The 1986 New York Mets
The 1986 New York Mets had gone a robust 108-54 during the regular season, annihilating their National League rivals along the way. With a twenty one and a half game advantage over second place Philadelphia, the 1986 New York Mets won their division by one of the greatest margins ever. The team featured sluggers such as Darryl Starwberry and Gary Carter, along with high average hitters like Keith Hernandez, Wally Backman, and Lenny Dykstra. The 1986 New York Mets’ pitching staff included four starters that won at least 15 games and lost no more than 6, and a pair of relievers in Roger McDowell and Jesse Orosco that combined for a 22-15 record and 43 saves. Managed by former Orioles’ second baseman Davey Johnson, the 1986 New York Mets entered the National League Championship Series confident, rested, and ready.
Awaiting the 1986 New York Mets were the Houston Astros, a club which had also had an easy time of things, just not as easy as the Mets. Houston had been ten games better than the runner up Reds in the National League West, and although they did not have the hitting that the 1986 New York Mets featured, Houston had a very good pitching corps. Nolan Ryan was 39 years old, but had gone 12-8 with well over a strikeout an inning, and Jim Deshaises and Bob Knepper had combined for a 29-17 record. The bullpen had a 33 save season from Dave Smith and had gotten an 11-2 campaign from Charlie Kerfeld, but Houston’s ace in the hole was starter Mike Scott.
Mike Scott was a former Met who had struggled mightily in New York, going just 14-27 in his four years in Gotham. But Scott, who was traded away to Houston for Danny Heep in just one of a series of brilliant moves by New York over the years, came into his own as an Astro. He posted a 10-6 record his first year there, faltered a bit the next year at 5-11, but then prospered once more with an 18-8 mark in 1985. At the age of 31, Mike Scott then went on to win the Cy Young Award for Houston in 1986, with an 18-10 record and over 300 strikeouts in 275 innings pitched. He threw five shutouts among his seven complete games, and pitched to a 2.22 ERA. There was much talk that he was “cutting” the ball to make it dive out of the strike zone, but if he was, he never got caught. By the time he was through with the 1986 New York Mets, they were ready to cut their own throats.
The first game of the series was held in the Astrodome, and featured one of the greatest pitching match-ups of the Eighties. Dwight Gooden of the 1986 New York Mets had gone 17-6 at the age of 21; he faced off against Mike Scott in the opener. Houston’s first baseman Glenn Davis, who had hit 33 home runs during the regular season, gave Scott the only run he would need when he homered leading off the second. The 1986 New York Mets could do nothing with the right-handed Scott as he struck out 14 of them, tossing a complete game five hitter. With Strawberry on second representing the tying run in the ninth, Scott got Mookie Wilson to ground out to first, something Boston would botch to cost them the Series two and a half weeks later. He then struck out Ray Knight to end the contest.
With a chance to go up two games to none, Houston sent future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan to the hill the next day, but the Texan did not deliver the goods. The 1986 New York Mets smacked Ryan around for 5 runs in 5 innings, and Bobby Ojeda, who would almost lose his life in a horrible boating accident years later during spring training with the Indians, scattered 10 hits in a 5-1 win. The NLCS now made its way to New York, where the 1986 New York Mets were sure they would take control of things.
On October 11th, the 1986 New York Mets got one of the biggest home runs in the team’s history to pull out Game Three. Ron Darling, who had a record of 15-6 during the season, squared off against Bob Knepper of the Astros. Darling gave up 4 runs in his 5 innings, and Knepper allowed 4 in his 7 frames of work. When Houston scratched across an unearned run against starter turned reliever Rick Aguilera in the seventh, the 1986 New York Mets were in trouble. The score remained 5-4 going to the bottom of the ninth, when Wally Backman reached on a bunt single. Danny Heep flied to center, and then Lenny Dykstra cemented himself into the hearts of the 1986 New York Mets’ fans forever when he homered off closer Dave Smith to give the Mets a 6-5 win and 2-1 series edge.
The saying in baseball is that momentum is as good as the next game’s starting pitcher, and this was never truer than in this case. The 1986 New York Mets, riding an emotional wave, were brought to earth in Game Four by Mike Scott, who three hit them in a 3-1 complete game victory. Alan Ashby and Dickie Thon homered off of the Mets’ Sid Fernandez to provide Scott with the runs he needed, and he baffled the 1986 New York Mets once more, walking none and striking out five. With the series tied at two games apiece, the 1986 New York Mets knew they had to win the next two games, because the looming presence of Mike Scott awaited them in a seventh game if the series made it that far.
On October 14th, Nolan Ryan and Dwight Gooden toed the rubber against each other in a battle of strikeout kings at Shea Stadium. Gooden gave up a run in the fifth on a double by Ashby, a single by Craig Reynolds, and a ground out. The 1986 New York Mets answered in the bottom of the inning when Darryl Strawberry took Ryan deep, the only run the Houston hurler would relinquish. Gooden pitched 10 innings, fanning 4 and allowing 9 hits, but Houston could not break through against him. Ryan was magnificent, throwing 9 innings; the only other hit the 1986 New York Mets managed against him was a single by Keith Hernandez. He struck out a dozen batters, and turned things over to Charlie Kerfeld. Jesse Orosco, who would seemingly pitch in every game of this post-season, was perfect for two innings, and the 1986 New York Mets won the game in the 12th. After Wally Backman had singled, Kerfeld had him picked off first, but threw the ball away, allowing the Mets sparkplug to reach second. Hernandez was walked intentionally, but Gary Carter, another Hall of Famer when his playing days ended, singled Backman in, and the 1986 New York Mets were up 3-2 in the NLCS.
The series returned to Houston, where the Astros hoped to win Game Six, knowing Mike Scott was rested for Game Seven. Houston scored three first inning runs off of Ojeda to send their fans into a state of joy, and the score was 3-0 as the top of the ninth inning came around. Bob Knepper had shut the 1986 New York Mets out for eight innings, and he went to the ninth set to even the series. However, the 1986 New York Mets had other plans. A pinch-hitting Dykstra led off with a triple and scored on a Mookie Wilson single. Houston manager Hal Lanier opted to leave Knepper in to face Keith Hernandez after Kevin Mitchell had grounded out, but the move backfired when Keith doubled in Wilson. The move to the bullpen came too late, as Lanier went to Dave Smith with Hernandez the tying run on second for the 1986 New York Mets. Smith then promptly walked Gary Carter and Strawberry, and when Ray Knight lofted a sacrifice fly to right field, the 1986 New York Mets had tied the game at 3-3.
Roger McDowell now came on, and the righty overwhelmed Houston with five full innings of one hit ball. The tension filled game dragged on frame after frame until the 1986 New York Mets finally scored three in the sixteenth inning. Strawberry led off with a double against reliever Aurelio Lopez and scored on a Knight single. Little used Jeff Calhoun came in and showed everybody why that was the case. He uncorked a pair of wild pitches and gave up a single to Dykstra, leaving the 1986 New York Mets three outs away from avoiding Mike Scott. The Astros sent Calhoun to Philadelphia the next spring for his part in things, and he was out of baseball within two years.
Houston did not roll over for Jesse Orosco, who was beginning his third inning of work in the bottom of the 16th with a 6-3 lead. After Davey Lopes walked with one out, he was sent to second on a Billy Doran single and scored on a Billy Hatcher base hit. After Denny Walling forced Hatcher at second, Glenn Davis singled in Doran. With Walling the tying run on second, the 1986 New York Mets skipper Davey Johnson stayed with Orosco, who rewarded his manager’s faith in him by striking out Kevin Bass to end the almost five hour contest.
The 1986 New York Mets would have sent Ron Darling to oppose Mike Scott in a seventh game if necessary, but they must have been thanking their lucky stars that they never had to. Scott would go on to win 59 more games as an Astro, including 20 in 1989 when he was 34 years old. As for the 1986 New York Mets, they would come away from death’s door against the Red Sox in the World Series to win the club’s first title since the 1969 team, and the Mets have not won one since. Could it be that the 1986 New York Mets had used up almost twenty years of breaks and luck to achieve what they did, leaving none for future teams?
