By BRIAN M. RAFFERTY
FLUSHING-OCT. 16, 1969: They said it couldn’t be done. They said that this upstart team that posted the worst record in baseball history a scant seven years ago could not possibly do it.
But they beat the odds and they beat the Orioles last night, bringing the World Series trophy to place it has never before been – the field of Shea Stadium as the loveable New York Mets have been crowned world champions.
During the summer, the Mets carried a 56-win, 44-loss record – neither spectacular nor horrible. But the last 62 games of the year they went an astounding 44-18, including 17 shutouts, blowing out the league-leading Cubs and walking into the first-ever League Championship Series, where they soundly thrashed the Atlanta Braves in three straight and rolled over the Orioles 4-1.
But the Mets? The only person on the team with a batting average over .300 on the season was Cleon Jones. But it wasn’t the bats that got them through. The Mets had one of the most talented staffs this season, with Tom “Terrific” Seaver going 25-7 with 18 complete games, a 2.21 ERA, 208 strikeouts and only 82 walks in 280 innings pitched. Relative newcomer Jerry Koosman mirrored Seaver’s ERA with a 2.28 of his own – slightly higher than his 2.08 of last season – while rookie relief pitcher Nolan Ryan came out strong in his games, setting up for Tug McGraw and Ron Taylor.
Repeat Performance?
The Mets have made it back to the big dance a few more times, losing in 1973 to the Orioles and 2000 to the Yankees.
But there was a golden moment – the biggest highlight in a year carved into the history of baseball folklore like none other that had come before it. The year was 1986. The date was Oct. 25. The batter was Mookie Wilson.
The Mets came out charging in 1986, not looking back when they got into on-field brawls, when they were arrested in a bar in Houston, when they clinched the division on Sept. 17.
They fought like mad against the Houston Astros in early October, including what at the time was the longest post-season game in history – 16 innings – to face the Red Sox in the World Series.
A young upstart named Roger Clemens and a team of veterans seemed to push the Mets to the brink of collapse – with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, down two runs. The champagne was about to pop in the Red Sox locker room when the miracle hit again.
Gary Carter singled to left, Kevin Mitchell singled to center, Ray Knight singled to center (scoring Carter), and veteran pitcher Bob Stanley threw a pitch in the dirt as Wilson stood at the plate, allowing Mitchell to run in, tying the game.
And then Stanley threw the damning pitch. Wilson swung…
“Little roller up along first…behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!”
Game Seven was an afterthought. The miracle had already repeated.
