The Mets were the predominant story of 1986. They had the National League’s lowest team ERA, the most runs scored, and the highest batting average. And naturally, they had the most wins and the biggest margin not only among current division leaders, but by any club since divisional realignment began 17 years ago. So it was of little surprise that when the All-Star rosters were announced, the Mets had the most participants. 

At the Astrodome on July 15, the setting for future postseason drama, each of the five selectees — Dwight Gooden, Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry, and Sid Fernandez — had their mark on the game. 

The recognition of the Mets’ accomplishments was apparent in the starting lineup. Fans voted in Carter at catcher, Hernandez at first base, and Strawberry in right field. Manager Whitey Herzog, whose Cardinals were already out of the race for the NL East, acknowledged his rivals’ greatness too. He slotted this trio in the heart of the batting order — Hernandez third, Carter clean-up, Strawberry fifth — and tabbed Gooden as his starting pitcher. 

At age 21, Gooden was making his third All-Star appearance in three seasons. He saw no action the year before in Minnesota and was dominant during his two-inning stint in 1984 at Candlestick Park. Facing fellow fireballing youngster Roger Clemens, Doc was a sidebar in relation to “The Rocket” performing before his home state fans. 

Gooden worked a scoreless first and was poised to get out of the second unscathed before Dave Winfield hit a double and Lou Whitaker followed by taking an 0-2 pitch over the right-field wall. He ended his day after three innings with a pair of strikeouts.

The Hernandez-Carter-Strawberry triad combined to go 1-for-9 with Darryl logging the lone hit against Teddy Higuera in the bottom of the fifth. Strawberry, the leading vote-getter in the NL, had already cemented himself a headliner of the All-Star festivities when he put on a spectacular show in the Home Run Derby the day before in which each of his four blasts exceeded 400 feet in distance. 

While Carter and Hernandez were All-Star regulars and even Gooden and Strawberry at their relatively young age had become regulars at the mid-summer classic, Fernandez was experiencing it for the first time. 

Sid debuted in the eighth, striving to keep the National’s deficit at 3-0. After walking the first two batters, he battled back to strike out Brook Jacoby, Jim Rice, and Don Mattingly in succession. The NL’s comeback attempt came up one run short and Gooden was handed the loss in this exhibition, but these Mets would make it count during the games that ultimately mattered in 1986.