# The Miracle Mets' First Game: April 23, 1962

On April 23, 1962, one of baseball's most lovable losers played their very first game, though nobody could have predicted the rollercoaster journey ahead for the New York Mets.

The expansion Mets took the field at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis to face the Cardinals, marking the beginning of what would become one of the most simultaneously disastrous and beloved inaugural seasons in sports history. The team was born from the ashes of New York's heartbreak after losing both the Giants and Dodgers to California in 1957, and the city was desperate for National League baseball to return.

Manager Casey Stengel, the legendary skipper who had won seven World Series with the Yankees before being unceremoniously dumped in 1960 for being "too old" at 70, was now leading this ragtag collection of castoffs, has-beens, and never-weres. The irony wasn't lost on anyone.

That first game was a microcosm of the season to come. The Mets lost 11-4, with Cardinals' Stan Musial getting a hit in his final season. But the Mets did manage to score first! Gil Hodges, the beloved former Brooklyn Dodger who would later return to manage the Mets to their miraculous 1969 championship, drove in the franchise's first-ever run.

The starting pitcher was Roger Craig, who would go on to lose 24 games that season (though he won 10, making him one of their better pitchers). The Mets' first-ever hit came from utility man Charlie Neal in the second inning—a small moment of glory in what would become a 120-loss season, still the modern record for futility.

What made this team special wasn't their performance but their spirit. Playing in the outdated Polo Grounds while Shea Stadium was being built, the Mets drew an astonishing 922,530 fans despite their horrendous record. New York had fallen in love with their "Amazin' Mets," a nickname coined by Stengel himself, usually uttered with a mixture of bewilderment and affection.

The roster was a nostalgic trip for New York fans: aging former Brooklyn stars like Hodges, Craig, and Duke Snider, along with former Giants like Don Zimmer. They were terrible at baseball but wonderful at capturing hearts. Stengel's quotable musings about his team became legendary: "Can't anybody here play this game?" he famously asked.

That first game represented hope—misplaced as it turned out for 1962, but hope nonetheless. And incredibly, just seven years later, those same "Miracle Mets" would win the 1969 World Series in one of sports' greatest Cinderella stories, proving that every journey, no matter how humble its beginning, has the potential for magic.

The 1962 Mets were so bad they inspired books, documentaries, and endless affection. Jimmy Breslin wrote "Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?" chronicling their lovable ineptitude. But April 23, 1962, represented something pure: a new beginning, a fresh start, and the return of National League baseball to New York City. Sometimes in sports, it's not about winning—it's about what a team represents to its city and fans.

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

This episode includes AI-generated content.