The First Game of the '62 Mets

Kelric · 09-15-2007, 02:23 PM

In reality the Mets were pummeled, 11-4, by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first regular season game of the franchise's history. Roger Craig would take the loss and Larry Jackson would pitch a CG for the Cardinals.

In my OOTP reality, the Mets were unlucky enough to face Bob Gibson in their franchise opener. We countered with the immortal Al Jackson. 2 hours, 44 minutes later Jackson was carried off the field by his teammates after 1-hitting the Cardinals in a 2-0 victory.

Jackson would follow that performance with a 8.2 IP, 3 run start which the Mets would win 4-3 over the Pirates. Jackson went 8-20 in real life for the Mets. Maybe we can avoid losing 120 games?

Kelric · 09-16-2007, 10:21 AM

Well, we finished the 1962 season with the worst record in baseball at 65-97. We probably could have won at most another five games if we hadn't had so many injuries. Roger Craig (SP) missed more than half of the season with a herniated disc, our second best reliever blew out his elbow, our right fielder missed two months with a broken jaw, our ace missed a little more than two weeks and we had a couple of other various injuries.

On the bright side, Al Jackson (SP) gave us a 50 VORP season by going 16-10 in 31 starts with a 2.91 ERA over 250.2 IP. He gave up 26 HRs, 82 BBs, K'ed 130, had 15 CGs and 3 SHOs. He's just eligible for arbitration this offseason, so we'll keep him around.

A reliever we signed off the free agent market during Spring Training turned out into a fantastic acquisition as Joe Grzenda gave us 108.2 IP in 67 games with a 2.57 ERA and 14 saves. Unfortunately, he also went 3-12 though only two of those were Blown Saves. Bob Moorhead was our other key reliever, throwing 92.2 innings of 4.76 ERA ball, going 5-11 with 11 saves. He had 7 Blown Saves.

Offensively, we were rather pathetic as you might imagine the '62 Mets to be. Neither of our catchers hit over .199, for example. Gil Hodges (.253/.322/.383) was more productive than in real life, finally managing to get his 200th hit. Elio Chacon (SS) produced a 16.2 VORP with Gold Glove-caliber defense and a .239/.353/.303 line. He stole 37 bases while being caught 19 times. At 25 years old, I can't see getting rid of him any time soon.

Frank Thomas was our best offensive threat, hitting .274/.331/.424 for a 27.1 VORP. He hit 21 HRs and knocked in 107 RBIs to tie for the league lead in that category with Ernie Banks. He's signed through the 1965 season, but he is 33 years old I may try to trade him off this winter.

Richie Ashburn gave us .271/.347/.332 with 34 steals and 15 CS from centerfield. His range in center got worse as the season went along (from an 8 or so down to a 5 by October) but we kept running him out there for lack of a better option. At 35 years old, he has one more year remaining on his contract. My hope is that he retires, though I will try to trade him if he doesn't.

Kelric · 09-16-2007, 12:33 PM

And then I exit the game to backup the league before importing the historical draft class and OOTP freezes while saving/exiting. So I backup the league, restart OOTP and find it bumped me back to the end of the regular season (fine, I had simmed the playoffs but that's not a big loss to re-sim). Then I tell it to sim to the end of the playoffs... and it freezes/crashes on me again. Third time? Frozen and crashed. Ugh. I borked that one up. It was such a fun start to the franchise, too.

Kelric · 09-16-2007, 03:51 PM

Starting it again, having Shopped Around both Frank Thomas (LF) and Richie Ashburn (CF) to get younger players in return (Rico Carty (LF) and Juan Pizarro (SP), respectively).

What happens in our first game as the new '62 Mets? Bob Gibson throws a no-hitter against us, K'ing 8. The only baserunner to reach was because of an error and he was then erased by a double play grounder. 3-0 loss.

09-15-2007, 02:23 PM	#1
Kelric Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Greater Boston Area Posts: 3,992	The First Game of the '62 Mets In reality the Mets were pummeled, 11-4, by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first regular season game of the franchise's history. Roger Craig would take the loss and Larry Jackson would pitch a CG for the Cardinals. In my OOTP reality, the Mets were unlucky enough to face Bob Gibson in their franchise opener. We countered with the immortal Al Jackson. 2 hours, 44 minutes later Jackson was carried off the field by his teammates after 1-hitting the Cardinals in a 2-0 victory. Jackson would follow that performance with a 8.2 IP, 3 run start which the Mets would win 4-3 over the Pirates. Jackson went 8-20 in real life for the Mets. Maybe we can avoid losing 120 games?

09-16-2007, 10:21 AM	#2
Kelric Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Greater Boston Area Posts: 3,992	Well, we finished the 1962 season with the worst record in baseball at 65-97. We probably could have won at most another five games if we hadn't had so many injuries. Roger Craig (SP) missed more than half of the season with a herniated disc, our second best reliever blew out his elbow, our right fielder missed two months with a broken jaw, our ace missed a little more than two weeks and we had a couple of other various injuries. On the bright side, Al Jackson (SP) gave us a 50 VORP season by going 16-10 in 31 starts with a 2.91 ERA over 250.2 IP. He gave up 26 HRs, 82 BBs, K'ed 130, had 15 CGs and 3 SHOs. He's just eligible for arbitration this offseason, so we'll keep him around. A reliever we signed off the free agent market during Spring Training turned out into a fantastic acquisition as Joe Grzenda gave us 108.2 IP in 67 games with a 2.57 ERA and 14 saves. Unfortunately, he also went 3-12 though only two of those were Blown Saves. Bob Moorhead was our other key reliever, throwing 92.2 innings of 4.76 ERA ball, going 5-11 with 11 saves. He had 7 Blown Saves. Offensively, we were rather pathetic as you might imagine the '62 Mets to be. Neither of our catchers hit over .199, for example. Gil Hodges (.253/.322/.383) was more productive than in real life, finally managing to get his 200th hit. Elio Chacon (SS) produced a 16.2 VORP with Gold Glove-caliber defense and a .239/.353/.303 line. He stole 37 bases while being caught 19 times. At 25 years old, I can't see getting rid of him any time soon. Frank Thomas was our best offensive threat, hitting .274/.331/.424 for a 27.1 VORP. He hit 21 HRs and knocked in 107 RBIs to tie for the league lead in that category with Ernie Banks. He's signed through the 1965 season, but he is 33 years old I may try to trade him off this winter. Richie Ashburn gave us .271/.347/.332 with 34 steals and 15 CS from centerfield. His range in center got worse as the season went along (from an 8 or so down to a 5 by October) but we kept running him out there for lack of a better option. At 35 years old, he has one more year remaining on his contract. My hope is that he retires, though I will try to trade him if he doesn't.

09-16-2007, 12:33 PM	#3
Kelric Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Greater Boston Area Posts: 3,992	And then I exit the game to backup the league before importing the historical draft class and OOTP freezes while saving/exiting. So I backup the league, restart OOTP and find it bumped me back to the end of the regular season (fine, I had simmed the playoffs but that's not a big loss to re-sim). Then I tell it to sim to the end of the playoffs... and it freezes/crashes on me again. Third time? Frozen and crashed. Ugh. I borked that one up. It was such a fun start to the franchise, too.

09-16-2007, 03:51 PM	#4
Kelric Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Greater Boston Area Posts: 3,992	Starting it again, having Shopped Around both Frank Thomas (LF) and Richie Ashburn (CF) to get younger players in return (Rico Carty (LF) and Juan Pizarro (SP), respectively). What happens in our first game as the new '62 Mets? Bob Gibson throws a no-hitter against us, K'ing 8. The only baserunner to reach was because of an error and he was then erased by a double play grounder. 3-0 loss.