The 2006 Mets are the team since 1986 squad that fans really thought had a chance to win it all. But while their real-life season ended in misery, their run to the Mets Madness championship got started with a bang.
The core of the 2006 team–managed impeccably by myself–overpowered the 1985 rotation, which in real life was a year away from bringing the championship to Queens. Some risky bullpen moves by Brian Wright and the ’85 squad paired with lackluster hitting from Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry doomed the group.
Ultimately, the 2006 Mets won in five games, outscoring the ’85 team 25-13. Read recaps of each game below, including a game-winning home run by–gasp–Carlos Beltran.
Game 1
Game 1 saw 35-year-old Pedro Martinez squaring off against 20-year-old Dwight Gooden in a matchup of two of the best strikeout pitchers in the history of baseball. And though Gooden was fresh off a Cy Young Award–and a dominant start to Game 1–the ’06 Mets came out on top.
The ’06 team opened the scoring, stringing together a couple of singles with Paul Lo Duca driving in David Wright in the bottom of the fourth. The ’85 Mets quickly struck back in the top of the fifth, though. Darryl Strawberry cranked a solo homer, then Danny Heep drove home Mookie Wilson. Those, however, would be the last two runs they’d score in Game 1.
Carlos Delgado evened things up off Gooden with a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth. But after six innings and 96 pitches, manager Brian Wright decided to bring in Tom Gorman for Gooden. That was a mistake. A couple of singles were followed by THREE wild pitches. That led to two runs, and the ’06 bullpen–led by Pedro Feliciano (1.2 innings) Chad Bradford (1.1 innings) and Billy Wagner (one inning)–closed out the game with four scoreless innings.
Final score: 2006 Mets 4, 1985 Mets 2
Game 2
The theme of this series was some really old dudes versus some really young ones.
John Maine–the Game 2 starter for ’06 Mets–was the youngest starter for the 2006 squad by about a decade. Every other starter for the ’85 team, though, was younger than Maine.
The 1985 Mets took advantage of Maine’s inexperience, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second, highlighted by a Howard Johnson two-run homer. Though Beltrán’s two-run homer brought them closer, Mookie Wilson–the best offensive player for the ’85 Mets this series—crushed a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to make it 5-2.
Maine out, the ’06 bullpen in. Darren Oliver? Lights out for 2.2 innings. Royce Ring and Duaner Sanchez (there are no taxi cabs in this virtual world)? Combined two scoreless. That gave the ’06 Mets room to work.
Despite 11 total strikeouts from Sid Fernandez, José Valentin and Shawn Green took him deep. It was 5-4 heading to the bottom of the ninth. Roger McDowell and Jesse Orosco should be able to close this out, right? Wrong.
McDowell allowed a double to Endy Chavez with two outs. Orosco comes in. Single to José Reyes. Beltrán is now up with two on, two out, and a chance to tie the game. Sweet redemption. A double to the gap. Chavez and Reyes score. The 2006 Mets win on a walk-off double from Carlos Beltrán. That sentence would’ve been nice to type 17 years ago.
Final: 2006 Mets 6, 1985 Mets 5
Game 3
It was time for the ’85 to try and make this a series. Down 2-0, manager Brian Wright started 23-year-old Rick Aguilera against 40-year-old Orlando Hernández. Aguilera responded by giving the ’85 team the best start of the series.
Despite early trouble for Aguilera–a run each in the second and third–he held the ’06 offense to two runs across 6.2 innings. The ’85 offense helped him out, too. Mookie Wilson–leading off now–crushed a solo homer in the first. Three frames later–while down 2-1–Ray Knight (two-run jack) and Gary Carter (solo) each crushed homers off El Duque. The best part of this rally in the fourth? Aguilera helped his own cause by doubling from the nine-hole with two men on.
The five runs off El Duque would be all the ’85 Mets needed. Their bullpen got right, shutting the Mets down over the final 2.1 innings and got their first win.
Final: 1985 Mets 5, 2006 Mets 2
Game 4
The theme of old starters vs. young starters continued in Game 4 with Tom Glavine versus Ron Darling . But one side would toss a gem while the other doomed their team early
David Wright–rather dormant in the series so far–mashed a solo homer off Darling in the first. Darling’s woes didn’t end there. The ’06 Mets opened a can of whoop ass on him in the second inning, turning four hits and a walk into five runs. The frame opened with a double and a single, then Cliff Floyd drove them all home with a towering shot to right field. Glavine, Reyes, and Wright all reached base next–with Darling recording just one out. Bill Latham relieved Darling, but two more runs scored. It’s 6-0 after two.
That’s all Glavine needed.
Over the next nine innings, the 40-year-old allowed six base runners–three hits and three walks–and no runs. It wasn’t quite a Maddux, but Glavine tossed a complete game shutout in Game 4. The theme of redemption (I know the next season was the one) continues. The 2006 Mets are a game away from taking the series.
Final: 2006 Mets 7, 1985 Mets 0
Game 5
With the season on the line for the ’85 team, they turned back to their Cy Young winner, Doc Gooden, for the start. To make it a nice rematch from Game 1, Pedro Martinez took the mound for ’06.
Unfortunately for ’85 by this point in the season, Gooden was running on fumes. It was a scoreless game heading to the fourth, but ’06 got busy. David Wright–now fully alive–opened the inning with a solo shot. Carlos Delgado, Lo Duca and Floyd followed with singles, and Jose Valentin knocked in another with a single of his own. Gooden nearly got out of his own mess by striking out Shawn Green and Endy Chavez, but Jose Reyes brought in two more with a two-out, bases-loaded single.
Pedro Martinez–the veteran he is–saw the under-performing offense for the ’85 Mets and pitched to contact, and he consistently won his duels. He lasted 6.1 innings, allowing just one run–a HoJo homer–and striking out two.
Aaron Heilman continued locking down the offense with two scoreless innings (3.1 total for the series), and before bringing in Wagner to close out the series, Reyes put the icing on the cake with a three-run homer in the seventh. Wagner–despite some dicey defense–locked down the series for the Mets.
Final: 2006 Mets 7, 1985 Mets 2
Series MVP
Carlos Delgado is the MVP of this series.
The ’06 team had a ton of high performers in the series, but Delgado’s .421 average, eight hits, two walks, three runs, and two RBIs were the best total output across the five games. He got on base when needed and impacted each game with a blend of power and ability to produce and score runs. Carlos Delgado, YOU get a Chevy Silverado.
On Deck
The 2006 Mets will face off against the 2019 Mets, who shocked the 2000 Mets in their series. You’d think one of the best Mets teams of the century should be able to handle the team that started Wilson Ramos at catcher and Robinson Cano at second, but Cinderella runs happen.
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