New York Mets: Five best managers in franchise history
3. Yogi Berra
Yes Yankee fans, the famous Yogi Berra was also the manager of the Mets. For those of you that didn’t know, sorry to break the news to you. He was promoted from coach to manager after Gil Hodges passed away in April of 1972. Berra had big shoes to fill as Hodges was the manager of the 1969 “Miracle Mets” that won their first World Series over the Baltimore Orioles.
The Mets weren’t as successful under Berra as they were Hodges. They never won more than 83 games. So what is he doing on this list? 1973 is what he is doing on this list. The team only won 82 games, which any other year would be a season nobody even notices. However, in this case, it was good enough to win the NL East and send the Mets back to the playoffs for the first time since 1969.
“You gotta believe” became the mantra of the team that year. You still see and/or hear it once in a while these days, but it started back then with Tug McGraw. They went on a run that took them all the way to the World Series. Back then, the A’s were a juggernaut and were in the midst of winning three straight series. They needed seven games to get through the Mets, and the skipper keeping them focused was a big part of the reason why.