1962 Mets

Renfro · 11-14-2015, 04:42 PM

Inspired sort of by the book "The Year the Mets Lost Last Place" I decided to see if I can get the Mets a World Series win before 1969.

It's 1962 and after 32 games, I'm 11-21. I've gotten rid of Gil Hodges, the manager when the Mets won it in 1969. He was hitting just over .200. But before the season began, another trade package included another '69 Met, Ed Kranepool. Got 19-year old Tommie Agee in return.

It's been a slog. Starting rotation:

Al Jackson (L) 4-3
Bob Miller (R) 4-3
Roger Craig (R) 1-4
Jay Hook (R) 0-6

My closer is a guy named Claude Raymond, whom I got from the MKE Braves.

Current primary lineup vs. RH:

Richie Asburn (L, RF)
Gus Bell (R, RF)
Felix Mantilla (R, SS)
Jim Hickman (R, CF)
Frank Thomas (R, 3B)
Don Zimmer (R, 2B)
Choo Choo Coleman (L, C)
Jim Marshall (L, 1B)

Our "demanding" and "meddling" owner wants us to reach the playoffs in two years. That's our long term goal!

Renfro · 11-28-2015, 10:52 PM

My '62 Mets are 31-58 and in last place, 4 games behind the Cubs and 6 behind the Colts, the other expansion team. We just need 9 wins in this second half to eclipse the real '62 Mets!

I got rid of Jay Hook along with minor leaguers Sherman Jones and Larry Foss for an unhappy Jerry Lynch and Cookie Rojas.

My primary lineup:

Richie Ashburn RF
Jerry Lynch LF
Felix Mantilla SS
Jim Hickman CF
George Banks 3B
Frank Thomas 1B
Charlie Neal 2B
Choo Choo Coleman C

Starting rotation:

Al Jackson (7-7)
Bob Miller (6-11)
Roger Craig (4-10)
Billy Pierce (8-8)

My closer, the bespectacled Claude Raymond, is 2-0 with 15 saves and a 0.73 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 24.2 innings.

Renfro · 12-10-2015, 09:17 PM

Trade deadline came and went. Forced by my Demanding and Meddling owner, I went to each team to try to find a power hitter and an upgrade at RF. I hadn't really explored or exploited the trade mechanism in OOTP16.

Remarkably, the Yankees were willing to part with Roger Maris! Even more remarkably, Detroit was willing to part with Al Kaline! Detroit was in the middle of a race for the penant, only 1/2 game out of first. Detroit wanted a package that included Bob Miller, one of my RHPs. So I quickly pulled the trigger on the deal, satisfying two of my owner's goals in one very strange trade.

Kaline, aka Mr. Tiger, hit a homerun in his first two games as a Met.

So very strange. The '62 Mets, on August 2, achieved their 40th win. It's new territory for them - and poor Al Kaline - from here on out.

Renfro · 12-21-2015, 01:53 AM

End of August '62

We are 54-85 and tied with the Colts in last place, 36 1/2 games behind the SF Giants. Kaline has been a boon. He's still "Unhappy" regarding Transactions but overall his Morale is "Great." Kaline had a torrid August, continuing to hit .342 while also belting out 9 homers. One of the players that went to Detroit, 23 year old starting pitcher Bob Miller, has also been hot, going 5-1 since the trade with a 2.47 ERA.

Primary lineup:

LF Richie Ashburn (.288 / .382 / .359 / 6 HR, 26 RBI)
SS Felix Mantilla (.307 / .363 / .467 / 16 / 58)
RF Al Kaline (.342 / .421 / .646 / 41 / 106)
CF Jim Hickman (.262 / .349 / .457 / 20 / 62)
3B Frank Thomas (.246 / .291 / .415 / 17 / 55)
2B Cookie Rojas (.210 / .277 / .322 / 6 / 24)
C Choo Choo Coleman (.216 / .270 / .336 / 10 / 32)
1B Bobo Osborne (yes, Bobo) (.241 / .333 / .299 / 1 / 7)

Starting rotation:

Al Jackson (12-12)
Roger Craig (9-15)
Billy Pierce (12-13)
Howie Koplitz (0-3)
Mudcat Grant (0-1)

Claude Raymond has 23 saves.

Returning from his 2nd stint on the DL is Frank Thomas. Thomas, with the pressure off of having to be a power hitter, hit .300 with 7 home runs in 7 games. While he was out, I had to screw around with the infield. I was forced to play an outfielder, Manny Jimenez, at 2B. This is a guy with only one position rating: a 37/100 for LF. At any rate, his .314 / .361 / .436 was much more valuable. I don't think I lost too many games because of it. Too bad OOTP does not keep track of fielding stats by position. Mantilla has 3 errors over the course of 105 games but I can't see in which position he committed those errors. I'm tempted to continue playing him in the infield just so that I can have his bat.

Syd Thrift · 12-28-2015, 12:20 PM

If you go to the Fielding tab on your player's card, you should be able to see a breakdown of stats by position.

Renfro · 12-29-2015, 01:22 AM

My '62 Mets ended with a record of 65-97. Good for 9th place in the 10-team National League. The Houston Colt 45's finished one game behind us. Although we lost our last 3 games to the Cubs, our post-All Star Game record was 34-39. Thank you, Al Kaline.

One of our players, Manny Jimenez made the top 25 Game Performances for Batters, going 4-5 with a HR, 4 RBIs, and 4 runs scored against Houston on 6/11. And Al Jackson made the top 25 for Pitchers in a complete game 1-hit, 5K shutout of the Milwaukee Braves on 9/25. Jackson also made the OSA Top 20 Pitchers at #12. And Al Kaline ranked #4 in the Top 20 Position Players. Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, and Mickey Mantle ranked ahead of him.

While I continue to think this is a fun way to play the game, I must admit that, even before the Al Kaline trade, it felt a little sacrilegious. I wasn't alive in 1962 but I can appreciate the remarkable (under) achievement. Only 4 teams in the modern era won less games then the real 62 Mets. That takes something.

I'm reading Jimmy Breslin's "Can't Anybody Here Play This Game." I got this edition from the library:

In the first chapter, Breslin - a New York sports reporter I used to read in the NY Daily News - writes:

"It was a team that featured three twenty-game losers, an opening day outfield that held the all-time major-league record for fathering children (nineteen), a defensive catcher who couldn't catch, and an over-all collection of strange players who performed strange feats. Yet it was absolutely wonderful. People loved it."

Feels funny trying to break that. But oh well ... on to the First-Year Player Draft.

But wait ... the 1962 World Series featuring the SF Giants and the Minnesota Twins. (Originally, it was the SF Giants versus the NY Yankees.) I watched this on Simulation Mode Speed Factor 120 and was not disappointed. Minnesota went up 3 games to none. Now you know that no team has come back from 3 to 0 hole in the World Series. Ever. But this is OOTP! Players don't give up. And the Giants had Willie Mays, who went 15-30 with 3 homers and 11 RBIs. And Billy O'Dell who started 3 games and went 2-0 with an ERA of .72. Yes, the Giants came back and won the Series.

Renfro · 12-31-2015, 10:11 PM

Some notes on the simulated '62 season

Hank Aaron (MKE) had 57 homers- he had 45 in real life (IRL).
Harmon Killebrew (MIN) had 51 in 132 games - he had 48 in 155 games IRL.

Koufax went 19-8 with 346 Ks and a 1.83 ERA, 0.89 WHIP 12 WAR - IRL he went 14-7 with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP, striking out only 216.

Second in strikeouts was Dennis Bennett (PHI) with 254, who only had 149 IRL.

Stu Miller (SF) had 43 saves to lead the league. IRL, Roy Face (PIT) led it with 28.

Ken MacKenzie (NYM) had 17 holds. In fact, the '62 Mets had 3 relievers in the top 10 in holds, which probably speaks to my more modern management style.

I was happy that none of my pitchers lost 20 games. The real life Mets featured 2: Roger Craig at 10-24 and Al Jackson at 8-20. Whereas my Roger Craig went 12-16 and Al Jackson went 13-15. And I did have one pitcher post a winning record: Billy Pierce at 15-14. He wasn't on the real life '62 Mets.

Renfro · 01-09-2016, 08:29 PM

After the first month of '63, my Mets are 9-12, 7 games back of the World Champion Giants and 4.5 in front of the Reds.

The biggest addition has been my #1 draft pick, the "hard to sign" Ray Culp. IRL, he came up with the Phillies and went 14-11 in his rookie year. Here, he took home the NL's Rookie of the Month, starting 4 games and going 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 29.1 innings.

Renfro · 01-23-2016, 10:56 PM

The '63 Mets went 12-19 in May, lowering them down to 9th with a record of 21-30. Getting swept by the Colt .45's and the Cubs were low points. I let my emotions get the best of me and traded the "soft-spoken" Canadian Ken MacKenzie, a lefty reliever who had a 7.5 k/9 in 55 innings last year, to the Phillies.

One bright spot: Al Jackson. After losing his first 5 starts of the season, he goes 5-0 in 7 starts in May. The 27 year-old lefty from Waco pitched 5 complete games, 2 of which were shutouts, including a 2-hitter against the lowly Reds. In May, he had a 1.98 ERA and struck out 40 in 59 innings.

Gojira · 02-04-2016, 12:30 AM

I need to start this over soon cause I had a HD crash and lost my saved game. I was replaying the Mets history from the beginning, but I did one thing differently from you. I have one golden rule in playing my sim that I do not break. Any additions to my team have to be guys who at one time either played for, managed, or coached the Mets, whether in the majors or minors. The ONLY exception to this rule was when I "drafted" (i.e stole) Reggie Jackson, who the Mets passed up at #1 in the draft to take a catcher who never made it to the majors. I had somehow managed to trade Richie Ashburn, Bob "Righty" Miller and Hobie Landrith and cash to the Giants for Willie Mays who carried the Mets to an 8th place finish in 1962 with an average around .330 58HR and over 120RBI. I ended up winning my first pennant in 1966. First World Series in 1967 and after a second place finish in 68 (1 game in back of the Dodgers) had a dynasty winning the World Series every year from 1969-1976.

Fun times

Renfro · 02-05-2016, 11:21 PM

I like your rule. What a steal to get Willie Mays! That's one way not to get fired after the first couple of years. In my world, Mays got injured in '62 and hit 30 homers in 115 games.

I did not know that the Mets passed up a chance to get Reggie in the '66 draft. Thanks for the heads up.

Renfro · 02-05-2016, 11:30 PM

My '63 Mets are 34-45 as of June 30, playing a bit better ball by going 13-15. Still, we are somewhat safely in 9th, as the last place team, the Reds, is a godawful 27-52.

We were really active on the market. I was kind of impatient with 20-year old Tommie Agee and shopped him around. Imagine my surprise when the Dodgers offered 26-year old Don Drysdale!!! I even got the Dodgers to tack on a lefty reliever, Joe Hoerner. Fans were happy.

But I did end up trading away two other starting pitchers: the popular but way overpriced Billy Pierce, and the Mudcat Grant. Both went in package deals to get some outfield bats that I needed to replace due to injury.

rjl518 · 02-06-2016, 10:13 AM

check out my Mets dynasty...and compare our teams of the early years...

Renfro · 03-03-2016, 11:54 PM

Excellent. I wish I had simmed the '61 season and did the expansion draft like you did. I like that you got Sawataski as a catcher, and Wills. That guy always runs on me as a Dodger. It's interesting that you got some steals from Thomas.

And that's HILARIOUS that your owner was like, "Play close to .500 ball." Imagine Mrs. Payson saying that!

Renfro · 03-03-2016, 11:56 PM

Here we are at the end of August 1963. I skipped last month's update because we was just cruising. We went through a couple of left fielders (Johnny Blanchard of the Yanks and Wes Covington of the Phillies) before we learned that LF-eligible Frank Robinson wanted out of Cincy. I had no idea why, but I was glad to let go of Blanchard and Covington. Blanchard especially since he acted like God's gift.

Even though my demanding boss wanted an upgrade in LF, Manny Jimenez was having a great season (301/.364/.439) with a WAR of 2.7.

We went 11-16 in July and then 16-11 in August, with Kaline netting Batter of the Month Award, hitting .336 with 7 homers, 16 RBIs, and 27 runs. We are sitting at 61-72 and just expanded the rosters. Which means calling up 2 guys from the Arlington Crazies.

I wish more teams did more trades with each other. 90% of the trades involved my team.

We are 61-72, in 8th place, 18 games behind the Giants.

Renfro · 03-20-2016, 03:11 PM

The '63 Mets went 16-11 in August and an amazing 20-9 in September. We ended on a 10-game winning streak to finish 81-81. Take that demanding owner Zack Crawford! We finished tied for 6th with Houston, ahead of the Cardinals, Pirates, and Reds. My game score for the season was 21, "nothing to be proud of."

Manny Jimenez, playing off position at 1B to make way for Frank Robinson, collected 202 hits and led the majors with a .322 batting average. Al Kaline was 2nd in the NL with 41 homers. He also came in second for regular season MVP, behind Hank Aaron.

Our pitching staff features two aces and a rising star:

Don Drysdale (16-11, including 4 shutouts, 2.71 with 217 Ks)
Al Jackson (17-13)
Ray Culp (15-6, 2.88 with 191 Ks)

Our biggest disappointment was with last year's closer, Claude Raymond. His ERA ballooned from 2.51 in '62 to 4.66. He suddenly became a gopher ball pitcher. In '62, over 43 innings, he allowed only 1 HR on his way to 27 saves. This year, over 48.1 innings, he allowed 7 homers. He saved only 8 games. I gave him every chance but eventually, I replaced him 19-year old Dick Calmus, my 5th round pick in last year's draft. He rose to the occasion: going 2-1 with 18 saves and a .83 ERA and .95 WHIP. He allowed no home runs. (In real life, Dick Calmus appeared in 22 games in total. I love it when a real unknown becomes a major cog in this game. The same can be said for Manny Jimenez, who only had 500 PAs in one season with the Royals. He had 708 PAs and 628 ABs this year.)

As for the World Series: the Dodgers beat the Senators 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. Willie Davis was the MVP, hitting .364 with 3 HRs and 7 RBIs.

In the first year player draft I picked up Mel Stottlemyer Sr. In real life, he started 13 games in '64 and went 9-3 with 2.06 ERA.

Renfro · 03-24-2016, 10:10 PM

My '64 Mets went 9-5 in April. For some reason, I thought to bring up Stottlemyer later and work on a 4-man rotation. But when Ray Culp couldn't last more than 2 innings after 4 days rest, I brought up Mel. In his first game against the Cubs, he pitched a 4-hit complete game shutout and struck out 10, achieving a game score of 88. The kid is ready.

In other pitching news, Dick Calmus went 4-4 in save opportunities.

Frank Robinson has started the year on fire, winning Player of the Month for the NL, hitting 6 homers while batting .333, driving in 18 and scoring 10.

11-28-2015, 10:52 PM	#2
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	At the All Star Break My '62 Mets are 31-58 and in last place, 4 games behind the Cubs and 6 behind the Colts, the other expansion team. We just need 9 wins in this second half to eclipse the real '62 Mets! I got rid of Jay Hook along with minor leaguers Sherman Jones and Larry Foss for an unhappy Jerry Lynch and Cookie Rojas. My primary lineup: Richie Ashburn RF Jerry Lynch LF Felix Mantilla SS Jim Hickman CF George Banks 3B Frank Thomas 1B Charlie Neal 2B Choo Choo Coleman C Starting rotation: Al Jackson (7-7) Bob Miller (6-11) Roger Craig (4-10) Billy Pierce (8-8) My closer, the bespectacled Claude Raymond, is 2-0 with 15 saves and a 0.73 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 24.2 innings.

12-10-2015, 09:17 PM	#3
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	Trade deadline came and went. Forced by my Demanding and Meddling owner, I went to each team to try to find a power hitter and an upgrade at RF. I hadn't really explored or exploited the trade mechanism in OOTP16. Remarkably, the Yankees were willing to part with Roger Maris! Even more remarkably, Detroit was willing to part with Al Kaline! Detroit was in the middle of a race for the penant, only 1/2 game out of first. Detroit wanted a package that included Bob Miller, one of my RHPs. So I quickly pulled the trigger on the deal, satisfying two of my owner's goals in one very strange trade. Kaline, aka Mr. Tiger, hit a homerun in his first two games as a Met. So very strange. The '62 Mets, on August 2, achieved their 40th win. It's new territory for them - and poor Al Kaline - from here on out. Last edited by Renfro; 12-10-2015 at 09:49 PM.

02-04-2016, 12:30 AM	#10
Gojira Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 28	I have been doing something similar. I need to start this over soon cause I had a HD crash and lost my saved game. I was replaying the Mets history from the beginning, but I did one thing differently from you. I have one golden rule in playing my sim that I do not break. Any additions to my team have to be guys who at one time either played for, managed, or coached the Mets, whether in the majors or minors. The ONLY exception to this rule was when I "drafted" (i.e stole) Reggie Jackson, who the Mets passed up at #1 in the draft to take a catcher who never made it to the majors. I had somehow managed to trade Richie Ashburn, Bob "Righty" Miller and Hobie Landrith and cash to the Giants for Willie Mays who carried the Mets to an 8th place finish in 1962 with an average around .330 58HR and over 120RBI. I ended up winning my first pennant in 1966. First World Series in 1967 and after a second place finish in 68 (1 game in back of the Dodgers) had a dynasty winning the World Series every year from 1969-1976. Fun times

02-06-2016, 10:13 AM	#13
rjl518 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Born in Shea Stadium, lives in LoanDepot Park. Posts: 6,240	check out my Mets dynasty...and compare our teams of the early years... __________________ My Threads: MLB Project 32 by SFGiants58 "Colon looking for his 1st hit of the year and he DRIVES ONE! Deep left field! Back goes Upton! Back near the wall! ITS OUTTA HERE!!! Bartolo has done it!!! THE IMPOSSIBLE HAS HAPPENED!!! This is one of the great moments in the history of baseball! Bartolo Colon has gone deep!" ---Gary Cohen. (May 7, 2016) (Petco Park) NYM 6 @ SD 3

03-03-2016, 11:56 PM	#15
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	End of August 1963 Here we are at the end of August 1963. I skipped last month's update because we was just cruising. We went through a couple of left fielders (Johnny Blanchard of the Yanks and Wes Covington of the Phillies) before we learned that LF-eligible Frank Robinson wanted out of Cincy. I had no idea why, but I was glad to let go of Blanchard and Covington. Blanchard especially since he acted like God's gift. Even though my demanding boss wanted an upgrade in LF, Manny Jimenez was having a great season (301/.364/.439) with a WAR of 2.7. We went 11-16 in July and then 16-11 in August, with Kaline netting Batter of the Month Award, hitting .336 with 7 homers, 16 RBIs, and 27 runs. We are sitting at 61-72 and just expanded the rosters. Which means calling up 2 guys from the Arlington Crazies. I wish more teams did more trades with each other. 90% of the trades involved my team. We are 61-72, in 8th place, 18 games behind the Giants.

11-14-2015, 04:42 PM	#1
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	1962 Mets Inspired sort of by the book "The Year the Mets Lost Last Place" I decided to see if I can get the Mets a World Series win before 1969. It's 1962 and after 32 games, I'm 11-21. I've gotten rid of Gil Hodges, the manager when the Mets won it in 1969. He was hitting just over .200. But before the season began, another trade package included another '69 Met, Ed Kranepool. Got 19-year old Tommie Agee in return. It's been a slog. Starting rotation: Al Jackson (L) 4-3 Bob Miller (R) 4-3 Roger Craig (R) 1-4 Jay Hook (R) 0-6 My closer is a guy named Claude Raymond, whom I got from the MKE Braves. Current primary lineup vs. RH: Richie Asburn (L, RF) Gus Bell (R, RF) Felix Mantilla (R, SS) Jim Hickman (R, CF) Frank Thomas (R, 3B) Don Zimmer (R, 2B) Choo Choo Coleman (L, C) Jim Marshall (L, 1B) Our "demanding" and "meddling" owner wants us to reach the playoffs in two years. That's our long term goal!

12-21-2015, 01:53 AM	#4
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	End of August '62 We are 54-85 and tied with the Colts in last place, 36 1/2 games behind the SF Giants. Kaline has been a boon. He's still "Unhappy" regarding Transactions but overall his Morale is "Great." Kaline had a torrid August, continuing to hit .342 while also belting out 9 homers. One of the players that went to Detroit, 23 year old starting pitcher Bob Miller, has also been hot, going 5-1 since the trade with a 2.47 ERA. Primary lineup: LF Richie Ashburn (.288 / .382 / .359 / 6 HR, 26 RBI) SS Felix Mantilla (.307 / .363 / .467 / 16 / 58) RF Al Kaline (.342 / .421 / .646 / 41 / 106) CF Jim Hickman (.262 / .349 / .457 / 20 / 62) 3B Frank Thomas (.246 / .291 / .415 / 17 / 55) 2B Cookie Rojas (.210 / .277 / .322 / 6 / 24) C Choo Choo Coleman (.216 / .270 / .336 / 10 / 32) 1B Bobo Osborne (yes, Bobo) (.241 / .333 / .299 / 1 / 7) Starting rotation: Al Jackson (12-12) Roger Craig (9-15) Billy Pierce (12-13) Howie Koplitz (0-3) Mudcat Grant (0-1) Claude Raymond has 23 saves. Returning from his 2nd stint on the DL is Frank Thomas. Thomas, with the pressure off of having to be a power hitter, hit .300 with 7 home runs in 7 games. While he was out, I had to screw around with the infield. I was forced to play an outfielder, Manny Jimenez, at 2B. This is a guy with only one position rating: a 37/100 for LF. At any rate, his .314 / .361 / .436 was much more valuable. I don't think I lost too many games because of it. Too bad OOTP does not keep track of fielding stats by position. Mantilla has 3 errors over the course of 105 games but I can't see in which position he committed those errors. I'm tempted to continue playing him in the infield just so that I can have his bat.

12-29-2015, 01:22 AM	#6
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	My '62 Mets ended with a record of 65-97. Good for 9th place in the 10-team National League. The Houston Colt 45's finished one game behind us. Although we lost our last 3 games to the Cubs, our post-All Star Game record was 34-39. Thank you, Al Kaline. One of our players, Manny Jimenez made the top 25 Game Performances for Batters, going 4-5 with a HR, 4 RBIs, and 4 runs scored against Houston on 6/11. And Al Jackson made the top 25 for Pitchers in a complete game 1-hit, 5K shutout of the Milwaukee Braves on 9/25. Jackson also made the OSA Top 20 Pitchers at #12. And Al Kaline ranked #4 in the Top 20 Position Players. Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, and Mickey Mantle ranked ahead of him. While I continue to think this is a fun way to play the game, I must admit that, even before the Al Kaline trade, it felt a little sacrilegious. I wasn't alive in 1962 but I can appreciate the remarkable (under) achievement. Only 4 teams in the modern era won less games then the real 62 Mets. That takes something. I'm reading Jimmy Breslin's "Can't Anybody Here Play This Game." I got this edition from the library: In the first chapter, Breslin - a New York sports reporter I used to read in the NY Daily News - writes: "It was a team that featured three twenty-game losers, an opening day outfield that held the all-time major-league record for fathering children (nineteen), a defensive catcher who couldn't catch, and an over-all collection of strange players who performed strange feats. Yet it was absolutely wonderful. People loved it." Feels funny trying to break that. But oh well ... on to the First-Year Player Draft. But wait ... the 1962 World Series featuring the SF Giants and the Minnesota Twins. (Originally, it was the SF Giants versus the NY Yankees.) I watched this on Simulation Mode Speed Factor 120 and was not disappointed. Minnesota went up 3 games to none. Now you know that no team has come back from 3 to 0 hole in the World Series. Ever. But this is OOTP! Players don't give up. And the Giants had Willie Mays, who went 15-30 with 3 homers and 11 RBIs. And Billy O'Dell who started 3 games and went 2-0 with an ERA of .72. Yes, the Giants came back and won the Series.

12-31-2015, 10:11 PM	#7
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	Some notes on the simulated '62 season Hank Aaron (MKE) had 57 homers- he had 45 in real life (IRL). Harmon Killebrew (MIN) had 51 in 132 games - he had 48 in 155 games IRL. Koufax went 19-8 with 346 Ks and a 1.83 ERA, 0.89 WHIP 12 WAR - IRL he went 14-7 with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP, striking out only 216. Second in strikeouts was Dennis Bennett (PHI) with 254, who only had 149 IRL. Stu Miller (SF) had 43 saves to lead the league. IRL, Roy Face (PIT) led it with 28. Ken MacKenzie (NYM) had 17 holds. In fact, the '62 Mets had 3 relievers in the top 10 in holds, which probably speaks to my more modern management style. I was happy that none of my pitchers lost 20 games. The real life Mets featured 2: Roger Craig at 10-24 and Al Jackson at 8-20. Whereas my Roger Craig went 12-16 and Al Jackson went 13-15. And I did have one pitcher post a winning record: Billy Pierce at 15-14. He wasn't on the real life '62 Mets.

01-09-2016, 08:29 PM	#8
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	After the first month of '63, my Mets are 9-12, 7 games back of the World Champion Giants and 4.5 in front of the Reds. The biggest addition has been my #1 draft pick, the "hard to sign" Ray Culp. IRL, he came up with the Phillies and went 14-11 in his rookie year. Here, he took home the NL's Rookie of the Month, starting 4 games and going 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 29.1 innings.

01-23-2016, 10:56 PM	#9
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	The '63 Mets went 12-19 in May, lowering them down to 9th with a record of 21-30. Getting swept by the Colt .45's and the Cubs were low points. I let my emotions get the best of me and traded the "soft-spoken" Canadian Ken MacKenzie, a lefty reliever who had a 7.5 k/9 in 55 innings last year, to the Phillies. One bright spot: Al Jackson. After losing his first 5 starts of the season, he goes 5-0 in 7 starts in May. The 27 year-old lefty from Waco pitched 5 complete games, 2 of which were shutouts, including a 2-hitter against the lowly Reds. In May, he had a 1.98 ERA and struck out 40 in 59 innings.

02-05-2016, 11:21 PM	#11
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	I like your rule. What a steal to get Willie Mays! That's one way not to get fired after the first couple of years. In my world, Mays got injured in '62 and hit 30 homers in 115 games. I did not know that the Mets passed up a chance to get Reggie in the '66 draft. Thanks for the heads up.

02-05-2016, 11:30 PM	#12
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	My '63 Mets are 34-45 as of June 30, playing a bit better ball by going 13-15. Still, we are somewhat safely in 9th, as the last place team, the Reds, is a godawful 27-52. We were really active on the market. I was kind of impatient with 20-year old Tommie Agee and shopped him around. Imagine my surprise when the Dodgers offered 26-year old Don Drysdale!!! I even got the Dodgers to tack on a lefty reliever, Joe Hoerner. Fans were happy. But I did end up trading away two other starting pitchers: the popular but way overpriced Billy Pierce, and the Mudcat Grant. Both went in package deals to get some outfield bats that I needed to replace due to injury.

03-03-2016, 11:54 PM	#14
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	Excellent. I wish I had simmed the '61 season and did the expansion draft like you did. I like that you got Sawataski as a catcher, and Wills. That guy always runs on me as a Dodger. It's interesting that you got some steals from Thomas. And that's HILARIOUS that your owner was like, "Play close to .500 ball." Imagine Mrs. Payson saying that!

03-20-2016, 03:11 PM	#16
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	End of 1963 Season (Season 2) The '63 Mets went 16-11 in August and an amazing 20-9 in September. We ended on a 10-game winning streak to finish 81-81. Take that demanding owner Zack Crawford! We finished tied for 6th with Houston, ahead of the Cardinals, Pirates, and Reds. My game score for the season was 21, "nothing to be proud of." Manny Jimenez, playing off position at 1B to make way for Frank Robinson, collected 202 hits and led the majors with a .322 batting average. Al Kaline was 2nd in the NL with 41 homers. He also came in second for regular season MVP, behind Hank Aaron. Our pitching staff features two aces and a rising star: Don Drysdale (16-11, including 4 shutouts, 2.71 with 217 Ks) Al Jackson (17-13) Ray Culp (15-6, 2.88 with 191 Ks) Our biggest disappointment was with last year's closer, Claude Raymond. His ERA ballooned from 2.51 in '62 to 4.66. He suddenly became a gopher ball pitcher. In '62, over 43 innings, he allowed only 1 HR on his way to 27 saves. This year, over 48.1 innings, he allowed 7 homers. He saved only 8 games. I gave him every chance but eventually, I replaced him 19-year old Dick Calmus, my 5th round pick in last year's draft. He rose to the occasion: going 2-1 with 18 saves and a .83 ERA and .95 WHIP. He allowed no home runs. (In real life, Dick Calmus appeared in 22 games in total. I love it when a real unknown becomes a major cog in this game. The same can be said for Manny Jimenez, who only had 500 PAs in one season with the Royals. He had 708 PAs and 628 ABs this year.) As for the World Series: the Dodgers beat the Senators 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. Willie Davis was the MVP, hitting .364 with 3 HRs and 7 RBIs. In the first year player draft I picked up Mel Stottlemyer Sr. In real life, he started 13 games in '64 and went 9-3 with 2.06 ERA. Last edited by Renfro; 03-20-2016 at 11:42 PM.

03-24-2016, 10:10 PM	#17
Renfro Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 197	My '64 Mets went 9-5 in April. For some reason, I thought to bring up Stottlemyer later and work on a 4-man rotation. But when Ray Culp couldn't last more than 2 innings after 4 days rest, I brought up Mel. In his first game against the Cubs, he pitched a 4-hit complete game shutout and struck out 10, achieving a game score of 88. The kid is ready. In other pitching news, Dick Calmus went 4-4 in save opportunities. Frank Robinson has started the year on fire, winning Player of the Month for the NL, hitting 6 homers while batting .333, driving in 18 and scoring 10.