October 9, 1988: Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Shea Stadium. The New York Mets lead the Los Angeles Dodgers 2 games to 1. This is the 1st time the Mets have entered postseason play against either of the former National League teams from New York, either the former Brooklyn Dodgers or the New York-turned-San Francisco Giants, whose move to California after the 1957 season made the Mets' creation desirable for so many (if not really necessary.)
Dwight Gooden is one out away from giving the Mets a win in Game 4 of the NLCS. If Gooden had simply gotten through the inning allowing less than 2 runs, the Mets would have won, and been up 3 games to 1. They could have won the Pennant without having to go back to Los Angeles. And if the weak-hitting Dodgers could beat the Oakland Athletics in the World Series, surely the Mets could have. The A's completed a 4-game sweep over the Boston Red Sox the same day, 4-1 at the Oakland Coliseum, winning the American League Pennant.
It would have been the Mets' 2nd World Championship in 3 years, and deepened their status as New York's Number 1 team. Keep in mind, the Yankees hadn't won a Pennant in 7 years and a World Series in 10 years -- by their standards, an eternity.
Maybe that hypothetical glorious Mets team would have been kept together. Maybe Gooden and Strawberry don't fall back into drug problems. (Humor me here.) Maybe the Mets would have found suitable replacements for Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter, both 34 years old, the glue of their 1986 World Champions. Maybe things would have changed so much that the Mets never gave the hearts and minds of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans back to the Yankees, and the Yankees never got into position to take them back.
But here's what actually happened. Gooden fulfilled the cliché that walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. He walked John Shelby to lead off the top of the 9th. The next batter was Mike Scioscia, a very good catcher, but not known for his hitting. He hit a home run to tie the game.
The game went to extra innings. Roger McDowell spit the bit (I'm sorry, but the joke was too good to not use), giving up a home run to Kirk Gibson in the 12th inning. Gibson was 1-for-16 in the postseason up until that moment.
Jesse Orosco, who got the clinching outs for the 1986 Pennant and World Series for the Mets, had been traded to the Dodgers, but nearly blew it in the 12th. Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda called Hershiser, who'd won Game 1 and then, given an extra day because of a rainout, pitched 7 innings in Game 3 the day before this, out of the bullpen, to get the last out. He did.
Dodgers 4, Mets 2. Series tied. The Dodgers won the series in Game 7 in Los Angeles.
This was the hinge day in Met history, when it all started to go wrong. It was the 1st major instance of what I've come to call "The Curse of Kevin Mitchell." Maybe, maybe, maybe? Since Scioscia's homer, 34 years ago, "maybes" are pretty much all the Mets have had.
The Mets have frequently used the slogan "The Magic Is Back." October 9, 1988 was the day the magic died.
All that talent, all those runs toward the postseason from 1984 to 1990, and yet, the Mets turned out to be "A Dynasty of One," to borrow the phrase of ESPN Pardon the Interruption co-host Michael Wilbon -- just like the 1985 Chicago Bears, much to the Chicagoan Wilbon's chagrin.
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October 9, 1988 was a Sunday. In addition to the A's completing the ALCS sweep over the Red Sox, these NFL games were played that day:
* The New York Jets lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 36-19 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Atlanta Falcons, 33-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* The Buffalo Bills beat the Indianapolis Colts, 34-23 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.
* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Cleveland Browns, 16-10 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions, 24-7 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
* The Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots, 45-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 14-13 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Washington Redskins beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 35-17 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
* The Houston Oilers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 7-6 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Phoenix Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-14 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.
* The New Orleans Saints beat the San Diego Chargers, 23-17 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Los Angeles Raiders, 24-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* The Denver Broncos beat the San Francisco 49ers, 16-13 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. This was the only game of the weekend to go to overtime, and Rich Karlis won it with a 22-yard field goal.
* The following night, on ABC Monday Night Football, arch-rivals met at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants, 24-13.
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