1979 was the year that formed me as a Mets fan. Sure, I went to my first game at the age of 5. I actually have memories of Tom Seaver pitching against the Reds while sitting in the loge section in ’76. But it was 1979 that hooked me. Keep in mind that this was the season after the Yankees won two titles, and almost everybody in my class was wearing Yankee hats. But as I look back I realized that I don’t have a lot of memories of 1977 or 1978, baseball-wise. Even though I remember Tom Seaver pitching at Shea in my first ever game, I don’t have a lot of memories of the Seaver trade. So when 1979 came along I had no ill will towards Steve Henderson, Pat Zachry, Dan Norman or Doug Flynn. In fact, Flynn was probably my first “favorite player”. And I certainly wanted to follow a different path from seemingly everyone else in New York.
I went to nine games in 1979 and the team went 0-9. I thought it was my fault, even though I was nowhere to be found for the other ninety losses. Undeterred, I listened to the last three games of the year on my little radio (yes, I grew up as that baseball fan stereotype you hear about) just to see if the Mets could avoid 100 losses. Crazily enough they did, and my faith swelled in the New York Mets. (You see, before I became a cranky blogger who rails against the talk radio nonsense about how six wins in seven to end the season has nothing to do with “momentum” going into the following season, I was easily swayed by three victories just to avoid 100 losses.)
In 1980, my faith was rewarded when Nelson Doubleday Jr. bought the team. Now I’m not going to tell you that a nine-year-old who stared lazily in the sky while playing boys league soccer knew the nuance of whether a publisher would make a good baseball owner. All I knew was that he was in direct lineage to Abner Doubleday, who in 1979 was known as the inventor of baseball. The guy had an ancestor who invented baseball. That was good enough for me. I knew there would be no way the Mets would be stopped now.
Well, the Mets didn’t get good because the owner was related to the inventor of baseball. In fact, that whole story about Abner Doubleday inventing baseball … not so true. But Nelson Doubleday didn’t have to have a link to the invention of the sport. All he had to do was hire the right people, and care. Nelson Doubleday cared. He cared enough to make decisions which contributed to the health of the baseball team he owned. Not real estate … not get rich quicker schemes. He actually cared about the New York Mets and their fans. His actions showed it. Nobody ever asked “why don’t we hear from Nelson Doubleday” on this issue or that issue. Because his actions always spoke louder to Mets fans.
My only hope is that when Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez spoke about Doubleday as he has now passed on … how he was the same person no matter the standings … how he didn’t meddle … I hope people listened. Specific people.
Thank you, Mr. Doubleday, for showing a young kid that there was so much more to hope for in baseball than simply avoiding 100 losses.
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