I drove to this game from Ann Arbor, Michigan with 2 friends of mine who were also big Mets fans. I think we were the only Mets fans at Three Rivers that day and the Pirates fans gave us hell. Gooden got in and out of a lot of jams in this game and it was the first indication that Gooden would no longer be a dominant pitcher after 1985. I remember that the Pirates had the tying runs on base in either the 8th and/or 9th innings, but they didn't tie it up. It was a fun trip and a fun win--and a long drive back from Pittsburgh to Ann Arbor.

I vividly remember sitting down to watch this game on tv. I remember feeling so full of hope for this season after the bitter disappointment of the '85 campaign. I can recall prior to the game they had a retrospective of that year with Springsteen's "Glory Days" as the soundtrack! I knew, however, that this was going to be our year. And the rest is history!

RJ Reynolds led off the Pirates 1st with a HR off the Doc. It was a hint that perhaps Doc can get cut once in a while. Gooden settled down and got the win. In hindsight, Doc was presumably on the start of his drug-induced downfall from dominance. True, he never was near duplicating that '85 performance. But what modern day pitcher has ever duplicated such a performance?

Dwight Gooden didn't appear to be as dominant in this game and he was so often the previous year. But he did pitch a complete game six-hitter for the win to start the 1986 season. The Mets took the lead for good in the first inning when Keith Hernandez doubled to drive home Lenny Dykstra and then scored on Gary Carter's sacrifice fly. The team would record 107 more victories and later conquer their second World Championship.

The Mets had three doubles in the top of the sixth inning, the last of which had a funny twist. Howard Johnson hit a grounder inside the first base foul line that was fielded by the Pirates' right field ball girl. She didn't seem to realize it was a fair ball that Johnson hit.

After a snowout in Pittsburgh, Darling had what was probably his worst start of the year in the 2nd game of the season. Though, we were able to see very early that Bobby Ojeda's stuff worked much better in the NL than against the AL teams, as he got his first win, this one in relief, as the offense scored 9 runs After this game, the Mets would lose 3 in a row, setting off a local firestorm with media and fans alike asking "what's wrong with the Mets". Certainly very funny to look back at that craziness.

After seeing Kiss at the Meadowlands the night before, I went to my first ever Mets game on the road. Yeah the Mets lost a tough one that day but as it turns out they were not going to lose a lot of them this year.

An NBC game of the week and probably the toughest loss the team would suffer all season. The Mets blew a 3 run 9th inning lead and a lead in the 14th to finally lose after a long afternoon as Randy Niemann couldn't seem to get anyone out. Also a sad note that this was the only game that Ed Lynch would appear in for the Mets in 1986, and he was eventually traded later in the season. After the game, a few Mets were quoted as saying that they hoped a loss like this won't come back to haunt them in September. Another one of those funny notes, looking back at a season like they had.

I remember watching the Mets home opener on Ch. 9 and HoJo's error cost us the game to the Cardinals in extra frames and then word came from the White House that the U.S. Military was bombing Libya. A surreal day if there was ever one.

When the Mets lost on this date in 1986, their record was 2-3. A lot of people forget that the Mets got off to a slow start in 1986.

This was my first Mets game ever!

Richard Nixon was in the crowd and stood up and waved. That's my lasting memory of the game.

It was a cold April night. We needed a few hot chocolates to stay warm as we watched Carlton unravel in one of his last starts as a Phil.

Remember Milt Thompson hitting a liner that left the park within seconds.

Watched this one recently on the old tape. It's insane to think about now, but after Darling gave up 2 runs in the 1st inning, the Shea crowd booed the team off the field pretty loudly (the team was 2-3, and lost a very sloppy home opener just days before).

In the end, the guys scored 3 times off an aging Steve Carlton in the bottom of the 1st, the 1986 Mets never looked back and those boos minutes earlier are just a humorous footnote in Mets history.

I went to this game after suddenly deciding to go that morning. It was Calender Weekend at Shea and the weather was on the cool side.

When I got to the stadium, I bought my ticket (for the regular $8 value) from some people whose friend hadn't shown up. I sat with them in the back row of the loge level on the third base side - where the mezzanine overhang obstructed our view of the scoreboard!

Thankfully, the field was visable. We saw Dwight Gooden pitch a complete game. Gary Carter, who played left field for the first eight innings, drove home Kevin Mitchell with an RBI single that put the Mets ahead to stay. The win gave our guys a 4-3 record, putting them over .500 for good in a World Championship season.

My friend Joe convinced me to join with him and get a Saturday ticket plan. Our first game and a good omen. Enjoyed the championship season and 30 years later continue with the ticket plan. Hope this year will be a repeat.

Gary Carter made a rare start in LF on this afternoon as Barry Lyons made his big league debut, even drove in a run with a grounder.

The Mets would go over .500 with this win, and obviously never had to worry about that again. A note about this game, a number of highlights from this game later made their way into the "Year to Remember" season highlight video that so many fans bought after the year.

Sid Fernandez's only stolen base came in this game, a blowout of the Phillies in which he was in complete control.

A back and forth game right till the last pitch. Shea was pretty empty that night (mostly due to a combo of it being an April night game, rain and that was also the night of Geraldo Rivera opening up Al Capone's vault). With all of this though, the Mets won a very exciting game and this was the first of a nice handful of walk-off wins.

I remember Ray Knight hitting a two-run homer to tie the score in the bottom of the eighth. The Pirates scored a run in the top of the ninth to go ahead, but the Mets scored two in the bottom of the ninth to win the game.

This was probably the most important game of the early '86 season. The Mets needed to make a statement to the Cardinals and they did it in the late innings. I remember HoJo turned around a Todd Worrell fastball (not the only one of Todd's he turned around) for a big home run late and the Mets went on to sweep the series. After the series, Whitey basically conceded the division to the Mets.

The generally forgotten game in the famous 4 game sweep in St Louis. Though this was close fought game into the 8th inning before the Mets blew it open.

Gooden was in complete command and Ray Knight was the hottest hitter in baseball, hitting 2 more homers and continuing to save his career in the early part of the season. He was supposed to be a part time player in 86, but he forced HoJo into the bench role with his unbelievable play in the first half of the year.

This was a great series when we sent a message to the Cards that this would be our year. It was the game of the week on NBC-4 NY. I recall Whitey Herzog chewing out Vince Coleman and the game ended with the Mets turning a great double play. While the weather in NYC was chilly; it was about 90 degrees in St. Louis.

After a tough 1st inning, Sid Fernandez was almost literally unhittable against St Louis on this afternoon. I'm not even sure that the Cards hit a ball mildly hard off of him until the 9th. It was an amazing outing. He eventually gave way to McDowell, who had a rare off day and almost gave up the lead. Luckily, the ball Jack Clark hit went for only a long single, just an inch or two from being a game tying homer. Sometimes you need a little luck to get by.

It's over! The Mets have clinched the division. OK not quite but this final game in a sweep in St. Louis buried the Cardinals and the Mets never looked back. Too early in the season to be crucial but let's face it, the Mets never sweated after this series!!!!

The Mets 10th win in a row. In the 6th inning of this game, Strawberry hit a homer to dead center field (well over 400 feet), and if you look at the replay, he hit it off of one leg. Even McCarver said it was one of the most incredible homers that he's ever seen.

I was in the Army at the time, I was excited over the Mets potential after their 98-64 record in 1985. Traveled from Fort Gordon, which is at Augusta Georgia. Wanted to see Gooden pitch, he won to go to 4-0. Strawberry & Carter homered, and the Mets won their 11th in a row which I'm sure is one of their longest winning streaks. I had a feeling the Mets could win the World Series in 1986. It was the only road Mets game I ever attended, and it seemed like I was the only Mets fan in the stadium, so had to stifle my cheering. The highlight for the Braves is Dale Murphy, who was out for several games with a thumb injury, after jamming it against an outfield fence in a previous game, hit a homer for the Braves only run, I think as a pinch hitter although he may have started the game. Final score was 8-1 Mets.

One of Roger McDowell's worst appearances as a Met, but you know you're going good when your top reliever gets crushed for 5 runs and still win anyway. Davey just needed to bring in Orosco to get out of the 8th inning jam and then finish it off in the 9th for the Mets 13th win in 14 games.

If my memory serves me correctly, this was the game in which Reds' pitcher John Denny threw a bat at a television camera next to the dugout. He had just given up a home run to Keith Hernandez and wasn't too thrilled about being shown to the public at that time. The viewing audience got a close-up look of a Denny's angry face and a bat coming right at their own heads.

A few years earlier, Strawberry made his major league debut against Reds pitcher Mario Soto and K's multiple times, generally being overpowered. But Darryl learned quickly and by 1986, completely owned Soto, hitting 2 homers off of him in this game and also having other fantastic games against him as well.

The first meeting between the eventual playoff opponents, though no one knew how good Houston was at the time. Gooden pitched a shutout on a very overcast and drizzly night, only getting into trouble in the 9th inning. He loaded the bases with 1 out, then inducing a ground ball right back to him. A home to first double play to end the game.

In the 8th inning of this game, Lenny Dysktra made a game saving catch off the bat of Dave Parker. Lenny ran back to right-center field and robbed him of a homer (the catch has been included in numerous Mets highlight montages over the years). Dave Parker just laughed as he rounded 1st base, knowing that the Mets were simply too good and too hot to beat at that time. One of the more classic moments during that championship season.

This was Mother's Day and the Mets were already rolling. The Doctor was still the Doctor and we expected an awesome time. Unfortunately, Pete Rose had other ideas. He came up with two outs and bases loaded in the second and hit a liner off of Teufel's glove at second (Wally would have caught it). The ball slowly rolled into the outfield and the speedy Eddie Milner scored all the way from first for a 3-RBI single! The count was 3-2, so Milner had a headstart but it was still quite remarkable. A small blemish on my memory of '86.

Yup - the ball hit off Teufel's glove and dribbled into short right field - right where you would place it to be equally far from the 2B man and the rightfielder.

The Mets were 12 - 3 in games I saw in '86, and this was one of the losses...

I went to this game. At this point I felt that Doc was the greatest pitcher ever, and that a win was a sure thing. It came as a shock when he gave up THREE runs and took the loss. It seems amazing now that the fans at Shea seemed surprised that he could give up that many runs!

I am not sure if the stats back up my impression, but it seemed that from this game forward Gooden was not the total dominating pitcher he had been. I think that this was the last time I saw Rose play, Thanks, Joe L. for the description of the hit. I remember expecting only two runs to score and then I looked at the scoreboard.

I agree Stu! I always felt that a Gooden loss was a fluke. But after this game he went from being the best pitcher on the planet to just a very, very good one. And that drop was colossal. From August of '84 till this game Doc was 37-5 with an ERA of 1.39. I'm not sure we will ever see anything like that again. It was "Must see TV". And even better in person.

Please accept and post these comments because I was at this game in person and even though this is a game that the Mets lost but because I forgot to tape it off of TV.

I'd love it if there is someone/anyone that has a copy of the TV broadcast of this game that they can share with me because I am a big 1986 Mets fan and a Dwight Gooden fan and I have been able to find only one man so far that has a copy of this game on DVD but he is being a creep about sharing it with me and there has to be another person that has a copy of this game.

I attended a night game at Shea in my early teens which was one of the best games I had ever seen played. After reviewing this database, I believe this game occured on the night of May 12th, two days before my 14th birthday. I was brought to Shea by my father, who I rarely got to spend time with. The game was a very well- pitched affair which saw no scoring until the late innings. If I remember correctly, Dale Murphy of the Braves hit a very dangerous looking drive in the ninth, but was thrown out trying to stretch it. This gem energized the crowd who had been simmering all night in expectation of a big play and carried the Mets into their half of the ninth. This is when the game's only run was scored.

JC, thanks for sharing your memories of your first game! According to retrosheet.org, there is no indication of Murphy being thrown out attempting to stretch a hit during the game. In fact, the play-by-play log shows that no Brave was thrown out on the basepaths during the game. Dale Murphy did double in the sixth with one out but was left there after a groundout and a strikeout. Here is the top of the ninth:

BRAVES 9TH: WASHINGTON BATTED FOR HARPER; Washington struck out; Thomas struck out; Virgil walked; Hubbard made an out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Braves 0, Mets 0.

The Mets won it in the bottom of the ninth when Ray Knight led off with a double off Paul Assenmacher and Tim Teufel singled him home.

The Dodgers won this late night game on a squeeze play by Bill Russell, as he laid down a perfect bunt with the ball hugging the chalk, eventually settling right on the white line for the Dodgers win. One of the rare times that a break did not go the Mets way in 1986.

It's generally forgotten today but Darling and Davey Johnson weren't the most warm and cuddly of friends early in their Mets tenures. It really boiled over after this game in which on paper, Darling pitched very well. 7 innings, 2 runs and win. But Davey was much more critical of his 4 walks and called his performance "almost terrible" in the papers.

This was really the game that signified the "end" of Gooden's absolute, other worldly dominance of the National League, as he got rocked for 7 runs in one of his shortest outings ever.

It was really the first time in almost 2 years that he was truly hit all around the ballpark and just looked completely terrible (he had a pretty bad outing against Philly in August of 1985 but that was also one of the hottest days of the year).

Bobby Ojeda continued his early season dominance, leading the league in ERA coming into this start. He would go 9 innings, and was helped by a game saving catch by Rafeal Santana with 2 outs and 2 on base in the 9th. Eventually, the Mets would get 2 in the 11th to help put the game away, including a rare RBI from Jesse Orosco, getting a sac fly. Jesse's next RBI after this game would come in Game 7 of the World Series.

The one vivid memory I have of this game was the 6th inning, in which George Foster hit a laser over the left field fence for a home run. I believe Tom Niedenfuer gave it up to him. The next batter, I'll never forget, was Ray Knight, who was plunked by Niedenfuer, thus starting an impressive bench-clearing brawl. Was it possible that Foster showed up Niedenfuer in the previous at bat after his blast? I was never sure why it was started in the first place. Maybe someone else can give me the answer. All I know is that it was the last important hit by Foster as a Met. I had forgotten that Ron Darling had gone the distance in this game, as did the rest of the Met starters.

I think this was an NBC game of the week, Vin Scully doing the call.

Not sure about that, since I was 8, but I definitely remember the brawl. After Knight got plunked, he rushed Niedenfuer, gave him a quick punch, then Niedenfuer tackled him and Knight fell flat on his back. Ouch!

Possibly the first Met game I ever saw.

This was the very first Mets game I saw in person. I was 9 and I will never forget the smell of the grass and how green it was. The grand slam followed by the brawl was an amazing way to kick off the hundreds of games I have attended since. I'll never forget Ray Knight's bright red face in the middle of the melee, so bright red I was able to spot it from my mezzanine seat.

Correcting an earlier post, I did some research and this game was on Channel 9. This is the first game I clearly remember watching, only because of the brawl. I was a big WWF fan at the time, and watching Ray Knight run out there and fight Tom Niedenfuer was like watching the Junk Yard Dog take on Tito Santana. I remember being amazed by it, and thinking that it was better than wrestling because it was real.

One of four games I attended that year as a 17 year old, I was a huge Foster fan dating back to his time with Cincy and very happy for him after the grand slam. He was rarely cheered the way he was after that HR. The brawl stands out of course; I can still see Knight running out there from my vantage in the mezzanine behind home plate.

The first of 4 brawls that the Mets were famous for in 1986. Also one of Darling's best games in his Mets career. Amazingly, Ron also threw a complete game win against the Dodgers at Shea exactly one year before this game, on May 27, 1985. One of those weird baseball occurrences.

As a huge Dodger fan I went to this game against my better judgment. LA took an early lead with a Mike Marshall homer off of Sid Fernandez, however George Foster (who always hit LA well) hit a three run HR off of Valenzuela and that was it. I never went to another LA - Mets game since then as I bring bad luck to the Dodgers).

Joel, I was also at this game--but I wasn't rooting for the Dodgers!

It was actually a solo HR by Foster leading off the 2nd that gave the Mets an early 1-0 lead. The Dodgers tied it in the 4th, the Mets went ahead 3- 1 on hits by Knight and Teufel, then Marshall homered off Sid in the 5th to make it 3-2 Mets. It stayed that way until the bottom of the 7th when Keith Hernandez doubled home two runs to make it 5-2. The Dodgers had the tying run up with two outs in the ninth but Jesse Orosco came in to get Mike Scioscia to ground out to end the game.

This game was typical Mets 1986. All I remember was the end. The Mets were dead in the 10th down a run 2 outs, somehow they tied it. Then with Mitchell on 2nd base Santana popped up the ball in the infield. Mitchell ran full speed while Robby Thompson and Jose Uribe each called for the ball. Finally they both stopped calling for it looked at each other and the ball dropped right in between them. Mitchell scored and the Mets won and Raffy was laughing as he was greeted by his teammates. Definetly top 5 game of the year.

Attended this game with my best friend. We snuck in a bottle of vodka and drank it with beers on the side.

We were very hammered, and about the only memory I have is the vivid picture of Uribe and Thompson colliding on the popup. Can picture it like it was yesterday.

Ahhh my first ever Mets game. I was 9 years old and my friend's dad took us and we sat in the luxury box for his company which would spoil me for every future game. Free food and drinks! Anyway the game looked over and my friend was bellyaching how he wanted to go home but his dad insisted we stay and I was so glad we did. The place went nuts when that routine popup fell through and I was hooked on the Mets from thereon out. A great memory.

The play at the end of the game is my first Mets memory. I was 8 years old and I listened to the game on the radio with my dad. I was already a Mets fan, but this is my first memory. I remember listening to Bob Murphy's call of the ball getting popped up and Thompson and Uribe colliding and the ball dropping and Mitchell scoring from second base. I couldn't believe it and it made me so happy I started jumping up and down. That was the day it really started for me.

It was glove night. My brother and I took his son (8) and my daugther (6) to their first game. Bobby O didn't have it...getting rocked for 4 runs in the first. we got one back, as Mookie led off with a solo shot...then added another...but the Mets would go down in flames that evening.

Hey, this is a neat little website. With the start of the 2002 Mets season, I was going back through my memory to try and figure out when I went to my very first baseball game (I was 7). I knew that Bobby O. was pitching for the Mets, and that they lost to the Giants. I also knew the game occured in 1986. I remembered Mookie hitting a home run, and that was enough information to narrow it down to this very game.

I also remember it being glove day...and getting my glove signed by Howard Johnson before the game.

The Mets did get shelled, giving up 15 hits. Not exactly a great example of how the Mets played through the course of the 1986 season, but I was hooked, and have been a lifelong fan ever since.

I remember going to this game with my friends Willie, Bob, and Dave. We were all up for the game figuring, Easy win. Bobby O has got the ball. Then the Mets ended up getting shelled. The highlight for us was when Mookie Wilson hit a homer into the Mets bullpen right past where we were sitting.

Oh man, this game was on my birthday and I was so excited to see my main man Straw. What a great birthday present from my grandfather. The lineups get announced and Danny Heep is playing RF. I nearly threw a tantrum. The night before was such an exciting game and now this game was a disaster as Bobby O got shelled. Worst birthday ever! And I feel like every game I went to Doug Sisk pitched. I really couldn't stand that guy.

I waited for over an hour at will call for them to find my ticket on a hot humid day and just got in to see the start and with Giants ahead 5-0 or something. Nice Field Level seat. I left after the 5th inning. The Mets had a rare off day but, they had 108 on days that year and then 7 more after that. Outstanding starting pitching. Nothing like Gooden in 84, 85. By 86 he was already going downhill and still won 17.

Watched this one recently on the old tape. Easily the worst game that the 86 Mets would play all year, and it probably wasn't close.

They made 5 errors. Backman had a ball go through his legs, Heep dropped a routine flyball, Hearn threw the ball away and had another one where he couldn't pick it up. Even Keith had a ball bounce off his glove (though it was not counted as an error). Also, HoJo broke his wrist when he collided with Mookie in left field on one ball, and Dykstra and Backman collided on another ball. Truly a complete comedy of errors all day. Honestly, the Mets have probably rarely played a worse game in their entire history. Thankfully, we can look back and laugh at that fact since the team had 108 times of looking wonderful that year.

It was a nationally televised broadcast (ABC) and a sell out crowd since it was a giveway day and a sunny Sunday afternoon, and it got so bad this day that the crowd booed the team pretty loudly by the time the 4th or 5th errors were happening.

Although it clearly doesn't count for his record, Buddy Harrelson technically got his first win as a manager in this game. Davey Johnson missed this game to be at a family event and Buddy was the manager for the night.

He didn't need to do much, as Ojeda was in complete control for a shutout and George Foster was hot with a homer. Foster was in the middle of what would be his last hot streak as a Met. Soon enough he'd slump, lose more starts to Mitchell and Mookie and eventually get released in 2 months.

I am a Pirates fan and went to this game, part of a twi-night doubleheader. This was the only game of 18 that the Pirates beat the Mets in 1986. The Pirates 1-17 record against the Mets prompted Jim Leyland to say of the 1986 Mets, "how good could they be, we beat 'em once."

I looked up this game because I recall that Barry Bonds, then a rookie, hit a home run in the game. I think he had just had his debut the week before and I am not sure if this was his first MLB HR or not.

Mark, Bonds hit a homer in this game off Ron Darling, but it was the second of his career. His first had come two nights earlier in Atlanta off RHP Craig McMurtry.

Not only was this the Bucs only win vs the Mets, as well as the Bonds HR, but also the bench clearing fight that broke out between Rick Rhoden and Mets coach Bill Robinson was in this game.

I attended this game at Three Rivers Stadium while visiting a friend in Pittsburgh, and remember seeing Rick Aguilera hit a HR off Jose DeLeon!

This was an awsome game. Tim Tuefel just needed to hit a fly ball to win in the 11th and hits a Grand Slam! I remember the energy walking out of the stadium; we knew this was our year!

I was never a Tim Teufel fan...I'm still not sure he was that much of an upgrade over Kelvin Chapman. But Tim came through that night. I can remember McCarver's call "Fly ball...deep left field...its outta here...pinch-hit, grand-slam home run for Tim Teufel."

I watched this game on channel 9 and my only memory of it is what happened the next morning because I made a mistake I was never to repeat again. I went to bed before the game was over.

I look back on that and think, "What a stupid kid." What can I say? I was tired. I don't know why, but for some reason I went to bed and didn't listen to the game on the radio, which is what I usually did when my mom made me go to bed. But as I remember it, on June 10, 1986, I voluntarily went to bed and fell right asleep. Thrilling memory, I know.

But the thing is, the next morning, the moment I saw my dad, he said something like, "The Mets won! You missed a grand slam!" and I asked, "Who hit it?" and he said, "Tim Teufel!" and honestly, I had to think for a moment- trying to remember who Tim Teufel was because I didn't remember him since he never played, but then I remembered he was number 11, and I shocked because I considered him one of the worst Mets (along Randy Neimann and Doug Sisk) so I was shocked and I said "TIM TEUFEL?!" and he was like, "Yeah. You missed a great game," really rubbing it in that his son was a little pansy and went to bed early when he didn't have to.

I love any memory of my dad, so thank you Tim Teufel.

I never posted that memory before because it's not really about the game, but since only two people have posted about it (and no one since 2003), I decided to finally share a memory that has been burned into my brain since the morning of June 11, 1986.

Oh, and I did finally see the grand slam: on the 1986 Mets highlight film: A Year to Remember. I got the VHS for Christmas that year and played it so much I wore it out, so I've actually seen Tim Teufel hitting that grand slam about 275 times.

Steve Carlton's last game against the Mets. He lost and finished 30-36 against the Amazings.

I went to this game with my friend. We sat in the mezzanine down the left field line. It was an exciting game won by the Mets, which was the norm in '86.

Dwight Gooden was on the mound this night. He pitched well, despite allowing three runs. The Mets had a two-run lead (thanks in part to homers by Keith Hernandez and Mookie Wilson) when Doc left after eight innings and in line to get the win.

Gooden, however, was NOT the winning pitcher. With Jesse Orosco on the mound in the ninth, the Pirates scored twice to tie the game. It was one of Jesse's few blown saves during the season. Still, the Mets won in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single by Darryl Strawberry off Pittsburgh lefty Pat Clements.

Darryl's hit was big in another way. He had been struggling against lefties and the Bucs wanted him facing Clements. Hernandez was walked intentionally to get to Darryl, but the Straw Man foiled the strategy. He looped one into right field to score Mookie from second.

Leaving Shea, I felt good about the win, but not about the winning pitcher. I kept thinking that Orosco walked away with the win after failing to save it for Gooden, who was left with a no-decision. It just wasn't right for it to happen that way and I was referring to it as 'criminal.' This is an example of how a pitcher's won-lost record is not the best indication of how good he really is.

Watched this one recently on the old tape. In the 5th inning, the Mets scored 5 times with a variety of well placed hits, hit and runs, a double steal, etc. At that point, Tim McCarver said on the broadcast that he'd never seen a team play this well for this long in the season and that the Mets were "unbeatable".

Along with Ed Hearn's first major league homer, this was also Banner Day at Shea.

Before the 2nd game of the scheduled double header (back when those were a thing), a few Mets players came out onto the field and held up big signs saying "Fans Like It Oughta Be".

This game is on YouTube, and curiously it's the WGN broadcast with Harry Caray and Steve Stone on the call, but they are using the WOR feed.

Still, it's a wonderful sight to see a 1986 Mets home game, especially one that I remember watching at home when I was 8. There is one play that is burned into my brain, with the call by Ralph Kiner.

In the top of the first, Ryne Sandberg hit a looping fly ball to center, and Mookie ran in and just barely made the catch, whereupon Ralph said, "Mookie Wilson, with a snowcone catch!" I always remembered that "snowcone catch", so when this game popped up on YouTube I was excited to see it again.

By the way, of course Harry Caray's reaction was "Holy Cow!", and he called it a 'shoestring catch'.

It's funny how that's the only play from this game that I remember, and how it's stuck with me all these years.

I was nine and a die hard Met fan. This was my first game...my old man took me...we had box seats third base side. I remember Dykstra and Foster hitting one out and Darling actually getting a decision and winning on top of it. It was a magical season to be that age and a fan of that team.

Was this game televised? My son is a huge Mets fan and was born on this day. His wedding is next week and in giving the toast I would love to know if this is the game I was watching while in labor? His bride is from Chicago. Is this a coincidence? I don’t think so!! Please help me with my wedding toast. Any additional info would be great. Thank you DONISE CLEMMER

Donise,

I just checked my 1986 Mets Yearbook, and this game was televised on WWOR Channel 9 with a 1:35 pm start time. Every Sunday game was on Channel 9, so I must have seen this game on TV, but I didn't remember any details without looking at baseball reference.com.

It was also a promotional date: Kahn's Meats Kid Jersey Day (14 & Under).

For good measure, Ron Darling pitched a complete game and Gary Carter got his first and only stolen base of the season in this game.

To answer Donise Clemmer's question, yes the game was definitely televised. It was an afternoon game, played around the hours of about 1:30PM to 4:30PM, give or take.

At the time, this was a fairly important game to the Mets. The Expos were red hot, and though no one really thought the Mets would come back down to earth, if they lost this game, their lead would only be down to 7 games. As they had hit a minor blip in their season, losing 5 of their last 7.

With that said, after falling behind early, the Mets scored 4 times in the 4th. George Foster would hit his last Shea homer in this one and the Mets would start an 8 game win streak and "officially" put the division away.

No lights at Wrigley. Sunshine and Beer. My only time there.

Standing room. Wandered around. Shot a roll of color and a roll of black and white.

The place was packed with Cub fans. Everyone there knew the Mets were the best team in baseball and that Gooden was the best pitcher in baseball.

The late innings are a bit of a fog but I've got some great photos including one of Gooden releasing a fastball, one of Hernandez on deck and one of Strawberry crossing the plate following a Strawblast. Man, were his home runs the most beautiful things to behold!

I was 19 at the time....I was pretty psyched about going to this game not only because it was fireworks night, but the were playing the NL West leading Astros too....In my mind this game was legendary in the annals of Mets history......The score was tied 4-4 and went into extra innings....In the top of the 10th, Phil Garner hit a solo HR off of Jesse Orosco to put the Astros up 5-4, but in the bottom of the 10th, Darryl Strawberry and Ray Knight hit back to back HR's to win the game 6-5...Shea went ballistic!!!....I'll never forget it....What was funny though was when during the fireworks afterward when they were showing season highlights on the Diamondvision a shot of Jesse Orosco popped up on the screen and he got a resounding boo from the crowd (for giving up the homer to Garner in the top of the tenth earlier).....It was a great night. A sign of things to come.

This is also on my list of memorable Mets games. Darryl and Ray going back to back in the bottom of the 10th to win it. I remember Darryl's either hit or just about hit the flag pole in dead center. Ray's went into the bleechers in left center and they were going crazy! Just another in a long line of memorable victories in '86.

I was watching it on TV, classic McCarver call:

This one's hit to deep left field, way back, this ball IS....OUTTA HERE, THIS BALLGAME IS OVER AND I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!

Watched this at my best friend's house with our mouthiest Yankee fan friend.

He was really on our case in the bottom of the ninth, and then we got on his case. Lots of jumping, shouting, hugging...and the usual good- natured, Mets/Yankees bashing.

This game produced two strong visuals seared in my memory - Darryl's HR going over the CF wall and Ray Knight's over the LF wall.

Oh, not to mention Houston manager Hal Lanier trashing something in the dugout...

One of THE greatest Mets games ever, and what a harbinger of things to come! I remember watching this game with fellow Mets fan Mario in our Fort Washington Ave. apartment, and how nuts we both went when first Strawberry then Knight blasted HR's for the win. Lots of involuntary jumping and yelling. And I think I was not the only Mets fan thinking back to this hot July night during the bottom of the 10th in Game 6, thinking...we've come back from two runs down before...

I was at this game; I remember Knight's home run but the moment I'll never forget was on the PATH train ride home. I was wearing my Mets jersey (no number, though) and this preppie woman who was buzzed on something said to me, "You're a Mets fan? The Red Sox Rule." I told her, "This is the year of the Mets. Period." I get off at my stop and this father and son who had been at the game and had witnessed the chat and the father said "What was up with that?" I told him, "That girl doesn't know a groundball from a groundhog" and had a good laugh.

I was at this game. Great come from behind win, just a taste of what we would see in October. I remember listening to Bob Murphy and him saying how the Mets just refuse to lose a ballgame. Gave me chills up my back. I remember Hal Lanier kicking the water cooler. Very funny moment!

I was in the cheap seats just to the left of home plate. My memory didn't serve me well, as I could swear that George Foster hit one of the home runs, but it turns out it was Knight. Anyway, I remember Darryl's shot going straight out to dead center, and me throwing everything I had in my hands up in the air and going completely crazy. That was a great game.

I was at this game sitting in the Upper Reserve general admission area behind home plate. I made sure I got there early to get a general admission seat behind home plate. General Admission was in the last 8 rows. (1986 would be the last season the Mets had a general admission seating area. All seats became reserved after that.) The reason to get there early was it was a sold out game and it was fireworks night after the game. And boy there were a lot of fireworks to be seen on this night.

This was 7/3/86 the night before 4th of July and NYC being in a buzz for the Statue of Liberty 100th Anniversary Centennial. It was dubbed as Liberty Weekend and I saw many fans at the game wearing Liberty wigs. There was a huge fireworks display and celebration at the Statue of Liberty on the next night on the 4th of July but this game provided a nice appetizer.

The teams traded leads back and forth all game and 5 HR were hit in the game including 4 by the Mets. The game went into the 10th inning and the Astros took the lead on a Phil Garner HR.

The fireworks came in the bottom of the 10th as Strawberry hit a 2-run HR to tie it and then Ray Knight hit the walk-off HR to win it and the crowd and myself went crazy. What a way to come back and win the game on fireworks night! Then after the game the Mets and Garucci put on a great post game display of fireworks. This was a great way to start a historical weekend in NYC.

This would be a preview of things to come against the Astros in October. This game to me was the most exciting game of the regular season in 1986.

I recorded this game on VHS, having a feeling it was going to be a good one. I haven't re-watched it in years, but some parts of this game are unforgettable, It was such a great game.

It was sunny when game started- a holiday atmosphere with the 4th of July the next day. The Astros scored two quick runs off Darling in the first. In the bottom of the 2nd, Ed Hearn, the backup catcher (who was the Mets' catcher of the future at the time) hit a long home run to make it 2-1.

Next thing I remember- bottom of the tenth inning- the Mets are down 5-3. After a walk to Dykstra, Darryl Strawberry (my favorite player) steps to the plate. This, I remember as if it were yesterday- he's up there, and at a certain point, he steps out of the batters box and seems to get lost in thought. Maybe he was clearing his head, but it looked like he was staring off into space for a moment.

In that moment, I thought, he's gonna hit a home run. I just knew it. It was a look of calm determination- extreme confidence maybe- but I could tell from that look. On the next pitch he hit the two-run homer to tie the game.

Then Knight steps to the plate with 2 outs and the score 5-5. He had been 0-4 with 4 strikeouts. He ends the game by hitting a home run into the left field bleachers.

This has to be in the top five best regular-season games from 1986, simply because it was a microcosm of what was to come in the postseason- playing against the Astros, down 5-3 in the bottom of the 10th, coming back to win 6-5 with Ray Knight being the hero. It was an amazing game. I hope I still have the VHS tape somewhere in storage.

What I remember about this game is that Ray Knight struck out four times, but his fifth time up, he hit the walk-off home run to win the game.

Doc v. Ryan. Can't beat it. Preview of the great series that was to come.

This was Doc vs. Ryan, but my memory of this game occurred after it was over. I saw Ray Knight and Nancy Lopez leaving from the bullpen area. That day's Post had on the back page the headline "Whatta Knight!" after Knight's dramatic home run from the previous game. Anyway, Ray and his Mrs. were both nice enough to exchange pleasantries with me and sign my newspaper.

I was at this game with my dad. I remember being so excited after the game the night before. It was Nolan Ryan vs. Dwight Gooden and I remember Hernandez ground ball single up the middle to score Dykstra from 2nd in the first inning. I then remember a long fly ball off the wall in right for a 2B by Dykstra to put the Mets up to stay, 2-1. Ah, the good ol' days. I miss those days, when baseball was played the way it ought to be. I also remember the rumors circulating around Gooden with drugs.

We had seats behind the Mets dugout and I remember seeing Kevin Mitchell looking out into the stands. I asked him what he was up to, and he said, "I'm looking for my boys."

I had drawn a picture of Darryl Strawberry that I brought to the game in hopes of getting him to autograph it. I handed it to Mitchell and he took it to the clubhouse, then returned and said he couldn't find him. At the same time, I felt embarrassed asking Mitchell for his autograph!

Oh well...the memories.

Rode my motorcycle from Cazenovia in Central NY to NYC to visit my college friend Chris for the Holiday weekend. I think it was my first trip to the city and I had no clue how long the ride would be. It was also ridiculously cold for July and I stopped several times trying to keep from freezing to death and turning it into an all-night trip. But seeing the sun rise in front of me and the huge American Flag hung high above as I finally crossed over the George Washington Bridge on a crisp, clear Independence Day morning was a once-in-a-lifetime magical experience that I will forever cherish!

Partied on a Brooklyn rooftop on the 4th with a distant, yet impressive, view of the huge fireworks display for the official unveiling of the Statue of Liberty following some major renovations.

Rode to the game squeezing through traffic between lanes and sometime on the shoulder but we still arrived late and missed the Mets only run on, my hero, Keith Hernandez's 1st-inning homer. Rats!

Great seats on the first base side but a frustrating game with little offense or energy. Still, it was my first big league game and a great, if foggy, memory. The highlight for me was watching Hernandez play 1st base. I clearly remember him laying out to his right to steal a base hit and I think he made at least one more stellar play in the game. Sure do wish we'd gotten our hung-over butts to the game on time so I could have seen that home run.... Let's Go Mets!!!

My cousin was visiting from California and he wanted to see what all the buzz about Gooden was about first hand. Gooden gets torched and my cousin said he is not that good.

The final brawl game of the year. On NBC, Gary Carter hits a 3 run HR in his 1st AB and a grand slam on his 2nd. Palmer decides to take it out on Straw who charges the mound and that wuss Palmer throws his glove at him! Pretty weak move

Jose Valentin's seven RBIs by the second inning in Mike Pelfrey's debut reminded me of this game. I was there. Not only did Carter and Straw have their moments, but Sid Fernandez did too. He pitched a two hit shutout and won 11-0. He had three hits of his own. It was one of the best Met games I'd ever been at. They were clicking on all cylinders and the stadium was rocking.

Living in PA, this was the first game my dad and I ever saw in Shea. Gary was my favorite player, and seeing that grand slam (second dinger of the day!) was one of the greatest moments of my childhood. I'll never forget how electric the crowd was, and how the upper deck shook like there was an earthquake!

Straw rushing the mound somehow added to the raucous excitement level, and it felt like the stands could burst at any moment.

This was truely one of the greatest days my father and I ever had.

The only Met game I attended where the weather was pretty bad, a lot of drizzle and wind. Yet they did not call the game.

It was Old Timer's Day, Mets alum vs Brooklyn Dodger alum, I was surprised they played three innings considering the weather.

As for the game, Mets just steam-rolled the Braves, without hitting any home runs. I remember Dykstra scoring a lot!

I need to find a video of this game, NBC game of the week. I caught two foul balls during the game. Vin and Joe were talking about me. If anyone out there knows how to obtain this please let me know. I am now 44 and would like to share this memory with my children. Backman hit both balls.

Dykstra hit a homer, a triple and threw out a runner at home plate in this game. Providing all of the offense and defense that Darling would need in his shutout. At this point in this season during June and especially July, Dykstra was playing better than anyone in the National League. He would go on to slump badly in August, but obviously rebound come October.

This was Rusty Staub Day. Several Mets gathered at home plate wearing red wigs to honor the man of the hour, Le Grand Orange.

Me a southern kid from N FLA went to this game. My uncle scalped tix and I was floored at how much they were. I remember Ron Darling pitching great but most of all Lenny Dykstra hitting that Homer in RCF and the blue derby going up! I was hooked and have been a Mets fan since especially after we won the WS. I think Dykstra hit another extra basehit in the game and threw someone out at the plate.

After being a Mets fan my whole life (26 years) this was my first ever Mets game to see. It was right after the All Star break in Houston. I saw all four games of the series. I haven't seen another Mets game since, but I have tickets for two games when the Mets come to Kansas City in June of 2004!

The Mets won this game, the first of a four game series at the Astrodome, right after the All-Star Break. Bob Ojeda and Nolan Ryan both pitched brilliantly for six innings, with the Astros having a 1-0 lead on a first inning unearned run.

But in the seventh, the Mets exploded for seven runs, all after there were two outs and nobody on. Nolan walked the next three batters and then Dykstra singled to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. LHP Frank DiPino came on in relief and Wally Backman greeted him with a rare righthanded hit to make it 4-1. The Mets then re-loaded the bases and Darryl Strawberry cleared them all with a double.

The Mets added three more runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth for the 13-2 win. Ojeda got the win to improve his record to 11-2.

The Astros got some revenge by taking the next three games of this series, two of them in their last at bat.

Mike Scott outpitched Dwight Gooden in this game but both came away without a decision.

The Astros led 4-0 going to the top of the ninth. Scott had allowed just two hits and a walk through eight.

Len Dykstra led off the ninth with a homer. After Scott got Wally Backman out, Keith Hernandez singled and Gary Carter drove him in with a double. Then the closer I always loved to see came in for Houston---DAVE SMITH!! My worries were over!! Darryl Strawberry promptly homered to tie the game, and in fact, the Mets got two more runners on off Smith but didn't score again.

Roger McDowell got the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth, but then Craig Reynolds, who finished his career with one home run every 113 plate appearances, hit one over the wall for a dramatic Astros win.

The last of a four game series...and another wild one that would be a preview of the 1986 NLCS!!

After seven innings, the Astros had a 4-2 lead. But in the eighth, back-to-back homers by Kevin Mitchell and Keith Hernandez tied it off Aurelio Lopez, and then Ray Knight gave the Mets a 5-4 lead on an infield out.

The Astros jumped right back in front in the bottom of the eighth as Doug Sisk gave up four straight hits to start the inning, and Jesse Orosco came in and allowed two more runs to score. The Astros led 8-5 going to the ninth.

In came Dave Smith again, just like yesterday (YAY!). Smith gave up a walk, an infield out, an RBI single and hit a batter, and the Mets had the tying runs on base. Frank DiPino came in to pitch and struck out Darryl Strawberry, but unlikely heroes Rafael Santana and Ed Hearn each singled to drive in runs and the game was tied, 8-8.

Both bullpens pitched well after that. Bob Knepper, who had thrown a three-hit shutout at the Mets two nights earlier, came in to pitch in the fifteenth inning and wound up the winning pitcher as Houston loaded the bases off Roger McDowell in the bottom of the fifteenth and got the winning run in on a fielder's choice.

The Astros got blown out in game one of this four game series and came back to win the next three. The next meeting of the two teams would be in the NLCS in October.

I lived in the Midwest at the time and was at this game. The Mets trailed 3-1 in the ninth when John Franco came into save the game for the Reds. The Mets got two guys on with two outs and Keith Hernandez hit a lazy fly to right that was dropped by Dave Parker. Both runs scored and the game went into extra innings. The Mets eventually won 6-3 on a three-run homer by HoJo, but not before a bench-clearing brawl that started when Eric Davis and Ray Knight got into it. Several players were ejected and Davey Johnson ended up using Jesse Orosco and Roger McDowell as outfielders. When a lefty was up, Orosco would pitch and McDowell played right field. When a righty came up, McDowell would jog in to pitch and Orosco would play right field. Orosco ended up catching a ball hit by Tony Perez. This game also featured an awesome double play initiated by Keith Hernandez that involved Gary Carter, who was playing third base.

This game epitomized the 1986 Mets season. It showed such decision making on the part of Davey Johnson in flip-flopping Orosco and McDowell between pitcher's mound and outfield. It was a also a year where teams simply hated the Mets because of their power and the Mets fought back as Ray Knight did when Eric Davis slid into him. This one ranks up there in Met history as well. I remember Parker dropping the routine fly and reacting. But I will never forget Hernandez charging in on the bunt, throwing to Carter playing third and Carter rifling it over to first to get two, followed by Hernandez pumping his fist. That play alone defined Hernandez, "awesome glove, enthusiasm, leader"! It's a shame he wasn't the same off the field.

Don't forget Johnny Franco's reaction when Dave Parker dropped the fly in the 9th that would have ended the game. Franco's a guy who you love on your team but hate on another team. Well, he pouted on the mound, glaring at Parker for dropping that ball and taking away his save.

Great game! I actually forgot about the great double play. So much happened in this game. Too bad players and managers don't show the same effort today that the Mets showed that night.

I don't have much to add to this one that hasn't already been mentioned. I remember Parker dropping the fly ball, the Knight/Davis brawl, Carter playing third, Orosco/McDowell There were so many unforgettable games for the '84-'88 Mets. This one reminded me of the extra-inning home game agaisnt the Pirates in '85 where Staub kept going from right to left field. How come I can remember all this so well and I can't remember what I had for dinner some nights?

What I remember about the game has as much to do with what I was doing and where I was going as the game went on, as the game itself! We had gone to a concert that evening in Manhatten at the Pier. We were able to get updates from different people and venders and the like as the concert went on and finished. We ran to the car and listened as we got to the Midtown Tunnel.

We lived in Flushing and I was dying because, believe it or not, we entered the tunnel and lost the signal before Parker had made the play. It took us almost twenty minutes of assuming the game was over before we heard he had dropped the ball. If I remember correctly, Parker had this signature one handed, exaggerated sweep he would make as he caught the ball. We were going crazy when we heard the game still on and how he must have looked like a fool.

Now it was a race to get to my girlfriend's house to see if we would get to see any of it. We actually were within a few blocks of the house as the fight broke out at third. We managed to make it into the house in time for the replay of the fight!

We watched the rest of one of the best games of all times. I would give anything to get a copy of that game. I was at Shea for games 6 and 7 and this one ranks right up there with those two and the 16 inning game against the Astros.

The previous comments about this game are pretty complete. Franco was growling at Dave Parker after Parker missed the ball. It was pretty funny.

One special thing about this game though was Pete Rose got what was the last pinch-hit of his career. He came up to bat for Franco and got a hit. He looked back into the dugout before a pinch runner came out with a "look how easy it is to get a hit" face. An old man like him could get a hit, why not everyone else.

The other highlight is Jesse Orosco looking astonished when he caught the ball in the outfield. Look at the box score. Orosco and McDowell played the outfield and Gary Carter played third base. Carter was actually ok at third for that game. That game was fun to watch!

Man I wish SNY would show this game again. We've seen the other games a dozen times. Let's get some of these 86 classics in there.

Very surprised that this game was not mentioned the other night when Delgado dropped a pop up with two outs in the 9th, almost costing the Mets the game--especially with Hernandez in the booth for the Mets, since he hit the ball to Parker!

If Dave Parker would have caught the ball for the final out, the game would have been over and the brawl would have not happened.

I drove down to this game from the Indianapolis area to see the Mets and visit a buddy and his wife living in the area and for some r&r.

My friends weren't baseball fans but were willing to join me in my celebration of this glorious season the Mets were having. These three games with Atlanta would be the only opportunities I had to see the Mets this entire World Championship season.

This was to have been a Friday night game, but it was rained out. So, I got to see a double header, my first ever.

My friends were going to act as Braves fans simply to give me a hard time. Instead they ended up consoling me. The Mets looked like the 1983 Mets or something! Keith Hernandez said after the double header it was the worse the Mets had played all season!

Just the luck of a Hoosier-born Mets fan, I guess.

The Mets salvaged my vacation by winning the third of the three-game series (after dropping both ends of a double header the night before).

They hit three consecutive homers to blow the game open, I think in the top of the 5th.

They didn't hit three consecutive homers again until 1988(?) in Cincinnati. It was the Sunday afternoon after the infamous Dave Pallone-Pete Rose night game. I was fortunate enough to be at those two games, too.

My first baseball game. I was a huge Met fan but grew up in the South. My favorite player was Gary Carter. Great memory: back to back to back!

This was the first baseball game I ever went to, but I was already a huge fan of the Mets. I remember Mitchell and Strawberry hit home runs and after that they were my favorite Mets, along with Gary Carter. This was a magical time to be 9 years old and a huge Mets fan.

I attended this game with a group of students from school. We took a bus from New Jersey, encountering a rainstorm on Route 80 along the way. The rain, thankfully, stopped by the time we arrived at Shea.

We all sat in the loge level down the left field line. We saw a good game. In typical '86 fashion, the Mets won. Home runs by Mitchell and Strawberry helped Bob Ojeda get a well-earned win.

The most memorable moment, however, occurred during on of Lenny Dykstra's at-bats. There was a girl in the field level seats wearing a wedding gown. She was holding a sign above her head that had "MARRY ME LENNY" written on it. She seemed to get more cheers that night than did the players!

I watched this game on WWOR, and even though it was a Friday night Dwight Gooden start (5 innings/7 Ks), the thing I remember is when Mike Fitzgerald broke his finger. I remember the camera was on him right after it happened, and it looked like he touched it or did something to it, and when he did that, I remember him making a sudden, almost violent movement backwards, like a backwards somersault. It was so quick and I've never seen a replay, but to me it looked like he did a backwards somersault from the pain. It was quite shocking to me as a kid, whatever happened after he broke his finger.

Ojeda had a no-hitter going this game. Luis Rivera broke it up in the 7th, then the Expos tied to make it go into extra innings. Ray Knight drove in the game winning RBI to win the game and was mobbed by his teammates at first base. Another 1986 Mets classic.

To elaborate on "Hot Foot's" memory posted in May of 2002, I remember this game very well because I had free tickets behind the visitors' dugout but couldn't go because I had to leave that evening on a business trip---to Rochester, NY, of all places!!

Of course, as I was home packing and getting ready to leave, I had the game on TV, and I thought that I was going to be able to say that I had tickets to the first no-hitter in Mets history but I didn't go!!

The Mets took an early lead on a Rafael Santana RBI single in the second inning. Meawhile, Bob Ojeda took a no-hitter into the seventh, just around the time I had to leave for the airport. Not only did he have a no-hitter, but he had pitched to just 18 batters through six innings...no, not a perfect game, but he had allowed two walks, and one batter had reached on an error. Of those three baserunners, one was erased on a DP, and the other two were caught stealing.

With one out in the seventh, I was just getting ready to leave the house when Luis Rivera singled. Two batters later he scored to tie the game. I was able to listen to most of the rest of the game on the way to the airport and at the airport.

The Mets went back in front in the bottom of the eighth when Ray Knight doubled in two runs. Ojeda got the leadoff man in the ninth but then gave up three straight singles. Roger McDowell came in and blew the save by giving up a hit to Andre Dawson.

Ray Knight came through again, singling in the winning run with two outs in the tenth off Tim Burke, and I happily caught my flight.

My second Mets game. We sat in the field level past first base, almost in the outfield but still very good seats. Even though I was 8 I was fully cognizant that the Mets had never had a no hitter and that I might be witness to the first one. I didn't say anything to anyone and I just sat and hoped and for a while it looked like it might happen. But when Luis Rivera came up I had a bad feeling and he got the hit.

Still it was an amazing game and I remember that that highlight of Knight getting the walk-off hit and then being mobbed by his teammates at first base is on the 1986 Mets highlights video.

I lived in the Midwest in 1986 and was at this game. I remember Mookie Wilson won it late with a broken-bat single to right field that drove in the winning run. Doc Gooden was sailing along and appeared to have the game wrapped, but he gave up a late homer to Cubs right fielder Keith Moreland. I was sitting in the left field stands as the ball went onto Waveland Avenue and hit some buses.

The start of this doubleheader was delayed almost an hour by rain. Doc and the Mets fell behind early, 3-1, but then they scored three in the fifth to take the lead. They added another run and Doc was breezing along after the rough start.

But in the ninth inning with one out, Thad Bosley singled and then Jody Davis (not Keith Moreland as stated in an earlier post) homered to tie the game.

Mookie Wilson drove in two with a single in the twelfth to give the Mets the lead again, but Roger McDowell almost gave it back. With one out in the bottom of the twelfth he gave up a double and an RBI single but then retired Ryne Sandberg and Manny Trillo for the win.

The Mets had 15 hits in the game, including four by Len Dykstra.

I lived in the Midwest in 1986 and was at this game. It was the second game of a double dip. I remember Gary Carter homered and the game was called because of darkness. It was in the days before Wrigley Field had lights.

We were in Lake Placid on our honeymoon, and my well-chosen wife suggested that we drive up to Montreal for the ballgame.

We were concerned about driving back through the Adirondacks late at night, so we agreed that if there was a five- run difference after seven innings, we'd leave. Sure enough, the Expos led 7-2 after seven, but we'd never left a game early before, and decided not to start now.

The Mets rewarded us by coming back to tie, but then the Expos went ahead again. Carter and Mookie had big hits in the ninth as the Mets came back in consecutive innings! 10-8 Mets.

The Mets fans made much more noise than the home fans did in this morgue. The win left us 18 ahead of the Expos, who were in second at the time. On the way out, a spontaneous celebration got going: someone started chanting "18 games", and the rest of us were all too happy to join in. A phenomenal occurrence in the opposition's ballpark.

Needless to say, we were elated that we stayed. That drive back wasn't so bad after all...

Jim, that's a great story about you and your wife deciding to stay to the end. In addition to being rewarded with a Mets comeback win, there's something else you saw of which you may not have been aware. When Jesse Orosco pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth for the victory, he got his 86th save as a Mets reliever to break Tug McGraw's team record.

This was a rainy Sunday at Shea and we stayed for the whole twinbill. Remember when they played real doubleheaders - not day/night? The first game was a barn-burnder. The Cards tied it in the 9th off of Jesse and then the Mets turned around and won it in the bottom of the frame. The second game was a snoozer.

In the early innings of this game, Ozzie Smith caught a fly ball in center field. Willie McGee lost the ball in Shea's twlight and Ozzie raced back and camped under it for the out. To this day, I have never seen a SS catch a ball as deep in center field as Ozzie was on this day. Incredible.

Kevin Mitchell was almost the entirety of the Mets offense, hitting a homer and driving in the winning run with a single. This game was the start of a 6 game series (due to April rainouts). I'm sure back in April after the rain, there were a lot of people who pointed to this long series and figured it would decide the division. But obviously this series meant nothing by this point and the race as long over.

Despite the loss on this Saturday afternoon NBC Game of the Week, Lee Mazzilli hit a game tying homer in one of his first at bats since returning to the team. A fun moment for him, and he'd have a few more once October came around.

Clint Hurdle beaned by Gooden? I have a picture of me comforting Clint at home plate after he was hit in the head by Gooden.

Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 17, 1986

This was the first game that I ever went to! Although it was too bad that it was a loss for the Mets, there's nothing like having your first day at a ballpark be a doubleheader, and they won the tail end. Even before I looked at your boxscore, I remembered that it was John Tudor vs. Rick Aguilera, and our starter in the second game was Randy Niemann, and there was a big buzz when HoJo went up to pinch-hit. You always remember your first! I was 7 years old and my uncle and I hopped on the old red #7 from Sunnyside. I wanted to stay for all of both games, but we left in the middle of the second one. You guys have done a great job with this site! Your attention to detail by putting up the box scores has helped me to recapture an important part of my youth.

This was the day the the crowd shots for the 'Lets Go Mets Go' video were filmed.

Between games, we were asked to scream Lets Go Mets Go and do a wave!

The Mets rebounded from a 4 game losing streak to the Cards,all from the same weekend due to a few doubleheaders. Randy Niemann made his only ever start as a Met and threw 6 good innings and the offense finally broke out after a slump to salvage a 2-4 record in a very rare 6 game series. I don't have the info in front of me, but I can't imagine the Mets have played another 6 game series since this one.

Michael, this doubleheader closer was the finale of the second six-game series that the Mets and Cardinals had with each other in regular season play. The two teams won three games each in a series in August of 1973, the Mets' last previous pennant-winning year. Like this series, the one from thirteen years earlier was increased from four to six games due to a pair of rainouts.

Randy Niemann, in his only start as a Met, retired the first twelve St. Louis batters and earned his second win of the season. Niemann served as a stopper for the team after their four straight defeats to the Cards in the series. It was Randy's finest game of the year.

Niemann's catcher for the game was John Gibbons, who had been recalled from the minor leagues after an injury to Gary Carter. Gibbons contributed the Mets' offensive surge with a walk, a double and two runs scored.

The Mets pounded out a season high 21 hits, including Rafeal Santana's only homer of the season in an easy win in San Diego.

Kevin Mitchell, playing Left Field, robbed Jerry Royster of a homer, prompting Tim McCarver to proclaim "This has been a miracle year for this ballclub!".....A statement that ended up making its way onto the season highlight video at year's end.

How can any Met fan forget this game? Unfortunately, it required a late night, but the ending was something that would make the 1 a.m. bedtime well worth it. If memory serves me correctly, Mets are up 6-4, bottom of the 11th, Padres batting, 1 out, man on second. Line drive base hit to center field, Dykstra comes up throwing to John Gibbons, play at the plate, the runner barrels Gibbons over like I've never seen a catcher get barreled. Gibbons hangs onto the ball for Out #2, the team is yelling at him to throw to third as the batter raced around second trying for third and was tagged out sliding. As Tim McCarver had called it, "a routine double play to end the game". Dykstra comes running in all smiles from center high-fiving everyone and caps it off with a huge bear hug of Gibbons. An earmark game for the season.

Yes the Mets did pull this one out late...but the 8-2-5 double play called by McCarver to end the ball was "just your routine double play." the hit was by Tim Flannery to center field. Dykstra comes up throwing with the Mets up 6-5 to get the runner trying to score from second at the plate for out #2. Flannery going to third was tagged out by Howard Johnson on the throw from dishelved John Gibbons (wearing the regular Mets cap, not the helmet) to end the ballgame. Thank God I woke up in the top of the 11th to see this one. A typical Doug Sisk win....

I was there that night. Tony Gwynn had two, or possibly three assists from right field that night. And another time Strawberry at third on a hit to right field, held at third. Great ending. The guy thrown out at third, I can't remember his name, but very popular in San Diego. Played Second base, and last I knew, still lived in San Diego, and surfs. My memory must be fading, but I remember Gary Carter playing catcher, or maybe he just celebrated out of the dugout. Great Mets celebration at home plate after this game. Wish I had it on video.

Carl, you are right. Tony Gwynn had three assists in the game. In fact, two of them came on consecutive plays!

The Mets were about to blow the game open in the first inning, but with one out and runners on the corners, John Gibbons his a fly to right for out number two and Darryl Strawberry was thrown out trying to score to end the first.

Then, leading off the second, Rafael Santana singled to right and Gwynn threw him out as he tried to stretch it into a double.

In the bottom of the fifth, Keith Hernandez singled with one out and he also tried to stretch it into a double, but Gwynn nailed him too.

Tony led the majors in assists by a RF that season with 21.

The game did end on one of the most bizarre double plays you'll ever see. As others have mentioned in the game memory section, it is forever immortalized by Tim McCarver's call that was on the 1986 Mets highlights video "What a double play! Just your routine double play!"

Garry Templeton was thrown out at home by Len Dykstra and then John Gibbons recovered to throw to third and get Tim Flannery for the final out.

Gary Carter did not play in the game; if I'm not mistaken he was out much of August with a hand injury.

I was at the game as well, and in addition to that incredible double play (I've never seen so many dejected Padre fans leaving the park), the win capped an 8-1 West Coast trip. Those were the days!

Just watched the SNY replay of this game. Unbelievable play by Dykstra and Gibbons. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Those were the days indeed. Check the box score, the Goose went 3 innings!

OUT AT HOME! HE'S OUT AT HOME! THE THROW TO THIRD, OUT AT THIRD AND THE METS WIN IT 6-5! WHAT A DOUBLE PLAY! JUST YOUR ROUTINE DOUBLE PLAY! Great call Tim McCarver!

I remember how bad LA was in 1986 and how great Fernando Valenzuela was that year (he won 21 games and should have won the Cy Young award). Anyway LA finally beats the Mets at home in the rubber game of the series. LA of course makes a few early errors to give the Mets some runs but I remember that Reggie Williams homers for LA and Fernando gets the victory.

My cousins wife got me and my wife tickets for this game against SF. Sid Fernandez was unhittable as he fanned 14 Giants. Unfortunately his performance did not impress my misses as she fell asleep as Jose Uribe went down swinging for strikeout #12.

I was 4 and this was my first MLB game ever. My uncle brought me and we had great seats down the third base line. I have been a Mets fan ever since.

This is the game where Keith Hernandez hit a comebacker to Mulholland and Mulholland ran most of the way to first base, and I remember he threw the glove to Bob Brenly for the out. A similar thing happened in about 99 or 98 where Orlando Hernandez threw the glove to Tino Martinez for the out.

It was cloudy and cool, and I was there with my parents and my cousin. Terry Mulholland couldn't get a ball out of his glove that he'd caught, and wound up throwing his glove, ball and all, to the first baseman to make the out. Also, Kevin Elster hit a home run in his first plate appearance. Two memorable moments.

My first ever Mets game and what a game it was. Thinking of this game today as us Mets fans mourn the passing of the great Gary Carter (2/16/2012). A day I will never forget!

I think this was my third game at Shea. I was 8. I remember being stuck in terrible traffic on the way; my dad was driving from New Jersey. The game started while we were still on our way. We were listening to the game on the radio and when we got reception on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel, Murph said that Steve Garvey had just hit a home run.

We got to Shea as fast as we could and we got to our seats in the Mezzanine section. I'm sure we got there by the sixth to see Gary's first homer, but we were certainly in time enough to see Lance McCullers come in from the bullpen to pitch to Gary in the eighth. We all booed McCullers relentlessly and then Gary blasted his second home run and we all went wild. Of course Gary came out for a curtain call. It had to be one of the best Gary Carter moments at Shea, his two-homer game.

A memorable Gary Carter game. He had recently come off the DL earlier in the week from a broken thumb. He hit 2 homers in this one, including the game winner in the 8th inning.

This was an NBC game of the week, and the post-game interview with Gary was great. NBC got a fantastic shot of his eyes lighting up on the pitch for the go-ahead homer. They showed him the replay and his reaction was priceless.

The Mets couldn't be stopped. The only run San Diego could squeeze out was a Dan Iorg HR late in the game. The Doc was in.

Funny-looking box score for this game. How in the world did the Mets get 13 hits and 2 walks in less than 5 innings and only manage to score 3 runs?? That's hard to do.

Steve G, good question! Retrosheet tells us how:

First inning: Mets score two but also have a runner (Hernandez) thrown out trying to score from second on a single. Then they leave the bases loaded. Second inning: two more left on base. Third inning: one left on base. Fourth inning: two more left on. Fifth inning: another runner (Hearn) thrown out trying to score, plus two more left on base.

This was a wild game that the Mets held on to win, and after sweeping this doubleheader the Mets had a 21 game lead with 26 games remaining.

One more note: Dave Magadan made his major league debut in this game with a pinch-single in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The first Mets game I ever went to — not the most memorable of debuts. Montreal's Bob Sebra pitched a shutout until the 9th, when Straw hit one out. The game was already long over by then.

When I heard the news of Bob Sebra's death, this game was the thing I thought of first. The Expos' pitcher was on the verge of a complete game shutout when Darryl Strawberry homered for the Mets' only run with two outs in the ninth inning. Sebra then retired the next batter for the win, but still showed some disappointment in not coming away with his first shutout as a major leaguer. Twenty-two days later, he would pitch a two-hitter for a 1-0 shutout victory over the Mets at Olympic Stadium.

RIP, Bob.

I will always remember this game, because I was able to talk my wife into driving down to Philadelphia to see the Mets clinch. At first she resisted, until I promised her dinner at a fancy restaurant. (We ended up eating hot dogs at the Vet.) As it turned out most of the fans came down from NY, and my wife was interviewed by Ch 7 newsman John Johnson as to what made her come down to Philly. Her answer was (as she pointed at me) him in the METS shirt and cap. Because we did not clinch, I tried to talk her into staying over and going to the Sunday game. I struck out this time!

It was the only Mets game I EVER attended that the Mets was the visiting team. Veterans Stadium was 15 years old at the time; it looked like it was 150 and the turf had the color of a worn out billards table. Me, my cousin and my late brother (who was a fan of the Bronx team) drove down to Philly, got there 1 1/2 hours before game time and sat in the upper deck in right field (not too high up though). I remember all the Mets fans being there and knowing the reputation of Philly sports fans. During the game, the Philly PD started harassing Mets fans (this was the year after they bombed the MOVE HQ's) and my brother who had some adult liquid in him wanted to take on Philly's finest but I told him to sit down. After the game, which we lost 6-5 and didn't clinch, we're getting out of the parking lot which took forever, when all of a sudden right next to us were 2 gorgeous blondes in a Camaro with Delaware plates. I asked my cousin to dump my brother in Philly and we were gonna follow those ladies to Delaware. My bro overheard this and was pissed; we headed back to North Jersey anyway.

I remember buying tickets at the Ticketmaster in Macy’s the morning of the game. A Mets win would clinch the pennant, the Mets first in 13 years after many years of abject failure. This was the first time I ever drove a long distance and I very excited driving on Jersey Turnpike and seeing all that Met regalia worn by occupants of neighboring cars.

I had great seats right behind the plate in the 700 level. Watching the game in a park so different from Shea was a new experience for me and I actually was impressed with The Vet. The open air 700 level concourses were a lot less dirty, grimy and smelly than the lower concourses. Future Phil Lenny Dykstra knocked the first pitch of the game over the wall against future Met Mike Maddux, however the Mets would lose and wound up clinching several days later at Shea.

I do remember watching with binoculars scary activity in the right field seats. I was not just a regular ballpark fight; it was downright mini-riot pitting Mets fans with the Philadelphia Police.

My enduring memory of this game (I would have been 11 at the time) will always be the wild melee that broke out in the upper deck between a big group of Mets fans and a column of helmeted Philly PD officers. The crowd in the Vet that day had been pretty rowdy as I remember, and this one section of Mets fans started breaking seats and throwing the pieces onto the field. I’ll never forget watching a long column of cops emerge from the tunnel, clubs drawn, and head up into the offending section where they proceeded to beat those idiots from pillar to post. Particularly vivid to me is the image of one guy tumbling down the concrete steps. Wild scene, man.

Sept 13,1986: Me and my friends drove down to Philadelphia to watch the Mets clinch the division. We asked for the cheapest seats and they put us in the right field bleachers. It was full of Mets fans, it was Saturday night and everybody was rowdy. We were clapping and stomping our feet in unison as Mets nation took over Veterans stadium.

After Lenny Dykstra's lead off homer for the Mets things went downhill from there. As the game wore on are some fans started ripping large pieces of the seats right off of their foundation. Some were carelessly and dangerously throwing them around. That's when me and my friends quietly decided to go sit nearby where it wasn’t so crazy.

It was our best move of the weekend! Next thing you know the Philadelphia Police Department arrived in riot gear, along with the K-9 unit. These guys meant business. Anyone who resisted arrest was beat up by the police.

I saw one guy mouthing off to a cop about their presence in the stadium. That guy never knew what hit him after the cop took his nightstick , cross checked in the midsection and sent him falling backward down several rows of seats.

The Mets wound up Losing the game. We were just happy to escape from Philadelphia in one piece. It was one of the craziest experiences I ever had.

My dad took me to this game. I was only 15 at that time and me and my dad got harassed by Met fans the whole game! I know it can't be like that nowadays but I was scared for my life. The Met fans probably got what they deserved getting beat up by police. To this day I hate the Mets and their fans.

This was the game when Cards 1st baseman Mike Laga hit a ball clear out of Busch Stadium, alebit on a foul ball. He got a standing ovation as no one had ever seen that happen before. A fun footnote during the last few weeks of a memorable season.

I didn’t know which game it was until I read Michael’s post, but I remember that Laga foul ball. I saw that game on WWOR. Probably his career highlight.

I lived in the Midwest in 1986 and always went to Cincinnati, St. Louis or Chicago when my beloved Mets came to town. On this night, the Mets had a chance to wrap up the division title if the Phillies lost and I was excited that I might get to see it live. From the game, about all I remember is that Rick Aguilera pitched and won. I wore my Mets hat to the game at Busch Stadium and was the victim of cat-calls and harrassment. Several Cardinals fans wore T-shirts that said: "The Mets are pondscum." As the Mets were on the verge of winning the game, it came over the scoreboard that the Phillies also had won. The scoreboard next flashed "There will be no clinching here tonight." The crowd stood and cheered. That was the Mets-Cards rivalry of the 1980s. After the game, I remember walking out of the stadium with my friends and laughing at the frustrated Cardinals fans. I think they were something like 30 games out at the time. I didn't get to see the Mets clinch a division title, but I get to see them clinch no worse than a tie. What a night!

The Murph's call:

"ground ball to second base...Backman to Hernandez..it's over!...Keith Hernandez took the throw...and ohhh, my goodness, the fans are storming the field!!"

WE CLINCH!!!.....I was in the Loge behind home plate....Gooden vs. Eckersley.....I had tickets for this game a month and a half in advance...Before they played the Cubs all they had to do was win one game in Philly to clinch, but they got swept leaving the clincher for this night.......Yes I was one of the crazies on the field, but everyone on the field was far from crazy....Perfect strangers were hugging each other inside and outside of Shea....It was the most fun I've ever had at a game...

It was pretty incredible how the grounds grew got the field back in shape for the game the next afternoon after the fans stormed the field when the Mets won the NL East. The effort that the Mets showed in this game was pretty good too. It seemed like the Cubs were mounting a little threat in the 9th and trying their hardest to delay the Mets celebration. But the Mets were able to retire the Cubs and the Mets won the division for the first time since 1973. I was not one of those fans that stormed the field because I was not at this game and even if I was at this game I wouldn't have bothered to go on the field. I am not being mean of course to you folks that did do going on the field, but I am just saying that was a little bit of a wild scene to watch on tv.

I remember being disappointed that Keith Hernandez wasn't starting, but Dave Magadan was great in his first major league start. I even got him to autograph my homework before the game (I was only allowed to go if I promised to finish my homework during pre-game.)

Top of the ninth, fans were hanging off of the outfield wall, waiting for the final out. I was one of those who went on the field from my seats down the right field line. And, yeah, I still have a small piece of turf from the celebration.

Without a doubt, my most memorable game.

I was 22 and not much of a baseball fan, but had the opportunity to go to this game which seemed to sound like a great one to attend. I remember incredible excitement and being awestruck at the fans rushing the field and tearing up chunks of turf. I also remember being driven home to LI and watching people tossing pieces of turf out along the LIE. An unusual day but one to remember. I still have my ticket stub from that day. Mets vs Cubs, loge seat, Wed. Sept 17, 1986 7:35PM.

Last Night (Thursday 3/23) on SNY (SportsNet NewYork) after the Mets-Marlins contest was rained out, they went to Mets Classics and they showed this game which aired on Ch. 9 (Thank God! My area didn't get cable until 1987). Gooden, showing some signs of the troubles ahead, goes the distance and Dave Magadan, filling in for a sick Keith, gets a couple of hits. Keith, however, went on the field for the last 2 innings; he wanted to be on the field for the final out. Dennis Eckersley was the losing pitcher for the Cubs and Rafael Palermo (pre-roids) hit a 2 run homer. I remember Rusty Staub saying "hoping that Shea Stadium survives" and the image of a fan hugging Gary Carter after the last out and the craziness and when Gary got into the dugout he looked like he wanted to bite someone's head off. Pete Flynn's comments of "They don't deserve a winner" rang somewhat true. It would be the last ransacking of a field after a clinching ever, considering we're living in perilous times these days.

I was at this game. I remember the anticipation of the clinching; I had been a Mets fan since '73 and was too young to put that championship into its perspective. I too was one of the "crazies" storming the field. It was such a surreal atmosphere and as one of the previous posters mentioned complete strangers were hugging each other. In particular I recall hugging some attractive young women (which for a guy that had just turned 18 was worth the price of admission alone). The scene must have looked like a mini V-J day. People were popping champagne in the parking lot and on the platform of the subway station.

The previous weekend, I had driven down to Philadelphia with some equally crazy friends to watch the Mets clinch there. Of course, they lost on Friday night and again on Saturday. My friends decided to stay for the Sunday game, but I had zero confidence in Sid Fernandez against the Phillies. So I drove home and watched the Mets lose on Sunday, too. That painful lost weekend made it all the sweeter to be in the stands and watch the Mets clinch against the Cubs. My most vivid memories of the game were the line drives that young Dave Magadan hit, filling in for Keith Hernandez. That was an auspicious debut for Magadan and a great night for Mets fans.

I was 22 and not much of a baseball fan, but had the opportunity to go to this game, which seemed to sound like a great one to attend. I remember incredible excitement and being awestruck at the fans rushing the field and tearing up chunks of turf. I also remember being driven home to LI and watching people tossing pieces of turf out along the LIE. An unusual day but one to remember. I still have my ticket stub. Mets vs Cubs, from that day: loge seat Wed. Sept 17,1986 7:35PM.

As I said I was at this game sitting in field level by first base. It was a night to celebrate. As the game moved into the 8th inning I saw throngs of fans making their way to the front row. I started to realize that many fans were going to rush the field. So I decided to follow suit and make my way to the front. I was right next to the photographers box. When Wally Backman threw the grounder to Hernandez me and everyone else stormed the field and it was a great experience. I almost got toppled and was getting bumped but having a great time. High fived everyone that passed me and chanting we're # 1 and we want Houston. Everyone was enjoying it all running all around and eventually all fans exited through the center field fence. (Same spot where Seaver and Piazza went through to close Shea 22 years later) Celebration continued on the 7 train all the way to Manhattan with all the cheering chants.

The only good thing about this time period in my life was the 1986 Mets. Was working a lousy job at a roadside restaurant (including weekends) and besides that I had to put up with 2 bosses from heck: one guy was a short, gruff-gruff jerk who probably had relatives in the Third Reich and the other was this "fugly" big boned "woman" who was a Yankees fan (In the words of Austin Powers: SHE'S A MAN, BABY). Anyway, I had one co-worker who was a supporter of the orange and blue and he quoted the Eagles (the rock group, not the NFL team) by saying "Mirrors on the ceiling, the champagne is on ice, the Mets will win tonight." I went, home watched the game on Ch. 9 (no cable then), the Mets won and the next morning, me and the co-worker celebrated with a little soda pop and high fives!

The hangover game. Two memories:

a) Cubs' Rafael Palmiero getting injured playing LF, trying to catch fly ball; the ball hit his bare hand and split webbing between fingers. Ouch!

b) Kevin Mitchell lying across dugout bench trying to recover from pennant clinching party the night before. Weren't we all?

An afternoon game after a night of partying for everyone. The Shea field was completely destroyed. There were dozens and dozens of makeshift patches everywhere due to the fans celebration just 15 hours earlier. I still can't really believe that Pete Flynn and his grounds crew got this field in any kind of playable shape for this game. They deserved all the credit in the world for it.

Rick Anderson got his last of 2 Mets wins, Hojo homered and the Mets had a hangover win with the backups in the lineup.

1. It was sunny.
2. I think it was my oldest son’s first MLB.
3. In researching, I found an error in Baseball Reference - they had this game listed as a night game, which confused me. Thankfully this site confirmed it was a day game.

My dad and uncle took me to this game, the only time I saw the Mets lose in person that year. In games I saw at Shea in 1986, they were 7-1. We sat in the mezzanine section along the right field foul line.

I was upset that the backups were playing and I clearly remember angrily booing Dave Magadan when he came up to bat. My uncle turned to me while I was booing and asked, seemingly annoyed, "Why are you booing?" I said "Because he's playing instead of Keith Hernandez," and he said something like, "That's not his fault." I understood my uncle's sentiment (he's only a rookie, give him a chance, blah blah blah), but I just HAD to voice my displeasure.

I always felt some kind of visceral discomfort every time Davey started the backups in 1986, especially if it was a game I attended. I felt cheated when Lenny, Wally, Keith, Gary, or Darryl didn't start. In this game, none of them started. It was kind of like the feeling when you're in the fourth grade, and you realize the girl you have a crush on is absent for the day.

This game's starting lineup had me really upset. Stan Jefferson batted first, followed by Tim Teufel and Dave Magadan. Danny Heep batted 5th, followed by Howard Johnson, Ed Hearn and Kevin Elster. At least Kevin Mitchell batted cleanup (starting in RF), but it wasn't enough and the Mets lost 4-3.

A quick look at the box score reveals that former Met Ronn Reynolds, one of the worst-hitting catchers of all time, started this game for the Phillies and got the game-winning RBI (a sixth inning single). That hit may be Ronn's career highlight, and I was there.

Besides booing Magadan from my seat in the mezzanine, I vaguely remember the aftermath. Walking down the exit ramp at Shea, I was stunned and silent after seeing the 1986 Mets lose in person.

It was a disorienting experience, especially since I didn't know about the concept of managers resting their regulars after clinching the division. I just thought Davey Johnson was being too nice by letting his benchwarmers play.

In one of only eight games he played with the 1986 Mets, John Gibbons was the starting catcher this day. He went 4-for-4: a single, two doubles, and the only homer of his 50-at-bat career.

Gibbons finished his career with eleven hits, and 36 percent of them came in this game!

My dad and uncle took me to this game, my 9th birthday.

John Gibbons and Stan Jefferson both hit their first major league home runs, and the future was looking bright indeed.

I was at this game sitting with my Dad near the right field foul pole in the Loge section (blue colored seats). Very chilly night!

The Von Hayes HR landed a few feet from me, never had a home run ball land that close to me.

Remembered the Jefferson HR as well; thought he and Shawn Abner would be our future fixtures in the outfield.

Five days after the Mets clinch the NL East, they are beaten by Phillies RHP Marvin Freeman, 7-1. Freeman allows just one hit in seven innings, a second inning triple by Darryl Strawberry, who scores the only Met run of the game on a passed ball.

It is the first of 35 career wins for Freeman, but the day is even more memorable for him because his daughter Paris was born on this day.

The thing I remember clearly about this game is Bob Murphy's call when Wally Backman hit his home run. It would be his only home run of the '86 season, and it happened on his birthday, and I remember the Murph saying something like, "Wally Backman is just so happy! He just hit a home run on his birthday!" I wish I could hear it again.

I was really happy for him, because my birthday was two days earlier. Another perfect moment for a perfect season.

The last meeting of the season between the Mets and Cards, a weekday afternoon at Shea. This one was over early as the Mets hit 3 homers and got their 99th win of the year.

The Mets 100th win of the season, as they score 3 in the 9th to win. Ray Knight gets the game winning hit. Also the last homer Kevin Mitchell hits as a Met before he's traded in the coming offseason.

Sat directly behind home plate at the screen for this one -- only the ump was closer. Yeomans vs. Gooden was a true pitching clinic that night. Doc had a tremendous fastball and uncle Charlie was devastating. Yeomans was amazing until the 7th. Carter homered in 4th(?) for Mets and the 8 or 9000 Expos fans at the game gave him a standing ovation. We paid $15 total for the two tix at the screen to a desperate scalper.

Oh, was this doublheader a treat.

First of all, we won both games, but that wasn't the best part.

The best part was that we had the division clinched, so these games were meaningless. So I sat in the mezzanine, reading the Sunday paper between pitches, no cares in the world.

It was a nice rest, because we were about to embark on a three-week journey of intensity. There were no "laughers" in the 13 postseason games. How many times did the Mets fall behind first? The ride was 50% exhilarating, 50% excrutiating, and worth every minute!!!!

Ah, just the thought of sitting in the Big Shea with a 20-game lead...

Elaborating on LenDog's memory from 2004, I was also at this doubleheader and for the most part, it was the best of times.

My dad and uncle took me and my 4 year old sister. Even though my mom was sick in the hospital, I look back on this time in October 1986 as the twilight of the glory days of my childhood. In those days, my obsessions included watching the World Wrestling Federation on TV, Transformers toys, the film Jaws (the only non-Disney VHS tape my mom allowed me to watch), Casey Kasem's Top 40 countdown on Sunday mornings, playing shortstop for my little league team, and above all, the 1986 Mets. Bills, taxes, and employment were still far off in the distant future. And if I did ever think of my future job, I was sure I was going to play shortstop for the New York Mets. All of that changed after 1986.

For the final series at Shea that season, my dad bought four tickets to each game. Right after school on Friday, my dad, my sister, and our black labrador retriever Ace left our house in NJ for my uncle's apartment in Flushing, on Colden Street. The game that Friday night was rained out. We could tell the game was rained out because my uncle had a view of Shea from his balcony and we could see that the Shea Stadium lights were off.

The next morning, we left Ace back at the apartment and walked through a sunny Flushing Meadows Park on our way to Shea. I still remember the smell of stale beer after entering the stadium. We sat in the upper deck behind home plate.

The Mets smacked the Pirates around in both games. Bob Ojeda got his 18th win in the first game and Rick Aguilera won his 10th against rookie Bob Patterson in the second game. Between games, the Mets inducted Rusty Staub and Bud Harrelson into the Mets Hall of Fame.

In the combined two games, I got to see all the Mets starters, so I didn't feel deprived of anything. In the second game, Teufel started to my disgust and made an error (of course), but at least Wally had started the first game. Darryl didn't start the second game, but Kevin Mitchell started in his place and got his last RBI as a Met.

Even though they didn't hit any home runs in either game, they got nine hits in the first game and 14 in the second game. Jesse Orosco pitched two scoreless innings for the save in game one and Roger McDowell pitched three scoreless innings for the save in game two.

The Mets' two wins in this doubleheader were their 53rd and 54th home wins of the season, breaking the record of 52 home wins set by the 1969 Mets. However, as LenDog mentioned in his post, as we left Shea happy at the end of the second game, everyone's mind was on the upcoming NLCS vs. the Houston Astros, not on any team records.

108th and final win of the regular season. I'm amazed we all got so blase about winning by that point. Boy were the playoffs ever a big wake up call. I had a Sunday season ticket plan and it seemed like Sid Fernandez always started the Sunday home games, to the point where me and the other denizens of Mezz. Sect 20 started calling him "Sunday Sid". So it was fitting that he closed this one out.

Lots of memories:
1) Given two tickets by my Uncle and went with my brother.
2) Seats were right behind the middle of the Pirates dugout. I got Barry Bonds' autograph before the game and told him I remembered his father playing for the Yanks. My brother got Bob Walk's autograph and then #88. #88 - turned out he had asked the bat boy (BB) for his autograph.
3) Fans were going crazy when Hernandez was hit in the 1st and saw how locked in Gary Carter was. Stadium went wild as Gary hit the huge homer to back his teammate up.
4) Fun fall day and we knew the team was ready for the playoffs.

I was at this game. My family sat in the mezzanine section and the thing I remember best is when the game was over, the Mets stepped out on the field to thank the fans, and we all cheered. Then they all threw their hats into the front rows, behind the dugouts. I was like, damn, I wish we had seats down there. I don't think I'm imagining this. They threw their hats into the crowd. What a team.

The regular season finale as El Sid recorded the only save of his Mets career, working the final 4 innings in a tune up for the playoffs. The final out of the year was Sid's 200th strikeout on the season, a fitting ending to the best regular season in team history.

Strawberry hit a grand slam in the 5th and the Mets won 9-0. One of the more fun games to watch, looking back, as the atmosphere was so free and easy. A complete 180 to the next 3 weeks of baseball the Mets would play.

I spent the morning in a Queens hospital having surgery in a place that no man ever wants to ! Hours later, quite high on pain meds and dreading the need to urinate, I turned on the TV .

Ex-Met Mike Scott outduels Dwight Gooden for a 1- 0 victory at the Astrodome in Game One of the N.L.C.S. Scott fans 14 Mets on his way to a complete game shutout. Glenn Davis supplies all the offense with a second-inning home run. New York complains about Scott scuffing the ball but the umpires find nothing wrong.

At 11:39 pm, I screamed! I peed! We lost!

I was a freshman in college in PA and was feeling a little homesick because I felt like I was missing all the excitement at home with the Mets making it into postseason. I had been a loyal fan since 1975 and had known nothing but mostly losing during all that time. When the Mets took the field to be introduced I kept thinking about all those Mets teams from the late 70's and all the suffering and my eyes began to tear up. I was just thankful I was alone because I couldn't believe how emotional I was. I can just imagine how Red Sox fans must have felt in 2004.

Met fans most often remember Ojeda for winning the critical 3rd game of the 1986 World Series at Fenway after the Mets had lost the first two games. However, his win in this game was almost as critical since the Mets would otherise have left the Astrodome down two games in the NLCS. He scattered nine singles and a double, pitching a complete game while the Mets got to Nolan Ryan in the middle innings.

I was only 8 years old, but I still remember that game vividly. I had only become a big Mets fan about two years earlier when my dad took me to my first game against the Expos in September. After that I was hooked. Game Three of the National League Playoffs was the first post season game I ever went to. I remember sitting in the Upper Deck, about 5 rows from the back, on the first base line. Lenny Dykstra was my favorite player on the Mets because he was lefty (so am I) and because of the way he played. I remember jumping and down like a maniac when he hit the home run into the Mets bullpen to win the game. I remember trying to see what was going on, but I couldn't see over all the people in front. It was probably the most exciting game I've ever been to.

This game represented the first postseason baseball experience for me and my brother Gian. We sat in the wheelchair-accessible seats just inside the left-field foul pole beneath the "NY Newsday" sign. I remember Dykstra taking a big rip at next-to-last pitch of the game; enraged that he was deluded into thinking he could reach the seats against a sinkerballer, I screamed, "Who ever told him he was a home run hitter?!!!". Lenny then lofted Dave Smith's next offering deep to right. I watched Kevin Bass drift back to the rightfield wall. When he looked up, I knew it was gone! Bedlam at Shea! Amid the bedlam, I received a knowing look from the older woman seated next to me, which chastized me for ever having doubted Lenny. As we descended the ramps, I watched as complete strangers hugged each other. One stuck a souvenir pennant in my hand which I keep as a momento of that incredible win.

What a finish. Wally drops a drag bunt and barely beats it out. Lenny steps in and hits a blast to right off of Smith (I never liked him). I can still hear Keith Jackson's call on ABC ("...deep to right...she is gone"). I couldn't remember why Dykstra was hitting after Backman that day until looking at the box score above and realizing that neither of them started the game.

I also remember that we lost power in our area for an hour during start of the game on that Saturday afternoon. By the time it came back on we were down 4-0 courtesy of Doran's homer. Darryl also took the lefty - Bob Knepper - deep for a 3-run shot to get us back in it. I think he took it the other way to left-center if I remember correctly. I always confuse this one with the one he hit off of Nolan Ryan later in the series. What a post-season.

Joe, I'm pretty sure Strawberry's homer was a line drive right down the RF line. I was sitting in the upper deck just past first base and I remember thinking that the ball was going to go foul. But he hit it too hard for it to have enough time to go foul!

Strawberry's homer in this game, his first of the series, was a bomb into the lodge level off of Knepper. His screaming line drive, just down the foul line was off of Nolan Ryan at Shea, game 5.

Gone are the days of the passion and the drive that the Mets showed in those great games in the 80's. You could see it in all of the players eyes.

Like the 1st poster, I was only 8 years old when the Mets won it all in 1986, and this is the very first game I remember watching. It turned me into a Mets fan for life, and Lenny Dykstra has been my favorite athlete of all time since that day.

There once was a time when Lenny Dykstra wasn't on the juice and didn't have more muscle in his arms than most people Patrick Ewing's size. That time was 1986. Lenny Dykstra was by no means a home run hitter, but he will always be remembered for one specific home run, which came in this game. Strawberry had to hit a laser- beam bomb to get them back in it, and then Dykstra lifted it down the line and everyone was jumping around and the Mets had managed to surprise us again!

I remember sitting on the 1st base line mezzanine with my future wife freezing our tails off. After falling behind early, Darryl got us back in it with a line shot homer to right. Down 1 in the ninth, the last thing I was thinking with Lenny up was a homer (pre-steriod days). I was hoping for a double to tie it up. I couldn't believe it when I saw the ball keep carrying until it left the park. I must of high fived and hugged everyone in our row! With all the screaming and cheering, I couldn't speak clearly for days afterwards. I just saw an autographed picture of Lenny running around the bases after the homer...it will soon be on my wall.

On the morning of this game, I did not have a ticket but after dreaming of seeing the Mets in the playoffs since I became a fan back in 1975, I so wanted to experience the atmosphere at Shea. Since I was without a ticket my plan was to simply get a good view on the train platform so I could at least see half the field. I left my house at 8 am and got there around 9:30. When I got there I was surprised to hear that tickets were on sale. I excitedly got on line and debated whether to find a phone and call my friends but if I did that I would lose my place in line and lose out on the chance to see a playoff game at Shea. So I stayed and bought the ticket.

I remember sitting there in the mezzanine and just looking out and I could not believe I was at the NLCS and of course the way the game turned out with Strawberry's dramatic sixth inning blast to tie it and Dykstra's game winner just put the cap on a happily memorable day at Shea.

WHAT A GAME!! My only post season game so far. Bought a ticket in the Upper Level Boxes down the left field line behind the foul pole with my brother off a scalper for 75 bucks each. I remember 2 Astro fans sitting in front of us. They were a pain in the butt. Shea went absolutely bonkers after Lenny's home run. Those Astro fans mysteriously disappeared after that (HA HA)!!

My friend got us seats in the back of the Loge. You almost knew Strawberry was going to hit it out. That ball got out in a hurry. I swear I'm still hoarse from screaming "LENNY!! LENNY!!" after the game. This game is #2 on my list of thrilling games I saw at Shea (I was at Game 6 of the Series).

I remember this as being my very first Mets' play-off game thanks to the mom of a guy at my college who got students tickets for that weekend's games. I lucked out in getting that ticket to one of the great games that weekend. I sat in the RF loge watching Straw's HR land a few rows ahead of me. When Lenny hit his HR, I remember the fans cheering and waiting for an 1986 curtain call. Dykstra had said that he hadn't hit a HR like that since when he beat his brother in Strat-O-Matic. Ironically, Dykstra's quote was on the Shea scoreboard's Who Said It? Friday night and I didn't have to even think about it. Seeing the quote tonight made me rush home to type this entry. To this very day, I still have my ticket stub and 1986 NLCS program.

My first postseason game, section 23 upper deck. The best memory: LENNY, LENNY, LENNY chant from everyone on the ramps leaving the stadium.

This was my very first NLCS game I attended. Sitting in the Upper Deck Section all I can say is WOW!! Mets down 4-0 till bottom of the 6th. Strawberry hitting a homer to tie the game. Mets down by a run bottom of the ninth. And then came Lenny (Nails) Dykstra hitting a two run homer to win the game. All I can say is WOW!!

Dykstra's home run was TOTALLY UNEXPECTED. It wasn't even within the realm of possible outcomes. It's hard to explain this to today's fan, but, in the mid-80s, a game winning walk-off home run from Lenny was the last thing on my mind. I remember praying for a single to tie it.

Watched this game with a bunch of friends. Was 16 at the time. First a look of complete surprise, then total jubilation. Really a special moment from a magical year.

I rushed home from school and turned on the TV just in time to see Wally Backman's drag bunt. When Dave Smith threw the pickoff throw away I knew the Mets were going to win. Lenny's home run had me jumping and screaming around the TV room.

The next day my uncle (who lived in Flushing) told me that he was on the 7 train during the 9th inning and someone was playing the game on the radio. He said the moment Lenny hit the home run the people on the train went so crazy that the train had to stop. I can't verify if that's true, but it has become mythological in my mind. Every time I watch the home run on YouTube, I can't help imagining the 7 train having to stop from all the jumping and shaking as Lenny is being mobbed at home plate.

A few minutes after I submitted my post about this game last night, I realized that I mixed up elements of Game 5 with this game, namely, the pickoff throw in the 9th inning, which happened in game 5, not in this game.

Also, this game was played on a Saturday, so I barely made it home in time to see the ending for game 5, which was played on a Tuesday.

I actually watched this whole game in my TV room, wearing my home Mets jersey (no number) with my Mets batting helmet and little league bat when they were hitting, and a mesh, snapback Mets hat and glove when they were in the field. I watched every playoff game in uniform.

So another element of game 5 that always gets mixed up with this game is Strawberry's home run. Before I watched both of Strawberry's home runs, I only remembered the game 5 home run off Nolan Ryan (even though it happened when I was still at school).

The difference is Straw's home run in game 3 off Knepper had a higher trajectory, almost like a punt with a 3+ second hang time before landing about ten rows behind the Newsday sign in the Loge level.

The game 5 home run off Nolan Ryan was a screaming line drive that took less than two seconds to get out and just barely cleared the wall in the right field corner.

By the way, I also watched the 6th inning again and Craig Reynolds made an error on a double-play ball hit by Carter. The ball rolled under his glove, allowing Mitchell to score from second, making the score 4-1 with two men on and no one out, instead of 4-0 with two outs and one man on base.

With the score now 4-1, Straw hits the 3 run homer and the camera shot cuts to the sign guy (just like 1969) holding up a professional-looking sign that says: STRAW BURIED. Classic.

Moving ahead to the ninth, Backman gets on base J.C Martin style, then Danny Heep bats next. On an 0-1 pitch, Dave Smith throws a wild pitch that goes to the backstop, and THAT's how Wally gets to second base.

Heep takes the count full but eventually hits a routine fly to center on a high fastball, not far enough for Backman to tag up.

Then Lenny comes to the plate. The way ABC cover this at bat is worthy of an Emmy. Just before the home run pitch, Keith Jackson sets the defense:

"Walling on the grass at third, Davis just off the grass at first, (camera cuts to Terry Dykstra) everybody's on the dirt..." and then with the shot still holding on Lenny's wife with a look of determination on her face, Tim McCarver says, "Or the edge of their seats." Classic.

On the next pitch, an 0-1 offering, bang.

"Hit to right. Bass goin' back. Goin' back. Iiiiiiiit's gone!"

Pandemonium. "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang starts playing over the PA. They cut to a shaky overhead shot of Shea, with the "Baseball like it oughta be" banner visible on the side on the stadium, and at that moment the LENNY! chant can be heard. This whole time, Keith Jackson is quiet, letting the pictures and the crowd noise tell the story. Just before he starts his recap of the home run, a guy holds up a sign that says: WELCOME TO THE ASTRO DOOM

Classic.

Correcting an earlier post, the Strawberry home run? in the 6th inning landed about 4 rows back in the right field Loge level behind the Newsday sign, not 10 rows back. Also, I used a stopwatch to time the exact hang time of his home run off Knepper, and it was in the air for 5.77 seconds.

The attendance at this game was 55,052, the highest of any game played in that year's NLCS (home or away). Surprisingly, more people attended this game than Game 7 of the World Series, which was played on a Monday night.? It was the Mets' first home playoff game in 13 years, and watching it again, you can feel the electricity from the crowd, especially after Mitchell scores to make it 4-1 with two men on and Straw at the plate.

On October 11, 1986, I watched the ABC telecast, but whenever I replay Lenny Dykstra's home run back in my mind, I can only hear Bob Murphy's call. The reason is that they used Murph's call on the 1986 Mets highlight video, so I've heard Murph's call hundreds of times, whereas I only heard Keith Jackson's call once, at least before the game was added to YouTube.

Bob Murphy's call of Lenny's home run still gives me chills. As Lenny wiggles his fingers in the batter's box, Murph says: "Lenny Dykstra, the man they call "Nails" on the Mets ballclub is waiting. Now the pitch... and a high fly ball, hit to right field; it is fairly deep; it's way back; it's by the wall; HE DID IT! IT'S A HOME RUN! A HOME RUN! THE METS WIN THE BALLGAME! DYKSTRA HITS A HOME RUN! LEN DYKSTRA HIT A HOME RUN! THIS BALLGAME IS OVER!" At this moment, the highlight video shows Lenny screaming as he's being mobbed at home plate and I swear I can hear Lenny scream louder than everyone else in the stadium.

Wrapping up my (third) summary of this classic game, I know I've already related my uncle's story: that he was on the 7 train the moment Lenny hit the home run, and because all the Mets fans on the train went nuts, the train stopped in its tracks.

What I failed to mention in my previous post is that when he told me this, my first thought was, "Why the hell were you on the 7 train and not at home watching the game?"

However, all I said was, "Wow."

I was lucky enough to be at Game 3, which was delirious, and then this one a few nights later, which stunk. Cold night, and Scott absoultely dominated us. Not even a hint of a rally. I recall my brother and I (we were 12 and 14) going home and poking holes in one of Mike Scott's baseball cards with a thumb tack after the game.

Only thing I remember about this game is that on top of the 2nd, Alan Ashby flied to foul territoty to the third base side, which would have been an out, if there had been no extra seats created specially for the playoffs, so no play. Saved from fouled out with a runner on, Ashby promptly hit a two-run homer in the same at-bat. The Mets promptly drop the game by two, and after the game I grew worried about the momentum of the Series, how a little thing like this can sway it. On well, little did I know about its outcome, 4 days later...

My sister and I were at this game, still the only postseason game I ever saw live. Worst seats at Shea: Mezzanine Reserved, last row. I can personally vouch for them being the worst as a result of being there 10/12/86. The Upper Deck hanging over you make it impossible to see anything hit in the air. Upper Deck Reserved, despite being nosebleed territory, wasn't nearly as bad. The game, of course, matched our seats: awful.

Oh boy, where do I start ?

First of all, I had just graduated college in May and I was unemployed and living at home. My friend Ed had two tickets to this afternoon game which he would sell me for $ 40. I bought both tickets but had no one to go to the game with.

It was a rainy afternoon, but I went out to Shea and tried to unload the extra ticket. No luck, there were very few people there at game time and I didn't want to miss a pitch. I can remember sitting through the first 4 innings praying for rain, so that I wouldn't end up eating the extra ticket.

Well, the sun came out, more and more people began to arrive at the stadium. Although, I don't believe that Shea was anything close to being full (maybe 40 - 45,000 ??), the crowd that afternoon was frantic. It was NOT that corporate crowd that you get nowadays for the big games.

I think that I stood for the last 4 innings and by the 12th, I was exhausted. Thank you Charlie Kerfeld !!

I took a lot of crap from my mom for spending $ 40 for TWO tickets when I should have been out looking for a job. Too bad.

More than anything, I remember Fred Brocklander calling Craig Reynolds out at 1B on a double-play when Reynolds was clearly safe. Everyone saw it when it happened and then again on the replay but Brocklander stayed in denial about it after the game.

That blown call kept a runner from scoring from third base, and the Astros went on to lose in extra innings.

Brocklander also failed to ring up Ray Knight on a strike three right down the middle of the plate in the 9th inning of Game 6. Knight then hit a sac fly to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

The true NLCS MVP was not Mike Scott, but Fred Brocklander.

The main thing I remember is that I wondered how Fred Brocklander could have been considered to even be a little league umpire much less an umpire during a major league playoff series. I'm an Astros fan who still hasn't forgiven Brocklander for giving New York the pennant in 1986. Everybody who watched the NL series knows it should have been Houston and Boston in the World Series that year. Major League baseball ultimately got rid of Brocklander, but by that time it was too late. New York had already been given the NL pennant by the worst excuse I've ever seen for a major league umpire.

It's been 17 years and I still can't forget how the sorriest umpire ever left baseball without admitting that he robbed the Astros of a World Series. I only hope that when he's gone, if he's not already, his epitaph will read "I should have had the balls to say I blew the call".

I was only 3 years old, but apparently I was on my dad's lap at the game. After watching video highlights years later, I don't know how I kept my ability to use my young ears for hearing again. The one thing I know for sure: Dwight Gooden is my favorite athlete of all time. Bar None.

I hate the NY Mets and I hate Fred Brocklander even more. What a crummy call he made. He wouldn't even admit that he made the wrong call. Calling a base runner safe or out is not like calling balls and strikes. There's no "maybe" about it. Craig Reynolds was either safe or out. And he was definitely safe. He screwed the Astros out of a run. As Nolan Ryan said after his great pitching "If he made the right call, we would have won that game in 9 innings." I hope this S.O.B. (Fred Brocklander) is dead by now. I really do. The 1986 Mets were the luckiest team ever to win the World Series. The Astros should have won this series in 5 games. The only game that the Mets won outright was game 2. I was glad when the Mets lost to L.A. in 1988, then Atlanta in 1999, and finally St. Louis in 2006. I hope the Mets never win a World Series ever again.

Dear Astros Fans, If Fred Brocklander and his fellow men in blue had been better umpires, Mike Scuff would have been ejected in Game One and/or suspended for the series for doctoring the ball. Chalk it up to baseball karma.

Brocklander is the worst excuse for an umpire. I was only 13 at the time but I will never, ever forgive that man for robbing us from the World Series.

David Mo- no evidence against Scott was ever found so get over the "scuff" routine. Plenty of evidence to show Brocklander blew that call.

To David Mo...We got Mike Scott from the New York Mutts. If in fact he was cheating he probably learned it in the big rotten apple. When it comes to that gutless pig Brocklander, I remember other Astros fans hanging him in effigy at the Dome. Believe me, a lot of us wanted to see him hanging for real. And I've always wondered if Brocklander was a NY Mets fan just wanting his team to win or if he was being paid under the table to make sure the big market Mutts made it to the World Series instead of our team here in Dixie, of if he was just a piss poor excuse of an umpire that somehow or other lucked into the job at the major league level.

Wow... Hey Astros fans... why do you NEVER bring up the fact that you LUCKED into having home field advantage for this series? There was an Oiler game and the first two games had to be played at the Astrodome....so while it was actually supposed to be the Mets home field advantage (due to alternating east and west coast teams during that time I believe...and the west coast Dodgers had home field in 85) you completely lucked into it. And as any player who ever played in that dome can say, that's a HUGE advantage in that place.

On to the game... I remember the fans chanting "Gary, Gary" when he walked up to the plate. Fantastic finish.

Some things I remember from this game:

Nolan Ryan was virtually unhittable. The Mets, I believe, had a grand total of three baserunners in the first 11 innings.

Darryl Strawberry's game-tying home run was an unusual home run -- a bolt, that barely disappeared over the home run line about two seconds after it hit the bat.

I remember Charlie Kerfeld's behind-the-back snag of Gary Carter's grounder in the eighth inning. He pointed to Carter before throwing to first. I thought it was pretty funny, even though I was rooting for the Mets to win.

Brocklander's call did cost the Astros the game. But I think some Houston fans may need to get a grip . . .

To summarize:

1) Astros should not have had home field advantage; 2) Scott's "scuffball" was suspicious, but nothing was ever proven; 3) Video DID prove that Fred Brocklander directly cost the Astros at least one game, and possibly the pennant; 4) Fred Brocklander should die a long and agonizing death from testicular cancer, since he never had the balls to own up to his poo umpiring; 5) May the Mets never win another World Series. Amen

Was at this game but was not supposed to be. The game was scheduled for Monday of Columbus day afternoon. It was also Yom Kippur that day, so I gave the tickets to a family friend. Then the game was rained out and the friend could not go that next day, so they gave me back the tickets. Since Yom Kippur was over I was now able to go because of the rain out that day.

And what a duel it was between Gooden and Ryan matching pitch for pitch. Then Carter finally broke out of his slump and drive in the winning run to give the Mets the 3-2 series lead. We might have maybe got a gift from Brocklander but not so sure on that. It could have gone either way. When its a teams year to win, they get calls to go their way and 1986 was ours.

I've hated the New York Mets ever since this series took place 25 years ago. There's no denying the pennant was stolen from the Astros by a pathetic scab of an umpire named Fred Brocklander. In fact he gave two games to New York. First there was the blown call against Craig Reynolds that gave New York a 1-run win. And then there was the game where Ray Knight was obviously struck out, but Brocklander called the pitch a ball. The pennant was given to New York and stolen from the Astros and their fans. On top of that Brocklander was such an arrogant prick that he refused to admit he had cheated in favor of New York, though it was as obvious as day is light and night is dark.

Michael, You say you "might" have gotten a gift from Brocklander? Try being honest and admitting you got TWO gifts and the N.L. pennant thanks to that no good pile of sh*t Brocklander. He will never be forgiven for stealing the pennant from us in 1986.

I attended Game 5 of the 86 NLCS. I had a great box seat in the front row of the right field loge next to the foul pole. My cousin Debbie and I traveled out to Shea from Rockland County that Monday only to have the game rained out. I skipped work the next day to come back (I paid $75 each for those seats and I wasn't about to miss out.) By far, this was the greatest baseball game I ever attended. Nolan Ryan was on fire retiring 2 of 3 Met hitters by strikeout in the first 3 innings. He pitched that game with a broken bone in his landing foot. Dwight Gooden pitched 10 innings that day and got a no-decision. Darryl Strawberry's home run virtually landed at my feet as it cleared the wall at the base of the foul pole. On the super slo-mo replay during the broadcast I can see myself jump out of my seat as he hit the ball and follow its trajectory over the wall. Each inning was tension-filled which grew with each passing inning. The errant pickoff from Kerfeld which allowed Wally Backman to advance to 2nd in the 12th inning was the breakthough. It was like two heavyweight fighters gong at it. One of the best days of my life.

I wonder what all the Astros fans think now about a post-season series being “stolen“ in light of the revelations that have become known in the past six months. As for Astros fans’ hatred of the Mets, at least the Mets did not cheat. At most, the Mets were beneficiaries of some poor umpiring.

I was sitting in the dentist's chair during that incredible 9th inning rally. He had the game on the radio on the old WHN(usually he would be playing that awful dentist music!). He did get me nervous a few times when he would try to cheer while working on my mouth- especially when he was drilling when the Mets tied the game! He did finish in time for me to rush home to catch the eventful extra innings!

The greatest baseball game ever played. Astros leading 3-0 in the ninth. Mets tie it with 3 in ninth. Mets take the lead in the 15th, Astros tie it same inning. Mets had to win that game to win series, because if there would have been a game 7, Mets would've faced that year's Cy Young winner Mike Scott, who dominated Mets all year. I wanted to be a play-by-play broadcaster so I brought my tape recorder to the Astrodome and did my own "radio" version of the game. Actually, I had been "broadcasting" dozens of games into my tape recorder for the last ten years. I have never felt so emotionally exhausted after a game as I was after this one.

I've been a baseball fan and a Mets fan for nearly 25 years, and this is still my favorite game of all time. I was a freshman in college, and with the Mets losing 3-0 and not hitting a lick off Bob Knepper, I decided to attend calculus class. Fortunately, one of my classmates had a walkman, and when the Mets rallied to tie it in the 9th, he was giving everyone pitch-by- pitch updates. I can still feel the tension, especially when Danny Heep was fouling off 3-2 pitches with the bases loaded. We made it back to the dorm to watch from about the 12th inning on. I vividly remember the Hatcher home run, the Strawberry bloop double, and the Astros rally in the bottom of the 16th (the rest is a blur of orange and yellow just like those Astros uniforms). About ten of us celebrated wildly afterwards - we all knew how important it was to win this game and avoid Mike Scott and a game seven.

Every true Houston fan holds this game deep in their heart.

If only we could have pulled it out, we could have put Mike Scott on the mound the next day. The Mets couldn't touch Scotty, and the 'Stros would have faced the Bosox.

Bruce Hurst vs. Scott for game 1. Roger Clemens vs. Nolan Ryan for game 2. This Astros fan weeps at possibilities lost...

1986 was the Alamo to Astros fans.

Best game in Mets, if not, baseball history! BAR NONE! I worked at a liquor store in Bloomfield, New Jersey at the time. Unfortunately, my shift continued through the tenth inning. But on the radio in the store I listened to the remarkable! Bob Knepper pitching the game of his career. Having only given up 2 hits through 8, needed only 3 outs with a three-run lead to get to Mike Scott for Game 7 who would have, without a doubt, sealed it. After the remarkable had happened and Keith came across with the tying run, one inning later my shift ended. I race home, then to pick up Dad at the train station. We're listening on the radio coming home from the station as the Mets are up 4-3 and about to clinch. Hatcher hits the homer to tie it and we both nearly cry. We get inside to see the Mets blow it open 7-4, only to let 2 more come across in the bottom of the 15th. Then, Orosco throwing only curves to Kevin Bass, gets him swinging on strike 3. Dad and I were jumping in each others arms. Best clutch inning in Mets history, the top of the 9th. Knepper was pitching a helluva ballgame and the Mets knew they faced Scott the next day.

Skipped Hebrew school to watch the game (not realizing that everyone watched it at Hebrew School that night!!!!!) Stayed in my basement throwing a rubber ball against a cement wall all night watchning the game on an old black and white TV knowing that if we lost we'd have to face Scott tomorrow and our chances of making it to the series were as good as done. I kept turning the TV off and on and off and on thinking that it would somehow affect the Mets chances. When they won I just remember feeling exhausted .. Maybe it's because the game took place in Houston, but I don't remember the celebration. My mind was set for Boston .....

I distinctly remember this game because I literally thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest in the later innings.The ominous spectre of Mike Scott was looming and when Hernandez tripled off of Bob Knepper in the 9th I felt like I just got off of Death Row at San Quentin. I knew that we were destined after winning 108 games but Houston was doing their best to send me into the Psych Ward. I remember questioning Orosco's ancestry when he surrendered the homer to Billy Hatcher and exploding with sheer ecstasy when he struck out the same infernal rascal to mercifully end it. It's been 17 years and my chest still hurts every time I think of that game.

I worked in an investment bank at the time and it was hard to get time away, so I had to watch this on work on a one-inch portable TV.

Quitting time coincided with all the good stuff starting to happen, so I didn't want to walk to a bar because it would have taken 20 minutes or so and I didn't want to miss anything. (BTW, I worked in the World Financial Center, next to the WTC. In those days, the area had not been built up, so it took forever to walk to shopping, bars, etc.)

So, long story short, I watched the entire 4+ hours or whatever it was on a 1-inch TV. Come to find out, American Express had their big corporate theater tuned to the game just a few floors above me -- so, I could have watched it in a movie theater. Insteady, I nearly went blind watching on a tiny portable.

Who cares!! One of the greatest wins ever!!!!

May be my Dad's all-time favorite Met game, and he is the ultimate Met fan - he has seen all the good and the bad.

Forgot to mention in a previous post...

After the game, my best friend and I kept calling Cooter's in Houston, TX and shouting "Let's Go Mets" into the phone.

Astute Met fans will recall that Cooters was the Houston bar where Teufel, Darling, et al were arrested in the summer of '86.

I may have the name of the bar wrong...whatever it was called, we gave them a very hard time and they ended up taking the phone off the hook after five or six calls.

All things considered I think this has to be the most thrilling game in Mets history. Even better then Game Six of the 1968 World Series or Game Five of the 1999 NLCS. I remember I skipped two college classes to watch it. It went on all afternoon and into the evening. The tension was unbelievable. We HAD to win because Mike Scott was going the next day and we just weren't going to beat him.

What can you say about this one. Dykstra pinch- hits vs. the lefty in the 9th and gets a huge triple to leadoff. Mookie's liner goes off of the SS glove and we are in business. Hatcher's homer was a killer, especially because he hit one just inches foul on the previous pitch.

This is also supposedly the game where Hernandez came to the mound in the 16th and told Orosco not to throw another fastball. Jesse threw curve after curve and finally struck out Bass swinging to end it.

The day NYC stood still. I remember seeing the news that night where people all over the city stood in little groups wherever there were TV's, afraid to get on the train or subway lest they miss the events to come. I played hookey that day (I had a GREAT boss), so I suffered in the comfort of my own living room, but the wife had to go to work.

She had a radio for most of the game, and came home as soon as she could. She tells the story of being on the Riverdale bus when Hatcher hit the tying HR. The radio crapped out soon after. She missed an inning or two, and came bursting into our apartment completely out of breath, not knowing if the game was over or not. In any event, she did get to see the 16th inning.

There was a great story told by Keith Hernandez during that winter's hot stove league dinner on LI. Someone from the audience posed the question about what he told Orosco and Carter when he came to the mound with Bass at bat in the 16th. He said he told Carter that if he called for fastball, that they would have a fight right there. Then he did a great imitiation of Carter saying "No kidding!" to illustrate the reply.

Later that night, it sunk in that the World Series tickets that we had were valid. A great game, a great night, a great time to be a Mets fan.

The best Mets game ever. Period. End of discussion. I had a real dilemma that day - skip my college class and watch the game in its entirety, or have my conscience nag at me and, I thought, bring bad luck to the Mets. I raced across campus after class and caught the game in the 6th with a group of friends. The sweetest reward ever. Period. End of discussion.

Probably the greatest Mets game ever. I was in college and I watched the entire game on my black and white tv in my dorm room. The game started in the afternoon. I remember missing a class and dinner, may have missed lunch too, wasn't going to leave that set. I remember my dad telling me he went to bar after work and no one leaving until game ended; the entire city was like that. I was home for weekend before that; luckily set VCR up to tape game where Lenny Dykstra wins it, and have last 2 innings of this game.

God I remember this game like it was yesterday. The Mets were down 3-0 in the 9th and I sat on the couch with my sister all quiet until my late mom came home from work and told us to wake up the Mets and boy, did it ever. Lenny started it with the triple and we were on one heck of a roller coaster ride. I still remember Hatcher's homer hitting the foul pole and the now-famous "Throw another fastball and we'll fight" meeting and it all ended when Orosco threw the good pitch to strikeout Kevin Bass and I still have Bob Murphy's WHN call on tape all these years later "SWING AND A MISS! SWING AND A MISS! STRUCK HIM OUT! STRUCK HIM OUT! THE METS WIN IT! THE METS HAVE WON IT! THEY'LL BE IN THE WORLD SERIES SATURDAY NIGHT AT SHEA". This woulda been the best Mets game ever in my eyes except for a game that was played 10 days later.

Both the Mets and Astros fans knew that this game was going to be a clincher for either team, considering if there were the Game 7, the invincible Scott would be on the hill for the 'Stros. Not many people may remember, but the Mets were on the verge of going ahead in that inning, except Danny Heep swung ball four from Dave Smith with 2 outs with based loaded. So after those hours and inning afterwards, I was cursing to myself why Heep swung that stinking pitch. We know what happened from there, with the Mets going ahead, but the Astros would rally back - exchanging blows until Orosco finally shut them down. The Game 6 of the 1986 WS was the "most improbable" game ever played, while this one was the "most nerve racking" game ever played. While anxious moments in the Game 6 of the WS lasted for some 10-20 minutes or so, this one lasted for a couple of hours, however, eons to many fans witnessing. This makes it the most exciting game I have ever watched, including the game played 10 days later.

I'm a life long Red Sox fan but this game is the GREATEST game I've ever seen. I love Bobby Ojeda crediting himself with making the greatest play in the history of baseball when he made a diving tag of Kevin Bass in the top of the first inning to limit the damage to 3. This was essentially game 7 as there was no way anyone was beating Mike Scott in the Astrodome that year. Between games 3, 5 and 6 of the NLCS, games 4 and 5 of the ALCS and game 6 of the WS this was probably the best playoffs from the division (1969-1993) era. Dave Smith somehow flies under the radar whenever anyone talks about the greatest chokes ever. Between the Dykstra walk off home run in game 3 and the 3 run BS in game 6, this was worse than anything Schiraldi ever did.

I was 10 years old and remember getting in the car after school and listening to this game on the car radio until I was able to get to our tv at home. I watched the 8th inning on....my eyes start to water up every time I see Billy Hatcher hit that home run in the 14th. I just know in my heart if we would have won that game, there was no way the Mets would have beat Mike Scott.

I have been a die-hard Astros fan all my life. As an adult, I am a season ticket holder at Minute Maid Park. Very passionate about the game of baseball. I still remember the 1986 season vividly. The Astrodome was a special place for us to watch baseball. I love the old rainbow orange uniforms, Astroturf, and the Home Run Spectacular scoreboard.

It still hurts thinking about it...the Astros should have won the series. They had the Mets and just couldn't finish them off.

I laugh to myself when I hear talk about the Cubs, Red Sox, and Indians fans having suffered serious heartbreak....try being an Astros fan....or better yet, a Houston sports fan (Astros, Rockets, Oilers, and Cougars). Then, you will know what heartbreak is.

One moment I recall from this pennant clincher was Lenny Dykstra's triple in the ninth inning that started the three-run rally. Tim McCarver was asking on television how Lenny was able to hit the ball so deep into the pull alley on an outside breaking pitch. He told his partner Keith Jackson that it showed how strong Dykstra was. I wonder if it ever occurred to Tim or anybody else that Lenny might have been experimenting with steroids at that time.

My brother and sit in the cold and watch in agony as Bruce Hurst frustrates the Mets. A brilliant pitching performance by Ron Darling is wasted as Tim "@#$%*" Teufel allows Gedman's ground through his legs, allowing Rice to lumber home for the game's only run.

Teufel's error was probably the worst moment of my very young life to date at the time.

My only World Series game ever.

What a DUD!!!

Not only did the Mets lose - it was freezing cold and the game was awful.

The only run scored on the error by Tim Teufel, but I think Ron Darling had Jim Rice (who scored the run) 0 and 2, then ended up walking him. That was frustrating.

"Frustrated" does not begin to describe the guy next to me, who paid $500 apiece for two seats!!!

I'd rather watch an Adam Sandler film festival than sit through this disappointing yawner again.

Final note: I went to this game; my best friend went to Game 7. He still gives me grief for that!

It was a pitcher's duel between Bruce Hurst and Ron Darling and suddenly, Tim Teufel lets the ball go through his legs and the Mets couldn't come through. I guess Buckner was payback.

This game was torture for Mets fans. I was at Game 1, freezing my ___ off, so I was happy to be on my couch for Game 2. It was such a drubbing and a long, ugly American-league-style game. I remember going out for a jog in about the 7th inning, even though it was dark and I had consumed some beers, because I could not stand to watch any more. Not quite the Mike Scoscia homer game, but still one of the post season's worst.

This is when I started to worry. They roughed up Doc. Evans went deep early and it was a dreary game. Losing the first two at home was not what I had in mind at the start of the series. Thank God for Lenny's homer leading off game three.

I was at this game. What a dreary drag. Gooden was knocked around and Clemens wasn't much better. I remember Keith Hernandez throwing to second on a bunt play and bouncing it into Santana's chest. Howard Johnson came up as a pinch-hitter in the fourth or fifth inning with a couple of runners on, when it was still a game, and hit the ball a mile, but the wind held it up and it was caught or it blew foul. Would have been a home run on a normal day.

It was at this point that many of us began to think that the '86 Series would be something worth forgetting. I remember the next game, the first one at Fenway, which the Mets won easily, and still thought that in terms of excitement, thrills, and suspense, this Series would never measure up in history. Who knew what was coming...

BOSTON -- Lenny Dykstra's lead-off home run off Oil Can Boyd keyed the Mets' 7-1 rout of the Red Sox. As a 21-year-old college senior living in Boston, I'll never forget sleeping outside Fenway Park to get tix for this game, or sitting behind the Red Sox bullpen in right field when "Nails" pulled that pitch right down the right-field line and just inside the foul/fair pole. After being down 2-0 and dropping those two games at Shea, the Mets needed a laugher.

The Mets tied the series at 2 here as Carter hit two homers over the Green Monster, and Dykstra hit one that went off Dwight Evan's glove and into the seats and the Mets won.

Before this game a friend of mine who was a Mets fan but watched a lot of Red Sox games on one of those old satellite dishes, said to me: "Don't worry, the Mets will win tonight, Al Nipper is the Red Sox' version of Ed Lynch..."

This is the game where the now-infamous "DARRYL" chant began.

I know a lot of people probably make this claim, but I was at this game, and I remember it distinctly 14 years later. I was high above first base, in the upper deck, far from the V.I.P.'s.

I remember how silent Shea got in the top of the 10th when the Red Sox scored those two runs. I remember seeing people flooding out of the ballpark. I couldn't believe anybody would leave early from the sixth game of a World Series. I remember thinking, "If the Mets make a comeback, these people will regret for the rest of their lives the five minutes they saved by leaving early.

I remember, when the Mets had two out and nobody on, the DiamondVision scoreboard briefly, and erroneously, flashing "Congratulations Red Sox." And I remember having my heart in my mouth, desperately hoping against hope, as first Gary Carter, then Kevin Mitchell, then Ray Knight singled to keep the Mets alive.

And, of course, I remember Bob Stanley's wild pitch, and the ground ball Mookie hit that bounced through Buckner's legs. From high above, I figured that Mookie had a chance to beat it out. When it trickled "through the wickets" I remember pointing and shouting "LOOK! LOOK!" as if Ray Knight needed me to tell him to come home with the winning run. I still think sometimes of those people who left early, who must have heard the roar from the ramps and the parking lot. What a night! Being at that game was the peak of my "career" as a baseball fan.

Now here's a coincidence... I was having a college party that night at my house (yes, my parents knew about it! They even joined us for a couple of innings!) Forty of my friends, crammed into my basement, watching one of the most memorable games in World Series History! 37 Mets fans, and 3 Sox fans. when the Sox scored in the top of the 10th, you could hear a pin drop... until the Sox fans started rubbing it in! Revenge is oh so sweet! Bottom 10th, the wild pitch, and I thought the roof was going to blow off the house! Then the grounder thru Buckner's legs! Sheer madness! Yelling in the streets! And the neighbors joined us! To this day, when I talk to friends who were there, they still rave about the great time... though I'm surprised some of them actually remember the night!

I remember watching the game at my Mother's house with my brother and cousin. My brother and I are insane Mets fans, my cousin really couldn't care less. As the bottom of the 10th unfolded, I was laying on one couch, and my brother was laying on another. We just laid there feeling that this glorious season was coming to a crushing end. As we watched the first two Mets make out, and the smile widen on Roger Clemens face, we couldn't help thinking it was all over. As the next series of events unfolded, our gloomy feelings brightened with each Met reaching base, to the point where, when Mookie came up, we were both sitting up on our respective couches feeling that fate may be taking a bizzare turn. All this time my cousin sat on a chair in the corner showing no emotion at all. When the ball went through Buckner's legs and Knight scored, my brother and I jumped up and down on the couches and pounded the furniture like two complete lunatics for at least two or three minutes. All the while my cousin sat there like a statue. Once we had calmed down, my cousin looked at us and jokingly said, in a straight voice, "Who won?" It was an incredible night, and the second greatest memory I have as a Mets fan (for my all-time greatest memory, look at game three of the 1973 NLCS).

i was visiting the cooperstown hall of fame with my wife. we had a nice dinner at a victorian style restaurant out in the woods outside of the village. after dinner we went to the lounge where there was a wide screen tv playing the game. baskets of popcorn and mugs of beer being sold. this being New York state the place was loaded with red sox fans.... when all seemed lost my wife bravely said, don't worry were going to win. Well, after the "impossible happend", we were jumping up and down and screaming our heads off - the place was packed with quiet but angry sox fans giving us the evil eye. we dashed out to the car to hear bob murphy's happy recap --- oh what a night !!!!

I am an avid videotaper. I have 1700 movies on tape and hundreds of "Specials". Events, concerts, prize- fights, etc. But I was so enthralled with the Mets, that I didn't bother to tape any of the games, until the 6th game. When the Mets came up for their last at bat, trailing by two, with Vince Scully bemoaning Howard Johnson and Davy Johnson's mistakes, I told my wife I was gonna turn the VCR off. "Why," she asked, "when you've taped so much of the game. Wait till they make the final out". Thank God I listened, because of her I have the entire 6th and 7th Games of the series, including commercials in my collection. Every once in a while, I put it on just to listen to Vince Scully's error in judgement, and the one error that my wife didn't let me make.

All summer long I felt that this was the Mets' year of destiny, that after going 108-54, we would win the World Series. When we fell behind in the 10th, I couldn't believe what was happening. Being only 17 at the time, I was just naive enough to think the Mets had a chance, even after the two quick outs in the bottom of the 10th. I remember making a big deal about Mitchell getting to third on Ray Knight's base hit. Who knew that a wild pitch was in store! I remember the relief of that play, knowing that our season couldn't end on the next pitch. I felt the destiny was back, that the Mets would win this game somehow, even if it went 15 innings. The Buckner play was a total blur. I had so much adrenaline that I couldn't sleep - I was up until 5 a.m. watching TV looking for every highlight and recap I could find.

I remember the cameras picking up Red Sox pitchers in the bullpen when the Mets were down to their last out. It caught Roger Clemens borrowing a comb from somebody and combing his hair in preparation for the post-game festivities and interviews. It cemented my opinion of him as a jackass, but oh, what a pitcher, and I'm glad the Yanks have him.

I remember I was at home (in Los Angeles) getting ready to go out to a club. I was with about five of my friends and we were all dressed up for a night on the town. We were watching the game and my friends were bugging me to get going in the 10th with two outs because, as they said, "it's over." I convinced them to stay because I wanted to watch the Red Sox run out and celebrate and watch the post game interviews. I remember a quick shot of the red Sox locker room with the lockers covered in plastic and a cart with champagne on it. As each Met got on base, my friends, who had been standing yelling at me to "come on", began to all sit down and watch the events unfold. Once Stanley threw the wild pitch, their faces were fixed on the TV. To this day I will never forget Scully's call of Mookies grounder ... "a little roller up along first, beHIND THE BAG ... HERE COMES KNIGHT AND THE METS WIN IT!!!!!" At that point we were all jumping up and down screaming and were so amped we didn't make it out until 1:30 a.m.. We stayed home drinking and talking about the game until then. It is still, to this day, the greatest single game I have ever witnessed!

I was a photographer for a suburban Indianapolis newspaper and, of course, had to shoot the state high school marching band contest! I kept trying to catch glimpses of the game on the big-screen TVs in the suites at the Hoosier Dome where the contest was being held.

I finally made it back to my upstairs apartment above this elderly couple to watch the game in the eighth inning and thought it was over! The miracle then ensued!! What an unforgettable night! I thought I was going to wake my landlords up when I started leaping up and down celebrating.

Maybe I did. During the series finale on Monday, they called me down to talk to them. Wearing my Mets shirt and Mets hat, they asked me to move out -- said their daughter was coming home with her kids from California and needed the room. Next morning, sure enough, there was her luggage on the back porch! But, I didn't care. The Mets had won!

To this day, I still can't believe the Mets won this game. It defies all probability or logic.

I watched it on TV at my sister's house in Vermont. I had to be quiet because her young son was sleeping in the next room. When the Sox got the second out in the 10th, I started getting ready for bed and said to her, well, it's been a nice season. Then the bottom fell out. I quietly cheered the Mets rally. But when the ball went through BB's legs, I jumped up and let out a yell that could have woken up my nephew. But I didn't care! "The Mets are gonna win!" I screamed.

My sister, who wasn't much of a baseball fan before then (and when she was, she rooted for the Sox), said that this game crystalized her feelings about baseball--meaning that she realized what a great game it is.

As much as I was happy, I felt bad for the Sox. What a way to blow it. They must be truly cursed.

I was in the upper deck in section 37 for this game. I can still see the skydiver floating into the stadium and the startled Keith Hernandez scrambling away. I also remember seeing the "Congratulations 1986 World Chapions Boston Red Sox" on the scoreboard prematurely. I can still see my dad's face ready to cry as we were about to lose the series. Then after all of the miracles and the Buckner ball..the place EXPLODED! I was jumping up and down on my chair and it broke. I still remember people SCREAMING as we left the stadium heading down the exit ramps. There was a fire truck outside trying to get to an emergency and the fans just swarmed it and it didn't go anywhere. What an emotional roller coaster of a night. Still have my ticket stubs too :-)

The Mets broke my heart this night. You guys have your 1969 banner, couldn't you be happy with that? Why wouldn't you give us just one measly banner? We hate the Yankees, we were the original home of Bob Ojeda, what else do you want from us? - A lonely, depressed Red Sox fan

What can I say that hasn't been said. I was a freshman in college at the time and I remember actually crying after Barrett doubled in Boggs. It just couldn't end that way and of course it didn't. I agree that the Wild Pitch was the most emotional moment in my sports-watching life (even more than Scott Norwood's wide right in Super Bowl XXV). I also remember the faces on the Red Sox pitchers in the bullpen and Oil-Can Boyd in the dugout. What awesome revenge. I can almost still taste it.

The at-bat by Mookie has to be the greatest at- bat in the history of the franchise. I've played it videotape from time to time and it is still hard to believe it happened like it did.

Every now and then I think back to this game and still cannot believe the Mets won it. It flies in the face of all reason, probability and possibility. I think, in reality, when Gary Carter came up to start the rally, the two teams entered a worm-hole in the universe, and from that moment until Knight scored, the game was played in a dimension other than our known world. What I'm saying is that the Red Sox (who I felt bad for) really won the 1986 Series. And somewhere in a far-off land, Red Sox fans celebrated that night, while the moon was shining bright.

Just some statistics for you from that miracle inning that I compiled by analyzing the tape:

After the outs made by Backman and Hernandez, the Mets faced 19 pitches with two outs, and had four 2-strike pitches in which the game could have ended had Wilson (or Knight) waved at them (not counting the three 2-strikers that faced Wilson with the game tied).

Now had Buckner made the play, there was a good chance Wilson would have beaten Buckner to the bag, which would have kept the game tied with runners at first and third. HOWEVER, with Howard Johnson at the plate, the Armando Benitez of post- season play, there would be a more than likely chance we would have gone to the top of the 11th, with good old Doug Sisk on the mound.

Don't think for a minute we don't appreciate the favor, Billy.

I was seven years-old...

My parents dragged me to their friends house, whom they had plans with that evening, and I convinced the other children in the house that watching the game was the "cool" thing to do. As the later innings approached, all of the adults in the house came downstairs to watch the game.

I watch the tape of that game today, and can still remember the yelling and screaming I did after the ball went through Buckner's legs. As long as I live, and as many great baseball memories as I'll have, that will always be the day to me that cemented my place as a Met fan and a baseball lover.

As long-term fans (we had our engagement party at Shea Stadium) and season-ticket holders (believe me it was a fortune to us...and worth it), my husband and I sat in the Mezzanine section 8 on the rail, with the two close friends we'd made by sharing that box with them over the years. Our rally caps on, tears flowing and hearts breaking, all clutching each other...we then experienced the most incredible turn-around emotional and thrilling game I can possibly imagine. It was so unbelievably exciting, I can't believe any game in my life will ever match it as long as I live.

Remember the parachutist? In this day and age we would have thought he was a terrorist. Back then it was just fun and exciting and cool.

Also present elsewhere in the stadium was my dear mom and also dear friend Pat Grande. I'm so glad they both were there too.

Even the 7th game that we also attended, where they actually won the Series was anti-climactic if you can believe it. I still miss the fun and friendly regulars in the nearby box seats and their camaraderie, who might still remember Vicky and Joe. I can picture everyone there. Eternal thanks to Tom who later gave me a copy of his videotaped version to enjoy for posterity. (Let's not forget how wild those playoffs were too, but I won't take up any more space here!) Thanks for the memories!

Oh my, the famous game 6.. I was 11 years old and, living in Florida, pretty much the only Mets fan I knew.

I remember my mom let me stay up really late to watch this game. I had practically given up all hope of a World Series win with the loss the day before. But I knew the Mets still had a chance..

When the Sox scored twice in the top of the 10th, I had tears in my eyes. But I put on what would become my 'lucky' baseball glove and forced myself to watch all the way to the final out, cause I thought that's what a real fan would do. Every time the Mets were down to their last strike I was hiding my face in the glove. Then Carter got a hit. Then Mitchell. Then Knight. The magic was starting.

Then Mookie came up and a wild pitch later, it was suddenly looking possible. Then Wilson hit that little dribbler that Bill Buckner will probably never forget. I remember screaming "No!" when he first hit it, thinking there was NO WAY this wasn't the final out... and it quickly turned to "YES YES YES!" when the ball skittered between Buckner's legs. My glove went flying as Knight crossed the plate and I jumped up and down on my bed. Much like Orosco's did the next day.

Everything after that moment is a blur, but I'll never, ever, forget that comeback. It cemented me as an official Mets Fan For Life. Even as a professed Marlins fan these days, I still silently root for the Mets cause that's where the real magic is.

I am a Red Sox fan, and just like the 2003 ALCS was lost as a result of a managerial decision, so was the 1986 series with the Mets. It's rather curious, but I've not heard this position taken by any analyst. Bill Buckner should not have been in the game at the point in time of the infamous error. Throughout the second half of the season, when the Sox were protecting a lead in the late innings, Buckner would come out. He was replaced by Dave Stapelton at 1st for defensive purposes. Why didn't this occur in Game 6? The Sox' manager went brain-dead, again.

I was about 17 and drinking at a party down a couple of blocks where I lived. I had to make curfew and so I left in the 9th inning before the Red Sox went up to bat. I ran, but was drunk so it took longer then it should've, by the time I reach my house the Red Sox already scored the two runs, and the bottom of the 10th just started. My parents were sitting there with the tv off, with my brother (who had MS at the time and couldn't talk because of the disease). I asked why the tv was off, my Dad said your mom shut it off because she can't take watching them anymore. I said turn it on we need to watch the last out, and that was when Mookie was up and the magic happened. I didn't even get in trouble for drinking that night either.

I thought 1969 would never be topped, I was wrong. . Nothing those bums did after this game bothered me as it once might have:1987, Soscia's HR, Dwight and drugs, Daryl leaving(which signalled the end both for him and the Mets) the Dykstra trade, the Torborg years, Bobby Bo,Vince Coleman....right up to Alomar and the Mo(uhhh Vaughn that is). None of it really mattered much as I had been to the depths of hell only to rise to the mountaintop.Maybe that was the story of the whole franchise post Buckner.. I must admit though, Seventeen years later, I still think back on this game,this one moment and smile.

I watched this game at my Dad's house with him and my best friend: three HARDCORE Mets fans. I made the mistake of watching Game 5 at a bar, where there were Boston fans and Yankee fans making a lot of anti-Mets noise.

Like everyone else, we were shocked, depressed, and ready to hit the 'off' button on the TV the minute the Sox closed out the 10th inning. I kept saying 'it wasn't supposed to end this way!' and my Dad and best friend looked like their dog died.

After the second base hit, we perked up a bit, and my Dad got into one of his many (and statistically dubious) "lucky" Mets vantage points in his living room.

When the ball went through Buckner's legs, all three of us (combined weight est. to be 600+ lbs) were jumping up and down in a group hug. I had my hand on my Dad's heart and kept telling him to calm down because he was overweight. Of course he did not.

After a minute, I went and woke up my sister, who could not have cared less about the game, because I felt I HAD to explain what just happened to someone. She was bleary-eyed and feigned happiness...a real good sport.

Hate to commit this sacrilege, but I like Vin Scully's call of this moment better than The Murph's and I love The Murph.

Ahhhh, I bid $25,000 for a time machine that would let me be at the Big Shea for this game. I saw Game 1 and it was the dullest game ever!!!

Another memory of this game:

Remember that utlimate hot dog Dave Henderson catching out #2 in the 10th inning? He threw the ball back in and froze like a statue with a big smile on his face as if to say "this is it, boys."

I actually kind of like Hendu, but in that series, his act was a bit tiresome.

Someone made a great post earlier about Clemens and retribution - great point. I still feel he got off lightly with respect to the two Piazza incidents in 2000, but he will never escape the fact that he chickened out of game 6 when he could have nailed down the WS for Boston.

First of all, this site is very cool! I just purchased this game and am watching it right now. I recall my girlfriend and I were at a party. I kept checking on the game. With the game close late, she and I went to my house (okay, my mom's house) to watch the end. When we got down two outs and two strikes, I recall vividly sitting on the couch, with girlfriend at my side, not believing what I was seeing. I just remember silently urging each hitter to get something going. Then, one by one, they did. When the Mets won, I absolutely couldn't believe it!

The next night, my girlfriend and I watched the Mets win the World Series.

By the way, I married that girl and she's now disgusted at the fact that I collect and watch vintage games as a hobby! Oh well, love her anyway!

I can never forget. I was living in a co-op in Queens at the time. Resigned to the “wait until next year” refrain when suddenly Gary hit a single, then Mitchell, then Knight. . . then. . . Mookie’s at bat . . .

Vince Scully: “A little roller up along first . . . it’s behind the bag!! It gets through Buckner. . . here comes Knight and the Mets WIN IT!!!!”

The whole co-op building SHOOK violently!! I thought it would come down! I guess everyone was looking at the game at the same time.

I imagine the architects of the building said “This building’s solid – unless all of its occupants jump up and down simultaneously. But how likely is that?”

Little did they know!

I’ll never forget that thunderous vibration caused by hundreds of remote, ecstatic Mets’ fans basking in our dramatic and improbable comeback win! Somehow we knew it’d be our last of the century.

I was a Met fan going to college in Massachusetts at the time, so after the first two games I was getting razzed horribly. It calmed down after the Mets won the next two in Boston. My parents were up that night for parents weekend and I missed the start of the game for some stupid dinner dance but watched the rest in their hotel room. With two outs in the tenth I was thinking I'm never gonna hear the end of this. These Sox fans are gonna be so obnoxious, but then the comeback, proof there is a God. I have never nor will I ever leave a game early after seeing this.

Hands down, the greatest Mets game of all time. It started with Roger Clemens, the best pitcher in baseball, vs. Bob Ojeda. If Clemens won, the Sox had the series. Clemens is pitching great, has a 3-2 lead in the 7th, but for some reason, McNamara decides to take him out, and this is when we got our chance. The Mets rallied and tied it in the 8th. The T.V. screen showed Clemens' face in the dugout, which looked almost as if he had just been hit by a truck.

Then in the 10th, Dave Henderson, who had saved the Red Sox from defeat in the ALCS with a three-run bomb on the last strike against the Angels, hit a two-run bomb that seemed to end it for the Mets. Once again, it showed the Red Sox dugout and Clemens and the rest of the team was jumping up and down. In the bottom of the 10th, the first two outs were made and the champagne bottles were being wrapped in the Sox dugout.

No one could dream of what would happen next. Carter gets a base hit, Knight gets a base hit, Keith Mitchell brings in Carter with one strike left, and in comes Bob Stanley. Mookie Wilson stays alive, fouls em off, Stanley throws it to the backstop, and we all went crazy!!! And then... "A little roller up along first... BEHIND THE BAAAAAAAG! IT GETS THROUGH BUCKNER! KNIGHT SCORES AND THE METS WIN IT!!!" Utter chaos.

I always wondered what it was like on the other side, for all those Red Sox fans. And then I thought, nah!

My girlfriend and I were big Mets fans; we would always go to the city to catch the games on SportsChannel. The 86 World Series, my girlfriend's sister won tickets in an office pool (Mezzanine between 1st and home plate), she had no interest in going to the game, lucky us. What an atmosphere in the park had that night. The night starts off with Michael Sergio parachuting into Shea. The game looked hopeless for the Mets that night until something magical happened. The Metsies refused to die. Which old Brooklyn Dodger ghost lifted Buckner's glove that night to change the course of history? One of my future grandkids will someday be the lucky recipient of my game 6 ticket.

I will never forget this game for the rest of my life. Watching with my best friend John and his cousin Steven. I remember starting to cry when Keith Hernandez flied out, and thinking how could we have lost this World Series! Then my friend John's mother says it's not over yet and I just wanted to get up and scream at her to shut the **** up! But I didn't. 3 hits, a wild pitch and a dribbler up along first and John, Steven and myself fell over together on the couch. I was hysterical crying from so much emotion it was such a thrill to watch that game that night, that it really has no words to describe how I felt when Ray Knight scored that winning run. I can honestly say I know now why they are called the amazing Mets. What a game, what a World Series, what a year!

Besides all the obvious euphoria surrounding this game, I remember it was daylight savings time, clocks at 2 am moved back to 1 am. All us Mets fans got an extra hour on a Saturday night to celebrate the greatest "in game" comeback in World Series History! I think i'm still recovering!

I was only 4 years old when this game took place. Sometimes I regret being too young to enjoy this game "LIVE" but what are you going to do? When I first heard about the "Buckner Game" I was 14, it was incredible and simply amazin the way they came back on the Red Sox and the way the Mets were down to their last strike three times and the Red Sox couldn't shut the door. (Not even the 1998 Yankees can recover from that.) Now that I'm 24 years old I purchased the game and I'm watching it now. Every time I'm watching "Game 6" and I hear Vin Scully yell into eternity "BEHIND THE BAG IT GETS BY BUCKNER, HERE COMES KNIGHT AND THE METS WIN IT!!!! I get goosebumps and hoping that some day we can come back like that on the Yankees in a 7th game of a World Series.

This game...where to begin? Since the early 90's, when I got a new copy of the scorecard, (it was published in the 1987 SI baseball preview) it has hung on my wall, with one word written between the Mets and Red Sox's sections: BELIEVE. During the '86 series, I was a month shy of my 14th birthday, and a total baseball geek. The night of game 6 there was a school dance, but I didn't even consider going: the Mets needed this game. In hindsight, it was a hideous managing job by Johnson, mostly revolving around his handling of the shortstops (not letting Santana try to hit Clemens, messing with the bunt sign with HoJo, tossing Elster to the wolves), but blame was easily spread around here as McNamara was even more off his game than Davey. There was the irony, too, of one of the best relievers of the early 90's (the Mets would trade Aguilera just as he was showing talent as a reliever) getting torched for 2 runs.

I was still confident going to the bottom of the 10th, as we had Backman, Hernandez, and Carter coming up-You couldn't ask for much better. After the first two outs, I was on the verge of tears. We won 108 games, won a ton at home, and we were going to be skunked in the World Seies? It was impossible. I wanted to shut off the TV, but I just couldn't- I had to watch the bitter end. Then Carter, Mitchell and Knight all singled to start the impossible. Mookie's at-bat was one of the most amazing things I ever saw. Poor Buckner takes way too much flak when he should have been on the bench or in the hospital getting that ankle operated on. But the impossible happened, and we all could believe in things that seemed impossible.

I still can't believe it when I think of this game. It still seems like a dream.

I was a 14 year old, sitting in a couch at home watching the game on NBC, stunned with a Hendu 10th inning home run and another run coming, with the Mets down to 3 outs after the top of the 10th. I was praying and begging that the Mets, just once - just once more, would pull off a miracle like they did in the Game 6 of NLCS. And we all know what unravelled from there.

To this day, whether baseball game or not, I admit, like all millions of people, that this is one of the most incredible events that I have encountered in my life. When I am at against all odds and have to pull off something in real life, I always think back to THE GAME 6, and say to myself, "hey, the Mets pulled it off, why can't I ?". Well, THE GAME 6 does not happen to our lives every day, but this game really taught a 14 year old a very important lesson in life - don't give in as long as that chance, as miniscule as it may be, is still with you.

On the SNY special "Simply Amazin", they had footage of Bill Buckner saying that "It could come down to someone giving up the winning run by letting the by the way, I was watching all alone in my apartment since my mother had gone to bed and when the ball went through Buckner's legs; I screamed "YES" and my mother ran into the living room thinking that I was being attacked or something. For years afterward, I got to be friendly with a few Red Sox fans and I didn't even dare mention "Game 6" or "Buckner" which is like wishing a member of Jehovah Witness a "Merry Christmas." As a matter of fact, I was glad for the fact that the Red Sox won in 2004 and 2007.

I was in the Uecker seats somewhere along the first base side of the upper deck, one row from the back. I was actually mad when Carter got his hit after Wally and Keith flew out to start the bottom of the 10th. I felt like Carter was just prolonging my agony and there was no way we could win. I just wanted to go home and get a head start on a winter-long depression. The rest of this well documented ending is etched in my mind and will never be topped by any sporting event for the rest of my life. I'll never get over how much the upper deck shook that night. The ending was so frantic that I didn't see the ball go through Buckner's legs. All I knew was Knight scored and we all jumped and screamed as loud as we could. It took a while listening to Murph on the crappy AM radio I brought to figure out what had happened.

It's amazing that fans are still blogging about this historical game decades later! I'm a lifelong Mets fan (Brooklyn native born when the Dodgers won the '55 series). My former paralegal gave me (yes, for free) two lower level, third base line seats because she and her husband, who worked for Ticketron, were not New Yorkers or baseball fans. My wife and I went and it was a Miracle Game, to be sure. Unfortunately, my most striking memory of the event was that a bunch of business men who had a row of seats in front of me left the game in the 6th inning to grab dinner! I thought of all the loyal Mets fans, and baseball fans in general, who would have given their right arms for a chance to attend a NY-Boston World Series. Never forgot seeing a group of non-fans abandon one of the greatest games, in any sport, in history.

I still get goose bumps thinking about it 22 years later.

On October 25th, 1986, I was a long way from Shea, but I was determined not to miss this game...despite the fact that I had to work until after it started, and the despite the fact I was working in Mexico at the time. I was working for a San Diego radio station whose on air studio was in Tijuana.

By the time I finished my shift, I knew I'd never make it across the border and take the trolley home in time to see the game...so I stopped into one of the numerous bars on Ave Revolution, that was jammed packed with Americans and Mexicans... all of whom seemed to be Met fans. It was so crowded, you couldn't even hear the audio on the one 19-inch screen above the bar, but you could tell whenever the Mets made a great play, whether you saw it or not, based on everyone's reaction. By the time Mookie Wilson was at bat in the 10th it was still noisy, but noticeably tense, and the whole place erupted on the wild pitch to tie, and exploded when the grounder dribbled thru Buckner's legs. My ears were ringing from the noise, and I expected the several TJ cops present to shoot their guns in the air...thank goodness, they didn't.

It still amazes me how Buckner has been vilified about this game over the years. THIS JUST IN: Buckner misplaying Mookie's grounder was irrelevant; even if he makes the play the game goes on. Stanley's wild pitch was a far bigger travesty; it tied the game and the Mets were off the hook when Mookie came to bat.

POP CULTURE MOMENT: In the 2011 Garry Marshall movie "New Year's Eve"; there is a scene where the Times Square Ball is darkened by a power glitch and the VP of the Times Square group (played by Oscar winner Hillary Swank) has to get it fixed in time for midnight. In a brief scene, the President of the TS group (played by an uncredited and also a big Mets fan Matthew Broderick) reminds Swank about Bill Buckner's error and how he tells her no one remembers who else was on the field at that moment. NEWSFLASH TO FERRIS BUELLER: Mookie hit the ball, Ray Knight scored the winning run, Bob Stanley threw the pitch (although Calvin Schraldi got the loss) and the rest is history!!

The strangest fact about this great comeback victory was Rick Aguilera’s emergence as the winning pitcher. In the top of the 10th, Aguilera surrendered a leadoff homer, gave up a double and an RBI single and then hit a batter with a pitch in putting the Mets into a deep hole. He had the worst performance of all pitchers in the game and still got the W next to his name. Try to comprehend that one!

People forget that Buckner got hit by a pitch from Aguilera in the 10th inning. He got hit pretty hard and looked as if he wanted to charge the mound. The umpire made sure that wouldn't happen by casually getting in between. Anyway maybe he felt the bruise while playing that ground ball? We'll never know.

I was watching this game over my wife's parents house (we were dogsitting) when the Sox took the 5-3 lead I shut the game off and went to bed I couldn't stand to watch the Mets lose after being the best team all year (fan since 1969) so I heard nothing until the next afternoon when told by my sister that the Mets had won that game, and I argued with her until I saw the highlights of the game. Can't believe I turned game off now.

I didn't even see them win that night because it was past my bedtime. I clearly remember watching the 9th inning, but after the Mets didn't score, my mom made me go to bed because we had church the next day. I couldn't even listen to it on the radio.

So the next morning, we're at church, and EVERYONE is saying "Did you see the Mets game?" "Did you see the Mets game?" "Did you see the Mets game?" I was silently screaming to myself WHAT HAPPENED????" but I didn't ask anyone because I was 9 and shy around strangers.

I finally found out how it happened months later, when I got the 1986 Mets highlight video for Christmas.

I know game 6 is one of the greatest games ever played, but the Mets still had to win game 7 or it wouldn't mean anything. And the Mets were flat in the beginning of the game. My memory of this game is of Sid Fernandez coming in in the 4th and dealing. I think he struck out the side in at least one inning and the momentum swung to the Mets.

I met someone by chance who was looking to unload Game 7 tickets. My brother and I plunked a few bucks to see our team finally win one. The seats were 8 rows behind the Red Sox dugout. We had such a great time. The Mets were down by three in the sixth and we all knew they would win. After what happened in Game 6, how could you not believe? I remember the cool air and the smoky like atmosphere as I panned the packed stadium from my ground level seat trying to absorb the moment and get my monies worth. The crowd was doing a Darr-yl like chant to every Boston player. The sound echoed through the air. We weren't sure if we'd ever be at such a monumental game again, even though the Mets appeared invincible. As we drove away from Shea, strangers were leaning in our car and hugging us. It was great. Whenever I hear talk of retribution to Roger Clemens, I think of Games 6 and 7 in 1986. He thought he was winning but didn't. Thats enough for me.

I was a poor, recent-college grad, working as a photographer for an Indianapolis suburban newspaper. I had just started watching this game on my 13-inch color TV (a set I had bought only weeks before to celebrate the Mets pennant -- before I was still watching games on a 5-inch black and white set I won from my local Dairy Queen in 1982).

Then, my landlords -- an elderly couple -- called me downstairs to talk to them. I thought of all the freakin' times to possibly call me!! Maybe I did too much celebrating after Game 6, I thought, and they just wanted to talk about it. Wearing my Mets shirt and Mets hat, I went down and was then asked to move out.

It wasn't my celebrating, they said, it was just that their daughter and her kids were coming home from California the next morning and needed the room. I went back upstairs, depressed. Grew even more depressed as I watched the Mets fall three runs down, and then celebrated again with their victory.

Sure enough, next morning, there was their daughter's luggage on the back porch! But, I didn't care. The Mets had won!

"Here comes Wilson. Here comes Mazzilli," were the words of Vin Scully after Hernandez singled sharply off of the seemingly invincible Bruce Hurst to put us right back in the game. El Sid was the second coming of Koufax in this epic as he overmatched the Bosox while our bats were still heating up. The sight of Ray Knight homering off of the befuddled Schiraldi is etched in my memory forever. I never doubted them even after Darling fell behind 3-0 early. There was no way we were succumbing to these perpetual losers after we rose like Rasputin in game 6.

The base hit by Keith may be my #1 favorite Met memory of all time. He had no business swinging at a pitch that high -- except that he was Keith and he was clutch.

We were still down after this basehit, but was there any doubt?

Another beautiful sight: Ray Knight's homer hitting that blue tarp behind the wall. When you saw the little dimple in the tarp that was the cue to go crazy.

As a few people have already said, Sid Fernandez sealed his place in Mets history in this one. He was awesome and really turned the momentum by mowing down the Sox for a few innings. Meanwhile, the greatest clutch hitter in Mets history, Keith Hernandez, got the second huge game seven hit of his career (he had a two run single for St. Louis in Game 7 in 1982).

And then in the 9th - after the red stink bomb or whatever it was - Barrett struck out to end the game.

"Swing and a miss. Swing and a miss! Struck him out! Struck him out! and the Mets have won the World Series!" We still love you Murph.

I was 9 years old back in '86 for Game 7. I remember the second inning and the Boston homer that popped out of Straw's glove and over the fence. Then El Sid came in to stop the bleeding and on came the typical Mets rally that was so normal that season. Keith with the 2 RBI's and the Ray Knight putting us ahead for good with a blast. After that I just remember everything in slow motion. Then Straw crushed one and rounded the bases for what seemed like 5 minutes, and I knew the time was close. That damn smoke bomb delaying my celebration! Finally bottom of 9, two down, two strikes...Marty Barrett swings through Jesse Orosco's offering and Jesse launches the glove into outer space. I was jumping on my bed in my parents house and remember then going outside and celebrating with a bunch of my neighbors on the Island.

It all happened 18 years ago. It still stands as one of the greatest memories of my life. Still seems like it was yesterday.

How's this for a coincidence? When the Mets won the World Series in 1969, Jerry Koosman was on the mound. When they were World Champs in 1986, Jesse Orosco was on the mound. The true beauty is that in 1978, Koosman and Orosco were traded for each other.

That was the ultimate birthday present, as I turned 22 that day! Been a Mets fan since I was 5, and don't remember 1969. But, I will ALWAYS remember that last out on 10/27/86.

Keith's three run double didn't really surprise me too much cause after Game 6, everyone knew the Mets had the series. But one thing I will always remember is when Orosco threw that last pitch for Strike 3, he threw his glove up in the air and you never see it come down. Did his glove ever return to the ground? We will never know.

Hmm. well I don't really have much memory of that wonderful day. Would it be maybe because that was the day I was born!! I was born in the morning, and my father STILL went to the game!! Ha Ha. Twenty years later, I am still waiting for my Amazings to pull through again! Another birthday gift? =)

I love my Mets! ahh!

I was a little over one year old when this game took place, so unfortunately was not there watching the game live. However, after buying both games 6 and 7 on videotape through Ebay, I've been able to watch this game over...and over...and over again. This is my favorite Met game of all time. Straw's home run, triumphant, breathtaking and arrogant as he took his sweet time rounding the bases epitmoizes the entire season in my view. Met superiority, the ONE TIME we've been the favorites...God bless the VCR and modern technology!

I was at this game with my father. Although not a Mets fan, I lived in the New York area at the time, and couldn't pass up a chance to be at the seventh game of the World Series.

I will admit I was a bit concerned when Ron Darling gave up the two early Boston home runs, but Davey Johnson's best move was to bring Sid Fernandez into the game in the middle innings. He completely shut the Red Sox down. After the Mets tied the game in the sixth with three runs, I had a feeling they would win.

Then, in the seventh, when Boston manager John Mcnamara brought Calvin Sharaldi in, the fun really began. First, Ray Knight blasted his memorable home run. After that, the stadium just erupted into this haunting chant of "Callll-Vinn Callll-Vinnn", taunting Sharaldi derisively, in the spirit with which the Red Sox fans had taunted Darryl Strawberry at Fenway earlier in the series.

The Red Sox didn't go away, and it got nervous for us fans rooting for the Mets again in the eighth, when Boston scored two off McDowell. Then, after Davey brought Orosco in, Strawberry hit that huge homer, and we had a feeling it was over. Then, Orosco hit an RBI single to boot, and the party could begin.

Although not really a Mets fan, I was very happy when Orosco struck out Marty Barrett of the Sox for the final out. The scoreboard flashed "116" for the Mets 116th win of the season, and it was truly awesome, as I can tell my grandchildren that I was at a clinching game of the World Series. It was an experience to remember.

Can't believe the 25th anniversary is coming up. I still have my ticket stub hanging on my wall, upper reserve section 23, row k seat 5. I didn't really need the seat; no one sat down after the 3rd inning. The stadium was bouncing so much I was glad I was on the top deck. We knew after Game 6 that the series was ours. We waited until after the final out to celebrate with the champagne we snuck in. All these years later and I can't believe it was the last championship. But at least I know I can die in peace. This night made the hardship of being a Mets fan worth it.