Metropolitan Baseball Nine 1882
Image Source: Napoleon Sarony. Maintained by Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Image Subject: Image of the New York Metropolitans baseball team in 1882 posed for a studio portrait, wearing white uniforms with blue neckties.
Fun Fact: In 1876, the National League expelled the Mutual Club of New York baseball team for failing to make their final road trip of the year. At about the same time, the upstart American Association was looking to make inroads into the lucrative New York market.
Because of Metropolitan's financial success at the Polo Grounds, and because each league knew that it needed a successful New York City franchise to compete, at the end of 1882 both leagues tendered franchise offers to the Mets. Unbeknownst to the leagues, the Mets accepted both invitations.
To navigate through this creative dilemma, owners John Day and Jim Mutrie acquired a second team. The Mets went to the Association and newly created New York team went to the National League. In the style of the day, the clubs were often called the "Metropolitans" and the "New Yorks". The "New Yorks" would eventually acquire the separate nicknames of the "Gothams" and then the "Giants". The Metropolitan club was referred to as either the "Metropolitans" or the "Mets". Financially, the Gothams had more promise due to the National League's stability while the Mets struggled to survive, eventually failing in 1887.
In 1962, when the National League added a franchise to replace the departed Giants and Dodgers, the owners and the fans of New York selected "Mets" as the nickname for the new club, in part to suggest continuity with the Metropolitans.
Members of the 1882 Metropolitan team in this image are:
Top row, from right: Jack Lynch (p), Charlie Reipschlager (c), J O’Neill, E Kennedy, J Clapp, Joseph Doyle, F Hankinson and Steve Brady (1B).
Front: T Mansell, F Larkin, Candy Nelson (ss) and J Reilly.
Painting Detail: Printed on 13” x 19” canvas and painted using Schmincke Mussini and Marshall’s oil paints. Finer details, like the blue polka-dot ties, were made using Prismacolor pencils.
Painting Inaccuracy: According to Craig Brown in his fabulous website Threads of Our Game, the uniform shirts were white with blue polka dots. My painting does not have the polka dots.
Acknowledgement: Threads of Our Game, Craig Brown.