1966 New York Mets season

1966 New York Mets
League	National League
Ballpark	Shea Stadium
City	New York
Record	66–95 (.410)
League place	9th
Owners	Joan Whitney Payson
General managers	George Weiss, Bing Devine
Manager	Wes Westrum
Television	WOR-TV
Radio	WHN (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
Seasons

The 1966 New York Mets season was the fifth regular season for the Mets. They went 66–95 and finished ninth in the National League. They were managed by Wes Westrum. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

1966 marked the first season in which the Mets avoided a last place finish, as well as the first time they did not lose at least 100 games. It was also the first time their record was above .500 at any point of the season, as they stood 2–1 after taking two of three games in the opening series with the Atlanta Braves.

Offseason

• October 20, 1965: Charley Smith and Al Jackson were traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ken Boyer.
• November 29, 1965: Al Luplow was purchased by the Mets from the Cleveland Indians.
• November 30, 1965: Joe Christopher was traded by the Mets to the Boston Red Sox for Ed Bressoud.
• January 6, 1966: Gary Kroll was traded by the Mets to the Houston Astros for Johnny Weekly and cash.

Regular season

• September 11, 1966: Pitcher Pat Jarvis of the Atlanta Braves becomes the first of 5,714 strikeout victims of Nolan Ryan's career.

Season standings

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	67	.586	—	53‍–‍28	42‍–‍39
San Francisco Giants	93	68	.578	1½	47‍–‍34	46‍–‍34
Pittsburgh Pirates	92	70	.568	3	46‍–‍35	46‍–‍35
Philadelphia Phillies	87	75	.537	8	48‍–‍33	39‍–‍42
Atlanta Braves	85	77	.525	10	43‍–‍38	42‍–‍39
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	.512	12	43‍–‍38	40‍–‍41
Cincinnati Reds	76	84	.475	18	46‍–‍33	30‍–‍51
Houston Astros	72	90	.444	23	45‍–‍36	27‍–‍54
New York Mets	66	95	.410	28½	32‍–‍49	34‍–‍46
Chicago Cubs	59	103	.364	36	32‍–‍49	27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1966 National League record Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	NYM	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	7–11	10–8	14–4–1	7–11	14–4	11–7	7–11	8–10	7–11
Chicago	11–7	—	6–12	5–13	8–10	8–10	5–13	6–12	6–12	4–14
Cincinnati	8–10	12–6	—	4–14	6–12	10–7	10–8	8–10	7–10	11–7
Houston	4–14–1	13–5	14–4	—	7–11	7–11	7–11	4–14	6–12	10–8
Los Angeles	11–7	10–8	12–6	11–7	—	12–6	11–7	9–9	9–9	10–8
New York	4–14	10–8	7–10	11–7	6–12	—	7–11	5–13	9–9	7–11
Philadelphia	7-11	13–5	8–10	11–7	7–11	11–7	—	10–8	10–8	10–8
Pittsburgh	11–7	12–6	10–8	14–4	9–9	13–5	8–10	—	7–11	8–10
San Francisco	10–8	12–6	10–7	12–6	9–9	9–9	8–10	11–7	—	12–6
St. Louis	11–7	14–4	7–11	8–10	8–10	11–7	8–10	10–8	6–12	—

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1966: Tom Seaver was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.
• June 4, 1966: Galen Cisco was released by the Mets.
• June 7, 1966: Duffy Dyer was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round (9th pick) of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase).
• June 10, 1966: Bob Shaw was purchased by the Mets from the San Francisco Giants.
• August 6, 1966: Ralph Terry was purchased by the Mets from the Kansas City Athletics.

Roster

1966 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers 34 Gerry Arrigo 31 Larry Bearnarth 38 Dave Eilers 22 Jack Fisher 20 Bob Friend 29 Rob Gardner 27 Dallas Green 32 Jack Hamilton 28 Bill Hepler 45 Tug McGraw 16 Larry Miller 30 Dennis Ribant 41 Gordie Richardson 47 Dick Rusteck 34 Nolan Ryan 39 Dick Selma 26 Bob Shaw 43 Darrell Sutherland 38 Ralph Terry		Catchers 20 Choo-Choo Coleman 10 Greg Goossen 15 Jerry Grote 12 John Stephenson 19 Hawk Taylor Infielders 14 Ken Boyer  1 Ed Bressoud  3 Bud Harrelson  2 Chuck Hiller 33 Ron Hunt  7 Ed Kranepool 11 Roy McMillan 17 Dick Stuart		Outfielders 42 Larry Elliot  5 Shaun Fitzmaurice 9,27 Jim Hickman 21 Cleon Jones 24 Johnny Lewis 18 Al Luplow 23 Billy Murphy 48 Danny Napoleon  4 Ron Swoboda Other batters  6 Lou Klimchock		Manager  9 Wes Westrum Coaches  8 Yogi Berra 52 Harvey Haddix 54 Whitey Herzog 53 Sheriff Robinson

Player stats

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	Jerry Grote	120	317	75	.237	3	31
1B	Ed Kranepool	146	464	118	.254	16	57
2B	Ron Hunt	132	479	138	.288	3	33
SS	Ed Bressoud	133	405	91	.225	10	49
3B	Ken Boyer	136	496	132	.266	14	61
LF	Ron Swoboda	112	342	76	.222	8	50
CF	Cleon Jones	139	495	136	.275	8	57
RF	Al Luplow	111	334	84	.251	7	31

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
Chuck Hiller	108	254	71	.280	2	14
Roy McMillan	76	220	47	.214	1	12
Larry Elliot	65	199	49	.246	5	32
Johnny Lewis	65	166	32	.193	5	20
Jim Hickman	58	160	38	.238	4	16
John Stephenson	63	143	28	.196	1	11
Billy Murphy	84	135	31	.230	3	13
Hawk Taylor	53	109	19	.174	3	12
Bud Harrelson	33	99	22	.222	0	4
Dick Stuart	31	87	19	.218	4	13
Danny Napoleon	12	33	7	.212	0	0
Greg Goossen	13	32	6	.188	1	5
Choo-Choo Coleman	6	16	3	.188	0	0
Shaun Fitzmaurice	9	13	2	.154	0	0
Lou Klimchock	5	5	0	.000	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	SO
Jack Fisher	38	230.0	11	14	3.68	127
Dennis Ribant	39	188.1	11	9	3.20	84
Bob Shaw	26	167.2	11	10	3.92	104

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
Jack Hamilton	57	148.2	6	13	3.93	93
Rob Gardner	41	133.2	4	8	5.12	74
Bob Friend	22	86.0	5	8	4.40	30
Dick Selma	30	80.2	4	6	4.24	58
Tug McGraw	15	62.1	2	9	5.34	34
Gerry Arrigo	17	43.1	3	3	3.74	28
Dick Rusteck	8	24.0	1	2	3.00	9
Larry Miller	4	8.1	0	2	7.56	7
Nolan Ryan	2	3.0	0	1	15.00	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
Bill Hepler	37	3	3	0	3.52	25
Darrell Sutherland	31	2	0	1	4.87	23
Larry Bearnarth	29	2	3	0	4.45	27
Dave Eilers	23	1	1	0	4.67	14
Gordie Richardson	15	0	2	1	9.16	15
Ralph Terry	11	0	1	1	4.74	14
Dallas Green	4	0	0	0	5.40	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Jacksonville Suns	International League	Solly Hemus
AA	Williamsport Mets	Eastern League	Bill Virdon
A	Auburn Mets	New York–Penn League	Clyde McCullough
A	Greenville Mets	Western Carolinas League	Pete Pavlick
Rookie	Marion Mets	Appalachian League	Buddy Peterson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Auburn, Marion

References

• 1966 New York Mets at Baseball Reference
• 1966 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.