Created in 1962 to fill the National League void left by the departures of the Dodgers and Giants to California, the Mets were comically bad in their earliest seasons, losing a record 120 games in their debut year. The emergence of ace Tom Seaver turned the club around by the end of the decade, culminating in the stunning 1969 'Miracle Mets' championship over Baltimore. A second pennant followed in 1973, but the team's fortunes declined sharply after Seaver was traded away in 1977, leading to a long stretch of losing seasons.

The franchise rebuilt around a talented young core in the 1980s, winning 108 games and a dramatic World Series over Boston in 1986 behind players like Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Keith Hernandez, and Gary Carter. Another lengthy slump in the early 1990s gave way to a Mike Piazza-led resurgence that reached the 2000 World Series, lost to the Yankees, and later a 2015 pennant behind a strong young rotation, also unsuccessful in the Series. Steve Cohen's purchase of the team in 2020 brought a dramatic increase in spending, and the club has since returned to regular postseason contention, including a run to the 2024 NLCS, even as it has not added to its two World Series titles since 1986.