Casey Stengel Mets Hall of Fame Plaque

When the Mets first took the field in 1962, they were led by the inimitable former New York Yankees skipper Casey Stengel. An icon in the Big Apple, Stengel warmed the hearts of Mets fans with his “Stengelisms” while trying to coax wins from his overmatched expansion team. He remained with the Mets through four difficult seasons until a broken hip forced his retirement in 1965. That year, his no. 37 was the first retired by the franchise, and Stengel was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.