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.Charley Smith page at Baseball Reference November 29, 1965: Al Luplow was purchased by the Mets from the Cleveland Indians.Al Luplow page at Baseball Reference November 30, 1965: Joe Christopher was traded by the Mets to the Boston Red Sox for Ed Bressoud.Joe Christopher page at Baseball Reference January 6, 1966: Gary Kroll was traded by the Mets to the Houston Astros for Johnny Weekly and cash.Gary Kroll page at Baseball Reference

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.Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 32, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC,

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 3, 1966: Tom Seaver was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.Tom Seaver page at Baseball Reference June 4, 1966: Galen Cisco was released by the Mets.Galen Cisco page at Baseball Reference 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).Duffy Dyer page at Baseball Reference June 10, 1966: Bob Shaw was purchased by the Mets from the San Francisco Giants.Mets buy Bob Shaw from Giants August 6, 1966: Ralph Terry was purchased by the Mets from the Kansas City Athletics.Ralph Terry page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1966 New York Mets Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

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 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 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 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 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 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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Auburn, Marion

Notes

References 1966 New York Mets at Baseball Reference 1966 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com