Tom Brennan - OPENING DAY 1962

OPENING DAY....HIP HIP HOORAY!  ENJOY EACH AND EVERY ONE

The Mets open the 2019 season on this fine March the 28th, 2019, on my parents' 71st anniversary. My Mom is now nearly 92, and Dad passed away back in 1974, but he was a true baseball fan, his favorite team being the Yankees.

After watching Maris (my pick) and Mantle chase Babe Ruth in 1961, Dad suggested I root for the Mets, surprisingly enough, and here I am, writing about them 57 years later.  Go figure.

Baseball in 1962 was in its pre-free agent phase, and team revenues in real dollars were drastically smaller - heck, a Yankee bleacher seat at the time cost less than a buck - so teams started their seasons far later than now...just not as bucks-driven.

In 1962, the season kicked off on April 11, a full two weeks later than today's opener.  A lot of revenue to be had from March 28 thru April 10, and long johns will get a player thru most any frigid weather.

Who woulda thunk that the same game of baseball that once produced a 41 game winner in Jack Chesbro would later have an entire 1962 Mets team win only 40?  AMAZIN'!

Wikipedia had this brief recap of the Mets' losing (what else?) opener that fateful day:

The first game in franchise history was played on the road, at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, on Wednesday night, April 11, 1962. The Mets fell behind 5–0 early, then narrowed the deficit to one run, but ultimately lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 11–4. Former Brooklyn Dodgers Gil Hodges and Charlie Neal homered for the Mets, whose home opener at New York's Polo Grounds would wait until their second-ever official game, on Friday, April 13, 1962.

1	Richie Ashburn	CF
18	Félix Mantilla	SS
4	Charlie Neal	2B
25	Frank Thomas	LF
3	Gus Bell	RF
14	Gil Hodges	1B
17	Don Zimmer	3B
5	Hobie Landrith	C
38	Roger Craig	P