The music and lyrics were written in 1961 by Ruth Roberts and Bill Katz, and it was originally recorded by Glenn Osser's orchestra.

[1] Although the Mets' inaugural season and the return of National League baseball to New York City was in 1962, the master recording was not made until March 1, 1963.

The instrumental of the original version opened and closed broadcasts of Met games on WFAN radio and is used for lineup rundowns during home games on SportsNet New York, while part of the 1984 update opened and closed WFAN's Mets Extra pre- and post-game shows.

In the second half of the 2009 season, the Mets' first at Citi Field, the original version was often played in the ballpark during breaks in the late innings as a crowd sing-along.

Sportswriter Leonard Koppett affected the role of classical music critic in 1963 to tweak the song's simplistic composition: "There is little in the score of interest to a mid-20th-century audience.