Baseball Like it Oughta Be---The 1986 New York Mets

[rjl518]

There are many baseball teams i have watched in my 45 years of life.
I was born in 1969.
I was a small baby when the 1969 New York Mets were AMAZING, so i didnt know what baseball was at that time, obviously.
But, when i learned what it was all about, i started to watch this great game and begin to remember.
I have seen the 1975 Cincinnati Reds win it all with the Big Red Machine.
I have watched some guy by the name of Mr. October and the 1977 New York Yankees take the baseball world by storm.
I thought there was no way the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates would win it all, and they proved me wrong.
I saw the 1985 Kansas City Royals become Missouri's favorite team over the St. Louis Cardinals for one great year.
I had watched Kirk Gibson blast probably the most improbable home run is WS history with the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers.
I have seen the ground shake with the 1989 Oakland Athletics, besides McGuire and Canseco hitting HRs to do it.
I couldnt believe it when Joe Carter of the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays, hit a HR off of Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams to keep the championship in Canada for another year.
I have seen the 1998 New York Yankees dominate baseball with 114 wins and take another world series championship.
I have watched the 1997 Florida Marlins, a team bought and designed to win the championship, dash the hopes of Cleveland fans.
I was in awe of the 2003 Florida Marlins, a team that had no business winning the world series, do just that, with some of the best exhibitions of pitching and fielding i had ever seen in the Fall Classic.
I watched the 2004 Boston Red Sox do, what had never been done before, to finally lift the "Curse of the Bambino" and win their first world series in over 80 years!
Then, the very next year, the 2005 Chicago White Sox, wins the title and the South Side celebrates their first world championship since 1917.
I thought the series was over, but the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals, said, "We Dont Think So!"
And of course, we have all just watched the 2014 San Francisco Giants win it all behind the pitching of Madison Bumgarner, who was being mentioned in the same breath with Christy Mathewson, some baseball legend that no one alive has ever seen, unless you were born in 1916, which was the last year he played for the Cincinnati Reds.

All of these teams i remember and all of these teams i had seen win their respective championships.
However, there is one team i have not mentioned.
Not because they were lesser than all the others IMO.
On the contrary, i believe they were the BEST baseball team i ever saw.
They had it all.
Pitching with the likes of Darling, Fernandez, and a guy that the baseball world refered to as Dr. K!
They had hitting with players such as Strawberry, "Nails", a guy named Wally, and Mitchell!
The fielding wasnt too bad either, considering you had some pretty good fielders on the team such as Hernandez, Santana, and of course, "The Kid" behind the plate!
They had a scrappy manager by the name of Davey Johnson, who tried to manage the team a little differently than his predecessors.
Yes, of course, i am speaking about the 1986 New York Mets!!!

Im not saying that this team is the best in baseball history.
That argument i would probably NEVER win.
This is, IMO, the best baseball team i have ever SEEN in all my years of watching baseball.
You might think im biased because they also happen to be my favorite baseball team ahead of the Miami Marlins.
Youre probably right.
But does that really make a difference?
The great thing about OOTP, we can live those great baseball times over and over and over again.

They had it all, including a little luck from some poor schmo named Bill Buckner and a very dubious pitching change from the Red Sox manager, Terry McNamara, bringing in Bob Stanley to pitch in the bottom of the 10th of game six of the 1986 world series.

Was the 10th inning of that game the greatest inning in baseball history?
The Red Sox with two in the top, and the Mets with three in the bottom?
I was there for that game as well as all SEVEN games of that series.
The four at Shea and the three at Fenway when i was fifteen years old with my grandfather in October in 1986.
That is a story in itself for another time.

To commemorate the launch of OOTP16, i will play out every game of the 1986 baseball season with the 1986 New York Mets.
I will use full replay, which means actual lineups and actual transactions throughout the year.
But i will manage every game and give a report on it.
From Opening Day to the final out of what i hope to be, the actual real life end of that season.
A world series championship.
Can i do what they did?
Can i repeat as world series champions?
Will it be easier for me or harder?
There was some pretty good teams in 1986.
In the American League:
The Boston Red Sox had "The Rocket", Bruce Hurst, "Oil Can", Boggs, Henderson and Barrett.
The New York Yankees had Tommy John, Guidry, Wynegar, "Donny Baseball", Rickey Henderson and Winfield.
The Detroit Tigers had Morris "The Cat", Trammell, Whitaker, and Gibson.
The California Angels had Sutton, Boone, Joyner, Downing, and Reggie.
The Texas Rangers had Hough, Porter, Parrish, McDowell, and Sierra.
The Kansas City Royals had Saberhagen, Cone, Brett, Bo Jackson, and Balboni.
In the National League:
The Philadelphia Phillies had Carlton, Daulton, Schmidt, and Redus.
The St. Louis Cardinals had Tudor, LaValliere, Smith, and Coleman.
The Montreal Expos had Martinez, Fitzgerald, Wallach, and Dawson.
The Houston Astros had Scott, Ashby, Davis, and Bass.
The Cincinnati Reds had Browning, Diaz, Larkin, and Davis.
The San Francisco Giants had Mulholland, Melvin, Clark, and Davis.
Countless more players and teams that i havent mentioned.


Since this is a REPLAY and NOT a DYNASTY, i will NOT be using my Expanded Playoff System!
Therefore, i MUST win the National League East Division in order to make the playoffs!


So everyone...with OOTP16 i will begin my FIRST REPLAY.

Starting Opening Day, April 8, 1986, (April 8, 2015),

Please enjoy the 1986 NEW YORK METS!!!

BASEBALL LIKE IT OUGHTA BE!!! LETS GO METS!!!

I will start with a short preseason report in the next reply.

[Dr.K]

The Mets from 1984 - 1988, I lived and breathed this team, let's go Mets!

[rjl518]

There really isnt much to say except that the 1986 New York Mets were LOADED!
Starting with the lineups, Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, Lenny Dykstra and Darryl Strawberry were the anchors of the team.
But i wont take anything away from Backman, Mitchell, and Wilson, for obvious reasons.
They were the clutch hitters and the game savers for the Mets thru that wonderful year.
As far as the pitching goes, well i will let the picture say for itself.
Dwight Gooden aka "Dr. K", Ron Darling, Bob Ojeda and "El Sid" Fernandez might have been one of the best rotations in the history of the game.
And when you have TWO awesome closers in Roger McDowell, who dominated against the righties, and Jesse Orosco who dominated against the lefties, the Mets just didnt close doors...they SLAMMED them!
Davey Johnson was the manager of this club.
He made the last out for the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 WS against the Amazing Mets.
Now, it was his job to make the Mets world champions again.
He played a very scrappy style of the game, and he usually let his players have the run of the team, that was controversial to say the least.
But in the end, he played his own style of baseball, and played it well.
At the end of the 1986 season, the Mets were champions again.
My job is to replicate this success in OOTP16.
I think my job will be tougher than his!

[rjl518]

Since OOTP follows the actual schedule AS PLAYED and not AS SCHEDULED, April has a lot of holes in it due to postponed games.
The Mets will be facing PIT, PHI, STL and ATL in the first month of the season.
I will be managing the team for the games, but I am doing this as a full REPLAY.
Therefore the actual starting lineups and transactions will be used for this dynasty.
Transactions such as the NYM getting Lee Mazzilli later in the season will occur on schedule.
I can make changes during the game being played if i want to and im sure i will.
It will be very difficult to get the 108 wins the Mets had that year.
But, all i care about is getting that championship again.
Who knows?
Might not even make the playoffs.
Maybe we will play somebody else besides that awesome Houston Astros team or that that spectacular Boston Red Sox club.
As the season progresses, i will give reports on the rest of the MLB.
Opening Day is April 8.
Lets see what i can do.
Everyone...please stand up and clap your hands and prepare to watch...

BASEBALL LIKE IT OUGHTA BE!!!

THE 1986 NEW YORK METS!!!

[rjl518]

The Preseason Predictions were released today!
I dont know...what do you guys think?

Opening Day is April 8th!!

[The Game]

Although i become a baseball fan in 1985 with the White Sox, I really started to watch baseball with the 1986 Mets. Wilbur Duggleby, who is in every league I create was born during game 6.
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3619715
He is the best OOTP player i have seen.
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3837526

I use the facegens for many of the '86 Mets for Wilbur's brother, nephews and son. Also in my world the Mets are perhaps the best team over the last 17 yrs.

[rjl518]

Originally Posted by The Game

Although i become a baseball fan in 1985 with the White Sox, I really started to watch baseball with the 1986 Mets. Wilbur Duggleby, who is in every league I create was born during game 6.
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3619715
He is the best OOTP player i have seen.
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3837526

I use the facegens for many of the '86 Mets for Wilbur's brother, nephews and son. Also in my world the Mets are perhaps the best team over the last 17 yrs.

Holy cow!!! The man is a MACHINE!!!

[rjl518]

4/8

The first game of the 1986 season went a little awry, but the NYM managed to pull out the win against PIT 8-7 on the road at Three Rivers Stadium!
The Mets left 14 on base, but D. Gooden managed to do the job.
I think i should have let him pitch longer even though he was over 100 pitches into the 7th.
The game started to unravel a little when i brought Doug Sisk into the game, but Randy Myers and Roger McDowell, managed to hold the lead and allow Jesse Orosco to close the door.
This game was a little closer than i would have liked, but now i know to leave my starters in a little longer.
The Pirates committed 4 errors also, which allowed the Mets a few extra runs.
Backman, Carter and Foster each had two hits each to help the Mets win their opening day game.

1986 Season: 1-0

The Mets do not play again until the 11th when they go the Vet to play the Philadelphia Phillies.
Veterans Stadium...what a dump that was!

[rjl518]

4/11

The NYM take their 1st loss of the regular season as they are downed by PHI 2-1 at Veterans Stadium.
Kevin Gross outdueled Ron Darling in a pretty close game.
Mike Schmidt of the Phillies started the scoring with a HR in the 2nd.
The Mets were able to tie it up in the 5th with a base hit from Gary Carter.
But in the 8th, Juan Samuel smacked an RBI single off of Darling to put PHI ahead for good.
Steve Bedrosian closed the game out for the Phillies in the 9th.

1986 Season Record:1-1

[rjl518]

4/12

Now this is the 1986 Mets that im talking about.
At Veterans Stadium, the NYM blasted PHI by a score of 10-0!!
The Mets were merciless in this game with "El Sid" striking out 13!
Hernandez went 4 for 5 including 2 HRs off of Steve Carlton netting 5 RBIs.
Tim Teufel played his 1st game of the year and went 3 for 5 with an RBI.
Gary The Kid smacked a HR also and went 2 for 5 with a pair of RBIs.
Even Fernandez helped out his cause with a pair of singles.
These are the kind of games I expect to see a lot of.
These are the 1986 NYM!!!

Season Record: 2-1

[rjl518]

The first week of the 1986 baseball season is over.
The Mets did not play much this week due to the amount of rainouts that occurred during that time.
But they still played some hardball.
The Mets are 2-1 after the 1st week trailing the Cubs and Cardinals by .5 game.
Keith Hernandez is leading the Mets early in batting while Sid Fernandez leads in pitching.
Really not much to report this early in the season except that Darryl Strawberry has been leaving his baseball bat at home.
After 3 games, an AVG of .077.
I know he will turn things around.

[rjl518]

4/13

The Phillies actually take 2 out of 3 from the Mets in this young season as they win the rubber game of this set 6-2.
Rick Aguilera got the start and pitched well into the 7th against PHI Shane Rawley.
Mike Schmidt and Darren Daulton provided most of the offense for PHI as they combined for 4 hits and 5 RBI, including Daulton hitting a HR off of Ed Lynch in the 8th.
The Mets had many chances to blow the game open, but they just couldn't get over the hump in this one.
They left 9 men on base.

1986 Record: 2-2

[rjl518]

4/14

The 1986 Mets have their home opener today.
They opened up a can of whoop a$$ on the St. Louis Cardinals as the Mets crushed them 10-2.
NYM Dwight Gooden got the call and gave up 2 runs on 8 hits getting the complete game as well.
George Foster, however was the man for the Mets as he went 2 for 3 including a HR in the 2nd off of STL Ricky Horton.
Then, in the bottom of the 5th, the Mets bombed the Cardinals with 7 runs scored.
Rafael Santana, had one of his better games, as he went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI.
A nice way to start the home stand, with a convincing win.
The Mets dont play again until April 18th, because rain washed out the rest of the series against STL.

1986 Record: 3-2

[CatKnight]

During this year I was a BoSox fan and Bill Buckner broke my heart. It'll be interesting watching this from the other side.

[rjl518]

well...I hope you enjoy reading it Cat...cuz im enjoying doing it...

on the subject of Bill Buckner...that would have been a very tough play even if he had made the play on the ball...I still don't think he would have beaten mookie to 1st...and the game was already tied at that point...the person to blame really is john McNamara...WHY do you bring in Bob Stanley??

[rjl518]

4/18

It was 36 degrees at Shea Stadium.
But the New York Mets were hot!
Ron Darling had 8 Ks and 4 BB in a 7-1 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Mets got to Steve Carlton early with 2 runs in the 2nd and Gary Carter bombed one out in the 4th scoring 3 RBI.
"The Kid" went 2 for 3.
The Phillies had chances to score, but they left 9 on base in this game.

1986 Record: 4-2

[rjl518]

4/19

You know with the 1986 Mets, that you never count out this team, no matter what inning they are in, or how far behind they are.
Down 3-1 going into the bottom of the 9th, PHI Steve Bedrosian blows the whole game.
The Mets load the bases and "The Kid", who played LF in this game, gets a 2-RBI walk off single.
That was the difference maker as the Mets win the game 4-3.
Gooden pitches a CG with 8 Ks.
The Mets commit 4 errors.
PHI Shane Rawley was masterful as he kept runners off base.
But somehow, this team won the game and the Phillies know that this one got away from them.
Kevin Mitchell and Gary Carter were both 4 for 5 tonight combing for all 4 of the Mets runs.
I am a happy Mets fan!
Hope you Mets fans are happy too.

1986 Record: 5-2

[rjl518]

At the end of the 2nd week of the 1986 Season, the Mets are where they should be...1st place in the NL East.
A couple of trends i see.
The Mets lineup dominates LHP.
Carter, Hernandez and Foster are hitting very well this season.
Mets pitching is doing whats expected...winning ball games.
However, i had to send the police to Darryl Strawberry's house in New York.
For some reason, he hasnt even shown up to play baseball this year.
He has an average of .037!!!
Since i am using the actual starting lineups for the 1986 season, i cant bench this guy or send him back to the minors, and i mean WAY back to the minors, like Short Season A!!
I asked him, "Are you taking something that i should be aware of?"
He looked at me and sniffed and said, "No comment, Boss. Dont worry...Ill turn things around!"
I just rolled my eyes, went back into my office, closed the door and prepared for the next game against the Phillies.
I wonder...did Davey Johnson have problems like this during the 1986 season?

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by rjl518

Hope you Mets fans are happy too.

Four errors are nothing to sing praise about.

[rjl518]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Four errors are nothing to sing praise about.

Hey...we won the game alright?