New York Mets

New York Mets
2024 New York Mets season
Team logoCap insignia
Major league affiliations
Current uniform
Retired numbers
Colors
  • Blue, orange, white[1][2][3]
         
Name
  • New York Mets (1962–present)
Other nicknames
  • The Metropolitans
  • The Amazins
  • The Metsies[4]
  • The Miracle Mets (1969)[5]
  • The Amazin' Mets (1969)[5]
  • The Bad Guys (1986)[6]
Ballpark
Major league titles
World Series titles (2)
NL Pennants (5)
NL East Division titles (6)
Wild card berths (4)
Front office
Principal owner(s)Steve Cohen
Alexandra M. Cohen
PresidentSteve Cohen (CEO)
President of baseball operationsDavid Stearns
General managerVacant
ManagerCarlos Mendoza
Mascot(s)Mr. Met
Mrs. Met

The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based in New York City, the other being the American League's (AL) New York Yankees. 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.[7] The team's colors evoke the blue of the Dodgers and the orange of the Giants.[1]

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.[8] 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.[9] The Mets have qualified for the postseason ten times, winning the World Series twice (1969 and 1986) and winning five National League pennants (most recently in 2000 and 2015), and six National League East division titles.

Since 2020, the Mets have been owned by billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen, who purchased the team for $2.4 billion.[10] As of 2023, Forbes ranked the Mets as the sixth most valuable MLB team, valued at $2.9 billion.[11]

As of the end of the 2023 regular season, the team's overall win–loss record is 4,727–5,075–8 (.482).[12]

  1. ^ a b "Mets Franchise Timeline: 1960s". Mets.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  2. ^ Casella, Paul (July 12, 2013). "Empire State Building to don Mets colors". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved July 5, 2021. The historic Empire State Building will glow in Mets blue and orange on Friday night to mark the start of Major League Baseball's All-Star Week in New York City.
  3. ^ "Cap and Uniform History" (PDF). 2020 New York Mets Media Guide (PDF). MLB Advanced Media. March 9, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2021. The colors chosen were "Dodgers Blue" and "Giants Orange," and the NY monogram on the cap was a resurrection of the Giants' logo.
  4. ^ Golenbock, Peter, ed. (2002). Amazin': The Miraculous History of New York's Most Beloved Baseball Team. Macmillan. p. 108. ISBN 0312309929. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Blum, Ronald (October 22, 2015). "Mets' return to World Series evokes legends of star-studded teams from the past". The Washington Times. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  6. ^ Worth, Richard, ed. (2013). Baseball Team Names: A Worldwide Dictionary, 1869–2011. pp. 201–208, 361, 368. ISBN 9780786468447. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  7. ^ DiComo, Anthony (December 1, 2021). "5 reasons that led to naming of the Mets". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  8. ^ Shapiro, Michael (July 23, 2009). "Memorabilia From the What-If Drawer (Published 2009)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  9. ^ "Greatest Upsets In Sports History". Sports Illustrated. June 24, 2013. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  10. ^ Wagner, James (October 30, 2020). "Steven Cohen Is Approved as Mets Owner After Clearing 2 More Hurdles". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  11. ^ "The Business Of Baseball – MLB Team Valuations". Forbes. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  12. ^ "New York Mets Team History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-reference.com. Baseball Info Solutions. Retrieved October 6, 2022.