Nelson Doubleday Jr., the publishing giant who bought the Mets and oversaw their World Series championship in 1986 and later separated from the Wilpons in 2002, died Tuesday at his home in Locust Valley. He was 81.
"We were saddened to hear the news of the passing of Nelson Doubleday, Jr.," the Mets said Wednesday night in a statement. "Nelson had a love of baseball and the Mets. On behalf of everyone at the organization, we send our condolences and sympathies to his family."
Doubleday, who grew up in Oyster Bay, took over the family's book publishing business started by his grandfather, Frank Nelson Doubleday, and maintained by his father Nelson Doubleday.