The New York Metropolitan Baseball Club was established in 1962 to soothe fans still reeling from the departure of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. In pursuit of larger audiences and new stadiums, both beloved franchises relocated to California after the 1957 season, closing the chapter on New York’s so-called golden era of baseball.
From the outset, the Mets’ emblem (largely unchanged since its debut)was conceived as an act of reconciliation. Its dark blue field and baseball motif nod to the Brooklyn Dodgers, while the Dutch orange and interlocking 'NY' on the logo’s first version evoke the New York Giants’ branding. The result was a carefully crafted homage.
Selected from hundreds of entries in a public competition, the design was created by Ray Gotto, a prolific cartoonist best known for his syndicated baseball strips Ozark Ike and Cotton Woods. The former Navy illustrator who was living in New York City at the time approached the brief with an understanding of what was truly at stake. Though the Mets would play in Queens (as rival New York Yankees were based in the Bronx) Gotto sensed that an emblem that could unite the entire city was needed.
Ron Swoboda sits on a bench during the 1970 New York Mets spring training
To foreground the Mets’ name, Gotto drew a symbolic New York skyline using a medley of landmarks from various boroughs. From left to right, he included a silhouette of a church spire, the Williamsburgh Savings Bank, the Woolworth Building, the Empire State Building, and the United Nations headquarters. A suspension bridge anchors the composition, all of it contained within the circular frame of a baseball. Originally rendered in black and pink per the logo design contest guidelines, the palette was later revised to blue, orange, and white at the team’s request—colours that also echo New York City’s tricolour flag.
In the decades since, the Mets have cycled through owners, managers, stadiums, and uniforms, yet Gotto’s skyline, stitched in blue and orange, has endured. More than branding, the Mets logo has become a fiercely guarded emblem within the 'Mets Nation.' In 2014, eagle-eyed fans noticed a subtle alteration to the logo on the club’s social media accounts. They decried that the United Nations building appeared to have been mysteriously altered to resemble the Citigroup Center tower. Whether a sneaky marketing gesture or a digital prank, the change vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. The Mets denied making any revisions to the official mark.
The New York Mets logo at Shea Stadium, Queens, on September 25, 2008. The New York Mets moved from Shea Stadium at the conclusion of their 2008 season for their new home at Citi Field
'The Ray Gotto design makes sense,' says Walter Bernard, former art director of New York, Time and Fortune, and a longtime Mets fan. 'Most baseball fans love their teams’ history and traditions, and the Mets logo carries so much tradition that change simply isn’t necessary.'
The logo first appeared in print in November 1961, about five months before the Mets took the field. It fulfilled its purpose brilliantly: fans swiftly bought into the new franchise and snapped up tickets to games. Gotto was paid $1,000 (around $11,000 today)—a respectable fee at the time, but a bargain in retrospect for an enduring mark that helps sell millions of dollars of merchandise for one of baseball's most valuable franchises.