The Birth of the New York Mets

After the rivals, Dodgers and Giants moved to California in 1957, New York needed a new baseball team for the major leagues. To prevent the realization of the plan to establish the new Continental league, the National League and American league announced that they are going to add new teams, two for NL and another two for AL.

The National League picked New York to franchise a new team. They proposed the idea to the New York Group of the planned Continental League. This proposition has one condition though. They have to promise to build a new baseball park for the team.

After everything was in order, the team needed a name. Several names came out. However, the group unanimously picked Mets, giving birth to the New York Mets. The name had an appeal to the group because it is close to the old New York Metropolitan team who played for the American Association in the 1880s.

The team had a huge impact on baseball fans who were deeply saddened when the Dod gers and Giants transferred to California. Somehow, the team managed to unite the fans of the rival teams.

During the expansion draft in 1961, the team chose veteran players who have impressive records in the past. They did not gamble on new players with big potentials because the owners feel that mature players are more appealing to the fans.

Like most new franchises, the team struggled, losing their first nine games. Their first season was so bad that they made it to the worst list of baseball history. This did not stop fans from loving the Mets. Even in their losing streak, the fans were there. The team was then popular for being incompetent in the early 1960s. Some of their players became popular because of this.

The team finally had their very own stadium, the Shea Stadium. Several odd moments took place there after the team started playing at the stadium. This includes the incident in 1964 where New Yorkers cheered for the visiting team, the Philadelphia Phillies. This took place when Phillies pitcher, Jim Bunning made history as he led their victory over the Mets after throwing a perfect game. This was a momentous event in National League.

No matter how lovable the team was, losing is not a good legacy to impart to supporters. The team attempted to improve and acquired Yogi Berra to serve as a playing coach for the team. After playing his fourth and last game, Berra concentrated to become a coach. This has brought a promising light to the team.

New players came into play including Tom Seaver who won the Rookie of the Year title in 1967. Other new bloods joined him to set a new reputation for the New York Mets. The management changed as well.

They had their Cinderella story in 1969 when they finished first after everyone thought that Chicago Cubs would have a nice smooth season. They did not stop there. They defeated the much-loved Atlanta Braves as they earned the very first National League Championship. They faced the favored Baltimore Orioles where they bagged the World Series in one of the most talked about upsets in baseball history.

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