100 Fun Facts About New York Mets

In which New York City borough do the Mets play?

Queens has been home since Shea Stadium opened in 1964 beside the World's Fair grounds. Its replacement went up in Shea's parking lot, and Shea was then flattened to become the new parking lot.

The Mets joined the National League in 1962 alongside which other expansion team?

Houston Colt .45s was the name for only three seasons: in 1965 the club moved indoors to the Astrodome and became the Astros.

The Mets' blue and orange colours honour which two New York teams?

The Dodgers and the Giants both left for California after 1957, so the new club took Dodger blue and Giant orange and revived the Giants' old NY monogram for its cap.

Which team's 121 losses in 2024 broke the modern record set by the 1962 Mets?

Chicago White Sox finished 41-121, yet the 40-120 Mets keep one distinction: their .250 winning percentage is still a shade worse than Chicago's .253.

Which former Yankees manager ran the Mets in their first seasons and coined the nickname 'Amazin' Mets'?

Casey Stengel's exasperated question, 'Can't anybody here play this game?', became the title of Jimmy Breslin's book about the 1962 team.

Where did the Mets play their home games in 1962 and 1963 while their stadium was being built?

The Polo Grounds was already condemned to make way for public housing. When demolition began in April 1964, the wrecking crew tipped their hard hats to the old ballpark before starting work.

Shea Stadium was named after William Shea, who is remembered for what?

Founding a proposed third major league, the Continental League, paid off without a game played: it disbanded once the National League agreed to put a new team in New York.

Which band opened its 1965 North American tour at Shea Stadium before a record crowd of more than 55,000?

The Beatles were drowned out: the screaming was so loud that nobody, the band included, could hear the music at what is remembered as the first major stadium rock concert.

Which future Hall of Famer did the Mets pass over in the 1966 draft for Steve Chilcott?

Reggie Jackson went second, to the Kansas City Athletics, and hit 563 home runs. Chilcott, a 17-year-old catcher, never played a single major-league game.

Which team did the Miracle Mets beat in the 1969 World Series?

The Baltimore Orioles had won 109 games and had four future Hall of Famers, counting manager Earl Weaver. The Mets lost the opener, then won four straight.

Who managed the 1969 Miracle Mets?

Gil Hodges carried a ball smudged with shoe polish out to the umpire in Game 5 of the World Series; the umpire then ruled that the pitch had hit Cleon Jones, and the next batter hit a two-run homer.

Which team led the 1969 Mets by 10 games in mid-August, only to finish eight games behind them?

Chicago Cubs players watched a black cat stroll past their dugout at Shea on September 9, in the middle of a slide that cost them 17 of their last 25 games.

Which pitcher, nicknamed 'The Franchise', won 25 games and the Cy Young Award for the 1969 Mets?

Tom Seaver reached the Mets by luck: his 1966 contract with the Braves was voided, and the commissioner pulled the Mets' name out of a hat to decide who could sign him.

Which rookie broke up a Mets ace's perfect-game bid with a ninth-inning single at Shea in July 1969?

Jim Qualls, a reserve outfielder who finished his career with only 31 major-league hits, lined a clean single with one out in the ninth after the first 25 batters had gone down in order.

The 1977 trade of the Mets' ace pitcher to the Reds is remembered by what nickname?

The Midnight Massacre ended a bitter contract feud between the pitcher and chairman M. Donald Grant, and the fallout drove fans away from Shea in their thousands.

Which slogan, coined by reliever Tug McGraw, carried the 82-79 Mets to the 1973 pennant?

'Ya Gotta Believe' burst out of him in the middle of a clubhouse pep talk by the team chairman while the Mets sat in last place; by October they were in the World Series.

Which manager led the 1986 Mets to 108 wins and a World Series title?

Davey Johnson, a maths major, was one of the first managers to lean on computer analysis; as a player back in 1969 he was already feeding batting orders into a college computer.

Which Red Sox first baseman let Mookie Wilson's grounder through his legs in the 1986 World Series?

Bill Buckner was hobbling, and manager John McNamara had sent in Dave Stapleton for late defence in all three of Boston's earlier wins, but he left his veteran on the field that night.

Who was named MVP of the 1986 World Series?

Ray Knight hit .391 in the Series, scored the winning run in Game 6 and then hit the tie-breaking home run in Game 7.

Which pitcher, nicknamed 'Dr. K', won the 1985 Cy Young Award for the Mets?

Dwight Gooden went 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA that year, aged 20, while a Shea rooting section called the K Korner hung up a red K card for every one of his strikeouts.

Which team's fans nicknamed the 1980s Mets 'pond scum'?

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Mets traded the division title back and forth for four straight years, the Cardinals winning it in 1985 and 1987 and the Mets in 1986 and 1988.

Which two Mets each hit 30 home runs and stole 30 bases in 1987?

Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson both did it, and Johnson's sudden power made rival managers so suspicious that umpires confiscated his bats and had them X-rayed; they came up clean.

Which pitcher's 27 consecutive losses over 1992-93 set a major-league record?

Anthony Young pitched far better than the streak suggests: in the middle of it he filled in as the closer and went 23 2/3 innings without allowing a run.

Which Dodgers manager had Mike Piazza drafted in the 62nd round as a favour to Piazza's father?

Tommy Lasorda had grown up in the same Pennsylvania neighbourhood as Piazza's father, and the college first baseman he asked for became a Hall of Fame catcher.

Against which team did Mike Piazza hit his go-ahead homer in New York's first game after 9/11?

The Atlanta Braves led 2-1 in the eighth inning when he swung, in a stadium whose parking lots had spent the previous week as a staging area for rescue supplies.

Which Yankees pitcher threw a shattered bat toward Mike Piazza in the 2000 World Series?

Roger Clemens had hit Piazza in the head with a fastball that July; when the bat broke in Game 2 he flung the barrel toward him and later said he thought it was the ball.

Which outfielder leapt the wall to rob Scott Rolen of a homer in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS?

Endy Chávez snagged the ball in the tip of his glove above the wall, then threw it back in to double a runner off first base and end the inning; the Mets lost the game anyway.

The Mets' current ballpark copies the brick entrance of which demolished ballpark?

Ebbets Field's tenants were once offered this very site for a new ballpark, but their owner lost interest and took the team to Los Angeles instead.

Which pitcher threw the first no-hitter in Mets history, in the club's 8,020th regular-season game?

Johan Santana threw more pitches that night than in any other game of his career, and he was saved in the seventh when Mike Baxter, who grew up a Mets fan, crashed into the wall making a catch.

Which knuckleballer won the NL Cy Young Award for the Mets in 2012?

R.A. Dickey has no ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow; when the Rangers' doctors discovered that after drafting him, they cut their signing offer to $75,000.

Which team beat the Mets in the 2015 World Series?

The Kansas City Royals trailed in the ninth inning of both the first game and the last, tied each one and won it in extra innings.

Which Mets pitcher won the 2018 Cy Young Award with a 1.70 ERA but only 10 wins?

Jacob deGrom got so little run support that he finished 10-9, at the time the fewest wins ever for a starting pitcher who won the award.

Whose two-year-old major-league rookie record did Pete Alonso break by hitting 53 home runs in 2019?

Aaron Judge hit 52 in 2017 to end the 30-year reign of Mark McGwire's 49, then watched his own record fall after just two seasons.

What is Pete Alonso's nickname?

The Polar Bear was coined by teammate Todd Frazier during spring training in 2019, before Alonso had played a single major-league game.

Who bought the Mets from the Wilpon family for $2.4 billion in 2020?

Steve Cohen had seen an earlier deal for the club fall apart, then came back and outbid a group fronted by Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez.

Which shortstop signed a 10-year, $341 million extension with the Mets in 2021?

Francisco Lindor called a players-only meeting when a loss in May 2024 left the Mets 22-33; they went 67-40 the rest of the way and reached the National League Championship Series.

Which fast-food mascot's June 2024 first pitch was credited with starting a Mets winning streak?

Grimace threw it on June 12 and the Mets won seven games in a row, starting that night; in September the club unveiled a purple seat in the stands in his honour.

Which Mets infielder had a hit song, 'OMG', under a stage name during the 2024 season?

Jose Iglesias, who records as Candelita, used it as his walk-up music, sang it on the field after a home game in June and performed it at the Home Run Derby in July.

Mr. Met is believed to be the first MLB mascot to do what?

To appear in human costumed form he first had to leave the page: he began as a cartoon on the covers of 1963 programmes and walked into Shea Stadium as a live mascot a year later.

Which former Met is paid about $1.19 million by the club every July 1 from 2011 to 2035?

Bobby Bonilla was owed $5.9 million when the Mets released him in 2000; deferring it turned the bill into $29.8 million, a deal the owner took while his money was earning big returns with Bernie Madoff.

Why is the Mets' home run prop shaped like an apple?

A play on New York's 'Big Apple' nickname, it first popped out of a giant top hat lettered 'Mets Magic'; fans petitioned to save the original, which now stands outside the new ballpark.

Which Sicilian folk song is played during the seventh-inning stretch at Mets home games?

Billy Joel's 'Piano Man' follows in the middle of the eighth, and 'Meet the Mets' was written a year before the club played a game.

Which first baseman's number 17 did the Mets retire in July 2022?

Keith Hernandez won 11 Gold Gloves in a row at the position, and he later guest-starred as himself in a two-part episode of Seinfeld.

Which player, who ended his career with the Mets in 1972-73, had his number 24 retired by them in 2022?

Willie Mays had been promised as much by owner Joan Payson when she traded for him in 1972, but she died three years later and the promise sat unkept for 50 years.

Which company agreed in 2006 to pay roughly $20 million a year for the naming rights to the Mets' ballpark?

Citigroup signed on for 20 years, and the name was announced in November 2006 on the day ground was broken in the old stadium's parking lot.

Which publishing company bought control of the Mets from the Payson family for $21.1 million in 1980?

Doubleday held the club until 1986, when the publisher itself was sold and Nelson Doubleday Jr. and Fred Wilpon bought the team as equal partners.

Which pitcher threw a complete-game shutout in the first regular-season Mets-Yankees game in 1997?

Dave Mlicki had never thrown a complete game in the majors, yet he scattered nine hits and struck out eight in a 6-0 win at Yankee Stadium.

Which outfielder signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets in December 2024, then the richest in sports history?

Juan Soto had just spent one season with the crosstown Yankees, reaching the World Series, and his deal topped the $700 million record Shohei Ohtani had set a year earlier.

Which reliever struck out the side in the ninth to finish the Mets' five-pitcher no-hitter in April 2022?

Edwin Díaz struck out Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos among his three victims to seal a 3-0 win, on a night that began with Tylor Megill's five hitless innings.

Which reliever served as Mets captain from 2001 to 2004?

John Franco, a Brooklyn native whose father worked for the city's Department of Sanitation, wore the department's T-shirt under his Mets uniform throughout his career in his honour.

Which sitcom's 1992 episode 'The Boyfriend' has a retired Mets star accused of spitting on two characters?

Seinfeld cast the 1986 champion as Jerry's new friend and Elaine's date. Kramer and Newman hold a grudge against him over a spitting incident they say happened outside Shea Stadium.

In which sci-fi comedy does a Mets outfielder drop a fly ball while staring at an alien spacecraft?

Men in Black gave Bernard Gilkey a cameo as himself, losing the ball at Shea Stadium as a flying saucer passes overhead.

Which Super Bowl-winning quarterback's father went 8-0 as a Mets reliever in 1999?

Patrick Mahomes was a small child when his father Pat made 39 relief appearances without a loss to help the 1999 Mets reach the playoffs.

Which Heisman-winning quarterback later reached Triple-A as an outfielder in the Mets' farm system?

Tim Tebow signed a minor-league contract in September 2016 and climbed as high as the Syracuse Mets, one step below the majors, before retiring in 2021.

Which future strikeout king did the Mets trade to the Angels in 1971 for shortstop Jim Fregosi?

Nolan Ryan went on to throw a record seven no-hitters and strike out 5,714 batters, while Fregosi was sold on during his second season as a Met.

Which airport's flight path sent jets roaring over Shea Stadium, forcing Mets hitters to call time?

LaGuardia sat so close to the old ballpark that the noise drowned out radio and television broadcasts, and players routinely asked for time during takeoffs and approaches.

Which animal strolled past the visitors' dugout at Shea Stadium during a key Mets game in September 1969?

A black cat walked between the on-deck batter and the visiting dugout on September 9, 1969. The Mets soon overtook those first-place visitors and went on to win the division.

Which Long Island-raised singer played the final concerts at the Mets' Shea Stadium in July 2008?

Billy Joel called the two nights The Last Play at Shea, and the shows became a 2010 documentary that tells the ballpark's history alongside his own.

Which fraudster's Ponzi scheme entangled the Mets' owners, the Wilpon family, when it collapsed in 2008?

Bernie Madoff had been used in running the club's finances. The trustee for his victims later sued the Wilpons, who went looking for partners to buy a share of the team.

Which 42-year-old Mets pitcher became the oldest player in major-league history to hit his first home run?

Bartolo Colón was 42 years and 349 days old when he took James Shields deep in San Diego in May 2016. It was the only homer of his long career.

Which baseball legend, who never played for the Mets, is honoured by the rotunda at their ballpark?

Jackie Robinson's nine values, from courage to integrity, are engraved into the rotunda's floor and archways. The space was formally dedicated on April 15, 2009, the day baseball celebrates him.

Which regional sports network did the Mets launch in March 2006 to carry their own games on television?

SNY, short for SportsNet New York, was created so the club could make more of television rights that had previously been held by Cablevision.

Which numbered transit route carries fans to the Mets–Willets Point station beside the ballpark?

The 7 train stops there at all times, and extra express trains run in the peak direction during rush hours and after sporting events.

What two-word nickname is given to games between the Mets and the Yankees, New York's two baseball clubs?

Subway Series once meant only World Series games between the city's clubs. In modern usage it covers any meeting of the two teams, since fans can ride the rails to either park.

Which Reds star's hard slide into Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson sparked a brawl in the 1973 NLCS?

Pete Rose went back out to left field after the fight and was showered with debris by the Shea Stadium crowd, until a group of Mets walked out to calm the fans.

Which future Yankees dynasty manager got his first managing job as the Mets' player-manager in 1977?

Joe Torre replaced the fired Joe Frazier in May 1977 and spent 18 days as a player-manager, coming to bat just twice before retiring as a player.

Which city hosted the Mets' 2000 opener, the first regular-season MLB game played outside North America?

Tokyo drew over 55,000 fans to its dome for the two-game set, which the Mets split thanks to Benny Agbayani's grand slam in the 11th inning of the second game.

Which Mets star became 'Captain America' by driving in 10 runs at the 2013 World Baseball Classic?

David Wright batted .438 for Team USA and was named to the all-tournament team. The third baseman spent his whole big-league career with the Mets, who retired his number 5 in 2025.

Which Mets pitcher got the nickname 'Thor' after posting a weightlifting video in a Halloween costume?

Noah Syndergaard dressed as the Marvel thunder god for the 2013 video, and the name stuck so firmly that he pitched with a glove bearing it.

Which rival overtook the Mets in 2007 after trailing by seven games with only 17 left to play?

The Phillies took the division title on the last day of the season after the Mets lost 12 of their final 17 games, one of the worst collapses in baseball history.

Which team traded Mike Piazza to the Mets in May 1998, only a week after acquiring him?

The Florida Marlins used the star catcher for just five games before sending him on to the Mets, where he stayed through the 2005 season.

Which indie rock band took its name from an anecdote about the 1962 Mets' outfield?

Yo La Tengo means 'I have it', the shout centre fielder Richie Ashburn learned so that shortstop Elio Chacón, who spoke only Spanish, would stop colliding with him under fly balls.

Which 1962 Mets first baseman was called out on a triple for failing to touch first base?

Marv Throneberry is said to have missed second base as well. Fans loved the blunders of 'Marvelous Marv' so much that his fan club grew to around 5,000 members.

Which Mets outfielder marked his 100th career home run in 1963 by circling the bases facing backwards?

Jimmy Piersall ran the bases in the correct order, just facing the wrong way. A month after reaching the milestone he was released by the Mets.

Which teenager debuted for the 1962 Mets at 17 and spent his entire major-league career with the club?

Ed Kranepool was six years younger than the next-youngest 1962 Met. When he retired in 1979 he was the last player left from that first team.

Which Mets slugger, nicknamed 'Le Grand Orange' by Montreal fans, later ran two restaurants in Manhattan?

Rusty Staub won over French Canadians by learning their language. The nickname, like 'Rusty' itself, came from his red hair.

Which Hall of Fame slugger called Mets games from the club's first season until his death in 2014?

Ralph Kiner named his postgame television show Kiner's Korner, after the short left-field porch in Pittsburgh where he had hit so many of his home runs.

Which Yale-educated starter from the 1986 Mets joined the club's television booth as an analyst in 2006?

Ron Darling was recruited to Yale as a football quarterback before settling on the mound. He won Game 4 of the 1986 World Series in Boston to level it at two games each.

Which fictional Mets prospect with a 168 mph fastball starred in a 1985 Sports Illustrated hoax?

Sidd Finch was George Plimpton's invention, an orphan who had learned yoga in Tibet. The Mets played along with the hoax, even giving him a uniform, the number 21 and a locker.

Which two-time Cy Young left-hander won his 300th career game while pitching for the Mets in 2007?

Tom Glavine became only the fifth left-hander to reach 300 wins, doing it at Wrigley Field on Sunday Night Baseball with an 8–3 victory.

Which Mets farm team took its name from a famous roller coaster near its seaside ballpark?

Brooklyn Cyclones was the winning selection when the club was named, honouring the Coney Island Cyclone at the nearby amusement park. The team plays just off the boardwalk.

To which Florida city did the Mets move their spring training in 1988, leaving St. Petersburg behind?

Port St. Lucie's ballpark opened in March 1988, and it is also home to one of the Mets' Single-A farm teams.

Which Mets hitter homered in a record six consecutive postseason games on the way to the 2015 pennant?

Daniel Murphy batted .529 with four home runs in the NLCS alone and was named its MVP. No one in major-league history had gone deep in six straight playoff games before.

Which Mets infielder grew emotional on the field in 2015 over rumours of a trade that never happened?

Wilmer Flores got a standing ovation from the crowd that night. Two days later he hit a walk-off home run, the only one the Mets hit all season.

Which Mets slugger fractured an ankle on his ranch in 2019 in an incident involving a wild boar?

Yoenis Céspedes was already recovering from surgery on both heels when the accident on his ranch ended any hope of him playing that year.

Which Mets shortstop won the 2011 batting title after bunting for a hit and leaving the season finale?

José Reyes finished at .337 to the .332 of Milwaukee's Ryan Braun, and became the first Met in franchise history to win a batting title.

Which Mets hitter's bases-loaded walk-off in the 1999 NLCS is known as the 'Grand Slam Single'?

Robin Ventura cleared the fence in the 15th inning but was mobbed by his teammates and never finished his trot, so the hit was officially scored a single.

Which ejected Mets manager returned to the dugout in 1999 in sunglasses and a fake moustache?

Bobby Valentine made the moustache out of eye black. The Mets won in 14 innings, but the stunt cost him a $5,000 fine and a two-game suspension.

Which former Mets outfielder was hired to manage the club for 2020 but left before managing a game?

Carlos Beltrán and the Mets agreed to part ways in January 2020, after he was the only player implicated by name in the Astros' sign-stealing scandal.

Which Mets hitter, nicknamed 'Squirrel', won the 2022 National League batting title with a .326 average?

Jeff McNeil's average was the highest of any qualified hitter in the majors that year, and he also started the All-Star Game at second base.

Which citywide emergency stopped a Mets game at Shea Stadium in July 1977 with Lenny Randle at bat?

A power blackout darkened the ballpark at about 9:30 p.m., in the bottom of the sixth inning. Organist Jane Jarvis responded by playing Christmas songs to the stranded crowd.

Which Mets infielder dropped an easy Alex Rodriguez pop fly to hand the Yankees a 2009 walk-off win?

Luis Castillo was a three-time Gold Glove winner, which made his two-out error in the bottom of the ninth, with two runs scoring on it, all the more startling.

Which superstitious Mets reliever brushed his teeth between innings and jumped over the foul lines?

Turk Wendell also slammed the rosin bag into the mound before facing batters and chewed black licorice. Men's Journal named him the most superstitious athlete of all time.

What nickname did the Mets' 1995 trio of pitching prospects Isringhausen, Pulsipher and Wilson carry?

Generation K was a play on Generation X, using the scorer's symbol for a strikeout. All three pitchers succumbed to injuries within a year.

Which future US senator threw a perfect game against the Mets at Shea Stadium on Father's Day in 1964?

Jim Bunning, a father of seven at the time, threw the first perfect game in modern National League history. He later served two terms in the Senate for Kentucky.

As which planet's team did the Mets rebrand for a futuristic 'Turn Ahead the Clock' game in 1999?

Mercury Mets was the name for one July night against Pittsburgh, complete with caps bearing the planet's symbol. The promotion's futuristic uniforms were widely criticised.

Which top pitching prospect did the Mets trade to Tampa Bay in 2004 for veteran starter Víctor Zambrano?

Scott Kazmir went on to succeed elsewhere while the oft-injured Zambrano contributed little. The swap is often called one of the most uneven deadline deals in major-league history.

Which bird name did owner Joan Payson say she preferred before 'Mets' was chosen for the new club?

Meadowlarks was her pick, but the owners chose the name closest to the club's corporate title. The rejected finalists included Bees, Burros and Skyscrapers.

Which Mets catcher, acquired in 1988, famously struggled with the routine throw back to his pitcher?

Mackey Sasser began hesitating and double-clutching his return throws after a collision at home plate, yet he had no trouble firing the ball to second base on a steal.

Which Mets manager was fired less than two hours after a road win over the Angels in June 2008?

Willie Randolph had led the Mets to a league-best record and the NLCS only two seasons earlier. Two of his coaches were dismissed along with him that night.