The Wild Celebration

[Benjamin Grimm]

I know what you mean. I was 10 in 1973, and didn't appreciate how special that postseason appearance was. I knew the Mets had been there just four years earlier. I had not idea it would be another 13 before it would happen again.

[Valadius]

Of course, this is the first division title I can appreciate, having been a year old in 1988. So this is freaking sweet for me.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find a picture of Pete Flynn's puzzle-piece re-shodded Shea infield from 1986.

The Mets had a day game the next day in 1986, so the grounds crew had to stay up all night fixing what the the vandalous fans had undone.

[Theoldmole]

Hey, we won!!!!!!

[Theoldmole]

]so the grounds crew had to stay up all night fixing what the the vandalous fans had undone.

He was a year away from being born,

[Valadius]

I found a pic of Pete Flynn at least:

[Lundy]

] Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find a picture of Pete Flynn's puzzle-piece re-shodded Shea infield from 1986. The Mets had a day game the next day in 1986, so the grounds crew had to stay up all night fixing what the the vandalous fans had undone.

I was at that game, and I have the game on tape somewhere. It was a patchwork quilt of a field.

[Valadius]

I love Heath Bell:

]Most of the chicanery came from the Mets. In the clubhouse, they drenched each other with Freixenet Extra Dry and Bud Light. Heath Bell stole a magnum of champagne from owner Fred Wilpon and tried to find quarter-full bottles of the Freixenet he could siphon into his giant bottle. Lo Duca stole the fire hose used to keep the field wet and sprayed water at the thousand or so fans who stuck around for more than an hour to celebrate.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I don't mind saying... Wright looked kind of jerky slogging back out there with the cigar.

Most guys look jerky with cigars, of course, but I imagine non-Met fans wanting to punch him.

Wright still rules, of course.

[MFS62]

So I guess Steve Traschell is saving his private collection of vintage wines for a more important celebration.

Later

[metirish]

] I don't mind saying... Wright looked kind of jerky slogging back out there with the cigar.

I was thinking that myself.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Edgy DC wrote: Most guys look jerky with cigars, of course, but I imagine non-Met fans wanting to punch him.

I hope not. I just sent that photo to an A's fan friend of mine, with instructions that, at the very least, they need to knock off the MFYs in the playoffs.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Athletics-Yankees is more likely in the ALCS isn't it?

I'd prefer to see the Yankees get whacked by Detroit or Minnesota in the Division Series.

[metirish]

This is a great picture,nothing jerky here

[MFS62]

I just had a Luis Tiant flashback.
He smoked some of the biggest stogies in the history of mankind.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

Didn't the daily reports of Willie's unsmoked cigar remind you of the "first victory" cigar that Mike Piazza had for Willie last year? That one went unsmoked for five games.

Maybe Willie should switch to lollipops instead of cigars, like Telly Savalas did.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Athletics-Yankees is more likely in the ALCS isn't it? I'd prefer to see the Yankees get whacked by Detroit or Minnesota in the Division Series.

That works for me too.

[stevejrogers]

cooby wrote: You're not alone, MFS62. For me, the fact that I couldn't watch it, plus I still miss a good pennant race, meant that last night was just another night for me. That plus I had the wind taken out of my sails a few times this summer, which kinda just lets me down in general. The playoffs, now that will be another story!

I think the difference is that 1986 was the culmulation of 13 long years, especially after bitter dissapointments in 1984 and 1985. Not to mention it saw the dissmantling of what could have been a fine ballclub

Sure its been 18 years since they won the Division, but they were in the World Series just 5 years ago, and unlike the down years inbetween 73-86 and 88-99 you didn't get a sense that the Mets were not trying.

All Freddie Coupon jokes aside, the Mets never gave you the impression that they were giving up and rebuilding from scratch since losing the World Series in 2000. Alomar, Vaughn, Glavine, Floyd, Cameron, Matsui, Benson and even Zambrano would not have been brought in if this was the dark times of 79 or 94. There were years where our big pickup was along the lines of a Mike Maddux and an over the hill Kevin McReynolds!

Also I think the depths of the heartbreak in 1985 led to alot of over the topness of the celebration 20 years ago. That did not happen in 2005, this year we and the Braves are truely flipped-flopped. The Braves are in September, on the fringe of a Wild Card race but with a bunch of teams to climb over and struggling just to get to a .500 record, just like the Mets a year ago. Sure it was bad, but not as bad as losing a heartbreak of a race in the closing week of the season.

So I think its more of a matter of the state that the franchise is in more than anything.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I disagree that being out of the race is worse than being in a close second.

I'll take loving and losing over never loving at all.

[Willets Point]

Hey, the celebration did not involve any talismanic dwarfs that I'm aware of so it had to be relatively tame. That may only be due to the fact that Mr. Delarosa is more of a Red Sox devotee than Pedro fan though. Speaking of Pedro, despite four postseason appearances and participating in numerous memorable playoff games, this was the first division clincher for him too.

[metirish]

It would have been cool if Ralph was at the game,my fave memory of the 2001 season was Ralph hoisting the NL banner with Seaver,at least I think it was Seaver.

[stevejrogers]

Edgy DC wrote: I disagree that being out of the race is worse than being in a close second. I'll take loving and losing over never loving at all.

I was going for why for some the celebration is subdubed, that being close in 84 and 85 gave fans an extra jolt of excitement in 86

[Guest Edgy DC]

metirish wrote: It would have been cool if Ralph was at the game,my fave memory of the 2001 season was Ralph hoisting the NL banner with Seaver,at least I think it was Seaver.

It was Ralph and Mr. Met.

[Willets Point]

Mr. Met & Seaver are both known for their big heads.

[Benjamin Grimm]

="SteveJRogers"]I was going for why for some the celebration is subdubed, that being close in 84 and 85 gave fans an extra jolt of excitement in 86

Nah.

If the Mets had finished last in 1984 and 1985, then 1986 would probably have been even more exciting, not less.

And 1985 was a wonderful season, and still my favorite regular season ever. It didn't leave me heartbroken at all. Just eager for the winter to end so that the Mets could have another crack at it.

[Willets Point]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: And 1985 was a wonderful season, and still my favorite regular season ever. It didn't leave me heartbroken at all. Just eager for the winter to end so that the Mets could have another crack at it.

Yancy/Willets similarity score rising. 1985 is my favorite season too, probably because it was the first season I followed Mets baseball regularly. I didn't think anyone else would be so fond of it. I was both heartbroken and excited at the end.

[Benjamin Grimm]

In 1984 the Mets were on the fringes of contention, and it was a lot of fun. But they melted down in early August, so there was no suspense the last couple of months of the season.

But in 1985 was exhilarating! Gary Carter pumping his fist. Doc Gooden winning 24 games. That final showdown series in St. Louis, with Darling pitching his heart out and Strawberry hitting the clock. That nutty 18-inning game against Pittsburgh with Rusty Staub making that running catch. Meaningful games in October!

It was fabulous.

1986 had, by far, the best October I've experienced. But 1985 had the best April through September.

1999 was a fun regular season too. But nothing touches 1985.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Good distinction.

[Guest cooby]

vtmet wrote: Jay SilverHEELS was Tonto http://imdb.com/title/tt0048310/ Jay SilverMAN is a photographer & commercial producer from LA... and a professor at Harvard...depends on which Jay Silverman result you choose at google...

Thanks vermont!

[Valadius]

One day later, it's up on YouTube: