Baseball's greatest gift to fans could very well be its long storied past. Reading that book you can't put down, delving into recreational research, simply reminiscing about a favorite player, team, or the game itself are part and parcel to our national pastime. Particularly precious and invaluable are the times when history itself beckons and speaks with us directly. My podcast partners Sam, Rich, and I, recently had the pleasure, honor, and privilege, of speaking with the great former National League slugger and prominent member of the original Mets, Frank Thomas. The education imparted to us is one I will not soon forget, some of which I will transcribe here. Otherwise tune in, inform yourself about his charities, then sit back and absorb his anecdotes and recollections of Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, Joan Payson, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Don Newcombe, Sandy Koufax, Gil Hodges, and so many more. Frank Thomas, now 91-years old is still a ravenous consumer of baseball. When he's not attending eleven or so games a season he keeps up with daily accounts of baseball via the old television. I promise you this is a must listen for baseball fans of all ages.
FRANK THOMAS
JOINS A METSIAN PODCAST
MEET THE METS
In my mind, Frank Thomas confirms what I've long suspected: the original 1962 New York Metropolitans author, one of the single most amazing narratives ever written throughout the organization's fifty-eight-year history. How high I rank the Mets inaugural season versus other more successful campaigns is usually a product of my imagination and mood. But regardless of my frame of mind, the 1962 Mets automatically earn a seat at the round table for the simple fact it is the first season; a historic season; it's the campaign after which all others follow. There is no season nor baseball before 1962, just four years of pain, anguish, and a measure of despair. That four-year episode is what makes the Mets inaugural season so alluring and utterly fascinating as any regular season since. Therefore, what follows here is merely my celebration of the Polo Grounds Mets. From the owner on down, I believe them to be one of the most star-studded and nuanced casts of characters ever assembled together within one of baseball's all-time grandest stages.
All these years later, there is still ongoing jest regarding the "Metsies" being labeled Gotham's love child left behind when the Dodgers and Giants together elope to California. Although we (fans) mostly agree, the family resemblance is remarkable - orange clearly comes from the Giants and blue from the Bums. However, New York City's official colors are white, orange, and blue, reinforcing the nickname Metropolitans and vice versa. I like to think both versions are conveniently accurate. But the forces behind the Mets' actual establishment and the impact they would forever have on major league baseball are indisputable.
In a manner of speaking, the Mets essentially bully their way into New York City, charging headlong into the ancient world of monopoly and closed-door major league enterprise. New York City Mayor Robert Wagner forms a committee tasked with seeking out a National League replacement in quick order. Spearheading Mayor Wagner's committee is a prestigious lawyer named William Shea. Formal inquiries are extended to the Reds, Pirates, and Phillies, but all are rebuffed. William Shea then intensifies his efforts. Allied with Branch Ricky, William Shea threatens baseball's establishment with the formation of a third major league. And let us make no mistake: if William Shea and Branch Rickey are the brains behind this proposed operation, Mrs. Joan Whitney Payson is unquestionably the so-called brawn. New York socialite, philanthropist, and rabid baseball fan, Joan's willingness to exert her personal financial clout not only helps legitimize William Shea's endeavor but also serves to embolden him.
(background voice) Bennett: "Mr. Rickey how bout that third league?"
Branch Rickey: "Inevitable as tomorrow morning."
By 1960 baseball's sixteen major league owners buckle under the pressure of a potentially viable rival. American League and National League owners begrudgingly agree to major league expansion. Having served its purpose, the Continental League agrees to terms of peace, folds operations, and New York City is once again granted membership into the National League.
New York City's True Odd Couple: Joan Payson and Casey Stengel
New York City's True Odd Couple: Joan Payson and Casey Stengel
Joan Whitney Payson, the Mets matriarch and titan of National League baseball, is without equal. Why then is she so overlooked - think about it. Preposterous to me is that she is not enshrined in baseball's Hall of Fame. A native New Yorker, she is born the same year John McGraw first takes over as the New York Giants manager. Within a half-century, she owns a near ten percent stake in the said club and adamantly opposes its relocation to San Francisco. After formally voting NO to the move, her subsequent bid to purchase the Giants outright is summarily dismissed by Horace Stoneham. In turn, Mrs. Payson sells her club shares back to the organization then focuses her resources and influence against the baseball establishment itself. When the dust settles, she is the first woman to personally finance (85%) the founding of a major league baseball club. Her Metropolitans defeat the mighty Baltimore Orioles in only their eighth year of existence to become baseball's World Champions. Her exclusion from the Hall of Fame is inexcusably ponderous. As the grande dame of Mets baseball, a commemorative statue at Citi Field is likewise embarrassingly long overdue.
St. Petersburg, Florida - Spring Training
Joan Payson invites the entire team out for dinner. A waiter asks Mrs. Payson how she prefers her steak. She responds .. (paraphrasing)
"Cut out its ass and horns, wake her up, and bring the rest to me!" - as told by Frank Thomas
At the behest of Mrs. Payson, the Ol Perfesser Casey Stengel agrees to become the Mets' first-ever manager. When the team hit the field in April 1962, Casey becomes the only person to date to have either played for or managed all four of New York City's major league baseball teams.
A 22-year old Casey Stengel makes his playing debut in September of 1912 as a member of the Brooklyn Robins, winding down their final season at Washington Park. Casey, in 1913 seizes the distinction of becoming the first player to hit a home run at sparkling new Ebbets Field. Upon reporting for spring training in 1915, typhoid fever nearly kills him.
In those days Stengel was known as a party boy - it is said there was nothing keeping a then 25-year old Stengel from cheap drink and cheap women.
"Uncle Robbie doesn't like me..." - Casey Stengel
After six seasons with Brooklyn, the mischievous Casey Stengel is traded to the Pirates, then to the Phillies, before finding a landing spot at the Polo Grounds in 1921 with the Giants. Stengel enjoys two of his best seasons playing under manager John McGraw. He returns to Brooklyn in 1934, this time as manager of the Dodgers. But after three sub-par seasons, Casey is fired. In 1938 he began a six-year stint as manager of the Boston Braves. However, it is the years spanning 1949-1960 for which the Ol Perfesser is most famously heralded as skipper of the New York Yankees dynasty. During a twelve-year run under Stengel, the Yankees won ten American League pennants and seven World Series championships, including five in a row. After losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960 World Series, Casey is curiously fired by the Yankees. Several players, mostly from the platoon squads, say they didn't necessarily like Casey or his maneuverings yet always maintained a high level of respect for him. Two years later, at 71-years of age, Casey Stengel, out of his great respect for Joan Payson, can not refuse her request. I wholly disagree with the argument that running the Mets tarnishes Casey Stengel's managerial legacy. Instead, I can not imagine a more appropriate ending to such a legendary baseball career and one of New York City's greatest stories ever told. For he is additionally thrust into the role of chief propagandist. His mere presence endears the Mets to fans both old and young. Casey is first to coin the team sobriquet AMAZIN' METS.
(Fans) .. "they're sticking with us. We got em from the babies up. As soon as the kid can talk it says Metsie .. Metsie. Not papa, not momma, Metsie .. Metsie .. Metsie." (paraphrasing) -Casey Stengel
If you're born of my generation - Generation X - that makes you a Mets Tweener.
What does that mean..?
Odds are many of you are too young as fans to fully grasp and appreciate the magnitude of Joan Payson's and Casey Stengel's accomplishments and the role each plays in shaping past and modern baseball history. If you're of my age, you remember them as the beloved grandparents of our extended Metsian family.
My recollections of them, like many of you, span 1972-1975 mostly through Old-Timer's Day appearances at Shea Stadium and the nightly education provided us via radio and television since 1962 by Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, and Lindsey Nelson. Sadly on Sept. 29, 1975, Casey Stengel passes away. Shortly after that comes the news of Joan Payson's passing. Greater Flushing is devastated. I'm just a few months shy of my ninth birthday at the time. I become a teenager in 1980, the same year Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon finalize their purchase of the New York Mets from the Payson estate. Which is to say I spend all my childhood years watching the curtain fall on the Payson Era and the ushering in of the Dark Years at lonely Shea Stadium. Be that as it may, I have always felt a sense of connectedness with the team's genesis for having known of Joan and Casey, having seen them, and having memories of them while still alive. I remain greatly appreciative and feel fortunate to have experienced those closing moments of Flushing's golden era.
THE AMAZIN' METS
40-120 (.250)
10th Place; 60.5 GB
On Wednesday, April 11, 1962, the New York Metropolitans first-ever scheduled game is played against the St. Louis Cardinals at Sportsman Park. The Mets incur a seven-run deficit en route to an 11-4 loss. Notable players Curt Flood; Bill White; Stan Musial; Ken Boyer; and Minnie Minoso; all drive in runs for St. Louis. In the third inning, Charlie Neal goes down in Mets history as driving in the team's first-ever run, while on the lead end of the play, Richie Ashburn is the first to touch home plate and score. Frank Thomas follows with his first run batted in as a member of the Mets, and facing Cardinals starter Larry Jackson in the top of the fourth, Gil Hodges becomes the first-ever Mets player to hit a home run. Unfortunately, starting pitcher Roger Craig incurs the Mets first-ever loss.
FIRST LINEUP
- Richie Ashburn - CF
- Felix Mantilla - SS
- Charlie Neil - 2B
- Frank Thomas - LF
- Gus Bell - RF
- Gil Hodges - 1B
- Don Zimmer - 3B
- Hobie Landrith - C
- Roger Craig - P
Unbeknownst to the Mets and their fans, this is only the first of 119 more defeats to come. New York set the major league record for most losses in a single (162 game) season. It is indeed a remarkable record, but it's our record; we fans own it and wear it like a red badge of courage. Besides, the Miracle Mets of 1969 do much to cancel out much of that minutia.
"New York is a National League town. Once the Dodgers left and the Giants left the people were sad. I loved New York for the simple reason because they were great fans. Whether we won or whether we lost they cheered us on. They stayed with us." - Frank Thomas
If you look up and down the Mets roster, one can only imagine the high level of professionalism permeating through that locker room. Moreover, after conversing with Frank Thomas, he leaves me with little doubt about his superior leadership qualities and skills. On the field, he plays 156 games for the 1962 Mets, slashes .266/.329/.496, with a team-leading 34 home runs and 94 runs batted in. No Mets player would hit more home runs in a single season until Dave Kingman arrives in Flushing.
"We were a great hitting ball club. We scored an awful lot of runs. We lost games every which way you can imagine losing a ballgame. That's the way the game is. The only thing was we didn't have the pitching ... '62 we lost 51 games in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, by one run. If you put those together with the games we won, we'd be playing for the pennant." - Frank Thomas
Frank Thomas makes a good point, as the Mets posted a 19-39 record in one-run games and a 4-13 record in extra-inning games. They average 3.8 runs per game and allowed 5.9 runs. To put that in context, the 1962 Giants and Dodgers finish the regular season tied atop the circuit, thus requiring a National League playoff. The San Francisco Giants prevail (again), ending the regular season with a 103-62 record while averaging 5.3 runs per game.
"You gotta have a catcher or you're gonna have a lot of passed balls" reasons Stengel.
With the Mets' first overall pick in the 1961 expansion draft, Casey Stengel famously selects backup catcher Hobie Landrith. Classic Casey, perhaps, but Landrith winds up slashing a very respectable .289/.389/.422, with four extra-base hits, seven RBI, and eight walks, through 23 games and 54 official at-bats before being sold to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for future folklore hero Marv Throneberry. After this, Casey spreads catching duties amongst Choo Choo Coleman, Chris Cannizzaro, and Sammy Taylor. They join together for a combined .237 average, with 27 extra-base hits, nine home runs, and 46 runs batted through 443 at-bats. There's nothing funny about that. To the home crowd's delight, former Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Joe Pignatano also appears in 58 games for the Mets. Back on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 1957, the Dodgers play the Pirates in Brooklyn. Pignatano relieves Roy Campanella behind the plate. With two outs in the top of the ninth and Pittsburgh first baseman Dee Fondy at-bat, Pignatano is crouched behind the plate for the last ever major league pitch thrown at Ebbets Field. Many Mets fans might better remember Joe as a Mets coach spanning the 1968-1981 seasons, or better yet, for planting the bullpen tomato garden.
Positioned at first base is a man held throughout baseball in high esteem, one they call the Quiet Man, former Brooklyn/LA Dodgers great Gil Hodges. He bats .252 through 52 games and 127 at-bats, with nine home runs and 17 runs batted in. Three of his home runs come in one day. On 5/30/1962, the Los Angeles Dodgers return to New York City for the first time since leaving Brooklyn. Click HERE/YouTube for game two of the Dodgers and Mets doubleheader at the Polo Grounds in which Gil Hodges hits the third of his three home runs. The Polo Grounds crowd goes bonkers! What an exciting listen.
ICYMI: Gil Hodges: Remembering The Quiet Man wherein I make my best argument for his inclusion into baseball's Hall of Fame.
"Why Gil Hodges is not in the Hall of Fame boggles my mind." - Frank Thomas
In the early 1970s, I am transplanted into East Flatbush, Brooklyn. My family moves onto a quiet dead-end block abutting Holy Cross Cemetery. One day in 1972, my mom, along with other grown-ups and neighbors, some crying, escorted a bunch of us kids down Snyder Avenue to catch a view of Gil Hodges' funeral procession. I receive a full briefing as to what I had just witnessed once we get back home. I am five years old at that time, and so begins the education of yours truly, as I remember it.
Then there's Marvelous Marv Throneberry, who in 1962 would become the Mets primary first baseman, who both amazingly and atrociously goes on to have the best season of his career. A former American Leaguer, he sets career highs with 16 home runs and 49 runs batted in. But to watch him in action is to know Marvelous Marv giveth, and Marvelous Marv taketh away. Despite being best known for his litany of fielding gaffes, he is a crowd favorite as twelve of his sixteen home runs are hit at the Polo Grounds.
Charlie Neal is another former member of the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers and solid infielder, who takes his place at second base for the Mets. At 31-years of age, Neal registers quite the representative campaign in 1962, batting .260 with eleven home runs and 58 runs batted in through 508 at-bats. The two-time All-Star's best season is 1959 when Charlie bats .287 with 19 home runs and 83 runs batted in, and a league-leading eleven triples.
Elio Chacon and Felix Mantilla are responsible for both shortstop and third base. Mantilla comes to the Mets via the Milwaukee Braves with whom he wins back to back pennants and the 1957 World Series. As experience goes, he played alongside Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, Red Schoendienst, Lew Burdette, Mr. Frank Thomas, and 1951 New York Giants hero Bobby Thompson. Don Zimmer, also a veteran of four seasons at Brooklyn, plays just fourteen games at third base, only because he is traded to the Cincinnati Reds in May.
"The Polo Grounds was a great hitter's field for me because I was strictly a pull hitter ... and the porch was very very close but every home run that I hit at the Polo Grounds wasn't a cheap home run. I mean, it was over the top of the roof most of the time." - Frank Thomas
By the way, Frank Thomas, in 1962, hits 18 home runs at home, and 17 home runs on the road. He debuts in 1951 as a 22-year old Pittsburgh Pirate, signed by, but self-admittedly not very fond of, general manager Branch Rickey. He is teammates with a young Vern Law, Pete Reiser, Ralph Kiner, Gus Bell, and 20-game winner Murry Dickson. Joe Garagiola is coming into his own, and in 1952 Dick Groat joins the team. Frank Thomas experiences a breakout season in 1953, batting .255 with 30 home runs and 102 RBI. In 1955 he became teammates with rookie Roberto Clemente, and in 1956 is joined by Bill Mazeroski. Thomas enjoys his best season in 1958 with a .281 average, 35 home runs, and 109 RBI. His 1962 season with the Mets is arguably the third-best in his career, challenged perhaps only by his 1954 season.
Former Philadelphia Phillies great, lead-off hitter extraordinaire, and member of the Hall of Fame, Richie Ashburn spends the last season of his 15-year career with the Mets, and what a season it is. At 35-years of age, he puts forth a strong performance, appearing in 135 games, batting over .300 for the ninth time in his career, and not since 1958. His .424 OBP ranks among his career-best and is the sixth time he breaks the .400 mark. Ashburn also hits a career-high seven home runs. He retires with over 2,500 hits, two batting titles, and a career .308 batting average.
Right fielder Gus Bell is an absolute stud during his years with the Cincinnati Reds. Between 1953 and 1959, four times, he drives in over one hundred runs. He plays 30 games and manages 101 at-bats with the Mets before being shipped to Milwaukee to complete the deal for Frank Thomas. Joe Christopher, rookie Jim Hickman, and Gene Woodling (to a lesser extent) are charged with handling right field. And herein lies a glimpse into the genius that is Casey Stengel as the three aforementioned right fielders join forces on a combined 102 runs batted in.
Generally speaking, the Brooklyn Dodgers contingent is well received. Gil Hodges, Don Zimmer, Joe Pignatano, Roger Craig, Clem Labine, and Charlie Neal are all on hand at various points during the season, giving back to former and still heartbroken Brooklyn fans albeit donning a Mets uniform. Ironically no former New York Giants players make the 1962 Mets roster.
But the story doesn't stop here ...
Casey Stengel recruits two coaches worthy of honor. Casey brings in old friend Red Ruffing as pitching coach. The two know each other from their days together with the Yankees. Ruffing is a four-time 20-game winner for the Bombers and winner of 273 games overall. In 1932 he posted an 18-7 record and a 3.09 ERA, with a league-leading 190 strikeouts. Later in 1938, he leads the league with 21 wins against seven losses with a 3.31 ERA. In 1967 Red Ruffing was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame. Casey also enlists as a scout and third base coach the great Rogers Hornsby, in his mid 60's. As a player, the back of his baseball card is so italicized that it resembles chickenpox. Hornsby hits .300 or better 19 times in 23 major league seasons and hits over .400 three times. He retires with a lifetime .358 batting average, .434 OBP, and .577 slugging average, with 541 doubles, 301 home runs, and 1,584 career RBI. He wins seven batting titles, twice leads the league in home runs, and four times leads in runs batted in. In 1942 Rogers Hornsby was enshrined into baseball's Hall of Fame.
THE POLO GROUNDS
Imagine all this taking place at one of the most hallowed ballparks of all time. John McGraw's lair, where the New York Giants capture sixteen National League pennants and seven World Series titles. Where Willie Mays makes perhaps the greatest catch in World Series history. Where Bobby Thompson hits, the shot heard round the world. The site of Merkle's boner, and where Christy Mathewson demonstrates his master craftsmanship and mound brilliance. Mel Ott, Monte Irvin, Bill Terry, Frankie Frisch, High Pockets Kelly, Rube Marquard, and Carl Hubbell establish Hall of Fame careers. And wherein the New York Yankees take up residence in 1912 alongside the Giants until their eviction by John McGraw after the 1922 season. But not before Babe Ruth begins taking the world by storm, and from whence emerge Bob Meusel, Carl Mays, Wally Pip, Waite Hoyt, and the oncoming dynastic New York Yankees. Leading up to 1962, the Polo Grounds undergoes some minor alterations and gets a new paint job, and just like that, the Mets take up residence in one of New York City's most fabled structures. I am born five years after the Mets inaugural season, three years after the demolition of the Polo Grounds. Back then, my family lives within nine blocks from Coogan's Bluff.
There's another game for your listening enjoyment: the Giants return to the Polo Grounds on June 1, 1962, for the first time since leaving Manhattan after the 1957 season. Easily discernible are the numerous fans in attendance cheering their old heroes, namely Willie Mays, who receives a rousing ovation. But the boisterous crowd is overwhelmingly supportive of their New York Mets. It's a great game, with great action and a great atmosphere, with a grand narrative again provided by Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner, and Bob Murphy.
In closing, I'm thankful for my friends and fellow Mets fans Sam and Rich, who, in part, inspires this post.
My final words: Life works in cycles.
My final words: Life works in cycles.
In 1880, John B. Day and Jim Mutrie found the independent New York Metropolitans baseball club, who played at the 110th Street Polo Grounds. After declining an invitation in 1882, the Metropolitans, in 1883, become affiliated with the American Association. Meanwhile, that same season Day and Mutrie establish a second ball club slated for play in the National League. With several players imported from the defunct Troy Haymakers, the New York Gothams in 1883 officially launches their inaugural season. And so begins John Day's and Jim Mutrie's slow but sure defunding of the Metropolitans and increased investment into the Gothams. The Mets are inevitably sold after the 1885 season, and the Gothams would shortly adopt the name, Giants. Over seven decades later, Joan Payson sells her shares in those very New York Giants then turns her attention towards financing the establishment of the New York Metropolitans baseball club with home games to be played at the 155th Street Polo Grounds.
Amazin'
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