#4- 1986 Mets Rewatch: Kramer & Newman's Misplaced Antagonism

The 1986 Mets Rewatch Newsletter is a newsletter for Mets fans who enjoy helping their friends move.

This is one of the few times that we'll touch on a loss, but this is a famous game and it's important to share it. The anniversary is on Sunday, but I figured today would be a good day to reminisce.

The game between the Mets and Phillies on April 12, 1986 is believed to be the basis for the Seinfeld episode, The Boyfriend, in which Jerry becomes friends with Keith Hernandez. In the show, the game is referenced as taking place on June 14, 1987. But the details don't match up for that day.

On June 14, 1987, the Mets beat the Pirates 7-3. Keith Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a home run. There's no chance that Larry David and his friends would have been taunting Keith or getting spit on by Roger McDowell (did not pitch). No one's day was ruined by this game and no one was affected in a deep and profound way.

But April 12, 1986 has the most important element we're looking for – "a key Hernandez misplay cost the Mets a game" and the opponent matches with Seinfeld in that it came against the Phillies. This is the game that Larry David and friends were undoubtedly at.

But that game has much more to it than what Mr. Kramer and Mr. Newman shared when they entered Jerry's apartment. I'd argue that their anger was misplaced.

Yes, Hernandez did commit an error in the ninth inning that started the Phillies' game-tying rally in what would be a 14-inning 9-8 Phillies win. Yes, he also went 0-for-7 and was hit by a pitch. There were 11 men on base when he made those seven outs and he didn't plate any of them. He hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the 10th inning and an inning-ending double play with runners on first and third in the 14th inning.

If you were to rank worst games ever by a Mets hitter, this one would be on the list. The two that belong in the same realm are one in which Tommie Agee had an 0-for-8 and stranded 12 baserunners in a 17-inning loss to the Braves in 1968 and another in which Joe Torre hit into four double plays in four at-bats against the Astros in 1975.

Hernandez said afterwards it was one of the worst games of his career.

Of course, when we think of Hernandez, we don't think of things like this game. We think of all the big hits.

- The game-winning home run against Mark Davis and the Giants on September 1, 1985 that got him out of a slump and started a 32-game stretch in which he hit .395 with a .981 OPS.

- The walk-off hit against the Cardinals 11 days later that put the Mets in first place.

- The two-run triple against Nolan Ryan in Game 2 of the 1986 NLCS

- The RBI double that knocked Bob Knepper out of the game and cut the Astros lead to 3-2 in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the NLCS.

- The two run single in Game 7 of the World Series that cut the Red Sox lead to 3-2 and the sacrifice fly that put the Mets ahead 6-3.

Here's the Mets leaderboard for highest OPS in high-leverage situations

Smart people say that clutch may not exist in sports, but Keith Hernandez was clutch. He dialed it up in important situations. Don’t spit on that.

And even the best players can step into baseball's version of The Twilight Zone every once in awhile, as happened in this game (credit: Star Ledger baseball writer Dan Castellano for the reference, with the headline coming from The Staten Island Advance).

Let's share our list of observations from watching a little bit of the first NBC Game of the Week of the 1986 season.

Pressure the defense - You got a good feel for how much pressure the Mets could put on a defense right away. Len Dykstra hit a ground ball between first and second base to lead off the game.

Mike Schmidt, who started at first base that day, went wide to field it and Steve Carlton didn't get over to first base quick enough to get the out. Dykstra then immediately stole second, went to third on catcher John Russell's throwing error, and scored on Tim Teufel's ground out.

Gary Carter domination - Vin Scully dropped a lot of statistical observations during this broadcast. He alluded to Gary Carter being great vs Carlton and he wasn't kidding. Carter hit .309 and had 11 home runs vs Carlton, by far his most homers against a pitcher (he had 5 against John Candelaria, Pete Falcone, and Jim Rooker). He had 11 home runs and only 7 strikeouts against a Hall of Famer!

Today's game is brought to you by IBM and spokesperson: Charlie Chaplin???

El Sid - Scully also noted of Sid Fernandez that from watching him in the Dodgers organization that "it seemed like he was pitching uphill" and shared a conversation with Mets pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre who agreed and said he fixed Fernandez's elbow location to address that.

The Fernandez of this game is essentially the poster for how Mets' fans felt about Fernandez at the time – so much potential but so many issues.

He walked 7 in 4 1/3 innings pitched. He walked 3 batters in the third inning and then gave up a two-run single to Schmidt. He walked two more in the fifth inning to load the bases before giving way to Ed Lynch, who allowed a two-run single that put the Phillies ahead 4-2.

It was contagious - Whatever was in the air that got to Hernandez got to Darryl Strawberry too. Straw went 0-for-6 with 3 strikeouts and twice grounded into a double play. The 0-for-6 was Strawberry’s worst 0-for in his career.

What are the chances that two of the best hitters in Mets history would have their worst game in the same day???

Tarnished Gold? - The Phillies trailed by three runs, but tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. The Hernandez error was a bad one. A grounder by Glenn Wilson right through his legs.

"Keith playing the ball to come up and it stayed down," said Scully, who joked that the price of gold would come down as a result (a reference to Keith's Gold Gloves). "He doesn't do that very often, it's really news," said Joe Garagiola.

The Unlikely Comeback - A Steve Jeltz triple against McDowell's fat fastball that scored two runs and cut the Mets lead to 7-6. Jeltz was the quintessential light-hitting shortstop of the era. He hit .210 for his career with a .268 slugging percentage and tripled in not even 1 percent of his plate appearances.

A ground ball single up the middle against Jesse Orosco by Gary Maddox on the fast turf eluded a dive from shortstop Rafael Santana and tied the game.

Both hits came with two strikes.

Why the Mets made a trade - If you were ever wondering why the Mets traded for second baseman Tim Teufel, this graphic tells you all you needed to know …

Backman actually walked against a lefty after that stat aired.

Excruciating, but that’s the Mets, even in ‘86 - The top of the 10th inning was one of the most excruciating innings of the Mets regular season. They loaded the bases on walks. The opposing pitcher, Dave Rucker, nearly hit Dykstra and threw a wild pitch that wasn't close. He threw 12 balls in a 14-pitch span.

And Hernandez, who entered 5-for-9 in his career against Rucker hit a hard grounder to short on which the Phillies turned a very close double play.

11) Props to Tim Teufel for trying his best on a take-out slide at second base.

Speaking of excruciating - The Phillies stranded 23 baserunners. That's the most left on base by any opponent in any game in Mets history!!!

Most Left on Base By Mets Opponent- One Game, Team History

From Ecstasy to Agony - The Mets took the lead in the 14th on a single by Teufel, but another double play by Hernandez (this one on a hard-hit grounder to first) kept what they got to one run.

In the bottom of the 14th the Phillies strung together five straight hits and walks against Randy Niemann. On one Hernandez charged a bunt hard as he always did, but it was well placed and Carter couldn't throw out John Russell, which loaded the bases. A walk to Von Hayes tied it and another hit by Jeltz won it.

Jeltz went 3-for-6 with 2 walks and 3 RBI, the only time in his career Jeltz reached base 5 times in a game. He wasn’t a good hitter. He hit .210 for his career. If you wanted to be mad at someone about this game, he should be the target of your displeasure.

Kramer and Newman, look at the big picture of what Hernandez meant to the Mets, take a deep breath, and let your anger wash away.

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.