1986 New York Mets season


The 1986 New York Mets season was the Mets' 25th season in the National League. They improved from a 98–64 record in 1985 to finish the season with a franchise record of 108–54, giving them the division title. They went on to defeat the Houston Astros in six games in the NLCS and the American League champion Boston Red Sox in seven games in the World Series. This is their last championship to date.
The 1986 Mets are one of just three National League teams to have won twice as many games as lost in the regular season since 1909. The team is often regarded as one of the best of all-time, being cited in 2021 by ESPN as a top contender for best MLB team of the previous half-century from 1970 to 2020.

Background

and Ron Darling made their debuts in 1983, followed by Dwight Gooden and Sid Fernandez in 1984, and Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell in 1985. The Mets hired Davey Johnson to manage the ballclub in 1984, resulting in a solid season with 90 victories and a second-place finish. The rise continued in 1985, as they netted 98 wins and finished the season only 3 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.
After falling just short in 1984 and 1985 the Mets vowed there would be no "falling short" in 1986. In the 1985–86 offseason, general manager Frank Cashen brought in Tim Teufel, a right-handed hitting infielder from the Minnesota Twins and Bob Ojeda, a left-handed pitcher from the Boston Red Sox. The Mets added them to an existing veteran core including along with former MVPs George Foster and Keith Hernandez, veteran catcher Gary Carter and speedsters Wally Backman and Mookie Wilson.
With these acquisitions, many predicted an easy dominance within the division. The pundits were right. During spring training, Davey Johnson said to his players that they were not only going to win, but that they would dominate. That meant winning the division by double digits. The Mets concluded the season winning a club-record 108 games, two out of every three, and finishing the season games in front of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Offseason

The 1986 Mets held spring training at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida for the 25th season.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

  • April 1, 1986: Tom Gorman was released by the Mets.
  • April 5, 1986: Doug Frobel was traded by the Montreal Expos to the New York Mets for Joe Graves and Rodger Cole.
  • June 2, 1986: 1986 Major League Baseball draft
  • *Curtis Pride was drafted by the Mets in the 10th round. Player signed June 12, 1986.
  • *John Olerud was drafted by the Mets in the 27th round of the 1986 amateur draft, but did not sign.
  • June 9, 1986: Tim Corcoran was released by the Mets.
  • June 30, 1986: Ed Lynch was traded by the Mets to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Dave Lenderman and Dave Liddell.
  • August 3, 1986: Lee Mazzilli was signed as a free agent by the Mets.
  • August 7, 1986: George Foster was released by the Mets.
  • August 24, 1986: Alex Diaz was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets.

    Month by month

April

The Mets had a rocky start with a 2–3 record. But when the Mets hosted Philadelphia at Shea Stadium a few days later, they kicked off an 11-game winning streak. Their toughest test in this stretch happened in St. Louis in a four-game series. On April 24, Howard Johnson hit a game-tying home run. A few games later, Wally Backman made a series-saving double-play. After the Mets swept the four-game series against St. Louis, Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog told sportswriters, "We're not catching the Mets this year." The Mets finished the month 13–3.

May

The Mets went 18–9 in May and ended the month with a season record of 31–12.

June

On June 10 against the Phillies, Tim Teufel hit a pinch-hit, game-winning grand slam. The Mets went 19–9 during June and finished the month with a season record of 50–21.

July

On July 3 against the Houston Astros, Darryl Strawberry hit a game-tying home run, but it was Ray Knight who won the game with a homer of his own, after striking out in his first four at-bats. Dwight Gooden's first half performance was good enough for him to earn the honor of being named starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game in the Astrodome. This game marked the end of a streak where the NL won 13 of the previous 14 games and served as foreshadowing for what would happen next. Later in the month, the Mets lost three of four to the Astros. During this series, four Mets were arrested at a popular nightclub in Houston. Their fortunes improved in a bizarre game in Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium on July 22. In the top of the ninth, Dave Parker dropped the ball that could have been the final out for the Cincinnati Reds, allowing the Mets to tie the game. In the bottom of the tenth, Eric Davis got to third and brawled with Ray Knight. Both men, along with Kevin Mitchell and Mario Soto, were ejected. Johnson was forced to alternate Jesse Orosco and Roger McDowell in the outfield. In the bottom of the twelfth, Carl Willis bunted into a double-play. In the top of the fourteenth, Howard Johnson hit a home run to put the Mets on top. The Mets went 16–11 during July and finished the month with a season record of 66–32 and were up by 15.5 games in the NL East division.

August

Former MVP George Foster was released after he was benched for Kevin Mitchell, partially due to Foster's decline in production and Mets manager Davey Johnson trying to get Mitchell more playing time, and also due to Foster giving comments following his benching suggesting that it might've been racially motivated, along with other teams' personnel decisions. Former Mets favorite Lee Mazzilli was resigned after Pittsburgh released him, filling Foster's spot in the roster. Gary Carter was injured with a broken thumb, and missed two weeks. While he was gone, the Mets won 8 of 11 games with Ed Hearn filling in for catcher duties. The Mets went 21–11 in August and ended with a season record, to that point, of 87–43 and were up by 19 games in the NL East division.

September–October

When they got to Philadelphia, droves of Mets fans were there to see if they would clinch the NL East. In fact, they seemed to take up half of Veterans Stadium. Given what had happened to them when they got swept in a three-game series by the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field preceding the series and not wanting to see visiting teams win a division title on their field, the Phillies swept the Mets. During the series, Mets fans at Veterans Stadium became unruly and damaged seats in the upper deck. One Mets fan was arrested after striking at two Philadelphia police officers. The Phillie Phanatic summed up the Mets being swept by crushing three Mets helmets in front of the Mets dugout during the final game of the series. The Phillies ended up being the only team in the league to post a winning record against the Mets, going 10–8, with a 7–2 mark at Veterans Stadium. During the postseason awards, the Mets rivalry with the Phillies and that series was played out again, as it was Mike Schmidt of the Phillies who won the National League MVP Award, ahead of Gary Carter, who finished third, and Keith Hernandez, who finished fourth. It was Schmidt's third career MVP.
The Mets then split a two-game series in St. Louis, trimming the magic number to clinch to 1 on September 16. The following day, they faced Dennis Eckersley and the Chicago Cubs. With a flu-ridden Hernandez, Dave Magadan was the offensive source of the day. Hernandez returned in the 9th to get the final out. The champagne was popped immediately while the fans invaded the field quickly. The Mets won a team-record 108 games after defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Mets went 21–11 during the final two months to end the season with a record of 108-54 while winning the National League East division by 21.5 games.

Schedule and results

Regular season

All times are EASTERN time

Postseason

All times are EASTERN time

Opening day lineup

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBISB
CGary Carter132490125.255241051
1BKeith Hernandez149551171.31013832
2BWally Backman124387124.32012713
3BRay Knight137486145.29811762
SSRafael Santana13939486.2181280
LFGeorge Foster7223353.22713381
CFLenny Dykstra147431127.29584531
RFDarryl Strawberry136475123.259279328