Adam Rubin reports that the Mets will honor William Shea in a pregame ceremony at the home opener. His name will be added to the outfield wall amongst the retired numbers, and his son Bill will throw out the first pitch.

William Shea was a lawyer who was instrumental in bringing national league baseaball back to NY after the Dodger and Giants left town. In the late 50s, Shea attempted to start a separate league, which pressured the MLB to expand, the Mets being one of those expansion teams (L.A, Houston and Washington being the other 3 teams). Shea was also a key figure in the NHL expansion into Long Island, bringing about the Islanders.

Its always good to see the team actually doing something to honor its history, since the Mets have always seemed a little hesitant to do so. I can understand not wanting to go too crazy with stuff like retiring numbers (I’m looking at you Yankees) but the Mets tend to go in the opposite direction, and often seem to ignore the past. Hopefully this is a step towards finding the middle ground.  

Newsday’s Jim Baumbach catches up with Ron Hunt, the Met who had the first hit, run and homerun at Shea. Hunt talks about the first game at Shea, about the Polo Grounds, and the new breed of stadiums. Also, he wants tickets:

I would hope since I was there to open Shea, I hope I will get an invitation to put it away, too

In four seasons as a Met, Hunt had a .282 average, 20 HRs and 41 hit by a pitch, an area he always excelled at. He led the team in hits twice, average three times, and represented the team at the All Star Game twice, being the first Met to ever start in one. He was traded to the Dodgers in 66.

In honor of President’s Day, I found a great article about baseball and United States Presidents. Whitehouse.gov provides us with some interesting facts about presidents, former and current, and their love for the game. Some interesting factoids from the article (Note: any words in italics have been added by me for clarification):

• “Abraham Lincoln’s love of the game was so well known that an 1860 political cartoon showed Lincoln and his opponents on a baseball diamond. “
• “William Howard Taft was the first President to do the honors (throwing the first pitch)  when he threw a ball from his seat in the stands to the Washington Senator’s opening day pitcher, Walter Johnson, on April 14, 1910.”
• “Ronald Reagan so loved the game that he worked as a radio announcer for the Chicago Cubs. His success gave him the opportunity to go into acting, where he once played the part of a pitcher in the movie, The Winning Team.”

In addition, Baseball Almanac also has some great quotes and facts, including the attendance dates for past presidents.

Sometimes I forget how long baseball, or forms of baseball, have been part of America’s pastime. Reading this stuff has really renewed my interest in looking into the history of baseball and sharing what I find with the readers of Hot Foot.