On This Date in Sports September 17, 1986: The Clincher
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The New York Mets clinch the division title with a 4-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. The Mets did not have time to celebrate as fans rushed the field and tried up the grass as souvenirs. With Keith Hernandez unable to start due to the flu, September call-up Dave Maganden collects three hits in four at-bats with two RBI to lead the way as the Mets win the National League East for the first time in 13 years.
After falling short of the Division Title, despite 98 wins in 1985, the Mets reported to spring training with a giant chip on their shoulders. Manager Davey Johnson proclaimed the Mets were not going to win the division they were going to dominate. Despite a 2-3 start, the Mets lived up to their manager's boast as they had a franchise-record tying 11-game winning streak and won 18 of their next 19 games to take control of the Eastern Division. This included a four-game sweep of the 1985 Division Champion Cardinals in St. Louis.
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Cocky and arrogant, the Mets had an unrelenting swagger in 1986. They wanted to steal your liquor, screw around with your women and kick your ass, as the Mets became a traveling band of marauders, dominating every step along the way. The Mets' swagger rubbed some the wrong way, but they could answer every challenge as they were involved in four brawls, winning each one.
No player on the Mets had a career season but had four starters in the All-Star Game. Darryl Strawberry had a second-half slump, but the Mets of 1986 had contributions up and down the roster. The resurgence of Ray Knight was crucial to the Mets as he batted .298, following an injury-plagued 1985 season in which he hit .218. All five starting pitchers won at least ten games, as did Roger McDowell, who shared the closing duties with Jesse Orosco.
Gary Carter had been the Mets MVP most of the season but suffered a thumb injury in August. Without Carter, the Mets did not slow down, as Ed Hearn was strong in his place, while John Gibbons made one of the great defensive plays in Mets history, a game-ending 8-2-5 double play against the San Diego Padres. The play ended an 8-1 West Coast road trip that extended the Mets' lead in the East to 20 games.
The Mets had a chance to clinch the Divison five days earlier but were swept by the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium when just one win would have secured the division title. After splitting two games in St. Louis, the Mets just needed a win at home with Dwight Gooden on the mound to reach the postseason for the first time since 1973.
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Dennis Eckersley, in the midst of a terrible season, got the start for the Cubs, as the Mets were without Keith Hernandez, who was under the weather and unable to get the start at first base. Instead, it was Dave Magadan, a rookie who was a September callup and had two career at-bats getting the start at first. Magadan ripped a single that scored Lenny Dykstra in the third inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Darryl Strawberry followed with a run-scoring single that plated Wally Backman to make it 2-0. Dave Magadan drove in Dykstra with a single again in the fifth inning as Strawberry made it 4-0 with a single in the seventh.
The Cubs got two runs on a home run by Rafael Palmeiro (the second of his career) as Keith Hernandez came into the game expecting a celebration. In the ninth, the Cubs got two runners on base as Dwight Gooden looked to finish the game with Chico Walker at the plate. Walker hit a soft grounder to Backman at second as fans began to rush the field, with the final out.
The fans damaged the field, leading the Mets to ban future crazy celebrations by bringing mounted police for the playoffs and World Series. The grounds crew miraculously got the field ready for an afternoon game the following day, as the Mets at 95-50 had a post clinch lineup and beat the Cubs 5-0, with Rick Anderson beating Greg Maddux in a battle of rookie pitchers. The Mets would finish 108-54 and won the World Series beating the Boston Red Sox in seven games, following a dramatic six-game battle with the Houston Astros in the NLCS.