Above: Shea Stadium, the former home of the Mets
By the Caribbean Journal staff
The reach of calypso has gone global over the decades, but at the peak of its popularity in the United States in the 1960s, it even got onto the baseball diamond.
Noted Trinidadian calypsonian The Duke of Iron, who had become quite popular in New York City in the mid-20th century, decided to honour the city’s upstart baseball team in the mid-1960s, just a few years after the New York Mets had been formed in 1962.
The song, “New York Mets,” is a classic calypso theme, with a twist — you wouldn’t expect a Caribbean serenade to include someone like Casey Stengel.
It’s believed to be the only such tribute to a Major League Baseball team — although the song couldn’t help the team win many games.
“From the crack of the bat there’s a noise in the place,” Duke of Iron sings. “Especially if a Met can get on first base.”
Here’s the full song below.
— CJ