On this anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s MLB debut, and also the anniversary of the debut of The Mets Police (the latter a far more trivial occasion) we look back at one of my favorite columns from 2008.
In 2008, we uncovered one of baseball’s great hoaxes. There are those who want you to believe that not only did the Dodgers once play in New York…they would have you believe that there was a second team, a team called “The Giants”…a team from which the Mets got their logo and font. Surely if such a team had ever existed, it would be honored alongside the Dodgers. We now travel back to the Mets Police from July 2008….
Now look at this picture on the left. It’s the Polo Grounds, original home of the Mets. The team is wearing the familiar NY logo on their caps…but look closely at the uniform……It says “G I A N T S.” Very mysterious.
Next we’ll take a look at Willie Mays. Not many Mets fans remember this broken down old outfielder. Sort of the Moises Alou (updated 2009 reference would be “Gary Sheffield”) of his day. There’s really nothing remarkable about this player, so there’s no reason to honor him or name a piece of Citifield after him.
But look at the picture on the right. It appears to be the same man, yet younger. He is wearing a familiar looking cap, and his jersey says New York. However, the picture is clearly from the 1950’s – BEFORE THERE WERE METS! How could this be? Could Willie Mays have played in New York City in the 1950’s?
How could this be possible if he were not on the Dodgers???
Look at this carefully forged
World Series program from 1954. Are we really supposed to believe that this alleged “New York Giants” won the World Series in 1954, and they are never ever mentioned in the new Citifield design?Are we really to believe the Mets NY logo is not really their own, but borrowed from these alleged ancestors?
Next, look at this pennant. Again, another phony trying to trick us into believing there was ever such a team in New York.
This photo on the left alledges to be of Willie Mays. All Mets fans know that Willie was an old outfielder with bad legs, surely not someone to be honored at a ballpark. Some claim he hit 660 home runs. Ridiculous! Everyone knows he only hit 14 as a part-time player in two seasons.
Finally we have this relic, recently uncovered by famous archaeologist Indiana Jones. It was found near the site of the former Mets stadium, the Polo Grounds. If it said Mets I might consider it to be authentic, but since it says Giants it has to be be part of this conspiracy.
This is all very silly. The only team that played in New York before the Mets were the Dodgers, and as everyone knows they folded in 1957 and there is no place on earth where the Dodgers legacy can be honored other than in Queens. Thank goodness we have Fred Wilpon looking out for the defunct Dodgers, and thank heavens the Mets do not fall for this “New York Giants” unicorn-like nonsense.
(yeah techincally I posted this on the 14th, I wanted to go to bed. I also wasn’t good at formatting then. I trued fixing the typeset but it just won’t take. So this one was ugly looking. But you enjoyed it so off my back.)
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