They went 40–120 (.250) and finished tenth and last in the National League, 60+1⁄2 games behind the NL Champion San Francisco Giants, who had once called New York home.
The season was chronicled in Jimmy Breslin's humorous best-selling 1963 book Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?
The title came from a remark made by manager Casey Stengel expressing frustration over his team's poor play.
The first game in franchise history was played on the road, at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, on Wednesday night, April 11, 1962.
Former Brooklyn Dodgers Gil Hodges and Charlie Neal homered for the Mets, whose home opener at New York's Polo Grounds would wait until their second-ever official game, on Friday, April 13, 1962.