It was given almost as splashy a front-page treatment as the moon landing: The Mets won the 1969 World Series. “Led by Manager Gil Hodges, they rode in open cars through canyons that once echoed with cheers for Charles A. Lindbergh, John H. Glenn and Neil Armstrong,” reported The Times. “For eight years New York has loved this team,” announced Mayor Lindsay at City Hall, where the ticker-tape parade began. He continued: “Today they’re No. 1. The Cardinals know it, the Cubs know it, the Braves know it and the Orioles know it. Thank you for giving us a summer of joy.”

The New York Mets received a ticker-tape parade in 1969 for their first World Series championship. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers gathered to watch the team and their open-car motorcades, led by second-year manager Gil Hodges, make their way up Broadway. The Mets joined the National League in 1962 as an expansion team, five years after New York’s two previous National League teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants, both left New York for California. While the team’s first seven seasons proved mediocre, the 1969 season earned them the title of the “Miracle Mets” for their impressive rise to excellence, boasting a regular season record of 100 wins.