From a cursory glance at the most vital pair of statistics (648 Runs/ 917 Opponents' Runs), you might easily conclude that the 1962 Mets richly earned their legendary record of 40-120, but the truth is their title of "Worst Modern-times Team" is, as Casey himself might have put it, a fraud.

As pathetic as a team is when it gives up 269 more runs than it scores, its winning percentage still should be a lot better than the .250 the 1962 Mets had. Estimates of that ratio of Runs/Opponents' Runs, courtesy of Bill James' Pythagorean theorem, work out to an almost .300 winning percentage, or about 48 wins in a 162 game season. As Richie Ashburn, centerfielder of the 1962 Mets, observed at the time, they didn't catch many breaks from the umpires because of the close resemblance their play bore to horse manure. (This paraphrase is from Leonard Shecter's ONCE UPON THE POLO GROUNDS, p. 112. Along with Jimmy Breslin's CAN'T ANYBODY HERE PLAY THIS GAME?, Shecter's book is one of the best about that early team.) Not only were the umpires not cutting the Mets any breaks, but the Mets hurt themselves by playing terrible defense, routinely needing the opposition to make 4 outs per inning. Breslin describes the third inning of the August 10th game in which the Cincinnati Reds hit four doubleplay grounders, which the Mets managed to turn into the grand total of one out.

This defensive ineptitude may have resulted from Casey Stengel's habit, acquired when he managed the Yankees, of prizing versatility from his players. Met infielders Elio Chacon, Felix Mantilla and Charley Neal each played games at ss, 2b, and 3b that year, while utility player Rod Kanehl also played all three positions, plus first base and outfield. Presumably Casey found his infielders less able and less versatile than his 1950s Yankees, who understood his mysterious ways a little better.

Even Richie Ashburn, perhaps the greatest fielding outfielder ever (with the Phillies in the 1950s), filled in at 2b that year. Ashburn also hit .306 and had a phenomenal OBP of .424, missing qualifying for the NL OBP race (which he would have then won) by a handful of plate appearances. It's hard to imagine what a 36- year-old outfielder would be worth today if he could lead the league in OBP; after 1962, whatever the Mets offered Ashburn was less attractive than retirement, which Ashburn chose.

Ashburn was not the only Met to draw walks that year; in fact the 1962 Mets led the NL in walks in their first year by a wide margin. Elio Chacon, who also played his final MLB game in September of 1962 (when he was 10 years younger than Ashburn!), had an OBP of .369. Losing two of their best hitters (mostly because more value was placed in those days on a player's ability to do the mambo than to his OBP) had to hurt the Mets for years to come.