Nelson died June 17, 2015, of pneumonia at his home in Locust Valley, N.Y.
The son of Ellen McCarter Doubleday and Nelson Doubleday, he was born July 20, 1933, in New York City. Nelson prepared at Deerfield and majored in economics. He joined Colonial, was on the staff of The Princeton Tiger, and served three years in the Air Force after graduation.
In 1973, Nelson gained full control of the company stock in Doubleday & Co., the publishing company founded by his grandfather, Frank Nelson Doubleday, which was the largest in the United States. In 1978 he became president and chief executive.
A passionate baseball fan, Nelson purchased the last-place Mets in 1980 for $21.1 million along with Fred Wilpon. They presided over a resuscitation, which culminated in 1986 with a World Series championship.
As the Mets’ fortunes waxed, those of Doubleday waned; in 1986, Nelson sold the family business to Bertelsmann. In 2002, he sold his share of the Mets for $135 million, the end of an era and a private dream in which Nelson’s main motivation was to “give somebody some fun they otherwise couldn’t have.”
The class extends sympathy to Nelson’s survivors, including his wife, Sandra Pine Barnett; two sisters; four daughters; two stepchildren; 13 grandchildren; and a great-grandson.