1986 New York Mets season

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The 1986 New York Mets was the Mets 25th season in the National League. They began the season looking to equal or improve upon their 98-64 record from 1985 and to try and win the National League East Division. They would finish the season with a 108-54 record, cruising to the division title. They went on to defeat the Houston Astros in six games in the NLCS and the American League champion Boston Red Sox in seven games in the World Series.

[edit] Background

Darryl Strawberry made his debut in 1983 followed by Dwight Gooden in 1984. That same year the Mets hired Davey Johnson to manage the club. The Mets would finish 2nd for two years in a row. In the 1985-86 offseason, general manager Frank Cashen would bring in Tim Teufel, a right-handed hitting infielder from the Minnesota Twins. One weakness the Mets had in 1984-85 was the additional pitching. So they brought in southpaw Bob Ojeda from the Red Sox. The Mets added them along with former MVPs George Foster and Keith Hernandez, speedy youngsters Lenny Dykstra, Wally Backman, and Mookie Wilson, and catcher Gary Carter.

In Spring Training, Davey Johnson said to his players that they were not going to win, they would dominate. That meant winning the division by double-digits. But during practice, Mookie Wilson would get injured in a freak accident when he was hit in the eye during a rundown drill.

[edit] Offseason

• November 13, 1985: Bob Ojeda was traded by the Boston Red Sox with Chris Bayer (minors), Tom McCarthy, and John Mitchell to the New York Mets for Calvin Schiraldi, Wes Gardner, John Christensen, and La Schelle Tarver. ^[1]
• January 16, 1986: Billy Beane was traded by the New York Mets with Joe Klink and Bill Latham to the Minnesota Twins for Tim Teufel and Pat Crosby (minors). ^[2]

[edit] Regular Season

[edit] Season Standings

[edit] Notable Transactions

August 3, 1986: Lee Mazzilli was signed as a Free Agent with New York.

[edit] Month by Month

[edit] April

The Mets would have a rocky start with a 2-3 record (including two extra-inning losses to the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies respectively). But when the Mets hosted the Phils in Shea Stadium, they would embark on an 11-game winning streak. Their toughest test in this stretch happened in St. Louis. On April 24, Howard Johnson hit a game-tying homer. A few games later, Wally Backman would make a series-saving double-play. The Mets would finish the month 20-4.

[edit] May

The Mets would continue dominating in May. On May 23, 1986, Mookie Wilson got 5 hits in one game versus the San Diego Padres. The turning point for the Mets season came on May 27 when third baseman Ray Knight brawled with Dodgers' pitcher Tom Niedenfuer. This gave the Mets a reputation for playing hard and fighting. Many other teams hated their curtain calls.

[edit] June

This month, the shining light came on June 10 against the Phillies when Tim Teufel hit a pinch-hit, game-winning grand slam.

[edit] July

On July 3 against Houston, Darryl Strawberry would hit a game-tying home run. But it would be Ray Knight who won the game with a homer of his own. Dwight Gooden's first half performance was good enough for him to earn the honor of being named starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game in the Astrodome. But the Mets would fear the Astrodome as they got swept by the Astros (including two losses at the final at-bat). During this series, four Mets would get arrested in a popular nightclub in Houston. Their fortunes improved in a bizarre game in Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium on July 22. In the top of the ninth, Dave Parker dropped the ball that could have been the final out for the Reds, allowing the Mets to tie the game. In the bottom of the tenth, Eric Davis got to third and brawled with Ray Knight. Both men, along with Kevin Mitchell and Mario Soto, got ejected. Johnson was forced to put Roger McDowell in the outfield. In the bottom of the twelfth, Carl Willis bunted into a double-play. In the top of the fourteenth, Howard Johnson hit a home run to put the Mets on top.

[edit] August

Former MVP George Foster was released. Former Mets favorite Lee Mazzilli would return. Gary Carter would be injured. While he was gone, the Mets would win 8 of 11 games. The highlight came on August 27 in Jack Murphy Stadium against the Padres when Tim Flannery would hit one into the outfield. However, it was thrown to get the runner out and eventually Flannery.

[edit] September-October

In an exhibition game against the Red Sox, Gary Carter would hit a double to test out the Green Monster. When they got to Philadelphia, droves of Mets fans were there to see if they would clinch the NL East. However, they wouldn't win a game until September 17. That day, they faced Dennis Eckersley and the Chicago Cubs. With a flu-ridden Keith Hernandez, Dave Magadan would be the offensive source of the day. Hernandez would return in the 9th to get the final out. The champagne would be popped immediately while the fans invaded the field quickly. The Mets would win a team-record 108 games after defeating the Pirates.

[edit] Roster

[edit] Player stats

[edit] Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

[edit] Other batters

[edit] Starting pitchers

[edit] Relief pitchers

[edit] Other pitchers

[edit] NLCS

Main article: 1986 National League Championship Series

[edit] Game 1

October 8 (Astrodome, Houston, Texas)

[edit] Game 2

October 9 (Astrodome, Houston, Texas)

[edit] Game 3

October 11 (Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York)

[edit] Game 4

October 12 (Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York)

[edit] Game 5

October 14 (Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York)

[edit] Game 6

October 15 (Astrodome, Houston, Texas)

[edit] World Series

Main article: 1986 World Series

NL New York Mets (4) vs. AL Boston Red Sox (3)

[edit] Game Six

One of the most famous games in baseball history is Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The Mets rallied in the bottom of the 8th inning of Game 6, tying the game on a Gary Carter sacrifice fly. Reliever Calvin Schiraldi had loaded the bases with no outs and had a 3-0 count on Carter, who swung away at the next pitch to hit the fly ball. In the ninth inning, after a walk and an error put two men on with nobody out, Howard Johnson was sent to the plate to sacrifice the winning run to third. It was then, however, that Mets manager Davey Johnson made his most criticized decision of the series. After Johnson failed in his first bunt attempt, Davey took the bunt off. Johnson ended up striking out, leaving runners at first and second with one out. Lee Mazzilli followed with a deep fly to left that would have won the game had the runner been at third. Lenny Dykstra then flied out for the third out, sending the game to extra innings.

In the top of the 10th inning, Dave Henderson homered to pull the Sox within three outs of a world championship, and Barrett singled in Wade Boggs to make it a 5-3 lead. When Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez were retired to start the bottom of the 10th, the championship seemed at hand. After Hernandez made the second out, he went to the Mets' locker room, took off his uniform, and watched the rest of the game on the clubhouse TV, thinking the game and the Series would be over soon.

Then, Carter singled to left. Pinch-hitter Kevin Mitchell then singled to center and Shea Stadium started to get loud. Knight went down in the count 0-2 bringing the Mets to their last strike but he hit the next pitch into center field for a single that scored Carter and advanced Mitchell to third base, making the score 5-4 and bringing Shea back to life. Before his at-bat, Mitchell was on the phone in the locker room making plane reservations to fly home to San Diego, thinking the game would be over. He had already gotten out of his uniform and was in street clothes, and, when he was told he was batting, got off the phone and hurriedly got dressed.

The Red Sox replaced pitcher Calvin Schiraldi with Bob Stanley to face left fielder Mookie Wilson. Wilson got the count to 2-1 but fouled the fourth pitch away to bring the Mets to their last strike again. He stayed alive fouling off two more Stanley pitches. Then, the seventh pitch sailed towards Wilson's knees sending him to the ground but the ball hit nothing and went straight to the backstop. Mitchell scored uncontested to tie the game and Shea Stadium erupted while Knight advanced to second base. The Red Sox were shocked to have blown the lead with the game all but over, much as the Angels had done to them in the ALCS almost two weeks prior.

At one point during Wilson's at-bat with Knight on second, Knight strayed so far off the second-base bag that Marty Barrett started yelling for Stanley to try to pick him off. However, because of the raucous Shea Stadium crowd noise, Stanley couldn't hear Barrett. When things calmed down, Wilson was still at the plate and fouled off two more pitches in a fantastic at bat. Finally, on the tenth pitch, Wilson hit a slow rolling ground ball up the first base line that appeared to be easy to field. The most pressing question in the few seconds was whether the lumbering Bill Buckner, with his chronic bad ankles and knees, would be able to beat the speedy Wilson to first base to finish the inning. The question would never be answered as the ball somehow sneaked between his legs under his glove and rolled slowly into right field. Shea Stadium exploded and the Mets' players and fans looked as though they couldn't contain themselves. Knight tried to hold his helmet on while jumping towards home plate with the winning run in a scene that many Mets fans would never forget. Buckner and the stunned Red Sox slowly walked off the field.

Vin Scully's call of the play would quickly become an iconic one to baseball fans, with the normally calm Scully growing increasingly excited:

[edit] Awards and Honors

• Ray Knight, Babe Ruth Award
• Ray Knight, World Series Most Valuable Player Award

[edit] References

• 1986 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• 1986 Mets: The ballad of Doc and Darryl