New York Mets

NEW YORK METS

The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City. They play in Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League teams, the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. The Mets' colors are composed of the Dodgers' blue and Giants' orange. During the 1962 and 1963 seasons, the Mets played their home games at the Polo Grounds. From 1964 to 2008, the Mets' home ballpark was Shea Stadium. In 2009, they moved into a new ballpark, Citi Field.

In their 1962 inaugural season, the Mets posted a record of 40–120, the worst regular season record since Major League Baseball went to a 162-game schedule (two games were canceled). The team never finished better than second to last until the 1969 "Miracle Mets" beat the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in World Series history. Since then, they have played in three additional World Series, including a dramatic run in 1973 that ended in a Game Seven loss to the Oakland Athletics, a second championship in 1986 over the Boston Red Sox, and a Subway Series loss against their cross-town rivals the New York Yankees in the 2000 World Series.

The Mets have made one playoff appearance since then, when in 2006 they came within one game of the World Series, losing to the eventual champion St. Louis Cardinals in the 2006 National League Championship Series. The Mets missed the playoffs with losses on the last day of the regular season in 2007 and 2008 and have finished with losing records every year since. In 2010, the Mets hired a new general manager, Sandy Alderson, and a new manager, Terry Collins.

CITI FIELD

Citi Field is a stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens. Completed in 2009, it is the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. Citi Field was built as a replacement for the adjacent Shea Stadium, which opened in 1964 next to the site of the 1964–1965 World's Fair. Citi Field was designed by Populous (formerly HOK Sport), and is named after Citigroup, a New York financial services company which purchased the naming rights. The $850 million baseball park was funded by the sale of New York City municipal bonds which are to be repaid by the Mets plus interest. The payments will offset property taxes for the lifetime of the park.

The first game at Citi Field was on March 29, 2009, with a college baseball game between St. John's and Georgetown. The Mets played their first two games at the ballpark on April 3 and April 4, 2009 against the Boston Red Sox as charity exhibition games. The first regular season home game was played on April 13, 2009, against the San Diego Padres. Citi Field hosted the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. This marked the second time the Mets have hosted the game, the first being 1964, the inaugural season of Shea Stadium.