M e t s 5 CONTENTS CHAPTERS Lovable Losers 6 Believing in Miracles 15 Excelling in the 80s 22 Ordering in Piazza 29 Good Starts Bad Endings 37 AROUND THE HORN Worst Ever 12 David Versus Goliath 20 The Elusive No-Hitter 24 The Game That Wouldn’t End 31 Who’s on Third 38 New York New York 43 ALL-TIME METS P Tom Seaver 8 C Mike Piazza 13 1B Keith Hernandez 14 2B Edgardo Alfonzo 18 3B David Wright 23 SS Bud Harrelson 28 LF Rusty Staub 30 CF Mookie Wilson 35 RF Darryl Strawberry 39 M Davey Johnson 40 Index 48
6 M e t s LOVABLE LOSERS n 1609 British adventurer Henry Hudson sailing on behalf of a Dutch trading company crossed the Atlantic Ocean and explored the American coast from what is now Maine to New York This area was in his words as pleasant a land as one can tread upon Hudson’s positive reports convinced a group of Dutch settlers in 1624 to establish the colony of New Amsterdam along the mid-Atlantic coast The British took over New Amsterdam in the 1660s and renamed it to honor the Duke of York Although New York City was located in the northern part of the United States it quickly grew to become the country’s center of business culture and media New York also became an important American center for sports especially baseball In 1883 a professional team called the New York Metropolitans was established as part of an early league the American Association That franchise lasted for only a few years but its name was revived in 1962 when Major League Baseball agreed to establish a new National League NL team in New York The Metropolitans or I
A major hub for American business and culture New York City is also a sports mecca hosting at least one franchise in all of the major professional sports
