Biggest errors in each World Series appearance

Loose lips may sink ships but it’s big errors in the World Series that can ruin your championship parade plans. In all five trips to the World Series the New York Mets have made, there has been at least one major error that either helped them win it all or swung the momentum the other way.

From on the field with the glove to the manager’s office before the game, these are the biggest errors that either hurt or helped the Mets in the World Series.

NY Mets Biggest World Series Errors: J.C. Martin’s bunt in 1969

Up 2 games to 1 in the series against the powerhouse Baltimore Orioles back in 1969, the Mets needed all of the help they could get to defy the odds and win it all. This meant lucky bounces, big breaks, and the occasional big error.

In the bottom of the tenth in Game 4, lady luck was on their side. Tom Seaver had just wrapped up tossing 10 innings of one-run ball. In the bottom of the tenth, Jerry Grote led off with a double. Al Weis then drew an intentional walk which put two on with nobody out for a pinch-hitter to step up to the plate and end the 1-1 tie.

Seaver was the man due up at the plate. Despite a successful career hitting, Gil Hodges pulled him from the game for the light-hitting J.C. Martin. Seaver could have very well stayed at the plate to do what Martin’s job was: sacrifice the runners with a bunt. However, with Seaver likely done for the day anyway, we can’t question this managerial decision.

Nor can we question it because of the way it worked out. Pete Richert had just entered the game to pitch for Baltimore. As fresh as his pitching arm may have been, the same cannot be said about his throwing shoulder.

Martin laid down a perfect bunt which Richert fielded. His throw to first base was wild, ricocheted loose, and allowed pinch runner Rod Gaspar to score from second base.

The Mets won, took a 3-1 series lead, and set themselves up for the final nail in the Baltimore coffin the next time the two teams would face each other.

NY Mets Biggest World Series Errors: Yogi Berra starts the wrong guy

Twice, the Mets were one win away from winning it all in 1973. An inexplicable climb to the finals after narrowly winning the National League East with an 82-79 record followed by a takedown of the Big Red Machine, you couldn’t stack odds against this club higher.

In Game 6, manager Yogi Berra made a fatal baseball error before the game even started.

Minus any context whatsoever, it makes a lot of sense for the Mets to turn to Tom Seaver instead of George Stone in just about any situation. This is what Berra did but to the detriment of his team.

Stone was coming off of a career year with the Mets and was more rested for a start in Game 6. It made sense to maybe go with Stone in Game 6 and save Seaver for a deathblow in Game 7.

Seaver wasn’t bad in his start. He allowed only 2 runs in 7 innings of work. Unfortunately, Catfish Hunter outdueled him with 7.1 innings of 1 run ball.

The Oakland Athletics seemed to have a better grip on this game from the start. They scored a run in the first and third inning on Reggie Jackson doubles. The pitching held the Mets to only 6 hits, never giving them much of a chance.

The 3-1 victory tied things at 3-3 in the series. The Athletics were able to win the next game and take the entire series.

Mets fans can only wonder: what if Berra used Stone and saved Seaver?

NY Mets Biggest World Series Errors: The most notorious in MLB history

The 1986 World Series was practically the opposite of the 1973 matchup between the Mets and Athletics. This time, with the Mets facing off against the Boston Red Sox, they were the ones backed into a corner.

In Game 6, they were one out away from getting eliminated. The Curse of the Bambino would be lifted from Beantown.

In what might be the greatest baseball game ever played in terms of drama, the Red Sox took a 5-3 lead in the top of the tenth inning. Two straight outs in the bottom half of the inning set up what would become the biggest error in baseball history.

A Gary Carter single followed by another from Kevin Mitchell kept the Mets alive. Ray Knight would then add a single of his own to put the scoring within one. Suddenly, those hopes of the Kennedy Family finally getting to see their hometown team win it all were beginning to dissipate.

Bob Stanley then entered the game for the Red Sox. On a wild pitch, Mitchell scored and Knight moved up to second base. The game was tied and it looked like we would have another inning, especially when the batter, Mookie Wilson, hit a slow dribbler down to first base.

Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner saw his name become infamous in only a matter of seconds. The soft dribbler poked through his legs and rolled into right field far enough for Knight to dash around third base and score. The Mets won!

Two days later, an 8-5 win helped them take the series.

NY Mets Biggest World Series Errors: Timo Perez runs himself into an out

So far we have covered literal errors and a managerial decision that still haunts the franchise. In the 2000 World Series, it was someone’s feet that did the work.

Game 1 between the Mets and New York Yankees was a tight one. In the top of the sixth, Timo Perez led off with a single in the 0-0 tie. Yankees starter Andy Pettitte managed to retire Edgardo Alfonzo and Mike Piazza before Todd Zeile stepped to the plate hoping for a different result.

By inches, Zeile missed a home run into left field. Perez, who violated the first rule we learn in baseball as kids—run on anything with two outs and run hard—got on his horse and tried to go from first to home on the near home run.

This was the year 2000. Everything for the last few seasons seemed to go the Yankees’ way. This particular play would have the same result.

Left fielder David Justice got the ball to shortstop Derek Jeter who then threw home to gun down Perez in his attempt to break the tie. It was a momentum killer for the Mets. The very next inning, Justice broke the scoring open with a two-run double.

Although this was only Game 1, the Mets never seemed to recover. They lost this one 4-3 in extras and only managed a single win in the best of five.