The 1986 Mets Rewatch Newsletter is a newsletter for Mets fans who like dogs that can jump through fire
The Mets came to Philadelphia on September 12 with a 93-46 record and ready to clinch the National League East with one win in the three-game series.
But apparently the baseball gods weren't ready to give the division title to the Mets just yet.
The Mets-Phillies game that day was one of the Mets ugliest of the season. They looked much more like the 1962 Mets than the 1986 Mets.
Dwight Gooden, who had pitched to a 1.59 ERA in 34 innings in his previous four starts and who had beaten the Phillies his last 5 decisions against them, looked good initially but was overthrowing.
The Mets should have known they were in trouble when they pitched out on Milt Thompson's steal attempt on the third batter of the game. Gary Carter slipped and through well wide of second base. 1986 Mets-killer Von Hayes started a 4-for-4 day by doubling over center fielder Mookie Wilson's head. Mookie misjudged the ball, breaking in instead of back. The Phillies had a 1-0 lead after one inning.
Von Hayes vs 1986 Mets
Category | Stat |
BA | .357 |
OPS | 1.060 |
RBI | 16 |
Games | 17 |
The Phillies started Bruce Ruffin, a rookie not far removed from Double-A. Soft-tossing lefties like Ruffin, Zane Smith, and Randy Tomlin gave the Mets trouble in that era. Ruffin had pitched 8 innings in a win over the Mets a month earlier. In this game he'd be very good, allowing 3 runs in 7 innings.
The third inning was the night's most ugly inning. With two out and nobody on, Hayes singled and went all the way to third base when Wilson misplayed the ball. Mike Schmidt followed with a rocket off third baseman Ray Knight's chest. Knight recovered and threw to first base but too late (the safe call made by first base umpire Tom Hallion, far before his "ass in the jackpot" exchange with Terry Collins). Hayes scored to make it 2-0 Phillies.
Knight then kicked Glenn Wilson's grounder for another error, though he was saved from harm when Mookie Wilson made a sprinting catch in deep center against Juan Samuel to save two runs from scoring.
I do want to shout out Samuel, a future maligned Met for a nice double play turn in the fifth inning, which you can see here.
Today's game brought to you by Bud Light. Dogs only jump through fire when they're drunk. So be sure to feed them a Bud Light (this photo is actual video and not AI!).
In the home fifth inning the Phillies buried the Mets. With two men on base Mike Schmidt hit a bomb of a home run to center field against Gooden. This was Schmidt's 493rd career home run, tying Lou Gehrig for 14th all-time. Forty years later the 493 homer mark is shared by Gehrig and Fred McGriff and stands 29th in MLB history. Schmidt's 548 home runs rank 16th.
Mike Schmidt vs 1986 Mets
Category | Stat |
BA | .373 |
OPS | .985 |
RBI | 15 |
Games | 17 |
The Mets made their fourth error of the day when shortstop Rafael Santana botched a ground ball but this one caused no further damage.
In-between innings the Philly Phanatic stomped on a line of three Mets helmets. Bitter, indeed. Even the Mets players got a laugh out of it.
On the out-of-town-scoreboard, Bill Buckner homered twice and Bruce Hurst pitched a complete game as the Red Sox beat the Yankees, 7-2. Their AL East lead was 10 games.
The large contingent of Mets fans that were on hand were led to believe that the Mets were capable of rallying on this day. They scored three runs in the seventh inning on RBI hits by Darryl Strawberry and Tim Teufel and got the tying run to the plate in both the seventh and eighth innings but couldn't cash in any more. Luis Aguayo, whose walk-off home run would all but knock the 1987 Mets out of the division race, homered in the bottom of the eighth to make it 6-3. Steve Bedrosian closed the final two innings for a 6-3 Phillies.
“We were up because it was the Mets and it was written in all the papers that they were going to drink the champagne here,” said Phillies manager John Felske.
“It was all set up for us to do it,” said Knight. But alas …
The Phillies won each of the next two games to sweep the series. And let's give the 1986 Phillies a little credit here. They started their season 15-24 but went 71-51 in the next 122 games and would have been a formidable foe if expanded playoffs existed. Instead, they're a mere footnote, finishing 86-75, 21 1/2 games out of first place.
The Mets malaise carried over into St. Louis where they lost again to the Cardinals, 1-0 in 13 innings. They'd win the next night but so did the Phillies. The Mets magic number was one as they returned home to face the Cubs on September 17, 1986, which we'll cover next week.
You can contact me on Bluesky or via e-mail ([email protected]). You can find my other newsletter, which summarizes interviews I do with journalists, here.