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New York Mets were established in 1962 to replace the departed Giants and Dodgers, giving the New York a National League team. Like many expansion teams, the first few years were a struggle, with team losing 120 games in their first season and finishing last or next to last in the franchise’s first seven years.The Mets were not booed off the field though. Ownership had taken to signing beloved players from past New York teams and convincing Casey Stengel, the former Yankee manager, to come out of retirement to manage the team.
The “Lovable Losers” were stuck in a rut until 1969. The team began the season miserably enough, but pulled it together to come back from third place in mid-August and ten games back to overtake the Cubs and win the National League East.
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The real strength of the team was its pitching. The staff combined for a 2.99 ERA and 28 shutouts. Tom Seaver went 25-7 and Jerry Kooseman went 17-9. Cleon Jones was the offensive spark plug, hitting .340. The “Miracle Mets” swept the Braves in the NLCS and took the Baltimore Orioles out in five games to win their first World Series.
The Mets were competitive for the next few years, winning the NL Pennant again in 1973 and finishing in third in six of eight seasons. The team finished off its slow demise with the trade of Tom Seaver and power hitter Dave Kingman in 1977 on June 15, otherwise known as “The Midnight Massacre” to locals.
The Mets began at the bottom again and would not climb out of the hole until the mid-80s. Manager Davey Jones coached a team with pitcher Dwight Gooden, MVP first baseman Keith Hernandez, catcher Gary Carter, outfielder Lenny Dykstra, Darryl Strawberry, and Mookie Wilson.
The club would dominate throughout the 1986 season, taking the NL East title with 108 wins, defeating the Astros in six games in the NLCS, and taking the Red Sox to seven games before winning the series.
Again the Mets management lost key players from a championship team. World Series MVP Ray Knight left for Baltimore and Kevin Mitchell was traded to the Padres. Worst of all, Gooden admitted to drug use.
The Mets would not fold this time. Gooden came back from his trip to the clinic, Strawberry and third baseman Howard Johnson went for 30 home runs and 30 steals each, and the Mets rebounded from what could have been a return to the bottom of the heap with a second place finish in the East. The Mets would come back to title from with 100 wins, but lost the NLCS to the Dodgers in 1988.
Two second place finishes in the East followed. The team started to break up and the front office tried to compensate with high priced free agents like Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla, Bret Saberhagen, and Frank Tanana. The moves failed and the team was nicknamed “The Worst Team Money Could Buy.”
Eventually the club recovered and won back to back wild card berths in 1999 and 2000. The 2000 playoff run ended in an all New York World Series. The Yankees ended the surprise playoff run by the Mets with a 4 games to 1 defeat of the cross town rivals.
The team has looked good as the 21st century has moved on, with promising youngsters like David Wright at third base building a team to contend for the NL East once again.
The New York Mets had the 2007 season wrapped. They had the National League East division title firmly in their grasp, but the team imploded and the crown went to the Phillies instead as the team flailed in the last quarter of the schedule. This team did not make many adjustments, since they played well for most of last season and figure to do so again. This year the competition is fierce and the Mets will have to beat last year’s division champs, the Phillies, and a tough Braves team to enter the post season.
The team did lose Tom Glavine after last season’s aftermath, but they still return a solid starting rotation after adding the brilliant Johan Santana as the staff ace. The rest of the rotation is not half bad-in fact it’s quite good. Pedro Martinez returns from an injury-riddled 2007 season and the young John Maine and Oliver Perez hope to continue the good years they had last season. Orlando Hernandez is probably one of the best guys pitching the fifth spot in a rotation in the majors, giving the Mets a staff to challenge the Braves’ pitching. Billy Wagner has continued to be a great closer for the Mets, finishing last season with 34 saves with his mighty fastball and terrific slider. Aaron Heilman and Pedro Feliciano are solid setup men who could hold games last season.
The bats include a mix of established stars and aging veterans. David Wright has been a hit at third base since his rookie year and may contend for MVP this season if he can keep his high batting average, home run numbers, and RBI totals. Carlos Beltran mans centerfield and offers great power. The Mets hope his health maintains over the course of the season. The aging veteran part of the lineup includes leftfielder Moises Alou who can still hit for average even if his power numbers are a little down and Carlos Delgado who can still hit for power even if his average continues to fall. Luis Castillo and Jose Reyes are great defensive infielders with good bats.
The Mets play there last season at Shea Stadium before moving on to Citi Field. The club hopes this season ends in a pennant, like in 2000, and not in disappointment, like 2007.