Mets Madness Recap: 1988 Mets Head to Championship

MMO’s partnership with Out of the Park Baseball (OOTP) continues as our 16-team Mets Madness bracket is now down to the final four. The first final four matchup was between the 1988 Mets and the 2006 Mets.

The 1988 Mets outlasted (led by Dilip Sridhar) the 2006 Mets (led by Patrick Glynn) in six games.

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Game 1

It was David Cone for the 1988 Mets and Pedro Martinez for the 2006 team. Cone was not as dominant as he was in the last series for the ‘88 club, but he gave his team a chance. The ‘88 team grabbed an early 1-0 lead, but David Wright hit a two-run homer off Cone to give the ‘06 team a lead they would not relinquish. Darry Strawberry hit a homer in the ninth off Billy Wagner to make Patrick stress a little, but the ‘06 team drew first blood.

Game 2

Dwight Gooden took the ball for the 1988 team and John Maine got the start for the ‘06 team. Gooden had a pretty smooth outing, while Maine and the bullpen faltered. The ‘88 team ended up taking the second game, 6-2.

Game 3

Orlando Hernandez started for the 2006 team against Bob Ojeda. Ojeda was sensational, with 6.1 scoreless innings pitched and 11 strikeouts. Hernandez gave up a three-run homer to Darryl Strawberry, and that was all Ojeda needed. Strawberry added another homer later in the game.

Game 4

Tom Glavine got the start against Sid Fernandez. Glavine’s lone mistake was a home run to Keith Hernandez but otherwise threw a complete game. David Wright homered for the ‘06 team again. Cliff Floyd also provided an RBI double in a 5-1 win.

Game 5

Keith Hernandez hit a huge three-run homer off Pedro to give the ‘88 team an early 3-0 lead. Gary Carter and Howard Johnson added two-run doubles as well. David Cone pitched into the 8th inning without giving up a run but after walks to Beltran and Wright, Randy Myers was called on to face Carlos Delgado with the bases loaded. Delgado hit a grand slam off Myers to pull the ‘06 team within one. Myers managed to escape with the lead but it was suddenly nervous in the ‘88 dugout. They managed to add two insurance runs to make it a more breathable, 7-4 game.

Ron Darling got the ninth and loaded the bases himself. It was his game to finish, though, and despite walking Beltran with the bases loaded, he managed to strike out David Wright for the save.

Game 6

It was Maine vs Gooden again. Carlos Beltran homered for the ‘06 team to give them an early lead, but some timely hits from Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry gave the ‘88 team a lead they would not relinquish. Gooden went six strong before Roger McDowell was called on. He gave up a run but kept the lead. Myers got the eighth inning after him and was allowed to start the ninth. Darling was up in the bullpen if needed but Myers got the final three outs to end the series.

Series MVP

I could go with Doc or Darryl, but I would lean toward Darryl since he was clearly the best hitter for the ‘88 team. Strawberry had four home runs and 10 RBIs in the series.

While Doc was great on the mound, the team also got great performances from Cone and Ojeda.