The Greatest Day of My Life

There was a time in life when I was young and innocent. I always believed. And why not? I rooted for the Mets, the 1986 Mets in particular.
Those Mets were one of the greatest teams in the history of baseball. And it wasn't just that they won, it was the way the won.
Like July 3rd, when they trailed 5-3 in the 10th inning and then Darryl Strawberry homered to tie it and Ray Knight who had already struck out 4 times, homered in his 5th at bat to win it.
Or July 22nd, when the Mets beat the Reds in 14 innings while shuffling relievers between the mound and the outfield after several players got ejected during a bench-clearing brawl. I have described this game as one of my favorite games ever.
Or the entire NLCS against the Astros. The Mets constantly had their backs to the wall but they always won. They always believed and so did I.

25 years ago today, the Mets staged their greatest comeback.

Trailing by two runs, with two out and nobody on Gary Carter singled.

I don't remember exactly how I felt at the moment, but I know I hadn't given up the way I would have now.

Kevin Mitchell singled.

I remember watching this game with my entire family. We were crammed onto my parents bed.

Ray Knight singled. Gary Carter scored. Kevin Mitchell advanced to third.



At some point my mom admitted this game was "a little exciting."

Bob Stanley throws a wild pitch. Kevin Mitchell scores to tie the game. Ray Knight advances to second.



"Here comes Mitchell! Here comes Mitchell!"

And then it happened. The moment of pure joy and happiness that has stayed with me for 25 years.

Mookie Wilson hits a slow roller down the first base line.

Then Bob Murphy utters the 3 greatest words in the English language:

"Gets By Buckner!"

And in that moment we all started jumping on my parents' bed, as I am sure young kids all over New York did the same.



I'm getting chills while writing this. It was 25 years ago.

What an incredible moment. Proof that anything can happen, as long as you keep trying to make it happen.

The ensuing 25 years have not been kind to those Mets. Two days later (there was a rainout), they won the World Series. Three days later Dwight Gooden missed the victory parade because he was snorting coke in a hotel room. A confession he made only recently, though everyone knew it for years. Gooden served a suspension for drugs at the beginning of 1987 and the rest of the pitching staff was wracked by injuries. Then in 1988 the Mets lost in the NLCS to an inferior Dodgers team. By 1989 Carter and Hernandez and Mookie were too old and this amazing team only won one World Series.

Gooden and Strawberry were drug addicts. Kevin Mitchell was crazy too, reportedly killing a cat. Jesse Orosco, Doug Sisk and Danny Heep were the "Scum Bunch" who used to sit on the back of and drink and act like assholes. Gary Carter was media-obsessed and unpopular with his teammates.

But none of that mattered on October 25, 1986. All I know is the Mets won in the most impossible, unbelievable, exhilarating, thrilling and memorable fashion.

So memorable that it was turned into one of the greatest season highlight videos ever: "1986 Mets: A Year to Remember."

Note: that video uses the radio broadcast which is why I use Bob Murphy's "gets by Buckner" as opposed to Vin Scully's "gets through Buckner" even though I was watching on TV and listening to Scully at the time.

Over the years I have watched that video so many times and each time it brings me back to that moment on my parents' bed, with my family, jumping, screaming, hugging, and enjoying a moment the likes of which I have never seen in the 25 years since, and will likely never see again.