dwight gooden

Spilled Milk: Mark Langston and Two Throw-Ins

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Author’s Note: We interrupt the Spilled Milk Series to focus on a story that many of the current fans may have either forgotten or don’t know about. It’s the story of how the Mets missed their chance to extend their great mid- to late-80s run. As a courtesy to our readers and to help protect your valuable keyboard, monitor, or smart phone, The Mets Today staff will notify you when the “spit take” part of this article arrives. Next week, we’ll look at other big deals from the post-1986 era that didn’t happen.

Two events signaled the end of the Mets 1984-1990 winning streak. One is obvious and occurred in the 9th inning of Game Four of the 1988 NLDS. To paraphrase Casey Stengel: you can look that one up. The other occurred about five months later and while somewhat less dramatic than the events of that terrible October evening, had an equally devastating impact on the team’s immediate and long-term future.

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18 DUPACR: Darryl Strawberry

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You were expecting Jeff McKnight, weren’t you?

I will admit, though, there was a nanosecond where I considered honoring Joel Youngblood for the 18th Day Until Pitchers And Catchers Report. But really, there was never a question, for so many reasons.

It goes back to being a Mets fan in the late 1970s to early 1980s — a dark, ugly time for the franchise (particularly after they traded The Franchise). The team was bad. The future looked bleak. The original owners sold the club to a book publisher and a real estate magnate, but it was hard to see how that was going to help. Despite the incessant commercials produced by the high-priced, well-intentioned ad agency, the “magic” most certainly was NOT back. The situation seemed hopeless — until June 1980, when

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Comparison: 1990 Mets and 2011 Phillies

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The 1990 Mets looked great on paper, headed by what looked like the best starting rotation seen in Flushing since the days of Seaver, Koosman, and Matlack.

It looked like this:

1. Dwight Gooden
2. Frank Viola
3. David Cone
4. Ron Darling
5. Sid Fernandez
6. Bob Ojeda

Doc was 100% healed from a shoulder injury that marred his 1989 and at 25 years old, and primed to regain dominance as the most feared righty in baseball. Viola was only 30, two years removed from a Cy Young Award, and considered the top lefthanded starting pitcher in MLB. Cone was coming off a so-so year (for him), but put up numbers similar to those that helped him go 20-3 in ’88. Both Darling and Fernandez were coming off of 14-win seasons, and seemed to be turning a corner — many thought ’90 would be the “breakout year” for each of the previously inconsistent pitchers. The rotation was so deep, Ojeda was banished to the bullpen, despite still having enough stuff to be a #3 or possibly #2 on another club.

On offense, the Mets had returning

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2010 Analysis: Jenrry Mejia

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20-year-old Jenrry Mejia was the youngest pitcher to toe the rubber as a New York Met since Dwight Gooden in 1984. Mejia’s blazing fastball, cool composure, and speck of cockiness impressed manager Jerry Manuel much the same way Gooden struck Davey Johnson 25 years before. Manuel, like Johnson, begged and pleaded to allow the front office to bring the flamethrower North at the close of spring training. Also like Johnson, Manuel got his wish.

Unlike Johnson, however, Manuel was

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Left Field Entrance

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This is where I entered the park, because the entrance at the Jackie Robinson Rotunda was a madhouse. I like the black and white photos of Tom Seaver, Tug McGraw, Rusty Staub, Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, etc. Above each entrance is a steel figurine (sculpting?) of a key moment in Mets history. As seen below, … Read more