The Braves–Mets rivalry is a rivalry between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. Both clubs are members of Major League Baseball's National League (NL) East division. The rivalry between the two clubs was particularly fierce during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Background
The Mets joined the NL in as an expansion team, before the leagues were split into divisions, and when the Braves were still in Milwaukee. Due to Major League Baseball wishing to keep the Cardinals and Cubs together in the same division when each league was split into divisions in 1969, Atlanta was forced to join the National League West and were led by Hank Aaron. In 1966, pitching prospect Tom Seaver signed a contract with the Braves when they drafted him in the first round of the secondary June draft (20th overall). But the contract was voided by Baseball Commissioner William Eckert because Seaver's college team had played two exhibition games already that year, despite the fact that Seaver himself did not play in the games. Seaver intended, then, to finish the college season, but because he had signed a pro contract, the NCAA ruled him ineligible. After Seaver's father complained to Eckert about the unfairness of the situation and threatened with a lawsuit, Eckert ruled that other teams could match the Braves' offer. The Mets were subsequently awarded his signing rights in a lottery drawing among the three teams (the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians being the two others) that were willing to match the Braves' terms. Seaver went on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Mets, having his jersey retired by the organization.
1969 NLCS
Seaver's impact was heavy as he led a staff that boasted excellent pitching, including then prospect Nolan Ryan in 1969. Perennial losers, the Mets came back to win the division and face off against the Braves in the NLCS. The "Miracle Mets" swept the Braves in the series, en route to their first World Series championship against the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series. The series against the Braves was the first playoff appearance and series win by an expansion team and their World Series win by extension was the first won by an expansion team.
Despite the early confrontation, the rivalry did not become especially heated until the 1990s, when division realignment put the Mets and Braves in the same division. During this time period, the Braves became one of the most dominant teams in professional baseball. The rivalry came to a visible head with the John Rocker controversy, where Atlanta pitcher Rocker made a number of derogatory comments about residents of New York City in 1999. This led to incidents of items such as full cups of beverages, and even batteries being thrown at Braves players, namely Rocker, when visiting the Mets. With the end of the Braves' fourteen-season National League East winning streak in 2006, when the Mets won their first division title since 1988, the rivalry hit a cooling period.
Division realignment: rivalry established
The main cause of the rivalry was division realignment. With the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins entering play as expansion teams in the National League in , MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent ordered realignment of the league, ordering the Braves and the Cincinnati Reds moved to the NL East, and the Chicago Cubs and rival St. Louis Cardinals to the NL West to rectify the geographical anomaly MLB created when realigning in . However, the Mets and the Cubs voted against the plan.
Although Vincent's vision never really came into fruition, as he resigned shortly after announcing plans to realign the NL, MLB did in fact realign in , albeit in the form of three divisions in each league, and the addition of an expanded playoff format. When agreeing on the realignment, the Pittsburgh Pirates switched to the newly created Central Division and gave up their spot in the NL East to the Braves.
The Braves had already established themselves as one of the dominant teams in baseball prior to realignment with appearances in two World Series prior to the move. The Mets had a reverse of fortune from their dominance in the late 1980s to one of the worst teams in baseball during the early 1990s.