1963 New York Mets season

The 1963 New York Mets season was the second regular season for the Mets. They went 51–111 and finished tenth in the National League, 48 games behind the World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They were managed by Casey Stengel. They played their home games at the Polo Grounds, the second and final season there for the Mets before moving to Shea Stadium the following season.

1963 New York Mets
The Mets playing against the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium on September 10, 1963.
League	National League
Ballpark	Polo Grounds
City	New York City, New York
Record	51–111 (.315)
League place	10th
Owners	Joan Whitney Payson
General managers	George Weiss
Managers	Casey Stengel
Television	WOR-TV
Radio	WABC (AM) (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
← 1962 Seasons 1964 →

Offseason

Advertisement for the 1963 Mets' ticket schedule, showing box seats for $3.50 and bleachers for $0.75.

• October 11, 1962: Ron Hunt was purchased by the Mets from the Milwaukee Braves.^[1]
• October 14, 1962: Norm Sherry and Dick Smith were purchased by the Mets from the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[2]
• November 26, 1962: Paul Blair was drafted from the Mets by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1962 first-year draft.^[3]

Regular season

On June 14, Duke Snider of the Mets hit his 400th home run against the Cincinnati Reds. The opposing pitcher was Bob Purkey. The homer came in the 6,783rd at bat of his career.^[4] Snider became the ninth player to reach 400 homers. Along with Eddie Mathews, Snider became part of the first duo to reach the 400-plateau in the same season.^[4] Afterwards, Mets outfielder Jimmy Piersall told Snider that he could get more publicity for his 100th home run.^[5] Nine days later, on June 23, Piersall ran the bases backward after hitting the 100th home run of his career off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Dallas Green.^[6] He was released by the Mets one month later, with that home run being the only one he hit in a Mets uniform.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	99	63	.611	—	50‍–‍31	49‍–‍32
St. Louis Cardinals	93	69	.574	6	53‍–‍28	40‍–‍41
San Francisco Giants	88	74	.543	11	50‍–‍31	38‍–‍43
Philadelphia Phillies	87	75	.537	12	45‍–‍36	42‍–‍39
Cincinnati Reds	86	76	.531	13	46‍–‍35	40‍–‍41
Milwaukee Braves	84	78	.519	15	45‍–‍36	39‍–‍42
Chicago Cubs	82	80	.506	17	43‍–‍38	39‍–‍42
Pittsburgh Pirates	74	88	.457	25	42‍–‍39	32‍–‍49
Houston Colt .45s	66	96	.407	33	44‍–‍37	22‍–‍59
New York Mets	51	111	.315	48	34‍–‍47	17‍–‍64

Record vs. opponents

1963 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MIL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Chicago	—	9–9	9–9	7–11	12–6	11–7	9–9	8–10	10–8	7–11
Cincinnati	9–9	—	11–7	8–10	10–8	10–8	8–10	11–7	8–10	11–7
Houston	9–9	7–11	—	5–13	5–13	13–5	8–10	6–12	8–10	5–13
Los Angeles	11–7	10–8	13–5	—	8–10–1	16–2	7–11	13–5	9–9	12–6
Milwaukee	6–12	8–10	13–5	10–8–1	—	12–6	10–8	7–11	10–8	8–10
New York	7–11	8–10	5–13	2–16	6–12	—	8–10	4–14	6–12	5–13
Philadelphia	9–9	10–8	10–8	11–7	8–10	10–8	—	13–5	8–10	8–10
Pittsburgh	10–8	7–11	12–6	5–13	11–7	14–4	5–13	—	5–13	5–13
San Francisco	8–10	10–8	10–8	9–9	8–10	12–6	10–8	13–5	—	8–10
St. Louis	11–7	7–11	13–5	6–12	10–8	13–5	10–8	13–5	10–8	—

Notable transactions

• May 8, 1963: Larry Foss was traded by the Mets to the Milwaukee Braves for Chico Fernández.^[7]
• May 23, 1963: Gil Hodges was traded by the Mets to the Washington Senators for Jimmy Piersall.^[8]
• July 1, 1963: Charlie Neal and Sammy Taylor were traded by the Mets to the Cincinnati Reds for Jesse Gonder.^[9]
• July 29, 1963: Jacke Davis and cash were traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Duke Carmel.^[10]
• July 27, 1963: Jimmy Piersall was released by the Mets.^[11]
• September 5, 1963: Ron Swoboda was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.^[12]

Roster

1963 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers 20 Craig Anderson 19,38 Ed Bauta 31 Larry Bearnarth 26 Galen Cisco 38,13 Roger Craig 39 Steve Dillon 47 Jay Hook 15 Al Jackson 19 Ken MacKenzie 41 Grover Powell 29 Don Rowe 36 Tracy Stallard 28 Carl Willey		Catchers  8 Chris Cannizzaro 17 Choo-Choo Coleman 16,12 Jesse Gonder  5 Norm Sherry 16 Sammy Taylor Infielders  6 Larry Burright 12,7 Chico Fernández 18 Pumpsie Green  3 Tim Harkness 14 Gil Hodges 33 Ron Hunt 40 Al Moran  4 Charlie Neal 43 Ted Schreiber  2 Marv Throneberry		Outfielders  1 Duke Carmel 23 Joe Christopher  1 Cliff Cook  9 Jim Hickman 22 Joe Hicks 34 Cleon Jones 10 Rod Kanehl 21 Ed Kranepool 34 Jimmy Piersall 16 Dick Smith 11,4 Duke Snider 25 Frank Thomas		Manager 37 Casey Stengel Coaches 52 Solly Hemus 51 Cookie Lavagetto 54 Clyde McCullough 53 Ernie White

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Choo-Choo Coleman	106	247	44	.178	3	9
1B	Tim Harkness	123	375	79	.211	10	41
2B	Ron Hunt	143	533	135	.272	10	42
SS	Al Moran	119	331	64	.193	1	23
3B	Charlie Neal	72	253	57	.225	3	18
LF	Frank Thomas	126	420	109	.260	15	60
CF	Jim Hickman	146	494	113	.229	17	51
RF	Duke Snider	129	354	86	.243	14	45

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Ed Kranepool	86	273	57	.209	2	14
Rod Kanehl	109	191	46	.241	1	9
Joe Hicks	56	159	36	.226	5	22
Joe Christopher	64	149	33	.221	1	8
Duke Carmel	47	149	35	.235	3	18
Norm Sherry	63	147	20	.136	2	11
Chico Fernández	58	145	29	.200	1	9
Jesse Gonder	42	126	38	.302	3	15
Jimmy Piersall	40	124	24	.194	1	10
Cliff Cook	50	106	15	.142	2	8
Larry Burright	41	100	22	.220	0	3
Pumpsie Green	17	54	15	.278	1	5
Ted Schreiber	39	50	8	.160	0	2
Dick Smith	20	42	10	.238	0	3
Sammy Taylor	22	35	9	.257	0	6
Chris Cannizzaro	16	33	8	.242	0	4
Gil Hodges	11	22	5	.227	0	3
Cleon Jones	6	15	2	.133	0	1
Marv Throneberry	14	14	2	.143	0	1

Pitching

= Indicates league leader

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Roger Craig	46	236.0	5	22	3.78	108
Al Jackson	37	227.0	13	17	3.96	142
Carl Willey	30	183.0	9	14	3.10	101

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Galen Cisco	51	155.2	7	15	4.34	81
Tracy Stallard	39	154.2	6	17	4.71	110
Jay Hook	41	152.2	4	14	5.48	89
Grover Powell	20	49.2	1	1	2.72	39
Craig Anderson	3	9.1	0	2	8.68	6

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Larry Bearnarth	58	3	8	4	3.42	48
Ken MacKenzie	34	3	1	3	4.97	41
Don Rowe	26	0	0	0	4.28	27
Ed Bauta	9	0	0	0	5.21	13
Steve Dillon	1	0	0	0	10.80	1

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

• Duke Snider, outfield, reserve

^[13]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Buffalo Bisons	International League	Kerby Farrell
A	Salinas Mets	California League	Ken Deal
A	Raleigh Mets	Carolina League	Clyde McCullough and Tommy Byrne
A	Quincy Jets	Midwest League	Sheriff Robinson and Wally Millies
A	Auburn Mets	New York–Penn League	Dick Cole