Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

The Mets went 19-12 in May and now are just one game under .500. A couple of our draft picks are playing pretty decent with Sam Bowens hitting 10 home runs, including 3 in a game against Houston. Vic Davalillo is hitting .303 with 5 home runs, and then there is Joe Morgan, who is hitting .192.

I've decided to forgo the force Gaylord Perry as a starter experiment, and let my manager choose. His stamina increased from 1 to 3, but it's back to down 1 again. I'm thinking he's going to be no more than a middle reliever, but at a minimum he's been overmatched this year.

[NYY #23]

The Mets made a couple of deals this month with the long term goal of getting better. Ideally I'd like to trade veterans who won't play a role long term and term them into younger players.

My first trade broke that rule, but I had to do it. I don't like Denny Lemaster, even though he's pitched pretty well. He's one of my best trade chips though, and he can bring back two valuable players.

So off to the Yankees -
SP - Denny Lemaster
SP - Art Houtteman
1B - Billy Goodman

To the Mets -
3B - Ron Santo
RF - Tony Oliva
SP - Bub Buhl
MR - Jay Hook

The 23 year old Santo and 24 year old Oliva were the keys to the deal. But Santo's stay with the Mets wouldn't be long. The A's are going for it all this year, and have been sending me deals trying to get Mike de la Hoz, so I figured it was worth a shot to try and flip Santo for a better package.

Going to Kansas City -
3B - Ron Santo
C - Ed Bailey
SP - Lew Burdette

Going to the Mets -
C - Joe Torre
MR - Dallas Green
MR - Taylor Phillips

That left Tommie Agee without a position, so we shipped him off to San Francisco along with SP Frank Sullivan in exchange for 29 year old first baseman Jim Gentile and MR Chris Short.

That actually doesn't leave too many holes in the lineup long term, if everyone comes together. Now all we need is a few starting pitchers.

Throughout all the turmoil the Mets were 10-19 for the month.

Duke Snider of the Dodgers hit career home run number 500 this month. Al Rosen of the Orioles hit his 400th.

Herb Score of the Giants struck out 16 batters in a game this month. It was the seventh time Score has done so in his career.

[NYY #23]

The Mets went 15-12 in July, and I had a quiet trade deadline. Our big acquisition, Tony Oliva, is now out for the rest of the year. Joe Morgan is starting to show signs of improving though, which will really help us out.

Chris Short, Joe Torre, and Sam Bowens went to the All-Star game for the Mets.

[NYY #23]

The Mets went 14-14 for the month and I've been happy with our year 2 progress so far.

Chris Short has been phenomenal since coming over in the trade from the Giants. I really wish I could have said I saw it coming and insisted he was included in the trade, but he was just a throw in with decent ratings.

Dennis Bennett of the Giants pitched a no-hitter this month.

[NYY #23]

Year 2 wraps up with a winning month and the Mets finished with the season with a 78-84 record. We still have a long way to go, but we are on the right path at least. We weren't last in record, runs scored, runs allowed, or defense! I'm hoping that we'll be able to find some pitching help in the draft though.

37 year old Fred Baczewski of the Athletics pitched a no-hitter this month, the second straight month where a no-hitter was pitched. He's 3-2 with a 6.20 ERA this year.

I noticed that Milt Pappas had a great year, going 22-6 with a 1.95 ERA.

Although he didn't play a single game for us, Ron Santo won the American League batting title after hitting .326.

[NYY #23]

With the Colt 45's failing to sign their draft pick last year they are awarded the first two draft picks, and the Miserable Mets will pick 7th overall, behind Houston, the Angels, Yankees, Phillies, and Red Sox. Our brief and small bit of success comes with a price.

While we weren't able to draft Luis Tiant, we selected Mel Stottlemyre with our first draft pick. Phil Niekro was picked in the second round while another pitcher, Ed Connolly Jr was picked in the third round.

Rick Wise was the fourth pitcher that we selected, with relievers Ron Locke and catcher Dave Duncan rounding out the draft.

Both 2B Loren Babe and reliever Erv Palica retired following the season.

Stan Musial was the first player elected to the Hall of Fame this year:



Early Wynn was the second played elected to the Hall of Fame:



Both Vic Davavillo and Vada Pinson won Gold Gloves for the Mets. Year 2 is now in the books for the Mets:

New York Mets - 0-0 (.000) - GB
1962 - New York Mets 61-101 (.377) 37 GB (Season Score - 1)
1963 - New York Mets 78-84 (.481) 14.5 GB (Season Score - 11)

[NYY #23]

It was a quiet offseason for the Mets, and heading into this year I've made a decision to try and use both Phil Niekro and Gaylord Perry in the rotation this year. Neither really has the stamina, but I don't have many options either.

We're off to a 6-9 start, and despite the very small sample size both Perry and Niekro are pitching well.

[NYY #23]

The Mets had a bad month in May, going 12-22 for the month and we are now 15 games under.500. Our offense is slowing down, and our pitching is struggling as well.

My reliever rotation is having mixed results, with Gaylord Perry pitching well, but Phil Niekro and Ed Connolly Jr struggling.

Maybe my expectations of a .500 season were unrealistic.

Frank Robinson of the Pirates hit his 300th career home run this month.

[NYY #23]

While the Mets went .500 for the month, we did end the month on a 6 game winning streak.

I'm hoping that we can have a winning month in July.

[NYY #23]

The Mets had our first winning month of the season going 16-12 and we are now 9 games under .500.

We lost Dick Schofield for the rest of the year, so I'm not sure what we are going to do for a shortstop.

Gaylord Perry and Joe Torre were our all-star representatives this year. Joe Torre also hit for the cycle in a 14-1 victory over the Reds.

Ernie Banks of the Cubs hit his 300th career home run.

The trade deadline came and passed and I decided it was best to not make a deal. That was mostly because I couldn't find a deal that would make our team better.

[NYY #23]

The Mets returned to losing with a 12-13 month in August. With a 61-71 record it's time for roster expansion and beginning to look forward to year 4 with the Mets. We'll need to get pretty hot to equal last year's record, which isn't very likely.

[NYY #23]

A 13-17 record puts an end to season three in New York, which could only be labeled as a disappointment. We finished with a worse record, and while we had a few bright spots it was mostly a disappointing season.

We need some help with our rotation and at third base, shortstop, center field, and right field.

While we do pick 6th overall, we also have an owner who is an economizer, who seems to like to cut our budget each year and take cash from the team. We may have to get creative trying to sign our draft picks this year.



New York Mets - 0-0 (.000) - GB
1962 - New York Mets 61-101 (.377) 37 GB (Season Score - 1)
1963 - New York Mets 78-84 (.481) 14.5 GB (Season Score - 11)
1964 - New York Mets 74-88 (.457) 27 GB (Season Score - 1)

[NYY #23]

Heading into the draft we were in an interesting position. The Mets drafted 6th overall, but didn't have any budget room available to go over slot. With that in mind we looked for the best available player who was looking for a slot bonus. We'd draft them and hope they'd be willing to sign with the Mets for slot, or we'd get an extra draft pick next year.

With that in mind we drafted the following players:

SP Fergie Jenkins
SP Paul Lindblad
SS Mark Belanger
MR Tom Kelley
MR Ed Barnowski
MR Jackie Moore

Fast forward a couple weeks and all of the players agreed to a slot bonus, so I guess that makes it a successful draft.

Pitching coach Jimmy Dykes decided to retire rather than continue to work with the knuckler and spitter duo of Niekro and Perry. We brought aboard 39 year old Lou McClenaghan as our new pitching coach.

We also said goodbye to 1B Jerry Snyder, and SP Luis Arroyo, both announcing their retirement. Arroyo will leave a legacy in New York after his debut season in the Mets rotation, going 1-16 with a 5.84 ERA.

And last but not least Warren Spahn was elected to the Hall of Fame. He finished with a 215-173 record and 3.18 ERA.

[NYY #23]

Another year, another losing month for the Mets. While it's very early in the season our starters are getting crushed, except for Gaylord Perry.

Our owner expects us to finish over .500 this year, which we should be capable of doing.

[NYY #23]

The good news in May is that the Mets really heated up going 22-10 for the month. Unfortunately it's pretty hard to keep up with a team that goes 25-5 for the month like the Giants did. With a 37-10 record they've already put us in an 8 1/2 game hole.

But I'm pleased with the play of the Mets. Our rotation is turning out to be pretty solid and our offense is led by the two Joe's (Torre and Morgan).

I don’t even think we're as good as we've been playing, let alone as good as the Giants, but I'm optimistic this year.

Rocky Colavito of the Cardinals slugged the 400th home run of his career this month.

[NYY #23]

Another winning month for the Mets as we went 17-13 for the month and have narrowed the deficit to 7 1/2 games.

We're playing well now, and have just a couple of holes to fill. I'll be looking for an upgrade at shortstop during July and we'll see what happens.

[NYY #23]

The Mets made a couple deals this month, first sending starting pitcher Eli Grba, who has spent the year in the minors to the Pirates in exchange for first baseman/left fielder Frank Robinson. Grba was good last year going 8-5 with a 2.38 ERA last year, but got lost in the shuffle this year. Robinson is hitting .268 this year with 18 home runs.

While I was surprised when I shopped Grba around and the Pirates offered Robinson in a one for one deal, they have a great offense and terrible pitching, yet are 42-36. The Pirates now have Grba slotted as their #1 starter.

But that still didn't do anything to solve any of our needs, primarily shortstop. That was trickier, but we ended up sending 26 year old center fielder Vada Pinson to the Orioles in exchange for 3B/SS Brooks Robinson. It's the second time I've been involved in a trade with Robinson, this time acquiring him to play shortstop. If he can hit .260 with 10 home runs I'll be happy.

Trading Pinson means I now have to believe in Vic Davilillo in center field.

While the month started real well we got a double shot of bad news, losing Joe Torre for 6 months and Vic Davalillo for 6 weeks. They'll both be tough to replace, but the Mets went 17-11 for the month.

The Mets did have a handful of All-Stars with Gaylord Perry, Mel Stottlemyre, Chris Short, Joe Torre, new addition Frank Robinson, Joe Morgan, and Mike de la Hoz selected.

[NYY #23]

The Mets had another decent month going 17-11, but we now find ourselves in first place after the Giants collapsed with a 13-16 month.

Since coming to New York Frank Robinson has hit .297 with 14 home runs. Grba is 4-3 for the Pirates with a 4.07 ERA. Robinson has definitely helped make up for the loss of Joe Torre.

We have to get through just three more days without centerfielder Vic Davalillo. We'll make some call-ups for roster expansion, and hopefully be able to hold off the Giants and Pirates.

[NYY #23]

With a 2-1 win over the second place Pittsburgh Pirates the Mets clinched the National League pennant in my fourth year. We'll be getting ready to take on the Orioles in the World Series, who appear to be a lock, needing either a win or Twins loss to clinch.

[NYY #23]

The Mets ended the year with a 96-66 record and we're ready to take on the 99-63 Orioles:




It's interesting that my manager rested all of my regular starting pitchers for the playoffs. I haven't noticed that before.

There were a couple of milestones around the league this month -

• Bill Skowron of the Indians picked up his 2000th career hit
• Mickey Mantle of the Reds hit his 300th career home run
• Eddie Mathews of the Braves hit his 400th career home run

Tony Oliva hit for the cycle in a 7-6 win over the Braves this month, and joined Frank Robinson as Met's players winning the Player of the Week.