Mets Hall Of Fame Series (1st Entry)

With this year’s induction of Mike Piazza into of the Mets Hall of Fame on September 29, 2013, I thought it would be a good time to chronicle all of the members of this “exclusive” club.

There is no better place to start then at the beginning. In 1981, the Mets inducted their first two members into their Hall of Fame, Joan Payson and Casey Stengel. These two were instrumental in not only bringing National League baseball back to New York after the Giants and Dodgers departed for the west coast after the 1957 season, but they built a strong and loyal fan base by filling that void.

Joan Payson (Owner 1962-1975) – Heiress to the Whitney fortune and avid sports fan, Payson’s first venture into baseball was as a minority share holder of the New York Giants franchise and one of only two owners who opposed the relocation of the Giants to California. Just a couple of years later, she became the majority owner of a new baseball franchise called the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club Inc., which was awarded a membership into the National League in 1961. Payson became the first woman to purchase majority control of a professional sports franchise in North America.

One of her first duties as owner was to hire a manger, that man was the colorful Casey Stengel. Together they brought in some popular former New York players to put together a rag-tag team of “lovable losers.” Being a fan of National League baseball, Payson understood what the loss of the Giants and Dodgers meant to many New Yorkers and used that emotion to build, what would turn out to be, a very loyal fan base. By bringing in recognizable star players and fan favorites from years past, she did just that.

During those first expansion years, Payson could be seen attending games regularly and sitting among the rest of the fans. She was beloved by not only those fans, but also the players, many of whom stated that she treated the payers like family. All of the hard work that went into building the Mets franchise from the ground up came to fruition in 1969 when the Mets became, at the time, the fastest expansion franchise to win a championship. Payson would continue to be the majority owner of the Mets until her death in 1975.

Casey Stengel (Manager 1962-1965) – As the first manager in New York Mets history, Casey was a link between the other New York teams and the new Mets franchise. He is the only man to have worn all four New York baseball uniforms, as a player for the Giants, player and manager for the Dodgers and as a very successful manager for the Yankees, winning 7 championships in 11 years. He was very popular and loved among many New Yorkers, not only for his knowledge of the game but also for his charisma.

Stengel knew coming in to manage the Mets was not only going to be trying, but also unsuccessful in terms of winning. He used humor to overcome the adversity, which helped draw crowds and grow a fan base despite the 120-loss inaugural season. In his career as Mets manager, his record was a lowly 175-404. It obviously wasn’t his success that put him in the Mets Hall of Fame, rather his handling of the New York market, fans and media during the infancy of the New York Mets franchise.

If you ever wondered how the “Amazin’ Mets” came about, you can thank Stengel. Among his many quotes — known as “Stengelese” — was one that came from the Mets first spring training in 1962 when he encouraged New Yorkers to “Come see my Amazin’ Mets.” Meant as more of a tongue-in-cheek saying, the name stuck and, at times, became more than appropriate as the Mets have had a number of “Amazin’” moments throughout their history.