Johnson was given the Mets’ managerial reins in 1984 by general manager Frank Cashen, who had built the Orioles into perennial contenders from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s in the general manager and head of baseball operations roles. On the day Johnson was introduced as manager, he wore cowboys boots and talked about using computers (he held a degree the mathematics) to help determine optimal lineups. Both of these things caused a stir, and set the tone for how Johnson would approach his job. He went about his work in an audacious and  unapologetic manner, with an air of confidence that permeated into his team on the field.

Johnson posted a managerial record of 595-417 in Queens over six-plus seasons. In his six full seasons, the Mets finished first twice and second four times. He went on to manage the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Washington Nationals. Over ten seasons with those teams, Davey finished in first place four times.

As a player, Johnson had 13 major league seasons with a slash line of .261/.340/.404. He slugged 136 home runs and had an OPS+ of 110 in his time with the Orioles, Braves, Phillies and Cubs. In one season with the Braves, he was one of three teammates to hit 40 or more home runs, joining Hank Aaron and Darrell Johnson with the long-ball heroics.

To understand the impact Johnson had on the Mets, it’s important to look at context. The Mets were in the abyss from 1977-1983. The Mets took the field each year with little hope, while the cross-town Yankees won two World Series titles and three pennants in that time period. Young talent had started to appear in 1983, with the promise of more coming. The Mets needed a manger with fresh ideas to take over after two seasons of George Bamberger and Frank Howard.

In came Johnson, whose ideas were not unprecedented, but definitely progressive for the time. He talked about getting the most out of a position by using “analytics” to determine who was the best fit for that day, rather than going with a set lineup. This was clearly his Orioles/Earl Weaver influence.

For example, in 1986, Johnson would play Kevin Mitchell at shortstop when Sid Fernandez was pitching. Johnson recognized that Fernandez induced a lot of contact in the air, which meant that he could weaken the infield defense a bit (Mitchell over Rafael Santana) to get Mitchell’s superior bat in the lineup. Davey also platooned his outfielders (Lenny Dykstra/Mookie Wilson/ Mitchell, occasionally Danny Heep) depending upon matchups, much more so than was common in that time.

Johnson’s brashness was a hallmark of his time in New York. The Mets had fallen short in 1985, losing a hard-fought division battle to the Cardinals. Going into 1986, he announced that not only were the Mets going to win, they were going to dominate. They did, putting up a 108-54 record.

After the Mets defeated the Astros in the National League Championship Series, the team partied hard, causing significant damage to the plane that brought them back to New York. Cashen wanted the players to pay for the damage. Johnson told the team that he was proud of them, that they deserved to celebrate, and that he would pay the bill, because their rambunctious nature was going to win the World Series. He was right. They got down two games to none and had to go on the road. We all know what happened in Game 6, then they rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win Game 7.

Johnson was fired in May of 1990 with the Mets struggling at 20-22. He left behind a legacy, doing something that only Gil Hodges had done before him. Tributes have poured in from former players, such as Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez, and Dwight Gooden.

Rest in peace, Davey Johnson. Thank you for turning the Mets around in the 1980s, bringing them to a place that we hope to see again soon.

The post Remembering Former Mets Manager Davey Johnson appeared first on Metsmerized.

The passing of Davey Johnson shocked the baseball word Saturday, leading to many organization’s and players’ releasing statements on his behalf. Below is the statement released by Steve and Alex Cohen.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Davey Johnson. Davey’s 595 wins remain the most in franchise history, and his legacy is highlighted by him leading the 1986 team to a World Series championship. He led with a quiet confidence and unwavering belief in his team, always caring deeply for his players both on and off the field. He had a distinguished 13-year playing career, including winning two World Series titles with the Orioles. On behalf of our entire organization, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Davey’s family, friends, and all who were impacted by his remarkable life and career.” 

You can read more statements made by Johnson’s former Mets players here. 

Original Post

Davey Johnson, the winningest manager in New York Mets history, has passed away at the age of 82. Mets Team Vice President of Alumni Relations Jay Horwitz made the news of Johnson’s passing public on Saturday morning. Johnson is survived by his wife, Susan. 

Davey Johnson, The Winningest Manager in Mets History, Passes Away

Before stepping into the dugout of Shea Stadium as the Mets manager, Johnson played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball. He played with the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs. He played two seasons in Japan from 1975 to 1976 with the Yomuiri Giants. As a player, Johnson was a four-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glover, and helped the Orioles to two World Series Championships. In the 1969 World Series between the Orioles and Mets, Johnson made the last out as New York won their first championship. Two decades later, Johnson would manage the Mets to their second title. 

Johnson’s Managerial Career and the 1986 World Series Championship

Johnson got into coaching and was hired by the Mets and general manager Frank Cashen as the club’s manager in 1984. Johnson had managed the Mets’ minor league affiliates in Double-A and Triple-A from 1981 to 1983. During the rest of the decade and into the 1990 season, Johnson won 595 games as New York’s manager, a club record that still hasn’t been matched. In 1986, Johnson managed the Mets to 108 regular-season wins, still the most in Mets history, and a World Series championship. Two years later, in 1988, the Mets won 100 games and clinched the National League East Division championship. 

During Johnson’s tenure as Mets manager, the team won 90 or more games from 1984 to 1988. He was fired during the 1990 season after the team got off to a slow start amid high expectations. Johnson would go on to manage the Cincinnati Reds (1993-1995), Baltimore Orioles (1996-1997), Los Angeles Dodgers (1999-2000), and Washington Nationals (2011-2013). Johnson won 1,372 games as a manager and won 25 playoff games in six postseason appearances. He also managed Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Johnson, along with Cashen, Darryl Strawberry, and Dwight Gooden, was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2010. 

The post Steve and Alex Cohen Release Statement on Johnson’s Passing appeared first on Metsmerized.

With a struggling bullpen and an influx of moves on the horizon, the Mets DFA’d both RHP Adrian Houser and RHP Shintaro Fujinami on July 26. While Fujinami cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday, Houser was released by the club on Wednesday, per Will Sammon of The Athletic. The Mets also released RHP Ty Adcock. 

Houser, who was acquired along with Tyrone Taylor from the Brewers in the offseason, had his ups and downs throughout his short Mets tenure. The veteran started in the Mets’ rotation, where he struggled severely, having his ERA balloon up to 8.37 at its highest. The Mets then moved him to the bullpen, where he thrived for a short period, but he came back down to Earth recently, and his subpar performance made him expendable. Houser posted a 5.84 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 1-5 record in his 69 1/3 innings and 23 games with the Mets.

At Citi Field on Wednesday, the Mets finished their homestand and series against the Minnesota Twins in disappointing fashion. While a Mark Vientos home run gave the Mets an early 2-1 lead in the second inning, it would all go downhill from there. Luis Severino had one of his worst outings in Queens, only lasting three innings while giving up six runs on six hits, leading to an 8-3 Mets loss. However, the Mets leave Citi Field with the series win and a 4-3 record during their homestand. Click here for a full game recap. 

The Mets are now going on a West Coast trip. Their first stop will be in Anaheim, where they will take on the Los Angeles Angels for three games. They will have Thursday off and be back in action on Friday night when Paul Blackburn will make his Mets debut on the mound. 

Photo by David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Latest Mets News

Baseball America ranked all 89 prospects dealt at the trade deadline. Here is where the pieces the Mets parted with landed: RHP Tyler Stuart (35), RHP Kade Morris (41), RHP Paul Gervase (75), OF Rhylan Thomas (82) and INF Wilfredo Lara (86).

The Mets optioned newly acquired right-handed relief pitcher Tyler Zuber to Triple-A Syracuse prior to Wednesday’s game. They also optioned LHP Matt Gage to Syracuse and activated former Marlin RHP Huascar Brazobán.

Two new promotions were added to the Mets’ schedule for their mid-August homestand. On Saturday, August 17, against the Marlins, the first 15,000 fans will receive an “OMG” T-shirt, and fans can get an “OMG” foam finger through a special ticket offer for the game on Tuesday, August 20th, against the Orioles.

The Mets’ newest starter, Paul Blackburn, will make his first start for the Amazin’s on Friday against the Angels. Tylor Megill, slated to start that game, has been put in the bullpen. He went two innings while giving up one run on three hits during his first appearance out of the ‘pen on Wednesday against the Twins. Click here to learn about Blackburn.

Reed Garrett looked “really good” in his live session on Wednesday, per Joe Pantorno of amNewYork. Garrett, who hit 97 mph in his live session, will be making a rehab appearance on Saturday for the Syracuse Mets. 

Sean Reid-Foley was on point during his rehab appearance for Double-A Binghamton, getting all three batters he faced to strike out swinging. 

Brandon Nimmo left Wednesday’s loss to the Minnesota Twins after fouling a ball off his foot in the sixth inning. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters after the game that X-rays were negative and Nimmo should be good to go for Friday. Click here for more on Nimmo’s injury.

The Mets signed 18 of their 20 draft picks in the 2024 MLB Draft. The only players the Mets did not sign were ninth-rounder RHP Jaxon Jelkin and 20th-rounder SS Adam Haight.

Latest MLB News

The Houston Astros DFA’d former Mets pitcher Rafael Montero, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic. The flame-throwing right-hander was in year two of his three-year, $34.5 million deal.

St. Louis Cardinals veteran RHP Lance Lynn was placed on the 15-day IL with right knee inflammation. Lynn has a 4.06 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in 106 1/3 innings of work this season.

Jackson Holliday‘s first career home run was a grand slam, which he rocketed deep into right field, onto Eutaw Street.

JACKSON HOLLIDAY!

His first big league homer is a grand slam! pic.twitter.com/UhYSrT2MiQ

— MLB (@MLB) July 31, 2024

Baltimore Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg fractured his hand after getting hit by a pitch in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s game, per Steve Melewski of MASN Sports. The club hopes he can return by the end of the season.

Former Mets catcher James McCann played in Wednesday’s Orioles game with multiple nasal fractures after taking a 95 mph fastball to the face on Monday. McCann sported a new mask to do so.

Latest on MMO

See what MMO writers graded the Mets’ trade deadline.

The Mets activated their newest reliever, Huascar Brazobán.

More on the news of Nimmo fighting off an injury scare.

The Mets signed 18 of their 20 draft picks.

On This Date in Mets History

2015: Lucas Duda drives in all three Mets runs as his two home runs and eighth-inning go-ahead RBI double power the Mets past the Nationals. This win puts the Mets one game back of the Washington Nationals for first place in the NL East. 

2010: 1986 World Series champions Darryl Strawberry, Dwight “Doc” Gooden, Davey Johnson, and Frank Cashen are inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame.

1999: Pitcher Pat Mahomes gives the Mets a 13th-inning lead with a two-out base hit and gets the save in the bottom of the frame to beat the Cubs in Wrigley. 

1989: Kevin McReynolds finishes off the fifth cycle in Mets history with his ninth-inning triple.

Birthdays: Brian Bohanon (56), Gregg Jefferies (57)

The post Morning Briefing: Mets Release Adrian Houser appeared first on Metsmerized.

The former Pirates, Tigers, Marlins, and Rockies manager spent 22 total years at the helm as a manager. He totaled 1,769 wins, the 18th most in major-league history. Of those wins, 851 came with the Pirates and 700 with the Tigers. Leyland captured three pennants and won one World Series back in 1997 with the Florida Marlins.

The most notable of the rest of the nominations was former New York Mets’ manager Davey Johnson. Earlier today at Metsmerized our very own Brian Wright made a compelling argument as to why Johnson should have been voted in. Unfortunately, he received less than five votes and was left out.

To get enshrined by the committee a nomination needed at least 12 votes from the 16-man panel. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Lou Piniella was the next closest at 11 votes. Bill White received 10 while the rest of the nominations, including Johnson, Cito Gaston, Ed Montague, Hank Peters, and Joe West, received less than five.

The post Jim Leyland Elected To Hall of Fame, Davey Johnson Misses Out appeared first on Metsmerized.

The confidence Davey Johnson exuded as a manager for 17 seasons surfaced when he spoke at his introductory press conference soon after being hired by New York Mets’ general manager Frank Cashen for his first big-league gig.

“I would like to thank Frank for being smart enough to hire me,” he said.

There was action behind those words. Johnson was about to embark on the best stretch of a successful managerial career that spanned 30 years. In his first season, the Mets went from last place to 90 wins. In his second season, the Mets won 98 times. In his third year, the Mets won it all.

Davey remains the winningest manager in team history at 595 wins with a .588 winning percentage, five years of at least 90 victories, and never finishing below second place. The franchise hasn’t had as good a manager since. He was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2010, but does he merit a more distinguished recognition?

Davey Johnson.

His bravado established the personality of the ’86 club. While this was a plus in many ways, it was a detriment both in New York and during his later stops in Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Los Angeles (specifically when it came to relationships with general managers and owners). 

There are managers with fewer wins who have more rings and managers with more wins and no rings. You could say Johnson should have won more titles with the talent he had, yet you could also say he lucked out with the one he got.

When examining the larger sample, results show that Johnson’s presence yielded winning teams in the many places he went.

The Case for

Johnson’s perennial success with the Mets made him the first manager to attain 90 or more victories in each of his first five seasons. The 1986 title is his certainly signature accomplishment, but he had a knack for turning clubs into postseason members. 

He became the Reds’ skipper 44 games into the 1993 campaign. They were a first-place club when the 1994 strike came and were NL Central champs in 1995. The Atlanta Braves dynasty prevented him from reaching the World Series.

A fallout with Cincinnati owner Marge Schott opened up an opportunity to move to Baltimore, where he was a part of the Orioles’ glory years as a player. The year before Davey arrived, the Orioles were 71-73. The year Davey arrived, the Orioles went to the American League Championship Series.

Johnson took a 10-year break from the bench, serving as an advisor to the Washington Nationals in the interim, before being asked to take over the reins in D.C.—a franchise that hadn’t seen a winning season for more than a decade.

Davey Johnson.

His first full season guiding the Nats resulted in an NL East crown, the best record in the majors, and signs of early development from teenage rookie Bryce Harper. It was also Johnson’s second Manager of the Year Award, becoming one of a few to earn the honor in both leagues. 

He retired for good a year later, finishing 301 games over .500 as a manager, and is 10th all-time in winning percentage among those winning at least 1,000 games. The nine managers above him on the list are all in Cooperstown. 

Many of Johnson’s decisions were based on statistical analysis, a practice that in the 1980s seemed unnecessary but lately has become an organizational requirement. His computer-generated, forward-thinking approach to the game is an added bonus, as is his career as a player—highlighted by four All-Star selections and three Gold Glove Awards. Johnson spent eight years in Baltimore, where he was a part of teams that won four pennants and two World Championships. In 1973 as an Atlanta Brave, he was lineup protection for Hank Aaron and set a then-record for home runs by a second baseman with 43.

The Case Against

Perhaps the biggest deterrent to Johnson’s chances is his relative lack of games managed, primarily the result of that hiatus from 2001 into 2011. Compared to the 22 managers currently in the Hall of Fame, Johnson has more career wins than only four of them.

His sub-.500 postseason record is a sign that his teams underachieved in October. The ’88 Mets were heavy favorites to reach the World Series and didn’t. The 1997 Orioles had the most wins and didn’t make it past the AL playoffs. The 2012 Nationals couldn’t advance past the Division Series. In fairness, he managed the Mets without an expanded postseason. And as we’ve seen from recent history and the Wild Card era, the best teams don’t always prevail. But there are 14 Hall of Fame managers who have better postseason winning percentages.

This is the fifth Johnson’s fifth time on a version of the Veterans Committee ballot and he hasn’t been close yet. On his most recent attempt, fellow ballot-mate Lou Piniella got 11 votes out of 16 while Davey got “less than five” (the results didn’t specify).

Davey also never established himself with one team. Arguably he’s known for his time with the Mets (plus that was his longest), but he never settled anywhere longer than the six-plus seasons in New York. The closest comparison that’s in the Hall is Dick Williams, who stayed less than five seasons with six teams. The difference is that Williams managed in four World Series and won twice.

Davey Johnson.

Final Thoughts

If past voting history is any indication, Davey Johnson faces an uphill battle to get the 75 percent of votes needed especially when faced with the rest of the names on the ballot. If there’s a consideration for the quality of the teams he led rather than the quantity of games he managed on top of a solid playing career, it’s a resume that merits induction one day—perhaps even next summer.

The post Hall of Fame Case: Davey Johnson appeared first on Metsmerized.

After all, the club hadn’t made the postseason since they lost to the Oakland Athletics in seven games in the 1973 Fall Classic. In addition, the Mets hadn’t posted a regular season winning percentage above .500 since they went 86-76 in 1976.

The lean, six-foot-six prodigy out of Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles had lofty expectations to be the next great superstar in Major League Baseball. Poised with a beautiful left-handed swing, a ton of power and exceptional speed, Strawberry showcased his abilities right away.

In 1983, Strawberry became the first position player in franchise history to win the National League Rookie of the Year, slugging 26 home runs, swiping 19 bases and posting a 134 OPS+. Strawberry hit seven more home runs than the Mets’ previous rookie record holder in Ron Swoboda (19, 1965). Strawberry’s single-season mark lasted until 2019, when Pete Alonso shattered it with 53 homers.

From 1984 through the 1991 season, Strawberry made eight consecutive All-Star teams (seven with the Mets), was co-winner of the 1986 Home Run Derby with Wally Joyner, won a World Series championship in 1986, recorded a 30-30 season in 1987 and led the National League in home runs in 1988 (39).

Strawberry was a dominant force at the plate all throughout the eighties. Among 182 players with a minimum of 3,000 plate appearances in that decade, Strawberry ranked sixth in wRC+ (143) and second in isolated power (.259). His combination of power and speed made him a threat not only at the plate but on the bases. No player posted more seasons of 25+ home runs and 25+ stolen bases in the eighties than Strawberry with five.

Over his first nine seasons, Strawberry hit 280 home runs and stole 201 bases. He’s one of three players in Major League Baseball history to record 250+ homers and 200+ stolen bases in his first nine seasons, along with Barry Bonds and Mike Trout. Strawberry is also one of five players to record 250+ homers, 200+ doubles and 200+ stolen bases before turning 30, joining the aforementioned Bonds and Trout, along with Hall of Famer Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.

While Strawberry was an important fixture in Mets history, fans have always pondered what type of numbers he would’ve posted had the temptations and vices not been so prevalent throughout his career. The struggles and issues Strawberry encountered are well-documented; though, for the now 61-year-old, he’s found a new lease on life.

Strawberry and his wife, Tracy, founded Strawberry Ministries, in which Darryl travels around the country more than 250 times a year to deliver sermons and use his own experiences to aid others in times of need.

While his ministry work takes up the majority of Strawberry’s time, he will return to his baseball roots next year when the Mets retire his uniform number. No. 18 will join Willie Mays’ 24, Keith Hernandez’s 17 and Mike Piazza’s 31 as the only position players to have their jerseys retired by the Mets.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Strawberry over the phone, where he discussed almost quitting baseball in his second year of pro ball, instructors who were influential to his early development and what it means to have his number retired by the Mets.

MMO: Who were some of your favorite players growing up?

Strawberry: I looked up to Pete Rose. That was one of my favorite players, along with Dave Parker.

MMO: What are your memories from the 1980 MLB Draft, and all the fanfare that came with your high school career?

Strawberry: I remember my junior year we went to the city championship, and we went to Dodger Stadium. We had a great team. We had, I think, four players that got drafted off that team. We played in Dodger Stadium, and we lost to Granada Hills. I remember the third baseman came in to close out the game, and the third baseman for Granada Hills was John Elway.

It was a big deal because we were an all-Black team, and they were from the valley and all white. Our coach was White, so it was a really big deal going into that city championship.

We had a great run in the playoffs. We crushed everybody, and we were favored to beat Granada Hills. I remember Elway was a draft pick by the Royals in 1979, but he was also headed to Stanford to play football.

MMO: Heading into your senior year of high school, did you feel a lot of pressure knowing that you had the chance to be a top draft pick?

Strawberry: I think it was more excitement than anything. When I went into my senior year, I came out of basketball season, and I had one day of baseball practice before the season started. My first day out on the baseball field, I had to practice, and the next day we had a game.

In my first game, I remember about 50 scouts being there. My baseball coach used to follow me when I played basketball. I used to dunk on people, and he didn’t want me to get hurt because he thought I might hurt my ankle or something. He knew there was a lot of attention focused on me, but he didn’t tell me during the course of my basketball season.

Once I got going into baseball season, he said, “I didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on you. I knew there was going to be a lot of attention focused on you. A lot of scouts are always calling in asking about you, and asking me what kind of player I think you can be.”

A lot of scouts thought I would be the next Willie McCovey, or compared me to Ted Williams. He (Strawberry’s high school coach) was being extremely careful about not trying to compare me to all of that. He just wanted me to go out and play.

The first game of the season, I think I struck out three times. I just came from basketball and only had one day of practice, and all of these scouts were coming.

Obviously, I got going. And when I got going, it was real. They saw me and saw me play well. They saw me hit the ball a long way during my senior year. Once I got going, they realized that I was probably going to be the number one pick, and the Mets had the number one pick [in 1980].

MMO: Going from amateur baseball to professional ball, were there one or two specific challenges you faced?

Strawberry: Yeah, it was a culture shock! I went from Los Angeles to Kingsport, Tennessee, a long way from home. I kept calling my mom and said, ‘Mom, I don’t know if I even want to do this.’ She said, “No, you wanted to do this. This is what you wanted to do for your life. You made the decision, so you’re going to have to stick with it.”

I went to Kingsport, and I was only there for about a month of my first year. Chuck Hiller was my manager. He was a great guy, loose and easy for me.

The next year, I went to Lynchburg, Virginia, and that’s where I almost came close to quitting. I was deep somewhere in the backwoods playing baseball, and there were a lot of racial things being said about me. I was called all kinds of names.

I remember my manager, Gene Dusan, always being good to me. I love Gene Dusan. He was a good manager for me because he kept me together, and he told me not to look at the stands when people were yelling at me. He said, “Don’t look up there. Keep your focus on the field.” He would always get in my face about that because I think he thought that I would take a bat and run up there and start eliminating people.

They were saying some crazy stuff in Lynchburg, Virginia. It was just something I had to learn. If I was going to play, I had to learn to get used to this. I was 19-years-old and thinking, Okay, this is what it’s going to be like.

I came close to quitting; I didn’t show up to the ballpark one day. I had a roommate that I was staying with, and I stayed home with him. They thought I went AWOL and was just smoking weed. I was like, ‘I’m quitting baseball.’ My roommate said, “Yeah, you don’t have to deal with all of this craziness.”

The organization was so worried about me, and they came down. Lloyd McLendon was sent down. He was supposed to be on that team, but he broke his wrist in spring training, so he had to stay in extended spring. We were supposed to be roommates, and he was like a big brother, and I was close to him.

He came to the park and saw me and said, “What’s going on?” He sat me down and we had a real talk. He told me I needed to get it together and to focus, and that I’d make it to the show one day. He told me I had to deal with it, even though it was tough. I was a young kid, and Lloyd was a little bit older; he went to college and everything.

I came close to quitting, and they said to just give it another year. I gave it another year and went to Jackson, Mississippi, and I hit 34 home runs and stole 45 bases [in 1982]. Gene Dusant was my manager again. I realized there, from that season, that I became a ballplayer.

MMO: I’ve read that following the ’82 minor league season, you played winter ball in Venezuela. From the article, it seemed like playing in Venezuela was instrumental in your overall development.

Strawberry: Venezuela was great because the competition was different and very strong. It really took me to another level because if I was going to play, I was going to have to play against this kind of competition, and I knew that.

The Venezuelan competition was a mix of guys who had been to the big leagues and in Triple-A. And here I am, 20-years-old, and I’m playing down there. Once I got going, I hit the brakes off of the ball.

A lot of the other guys I was playing with had already been to the big leagues, and they were telling me that I was going to the big leagues the way I played. They told me to just keep plugging away, work hard and keep playing. And I did.

I developed that year going to winter ball. I came back the next year and went to Triple-A to start the season. I got off to a good start. I came to the ballpark one day, and I wasn’t in the lineup. I’m like, ‘Davey [Johnson], what’s up? I’m not in the lineup.’ He told me to come into his office, and he said, “I’m not playing you today because you’re going to the big leagues tomorrow.”

MMO: It must’ve been surreal to hear those words as a 21-year-old.

Strawberry: It really was. Getting there and feeling the expectation, and I got off to a really rough start. I was young, and I just remember that I was supposed to be at the park at one o’clock to meet with Jim Frey (hitting coach), and I didn’t show up until between two and three. Frey came up to me and got in my face. He just looked at me and said, “I’m never going to wait for you again. If you want to be great at playing this game, you have all the tools, kid; you need to be at this ballpark early every day.”

From that day forward, I was there every day. He taught me a valuable lesson: it doesn’t matter what kind of talent you have, it’s the kind of work that you put in that will eventually take you to the next level to be great. He told me you can have the talent, but if you don’t work on things that you’re weak at, you’re never going to improve yourself. And I did. I improved and I climbed the ladder.

He pushed me that year, and I climbed the ladder. I just came into my own. I went on to win Rookie of the Year. I always say I won Rookie of the Year because Jim Frey got in my face and made me understand the importance of being here. Not just showing up to the ballpark to say, okay, I want to play, but being there and doing things that’s going to get you to the next level.

MMO: When did you start to utilize the leg kick in your swing?

Strawberry: I didn’t really have that coming out of high school or the minor leagues. I think I started really developing that once I got to the big leagues. I changed that, and I think a lot of people thought, well, I don’t think he’s going to be able to hit like that to be successful at the major league level. I just crafted that inside of me, and I realized that this is what I want to be.

You have to figure out what kind of player you want to be. Do you just want to be all or nothing? I got a chance to watch players and play with guys like Dave Kingman and watch him hit and see how he was; it was all or nothing. Do you want to be that type of player, or do you want to be a player that can use your ability to use the whole field and run the bases? I wanted to run the bases, I wanted to steal, I wanted to play the field. I wanted to be a complete player.

I just didn’t want to be a player where it was all or nothing, because it could’ve easily turned that way. I worked so hard not to do that. Once I got to the point with a high leg kick and got comfortable with it, I knew who I was then. I knew how to do it well.

MMO: And how did utilizing the leg kick aid in your performance at the plate?

Strawberry: I called it a lift up and separate. Just lift up and keep my balance. Once I wanted to explode on the pitch, then I would separate. I would put it forward and then put it down. I wouldn’t go so far out because it would keep me in a place where I had great balance, and I wouldn’t fall off the ball a lot.

MMO: Throughout your career, did you incorporate any specific hitting drills into your routine? When I interviewed Gregg Jefferies for Metsmerized, he spoke about a plethora of drills his dad taught him at a young age.

Strawberry: No, no. I don’t think I wanted to clog my brain with all kinds of craziness. When you get to the big leagues, you have to find out what kind of player you are. Eventually, what’s going to happen is, it’s going to catch up with you. Pitchers are going to catch up with you, and they’re going to know how to pitch you. They’re going to find your weaknesses. You have to be able to make those types of adjustments for yourself.

I realized, more than anything, that it was important to stay with who I was. When I would struggle, I would never go to the ballpark and go into BP trying to hit the ball out of the park. It’s only five o’clock, they don’t count. [Laughs.] I would work from the left field line to over the shortstop, and then I would go back into maybe hitting the ball to right-center and right field line. You kind of worked all the way around. I got a feel for what the game is going to be like because somebody is going to pitch me out there, and when I see that pitch, I can identify that pitch because I’ve worked on it.

I used to go down to the cage with Bill Robinson, and he used to work me. My favorite thing with Bill Robinson was soft toss. He didn’t get me in a place where he wanted me, and to swing just to be swinging. He wanted me to stay on the baseball, and he wanted to soft-toss it and wanted me to hit it just into that left field screen. He’d tell me, “Remember, stay on the baseball and hit it to left-center. When you do that, it’s going to allow you to stay on the baseball, and when the pitcher comes in, it’ll be an automatic turn.”

Those are the things that I learned as time went by, and I became better at what I was doing.

MMO: When you debuted with the Mets in 1983, were there certain players that took you under their wing?

Strawberry: Not really. It was more of a veteran-type of team. I think it was a team where a lot of players were on their way out instead of in. The guys that really helped me a lot at that time were Mookie Wilson and Hubie Brooks.

All of the other guys were good to me. A lot of them were very nice and knew that I was on the scene for real. I think when they saw me in spring training and saw me play in some of the A games and hit a couple of bombs off some good major league pitchers, they knew. They were like, “Man, this doesn’t even faze the kid.” I got close to Ed Lynch, but Hubie and Mookie were really the guys who encouraged me.

And then when Keith [Hernandez] came over, he had a great impact on my career. He had a great impact on me going forward because I learned a lot from him.

MMO: At what point did you start to notice that the organization was changing, and for the better?

Strawberry: I realized that when we acquired Keith. I didn’t know if he was going to stay, but once I realized what kind of player he was going to be able to bring to the table, it was going to help all of us.

I knew the players we had in our farm system. I knew there was a bunch of them behind me that were very talented, like Doc [Gooden] and Lenny [Dykstra]. The Mets organization was stacked with players. We had tons of players who could play.

I think they realized that we had some pretty good players, and then we had some pretty good pitching. We traded for Ronnie [Darling] and we got Sid [Fernandez]. You saw them and knew the organization was starting to make a move. Frank Cashen was a wizard at what he was doing.

MMO: Would you characterize leaving the Mets to sign with Los Angeles Dodgers following the 1990 season, as your biggest regret of your baseball career?

Strawberry: Most likely. It had nothing to do with L.A.; it had to do with me being accustomed to playing at Shea Stadium in New York City, and being used to the atmosphere and what the fans were like. The fans push you in New York, and they boo you when you suck. I loved that.

It was a challenge for me because they were like, “You suck,” and I’m just like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. I’m a good ballplayer, and I shouldn’t be playing this bad.’ I was never someone who took that personally. I was always taking that as you can play better than this.

They were right about that, and that’s what I loved about the push. Either you’re going to deal with it or they’re going to run you out of town. They have the right to let you know that you suck. There’s nothing wrong with that. You’re getting paid a lot, and they come to the ballpark every night to see you play, and they want to see you perform. That’s the thing I loved about them. They don’t want to hear excuses about having a sore this or that.

MMO: I recently watched the Netflix documentary about Mike Veeck called ‘The Saint of Second Chances.’ Part of the documentary details your time with the Saint Paul Saints in 1996. In it, you say that your time with the Saints reignited your love for the game. Can you talk about that?

Strawberry: It brought a lot of joy. I think the way the people in Saint Paul were in general, they just came out to the ballpark and had fun and cheered for you. I got on the baseball field, and I didn’t even know if I wanted to play again. But once I got on that field and started playing, it became fun again.

I started to see the game for what it really was from when I first started, and I had joy in it. It just brought a lot of joy to me to be able to be down there playing like that. I didn’t know if I would ever make it back [to the majors]. I just knew if I was going to stay, I was just going to make it my last run to prove to myself how good I was at this game and how good the game had been for me.

MMO: In your prime, you had a combination of power and speed that was pretty special. Only two players in Major League Baseball history have hit 275+ home runs and swiped 200+ bags in their first nine seasons: yourself and Mike Trout. What memories do you have about those two tools?

Strawberry: It was just something I took a lot of pride in. It was something that I worked at because becoming a base stealer means you have to work at that. That just doesn’t happen overnight.

You have to learn how to get real good jumps, run on certain pitches and be able to pick your spots. That takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of wear and tear on your body because, eventually, your body starts to break down and you start to have injuries as you get older, at 28-29, because you ran so much earlier. That’s what it was for me, and I’m quite sure that’s what it is for Trout. He probably ran a lot, and that’s probably why he’s having so many different injuries.

The wear and tear on your body is hard. If you’re just a base stealer, that’s one thing. But if you’re that and a home run hitter, that’s a different thing because that’s very hard to do. It’s not easy to keep that pace up. It’s a very challenging pace to keep up.

MMO: You mentioned putting a lot of work into becoming a great base stealer. Can you expand on that?

Strawberry: I just picked my spots and realized what kind of pitchers were on the mound. Does he have a good move? Who’s behind the plate? Is he quick enough? Getting jumps were important, and you had to learn how to do that.

MMO: The 2016 ESPN “30 for 30” about yourself and Doc Gooden was extraordinary to watch. Was it enjoyable getting to see Doc in person, and relive all the good and bad of that time?

Strawberry: It was. It was great for me to be able to walk down that line again and look back and realize we were pretty good. I really wasn’t thinking about baseball a lot, and I don’t that much today. When I get a chance to revisit that and look back on it, I’m like, Wow, we were actually pretty good! 

You don’t ever think about it when you’re playing. And every year you go out there and you’re determined to be successful and win. When I got a chance to reflect back on that, I could see the good of us, and then I could see the fall of us. The lifestyle comes with it too, the expectations and playing in New York and all the temptations. That’s real life, and it’s there; you can’t deny it.

We were very young. I was very young! When we won in 1986, I was 24, and we never won again. We came close in ’88 and blew that and lost to the Dodgers. The window of time for winning is not forever. I think players sometimes think that we can keep doing this and we’re going to win. That’s just not the case. That’s not how it happens, because it’s so hard. When I look back on that “30 for 30,” it was really touching to me to see where I was when I started, what happened and where I ended up at.

MMO: Can you talk about when you found out that the Mets were retiring your No. 18 in a ceremony next season? What were your initial reactions to that news?

Strawberry: I was overjoyed when I got the call from Steve [Cohen] that this was happening for me. After all these years playing so hard and spending eight seasons there, and becoming the player I was, and the things I accomplished in that short period of time, I’m grateful for that. It’s such a big honor.

I was in tears – tears of joy – for being recognized. Not that I needed recognition for what I did in New York, but being recognized for that part of my career. When I look back on that, I was the first piece of what the organization was able to do. I came up in ’83, Keith came over, Doc, [Gary] Carter, and then we came on. More and more pieces came together, and we were all a big part of that.

You can’t take that away. Seven straight All-Star Games, Rookie of the Year, 30-30 and leading the league in homers in ’88. I just think, Man, I did some pretty good things over in Queens. Sometimes you never realize that because you don’t look back on that a lot. I didn’t. When I had the chance to look back on that, I thought to myself, This was well done. I’m really grateful for the fact that I’ll be able to be celebrated in front of all the wonderful Mets fans that had the chance to see me over the years.

MMO: What are your thoughts on Steve Cohen as an owner?

Jun 28, 2023; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen speaks to the media during a press conference before a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Strawberry: I think Steve Cohen is a phenomenal person. I think he cares, and he wants to win. I think it’s about getting the right chemistry and getting the right baseball people for him for development and the minor league system.

I spoke to him a few times and said, ‘You’ve got to get younger. You’ve got to get athletes. Get some guys that can do it all together: run, steal bases, go first to third.’

You need those kinds of players on your team. You need the Lenny Dykstra’s and Wally Backman’s on your team. Those are the players that will help you get to the next level because that’s what helped us go to the next level. We had the big boys, but if you didn’t have the little guys, it doesn’t do us any good. They were always on base and giving us an opportunity to drive them in.

MMO: I know you’ve been quite busy over the last decade-plus with your ministry and other ventures. Can you talk about what you’ve been up to over that time?

Strawberry: I’ve been involved in ministry for a while now, it’s turned out to be my life. I use my life experiences and am able to go back and help others. I go to maximum-security prisons and speak to the inmates there who will probably never see the streets again. Something’s happened in their life, just like stuff happens in all our lives, they need to know that people like me and all the people who are in ministry really care about them.

You never forget about people. I didn’t want anyone to forget about me, and they didn’t. I had people who helped me. I learned that lesson when I got well, and completely well, not straddling the fence and just saying I’m well.

Putting on a uniform made me a baseball player. I didn’t become a man until I stepped out and found my faith, and started living according to biblical principles. And my life changed forever. Now I know the importance of what it is to help somebody else. That’s probably more satisfying to me than anything I’ve ever accomplished.

MMO: Do you travel all across the country?

Strawberry: Yeah, I travel around 260 to 270 times a year to all kinds of churches and events.

I speak for addiction, I’m actually speaking at an event tonight in Orlando. It’s an organization called Teen Challenge, it’s for people who have addiction problems. It’s a faith-based program to help them understand that they need a spiritual awakening in their life to become a different person. To be able to see clear and understand that you can go on with life even though you have fallen short and had some cracks. You can get up and get yourself together.

I became an evangelist after many years of struggle in my life. Playing Major League Baseball and having success and struggles, through drug addiction, prison and cancer twice. Now, I’m a traveling evangelist standing in pulpits preaching over 260 times a year and bringing hope.

The post MMO Exclusive: Darryl Strawberry, the Mets’ Home Run King appeared first on Metsmerized.

The ballot is made up of former managers, executives, and umpires whose primary contributions to the game came since 1980 were eligible for consideration. This year’s ballot included the aforementioned Davey Johnson as well as Cito Gaston, Jim Leyland, Ed Montague, Hank Peters, Lou Piniella, Joe West, and Bill White.

After a solid 13-year major league career, Davey became an MLB manager in short order as he became the Mets skipper for the beginning of the 1984 season. He did a marvelous job as he turned a 68-win 1983 Mets team into a winning ball club in his first season in Queens, which was just the beginning of his tremendous stint in Flushing. Under Davey’s tenure, the Mets would go to the playoffs twice in his seven years there and won the franchise’s second World Series trophy in 1986. 

After his time in New York, Johnson would go on to manage four different ball clubs: the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, and finally the Washington Nationals. Davey finished his career with 1,372 wins, two Manager of the Year awards, one pennant, and one World Series title while only managing one season from start to finish, where his team finished under .500. 

The Contemporary Era Committee will meet on Dec. 3 at baseball’s Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee, and the vote will be announced live on MLB Network later that same day at 7:30 p.m. ET. In order to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a recipient needs to achieve 75% of votes cast among the committee. 

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The New York Mets made several shrewd moves in the early-to-mid eighties that aided the club in winning their second World Series championship in franchise history.

From their trade with the St. Louis Cardinals for Keith Hernandez and adding southpaw Sid Fernandez from the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1983 to trading for Ray Knight from the Houston Astros and acquiring Gary Carter from the Montreal Expos in 1984, the team supplemented its young, talented roster with star players and veteran leadership.

But another deal was made in November 1985 that involved eight players between the Mets and Boston Red Sox that would pay huge dividends in the club winning a franchise-best 108 regular season games and being the last team standing at the end of the 1986 season.

Left-handed pitcher Bob Ojeda was the main piece in this mega trade and played a vital role in both the regular season and postseason in his first year in Queens.

Ojeda, 64, signed with the Red Sox as an undrafted free agent in 1978 and pitched as both a starter and reliever for the major league club from 1980 through 1985.

The Mets were looking to add another left-handed pitcher to their staff for the ’86 season, and the front office zeroed in on Ojeda, whose experience both as a starter and out of the pen made for an attractive option.

What the Mets received from Ojeda in their championship season was more than they could have ever dreamed.

Among Mets pitchers, Ojeda led the staff in wins (18) and WHIP (1.090), while second in ERA (2.57) and fWAR (4.2). He finished fourth in the National League Cy Young voting and tossed a career-high 217.1 innings and an additional 27 in the postseason.

Ojeda came up big when it counted the most, making four postseason starts and posting a combined 2.33 ERA.

After Mike Scott’s brilliant 14-strikeout performance in the Houston Astros’ 1-0 win in Game 1 of the NLCS, Ojeda toed the rubber for Game 2 and tossed a complete game in the Mets’ 5-1 win on the road.

He became the third Mets pitcher in franchise history to toss a complete game in the postseason while allowing no more than one run, joining Tom Seaver (1969) and Jon Matlack (1973).

The lefty was also the starting pitcher in the Mets’ miraculous comeback victory in Game 6 of the World Series against his former club. He tossed six innings of two-run ball and didn’t allow the Red Sox to score after the second inning.

What’s incredible to remember is that Ojeda was this effective while dealing with a severely injured elbow. Ever the gamer, Ojeda had to navigate pitching through pain and whether that would ultimately lead to ineffectiveness and potential long-term injury.

In total, Ojeda spent five seasons in Queens, posting a 51-40 record with a 3.12 ERA in 140 games (109 starts). Among 42 pitchers with a minimum 500 innings pitched with the Mets, Ojeda ranks 9th in ERA and WHIP (1.182).

Following his playing career, Ojeda rejoined the Mets as a minor league pitching coach for several seasons and later joined SNY as a studio analyst and spent six seasons in that role.

I had the privilege of speaking with Ojeda where he discussed going undrafted, how he dealt with injuries and the championship season of 1986.

MMO: Who were some of your favorite players growing up?

Ojeda: I was born in L.A. and grew up there, and Sandy Koufax was my guy.

As a kid, I didn’t watch a lot of sports; I was too active and hyper. I could watch a couple of innings of a baseball game or a few minutes of a football game, and then I was out the door to go play.

MMO: At what point during your development did you start focusing primarily on pitching?

Ojeda: I didn’t really grow up honing in on pitching, and that’s an honest and straightforward question.

What happened to me was I didn’t get drafted. I only went to junior college and was good, but I did not get drafted. I signed after the draft for $500, which wasn’t a lot of money then either. [Laughs.]

I went all in. I was like, I got an opportunity, and I’m going to try my best. I showed up at Elmira, and my first manager was Dick Berardino, and this is a message to all these kids out here who hone in on pitching when they’re four years old, and that is, do not do that. Mom and dad, don’t do that to your children.

I showed up at the field and introduced myself to Dick. He said, “What do you do?” I said, ‘Skip, what’s the quickest way to the big leagues?’ He said, “Pitching.” I said, ‘Well, I’m a pitcher.’

Up until then I hit and pitched, and most guys that sign are very athletic and very talented, not only in different sports but different positions. And I was the same. But I did not zero in on pitching until after I signed.

MMO: You mentioned signing as an undrafted free agent with the Red Sox. How did that come about?

Ojeda: A good friend of my father’s, a fellow from the little town I was from, was this classic old dude. He always had a cigar in his mouth. He became a bird dog scout, and that’s a scout who is not really affiliated, but he knew people with the Red Sox.

Once I didn’t get drafted, he came up to me and my dad at my dad’s shop and said, “Look, I can get you $500, and you can sign with the Red Sox. That’s the best I can do.”

Even then, I was a little nervy, and I said, ‘How about $750?’ He said, “Nope, $500, that’s it. Take it or leave it.”

I took it, and that’s how my time with the Red Sox began. He was just a bird dog in town, real nice old man and he’s since passed away. But he’s the one that got me started in professional baseball.

MMO: In a New York Times article you wrote back in 2012, you described how you essentially always pitched in pain, even as a kid. Even through all the pain, you put together a quality career. How were you able to navigate and circumvent the pain throughout the course of your career?

Ojeda: A lot of these guys that we watch on television and are fans of, you don’t know what they go through to get on and stay on the field. A lot of people do that, and that’s the type of thing that I didn’t admit to myself when I was going through it, as with guys today. There are guys who play with pain, I am not the lone ranger by any stretch.

The crux of it is when pain transfers over to glaring injury. That’s the fine line, and how far do you want to push yourself in your particular circumstance to push through.

A lot of guys pitch in pain, but when you’ve already been diagnosed with an injury, and yet, continue to go through it, that’s the part I think is very individualistic. And there’s no right or wrong. It’s just what you can live with.

Now I sit around and am older, and I still do things in the game, but I look back and I would not have missed the ’86 playoffs or World Series for anything in the world. Sitting here today, had I chosen to sit out, would’ve been very difficult to live with.

You get one chance if you’re fortunate, and if you’re really fortunate, you get several chances to go all the way in any particular sport. To sit on the sidelines with something where it’s like, can I actually do this? Potentially hurt myself long-term but I don’t want to miss it, and I’m still effective; that’s an individual choice. That’s something that each guy has to navigate.

MMO: It’s interesting how you mentioned how so many players are dealing with nagging pains and sorenesses, and how fans don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. When I interviewed Trevor May while he was on the IL, he talked about toeing the line between playing through soreness and taking a needed rest when it was something more than that.

Ojeda: In my particular case, I had already been diagnosed with a severely injured elbow. The diagnosis was in and there was no more question about if it’s this or that. I was diagnosed with a frayed ulnar nerve and chips underneath the ulnar nerve and in the groove that was causing my arm to literally lock in place while I’d be warming up for a game.

That just becomes, I’m a rock head, but I don’t want to miss this. I have no regrets.

MMO: When were you diagnosed with a frayed ulnar nerve?

Ojeda: In ’86. The second half of the season, I was struggling pretty much most of the season, but it was like, okay, we all pitch in pain. Nobody plays 100%.

But it kept deteriorating, and I reached a point where I was taking anti-inflammatories and getting shots to get through it. I had the x-rays that confirmed there was an injury; it was a drastic elbow injury. I chose to continue because I was still effective.

My doctor, he’s passed away, Dr. Parkes, allowed me to do that. I told him, ‘Doc, if you say this happened, this conversation, I’m going to tell everybody that it never happened. And that you’re not telling the truth.’ [Laughs.] And for some reason, he believed me.

My trainer, Steve Garland, knew the truth, and yet, allowed me to continue. Why? Because it was my choice and my responsibility to accept the consequences of going forward with an injury, not pain, an injury.

I thank them every time I think about it that they let me do it.

MMO: In that same New York Times piece, two names that stuck out to me in terms of your development were Mike Roarke and Johnny Podres. Can you talk about what each of them meant for you?

Ojeda: I met the Pod in fall ball in 1978 with the Red Sox. He was awesome and a legend. He was this big, old boiler and was chain-smoking like a maniac. I loved the guy. He was just no-nonsense and would give it to you straight. He taught me my changeup and curve.

That was instrumental in me moving forward because I had just come off a 1-6 [season] in Elmira, and then I went down after the season to Sarasota. I learned the changeup and learned the curve, came back the following year, and then I was 15-7 with a 2.43 [ERA], and that was largely because of Johnny Podres.

Mike Roarke, I had him in the big leagues. Mike was the kindest gentleman you ever met. The kindest guys are usually the toughest ones, and Mike was a tough guy. But he was so kind.

My father pretty much taught me everything, but Mike Roarke taught me the professional angle of pitching. I learned immensely the difference between the minor leagues, college and professional [level], when it’s a job.  Mike was instrumental in that.

He was one of the finest gentlemen I ever met and very knowledgeable in the game.

MMO: Did you already have a changeup and curveball in your arsenal and Podres tinkered with your grips, or did he introduce those pitches to you?

Ojeda: Good question, he messed with my grip a little bit. My father did not let me throw a curveball until I was seventeen. My father was ahead of his time, I don’t know how he did it.

He was a big man at six-four, pitched in the army and knew the dangers of pitching because his shoulder blew out and that pretty much ended his career.

He did not allow me to throw a curveball, so I had no idea how to throw a curve. The Pod got a hold of me, and I think I just turned 20 when I went down, and he showed me the grip of the curve and a different grip on the changeup.

I had messed around with a changeup in high school and junior college, but I didn’t need it because I threw really hard. I was a one-trick pony.

MMO: What were your initial reactions on getting traded to the Mets in November 1985?

Ojeda: I was thrilled because Boston, at the time, was a train wreck. Ownership was in turmoil; the organization was turning over from veterans to bringing up younger guys, and there was a lot of animosity in that locker room. That’s one of the most important things that I did as a coach is that you don’t have to love everybody, but there was a lot of animosity and a lot of anger that the old guys were getting pushed out and the young guys were coming in.

To get out of that environment with kind of a bunch of stale, old, crusty guys and come over to New York, well, I sat there for two weeks in spring training and didn’t say anything, I just watched these guys. I felt like I was in a room full of puppies!

At that time, I was a five-year veteran, so I’d been around a little bit. I was a little jaded because I was around all these grumpy, old dudes. I just embraced it. I embraced their youthful exuberance and sort of their blind excitedness of what’s possible. When you’re young, you’re invincible, and I was like, Yeah, this is what I’m talking about.

Did everybody love each other? No. But there was a common goal, and that was to win every day starting at 7:05. And that was so refreshing to come into, especially as a veteran.

MMO: Did you have any idea of how special this ’86 club could be when you arrived?

Ojeda: Not a clue. I’m in my own world, and especially back in the day, I paid attention to what I was doing and what was happening in the American League; I could care less what was going on in the other league. I had my hands full doing my job, so I did not know one thing about the Mets.

I probably did a little reading once I was traded over, but you don’t really know exactly what it is until you get there. You’re reading stories that are interpreted from people who do their best to project a picture. But once I got in that locker room and sat there, honest to goodness, for two weeks and didn’t say a word and was just looking around and taking it in, I was like, Okay, I get it now. These guys are fired up.

Davey [Johnson] certainly sent the message out that we’re winning it all this year. That goal of winning it all was so important; that’s the only time I ever felt that. The only time in my entire career that I ever felt that.

It wasn’t like we were going to win the first ten or have the best pitching staff, the best defense, hit the most triples; none of that nonsense. You know what boys? We’re going to win the most games, and we’re going to win the World Series. Not our division; not this or that. We’re going to win the World Series. Anything short of that is a bust, and I think that helped propel our mentality.

That’s why we were like we were. They say we had a little panache, if you will, and we did and that’s because you have to. But you also have to have the horses, and this ball club was pretty good in ’85, and we just took it over the top in ’86.

MMO: Was there any pressure on not only joining a new team, but a new league when you came to New York?

Ojeda: No. I always put pressure on myself but I didn’t add to it.

I didn’t get to start the year in the rotation, I started in the bullpen. Early in the season, they scheduled a lot of off days, and Davey said, “You’re a starter, and you’re starting for me. We need you and that left side, especially going against St. Louis. But I have to start you in the bullpen.” I told him that was fine, and it’s not about me; it’s about my team, my new team.

I actually started four or five less games than everybody else, but I wasn’t complaining. I was just glad to be in the big leagues, glad to be with an exciting team and winning ballgames like we were eating potato chips; it was nuts!

MMO: What are your memories from your Game 2 start in the NLCS against the Houston Astros?

Ojeda: The season doesn’t start until the playoffs. I know it’s cliché, but it’s true. As you’re playing a season, early in the season there’s a degree of pressure; the middle of the season there’s a degree of pressure; and the end of season until you clinch the playoffs there’s a degree of pressure. You take a nice breath after you clinch, but then it starts all over. Then, all of a sudden, it’s intense.

If you go to the playoffs, the season does not start until you’ve reached the playoffs. That’s the goal and mindset you need to have. I don’t care how good of an April or August or September we had; until you get to the postseason, it becomes real.

When I started that game, it’s a sense of all or nothing. There’s no tomorrow. Each individual game is in and of itself a standalone. I’m not thinking about tomorrow; I’m not thinking about yesterday; I’m not thinking about last week; I’m thinking about today.

The pressure in your head and the pressure of the game is vital to have that attitude that it’s just a game, a huge game, but it’s one game. It’s one out at a time. I know these are clichés, but they’re very, very true and that’s what I drew on when I got to go through it.

MMO: So, you would use those mantras to help keep your mental game in check?

Ojeda: Yes, absolutely. You have to put yourself in a mental place where you can function. And that’s individual.

I was one of those people that liked to play for keeps when we used to pitch quarters and play marbles and all these old people games. We were doing it for fun, but I wanted to win. As soon as the bell rang, okay, this is for keeps. I tended to embrace that.

I always did embrace pressure; I embraced it and liked it. I used the pressure to help me rather than defeat me. But you have to manage it, and you have to manage it to where you can function. It’s not something that happens by accident, and there are people who, no question, fold under pressure.

You’re either a pressure folder or a pressure player. You do it 100 times, and you will be a folder each one of those times, and if you’re a pressure player, you’re going to come through in the time in large part.

There are existential reasons why failure and success happen, but there are people who are chokers and who do not like pressure. And that’s life. I’m not slamming them, that’s just life.

Pitching is individualistic, too, because I’m the guy on the bump; I’m in charge of everything. I promise you there are guys who will pitch a beautiful game and will lose 1-0, 2-1, 2-0. They’ll pitch a beautiful game and afterwards talk about how it was tough luck and know they threw a great game. There are guys who embrace that.

I wanted to be the guy and thrived on being the guy who wins 1-0; who wins 2-1. And it does not feel the same. I promise you, when you’re on the mound, it is not the same because people get exposed when they get a lead. There are guys, you can check with stats, who get a lead, and they’ll give it right back and then settle in. They’re comfortable being good enough to lose. Those are the guys you have to weed out to be a championship club.

MMO: You then started Game 6 of the NLCS, and after giving up three runs in the first inning, you buckled down and threw four scoreless innings after. Even though you guys had a 3-2 lead in the series, it seemed like that game was treated as a must-win, given that Mike Scott was looming for a Game 7. What stands out to you about that game and start?

Ojeda: That was the game where I just had three shots in my elbow two days before. No one knew. Dr. Parkes did it for me; I flew down to Washington and got the shots and flew back. He was awesome.

When I was warming up for that game, I felt like I had sandbags in my elbow. I just could not get loose.

I remember the great Mel Stottlemyre was looking at me like, wow, this really doesn’t look good. He didn’t want to say that, so he said, “How are you feeling? You feeling okay?” I told him, ‘No, I’m good, Mel. [I] just have a little trouble getting loose, but I’m good. I’ll be all right.’ [Laughs.]

I went out there for the first inning and was like, Oh, my god, how the hell am I going to get through this thing?

Fortunately, I got through that first inning and things loosened up, and I was able to give them a few more innings to help us get that win. That was all shot related because it helped with the pain, but it clogged up the elbow a little bit.

MMO: Was there pain pitching in your two World Series starts?

Ojeda: You couldn’t focus on it. The pain was still there, and like I said, I’m not the lone ranger. But I had an injury, and I chose to go forward with it. When you make that decision, you can’t start crying about it; you have to roll with it.

That game in Houston was the most uncomfortable game I had thrown. Game six was pretty uncomfortable as well, but at that point, once we got to the World Series, there are no more shots, no more anything. I just loaded up on pills and was going to do the best I could. I didn’t want to quit on my teammates.

I was still effective even with the injury, but I didn’t want to give up on my teammates, and I said let’s just go with this thing. If it ends your career, so what? I got to the World Series because inside me was a 12-year-old little boy who dreamed about this day. I wasn’t going to miss it.

MMO: Following your playing career, you took some time off before returning as a minor league pitching coach in the organization, and then took some more time before signing on as a commentator for SNY in 2009. What prompted you to come back to the game in a broadcasting capacity?

Ojeda: Very simply, they asked me. I know the Wilpons draw emotion from the fans, which is fine. But they treated me fantastic. They really did. I can’t speak for anyone else, but they treated me great. They actually came to me and said, “We want you back in the organization.”

I coached for those three years, and I told myself I was going to take a break. And then I went back to Shea Stadium for Shea Goodbye, as a matter of fact, and they told me they liked to have me back. They asked me what I’d like to do, would I want to coach again, do this, that or the other. I said, ‘I’m thankful you’re having me back because I do love the Mets and I do love baseball. So whatever you think.’

The great Curt Gowdy Jr. called me up and said, “Look, I’m not giving up this job. You have to audition.” I auditioned for Curt, and they liked what they saw, and then I rolled into that. But I never, ever had any ambitions to do television work because it wasn’t my thing or ambition or goal.

I loved every second of it. They were great to me. They let me be honest, and I always tried to be fair. It wasn’t just getting the microphone and talk smack. I didn’t want to do that because I grew up with that as a player. I’d be like, that ain’t cool, I wish that guy would say that to my face. They get on TV, and all of a sudden they’re talking all of this smack, so I said no.

I always did it like I was talking to a guy when I was doing a show. I’m looking at the camera, and if I’m saying something about a particular guy, I’m saying it to his face, because that helps govern what you say. All of a sudden, you’re not such a big shot when you’re talking to the guy.

I was on the backside of that, where I’m watching an interview on TV or listening on the radio, and I’m thinking, boy, this guy sounds like a different guy when he’s in the locker room. I didn’t want to be that guy, and that helped me do my job, which I loved doing.

MMO: I loved the work you did on SNY. I think many Met fans respected you for your frank and honest analysis, and the fact that you always came prepared during good times and bad.

Ojeda: Thank you very much, that is a great compliment. I didn’t want to phone it in for you guys because I’m a Met fan myself. I just wanted to be honest. And the one thing with you guys is you’re so well-informed. I’m not going to sit there on television and tell you 1+1=7, where you guys will say, wait, 1+1=2. What’s this guy talking about?

I wanted to come at you honestly and show that I did my research, did my homework, and I didn’t just throw out numbers. I used to be with the guys at the studio, and they were such a huge help, and we’d spend hours researching making sure that something I was going to say was true, honest and backed up by numbers.

I was very emotional, and still am, because I have feelings and it matters to me, but it’s based in truth and reality that someone can check. I may have gotten a little hot because it’s an emotional game and I’m an emotional person, but it was always honest, and I loved doing it. I wouldn’t mind doing it again.

MMO: I was going to ask you if you had any desire to get back in the game in a broadcasting/coaching/front office advisory role?

Ojeda: Yes. I had to take a breather because that’s the way I am. So, I’ve taken a breather and recharged my batteries. I’ve never liked doing anything half-way. If I’m going to be a baseball player, I’m going to be a baseball player. If I’m going to be a coach, I’m going to be a coach. If I’m going to be on TV and be an analyst, I’m going to give it my all.

I’m at a point now where I feel great. So, to come back in one of those capacities would be great for two reasons. One, I love baseball, I always have, and most of us do. And two, I really enjoy the Mets, and I enjoy the Met fan.

What’s amazing to me is the Mets are the organization, the players come and go, that’s just life. The players come and go, but you stay a Met fan. As a Met fan, I can’t be traded to the Dodgers; I’m a Met fan, that’s it, that’s my team!

I have that affiliation, and to do any of those above things with another organization is not that appealing, and I probably wouldn’t do it. But to do it for the Mets. Like I said, we don’t have the luxury of being traded; our feelings and allegiance are sort of locked in. And that’s what I admire about Met fans.

The vast majority of Met fans are true and blue and do not give up on their team. Sure, they take a lot of stuff for not winning much in the recent years, but they never quit on you. And that’s the way I feel. I don’t quit on myself, Met fans don’t quit on their team, and we’re in it together. It’s a great feeling to have that connection, and it can’t be broken.

MMO: What was it like coming back for Old Timers’ Day this year?

Ojeda: Fantastic! I have been around the ballpark a lot as a player, coach and on TV, but they treated 65 guys as if we were going in the lineup that night. It was incredible.

They just made us feel so welcome, I can’t say enough about the new ownership. It’s coming from the top down too; I will tell you that right now. That’s coming from the top. He (Steve Cohen) set a tone and a precedent, and it was evident like I have never seen since I last put on the uniform as a player there.

Like I said, they treated me great for years, and I have no axe to grind. I’ve been very, very fortunate with the organization. But everybody who was in that uniform and had some gray hair and a little limp, and even some of these younger guys who aren’t that far removed from playing, were made to feel so warmly welcome. It’s like, you are part of this, it’s like the cliché of a family, I’m not going to go that far but we were made to feel incredibly welcome.

It was so refreshing, and that breath of fresh air that breathed life into that stadium and the stadium even felt alive, it was beautiful. There was a beautiful moment that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I know a lot of my teammates and guys I just met loved it.

They all walked out of there feeling ten feet tall. It was amazingly done for these old guys. It was awesome.

Follow Bobby Ojeda on Twitter, @BobOjeda19

The post MMO Exclusive: ’86 Champ, Bobby Ojeda appeared first on Metsmerized.

It seemed like the baseball gods intended for the Mets to win it all and the Red Sox curse to continue. But the postscript to Game 6’s epic theater was anything but a formality.

Sunday rain let Boston manager John McNamara give Bruce Hurst the starting nod. Hurst proceeded to reinforce his credentials for series MVP — an award all but in possession before the Mets’ epic comeback two nights ago.

Ron Darling was unable to match the Sox’s red-hot hurler, allowing three early runs, so they called on their own lefty savior. Sid Fernandez never got a start in the ’86 World Series, but he had the most important pitching performance of the seven games. The Hawaiian lefty delivered 2.1 hitless innings and most importantly halted Red Sox momentum. Fernandez, in turn, energized the Shea Stadium crowd.

Hurst had limited the Mets to one hit before New York came to life in the sixth with singles from Lee Mazzilli and Mookie Wilson and a Tim Teufel walk. Keith Hernandez came up to the plate. He didn’t have to reach far into his memory to recall an eerily similar situation.

“I remember that well,” Hernandez said postgame, remarking on a two-run bases-loaded single in the sixth of the deciding game in the ’82 Fall Classic as his Cardinals prevailed over the Brewers. Just like he did four years earlier, Hernandez delivered. A hit to left-center sent home Mazzilli and Wilson and sent Shea into a frenzy.

“I had swung the bat great all series,” he said. “I told [my brother] this morning ‘If I get up with men on base tonight, I’m going to be the man.’”

On the next pitch, Gary Carter lofted a fly ball to right field. It landed in front of a diving Dwight Evans — allowing pinch-runner Wally Backman to score the run that tied it at three. The Mets’ charge steamed forward in the seventh. Ray Knight had his MVP moment leading off with a homer to left-center against Calvin Schiraldi.

New York scored twice more — so did Boston. But Darryl Strawberry’s home run to start in the bottom of the eighth, followed by another run and then Jesse Orosco’s three up, three down ninth ensured Saturday’s dramatics were more a catalyst than a footnote.

In winning 8–5, the Mets did what they were supposed to do from the outset. But the method by which they did it showed that for all their dominance, they had character and resolve when it mattered most.

The post OTD 1986: Mets Win Second World Series Title appeared first on Metsmerized.

Game 6 of the 1986 World Series resonates strongly with Mets fans. Even with its dramatic ending and what it meant for its fortunes, that may not even be the best postseason game the franchise ever played. It may not even be the best Game 6 of that remarkable October of ’86 if you ask some.

The contest that put the Mets into the Fall Classic that year speaks more to the team’s resilience than the dominance they showed during the regular season. If they didn’t persevere and ultimately prevail, they may not have gone as far as the World Series—much less win it.

For all the confidence and swagger the ’86 Mets retained, not to mention a three-games-to-two lead in the NLCS, Houston Astros ace Mike Scott humbled them to a point of near resignation. The pitcher who dominated New York in Games 1 and 4 and was scheduled to go in the seventh—should it get that far. It was the kind of fear this team had not faced all year.

Game 6 was a must-win in just about every sense without being a must-win in the literal sense.

The specter of facing Scott grew larger as Bob Knepper, the Astros starter this afternoon, briskly set down New York bats over eight innings. The three runs Houston’s offense put up in the first was the total output it had going into the top of the ninth.

Knepper’s attempt to close the Mets out quickly went awry. Lenny Dykstra led off by muscling a triple beyond the reach of center fielder Billy Hatcher. Mookie Wilson singled barely over second baseman Bill Doran’s mitt. Keith Hernandez then delivered a one-out double to force Knepper’s exit.

Reliever Dave Smith allowed two walks before Ray Knight’s game-tying sacrifice fly. The tension level was raised as New Yorkers delayed commutes home to not miss the outcome.

After Roger McDowell remarkably pitched five shutout innings in relief, Wally Backman singled and drove in Darryl Strawberry in the top of the fourteenth. Any World Series plans New York conjured up were spoiled by Hatcher. He towered Orosco’s offering deep down the left-field line and into the screen, substituting as a foul pole.

New York, though, retained as much resilience as its opponent—not letting that back-breaking moment serve as the momentum to carry Houston into tomorrow.

Knight’s opposite-field hit in the top of the sixteenth scored Strawberry. Two insurance runs came across, which turned out to be invaluable security as the Astros once more tried desperately to stave off defeat.

They answered with two runs and put two on with two outs and Kevin Bass coming up. Orosco’s heater receded to batting practice effectiveness. Hernandez approached the left-hander, now on fumes, at the mound. As the story goes, he said something to the effect of “throw another fastball, and I’ll knock you out.”

Orosco ran the count full before getting Bass to swing and miss on a 3-2 breaking ball.

The Mets finally extinguished the Astros’ competitive fire and exhausted their last-gasp try while simultaneously exhausting themselves—but not enough to prevent alcohol, drug, and food fight-fueled rager on the plane ride home.

Little did they know how much more October drama was still to come.

The post OTD 1986: The 16-Inning Epic in Houston appeared first on Metsmerized.