Jeff Pearlman: The Bad Guys Won!

I am currently in the middle of reading a Jeff Pearlman's fantastic look into the 1986 Mets called The Bad Guys Won. The book goes into great detail into the wild times and charismatic characters on the '86 Mets, a group that eventually wound up winning the World Series.

In the words of Pearlman, "they played hard, and partied harder."

Obviously, partying is not exactly the ideal recipe for success in baseball. But the '86 Mets were so talented that they were able to play well in spite of their wild ways and run through most of the competition.

On top of it all, the '86 Mets team loved baseball. Need proof? Just look at what some of the members of the '86 team are up to now:

Randy Niemann: Mets bullpen coach

Bob Ojeda: SNY Mets pregame analyst

Ron Darling: SNY Mets TV announcer

Keith Hernandez: SNY Mets TV announcer

Darryl Strawberry: SNY Mets TV analyst

Gary Carter: Long Island Ducks manager

Wally Backman: Joliet Jackhammers manager

Howard Johnson: Mets batting coach

Ray Knight: MASN Nationals TV analyst

Tim Teufel: St Lucie Mets manager

Danny Heep: University of Incarnate Ward manager

Roger McDowell: Atlanta Braves pitching coach

Rick Anderson: Minnesota Twins pitching coach

Lenny Dykstra: nutjob.

As you can see, a large portion of the roster is directly involved in baseball in some capacity and a number of guys (Gooden, Mazzilli and Santana), were involved in baseball in previous seasons.

I highly recommend this book for all Mets fans and baseball fans simply because it's a fun, witty, and insightful read. And plus, there is plenty of George Foster to go around...for now!