Sharing the eastern seaboard and the same division understandably creates a rift between fans and players alike, who over the years have exchanged words and sometimes fists. Many notable faces have seen it from both sides: Tug McGraw, Lenny Dykstra, and Zack Wheeler just to same a few. Proximity breeds hatred. And many, if not all, of these memorable games, give added reason for one side to only...
The Mets had transformed from a 94-loss club in 1983 to a 90-win dynamo the following year, thanks in large part to first-year skipper Davey Johnson and two phenomenal rookie campaigns from Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. Perhaps the biggest contributor to this early turnaround, however, was first baseman Keith Hernandez, who posted a 6.3 bWAR in his first full year with the team. With a...
The Mets of 1987 discovered that defending a championship isn’t nearly as easy as pursuing one. Injuries and infighting were the main cause for New York having to play catch-up with the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL East for most of the year. The starting pitching — so strong in ’86 — was decimated in ’87. Dwight Gooden missed the first two months due to drug...
