| New York Metropolitans | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| League | American Association |
| Location | New York City |
| Ballpark | St. George Cricket Grounds (1886–1887) |
| Founded | 1880 (1880) |
| Nickname(s) | The Mets |
| 1883–1887 | 270–309 W–L |
| American Association Pennant (1) | |
| Former ballparks |
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| Colors | Teal, black, white |
| Mascot | None |
| Ownership | List of owners
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| Manager | List of managers
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TheMetropolitan Club[1] (New York Metropolitans or theMets) was a 19th-century professionalbaseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (TheNew York Metropolitan Baseball Club was the name chosen in 1961 for theNew York Mets, who began play in 1962.)[2]
A Manhattan-based yachting team known as Metropolitan Club was in existence and covered byThe New York Times in the 1850s, yet it remains very murky whether or not such a commonplace name as “Metropolitan” can really draw a 40-year link between two radically different sports and contexts.[3][4]
The Metropolitan Club was founded in 1880 as an independentprofessional team by business entrepreneurJohn B. Day andbaseball managerJim Mutrie. Unusually for professional teams of the period, the Mets had an actual name and were listed in standings and box scores as "Metropol'n" as opposed to "New York." Initially the team played its games inBrooklyn and inHoboken, New Jersey as the other New York area clubs did at the time. However, by September, Day had arranged the use of apolo field just north ofCentral Park inManhattan, bounded by 5th & 6th Avenues and 110th & 112th Streets. The site became known as thePolo Grounds because polo was initially played there. The Polo Grounds was the first professional baseball park in Manhattan.
The club name, "Metropolitan", had previously been used by an amateur club that played its home games in the Hamilton Square neighborhood of New York as early as 1858.[5]
TheNational League had expelled theMutual Club of New York following the 1876 season for failing to make their final road trip of the year and by 1881 had still not replaced them with another New York City franchise. The upstartAmerican Association therefore saw a significant opportunity when it invited the Metropolitan to join the new league for its 1882 inaugural season. Metropolitan declined, however, since joining would have meant forgoing lucrative home exhibition games against National League opponents.
Because of Metropolitan's financial success at thePolo Grounds, and because each league knew that it needed a successful New York City franchise to compete against the other, at the end of 1882 both leagues tendered franchise offers to the Mets. Unbeknownst to the leagues, though, the Mets accepted both invitations. To satisfy these commitments, owners Day and Mutrie acquired theTroy franchise that had been eliminated from the National League (along withWorcester) to make room for new franchises in New York City andPhiladelphia. Day and Mutrie entered the Mets into the American Association and a newly createdNew York team into the National League. The teams shared use of the Polo Grounds, which was reconfigured with two diamonds and two grandstands.
The club's name "Metropolitan" was used in published standings of the Association, while the name "New York" was used for the National League entry. In the style of the day, the clubs were often called the "Metropolitans" and the "New Yorks". The "New Yorks" would eventually acquire the separate nicknames of the "Gothams" and then the "Giants". The Metropolitan club was referred to alternately as the "Metropolitan," "Metropolitans" or the "Mets". They were also referred to, on occasion, as the "Indians".[6]
Initially, managed by Mutrie, the Metropolitans enjoyed greater success on the field than the Gothams. The Mets finished fourth in1883, and won the1884 American Association pennant. The Mets then facedProvidence Grays of the National League in the1884 World Series, but lost 3 games to none. Prominent Metropolitan players includedTim Keefe,Dave Orr,Chief Roseman,Jack Lynch,Candy Nelson andDude Esterbrook.
A baseball oddity occurred for the Mets on April 30, 1885, when aman whose first name was not recorded playedthird base for them. With the Mets playing thePhiladelphia Athletics atPolo Grounds I in Manhattan,[7] a man listed only as "Jones" played asthird baseman for the Metropolitans in his first game in the AA; an article inThe New York Times stated that "A new man covered third base for the local team. He is an amateur, and gave his name as "Jones.""[8] The Metropolitans lost to the Athletics 2–1. Jones's first name, date of birth, birthplace, and handedness were not recorded, and are still unknown.
Financially, though, the Gothams had more promise due to the National League's stability, quality of play, and higher ticket prices. As early as 1884, the Mets were struggling to establish their own identity, and opened the season in a new ballpark,Metropolitan Park, located on the east side of Manhattan. The move proved unsatisfactory, and by mid-season they had quietly moved back to their original Polo Grounds home.
Prior to the 1885 season, Mutrie shifted over to manage the Gothams and brought along star pitcher Keefe and third baseman Esterbrook. The rechristenedNew York Giants finished second in the National League in1885, while the Mets slumped to seventh place in the AA.
Prior to the 1886 season, Day and Mutrie sold the Mets to developerErastus Wiman who moved the team to theSt. George Cricket Grounds onStaten Island. Wiman, who also owned aferry line, hoped to promote ferry trade acrossNew York Harbor and further development of Staten Island. This business plan did not succeed, though, and the Mets ceased operation following the 1887 season. The team was bought by theBrooklyn Dodgers for $15,000 to gain territorial protection and the contracts of several of the Mets' stars, including Dave Orr andDarby O'Brien.[9] The former minor leagueStaten Island Yankees played from 2001–2019 in a stadium very near thecricket ground used by the Mets.
In 1962, when theNational League added a franchise in New York to replace the departed Giants and Dodgers, the owners and the fans of New York selected "Mets" as the nickname for the new club, in part to suggest continuity with the Metropolitans; its original formal name was the "New York Metropolitan Baseball Club." These 20th-centuryNew York Mets played their first two seasons at the final version of thePolo Grounds before it was ultimately torn down in 1964, when the Mets moved toShea Stadium. They currently play inCiti Field, which was built next to the now-demolished Shea Stadium and opened in 2009.
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