1962 New York Mets season
| 1962 New York Mets | |
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| Inaugural Season | |
| Major League affiliations | |
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| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Joan Payson |
| General manager(s) | George Weiss |
| Manager(s) | Casey Stengel |
| Local television | WOR-TV |
| Local radio |
WABC (AM) (Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy) |
| Next season > | |
The 1962 New York Mets season was the first regular season for the Mets, as the National League returned to New York City for the first time since 1957. They went 40–120 (.250) and finished tenth and last in the National League, 60 1⁄2 games behind the NL Champion San Francisco Giants, who once called New York home. The Mets' 120 losses are the most by any MLB team in one season since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (20-134, .130). Since then, the 2003 Detroit Tigers have come the closest to matching this mark, at 43-119 (.265).
The team lost its first game 11–4 to the St. Louis Cardinals on April 11, and went on to lose its first nine games. After a 12–19 record on May 20 after sweeping a doubleheader, the Mets lost their next 17 games. They also lost 11 straight from July 15 to July 26, and 13 straight from August 9 to August 21. Their longest winning streak of the season was three.
The Mets were managed by Casey Stengel and played their home games at the Polo Grounds, which was their temporary home while Shea Stadium was being built in Queens. They are rather infamous for their futility, and were one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball history. The pitching staff allowed the most runs (948) in the majors.
Despite the futility of the team, fans came out in droves. Their attendance of 922,530 was good enough for 6th in the National League that year.
The season was chronicled in Jimmy Breslin's humorous best-selling book Can't Anybody Here Play This Game? The title came from a remark made by Manager Casey Stengel expressing his frustration over the team's ineptitude.
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