History of the NY Mets pt. V

1986-1991: World Series champions again
The 1986 Mets broke away from the rest of the division early and dominated throughout the year. They won 20 of their first 24 games, clinched the East Division title on September 17, and finished the year 108-54, which tied with the 1975 Cincinnati Reds for the third most wins in National League history, behind the 1906 Chicago Cubs (116) and the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates (110). The relative lack of excitement during the regular season was more than compensated for by the spectacularly suspenseful and dramatic post-season series. In the National League Championship Series, the Mets faced their fellow expansion team, the Houston Astros. Unlike the Mets, the Astros had yet to win the League Championship (which they finally accomplished in 2005). The Mets took a two-games-to-one lead with a come-from-behind walk-off home run by Lenny Dykstra. In Game 6, the Mets turned a 3-0 ninth-inning deficit into a sixteen-inning marathon victory to clinch the National League pennant and earn their third World Series appearance.

In the World Series against the Boston Red Sox, the Mets faced elimination leading into Game 6. The Red Sox scored two runs in the tenth inning and twice came within one strike of winning their first World Series since 1918. But the Mets rallied and would come back in typical Amazin' Mets fashion. With two outs and down two runs, three consecutive singles brought the Mets within 90 feet of knotting the score. Hitter Mookie Wilson ran the count to 2-1, then fouled off 3 consecutive pitches. With the count 2-2,pitcher Bob Stanley threw one down in the dirt and through the legs of catcher Rich Gedman for a wild pitch. Pinch hitter Kevin Mitchell scored from third base, tying the game. Now facing a full count, Wilson fouled off two more pitches. It was then that Wilson hit a weak ground ball down the first base line, through the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner, and into the annals of baseball history as third baseman Ray Knight ran home all the way from second base to score the winning run. The Mets went on to win their second World Series title by taking Game 7, also in dramatic fashion, overcoming a 3 run deficit while scoring a total
of 8 runs during the final 3 innings. They remain the only team to come within one strike of losing a World Series before recovering to become World Champions.

While the team around the 1986 championship was strong, they also became infamous for off-the-field controversy. Both Strawberry and Gooden were young kids who wound up burning out long before their time because of various substance abuse and personal problems. Both of their problems started before age 25, and have continued through the present (2006). Hernandez's cocaine abuse was the subject of persistent rumors even before he joined the Mets, but he publicly acknowledged his addiction in 1985 and made a successful recovery. Lenny Dykstra's reputation was recently tainted by allegations of steroid use and gambling problems.

Instead of putting together a winning dynasty, the problems caused the Mets to soon fall apart. Despite Darryl Strawberry's numerous off-the-field mishaps, he remains the Mets' all-time leader in home runs and runs batted in. After winning the World Series in 1986, World Series MVP Ray Knight signed with the Orioles. Also, they traded the flexible Kevin Mitchell to the Padres for long-ball threat Kevin McReynolds. But the biggest shock since the Midnight Massacre of 1977 was when Mets' ace Dwight Gooden was admitted to a drug clinic after testing positive for cocaine. But after struggling in the first few months of the season, "Dr. K" would come back, and so would the Mets. They would surge to battle St. Louis for the division title. But on September 11 in a game against St. Louis, 3rd baseman and future MVP Terry Pendleton hit a homer to give the Cardinals a lead, and eventually the NL East title. One highlight of the year was Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson becoming the first teammates ever to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in the same season.

After missing the playoffs in 1987, the 1988 Mets again won the division. Thanks to some stellar pitching from Gooden, Darling, and David Cone as well as offense from McReynolds, Strawberry, and Howard Johnson, the Mets won 100 games for the 2nd time in 3 campaigns. However, the clubhouse was distracted by the presence of a young Gregg Jefferies who was just called up. The veteran players took a disliking to Jefferies, who had a habit of excessive bragging, prompting his teammates to saw his bats in half as a form of hazing.

The Mets played the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 National League Championship Series in a season where they beat them 10 out of 11 times but the Dodgers continued their Cinderella story season by beating the Mets in seven games. The Mets (as well as the Montreal Expos) would battle the Cubs for the division title in 1989, but Chicago would prevail, despite a career year by Howard Johnson and a deadline trade with Minnesota for 1988 AL Cy Young winner Frank Viola. Those high points were tempered by injuries to Gooden, Hernandez and Carter as well as an ill-fated trade that sent Dykstra and Roger McDowell to Philadelphia in exchange for Juan Samuel. After the season, Samuel, who hit .235 that season, would be traded to the Dodgers for Mike Marshall, who would hit .239 in 53 games for the Mets before being traded to Boston. Dykstra, however, would become an All-Star in Philadelphia and help lead his team to a pennant in 1993. That offseason, the Mets had a mix of triumph and tragedy. They would receive All-Star closer and native New Yorker John Franco in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, and Strawberry, in legal trouble as well, would check into an alcohol rehabilitation center and miss the start of the season. The next season, the Mets would surge again to battle the Pittsburgh Pirates, but Pittsburgh's "B-B Guns" (which included National League MVP Barry Bonds , future Mets Bobby Bonilla and Jay Bell and former Met Wally Backman) led the Pirates to their first NLCS since 1979. In that campaign, general manager Frank Cashen let Johnson go of his managerial duties and replaced him with former shortstop Harrelson. Although he led them to a good finish in 1990 (Strawberry's last with the Mets, as he went on to sign with the Dodgers in the offseason), the Mets fell to 5th place in 1991.

Before the 1991 season the Mets signed Vince Coleman to a fat $2 million contract after failing to sign defending batting champion Willie McGee. This was the first of what would lead to many bad free agent signings and trades, that would doom the Mets during the mid 1990s During the 1991 season, the Mets were actually in contention for most of the first half of the season, closing to within 2.5 games of the front-running Pirates at one point. However, during the second half, the bottom completely fell out and Harrelson was fired with a week left to go in the season, replaced by third base coach Mike Cubbage for the final games. The season ended on a high note, however, as David Cone pitched a one-hit shutout against the Phillies at Veterans Stadium, in which he struck out 19 batters, tying the National League regulation game record (first set by former Met Tom Seaver, and more recently broken).

Courtesy of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Part VI on Friday.


LET'S GO METS!!