1969 World Series Championship

Lore & Background

The Mets became the first expansion team to win a division title, a pennant, and the World Series, winning in their eighth year of existence, and for decades remained the fastest expansion team to win a World Series up to that point. Two teams eventually surpassed the latter record, as the Florida Marlins won the 1997 World Series in their fifth year (also becoming the first wild card team to win a World Series) and the Arizona Diamondbacks won the 2001 World Series in their fourth year of play. The 1969 World Series was the first World Series since to have games played in New York that did not involve the New York Yankees. It was also the first World Series in which neither the New York Giants nor Brooklyn Dodgers (as both teams had moved to California in 1958) represented New York from the NL; all subsequent World Series with a New York-area NL team participating have involved the Mets, who have been the only NL baseball team located in New York City since that era.

Reader's Guide

In the first League Championship Series, the normally light-hitting Mets, once again considered underdogs despite having a better regular-season record than their opponent, put on a power display by scoring 27 runs in sweeping the favored Atlanta Braves in three games.

Did You Know?

• Tom Seaver won a major-league-leading 25 games en route to his first Cy Young Award.
• The Orioles won 109 games in 1969, the most since the 1961 Yankees.
• Donn Clendenon hit a home run in Game 2 and Game 4.
• Nolan Ryan made the only World Series appearance of his Hall of Fame 27-year career in Game 3.