"Meet the Mets" is the

fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...

of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

. The music and lyrics were written in 1961 by

Ruth Roberts Ruth Roberts (August 31, 1926 – June 30, 2011) was an American songwriter. Life and career She was born in Port Chester, New York, to Robert and Lillian Mulwitz. She was educated at Port Chester High School, Northwestern University, and the J ...

and Bill Katz, and it was originally recorded by

Glenn Osser Abraham Arthur "Glenn" Osser (August 28, 1914 – April 29, 2014) was an American musician, musical arranger, orchestra leader, and songwriter. His birthname was Abraham (Abe), but much of his work was under the name Glenn; he can be found with re ...

's orchestra. The song's lyrics "East Side, West Side" are a tribute to

The Sidewalks of New York "The Sidewalks of New York" is a popular song about life in New York City during the 1890s. It was composed in 1894 by vaudeville actor and singer Charles B. Lawlor (June 2, 1852 – May 31, 1925) with lyrics by James W. Blake (September 23, ...

, a popular New York song of the 1890s. Rewritten and modernized versions were recorded in 1975 and 1984. It was chosen by Mets' President George Weiss, director of promotions Julie Adler, and representatives of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in a contest for an official song that was run by the Mets, and beat 18 other entries. Although the Mets' inaugural season and the return of

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

baseball to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

was in , the master recording was not made until March 1, . The team sold 45 rpm records of the song for $1.00 at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

, their home stadium in 1963, and via mail order. "Meet the Mets" was also featured in a " This is SportsCenter" commercial starring

Mr. Met Mr. Met is the official mascot for Major League Baseball's New York Mets. Mr. Met first appeared in 1963 as a cartoon drawing in programs. When the team moved to Shea Stadium the following year, he came to life in the form of a costumed mascot - ...

as well as on ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and ...

'' (" The Millennium") and ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American sitcom television series created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch an ...

'' (" Big Shots"). Rock band

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James M ...

recorded a version of "Meet the Mets" live on New Jersey radio station

WFMU WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998 its studios and operating facilities have been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts locally at 91.1 Mhz FM, i ...

that was included on the 2006 compilation album '' Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics''. The instrumental of the original version opened and closed broadcasts of Met games on

WFAN WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...

radio and is used for lineup rundowns during home games on

SportsNet New York SportsNet New York (SNY) is an American regional sports network owned by Sterling Entertainment Enterprises, LLC, itself a joint venture between the Fred Wilpon (which owns a controlling 65% interest) Sterling Equities, Charter Communications ...

, while part of the 1984 update opened and closed WFAN's ''Mets Extra'' pre- and post-game shows. For the 2009 season, with the closing of

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

and opening of

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...

, the 1984 version was edited by WFAN to cut to the instrumental portion just before the singer sings "Hot dogs, green grass all out at Shea / Guaranteed to have a heck of a day." According to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', the song's original lyrics — ''“Bring your kiddies, bring your wife / Guaranteed to have the time of your life"'' — were viewed as "arguably sexist." In 2008, an updated version the song was recorded with a rap/ hip-hop sound, purportedly to appeal to a younger generation. In the second half of the 2009 season, the Mets' first at

, the original version was often played in the ballpark during breaks in the late innings as a crowd sing-along. Sportswriter

Leonard Koppett Leonard Koppett (September 15, 1923 – June 22, 2003) was an American sportswriter. Born in Moscow as Leonard Kopeliovich, Koppett moved with his family from Moscow, Russia to the United States when he was five years old. They lived in The Br ...

affected the role of classical music critic in 1963 to tweak the song's simplistic composition: “There is little in the score of interest to a mid-20th-century audience. The harmony is traditional; no influences of atonality or polytonality can be found. In fact, it’s sort of un-tonal.” "Meet the Mets" was not the first enduring sports-related song for Roberts and Katz, who were professional songwriters. The duo had earlier written “ Mr. Touchdown, U.S.A.” in 1950, "I Love Mickey," a tribute to

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

centerfielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

recorded in 1956 by

Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...

, and “It’s a Beautiful Day for a Ballgame” in 1960, well known to fans who heard it played regularly at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...

home games.

References

External links

1962 version of the song
{{authority control Major League Baseball fight songs New York Mets 1961 songs Songs written by Ruth Roberts

See also

References

External links