| I polled these Mets to find out where they were when the team was formed in 1962.
October 8: Youth of America Answered Casey's Call In the beginning, the time of the Hobie Landriths and Don Zimmers in 1962, Casey Stengel would mount a soap box and appeal to the Youth of America to sign on with the Mets. He said there would be quick advancement because a young man could make a living with a new team. The Youth of America answered Stengel's call to arms; now they are here, and now they are the toast of the megalopolis. Where were they in February, 1962, when Stengel gathered his forces at St. Petersburg? Where were they when men took one look at the first Mets squad and began quoting parodies of Emma Lazarus' poem of dedication to the Statue of Liberty, having the Mets reaching out saying something like:
Give me your tired, your old
They were scattered, as Stengel knew, across the great land, from the Gulf Stream waters to New York Island. Here is something of a rundown of the current Mets and their whereabouts and awareness of the team when it first was assembled. Art Shamsky: "In February, 1962, I was in a big league camp with the Cincinnati Reds at Tampa. I was aware of the Mets all right and the thing that struck me about them getting started was that I had signed into organized baseball too soon. In the Reds' organization I had Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson and Tommy Harper ahead of me. I wished I could be with the Mets. I knew I'd get a chance much sooner." Tom Seaver: "I have no recollection of the Mets when they came into being. I was in high school. I recall that I was a baseball fan of the Old Guard. I didn't like the idea of change. I resented the moving from city to city even though I lived in Fresno and the Giants came to San Francisco. I was a Milwaukee fan and my hero was Henry Aaron." Ken Boswell: "I was in 10th grade at William B. Travis High School in Austin, Texas. I was the kind of kid who knew everything about baseball. I was either playing ball or reading about it so I knew about the Mets getting started. I wanted to be a ball player, but I don't think I ever dreamed that kids would be reading about me today."
Tug McGraw: "I may have been a Met fan before anybody on this team because the Mes already were interested in my brother by February of 1962. They signed him that year so I said, 'Let's go Mets.' " Ed Charles: "I was in the Kansas City camp and all I was interested in was making that team because I knew it would my last chance. I recall that in an exhibition game against the Mets Gil Hodges hit a vicious line drive off my chest that went into the third-base dugout." Ron Swoboda: "I was a 17-year-old senior in high school at Sparrows Point in Baltimore. I played center field. I wasn't thinking about the Mets or big league baseball because I was too busy playing ball. I wasn't even an Oriole fan. I played five games a week on two different teams and the man that I had played for became a part-time scout, and he recommended me to the organization." Ron Taylor: "I already had graduated from the Univeristy of Toronto and was trying to make it with the Indians. I knew the Mets were going bad and had bought one of our catchers, Harry Chiti. The Mets sent him back again, didn't they? I remember wondering who got the better of the deal." Bud Harrelson: "I was a senior at Sunset High in Heyward, California and I already was being scouted by the Mets. I signed with them in 1963. They had a lot of older guys, but I knew it was only temporary."
Cleon Jones: "I was in college at Alcorn A&M. I was always wrapped up in baseball. As a kid I cared only about the top teams, but a guy who played in Mobile saw me and let the Mets know. I signed with them in July and I was up for a cup of coffee in the Polo Grounds the next year." Cal Koonce: "That was my first spring training with the Cubs. I was busy trying to win a job there. I was impressed with the fact that the presence of the Mets in the league would mean I would be going to New York and the Polo Grounds during the season. I liked that idea because a lot of my boyhood idols had played in the Polo Grounds. I read baseball history about Bobby Thomson and Mel Ott and Carl Hubbell and Willie Mays. Also Joe DiMaggio. He was my idol." Tommie Agee: "I was in the Cleveland Indian camp at Tucson and I got sent down to Burlington. The only thing in my mind was how bad they were." Gil Hodges: "February, 1962? Let's see. Now where was I then. . ." (Hodges, who long ago learned how to kid a kidder, was one of the original Mets.)
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The Unbelievables Make Us Believe 
