New York Metropolitans

Information about New York Metropolitans

The Metropolitan Club (the New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. Metropolitan Baseball Club of New York was the name originally chosen in 1960 for the current day New York Mets franchise, although the legal name has changed since then.

The Metropolitans were founded in 1880 as an independent professional team by business entrepreneur John B. Day and baseball manager Jim Mutrie. Initially the team played its games in Brooklyn and in Hoboken, New Jersey as the other New York area clubs did at the time. However, by September, Day had arranged the use of a polo field just north of Central Park bounded by 5th & 6th Avenues and 110th & 112th Streets in Manhattan that became known as the Polo Grounds, the first professional baseball park on Manhattan.

The National League had expelled the New York Mutuals 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 upstart American Association therefore saw a significant opportunity when it invited the Metropolitans to join the new league for its 1882 inaugural season. The Metropolitans declined, however, since joining would have meant forgoing lucrative home games against National League opponents.

Because of Metropolitans financial success at the Polo Grounds, and because each league knew that it needed a successful New York 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 the Troy franchise that had been eliminated from the National League (along with Worcester) to make room for new franchises in New York City and Philadelphia. Day and Mutrie entered the Mets into the American Association and the newly created New York Gothams into the National League. The teams shared use of the Polo Grounds, which was reconfigured with two diamonds and two grandstands.

Initially, managed by Mutrie, the Metropolitans enjoyed greater success on the field than the Gothams. The Mets finished fourth in 1883, and won the 1884 American Association pennant. The Mets then faced Providence Grays of the National League in the 1884 World Series, but lost 3 games to none. Prominent Metropolitan players included Tim Keefe, Dave Orr, Chief Roseman, Jack Lynch, Candy Nelson and Dude Esterbrook.

Financially, though, the Gothams had more promise due to the National League's stability, quality of play, and higher ticket prices. Prior to the 1885 season, Mutrie shifted over to manage the Gothams and brought along star pitcher Keefe and third baseman Esterbrook. The rechristened New York Giants finished second in the National League in 1885, while the Mets slumped to seventh place in the AA.

Prior to the 1886 season, Day and Mutrie sold the Mets to Erastus Wiman who moved the team to cricket grounds on Staten Island in hopes of promoting ferry trade across New York harbor. This business plan did not succeed, though, and the Mets ceased operation following the 1887 season. The team was bought by the Brooklyn Dodgers to gain territorial protection and the contracts of several of the Mets' stars, including Dave Orr and Darby O'Brien. The current minor league Staten Island Yankees play in a stadium very near the cricket ground used by the Mets.

In 1962, when the National League added a franchise 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 hearken back to the Metropolitans. These 20th century New York Mets played their first two seasons at the final version of the Polo Grounds before it was ultimately torn down in 1964.

References

  • O'Malley, John (1980). "The Mets open in New York". Baseball Research Journal 1980, 140–144.
  • O'Malley, John (1985). "Mutrie's Mets of 1884". The National Pastime 4 (1), 39–41.

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New York Mets Established 1962

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  • East Division (1969–present)

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James J. Mutrie (June 13 1851 - January 24 1938) was an American baseball pioneer who was the co-founder and first manager of both the original New York Metropolitans and the New York Giants. His career winning percentage of .
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Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. An independent city until its consolidation into New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with nearly 2.5 million residents.
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Hoboken, New Jersey
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Manhattan is a borough of New York City, New York, USA, with New York County. With a 2000 population of 1,537,195[2] living in a land area of 22.96 square miles (59.
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Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Manhattan, New York City used by baseball's New York Giants from 1883 until 1957, New York Metropolitans from 1883 until 1885, the New York Yankees from 1912 until 1922, and by the New York Mets in their first two
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The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League, is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league.
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Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players.
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City of New York
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Sport Baseball
Founded 1882
No. of teams 25 (total)
12 (at peak)
Country(ies)  United States

Ceased 1891
Last champion(s) Boston Reds
  • 1882 Cincinnati Red Stockings
  • 1883 Philadelphia Athletics

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Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Manhattan, New York City used by baseball's New York Giants from 1883 until 1957, New York Metropolitans from 1883 until 1885, the New York Yankees from 1912 until 1922, and by the New York Mets in their first two
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City of New York
New York City at sunset

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Nickname: The Big Apple, Gotham, The City that Never Sleeps
Location in the state of New York
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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1850s  1860s  1870s  - 1880s -  1890s  1900s  1910s
1879 1880 1881 - 1882 - 1883 1884 1885

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Troy Trojans were a Major League Baseball team in the National League for four seasons from 1879 to 1882.

Their home games were played at Putnam Grounds (1879), Haymakers' Grounds (1880-1881), and Troy Ball Clubs Grounds (1882), all in the upstate New York city of Troy.
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The Worcesters was a 19th century Major League Baseball team. They played just three years in the National League. Contrary to many reports, the team had no nickname, playing merely as the "Worcesters".
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City of New York
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Nickname: "City of Brotherly Love", "The City that Loves you Back", "Cradle of Liberty", "The Quaker City", "The Birthplace of America", "Philly".
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San Francisco Giants Established 1883 Based in San Francisco since

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