Martin Luther King III is reportedly looking to buy a stake in the Mets.
The son of the late civil rights leader has joined with former Met Ed Kranepool and other investors to explore the idea of purchasing at least a 50 percent share in the team, according to the New York Post.
King is aligned with several entreprenuers, including Donn Clendenon Jr., son of the 1969 Mets World Series MVP, and TV executive Larry Meli, according to Post columnist Kevin Kernan.
If successful, the 53-year-old King would be Major League Baseball's first African-American owner. He currently runs the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta.
"It's fitting with the legacy of Jackie Robinson essentially transferring to the Mets, what better place to have African-American ownership than with the Mets?" Meli told the Post.
King is supposed to set up a meeting this week with Mets owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon, who said Friday they may sell up to 25 percent of the team to settle claims from the Bernie Madoff scheme. A trustee for Madoff victims is suing the Wilpons to recover millions of dollars in gains from their investments with the Ponzi schemer.
Forbes magazine in April valued the Mets at $858 million.
