Hernandez is widely considered one of the greatest fielding first basemen in major league history. He made brilliant diving plays far to his right and left. Hernandez defended bunts by charging so aggressively that he discouraged opponents from attempting to bunt merely by reputation. Pete Rose, when he managed the Cincinnati Reds, compared bunting against Hernandez to "driving the lane against Bill Russell."

Hernandez guest starred as himself in "The Boyfriend", a two-part episode in which he romances Elaine and embroils the Seinfeld gang in a JFK-esque conspiracy theory. (Hernandez estimates he gets $3,000 a year in royalties from the reruns.)

Casey Stengel's 54 distinguished years in baseball spanned everything from the Dead Ball Era to Mickey Mantle's booming home runs. Through it all, Stengel's colorful personality and instantly quotable remarks made him one of baseball's most beloved characters.

On August 11, 2005, in a game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, Mike Cameron was seriously injured after colliding head-to-head with fellow Mets outfielder Carlos Beltrán when both were diving to catch a ball in shallow right center field. Cameron missed the rest of the season with a concussion, temporary loss of vision, and two broken cheekbones.

In 1965, the Mets hired Olympic track and field sensation Jesse Owens as a spring training running instructor to improve the players' base-running techniques and foot speed.

On April 15, 1968, the Mets lost a marathon 6 hour 6 minute contest to the Houston Astros 1-0. Incredibly, the game was scoreless until the bottom of the 24th, the longest any Major League game has ever stayed scoreless.

Star pitcher Tom Seaver was traded in 1977, on a day remembered as "the Midnight Massacre", and the Mets fell into last place for several years.

The 1962 Mets posted a record of 40-120, the worst regular season record since MLB went to a 162-game schedule.

In 1966, the Mets famously bypassed future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in the amateur draft, instead selecting Steve Chilcott, who would never play in the majors.

Rusty Staub will be remembered by fans for his heart and his clutch hitting. Never was this more evident than in the 1973 NLCS against the Cincinnati Reds, when he hit three home runs and separated his shoulder crashing into the wall to rob Dan Dreissen of extra bases. He played the entire World Series with that separated right shoulder and still hit a home run and batted .423 against the Oakland A's.