1966 New York Mets season

The 1966 New York Mets season was the fifth regular season for the Mets. They went 66–95 and finished 9th in the NL. They were managed by Wes Westrum. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

1966 New York Mets
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Location
Shea Stadium (since 1964) New York (since 1962)
Other information
Owner(s)	Joan Whitney Payson
General manager(s)	George Weiss, Bing Devine
Manager(s)	Wes Westrum
Local television	WOR-TV
Local radio	WHN (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy)
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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.

Offseason

• October 20, 1965: Charley Smith and Al Jackson were traded by the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ken Boyer.[1]
• November 29, 1965: Al Luplow was purchased by the Mets from the Cleveland Indians.[2]
• November 30, 1965: Joe Christopher was traded by the Mets to the Boston Red Sox for Eddie Bressoud.[3]
• January 6, 1966: Gary Kroll was traded by the Mets to the Houston Astros for Johnny Weekly and cash.[4]

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.[5]

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	67	0.586	—	53–28	42–39
San Francisco Giants	93	68	0.578	1½	47–34	46–34
Pittsburgh Pirates	92	70	0.568	3	46–35	46–35
Philadelphia Phillies	87	75	0.537	8	48–33	39–42
Atlanta Braves	85	77	0.525	10	43–38	42–39
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	0.512	12	43–38	40–41
Cincinnati Reds	76	84	0.475	18	46–33	30–51
Houston Astros	72	90	0.444	23	45–36	27–54
New York Mets	66	95	0.410	28½	32–49	34–46
Chicago Cubs	59	103	0.364	36	32–49	27–54

Record vs. opponents

1966 National League Records 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.[6]
• June 4, 1966: Galen Cisco was released by the Mets.[7]
• 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).[8]
• June 10, 1966: Bob Shaw was purchased by the Mets from the San Francisco Giants.[9]
• August 6, 1966: Ralph Terry was purchased by the Mets from the Kansas City Athletics.[10]

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 Eddie 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

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
3B	Ken Boyer	136	496	132	.266	14	61
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

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

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
Gerry Arrigo	17	43.1	3	3	3.74	28
Nolan Ryan	2	3	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
Larry Bearnarth	29	2	3	0	4.45	27

Farm system

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

Notes

1. Charley Smith page at Baseball Reference
2. Al Luplow page at Baseball Reference
3. Joe Christopher page at Baseball Reference
4. Gary Kroll page at Baseball Reference
5. Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 32, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7
6. Tom Seaver page at Baseball Reference
7. Galen Cisco page at Baseball Reference
8. Duffy Dyer page at Baseball Reference
9. Mets buy Bob Shaw from Giants
10. Ralph Terry page at Baseball Reference

References

• 1966 New York Mets
• 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.