed up after six innings.

I must say, the rotation is a bit of a problem. If only we could get Roger Craig back and if Jay Hook found his jazz, then we might actually push for .500 here.

Speaking of injuries, Larry Foss made his Mets debut on Friday in relief of an as-always overwhelmed Galen Cisco, and logged seven outs until his shoulder barked and he had to leave the ballgame. He was day-to-day with soreness.

Also, Herb Moford did not pitch at all this week. He suffered some minor injuries while, uhm, burning stuff on his lot. We can’t give that out to the press. – Mildred? – Mildred! (rings a tiny bell annoyingly) Mildred, time for dictation. – Yes. – Press release, the New York Mets. Herb Moford, superb reliever for the … aforementioned… uh, well, what we mentioned before. Uh. Now, Mildred, where were we? – Oh yes. … Suffered a stubbed toe today during a hard workout. He will miss uh… this and this long. Anything else? – Mildred, I wished, you would put out the cigarette before you come into my office.

Desperate for pitching of any kind, the Mets went out on Friday night and traded INF Don Zimmer to the Red Sox for SP Tracy Stallard (0-2, 8.80 ERA) and left-handed relief man Arnold Earley*. Zimmer hit .273 for the Mets in five games and we’re sure he’ll have a great Red Sox future ahead of him. – Yes, write that, Mildred.

With all the injuries the Mets carried 12 pitchers by week’s end, like a circus. We’ll trim it down on Monday.

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*That’s the first non-Met that gets aboard here. These Mets can’t be choosers though, especially when four guys on a 13-man staff are injured at once. Meanwhile, Stallard did not come to the Mets until 1963, with Pumpsie Green, for Felix Mantilla. Can’t wait that long here.

[Westheim]

Week 4 (April 30-May 6, 1962)

The Week That Was

Mon – April 30 – off day
Tue – May 1 – vs Reds – W 6-5 … Ashburn 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Marshall 3-5; Landrith 1-2, 3 BB; Kanehl 2-4; Daviault 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-1);
Wed – May 2 – vs Reds – L 6-5 … Hodges 3-5, 2 2B; Kanehl 3-4, 3 RBI; Coleman 2-4, 2 RBI; Drake (PH) 2-3;
Thu – May 3 – off day
Fri – May 4 – @ Phillies – L 3-2 … Marshall (PH) 1-1;
Sat – May 5 – @ Phillies – W 6-5 (14) … Mantilla 3-6, BB; Ashburn 2-7, HR (1), 3 RBI; Chacon 2-4; Earley 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Anderson 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (2-0);
Sun – May 6 – @ Phillies (1) – L 10-2 … Mantilla 2-4, HR (2), RBI;
Sun – May 6 – @ Phillies (2) – W 10-3 … Kanehl 3-5, BB, 3 RBI; Ashburn 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Landrith 2-5; Hickman 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Moford 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Weekly record: 3-3
Weekly runs scored: 31-32
Power Rankings: 19th (+1)

AL Player of the Week: CLE OF Al Luplow (.258, 4 HR, 7 RBI), hitting .522 (12-23) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
NL Player of the Week: SF 1B/LF Orlando Cepeda (.400, 5 HR, 16 RBI), hitting .484 (15-31) with 3 HR, 7 RBI

AL Hitter of the Month: KC 1B/LF Deron Johnson (.435, 6 HR, 17 RBI)
NL Hitter of the Month: SF 1B/LF Willie McCovey (.419, 4 HR, 17 RBI)
AL Pitcher of the Month: MIN SP Camilo Pascual (4-0, 1.98 ERA)
NL Pitcher of the Month: LAD SP Sandy Koufax (6-0, 1.85 ERA)
AL Rookie of the Month: NYY SP Al Downing (2-1, 2.70 ERA)
NL Rookie of the Month: SF SP Gaylord Perry (3-1, 3.89 ERA)

Plays of the Week

Tuesday’s win over the Reds occurred despite the Mets having three aboard and nobody out twice against out-of-control Jim Maloney, and scored no runs from the situations, not once, but twice hitting into 9-2 double plays, with Jim Marshall being thrown out at home the first time, and Rod Kanehl the second time. Tommy Harper was the source of strong-armed evil on the Reds’ side. It was a late 3-run homer by Gil Hodges that flipped the score and made Ray Daviault, pitching in relief of a habitually crummy Galen Cisco, a winner.

Richie Ashburn is The Man on Saturday, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead in the first with his first home run of the season (a lead that Jay Hook soon gets rid of), and when the game goes to extra innings he twice saves the Mets’ bum pitchers on defense. Clem Labine, having blown an 11th-inning lead, has the winning run for Philly stranded when Ashburn tracks down a Don Demeter drive in deep center. In the 14th, Ashburn catches a Tony Gonzalez fly with the tying run in Sammy White on third base against Anderson. White goes for home, is thrown out on a mighty rocket launch by Ashburn, and the Mets squeak out a win.

Around the Leagues

May 3 – Ruptured finger tendons will put STL 2B/LF Red Schoendienst (.300, 2 HR, 15 RBI) out of action until the fall.
May 3 – STL C Carl Sawatski (.345, 3 HR, 3 RBI) gets his first three RBI of the season with three home runs over the Colt .45s at Sportman’s Park. The Cardinals win 6-4.
May 5 – CHC SP Glen Hobbie (2-2, 4.54 ERA) 3-hits the Giants in a 6-0 Cubbie shutout.
May 6 – Cleveland 3B/LF/CF Bubba Phillips (.284, 1 HR, 9 RBI) has five hits and 7 RBI in a 21-1 teardown of the Athletics.

Reasons to resort to wining

On Tuesday, the Mets became a ninth-place team! By going 3-0 against the Reds, the 5-15 Mets passed the 5-17 Cubs at the mucky bottom of the National League. The magic somehow lasted to the end of the week, with the Cubs half a game behind the Mets by Sunday night.

Well, they’d have a chance to right that problem for themselves the next two weeks.

The injury plague meanwhile continued, with Bob Miller lasting two innings (and being whacked around for three runs) by the Reds on Wednesday before leaving the game with an abdominal strain that turned out to be mild. His pitching however had been fatal and I duly reported another L to ownership. At least Roger Craig finally shook off the ankle sprain and returned for duty in time for the double header on Sunday. He started the first game, and was blown out for eight runs (six earned) in a pitching *and* defense meltdown.

Seriously, the Mets need a shortstop quite badly. Elio Chacon’s uniform is dirty every day, but he never catches a baseball.

I wish we had better ways to measure defensive efficiency but the eyeball test…

In real life, the Cubs parked it at 59-103 that year, setting the mark for the worst record of an established franchise in an expansion year later matched, but not exceeded, in 1993 by the … Mets.

[Westheim]

Week 5 (May 7-13, 1962)

All the Mets wished for was a somewhat normal run through the rotation this week. While there was already a Saturday double-header on the horizon to throw a spanner in the gears, the goal remained to find some steady starting pitching, starting with Little Al Jackson, and then trim the bloated pitching staff back down to 10 guys.

The Week That Was

Mon – May 7 – off day
Tue – May 8 – @ Cubs – L 10-3 … Hodges 2-4, 2B, RBI;
Wed – May 9 – @ Cubs – L 3-2 … Christopher 2-4, 3B; Thomas 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Neal 2-4, 2B, RBI; Hook 8.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, L (0-4);
Thu – May 10 – @ Cubs – L 3-2 … Marshall 2-4, HR (4), RBI; Thomas 3-4; Christopher (PH) 1-1;
Fri – May 11 – vs Braves – L 12-3 … Mantilla 2-5, HR (3), 2 RBI; Drake (PH) 1-1; Christopher 2-5, 3B, RBI; Hodges 2-4; Neal 2-3, BB, 3B;
Sat – May 12 – vs Braves (1) – L 6-4 … Mantilla 2-3, HR (4), 2B, 2 RBI;
Sat – May 12 – vs Braves (2) – L 3-2 … Marshall 2-3, BB, HR (5), RBI; Drake 3-4, RBI;
Sun – May 13 – vs Braves – L 11-9 … Mantilla 2-3, 2 BB, HR, (5), 4 RBI; Christopher 3-5; Hodges 2-5, 2 HR (4), 4 RBI; Bouchee (PH) 1-1;

Weekly record: 0-7
Weekly runs scored: 25-48
Power Rankings: 20th (-1)

AL Player of the Week: CWS RF/LF Floyd Robinson (.333, 5 HR, 30 RBI), hitting .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 9 RBI
NL Player of the Week: SF CF Willie Mays (.320, 7 HR, 20 RBI), batting .417 (10-24) with 4 HR, 8 RBI

Plays of the Week

After a tight fight on Wednesday that saw the Cubs go up 1-0 early before the Mets tied the game in the sixth, doubles by Frank Thomas and Charlie Neal broke the tie for a steady Jay Hook in the ninth inning. Hook had allowed only two base hits to the Cubs through eight innings, but was taken deep by Ron Santo to begin the bottom 9th and never retired another batter, running into a walkoff loss.

Tough to say where Friday’s blowout went wrong. Was it Tracy Stallard getting bombed for three home runs in the first two innings? Was it Craig Anderson relieving him in the seventh and retiring nobody before leaving with an injury? Was it the six singles off Bob Moorhead, including the three infield singles, or the two errors on top of that that made all but two of the Braves’ seven runs in the inning unearned?

Sunday the Mets held a 9-6 lead after some choice offense by Mantilla and Hodges, but had run out of pitching after Jay Hook was habitually incinerated for six runs once more. It was on Craig Anderson to pitch the final two innings without giving up three runs. He gave up three runs in the eighth, then two more in the ninth.

Around the Leagues

May 7 – A torn rotator cuff ends the season of BOS SP Bill Monbouquette (4-1, 2.96 ERA).
May 8 – Angels 1B/LF/RF Lee Thomas (.337, 4 HR, 18 RBI) drives in five runs on three hits from the leadoff spot in a 12-11 shootout win over the Tigers.

Reasons to resort to wining

Casey Stengel has been in baseball since just after the Civil War, but more and more I find him in my office, sitting in the squeaky yellow wing chair with a medium-sized drink, and muttering to himself that this is the worst team he’s ever seen. And he’s seen many!

The Mets have now played against seven other NL teams (missing the Dodgers and Giants yet), and managed to win *a* game against only three of them. The Mets played seven games this week, and lost all of them. They played four games at home against the Braves, and held a lead in them for a grand total of three innings, all on Sunday.

Suffice to say, it was not a good week.

Richie Ashburn jammed his thumb on a catch on Wednesday and hit the DL for that, but might be fine before the month is over. OF Gus Bell was called up to take his spot, started on Thursday right away, and dropped the first baseball in his direction for an error in the fourth inning, which somehow didn’t unhorse Roger Craig right away. (Craig managed to have no problems losing on his own, on a George Altman homer in the sixth)

What good is there to say about the team?

(crickets)

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The Mets played SO BADLY, they even crashed the OOTP forums again!

[Westheim]

Week 6 (May 14-20, 1962)

Modest goals: don’t get romped for another full week? Unfortunately, the opposition would be the same as in the previous 0-7 week: two with the Cubs, surrounded by off days, then a 4-game set with a Sunday double-header in Milwaukee.

The Week That Was

Mon – May 14 – off day
Tue – May 15 – vs Cubs – L 12-8 … Mantilla 2-5, 2 RBI; Landrith 4-5, RBI; Marshall 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Hodges 2-5, HR (5), 3 RBI; Chacon 3-4, 2B;
Wed – May 16 – vs Cubs – L 7-3 … Bouchee 1-1; Bell (PH) 2-2, RBI; Earley 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Miller 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;
Thu – May 17 – off day
Fri – May 18 – @ Braves – W 4-3 … Hodges 2-4, HR (6), RBI; Thomas 3-3, HR (2), 2B, 2 RBI; Hook 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, W (1-4) [sic!]; Labine 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K, SV (2);
Sat – May 19 – @ Braves – W 7-3 … Mantilla 2-4; Hodges 2-4, BB, RBI; Thomas 2-5, 2 HR (4), 5 RBI;
Sun – May 20 – @ Braves (1) – L 6-5 (12) … Landrith 2-5, BB, HR (6), 3 RBI; MacKenzie 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;
Sun – May 20 – @ Braves (2) – L 4-3 … Thomas 3-4, 2 2B, RBI;

Weekly record: 2-4
Weekly runs scored: 30-35
Power Rankings: 20th (same)

AL Player of the Week: NYY SP Jim Bouton (4-0, 0.50 ERA), pitching two shutouts (2-0, 0.00 ERA) with 10 K
NL Player of the Week: NYM LF/1B/3B Frank Thomas (.254, 4 HR, 15 RBI), hitting .409 (9-22) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

Plays of the Week

Frank Thomas finding his stick in general was a pretty good sign, with three home runs in those two Milwaukee wins being absolutely crucial. They all either tied the game (both days) or provided the Mets with a lead they wouldn’t surrender (Saturday).

Around the Leagues

May 19 – CWS SP Gary Peters (3-1, 2.79 ERA) will be shut down for two months to cure a persistently sore shoulder.
May 20 – NYY SP Jim Bouton (4-0, 0.50 ERA) 2-hits the Twins in a 7-0 shutout, striking out six Twinkies.
May 20 – Cardinals SP Larry Jackson (4-5, 3.51 ERA) allows only three hits in a 5-0 shutout of the Dodgers.
May 20 – Braves 2B Frank Bolling (.238, 7 HR, 21 RBI) might miss up to four months with ruptured finger tendons.

Reasons to resort to wining

The Cubs don’t look all that great in general. But they’re now 5-0 against the Mets, with both Roger Craig and Al Jackson blown out during the week, when they got stuffed for a combined 11 runs (8 earned) in 10 innings pitched. Those two both pitched on Sunday, too, and somehow they never pitch in a game that the Mets win. Even Tracy Stallard picked up a win this week!

Tracy Stallard!

The Mets are on a 4-city roadtrip now that will take them through to the West Coast by Wednesday. Playing 12 games in 10 days is also a challenge… It’s the first of three trips to California, the other following in June/July and August. If the Mets win five games total against the Dodgers and Giants, that would probably already be a lot.

Due to the natures of scheduling with travel time etc., the Mets will play the Dodgers and Giants in tandem even when they come to visit in New York, which they callously deserted just five years ago. Those sets will always follow one or two weeks after the Mets were out west. In fact, starting on Wednesday, we’ll play 13 straight against the Dodgers and Giants.

That could hurt.

The Mets made another trade this week, acquiring SS Jim Mahoney from the Indians for 1B Rick Herrscher. Neither guy had appeared in the majors this year yet. We were hoping to plug the gaping hole up the middle that was Elio Chacon, who had a good chance of making more errors than starting double plays. The score on that was 9-13 at the time of the trade on Saturday. Mahoney took the roster spot of Jim Hickman, while the Mets also brought in Harry Chiti from the reserves over backup catcher Choo Choo Coleman.

[Westheim]

Week 7 (May 21-27, 1962)

West Coast road trip. Best to fear the worst.

The Week That Was

Mon – May 21 – @ Colt .45s – L 5-1
Tue – May 22 – @ Colt .45s – L 1-0 … Neal 2-3, BB, 2B; Hook 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, L (1-5);
Wed – May 23 – @ Dodgers – L 10-3 … Marshall 2-4, 2B; Hodges 2-4, RBI; Thomas 2-4; Landrith 2-4, RBI;
Thu – May 24 – @ Dodgers – W 7-3 … Kanehl 2-5, 2B; Hodges 3-3, 2 BB, 2 HR (9), 2B, 5 RBI; Chacon 2-4, RBI; Craig 8.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (1-4);
Fri – May 25 – @ Dodgers – W 5-1 … Mahoney 3-4, 2 RBI; Jackson 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-7);
Sat – May 26 – @ Giants – L 13-6 … Hodges 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Thomas 2-4, RBI; Bouchee (PH) 1-1, RBI;
Sun – May 27 – @ Giants (1) – L 7-6 … Ashburn 2-4, BB; Landrith 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI;
Sun – May 27 – @ Giants (2) – L 2-0 … Stallard 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, L (2-4) and 1-2;

Weekly record: 2-6
Weekly runs scored: 28-42
Power Rankings: 20th (same)

AL Player of the Week: LAA INF Jim Fregosi (.364, 4 HR, 18 RBI), batting .481 (13-27) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
NL Player of the Week: STL CF Curt Flood (.387, 5 HR, 23 RBI), hitting .533 (16-30) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Plays of the Week

Dick Gernert’s leadoff jack in the second inning on Tuesday was all the offense in a particularly sad loss for the Mets, who had leadoff doubles by Neal and Kanehl in different innings and never got them around to score.

On Thursday in LA the Mets scored four runs in their first five batters against Johnny Podres. Mantilla, Kanehl, and Christopher all reached to begin the game, followed by Gil Hodges’ bases-clearing shot into the left corner. Hodges scored on Frank Thomas’ sac fly, then tacked on two solo home runs for cushion, giving Roger Craig his first Mets win.

New arrival Don Larsen (more on that below) and Gaylord Perry have a decent duel going in the first leg of the double-header on Sunday, 1-1 through five, before the Mets break through for a 4-run sixth. The Giants immediately reverse everything – Larsen retires nobody in the bottom 6th, and ends up charged with five runs in the Mets’ 6-run meltdown between him and Craig Anderson.

Around the Leagues

May 21 – San Francisco 1B/LF Orlando Cepeda (.416, 7 HR, 28 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak following a ninth-inning single in a 3-2 win over the Dodgers.
May 22 – The Giants win another 3-2 decision from the Dodgers, but Orlando Cepeda (.409, 7 HR, 28 RBI) goes empty, 0-for-3, and has his hitting streak end.
May 24 – BAL SP Milt Pappas (2-5, 3.95 ERA) is out for the season with some weird elbow injury they may or may not be able to fix until next year.
May 25 – PIT SP Tom Sturdivant (5-2, 3.21 ERA) allows only one hit in a 4-0 shutout of the Colt .45s. 1B/LF Dick Gernert (.250, 5 HR, 18 RBI) spares his team getting no-hit for the first time.
May 25 – SF SP Juan Marichal (4-4, 4.94 ERA) hangs the Phillies out to dry, allowing three hits in a 4-0 shutout.
May 25 – LAA INF Jim Fregosi (.365, 4 HR, 18 RBI) drives in five runs on five hits and misses the cycle by the triple in a 13-1 whooping over the A’s.
May 25 – Rookie Pirates 1B/LF Willie Stargell (.327, 6 HR, 19 RBI) will have to sit out a month with a torn quad.
May 27 – The Angels beat the Athletics, 18-12, making up a 6-run deficit with a 12-run eighth inning.

Reasons to resort to wining

That Fregosi kid looks like the real deal. I wonder how the Mets can get a player like that.

Alright. Bright sides. Well, nobody got killed, first of all. Everybody made it back to New York fine. Well, one exception…

When we hit Candlestick on Saturday, the Giants right away offered us Don Larsen, he of the perfect game. Now, it’s six years on and he’s pretty scuffed around the edges, and probably the least sparkling pitcher they have on staff. And they were in a real urge to get him out of town, because they wanted nothing more than Elio Chacon for his services. Parting with a .172 hitter with gruesome defense was not something that came hard to the Mets. They even let us use him on Sunday right away!

And then they allowed three runs or less in half of their eight games and still only won half of those… I am slightly concerned by this team’s penchant to hug the .250 mark.

There were also some pointless transactions this week, like sending .222 hitter Sammy Drake back to the reserves for Jim Hickman, who had had some time to think about his own .148 average there. Gus Bell went back on the shelf when Richie Ashburn was activated from the DL on Friday. Charlie Neal missed the last bunch of games of the week with a sore shoulder, but should soon be good.

Next week will bring more of the Dodgers and Giants at home, but will actually begin with two days off for travel and licking wounds. After that the schedule will become a bit more colorful, with five different teams up in the next seven series, after which another trip to the West Coast will be upon these poor Metsies.

[splat58]

"That Fregosi kid looks like the real deal. I wonder how the Mets can get a player like that"

Hilarious!

[Westheim]

Week 8 (May 28-June 3, 1962)

After getting swept out of San Francisco, the Mets would not lose a game for at least two days … by virtue of having *two* days off until the Dodgers came to New York for three games in two days, opening with a Decoration Day double-header. The Metsies started the week by sending Sherman Jones to the reserves, bringing back another infielder in Sammy Drake.

The Week That Was

Mon – May 28 – off day
Tue – May 29 – off day
Wed – May 30 – vs Dodgers (1) – W 5-3 … Ashburn 2-4; Landrith 1-2, 2 BB, HR (7), 4 RBI; Craig 8.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (2-4);
Wed – May 30 – vs Dodgers (2) – L 4-0 … Bouchee (PH) 1-1; Mahoney 2-3, 2B; Hickman (PH) 1-1;
Thu – May 31 – vs Dodgers – L 15-6 … Mantilla 2-5; Marshall 2-5, HR (7), 2 RBI; Hodges 2-4, HR (10), RBI; Thomas 2-4, HR (5), 2 RBI;
Fri – June 1 – vs Giants – W 7-5 … Mantilla 2-4; Marshall 2-4, BB, 2 HR (9), 2 RBI; Hodges 2-2, 2 BB, RBI;
Sat – June 2 – vs Giants (1) – L 19-7 … Mantilla 2-5; Marshall 2-5, RBI; Thomas 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI;
Sat – June 2 – vs Giants (2) – L 8-1
Sun – June 3 – vs Giants – W 6-2 … Mantilla 2-4, 2 RBI; Neal 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Hickman 2-3, BB; Mahoney 0-1, BB, 2 RBI; Craig 7.0 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (3-4) and 1-2; Labine 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Weekly record: 3-4
Weekly runs scored: 32-56
Power Rankings: 20th (same)

AL Player of the Week: NYY CF/1B/RF Mickey Mantle (.342, 13 HR, 35 RBI), batting .500 (12-24) with 3 HR, 11 RBI
NL Player of the Week: HOU 1B/LF Norm Larker (.293, 4 HR, 14 RBI), hitting .684 (13-19) with 2 HR, 7 RBI

AL Hitter of the Month: NYY CF/1B/RF Mickey Mantle (.340, 13 HR, 35 RBI), hitting .333 with 11 HR, 24 RBI
NL Hitter of the Month: SF 1B/LF Orlando Cepeda (.406, 12 HR, 40 RBI), hitting .444 with 8 HR, 27 RBI
AL Pitcher of the Month: BAL SP Steve Barber (9-1, 2.30 ERA), tossing for 7-0, 1.47 ERA, 43 K
NL Pitcher of the Month: LAD SP Don Drysdale (11-1, 2.75 ERA), pitching to 7-1, 2.38 ERA, 40 K
AL Rookie of the Month: NYY SP Jim Bouton (6-0, 0.68 ERA), pitching to 6-0, 0.69 ERA, 38 K
NL Rookie of the Month: SF SP Gaylord Perry (8-2, 3.13 ERA), hurling for 5-1, 2.61 ERA, 28 K

Plays of the Week

Roger Craig doesn’t exactly dominate the Dodgers to open the week, but has a 3-hitter going into the ninth inning before the Dodgers start taking him apart. Ken McMullen hits an RBI triple, then scores, and the Mets, who had to play two double-headers in four days and have no extended interest in extra innings, send in Arnold Earley to get the final out, which he does. There is nothing to win in the second game of the double-header, though, with Sandy Koufax striking out seven and allowing just five hits.

Medals should be given out for just making it through the week, which saw its highlight on Saturday, when the Mets took an early 3-0 lead before Al Jackson was torn to shreds for six runs in four innings, and the already battered bullpen was disemboweled for another 13 runs in five innings. And that was only the FIRST game of the double header. Tracy Stallard played hero in the second game, getting whacked around for eight runs (six unearned…!) in eight innings.

Around the Leagues

May 28 – NYY CF/1B/RF Mickey Mantle (.326, 12 HR, 31 RBI) hits two home runs and drives in seven runs in an 18-2 demolition of the Athletics.
May 29 – Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend (7-4, 3.29 ERA) spins a 4-hit shutout against the Cardinals, who are beaten 1-0 on a home run by PIT RF Roberto Clemente (.283, 2 HR, 13 RBI).
May 29 – The Twins beat the Red Sox, 5-4 in 15 innings, with three 15th-inning singles off BOS MR Jim Bronstad (0-1, 7.36 ERA, 1 SV).
May 30 – The Senators and Athletics split their Decoration Day double-header, with KC winning 6-5 in the first game, while Washington wins the second game, 26-9. WAS C Bob Schmidt (.237, 1 HR, 6 RBI) enters the game in the fourth inning, but has enough time to go 3-for-5.
June 1 – Twins SS/3B Zoilo Versalles (.292, 4 HR, 29 RBI) lands six base hits and drives in five runs in a 21-4 onslaught against the Senators.
June 2 – LAD RF/CF Duke Snider (.336, 5 HR, 28 RBI) has his 2,000th base hit in a 7-5 win over the Phillies.

Reasons to resort to wining

Sometimes you’re just glad when it’s over.

So while the Mets went 3-4 this week, they keep putting up football scores, especially when on the losing side. Saturday was ghastly. There was nobody left to pitch by the second game, we were very close to just forfeiting. Stallard, though undermined by two errors that made a pair of 2-out, 3-run homers by Willie McCovey unearned, was terrible, but at least went eight and Arnold Earley was good for another inning.

Thankfully we have Monday and Thursday off now, and no double-headers until the 17th. But then we have two double-headers in eight days…

The Mets go on the road for a while now, visiting Philly for two, Chicago for three, and Houston for four games. When we’re back home, we’ll also play three sets, while exchanging the Phillies for the Braves and keeping the other two. The month will end with a road trip that starts in Pittsburgh and leads to the Pacific.

In other roster moves, catcher Harry Chiti was sent to the reserves after going 0-for-17. I would trade him, but you can probably barely trade that guy for himself…

Anything else to say? Mr. Met, you got anything else? – (Mr. Met covers his eyes with his hands, shaking his head) – Exactly.

[Westheim]

Week 9 (June 4-10, 1962)

The week began with Bob L. Miller (1-3, 5.31 ERA) being traded to the Reds for RF/3B Cliff Cook (1-fo-3) and right-hander Dave Hillman, who had not appeared in the majors yet this season. Sammy Drake, batting .205, was sent back to the reserves, while Cook and Hillman joined the active roster.

Both of the new arrivals did make it to the 1962 Mets in real life too. The Reds started the deal offering Cook for Charlie Neal. In real life, the Mets traded Don Zimmer for Cook and Bob G. Miller. Yeah right, the Mets had not one, but TWO Bob Millers no their roster, and still didn’t win more than one in four!

The Week That Was

Mon – June 4 – off day
Tue – June 5 – @ Phillies – L 2-1 … Thomas 3-4, HR (6), RBI; Hook 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, L (2-7);
Wed – June 6 – @ Phillies – L 8-6 … Thomas 2-4, HR (7), RBI; Christopher 2-4, 2B; Neal 3-4, 2 RBI;
Thu – June 7 – off day
Fri – June 8 – @ Cubs – W 3-2 … Mantilla 3-5, HR (6), RBI; Hodges 2-3, RBI; Thomas 2-4, 2B; Craig 9.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (4-4) and 1-3;
Sat – June 9 – @ Cubs – W 3-0 … Mahoney 2-4, HR (1), 2B, 2 RBI; Stallard 8.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 6 K, W (3-5);
Sun – June 10 – @ Cubs – W 9-6 … Mantilla 5-5, BB, HR (7), 3 RBI; Ashburn 3-5, BB; Hodges 2-5, RBI; Thomas 2-6, RBI; Mahoney 1-2, RBI; Larsen 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-2);

Weekly record: 3-2
Weekly runs scored: 22-18
Power Rankings: 18th (+2)

AL Player of the Week: LAA LF/RF Leon Wagner (.277, 15 HR, 43 RBI), hitting .500 (10-20) with 4 HR, 10 RBI
NL Player of the Week: PHI OF/1B/3B Don Demeter (.323, 12 HR, 41 RBI), batting .536 (15-28) with 3 HR, 6 RBI

Plays of the Week

A solo home run by Frank Thomas is all that’s on the board on Tuesday when the Mets’ Jay Hook allows singles to Frank Torre and Tony Gonzalez to bring runners to the corners in the bottom of the eighth. Casey Stengel judges the kid to still have something in him, then sees him ring up Don Demeter to strand the tying and go-ahead runs. Then Hook walks Roy Sievers and allows a single to Clay Dalrymple in the ninth, and Clem Labine makes it another loss by giving up singles to pinch-hitters Ted Savage and Jimmie Coker.

Supported by a Felix Mantilla home run and a sac fly that Gil Hodges hit, Roger Craig came remarkably close to half a no-hitter on Friday, not conceding a base knock to the Cubbies until Ron Santo snapped a single with one out in the fifth inning. He then keeps 1-hitting the Cubs until Sammy Taylor and Ken Hubbs, of all people, hit back-to-back solo home runs in the eighth, cutting into a 3-0 lead, but that would be as close as they got, despite an Andre Rodgers single in the ninth inning.

Tracy Stallard did better on Saturday, *almost* pitching a shutout. He was one out away from it when the gas tank emptied and the engine sputtered and he walked three Cubs in a row. Arnold Earley came in with Bob Will pinch-hitting and got a strikeout to end the game with the tying runs aboard.

The sweep attempt on Sunday derails in a 4-run fourth inning for the Cubs, erasing an early 3-0 Mets lead. The Cubs hold a 6-5 lead in the ninth with Barney Schulz walking pinch-hitters Jim Marshall and Hobie Landrith. Jim Mahoney bats with two outs and singles home Marshall with the tying run, and right-hander Cal Koonce, upon replacing Schulz, concedes the go-ahead run on a Felix Mantilla single. Richie Ashburn walks in a full count and Gil Hodges is down 1-2, then grounds a ball to Ron Santo, who throws it away for two runs. The inning ends with Frank Thomas flying out.

Around the Leagues

June 7 – Rookie NYY SP Jim Bouton (8-0, 0.89 ERA) continues his run of dominance, 4-hitting the Indians in a 6-0 shutout.
June 7 – Cardinals CF Curt Flood (.372, 6 HR, 31 RBI) has a single in a 2-1 loss to the Reds, chaining together a 20-game hitting streak.
June 7 – Also with a 20-game hitting streak: Angels 1B/LF/RF Lee Thomas (.344, 7 HR, 32 RBI), who hits a single in a 2-0 loss to the White Sox.
June 9 – The hitting streak of STL CF Curt Flood (.366, 6 HR, 35 RBI) ends first; while the Cards beat the Giants, 4-2, Flood goes 0-for-4 after 21 games of always landing a hit.
June 10 – While the Angels destroy the Athletics, 15-2, they do so without any help from Lee Thomas (.344, 8 HR, 37 RBI), who goes hitless to end his streak at 23 games.

Reasons to resort to wining

None. Best ever week for this franchise! No notes. Just keep winning games.

[Westheim]

Week 10 (June 11-17, 1962)

The Week That Was

Mon – June 11 – @ Colt .45s – L 5-0 … Ashburn 2-4;
Tue – June 12 – @ Colt .45s – W 3-2 … Ashburn 2-5; Thomas 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Kanehl 2-4, RBI; Craig 9.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (5-4) and 1-3, BB, RBI;
Wed – June 13 – @ Colt .45s – L 4-1 … Christopher (PH) 1-1, HR (9), RBI;
Thu – June 14 – @ Colt .45s – L 6-2
Fri – June 15 – vs Cubs – W 5-1 … Mantilla 2-5, 2 RBI; Ashburn 3-5, 3B; Hickman 2-4, 3B, RBI; Mahoney 2-4, RBI; Jackson 9.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (2-9);
Sat – June 16 – vs Cubs – W 3-1 … Cannizzaro 1-2, 2 BB; Craig 9.0 IP, 10 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (6-4);
Sun – June 17 – vs Cubs (1) – W 3-2 (10) … Mantilla 2-5, RBI; Cannizzaro 2-4, RBI; Cook 2-4; Stallard 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K;
Sun – June 17 – vs Cubs (2) – W 14-13 … Hodges 2-4, 2 BB, 2 HR (13), 4 RBI; Hickman 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Landrith 3-4, BB, 2 RBI; Mahoney 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Bouchee (PH) 1-1, HR (1), 2 RBI; Hillman 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (2-0);

Weekly record: 5-3
Weekly runs scored: 31-34
Power Rankings: 16th (+2)

AL Player of the Week: NYY 1B Bill Skowron (.296, 13 HR, 50 RBI), hitting .406 (13-32) with 5 HR, 9 RBI
NL Player of the Week: STL CF/3B Ken Boyer (.320, 19 HR, 64 RBI), batting .409 (9-22) with 5 HR, 9 RBI

Plays of the Week

Norm Larker grounded out to Kanehl at second base to end Tuesday’s game a 3-2 win for the Mets. Roger Craig went the distance on a 5-hitter, shedding only a 2-run homer to Don Buddin, and raised his record to 5-4. A Met with a winning record was truly a sight to behold!

Craig moved to 6-4 on Friday against hapless Cubs, despite being poked around for ten hits. The Mets only landed two hits themselves, singles by Cannizzaro and Mantilla. The Cubs added four walks and two errors, and somehow that was enough to win a ballgame.

Sunday saw the third squeaky win against the Cubs in the series in the first leg of the double-header (which made it six in a row in total), then Don Larsen retiring barely anybody and being yanked in a 5-run first inning still in progress. Despite the early beating, the Mets managed to equalize the score by the fourth inning, tying the game at six on the second 2-run home run by Gil Hodges. When Galen Cisco was beaten up for four runs in the fifth inning, the Mets matched the beating against Cal Koonce in the bottom of the same inning (although Koonce’s runs were all unearned). The seventh-inning saw more pitchers’ mothers weep, with Bob Moorhead getting spanked for three runs, and the Cubs’ Jim Brewer blowing that 13-10 lead instantly, and getting on the losing side, too. Both Charlie Neal and Jim Mahoney had 2-RBI hits with one out, but the Mets had to waste an out on Dave Hillman, needing to somehow finish the nine innings after all, and Hillman would do that job decently fine, which was all the Mets could ask for anymore.

Around the Leagues

June 11 – Cardinals right-hander Ray Washburn (2-4, 2.81 ERA) 2-hits the Phillies in a 13-0 rout.
June 11 – Phillies starter Dennis Bennett (5-4, 3.17 ERA) has his season come to an end for something called a torn labrum.
June 14 – Cleveland LF/RF/1B Walt Bond (.304, 12 HR, 34 RBI) goes 4-for-6 and drives in five runs in the Indians’ 11-8 win over the Senators.

Reasons to resort to wining

The Cubs, huh?

Richie Ashburn found his 2,500th career hit on Sunday in the second game, you know, the one that went all madhouse after a full week with no offense. The old man is doing darn fine for a 35-year-old centerfielder and we hope we can keep him for a few more years.

Jim Marshall sprained his elbow on Wednesday, which will not hinder him much when it comes to batting, but he now throws like a seven-year-old girl. He was out of the lineup a couple of days after the injury occurred for evaluation. Given that he’s one of the few players on the team worth their weight in potatoes, the Mets are in even more trouble now than before. The potato situation got even worse on Sunday, when Bob Anderson broke Frank Thomas’ thumb with a pitch and he’ll be on the DL for the next month at least.

Craig Anderson (6.85 ERA) was removed to the reserves this week in favor of Galen Cisco (10.90 ERA), which didn’t sound like much of a win before Sunday either, but we’ve now seen Anderson walk enough opposing pitchers to get a different guy in for throwing batting practice to the opposition. Hence, Cisco.

[Westheim]

Week 11 (June 18-24, 1962)

Next upon the Mets, swimming on a 4-game winning streak (!) was another pair of home series in the single-single-double format, and against two teams they hadn’t won four games against yet if you tallied up all their wins against both, which added up to three.

Frank Thomas was placed on the DL to begin the week, with Gus Bell activated from the reserves.

The Week That Was

Mon – June 18 – vs Braves – L 12-8 … Hodges 2-3, 2 BB, 2 HR (15), 3 RBI; Landrith 2-5; Bouchee (PH) 1-1, 2B; Ashburn (PH) 1-1; Marshall (PH) 1-1, HR (10), 2 RBI; MacKenzie 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;
Tue – June 19 – vs Braves – L 5-2 … Hickman 2-4, 3B;
Wed – June 20 – vs Braves (1) – L 8-7 … Landrith 2-3, BB, HR (9), RBI; Neal 2-4; Mahoney 2-3, BB, HR (2), 3 RBI;
Wed – June 20 – vs Braves (2) – L 3-2 … Christopher 2-4, RBI; Cannizzaro 3-4; Mahoney 2-4, 2B, RBI;
Thu – June 21 – off day
Fri – June 22 – vs Colt .45s – L 8-2 … Mantilla 3-5, 2B, RBI; Marshall 2-5; Kanehl 2-4, 2B; Hickman 2-4, 2B;
Sat – June 23 – vs Colt .45s – L 9-4 … Neal 3-4, 2B, RBI;
Sun – June 24 – vs Colt .45s (1) – L 4-3 … Marshall 3-3, 2 BB, RBI; Hillman 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;
Sun – June 24 – vs Colt .45s (2) – W 5-3 … Neal 2-4; Christopher 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Cannizzaro 2-4, RBI; Labine 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (4);

Weekly record: 1-7
Weekly runs scored: 33-52
Power Rankings: 19th (-3)

AL Player of the Week: MIN SS/3B Zoilo Versalles (.280, 6 HR, 48 RBI), hitting .367 (11-30) with 2 HR, 13 RBI
NL Player of the Week: STL CF/3B Ken Boyer (.336, 22 HR, 70 RBI), batting .481 (13-27) with 3 HR, 6 RBI

Plays of the Week

Roger Craig’s winning streak appears to be coming to an end in the first leg of the Braves double-header when he gets bombed for six runs on nine hits through three innings. But the Mets’ staff being what it is, the starter is left in there and soldiers bravely through eight innings with modest success after the early shackling, while the Mets use the short porches in the Polo Grounds to come closer. Ed Bouchee, Jim Mahoney, and Cliff Cook all hit homers in the early and middle innings. Hobie Landrith ties the game with a solo homer in the eighth, and facing Jim Constable a Neal single, Bouchee walking, and Mahoney’s 2-out RBI single even give the Mets a 7-6 lead, allowing for a continuation of Craig’s winning streak – at least until Bob Moorhead gets involved (Craig had been hit for) and concedes the lead on three ninth-inning singles. A Cliff Cook error gives the Mets the loss.

Around the Leagues

June 22 – Cincy’s Jim O’Toole (5-5, 4.24 ERA) hurls a 1-hitter with 11 strikeouts against the Dodgers. O’Toole is only two outs away from a no-hitter when L.A.’s Tim Harkness (.222, 1 HR, 6 RBI) drops a pinch-hit single. The Reds win 1-0 on back-to-back doubles by Frank Robinson (.295, 14 HR, 43 RBI) and Wally Post (.218, 13 HR, 43 RBI).
June 22 – Radial nerve compression renders BOS right-hander Ike Delock (6-5, 4.08 ERA) out for the season.
June 23 – CWS SP/MR Joe Horlen (4-3, 2.76 ERA, 1 SV) 3-hits the A’s in a 6-0 White Sox shutout.
June 23 – NYY SP Whitey Ford (3-1, 2.53 ERA), who missed a chunk of the season with a strained hamstring, 3-hits the Tigers on six strikeouts in a 3-0 Yankees win.
June 24 – Twins SP Jack Kralick (8-7, 4.49 ERA) 2-hits the Angels in a 10-0 rout in one half of a Sunday double-header, while in the other half the Angels win 10-8, with LAA 3B Felix Torres (.301, 7 HR, 34 RBI) aiding the win with five hits and four runs batted in.

Reasons to resort to wining

(Casey Stengel sits in the yellow wing chair again, muttering to himself about how players were better in the olden days, while there’s a new vulgarly green couch in the office, on which owner Dylan Wright and Mr. Met are sitting and nodding to the Ol’ Perfesser’s wisdoms)

There is a great tradition of double-headers in baseball, and I am sure they will never go away, and that kid on the Cubs makes a living out of saying “let’s play two”, but good grief, with this pitching staff even NINE innings can be impossible to cover!

Yes, Casey, things were better when you were on the KC Blues, playing for $4.50 a day. – There was more in it for the players back then. – No, none of these guys know how to play this game.

Although the defense has a word in it. Al Jackson f.e. pitched eight innings on Saturday and was charged with eight runs, only two of which were earned thanks to a cavalcade of errors behind him. A good defensive shortstop would be something we’d be interested in. Yes, we traded for Jim Mahoney. Jim Mahoney, it turns out, is not what we were looking for after all.

So, Mr. Wright. (turns to the owner, who has a glass of obviously sour wine from his own vineyards in his hand) – How are you liking the team so far. – A-ha. – Uh-hum. – Yeah, yeah. – That’s some harsh words.

(Mr. Met, smoking a pipe, points over to Wright as if to say that he’s right after all)

Oh well, at least we’ll be out of town for the next 10 days. We’ll play 11 games in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The Pirates remain the only team this one has yet to beat, going 0-7 so far.

Not that I’d hold up our records against the Braves (2-10), Colt .45s (2-10), Phillies (3-7), or Giants (2-5) as exemplary.

[Westheim]

Week 12 (June 25-July 1, 1962)

A week with one game per day, every day? No doubles?

Boring.

The Week That Was

Mon – June 25 – @ Pirates – W 3-1 … Hodges 2-4; Landrith 2-4; Christopher 1-1; Larsen 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (2-2) and 1-2, 2B;
Tue – June 26 – @ Pirates – L 7-0 … Hickman (PH) 1-1; Bell 2-3; Cannizzaro (PH) 1-1; Hillman 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;
Wed – June 27 – @ Pirates – W 2-1 … Ashburn 2-3, BB; Jackson 9.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (3-11) and 1-2;
Thu – June 28 – @ Dodgers – W 3-1 (10) … Bell 2-4, RBI; Mahoney 2-4; Kanehl (PH) 1-1, RBI; Craig 9.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (7-5);
Fri – June 29 – @ Dodgers – W 7-5 (10) … Kanehl 2-5; Cannizzaro 3-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Ashburn (PH) 1-1, RBI; Bell 3-5, RBI;
Sat – June 30 – @ Dodgers – L 4-0 … Moorhead 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K;
Sun – July 1 – @ Dodgers – L 3-0

Weekly record: 4-3
Weekly runs scored: 15-22
Power Rankings: 19th (same)

AL Player of the Week: MIN 1B Don Mincher (.279, 23 HR, 71 RBI), batting .435 (10-23) with 4 HR, 7 RBI
NL Player of the Week: PIT 1B/LF Willie Stargell (.339, 10 HR, 27 RBI), hitting .500 (6-12) with 4 HR, 8 RBI

AL Hitter of the Month: MIN 1B Don Mincher (.272, 23 HR, 71 RBI), hitting .343 with 12 HR, 38 RBI
NL Hitter of the Month: STL CF/3B Ken Boyer (.331, 23 HR, 74 RBI), batting .406 with 10 HR, 26 RBI
AL Pitcher of the Month: MIN SP Camilo Pascual (13-2, 2.56 ERA), going 7-1 with a 2.41 ERA, 50 K
NL Pitcher of the Month: PIT CL Diomedes Olivo (8-1, 1.44 ERA, 8 SV), relieving for a 4-0 mark, 0.00 ERA, 4 SV, and 16 K
AL Rookie of the Month: MIN RF Tony Oliva (.339, 3 HR, 39 RBI), batting .472, with 0 HR, 19 RBI
NL Rookie of the Month: MIL SP Danny Lemaster (9-6, 3.97 ERA), pitching for a 4-1 record with 3.74 ERA, 30 K

Plays of the Week

With rain beginning to fall and two outs in the fifth of a scoreless game on Monday, Richie Ashburn breaks the ice with a 2-run triple off the fence, scoring Gus Bell and Don Larsen, who has surprisingly enough put up four innings of 2-hit ball. Maybe with rain moving in, the Ashburn triple can be the winning knock! Alas, the rain forces a delay before the bottom of the fifth is completed, and after a 30-minute delay Larsen isn’t the same. He is lifted after six innings in a 3-1 game, with Ken MacKenzie and Clem Labine completing the game, finally nailing down the Mets’ first win over the Pirates.

A potential Al Jackson shutout against Tom Sturdivant is undone on Wednesday when Cliff Cook at third base throws away a Donn Clendenon grounder for a 2-base error to begin the eighth inning. Larry Elliott brings the runner around, cutting a 2-0 lead in half, but Jackson buckles down and finishes the game anyway.

To open the Dodgers series, Roger Craig and Don Drysdale (13-1) threw mutual 3-hit shutouts for six innings before the Mets randomly chained singles by Landrith, Bell, and Neal together for one tiny run. Craig continues to hold the fort with the Dodgers loading the bases in the eighth inning with Jim Gilliam, Tim Harkness (batting for Drysdale), and Maury Wills and one out. Tommy Davis strikes out in a full count. Duke Snider strikes out on 2-2. Regardless, Darryl Spencer triples home Willie Davis in the bottom of the ninth inning to force extras. Larry Sherry walks three Mets in a 2-run meltdown in the top of the 10th to give the win to Craig after all.

Around the Leagues

June 27 – INF Alex Grammas (.309, 0 HR, 8 RBI) drives in five runs on three hits in the Cardinals’ 11-0 shackling of the Cubs.
June 27 – BAL SP Chuck Estrada (6-3, 2.25 ERA) spins a 4-hit shutout against the White Sox, with the only offensive support being a home run by BAL C Andy Etchebarren (.225, 1 HR, 9 RBI).
June 27 – The Angels trade 3B Felix Torres (.304, 7 HR, 37 RBI) to the Tigers for MR Doug Gallagher (1-1, 4.76 ERA, 1 SV) and MR Fred Gladding (0-0, 8.06 ERA).
June 27 – The Cards pick up SS Eddie Bressoud (.298, 8 HR, 47 RBI) from the Red Sox for SS/2B Dal Maxvill (.209, 1 HR, 25 RBI) and reservist LF/RF Charlie James.
June 29 – The Yankees’ RF/CF Roger Maris (.263, 19 HR, 62 RBI) goes deep three times and has five RBI in total in a 10-5 win over the Angels.
June 30 – Pirates rookie Willie Stargell (.339, 10 HR, 27 RBI) repeats Maris’ feat in the other league, hitting three home runs in an 8-6 win over the Cardinals. He drives in six runs in the extra-inning win, with the last home run not coming until the 11th inning.
June 30 – Boston RF Lou Clinton (.289, 10 HR, 68 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 12-8 shootout win over Kansas City. Clinton gets his hits in descending order, from the home run to the triple, double, and single, and drives in six runs.
June 30 – The Senators are demolished by the Twins, 21-4, with six runs being driven in by 1B/LF Harmon Killebrew (.234, 19 HR, 56 RBI).

Reasons to resort to wining

There is no helping Jay Hook, I guess, except by asking Uncle Walter whether he’ll give him a job in his bank.

There is definitely no helping Galen Cisco, who had an ERA over 11 after another hapless outing against the Pirates in relief on Tuesday and was sent to the reserves afterwards for a third catcher in Choo Choo Coleman.

Those guys aside, this week was quite the rush for a while, with the Mets winning four out of five games, and there was not a Cub in sight that could have inspired such heroics! They came back down to earth hard at the end there, being handed consecutive shutouts by Stan Williams () and Sandy Koufax (13-5, 2.76 ERA).

The Mets won 15 games in June, missing a winning record by just one more win, and almost played like a competitive ballclub (never mind the hefty negative run differential).

[Westheim]

Week 13 (1962)

The Week That Was

Mon – July 2 – @ Giants – W 9-7 … Hodges 2-5, 2B; Hickman 2-4; Mahoney 2-3, BB, 2B;
Tue – July 3 – @ Giants – L 5-3 … Mantilla 2-5; Ashburn 2-5;
Wed – July 4 – @ Giants (1) – L 6-1 … Ashburn 2-3, BB; Hodges (PH) 1-1; Bell 2-4, 2B;
Wed – July 4 – @ Giants (2) – L 3-2 … Kanehl 3-5; Coleman 2-4, RBI; Landrith (PH) 1-1;
Thu – July 5 – off day
Fri – July 6 – vs Cardinals – W 7-6 (11) … Mantilla 3-6, BB, RBI; Ashburn 4-7, RBI; Hodges 2-6, 2 RB; Kanehl 2-6; Bell 3-6; Mahoney 2-6; Throneberry (PH) 2-2; Moorhead 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (1-4);
Sat – July 7 – vs Cardinals (1) – W 8-4 … Kanehl 3-5, 2B; Hodges 2-3, BB, 3 RBI; Bell 2-3, HR (1), RBI; Stallard 9.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (5-8);
Sat – July 7 – vs Cardinals (2) – L 13-1 … Ashburn (PH) 1-1;
Sun – July 8 – vs Cardinals – W 4-3 … Bell 2-4, HR (2), RBI; Marshall 2-4; Landrith 3-4, HR (11), 3 RBI; Labine 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (3-2);

Weekly record: 35-47
Weekly runs scored: 4-4
Power Rankings: 19th (same)

AL Player of the Week: WAS 1B/OF Chuck Hinton (.291, 12 HR, 56 RBI), hitting .429 (12-28) with 4 HR, 10 RBI
NL Player of the Week: MIL OF/1B Hank Aaron (.309, 22 HR, 47 RBI), socking it at .429 (15-35) with 4 HR, 8 RBI

Plays of the Week

Roger Craig was fairly dominant for six innings on Monday *and* drove in three runs himself in building a 9-1 lead that then almost evaporated in the last three innings. The Giants knocked him around for five runs in the seventh, then almost overcame MacKenzie and Hillman in the ninth, but PH Matty Alou flew out to Ashburn to strand the bases loaded.

It takes not one, but two infield singles by catchers (Choo Choo Coleman and Hobie Landrith) to load the bases in addition to Cliff Cook in the eighth inning of the final game in the Giants set against Stu Miller. The Mets trail 3-2 after Al Jackson had pitched five *decent* innings for a no-decision on two days’ rest. Felix Mantilla bats with three on and two outs, hits a screaming liner … and has it end up with Felipe Alou in center. Miller puts Kanehl and Christopher on base in the ninth, but those are stranded, too. PH Jim Marshall grounds out to end the game. The loss hangs on Clem Labine, who walked three in two innings, including the winning run.

Sunday saw a battle of the Jacksons (Al vs. Larry) with the Cards having the upper hand for a long time thanks to 14 hits slapped off Al Jackson (and two more off Labine), but all sans one of them are singles and they find their share of double plays and base-running mistakes, too. In the end the Mets trail only 3-1 in the eighth inning when Landrith finds Ashburn and Marshall on the corners and unloads for a game-winning home run to right.

Around the Leagues

July 2 – The Reds send C Hank Foiles (.232, 5 HR, 15 RBI) and right-handed prospect Sammy Ellis to the Tigers for CF Bill Bruton (.266, 2 HR, 14 RBI).
July 2 – Braves right-hander Don McMahon (4-6, 4.34 ERA, 12 SV) is lost for a year with a ruptured elbow ligament of some sort or other. The prescribed treatment is rest.
July 4 – MIN OF/1B Bob Allison (.242, 18 HR, 48 RBI) hits three home runs in an 11-4 Twins win at Fenway Park. Allison has four hits in total and since his home runs are all solo shots, he drives in three runs against the Red Sox.
July 4 – The White Sox get right-hander Bobby Tiefenauer (1-6, 5.92 ERA, 1 SV) and pitching prospect Dave Giusti from the Colt .45s for MR Mike Joyce (1-0, 7.24 ERA).
July 5 – The Dodgers trade for the Tigers’ LF/RF Charlie Maxwell (.314, 4 HR, 18 RBI), parting with infielders Daryl Spencer (.333, 4 HR, 15 RBI) and Jerry Buchek.
July 5 – The Athletics receive pitcher Jack Hamilton (2-1, 6.97 ERA) from the Phillies for reliever Bill Fischer (2-5, 7.17 ERA) and LF/RF Manny Jimenez (.312, 1 HR, 9 RBI).
July 5 – The Cardinals pick up right-hander Jim Umbricht (3-6, 3.78 ERA, 6 SV) and 2B George Williams (.219, 0 HR, 14 RBI) from the Colt .45s, who receive a pair of 23-year-old outfielders in Doug Clemens (3-for-4, 0 HR, 1 RBI) and Bob Burda.
July 5 – The Cubs deal reliever Barney Schultz (4-8, 3.19 ERA, 4 SV) to the Indians for a bag of three pitchers: Ron Taylor (4-2, 5.25 ERA), Bob Hartman (3-1, 3.09 ERA, 1 SV), and Bob Allen.
July 6 – LAD C Johnny Roseboro (.249, 3 HR, 30 RBI) drives in seven runs from the #8 hole in a 16-7 shootout with the Giants. With three extra-base hits, one of each sort, he also falls a single short of the cycle.

Reasons to resort to wining

There was a trade this week that would definitely move the team forward. On Thursday, the Mets sent 1B Ed Bouchee (.217, 2 HR, 7 RBI) to the Orioles for 1B/RF Marv Throneberry, who was batting 2-for-4 in barely any action. Both were left-handed batters, but we had marveled from afar about Throneberry for a while. Mr. Wright also agreed that he had a winner’s name, which was a crucial ingredient in a great ballplayer, along with vigor and character.

Vigor, not be confused with vinegar, which was what Mr. Wright probably had in his wine glass, because every sip caused him great pain to gargle down.

He was also taken aback when the Mets did not send a single player to the All Star Game. I looked up and down the roster and wondered who on Earth he thought would merit the description All Star.

Difficult program after the All Star game, with three 3-game sets at home against the Dodgers, Giants, and Pirates. After that would be the Reds on the road. Yes, the Reds still exist, even though we haven’t seen any of them in over two months.

[Westheim]

Week 14 (July 9-16, 1962)

More games with the Dodgers and Giants! How bad can it possibly get?

The Week That Was

Mon – July 9 – off day
Tue – July 10 – off day (All Star Game)
Wed – July 11 – off day
Thu – July 12 – vs Dodgers – L 9-1 … Marshall 2-4;
Fri – July 13 – vs Dodgers – rained out, rescheduled for July 14
Sat – July 14 – vs Dodgers (1) – L 6-4 … Mantilla 2-4, HR (10), RBI; Neal 1-2, 2 BB;
Sat – July 14 – vs Dodgers (2) – L 8-3 … Mantilla 2-5; Coleman (PH) 1-1; Landrith 2-4, 3B, 3 RBI; Hillman 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;
Sun – July 15 – vs Giants (1) – L 6-5 … Landrith 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI;
Sun – July 15 – vs Giants (2) – L 20-6 … Mantilla 1-2, 2 BB; Mahoney (PH) 1-1; Kanehl 2-5; Hodges 2-5; Neal 3-5, HR (3), 2 RBI; Cook 2-4, HR (2), RBI; Cannizzaro 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI;
Mon – July 16 – vs Giants – L 3-2 … Thomas 2-4, HR (8), RBI; Craig 9.0 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, L (8-7);

Weekly record: 0-6
Weekly runs scored: 21-52
Power Rankings: 19th (same)

AL Player of the Week: MIN OF/1B Bob Allison (.262, 20 HR, 54 RBI), hitting .550 (11-20) with 2 HR, 5 RBI
NL Player of the Week: LAD CF Willie Davis (.304, 13 HR, 53 RBI), batting .440 (11-25) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Plays of the Week

Don Larsen allows nine hits for seven runs in four innings in Saturday’s regrettable double-header, part deux. Six of the Dodgers’ hits come on two strikes, and the abortive outing ensures the Mets’ staff will be seriously short even before the scheduled double-header against the Giants the day after, for which Jay Hook and Tracy Stallard are scheduled to start.

The opener on Sunday is 1-0 in the Giants’ favor in the third inning when Willie Mays legs out an infield single, but is removed for injuring his groin. Manny Mota runs for him, while Hook gets to 1-2 on Willie McCovey, who the hits a fly to right that turns foul and is dropped by Jim Marshall in foul ground. On the next pitch, McCovey hits a home run to extend San Francisco’s lead to 3-0 and ultimately turns out to be the difference between winning and losing in the game. In the same game Marv Throneberry reaches on an uncaught third strike, then exuberantly tries to steal second base, but is thrown out by a mile by Tom Haller.

The second game on Sunday is out of hand from the start. Stallard allows three runs in the first, five in the sixth, and nine in total, but it’s not like the rest of the Mets pitchers don’t chip in. Arnold Earley allows a run in the seventh. Clem Labine retires nobody in the eighth, with Mets infielders contributing two egregious errors. Bob Moorhead follows on and is no help whatsoever, with the Giants scoring another ten runs in the inning (four earned). Almost forgotten in the rout is that Tracy Stallard not only gives up three home runs, but all three to Willie McCovey (.311, 26 HR, 78 RBI).

Come Monday, we were just relieved that Frank Thomas hit a home run to left with two outs in the seventh inning, shortening the gap to 3-1. At least that ended Billy O’Dell’s attempt to finish the series with a no-hitter…. That remained the only Mets’ hit into the ninth inning, when Thomas came to the plate again with two outs, facing Stu Miller, who had walked Mantilla and Ashburn, making Thomas the winning run. Thomas singled to left, loading the bases, and Hobie Landrith singled home a run with a ball dropped into right in front of Felipe Alou. Then Rod Kanehl grounded out.

Around the Leagues

July 9 – The Colt .45s trade left-hander Dean Stone (1-2, 5.46 ERA) to the Dodgers for young right-hander Phil Ortega.
July 9 – The Senators get INF/CF/RF Woodie Held (.212, 8 HR, 26 RBI) and 3B Max Alvis (.139. 0 HR, 3 RBI) from the Indians for 2B/3B Chuck Cottier (.323, 2 HR, 20 RBI) and INF John Kennedy (.364, 2 HR, 5 RBI).
July 10 – All Star Game: The Amerian League beats the National League, 3-1. CLE C John Romano is named MVP, hitting a home run off PIT SP Tom Sturdivant.
July 11 – The Reds trade SP Bob Purkey (5-9, 3.92 ERA) to the Tigers for three young players, RF Purnal Goldy, LF/RF Charlie James, and INF Jerry Buchek.
July 12 – First day after the All Star break, the Tigers’ RF/CF Al Kaline (.300, 24 HR, 72 RBI) hits for the cycle in 10-1 rout of the White Sox. Kaline drives in five runs while landing all four hits required in decreasing order from the home run to the single.
July 13 – The Red Sox trade MR Billy Muffett (1-1, 2.93 ERA, 1 SV) to the Orioles for left-hander Bill Short, who last pitched in the majors in 1960.
July 14 – The Cubs fall apart entirely, trading 1B/SS Ernie Banks (.302, 20 HR, 55 RBI) to the Red Sox for INF Pumpsie Green (.205, 0 HR, 6 RBI) and right-hander Howie Koplitz (0-0, 108.00 ERA).
July 14 – Kansas City’s 3B Ed Charles (.332, 20 HR, 79 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak after landing two knocks in an 11-2 rout of the Red Sox.
July 14 – The Indians trade SP Don Rudolph (9-6, 3.24 ERA) to the Twins, receiving CF/LF Lenny Green (.259, 2 HR, 4 RBI) instead.
July 14 – The Colt .45s rather forcefully break a 6-6 tie with the Pirates in the 13th inning, scoring another six runs for a 12-6 win.
July 15 – The Red Sox trade SP Gene Conley (4-8, 5.58 ERA) and Bill Short to the Reds for LF/RF Jerry Lynch (.243, 2 HR, 5 RBI).
July 15 – Cleveland sends SP Dick Donovan (4-12, 4.63 ERA) to the Cardinals for INF Alex Grammas (.313, 0 HR, 10 RBI) and 2B George Williams (.219, 0 HR, 17 RBI).

Reasons to resort to wining

So.

Now we know how you give up 40 runs in jus two days. It was… It was…

Look, all I want to say is that the Giants barraged the Mets so hard on Sunday, one of our ushers had a little meltdown in the second game, somewhere between McCovey’s second and third homer off Tracy Stallard. Frank from Brooklyn had fought on Guadalcanal in the war, and had a little “flashback”, breaking into the clubhouse “bunker”, and hunkering down in a corner with a batting practice helmet and a bat that he used to “shoot” everybody that dared approach him.

Your Mets – always making precious memories!

I don’t know whether that should go into the press release, Mildred. – Better to leave it out, I guess.

Don Larsen (6-5, 7.98 ERA) was sent to the reserves after Saturday’s outing. His ERA with the Mets is over 11. Sherman Jones was activated. We were also sending Jim Hickman back to the reserves, activating Frank Thomas from the DL on the weekend.

Up next: one day to lick the wounds, then the Pirates and Reds.

[Questdog]

You should mention in the 'Coon thread when you start another thread, so I can catch it from the start.....

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Questdog

You should mention in the 'Coon thread when you start another thread, so I can catch it from the start.....

But it's been in my signature the whole time