Reinventing the Mets: 1964

In our last installment, the Mets saw a vast improvement under the helm of new manager Gil Hodges. Several young players made sterling debuts, including Dick Allen and Ron Hunt, both who would have been in the discussion for Rookie of the Year in the upcoming offseason. Several young players were acquired and star prospect Ed Kranepool would have had a successful trial run in September. Top prospect Cleon Jones would also be added to the 40 man roster for protection from the first year player draft, showing another high end prospect in the Mets system. The Mets would have gone into the offseason of 1963 with some quality young players, while also understanding that they needed to build around them with suitable veterans. The needs of the team were still vast, including better pitching in general, a starting shortstop and left handed power.

Here’s the roster they would have finished with at the end of the 1963 season:

Dick Allen
Craig Anderson
Larry Bearnarth
Mike Brumley
Larry Burright
Chris Cannizzaro
Duke Carmel
Elio Chacon
Joe Christopher
Galen Cisco
Choo-Choo Coleman
Dick Dietz
Steve Dillon
Al Ferrara
Pumpsie Green
Tim Harkness
Jim Hickman
Joe Hicks
Jay Hook
Ron Hunt
Al Jackson
Lou Johnson
Cleon Jones
Mike Joyce
Rod Kanehl
Ed Kranepool
Frank Kreutzer
Ken Mackenzie
Dave May
Gene Oliver
Billy Pierce
Grover Powell
Don Rowe
Bob Sadowski
Duke Snider
Tracy Stallard
Coot Veal
Carl Willey
Nick Willhite
Al Worthington

The roster was vastly different than when the 1962 season ended, as Mets that appeared in the first season such as Willard Hunter, Sherman Jones, Rick Herrscher, Marv Throneberry and Sammy Taylor would all be released during the season as transactions occurred. As the offseason began, the Mets had to do a lot of tough roster management to not only protect their own young players, but also to open up spaces for other teams first year players.

The restrictions on first year players were adjusted for 1963, although this wouldn’t occur until December of that year, around when the draft was scheduled to occur. The new restrictions allowed for five additional players to be protected on the forty man roster, but able to be kept in the minor leagues, along with a sixth player that had to count against the 25 man roster, but could also be optioned to the minor leagues. Along with Jones, who had already been added to the 40 man roster in September of 1963, the Mets had also signed a plethora of young players that were either highly regarded at the time, or would become quality major leaguers. These included Bud Harrelson and Dick Selma. The Mets would have wanted to protect five to six players on the roster, along with opening up spots for other teams players.

That meant that several players would move on. Kanehl, a fan favorite but limited player, would be designated for assignment, as would defensive stud Veal and original Mets draftee Coleman. Cook would soon join these ranks as well, due to ongoing back issues, as well as youngster Powell, a highly regarded prospect who had injured his shoulder during his debut season. Carmel would also be designated, as the Mets would have to choose between him and Hicks, as well as rule five draftee Rowe, as, although he was younger than Mackenzie, he wasn’t as effective.

With a multitude of roster spots open, the Mets would protect Harrelson, Selma, left hander Ron Locke, hard throwing right hander Dick Rusteck and left handed hitting prospect John Stephenson. This would bring the roster to 38 players. However, one of those spots would be filled almost immediately.

The National League, seeing the struggles of the New York and Houston franchises, decided to hold another draft, making up to one player from each roster available to the clubs. The reinvented Mets will take Jack Fisher, just as the original Mets did, as he hopefully will provide another solid arm for the rotation. As one of the Baby Birds of 1960 and 1961, Fisher had been a well-regarded prospect with Baltimore before struggling during the 1962 season. Traded to San Francisco prior to the 1963 season, Fisher had been a disappointment, posting a 4.58 ERA as a spot starter and man out of the bullpen. His potential had to be enticing for the Mets, so he was a no-brainer to acquire.

The would also purchase Amado Samuel from the Braves, a quality fielding young shortstop who could not only replace Veal on the roster, but possibly compete with Chacon at the shortstop position in spring training if they couldn’t upgrade it in the offseason. Super utility man Green would be released after this transaction as he didn’t offer the defensive upside of Samuel.

With one roster spot open, the Mets would make the following trade prior to the first year player draft:

The Mets trade Worthington to the Cardinals for George Altman and Bill Wakefield

This deal was made involving Roger Craig in the real 1963 offseason, but the reinvented Mets already traded Craig in the 1962 offseason. Our Mets have been seeking out left handed bats and the Cardinals were looking to move Altman, who had struggled in 1963 after two excellent seasons with the Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals of this time period were always looking to enhance their young pitchers with veterans, so Worthington matches this well. The Mets were always looking to get younger as well and would hope that they could find a suitable replacement for Worthington, which they would at the end of spring training, but we’ll get to that.

Now with a full roster, the Mets would drop Hicks as his position on the team would be taken up by Altman.

With only one roster spot open, the Mets would make only one selection in the first year player draft, taking left handed pitching prospect Rob Gardner from the Minnesota Twins.

The Mets would in fact make only one more transaction prior to spring training, purchasing left handed hitting outfielder Larry Elliot from the Pirates. A young player with legitimate power, the Mets were taking a shot on Elliot as they were working hard to attempt to trade Snider. The Elliot signing would also entail the release of veteran Pierce, who had struggled in 1963 and was mulling retirement.

The Mets would also pursue Roy McMillan most of the offseason, never able to fully consolidate a deal. As spring training rolled on, several things occurred. Willey got hurt during camp and the Mets had a glut in the outfield. Johnson soon became the odd man out and the Mets would deal him at the end of spring training in the following transaction:

The Mets trade Johnson and cash to the Dodgers for Larry Sherry.

This is the exact same trade the Tigers pulled off after acquiring Johnson from the Braves in 1963, a trade the Mets made. Sherry would take over as another veteran in the pitching staff, helping to replace the injured Willey. Finally, after trying all winter to trade Snider and get a return, the Mets would sell Snider to the Giants at the end of spring training.

A McMillan trade also was close, but the Mets couldn’t finally swing the deal until very early in season, as Chacon, the incumbent, got off to a bad start. That trade would be as follows:
The Mets trade a player to be named later and Jay Hook to the Braves for McMillan.

The player to be named later would be important, as it would lead to a more significant trade occurring at the trade deadline. Veteran pitcher Frank Lary would also be purchased to try and replace Willey in the rotation.

This Mets club would have been much improved. Allen would build on his successful 1963 campaign with one of the best seasons in Mets history. Allen’s 1964 numbers with the Phillies were monumental, and he would have brought those to New York in 1964. Allen would hit .318, slug 29 home runs and post a 939 OPS, all while playing better defense at third base. With the Mets, Allen had already two years under his belt at the hot corner, while in the real 1964, Allen was learning the position on the fly. If you look at Allen’s third season at third base in his actual career, 1967, Allen, posted solid defensive numbers and admitted in his auto-biography “Crash” that 1967 was when he started to feel comfortable at the position. The original 1964 Mets would get solid production from third base, but not what Allen produced.

Hunt also made some nice strides defensively and showed the hard as nails gutsiness that made him adored by Mets fans. With McMillan in place providing terrific defense and leadership at shortstop and Harkness at first base to start the season, the Mets would have the best defensive unit of their early history. Harkness would get hurt early in the season, while hitting solidly, but with little power. This would open the door though, for Kranepool.

In our reimagined Mets world, the handling of Kranepool has been very different. This is going by the assumption that Hodges would have taken it slowly with the youngster instead of what Casey Stengel did with the actual Mets club. The vast majority of major league players need minor league seasoning to be successful in the majors. In the 50’s and early 60’s, many young prospects were exposed very early to the major leagues due to bonus rules requiring that they be held on either 25 man or 40 man rosters. This lead to many young prospects not reaching whatever potential they could have had if they were allowed to develop in the minor leagues. Players like Al Kaline and Rusty Staub, who never spent time in the minors and had excellent careers, were the minority. Most who had long careers ended up like Kranepool, who had 453 minor league plate appearances in his first three seasons, compared to 761 major league plate appearances. A perfect example of how the Mets did this right was with Jones. After being added to the roster in 1963, Jones got a smattering of September at bat’s, then spent all of 1964 and most of 1965 in the minor leagues before becoming a regular for good in 1966. That amounted to nearly 1200 minor league at bat’s, almost three times as many as Kranepool had and Jones was the superior major leaguer.

These Mets have flipped the book. Instead of having more major league plate appearances than minor league leading into 1964, Kranepool only got a September call up in 1963, where he would have hit well. In 1964, he would start the season in the minor leagues, only getting called up when Harkness was injured. This should have given Kranepool several hundred more at bat’s as a minor leaguer. It’s hard to predict how much better this would have made Kranepool, but there is some anecdotal evidence that it would have. In 1970, Kranepool was demoted to the minor leagues. After his return to the major leagues in 1971, Kranepool had an OPS of 730 or higher in six of his next seven seasons. His highest OPS until 1971 had been 715 in 1966. Using that model, it can be presumed that more time spent in the minor leagues could definitely have led to more production from Kranepool earlier in his career.

With the trade deadline coming, the Mets worked with the Braves on another transaction. While discussing the player to be named later in the McMillan trade, Oliver’s name would have come up in discussions. The Braves liked Oliver enough to trade for him in 1963 and with former 1962 draftee Dietz playing well in the minor leagues, Oliver’s time on the Mets was numbered. The Mets would come to these final decisions with the Braves:

The Mets send Lary to the Braves as the player to be named later in the McMillan trade.

The Mets send Oliver to the Braves for Dennis Ribant, Adrian Garrett and Hawk Taylor.

Originally the Mets had purchased Garrett and Taylor from the Braves in the offseason. They didn’t do that prior to the 1964 season, but will get them as players in the Oliver trade. The deal is in essence an extension of the McMillan trade and only Ribant was a decently regarded prospect.

With Kranepool regularly manning first base, a glut was created at the position after Harkness returned from injury. Despite hitting well, the Mets dealt the veteran Harkness to the Reds at the end of July for middle infielder Bobby Klaus.

The Mets would also spend 1964 signing amateur free agents, the most notable being future closer Tug McGraw and future left handed stud pitcher Jerry Koosman.

In all, with these changes, the 1964 Mets should have been a slightly better team. Allen had a superior season to 1964 third baseman Charley Smith and Sherry would have provided steadiness in the bullpen, but the combination of Oliver and Dietz would have only been slightly better than 1964 incumbent Jesse Gonder. 1962 draftee Christopher, given the chance to play every day, had a terrific season for the original 1964 Mets, posting an 826 OPS and he would be given that chance by Hodges as well, but the rest of the outfield was a disappointment, notably top offseason acquisition Altman who struggled through injuries and lack of production. The rotation might have been slightly better, depending on the production from Whilhite and Kreutzer, both players that didn’t get long looks in the major leagues with their original teams in 1964, but would have gotten those looks as Mets.

In the end, this team was better than the 1963 club developed in this series and the original 1964 club. Using that assumption, this team could have reached 70 wins, a monumental improvement over the original 1964 club. In the end, the team would have seen gradual improvement, continued to show growth in their young players and solidity in their organization. The Mets fans would have had a lot more to be excited about, especially with an obvious young star like Allen in the fold.