New York Metropolitans
| New York Metropolitans | |
|---|---|
| League | American Association |
| Location | New York City |
| Ballpark | St. George Cricket Grounds |
| Year founded | 1880 |
| Nickname(s) | The Mets |
| Former league(s) | St. George Cricket Grounds |
| Former ballparks |
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| Colors | Teal Black White |
| 1883–1887 | 270-309 W-L |
| American Association Pennant (1) | |
| Ownership |
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| Manager |
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The Metropolitan Club (the New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. The New York Metropolitan Baseball Club was the name originally chosen in 1961 for the current day New York Mets franchise.
The Metropolitan Club was founded in 1880 as an independent professional team by business entrepreneur John B. Day and baseball manager Jim Mutrie. Initially the team played its games in Brooklyn and in Hoboken, New Jersey as the other New York area clubs did at the time. However, by September, Day had arranged the use of a polo field just north of Central Park in Manhattan, bounded by 5th & 6th Avenues and 110th & 112th Streets. The site became known as the Polo Grounds, the first professional baseball park in Manhattan. The club name, "Metropolitan", had previously been used by a team that played its home games in the Hamilton Square neighborhood of New York as early as 1858.
The National League had expelled the Mutual Club of New York following the 1876 season for failing to make their final road trip of the year and by 1881 had still not replaced them with another New York City franchise. The upstart American Association therefore saw a significant opportunity when it invited the Metropolitan to join the new league for its 1882 inaugural season. Metropolitan declined, however, since joining would have meant forgoing lucrative home exhibition games against National League opponents.
Because of Metropolitan's financial success at the Polo Grounds, and because each league knew that it needed a successful New York City franchise to compete against the other, at the end of 1882 both leagues tendered franchise offers to the Mets. Unbeknownst to the leagues, though, the Mets accepted both invitations. To satisfy these commitments, owners Day and Mutrie acquired the Troy franchise that had been eliminated from the National League (along with Worcester) to make room for new franchises in New York City and Philadelphia. Day and Mutrie entered the Mets into the American Association and a newly created New York club into the National League. The teams shared use of the Polo Grounds, which was reconfigured with two diamonds and two grandstands.
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