Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 146

game, Throneberry hit a massive shot to right, winding up on third base, only to be called out for missing first. Stengel came from the dugout to argue, only to be told that Throneberry had missed second base as well.

“Can't anyone play this here game?” - Casey Stengel, on his 1962 Mets.

Stengel tried incessantly to promote the Mets, talking to reporters or anyone else who would listen. He often used the word "amazin" and soon this became the "Amazin' Mets," a nickname that stuck. Stengel urged the fans; "Come out and see my amazin' Mets. I been in this game a hundred years but I see new ways to lose I never knew existed before." Stengel was successful in selling the team to some extent, as the Mets drew

900,000 fans. The team was less successful on the field, finishing with a record of 40–120, the most losses of any 20th century major league team. They finished 60 games behind the pennant winning Giants, and 18 games behind ninth place Chicago.

The 1963 season unfolded for the Mets much like the previous year, though this time they lost only eight games to begin the season, rather than nine. But they still finished 51–111, in last place. One highlight, though it did not count in the standings, was the Mayor's Trophy Game on June 20 at Yankee