The Amazin Mets - 1962 and onward! - Page 2

JimMorrison · 06-10-2024, 12:20 PM

Week Fourteen 1963:

Mets (33-54) vs Los Angeles Dodgers (49-37) - 1-4 L, 5-4 (10) W, 9-12 L

Mets (34-56) vs Houston Colt 45’s (29-64) - 4-3 (10) W, 3-2 W

Week Fourteen Thoughts: I am pretty ecstatic to have a 3-2 week! It was a really close doubleheader against Houston to end the week but we held on to take both games. I am also fine that we didn’t get swept by the third place Dodgers to start the week as well. We need more weeks like this to stay afloat and not completely drop like Houston has so far this season.

Week Fifteen 1963:

Mets (36-56) vs Houston Colt 45’s (29-66) - 2-7 L

Mets (36-57) vs San Francisco Giants (56-37) - 1-3 L, 0-5 L

Mets (36-59) @ Philadelphia Phillies (48-49) - 0-5 L, 3-4 L, 3-4 L, 0-1 L

Week Fifteen Thoughts: In my grand delusions, I really thought we could fight and try and improve on our 33-54 all star break record, turns out I had no idea what I was talking about. An 0-7 week has to be the worst of the season and I cannot believe we couldn’t take one or two of these games.

We will cover the next two weeks which will lead us to August 5th, 1963. This season needs to end soon so we can make more moves to improve because this team needs a lot more work than I had previously thought. We continue our road trip with three games in San Fran, three in Houston, two in LA and three in Milwaukee. In this trip we will play the second, third, fourth and fifth place team in the NL and also the lowly Colt 45’s which we would like to do well against.

JimMorrison · 06-10-2024, 06:38 PM

Week Sixteen 1963:

Mets (36-63) @ San Francisco Giants (59-39) - 3-8 L, 5-4 W, 0-2 L

Mets (37-65) @ Houston Colt 45’s (32-72) - 6-3 W, 8-0 W, 11-4 W

Week Sixteen Thoughts: We finally ended our eight game losing streak in the second game of the series in San Francisco and we also had a fantastic series in Houston, sweeping them and really without any fear of losing a game. I worry that next week could be like our last week where we have a solid week and then get crushed against some good teams.

With the trade deadline on the day on Tuesday the 30th, I made some much needed moves to at least help some of the issues we’ve been having all season.

The New York Mets trade 36-year-old CF Richie Ashburn to the Detroit Tigers for 34-year-old SS Roy McMillan.

Somehow we were able to get some value back for Ashburn and him not being on our team will probably be the most valuable aspect of this deal. McMillan really was terrible for the Tigers as he has a 19 OPS+ and a .158 average, but the reason we want him is for his defense. He immediately is a much better option than Chacon and McFarlane on defense alone, and while he hasn’t hit at all this season, our scouts still see him as a better hitter and we don’t have anything to lose to give him a shot.

The New York Mets trade 34-year-old Frank Thomas to the Chicago Cubs for 27-year-old SP Don Cardwell.

I am going to miss Frank a ton as he was a great player for some really bad teams, but I think Cardwell can be a really great option for our rotation for a long while. He really reminds me of what I thought Roy Washburn could have been for us, but Cardwell has much more of a proven track record and has had a pretty good season. (12-7, 3.40 ERA, 3.26 FIP) Thomas was a good player but his age was going to catch up to him soon, and I needed another arm in the rotation that could take the place of that Arroyo/Craig spot.

The New York Mets trade 25-year-old SS Orlando McFarlane to the Philadelphia Phillies for 34-year-old CF Jim Piersall.

You may think I am crazy to trade for another veteran CF that is aging, but I really don’t see any similarities between Piersall and Richie Ashburn. For one, Piersall plays an excellent center field, something I’ve needed all year. He also does have some slight power and can get some extra base hits for us too. He’s had a good season for Philly (129 OPS+ in 145 PA) but again, Orlando McFarlane was not really anything special and taking a chance at a decent player without giving up much is something I will do every single time with a team like this.

The New York Mets trade 23-year-old RF Gary Baker to the Detroit Tigers for 31-year-old 3B Chico Fernandez.

Our final trade may be my favorite as the Detroit Tigers just do not care about trading decent players to us for nothing. Gary Baker on talent alone has not much of a chance to make the majors and was still at A ball when we traded him. Fernandez on the other hand can solve another big issue on our team, third base. He’s a similar hitter to Zimmer except he does have better contact and doesn’t strike out nearly as much either. What truly sets him apart from ZImmer is his defense. He also has positional versatility and can play first, second, third and short all reasonably well. Career wise, OSA has him comparable most to Felix Mantilla, and when he was here in ‘62, he seemed to look like a similar kind of guy.

These trades do not totally fix my infield issues, centerfield issues and my rotation, but they do help and there really is no risk even if these deals do not age well.

New starters for now:

C - Jerry Grote
1B - Ernie Banks
2B - Joe Morgan
3B - Chico Fernandez
SS - Roy McMillan
LF - Ed Kranepool
CF - Jim Piersall
RF - Jesus Alou

I optioned SS Elio Chacon to AAA Buffalo and brought up RF Joe Christopher

SP - Cardwell, Washburn, Jackson, Larsen, Smith

RP - Kelley, Craig, Mackenzie, Hook, Donovan, Curtis, Arroyo, Herbel, Labine

Week Seventeen 1963

Mets (40-65) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (57-48) - 2-1 W, 3-1 W
Mets (42-65) @ Milwaukee Braves (57-52) - 0-3 L, 2-8 L, 3-1 W

Week Seventeen Thoughts: We are now 7-3 in our last ten as we have a great series in LA and then play decently against a good Braves squad. While the NL has really turned into a two horse race between Cincinnatti and San Fran, the Dodgers are still a good team and it is a good sing that we are finally having some success against some talented teams. Our starters were much better this week too as new acquisition Cardwell has a 1.00 ERA as a Met so far in two starts, and both Washburn and Jackson had good showings as well. It’s a small sample size but it is good to see some winning after a pitiful run of games after the break.

The next two weeks are a large homestand for us as we host the Cardinals for three games, the Cubs for four games, the Pirates for two games and the Dodgers for four more. Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Chicago are all under .500 and should be good tests for this new look Mets team. Next week I will also go over the July award winners as we head closer and closer to October!

JimMorrison · 06-13-2024, 04:30 PM

July Award Winners:

AL
Hitter of the Month: LF Carl Yastrzemski (Boston) - 7 HR, 19 RBI, .438 AVG
Pitcher of the Month: SP Dean Chance (LA Angels) - 6-0, 0.93 ERA, 48 K
Rookie of the Month: RP Jack Lamabe (NY Yankees) - 1-0, 1.42 ERA, 2 SV

NL
Hitter of the Month: CF Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) - 11 HR, 29 RBI, .320 AVG
Pitcher of the Month: SP Al McBean (Pittsburgh) - 10-5, 1.20 ERA
Rookie of the Month: 1B Rusty Staub (Houston) - 3 HR, 15 RBI, .339 AVG

July Best Teams: Baltimore Orioles (19-11), Cleveland Guardians (20-12), Minnesota Twins (20-11)

July Worst Teams: Kansas City Athletics (9-21), Houston Colt 45’s (9-19), Washington Senators (8-20)

Week Eighteen 1963

Mets (43-67) vs St. Louis Cardinals (54-59) - 4-0 W, 1-3 (10) L, 4-2 (10) W
Mets (45-68) vs Chicago Cubs (55-59) - 5-3 W, 2-0 W, 5-3 W, 3-0 W - WOW!

Week Eighteen Thoughts: Since we were swept in a four game set with the Phillies back in late July, we’ve been 13-5! We have now won five straight and start the month of August at 7-3. Ernie Banks went off this week as he hit four homers, three of those coming against his old team in Chicago! Chico Fernandez and Jim Piersall were also excellent and have really started their Mets stints off well. After a weaker July (84 OPS+, .193 AVG), Joe Morgan is looking like his great self again as well so far.

The pitching staff has been insane too, only allowing 11 runs in these seven games. Ray Washburn is settling back in here too and he threw a two-hit complete game shutout against his previous Cards team. Willie Smith has also continued his excellence as well and has truly been the best pitcher on the staff (8-9, 3.01 ERA, 3.30 FIP) This team is completely out of it, but I would love to see a push to be just a below average team. Less than 90 losses would be an incredible sight as well. Finishing off with a 24-21 mark would get us to 73-89 and that would be one heck of a successful season compared to where we were this time last year. Even with a team like this, there needs to be some goals to reach!

Week Nineteen 1963

Mets (49-68) vs Pittsburgh Pirates (58-62) - 1-2 (10) L, 4-5 L
Mets (49-70) vs Los Angeles Dodgers (63-57) - 6-2 W, 9-2 W, 0-4 L, 9-1 W - Another great series to end the week!!

Week Nineteen Thoughts: The Pirates series was a frustrating one as we had opportunities in both games to take a game against a mediocre team. But then everything changed when the Dodgers came to the Polo Grounds and our offense went berserk. Joe Morgan had two vital homers in two of our wins against LA and the hitters were great. Jim Pearsall has been amazing so far as a Met and his 1.4 WAR in 18 games is already higher than the 1.2 he had in his past two seasons combined in Philly. Ed Kranepool has also taken advantage of his spot in the lineup now that Frank Thomas is gone. He hit for a 152 OPS+ in August with a .364 AVG and two home runs and the team has really been firing on all cylinders now.

I am pretty happy with the way things are going, but a couple bad series here could negate any of the progress we’ve made since the deadline. The next two weeks will take us into September for the final 26 games remaining. We head back on the road into Philly for four games, then we head to Chicago for three more games. Then the next week we travel to Pittsburgh for three games and then we host Milwaukee for three games. We have really struggled against Pittsburgh (3-12 against them) and Philly (3-9) but we have had more success against Chicago (7-8) and Milwaukee (7-8).

JimMorrison · 06-17-2024, 12:53 PM

Week Twenty

Mets (52-71) @ Philadelphia Phillies (64-62) - 10-9 W, 5-2 W, 7-4 W, 3-4 L
Mets (55-72) @ Chicago Cubs (58-69) - 5-3 W, 6-0 W, 6-2 W - What a week!!!

Week Twenty Thoughts: We finish this week at 6-1 and we have actually caught Chicago in the standings and are technically tied for eighth in the National League! We’ve really struggled against Philly all year so to win three of four on the road is a huge deal for us. Obviously there are still some games to be played here but this month has showed me that some of these guys are pretty talented and that we can be a pretty good team if everything goes right. I am not expecting us to be sitting at 81-81 to end the season, but I have been really impressed with the way this team has played lately.

Week Twenty-One

Mets (58-72) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (65-66) - 3-2 W, 2-11 L, 6-2 W
Mets (60-73) vs Milwaukee Braves (71-62) - 4-5 L, 6-9 L, 9-7 W

Week Twenty-One Thoughts: We split this week after a good series in Pittsburgh but a tough series hosting the Braves. Jim Piersall continues his dominance as a Met here as he now is hitting .383/.415/.516 and a 165 OPS+ in 135 plate appearances. His defrense in center has also been great and I think getting rid of Ashburn and bringing him in has been a major reason for the insanely successful month of August. We were 18-10 in that month which was our best by far, and I’d really like to see us continue to win some more games here.

August Award Winners:

AL
Hitter of the Month: 1B Norm Cash (Detroit) - 13 HR, 24 RBI, .294 AVG
Pitcher of the Month: SP Jim Bunning (Detroit) - 6-0, 1.22 ERA, 43 K
Rookie of the Month: SP Dennis Ribant (Washington) - 2-2, 2.92 ERA, 26 K

NL
Hitter of the Month: 3B Ron Santo (Chi Cubs) - 7 HR, 22 RBI, .383 AVG
Pitcher of the Month: SP Don Drysdale (LA Dodgers) - 6-0, 1.10 ERA
Rookie of the Month: 2B Joe Morgan (NY Mets) - 8 HR, 20 RBI, .324 AVG

August Best Teams: New York Mets (18-10), Cincinnati Reds (21-7), Minnesota Twins (20-7)

August Worst Teams: Boston Red Sox (8-21), Houston Colt 45’s (9-17), Chicago Cubs (9-19)

Next two weeks are four games at home against Cincy, two games in St. Louis, three games back in Cincy, three at home against San Francsico and four at home against the Houston Colt 45’s. We really only have four weeks left in the season and now is the time to gain a little ground, especially against the 43-93 Colt 45’s!

JimMorrison · 06-17-2024, 03:13 PM

Week Twenty-Two

Mets (61-75) vs Cincinnati Reds (92-47) - 4-5 L, 8-3 W, 5-16 L

Mets (62-77) @ St. Louis Cardinals (67-72) - 3-6 L, 7-6 (12) W

Mets (63-78) @ Cincinnati Reds (95-48) - 3-0 W, 3-4 L, 2-3 (10) L

Week Twenty-Two Thoughts: This was probably the toughest stretch of the remaining season for us and I think we did alright. The Reds have been excellent this season and look to be the World Series favorites against the AL team and we still took two out of six games and even in our losses, we played them close.

Week Twenty-Three

Mets (64-80) vs San Francisco Giants (86-58) - 1-10 L, 4-6 (10) L. 4-7 L

Mets (64-83) vs Houston Colt 45’s (47-100) - 6-3 W, 2-3 L. 2-3 L, 3-7 L

Week Twenty-Three Thoughts: I knew the Giants series would be tough but us hosting Houston and losing three of four games is pretty astounding. At this point I am just going to finish the season here and hope we can finish respectably.

Week Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five 1963

Mets (65-86) vs Philadelphia Phillies (79-72) - 5-6 L, 10-3 W

Mets (66-87) @ San Francisco Giants (92-61) - 2-1 W, 0-4 L, 2-5 L

Mets (67-89) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (79-77) - 5-11 L, 0-3 L, 1-5 L

Mets (67-92) @ Houston Colt 45’s (54-105) - 1-3 L, 3-0 W, 1-4 L

What a complete disastrous way to end the season, 3-8 in our last two weeks and solidifying us with a 68-94 record. After a start against the Dodgers, SP Don Larsen had to come out of the game and we learned that he tore an elbow ligament and will miss 10 months. That may be the end for him as we need an upgrade at the back-end of the rotation anyway and it makes no sense to keep him around next year.

1963 World Series:

Cincinnati Reds (106-56) vs Baltimore Orioles (98-64) - 7-1 CIN, 4-1 BAL, 6-4 BAL, 4-2 CIN, 6-1 CIN, 9-2 CIN

Reds defeat Orioles 4-2 - World Series MVP is RF Vada Pinson - .407 AVG, 2 HR 8 RBI

Next I will go over the 1963 season and overall performances and also think of the future. Looking ahead at the draft order, we will be picking fourth, as three teams that finished behind us in the standings: Houston (56-106), Kansas City (64-98) and Washington (67-95). This will be a very interesting decision for the franchise and I want to make sure we can get Joe Morgan a co-star for the long term. The rotation will be another point of emphasis as the Larsen injury needs to be addressed somehow moving forward.

JimMorrison · 06-19-2024, 01:39 PM

1962 New York Mets - 50-112, .309 W% 10th in the National League

1963 New York Mets - 68-94, .420 W%, 9th in the National League

Team Strengths and Weaknesses:

For most teams a 94 loss season is a disappointment, but for an expansion team that lost 112 games last year, this is a huge improvement for us! Our Pythagorean record was actually 71-91 so I’d argue we were a bit unlucky as well and we could have been even better if a couple close games went our way.

To me the team’s strength was our offense and we finished pretty well, 7th in runs scored, 4th in home runs and 5th in on base percentage. We were also a pretty decent defensive team, finishing fifth in the National League with a -8.3 zone rating as a team and compared to other teams (Pittsburgh’s -36.8 ZR, Milwaukee’s -32.2 ZR) I think we were really solid.

The real weakness with the team though is our pitching staff as we finished 9th in runs allowed, 9th in starters ERA and 8th in bullpen ERA. I don’t know if we can upgrade our staff much at the draft as there aren’t a ton of great options, but we will prioritize it in trades and if there are any free agents out there.

End of 1963 Positional Breakdown:

Catchers -

We started the year with Hobie Landrith as the starter with rookie Jerry Grote as the back-up, but it was evident early on that Grote just did so much more both offensively and defensively. Grote really had a great rookie season all things considered. He’s not the best defensive catcher, but he is pretty solid and he can hit pretty well as well. (88 OPS+, .245 AVG) Yes I know this isn’t great, but it’s better than anything Landrith or any of our catchers in ‘62 have shown and I am more than happy with him next year. He is also still 21 and has some room to grow offensively.

Infield -

I really thought Ernie Banks would be the piece at first that could be seen as a good veteran that could contribute well offensively, but he’s really been disappointing as a Met and his 1963 season was nothing special. It’s really hard to have a good offense when your first basemen can’t even hit at a league average pace (82 OPS+. 23 HR) His power was still there, but his average dropped from ,287 when he was in Chicago last year to a .232 as a Met. Our scouts still think he’s a good option for us, but his numbers worry me. I don’t really think I can find a better option for now, but if I see a good deal, Banks may be gone by 1964 as he’s just not hitting as well as he should.

Joe Morgan needs no introduction and he’s probably going to win the NL Rookie of the Year award, he’s been a superstar and I can’t wait to see him get even better! Third base was a huge issue for us at the deadline, but we got 3B Chico Fernandez in a trade with the Tigers and he was really solid for us after the deadline. His offense was better than expected with a .275 AVG, 97 OPS+ and great defense at third. I don’t think this 31-year-old will be our long term option, but I don’t have a problem giving him a shot next year for a full season.

Like at third base, we needed an immediate upgrade over the Chacon/McFarlane combo and we got it in Roy McMillan, again in a trade with Detroit. Unlike with Fernandez, McMillan’s offense was pretty terrible (.205 AVG, 58 OPS+) but his defense is a whole other story. In 56 games for us, he had a ZR of +6.7 and honestly that alone is worth more than Chacon or McFarlane. Shortstop I think will be my biggest offensive need, but I would love to keep McMillan around as a utility fielder as he can also play second and third really well too. I don’t think he’ll ever hit, but he’s probably the most valuable infielder on the team not named Banks, Morgan or Fernandez.

3B Don Zimmer and SS Elio Chacon are still on the team, but I am planning to let both of them go here as neither has the defense to give me any sort of value off the bench. It’s been a frustrating two seasons with both players, but they both held their positions down in some really dreadful times.

Outfield:

I really think our outfield was the best group on our team last year even if there was some frustrations with certain players. LF Frank Thomas and CF Richie Ashburn were big parts of the first half of the season, but both were traded away, Thomas to the Cubs and Ashburn to the Tigers. Thomas was our best hitter by the deadline and Ashburn was our worst starter by far. Once they both left, we inserted Ed Kranepool in left and new acquisition Jim Pearsall in center and from then on, we were great. Kranepool really stepped it up this season (.285 AVG, 113 OPS+, 3.2 WAR) and will be someone we hope can be a good piece for this team. Piersall was also excellent in his short stint with the Mets but I worry this could just be a sample size issue.

Another disappointment has been RF Jesus Alou. The scouts love him and think he can be a start but I have yet to really see that actually show in the results yet. He does hit for a good average (.288 AVG, 97 OPS+, 1.1 WAR) but he has no power and our scouts think he can get to like a .320 average which hasn’t been shown yet. If he can learn to take more walks and make some more contact, he could be a great lead-off guy for us, but I definitely think I overrated how good he was once we got him back from the Giants in ‘62.

Rotation:

The Don Larsen ten month injury really changes the way I need to operate here, but in all honestly it really doesn’t as Larsen was a candidate to be moved anyways as he just had not played well. With a 7-13 mark and a 4.38 ERA in a very pitcher friendly league, it wasn’t good enough for us. Yes his 3.68 FIP says he’s been a bit unlucky, but he’s also 34 and I think we can find a better replacement.

Ray Washburn was our “ace” coming in but he struggled a ton early. He was great in August and solid in September so I am hoping that can be a good sign, but he is another guy who I think I overrated a ton here and he really has not looked like a good #3 starter, let alone a potential #1 guy. He still is only 25 but he’s been frustrating here. Al Jackson was kind of the opposite of Washburn as he started out hot but cooled off by the end of the season. I really don’t see Jackson as a good pitcher, but he will still throw some solid innings for us and I have no plans to move on unless I get the right deal.

Deadline acquisition Don Cardwell was exactly what we needed in our rotation, a completely average starter. His season with the Cubs had him at an 102 ERA+ and with us he had an 100 OPS+, exactly league average. Cardwell is still younger at 27 and if he can be this same guy for a year or two more, I am going to be pretty happy.

Now, the real surprise of this entire year has been a minor league signing last offseason. Willie Smith has been a lifesaver for me this year and he’s been by far our best starter. 10-13 with a 3.08 ERA and 3.6 WAR has him as our most valuable player on the team not named Joe Morgan. I stupidly didn’t even know if he could be a starter, and now he looks to be our best option moving forward. Smith is only 24 and still has more room to grow, and I could not be more excited to see what he can do with more opportunities next year.

Bullpen:

Our bullpen was another weakness on the team, as only a few arms really stood out. The main guy who’s blown up is ‘63 third round pick Tom Kelley who finished with a 2.55 ERA and a 3.13 FIP. I think he has the ability to be a closer or setup guy moving forward and he’s only 19. This season has been one of giving the youth chances and then taking those chances and running with them. Kelley is the perfect example of that!

We need a lot more arms in here to compete moving forward and that will be another big priority in the offseason for us. Maybe another later round pick like Kelley could help us out here too!

Offseason Priorities:

Find a #5 starter that can replace Don Larsen
Find a starting shortstop that can hit decently and play some defense while keeping McMillan as our infield depth
Find bullpen arms that can improve our group and add some velocity
See if we can get a trade for Banks or Alou that yields us an important piece back

Really getting another superstar that can work with Joe Morgan should be the real #1 priority here, but I can’t guarantee we will find that here.

Season Awards:

AL Reliever of the Year: CL Hoyt Wilhelm (Baltimore) - 13-12, 2.10 ERA, 24 SV

NL Reliever of the Year: CL Stu Miller (San Francisco) - 6-7, 2.11 ERA, 18 SV

AL Rookie of the Year: LF Tommy Agee (Cleveland) - .233 AVG, 98 OPS+, 2.8 WAR

NL Rookie of the Year: 2B Joe Morgan (NY Mets) - .271 AVG, 29 HR, 151 OPS+, 7.1 WAR

AL Cy Young Award: SP Dean Chance (LA Angels) - 20-9, 1.88 ERA, 220 K, 8.5 WAR

NL Cy Young Award: SP Sandy Koufax (LA Dodgers) - 19-8, 1.89 ERA, 264 K, 8.7 WAR

AL MVP Award: LF Boog Powell (Baltimore) - .290 AVG, 41 HR, 101 RBI, 184 OPS+. 7.2 WAR

NL MVP Award: LF Frank Robinson (Cincinnati) - .348 AVG, 28 HR, 117 RBI, 185 OPS+, 11.5 WAR

Love to see Morgan win NL Rookie of the Year for us and I’d easily argue he’d win it for both leagues combined too. Both Powell and Robinson had monstrous offensive seasons for their respective teams and Robinson’s defense also got him a ton of value as well. Dick Allen had another fantastic season similar to his last year’s MVP one, but he didn’t even get one vote as Robinson was that dominant in the National League. Dean Chance looks to be a constant winner of the Cy Young already as he’s been awesome and he’s only 22 and still has more to build on for the Angels!

Next, I will focus on the draft and any moves I make early in the off-season here!

JimMorrison · 06-20-2024, 12:08 PM

1963 Rookie Draft

This draft feels a lot weaker than the ‘62 draft as I haven’t seen anyone as talented as Joe Morgan, Cleon Jones or Reggie Smith. I think CF Bobby Murcer is the best player but I still wouldn’t take him if I had the first pick as his personality is not really great and I’d worry he couldn’t develop into what scouts think he could be. We are picking fourth and I am hoping LF Tony Conigliaro falls to us but I doubt he will. Tony was drafted by Boston at #7 last year but he failed to sign, played a year at New Mexico State and now he’s back. Our scouts love him and think he’s already our best outfielder on the team. I have dreams of an outfield of Ed Kranepool, Paul Blair (our top prospect in Buffalo right now) and Tony Conigiliaro. Yes Alou would be the odd man out there but I think Tony has to be considered here as he’s already a great player and could become one of the best at his position.

#1 Houston - 17-year-old CF Bobby Murcer - Now with Cleon Jones, Houston looks to be building a ridiculously talented outfield!

#2 Kansas City - 17-year-old CF Ken Henderson - Henderson is more of a corner outfield type and has the potential to be a good hitter with some power but I wasn’t super intrigued by him and I think it’s a weird selection at #2

#3 Washington - 19-year-old SP Dave Roberts - Roberts is seen by scouts as a great prospect but I worry about his strikeout potential here. I would have taken him if we had few options as we do need a starter, but he still needs some development and I don’t really see him as an “ace”

#4 New York Mets - 18-year-old RF Tony Conigliaro - Oh wow I am ecstatic that he fell to us. Tony was already the best player right now at the draft and would be a great addition to any major league outfield, but our scouts see him getting even better and I think he can get there. He’s a better left fielder than right and we will have to orient our outfield around and hope it can work out. It’s not at a position of need, but he’s great and I have no regrets with this one.

#5 Boston - 17-year-old LF Jim Rudi - Similar prospect to Ken Henderson except I think he’s better, plays better defense and has more contact potential. The more I look at that KC pick - the more lucky I feel!

#6 Chicago Cubs - 19-year-old LF Johnny Briggs - Another corner outfielder that doesn’t have a ton of contact but really has a great eye and power potential. His defense is ok, he really should only play at left.

#7 LA Angels - 17-year-old RF Willie Crawford - The corners keep coming! Crawford is an all around good hitter with some solid defense. He could be a good player but I don’t know about a great one.

#8 Pittsburgh - 17-year-old 1B Bob Robertson - I really liked Robertson as a Banks replacement if we couldn’t get Tony. Great defense at first, tons of power and can get on base with a good eye and some contact. He’s gonna strike out a lot but he’s a good player and I’d say he’s better than some of these outfielders.

#9 St, Louis - 21-year-old RF Richie Scheinblum - A fine player but he doesn’t do anything well, but he’s solid and could be a solid option in an outfield with some development.

#10 Chicago White Sox - 19-year-old CF Cito Gaston - Gaston is really another corner guy and I think he’s pretty good. Love his contact skills and he has some real power too, definitely like him more than some others. That KC pick is baffling to me as some of these guys going now seem much better than Ken Henderson.

This draft is really not deep and after our second round pick, the talent level falls off a cliff. I will only cover our second round pick for now.

2nd Round - 18-year-old SP Jim Nash - I have no idea how Nash was still on the board by now and I took him without hesitation. I’d argue he’s better than Dave Roberts who went #3 and his strikeout potential is nuts. He has a really good curve change and fastball and while his slide is solid, it’s great to see a guy with four pitches that can all be weapons. He is also very developed and I’d argue could slide right into the rotation next year. Nash may not be an ace, but he has potential to be another Willie Smith type. I think he will get a shot to compete in the spring and if he looks ok, I may give him a shot. It worked well last year for Morgan, Grote and Tom Kelley so I may be more aggressive again with these young guys to give them some major league experience if they are ready.

Very happy with these two picks and I think both help the team immediately. Next I will cover the rest of the off-season and any signings or transactions we make.

JimMorrison · 06-21-2024, 10:24 PM

1963-1964 Offseason

I am pretty frustrated with this offseason as there really wasn’t much we could do to make our team better. We did make a big trade, but to me the trade had to be done to make room for our young talent.

The New York Mets trade 32-year-old 1B Ernie Banks, 25-year-old RP Ron Herbel and 20-year-old minor league CF Walter Bianchi for 36-year-old SS Johnny Logan, 33-year-old RP Dean Stone and 24-year-old RP.Bob Hendley.

The Ernie Banks era is over in New York and I had to do this after drafting Tony Conigliaro. With him, Kranepool and Alou all slated to be starters at the corners, I either had to move one of them or move one of them to first and trade Banks. Banks was not a great player for us in ‘63 and his tenure here has been super disappointing. Kranepool can play first pretty well actually, so the plan is to have him at first, put Tony at left where he’s best and then keep Alou at right.

I did consider an Alou trade but I had a problem. His value was just not very high compared to his talent, I was hoping for a nice infield option especially at short, but we didn’t get anything great. I also think I may be too hard on Alou as this is now his age-22 season and he does have more room to grow. He's a good player and if he can get his average up a bit, he could be a great lead-off hitter.

We get another veteran infielder in Logan back in this one, and I think him and McMillan can compete for the starting job, and whoever loses will still be a good utility guy. We also needed some arms in the bullpen and both Stone and Hendley are solid options for us. This trade could look bad for us moving forward, but Banks was just expendable at this point and I can’t see his skillset aging well either.

We did some other moves too - Chacon and Zimmer were released and so was Don Larsen sadly, as he’s out all year and will be 35 when he gets to play again. Casey Stengel retired at the end of the season and we hired minor league manager Danny Gonzalez who had some success in the Texas League and can coach well. I tried getting Gil Hodges involved but he cannot teach well (in this universe) and I wanted a manager who was seen as a better all around coach here.

Spring Training was a complete disaster though as Jim Piersall went down with a knee tear with three games left to go and is now out for eight months! We didn’t really plan for this as we don’t have a great defensive outfielder in the system right now... except our top prospect Paul Blair who was here back when I came in in '62. Blair still has some to go with his hitting but he’s an excellent defensive center fielder. I am going to give him a chance here as we don’t really have any options, and I want him to see what he can do against major league pitching. I was going to give him another year in the minors, but my situation calls on him to help us out.

Next I will preview the 1964 New York Mets and then back to some games!

JimMorrison · 06-23-2024, 12:05 AM

The 1964 Mets Hitters

Catchers:

Jerry Grote, 21 (.245 AVG, 94 OPS+, 1.7 WAR) - Coming into last season, Grote was the backup for us, but early on it was obvious that Grote was the starter. Defensively Grote is not amazing, but he is solid and can block and frame pretty well. His offense was also a lot better than expected last year and if Grote can stay as an average hitter - I will be very happy with that.

Hobie Landrith, 34 (.224 AVG, 85 OPS+, 1.1 WAR) - Landrith is still on the team and actually is a pretty good backup option for us. I honestly may underrate Hobie a bit, as he was perfectly fine for us last year and was much improved off of his 64 OPS+ 1962 season. He also is a big clubhouse guy and he’s a good guy to have around the team.

Infield:

Ed Kranepool, 1B, 19 (.285 AVG, 120 OPS+, 3.2 WAR) - Still amazing that Kranepool is only 19 and producing as well as he has been for us. After selecting Conigliaro in the first round, we knew we’d have to move some starters around and now Kranepool will take the starting first base spot for us. He’s really not any worse defensively than Ernie Banks was and it’s not like he was a great outfielder anyways. Ed has grown a lot in these past two years, and I think he can be the third star behind Morgan and Conigliaro!

Joe Morgan, 2B, 20 (.271 AVG, 159 OPS+, 29 HR, 7.0 WAR) - The NL Rookie of the Year got even better in the offseason as we had him work on his defense at second. I still don’t think he’ll ever be a great defender, but I’d now consider him a good one, which is a win for us. Joe is really more known for his offense and wow can he hit the cover off the ball. OSA has him as the league’s best second basemen already, and I really would not be surprised to see him competing for an NL MVP here!

Chico Fernandez, 3B, 32 (.278 AVG, 103 OPS+, 1.1 WAR in 57 games for the Mets) - Chico was a great acquisition at the deadline last year and I have a lot more faith in him than I ever had with Zimmer at third. I do worry that there will be a decline coming and we won’t see him hit like last year, but his defense is always going to make him valuable and I still think he can be an ok hitter for us. (Don Zimmer is still unsigned on Opening Day)

Roy McMillan, SS, 34 (.205 AVG, 63 OPS+, 0.8 WAR in 56 games for the Mets) - I really tried to find a better option at short but it seems we are stuck with Roy this year. McMillan gave us a lot of value with his defense but his offense was putrid and I can’t have someone out there who can’t hit. He will be competing with Johnny Logan for playing time, and while I do think he’s better - I will be riding with the better hitter cause we need some production at this spot!

Johnny Logan, SS, 36 (.065 AVG, -31 OPS+, -0.3 WAR in 37 games with Milwaukee) - Yeah, those stats don’t give me much confidence but our scouts actually do like him more than McMillan as a hitter. I think Logan may have a little left to give and I really could not find a better option to try at short. It’s the biggest need on the team and we will just have to see if this McMillan/Logan combination can do anything in ‘64.

Outfielders:

Tony Conigliaro, LF, 19 (No stats) - When Tony fell to us at #4 in the draft, I was a very happy GM. Our outfield was our biggest strength last year and we have now revamped it even more. Conigliaro has a great all around offensive game and will hit for contact, power and has a great eye too. His defense in left should also be pretty solid and he’s an improvement over Kranepool there too. I am not really worried about his transition to the big leagues and I think by the end of the season, he will be seen as the second best player on the team next to Morgan.

Paul Blair, CF, 20 (.239 AVG. 89 OPS+, 0.8 WAR in AAA Buffalo) - Blair is going to be the true x-factor of this team and if he can play great defense and hit alright, we could be in good shape. The Piersall injury has completely ruined my plans to wait for Blair - but now is his time to show me something. He does expect to be a starter so maybe he is ready, I am just very nervous.

Jesus Alou, RF, 22 (.288 AVG, 103 OPS+, 1.1 WAR) - Since getting Alou in the Jim Hickman trade to the Giants, I’ve expected more from him. I love his skill set but his numbers never really match his ability. I think this has to be a big year for him to prove to me he can be a big contributor to the team. If he can just be an above average hitter who can be a solid lead-off guy, I’ll be happy. But deep down I still see some star potential in him, I just don’t know if he’ll ever get there.

Joe Christopher, RF, 28 (.238 AVG, 94 OPS+ 0.2 WAR in 34 games) - Christopher was mostly a minor leaguer but did get called up for a stint and was fine. He is going to be our backup corner outfielder with some solid hitting ability. He does expect to be a starter, but with Tony and Alou there, he really has no shot. Maybe he can show more than he has previously but he’s the least of my worries though.

The 1964 Mets Pitchers

Rotation:

Ray Washburn, 25 (10-19, 3.83 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 3.0 WAR) - Washburn was really frustrating in the first half last year, but really heated up in August and September. I would love to see a sub 3.5 ERA season from Ray and if he can do that and pitch 250+ innings, I think this could be a good season for him. He’s not our ace, but he does have value and I am hoping for a bounce back here.

Al Jackson, 28 (10-16, 3.81 ERA, 3.71 FIR, 2.4 WAR) - It’s weird how similar Jackson’s stats are with Washburn’s. Jackson is going to pitch some innings, be a little below average and be fine. He was like that in 1962, he was like that in 1963 and I am expecting the same this season. He doesn’t really have the same ability as Washburn and his pitches are not really rated well at all. I just would like him not to decline and I’ll be happy.

Don Cardwell, 28 (7-5, 3.45 ERA, 4.33 FIP, 0.2 WAR in 13 starts) - Cardwell was our player we got back in the Frank Thomas trade, and he was fine for us post-deadline. I do worry about that FIP and that he may have been lucky last year with his results, but he has been consistently solid for the past couple of years and I could see him being a 3.20 ERA kind of pitcher with some volume. I do think he has less talent than Washburn, but he has much more of a proven track record that could help us out this season.

Roger Craig, 34, (4-3, 2.54 ERA, 2.61 FIP in 4 starts, 22 relief appearances) - Craig will be the starter for now but we do want to see what rookie Jim Nash can do in the pen before we decide to move him to the rotation. Craig was a reliable option for us in the bullpen and made some good starts when we had some injuries last season. My expectations are low, but Craig just needs to throw some innings and be available.

Willie Smith, 25, (10-13, 3.08 ERA, 3.38 FIP, 3.0 WAR) - New manager Danny Gonzalez has Smith as the fifth starter, which I find crazy, but some still don’t really believe in him even after the great season he had last year. I do think there will be some regression this season, but to say that he’s any worse than Jackson or Cardwell is crazy to me. Willie still is a two-way guy, but we didn’t use him really in the outfield and I think he needs to continue his development as a starter moving forward. I love Willie no matter what and I hope his underdog story can continue here in New York regardless of where he is in the rotation.

Bullpen:

We have nine arms to start the season and I won’t go through them all, but I will highlight the main pieces.

Tom Kelley, 20 (42.1 IP, 2.55 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 0.2 WAR) Kelley had a great rookie season performance wise, but I worry he’s going to be a big regression candidate as his FIP was almost a full run higher than his ERA. I think his repertoire is nasty and he will still bring value to the bullpen, but I worry he may need some more time before he can really take over as a main piece here.

Jim Nash, 19, (No stats) - Second round pick Nash had a great spring (9 IP 1.00 ERA) and made the team for Opening Day. I was tempted to put him in the rotation but I feel like it may be early as he hasn’t pitched once in the big leagues. His strikeout ability is great and I do think he could be a good arm for us, I hope he can be in the rotation by the end of the season, but I need to be patient and not rush him into a big spot early. If he can start well in the pen, he may get his chance!

Clem Labine, 37 (4.39 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 0.3 WAR) - Clem was our best reliever in 1962 but took a major step back last season. His FIP shows that he was unlucky with his results, but he is 37 and doesn’t have much left here. I hope he can be somewhere in between his 3.43 ERA ‘62 and his 4.38 ERA ‘63. We don’t have much in the pen and we need some innings from Labine.

Dean Stone and Bob Hendley were both in the bullpen during the Spring, but Hendley will be out for two months after some forearm inflammation. If Stone can have similar seasons to ‘62 and ‘63, I will be happy and I do think he has the arsenal to get guys out consistently. I just worry about an impending decline and knowing us, he could hit it the second he puts on a uniform in New York.

Next we will get to Opening Day! We start the season in Philly for two games and then we open at new Shea Stadium in Queens to play the Pirates for three games. Let’s Go Mets!

JimMorrison · 06-26-2024, 12:15 AM

New York Mets (0-0) vs Philadelphia Phillies (0-0) - April 14-15,1964

The Phillies were a pretty good team in the National League last year, finishing with a 84-78 record. They are led by 22-year-ol sensation CF Dick Allen who won Rookie of the Year and MVP both in ‘62 and came close to getting a second award after posting an even better season. The rest of the lineup is not super talented and their rotation is really only led by one great pitcher, Chris Short. I think the Phils have a way to go here before they can compete for the NL title but Dick Allen is already a superstar!

Opening Day NYM 5 PHI 4 - We started this game hot with four runs in the first three innings, A Chico Fernandes RBI double and a Conigliaro RBI single helped us grab the early lead. Ray Washburn was great for us early, but began to slow down later on. Luckily we were able to hold off a late push from the Phillies in the 8th to win this one 5-4! Washburn (9 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 6 K), Conigliaro (2-5, 2B, RBI, R) Morgan (Solo shot in the 7th)

NYM 5 PHI 0 - We get a six hit complete game shutout from Al Jackson as we take both games in this short series! Paul Blair got his first two career big league hits, one being a two RBI triple in the 7th. A great start to the season here as we sweep our rivals to start the season.

Pittsburgh Pirates (1-1) vs New York Mets (2-0) - April 17-19, 1964

We will now host the Pirates for our first home series at our new ballpark Shea Stadium! After spending our first two seasons at the Polo Grounds, we moved to Queens and now have our own stadium. I hope we can give this ballpark some great memories and titles!

The Pirates started off the year splitting a home series with the Cubs and now head to New York. Pittsburgh was very disappointing last season as they went 77-85 and weren’t ever even close to being near the top. Star RF Roberto Clemente has not been the same hitter for the past two seasons and has declined a good amount for only being 29. The future star of the team looks to be LF Willie Stargell but he led the league in strikeouts in his rookie campaign and needs some work to reach that insanely high potential. The Pirates are an all around talented team, but I don’t know if they have enough to compete with San Fran or Cincinnati.

PIT 6 NYM 5 - Well we blew this game at our new stadium as the Pirates scored three in the ninth to take this first game. Both Chico Fernandez and Roy McMillan had errors that got three runs home early. Tony Conigliaro got his first career homer in this one with a man on in the first inning so that’s cool!

PIT 9 NYM 3

PIT 14 NYM 3

Man, we were not competitive in these last two games and we started our time at Shea by getting swept in embarrassing fashion. In the second game, it was another yin and yang performance from Washburn as he blew up and gives up six runs in five innings here.

We finished this opening week at 2-3 and it was a frustrating way to start our season to get swept this early on. We next host the Phillies for two more games, we then continue our homestand against the Cubs for two more and then head to Pittsburgh for four games to close out the week.

We need to get revenge on Pittsburgh as I feel like we can never do well against them. I just went back and looked and it’s even worse than I thought. Last season we were 4-14 against the Pirates and were swept in three separate series. Yikes!

JimMorrison · 06-27-2024, 11:06 PM

Philadelphia Phillies (0-5) vs New York Mets (2-3) - April 20-21, 1964

Since we last saw the Phillies a week ago, they traveled to Chicago and got swept by the Cubs. They have scored 13 runs and allowed 27 in their first five games, but it is still super early and we cannot play down to these guys. Splitting this two game series here would be fine by me.

PHI 1 NYM 2 - We get our first ever win at Shea! Al Jackson again dominated this Phils lineup as he went seven innings and only allowed one run here. Our bullpen closed out the rest of this and Dick Donovan came in and got the save! We only had one extra base hit all game which was a 4th inning Grote double, but we got two big RBI singles from Chico Fernandez (he’s been on fire) and Ray McMillan to give us the lead and the win here.

PHI 8 NYM 9 - Willie Smith’s first start of the season didn’t go great, but a walk-off two run single from scorching Chico Fernandez got us the win again! Joe Morgan was excellent in this one as he went 2-4 with two doubles, a walk, two RBIs and three runs.

Chico Fernandez in our first seven games - .385 AVG, 157 OPS+ 8 RBI

Chicago Cubs (5-1) vs New York Mets (4-3) - April 22-23, 1964

The Cubs have been excellent to start the season mostly off their pitching as they have only allowed 16 runs in 6 games. Former Met Frank Thomas is hitting fourth for them and has struggled so far with a 55 OPS+. Don Cardwell will be facing his former team in the first game as well so there is some overlap here for both teams. The Cubs haven’t finished with an above .500 record in 12 years so this start has gotten the Chicago fans excited for sure.

CHC 3 NYM 2 (13) - Tough loss here as we lose off a Ron Santo two run shot in the 13th. We did get a run in the bottom of the inning, but Tony Conigliaro grounded out with a man on first.

CHC 3 NYM 10 - Huge game for our offense as Tony Conigliaro goes off with a 2-5 day and a massive grand slam in the second inning to give us a 7-0 lead. Joe Morgan was also excellent as he had 2 RBIs and scored three runs. Starter Roger Craig was good too as he only allowed two runs in six innings of work. I think this Morgan/Conigliaro combo can really take us places as both guys have been ridiculous to start the season here.

New York Mets (5-4) vs Pittsburgh Pirates (4-4) - April 24-26, 1964

After sweeping us back in New York, they then lost three straight games - one in Chicago and two in Philly. The Pirates could be 0-161 and I still wouldn’t expect to win games, they just always seem to beat up on us no matter what. This will be a four game set with our first doubleheader on Sunday and I’d love to split this one too! Paul Blair got hurt in our last game and will be out for a week - with nobody on the roster we had to call up ‘62 seventh round pick Mike Fiore to play a little defense at center for us. I hope he can contribute a bit out there but I am not expecting anything for the time being.

NYM 1 PIT 8

NYM 8 PIT 2

NYM 11 PIT 5

NYM 3 PIT 0

The first game was another rough Ray Washburn outing and he continues to disappoint me as the games go on here. Luckily our offense completely exploded in the next two games as Ed Kranepool went a combined 8-11 with four RBIs and six runs in both games! The final game was an unexpected spot start from second round pick Jim Nash. Nash was excellent in his eight innings of work and allowed no runs and six hits in Pittsburgh.

Week Two Thoughts: Our offense has been ridiculous as we now lead the NL in runs scored with 67 in 13 games. Our starters have also been great as they are third in the NL in ERA and have all done well except Ray Washburn and his 7.36 ERA... The bullpen though has been a disaster and three pitchers have an ERA over 10!

So yeah sitting at 8-5 and third in the NL, I really cannot complain, this isn’t sustainable but I still like seeing some wins regardless. Ed Kranepool was the NL Player of the Week as he went 18-39, .462 AVG with 2 HR, 12 R and 8 RBIs. It’s nice to see a 6-2 week for the team and now we have to keep it up against some better teams.

Next week we head west to face the St. Louis Cardinals for two games, then we head out to Cincy to play the defending World Series champion Reds for four games over the weekend. Should be a good test to see if this team is more like the ‘63 Mets or has the chance to be something a lot better that could shock the baseball world!

JimMorrison · 07-01-2024, 03:26 PM

New York Mets (8-5) vs St. Louis Cardinals (6-6) - April 28-29, 1964

The Cardinals were the definition of mediocre last season, finishing 80-82 and 26 games back of first place. SP Ray Sadecki has been their star so far and he has room to grow as well at only 23. They just don’t have that electric hitter and I can’t see their lineup thriving a ton. This will be a good chance for us to split a short two game set.

NYM 1 STL 3

NYM 6 STL 4

The Cards pitching staff was great in the first game, only allowing six hits and one run. Tony hit a solo shot to give us the 1-0 lead in the sixth, but we unraveled in the eight and gave up three runs to lose this one. Don Cardwell was greatin this one until that eighth inning and sometimes I feel like we have these guys in games longer than they need to be.

Game two was a much more impressive win as a two run shot from Tony gave us the early lead in the first inning. Then with the game tied at 3 in the fourth, Jerry Grote hit a big two run homer that would give us the lead that we somehow were able to hold onto. Ray Washburn went eight innings against his old team and settled down after the second inning to get his second win. Dean Stone got his first save of the year but also gave up a run. This bullpen is still a huge problem.

New York Mets (9-6) vs Cincinnati Reds (9-7) - May 1-3, 1964

The Reds have not been as impressive to start the ‘64 season. Ace Jim Maloney tore his UCL heading into the playoffs last season and won’t be back till 1965 so their rotation has been a lot weaker without him. With reigning MVP Frank Robinson and a young Pete Rose who was a 6 WAR player last year, I think they’ll be fine, but they will still have to fight hard to win another pennant.

NYM 6 CIN 1

NYM 1 CIN 3

Sunday’s doubleheader...

NYM 1 CIN 3

NYM 3 CIN 1

A lot of 3-1 games in Cincy but we split a big four game series against the defending champs! Al Jackson has been incredible to start the season and was dominant in our 6-1 win to open the series. (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4K) Roger Craig had a good start in the second game, but he was outpitched by 23-year-old Sam Ellis who is looking like a valuable starter for this Reds team. We had our chances in the third game, but we could only get one run off our nine hits and Jim O’Toole pitched well in a complete game for Cincy. A Frank Robinson three run shot in the first gave them the lead and we just couldn’t get string hits together at teh right times. The final game was a Willie Smith masterclass as he went a full nine innings, allowing a run and seven hits. A Roy McMillan two run single brought in two runs and Jesus Alou drove in another. Smith has a 2.62 ERA in three starts so far and is proving that he can be an important piece for this team.

Week Three Thoughts - We finish the week with a 3-3 record and are still sitting three games over .500 and are 2nd in the NL. Our best hitter so far this season has been rookie Tony Conigliaro as he’s been fantastic and has made an immediate impact on the team. (.329 AVG, 5 HR, 165 OPS+) Chico Fernandez has also stayed hot and is somehow hitting .358, this does seem like a sample size issue though. I’m pretty happy with the way we’ve started the season, and I can see us fighting to get under that 90 loss mark.

April Award Winners:

AL
Hitter of the Month: LF Roger Maris (NY Yankees) - 4 HR, 14 RBI, .386 AVG
Pitcher of the Month: SP Al Downing (Detroit) - 3-0, 0.00 ERA, 26 K
Rookie of the Month: 2B Joe Foy (Washington) - .311 AVG, 6 R, 5 RBI

NL
Hitter of the Month: LF Willie McCovey (San Francisco) - 5 HR, 14 RBI, .309 AVG
Pitcher of the Month: SP Jim O’Toole (Cincinnati) - 3-0, 0.28 ERA
Rookie of the Month: RP John Gelnar (Chi Cubs) - 3-0, 1.00 ERA

April Best Teams: New York Yankees(9-3), San Francisco Giants (11-4), New York Mets (9-6)

April Worst Teams: Balitmore Orioles (4-8), Philadelphia Phillies (5-10), Houston Colt 45’s (4-12)

We play eight games in seven days next week as we head west to Milwaukee for two games, come back home to host Cincy again for two more games and then we host the Cardinals for four games with a Sunday doubleheader. These will be some tough games and I’d like continue this good start here!

JimMorrison · 07-06-2024, 01:52 PM

New York Mets (11-8) vs Milwaukee Brewers (10-7) - May 4-5, 1964

The Braves have started the year off right around where they were last season, as an above average team that just doesn’t have enough yet to win a pennant. 23-year-old Joe Torre has really blossomed to start the season though as he’s hitting .453 and has 1.6 WAR already! The Braves also now have Ken Johnson who they got at the trade deadline from Houston and he now looks to be the ace of this team. He was pretty great for the Braves in his 13 starts last year and will definitely help them try to push into the top of the NL.

NYM 3 MIL 8

NYM 11 MIL 1

A tale of two games here in Milwaukee as Washburn’s struggles continue for us. All eight runs in the first game were on Washburn even if only five of them were earned. He continues to struggle badly and he has not had a game where he has given up less than three runs in a start. We could only manage three hits in this one and no surprise that one of them was from Conigliaro who seems to find a way to contribute in every contest.

Game two was a spot start from rookie Jim Nash and he was again fantastic. He went almost seven innings in this one and gave up no runs and five hits. I think he’s showing he can easily fit into this rotation. RF Joe Christopher hit a grand slam in the fifth to help us in a dominant win. Very happy with this win and it shows we can compete against better teams in the National League.

Cincinnati Reds (12-10) vs New York Mets (12-9) - May 6-7, 1964

The Reds have not been their dominant selves so far this season but I can’t see them out of it for much longer here as the talent is always there. Both Pete Rose and Frank Robinson have hit fine, but not near the same MVP levels that they were at last season. Jim O’Toole has been incredible though and has a 0.44 ERA in five starts but luckily I think we’ll miss him in this short two game set.

CIN 1 NYM 5

CIN 4 NYM 3

I feel like we split all of these two game series but I am perfectly happy to sit a couple games over .500 right now! The first game was another ridiculous outing from Al Jackson who threw a complete game and only gave up one run in the eighth. He now is 5-0 with a 1.15 ERA and has been awesome. I know he got hot last season too, but even at his best then, he was never this great. I am expecting a fall off soon but if he can keep this up, he could be a great trade piece if we fall out of contention by the deadline (which I still expect)

Game two was tough as we blew an early 3-0 lead and lost this one as Roger Craig fell apart in the sixth and gave up four runs. Kranepool was great today as he went 3-4 with a two run homer and a big double too.

Just something I’ve noticed as well, Morgan’s defense has been a complete game changer here as his zone rating ended at -9.6 in ‘63 while in ‘64 his ZR is already a +4.4 in limited time. Even if that regresses, it’s really cool that he’s definitely a positive defender and can contribute with more than just his bat.

St. Louis Cardinals (10-11) vs New York Mets (13-10) - May 8-10, 1964

We last saw the Cards in late April and split a short two game set in Missouri. Now we host them for four games at Shea and I am hoping to get something going here. St. Louis was a disappointment last season as they sat at 80-82 and definitely underperformed their talent, but I still can’t see these guys getting to San Fran or Cincy’s level at the moment. Their offense has been ninth in the NL in runs scored and they just have been carried by their really solid rotation.

STL 9 NYM 3

STL 7 NYM 3

A rough first two games in Queens as the Cardinals completely jumped on our pitchers. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought up those offensive statistics... Both Cardwell and former Card Washburn were pitiful in their starts, even though three of Washburn’s six runs were unearned. We’ve been 4-7 at our new home this season and 9-5 on the road which is a weird split and I am hoping to win more at Shea!

Some other news before our Sunday doubleheader, Paul Blair is back from his injury and we brought down Mike Fiore to AAA Buffalo who hit .133 in 15 AB for the Mets. Blair has struggled but I am hoping he can hit the ball a bit better after coming back here.

STL 12 NYM 5

STL 4 NYM 2

The clock has struck midnight and the Mets have shown more shades of ‘63 than a new team here. Willie Smith wasn’t good in his start, giving up five runs in six innings, but our bullpen completely blew this one and has been the worst aspect of our team by far. Dick Donovan gave up six more in the eighth and we had no chance of coming back.

Jay Hook started game two as our starters were all pretty tired after all these games and he wasn’t great. Bob Gibson went off in NY though as he threw a complete game and only gave up two runs on six hits in this one. Our big three of Morgan, Conigliaro and Kranepool have been great and consistent, but we just cannot generate runs from other hitters at the moment.

Week Four Thoughts: A 2-6 week has moved us from third in the NL to fifth in the blink of an eye. The series against the Cards was a complete disaster and we cannot afford to lose four games in a row like that if we want to have even a chance of competing. Next week does not get any easier here as we host Milwaukee for three games, and then we head west for a long road trip for a five game series in San Fran (four games are next week, one is the week after)

JimMorrison · 07-06-2024, 11:25 PM

Milwaukee Braves (14-11) vs New York Mets (13-14) - May 12-14, 1964

We split our first series against the Braves last week in Milwaukee but now we host them in New York. While they have been decent so far, the Giants are off to a crazy 20-6 start in the National League and I think it’s going to take a lot of work to get to their level. These Mets need to break this five game losing streak here as I want to still feel like we have a shot to make some noise early on this season.

MIL 6 NYM 10

MIL 9 NYM 7

MIL 4 NYM 2

Yikes, we started this series off with a great win as Al Jackson went all nine and held the Braves to two runs up until he gave up four more runs in the ninth, Luckily we were already up big after a great Chico Fernandez game as he went 4-5 with four RBIs and a three run homer.

The other two games were pretty frustrating as we could have won either of these. Game two was a 7-7 game going into the ninth and Dean Stone lost the game for us, giving up a back to back RBi singles and we couldn’t tie it in the bottom of the ninth. Game three was a tough outing for us as Denny Lemaster pitched great in eight innings of work. Washburn actually pitched well for us in this one until the seventh where he completely fell apart and gave up the four runs that would lose us this one. Our manager keeps him in the game way too long but looking at our terrible bullpen, I can’t really blame him there.

We now head west to start our long road trip in... San Francisco!! So we’ve lost six of our last seven games and now we head to the other coast to face the best team in all of baseball? Great...

New York Mets (14-16) vs San Francisco Giants (22-7) - May 15-18

This is somehow a five game series, but four of these games are during this week so I will cover the last game for week six. The Giants were no slouches last season at 98-64, but they were eight games back of the Reds and Cincy was just that much better. This season they look a lot different and seem to be on a mission to repeat their championship in 1962. Willie McCovey has turned into one of the best players in baseball this season as he rocks a .327 average, 9 homers and a 197 OPS+. Felipe Alou, Orlando Cepeda and Willie Mays all have a 140 OPS+ or better and they have just been stellar. Juan Marichal got hurt back last September and will most likely miss a couple more months but even without him, their rotation has been great too with a combined 2.63 ERA. They are just an all around great roster and it will be interesting if this run can continue.

NYM 8 SF 2

NYM 4 SF 5

NYM 3 SF 7

NYM 0 SF 14

These Mets went from looking pretty solid to being a complete joke in the span of four games. The definition of a downward spiral. We still have the third most runs scored in the NL and are also top four in every single offensive category. Everything else has been pretty suspect, mainly our mediocre rotation and our putrid bullpen. I don’t really have much more to say after this one as this is the second week in a row where we end the week with a horrible series. At least we got one win this time?

We start next week with one last game against the Giants, then we head down to LA for three more games. Then we end the week in Texas, playing four games against the still pretty bad Colt 45’s. I don’t expect a great time in California, but things should hopefully improve against Houston.

JimMorrison · 07-08-2024, 04:11 PM

New York Mets (15-19) vs San Francisco Giants (25-8) - May 18, 1964

The final game of our five game series in the Bay to start the week is actually pretty vital. I have no issue going 2-3 here but 1-4 just seems pretty terrible in comparison. With the way the team is playing, we need all the wins we can get.

NYM 1 SF 5

Not what we needed at all, the offense was completely shut down by Billy Hoeft who went eight strong innings giving up one run and five hits. Don Cardwell wasn’t great for us in this one, but he’s going to have some good and some bad and he has been completely serviceable for us so far.

New York Mets (15-20) vs Los Angeles Dodgers (15-18) - May 19-21, 1964

It’s really weird to see such a talented Dodgers team struggle this badly so far. Their offense has been one of the worst in the National League and while their main aces have been great (Koufax, Drysdale) the rest haven’t been good either. CF Ron Fairly really has broken out at the age of 25, but other than him there really hasn’t been any other notable hitters right now in LA.

NYM 2 LAD 3

NYM 0 LAD 2

NYM 5 LAD 4

A really tough series in LA as we lose two close games and end the series with a close win. We are now 7-16 in May and have lost eight of our last ten games. I’m getting pretty frustrated but this four game series against the Colt 45’s will be a huge test for this team to see if we can turn this bad form around.

New York Mets (16-22) vs Houston Colt 45’s (13-24) - May 22-24, 1964

Houston had a miserable April going 4-12 but have since been 9-12 in May and have really been competitive in games for the first time as a team. Rookie Cleon Jones has been on fire as he’s hit .330 with a 144 OPS+ and 2.8 WAR already. He’s looked a lot better than Morgan has this season actually who we picked one spot ahead of too. Morgan is still better on paper, but Jones has burst into the majors and looks to be Houston’s first superstar.

NYM 3 HOU 7

NYM 4 HOU 1 (10)

NYM 5 HOU 1

NYM 12 HOU 1

After a tough first game, we really held it together over the next three games as our pitching and hitting was on point. Al Jackson wasn’t great in game one but our bullpen is really what lost us the game as they gave up four of the seven Houston runs. The good thing was Cardwell, Jim Nash and even Washburn were all excellent in their outings and shut down this Colt 45’s lineup. Washburn has been improved in his past two starts and only gave up three runs in 16 innings of work so that’s been good. Jim Nash is still not in the rotation but in his three spot starts this year, he has a 0.38 ERA and is 3-0 so I may start pushing for him to get more starts here since he’s been great.

Jesus Alou went 6-6 in our last game here too which was really impressive and currently is second in the NL in batting average. He’s started the season well and I am hoping this can be a norm for him after two subpar seasons in ‘62 and ‘63. I really love his style as a hitter but it’s just never amounted to great results until now. If he can stay this great, our offense really has a ton of potential with Morgan, Conigliaro, Kranepool and now Alou.

Week Six Thoughts: After a 1-4 start to the week, we win three in a row in Houston to leave us back to 4-4 and four games back of an even record. The real issue with this team is the bullpen and we just do not have the arms to give us solid innings. Tom Kelley is the only arm that has an ERA under 5. He has struggled with a 4.91 ERA but his FIP is at 2.75 and I think with some better defense and luck, he can get better soon. We need to look at a reliable option at the deadline maybe because this is our kryptonite and we cannot keep expecting our starters to carry the entire load for us here.

We start next week by heading to Chicago to play the Cubs for three games, then we finally head back to Queens for a four game weekend series against the Giants. Looking at the standings, we are really only 2 games back of fifth place and there are a lot of teams sitting around .500 in the NL. I just don’t want to fall off into the lower part of the standings yet, and I’d love to see this team try to stay as relevant as possible.

JimMorrison · 07-21-2024, 09:39 PM

New York Mets (19-23) vs Chicago Cubs (18-19) - May 26-28, 1964

We last played the Cubs back at the end of April and split a short two game series. Since then, they’ve been pretty mediocre and still are sitting around .500. Ron Santo and Billy Williams have been great hitters for the Cubs, but the rest of the lineup has been pretty bad, especially former Met Frank Thomas, who sits at a 78 OPS+ with .210 AVG. 62’ first round pick Bobby Tolan is now up in the majors too and looks to be a decent contributor already as well. It would be great to win this three game series here.

NYM 4 CHC 5

NYM 5 CHC 0

NYM 3 CHC 4 (13)

A tough series in Chicago that ends in a close 13 inning loss. We took a close loss off a Tom Kelley blown save in game one, but Al Jackson pitched very well in the second game, allowing only two hits and no runs in six innings. The bullpen was also great here too, but we just couldn’t close out a series win in the last game. Our manager had Clem Labine in for extras and kept him in way longer than I would have liked. Labine was great in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth, but by the thirteenth, he didn’t have much left and gave the game away here.

San Francisco Giants (29-15) vs New York Mets (20-25) - May 29-31, 1964

Two weeks ago, we saw the Giants in San Fran for a four game set and it didn’t go well, as we lost three of four. The Giants have still been great, but they’ve been 3-7 in their last ten games and both Milwaukee and St. Louis has been gaining on them so far. I still see them as one of the best teams in baseball so I wouldn’t be too worried for them here, I just hope we can catch them when they seem vulnerable here.

SF 5 NYM 6

SF 4 NYM 2

SF 0 NYM 1

SF 3 NYM 4

A great series at Shea gets us three wins against the best team in the National League. Yes every win was close, but these wins show that the team can compete against the best and that they aren’t close to that pitiful ‘62 team. Between Joe Morgan and Tony Conigliaro, they combined for 5.2 WAR in May and have both been the superstars we needed in Queens.

Moving forward, I am going to move this save along by reviewing on a month to month basis as I care most about the macro-level decisions and progress with this team vs the day to day stuff. Doing longer month by month updates seems like a more interesting way to write and show the team instead of fretting over every game in the season.

Next time, I will cover the month of June as we move closer to the all-star break!

JimMorrison · 07-23-2024, 10:31 PM

Series Results:

3 vs Houston Colt 45’s (2-1), 4 vs LA Dodgers (1-3)

3 vs Chicago Cubs (1-2), 4 @ Philadelphia Phillies (4-0)

3 @ Pittsburgh Pirates (0-3), 4 vs Philadelphia Phillies (2-2)

3 vs Pittsburgh Pirates (3-0), 4 @ Milwaukee Braves (2-2)

2 @ San Francisco Giants (2-0)

Mets June Record: 17-13, .566 PCT

Mets Overall Record: 40-39, .506 PCT

Events:

6/15/1964 - Tony Conigliaro wins Player of the Week as he hit .518, had three homers and nine RBIs. He continues to build on his excellent rookie season!

7/1/1964 - Tony Conigliaro also wins Rookie of the Month after a ridiculous June with a .345 AVG, 8 HR and 24 RBI. It can not be understated how good Tony has been for us and has outshined even Joe Morgan, who has still looked great.

Who’s Hot? - Tony Conigliaro (182 OPS+, 8 HR, 1.8 WAR), Joe Morgan (.319 AVG, 166 OPS+, 1.3 WAR), Ray Washburn (6 GS, 3-2, 1.82 ERA, 2.75 FIP), Tom Kelley (11 G, 1-1, 1.84 ERA, 2 SV)

Who’s Cold? - Paul Blair (21 OPS+, .160 AVG, 1 HR), Ed Kranepool (87 OPS+, .286 AVG, 1 HR), Don Cardwell (5 GS, 3-1, 4.72 ERA), Dean Stone (8 G, 3-2, 5.84 ERA)

June Thoughts:

It’s been a pretty great month for the Mets as we went 17-13 and had a five game winning streak at one point in late June. Both Conigliaro and Morgan are proving to be the first stars we have as a franchise, and some other players that I have been waiting on have finally shown something too.

Jesus Alou has been the real breakout here as we have been waiting for him to play up to his potential since ‘62 and he is finally hitting for contact really well. His .352 AVG and solid defense have propelled him to be one of our better players and he is exactly the type of player we need to make this team relevant.

I’ve been really happy with Ray Washburn as well, he has finally looked to be the solid pitcher we wanted when we got him back at the ‘62 deadline. He really struggled again to start the year but June has been a big turnaround and his 3.47 ERA is league average at this point. He also will give us a ton of innings which is vital because our bullpen is still a massive weakness on the team.

We are currently fourth in the National League and while we are eight back of the first place Giants, I am ecstatic that we are staying around .500 towards the all-star break. I don’t think this is sustainable, but if Morgan and Tony keep playing like superstars and the rest of our lineup holds up, there’s a real chance that this could be a legit average major league roster. We have another 28 games to play in July and we should have some all-stars to celebrate in Queens as well!

JimMorrison · 07-27-2024, 02:53 PM

Series Results:

2 @ Houston Colt 45’s (1-1) , 3 @ Los Angeles Dodgers (1-2)

All-Star Game 5-0 W vs AL (NY Mets are 42-42 at break), 3 vs St. Louis Cardinals (2-1), 2 vs Cincinnati Reds (2-0)

1 vs Cincinnati Reds (1-0), 3 @ Chicago Cubs (2-1), 4 @ St. Louis Cardinals (2-2)

3 @ Cincinnati Reds (2-1) , 4 vs Milwaukee Braves (3-1),

2 vs LA Dodgers (1-1), 1 vs Houston Colt 45’s (1-0)

Mets June Record: 18-10, .642 PCT

Mets Overall Record: 58-49, .542 PCT

Events:

7/5/1964 - The New York Mets have three all-stars! 2B Joe Morgan, LF Tony Conigliaro and SP Al Jackson! Morgan has now made it in each of his first two seasons while Al Jackson and rookie Tony Congiliaro make their first appearance.

7/12/1964 - SP Willie Smith sprained his UCL and will be out for four weeks. Jim Nash will move from the bullpen to the fifth starter and he has been good in his six starts so far. I have called up Craig Anderson to take Nash’s bullpen spot. Anderson has mostly been minor league depth for us, but did come up in ‘62 and ‘63 to make an appearance or two.

7/20/1964 - Joe Morgan wins NL Player of the Week as he goes 14-28 with 3 homers and 6 RBI. Morgan is on pace for an almost 10 WAR season for us and has really heated up after a slower April and May.

TRADE DEADLINE!

7/31/1964 - We made two big trades at the deadline, one to shore up our bullpen and one to address our problems at shortstop.

The New York Mets trade 28-year-old CF Joe Christopher and 37-year-old 3B Johnny Logan to the Los Angeles Dodgers for 31-year-old LHP Hal Woodeshick and 35-year-old RHP Ryne Duren.

This trade was massive as we get two relievers that will help us immediately and be an upgrade over most of our bullpen. We have been great at a lot of things this season, but our bullpen is still terrible, ranked last in the NL. Both Duren and Woodeshick were having great seasons and all we had to give up was two depth pieces on the team. Christopher was a solid backup option, but we have LF Chirs Coletta for now who can hold down things and play some solid defense. Logan was our utility infielder but he couldn’t hit and we were looking to upgrade his spot anyways moving forward. Yes we do lose some depth on our bench, but I think the bullpen needed a boost, especially if we are going to be competing for the pennant!

The New York Mets trade 21-year-old RHP George Culver to the Chicago White Sox for 30-year-old Luis Aparicio.

Culver was really the only prospect we had in our system as the past two drafts did not have a ton of depth in them, but I wasn’t his biggest fan. He’s been fine in AAA Buffalo, but I didn’t really see him ever becoming a big part of the rotation. He could be more of a backend starter, but he still has some developing to do before he’ll get there.

Aparicio has been really bad for the White Sox and holds a 59 OPS+, but his abilities far outshine his production and he won’t be asked to do as much for us. SS Roy McMillan has not been any better offensively than Aparicio and moving forward, we can have Roy as the utility infielder and slide Aparicio to short for now. I do see a better time for Luis now in NY and I don’t need him to be a major contributor offensively. I’m hoping he can help out our issues with short for now!

8/1/1964 - Don Cardwell is named NL Pitcher of the Month after an insane 6-0 record in six starts, a 2.11 ERA and a 2.75 FIP. Just a dominant month for Cardwell that has helped propel us to be a team fighting for the pennant!

Who’s Hot? - Joe Morgan (.381 AVG, 5 HR, 213 OPS+), Paul Blair (.250 AVG, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 116 OPS+, this is hot compared to what he’s been doing previously!)Roger Craig (4 GS, 2-0, 1.88 ERA, 2.84 FIP), Don Cardwell (6-0, 2.11 ERA, 2.75 FIP).

Who’s Cold? - Chico Fernandez (.194 AVG, 38 OPS+, knew regression was coming but I’ve still been super happy with how Chico has looked this season), Jesus Alou (.268 AVG, 88 OPS+, if Alou isn’t hitting for contact, he will struggle but I trust him to bounce back), Jim Nash (3 G, 2 GS, 0-1, 8.16 ERA) , Tom Kelley (10 G, 2-2, 5.93 ERA).

July Thoughts: After entering the all-star break at 42-42, we finish the month going 16-7 and fly into third place in the National League, only three games back of the Cardinals. If it weren’t for our 14-20 record in May, this team could honestly be in first place in the NL!

I think we have made huge moves in our bullpen as Duren and Woodeshick will be two good arms on top of Kelley that can help us win close games. The rotation is still not great, but there have been no real weak links as Jackson, Cardwell and Washburn have been pretty solid thus far and our starters do have a 3.35 ERA, third in the NL.

Our offense has been great and been the main reason we are nine games over .500 heading into August. Other than homers, we are ranked third in the NL in offensive categories like average, OPS, runs scored and OBP. Yes, Morgan and Congiliaro have been insane this season, but Kranepool, Alou and Fernandez have been solid hitters for us that have helped us get to this point. There is no way we’d be this close to contention without these second level guys here and I am happy that some of my previous moves have worked pretty well.

I still don’t think this team is going to keep winning like this and get to a point where we sit at first in the NL, but if we can continue to be solid, I’d love to be around 83-87 wins. August will be a shorter month for us as we only play 25 games and have eight off days and two doubleheaders. We face an easier schedule too against weaker teams like Houston, Chicago, Philly and Pittsburgh. There is a chance to sit in first if we can have another dominant month but I still don’t know if I can believe in this team on paper. August will prove if we have what it takes to make a run for the NL, or if we have a little ways to go.

JimMorrison · 08-01-2024, 02:06 PM

August 1964

Series Results:

3 vs Houston Colt 45’s (2-1)

2 vs San Francisco Giants (1-1), 3 @ Philadelphia Phillies (2-1)

2 @ Pittsburgh Pirates (0-2), 3 vs Philadelphia Phillies (2-1)

3 vs Pittsburgh Pirates (1-2), 4 vs Chicago Cubs (1-3)

2 @ Cincinnati Reds (0-2), 3 @ Chicago Cubs (1-2)

Mets August Record: 10-15, .400 PCT

Mets Overall Record: 68-64, .542 PCT

Events:
8/13/1964 - Willie Smith comes back from injury after going down in July with a sprained UCL. He’s not been great this season, but we do need him in that fifth spot for now.

Who’s Hot?
Joe Morgan (.365 AVG, 236 OPS+, 5 HR, this is still Joe’s team and he has been one of the best hitters in all of baseball in July and now August), Bob Hendley (4 GS, 2-2, 3.24 ERA).

Besides Morgan and Congiliaro, not one other hitter had an OPS+ over 100 for the month. Same with our starters as Wasburn, Jackson, Cardwell and others are all under an ERA+ of 100.

Who’s Cold?
Jerry Grote (.133 AVG, 2 OPS+), Luis Aparicio (.205 AVG, 40 OPS+), Ed Kranepool (.211 AVG, 62 OPS+)

All of our offensive pieces that were solid in July have completely fallen apart in August and it’s been the main reason why we’ve tumbled down the standings this month.

August Thoughts: A tough month where we dropped from third place in the NL and two games back of first, to now fifth place in the NL and 4.5 games back of first. It is still a really close race with 30 games to go, but I still think we’d need a miraculous run to win the pennant. As much as I’ve been frustrated, we have 68 wins with 30 games to go while last season we had 68 wins all season. This season has still been a success and has shown me this team has some potential, but we will need some trades and good draft picks in the winter.

The other cool development is the MVP case for Joe Morgan! He’s been scorching hot these past two months and he currently leads the National League in AVG, OBP, OPS and WAR. If he can keep this up, I really think he has to be the favorite to win it this year and it would be a great story here. Tony has slowed down since his ridiculous start to the season, but he is still on pace for a league leading 41 homers and has been great regardless of his slight regression.

Our staff has been pretty good but I really want to find an ace that can win us games. Al Jackson, Don Cardwell and Ray Washburn have all had good seasons for us and have made a big impact, but we need a better option to lead us to the pennant. Roger Craig has emerged as a really solid fourth starter for us this season, but the fifth spot has been rough as Willie Smith has been hurt and even when healthy, he’s not been at his ‘63 level.

Our bullpen has still been the worst in the NL, but Woodeshick and Duren have helped us out so far, and they will be around to help out more next season as well.

I did expect a fall from grace here, but I cannot be too sad as this team has definitely exceeded my expectations and I would love to finish the season above .500. These last 30 games will be tough as we play the Dodgers, Giants and Cardinals a bunch and they are all fighting for the pennant. Just get me to 82 wins and I’ll be satisfied!

06-10-2024, 12:20 PM	#21
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	Week Fourteen and Fifteen 1963 Week Fourteen 1963: Mets (33-54) vs Los Angeles Dodgers (49-37) - 1-4 L, 5-4 (10) W, 9-12 L Mets (34-56) vs Houston Colt 45’s (29-64) - 4-3 (10) W, 3-2 W Week Fourteen Thoughts: I am pretty ecstatic to have a 3-2 week! It was a really close doubleheader against Houston to end the week but we held on to take both games. I am also fine that we didn’t get swept by the third place Dodgers to start the week as well. We need more weeks like this to stay afloat and not completely drop like Houston has so far this season. Week Fifteen 1963: Mets (36-56) vs Houston Colt 45’s (29-66) - 2-7 L Mets (36-57) vs San Francisco Giants (56-37) - 1-3 L, 0-5 L Mets (36-59) @ Philadelphia Phillies (48-49) - 0-5 L, 3-4 L, 3-4 L, 0-1 L Week Fifteen Thoughts: In my grand delusions, I really thought we could fight and try and improve on our 33-54 all star break record, turns out I had no idea what I was talking about. An 0-7 week has to be the worst of the season and I cannot believe we couldn’t take one or two of these games. We will cover the next two weeks which will lead us to August 5th, 1963. This season needs to end soon so we can make more moves to improve because this team needs a lot more work than I had previously thought. We continue our road trip with three games in San Fran, three in Houston, two in LA and three in Milwaukee. In this trip we will play the second, third, fourth and fifth place team in the NL and also the lowly Colt 45’s which we would like to do well against. Attached Images

06-10-2024, 06:38 PM	#22
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	Week Sixteen and Seventeen 1963 Week Sixteen 1963: Mets (36-63) @ San Francisco Giants (59-39) - 3-8 L, 5-4 W, 0-2 L Mets (37-65) @ Houston Colt 45’s (32-72) - 6-3 W, 8-0 W, 11-4 W Week Sixteen Thoughts: We finally ended our eight game losing streak in the second game of the series in San Francisco and we also had a fantastic series in Houston, sweeping them and really without any fear of losing a game. I worry that next week could be like our last week where we have a solid week and then get crushed against some good teams. With the trade deadline on the day on Tuesday the 30th, I made some much needed moves to at least help some of the issues we’ve been having all season. The New York Mets trade 36-year-old CF Richie Ashburn to the Detroit Tigers for 34-year-old SS Roy McMillan. Somehow we were able to get some value back for Ashburn and him not being on our team will probably be the most valuable aspect of this deal. McMillan really was terrible for the Tigers as he has a 19 OPS+ and a .158 average, but the reason we want him is for his defense. He immediately is a much better option than Chacon and McFarlane on defense alone, and while he hasn’t hit at all this season, our scouts still see him as a better hitter and we don’t have anything to lose to give him a shot. The New York Mets trade 34-year-old Frank Thomas to the Chicago Cubs for 27-year-old SP Don Cardwell. I am going to miss Frank a ton as he was a great player for some really bad teams, but I think Cardwell can be a really great option for our rotation for a long while. He really reminds me of what I thought Roy Washburn could have been for us, but Cardwell has much more of a proven track record and has had a pretty good season. (12-7, 3.40 ERA, 3.26 FIP) Thomas was a good player but his age was going to catch up to him soon, and I needed another arm in the rotation that could take the place of that Arroyo/Craig spot. The New York Mets trade 25-year-old SS Orlando McFarlane to the Philadelphia Phillies for 34-year-old CF Jim Piersall. You may think I am crazy to trade for another veteran CF that is aging, but I really don’t see any similarities between Piersall and Richie Ashburn. For one, Piersall plays an excellent center field, something I’ve needed all year. He also does have some slight power and can get some extra base hits for us too. He’s had a good season for Philly (129 OPS+ in 145 PA) but again, Orlando McFarlane was not really anything special and taking a chance at a decent player without giving up much is something I will do every single time with a team like this. The New York Mets trade 23-year-old RF Gary Baker to the Detroit Tigers for 31-year-old 3B Chico Fernandez. Our final trade may be my favorite as the Detroit Tigers just do not care about trading decent players to us for nothing. Gary Baker on talent alone has not much of a chance to make the majors and was still at A ball when we traded him. Fernandez on the other hand can solve another big issue on our team, third base. He’s a similar hitter to Zimmer except he does have better contact and doesn’t strike out nearly as much either. What truly sets him apart from ZImmer is his defense. He also has positional versatility and can play first, second, third and short all reasonably well. Career wise, OSA has him comparable most to Felix Mantilla, and when he was here in ‘62, he seemed to look like a similar kind of guy. These trades do not totally fix my infield issues, centerfield issues and my rotation, but they do help and there really is no risk even if these deals do not age well. New starters for now: C - Jerry Grote 1B - Ernie Banks 2B - Joe Morgan 3B - Chico Fernandez SS - Roy McMillan LF - Ed Kranepool CF - Jim Piersall RF - Jesus Alou I optioned SS Elio Chacon to AAA Buffalo and brought up RF Joe Christopher SP - Cardwell, Washburn, Jackson, Larsen, Smith RP - Kelley, Craig, Mackenzie, Hook, Donovan, Curtis, Arroyo, Herbel, Labine Week Seventeen 1963 Mets (40-65) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (57-48) - 2-1 W, 3-1 W Mets (42-65) @ Milwaukee Braves (57-52) - 0-3 L, 2-8 L, 3-1 W Week Seventeen Thoughts: We are now 7-3 in our last ten as we have a great series in LA and then play decently against a good Braves squad. While the NL has really turned into a two horse race between Cincinnatti and San Fran, the Dodgers are still a good team and it is a good sing that we are finally having some success against some talented teams. Our starters were much better this week too as new acquisition Cardwell has a 1.00 ERA as a Met so far in two starts, and both Washburn and Jackson had good showings as well. It’s a small sample size but it is good to see some winning after a pitiful run of games after the break. The next two weeks are a large homestand for us as we host the Cardinals for three games, the Cubs for four games, the Pirates for two games and the Dodgers for four more. Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Chicago are all under .500 and should be good tests for this new look Mets team. Next week I will also go over the July award winners as we head closer and closer to October! Attached Images

06-13-2024, 04:30 PM	#23
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	Week Eighteen and Nineteen July Award Winners: AL Hitter of the Month: LF Carl Yastrzemski (Boston) - 7 HR, 19 RBI, .438 AVG Pitcher of the Month: SP Dean Chance (LA Angels) - 6-0, 0.93 ERA, 48 K Rookie of the Month: RP Jack Lamabe (NY Yankees) - 1-0, 1.42 ERA, 2 SV NL Hitter of the Month: CF Hank Aaron (Milwaukee) - 11 HR, 29 RBI, .320 AVG Pitcher of the Month: SP Al McBean (Pittsburgh) - 10-5, 1.20 ERA Rookie of the Month: 1B Rusty Staub (Houston) - 3 HR, 15 RBI, .339 AVG July Best Teams: Baltimore Orioles (19-11), Cleveland Guardians (20-12), Minnesota Twins (20-11) July Worst Teams: Kansas City Athletics (9-21), Houston Colt 45’s (9-19), Washington Senators (8-20) Week Eighteen 1963 Mets (43-67) vs St. Louis Cardinals (54-59) - 4-0 W, 1-3 (10) L, 4-2 (10) W Mets (45-68) vs Chicago Cubs (55-59) - 5-3 W, 2-0 W, 5-3 W, 3-0 W - WOW! Week Eighteen Thoughts: Since we were swept in a four game set with the Phillies back in late July, we’ve been 13-5! We have now won five straight and start the month of August at 7-3. Ernie Banks went off this week as he hit four homers, three of those coming against his old team in Chicago! Chico Fernandez and Jim Piersall were also excellent and have really started their Mets stints off well. After a weaker July (84 OPS+, .193 AVG), Joe Morgan is looking like his great self again as well so far. The pitching staff has been insane too, only allowing 11 runs in these seven games. Ray Washburn is settling back in here too and he threw a two-hit complete game shutout against his previous Cards team. Willie Smith has also continued his excellence as well and has truly been the best pitcher on the staff (8-9, 3.01 ERA, 3.30 FIP) This team is completely out of it, but I would love to see a push to be just a below average team. Less than 90 losses would be an incredible sight as well. Finishing off with a 24-21 mark would get us to 73-89 and that would be one heck of a successful season compared to where we were this time last year. Even with a team like this, there needs to be some goals to reach! Week Nineteen 1963 Mets (49-68) vs Pittsburgh Pirates (58-62) - 1-2 (10) L, 4-5 L Mets (49-70) vs Los Angeles Dodgers (63-57) - 6-2 W, 9-2 W, 0-4 L, 9-1 W - Another great series to end the week!! Week Nineteen Thoughts: The Pirates series was a frustrating one as we had opportunities in both games to take a game against a mediocre team. But then everything changed when the Dodgers came to the Polo Grounds and our offense went berserk. Joe Morgan had two vital homers in two of our wins against LA and the hitters were great. Jim Pearsall has been amazing so far as a Met and his 1.4 WAR in 18 games is already higher than the 1.2 he had in his past two seasons combined in Philly. Ed Kranepool has also taken advantage of his spot in the lineup now that Frank Thomas is gone. He hit for a 152 OPS+ in August with a .364 AVG and two home runs and the team has really been firing on all cylinders now. I am pretty happy with the way things are going, but a couple bad series here could negate any of the progress we’ve made since the deadline. The next two weeks will take us into September for the final 26 games remaining. We head back on the road into Philly for four games, then we head to Chicago for three more games. Then the next week we travel to Pittsburgh for three games and then we host Milwaukee for three games. We have really struggled against Pittsburgh (3-12 against them) and Philly (3-9) but we have had more success against Chicago (7-8) and Milwaukee (7-8). Attached Images

06-17-2024, 12:53 PM	#24
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	Week Twenty and Twenty-One 1963 Week Twenty Mets (52-71) @ Philadelphia Phillies (64-62) - 10-9 W, 5-2 W, 7-4 W, 3-4 L Mets (55-72) @ Chicago Cubs (58-69) - 5-3 W, 6-0 W, 6-2 W - What a week!!! Week Twenty Thoughts: We finish this week at 6-1 and we have actually caught Chicago in the standings and are technically tied for eighth in the National League! We’ve really struggled against Philly all year so to win three of four on the road is a huge deal for us. Obviously there are still some games to be played here but this month has showed me that some of these guys are pretty talented and that we can be a pretty good team if everything goes right. I am not expecting us to be sitting at 81-81 to end the season, but I have been really impressed with the way this team has played lately. Week Twenty-One Mets (58-72) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (65-66) - 3-2 W, 2-11 L, 6-2 W Mets (60-73) vs Milwaukee Braves (71-62) - 4-5 L, 6-9 L, 9-7 W Week Twenty-One Thoughts: We split this week after a good series in Pittsburgh but a tough series hosting the Braves. Jim Piersall continues his dominance as a Met here as he now is hitting .383/.415/.516 and a 165 OPS+ in 135 plate appearances. His defrense in center has also been great and I think getting rid of Ashburn and bringing him in has been a major reason for the insanely successful month of August. We were 18-10 in that month which was our best by far, and I’d really like to see us continue to win some more games here. August Award Winners: AL Hitter of the Month: 1B Norm Cash (Detroit) - 13 HR, 24 RBI, .294 AVG Pitcher of the Month: SP Jim Bunning (Detroit) - 6-0, 1.22 ERA, 43 K Rookie of the Month: SP Dennis Ribant (Washington) - 2-2, 2.92 ERA, 26 K NL Hitter of the Month: 3B Ron Santo (Chi Cubs) - 7 HR, 22 RBI, .383 AVG Pitcher of the Month: SP Don Drysdale (LA Dodgers) - 6-0, 1.10 ERA Rookie of the Month: 2B Joe Morgan (NY Mets) - 8 HR, 20 RBI, .324 AVG August Best Teams: New York Mets (18-10), Cincinnati Reds (21-7), Minnesota Twins (20-7) August Worst Teams: Boston Red Sox (8-21), Houston Colt 45’s (9-17), Chicago Cubs (9-19) Next two weeks are four games at home against Cincy, two games in St. Louis, three games back in Cincy, three at home against San Francsico and four at home against the Houston Colt 45’s. We really only have four weeks left in the season and now is the time to gain a little ground, especially against the 43-93 Colt 45’s! Attached Images

06-17-2024, 03:13 PM	#25
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	End of the '63 Season! Week Twenty-Two Mets (61-75) vs Cincinnati Reds (92-47) - 4-5 L, 8-3 W, 5-16 L Mets (62-77) @ St. Louis Cardinals (67-72) - 3-6 L, 7-6 (12) W Mets (63-78) @ Cincinnati Reds (95-48) - 3-0 W, 3-4 L, 2-3 (10) L Week Twenty-Two Thoughts: This was probably the toughest stretch of the remaining season for us and I think we did alright. The Reds have been excellent this season and look to be the World Series favorites against the AL team and we still took two out of six games and even in our losses, we played them close. Week Twenty-Three Mets (64-80) vs San Francisco Giants (86-58) - 1-10 L, 4-6 (10) L. 4-7 L Mets (64-83) vs Houston Colt 45’s (47-100) - 6-3 W, 2-3 L. 2-3 L, 3-7 L Week Twenty-Three Thoughts: I knew the Giants series would be tough but us hosting Houston and losing three of four games is pretty astounding. At this point I am just going to finish the season here and hope we can finish respectably. Week Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five 1963 Mets (65-86) vs Philadelphia Phillies (79-72) - 5-6 L, 10-3 W Mets (66-87) @ San Francisco Giants (92-61) - 2-1 W, 0-4 L, 2-5 L Mets (67-89) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (79-77) - 5-11 L, 0-3 L, 1-5 L Mets (67-92) @ Houston Colt 45’s (54-105) - 1-3 L, 3-0 W, 1-4 L What a complete disastrous way to end the season, 3-8 in our last two weeks and solidifying us with a 68-94 record. After a start against the Dodgers, SP Don Larsen had to come out of the game and we learned that he tore an elbow ligament and will miss 10 months. That may be the end for him as we need an upgrade at the back-end of the rotation anyway and it makes no sense to keep him around next year. 1963 World Series: Cincinnati Reds (106-56) vs Baltimore Orioles (98-64) - 7-1 CIN, 4-1 BAL, 6-4 BAL, 4-2 CIN, 6-1 CIN, 9-2 CIN Reds defeat Orioles 4-2 - World Series MVP is RF Vada Pinson - .407 AVG, 2 HR 8 RBI Next I will go over the 1963 season and overall performances and also think of the future. Looking ahead at the draft order, we will be picking fourth, as three teams that finished behind us in the standings: Houston (56-106), Kansas City (64-98) and Washington (67-95). This will be a very interesting decision for the franchise and I want to make sure we can get Joe Morgan a co-star for the long term. The rotation will be another point of emphasis as the Larsen injury needs to be addressed somehow moving forward. Attached Images

06-19-2024, 01:39 PM	#26
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	1963 Season Breakdown 1962 New York Mets - 50-112, .309 W% 10th in the National League 1963 New York Mets - 68-94, .420 W%, 9th in the National League Team Strengths and Weaknesses: For most teams a 94 loss season is a disappointment, but for an expansion team that lost 112 games last year, this is a huge improvement for us! Our Pythagorean record was actually 71-91 so I’d argue we were a bit unlucky as well and we could have been even better if a couple close games went our way. To me the team’s strength was our offense and we finished pretty well, 7th in runs scored, 4th in home runs and 5th in on base percentage. We were also a pretty decent defensive team, finishing fifth in the National League with a -8.3 zone rating as a team and compared to other teams (Pittsburgh’s -36.8 ZR, Milwaukee’s -32.2 ZR) I think we were really solid. The real weakness with the team though is our pitching staff as we finished 9th in runs allowed, 9th in starters ERA and 8th in bullpen ERA. I don’t know if we can upgrade our staff much at the draft as there aren’t a ton of great options, but we will prioritize it in trades and if there are any free agents out there. End of 1963 Positional Breakdown: Catchers - We started the year with Hobie Landrith as the starter with rookie Jerry Grote as the back-up, but it was evident early on that Grote just did so much more both offensively and defensively. Grote really had a great rookie season all things considered. He’s not the best defensive catcher, but he is pretty solid and he can hit pretty well as well. (88 OPS+, .245 AVG) Yes I know this isn’t great, but it’s better than anything Landrith or any of our catchers in ‘62 have shown and I am more than happy with him next year. He is also still 21 and has some room to grow offensively. Infield - I really thought Ernie Banks would be the piece at first that could be seen as a good veteran that could contribute well offensively, but he’s really been disappointing as a Met and his 1963 season was nothing special. It’s really hard to have a good offense when your first basemen can’t even hit at a league average pace (82 OPS+. 23 HR) His power was still there, but his average dropped from ,287 when he was in Chicago last year to a .232 as a Met. Our scouts still think he’s a good option for us, but his numbers worry me. I don’t really think I can find a better option for now, but if I see a good deal, Banks may be gone by 1964 as he’s just not hitting as well as he should. Joe Morgan needs no introduction and he’s probably going to win the NL Rookie of the Year award, he’s been a superstar and I can’t wait to see him get even better! Third base was a huge issue for us at the deadline, but we got 3B Chico Fernandez in a trade with the Tigers and he was really solid for us after the deadline. His offense was better than expected with a .275 AVG, 97 OPS+ and great defense at third. I don’t think this 31-year-old will be our long term option, but I don’t have a problem giving him a shot next year for a full season. Like at third base, we needed an immediate upgrade over the Chacon/McFarlane combo and we got it in Roy McMillan, again in a trade with Detroit. Unlike with Fernandez, McMillan’s offense was pretty terrible (.205 AVG, 58 OPS+) but his defense is a whole other story. In 56 games for us, he had a ZR of +6.7 and honestly that alone is worth more than Chacon or McFarlane. Shortstop I think will be my biggest offensive need, but I would love to keep McMillan around as a utility fielder as he can also play second and third really well too. I don’t think he’ll ever hit, but he’s probably the most valuable infielder on the team not named Banks, Morgan or Fernandez. 3B Don Zimmer and SS Elio Chacon are still on the team, but I am planning to let both of them go here as neither has the defense to give me any sort of value off the bench. It’s been a frustrating two seasons with both players, but they both held their positions down in some really dreadful times. Outfield: I really think our outfield was the best group on our team last year even if there was some frustrations with certain players. LF Frank Thomas and CF Richie Ashburn were big parts of the first half of the season, but both were traded away, Thomas to the Cubs and Ashburn to the Tigers. Thomas was our best hitter by the deadline and Ashburn was our worst starter by far. Once they both left, we inserted Ed Kranepool in left and new acquisition Jim Pearsall in center and from then on, we were great. Kranepool really stepped it up this season (.285 AVG, 113 OPS+, 3.2 WAR) and will be someone we hope can be a good piece for this team. Piersall was also excellent in his short stint with the Mets but I worry this could just be a sample size issue. Another disappointment has been RF Jesus Alou. The scouts love him and think he can be a start but I have yet to really see that actually show in the results yet. He does hit for a good average (.288 AVG, 97 OPS+, 1.1 WAR) but he has no power and our scouts think he can get to like a .320 average which hasn’t been shown yet. If he can learn to take more walks and make some more contact, he could be a great lead-off guy for us, but I definitely think I overrated how good he was once we got him back from the Giants in ‘62. Rotation: The Don Larsen ten month injury really changes the way I need to operate here, but in all honestly it really doesn’t as Larsen was a candidate to be moved anyways as he just had not played well. With a 7-13 mark and a 4.38 ERA in a very pitcher friendly league, it wasn’t good enough for us. Yes his 3.68 FIP says he’s been a bit unlucky, but he’s also 34 and I think we can find a better replacement. Ray Washburn was our “ace” coming in but he struggled a ton early. He was great in August and solid in September so I am hoping that can be a good sign, but he is another guy who I think I overrated a ton here and he really has not looked like a good #3 starter, let alone a potential #1 guy. He still is only 25 but he’s been frustrating here. Al Jackson was kind of the opposite of Washburn as he started out hot but cooled off by the end of the season. I really don’t see Jackson as a good pitcher, but he will still throw some solid innings for us and I have no plans to move on unless I get the right deal. Deadline acquisition Don Cardwell was exactly what we needed in our rotation, a completely average starter. His season with the Cubs had him at an 102 ERA+ and with us he had an 100 OPS+, exactly league average. Cardwell is still younger at 27 and if he can be this same guy for a year or two more, I am going to be pretty happy. Now, the real surprise of this entire year has been a minor league signing last offseason. Willie Smith has been a lifesaver for me this year and he’s been by far our best starter. 10-13 with a 3.08 ERA and 3.6 WAR has him as our most valuable player on the team not named Joe Morgan. I stupidly didn’t even know if he could be a starter, and now he looks to be our best option moving forward. Smith is only 24 and still has more room to grow, and I could not be more excited to see what he can do with more opportunities next year. Bullpen: Our bullpen was another weakness on the team, as only a few arms really stood out. The main guy who’s blown up is ‘63 third round pick Tom Kelley who finished with a 2.55 ERA and a 3.13 FIP. I think he has the ability to be a closer or setup guy moving forward and he’s only 19. This season has been one of giving the youth chances and then taking those chances and running with them. Kelley is the perfect example of that! We need a lot more arms in here to compete moving forward and that will be another big priority in the offseason for us. Maybe another later round pick like Kelley could help us out here too! Offseason Priorities: Find a #5 starter that can replace Don Larsen Find a starting shortstop that can hit decently and play some defense while keeping McMillan as our infield depth Find bullpen arms that can improve our group and add some velocity See if we can get a trade for Banks or Alou that yields us an important piece back Really getting another superstar that can work with Joe Morgan should be the real #1 priority here, but I can’t guarantee we will find that here. Season Awards: AL Reliever of the Year: CL Hoyt Wilhelm (Baltimore) - 13-12, 2.10 ERA, 24 SV NL Reliever of the Year: CL Stu Miller (San Francisco) - 6-7, 2.11 ERA, 18 SV AL Rookie of the Year: LF Tommy Agee (Cleveland) - .233 AVG, 98 OPS+, 2.8 WAR NL Rookie of the Year: 2B Joe Morgan (NY Mets) - .271 AVG, 29 HR, 151 OPS+, 7.1 WAR AL Cy Young Award: SP Dean Chance (LA Angels) - 20-9, 1.88 ERA, 220 K, 8.5 WAR NL Cy Young Award: SP Sandy Koufax (LA Dodgers) - 19-8, 1.89 ERA, 264 K, 8.7 WAR AL MVP Award: LF Boog Powell (Baltimore) - .290 AVG, 41 HR, 101 RBI, 184 OPS+. 7.2 WAR NL MVP Award: LF Frank Robinson (Cincinnati) - .348 AVG, 28 HR, 117 RBI, 185 OPS+, 11.5 WAR Love to see Morgan win NL Rookie of the Year for us and I’d easily argue he’d win it for both leagues combined too. Both Powell and Robinson had monstrous offensive seasons for their respective teams and Robinson’s defense also got him a ton of value as well. Dick Allen had another fantastic season similar to his last year’s MVP one, but he didn’t even get one vote as Robinson was that dominant in the National League. Dean Chance looks to be a constant winner of the Cy Young already as he’s been awesome and he’s only 22 and still has more to build on for the Angels! Next, I will focus on the draft and any moves I make early in the off-season here! Attached Images Last edited by JimMorrison; 06-19-2024 at 01:57 PM.

06-20-2024, 12:08 PM	#27
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	1963 Rookie Draft 1963 Rookie Draft This draft feels a lot weaker than the ‘62 draft as I haven’t seen anyone as talented as Joe Morgan, Cleon Jones or Reggie Smith. I think CF Bobby Murcer is the best player but I still wouldn’t take him if I had the first pick as his personality is not really great and I’d worry he couldn’t develop into what scouts think he could be. We are picking fourth and I am hoping LF Tony Conigliaro falls to us but I doubt he will. Tony was drafted by Boston at #7 last year but he failed to sign, played a year at New Mexico State and now he’s back. Our scouts love him and think he’s already our best outfielder on the team. I have dreams of an outfield of Ed Kranepool, Paul Blair (our top prospect in Buffalo right now) and Tony Conigiliaro. Yes Alou would be the odd man out there but I think Tony has to be considered here as he’s already a great player and could become one of the best at his position. #1 Houston - 17-year-old CF Bobby Murcer - Now with Cleon Jones, Houston looks to be building a ridiculously talented outfield! #2 Kansas City - 17-year-old CF Ken Henderson - Henderson is more of a corner outfield type and has the potential to be a good hitter with some power but I wasn’t super intrigued by him and I think it’s a weird selection at #2 #3 Washington - 19-year-old SP Dave Roberts - Roberts is seen by scouts as a great prospect but I worry about his strikeout potential here. I would have taken him if we had few options as we do need a starter, but he still needs some development and I don’t really see him as an “ace” #4 New York Mets - 18-year-old RF Tony Conigliaro - Oh wow I am ecstatic that he fell to us. Tony was already the best player right now at the draft and would be a great addition to any major league outfield, but our scouts see him getting even better and I think he can get there. He’s a better left fielder than right and we will have to orient our outfield around and hope it can work out. It’s not at a position of need, but he’s great and I have no regrets with this one. #5 Boston - 17-year-old LF Jim Rudi - Similar prospect to Ken Henderson except I think he’s better, plays better defense and has more contact potential. The more I look at that KC pick - the more lucky I feel! #6 Chicago Cubs - 19-year-old LF Johnny Briggs - Another corner outfielder that doesn’t have a ton of contact but really has a great eye and power potential. His defense is ok, he really should only play at left. #7 LA Angels - 17-year-old RF Willie Crawford - The corners keep coming! Crawford is an all around good hitter with some solid defense. He could be a good player but I don’t know about a great one. #8 Pittsburgh - 17-year-old 1B Bob Robertson - I really liked Robertson as a Banks replacement if we couldn’t get Tony. Great defense at first, tons of power and can get on base with a good eye and some contact. He’s gonna strike out a lot but he’s a good player and I’d say he’s better than some of these outfielders. #9 St, Louis - 21-year-old RF Richie Scheinblum - A fine player but he doesn’t do anything well, but he’s solid and could be a solid option in an outfield with some development. #10 Chicago White Sox - 19-year-old CF Cito Gaston - Gaston is really another corner guy and I think he’s pretty good. Love his contact skills and he has some real power too, definitely like him more than some others. That KC pick is baffling to me as some of these guys going now seem much better than Ken Henderson. This draft is really not deep and after our second round pick, the talent level falls off a cliff. I will only cover our second round pick for now. 2nd Round - 18-year-old SP Jim Nash - I have no idea how Nash was still on the board by now and I took him without hesitation. I’d argue he’s better than Dave Roberts who went #3 and his strikeout potential is nuts. He has a really good curve change and fastball and while his slide is solid, it’s great to see a guy with four pitches that can all be weapons. He is also very developed and I’d argue could slide right into the rotation next year. Nash may not be an ace, but he has potential to be another Willie Smith type. I think he will get a shot to compete in the spring and if he looks ok, I may give him a shot. It worked well last year for Morgan, Grote and Tom Kelley so I may be more aggressive again with these young guys to give them some major league experience if they are ready. Very happy with these two picks and I think both help the team immediately. Next I will cover the rest of the off-season and any signings or transactions we make. Attached Images

06-21-2024, 10:24 PM	#28
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	1963-1964 Offseason 1963-1964 Offseason I am pretty frustrated with this offseason as there really wasn’t much we could do to make our team better. We did make a big trade, but to me the trade had to be done to make room for our young talent. The New York Mets trade 32-year-old 1B Ernie Banks, 25-year-old RP Ron Herbel and 20-year-old minor league CF Walter Bianchi for 36-year-old SS Johnny Logan, 33-year-old RP Dean Stone and 24-year-old RP.Bob Hendley. The Ernie Banks era is over in New York and I had to do this after drafting Tony Conigliaro. With him, Kranepool and Alou all slated to be starters at the corners, I either had to move one of them or move one of them to first and trade Banks. Banks was not a great player for us in ‘63 and his tenure here has been super disappointing. Kranepool can play first pretty well actually, so the plan is to have him at first, put Tony at left where he’s best and then keep Alou at right. I did consider an Alou trade but I had a problem. His value was just not very high compared to his talent, I was hoping for a nice infield option especially at short, but we didn’t get anything great. I also think I may be too hard on Alou as this is now his age-22 season and he does have more room to grow. He's a good player and if he can get his average up a bit, he could be a great lead-off hitter. We get another veteran infielder in Logan back in this one, and I think him and McMillan can compete for the starting job, and whoever loses will still be a good utility guy. We also needed some arms in the bullpen and both Stone and Hendley are solid options for us. This trade could look bad for us moving forward, but Banks was just expendable at this point and I can’t see his skillset aging well either. We did some other moves too - Chacon and Zimmer were released and so was Don Larsen sadly, as he’s out all year and will be 35 when he gets to play again. Casey Stengel retired at the end of the season and we hired minor league manager Danny Gonzalez who had some success in the Texas League and can coach well. I tried getting Gil Hodges involved but he cannot teach well (in this universe) and I wanted a manager who was seen as a better all around coach here. Spring Training was a complete disaster though as Jim Piersall went down with a knee tear with three games left to go and is now out for eight months! We didn’t really plan for this as we don’t have a great defensive outfielder in the system right now... except our top prospect Paul Blair who was here back when I came in in '62. Blair still has some to go with his hitting but he’s an excellent defensive center fielder. I am going to give him a chance here as we don’t really have any options, and I want him to see what he can do against major league pitching. I was going to give him another year in the minors, but my situation calls on him to help us out. Next I will preview the 1964 New York Mets and then back to some games! Attached Images

06-23-2024, 12:05 AM	#29
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	1964 New York Mets Season Preview The 1964 Mets Hitters Catchers: Jerry Grote, 21 (.245 AVG, 94 OPS+, 1.7 WAR) - Coming into last season, Grote was the backup for us, but early on it was obvious that Grote was the starter. Defensively Grote is not amazing, but he is solid and can block and frame pretty well. His offense was also a lot better than expected last year and if Grote can stay as an average hitter - I will be very happy with that. Hobie Landrith, 34 (.224 AVG, 85 OPS+, 1.1 WAR) - Landrith is still on the team and actually is a pretty good backup option for us. I honestly may underrate Hobie a bit, as he was perfectly fine for us last year and was much improved off of his 64 OPS+ 1962 season. He also is a big clubhouse guy and he’s a good guy to have around the team. Infield: Ed Kranepool, 1B, 19 (.285 AVG, 120 OPS+, 3.2 WAR) - Still amazing that Kranepool is only 19 and producing as well as he has been for us. After selecting Conigliaro in the first round, we knew we’d have to move some starters around and now Kranepool will take the starting first base spot for us. He’s really not any worse defensively than Ernie Banks was and it’s not like he was a great outfielder anyways. Ed has grown a lot in these past two years, and I think he can be the third star behind Morgan and Conigliaro! Joe Morgan, 2B, 20 (.271 AVG, 159 OPS+, 29 HR, 7.0 WAR) - The NL Rookie of the Year got even better in the offseason as we had him work on his defense at second. I still don’t think he’ll ever be a great defender, but I’d now consider him a good one, which is a win for us. Joe is really more known for his offense and wow can he hit the cover off the ball. OSA has him as the league’s best second basemen already, and I really would not be surprised to see him competing for an NL MVP here! Chico Fernandez, 3B, 32 (.278 AVG, 103 OPS+, 1.1 WAR in 57 games for the Mets) - Chico was a great acquisition at the deadline last year and I have a lot more faith in him than I ever had with Zimmer at third. I do worry that there will be a decline coming and we won’t see him hit like last year, but his defense is always going to make him valuable and I still think he can be an ok hitter for us. (Don Zimmer is still unsigned on Opening Day) Roy McMillan, SS, 34 (.205 AVG, 63 OPS+, 0.8 WAR in 56 games for the Mets) - I really tried to find a better option at short but it seems we are stuck with Roy this year. McMillan gave us a lot of value with his defense but his offense was putrid and I can’t have someone out there who can’t hit. He will be competing with Johnny Logan for playing time, and while I do think he’s better - I will be riding with the better hitter cause we need some production at this spot! Johnny Logan, SS, 36 (.065 AVG, -31 OPS+, -0.3 WAR in 37 games with Milwaukee) - Yeah, those stats don’t give me much confidence but our scouts actually do like him more than McMillan as a hitter. I think Logan may have a little left to give and I really could not find a better option to try at short. It’s the biggest need on the team and we will just have to see if this McMillan/Logan combination can do anything in ‘64. Outfielders: Tony Conigliaro, LF, 19 (No stats) - When Tony fell to us at #4 in the draft, I was a very happy GM. Our outfield was our biggest strength last year and we have now revamped it even more. Conigliaro has a great all around offensive game and will hit for contact, power and has a great eye too. His defense in left should also be pretty solid and he’s an improvement over Kranepool there too. I am not really worried about his transition to the big leagues and I think by the end of the season, he will be seen as the second best player on the team next to Morgan. Paul Blair, CF, 20 (.239 AVG. 89 OPS+, 0.8 WAR in AAA Buffalo) - Blair is going to be the true x-factor of this team and if he can play great defense and hit alright, we could be in good shape. The Piersall injury has completely ruined my plans to wait for Blair - but now is his time to show me something. He does expect to be a starter so maybe he is ready, I am just very nervous. Jesus Alou, RF, 22 (.288 AVG, 103 OPS+, 1.1 WAR) - Since getting Alou in the Jim Hickman trade to the Giants, I’ve expected more from him. I love his skill set but his numbers never really match his ability. I think this has to be a big year for him to prove to me he can be a big contributor to the team. If he can just be an above average hitter who can be a solid lead-off guy, I’ll be happy. But deep down I still see some star potential in him, I just don’t know if he’ll ever get there. Joe Christopher, RF, 28 (.238 AVG, 94 OPS+ 0.2 WAR in 34 games) - Christopher was mostly a minor leaguer but did get called up for a stint and was fine. He is going to be our backup corner outfielder with some solid hitting ability. He does expect to be a starter, but with Tony and Alou there, he really has no shot. Maybe he can show more than he has previously but he’s the least of my worries though. The 1964 Mets Pitchers Rotation: Ray Washburn, 25 (10-19, 3.83 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 3.0 WAR) - Washburn was really frustrating in the first half last year, but really heated up in August and September. I would love to see a sub 3.5 ERA season from Ray and if he can do that and pitch 250+ innings, I think this could be a good season for him. He’s not our ace, but he does have value and I am hoping for a bounce back here. Al Jackson, 28 (10-16, 3.81 ERA, 3.71 FIR, 2.4 WAR) - It’s weird how similar Jackson’s stats are with Washburn’s. Jackson is going to pitch some innings, be a little below average and be fine. He was like that in 1962, he was like that in 1963 and I am expecting the same this season. He doesn’t really have the same ability as Washburn and his pitches are not really rated well at all. I just would like him not to decline and I’ll be happy. Don Cardwell, 28 (7-5, 3.45 ERA, 4.33 FIP, 0.2 WAR in 13 starts) - Cardwell was our player we got back in the Frank Thomas trade, and he was fine for us post-deadline. I do worry about that FIP and that he may have been lucky last year with his results, but he has been consistently solid for the past couple of years and I could see him being a 3.20 ERA kind of pitcher with some volume. I do think he has less talent than Washburn, but he has much more of a proven track record that could help us out this season. Roger Craig, 34, (4-3, 2.54 ERA, 2.61 FIP in 4 starts, 22 relief appearances) - Craig will be the starter for now but we do want to see what rookie Jim Nash can do in the pen before we decide to move him to the rotation. Craig was a reliable option for us in the bullpen and made some good starts when we had some injuries last season. My expectations are low, but Craig just needs to throw some innings and be available. Willie Smith, 25, (10-13, 3.08 ERA, 3.38 FIP, 3.0 WAR) - New manager Danny Gonzalez has Smith as the fifth starter, which I find crazy, but some still don’t really believe in him even after the great season he had last year. I do think there will be some regression this season, but to say that he’s any worse than Jackson or Cardwell is crazy to me. Willie still is a two-way guy, but we didn’t use him really in the outfield and I think he needs to continue his development as a starter moving forward. I love Willie no matter what and I hope his underdog story can continue here in New York regardless of where he is in the rotation. Bullpen: We have nine arms to start the season and I won’t go through them all, but I will highlight the main pieces. Tom Kelley, 20 (42.1 IP, 2.55 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 0.2 WAR) Kelley had a great rookie season performance wise, but I worry he’s going to be a big regression candidate as his FIP was almost a full run higher than his ERA. I think his repertoire is nasty and he will still bring value to the bullpen, but I worry he may need some more time before he can really take over as a main piece here. Jim Nash, 19, (No stats) - Second round pick Nash had a great spring (9 IP 1.00 ERA) and made the team for Opening Day. I was tempted to put him in the rotation but I feel like it may be early as he hasn’t pitched once in the big leagues. His strikeout ability is great and I do think he could be a good arm for us, I hope he can be in the rotation by the end of the season, but I need to be patient and not rush him into a big spot early. If he can start well in the pen, he may get his chance! Clem Labine, 37 (4.39 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 0.3 WAR) - Clem was our best reliever in 1962 but took a major step back last season. His FIP shows that he was unlucky with his results, but he is 37 and doesn’t have much left here. I hope he can be somewhere in between his 3.43 ERA ‘62 and his 4.38 ERA ‘63. We don’t have much in the pen and we need some innings from Labine. Dean Stone and Bob Hendley were both in the bullpen during the Spring, but Hendley will be out for two months after some forearm inflammation. If Stone can have similar seasons to ‘62 and ‘63, I will be happy and I do think he has the arsenal to get guys out consistently. I just worry about an impending decline and knowing us, he could hit it the second he puts on a uniform in New York. Next we will get to Opening Day! We start the season in Philly for two games and then we open at new Shea Stadium in Queens to play the Pirates for three games. Let’s Go Mets! Attached Images Last edited by JimMorrison; 06-23-2024 at 12:11 AM.

06-26-2024, 12:15 AM	#30
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	Week One 1964 New York Mets (0-0) vs Philadelphia Phillies (0-0) - April 14-15,1964 The Phillies were a pretty good team in the National League last year, finishing with a 84-78 record. They are led by 22-year-ol sensation CF Dick Allen who won Rookie of the Year and MVP both in ‘62 and came close to getting a second award after posting an even better season. The rest of the lineup is not super talented and their rotation is really only led by one great pitcher, Chris Short. I think the Phils have a way to go here before they can compete for the NL title but Dick Allen is already a superstar! Opening Day NYM 5 PHI 4 - We started this game hot with four runs in the first three innings, A Chico Fernandes RBI double and a Conigliaro RBI single helped us grab the early lead. Ray Washburn was great for us early, but began to slow down later on. Luckily we were able to hold off a late push from the Phillies in the 8th to win this one 5-4! Washburn (9 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 6 K), Conigliaro (2-5, 2B, RBI, R) Morgan (Solo shot in the 7th) NYM 5 PHI 0 - We get a six hit complete game shutout from Al Jackson as we take both games in this short series! Paul Blair got his first two career big league hits, one being a two RBI triple in the 7th. A great start to the season here as we sweep our rivals to start the season. Pittsburgh Pirates (1-1) vs New York Mets (2-0) - April 17-19, 1964 We will now host the Pirates for our first home series at our new ballpark Shea Stadium! After spending our first two seasons at the Polo Grounds, we moved to Queens and now have our own stadium. I hope we can give this ballpark some great memories and titles! The Pirates started off the year splitting a home series with the Cubs and now head to New York. Pittsburgh was very disappointing last season as they went 77-85 and weren’t ever even close to being near the top. Star RF Roberto Clemente has not been the same hitter for the past two seasons and has declined a good amount for only being 29. The future star of the team looks to be LF Willie Stargell but he led the league in strikeouts in his rookie campaign and needs some work to reach that insanely high potential. The Pirates are an all around talented team, but I don’t know if they have enough to compete with San Fran or Cincinnati. PIT 6 NYM 5 - Well we blew this game at our new stadium as the Pirates scored three in the ninth to take this first game. Both Chico Fernandez and Roy McMillan had errors that got three runs home early. Tony Conigliaro got his first career homer in this one with a man on in the first inning so that’s cool! PIT 9 NYM 3 PIT 14 NYM 3 Man, we were not competitive in these last two games and we started our time at Shea by getting swept in embarrassing fashion. In the second game, it was another yin and yang performance from Washburn as he blew up and gives up six runs in five innings here. We finished this opening week at 2-3 and it was a frustrating way to start our season to get swept this early on. We next host the Phillies for two more games, we then continue our homestand against the Cubs for two more and then head to Pittsburgh for four games to close out the week. We need to get revenge on Pittsburgh as I feel like we can never do well against them. I just went back and looked and it’s even worse than I thought. Last season we were 4-14 against the Pirates and were swept in three separate series. Yikes! Attached Images Last edited by JimMorrison; 06-26-2024 at 12:20 AM.

06-27-2024, 11:06 PM	#31
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	Week Two 1964 Philadelphia Phillies (0-5) vs New York Mets (2-3) - April 20-21, 1964 Since we last saw the Phillies a week ago, they traveled to Chicago and got swept by the Cubs. They have scored 13 runs and allowed 27 in their first five games, but it is still super early and we cannot play down to these guys. Splitting this two game series here would be fine by me. PHI 1 NYM 2 - We get our first ever win at Shea! Al Jackson again dominated this Phils lineup as he went seven innings and only allowed one run here. Our bullpen closed out the rest of this and Dick Donovan came in and got the save! We only had one extra base hit all game which was a 4th inning Grote double, but we got two big RBI singles from Chico Fernandez (he’s been on fire) and Ray McMillan to give us the lead and the win here. PHI 8 NYM 9 - Willie Smith’s first start of the season didn’t go great, but a walk-off two run single from scorching Chico Fernandez got us the win again! Joe Morgan was excellent in this one as he went 2-4 with two doubles, a walk, two RBIs and three runs. Chico Fernandez in our first seven games - .385 AVG, 157 OPS+ 8 RBI Chicago Cubs (5-1) vs New York Mets (4-3) - April 22-23, 1964 The Cubs have been excellent to start the season mostly off their pitching as they have only allowed 16 runs in 6 games. Former Met Frank Thomas is hitting fourth for them and has struggled so far with a 55 OPS+. Don Cardwell will be facing his former team in the first game as well so there is some overlap here for both teams. The Cubs haven’t finished with an above .500 record in 12 years so this start has gotten the Chicago fans excited for sure. CHC 3 NYM 2 (13) - Tough loss here as we lose off a Ron Santo two run shot in the 13th. We did get a run in the bottom of the inning, but Tony Conigliaro grounded out with a man on first. CHC 3 NYM 10 - Huge game for our offense as Tony Conigliaro goes off with a 2-5 day and a massive grand slam in the second inning to give us a 7-0 lead. Joe Morgan was also excellent as he had 2 RBIs and scored three runs. Starter Roger Craig was good too as he only allowed two runs in six innings of work. I think this Morgan/Conigliaro combo can really take us places as both guys have been ridiculous to start the season here. New York Mets (5-4) vs Pittsburgh Pirates (4-4) - April 24-26, 1964 After sweeping us back in New York, they then lost three straight games - one in Chicago and two in Philly. The Pirates could be 0-161 and I still wouldn’t expect to win games, they just always seem to beat up on us no matter what. This will be a four game set with our first doubleheader on Sunday and I’d love to split this one too! Paul Blair got hurt in our last game and will be out for a week - with nobody on the roster we had to call up ‘62 seventh round pick Mike Fiore to play a little defense at center for us. I hope he can contribute a bit out there but I am not expecting anything for the time being. NYM 1 PIT 8 NYM 8 PIT 2 NYM 11 PIT 5 NYM 3 PIT 0 The first game was another rough Ray Washburn outing and he continues to disappoint me as the games go on here. Luckily our offense completely exploded in the next two games as Ed Kranepool went a combined 8-11 with four RBIs and six runs in both games! The final game was an unexpected spot start from second round pick Jim Nash. Nash was excellent in his eight innings of work and allowed no runs and six hits in Pittsburgh. Week Two Thoughts: Our offense has been ridiculous as we now lead the NL in runs scored with 67 in 13 games. Our starters have also been great as they are third in the NL in ERA and have all done well except Ray Washburn and his 7.36 ERA... The bullpen though has been a disaster and three pitchers have an ERA over 10! So yeah sitting at 8-5 and third in the NL, I really cannot complain, this isn’t sustainable but I still like seeing some wins regardless. Ed Kranepool was the NL Player of the Week as he went 18-39, .462 AVG with 2 HR, 12 R and 8 RBIs. It’s nice to see a 6-2 week for the team and now we have to keep it up against some better teams. Next week we head west to face the St. Louis Cardinals for two games, then we head out to Cincy to play the defending World Series champion Reds for four games over the weekend. Should be a good test to see if this team is more like the ‘63 Mets or has the chance to be something a lot better that could shock the baseball world! Attached Images

07-01-2024, 03:26 PM	#32
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	Week Three 1964 New York Mets (8-5) vs St. Louis Cardinals (6-6) - April 28-29, 1964 The Cardinals were the definition of mediocre last season, finishing 80-82 and 26 games back of first place. SP Ray Sadecki has been their star so far and he has room to grow as well at only 23. They just don’t have that electric hitter and I can’t see their lineup thriving a ton. This will be a good chance for us to split a short two game set. NYM 1 STL 3 NYM 6 STL 4 The Cards pitching staff was great in the first game, only allowing six hits and one run. Tony hit a solo shot to give us the 1-0 lead in the sixth, but we unraveled in the eight and gave up three runs to lose this one. Don Cardwell was greatin this one until that eighth inning and sometimes I feel like we have these guys in games longer than they need to be. Game two was a much more impressive win as a two run shot from Tony gave us the early lead in the first inning. Then with the game tied at 3 in the fourth, Jerry Grote hit a big two run homer that would give us the lead that we somehow were able to hold onto. Ray Washburn went eight innings against his old team and settled down after the second inning to get his second win. Dean Stone got his first save of the year but also gave up a run. This bullpen is still a huge problem. New York Mets (9-6) vs Cincinnati Reds (9-7) - May 1-3, 1964 The Reds have not been as impressive to start the ‘64 season. Ace Jim Maloney tore his UCL heading into the playoffs last season and won’t be back till 1965 so their rotation has been a lot weaker without him. With reigning MVP Frank Robinson and a young Pete Rose who was a 6 WAR player last year, I think they’ll be fine, but they will still have to fight hard to win another pennant. NYM 6 CIN 1 NYM 1 CIN 3 Sunday’s doubleheader... NYM 1 CIN 3 NYM 3 CIN 1 A lot of 3-1 games in Cincy but we split a big four game series against the defending champs! Al Jackson has been incredible to start the season and was dominant in our 6-1 win to open the series. (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4K) Roger Craig had a good start in the second game, but he was outpitched by 23-year-old Sam Ellis who is looking like a valuable starter for this Reds team. We had our chances in the third game, but we could only get one run off our nine hits and Jim O’Toole pitched well in a complete game for Cincy. A Frank Robinson three run shot in the first gave them the lead and we just couldn’t get string hits together at teh right times. The final game was a Willie Smith masterclass as he went a full nine innings, allowing a run and seven hits. A Roy McMillan two run single brought in two runs and Jesus Alou drove in another. Smith has a 2.62 ERA in three starts so far and is proving that he can be an important piece for this team. Week Three Thoughts - We finish the week with a 3-3 record and are still sitting three games over .500 and are 2nd in the NL. Our best hitter so far this season has been rookie Tony Conigliaro as he’s been fantastic and has made an immediate impact on the team. (.329 AVG, 5 HR, 165 OPS+) Chico Fernandez has also stayed hot and is somehow hitting .358, this does seem like a sample size issue though. I’m pretty happy with the way we’ve started the season, and I can see us fighting to get under that 90 loss mark. April Award Winners: AL Hitter of the Month: LF Roger Maris (NY Yankees) - 4 HR, 14 RBI, .386 AVG Pitcher of the Month: SP Al Downing (Detroit) - 3-0, 0.00 ERA, 26 K Rookie of the Month: 2B Joe Foy (Washington) - .311 AVG, 6 R, 5 RBI NL Hitter of the Month: LF Willie McCovey (San Francisco) - 5 HR, 14 RBI, .309 AVG Pitcher of the Month: SP Jim O’Toole (Cincinnati) - 3-0, 0.28 ERA Rookie of the Month: RP John Gelnar (Chi Cubs) - 3-0, 1.00 ERA April Best Teams: New York Yankees(9-3), San Francisco Giants (11-4), New York Mets (9-6) April Worst Teams: Balitmore Orioles (4-8), Philadelphia Phillies (5-10), Houston Colt 45’s (4-12) We play eight games in seven days next week as we head west to Milwaukee for two games, come back home to host Cincy again for two more games and then we host the Cardinals for four games with a Sunday doubleheader. These will be some tough games and I’d like continue this good start here! Attached Images Last edited by JimMorrison; 07-06-2024 at 12:40 PM.

07-06-2024, 01:52 PM	#33
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	Week Four 1964 New York Mets (11-8) vs Milwaukee Brewers (10-7) - May 4-5, 1964 The Braves have started the year off right around where they were last season, as an above average team that just doesn’t have enough yet to win a pennant. 23-year-old Joe Torre has really blossomed to start the season though as he’s hitting .453 and has 1.6 WAR already! The Braves also now have Ken Johnson who they got at the trade deadline from Houston and he now looks to be the ace of this team. He was pretty great for the Braves in his 13 starts last year and will definitely help them try to push into the top of the NL. NYM 3 MIL 8 NYM 11 MIL 1 A tale of two games here in Milwaukee as Washburn’s struggles continue for us. All eight runs in the first game were on Washburn even if only five of them were earned. He continues to struggle badly and he has not had a game where he has given up less than three runs in a start. We could only manage three hits in this one and no surprise that one of them was from Conigliaro who seems to find a way to contribute in every contest. Game two was a spot start from rookie Jim Nash and he was again fantastic. He went almost seven innings in this one and gave up no runs and five hits. I think he’s showing he can easily fit into this rotation. RF Joe Christopher hit a grand slam in the fifth to help us in a dominant win. Very happy with this win and it shows we can compete against better teams in the National League. Cincinnati Reds (12-10) vs New York Mets (12-9) - May 6-7, 1964 The Reds have not been their dominant selves so far this season but I can’t see them out of it for much longer here as the talent is always there. Both Pete Rose and Frank Robinson have hit fine, but not near the same MVP levels that they were at last season. Jim O’Toole has been incredible though and has a 0.44 ERA in five starts but luckily I think we’ll miss him in this short two game set. CIN 1 NYM 5 CIN 4 NYM 3 I feel like we split all of these two game series but I am perfectly happy to sit a couple games over .500 right now! The first game was another ridiculous outing from Al Jackson who threw a complete game and only gave up one run in the eighth. He now is 5-0 with a 1.15 ERA and has been awesome. I know he got hot last season too, but even at his best then, he was never this great. I am expecting a fall off soon but if he can keep this up, he could be a great trade piece if we fall out of contention by the deadline (which I still expect) Game two was tough as we blew an early 3-0 lead and lost this one as Roger Craig fell apart in the sixth and gave up four runs. Kranepool was great today as he went 3-4 with a two run homer and a big double too. Just something I’ve noticed as well, Morgan’s defense has been a complete game changer here as his zone rating ended at -9.6 in ‘63 while in ‘64 his ZR is already a +4.4 in limited time. Even if that regresses, it’s really cool that he’s definitely a positive defender and can contribute with more than just his bat. St. Louis Cardinals (10-11) vs New York Mets (13-10) - May 8-10, 1964 We last saw the Cards in late April and split a short two game set in Missouri. Now we host them for four games at Shea and I am hoping to get something going here. St. Louis was a disappointment last season as they sat at 80-82 and definitely underperformed their talent, but I still can’t see these guys getting to San Fran or Cincy’s level at the moment. Their offense has been ninth in the NL in runs scored and they just have been carried by their really solid rotation. STL 9 NYM 3 STL 7 NYM 3 A rough first two games in Queens as the Cardinals completely jumped on our pitchers. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought up those offensive statistics... Both Cardwell and former Card Washburn were pitiful in their starts, even though three of Washburn’s six runs were unearned. We’ve been 4-7 at our new home this season and 9-5 on the road which is a weird split and I am hoping to win more at Shea! Some other news before our Sunday doubleheader, Paul Blair is back from his injury and we brought down Mike Fiore to AAA Buffalo who hit .133 in 15 AB for the Mets. Blair has struggled but I am hoping he can hit the ball a bit better after coming back here. STL 12 NYM 5 STL 4 NYM 2 The clock has struck midnight and the Mets have shown more shades of ‘63 than a new team here. Willie Smith wasn’t good in his start, giving up five runs in six innings, but our bullpen completely blew this one and has been the worst aspect of our team by far. Dick Donovan gave up six more in the eighth and we had no chance of coming back. Jay Hook started game two as our starters were all pretty tired after all these games and he wasn’t great. Bob Gibson went off in NY though as he threw a complete game and only gave up two runs on six hits in this one. Our big three of Morgan, Conigliaro and Kranepool have been great and consistent, but we just cannot generate runs from other hitters at the moment. Week Four Thoughts: A 2-6 week has moved us from third in the NL to fifth in the blink of an eye. The series against the Cards was a complete disaster and we cannot afford to lose four games in a row like that if we want to have even a chance of competing. Next week does not get any easier here as we host Milwaukee for three games, and then we head west for a long road trip for a five game series in San Fran (four games are next week, one is the week after) Attached Images

07-06-2024, 11:25 PM	#34
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	Week Five 1964 Milwaukee Braves (14-11) vs New York Mets (13-14) - May 12-14, 1964 We split our first series against the Braves last week in Milwaukee but now we host them in New York. While they have been decent so far, the Giants are off to a crazy 20-6 start in the National League and I think it’s going to take a lot of work to get to their level. These Mets need to break this five game losing streak here as I want to still feel like we have a shot to make some noise early on this season. MIL 6 NYM 10 MIL 9 NYM 7 MIL 4 NYM 2 Yikes, we started this series off with a great win as Al Jackson went all nine and held the Braves to two runs up until he gave up four more runs in the ninth, Luckily we were already up big after a great Chico Fernandez game as he went 4-5 with four RBIs and a three run homer. The other two games were pretty frustrating as we could have won either of these. Game two was a 7-7 game going into the ninth and Dean Stone lost the game for us, giving up a back to back RBi singles and we couldn’t tie it in the bottom of the ninth. Game three was a tough outing for us as Denny Lemaster pitched great in eight innings of work. Washburn actually pitched well for us in this one until the seventh where he completely fell apart and gave up the four runs that would lose us this one. Our manager keeps him in the game way too long but looking at our terrible bullpen, I can’t really blame him there. We now head west to start our long road trip in... San Francisco!! So we’ve lost six of our last seven games and now we head to the other coast to face the best team in all of baseball? Great... New York Mets (14-16) vs San Francisco Giants (22-7) - May 15-18 This is somehow a five game series, but four of these games are during this week so I will cover the last game for week six. The Giants were no slouches last season at 98-64, but they were eight games back of the Reds and Cincy was just that much better. This season they look a lot different and seem to be on a mission to repeat their championship in 1962. Willie McCovey has turned into one of the best players in baseball this season as he rocks a .327 average, 9 homers and a 197 OPS+. Felipe Alou, Orlando Cepeda and Willie Mays all have a 140 OPS+ or better and they have just been stellar. Juan Marichal got hurt back last September and will most likely miss a couple more months but even without him, their rotation has been great too with a combined 2.63 ERA. They are just an all around great roster and it will be interesting if this run can continue. NYM 8 SF 2 NYM 4 SF 5 NYM 3 SF 7 NYM 0 SF 14 These Mets went from looking pretty solid to being a complete joke in the span of four games. The definition of a downward spiral. We still have the third most runs scored in the NL and are also top four in every single offensive category. Everything else has been pretty suspect, mainly our mediocre rotation and our putrid bullpen. I don’t really have much more to say after this one as this is the second week in a row where we end the week with a horrible series. At least we got one win this time? We start next week with one last game against the Giants, then we head down to LA for three more games. Then we end the week in Texas, playing four games against the still pretty bad Colt 45’s. I don’t expect a great time in California, but things should hopefully improve against Houston. Attached Images

07-08-2024, 04:11 PM	#35
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	Week Six 1964 New York Mets (15-19) vs San Francisco Giants (25-8) - May 18, 1964 The final game of our five game series in the Bay to start the week is actually pretty vital. I have no issue going 2-3 here but 1-4 just seems pretty terrible in comparison. With the way the team is playing, we need all the wins we can get. NYM 1 SF 5 Not what we needed at all, the offense was completely shut down by Billy Hoeft who went eight strong innings giving up one run and five hits. Don Cardwell wasn’t great for us in this one, but he’s going to have some good and some bad and he has been completely serviceable for us so far. New York Mets (15-20) vs Los Angeles Dodgers (15-18) - May 19-21, 1964 It’s really weird to see such a talented Dodgers team struggle this badly so far. Their offense has been one of the worst in the National League and while their main aces have been great (Koufax, Drysdale) the rest haven’t been good either. CF Ron Fairly really has broken out at the age of 25, but other than him there really hasn’t been any other notable hitters right now in LA. NYM 2 LAD 3 NYM 0 LAD 2 NYM 5 LAD 4 A really tough series in LA as we lose two close games and end the series with a close win. We are now 7-16 in May and have lost eight of our last ten games. I’m getting pretty frustrated but this four game series against the Colt 45’s will be a huge test for this team to see if we can turn this bad form around. New York Mets (16-22) vs Houston Colt 45’s (13-24) - May 22-24, 1964 Houston had a miserable April going 4-12 but have since been 9-12 in May and have really been competitive in games for the first time as a team. Rookie Cleon Jones has been on fire as he’s hit .330 with a 144 OPS+ and 2.8 WAR already. He’s looked a lot better than Morgan has this season actually who we picked one spot ahead of too. Morgan is still better on paper, but Jones has burst into the majors and looks to be Houston’s first superstar. NYM 3 HOU 7 NYM 4 HOU 1 (10) NYM 5 HOU 1 NYM 12 HOU 1 After a tough first game, we really held it together over the next three games as our pitching and hitting was on point. Al Jackson wasn’t great in game one but our bullpen is really what lost us the game as they gave up four of the seven Houston runs. The good thing was Cardwell, Jim Nash and even Washburn were all excellent in their outings and shut down this Colt 45’s lineup. Washburn has been improved in his past two starts and only gave up three runs in 16 innings of work so that’s been good. Jim Nash is still not in the rotation but in his three spot starts this year, he has a 0.38 ERA and is 3-0 so I may start pushing for him to get more starts here since he’s been great. Jesus Alou went 6-6 in our last game here too which was really impressive and currently is second in the NL in batting average. He’s started the season well and I am hoping this can be a norm for him after two subpar seasons in ‘62 and ‘63. I really love his style as a hitter but it’s just never amounted to great results until now. If he can stay this great, our offense really has a ton of potential with Morgan, Conigliaro, Kranepool and now Alou. Week Six Thoughts: After a 1-4 start to the week, we win three in a row in Houston to leave us back to 4-4 and four games back of an even record. The real issue with this team is the bullpen and we just do not have the arms to give us solid innings. Tom Kelley is the only arm that has an ERA under 5. He has struggled with a 4.91 ERA but his FIP is at 2.75 and I think with some better defense and luck, he can get better soon. We need to look at a reliable option at the deadline maybe because this is our kryptonite and we cannot keep expecting our starters to carry the entire load for us here. We start next week by heading to Chicago to play the Cubs for three games, then we finally head back to Queens for a four game weekend series against the Giants. Looking at the standings, we are really only 2 games back of fifth place and there are a lot of teams sitting around .500 in the NL. I just don’t want to fall off into the lower part of the standings yet, and I’d love to see this team try to stay as relevant as possible. Attached Images

07-21-2024, 09:39 PM	#36
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	Week Seven 1964 New York Mets (19-23) vs Chicago Cubs (18-19) - May 26-28, 1964 We last played the Cubs back at the end of April and split a short two game series. Since then, they’ve been pretty mediocre and still are sitting around .500. Ron Santo and Billy Williams have been great hitters for the Cubs, but the rest of the lineup has been pretty bad, especially former Met Frank Thomas, who sits at a 78 OPS+ with .210 AVG. 62’ first round pick Bobby Tolan is now up in the majors too and looks to be a decent contributor already as well. It would be great to win this three game series here. NYM 4 CHC 5 NYM 5 CHC 0 NYM 3 CHC 4 (13) A tough series in Chicago that ends in a close 13 inning loss. We took a close loss off a Tom Kelley blown save in game one, but Al Jackson pitched very well in the second game, allowing only two hits and no runs in six innings. The bullpen was also great here too, but we just couldn’t close out a series win in the last game. Our manager had Clem Labine in for extras and kept him in way longer than I would have liked. Labine was great in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth, but by the thirteenth, he didn’t have much left and gave the game away here. San Francisco Giants (29-15) vs New York Mets (20-25) - May 29-31, 1964 Two weeks ago, we saw the Giants in San Fran for a four game set and it didn’t go well, as we lost three of four. The Giants have still been great, but they’ve been 3-7 in their last ten games and both Milwaukee and St. Louis has been gaining on them so far. I still see them as one of the best teams in baseball so I wouldn’t be too worried for them here, I just hope we can catch them when they seem vulnerable here. SF 5 NYM 6 SF 4 NYM 2 SF 0 NYM 1 SF 3 NYM 4 A great series at Shea gets us three wins against the best team in the National League. Yes every win was close, but these wins show that the team can compete against the best and that they aren’t close to that pitiful ‘62 team. Between Joe Morgan and Tony Conigliaro, they combined for 5.2 WAR in May and have both been the superstars we needed in Queens. Moving forward, I am going to move this save along by reviewing on a month to month basis as I care most about the macro-level decisions and progress with this team vs the day to day stuff. Doing longer month by month updates seems like a more interesting way to write and show the team instead of fretting over every game in the season. Next time, I will cover the month of June as we move closer to the all-star break! Attached Images

07-23-2024, 10:31 PM	#37
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	June 1964 Series Results: 3 vs Houston Colt 45’s (2-1), 4 vs LA Dodgers (1-3) 3 vs Chicago Cubs (1-2), 4 @ Philadelphia Phillies (4-0) 3 @ Pittsburgh Pirates (0-3), 4 vs Philadelphia Phillies (2-2) 3 vs Pittsburgh Pirates (3-0), 4 @ Milwaukee Braves (2-2) 2 @ San Francisco Giants (2-0) Mets June Record: 17-13, .566 PCT Mets Overall Record: 40-39, .506 PCT Events: 6/15/1964 - Tony Conigliaro wins Player of the Week as he hit .518, had three homers and nine RBIs. He continues to build on his excellent rookie season! 7/1/1964 - Tony Conigliaro also wins Rookie of the Month after a ridiculous June with a .345 AVG, 8 HR and 24 RBI. It can not be understated how good Tony has been for us and has outshined even Joe Morgan, who has still looked great. Who’s Hot? - Tony Conigliaro (182 OPS+, 8 HR, 1.8 WAR), Joe Morgan (.319 AVG, 166 OPS+, 1.3 WAR), Ray Washburn (6 GS, 3-2, 1.82 ERA, 2.75 FIP), Tom Kelley (11 G, 1-1, 1.84 ERA, 2 SV) Who’s Cold? - Paul Blair (21 OPS+, .160 AVG, 1 HR), Ed Kranepool (87 OPS+, .286 AVG, 1 HR), Don Cardwell (5 GS, 3-1, 4.72 ERA), Dean Stone (8 G, 3-2, 5.84 ERA) June Thoughts: It’s been a pretty great month for the Mets as we went 17-13 and had a five game winning streak at one point in late June. Both Conigliaro and Morgan are proving to be the first stars we have as a franchise, and some other players that I have been waiting on have finally shown something too. Jesus Alou has been the real breakout here as we have been waiting for him to play up to his potential since ‘62 and he is finally hitting for contact really well. His .352 AVG and solid defense have propelled him to be one of our better players and he is exactly the type of player we need to make this team relevant. I’ve been really happy with Ray Washburn as well, he has finally looked to be the solid pitcher we wanted when we got him back at the ‘62 deadline. He really struggled again to start the year but June has been a big turnaround and his 3.47 ERA is league average at this point. He also will give us a ton of innings which is vital because our bullpen is still a massive weakness on the team. We are currently fourth in the National League and while we are eight back of the first place Giants, I am ecstatic that we are staying around .500 towards the all-star break. I don’t think this is sustainable, but if Morgan and Tony keep playing like superstars and the rest of our lineup holds up, there’s a real chance that this could be a legit average major league roster. We have another 28 games to play in July and we should have some all-stars to celebrate in Queens as well! Attached Images

07-27-2024, 02:53 PM	#38
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	July 1964 Series Results: 2 @ Houston Colt 45’s (1-1) , 3 @ Los Angeles Dodgers (1-2) All-Star Game 5-0 W vs AL (NY Mets are 42-42 at break), 3 vs St. Louis Cardinals (2-1), 2 vs Cincinnati Reds (2-0) 1 vs Cincinnati Reds (1-0), 3 @ Chicago Cubs (2-1), 4 @ St. Louis Cardinals (2-2) 3 @ Cincinnati Reds (2-1) , 4 vs Milwaukee Braves (3-1), 2 vs LA Dodgers (1-1), 1 vs Houston Colt 45’s (1-0) Mets June Record: 18-10, .642 PCT Mets Overall Record: 58-49, .542 PCT Events: 7/5/1964 - The New York Mets have three all-stars! 2B Joe Morgan, LF Tony Conigliaro and SP Al Jackson! Morgan has now made it in each of his first two seasons while Al Jackson and rookie Tony Congiliaro make their first appearance. 7/12/1964 - SP Willie Smith sprained his UCL and will be out for four weeks. Jim Nash will move from the bullpen to the fifth starter and he has been good in his six starts so far. I have called up Craig Anderson to take Nash’s bullpen spot. Anderson has mostly been minor league depth for us, but did come up in ‘62 and ‘63 to make an appearance or two. 7/20/1964 - Joe Morgan wins NL Player of the Week as he goes 14-28 with 3 homers and 6 RBI. Morgan is on pace for an almost 10 WAR season for us and has really heated up after a slower April and May. TRADE DEADLINE! 7/31/1964 - We made two big trades at the deadline, one to shore up our bullpen and one to address our problems at shortstop. The New York Mets trade 28-year-old CF Joe Christopher and 37-year-old 3B Johnny Logan to the Los Angeles Dodgers for 31-year-old LHP Hal Woodeshick and 35-year-old RHP Ryne Duren. This trade was massive as we get two relievers that will help us immediately and be an upgrade over most of our bullpen. We have been great at a lot of things this season, but our bullpen is still terrible, ranked last in the NL. Both Duren and Woodeshick were having great seasons and all we had to give up was two depth pieces on the team. Christopher was a solid backup option, but we have LF Chirs Coletta for now who can hold down things and play some solid defense. Logan was our utility infielder but he couldn’t hit and we were looking to upgrade his spot anyways moving forward. Yes we do lose some depth on our bench, but I think the bullpen needed a boost, especially if we are going to be competing for the pennant! The New York Mets trade 21-year-old RHP George Culver to the Chicago White Sox for 30-year-old Luis Aparicio. Culver was really the only prospect we had in our system as the past two drafts did not have a ton of depth in them, but I wasn’t his biggest fan. He’s been fine in AAA Buffalo, but I didn’t really see him ever becoming a big part of the rotation. He could be more of a backend starter, but he still has some developing to do before he’ll get there. Aparicio has been really bad for the White Sox and holds a 59 OPS+, but his abilities far outshine his production and he won’t be asked to do as much for us. SS Roy McMillan has not been any better offensively than Aparicio and moving forward, we can have Roy as the utility infielder and slide Aparicio to short for now. I do see a better time for Luis now in NY and I don’t need him to be a major contributor offensively. I’m hoping he can help out our issues with short for now! 8/1/1964 - Don Cardwell is named NL Pitcher of the Month after an insane 6-0 record in six starts, a 2.11 ERA and a 2.75 FIP. Just a dominant month for Cardwell that has helped propel us to be a team fighting for the pennant! Who’s Hot? - Joe Morgan (.381 AVG, 5 HR, 213 OPS+), Paul Blair (.250 AVG, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 116 OPS+, this is hot compared to what he’s been doing previously!)Roger Craig (4 GS, 2-0, 1.88 ERA, 2.84 FIP), Don Cardwell (6-0, 2.11 ERA, 2.75 FIP). Who’s Cold? - Chico Fernandez (.194 AVG, 38 OPS+, knew regression was coming but I’ve still been super happy with how Chico has looked this season), Jesus Alou (.268 AVG, 88 OPS+, if Alou isn’t hitting for contact, he will struggle but I trust him to bounce back), Jim Nash (3 G, 2 GS, 0-1, 8.16 ERA) , Tom Kelley (10 G, 2-2, 5.93 ERA). July Thoughts: After entering the all-star break at 42-42, we finish the month going 16-7 and fly into third place in the National League, only three games back of the Cardinals. If it weren’t for our 14-20 record in May, this team could honestly be in first place in the NL! I think we have made huge moves in our bullpen as Duren and Woodeshick will be two good arms on top of Kelley that can help us win close games. The rotation is still not great, but there have been no real weak links as Jackson, Cardwell and Washburn have been pretty solid thus far and our starters do have a 3.35 ERA, third in the NL. Our offense has been great and been the main reason we are nine games over .500 heading into August. Other than homers, we are ranked third in the NL in offensive categories like average, OPS, runs scored and OBP. Yes, Morgan and Congiliaro have been insane this season, but Kranepool, Alou and Fernandez have been solid hitters for us that have helped us get to this point. There is no way we’d be this close to contention without these second level guys here and I am happy that some of my previous moves have worked pretty well. I still don’t think this team is going to keep winning like this and get to a point where we sit at first in the NL, but if we can continue to be solid, I’d love to be around 83-87 wins. August will be a shorter month for us as we only play 25 games and have eight off days and two doubleheaders. We face an easier schedule too against weaker teams like Houston, Chicago, Philly and Pittsburgh. There is a chance to sit in first if we can have another dominant month but I still don’t know if I can believe in this team on paper. August will prove if we have what it takes to make a run for the NL, or if we have a little ways to go. Attached Images

08-01-2024, 02:06 PM	#39
JimMorrison Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2024 Location: New York Posts: 38	August 1964 August 1964 Series Results: 3 vs Houston Colt 45’s (2-1) 2 vs San Francisco Giants (1-1), 3 @ Philadelphia Phillies (2-1) 2 @ Pittsburgh Pirates (0-2), 3 vs Philadelphia Phillies (2-1) 3 vs Pittsburgh Pirates (1-2), 4 vs Chicago Cubs (1-3) 2 @ Cincinnati Reds (0-2), 3 @ Chicago Cubs (1-2) Mets August Record: 10-15, .400 PCT Mets Overall Record: 68-64, .542 PCT Events: 8/13/1964 - Willie Smith comes back from injury after going down in July with a sprained UCL. He’s not been great this season, but we do need him in that fifth spot for now. Who’s Hot? Joe Morgan (.365 AVG, 236 OPS+, 5 HR, this is still Joe’s team and he has been one of the best hitters in all of baseball in July and now August), Bob Hendley (4 GS, 2-2, 3.24 ERA). Besides Morgan and Congiliaro, not one other hitter had an OPS+ over 100 for the month. Same with our starters as Wasburn, Jackson, Cardwell and others are all under an ERA+ of 100. Who’s Cold? Jerry Grote (.133 AVG, 2 OPS+), Luis Aparicio (.205 AVG, 40 OPS+), Ed Kranepool (.211 AVG, 62 OPS+) All of our offensive pieces that were solid in July have completely fallen apart in August and it’s been the main reason why we’ve tumbled down the standings this month. August Thoughts: A tough month where we dropped from third place in the NL and two games back of first, to now fifth place in the NL and 4.5 games back of first. It is still a really close race with 30 games to go, but I still think we’d need a miraculous run to win the pennant. As much as I’ve been frustrated, we have 68 wins with 30 games to go while last season we had 68 wins all season. This season has still been a success and has shown me this team has some potential, but we will need some trades and good draft picks in the winter. The other cool development is the MVP case for Joe Morgan! He’s been scorching hot these past two months and he currently leads the National League in AVG, OBP, OPS and WAR. If he can keep this up, I really think he has to be the favorite to win it this year and it would be a great story here. Tony has slowed down since his ridiculous start to the season, but he is still on pace for a league leading 41 homers and has been great regardless of his slight regression. Our staff has been pretty good but I really want to find an ace that can win us games. Al Jackson, Don Cardwell and Ray Washburn have all had good seasons for us and have made a big impact, but we need a better option to lead us to the pennant. Roger Craig has emerged as a really solid fourth starter for us this season, but the fifth spot has been rough as Willie Smith has been hurt and even when healthy, he’s not been at his ‘63 level. Our bullpen has still been the worst in the NL, but Woodeshick and Duren have helped us out so far, and they will be around to help out more next season as well. I did expect a fall from grace here, but I cannot be too sad as this team has definitely exceeded my expectations and I would love to finish the season above .500. These last 30 games will be tough as we play the Dodgers, Giants and Cardinals a bunch and they are all fighting for the pennant. Just get me to 82 wins and I’ll be satisfied! Attached Images