M. Donald Grant

Michael Donald Grant (1904–1998) was the chairman of the New York Mets baseball club from its beginnings in the early-1960s to 1978.

Grant was born in Montreal in 1904, the son of Hockey Hall of Fame member Mike Grant. The younger Grant tried his hand at amateur hockey in Canada before coming to the United States in the mid-1920s.

Grant's interest in baseball stemmed from a long-standing friendship with Joan Whitney Payson, who in the 1960s became the Mets' principal owner. Grant was a member of the New York Giants board of directors in the 1950s. He and Payson were the only members of the Giants board who opposed the team's move to San Francisco after the 1957 season. His baseball knowledge was questionable, especially when Whitey Herzog, who was Director of Player Development for the Mets when they won the 1969 World Series, told Grant to his face that he "didn't know beans about baseball."

With the Mets, Grant was known for bringing fan favorite and former Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman Gil Hodges back to New York in 1968 to manage the team. Only one year later in 1969, the Mets won their first World Series, beating the Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 1.

After Payson's death, her daughter, Lorinda de Roulet, assumed ownership of the team and delegated a great deal of authority to Grant.

A controversial part of Grant's history with the Mets was his work that triggered the 1977 trade of pitcher Tom Seaver from the Mets to the Cincinnati Reds. Seaver's contract negotiations and subsequent trade was fully played out on the back pages of New York's tabloid newspapers, with Seaver angrily accusing Grant of planting a negative article about his wife with the famed sports columnist Dick Young.

The Mets finished in last place two years in a row in 1977 and 1978. At one point, due to the Mets' futility on the field and low attendance records, Shea Stadium was dubbed by fans as "Grant's Tomb." Grant was fired at the end of the 1978 season.

Critics said at the time that Grant did not like Major League Baseball's move to player free agency, a stance that made the Mets a second division team, especially when compared with the cross-town New York Yankees, run by majority owner George Steinbrenner.

Grant was also the managing director of the Wall Street brokerage Fahnestock & Company.

Grant was married, and had three children and nine grandchildren.

External links

* [http://ultimatemets.com/profile.php?PlayerCode=6624 Ultimate Mets Database]
*"M. Donald Grant, 94, Dies; Executive Angered Mets Fans" by Murray Chass, New York Times, November 30, 1998 (subscription needed to access).