April 11, 1962. Five years after the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants had left the east coast for California, National League baseball returned to New York with the dawn of the New York Mets. William Shea, a prominent New York lawyer, had been instrumental in bringing National League baseball back to the Big Apple.
The team’s full name was the New York Metropolitan Baseball club, though other possible names for the club had been considered, such as the Burros, the Bees, and even the Avengers. But as per the owners’ choice and an extended public vote, New York Metropolitans it was.