65 Mets Leaders / 66 Fantazy Cards

_____________________1965 Mets Team Leaders___________________

Ed Kranepool? Really? Congratulations Mr. Kranepool. A .253 average nets you team leader. I don't know if I could have followed the team these barren years. You older Met fans who stuck with the team before 1969, I tip my hat to you all.

Rocky with 19 kaBOOMS in his rookie year. That's the most he ever hit in one season. The Mets waited for the sometime slugger to become a steady slugger. They were very patient with the outfielder, even trying him at first base for a time. Swoboda's .228 average in 1965 was pathetic even by 1965 Mets team leader standards. But the Mets would have been happy if he could have hit 19 HRs every year.

Kool, Charlie Smith at the Sadecki Spot.

Johnny Lewis always has that same expression. Look at him on the "BATTING" card.
Ha! Messin' with ya. It's the same pic, different backgrounds. As a matter of fact, only two of the player images used have their original backgrounds.

Now look at Spahn. That background: field, fence, scoreboard, is from the colorization of Jim Bunnings perfect game. I did that on a whim and now I'm kicking myself for not making his regular '65 fantazy card look that way. I might go back and do that.

I know the scoreboard slideshow was kaput by 1965 but still they managed to get Al Jackson up there one more time for his fantazy card.

1965 Met Fantazy Card Opening Day Line-up

An April 12th, 1965 the Mets opened the season at Shea for the first time. It didn't effect their luck however, as they were victims of Don Drysdale who pitched a complete game. The Mets did plate a run but lost to the Dodgers by a score of 6-1.
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As read by Ralph Kiner:

"Well hi everybody I'm Ralph Kiner along with Bob Murphy and Lindsey Nelson bringing you Mets baseball. Today is opening day of the 1965 season, and a beautiful day it is. New York will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers here at Shea stadium. Casey Stengel's opening day line-up for the New York Mets:



Leading off for the Mets and playing Center Field-

Playing shortstop and hitting second-

Batting third the right fielder-

In the clean-up spot and playing 1st base is New York hometown favorite-

The left fielder-

will be batting 5th followed by third baseman-

The second baseman-

Will bat 7th. Batting 8th today is the catcher-

and on the mound for the Mets pitching his second opening day start-"

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CREDITS:

David Rothenberg from facebook for the Bobby Klaus picture. Thanks also for the daily birthday notices.

"Batmagsleadoff" of the CPF for the Chris Cannizzaro picture and for spotting an error card, "Al Cowan".

You will find either your initials or your name on the card. When I do this I don't really want it to distract from the card, so I try and blend it in somehow, so it's there if you look for it, but it doesn't stand out. I do this to show how much I appreciate and promote people sharing with each other online.

64 Mets Leaders / 65 Fantazy Cards

__________The New York Mets 1964 Team Leaders_____________



Joe Christopher had a very excellent Cleon Jonesy kinda year at the plate in '64.
.300 Average, 161 hits, 16 KaBOOMS and 76 ribbys. Thats sweet.

And I didn't know til recently that Charlie Smith launched 20 longballs to lead the team. He had 106 hits in '64 and 20 of them were homers. I thought WOW! and then I saw he also struck out 101 times. YOUCH!

1964 Met Fantazy Card Opening Day Line-up

The Mets started the 1964 season playing the Phillies in Philadelphia. They would lose the game by a score of 5-3.

An interesting note: In 1964, even though the New York Yankees went to the World Series, the basement-dwelling Mets drew 1,732,597 to brand-new Shea Stadium, far more then the Bronx Bombers.
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Read by Ralph Kiner:
"Hello ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Mets baseball. Today, opening day of the 1964 season, the Mets will take on the Philadelphia Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium.
The Phillies are taking the field and the Mets are coming to bat. The starting line-up for the New York Mets:

Batting in the lead-off spot, playing first base,-

-Dick was the first Met to ever get five hits in one game.
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Batting second, the second baseman,-

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Batting third and playing third-

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Batting cleanup for the Mets,-

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Hitting fifth and playing center field-

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The sixth batter will be the catcher-

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Batting seventh right fielder-

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-the shortstop will be batting eighth followed by the pitcher-"

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CREDITS & THANKS:
Again, David Rothenberg for the awesome Met photos he shares on facebook. That Joe Christopher is from Dave and what a great hi rez pic. To me that's like gold. Look for your initials in the tree Dave.

The Ron Hunt picture is from Steves Baseball Photography
I colorized the Amado Samuel picture for his card. His backround is a shot from Forbes Field circa 1960.