The 1986 Mets newsletter is a newsletter for Mets fans who enjoy a good “Oh baby!”
Fair warning, this one’s a long one with a lot of still photos.
If you're among the hardest-core 1986 Mets fans, you probably have been looking forward to this one, as were the Mets, given that the game on August 27 against the Padres was the 9th and final one of a 7-1 road trip thus far.
This one was a mismatch on paper with Dwight Gooden facing Ed Whitson (1-6, 5.32 ERA) and it played like a mismatch for the first seven innings. The Mets scored three runs in the first inning with Darryl Strawberry driving in two and another scoring when Whitson muffed a weak ground ball between home and first base.
It would have been 4-0 if not for future Hall of Fame right fielder Tony Gwynn, who threw Darryl Strawberry out at the plate.
The true Metophiles here know that this game ends on an outfield assist but a fuller story of the game is that Gwynn threw out not one, not two, but three baserunners in this game. Katie Sharp at Sports-Reference looked it up and told me that no outfielder has had three assists in a game against the Mets since Gwynn did this. Two players did it prior: Ollie Brown (1966) and Al Luplow (1967).
Tim McCarver praised Gwynn's improvements as an outfielder. He'd win his first of 5 Gold Gloves that offseason.
Keith Hernandez was the third of the three throw-outs getting nailed at second on a close play. I thought he was safe and so did Keith.
Gwynn killed the 1986 Mets, hitting .404 with a 1.015 OPS against them. Gwynn wasn't perfect though. Gooden picked him off first base in this game and made him look bad.
As for the Mets, McCarver also had a good line to describe the Mets' dominance on this road trip. "I don't think the Mets are on the road. A ballpark is their home this year."
I know a lot of people were critical of McCarver in his later years as a broadcaster but he (and Kiner) were very good on the Mets games when I was growing up.
Kiner, McCarver, and Steve Zabriskie were also effusive in their praise of Padres rookie outfielder John Kruk. I'm particularly amazed that Kruk was as good a hitter as he was (.300 for his career) considering that he stood so far from home plate.
They got a great reaction shot after Kruk took a bad swing at a Gooden curve.
Kruk struck out on a fastball but got his revenge with a hit against Gooden later in the game.
The Mets eventually increased their lead, with Darryl Strawberry homering about 15 rows deep in right field (on the broadcast, they said 40 but I thought that was exaggerated). It was Strawberry's 100th home run with the Mets.
Here's a fan in pursuit of the baseball (why are these stadiums built such that there are going to be so many empty seats?!)
Gooden was great for seven innings, allowing only one run. The K corner even made an appearance 3,000 miles from home
This strikeout swing by Graig Nettles was representative of what the Padres did for much of the night.
The wheels came off a bit for the Mets in the eighth inning. Roger McDowell came on in relief of Gooden and allowed 4 runs but it wasn't all his fault. A potential double play ball through Backman's legs plated two runs and was key to San Diego's game-tying rally. The game stood tied through the ninth inning so it was on to extra innings.
Hall-of-Famer Gossage was still in the game for the 11th inning after also pitching the 9th and 10th. Dykstra and Backman started the inning by doing what Dykstra and Backman did. Dykstra singled and when to third on Backman's hit on a hit-and-run. Hernandez then drove in the run that put the Mets ahead by a run and they took that lead into the bottom of the 11th.
The Mets tried to close the game with Doug Sisk, who had pitched a scoreless top of the 10th. But Gary Templeton led off with a double. With no position players left, the Padres pinch-hit lefty reliever Craig Lefferts for Gossage. Lefferts had hit a walk-off home run earlier in the season but on this occasion he was asked to bunt. Hernandez charged the potential bunt so aggressively, he ran across towards third base.
Lefferts eventually struck out, taking us to the moment we've all been waiting for, Tim Flannery's at-bat with a runner on second and one out.
Flannery singled to center field. With the Padres playing aggressive, Templeton tried to score. Dykstra charged the ball and threw home where John Gibbons was waiting. Templeton reached home plate not long after the ball did. Gibbons braced himself for the collision and took it.
He then showed the home plate umpire the ball
Then, almost Supermanlike, he bounced up and threw a strike to Howard Johnson at third base. The camera angle that WOR used to show the play live almost made it look like Flannery was safe in trying to get to third base. He very much was not. It was an 8-2-5 game-ending double play.
"Just your routine double play," said Tim McCarver as the Mets celebrated.
Here it is if you want to watch it rather than stare at blurry stills.
Kiner spent most of the next little while praising Dykstra for the great throw, which made sense since he was an outfielder. McCarver, a catcher, rightfully recognized Gibbons as the hero of the play.
You could make a case that Gibbons had one of the best seasons in Mets history. He went 9-for-19 with four doubles, a home run, and a 1.388 OPS. The Mets were 8-0 when he played, 5-0 when he started. He didn't make the postseason roster but he was there for every game as a bullpen catcher. He got to be a legitimate part of the championship and the best road trip (8-1) in club history to that point.
As McCarver would say (and did say that night), "Oh baby!"
Today's game brought to you by … One of the great songs of my lifetime has a music video. "Let's Go Mets Go" would have its premiere at Shea Stadium two days later (anyone else buy the 78 RPM? When it came out).
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