Series Wrapup

Story

Leaving nothing to chance after finishing only three games behind first-place St. Louis in the N.L. East the previous season, the New York Mets dominated the National League in 1986, compiling a record of 108-54 over the course of the regular season.  The Philadelphia Phillies finished a distant second in the division, 21 ½ games off the pace.

Clearly the strongest and most well-balanced team in the senior circuit, the Mets placed at or near the top of the league rankings in virtually every major statistical category.  They led the league with 783 runs scored, a .263 team batting average, a .339 team on-base percentage, a .401 team slugging average, and a 3.11 team ERA, and they finished third with 148 home runs.

The trio of Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, and Darryl Strawberry paced New York on offense.  Carter hit 24 home runs and knocked in 105 runs.  Hernandez led the team with a .310 batting average, a .414 on-base percentage, and 94 runs scored.  Strawberry drove in 93 runs, stole 28 bases, and finished first on the club with 27 home runs.  Ray Knight chipped in with 76 runs batted in and a .298 batting average, while Lenny Dykstra batted .295, scored 77 runs, and led the team with 31 stolen bases.

The Mets’ greatest strength lay in their pitching staff, which featured the deepest starting rotation in either league.  Dwight Gooden went 17-6, with a 2.84 ERA, 200 strikeouts, and 250 innings pitched.  Ron Darling finished 15-6 with a 2.81 ERA.  Bob Ojeda compiled a record of 18-5 and an ERA of 2.57.  All three hurlers placed in the top five in the league in earned run average.  Fourth starter Sid Fernandez finished 16-6 with 200 strikeouts.  Meanwhile, New York’s outstanding bullpen duo of Roger McDowell and Jesse Orosco combined to win 22 games and save 43 others.

In spite of New York’s dominance, N.L. MVP honors went to Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt, who batted .290 and topped the senior circuit with 37 home runs, 119 runs batted in, and a .547 slugging average.

The Mets encountered their first serious challenge when they faced the Western Division champion Houston Astros in the NLCS.  Houston earned a right to face New York in the Championship Series by compiling a regular-season record of 96-66 that put them 10 games ahead of second-place Cincinnati in the final standings.
 
Though not as talented as New York on offense, the Astros had a pitching staff that matched that of their Eastern Division rivals.  Houston finished a close second to New York with a team ERA of 3.15, and their staff featured Mike Scott, who earned N.L. Cy Young honors by going 18-10, with a league-leading 2.22 ERA, 306 strikeouts, 275 innings pitched, and five shutouts.  Houston’s starting rotation also included Bob Knepper and Nolan Ryan.  Knepper compiled a record of 17-12 and an ERA of 3.14 in 258 innings of work, and he tied Scott for the league lead with five shutouts.  Ryan finished 12-8 with a 3.34 ERA, and he struck out 194 batters in only 178 innings of work. 

The Astros were hardly overwhelming on offense, finishing near the middle of the league rankings with a .255 team batting average, 125 home runs, and 654 runs scored.  Second baseman Bill Doran, outfielder Kevin Bass, and first baseman Glenn Davis served as the three primary threats in their lineup.  Doran batted .276, scored 92 runs, and stole 42 bases.  Bass hit 20 homers, drove in 79 runs, and batted .311.  Davis supplied much of the power in the middle of the batting order, placing among the league leaders with 31 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

Houston proved to be a difficult foe for the Mets in their NLCS matchup, giving the favored New Yorkers all they could handle.  Although the Mets won three of the first five contests, they posted two of their victories in their final at-bat.  The Mets had a particularly hard time solving the split-fingered fastball deliveries of Mike Scott, who hurled two complete-game victories against them, allowing just one run and eight hits in the process.  Faced with the possibility of going up against Scott again if the Series went to seven games, New York pulled out all the stops in mounting a comeback to win Game Six.  Trailing 3-0 for most of the contest, New York scored three times in the top of the ninth inning to even the score at 3-3.  After both teams scored once in the 14th inning, the Mets seemingly clinched the pennant by tallying another three runs in the top of the 16th.  However, the Astros made things interesting by closing the gap to 7-6, before Jesse Orosco put an end to the four-hour 42-minute marathon by striking out Kevin Bass with the tying run in scoring position. 

The Mets faced an even stiffer test when they went up against the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.  After the Red Sox swept the first two games in Shea Stadium, the Mets returned the favor by taking the next two contests played at Fenway Park.  The Red Sox then grabbed a 3-2 Series lead by winning the final game at Fenway. 

After the Series returned to New York for Game Six, the two teams battled to a 3-3 tie through nine innings.  However, the Red Sox scored twice in the top of the 10th to take a 5-3 lead.  The Series seemed all but over when New York’s first two batters in the bottom of the frame went down in order.  But three consecutive singles, a wild pitch, and an error by first baseman Bill Buckner on a slowly hit grounder by Mookie Wilson plated three runs for New York, sending the Fall Classic to a decisive Game Seven.

The Red Sox grabbed an early 3-0 lead in the final contest, but the Mets came back to score eight runs in the final four frames to register an 8-5 victory that gave them their second world championship.  Jesse Orosco again recorded the final out for New York.  Ray Knight earned Series MVP honors by batting .391, homering once, and driving in five runs.

Other outstanding performers, notable events, and points of interest from around the league follow:

• July 6 – Atlanta’s Bob Horner became the 11th player in history to hit four home runs in one game, doing so during an 11-8 loss to the Montreal Expos at Fulton County Stadium.

• December 16 - San Diego Padres pitcher LaMarr Hoyt was sentenced to 45 days in jail following his third arrest on drug possession charges, this time on the U.S.-Mexico border.  Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth subsequently barred Hoyt from baseball on February 25, 1987.  An arbitrator later cut Hoyt's suspension to 60 days and ordered the Padres to reinstate him.  However, San Diego gave him his unconditional release the following day.

• San Diego’s Tony Gwynn batted .329 and led the league with 211 hits and 107 runs scored.

• Mike Schmidt set a National League record by topping the circuit in home runs for the eighth time.

• Pete Rose announced his retirement, leaving the game as Major League Baseball’s all-time record-holder for hits (4,256), games played (3,562), and at-bats (14,053).

• Although the American League won the All-Star Game 3-2 at Houston, Fernando Valenzuela matched Carl Hubbell’s 1934 feat by striking out five American League hitters in a row.

• Cardinal Todd Worrell earned N.L. Rookie of the Year honors by amassing 36 saves.

• Mike Scott threw a no-hitter against the Giants on September 25, clinching the Western Division title for the Astros in the process.

• Steve Carlton became the first left-hander to collect 4,000 career strikeouts.

• Fernando Valenzuela led all N.L. hurlers with 21 wins and 20 complete games.

• Cardinal Willie McGee set a National League record for the largest drop in batting average by a defending batting champion - 97 points.

• Montreal’s Tim Raines stole 70 bases and led the National League with a .334 batting average and a .415 on-base percentage. 

• Cincinnati’s Eric Davis hit 27 home runs, scored 97 runs, and finished second in the league with 80 stolen bases. 

• Reds teammate Dave Parker hit 31 homers, drove in 116 runs, and led the league with 304 total bases. 

• Cardinal Vince Coleman topped the circuit with 107 stolen bases, joining Rickey Henderson as one of only two players to swipe as many as 100 bags in two straight seasons.

Seasons of the National League

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