Welcome to A Super-casual History of the Mets. This series is a very top level history of the Mets, from memory, to pass along to Generation Z and whatever follows. For a more detailed history of the Mets I refer you to Faith and Fear In Flushing.
So the Brooklyn Dodgers win in 1955 and everyone acts like they are a big time Dodgers fan. Except the economics aren’t awesome and some societal stuff I won’t bog down in here, and two years later the Dodgers and Giants split for the West Coast.
A guy named Bill Shea is involved with starting a third league which would have a team in New York. Blah Blah Blah the NL expands and we wind up with the Mets. The blue color is from the Dodgers, the orange from the Giants. The black is not involved AT ALL and is revisionist Jeff WIlpon horse hockey.
The Mets are managed by Casey Stengel who is cute and all but the Mets really suck and go 40-120 and are the worst team ever unless you wanna bring up the Cleveland Spiders which we don’t.
Some years go by. Gil Hodges becomes the manager. They get a pitcher named Tom Seaver who is eventually nicknamed THE FRANCHISE because he’s the best player who ever has and ever will put on a Mets uniform. He’s that good.
Somehow in 1969 we put a man on the moon. Also a black cat runs past the Cubs dugout as they are playing the Mets. The Mets hunt down the Cubs and somehow win the 1969 World Series. It’s amazing.
Then kinda nothing happens.
Gil dies right before the 1972 season (April 2!) but for some reason this isn’t really talked about by anyone under the age of 60.
In 1973 the Mets suck again but Tug McGraw comes up with Ya Gotta Believe and the Mets squeak into the playoffs before losing to the A’s. And Yogi Berra is the manager.
Then the Mets play seasons in 1974, 1975, and 1976 and nobody ever ever ever mentions these seasons.
So if you want to sound passable at the bar: Casey, Gil, Seaver, Ya Gotta Believe. That’s it. Learn those 4 things and you will be able to fake it.
More tomorrow.
