20 Years Ago: A Look Back at the 1988 Mets

Source: Hot Stove New York.

The year was 1988. Bill Cosby’s sweaters hypnotized us into buying Jell-O Pudding Pops. The nation was swept up in the controversy of the day: Which one of the Golden Girls was Axl Rose singing about in “Sweet Child o’ Mine” (Of course it turned out to be Bea Arthur)? And the movie Cocktail inspired a generation of children to quit playing Go Fish, drop out of elementary school and become bartenders. And 1988 was the year the Mets should have won their second World Series in three years.

After winning 92 games and finishing three games behind the Cardinals the year before, the Mets steamrolled over the rest of the National League East, finishing with a 100-60 record and beating the second-place Pirates by 15 games. In 1987, injuries ripped apart the starting rotation, but in ’88 their five-man rotation started all but four games. The team finished with a Major League best 2.91 ERA. And the offense led the league in runs scored and home runs. The Davey Johnson–led squad was poised to take on the star-powered (or steroid-powered?) Oakland A’s in what could have been the matchup of the decade. But a funny thing happened on the way to the World Series―the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After winning the first game, the Mets lost in game two when David Cone gave up five runs in only two innings pitched. But he was most remembered for firing up the Dodgers by saying Jay Howell had a “high school curveball” while being a guest columnist for one of the local papers. The Mets bounced back in game three to take the series lead but game four was a nightmare as Mike Scioscia hit a two-run homer off Dwight Gooden in the ninth inning, and Kirk Gibson homered off Roger McDowell in the 12^th to win it. LA won again the next night, but Cone got his revenge by picking up a complete-game victory in the sixth game. Though the Dodgers went on to win the deciding game easily, by a score of 6-0.

Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez were near the end of their careers at this point. Each only hit 11 home runs, with Carter driving in 46 and Hernandez 55. Hernandez only played 95 games that season. Carter led the league in self-serving comments and unctuous smiles, though. And Hernandez’s mustache made the All-Star team, but the first baseman had to watch the game from home as he was not invited. Rounding out the infield were the second-base platoon of Wally Backman and Tim Teufel, shortstop Kevin Elster and third baseman Howard Johnson. Backman led the team with a .303 average and had a badass attitude to go along with his badass tattoo that said “Born to be a Badass” (which was hidden under his mustache). Teufel only batted .234 while sporting his “Born to be Pleasant” tattoo. Elster had movie-star-like good looks and could get any chick he wanted to, which covered for his .214 batting average. And HoJo hadn’t quite come into his own yet, still preoccupied with wondering why in the hell his parents would name him after a hotel chain.

Out in right field was should-have-been-MVP Darryl Strawberry. He led the NL in home runs (39), slugging percentage (.545) and was second in RBIs (101). After losing out on the MVP, he decided to take it out on the writers who didn’t vote for him by not paying his taxes. Lenny Dykstra and Mookie Wilson continued to split time in center field. With Dykstra dripping with tobacco juice and Mookie dripping with class, they were the black-and-white cookie of platoons. In left field was quiet, placid Kevin McReynolds. He belted 27 homers and drove in 99 runs. In fact he was so quiet, most of his teammates didn’t even know he was on the team. They thought he was allowed to sit in the dugout wearing a uniform because he was GM Frank Cashen’s “special” nephew.

The starting rotation was the best in baseball. Dwight Gooden started the All-Star game, and finished the season with an 18-9 record and a 3.19 ERA. He was at the height of his celebrity as he spent the off-season appearing on The Wonder Years in a recurring role as Kevin Arnold’s new “tall” but troubled friend who just moved to Long Island from Tampa. David Cone had the best year of his career going 20-3 with a 2.22 ERA. In one of the best trades in Mets history, he was acquired from the Royals for Ed Hearn and a long-ago-retired Felix Millan. “Can they do that?” Millan asked at the time, as he reluctantly moved to Kansas City. Ron Darling (17-9, 3.25), Bob Ojeda (10-13, 2.88) and Sid Fernandez (12-10, 3.03) filled out the rotation.

The bullpen was led by the lefty-righty combo of Randy Myers (26 saves, 1.72 ERA) and Roger McDowell (16 saves, 2.63 ERA). Myers was later traded for John Franco because he wasn’t from Brooklyn. And McDowell was well-known for his hot-foots and, of course, was the infamous second spitter when he hit Kramer with his on-target loogy. Terry Leach also had an excellent season out of the pen, where he recorded a 2.54 ERA. On the bench were veteran Lee Mazzilli (there was a recall of his posters from the ’70s because he only batted .147), Dave Magadan, Barry Lyons and Mackey Sasser. Sasser developed Steve Sax Syndrome, who had previously come down with Steve Blass Disease. And Gregg Jefferies batted .321 in 29 games. The Mets held back his plate appearances so he would qualify for the Rookie of the Year award in ’89. That didn’t quite work out as planned.

This was really the last chance for the 1980s Mets. They would only win 87 games the next year, then the total dismantling of the team would get underway after that. And this was the last time the Mets would win 100 games. It was fun while it lasted, though.