Bringing fresh perspectives to the team that has brought joy, triumph and even a miracle to New York City, this collection of new essays examines portrayals of the Mets in film, television, advertising and other media. Contributors cover little-known aspects of Mets history that even die-hard fans may not know. Topics include the popularity of Rheingold’s advertising in the 1950s and 1960s, Bob Murphy’s broadcasting career before joining the Mets’ announcing team in 1962, Mr. Met’s rivalry with the Phillie Phanatic, Dave Kingman’s icon status, the pitching staff’s unsung performance after the 1969 World Series victory, and Joan Payson’s world-renowned art collection and philanthropy.

David Krell is the author of “Our Bums”: The Brooklyn Dodgers in History, Memory and Popular Culture and the editor of The New York Yankees in Popular Culture: Critical Essays. He is also the chair of the Society for American Baseball Research Northern New Jersey Chapter, also known as the Elysian Fields Chapter.

Edited by David Krell

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 254
Bibliographic Info: 16 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8010-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4079-2
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
“Of Great Renown”: A Brief History of an Early Mets Sponsor (Debra Schmidt Bach) 5
Mets in the Movies (Rob Edelman) 17
Murphy Before the Mets (Donna L. Halper) 27
Joan Payson: Beyond Blue and Orange (Leslie Heaphy) 41
Swagger Comes to Town: The Evolution of Attitude at Shea Stadium in the 1980s (Paul Hensler) 52
More Than a Miracle: Mets Pitchers of the Early 1970s (Scott Doughtie and Douglas Jordan) 67
Straight Up NYC, Like a Mets Fitted: How the New York Mets ­Influenced ­Hip-Hop Music and Culture (Jamayne Lavar King) 79
(900) 976–1313 (David Krell) 88
A Tale of Two Fans: Josh Lyman, Toby Ziegler and The West Wing (David Krell) 102
Meet the 19th Century Mets (Bill Lamb) 116
The Life and Times of Mr. Met (Martin Lessner) 129
The Mets Baseball Hat and ­Human-Thing Entanglement in City Slickers and Gone Girl (David M. Pegram) 147
The Happy Cap: Blue Collar and Orange in a ­Popular-Culture ­Context (Richard Pioreck) 159
Hizzoner’s Honors: The Mets, the Yankees and the Mayor’s Trophy (Matt Rothenberg) 167
Come Out and See My Amazing Mets: Casey Stengel and the Selling of the New York Mets (William J. Ryczek) 183
The Concerts at Shea Stadium (Derek Stadler, Elizabeth Jardine and Alexandra Rojas) 196
Sky King of Queens: The Iconography of Dave Kingman in New York (Charlie Vascellaro) 209
Bibliography 221
About the Contributors 223
Index 226

“Krell and his collaborators make a thoughtful case for the Mets mattering in every corner of the universe they touch.”—Faith and Fear in Flushing