Mets captured hearts and minds in 1986

The 1986 Mets were a team for the ages

To understand the significance of the 1986 Mets, a bit of a context may be helpful (who better to provide that than a “mature” Mets fan?)

The Mets had been competitive from 1969 through the mid 1970s, winning a World Series and a pennant. Then came the trade of Tom Seaver in 1977, which was followed by the franchise’s dark ages. The late 70s teams were terrible, and the bigger problem was that no one seemed to care.

Things did not get much better in the early 1980s, despite some notable additions to the team (Dave Kingman and George Foster to name two). The Mets were locked into last or next-to-last place, and seemed condemned to the second division.

Then…