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    The Metropolitans! History of the New York Mets Baseball Team
    The Metropolitans! History of the New York Mets Baseball Team
    The Metropolitans! History of the New York Mets Baseball Team
    Ebook687 pages6 hours

    The Metropolitans! History of the New York Mets Baseball Team

    By Steve Fulton

    ()

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    About this ebook

    If you love baseball, then you will love reading about the history of the New York Mets. Inside you will read about every season in Mets history. Since 1962 when they started at the Polo Grounds to the current day playing at Citi Field. The Mets have a rich history and have been part of American lore for baseball fans across America. Relive some of the great seasons, great games, and great moments in Mets history.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSteve Fulton
    Release dateOct 17, 2023
    ISBN9798215937266
    The Metropolitans! History of the New York Mets Baseball Team
    Author

    Steve Fulton

    The Author, Steve Fulton, has published numerous books on Sports {Football & Baseball} History. He is the owner of Steve’s Football Bible LLC and you can see his work at www.stevesfootballbible.com.  He grew up in a rural farming town (Alden) in southern Minnesota and has been a guest on numerous radio stations over the years.  He is one of the pre-eminent authorities on Baseball and Football history.  His knowledge of Football history is second to none.

    Read more from Steve Fulton

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      Book preview

      The Metropolitans! History of the New York Mets Baseball Team - Steve Fulton

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      The Metropolitans!

      History of the New York Mets Baseball Team

      A Year of Futility: The “Amazin' Mets” First Year, 1962! | Baseball History Comes Alive!

      Text Copyright © 2023 by Steve’s Football Bible, LLC

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

      Information in this book was derived from numerous news services on the internet, including, but not limited to, the Associated Press, Baseball Almanac, Baseball Reference, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Post, New York Daily News, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated and Washington Post.

      The information in this book is for educational and entertainment purposes.

      ISBN: 9-798215937-26-6

      Disclaimer: This book is not authorized or approved by any Baseball team or league

      ––––––––

      1969 Baseball History - This Great Game

      Table of Contents

      Brief history of the New York Mets

      Ballparks

      Retired Numbers

      MLB Hall of Fame

      New York Mets Hall of Fame

      Award Winners/League Leaders

      Team Leaders

      1962 New York Mets

      1963 New York Mets

      1964 New York Mets

      1965 New York Mets

      1966 New York Mets

      1967 New York Mets

      1968 New York Mets

      1969 New York Mets {World Series Champions}

      1969 National League Championship Series {New York Mets vs Atlanta Braves}

      1969 World Series {New York Mets vs Baltimore Orioles}

      Tommy Agee’s Catch(es) in Game 3

      Cleon Jones Shoe Polish Incident

      1970 New York Mets

      1971 New York Mets

      1972 New York Mets

      1973 New York Mets {National League Champions}

      1973 National League Championship Series {New York Mets vs Cincinnati Reds}

      Pete Rose-Bud Harrelson Fight in Game 3 of 1973 NLCS

      1973 World Series {Oakland Athletics vs New York Mets}

      1974 New York Mets

      1975 New York Mets

      1976 New York Mets

      1977 New York Mets

      The Midnight Massacre

      1978 New York Mets

      1979 New York Mets

      1980 New York Mets

      1981 New York Mets

      1982 New York Mets

      1983 New York Mets

      1984 New York Mets

      1985 New York Mets

      1986 New York Mets {World Series Champions}

      1986 National League Championship Series {New York Mets vs Houston Astros}

      Dykstra goes deep to walk it off

      Maybe the greatest NLCS game ever

      1986 World Series {New York Mets vs Boston Red Sox}

      E-3 on Bill Buckner costs Red Sox Game 6

      1987 New York Mets

      1988 New York Mets

      1988 National League Championship Series {Los Angeles Dodgers vs New York Mets}

      1989 New York Mets

      1990 New York Mets

      1991 New York Mets

      1992 New York Mets

      1993 New York Mets

      1994 New York Mets

      1995 New York Mets

      1996 New York Mets

      1997 New York Mets

      1998 New York Mets

      1999 New York Mets

      1999 National League Tiebreaker {New York Mets vs Cincinnati Reds}

      1999 NLDS {New York Mets vs Arizona Diamondbacks}

      1999 NLCS {Atlanta Braves vs New York Mets}

      Ventura’s Grand Slam single

      2000 New York Mets {National League Champions}

      2000 NLDS {New York Mets vs San Francisco Giants}

      2000 NLCS {New York Mets vs St. Louis Cardinals}

      2000 World Series {New York Yankees vs New York Mets}

      2001 New York Mets

      2002 New York Mets

      2003 New York Mets

      2004 New York Mets

      2005 New York Mets

      2006 New York Mets

      2006 NLDS {New York Mets vs Los Angeles Dodgers}

      2006 NLCS {St. Louis Cardinals vs New York Mets}

      2007 New York Mets

      2008 New York Mets

      2009 New York Mets

      2010 New York Mets

      2011 New York Mets

      2012 New York Mets

      2013 New York Mets

      2014 New York Mets

      2015 New York Mets {National League Champions}

      2015 NLDS {New York Mets vs Los Angeles Dodgers}

      2015 NLCS {New York Mets vs Chicago Cubs}

      2015 World Series {Kansas City Royals vs New York Mets}

      2016 New York Mets

      2016 National League Wild Card Game {San Francisco Giants vs New York Mets}

      2017 New York Mets

      2018 New York Mets

      2019 New York Mets

      2020 New York Mets

      2021 New York Mets

      2022 New York Mets

      2022 National League Wild Card {San Diego vs New York Mets}

      2023 New York Mets

      ––––––––

      Shea Stadium Old Home of the New York Mets Baseball Team - TSR

      | Page

      ​Brief history of the New York Mets

      One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed NL teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the New York Giants. The team's colors evoke the blue of the Dodgers and the orange of the Giants. For the 1962 and 1963 seasons, the Mets played home games at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan before moving to Queens. From 1964 to 2008, the Mets played their home games at Shea Stadium, named after William Shea, the founder of the Continental League, a proposed third major league, the announcement of which prompted their admission as an NL expansion team. Since 2009, the Mets have played their home games at Citi Field next to the site where Shea Stadium once stood. In their inaugural season, the Mets posted a record of 40–120, the worst regular-season record since MLB went to a 162-game schedule. The team never finished better than second-to-last in the 1960s until the Miracle Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series, considered one of the biggest upsets in World Series history despite the Mets having won 100 games that season.

      1960s: Founding and first World Series

      After the 1957 season, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants relocated from New York to California to become the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, leaving the largest city in the United States with no National League franchise and only one major league team, the New York Yankees of the American League (AL). With the threat of a New York team joining a new third league, the National League expanded by adding the New York Mets following a proposal from William Shea. In a symbolic reference to New York's earlier National League teams, the new team took as its primary colors the blue of the Dodgers and the orange of the Giants, both of which are colors also featured on the Flag of New York City. The nickname Mets was adopted: being a natural shorthand to the club's corporate name, the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc., which hearkened back to the Metropolitans (a New York team in the American Association from 1880 to 1887), and its brevity was advantageous for newspaper headlines.

      The 1962 Mets posted a 40–120 record, a major league record for the most losses in a season since 1899. During the 1963 season the team featured a pitcher, Carlton Willey, who was having a great year, pitching four shutouts, when he incurred an injury and finished with a 9–14 win–loss record. The '63 squad also had Duke Snider, who hit his 2,000th hit and later his 400th home run and earned a berth to the 1963 All-Star Game. In 1964, the Mets hired Yogi Berra as a coach under Casey Stengel's coaching staff.

      In 1966, the Mets famously bypassed future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in the amateur draft, instead selecting Steve Chilcott, who never played in the majors. But the following year, they acquired future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver in a lottery. Seaver helped the 1969 Miracle Mets win the new National League East division title, then defeat the Atlanta Braves to win the National League pennant and the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles to win the 1969 World Series.

      1970s: Second pennant and the Midnight Massacre

      In 1973, the Mets rallied from 5th place to win the division, despite a record of only 82–79. They shocked the heavily favored Cincinnati Reds' Big Red Machine in the NLCS and pushed the defending World Series champion Oakland Athletics to a seventh game but lost the series. Notably, 1973 was the only NL East title between 1970 and 1980 that was not won by either the Philadelphia Phillies or the Pittsburgh Pirates. Star pitcher Tom Seaver was traded in 1977, on a day remembered as the Midnight Massacre, and the Mets fell into last place for several years.

      | Page

      1980s: Success, Wilpon takes over and second World Series championship

      In January 1980, the Payson heirs sold the Mets franchise to the Doubleday publishing company for $21.1 million, a record amount at that time. Nelson Doubleday, Jr. was named chairman of the board while minority shareholder Fred Wilpon took the role of club president. In February, Wilpon hired longtime Baltimore Orioles executive Frank Cashen as general manager who began the process of rebuilding the Mets much in the same way he developed the Orioles in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The franchise turned around in the mid-1980s. During this time the Mets drafted slugger Darryl Strawberry (#1 in 1980) and 1985 Cy Young Award winner Dwight Gooden (#5 in 1982). Former National League MVP and perennial Gold Glove winner Keith Hernandez was obtained by the Mets in 1983. After finishing their first three campaigns of the 1980s decade in either 5th or 6th (last) place, in 1984, new manager Davey Johnson was promoted from the helm of the AAA Tidewater Tides. He led the Mets to a second-place, 90–72 record, their first winning season since 1976.

      In 1985, they acquired Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter from the Montreal Expos and won 98 games, but narrowly missed the playoffs. In 1986, they won the division with a record of 108–54, one of the best in National League history. They then won a dramatic NLCS in six games over the Houston Astros. The sixth game of the series lasted sixteen innings, the longest playoff game in history until 2005. The Mets came within one strike of losing the World Series against the Boston Red Sox before a series of hits and defensive miscues ultimately led to an error by Boston's Bill Buckner which gave the Mets a Game 6 victory. The Mets won their second World Series title in seven games. In 1987 the Mets declined to re-sign World Series MVP Ray Knight, who then signed with the Baltimore Orioles and also traded away the flexible Kevin Mitchell to the Padres for long-ball threat Kevin McReynolds. Weeks later Mets' ace Dwight Gooden was admitted to a drug clinic after testing positive for cocaine. Despite Gooden struggling in the first few months of the 1987 season, Dr. K rebounded, as did the team. It was during the tough times that the Mets made a great long-term deal, trading Ed Hearn to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher David Cone. They surged to battle St. Louis for the division title. They suffered two painful losses to the Cardinals. The first came on Seat Cushion Night where Tom Herr hit a walk-off grand slam. A greater loss came on September 11 in a game against St. Louis, 3rd baseman Terry Pendleton hit a homer to give the Cardinals a lead, and eventually the NL East title. One highlight of the year was Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson becoming the first teammates' ever to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in the same season. After posting a 100–60 overall record, the Mets won the division in 1988, but lost in the NLCS that year and declined into the 1990s.

      1990s: Struggles and return to the postseason

      The Mets struggled for much of the 1990s, finishing with a losing record for six consecutive seasons between 1991 and 1996. The Mets would not return to the postseason until 1999 after a one-game playoff against the Cincinnati Reds. Despite victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1999 National League Division Series, the Mets were defeated by their NL East rivals, the Atlanta Braves, in the 1999 National League Championship Series in six games.

      2000s: The Subway World Series and new ballpark

      In 2000, the Mets finished the season with a 94–68 record and clinched a wild card spot in the playoffs. In the NLDS, the Mets defeated the San Francisco Giants 3–1 in the series and the St Louis Cardinals in the NLCS. After winning the National League pennant, the Mets earned a trip to the 2000 World Series against their crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees, for a Subway Series. The Mets were defeated by the Yankees in five games. The most memorable moment of the 2000 World Series occurred during the first inning of Game 2 at Yankee Stadium. Piazza fouled off a pitch which shattered his bat, sending a piece of the barrel toward the pitcher's mound. Pitcher Roger Clemens seized the piece and hurled it in the direction of Piazza as the catcher trotted to first base. Benches briefly cleared before the game was resumed with no ejections.

      During the 2001 season, the Mets finished with a record of 82–80, finishing third in the division. After the September 11 terrorist attacks Shea Stadium was used as a relief center and then saw the first sporting event in New York City since the attacks, in a game vs. the Atlanta Braves on September 21. In the bottom of the 8th inning the Mets were trailing 2–1 when Mike Piazza came to bat with a runner on first. Piazza dramatically sent Shea into a frenzy by crushing a home run to give the Mets a 3–2 lead and the eventual win. The game is one of the greatest moments in the history of the franchise.

      In 2002, despite the off-season signings of Tom Glavine, Mo Vaughn, and Roberto Alomar, the Mets finished the 2002 season with a 75–86 overall record and last in the NL East. During that same season the Mets dealt with off field distractions when co-owners Wilpon and Doubleday were in a legal battle which was later settled with Wilpon becoming the sole owner on August 23 that year. The Mets nearly missed the playoffs in 2001 and struggled from 2002 to 2004. In the aftermath of the 2004 season, the Mets hired a new general manager, Omar Minaya, who immediately turned the franchise around by signing pitcher Pedro Martínez and hiring a new manager, Willie Randolph. The Mets finished 2005 four games over .500, and the franchise's resurgence was complete by 2006 as they won 97 games and the NL East title behind new acquisitions Carlos Beltrán and Carlos Delgado, as well as young superstars José Reyes and David Wright. The Mets eventually succumbed to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.

      In 2007, the Mets entered the final 17 games in the season with a seven-game lead in the NL East. But the team went on an ill-timed losing streak, losing 11 of the next 15 games, resulting in the Philadelphia Phillies winning the division by one game. The Mets held a more modest 3.5-game lead after 145 games of the 2008 season, their final season at Shea Stadium. On June 16, Omar Minaya fired Willie Randolph, Rick Peterson, and Tom Nieto. Jerry Manuel was named interim manager. While their 7–10 mark down the stretch was better than the previous season's 5–12, it still allowed the Phillies to pass them once again for the division crown.

      In 2009, the Mets moved into the newly constructed Citi Field. On April 17, Gary Sheffield, who just days earlier was signed by the Mets as a free agent, hit his 500th home run against the Milwaukee Brewers. Sheffield became the first pinch hitter to reach this milestone, as well as the first to do it in a Mets uniform. The season was mainly a tough one for the Mets which was marred by numerous injuries suffered by its players, with 20 of them having been on the disabled list at one point or another during the season and losing star (and replacement) players like J. J. Putz, John Maine, Óliver Pérez, José Reyes, Carlos Beltrán, David Wright, Carlos Delgado, Johan Santana, and Gary Sheffield. As a result, the Mets finished in fourth place, with a record of 70–92 and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third straight season. Mets players spent more than 1,480 days in the disabled list in 2009, more than any other team in the majors. Second-half turnarounds of Jeff Francoeur and Daniel Murphy helped the Mets finish the season with the best batting average in the National League, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

      2010s: Wilpon sells the team and Fifth trip to the World Series

      In 2012, Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz settled a lawsuit brought against them on behalf of the victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme for $162 million. As a result of this agreement the liquidator, Irving Picard, agreed to drop the charges that Wilpon and Katz blindly went along with the scheme for their personal benefit. Picard had originally sought to recover $1 billion from the Wilpon family and Katz but settled for $162 million along with the admission that neither the Wilpons nor Katz had any knowledge of the Ponzi scheme. In 2011–2012, Mets ownership sold twelve minority 4% shares (totaling 48%) of the franchise at $20 million apiece to provide a cash infusion of $240 million for the team. Though the first half of the 2010s saw limited success for the Mets, who failed to finish with a winning record between 2009 and 2014, this period coincided with several milestones for the franchise, including the first no-hitter in franchise history by Johan Santana in 2012. R.A. Dickey won the NL Cy Young Award pitching for the Mets that same season.

      On September 26, 2015, the Mets clinched the NL East division title, and thus their first postseason berth since 2006, by defeating the Cincinnati Reds 10–2. They defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, three games to two, and swept the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS for their first pennant in 15 years. In the 2015 World Series, they were defeated by the Kansas City Royals in five games. The Mets returned to the postseason in 2016, marking only the second time in franchise history that the team qualified for the postseason in consecutive years. With an 87–75 record, the team qualified for the wild-card game, only to lose 3–0 to the San Francisco Giants. The Mets failed to make the playoffs for the rest of the decade, finishing no higher than third place in 2019 when they finished with a winning record of 86–76 (the highest of any team not to qualify for the postseason).

      The end of the decade also coincided with David Wright's retirement, Jacob deGrom being awarded two consecutive Cy Young Awards (including for the 2018 season when the pitcher finished the year with a 1.70 ERA) and first-baseman Pete Alonso winning the 2019 Rookie of the Year Award and finishing the season with a major-league-leading 53 home runs, the most by any rookie in MLB history. On October 3, 2019, the Mets fired manager Mickey Callaway. On November 1, 2019, the Mets named Carlos Beltrán as the new manager replacing Callaway.

      2020s: Steve Cohen Era

      On January 16, 2020, Beltrán stepped down as manager before the start of the 2020 season due to his involvement in the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal. Two days later, the Mets hired Luis Rojas as manager. The team finished the shortened 2020 season with a 26–34 record and a last-place finish in the NL East. On October 30, 2020, Steve Cohen became the majority owner of the Mets, owning 95% of the team, making him the current richest owner in baseball. He bought the team from the Wilpon family for $2.475 billion, with the Wilpons keeping the remaining 5%. On January 7, 2021, the Mets acquired pitcher Carlos Carrasco and all-star shortstop Francisco Lindor in a trade with the Cleveland Indians. On April 1, 2021, Lindor and the Mets agreed to an extension worth $341 million for the next 11 years. At the trade deadline, the Mets acquired All-star infielder & world series champion Javier Báez in trade with the Chicago Cubs. The Mets finished third place in the NL East with an overall record of 77–85. On November 19, 2021, the Mets hired Billy Eppler as the new general manager. During the 2021–2022 off-season, the Mets signed free agents Nick Plummer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar, and Mark Canha. On December 1, the Mets signed three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer with a three-year $130 million deal. On December 18, the Mets announced hiring Buck Showalter as their manager via owner Steve Cohen's Twitter account. On April 29, 2022, Tylor Megill, Drew Smith, Joely Rodríguez, Seth Lugo, and Edwin Díaz pitched the second no-hitter in franchise history. At the trade deadline, the Mets added 1B/DH Daniel Vogelbach from the Pirates, OF Tyler Naquin from the Reds, and OF Darin Ruf from the Giants. On September 19, 2022, Jacob deGrom set a new MLB record by allowing three or less earned runs in 40 consecutive games, breaking a record that was held by Jim Scott for over 100 years. On September 25, 2022, Pete Alonso broke the Mets single season RBI record which was previously set by former franchise stars Mike Piazza and David Wright. Also, during the season, the Mets called up three of their top prospects Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Francisco Álvarez.

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      Fans

      In 1998, the Independent Budget Office of the city of New York published a study on the economic effect of the city's two Major League Baseball teams. The study found that 43% of Mets fans lived in one of the five boroughs of New York, 39% in the tri-state area outside the city, and 12% elsewhere. Mets fans were more likely to be found in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Long Island counties of Nassau and Suffolk. 

      Mascots

      Mr. Met is the official mascot of the New York Mets. He was introduced on the cover of game programs in 1963, when the Mets were still playing at the Polo Grounds in northern Manhattan. When the Mets moved to Shea Stadium in 1964, fans were introduced to a live costumed version. Mr. Met is believed to have been the first mascot in Major League Baseball to exist in human (as opposed to artistically rendered) form. Mrs. Met (formerly Lady Met) is the female counterpart to Mr. Met, and the couple sometimes appears with 2–3 smaller children.

      The Mets have had two mascots other than Mr. and Mrs. Met at different points in its history. The franchise's original official mascot was Homer, a beagle trained by Rudd Weatherwax that lived at the Waldorf-Astoria, was sponsored by Rheingold Beer, and had his own platform behind home plate at the Polo Grounds. The dog was not included in the ballclub's transition to Shea Stadium. The brainchild of team owner Lorinda de Roulet's daughter Bebe, Mettle the mule represented the Mets for only the 1979 season. The name was the result of a contest won by Dolores Mapps of Mercerville, New Jersey whose explanation was that it typified the team's spirit, ardor, stamina and courage, all of which the Mets have in abundance. Mettle was not retained after the franchise was sold to Nelson Doubleday Jr. and Fred Wilpon the following year.

      Theme song

      Meet the Mets is the Mets' signature song, written in 1961, one year before the first season, by Bill Katz and Ruth Roberts. It is played on the radio, during television broadcasts and at Mets' home games. Other songs traditionally sung at Mets home games include Take Me Out to the Ball Game and the Sicilian song C'è la luna mezzo mare during the seventh inning stretch and Billy Joel's Piano Man in the middle of the eighth inning.

      The longest games in Major League history

      The Mets have participated in the most Major League games that have gone beyond 22 innings—a total of three.

      The first of these marathons occurred on May 31, 1964, against the San Francisco Giants, which went 23 innings and resulted in an 8–6 Giants victory.

      On April 15, 1968, the Mets were defeated by the Houston Astros 1–0 in a memorable, 24-inning pitcher's duel that saw Tom Seaver toss 10 shutout innings and give up just two hits. Met infielder Al Weis committed a costly error that decided the game.

      On September 12, 1974, the St. Louis Cardinals got by the Mets 4–3 in what turned out to be the longest night game in Major League history. The game ended at 3:12 AM after Cardinal outfielder Bake McBride scored the winning run. He would go on to win that year's National League Rookie of the Year Award.

      All these games resulted in a Mets home loss and all involved home plate umpire Ed Sudol.

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      1962: The Bumbling Beginning - The New York Times Ballparks

      Polo Grounds III and IV {1962-1963}

      Polo Grounds III was the stadium that made the name nationally famous. Built in 1890, it initially had a completely open outfield bounded by just the outer fence, but bleachers were gradually added. By the early 1900s, some bleacher sections encroached on the field from the foul lines about halfway along left and right field. Additionally, there was a pair of cigar box bleachers on either side of the batter's eye in center field. The expansive outfield was cut down somewhat by a rope fence behind which carriages (and early automobiles) were allowed to park. By 1910, bleachers enclosed the outfield, and the carriage ropes were gone. The hodge-podge approach to the bleacher construction formed a multi-faceted outfield area. There were a couple of gaps between some of the sections, and that would prove significant in 1911. In the very early morning hours of Friday, April 14, 1911, a fire of uncertain origin swept through the stadium's horseshoe-shaped grandstand, consuming wood, and leaving only steel uprights in place. The gaps between some sections of the stands saved a good portion of the outfield seating and the clubhouse from destruction. Giants owner John T. Brush decided to rebuild the Polo Grounds with concrete and steel, renting Hilltop Park from the Highlanders during reconstruction. Progress was sufficient to allow the stadium to reopen just 2½ months later, June 28, 1911, the date some baseball guides date the structure. As configured, it was the ninth concrete-and-steel stadium in the Majors and fourth in the National League. Unfinished seating areas were rebuilt during the season while the games went on. The new structure stretched in roughly the same semicircle from the left field corner around home plate to the right field corner as prior but was extended into deep right-center field. The surviving wooden bleachers were retained basically as is, with gaps remaining on each side between the new fireproof construction.

      A large building next to a body of water Description automatically generated The ballpark then sat largely vacant for nearly three years, until the newly formed Titans of New York (present-day New York Jets) began play in 1960, followed by the newly formed Mets in 1962, using the Polo Grounds as an interim home while Shea Stadium was being built. As a 1962 baseball magazine noted, The Mets will have to play in the Polo Grounds, hardly the last word in 20th Century stadia. In 1961, the city of New York decided to claim the land under eminent domain, for the purpose of condemning the stadium and building a high-rise housing project on the site. The Coogan family, which still owned the property, fought this effort until it was finally settled in the city's favor in 1967. On September 18, 1963, 1,752 fans went to see the New York Mets play their last game at the Polo Grounds against the Philadelphia Phillies with a 5–1 Philadelphia win. The game's highlights were later shown on Universal's Universal International Newsreel. On October 12, the Polo Grounds played host to one last exhibition contest, as Latin American All-Stars of the National League, managed by Roberto Clemente and behind the pitching of Juan Marichal and Al McBean, defeated Hector Lopez's AL Stars, 5–2. The final sporting event played at the Polo Grounds was on December 14, 1963 when the now renamed AFL team New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills 19–10.

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      Mets History: The one where Shea Stadium hosts its first game

      Shea Stadium {1964-1998}

      Shea Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City. Opened in 1964, it was home to the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1964 to 2008, as well as the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1983. The stadium was named in honor of William Shea, who was most responsible for bringing National League baseball back to New York after the Dodgers and Giants left for California in 1957. It was demolished in 2009 to create additional parking for the adjacent Citi Field, the stadium built to replace it and the current home of the Mets.

      Shea Stadium Old Home of the New York Mets Baseball Team - TSR In 1960, the National League agreed to grant an expansion franchise to the owners of the New York franchise in the abortive Continental League, provided that a new stadium be built. Mayor Robert Wagner, Jr. had to personally wire all National League owners and assure them that the city would build a stadium. Soon afterward, Moses and William A. Shea, the New York lawyer who had led the effort to bring National League baseball back to New York, faced a problem. New York state law of the time did not allow cities to borrow money to build a stadium. The only way for the city to finance a stadium would be to demonstrate that the stadium could pay for itself. Moses and Shea proposed to have the new team pay substantial rent to pay off 30-year bonds. This provision would come back to haunt the Mets years later; they would never live up to that monetary commitment, and the ensuing financial woes would be an albatross around the team for years.

      On October 6, 1961, the Mets signed a 30-year stadium lease, with an option for a 10-year renewal. Rent for what was originally budgeted as a $9 million facility was set at $450,000 annually, with a reduction of $20,000 each year until it reached $300,000 annually. In their inaugural season in 1962, the expansion Mets played in the Polo Grounds, with original plans to move to a new stadium in 1963. In October 1962, Mets official Tom Meany said, Only a series of blizzards or some other unforeseen trouble might hamper construction. That unforeseen trouble surfaced in several ways: the severe winter of 1962–1963, along with the bankruptcies of two subcontractors and labor issues. The result was that both the Mets and Jets played at the Polo Grounds for one more year. It was originally to be called Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium – the name of the public park within which it was built – but an ultimately successful movement was launched to name it in honor of Shea. 

      After 29 months of construction and $28.5 million spent, Shea Stadium opened on April 17, 1964, with the Pittsburgh Pirates beating the Mets 4–3 before a crowd of 50,312. There were no prior exhibition games or events, and the stadium was barely finished in time for the home opener. Because of a jurisdictional dispute between Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Local 1106 of the Communications Workers of America, the telephone and telegraph wiring were not finished in time for opening day. The stadium opened five days before the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, across Roosevelt Avenue. Although not officially part of the fairgrounds, the stadium sported steel panels on its exterior in the blue-and-orange colors of the Fair, the same team colors of the Mets. The panels were removed in 1980.

      Two Guys & a Map Empire State Tour - 2009

      Citi Field {2009-present}

      Opening in 2009, Citi Field is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s New York Mets team. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent Shea Stadium, which opened in 1964. Citi Field was designed by the company Populous. The $850 million baseball park was funded with $615 million in public subsidies, including the sale of New York City municipal bonds that are to be repaid by the Mets with interest. The payments will offset property taxes for the lifetime of the park. The first game at Citi Field was on March 29, 2009, with a college baseball game between St. John's and Georgetown. The Mets played their first two games at the ballpark on April 3 and 4, 2009 against the Boston Red Sox as charity exhibition games. The first regular-season home game was played on April 13, 2009, against the San Diego Padres. Citi Field hosted the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, marking the second time the Mets have hosted the event (the first being in 1964, the inaugural season of Shea Stadium). The naming rights were purchased by Citigroup, a New York financial services company, for $20 million annually.

      The projected cost of the new ballpark and other infrastructure improvements is $610 million, with the Mets picking up $420 million of that amount. The agreement includes a 40-year lease that will keep the Mets in New York until 2049. The Mets own the stadium through a wholly owned subsidiary, Queens Ballpark Company. On March 18, 2006, the New York Mets unveiled the official model for the new ballpark. By July 2006, initial construction of the new park was underway in the parking lot beyond Shea Stadium's left field, with a projected finish of late March ahead of Opening Day 2009. By April 13, 2008, all the structure for the Jackie Robinson Rotunda was in place with the arched windows receiving their paneling and glass. By September 2008, most of the Citi Field signage had been installed. By December 1, 2008, all the seats and the playing field had been installed.

      Citi Field has a capacity of 41,922. It has over 15,000 fewer seats than Shea Stadium. All the seats in the park are green – in an homage to the Polo Grounds, longtime home of the baseball Giants and the original home of the Mets – as opposed to Shea's orange, blue, red and green assortment. The exterior facade is reminiscent of Ebbets Field (which was

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