| With the Mets' glory-bound, I thought it was a good time in late September to dip into Mets history. I went back to some of the clips of my pieces covering the original Mets, the Mets of old Sherman (Roadblock) Jones in 1962.
September 24: A Sentimental Journey to Nostalgia Now, while the glory hallelujah chorus gets ready to burst into the Song of Mets Songs (play it again, Sam) it behooved this traveler to take a sentimental journey back into the 1962 sports pages here for a look at some of the precious prose that attended the early days of the Mets March 20. From a dispatch recording the Mets' opening day of spring training: St. Petersburg, Fla. -- Baseball is what the people make of it and something of what they make of it may have been evident yesterday during the first few moments of what is light-heartedly being called the historic first official day of the Mets' spring training operation. The 23 players here--mostly young pitchers and catchers--came out of the clubhouse in something between an amble and a slouch. Directed by Casey Stengel's quips, they did it a second time for the photographers. They took off on one of sport's memorable sights, a ragtag jog once around the field. The athletes headed toward right field, scattering a flock of gossiping sea gulls. At just about that moment the 100 or so spectators rose up and broke into a respectful round of hand-clapping.
One middle-aged man, who sounded like a New Yorker, leaned over the railing and called in a voice so soft it couldn't be heard by the players, "Good luck, fellows. Do a good job." April 12. From a dispatch recording the Mets' opening game 11-4 loss to the Cardinals. St. Louis -- There is no Santa Claus, the meek shall not inherit the earth and the Mets will not win all their games. The brutality of their own limitations was so evident in the Mets' 11-4 opening game loss to the Cardinals last night that the weak-hearted might fear for their losing all their games. First impressions are damning. Things became so painful in the late stages of this long-awaited debut of New York's new team that it was hard to remember they actually made a fight of it for five innings. There were noble blows in the form of Gil Hodges' home run--a most fitting Mets' first--in the fourth inning and Charley Neal's homer in the fifth. That put them at a deficit of only 5-4, but then their limitations started showing. In addition to the little mistakes that don't show up in the box score, there were the big mistakes: three errors, three stolen bases for the Cards and 16 St. Louis hits off four Mets pitchers. . . "Damn, blankety blank and damn," said Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn. April 24. From a dispatch recording their first victory after an opening nine-game losing streak: Pittsburgh -- A team that wins one of 10 games can't be all bad. The Mets made it last night, just when it seemed that curses, tears and Mrs. Payson's moneybags wouldn't be enough. When their 9-1 maiden victory over the unbeaten Pirates was a reality, the Mets were ready with jokes. They are, of course, a humpty-dumpty band, but they do have their moments of charm. "Break up the Mets" from the lips of Joe Ginsberg was the first cry sounded in the dressing room. Then there was the shout, "Where's the champ?" with a respectful smattering of hand-clapping as winning pitcher Jay Hook walked into the first hero's welcome ever enjoyed by a Met. Then Casey Stengel took over in the kind of performance that made him a national institution with the Yankees. "We shouldn'ta lost a game," Stengel said, burlesquing it as only he can. "I don't see how we ever lost a game (laughter). We sure was on a long nap (grins). It's a shame that losing streak might have knocked us out of a pennant (laughter). We might win 20 straight games right now (yocks)." He posed with Hook and said, "I might pitch you every day." Hook answered, "Good." Then Stengel, aware that Hook had contributed a two-run single to his cause, said, 'But you didn't hit as good as I expected.' From there it was a hop, skip and a cha-cha in the nude over to Elio Chacon. Stengel said, "You played shortstop like you owned Venezuela." The Mets scored two runs in the first inning and knocked starter Tom Sturdivant out with four runs in the second. From that point, the drama was on the pitching mound as Hook labored to hold the lead. He held it. There was nothing noble about it though, because the Pirates sprayed Forbes Field with line drives hit right at Met outfielders. Nobility is not going to be the hallmark of the Mets for a long time.
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Hodges Gets His Hits With a Ballpoint Pen 
