QUEENS, NY — Parallels between Darryl Strawberry’s and Doc Gooden’s 1986 World Series champion New York Mets and the 2024 squad are few and far between; so much so that Strawberry could not help but chuckle when beginning to compare the two teams.
“We were crazy,” Strawberry said of that well-documented pseudo-dysfunctional championship side — the last Mets team to win a World Series. “We were a different breed. We were who we were. In the ’80s, you could be like that. We just had a different personality. We had a lot of swagger bout ourselves, and if you didn’t like us, oh well. We had a slogan, what we were going to do. I can’t sit here and tell you what it was, but it was a lot of fun being who we were back in those days.”
That slogan, which included sentiments of drinking beer, creating new companionship, and beating down teams that stood in their way (physically or mentally), is nothing like the 2024 Mets.
These Mets are wholesome and a bit quirky. Their mascots range from the big, purple McDonald’s mascot, Grimace, to the nearly 100-year-old World War II veteran Seymour Weiner.
Jose Iglesias is a Latin pop star who moonlights as Candelita — his song “OMG” becoming an anthem of the Mets’ turnaround. Pitchers wear the number of that day’s starter in eyeblack on their cheeks. Pete Alonso protects a pumpkin that he picked with his family like precious cargo; a good luck charm that has made postseason trips with him from Milwaukee to Philadelphia, to Los Angeles.
“I always take it with me,” Alonso said. “On the road, I’ve taken it back to the hotel because I don’t want any clubbies or anybody messing with it. It’s kept safe every day… I carry it with me [while I travel]. Because it could be destroyed in my luggage.”
They smile and dance and could not be any different from the 1986 Mets. Yet here they are in the NLCS, entering Thursday night’s Game 4 trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-games-to-1.
There may be some similarities, after all.
“I think the lineup is very deep,” Gooden said of this year’s club. “Our lineup was very deep. Anybody in that lineup can hurt you. There’s no one guy that you can pitch around and feel comfortable with. As a pitcher, when you face a lineup like that, there’s no breathing room… You have to be ready from the first hitter on.”
Their depth has been a calling card during this postseason run, as heroes have emerged from every corner of the roster. Alonso’s three-run home run in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series saved the season. Francisco Lindor’s grand slam clinched the NLDS in Game 4. Mark Vientos’ grand slam set the tone for a Game 2 NLCS win in Los Angeles.
The starting pitching has continued to exceed expectations, and the bullpen has, for the most part, been stout, whether it is Edwin Diaz navigating through trouble late or David Peterson developing into a multi-inning stalwart.
“They just do the little things. They do it just like we did,” Strawberry said. “You get into those situations, and you don’t have to really count on just one particular guy to do it all the time. It’s like, OK, we play today, we win today. Let somebody do it. Whoever wants to do it, do it.
“And that’s what baseball is really all about when you get into playoff baseball. It’s a short window, it’s a short time, and it’s not always guaranteed it’s going to always be like this for you. You have to take advantage of it. They’ve done a great job of taking advantage of those situations that they’ve been in.”
Perhaps it is not so much about the identity of the team as much as it is about the results. The 108-win 1986 Mets are considered one of the greatest teams in baseball history. The 2024 Mets have been one of the game’s biggest surprises this year as a team that was once 11 games under .500 that is now just a few wins away from a pennant.
They will be equal if the Mets can find a way to get this over the finish line.
“For the Mets to break that [38-year] drought, that’d be big for the city, big for the fans,” Gooden said. “It’s not always the best team that wins, the hottest team once you get to the postseason, but I think this team is building for the future as well. I’d like to see it happen this year.”
