Joan Payson

Joan Whitney Payson

• School Barnard College

• Born February 5, 1903 in New York, NY USA
• Died October 4, 1975 in New York, NY USA

Biographical Information

Joan Whitney Payson was the original owner of the expansion New York Mets until her death in 1975. Her daughter, Lorinda de Roulet, succeeded her as team President and the family sold the club to a group headed by Nelson Doubleday in 1980.

Payson was born into a wealthy family. She attended Barnard College and married Charles Shipman Payson in 1924. She and her brother owned Greentree Stables, and they backed movies and Broadway plays, including A Streetcar Named Desire and Gone With the Wind.

Payson bought into the New York Giants as a minority stockholder. When she couldn't convince Horace Stoneham not to move the club, she tried to buy controlling interest.

It is said that Payson hand-selected the name Mets for the new National League entry in New York City in 1961.

Further Reading

• William A. Cook: Lady Moguls: A History of Women Who Have Owned Major League Baseball Teams, Sunbury Press, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2015. ISBN 978-1-6200-6636-2

Related Sites

• Joan Payson at the SABR Bio Project