Major League Baseball Executive. Born in New York City, she was an heiress of the prominent Whitney family, businesswoman and philanthropist. An avid sports enthusiast, she was a minority shareholder in the original New York Giants ball club and opposed moving the team to San Francisco in 1957. She sold her stock in the Giants, began working to get a replacement team for New York City, put together a group that won a New York franchise, which the National League awarded an expansion team to Payson's group, that became the New York Mets in 1962. She served as the team's president (1968-75), was active in the affairs of the baseball club, plus was much admired by the team's personnel and players. She was also the first woman to buy majority control of a team in a major North American sports league. In addition, she was a thoroughbred racehorse owner-breeder, whose horses won the Kentucky Derby twice. She died at age 72 in New York City and was posthumously inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1981.
Major League Baseball Executive. Born in New York City, she was an heiress of the prominent Whitney family, businesswoman and philanthropist. An avid sports enthusiast, she was a minority shareholder in the original New York Giants ball club and opposed moving the team to San Francisco in 1957. She sold her stock in the Giants, began working to get a replacement team for New York City, put together a group that won a New York franchise, which the National League awarded an expansion team to Payson's group, that became the New York Mets in 1962. She served as the team's president (1968-75), was active in the affairs of the baseball club, plus was much admired by the team's personnel and players. She was also the first woman to buy majority control of a team in a major North American sports league. In addition, she was a thoroughbred racehorse owner-breeder, whose horses won the Kentucky Derby twice. She died at age 72 in New York City and was posthumously inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1981.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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Section 8
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