# 1965 New York Mets season

The 1965 New York Mets season was the fourth regular season for the Mets. They went 50–112 and finished tenth and last in the National League. They were managed by Casey Stengel and Wes Westrum. They played home games at Shea Stadium, where they drew 1.77 million paying fans, third in the National League (and over 500,000 more fans than the New York Yankees).
As WOR-TV, the team' television broadcaster, began to be broadcast on cable starting that year via microwave relay thru the WWOR EMI Service throughout much of the Northeastern United States, it made the Mets the first major league team to broadcast its games via satellite to viewers outside its home city. Home and away games were aired on cable to regional viewers in this part of the country. This is the first season to feature numbers on the front of both home and away jerseys.

## Offseason

* November 23, 1964: Warren Spahn was purchased by the Mets from the Milwaukee Braves.
* November 30, 1964: Duke Carmel was drafted from the Mets by the New York Yankees in the 1964 rule 5 draft.
* December 7, 1964: Tracy Stallard and Elio Chacón were traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Gordie Richardson and Johnny Lewis.
* January 15, 1965: George Altman was traded by the Mets to the Chicago Cubs for Billy Cowan.
* April 27, 1965: Yogi Berra signed as a free agent by the Mets.

## Regular season

Former Yankee great Yogi Berra, fired as manager of the Bombers even after he had led them to the American League pennant and into the seventh game of the 1964 World Series, signed with the Mets as player–coach during the off-season. Before managing the 1964 Yankees, his last appearance in a game had been as a pinch hitter in Game 3 of the 1963 World Series on October 5; batting for Jim Bouton, Berra lined out to right field off Don Drysdale. With the 1965 Mets, Berra appeared in only four games, with two starts at catcher, and made two hits in nine at bats. On May 9, 1965, he appeared in his final game as a player, three days shy of his 40th birthday. He then served as the Mets' first-base coach through the 1971 season and proved to be a valuable asset to the team, especially with young talent like Jerry Grote coming up.
Following the 1964 season, the Milwaukee Braves sold pitcher Warren Spahn to the Mets. Braves manager Bobby Bragan predicted, "Spahnie won't win six games with the Mets." Spahn took on the dual role of pitcher and pitching coach in New York but won only four and lost twelve. Spahn was put on waivers on July 15, 1965, and released on July 22, 1965. He immediately signed with the San Francisco Giants, with whom he finished the season.
Wes Westrum had joined the Mets as a coach in 1964 and became pitching coach on July 14, 1965, after Spahn's release. When manager Casey Stengel fell and broke his hip on July 25 while celebrating his upcoming 75th birthday at Toots Shor's in Manhattan, Westrum was named interim manager, a position in which he served until Stengel formally retired on August 30, when Westrum became the Mets' official manager, the second in their four-year history.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 47‍–‍34 |
| San Francisco Giants | 95 | 67 | .586 | 2 | 51‍–‍30 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 90 | 72 | .556 | 7 | 49‍–‍32 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 89 | 73 | .549 | 8 | 49‍–‍32 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Milwaukee Braves | 86 | 76 | .531 | 11 | 44‍–‍37 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 85 | 76 | .528 | 11½ | 45‍–‍35 | 40‍–‍41 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 80 | 81 | .497 | 16½ | 42‍–‍39 | 38‍–‍42 |
| Chicago Cubs | 72 | 90 | .444 | 25 | 40‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Houston Astros | 65 | 97 | .401 | 32 | 36‍–‍45 | 29‍–‍52 |
| New York Mets | 50 | 112 | .309 | 47 | 29‍–‍52 | 21‍–‍60 |

### Record vs. opponents

1965 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MIL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL |
| Chicago | — | 7–11 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 11–7–1 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 6–12 | 10–8–1 |
| Cincinnati | 11–7 | — | 12–6 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 10–8 |
| Houston | 10–8 | 6–12 | — | 5–13 | 4–14 | 14–4 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 3–15 | 9–9 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | — | 10–8 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 12–6 |
| Milwaukee | 9–9 | 6–12 | 14–4 | 8–10 | — | 13–5 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 |
| New York | 7–11–1 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 6–12 | 5–13 | — | 7–11–1 | 4–14 | 5–13 | 5–13 |
| Philadelphia | 10–8 | 5–13 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 11–7–1 | — | 8–10 | 8–10 | 10–7 |
| Pittsburgh | 13–5 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 10–8 | — | 11–7–1 | 4–14 |
| San Francisco | 12–6 | 12–6 | 15–3 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 7–11–1 | — | 10–8 |
| St. Louis | 8–10–1 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 7–10 | 14–4 | 8–10 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 27, 1965: Yogi Berra was signed as a free agent by the Mets.
* May 17, 1965: Yogi Berra was released as a player by the Mets.
* June 8, 1965: 1965 Major League Baseball Draft
** Nolan Ryan was drafted by the Mets in the 12th round.
** Don Shaw was drafted by the Mets in the 35th round.
* July 17, 1965: Warren Spahn was released by the Mets.
* July 21, 1965: Jesse Gonder was traded by the Mets to the Milwaukee Braves for Gary Kolb.
* August 5, 1965: Billy Cowan was traded by the Mets to the Milwaukee Braves for players to be named later. The Braves completed the deal by sending Lou Klimchock and Ernie Bowman to the Mets on September 25.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Chris Cannizzaro | 114 | 251 | 17 | 46 | .183 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 1B | Ed Kranepool | 153 | 525 | 44 | 133 | .253 | 10 | 53 | 1 |
| 2B | Chuck Hiller | 100 | 286 | 24 | 68 | .238 | 5 | 21 | 1 |
| 3B | Charley Smith | 135 | 499 | 49 | 122 | .244 | 16 | 62 | 2 |
| SS | Roy McMillan | 157 | 528 | 44 | 128 | .242 | 1 | 42 | 1 |
| LF | Ron Swoboda | 135 | 399 | 52 | 91 | .228 | 19 | 50 | 2 |
| CF | Jim Hickman | 141 | 369 | 32 | 87 | .236 | 15 | 40 | 3 |
| RF | Johnny Lewis | 148 | 477 | 64 | 117 | .245 | 15 | 45 | 4 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| Joe Christopher | 148 | 437 | 38 | 109 | .249 | 5 | 40 | 4 |
| Bobby Klaus | 119 | 288 | 30 | 55 | .191 | 2 | 12 | 1 |
| Ron Hunt | 57 | 196 | 21 | 47 | .240 | 1 | 10 | 2 |
| Billy Cowan | 82 | 156 | 16 | 28 | .179 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| John Stephenson | 62 | 121 | 9 | 26 | .215 | 4 | 15 | 0 |
| Jesse Gonder | 53 | 105 | 6 | 25 | .238 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| Danny Napoleon | 68 | 97 | 5 | 14 | .144 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Gary Kolb | 40 | 90 | 8 | 15 | .167 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| Cleon Jones | 30 | 74 | 2 | 11 | .149 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| Hawk Taylor | 25 | 46 | 5 | 7 | .152 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| Bud Harrelson | 19 | 37 | 3 | 4 | .108 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jimmie Schaffer | 24 | 37 | 0 | 5 | .135 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Goossen | 11 | 31 | 2 | 9 | .290 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Kevin Collins | 11 | 23 | 3 | 4 | .174 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yogi Berra | 4 | 9 | 1 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### 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 | BB | SO |
| Jack Fisher | 43 | 253.2 | 8 | 24 | 3.94 | 68 | 116 |
| Al Jackson | 37 | 205.1 | 8 | 20 | 4.34 | 61 | 120 |
| Warren Spahn | 20 | 126.0 | 4 | 12 | 4.36 | 35 | 56 |
| Rob Gardner | 5 | 28.0 | 0 | 2 | 3.21 | 7 | 19 |
| Dick Selma | 4 | 26.2 | 2 | 1 | 3.71 | 9 | 26 |

#### 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 | 35 | 112.1 | 4 | 8 | 4.49 | 58 |
| Tug McGraw | 37 | 97.2 | 2 | 7 | 3.32 | 57 |
| Gary Kroll | 32 | 87.0 | 6 | 6 | 4.45 | 62 |
| Tom Parsons | 35 | 90.2 | 1 | 10 | 4.67 | 58 |
| Frank Lary | 14 | 57.1 | 1 | 3 | 2.98 | 23 |
| Carl Willey | 13 | 28.0 | 1 | 2 | 4.18 | 13 |
| Dennis Musgraves | 5 | 16.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.56 | 11 |

#### 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 | 40 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4.60 | 16 |
| Gordie Richardson | 35 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3.78 | 43 |
| Larry Miller | 28 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5.02 | 36 |
| Jim Bethke | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.28 | 19 |
| Dennis Ribant | 19 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3.82 | 13 |
| Darrell Sutherland | 18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2.81 | 16 |
| Dave Eilers | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4.00 | 9 |
| Bob Moorhead | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.40 | 5 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Buffalo Bisons | International League | Sheriff Robinson and Kerby Farrell |
| AA | Williamsport Mets | Eastern League | Kerby Farrell and Bunky Warren |
| A | Auburn Mets | New York–Penn League | Clyde McCullough |
| A | Greenville Mets | Western Carolinas League | Ken Deal |
| Rookie | Marion Mets | Appalachian League | Pete Pavlick |