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On the Shea hill for the Orange and Blue is Bruce Berenyi, the 29-year-old, 6’3″ right-hander from Truman State University in Missouri. Bruce was brought over near the June 15 trade deadline, a move that signaled to some fans the Mets were ready to “win NOW.” While he issues a 2-out walk to right fielder Roy Johnson, who steals 2nd, he strikes out 1st baseman Dan Driessen to escape the inning unscathed.

On the mound for the Expos is David Palmer, the 26-year-old, 6’1″ right-hander from Glen Falls, NY. He has the task of first facing 2nd baseman Wally Backman, who has finally gotten a chance in Davey’s regime. The pesky player takes a leadoff walk, and the Mets immediately have something going. He steals 2nd off the bat with center fielder Mookie Wilson up to the plate. Mook flies out to center, sending Backman over to 3rd. First baseman Keith Hernandez,  who has made a huge impact since the year-and-a-half-old trade, grounds out to 2nd base. Bryan Little has no play at home, and the Mets score their first run without the need for a hit.  Right fielder Darryl Strawberry then grounds out to 1st to end the quick but effective inning.

Other than a 2-on jam for Berenyi in the top of the 3rd, things stay quiet till the top of the 5th. Palmer and center fielder Tim Raines both reach on singles, moving over to 2nd and 3rd, respectively, on Little’s sac bunt. Johnson walks to load the bases, but the double play is now set up. Bruce gets the ground ball he wants, but it goes through Backman’s glove and into center field for the E4. Both Palmer and Raines score, giving the Expos a 2-1 lead. Berenyi limits the damage by getting the next two batters out, sending the Mets into the bottom half only down a run.

Though the Mets gets two hits in the frame, they fail to immediately respond to the deficit. In the bottom of the 6th, however, they get the job done. Mex leads off with a double, moving over to 3rd on Darryl’s right-side ground out. Manager Jim Fanning has had enough, and replaces Palmer with reliever Bob James. He does his job by striking out left fielder George Foster, but can’t get passed 3rd baseman Hubie Brooks, who singles to drive in Keith from 3rd. Shortstop Rafael Santana strikes out, but the game is now tied at 2.

Tom Gorman relieves Berenyi in the top of the 7th, adhering to the request to keep the Expos in their place. The Mets take control of the game in the bottom half, beginning with pinch-hitter Danny Heep‘s walk. Ron Hodges pinch hits for Tom Gorman and Jose Oquendo pinch runs for Heep. Hodges comes through with a single, sending Oquendo all the way to 3rd. Up next is Wally Backman, who would love nothing more than to make up for his error. With a flyball to center field, he gives the Mets a 3-2 lead. After a Mook strikeout, Gary Lucas relieves James and provides anything but. Hernandez doubles, scoring Hodges to give the Mets a 4-2 lead. Straw strikes out, but the damage has been done.

The game is now in the hands of relief sensation Jesse Orosco. He goes the final 2 innings for his 31st save of the year, and the Mets win their 85th of the year, 4-2.

The Metsies win 5 of their final 7 for a 90-72 record. Though they finish the year 6.5 back of the Cubs, there is a lot of hope throughout the Metsian land. When General Manager Frank Cashen trades for catcher Gary Carter  in December (who had been a pinch hitter in the 8th inning) both the team and their fans feel this is the move that will put them into the championship chatter come ’85.

The 1984 New York Mets.

Thanks for reading! You can read Sam Maxwell’s personal Mets Blog here.

On the mound for the Mets this evening is the 6’1” southpaw from Kaiser High School in Honolulu, Sid Fernandez. He is having a fantastic year, entering the game with an 11-2 record and a 2.89 ERA. Up to the plate for Atlanta walks shortstop Andres Thomas. El Sid readies, sets, and tosses it to Catcher Gary Carter. Thomas hits it, but hardly well, down the down the right field line. Right fielder Darryl Strawberry drifts into foul territory to make the 1st out of the day. Next up is left fielder Ken Griffey, who readies in the batters box. Sid unfortunately can’t place the ball in the strike zone, and the Senior walks. With center fielder Dale Murphy at the plate, Griffey steals 2nd base. Unfortunately, for the Braves, Murphy strikes out looking. 1st baseman Bob Horner looks to extend the inning for Atlanta, but the crafty lefty strikes him out as well to end the frame.

On the mound for the Braves is David Palmer, the 6’1” right-hander from Glen Falls High School in Upstate New York. With family in the stands, he is looking to succeed against the best team in baseball. Center fielder Lenny Dykstra, however, has other plans for the Glen Falls native. He leads off and immediately gets something going with a walk. 2nd baseman Wally Backman lays down a bunt…and a beautiful bunt it is down the 1st base line, sending Lenny down to 2nd and placing Backman at 1st with an infield single. The 3-hitter, 1st baseman Keith Hernandez, steps up looking to at least hit the ball on the ground to the right. He does so, grounding out to 2nd, moving the runners up 1 base each. Carter strides up looking to drive the runners in. Palmer, staring down at the future-hall-of-famer, checks the runners, and throws. Gary crushes it to deep left field, way back there and gone for a 3-run home run. Strawberry enters with the bases empty looking to tack on the lead. Palmer throws one inside and it nicks Straw, giving him 1st base. Left fielder George Foster, the underachieving 1982 free-agent, flies out to center. With 3rd baseman Ray Knight up, Straw steal 2nd. Knight, however, grounds out to 3rd, ending the threat to tack on more.

Sid gives up his 1st hit leading off the top of the 2nd, but gets the next 3 batters with ease.

The bottom half arrives and the Mets are looking to put this Palmer guy out of his misery. The shortstop for the day, Kevin Mitchell, unfortunately grounds one to short to open the frame up, but El Sid gets a hit up the middle for a single. Dykstra strikes out, though, leaving it to Backman to extend the inning. He hits it on the ground between 2nd and 1st, on its way through for a single. Sid rounds 2nd and heads all the way to 3rd on the play. Hernandez struts on up, and Palmer can’t take it anymore. He throws a hard one to the backstop, sending Backman down to 2nd but keeping the 220 lb Fernandez at 3rd. Hernandez walks, setting the stage for Gary Carter with the bases loaded. Can he deliver something even more magnificent than his 1st inning drive? Carter squares up and hit the ball down the left field line. Fair it’s gone, it is aaaaa…GRAND SLAM! A Grand slam for the Kid, and the Mets lead it 7-0. That’s the day for Palmer, as manager Chuck Tanner walks to the mound, calling for long-man Craig McMurtry. The Met fans are so juiced about the lead, they don’t care one bit when Darryl strikes out to end the inning.

While Sid gives up a double in the top of the 3rd, he is spotless the rest of the way. He also chips in a run-scoring double in the bottom half of the 3rd to make it 8-0. He goes 3 for 4 with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. Dykstra adds a 2-run double in that 3rd to make it 10-0, and the Mets win the ball game, 11-0, in front of 39,924 New Yorkers. Knight adds an RBI single in the bottom of the 4th.

El Sid goes the full 9, giving up no runs, 2 hits, 3 walks, striking out 9. He is 12-2 with with a 2.67 ERA.

Palmer didn’t make it out of the 2nd.

Kid goes 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 7 RBI.

The team continues to dominate the rest of the way. In the Championship Series, They battle the Houston Astros to 6 games, overcoming Mike Scott and a 16-inning affair to make it to the World Series. After a 2-0 series hole against the Bosox, they fight in Fenway to take it to a 6th game at home. Down 5-3 with 2 out and 2 strikes on Gary Carter in the 10th inning, the Mets chip away until some costly mistakes by Boston lead to a tie game and a game 6 win for the Mets. They overcome a 3-0 Game 7 hole to win the 2nd World Series in franchise history.

The 1986 New York Mets.

Thanks for reading! You can read Sam Maxwell’s personal Mets Blog here.