How the New York Mets history timeline works

Mets moments, big and small, make up this deck, and a short description under each title tells you what happened. Put them in the order of the year they happened. You start with one card on the timeline and its year in view. Each card after that goes into the gap you choose. Choose correctly and the year appears; choose incorrectly and the card still lands where it belongs, at the cost of one of three lives.

The Mets went from lovable losers to champions faster than anyone expected, and the deck follows a franchise that has swung between highs and lows ever since. Rookie of the Year winners show up often, and those cards are hard to separate because there's little to anchor them beyond the player. Ballpark cards and famous trades help you get your bearings.

Want a longer game? On the deck tree you can tick this deck alongside any other one measured in release years and dates, and they shuffle into a single timeline together.

What's in the deck

Here are 25 of the 25 cards you might be dealt. Their values stay hidden until you place them.

The Mets play their first season An expansion club loses a modern-record 120 games
Shea Stadium opens The team leaves the old Polo Grounds for a new home in Queens
Tom Seaver debuts and wins Rookie of the Year 'The Franchise' arrives on the mound
The 'Miracle Mets' win the World Series The Amazin's stun the heavily favored Orioles
'Ya Gotta Believe' pennant A late surge from under .500 reaches the World Series
The 'Midnight Massacre' trade Tom Seaver is dealt to the Reds in a shocking move
Keith Hernandez arrives; Strawberry wins Rookie of the Year A midseason trade and a rookie slugger reshape the lineup
Dwight Gooden wins Rookie of the Year 'Doctor K' bursts onto the scene with 276 strikeouts
Gary Carter is acquired 'The Kid' is traded from Montreal to complete the core
Win the World Series A ground ball through Bill Buckner's legs turns the Series
Win 100 games and the NL East A dominant regular season falls short in the NLCS
Mike Piazza is acquired A blockbuster trade brings the star catcher to Queens
Robin Ventura's 'Grand Slam Single' A rain-soaked NLCS walk-off against the Braves
Subway Series pennant The club meets the Yankees in the World Series
Piazza's home run after September 11 An emotional blast in the first game back in New York
Win the NL East by a wide margin A division title ends on a called third strike in the NLCS
Final season at Shea Stadium The last games before the ballpark's demolition
Citi Field opens A new ballpark rises beside the old one in Flushing
The first no-hitter in franchise history Johan Santana finally ends the long drought
Jacob deGrom wins Rookie of the Year A converted shortstop emerges as an ace
Win the National League pennant A hard-throwing young rotation reaches the World Series
Return to the postseason as a wild card A one-game playoff at Citi Field
Jacob deGrom's dominant first Cy Young season A 1.70 ERA earns the award despite little run support
Win 101 games A heavily bankrolled roster surges through the regular season
A deep playoff run fueled by 'OMG' magic A wild-card team rides late-season momentum to the NLCS