2003 New York Mets

In 1962, the team's first season, the Mets posted a league-worst 40-120 record. But seven years later the so-called 'Miracle' Mets of 1969 shocked the baseball world by winning the NL pennant and going on to defeat the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. The team was led by NL Cy Young Award winner Tom Seaver.

In 1986 New York won 108 games en route to its second World Series championship. The team's powerful offense was led by Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, and Darryl Strawberry. A year earlier Dwight Gooden, at age 20, had become the youngest pitcher ever to win the Cy Young Award. In 2000 a youthful Mets squad won the NL title but lost the World Series to their cross-town rivals, the New York Yankees.

The Mets were formed in 1962. During their first two seasons the Mets played at the Polo Grounds, the former home of the New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants). The Mets moved to the Shea Stadium before the start of the 1965 season. The team's first manager was 71-year-old Casey Stengel. Stengel had led the New York Yankees to seven World Series championships in the 1940s and 1950s. Despite Stengel's leadership and lineups that featured Gil Hodges, Roger Craig, Richie Ashburn, and Frank Thomas, New York finished at or near the bottom of the league during the franchise's first seven seasons.

In 1968 Hodges replaced Stengel as manager. His young, talented pitching staff included starters Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan, and Tom Seaver (NL rookie of the year) and reliever Tug McGraw. A potent offense featured outfielders Tommie Agee, Cleon Jones, and Ron Swoboda. In 1969 the Mets swept past the Chicago Cubs late in the season to win the East Division title. In the World Series, New York defeated the Baltimore Orioles'”owners of the best record in baseball'”to complete one of the most surprising championship seasons in major league history.

The Mets remained highly competitive during the early 1970s, placing third in 1970 and 1971. Hodges died of a heart attack before the start of the 1972 season and was replaced by former New York Yankees star Yogi Berra, who guided the club to another third-place finish. In 1973 the Mets again became unlikely champions. The team rose from last place to first in the East Division in the season's closing weeks by winning 29 of its last 43 games. Seaver won his second Cy Young Award, and the Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds for the NL pennant, but New York lost to the Oakland Athletics in the World Series.

In the ten seasons from 1974 to 1983, the Mets finished no better than third place. In a rebuilding effort the team put together a young lineup featuring first baseman Keith Hernandez, outfielder Darryl Strawberry, and pitchers Ron Darling and Dwight Gooden. Both Strawberry and Gooden had been named NL rookie of the year (Strawberry in 1983 and Gooden in 1984), and the two youngsters helped the Mets to second-place finishes in 1984 and 1985.

In 1986 New York won a franchise-record 108 games and a third NL pennant. Strawberry, veteran catcher Gary Carter, and Hernandez powered the team's offense as New York met the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. The Mets were one strike away from elimination in the tenth inning of game six, but two crucial Boston errors gave the Mets the win and pushed the series to a seventh game, in which New York captured the championship. The Mets won another division title in 1988 and placed second in 1989 and 1990 before dropping to the bottom of the division from 1991 through 1993. The Mets began to improve in the mid-1990s. Stars included catcher Mike Piazza, second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo, and pitchers John Franco and Al Leiter. In 2000 the relatively young team reached the World Series, playing a so-called Subway Series against the New York Yankees. The Mets lost the series 4 games to 1.

In 2002, the A's had yet another glorious regular season featuring another marvelous second half, followed by another ignominious post-season defeat, followed by another good offseason.