The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of the Mets: Frank Cashen

Stand at the corner of Riverside Drive and West 122nd St. in Manhattan and you'll see the General Grant National Memorial.  Grant's Tomb, as it is more commonly known, is the final resting place of former president Ulysses S. Grant and is the largest mausoleum in North America.

Stand at the corner of Roosevelt Ave. and 126th St. in Queens and you'll see where Shea Stadium used to be.  In the late 1970s, nearly a century after General U.S. Grant passed away, Shea was not-so-affectionately known as Grant's Tomb after Mets chairman M.D. Grant.  And not even an experienced doctor could have saved the Mets from going six feet under during Grant's tenure.

Shea Stadium resembled a mausoleum in 1979, with fewer than 800,000 fans braving the tumbleweed that passed through the park's empty concourses to watch the men who passed as players tumbling over each other on the field.  But things began to change a year later in 1980, when the ownership team of Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon purchased the Mets from the Payson/de Roulet family.

After many years of misguided machinations by M. Donald Grant, the Mets were looking for a general manager who could make the team relevant again.  They found him after receiving a tip from the beer guy.

The architect and the building he worked in.  (Manny Millan/Getty Images)

John Francis Cashen was a sportswriter in Baltimore for 15 years.  When he wasn't writing, the bow tie aficionado was studying law at the University of Maryland.  On top of that, Cashen worked as a publicity director at a race track owned by local businessman Jerold Hoffberger, which led to a job in advertising for Hoffberger's National Brewing Company.

In 1965, Hoffberger, whose "Natty Boh" beer was the main sponsor of the Baltimore Orioles, gained controlling interest in the O's and asked Cashen to be the team's executive vice president.  Although Cashen had no experience working for a major league club, he enjoyed immediate success in his new role.  The Orioles won four pennants in his first six years on the job, taking home the World Series title in 1966 and 1970.

But after ten highly successful seasons with the Orioles, Cashen left the team to manage the brewery, which wasn't experiencing as much success.  Hoffberger eventually lost control of the National Brewing Company and ended up selling the Orioles in 1979.  No longer attached to his former boss, Cashen returned to baseball, accepting a position as Commissioner Bowie Kuhn's assistant.  Within a year, Cashen was changing jobs again, with a little help from his previous employer.

The New York Mets had new ownership in 1980, and were looking to build a winner from the ground up.  To do that, Doubleday and Wilpon needed a savvy general manager.  But before they could start the interview process, they first had to answer the phone.

"I understand you just bought the Mets," said the voice on the line.  "Well, the best general manager in the business is Frank Cashen."

Doubleday had never met Jerold Hoffberger, but once he took the former Orioles' owner's call, he figured he had nothing to lose by contacting Cashen.

"We called him," Doubleday said.  "He was the only one we talked to.  It only took a week."

And with that, the Mets had their new general manager.  However, it took a little longer than a week for the Mets to have a competitive team.

The 1979 Mets needed to win their last six games of the year to avoid losing 100 games.  But the season-ending skein couldn't keep them from finishing in the N.L. East cellar for a third consecutive campaign.  Cashen knew the roster needed a total shakeup if he wanted to field a competitive team that would bring the fans back to Shea Stadium.

"I took over a huge mess," Cashen said.  "Talent-wise, we had nothing.  Fan support, there was nothing.  In my estimation it was as ugly as you could get.  Just terrible.  We needed a complete overhaul of everything."

(Chuck Solomon/Getty Images)

One of the first things Cashen did as part of his overhaul was hire Jerry Della Famina and his advertising agency.  Due to his past work in advertising for the National Brewing Company in Baltimore, Cashen knew that the team had to promote a new image to its fans; one that promised that the losing ways of the club were coming to an end.  Della Famina came up with "The Magic Is Back" as the team's slogan in 1980, which led to much ridicule after the team ended the year with a 67-95 record.  His initial failure caused Cashen to realize exactly what was needed to help bring fans back to the ballpark.

"You can go overboard with marketing and advertising," Cashen said.  "The real thing that sells the team is the team.  You have to have the players."

At first, Cashen did not have much success importing veteran talent via the trade market, as players such as Ellis Valentine, Randy Jones and George Foster all underperformed after being acquired by the Mets.  But Cashen knew young talent when he saw it.  And his trades for prospects, as well as his draft strategy, were key in building a cohesive unit that would end the Grant's Tomb era of baseball at Shea.

Cashen's first-ever draft pick was Darryl Strawberry, who went on to set the franchise record for home runs.  Over the next three years, Cashen went on to draft Dwight Gooden, Lenny Dykstra, Roger McDowell and Randy Myers, among others.  He also signed several amateur free agents such as Kevin Mitchell and Ed Hearn.  And he traded away fan-favorite Lee Mazzilli in exchange for minor league pitchers Ron Darling and Walt Terrell, flipping Terrell a few years later for Howard Johnson.

When he first came aboard, Cashen said it would take four or five years to make the team competitive.  In 1983 - Cashen's fourth season with the team - the Mets were still languishing at the bottom of the division standings.  But by then, Strawberry and Darling were major-league ready.  In addition, Cashen finally made a trade for a veteran player that worked out for the club, acquiring first baseman Keith Hernandez from the defending world champion St. Louis Cardinals.  The Mets won just 68 games in 1983, but that represented the franchise's highest win total in seven years.

The 1984 season began with a loss before the team had even taken the field, as the Mets foolishly failed to protect Tom Seaver - Cashen had brought back the prodigal son just a year earlier - in the free agent compensation draft.  But Seaver's departure opened up a spot in the starting rotation, one that was filled when new manager Davey Johnson insisted to a hesitant Cashen that 19-year-old phenom Dwight Gooden was equipped to succeed in the big leagues after striking out 300 hitters in 191 innings at Single-A Lynchburg in 1983.

"He's ready, I know it," Johnson said.  "And don't worry because I'll protect him.  That's what I do with young arms."

With Cashen's young talent beginning to spread its wings at the major league level, the Mets exceeded all expectations by winning 90 games in '84 - the second-highest total in franchise history up to that point.  New York played meaningful games in September for the first time in nearly a decade, but ultimately fell short of the postseason.  Nevertheless, the team drew over one million more fans than they did in the year prior to Cashen's hiring.  Knowing that the team had to remain competitive to keep its new and returning fans, Cashen had to once again trade one of the club's most popular players.  But this time, instead of acquiring prospects in the deal, Cashen went for the gold.

On December 10, the Mets sent fan-favorite third baseman Hubie Brooks to the Montreal Expos, along with catcher Mike Fitzgerald, speedy outfielder Herm Winningham and pitching prospect Floyd Youmans.  In return, the Mets received veteran catcher Gary Carter, who was a seven-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and three-time Silver Slugger Award recipient.  In other words, Carter was the missing link, both as a hitter and groomer of young pitchers.

"As easy as the trade for Hernandez was, the trade for Gary Carter was much, much, much, much more difficult," Cashen said.  "It took about 10 telephone calls and a couple of face-to-face meetings and was done over a period of a couple of months before I could finalize the deal.  He [Expos president John McHale] didn't want to do it.  I thought the possibility of getting him was slim and none.  We needed a hitter and a catcher and he fit the bill completely.  I hung in there for a long time, much longer than you do for an ordinary kind of trade."

Have bat, will travel - from Montreal to New York.  (Bob Vedral/Sporting News via Getty Images)

Prior to the acquisition of Carter, the most prolific offensive season by a Mets catcher was by John Stearns in 1978, when the Bad Dude smacked 15 homers and drove in 73 runs.  Carter surpassed both of those totals easily, cranking out a 32-homer, 100-RBI campaign in his first year with the team.  Carter nearly single-handedly carried the Mets to a division crown, batting .323 with 15 homers (Stearns' full-season total in '78) and 38 RBI over his last 34 games.  But alas, the Mets fell short of the playoffs once again, as their 98-64 record left them three games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the N.L. East.

The Mets had won 188 games between the 1984 and 1985 seasons with nary a postseason berth to show for it.  The team now had veteran leadership in Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter, and Cashen's key early '80s draft picks had all graduated to the big club.  With the core of the team already in place, Cashen decided to add smaller pieces to complete the championship puzzle, acquiring second baseman Tim Teufel to platoon with incumbent middle infielder Wally Backman and trading for left-handed starting pitcher Bob Ojeda to fill out the starting rotation.

The less splashier moves were a tremendous success, as Ojeda led the Mets with 18 victories in 1986, while Teufel's presence allowed Backman to play primarily against right-handed pitchers.  Backman responded by batting a career-high .320, while Teufel brought some pop to the lineup, contributing 25 extra-base hits in just 279 at-bats.  After two years of being the runner-up in the division, the Mets finally ended 13 years of frustration, advancing to the postseason for the first time since 1973.

With the right mix of veterans and homegrown talent, the team Cashen built won it all in 1986, defeating the Boston Red Sox in seven games to win the franchise's second World Series championship.  It took four years of rebuilding before the Mets became contenders and then another couple of seasons before they had the talent (and the luck - Thanks, Buckner!) to bring the trophy home, but Cashen kept the promise he made to his bosses.  He stitched together a ragtag group of imperfect players and came up with the perfect season for long-suffering Mets fans.

Of course, once a team climbs to the top of the mountain, the only place to go is back down.  And the descent started when Cashen traded away Kevin Mitchell just six weeks after the Mets had won the World Series.  Although the Mets received slugger Kevin McReynolds in the eight-player deal with the San Diego Padres, Mitchell was "one of the guys" who embodied the identity of the never-say-die Mets, whereas McReynolds' idea of hunting for a trophy usually ended with an animal's head on his wall.  McReynolds wasn't a rough-and-tumble Met like Mitchell and several of his former teammates were, but Cashen felt that Mitchell would be a negative presence in the clubhouse, especially around Gooden and Strawberry.  The news of the transaction did not sit well with manager Davey Johnson.

"That's the one trade I really fought," Johnson said.  "They felt Mitch was a bad influence on Doc and Straw.  I knew that wasn't the case.  Mitch came from a tough background but he wasn't a problem at all.  I tried to convince the powers-that-be, but they kept saying, 'we think he'll self-destruct.' "

This photo clearly depicts Kevin Mitchell as a self-destructing bad influence.  (Bill Turnbull/NY Daily News)

What Mitchell did do over the course of his career after his departure from New York was destroy baseballs.  After playing just 62 games in his hometown of San Diego, Mitchell was dealt to the San Francisco Giants, where he hit 143 homers in less than five full seasons.  Mitchell helped the Giants win two N.L. West titles and the 1989 National League pennant, taking home the league's Most Valuable Player Award in the Giants' World Series campaign.

While Mitchell was becoming one the game's most feared hitters, McReynolds had a solid career with the Mets.  In 1988, McReynolds finished third in the N.L. MVP vote and helped the Mets win a division title.  But that was the only time he played in the postseason with the team, as the '88 squad didn't have the fire and resilience that their '86 counterparts had.  They did have David Cone, however, who became one of the league's best pitchers after Cashen traded for him.

In what is widely considered to be the best post-championship trade made by Cashen, the Mets acquired Cone from Kansas City for catcher Ed Hearn and pitchers Rick Anderson and Mauro Gozzo.  Cashen wasn't even asking for Cone in particular, but stuck to his mantra about who to select in a trade when given the opportunity.

"We knew Kansas City needed a catcher and we had Eddie Hearn," Cashen said.  "I'd like to tell you that we were that brilliant, but we looked into their system for a pitcher.  You know my philosophy: if you don't know what you want, take pitching." 

Cone had an up-and-down 1987 campaign, filling in as a starter when the staff was overcome with injuries and serving as a reliever when the other pitchers were healthy.  Cone himself wasn't immune to the injuries that plagued the pitching staff in 1987, missing nearly three months with a broken right little finger.  But Cone blossomed in 1988, becoming the first Met not named Seaver, Koosman or Gooden to win 20 games in a single season.  As good as Cone and his teammates were in 1987 and 1988 - the Mets combined to win 192 games during the two seasons - they had no pennants to show for their regular season success.  What they did have was a group of rapidly aging veterans and memories of a time when the team was expected to win a championship every year - something that Cashen was becoming well aware of.

At the tail end of the 1988 campaign, the Mets promoted 21-year-old wunderkind Gregg Jefferies.  Jefferies, who had torn the cover off the ball at every minor league level, would split time between second and third base during the final month of the season and started all seven games against Los Angeles in the National League Championship Series at the hot corner.  But after the disappointing defeat to the Dodgers, the Mets decided that Jefferies' future in New York would be at second base.  Wally Backman, who had been with the organization for a dozen seasons, including the last nine at the big league level as the team's second baseman, was the odd man out, causing him to ask for a trade.  In December, the Mets granted his wish, sending the gritty fan-favorite to the Minnesota Twins for three minor league pitchers.

Unfortunately, Jefferies didn't become the next hitting superstar for the Mets, playing just three more seasons in New York after Backman was traded to make room for him.  The .321 batting average and .961 OPS posted by Jefferies during his late-season call-up in 1988 proved to be a fluke, as Jefferies batted just .272 and had a .732 OPS for the Mets from 1989 to 1991.  In addition, Jefferies rubbed his more experienced teammates the wrong way with his immature behavior and childlike temper tantrums.  If anything, Jefferies became the clubhouse cancer that Cashen thought Kevin Mitchell was going to be just a few years earlier.

Six months after the departure of Backman, Cashen continued to part ways with some of the other characters from the '86 club.  On Father's Day 1989, the Mets traded Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell to the division rival Phillies for Juan Samuel.  The second baseman turned center fielder failed miserably in New York, and was an ex-Met the following season.  Meanwhile, Dykstra and McDowell both played well into the '90s, with Dykstra providing the spark in Philadelphia's pennant-winning 1993 campaign.  Needless to say, the trade to cut ties with Dykstra was unpopular with Mets fans and with the team's manager.

"The only thing I wanted Dykstra to do was stop trying to hit home runs," Johnson said.  "I never wanted him out of there.  He was part of the grit and the grind, along with Backman."

After 1986, Davey Johnson and Frank Cashen didn't see eye-to-eye very much.  (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

As the 1980s came to a close, so did the tenures of many long-time Mets players.  In addition to the trades of Backman, Dykstra and McDowell, the team shipped off beloved outfielder Mookie Wilson to Toronto at the trade deadline in 1989 and chose not to renew the contracts of Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter at the end of the season.  That was followed by the firing of Davey Johnson in May 1990 and the failure to re-sign Darryl Strawberry six months later.

Just as Cashen had no problem sending Kevin Mitchell back to his hometown four years earlier, he had no qualms about letting Strawberry return to his place of birth in Los Angeles.  The Mets had offered what they thought was a fair deal, putting four years and $15.5 million on the table for the right fielder, but the Dodgers were willing to give Strawberry a longer commitment and the corresponding financial compensation that came with such a commitment.  When the deal was announced, Cashen remained unapologetic about not bringing back the 28-year-old superstar.

"We offered him four years; they offered him five," Cashen said.  "The money was the same.  I've never offered a ballplayer a contract for $15.5 million.  I don't have to apologize for it."

And just like that, the first player Cashen drafted when he became the Mets' general manager was gone.  

When the Mets rallied to defeat the Red Sox in Game Six of the 1986 World Series, the miraculous comeback featured two-out singles by Gary Carter, Kevin Mitchell and Ray Knight, followed by a wild pitch and a little roller up along first by Mookie Wilson.  Within three seasons, they were all gone.  In fact, by the time 1990 came to a close, all nine players who started Game Six and the manager who wrote their names on the lineup card were no longer with the team.  The house that Cashen built so meticulously had been all but torn down.  A year later, the architect walked away as well.

In 1991, the Mets had a solid first half under manager Bud Harrelson, and by late July the team was 15 games over .500 despite having a suspect offense.  But the Mets won just 24 of their final 70 games to finish the year under .500 for the first time in eight years.  That was enough for Cashen, who resigned at the end of the year after 12 seasons as the Mets' general manager.  Cashen remained with the team as its chief operating officer in 1992 and then as a consultant, briefly filling in as general manager in 1993 and once again in 1998.
 
Nearly two decades after spending his last day as the team's full-time general manager, Cashen was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame.   He received the honor in 2010 along with two of his former first round draft picks (Strawberry, Gooden) and the manager he hired that helped turn the team around in 1984, leading to a championship two years later.

The Mets' turnaround in the 1980s might never have happened if not for these four men.  (Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Cashen, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 88, wasn't without his faults, as he frequently had disagreements with manager Davey Johnson.  Cashen's old-school approach to running a club, expecting professionalism from his players at all times, was frustrating to Johnson, especially when it came to women traveling with the team and the players' behavior off the field.  Cashen was also quick to trade away players, as seen by the jettisoning of Mitchell, Backman and Dykstra for players who either couldn't handle New York (Juan Samuel), couldn't make it to the big leagues (all the minor leaguers who came back in return) or couldn't feign interest in the game (Kevin McReynolds).  The fast trigger finger eventually led to the team's decline in the early '90s and the subsequent drop in attendance at the ballpark.  A team that had surpassed three million paying fans in 1987 and 1988 was barely drawing half that amount just five years later.  Shea Stadium wasn't quite Grant's Tomb again, but the magic that had permeated the park in the 1980s had certainly dissipated by the 1990s.

Despite his various flaws, Cashen's legacy remains untarnished and he is still revered as one of the greatest general managers in franchise history.  He may not have had everyone on his side during his time with the Mets, but even his fiercest detractors knew how important he was to the team.

"Frank was our leader," Strawberry said upon hearing of Cashen's passing.  "I always admired the way he put together our team.  He mixed young guys, like me and Doc, with guys like Carter and Hernandez.  He was able to find the perfect blend to build a championship."

The Mets were one of the worst teams in the league at the beginning of Cashen's tenure in New York.  When he left, they were once again a second division team.  But for all the agony Mets fans endured waiting for a competitive club to root for, the one championship squad Cashen constructed has remained something they can look back on with pride.

A man who got his start working for the local beer guy will always have Mets fans raising a glass in his honor.


Note: The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of the Mets is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets players and personnel who experienced the best of times and the worst of times with the team.  For previous installments, please click on the names below:

January 2, 2017: Tom Seaver
January 9, 2017: Mike Piazza
January 16, 2017: Wally Backman
January 23, 2017: Daniel Murphy

 

The Mets Who Came Close to Winning a Major Award

In the classic film, "A Christmas Story", Ralph Parker's Old Man became quite excited when he realized he had won a major award.  And why shouldn't he?  It's not every day that someone is recognized with a prize, even if it's just a leg lamp wrapped in vintage Old West tumbleweed.

Just like Mr. Parker was rightfully pleased with what he won, major league ballplayers are tickled pink when they are bestowed with their sport's most prestigious single-season honors.  After all, a player's performance can vary dramatically from one campaign to another, especially for a player who might be considered, shall we say, fra-jee-lay.  (Those players must be Italian.)

What I'm trying to say is that nothing is guaranteed in baseball, so winning a major award might be what separates a so-so career from one that causes a player to be remembered long after his career is over.  For example, Jon Matlack had a mediocre 82-81 won-loss record in seven seasons as a Met and never approached the lofty statuses afforded his fellow moundsmen, Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman.  But he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1972 - one of five Mets players to take home the prize for top neophyte - and even the most casual Mets fan today knows about Matlack, even though the southpaw pitched his final game for the team nearly 40 years ago. 

Some all-time Mets greats came close to taking home the hardware, such as Koosman, who finished second in the 1968 N.L. Rookie of the Year vote to future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench and second to future Met Randy Jones for the 1976 N.L. Cy Young Award.  Similarly, Seaver and Keith Hernandez were runners-up in the 1969 and 1984 National League Most Valuable Player Award race.  Koosman, Seaver and Hernandez are now all in the Mets Hall of Fame and are beloved by Mets fans to this day.

But several former Mets who were near-misses come awards time aren't Mets Hall of Famers such as Kooz, the Franchise and Mex.  Perhaps with a little more support from awards voters, they would have earned a plaque of their own at Citi Field.  Here are ten players who came oh-so close to winning the baseball version of a leg lamp.

Ron Hunt

After making their National League debut in 1962 with a slew of veteran players, the Mets decided they needed to add some fresh faces to their roster in 1963.  One of those faces belonged to 22-year-old rookie Ron Hunt.  Hunt was purchased from the Milwaukee Braves at the conclusion of the 1962 season, but did not get into a game with the Mets until the team's seventh contest in 1963.  But once he got into the lineup at second base, Hunt made it impossible for manager Casey Stengel to take him out.

In the first of his 12 big league seasons, Hunt posted career highs in several offensive categories that he would never surpass.  Among these categories were at-bats (533), hits (145), doubles (28), home runs (10) and RBI (42).  Hunt finished second in the 1963 Rookie of the Year vote to Cincinnati's Pete Rose, even though Hunt had more doubles, homers and RBI than Rose and finished the year with an identical .334 on-base percentage.  It should be noted that Hunt accomplished his numbers while compiling nearly 100 fewer at-bats than Rose and playing in a much weaker lineup that gave him far less protection than Rose enjoyed.

John Milner

The first ten years of the Mets' existence saw the team produce several good, young players.  Among these players were one Rookie of the Year Award winner (Seaver) and two runners-up (Hunt, Koosman).  But in 1972, New York had its first third-place finisher for top rookie in the league.  And as impressive as a top-three finish is for any rookie, this particular Mets neophyte wasn't even the best rookie on his own team.

Playing in just 117 games in 1972, John Milner showed Mets fans why he would become known as "The Hammer", pounding 17 home runs in his inaugural campaign.  Milner also showed a keen eye at the plate, walking 51 times in just 423 plate appearances.  As Milner showed his prowess at the plate, his teammate, Jon Matlack, topped his performance on the mound.  Matlack's first full season in the majors produced a 15-10 record, 2.32 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 169 strikeouts, which earned him the 1972 Rookie of the Year Award.  But instead of settling for second place, Milner also finished behind Giants' catcher Dave Rader, whose .640 OPS was dwarfed by Milner's .762 mark.

Steve Henderson

In 1976, Steve Henderson was one of the Reds' top prospects, hitting for average (.312), flashing good power (17 HR) and displaying great speed (44 SB).  Henderson continued to tear it up at the Triple-A level in 1977, batting .326 with seven homers and 19 steals in just 60 games.  But Henderson was an outfielder, and with top slugger George Foster in left, perennial Gold Glove winner Cesar Geronimo in center, and batting title contender Ken Griffey in right, Henderson's chances of making the Reds was slim to none.  With no room on the roster for him, Cincinnati traded Henderson to the Mets for the team's first Rookie of the Year winner, Tom Seaver.

In his first season in New York, Henderson blossomed, posting a .297/.372/.480 slash line.  Despite not playing his first game for the Mets until June 16, Henderson led the team in RBI (65) and tied for the team lead in homers (12).  He also finished second to Lenny Randle in both runs scored (67) and triples (6).  Henderson lost the Rookie of the Year Award to Montreal's Andre Dawson, finishing just one vote behind the future Hall of Famer, despite having a higher batting average, OBP and slugging percentage than Dawson.  Henderson also scored more runs, drew more walks and tied Dawson in runs batted in despite playing in 40 fewer games than the Hawk.

Hubie Brooks

In 1980, the Mets marketing campaign tried to convince fans that the magic was back at Shea Stadium.  Sure enough, in September, three promising rookies made their debuts with the team, as Mookie Wilson, Wally Backman and Hubie Brooks all made their first appearances at the major league level during the final month of the 1980 campaign.  Although Backman spent most of the next few seasons in the minors, Wilson and Brooks were with the Mets to stay, and both took advantage of their new everyday player status.

Wilson impressed the Mets with his speed, but Brooks had a better all-around game.  Two weeks before the player's strike began in 1981, Brooks was contending for a batting title.  Once the players came back from their two-month hiatus, Brooks began to drive the ball, collecting ten extra-base hits and driving in 13 runs in his first 19 games after the strike.  For the season, Brooks batted .307 with 21 doubles, four homers and 38 RBI.  That was good enough for third place in the National League Rookie of the Year vote, behind Fernando Valenzuela and Tim Raines.  How impressive was Brooks' rookie season?  To this day, Brooks remains the only Met rookie with at least 350 at-bats to finish his first year with a batting average above .300.

Jesse Orosco

When the Mets traded Minnesota native Jerry Koosman to the Twins following the 1978 campaign, they received two minor league pitchers in return.  One of the young hurlers was Greg Field, who never played in the Mets organization, as he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates the following April.  The other was a 21-year-old southpaw who spent his first professional season getting himself in and out of jams, as evidenced by his stellar 1.12 ERA and mediocre 1.23 WHIP pitching for the Elizabethton Twins.  It's no wonder he was eventually known by the moniker Messy Jesse.

Jesse Orosco will always be known for recording the final out of the 1986 World Series and for appearing in more games than any pitcher in major league history.  But as a part-time closer who spent most of his career coming into games long before the ninth inning, Orosco had little hope of ever being considered for an individual award.  At least until he put up one of the best seasons ever recorded by a reliever in 1983, posting a 13-7 won-loss record with 17 saves.  In 110 innings, Orosco posted a 1.47 ERA, becoming the only Met (starter or reliever) to post a sub-1.50 ERA in 100 or more innings.  In fact, Orosco is one of only seven pitchers since 1920 to accomplish the feat, joining players such as Hall of Famers Bob Gibson (1968) and Bruce Sutter (1977).  For his efforts, Orosco finished third in the N.L. Cy Young Award ballot, finishing behind John Denny and Mario Soto.

Kevin Mitchell

In 1986, the Mets had several players locked into their defensive positions such as Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter and Darryl Strawberry.  Manager Davey Johnson also employed several platoons, making it difficult for a rookie to find his way into the starting lineup.  But one rookie learned how to play many positions in order to make the team.  Contending for a batting title during the first half of the season and lashing extra-base hit after extra-base hit throughout the entire season forced Johnson to put him in the lineup as many times as he could, even if he couldn't promise him a regular position on the field.

After having a cup of coffee with the big club in 1984, Kevin Mitchell made it back to New York in 1986.  By July 6, Mitchell was batting .370 with 16 doubles and five homers, despite starting just 33 games.  But Mitchell had also played six defensive positions by then, playing everywhere but second base, pitcher and catcher.  By season's end, Mitchell's batting average had sunk to .277, but he still managed 22 doubles, 12 homers and 43 RBI in just 328 at-bats, which placed him third in the Rookie of the Year ballot behind Todd Worrell of the St. Louis Cardinals and Robby Thompson of the San Francisco Giants.  Mitchell became the second Met rookie (after Ron Hunt) to record 20 doubles and 10 HR and will always be remembered for his hit that continued the Mets' miraculous tenth-inning rally in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.  Unfortunately, that hit was his last in a Mets uniform, as the versatile slugger was traded to the San Diego Padres during the off-season, which brings us to the next player on this list.

Kevin McReynolds

Following the 1986 World Series victory, general manager Frank Cashen traded Kevin Mitchell to his hometown San Diego Padres, mainly because he thought Mitchell was a problem in the clubhouse.  In return, he received an outfielder who also had World Series experience but wouldn't hurt a fly (as long as he wasn't hunting it).  Kevin McReynolds gave the Mets several solid, All-Star caliber seasons and almost led the Mets to a second pennant in three years in 1988.

McReynolds had the most complete season of his career in 1988, batting .288 with 30 doubles, 27 homers, 99 RBI and a perfect 21-for-21 in stolen bases, which at the time was a major league record for most steals in a season without being caught.  He finished in the top five in the league in home runs and RBI, while placing in the league's top ten in extra-base hits and slugging percentage.  And on the defensive side, he led all National League outfielders with 18 assists and five double plays turned.  But because his fellow outfielder and teammate Darryl Strawberry also had a spectacular season (39 HR, 101 RBI, 29 SB), McReynolds and Strawberry split the MVP vote, allowing Dodgers outfielder Kirk Gibson to limp home with the award.  McReynolds, who never made an All-Star team in a dozen seasons in the big leagues, finished third in the 1988 N.L. MVP vote.

Gregg Jefferies

Not since Darryl Strawberry in 1983 had a Met rookie been promoted to the big leagues with such potential.  But that was a different team in 1983 - a team that was on the rise and destined for greatness.  The 1988 squad had recently won a championship and appeared poised to become a dynasty.  But the team was getting older and needed an infusion of young talent.  Gregg Jefferies had destroyed minor league pitching from 1985 to 1987, recording two 100-RBI campaigns and batting .354 over the three years.  By 1988, the 21-year-old was ready to become a full-time player at the major league level.  Unfortunately, his maturity level hadn't caught up with his talent level.

Jefferies batted .321 after his late-season call-up to the Mets, and despite not playing enough to remove his rookie status for the following season, Jefferies still got enough support from the voters to finish sixth in the 1988 Rookie of the Year vote.  A year later, his production at the plate suffered, as his batting average slumped to .258, although he did record 28 doubles, 12 homers, 21 stolen bases and a clubhouse full of dissenting veteran players.  His attitude notwithstanding, he still finished third in the 1989 Rookie of the Year ballot, trailing Cubs teammates Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith.  At least Jefferies got the last laugh, making multiple All-Star teams (albeit with the St. Louis Cardinals) while Walton and Smith never played in the Midsummer Classic.

Frank Viola

After losing the pennant to the Dodgers in 1988, Frank Cashen started to part ways with several players who were instrumental in the team's rise to title contention.  By late July 1989, fan-favorite players such as Wally Backman, Roger McDowell, Lenny Dykstra and Mookie Wilson were all former Mets.  Although Cashen was trying to rebuild the team, he wasn't giving up on the 1989 campaign.  That was made clear when the general manager traded five pitchers to the Twins for 1987 World Series MVP and 1988 A.L. Cy Young winner Frank Viola.

Viola was a local kid from Long Island who became one of the most durable pitchers in the game, averaging over 250 innings pitched per season from 1984 to 1988.  And as a left-handed starter, that durability made him all the more valuable.  Although Viola couldn't help the Mets defend their 1988 N.L. East division crown, he did go on to win 20 games for the team in 1990, joining Jerry Koosman as the team's only left-handed starters to win that many games in a season.  The Mets won 91 games in 1990 but fell short of their postseason goals, finishing behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the East.  No Mets pitcher was able to duplicate Viola's 20-win campaign for over two decades, when R.A. Dickey accomplished the rare feat.  Viola's 20-win season earned him a third-place finish in the 1990 N.L. Cy Young Award vote behind fellow 20-game winners Doug Drabek and Ramon Martinez.

Jay Payton

The Mets did not produce many five-tool players in their minor league system in the 1990s, but one player stood out among all the others.  In the mid-'90s, Jay Payton was recognized by Baseball America as one of the top prospects in the game.  He was never better than he was in 1995, when he batted .307 with 31 doubles, 18 homers and 27 stolen bases, all while playing an above-average center field.  But injuries held Payton to 71 games in 1996 and wiped out his entire 1997 campaign.  Payton split time between the majors and minors in 1998 and 1999, before finally getting his first chance to stick with the Mets in 2000.  He took full advantage of the opportunity.

Payton led all Mets outfielders in games played during their pennant-winning season, batting .291 with 23 doubles, 17 homers, 62 RBI and 63 runs scored.  He also made great contact and had a keen eye at the plate, as evidenced by his low strikeout total (Payton whiffed just 60 times in 523 plate appearances in 2000).  But the voters were more impressed by Rafael Furcal's speed (40 SB) and Rick Ankiel's arm (194 Ks in 175 IP) than Payton's complete game, dropping Payton to third in the Rookie of the Year vote behind the Braves' speedster and the Cardinals' promising young pitcher.  The Mets wouldn't have another top-three finisher in the Rookie of the Year vote for another 14 years, when Jacob deGrom took home the award.
 
 

30 Years Later: "Little Roller Up Along First..."

Every generation has its defining moment.  People who grew up in the 1960s know exactly where they were when President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated.  In the 1980s, every American knows where they were when the Space Shuttle exploded.  It's no different for Mets fans.

People who grew up rooting for the Mets remember every detail of the 1969 Miracle Mets' run to the World Series.  Fans of my generation well up with happy tears when you mention two words to them:  Game Six.  How can anyone forget the night of October 25, 1986?

The Mets were facing elimination entering Game Six of the 1986 World Series.  They fought back to tie the Series at Fenway Park after dropping the first two games of the Fall Classic at Shea Stadium.  Then Bruce Hurst shut them down in Game Five to send the series back to New York with the Mets down three games to two.

It was up to Bob Ojeda to save the Mets' season.  He was opposed by Roger Clemens, who was on his way to his first Cy Young Award.  Ojeda was also called upon for Game Six of the 1986 NLCS against the Astros, a game in which the Mets defeated Houston in 16 innings to claim the National League pennant.  In that game, Ojeda struggled early, giving up three runs in the first inning before settling down.  Game Six of the 1986 World Series was no different for Ojeda.  He gave up single runs to the Red Sox in each of the first two innings, but then settled down.

When Ojeda was replaced by Roger McDowell to start the seventh inning, the Mets had come back against Roger Clemens to tie the score at 2.  Although the drama that unfolded in the tenth inning is what Game Six is most known for, a number of interesting events occurred in the seventh inning that are often forgotten.

With one out and Marty Barrett on first base for the Red Sox, Jim Rice hit a ground ball near the third base line that barely stayed fair.  Ray Knight fielded it and threw wildly to first base, with the ball popping in and out of the glove of a leaping Keith Hernandez.  That brought up Dwight Evans with runners on the corners.  Evans hit a ground ball for the second out of the inning, but Barrett scored the go-ahead run and Rice was able to advance to second base.  That was when Mookie Wilson became a hero for the first time that night.

Roger McDowell was able to get ahead of Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman by throwing strikes on the first two pitches, but Gedman then grounded the 0-2 pitch from McDowell between short and third for a base hit that appeared to give the Red Sox an insurance run.  However, Mookie Wilson charged the ball and fired a strike to Gary Carter at home plate to cut down a sliding Jim Rice for the third out of the inning.

The defensive efforts of Wilson and Carter helped keep the Red Sox lead at one, a lead that would be erased when the Mets came up to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Roger Clemens had been pinch hit for in the top of the eighth inning, so the Red Sox brought in former Met Calvin Schiraldi to pitch the bottom of the eighth.  Schiraldi had been brilliant in relief for the Red Sox during the regular season, compiling a 4-2 record and a sparking 1.41 ERA.  However, all that changed once Lee Mazzilli led off the inning with a base hit.  Lenny Dykstra followed with a sacrifice bunt, but he reached first base safely when Schiraldi threw wildly to second base in a failed attempt to nail Mazzilli.  Now the Mets had two men on with nobody out for Wally Backman, who laid down a bunt of his own.  His successful sacrifice moved Mazzilli and Dykstra into scoring position for Keith Hernandez, who was intentionally walked to load the bases.  That brought up Gary Carter.  On a 3-0 pitch, Carter had the green light and lined a sacrifice fly to left field.  The fly ball allowed Mazzilli to score the tying run.  When neither team scored in the ninth inning, the stage was set for the most dramatic frame in Mets history.

The inning started with a bang, but not the one wanted by Mets fans.  Dave Henderson led off the tenth with a laser beam down the left field line that just stayed fair as it cleared the wall.  The home run off Rick Aguilera silenced the Shea Stadium crowd of 55,078 and gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead.  They weren't done yet.  Aguilera came back to strike out the next two batters but then proceeded to give up a double to Wade Boggs and a run-scoring single to Marty Barrett.  The latter hit gave the Sox an insurance run as the lead was now 5-3.  The next batter was hit by a pitch.  Who was the victim of Aguilera's wayward offering?  None other than Bill Buckner (more on him later).  Now there were two men on base for Jim Rice.  Rice could have redeemed himself for being thrown out at home in the seventh inning with a hit in the tenth.  However, Rice failed to add to the Red Sox lead when he flied out to Lee Mazzilli in right.  His failure to come through in two crucial spots set up the events in the bottom of the tenth inning for the Mets.

Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez were due to lead off in the bottom of the tenth inning.  However, two fly balls later and the Mets were down to their final out with no one on base.  The dream was one out away from becoming a nightmare.  108 regular season wins and a thrilling NLCS against the Astros would mean nothing if the Mets couldn't start a rally against Calvin Schiraldi and the Red Sox.  The Shea Stadium scoreboard was flashing "Congratulations Red Sox: 1986 World Champions" and NBC had already awarded its player of the game to Marty Barrett.  Then Gary Carter stepped up to the plate and something special began to happen.

On a 2-1 pitch from Schiraldi, Carter singled to left.  Then Kevin Mitchell, pinch-hitting for Rick Aguilera lined a hit to center on an 0-1 curveball.  The tying runs were now on base for Ray Knight.  If you recall, Knight had made an error in the seventh inning that led to a run for the Red Sox.  Perhaps this game would never have gone into extra innings had Knight not committed his error.  Knight didn't care.  All he cared about was getting a hit to continue the inning.  Unfortunately for him, Schiraldi threw his first two pitches for strikes.  The Mets were down to their final strike, but Knight had a little something to say about that.

On a pitch that was headed for the inside corner of the strike zone, Knight fisted it over Marty Barrett's head into short center for another base hit.  Carter scored from second base and Mitchell went from first to third on the hit.  The tying run was 90 feet away and the winning run was at first base.  Red Sox manager John McNamara had made up his mind.  He was going to Bob Stanley to try to win the World Series.  Stanley would face one batter, Mookie Wilson, with everything on the line.

Stanley would throw six pitches to Mookie Wilson to get the count to 2-2.  Hoping for strike three with his seventh pitch, Stanley let go of the pitch and at the same time, let go of the lead.  The pitch was way inside, causing Mookie to throw himself up in the air to avoid getting hit.  Fortunately, the ball didn't hit Mookie or Rich Gedman's glove (or home plate umpire Dale Ford for that matter).  The ball went all the way to the backstop and Kevin Mitchell was able to scamper home with the tying run.  The wild pitch also allowed Ray Knight to move into scoring position with the potential winning run.  All Mookie needed to do now was get a base hit to drive him in, or perhaps he could so something else to bring him home.

During the regular season, John McNamara had always removed first baseman Bill Buckner for defensive replacement Dave Stapleton during the late innings.  However, this time Buckner was left in the game despite the fact that he was hobbling around on two gimpy legs and had just been hit by a pitch in the previous inning.  What was McNamara's reasoning for the decision?  He wanted Buckner to be on the field to celebrate their championship with his teammates.  Instead, Buckner was on the field for a different celebration.

Buckner was at first base as the count went to 3-2 on Mookie Wilson.  A mountain of pressure had been lifted off his shoulders once he went airborne to elude Stanley's pitch.  A relaxed Mookie came back to the plate to finish what he came up there to do.  After fouling off two more pitches, including a line drive that curved foul down the left field line, Wilson hit a slow ground ball that hugged the first base foul line, bringing Mets fans to their feet as Bill Buckner hobbled to the line in an attempt to field it.  I'll let NBC broadcaster Vin Scully describe what happened.

"Little roller up along first.  Behind the bag!  It gets through Buckner.  Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!"

A miracle had happened on the diamond.  Perhaps Mookie's grounder hit a pebble.  Perhaps Buckner took his eyes off the ball as he watched Mookie sprint down the first base line.  Perhaps God was a Mets fan.  Regardless of what caused it to happen, Mookie's grounder found its way under Buckner's glove and the Mets lived to see another day.  (Buckner later admitted in the film "Catching Hell" that his momentum as he approached the first base line caused his glove to close on its own, a split second before he would have fielded it.  With the glove closed before the ball reached it, the grounder was able to scoot by the gimpy first baseman.)

As a dejected Bill Buckner walked off the field, Shea Stadium was rocking as it never had before.  Mookie Wilson was still running towards second base because he had no idea that Ray Knight had scored the winning run.  Ron Darling, who was scheduled to start the seventh and deciding game of the World Series the following night (even though it was rained out and played two nights later), admitted that he could see dust falling from the roof of the Mets dugout because of the vibrations caused by the fans jumping up and down over it.  Keith Hernandez had left the dugout to go into Davey Johnson's office after making the second out of the inning, but never moved from the chair he was sitting in, even after the historic rally had begun because as he admitted afterwards, the chair he was sitting on had hits in it.

As the unbelievable events were flashing on the TV screen for those of us who weren't fortunate enough to have tickets to the game, Vin Scully came back on the air after a long pause to tell the viewers everything they needed to know about what they had just seen unfold at Shea Stadium on that Saturday night.  The recently retired Hall-of-Fame broadcaster said:

"If one picture is worth a thousand words, you have seen about a million words.  But more than that, you have seen an absolutely bizarre finish to Game Six of the 1986 World Series.  The Mets are not only alive, they are well and they will play the Red Sox in Game Seven tomorrow."

Game Six didn't give the Mets the World Championship as many baseball fans mistakenly believe.  There was still one game left to play.  Although it was scheduled for the following night, rain put a hold on Game Seven until the night of Monday, October 27.  Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, who had been scheduled to start the seventh game for the Red Sox, was scratched from his start to allow Met killer Bruce Hurst to pitch.  But I'll leave that narrative for another night.

For now, think of the memories you have of that unbelievable Game Six.  Imagine how different things would have been if Jim Rice had not been thrown out at home plate in the seventh inning, or if Bob Stanley had relieved Calvin Schiraldi before Gary Carter, Kevin Mitchell or Ray Knight produced base hits in the tenth inning.  Mets fans who celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Miracle Mets during Citi Field's inaugural campaign might still be talking about that team as their only championship squad.

A miracle happened at Shea Stadium 30 years ago today, on October 25, 1986.  It is the single greatest Mets memory I have.  I'm sure for many of you reading this, it's your favorite Mets memory as well.  Do Mets fans believe in miracles?  If you watched Game Six of the 1986 World Series, the answer is a definite yes.

Jacob deGrom and the Mets' Top Rookie of the Year Runners-Up

Jacob deGrom looks at how high his stock has risen since making his Mets debut.  (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

There are certain years in which a rookie class produces some outstanding first-year players.  Just seven years ago, the National League saw Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki and Hunter Pence finish 1-2-3 in the Rookie of the Year vote.  All three players have made multiple All-Star teams, combining to make a dozen Midsummer Classic appearances.

But for every 2007 in the National League, there is a 2014 - a year in which no rookie player is having a stellar season.  It is because there are very few standout neophytes in the Senior Circuit this season that a player like Jacob deGrom is being talked about as a viable Rookie of the Year candidate.  Including today's win over the Brewers, deGrom is 5-5 with a 2.79 ERA, allowing just five homers in 14 starts.  He also leads all rookie pitchers in innings pitched (87) and strikeouts (83).  The only players other than deGrom who are legitimate contenders for the Rookie of the Year Award are Cincinnati's Billy Hamilton and San Diego's Jesse Hahn.

Hamilton is leading all first-year National League hitters in most categories, including hits (101), doubles (20), triples (6), RBI (40) runs scored (50) and stolen bases (40).  But Hamilton has been slumping, batting .176 since the All-Star break.  Hamilton has also struggled to keep his on-base percentage above .300 all season and is on pace to strike out well over 100 times this year, a double no-no for a leadoff hitter.

Meanwhile, Hahn is 6-2 with a 2.12 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.  He's also leading all rookie pitchers with 9.8 K/9 IP.  Although those numbers are impressive, Hahn is averaging nearly four walks per nine innings and has made just eight starts.  That's barely more than half the number of starts deGrom has for the Mets.

Unless deGrom completely falls apart over the last two months of the season, he stands a good chance to finish in the top three of the National League Rookie of the Year vote.  In addition to the four Mets who won the award (Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack, Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden), there have been eight other former Metropolitans who finished in the top three.

Ron Hunt

After making their National League debut in 1962 with a slew of veteran players, the Mets decided they needed to add some fresh faces to their roster in 1963.  One of those faces belonged to 22-year-old rookie Ron Hunt.  Hunt was purchased from the Milwaukee Braves at the conclusion of the 1962 season, but did not get into a game with the Mets until the team's seventh contest in 1963.  But once he got into the lineup at second base, Hunt made it impossible for manager Casey Stengel to take him out.

In the first of his 12 big league seasons, Hunt posted career highs in several offensive categories that he would never surpass.  Among these categories were at-bats (533), hits (145), doubles (28), home runs (10) and RBI (42).  Hunt finished second in the 1963 Rookie of the Year vote to Cincinnati's Pete Rose, even though Hunt had more doubles, homers and RBI than Rose and finished the year with an identical .334 on-base percentage.  It should be noted that Hunt accomplished his numbers while compiling nearly 100 fewer at-bats than Rose and playing in a much weaker lineup that gave him far less protection than Rose enjoyed.

Jerry Koosman

One year after Tom Seaver broke through with the Mets during his Rookie of the Year campaign, Koosman had an even better inaugural season than Seaver did.  Whereas Seaver went 16-13 with a 2.76 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in his rookie campaign, Koosman was far better in his, going 19-12 with a 2.08 ERA and 1.10 WHIP.  Koosman also recorded eight more strikeouts than Seaver did in his first season and pitched five more shutouts than "The Franchise".

But Seaver didn't have much competition for the 1967 Rookie of the Year Award.  A year later, Koosman faced stiff competition from future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench.  Five years after Ron Hunt finished second to a legendary member of the Cincinnati Reds, Koosman did the same, as Bench edged Koosman for the top rookie honor by just one vote.  Jim Enright, a writer for the Chicago American, could not decide between the two candidates, and cast a split ballot for Bench and Koosman, saying, "In all fairness I could not vote for one and not the other."  Had he voted for Koosman instead of splitting his decision, the Mets' southpaw would have shared the 1968 Rookie of the Year Award with Bench.

John Milner

The first ten years of the Mets' existence saw the team produce several good, young players.  Among these players were one Rookie of the Year Award winner (Seaver) and two runners-up (Hunt, Koosman).  But in 1972, New York had its first third-place finisher for top rookie in the league.  And as impressive as a top-three finish is for any rookie, this particular Mets neophyte wasn't even the best rookie on his own team.

Playing in just 117 games in 1972, John Milner showed Mets fans why he would become known as "The Hammer", pounding 17 home runs in his inaugural campaign.  Milner also showed a keen eye at the plate, walking 51 times in just 423 plate appearances.  As Milner showed his prowess at the plate, his teammate, Jon Matlack, topped his performance on the mound.  Matlack's first full season in the majors produced a 15-10 record, 2.32 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 169 strikeouts, which earned him the 1972 Rookie of the Year Award.  But instead of settling for second place, Milner also finished behind Giants' catcher Dave Rader, whose .640 OPS was dwarfed by Milner's .762 mark.

Steve Henderson

In 1976, Steve Henderson was one of the Reds' top prospects, hitting for average (.312), flashing good power (17 HR) and displaying great speed (44 SB).  Henderson continued to tear it up at the Triple-A level in 1977, batting .326 with seven homers and 19 steals in just 60 games.  But Henderson was an outfielder, and with top slugger George Foster in left, perennial Gold Glove winner Cesar Geronimo in center, and batting title contender Ken Griffey in right, Henderson's chances of making the Reds was slim to none.  With no room on the roster for him, Cincinnati traded Henderson to the Mets for the team's first Rookie of the Year winner, Tom Seaver.

In his first season in New York, Henderson blossomed, posting a .297/.372/.480 slash line.  Despite not playing his first game for the Mets until June 16, Henderson led the team in RBI (65) and tied for the team lead in homers (12).  He also finished second to Lenny Randle in both runs scored (67) and triples (6).  Henderson lost the Rookie of the Year Award to Montreal's Andre Dawson, finishing just one vote behind the future Hall of Famer, despite having a higher batting average, OBP and slugging percentage than Dawson.  Henderson also scored more runs, drew more walks and tied Dawson in runs batted in despite playing in 40 fewer games than the Hawk.

Hubie Brooks

In 1980, the Mets marketing campaign tried to convince fans that the magic was back at Shea Stadium.  Sure enough, in September, three promising rookies made their debuts with the team, as Mookie Wilson, Wally Backman and Hubie Brooks all made their first appearances at the major league level during the final month of the 1980 campaign.  Although Backman spent most of the next few seasons in the minors, Wilson and Brooks were with the Mets to stay, and both took advantage of their new everyday player status.

Wilson impressed the Mets with his speed, but Brooks had a better all-around game.  Two weeks before the player's strike began in 1981, Brooks was contending for a batting title.  Once the players came back from their two-month hiatus, Brooks began to drive the ball, collecting ten extra-base hits and driving in 13 runs in his first 19 games after the strike.  For the season, Brooks batted .307 with 21 doubles, four homers and 38 RBI.  That was good enough for third place in the National League Rookie of the Year vote, behind Fernando Valenzuela and Tim Raines.  How impressive was Brooks' rookie season?  To this day, Brooks remains the only Met rookie with at least 350 at-bats to finish his first year with a batting average above .300.

Kevin Mitchell

In 1986, the Mets had several players locked into their defensive positions such as Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter and Darryl Strawberry.  Manager Davey Johnson also employed several platoons, making it difficult for a rookie to find his way into the starting lineup.  But one rookie learned how to play many positions in order to make the team.  Contending for a batting title during the first half of the season and lashing extra-base hit after extra-base hit throughout the entire season forced Johnson to put him in the lineup as many times as he could, even if he didn't have a regular position on the field.

After having a cup of coffee with the big club in 1984, Kevin Mitchell made it back to New York in 1986.  By July 6, Mitchell was batting .370 with 16 doubles and five homers, despite starting just 33 games.  But Mitchell had also played six defensive positions by then, playing everywhere but second base, pitcher and catcher.  By season's end, Mitchell's batting average had sunk to .277, but he still managed 22 doubles, 12 homers and 43 RBI in just 328 at-bats, which placed him third in the Rookie of the Year ballot behind Todd Worrell of the St. Louis Cardinals and Robby Thompson of the San Francisco Giants.  Mitchell became the second Met rookie (after Ron Hunt) to record 20 doubles and 10 HR and will always be remembered for his hit that continued the Mets' miraculous tenth-inning rally in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.  Unfortunately, that hit was his last in a Mets uniform, as the versatile slugger was traded to the San Diego Padres during the off-season.

Gregg Jefferies

Not since Darryl Strawberry in 1983 had a Met rookie been promoted to the big leagues with such potential.  But that was a different team in 1983 - a team that was on the rise and destined for greatness.  The 1988 squad had recently won a championship and appeared poised to become a dynasty.  But the team was getting older and needed an infusion of young talent.  Gregg Jefferies had destroyed minor league pitching from 1985 to 1987, recording two 100-RBI campaigns and batting .354 over the three years.  By 1988, the 21-year-old was ready to become a full-time player at the major league level.  Unfortunately, his maturity level hadn't caught up with his talent level.

Jefferies batted .321 after his late-season call-up to the Mets, and despite not playing enough to remove his rookie status for the following season, Jefferies still got enough support from the voters to finish sixth in the 1988 Rookie of the Year vote.  A year later, his production at the plate suffered, as his batting average slumped to .258, although he did record 28 doubles, 12 homers, 21 stolen bases and a clubhouse full of dissenting veteran players.  His attitude notwithstanding, he still finished third in the 1989 Rookie of the Year ballot, trailing Cubs teammates Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith.  At least Jefferies got the last laugh, making multiple All-Star teams (albeit with the St. Louis Cardinals) while Walton and Smith never played in the Midsummer Classic.

Jay Payton

The Mets did not produce many five-tool players in their minor league system in the 1990s, but one player stood out among all the others.  In the mid-'90s, Jay Payton was recognized by Baseball America as one of the top prospects in the game.  He was never better than he was in 1995, when he batted .307 with 31 doubles, 18 homers and 27 stolen bases, all while playing an above-average center field.  But injuries held Payton to 71 games in 1996 and wiped out his entire 1997 campaign.  Payton split time between the majors and minors in 1998 and 1999, before finally getting his first chance to stick with the Mets in 2000.  He took full advantage of the opportunity.

Payton led all Mets outfielders in games played during their pennant-winning season, batting .291 with 23 doubles, 17 homers, 62 RBI and 63 runs scored.  He also made great contact and had a keen eye at the plate, as evidenced by his low strikeout total.  Payton whiffed just 60 times in 523 plate appearances in 2000.  But the voters were more impressed by Rafael Furcal's speed (40 SB) and Rick Ankiel's arm (194 Ks in 175 IP) than Payton's complete game, dropping Payton to third in the Rookie of the Year vote behind the Braves' speedster and the Cardinals' promising young pitcher.  The Mets haven't had a top-three finisher in the Rookie of the Year vote since.
 

October 25, 1986: "Little Roller Up Along First..."

Every generation has its defining moment.  People who grew up in the 1960s know exactly where they were when President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated.  In the 1980s, every American knows where they were when the Space Shuttle exploded.  It's no different for Mets fans.

People who grew up rooting for the Mets remember every detail of the 1969 Miracle Mets' run to the World Series.  Fans of my generation well up with happy tears when you mention two words to them:  Game 6.  How can anyone forget the night of October 25, 1986?

The Mets were facing elimination entering Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.  They fought back to tie the Series at Fenway Park after dropping the first two games of the Series at Shea Stadium.  Then Bruce Hurst shut them down in Game 5 to send the series back to New York with the Mets down three games to two.

It was up to Bob Ojeda to save the Mets' season.  He was opposed by Roger Clemens, who was on his way to his first Cy Young Award.  Ojeda was also called upon for Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS against the Astros, a game in which the Mets defeated Houston in 16 innings to claim the National League pennant.  In that game, Ojeda struggled early, giving up three runs in the first inning before settling down.  Game 6 of the 1986 World Series was no different for Ojeda.  He gave up single runs to the Red Sox in each of the first two innings, but then settled down.

When Ojeda was replaced by Roger McDowell to start the seventh inning, the Mets had come back against Roger Clemens to tie the score at 2.  Although the drama that unfolded in the tenth inning is what Game 6 is most known for, a number of interesting events occurred in the seventh inning that are often forgotten.

With one out and Marty Barrett on first base for the Red Sox, Jim Rice hit a ground ball near the third base line that barely stayed fair.  Ray Knight fielded it and threw wildly to first base, with the ball popping in and out of the glove of a leaping Keith Hernandez.  That brought up Dwight Evans with runners on the corners.  Evans hit a ground ball for the second out of the inning, but Barrett scored the go-ahead run and Rice was able to advance to second base.  That was when Mookie Wilson became a hero for the first time that night.

Roger McDowell was able to get ahead of Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman by throwing strikes on the first two pitches, but Gedman then grounded the 0-2 pitch from McDowell between short and third for a base hit that appeared to give the Red Sox an insurance run.  However, Mookie Wilson charged the ball and fired a strike to Gary Carter at home plate to cut down a sliding Jim Rice for the third out of the inning.

The defensive efforts of Wilson and Carter helped keep the Red Sox lead at one, a lead that would be erased when the Mets came up to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Roger Clemens had been pinch hit for in the top of the eighth inning, so the Red Sox brought in former Met Calvin Schiraldi to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning.  Schiraldi had been brilliant in relief for the Red Sox during the regular season, compiling a 4-2 record and a sparking 1.41 ERA.  However, all that changed once Lee Mazzilli led off the inning with a base hit.  Lenny Dykstra followed with a sacrifice bunt, but he reached first base safely when Schiraldi threw wildly to second base in a failed attempt to nail Lee Mazzilli.  Now the Mets had two men on with nobody out for Wally Backman, who laid down a bunt of his own.  His successful sacrifice moved Mazzilli and Dykstra into scoring position for Keith Hernandez, who was intentionally walked to load the bases.  That brought up Gary Carter.  On a 3-0 pitch, Carter had the green light and lined a sacrifice fly to left field.  The fly ball allowed Lee Mazzilli to score the tying run.  When neither team scored in the ninth inning, the stage was set for the most dramatic inning in Mets history.

The inning started with a bang, but not the one wanted by Mets fans.  Dave Henderson led off the inning with a laser beam down the left field line that just stayed fair as it cleared the wall.  The home run off Rick Aguilera silenced the Shea Stadium crowd of 55,078 and gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead.  They weren't done yet.  Aguilera came back to strike out the next two batters but then proceeded to give up a double to Wade Boggs and a run-scoring single to Marty Barrett.  The latter hit gave the Sox an insurance run as the lead was now 5-3.  The next batter was hit by a pitch.  Who was the victim of Aguilera's wayward offering?  None other than Bill Buckner (more on him later).  Now there were two men on base for Jim Rice.  Rice could have redeemed himself for being thrown out at home in the seventh inning with a hit in the tenth.  However, Rice failed to add to the Red Sox lead when he flied out to Lee Mazzilli in right.  His failure to come through in two crucial spots set up the events in the bottom of the tenth inning for the Mets.

Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez were due to lead off in the bottom of the tenth inning.  However, two fly balls later and the Mets were down to their final out with no one on base.  The dream was one out away from becoming a nightmare.  108 regular season wins and a thrilling NLCS against the Astros would mean nothing if the Mets couldn't start a rally against Calvin Schiraldi and the Red Sox.  The Shea Stadium scoreboard was flashing "Congratulations Red Sox: 1986 World Champions" and NBC had already awarded its player of the game to Marty Barrett.  Then Gary Carter stepped up to the plate and something special began to happen.

On a 2-1 pitch from Schiraldi, Carter singled to left.  Then Kevin Mitchell, pinch-hitting for Rick Aguilera lined a hit to center on an 0-1 curveball.  The tying runs were now on base for Ray Knight.  If you recall, Knight had made an error in the seventh inning that led to a run for the Red Sox.  Perhaps this game would never have gone into extra innings had Knight not committed his error.  Knight didn't care.  All he cared about was getting a hit to continue the inning.  Unfortunately for him, Schiraldi threw his first two pitches for strikes.  The Mets were down to their final strike, but Ray Knight had something to say about that.

On a pitch that was headed for the inside corner of the strike zone, Knight fisted it over Marty Barrett's head into short center for another base hit.  Carter scored from second base and Mitchell went from first to third on the hit.  The tying run was 90 feet away and the winning run was at first base.  Red Sox manager John McNamara had made up his mind.  He was going to Bob Stanley to try to win the World Series.  Stanley would face one batter, Mookie Wilson, with everything on the line.

Stanley would throw six pitches to Mookie Wilson to get the count to 2-2.  Hoping for strike three with his seventh pitch, Stanley let go of the pitch and at the same time, let go of the lead.  The pitch was way inside, causing Mookie to throw himself up in the air to avoid getting hit.  Fortunately, the ball didn't hit Mookie or Rich Gedman's glove (or home plate umpire Dale Ford for that matter).  The ball went all the way to the backstop and Kevin Mitchell was able to scamper home with the tying run.  The wild pitch also allowed Ray Knight to move into scoring position with the potential winning run.  All Mookie needed to do now was get a base hit to drive him in, or perhaps he could so something else to bring him home.

During the regular season, John McNamara had always removed first baseman Bill Buckner for defensive replacement Dave Stapleton during the late innings.  However, this time Buckner was left in the game despite the fact that he was hobbling around on two gimpy legs and had just been hit by a pitch in the previous inning.  What was McNamara's reasoning for the decision?  He wanted Buckner to be on the field to celebrate their championship with his teammates.  Instead, Buckner was on the field for a different celebration.

Buckner was at first base as the count went to 3-2 on Mookie Wilson.  A mountain of pressure had been lifted off his shoulders once he went airborne to elude Stanley's pitch.  A relaxed Mookie came back to the plate to finish what he came up there to do.  After fouling off two more pitches, including a line drive that curved foul down the left field line, Wilson hit a little roller up along first, bringing Mets fans to their feet as Bill Buckner hobbled to the line in an attempt to field it.  I'll let NBC broadcaster Vin Scully describe what happened.

"Little roller up along first.  Behind the bag!  It gets through Buckner.  Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!"

A miracle had happened on the diamond.  Perhaps Mookie's grounder hit a pebble.  Perhaps Buckner took his eyes off the ball as he watched Mookie sprint down the first base line.  Perhaps God was a Mets fan.  Regardless of what caused it to happen, Mookie's grounder found its way under Buckner's glove and the Mets lived to see another day.  (Buckner later admitted in the film "Catching Hell" that his momentum as he approached the first base line caused his glove to close on its own, a split second before he would have fielded it.  With the glove closed before the ball reached it, the grounder was able to scoot by the gimpy first baseman.)

As a dejected Bill Buckner walked off the field, Shea Stadium was rocking as it never had before.  Mookie Wilson was still running towards second base because he had no idea that Ray Knight had scored the winning run.  Ron Darling, who was scheduled to start the seventh and deciding game of the World Series the following night (even though it was rained out and played two nights later), admitted that he could see dust falling from the roof of the Mets dugout because of the vibrations caused by the fans jumping up and down over it.  Keith Hernandez had left the dugout to go into Davey Johnson's office after making the second out of the inning, but never moved from the chair he was sitting in, even after the historic rally had begun because as he admitted afterwards, the chair he was sitting in had hits in it.

As the unbelievable events were flashing on the TV screen for those of us who weren't fortunate enough to have tickets to the game, Vin Scully came back on the air after a long pause to tell the viewers everything they needed to know about what they had just seen unfold at Shea Stadium on that Saturday night.  The Hall-of-Fame broadcaster said:

"If one picture is worth a thousand words, you have seen about a million words.  But more than that, you have seen an absolutely bizarre finish to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.  The Mets are not only alive, they are well and they will play the Red Sox in Game 7 tomorrow."

Game 6 didn't give the Mets the World Championship as many baseball fans mistakenly believe.  There was still one game left to play.  Although it was scheduled for the following night, rain put a hold on Game 7 until the night of Monday, October 27.  Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, who had been scheduled to start the seventh game for the Red Sox, was scratched from his start to allow Met killer Bruce Hurst to pitch.  But I'll leave that narrative for another night.

For now, think of the memories you have of that unbelievable Game 6.  Imagine how different things would have been if Jim Rice had not been thrown out at home plate in the seventh inning, or if Bob Stanley had relieved Calvin Schiraldi before Gary Carter, Kevin Mitchell or Ray Knight produced base hits in the tenth inning.  Mets fans who celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Miracle Mets three years ago might still be talking about that team as their only championship team.

A miracle happened at Shea Stadium 27 years ago today, on October 25, 1986.  It is the single greatest Mets memory I have.  I'm sure for many of you reading this, it's your favorite Mets memory as well.  Do Mets fans believe in miracles?  If you watched Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, the answer is a definite yes.