Thoughts from Dr. Joe: Explaining connection to the New York Mets

These thoughts are for my La Cañada buddies, Dodger fans, who wonder about my connection to the New York Mets.

In 1957 when the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants jumped ship and headed west, a dark cloud appeared over New York. I was 10. Throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, New Yorkers cried. Throngs of fans besieged the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field, pleading with their teams to stay.

Brooklyn’s tenure in New York began in 1884. Because of the skill required to dodge the trolley cars, they were called, the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers.

The Giants began in 1883. After an impressive victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, the manager exclaimed, “My giants!”

I was a Bronx boy; Yankee blood ran through my veins. Therefore, I observed what was happening across the Harlem River and south into Brooklyn. I was understood that something unusual had happened in New York. In the 1950s, the working class of the city struggled to feed their families. The people had few amenities, but they had baseball. There was a love affair between the people and their teams. When the Dodgers and Giants left, it broke their hearts. Baseball is a mythology that I can’t even being to explain.

New York Mets fan watch their team take on the Kansas City Royals during Game 2 of the World Series at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

(Doug Pensinger / Getty Images)

New York Mets fan watch their team take on the Kansas City Royals during Game 2 of the World Series at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. (Doug Pensinger / Getty Images)

The Greek myth writers gave us the story of the “Phoenix” to remind us that during the most dismal circumstances, all is not lost. So, in 1962, the Phoenix rose from its ashes and the New York Mets were born. The National League came back to New York. I was 15.

I answered an ad in the newspaper and became a “hustler” (vendor) in the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium. Although I was young, I had two lovers: the Yankees and the Mets.

The Mets were named after the 1880s franchise, the Metropolitans. Ironically, they were the dominant team in baseball, but the Giants siphoned their best players. Subsequently, the Metropolitans disappeared. The Mets took the colors of blue from the Dodgers and orange from the Giants as the symbolic return of National League baseball to New York.

I worked the first game the Mets played in the Polo Grounds: April 13, 1962. They lost to the Pirates. As a matter of fact, they lost their first nine games. They were the worst team in baseball; they lost 120 games. Regardless, New Yorkers loved the Mets. Don’t we always root for the underdog?

Although in 1962 and 1963 they barely won a game, the Mets filled the Polo Grounds. Kids would forgo paying 75 cents for a bleacher seat and get in free. Schools, church groups, baseball leagues etc. flocked to the Polo Grounds to see their beloved Mets. The kids were called the Midget-Mets! The longshoremen, the truck drivers, the cabbies and any of New York’s unions received special prices.

And then, the miraculous! During the latter innings of any typical home game. The Midget-Mets and the workingmen of New York would begin to chant. “Let’s Go Mets!”

The fans would stand and slam the seats. The chaos would reverberate throughout North Harlem and bounce off the House that Ruth Built in the Bronx. Although losing by 10 runs the players would stare into the stands and could not possibly understand why the fans loved them. The Mets were becoming the Amazing Mets and the darlings of New York City.

The other day I was reading about the Mets and of the extraordinary genius of their general manager. His name is Sandy Alderson. I asked myself, “Could it be?” It was! In 1969, Sandy and I trained together in infantry school. Lt. Alderson was the personification of a Marine officer. He was our “honor man.”

So, my dear La Cañada buddies, my Dodger fans, that’s my connection to the New York Mets.

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JOE PUGLIA is a practicing counselor, a retired professor of education and a former officer in the Marines. Reach him at doctorjoe@ymail.com. Visit his website at doctorjoe.us.