new york mets :: essays research papers

On July 27 1959, A new York attorney named William shea had an idea of putting a new baseball team in new York since the dodgers and giants had left for california.So on march 1st 1961 His wish was granted.The new York metropolitan baseball club or â€Å"the new York mets† were introduced into the national league.The name of the team was chosen by owner Joan Payson.The other names that were put into thought were the rebels, skyliners, nybs and avengers just to name a few.On April 11,1962 the mets played their first game in franchise history and lost 11-4 to the St Louis cardinals.The first season was a miserable one.Manager Casey Stengel led the mets to a 62-100 record,The worst record in major league history.After a couple of more losing seasons, The mets finally made a move and signed pitcher Tom â€Å"the franchise†Seaver,one of the best pitchers who ever played the game. They also picked up power hitting outfielders Donn Clendenon and Tommie Agee. Finally the mets looked like a baseball team.Entering the 1969 season, my father said the mets wewr 160-1 to win the World Series, but the mets shocked everyone winning the national league championship. Now, this is how the mets won their first world series, The batter was cleon Jones, after striking out manager Gil Hodges notices a black mark on the ball. The black mark was shoe polish. Putting shoe polish on the ball makes it spin more and makes it much easier to strike out a batter. The umpire awards first base to jones, Clendenon follows with a 2-run home run and the mets win the World Series. What a way to win! Moving on to the 70’s. My father says he wishes he could forget what happened in the 70’s to the mets. 8 of the 10 seasons were losing ones. On top of that, the mets traded Tom Seaver to the Cincinnati reds for 4 pieces of garbage named Pat Zachary, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson and Dan Norman. I’ve never even heard of them! The mets made a turn for the better when they sold the team to 2 men named Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon in January of 1980. They got right to work because they traded for Doc Gooden, One of the best of his time. They also acquired all-star first basemen Keith Hernandez and all-star catcher Gary Carter.