The Impossible Dream..........

[BCStone57]

With the conclusion of the 1990 season here in the Lords of Baseball, there were many good stories to be told during our first season, such as Baltimore Orioles shortstop, Cal Ripken Jr. hitting 5 HR's in one game, a feat I've never witnessed in my years as a GM in any league, followed a week later by Kansas City's Danny "The Bull" Tartabull hitting 4 balls over the fence, an impressive feat, but barely noticed, because of the stir still buzzing from Ripken's feat. And poor Dennis Rasmussen of San Diego, Why he happened to pitch a no-hitter the same time Ripken terrorized Detroit, with hardly a mention for his achievment. Ah yes, many great stories to be told, What about Mark "Big Mac" McGwire hitting 51 HR's to set the record for most in one season, Or Randy Johnson striking out 283 batters, or Bret Saberhagen winning 23 games and probably the Cy Young award, Ah Yes, the stories to be told............Or how about the NY Mets who in the first half of the season, went 37-44 and 4 weeks later, lost superstar Darryl Strawberry for the rest of the season. The "Strawman" was having an MVP type of season, hitting .318 with 27 HR's and 81 RBI's......The season was over for the Mets in the "Big Apple"..........

After having to be carried off the field the night before, team doctors had notified Manager Davey Johnson that the team would have to carry on the rest of the way without Strawberry. Later that day, just before a game with the St.Louis Cardinals, Davey Johnson gathered his players and told them of the bad news about their team leader. " I told them what the situation was with Straw, and talked to them about having the courage to step up, to play with heart and emotion, to never back down from anything or anyone....and if they could do this day in and day out without fear of failure, then we could compete, and winning would take care of itself".......The Mets went out that day and beat the Cards in St.Louis 6-1.

The starting lineup for the Mets was mediocre at best, the lineup sheet was to read...........

(CF) Brian McRae
(3B) Kevin Seitzer
(SS) Howard Johnson
(LF) Kevin McReynolds
(1B) Dave Magadan
(RF) Mackey Sasser
(C) Todd Hundley
(2B) Mario Diaz

The day after Johnson's rallying speech to his players, the NY media caught wind of this, and printed in the papers about the teams demise and how Johnson should keep his "Dreams" to himself and that the team was heading straight for the cellar of the N.L. East.........They werent writing such stories a short time later, as the Mets went on a tear, going 23-5 during the month of August to take the lead in the N.L. East..........

The second half of the season, the Mets had the best record in all of baseball, going 54-25 and showing the heart of a lion.......The team was on a mission.......and they wouldn't be denied.......But still, nobody else believed in them, but themselves......The Mets finished the last 10 games of the season as the N.L.'s hottest team, and taking the N.L. East title...............

The Mets first playoff series was against the Cincinnati Reds, who had won the Wild Card. The Reds were favored in the Series as Cincinnati won the first game of the short 5 game set, 8-7.....The Mets were not moved, as they came out and won the next 3 games in a row to win the series..........

Next up was the mighty St.Louis Cardinals, who had finished with the best record in the N.L. and heavily favored going into the NLCS.....Game # 1 had the Cards winning the game, 4-2.......But the Mets would draw the line and vow, that nothing was going to deny them going to the Series..........The Mets came out the next 4 games and dismantled the Cards......Winning all 4 games, and doing it with offense and pitching.....The Mets outscored the Cards in those 4 victories, 31-10 to advance to the World Series to face the best team in baseball, the Oakland A's who had the best record in baseball at 101-61 compared to the Mets 92-70 record.

As in their previous 2 series, the Mets went into the World Series as heavy underdogs, The oddsmakers had the A's winning in 6 games, with virtually no chance given to the Mets. NY starter, Sid Fernandez had injured his elbow in the NLCS and team doctors had given the news to the team, that he was only at 80 % for the World Series......Once again the team dug deep within themselves......The Mets responded to the naysayers....Winning the first 2 games of the Series, then losing 2 of the next 3. The Mets needed just 1 more victory to find themselves a part of history........Game # 6........The Mets sent out David Cone as the A's answered with Bob Welch. The game was scoreless until the 4th, when Brian McRae led off the inning with a leadoff HR, the Mets had taken the lead until the 6th inning when the A's had runners on 1st and 2nd, as A's manager Tony LaRussa sent Lance Blankenship to the plate to pinch hit, Blankenship responded with a single to score McGwire from 2nd base to tie the game at 1 a piece......The Mets dug a little deeper......The 7th inning saw Mackey Sasser and Todd Hundley hit consecutive singles, as Tim Teufel walked to load the bases. Pinch hitter Tom O'Malley (Who's That).....steps to the plate.......The pitch by Welch......O'Malley swings and connects with a shot to centerfield to score pinch runner Keith Miller and Todd Hundley to take a 3-1 lead after 7........Mets manager Davey Johnson summons All-Star closer, Alejandro Pena from the pen to pitch the final 1 1/3 innings to close out the Mets dream season......The Mets win......The Mets win.......AH YES !!!!...The stories to be told..........

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[ajazynka]

great read!

it's this kind of enthusiasm that makes this a great league. some of the most dedicated and meticulous GM's I have come across in OOTP-land.

[gocubsgo]

Definitely a great first season for the league. I think this is one of the best leagues when it comes to owner participation. Here's to many more great seasons. Brian is a great commish and there are some owners that go above and beyond for this league. Now if only my Cubbies would come around.