Book Description
History set its sights on the 1962 Mets years before the original team ever donned its orange-and-blue flannels or swung for the Rheingold sign. No, that first season was destined for the record books as soon as the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants packed up and went west in 1957. Suddenly, the National League town had no National League team, and the city mourned. What else were New Yorkers supposed to do? Root for the Yankees? It took a passionate millionaire five years to bring National League baseball back to New York, for a season that will be remembered forever. The team's 120 losses set a new major league record The 1962 Mets' 40-120-1 record has stood as the worst in the modern era of Major League Baseball for 40 years. As of today, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2003, the Detroit Tigers (38-117) have seven games left in the season and will more than likely break the record. But more on that later., but that was only half the charm of the Originals. Jilted fans had a team again, and what a team it was. The rest of baseball sent its castoffs to the Mets: All-star Richie Ashburn, who quit baseball altogether after that sorry season, rather than return to the Mets' losing ways; the quintessential "M.E.T," Marvin Eugene Throneberry, who came to symbolize the sheer ineptness of the team; Jay Hook, as smart a pitcher as ever lost 19 games; fan favorite "Hot" Rod Kanehl, loved at least as much for his role in a spring training win over the traitorous Dodgers as for his hustle; ex-Dodgers Don Zimmer, Charlie Neal and Gil Hodges; the Mets' $85,000 bonus baby, Ed Kranepool. Their stories are all here. Leading them all, fist held high and mouth running, was Casey Stengel, making his prodigal return to New York. He was a masterful PR man and a brilliant baseball mind - though no amount of intelligence was going to do it for the Mets. Almost single-handedly, Stengel made that season sing, and plenty of "Casey stories" are here too. Tales of the 1962 New York Mets recaptures that spectacle of a season, from the front offices behind the outfield wall to the fans behind home plate to the players in the dugout and the clubhouse, with stories from those who lost and lived to tell.
About the author
Janet Paskin is a sportswriter at The Journal News, a Gannett newspaper in Westchester, N.Y. A graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism, she has written for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Newsday. She lives in Manhattan, less than five miles from the site of the Polo Grounds. This is her first book.
