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...the full broadcast of Game 6 of that 1986 World Series, as part of that "Baseball's Best Games" DVD I bought.
And...yeah, a happy ending, maybe the only one I'll see this year.
I had seen the bottom of the 10th, of course, numerous times--there's actually a great RBI Baseball version on YouTube for anyone interested, they have Vin Scully's call and everything--and Henderson's HR and a few other bits, but never the whole game, nothing close to it...
WOW--even leaving out that insane 10th inning...
Clemens shutting the Mets down completely to start (always hated him, always will)...
The parachuting guy at the beginning...
Elster's error...
Spike Owen getting pulled off the bag...
Ray Knight nearly costing the game at 1st with an error (ironic!)...
Mazzilli's hit...
Davey Johnson having HoJo swing rather than bunt (why did he do that?!)...
And just everything else, and, of course, Vin Scully calling it all--
It was as great as advertised, lived up to the hype, it really and truly did, which considering the game's legendary status, that's saying something.
So--
Before the season starts on Thursday (Johan's starting, it looks like, at least that's something to look forward to) and we return to the yearly grind--
As I take it I'm probably the youngest here, all of a college undergrad (though transferring with an AA this Fall) and all...
Probably everyone else has some memory of that game, and that Series...favorite moments for you?
Reminisce about the good times before a likely-stormy season hits home?
I'll say this, which caught my attention--
I fell in love with the Piazza-era Mets, and those teams always seemed to go late into the game and try and do whatever it took to win...
And that's the Mets here; obviously it's Mookie's grounder and the error and all that, but even before that, that team seemed to be playing with a "whatever it takes" mentality, and it was those close plays and unconventional moments...and they often seemed to go in the Mets' favor, somehow.
And I realize--THAT'S what I fell in love with and what I have always loved about the Mets--when they win, they make it an EVENT.
No Mariano 1-2-3 and thaaaaaa Metropolitans win...it's always unique, somehow; sure, Orosco closed Game 7, but before that, you had the rest of the game, and Game 6's wild finish, and the close games before that...
The same goes for so many of my all-time favorite Mets games, that I saw:
Robin Ventura's Grand Single...
The Agbayani HR...
The 20-Inning Epic against the Cardinals in 2010...
And just a whole bunch of other regular season games the Piazza/Leiter/Bobby V. Mets and then the Wright/Reyes/Beltran Mets seemed to have.
And that's part of the magic of the Mets, for me, anyway--they may lose (in fact, most of the time, they will) but they're NOT the Yankees, they're not just a winning machine...and while you want them to win, and eventually (hopefully) they will be that great team again, even when they ARE a great team, or a contending team, they don't win in cold, calculated games, it seems...
When they win, more than anything else, they seem to make it memorable and make it count--they win and lose with passion.
The Yankees win more, WAY more...but how much passion is there in a 1-2-3 Mariano inning or a 10-0 blowout?
After all, 2 of the best games of the last decade--Game 7 of the 2001 WS and Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS--feature Mariano BLOWING the save, that cold, calculated Yankee Way of winning.
I don't know--I want to win as much as anyone, and call me a hopeless romantic when it comes to baseball (maybe that's why I'm a Mets fan) but Game 6 1986...
It didn't make me think of a time when the Mets were a juggernaut, just a time when they won with passion.
So, as long as they still have passion...maybe there's still something to root for this year?
Maybe Dickey or Santana can finally get the no-hitter for our 50th anniversary?
That game Jason Bay seemed to screw it up time and again and still the Mets beat the Yankees last year...
And...yeah, a happy ending, maybe the only one I'll see this year.
I had seen the bottom of the 10th, of course, numerous times--there's actually a great RBI Baseball version on YouTube for anyone interested, they have Vin Scully's call and everything--and Henderson's HR and a few other bits, but never the whole game, nothing close to it...
WOW--even leaving out that insane 10th inning...
Clemens shutting the Mets down completely to start (always hated him, always will)...
The parachuting guy at the beginning...
Elster's error...
Spike Owen getting pulled off the bag...
Ray Knight nearly costing the game at 1st with an error (ironic!)...
Mazzilli's hit...
Davey Johnson having HoJo swing rather than bunt (why did he do that?!)...
And just everything else, and, of course, Vin Scully calling it all--
It was as great as advertised, lived up to the hype, it really and truly did, which considering the game's legendary status, that's saying something.
So--
Before the season starts on Thursday (Johan's starting, it looks like, at least that's something to look forward to) and we return to the yearly grind--
As I take it I'm probably the youngest here, all of a college undergrad (though transferring with an AA this Fall) and all...
Probably everyone else has some memory of that game, and that Series...favorite moments for you?
Reminisce about the good times before a likely-stormy season hits home?
I'll say this, which caught my attention--
I fell in love with the Piazza-era Mets, and those teams always seemed to go late into the game and try and do whatever it took to win...
And that's the Mets here; obviously it's Mookie's grounder and the error and all that, but even before that, that team seemed to be playing with a "whatever it takes" mentality, and it was those close plays and unconventional moments...and they often seemed to go in the Mets' favor, somehow.
And I realize--THAT'S what I fell in love with and what I have always loved about the Mets--when they win, they make it an EVENT.
No Mariano 1-2-3 and thaaaaaa Metropolitans win...it's always unique, somehow; sure, Orosco closed Game 7, but before that, you had the rest of the game, and Game 6's wild finish, and the close games before that...
The same goes for so many of my all-time favorite Mets games, that I saw:
Robin Ventura's Grand Single...
The Agbayani HR...
The 20-Inning Epic against the Cardinals in 2010...
And just a whole bunch of other regular season games the Piazza/Leiter/Bobby V. Mets and then the Wright/Reyes/Beltran Mets seemed to have.
And that's part of the magic of the Mets, for me, anyway--they may lose (in fact, most of the time, they will) but they're NOT the Yankees, they're not just a winning machine...and while you want them to win, and eventually (hopefully) they will be that great team again, even when they ARE a great team, or a contending team, they don't win in cold, calculated games, it seems...
When they win, more than anything else, they seem to make it memorable and make it count--they win and lose with passion.
The Yankees win more, WAY more...but how much passion is there in a 1-2-3 Mariano inning or a 10-0 blowout?
After all, 2 of the best games of the last decade--Game 7 of the 2001 WS and Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS--feature Mariano BLOWING the save, that cold, calculated Yankee Way of winning.
I don't know--I want to win as much as anyone, and call me a hopeless romantic when it comes to baseball (maybe that's why I'm a Mets fan) but Game 6 1986...
It didn't make me think of a time when the Mets were a juggernaut, just a time when they won with passion.
So, as long as they still have passion...maybe there's still something to root for this year?
Maybe Dickey or Santana can finally get the no-hitter for our 50th anniversary?
That game Jason Bay seemed to screw it up time and again and still the Mets beat the Yankees last year...
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