The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of the Mets: Jesse Orosco

In 1964 and 1965, the Mets finished at the bottom of the National League standings, losing a total of 221 games between the two seasons.  The team would not suffer through back-to-back last place finishes again until 1977 and 1978.  But between 1965 and 1977, New York posted seven winning seasons, raised two league pennants and claimed one miraculous World Series title.  Jerry Koosman, who was on the mound as the Mets were clinching that title, was also around for the team's regression in '77 and '78.  But following the club's second straight losing campaign in 1978, Koosman was given his walking papers.

Wanting to play in his home state of Minnesota, Koosman was dealt to the Twins in December 1978 for former Southern League Pitcher of the Year Greg Field and a player to be named later.  It took nearly two full months for that player to finally be named.  It took another seven years for that player to repeat one of Koosman's signature moments for the Mets.

Jesse Orosco was just a baby when he became a Met in 1979.  (B. Bennett/Getty Images)

Jesse Russell Orosco had only pitched in 20 rookie league games in the Twins' minor league system when he got the call in February 1979 that he was traded to the Mets.  Less than two months after being dealt to New York, Orosco found himself on the mound at Wrigley Field for his major league debut.  Injuries to left-handed pitchers Bob Myrick and Kevin Kobel left the team with a dearth of southpaws, which forced the club to promote Orosco much earlier than expected.  Orosco pitched to one batter in his debut and retired him on a fly ball.  The batter's name was Bill Buckner.  It would not be the last time Buckner and the Mets crossed paths.  It would also not be the last time Orosco stepped on a major league mound.  Not by a long shot.

After his successful first appearance on Opening Day 1979, Orosco slumped to a 5.73 ERA by the end of May.  In early June, manager Joe Torre moved Orosco from the bullpen to the starting rotation for two games before Orosco was ultimately sent back down to the minors.  Orosco bounced back and forth between Double-A and Triple-A for two-and-a-half seasons, waiting for a return trip to the majors.  He finally got that opportunity during the last month of the 1981 campaign and showed great improvement in his eight late-season appearances, posting a 1.56 ERA and 1.096 WHIP.

In 1982, Orosco completed his first full season in the majors.  Orosco lost ten out of 14 decisions, but two of the defeats came as a starting pitcher.  In those starts, Orosco allowed nine earned runs in 9⅔ innings.  Orosco excelled as a reliever, however, posting a solid 2.17 ERA in just under 100 innings.  His pitching coach, Bill Monbouquette, noticed the stark difference between Orosco's starts and relief outings, and decided that Jesse should not start again.

"He'd go four innings and his (velocity) would drop into the 70s," Monbouquette said.  "We thought Jesse should be a relief pitcher, and we could see Jesse was pitching defensively.  It wasn't exactly fear of the bat, but he was nibbling.  You're not going to get the calls from the umpire that way and you're not going to finish off the batter that way.''

Monbouquette and new manager George Bamberger eventually had a discussion with Orosco about his inconsistent first half (3.49 ERA, 1.341 WHIP), hoping to get the reliever to be more aggressive on the mound.

"We dug into him," Monbouqette said.  "It wasn't exactly an ultimatum, but we told him he could be a good relief pitcher if he learned to attack the hitters.''

After the talk with his pitching coach and manager, Orosco became one of the few bright spots in the bullpen, pitching to a 1.92 ERA and 1.063 WHIP after the All-Star Break.  Even more impressive was that Orosco pitched so effectively despite having to deal with the sudden passing of his father in August.  The death of the Orosco patriarch caused Jesse to focus more on honing his craft, not just as a tribute to his baseball-loving father, but because he wanted to support his family financially, which he would only be able to do if he became a mainstay in the bullpen.  Orosco responded by posting one of the greatest seasons by a Mets' reliever in franchise history.

Prior to June 15, 1983, Neil Allen had been the Mets' closer, with Orosco serving mostly as a set-up man.  But once Allen was traded to St. Louis for first baseman Keith Hernandez, Orosco received the bulk of the save opportunities.  Orosco finished the year with a 13-7 record and 17 saves in a career-high 110 innings.  He also posted an incredible 1.47 ERA, which to this day remains the lowest single-season mark for any Mets pitcher who threw at least 100 innings.

Not Doc.  Not Tom.  Not Kooz.  It's Orosco who has the lowest ERA of the 100-plus inning pitchers.

Orosco's efforts did not go unnoticed, as the reliever became an All-Star for the first time in 1983.  He also finished third in the race for the Cy Young Award - Orosco even received a first place vote - and was 17th on the MVP ballot, four spots ahead of Hernandez.  In doing so, Orosco became the first Mets pitcher not named Seaver or Koosman to finish in the top three of the Cy Young vote and the fourth (after Seaver, Koosman and Tug McGraw) to receive any MVP consideration.

''It's nice to have a good year,'' Orosco said.  ''Now, if I can go out and have two more years like this, I'll prove that I'm for real.''

It was clear that Orosco had arrived as a top-notch reliever in 1983.  It was also clear that he was on his way to proving he was "for real".  But the Mets had still not followed suit, as the team suffered through its seventh consecutive losing season in '83.  That was about to change, and Orosco played a key role in the club's long-awaited return to playoff contention.

The Mets lost five games in 1983 when they led going into the ninth inning and blew leads in 37 games overall.  A big reason for that was Neil Allen, who was charged with seven losses and two blown saves in 21 appearances before his trade paved the way for Orosco to take over his role in the bullpen.  In 1984, the Allen-less Mets lost just once when they held a ninth-inning lead and suffered 29 defeats in games where they once had a lead.  With Orosco and fellow reliever Doug Sisk combining for a 2.35 ERA in 110 appearances, the bullpen became one of the team's strong points.  In addition to Orosco's team-leading 1.057 WHIP (which was lower than N.L. Rookie of the Year Dwight Gooden's 1.073 mark), the closer became the first reliever in team history to reach the 30-save mark, notching 31 on the season.  He was also named to the All-Star team for a second consecutive year, becoming the first Mets reliever to be selected to multiple All-Star squads.

For only the second time in team history, the Mets won 90 games in 1984.  They looked to improve upon that in 1985 and did, winning 98 contests, although they fell short in their quest to qualify for the postseason.  Once again, Orosco was called upon to hold late-inning leads for the team's blossoming starting rotation, but this time he had a partner.  The success of right-handed rookie Roger McDowell allowed manager Davey Johnson to use either reliever in save situations depending on the pitcher-batter matchups.  As a result, both Orosco and McDowell finished the season with 17 saves.  The closing partnership continued into the 1986 campaign, a year in which the club finally had the season its long-suffering fans had been waiting for.

In 1986, the Mets won a franchise record 108 games, with Orosco and McDowell becoming the first - and only - pair of Mets teammates to each record 20+ saves in a single season.  That wasn't the only oddity the two relievers shared during the team's magical season.  They also relieved each other multiple times during a brawl-filled game in Cincinnati in July.

The game at Riverfront Stadium on July 22 appeared to be over without incident when Keith Hernandez lofted a fly ball to right field with two outs in the ninth inning.  But right fielder Dave Parker - the proud owner of three Gold Gloves for defensive excellence - dropped what would have been the final out of the game, allowing the tying runs to score.  In the tenth inning, Eric Davis, pinch-running for Reds' player-manager Pete Rose, slid hard into third base and received a fist to the face courtesy of Ray Knight.  Benches emptied, fights broke out all over the field and there were ejections aplenty.  In fact, there were so many players tossed that the Mets were left without a third baseman and an outfielder in the extra-inning affair.  (Right fielder Darryl Strawberry had been ejected earlier in the game for arguing balls and strikes.)  So Davey Johnson was forced to improvise.  He moved Gary Carter from behind the plate to the hot corner.  And he played musical chairs in the outfield by rotating Orosco and McDowell between the mound and right field.

For five innings, when one pitcher was on the mound, the other was in the outfield spot least likely to have a fly ball hit to it.  McDowell pitched three scoreless innings between his multiple trips to the mound and fortunately did not have any fly balls hit in his direction when Orosco was pitching.  Orosco, who contributed two zeroes of his own, wasn't as fortunate, as future Hall of Famer Tony Perez lifted a fly ball in his direction in the 13th inning.  But unlike Parker four innings earlier, Orosco got to the ball, used two hands and made sure he held on to it for the out.

"I squeezed it so hard," Orosco said after the game, "the stuffing could have come out."

Jesse Orosco, Ball Squeezer.  (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

An inning after Orosco's defensive "gem", Howard Johnson made sure his pitchers would not have to play in the outfield much longer.  Johnson's three-run homer off reliever Ted Power gave the Mets the lead and a couple of insurance runs.  Orosco didn't even have to move in right field as McDowell proceeded to retire the Reds in order in the bottom of the 14th on three routine ground balls.

"It was fun," Orosco said of his outfield debut.  "I was laughing out there.  But I'd better stay on the pitcher's mound.  I'm less nervous out there."

Fun was what the Mets had during their regular season ride to a division title.  Nervous was what the fans were during the team's tightly-contested postseason games.

In the NLCS, the Mets and Astros played four one-run games, with the Mets emerging victorious in three of the four affairs.  All three victories were credited to Jesse Orosco, who became the first pitcher in club history to win three postseason games in the same series.

Orosco earned the win in Game Three after Lenny Dykstra blasted a walk-off two-run homer against Dave Smith in the bottom of the ninth.  Orosco helped keep the game close, pitching two shutout innings.  Three days later, Orosco hurled two more scoreless frames in relief of Dwight Gooden, who had tossed ten innings of one-run ball.  Orosco would get credit for the win in Game Five once Carter singled home Wally Backman in the bottom of the 12th inning.  And then came Game Six in the Astrodome.

After playing a dozen innings in New York the previous day, the Mets appeared lifeless in Houston for the first eight frames in Game Six.  But a spirited rally against starter Bob Knepper and the now hittable Smith tied the game and sent it to extra innings.  Again.  The score remained tied until the 14th, when a single by Backman drove in Darryl Strawberry from second base.  Orosco was then called upon to finish the Astros and deliver the pennant to New York.  But Billy Hatcher had other things in mind.

Hatcher, who had hit just eight home runs in parts of three major league seasons, delivered a blast that hit and rolled down the netting attached to left field foul pole.  With the game tied once again, Orosco settled down and retired the next two batters to send the game to the 15th.  After the Mets failed to score in their half of the inning, Orosco had a stress-free bottom of the 15th, striking out Kevin Bass and Jose Cruz before getting Alan Ashby to ground out to end the inning.

In the 16th, the Mets finally broke through against the Astros' bullpen in a big way.  New York used two singles, a double, a walk, a well-placed sacrifice bunt (by Orosco) and two wild pitches to push three runners across the plate.  It appeared as if the Mets had punched their ticket to the World Series.  But as the saying goes, everything's bigger in Texas.  So are rallies by the home team.

Houston refused to begin their off-season quietly, as Hatcher once again drove in a run against Orosco in the bottom of the 16th.  Two batters later, Glenn Davis cut the Mets' lead to a single tally with a base hit of his own.  Up strolled Bass, with the tying and winning runs on base.  Orosco ran the count full, then paused as first baseman Keith Hernandez came over to him to offer some words of encouragement.

"Jesse, you throw another fastball, we're going to fight."

And with that, Orosco threw a slider to Bass, who went fishing for the pitch and missed.  The only fighting Orosco did that evening was in an effort to free himself from the avalanche of teammates who had descended upon him to celebrate their National League pennant.

This would've been a great shot of Jesse Orosco if not for his photobombing teammates.  (Ray Stubblebine/AP Photos)

As good as Orosco was against the Astros in the NLCS (0.875 WHIP, 10 Ks in 8 IP), he was even better against the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.  Orosco pitched in four of the seven games, earning two saves.  He struck out six batters, walked none and allowed just two base runners in 5⅔ innings.  In Game Three, Johnson brought in Orosco to record the final four outs of the game.  He ended the eighth by retiring future Hall of Famer Wade Boggs on a groundout and the ninth by striking out another future Cooperstown enshrinee, Jim Rice.  Game Six saw Orosco face just one batter, but it was one he was quite familiar with, as it was Bill Buckner, the first batter he ever faced in the major leagues.  And just as he retired Buckner seven years earlier in his debut, Orosco coaxed the first baseman to fly out to end a scoring threat in the eighth.  Two innings later, the Mets turned a scoring threat of their own into the most memorable rally in team history.

After the events of Game Six, the Mets needed to win just one game to cap their greatest season since they won it all in 1969.  Once again, the team came from behind, turning a 3-0 sixth-inning deficit into a 6-3 seventh-inning lead.  But McDowell struggled to hold the lead in the top of the eighth, allowing two runs and exiting with the tying run on second base.  In came Orosco, hoping to save the Mets' season.  He proceeded to retire Rich Gedman on a liner, Dave Henderson on a strikeout and Don Baylor on a groundout, preserving the slim lead.

Four months earlier, Orosco found himself in an odd position - right field - and it worked out well for him and the team.  On this chilly night in late October, Orosco found himself in another unusual place; the batter's box.  After Strawberry had given the Mets a two-run cushion with a majestic home run, the Mets put two more runners on base which brought up Orosco's spot in the batting order.  Not wanting to take out his most dependable reliever, Johnson allowed Orosco to hit for himself and he discovered that Orosco was not only good at putting out fires, but he was equally adept at providing insurance.

"It was a 35-hopper up the middle," Orosco said of his Game Seven at-bat.  "Only my teammates remember it, but I like to remind people."

Indeed, Orosco shocked the Red Sox by grounding a ball past pitcher Al Nipper and into center field, scoring Knight from second base to give the Mets their second three-run cushion of the game.  Given some breathing room, Orosco proceeded to retire Ed Romero, Wade Boggs and Marty Barrett in order in the ninth inning to give the Mets the ultimate thrill of victory.  Gloves were flying, fans were crying and a 17-year championship drought was dying.  The Mets had won the World Series.

In 1969, Shea Stadium celebrated its first title with Jerry Koosman on the mound.  Seventeen years later, the man who came to the Mets in return for Koosman rejoiced on the hill as the team won its second championship.  It was perfect symmetry for a team that had come full circle from the time Orosco first pitched for the Mets in 1979.  But Orosco's time at the top was short-lived, as everything came crashing down for him and the team in 1987.

The Mets failed to repeat as world champions in 1987, as the entire starting rotation missed significant time due to injuries or rehabilitation.  The bullpen faltered as well, as McDowell posted a 4.16 ERA in 56 appearances and Orosco's ERA ballooned to 4.44 in 58 outings; nearly two runs higher than the 2.48 ERA he posted from 1979 to 1986.  Orosco's lifetime WHIP was just 1.178 entering the '87 campaign.  Orosco couldn't keep opposing hitters off base in 1987, posting a 1.416 WHIP and allowing more hits than innings pitched for the first time in his career.

Orosco lost nine games in 1987 while saving just 16.  His final loss came on September 30, when he allowed a walk-off homer to the Phillies' Luis Aguayo that all but ended the Mets' faint hopes of repeating as division champions.  (The Cardinals officially clinched the N.L. East title the following day.)  It was the second game-ending home run allowed by the southpaw on the season; he served up Tom Herr's walk-off grand slam in April.  It was also the final straw for Orosco in a Mets uniform.

Orosco wore the script uniform in 1987, just as the writing was on the wall for his departure.  (Dunn/Getty Images)

Two months after the conclusion of the 1987 campaign, the Mets sent Orosco to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-team, eight-player trade.  The deal was a relief to Orosco, who had been the team's co-closer for three seasons and was set to lose more playing time due to the emergence of fellow lefty Randy Myers.

"I have no regrets," Orosco said after the transaction was finalized.  "Since 1985, I knew it was a lost opportunity for me.  Once Roger came up, I could see I was doomed.  He seemed to get more opportunities than I did.  Now, it's just time to move on."

With Orosco going west, three young pitchers were making their way east.  To complete the trade, the Mets received pitcher Jack Savage from the Dodgers and pitchers Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst from the Oakland A's.  Of the three, only Whitehurst produced any results in a Mets uniform, although his "results" amounted to 11 wins in 33 decisions as a starter and reliever in four seasons with the Mets.  Savage and Tapani were traded to Minnesota in 1989 for Frank Viola, but by the early '90s, both Viola and Whitehurst had pitched their final games in New York.  Meanwhile, Jesse Orosco was only halfway through his career.  And he had another World Series ring to go with it.

In 1988, the Dodgers used several players to close out ballgames.  Right-handers Jay Howell (21 saves) and Alejandro Peña (12 saves) split time as the ninth-inning relievers, while Orosco, as the sole left-hander of the group, saved nine games.  Manager Tom Lasorda also began using Orosco in shorter outings, as Orosco made 55 appearances but pitched just 53 innings.  Lasorda's stellar bullpen (Howell, Peña, Orosco and Brian Holton combined for a 2.03 ERA) was just as key to the Dodgers' success as N.L. MVP Kirk Gibson and Cy Young winner Orel Hershiser were.  The Mets found out just how good their bullpen was when they faced Los Angeles in the NLCS.

With all eyes on Hershiser, it was pitchers like Peña (one win, one save, one hit allowed in 4⅓ IP), Holton (one save, three base runners allowed in 4 IP) and Kiner's Korner devotee Ricky Horton (no runs allowed in 4⅓ IP) who kept the Mets at bay in the late innings.  But one of the biggest moments of the series came when Jesse Orosco took the mound at Shea Stadium to face his former team in Game Four.

The fourth game of the 1988 NLCS is the one that shifted the momentum of the series in the Dodgers' direction.  First, it was Mike Scioscia who delivered the game-tying homer off Dwight Gooden that sent the game into extra innings.  Then, it was Kirk Gibson who put the Dodgers ahead with a 12th inning blast of his own.  In the bottom of the 12th, the Mets put two runners on base before Lasorda summoned Orosco from the bullpen to face Hernandez and Strawberry.  A walk to Hernandez loaded the bases with one out, but Orosco induced a weak pop-up from Strawberry when a longer fly ball would have tied the game.  His job done, Orosco was removed for Hershiser, who retired Kevin McReynolds to end the game.  The Dodgers won the pennant three games later and went on to defeat the other team involved in the three-way trade that netted them Orosco, taking the Fall Classic from the Oakland A's in five games.

Jesse gave us thrills in the Mets jersey in '86 and agony in the Dodgers uniform in '88.  (Sandy Huffaker/NY Times)

Orosco had now won two championships in three seasons with two teams.  Although he never played in another World Series, he did become accustomed to changing teams.  Following his title with the Dodgers, Orosco played three seasons in Cleveland followed by three years in Milwaukee.  He then played four full seasons in Baltimore from 1995 to 1998, leading the American League with 65 appearances in 1995; the only time in his lengthy career that Orosco led the league in any pitching category.  Orosco's time with the Orioles also reunited him with manager Davey Johnson, who led Baltimore to back-to-back postseason berths in 1996 and 1997.  Orosco pitched 12 times for the Orioles in the playoffs, matching the number of postseason appearances he made for the Mets and Dodgers combined.

From 1999 to 2003, Orosco bounced around from team to team, pitching for the Orioles, Cardinals, Dodgers (again), Padres, Yankees and Twins.  He also made his way back to the Mets, as he was traded to New York in December 1999 for reliever Chuck McElroy.  But after some photo-ops in a Mets uniform and some appearances in Grapefruit League games, Orosco became the casualty of a crowded bullpen and was traded to St. Louis for utility man Joe McEwing before the 2000 season began, not getting the opportunity to make a victorious return to the Shea Stadium mound as a member of the Mets.

"We had too many lefties and somebody had to go," Orosco said.  "I'm glad it wasn't a pink slip."

After becoming a peripatetic pitcher for the last five seasons of his career, which included a cup of coffee with the team that originally traded him to the Mets, Orosco tried to hook up with one more team in 2004, signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks.  By then, the 46-year-old Orosco had already pitched 24 seasons in the big leagues and had appeared in a record 1,252 games.  But he never got a chance to make his 1,253rd appearance, as he announced his retirement from the game he loved prior to the start of Spring Training.

"To take it a quarter-century - I never imagined that," Orosco said.  "It's a sad day that I have to call it quits.  But it's a great day, too, for the fact I fulfilled my dream."

Jesse Orosco grew up as one of seven children in his household.  The son of a baseball-obsessed father, Orosco lived out his dream - as well as his dad's - by making it to the major leagues.  He was a part of two championship teams and made the playoffs with a third club.  And by the time he hung up his uniform for the last time, he had worn it on the field more often than any other pitcher in the history of the game.

As a member of the Mets, Orosco was a two-time All-Star and one of the better relievers in club annals.  His 2.73 ERA in eight years with the team is lower than every other pitcher to wear a Mets uniform other than Tom Seaver.  Orosco also ranks in the team's top five in games pitched (372) and saves (107).  In the playoffs, Orosco was even better, striking out 16 batters while walking only two in 13⅔ innings.  He posted a 1.98 ERA, 0.659 WHIP and earned three wins and two saves.  And of course, Orosco tossed two gloves up in the air; one to celebrate a pennant and one to fete a World Series title.

"We didn't have anything going on in the early '80s, took our licks the first few years," Orosco said upon his retirement.  "That was great, that was very memorable, to go from the worst to the best."
  
The Mets were regularly brought to their knees in surrender by their opponents when Orosco first played for the team in 1979.  Seven years later, Orosco falling to his knees became the symbol of a championship season.  To long-time Mets fans, there's no greater thrill of victory than that moment.

Victory!  (Focus On Sport/Getty Images)

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
January 30, 2017: Frank Cashen
February 6, 2017: Ed Kranepool
February 13, 2017: Doug Sisk
February 20, 2017: Joan Whitney Payson 
February 27, 2017: John Franco and Armando Benitez 
March 6, 2017: Dwight Gooden
March 13, 2017: Bobby Valentine

 

The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of the Mets: Dwight Gooden

There have been many highly touted prospects who never lived up to the lofty expectations after they were called up to the majors.  Former No. 1 overall pick David Clyde went from being a Texas high school superstar (18-0, 0.18 ERA, 328 Ks in 148 IP) to the Texas Rangers almost overnight in 1973.  He pitched his final game in the majors before his 25th birthday.  Similarly, Joe Charboneau's first season with the Cleveland Indians in 1980 saw him win the American League Rookie of the Year Award and be the subject of a novelty song ("Go Joe Charboneau").  He played just 70 more games in the big leagues after his inaugural campaign, setting the record for fewest career games by a former Rookie of the Year.

Charboneau played his final game in the majors in June 1982, the same month that the Mets drafted a 17-year-old high school pitching phenom from Tampa, Florida with the fifth overall pick.  Before he was out of his teens, the prospect would win his own Rookie of the Year Award.  Then at age 20, he was the unanimous winner of the Cy Young Award.  A year later, he helped the Mets win a World Series trophy.  Three years, three individual and team awards.  But what should have been the beginning of a Hall of Fame career ended up leading to his downfall as a major league pitcher.  A small taste of success on the field led to a much larger taste in illegal activities off it.  And before long, his performance on the field for the Mets became the least of his worries.

Oh, what might have been for the good doctor.  (Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images)

Dwight Eugene Gooden was the third pitcher selected in the 1982 June Amateur Draft after Jimmy Jones (Padres) and Bryan Oelkers (Twins).  But whereas Jones and Oelkers failed to have much of an impact on the teams that drafted them, Gooden made the Mets better as soon as he put on a major league uniform for the first time in 1984.

At Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Gooden struck out 130 batters in just 74 innings during his senior year.  As he adjusted to minor league baseball, Gooden struck out fewer batters.  Doc - as he was so named by a family friend when he was in Little League - made 11 starts in his first professional season and fanned 84 batters in 78⅔ innings.  Promoted to Single-A Lynchburg in 1983, Gooden became unhittable, striking out 300 batters in 191 innings.  When the Mets' Triple-A team qualified for the International League playoffs, Gooden made the jump from Lynchburg to Tidewater at the request of Tides' manager Davey Johnson.

"I kept asking for him that year," Johnson said.  "I knew his command.  The Mets had taken Walt Terrell and Tom Gorman away from me that year, they took Ron Darling, and I kept yelling, 'Give me Gooden.'  After he pitched a 1-0 shutout that won the championship for Lynchburg, they finally let me have him in the playoffs."

Facing hitters who were one step away from the majors didn't faze the 18-year-old Gooden, as he struck out 19 more batters and recorded a complete-game victory over the Denver Bears.  Tidewater ended up winning the Little World Series, earning Johnson a promotion to the Mets to manage the big league club.  Although Gooden was still in his teens, Johnson wanted him on the Opening Day roster in 1984, which made general manager Frank Cashen uneasy because of what had happened to another top prospect just three years earlier.

"Davey told us he'd protect the kid, but Frank Cashen was leery," Mets vice president of operations Lou Gorman said.  "Frank remembered how Tim Leary had hurt his arm and he didn't want to take a chance on an 18-year-old hurting his arm after a long season."

In 1981, Leary - another former first round pick - was promoted from Double-A to the big leagues, making his debut with the Mets on April 12 at cold Wrigley Field in Chicago.  His first appearance lasted two innings, as an elbow injury forced him out of the game.  By the time Gooden was pitching for Tidewater in September 1983, Leary had not yet returned to the majors and would only start nine more games for the Mets before he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in 1985.

With a feeling of trepidation, Cashen agreed to have Gooden on the Mets' Opening Day roster as a 19-year-old in 1984.  There were no weather concerns for Doc in his first start, as the game was played indoors at the Houston Astrodome.  Gooden was sharp in his debut, holding the Astros to one run and three hits in five innings to earn his first major league victory.  He was not as fortunate in his second appearance, which, in an interesting bit of irony, was also played at a chilly Wrigley Field.

One day after the three-year anniversary of Leary's ill-fated debut, Gooden was knocked out of the game in the fourth inning after allowing six runs and ten base runners.  Much to the relief of Cashen, Gooden felt fine physically after the game.  In fact, Doc took the lessons he learned from the defeat and used it to carve out a wildly successful career against the Cubs, winning 28 of his next 31 decisions versus Chicago.

Rick Sutcliffe beat Doc for the 1984 Cy Young, but Doc beat Chicago the rest of his career.  (Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images)

Through his first eight starts, Gooden was just 3-3 with a 4.15 ERA.  But in late May, after a 14-strikeout performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Shea Stadium, Gooden became the pitcher Johnson saw in the minors.  In his final 23 starts, Doc went 14-6 with a 2.22 ERA, holding opposing hitters to a .197 batting average and .539 OPS.  Gooden struck out 217 batters in those 23 starts en route to setting a new single-season strikeout record for rookies.  Included in his stellar second half were back-to-back 16-strikeout games against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies in mid-September when the Mets were trying to stay in their first pennant race in nearly a decade.

Unfortunately, the Mets lost Gooden's second 16-K game, and with it, lost any hope of catching the first-place Cubs in the division.  Despite having to settle for a second-place finish, the Mets had ended a seven-year stretch of losing baseball at Shea, one that began when the last pitching virtuoso, Tom Seaver, was traded away from the team.  New York finished the 1984 campaign with a 90-72 record, just the second time in franchise history that the team reached the 90-win plateau.  It would not be the last time the Mets won that many games during Gooden's tenure in New York.

The 1985 campaign began with the National League's Rookie of the Year trying to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump.  It ended with Gooden completing what is arguably the greatest season by a Mets starting pitcher in franchise history.  With off-season acquisition Gary Carter behind the plate, Gooden flourished in his second year with the team, winning the Triple Crown of pitching, as he led the league in wins (24), ERA (1.53) and strikeouts (268).  Doc also paced all National League pitchers in innings pitched (276⅔) and complete games (16), often pitching like a seasoned veteran despite being only 20 years old.  After failing to be the unanimous winner in the Rookie of the Year vote the previous season (future teammate Juan Samuel got one first place vote), Gooden received every first place vote for the Cy Young Award in 1985, becoming the first Met since Tom Seaver in 1975 to take home the coveted pitching prize.

For the second straight year, the Mets were runners-up in the division, this time finishing second to the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Mets were determined to not let it happen three years in a row, with Johnson going so far as saying that the team wouldn't just win; they would dominate.  Gooden also looked to improve upon his 1985 campaign.  But how does one improve a product that's already nearly perfect?

One thing that got better in 1986 was Gooden's bank account, as he received a hefty raise before his third season from $450,000 to $1,320,000.  That money did not include what he was earning from all the endorsement deals that were coming his way.  A 21-year-old whose face was plastered everywhere - including a larger-than-life mural on 42nd Street - became instantly recognizable to everyone; even non-baseball fans knew who Gooden was.  That recognition and success in turn led to all kinds of temptations.  And as strong as Gooden was on the mound, he was weak off it, especially when the high of doing lines became greater than the rush of pitching between them.

In the mid-'80s, Doc Gooden was larger than life.  (Matt Weber Street Photography)

In 1986, Gooden picked up where he left off the previous year, winning his first five decisions and posting a stellar 1.04 ERA through his first six starts.  But Doc was merely human after his strong first month of the season, as he pitched to a 3.32 ERA and 1.207 WHIP in his final 27 starts.  Gooden also needed to strike out the last batter he faced in his final regular season start just to reach 200 strikeouts, a number he had reached by the end of August in each of his first two seasons.  But with the Mets fulfilling their manager's prophecy by dominating the division, Gooden's so-so season never became an issue.  That is, until the postseason started.

In the National League Championship Series, Gooden pitched well against the Astros, allowing just two runs in 17 innings.  But he only struck out nine batters in his two starts and failed to earn a win in either game.  When Gooden took the mound against the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, he was hit quite hard.  Boston's hitters operated on Doc twice in the series, scoring ten runs (eight earned) and collecting 17 hits in his nine innings of work against the American League champions.  Although the Red Sox defeated Gooden twice in the series, the Mets would go on to win the Fall Classic in seven games.

The Mets lost five postseason games in 1986.  Three of the losses were charged to Gooden.  It was alarming to see the Mets' ace not come through for the team in the postseason.  It was even more alarming not to see him at the Mets' victory parade up the Canyon of Heroes.

As the team celebrated with its fans, Gooden was watching the parade from his bed after spending the previous night drinking heavily and doing drugs.  In his autobiography, "Doc: A Memoir", Gooden recounted his post-Game Seven activities.

"I was drinking shots of vodka," Gooden wrote.  "I was snorting lines of cocaine.  And more lines of cocaine - and more lines of cocaine.  I didn't leave the drug party until after the sun came up.  As my teammates toasted our triumph, I was nursing a head-splitting coke-and-booze hangover, too spent, too paranoid, and too mad at myself to drag my sorry butt to my own victory parade."

Drugs had taken over Gooden's life in 1986.  When he wasn't pitching or preparing to pitch, he was nose deep in cocaine.  And when there was no baseball to play, there was more time to do drugs.  For the better part of a year, Gooden had been able to keep his off-the-field exploits a secret from the fans and the press.  By the end of spring training, however, his addiction had become public knowledge.

In March 1987, a urine sample submitted by Gooden tested positive for cocaine.  Faced with the option of a one-year suspension without pay or going to a drug rehabilitation center while continuing to be paid, Gooden chose the latter, checking himself into the Smithers Alcoholism and Treatment Center in Manhattan, where he would remain for a month.  Once Gooden completed his rehab, he made five starts in the minors before returning to the Mets on June 5.

Gooden had no idea what to expect from the Shea Stadium crowd that night.  In his absence, the defending champion Mets had become a mediocre team, entering the Friday night matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates in fourth place with a 25-25 record.  Sportswriter Dick Young, whose articles had contributed to the departure of Tom Seaver a decade earlier, encouraged Mets fans to "stand up and boo" Gooden when he took the mound.

"If I could choreograph things tonight," Young wrote, "I would do it this way: Enter Dwight Gooden ... 50,000 people boo loudly.  That's to let him know how society feels about the wrong he has done, about the damage he has committed to the millions of kids who worshipped him."

Throw a Lord Charles like this and you'll never get booed.  (Focus On Sport/Getty Images)

Instead of booing, Gooden received a rousing ovation from the sellout crowd.  The extra support from the fans helped Doc pitch into the seventh inning, and when he was removed from the game with two outs, he exited to more thunderous applause.  The Mets won the game, 5-1, and more importantly, they had their ace back.  Although the Mets failed to return to the playoffs in 1987, they did improve from a .500 team without Gooden to a team that went 67-45 with Doc on the active roster.  And despite missing nearly a third of the season, Gooden still won 15 games for the Mets, which helped him place fifth in the Cy Young Award vote - his third top five finish in his first four seasons.

Unlike the 1987 season, Gooden was with the team from the start of the '88 campaign.  His drug demons supposedly behind him, Gooden finished the year with an 18-9 record and ten complete games.  It was the last time Gooden - or any other Mets pitcher - reached double digits in complete games.  For the first time in his career, Gooden pitched to contact instead of going for the strikeout, as he struck out just 175 batters in 248⅓ innings and averaged a career-low 2.1 walks per nine innings.  But as well as Gooden's pitch-to-contact mantra worked during the regular season in 1988, it came back to haunt him and the Mets in the postseason.

The Mets won 100 games in 1988 and cruised to their second division title in three years.  Their opponent in the NLCS was the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team New York had defeated ten times in 11 regular season matchups.  The Mets' fortunes against the Dodgers continued in the first three games of the series, as they took two of those three contests and had Gooden on the mound for Game Four.  Gooden struggled early, allowing two runs in the first inning before striking out Mike Scioscia to limit the damage.  Gooden's strikeout of Scioscia got him back on track, as Doc allowed just one hit over the next seven innings.  Meanwhile, Dodgers' starter John Tudor - who was the runner-up to Gooden for the Cy Young Award just three years earlier - was knocked around for four runs in five innings.

Through eight innings, the Mets held a 4-2 lead with Gooden throwing 118 pitches.  Still, Johnson kept Gooden in the game to face John Shelby, who had driven in the only two runs scored by the Dodgers.  Shelby fouled off Gooden's first pitch, then took a curveball for strike two.  Needing one pitch to retire the leadoff batter in the ninth, Gooden threw six more pitches before walking Shelby.  Doc was now up to 126 pitches, but there was still no one warming up in the Mets' bullpen.

And then, with one swing of the bat, Scioscia happened.

Mike Scioscia had gone deep just three times in 452 regular season at-bats in 1988.  He made it four on Gooden's first pitch to him, taking Doc over the right field wall for a game-tying, stadium-quieting home run.  It was like déjà vu all over again for Gooden and Scioscia, as the light-hitting Scioscia's first-ever homer at Shea Stadium back in 1984 had also been hit off Gooden, although that blast didn't come in a critical postseason game.  With the wind taken out of the Mets' sails, the Dodgers eked out an extra-inning win on a home run by Kirk Gibson.  Three games later, New York abandoned ship on their season, dropping the seventh and deciding game at Dodger Stadium.

Make that 2 wins, 60 losses after what transpired in Game Four.  (Screen shot courtesy of MLBClassics YouTube channel)

The heartbreaking loss in the 1988 NLCS was the beginning of the end for the Mets, as general manager Frank Cashen began to slowly dismantle the team that won him a championship.  By the end of the 1989 campaign, fan-favorites Wally Backman, Lenny Dykstra, Roger McDowell, Mookie Wilson and Lee Mazzilli were all gone.  Gooden's perfect health was also gone, as the 24-year-old veteran was placed on the disabled list because of an actual injury for the first time in his career in July.  Originally thought to be out three to four weeks with a slight tear of a muscle in his right shoulder, Gooden didn't return to the team until mid-September, making two relief appearances before being shut down for the final two weeks of the season.  Gooden finished the year with a 9-4 record; it was the first time he failed to win at least 15 games in a season.

New York bid adieu to the the 1980s with just one championship despite having one of the best pitching staffs in the league.  And less than two months into the first season of the 1990s, the team also said goodbye to its long-time manager, as Davey Johnson was removed from the position following a less-than-mediocre 20-22 start.  Gooden's early season performance matched the team's, as Doc started the year with a 3-5 record and 4.44 ERA in his first 12 starts.  But with the arrival of new manager Buddy Harrelson, the team started hitting.  And hitting.  And hitting some more.

Dave Magadan competed for the batting title.  Darryl Strawberry set the single-season franchise record for RBI.  Even Mackey Sasser hit over .300, becoming the first catcher in team history to reach that lofty level while playing in at least 100 games.  One of the main beneficiaries of the increased run production was Doc Gooden, who went 16-1 from mid-June to late September.  But just because he was winning almost every start didn't mean he was pitching like vintage Gooden.  Case in point, in back-to-back starts against the Dodgers and Giants in August, Gooden allowed a total of 13 runs (all earned), 15 hits and eight walks in just 11 innings.  Incredibly, he was the winning pitcher in both games.

For the season, the Mets averaged over six runs per game in Gooden's 34 starts.  As a result, Gooden won 19 games in 1990, losing his final start as he attempted to become a 20-game winner for the second time in his career.  Gooden also struck out 223 batters, his highest total since his Cy Young season in 1985.  But Doc's 3.83 ERA was the highest of his career and was more than a run higher than his 2.64 lifetime ERA coming into the season.  The years of sub-3.00 ERAs would become a thing of the past for Gooden, as would winning seasons for the Mets.

In 1991, the Mets finished the year with a 77-84 record; their first losing season since Gooden was pitching for Single-A Lynchburg.  Although Gooden won 13 of 20 decisions, his campaign was curtailed by another injury to his pitching arm, which required season-ending surgery in early September.  Prior to Opening Day of the '91 campaign, a healthier Gooden had signed the richest contract in National League history, which guaranteed him $15.45 million through 1994 (the contract wouldn't kick in until the 1992 season).  Unfortunately, Gooden had difficulty living up to his end of the deal.

From 1984 to 1991, Gooden finished at least five games over .500 in each season.  But from 1992 to 1994 - which covered the length of his new contract - Gooden had a losing record in each campaign.  His 1994 season was especially harsh, beginning with his Opening Day outing, when he allowed three home runs to Tuffy Rhodes at Wrigley Field.  Gooden also injured his toe during the season opener and exacerbated the injury over his next two starts, which caused him to spend nearly two months on the disabled list.  During his time away from the team, Gooden was randomly tested for drugs as part of his after-care program.  He returned to the team in early June, just three weeks before the results of his drug test were made public.  The news was not what the Mets and their fans wanted to hear.

Gooden was caught with cocaine in his system.  Again.  And this time, he was suspended by Major League Baseball for 60 days.

"I have been suspended for breaking the rules of my aftercare program," Gooden said in a prepared statement.  "I'm truly sorry it happened.  I will be back stronger and better."
 
Gooden never did come back to the Mets, as the 1994 players' strike canceled the remainder of the season before his suspension had come to an end.  Then, just days after the World Series would have ended had it been played, it was revealed that Gooden had tested positive for cocaine multiple times after completing his rehabilitation in August.  He was suspended for the entire 1995 season, which disappointed Joe McIlvaine, the team's executive vice president of baseball operations.

"Right now our only concern is for Dwight Gooden the person," McIlvaine said.  "Any speculation about his baseball future is secondary and unimportant.  It's a shame at the age of 29 his future is so much in doubt."

Gooden's declaration of coming back stronger and better would have to come in another team's uniform, as the Mets did not offer their former ace a contract after he completed his suspensions.  Gooden signed with the crosstown Yankees in 1996 and almost immediately pitched a no-hitter for his new team.  He went on to win two World Series rings with the Yankees and made a triumphant return to Shea Stadium in 2000, defeating the Mets in the first game of a two-stadium doubleheader.

Gooden retired just days before the start of the 2001 season, ending his 16-year major league career six wins shy of 200 for his career.  All but 37 of his 194 victories came as a member of the New York Mets.

"It's a sad and enjoyable day for myself," Gooden said upon announcing his retirement.  "I've enjoyed a great career.  It's been a joyous ride."

Dwight Gooden played 11 seasons with the Mets.  His once-promising career should have yielded so many memorable moments, but instead ended up seeing Gooden with more drug suspensions as a Met than championship trophies.  Despite the personal demons that he could never quite conquer, even well after his retirement as a player, Gooden has remained quite popular with Mets fans.  Gooden received the loudest ovation when he returned to Shea Stadium for the park's closing ceremonies in 2008 and was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2010.

Doc's memorabilia is in Cooperstown, but not Doc himself. (Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

In 1984, a 19-year-old rookie gave fans a reason to come to the ballpark after the Mets had spent seven seasons as the dregs of the league.  Dr. K had his own "Korner" at Shea Stadium.  He also had his own six-story mural on one of New York's busiest streets.  But for all the hold Gooden had on the city of New York, he couldn't control his own vices.  And a road that should have led to Cooperstown ended up leading to one rehab trip after another.

There's an old saying that reminds us "it's not where you start, it's where you finish."  Players like David Clyde and Joe Charboneau are quite familiar with that quote.  So is Dwight Gooden.  His first few years in the majors had many pundits mentioning his name in the same sentence as the game's all-time greats.  By the time his career ended, those same people were including Gooden on their lists of the game's greatest disappointments.

The Mets won one World Series during Gooden's tenure in Flushing.  Gooden then missed the parade that celebrated that lone title.  Just like Mets fans missed out on what should have been a legendary career in orange and blue.

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
January 30, 2017: Frank Cashen
February 6, 2017: Ed Kranepool
February 13, 2017: Doug Sisk
February 20, 2017: Joan Whitney Payson 
February 27, 2017: John Franco and Armando Benitez

 

The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of the Mets: Doug Sisk

Mets fans love their team.  It doesn't matter if the club is mired in last place or fighting for a title; the fans will always be supportive.  Occasionally, however, the team's fans have been known to show their disdain for a player or two, even though those individuals are wearing the team's colors and are playing on the same side as the athletes who get the loudest cheers.

Richie Hebner didn't like playing in New York.  The fans noticed.  Hebner, who was a gravedigger when he wasn't playing baseball, dug his own grave during his one season with the Mets.

Bobby Bonilla was actually from New York.  But after the Mets acquired him, he rubbed everyone the wrong way with his exploits, both on and off the field.  Bonilla called the press box during a game to dispute an error.  He then wore earplugs on the field to silence the boo birds at Shea.  The coup de grâce was when he offered to be a Bronx tour guide to a Daily News reporter.  And let's just say it probably would have been more violent than the seas during Gilligan's three-hour tour.

Besides hearing constant boos from the fans, Hebner and Bonilla shared something else.  They both played for awful Mets teams.

It's easy to dislike a player when the entire team is playing poorly.  But what about the player who receives negative reactions from fans when the team is playing reasonably well, perhaps even well enough to win a championship?  Or even worse, what if the player being booed was actually having a decent career with the Mets but no one remembers because they were too busy booing him?  Such was the plight of one championship reliever who was made to feel like less of a champion during the latter part of his career.

Doug Sisk didn't throw heat.  But fans often threw heat at him.  (Jacqueline Duvoisin/Getty Images)

Douglas Randall Sisk was drafted by the Mets in 1980 as an amateur free agent.  The Washington state native, who was born and raised approximately 2,400 miles away from where the 1969 and 1973 Mets played their home games, grew up rooting for those pennant winners despite the geographical distance between himself and the team.

"I can recall the '69 World Series and I could always name every player on that team," Sisk said to author Erik Sherman.  "And then I could always recall the '73 National League playoffs when Willie Mays was on the club.  I mean, how many kids from the Seattle area back then could name the rosters from those two teams?  I might have been the only one."

Sisk may have been the only Mets fan he knew in the Pacific Northwest, but he wasn't the only Mets farmhand making a rapid ascent to the big club.  After years of ineptitude brought about by a flawed front office and the dismantling of the team's minor league system, the Mets were committed to restructuring their farm with an influx of young talent.  By 1982, several of those players had become regulars at the major league level, with Wally Backman, Mookie Wilson and Hubie Brooks in the starting lineup just about every day, and Ed Lynch, Jesse Orosco and Neil Allen finding themselves on the mound more often than not.  Just weeks before the curtain closed on the 1982 campaign, Sisk was on the big stage as well.

Making eight relief appearances for the Mets following his September call-up, Sisk was quite effective, allowing just one run (a home run by future Hall of Famer Andre Dawson) in 8⅔ innings.  Sisk, who prior to his late-season promotion had never pitched above the Double-A level, broke camp with the Mets in 1983 and continued to shine.  Used in various relief situations, Sisk notched 11 saves and posted a 2.24 ERA in 104⅓ innings.  In doing so, he became just the fifth pitcher in team history to throw 100 or more innings while pitching exclusively in relief, joining Tug McGraw (1972), Skip Lockwood (1977), Jeff Reardon (1980) and Jesse Orosco (also in 1983; Orosco reached the 100-inning mark two weeks before Sisk did).

Amazingly, Sisk allowed just one home run in those 104⅓ innings in 1983, and once again, it was a future Hall of Famer who took him deep (Mike Schmidt).  To this day, Sisk is the only pitcher in club annals to pitch more than 100 innings in a season and allow fewer than three home runs in that campaign.

As great as Sisk was in 1983, he was even better in 1984, especially during the first half of the season.  Through July 1, Sisk had recorded 11 saves and was the owner of an otherworldly 0.50 ERA, allowing three earned runs in 53⅔ innings.  Opposing hitters were batting just .165 against the right-hander and slugging (if you want to call it that) at a .188 clip.

Sisk had always pitched to contact, nibbling at corners hoping to get batters to swing at his best pitch - the sinkerball.  As a result, hitters didn't collect many hits (just 29 of them through July 1), but they did draw their share of walks (31 bases on balls).  Still, the object of the game for a pitcher is to keep the opponent off the scoreboard and few pitchers were as effective at doing that during the first half of the 1984 season as Sisk was.

As the weather got hotter in July, so did the race for the N.L. East crown between the Mets and Chicago Cubs.  But one player who melted in the heat was Sisk, who allowed runs in six of his 12 outings during the month.  From July 28 to August 6, Sisk made three appearances on the mound.  All three times he pitched against the Cubs.  All three times he allowed runs.  And all three times the Mets lost.  His appearance on July 28, one in which he allowed four runs (three earned) without retiring a batter, caused the fans at Shea Stadium to serenade him with a chorus of boos once he left the mound.  It was a sound Sisk was not yet accustomed to.

It's scary how quickly fans turned on Sisk.

"You know, that's the first time I've ever been booed," Sisk said after the game.  "Oh well, I guess you've got to get booed once in a while."

Once in a while turned into every time he set foot on the mound, as the Shea faithful continued to show a lack of faith in their reliever.  Finally, after his third straight disappointing appearance against the Cubs on August 6, the Mets found a way to keep their once-dependable pitcher away from the hostile home crowd, placing Sisk on the disabled list with what the team called shoulder stiffness.  But the reliever begged to differ, claiming the transaction should not have happened.

''I don't think they should have disabled me,'' Sisk said.  ''I've had soreness in the shoulder in the past, and have pitched with it.  It's demeaning to me to be put on the disabled list.  It wasn't necessary.  It makes me feel they intend to trade me before next season.''

Upon his return from the disabled list, Sisk appeared in five more games in 1984.  He held the opposition scoreless in four of them.  The one time he was scored upon was - you guessed it - against the division-leading Cubs on September 8.

Sisk came into the game with the Mets trailing the Cubs by two runs.  He faced 14 batters in two innings, allowing eight of them to reach base.  But just two of them scored.  Wes Gardner then relieved Sisk and allowed two more Cubs to score.  Cubs pitcher Rick Sutcliffe, who went on to win the Cy Young Award that season, pitched a complete-game shutout as Chicago knocked off New York, 6-0.

It's obvious that Sisk didn't have his best stuff in that game, just as it's obvious that any loss by the second-place Mets to the first-place Cubs was going to sting.  But did Sisk deserve to get viciously booed by the fans on that late summer evening at Shea?  The Mets failed to cross the plate in nine innings.  Sisk came into the game with the Mets already trailing by two runs.  After he was taken out for a pinch-hitter, Gardner pitched an inning and two more Cubs circled the bases.  That means the Mets would have lost the contest anyway even if Sisk had pitched two perfect innings.  Going back to the three consecutive appearances against the Cubs prior to his stint on the disabled list, the first loss (July 28) was definitely on Sisk.  But the other two?  Not so much.

On July 29, Sisk took the mound in the ninth inning with the Mets trailing the Cubs, 2-0.  He then allowed the Cubs to tack on an insurance run.  The Mets failed to score in the bottom of the ninth and lost, 3-0.  That final result was certainly not Sisk's fault, as once again the team could not generate any offense.  Eight days later, Sisk entered the game against the Cubs with the Mets already trailing, 7-3.  He pitched a scoreless sixth, then put up another zero in the seventh.  Sisk then allowed two runs in his third inning of work and the Mets lost to Chicago, 9-3.  Again, New York would have lost even if Sisk had not allowed two runners to cross the plate after he had already pitched two scoreless innings.

When Sisk pitched his final game before being disabled, the Mets' record was 62-45.  When he returned on August 31, the Mets were 73-58.  That means the team posted a losing record (11-13) while Sisk was recovering from his injury.  They also lost four games to the Cubs in the N.L. East standings during Sisk's recovery, going from a slim 1½-game deficit to nearly being out of the race at 5½ games back.  The boo birds probably found a way to blame Sisk for that as well.

Overall, Sisk finished the 1984 campaign with 15 saves and a 2.09 ERA - numbers that were still quite impressive, but not enough to make fans stop booing.  Sisk then began the 1985 season with an 8.53 ERA in his first 11 appearances, which earned him a demotion to AAA-Tidewater.  His manager, Davey Johnson, was as tired of Sisk's poor outings as he was of the fans' reactions to them.

"It was a tough decision to make, but I couldn't think of anything else to do," Johnson said.  "I just felt that his failure, plus the way New York fans were getting on him that I thought this was my only option.  In Tidewater he'll get playing time and a chance to iron out his problems."

Sisk may have ironed out his problems at Tidewater, but the fans at Shea still had a few creases.  (Duvoisin/Getty Images)

When Sisk returned to the team after three weeks with the Tides, he did not pitch well at first.  On June 7, he was brought into an extra-inning affair against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing six runs (five earned) in his one frame.  Of course, the game took place at Shea Stadium, where the home team's fans got to witness the carnage and voice their displeasure.

A week after his trouncing at the hands of the eventual division champion Cardinals, Sisk was still the owner of an ungodly 7.68 ERA.  But after June 14, Sisk turned his season around, going 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA the rest of the way.  Included in his revival was a yeoman-like effort against the Braves on July 4, when he pitched 4⅓ shutout innings in the Mets' epic 16-13 victory.  Sisk also hurled two scoreless frames against his previous year's nemesis, the Cubs, on August 2, then followed it up with two shutout innings versus the Giants and two more zeroes against the Dodgers, earning the victory in each game.  Unfortunately for Sisk, all of those brilliant efforts took place on the road.  When he returned with his teammates to Flushing, those games in Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles were distant memories for throaty Mets fans.

For the second straight year, the Mets fell short in their quest for a division title, making them more determined to advance to the postseason in 1986.  Also determined to recover from his worst season in the majors was Doug Sisk.  In late September 1985, Sisk was found to have bone chips in his right elbow and was thought to be lost for a significant part of the '86 campaign, if not all of it.  The bone chips, as well as a spur that was found in his pitching elbow, were the reason why Sisk did not pitch well in 1985.

"I kept mentioning all year that I wasn't right," Sisk said.  "I wasn't getting any leverage.  They thought I was a mental case.  They had me throwing sidearm in the bullpen.  Sidearm.  And I sat for 18 days, twice.  I was scared."

Despite a prognosis that cautioned against any pitching-related activities, Sisk spent the off-season swimming and chopping wood back home in Tacoma.  He then did some soft tossing, with his wife serving as his catcher.  Defying the odds, Sisk was back with the team in 1986 before Memorial Day.

Although Sisk got off to a bumpy start, posting a 4.02 ERA over his first 18 appearances, this time the heat of the summer brought back his effectiveness.  From July 29 to September 21, Sisk was one of the best relievers in baseball, posting a stellar 1.02 ERA in 35⅓ innings, while holding opposing hitters to a .238 batting average and .628 OPS.  However, fans still found the need to mercilessly boo Sisk despite his solid recovery from an awful 1985 campaign, causing Johnson to use him primarily when the team was trailing.  Johnson also tried not to use Sisk in games played at Shea Stadium, especially after the All-Star Break.  Once players returned from the mid-season hiatus, Sisk pitched just seven times in his home park until the Mets clinched the division title on September 17.  In the postseason, Sisk did not allow a run in two appearances.  But of course, both of those outings came in mop-up duty, as he pitched the final innings of games the Mets lost.

For the season, Sisk lowered his ERA by more than two runs, finishing the year with a 3.06 mark.  He also didn't allow a single home run in 70⅔ innings - not even to a future Hall of Fame slugger.  How unusual has it been over the years to pitch that many innings for the Mets and not give up a single long ball?

Without baseball-reference.com generating this chart for me, you'd still be booing Doug Sisk.

Since coming into the league in 1962, only five Mets pitchers have thrown at least 30 innings in a season without allowing a home run.  The only one to surpass 36⅓ innings in a tater-free campaign was Sisk in 1986, and he pitched almost twice as many innings as the next closest gopherless pitcher.

It's been more than half a century since the Mets played their inaugural season.  Since then, only ten pitchers have thrown more innings in a season than Sisk without allowing a single ball to leave the yard, as detailed in the chart below.

I wonder if the other pitchers on this list had to put up with constant boos from their home crowd.

The Mets failed to repeat as world champions in 1987, but Sisk had another solid season.  He pitched 78 innings - his highest regular season total since his fabulous 1983 campaign - and posted a 3.46 ERA.  He also walked just 22 batters, averaging 2.5 walks per nine innings, which was the lowest ratio of his career.

When the Mets were battling it out with the St. Louis Cardinals for the division title in September, it wasn't Sisk who gave up the crushing, season-changing homer to Terry Pendleton.  That was Roger McDowell.  And when New York was still mathematically alive during the last week of the season, Sisk wasn't on the mound giving up a walk-off blast to light-hitting pinch-hitter Luis Aguayo.  That was Jesse Orosco.  In fact, from August 31 until the end of the season, Sisk pitched ten times and recorded a 2.08 ERA.  Even more impressive was the slash line against him, as opposing hitters could only manage a .208/.240/.229 mark in those ten appearances spanning 13 innings.

The Mets used three relievers in high-leverage situations in 1987 (McDowell, Orosco and rookie Randy Myers).  McDowell finished the year with a 4.16 ERA, while Orosco's ERA ballooned to 4.44.  Myers, who finished sixth in the N.L. Rookie of the Year vote, had the lowest ERA of the three, but it was still a relatively high 3.96 mark.  And that was still half a run higher than the ERA posted by Sisk, who was traded to Baltimore at the end of the season.

Doug Sisk was a Met for six seasons.  He had a rough patch against the division-winning Cubs in 1984, but was mostly stellar against the rest of the league.  He admittedly had a difficult year in 1985, but an elbow injury was later revealed to be the reason for his ineffectiveness.  Still, fans viewed him as a scapegoat, booing him just about every time he stepped on the mound at Shea Stadium during the final three-and-a-half seasons of his tenure in New York.

They booed the owner of 3.10 lifetime ERA as a Met, which is tied for the seventh-lowest mark for all pitchers who threw at least 400 innings in franchise history.  Other pitchers in the top ten include Tom Seaver (2.57), Jesse Orosco (2.73), R.A. Dickey (2.95), Jon Matlack (3.03), Jerry Koosman (3.09) and Dwight Gooden (3.10).  Those pitchers were either Cy Young Award winners, Rookie of the Year Award recipients or pitchers who recorded final outs in the World Series for the Mets.  In other words, Sisk is in good company.

In addition, the man who was on the receiving end of the fans' vitriol during the latter part of his career allowed just 11 home runs in 412⅓ innings during his time with the Mets.  That's an average of 0.24 homers per nine innings - the lowest of any pitcher with at least 400 innings in club annals.  The only other hurler with a ratio under 0.50 is Roger McDowell.  The ten players directly behind Sisk on this list include the usual suspects - Seaver, Koosman, Matlack, Gooden, Orosco - as well as other notable pitchers like Nolan Ryan, Bob Ojeda and David Cone.

Three world champion relievers.  Only one was booed regularly.  (NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images)

The 1985 season happened for Sisk.  It can't be erased.  But the other five years he was in New York, he pitched to a 2.63 ERA and held his opponents to a .248 batting average and .656 OPS.  He did this despite the fact that he wasn't a strikeout pitcher and had his share of walks when hitters were able to lay off his sinker.  But once a player is disliked in New York, he's always disliked in New York, even if his full résumé suggests that the hatred is unwarranted.

Doug Sisk experienced everything after being signed by the Mets in 1980.  He made his way through the minor league ranks quickly.  He joined Jesse Orosco to become a force in the bullpen just as the Mets were shedding their losing ways.  He was part of a world championship team.  But he couldn't get the fans on his side, no matter how hard he tried.  When his then-fiancee asked him why he didn't do anything about the constant derision, he only had one response.

"I can't beat up 60,000 fans."

Richie Hebner heard it from Mets fans.  Bobby Bonilla did, too.  The slow, rising crescendo of fans voicing their displeasure is enough to run the toughest players out of New York.  But not every player deserves that kind of treatment.  And certainly, a player who is a significant part of a team's rise to contention, culminating in an eventual championship, shouldn't have to be subjected to that kind of vocal negativity.

But that's what Sisk had to put up with for several years as a Met.  And unjust as it may be, that's also what he has had to deal with ever since he played his final game in New York.  Such is the agony of Doug Sisk, a player who wanted nothing more than to cherish being part of a victorious team accomplishment.

 

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
January 30, 2017: Frank Cashen
February 6, 2017: Ed Kranepool