Cashen also did a great job building a team from nothing into one of the better teams I have seen. And yes with the wildcard we could have won another World Series and in 88 we choked.
New York Mets 2025 Season
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He had been in failing health for a while apparently. A lot of former Mets including Darryl Strawberry visited him at his Florida home in last six months. He was a very respected and well liked guy.
Davey Johnson, manager of '86 Mets, dies at 82
Davey Johnson, the manager of the 1986 world champion New York Mets, has died. He was 82.
I thought this was a good article. He accomplished a lot as a player as well.
Dykstra was great when roided up. Mitchell and Jeff Kent to Giants bad moves. They thought Gooden an altar boy and Mitchell a gangster. Signs were there all alongbwhen Gooden missed the tickertape parade. They shpuld never left Knight walk; in 86 he seemed to hit the ball hard in every single at bat and was a leader in the clubhouse. They wouldn't give him a 2 year deal.
I think Johnson had 5 syraight years of 90+ wins.
Maybe I am being overly sentimental but I saw Strawberry recently and he looked healthy. Unfortunately he never lived up to the expectations of being compared to Ted Williams. However even with some of the chaos he caused and the deterioration of his career after he left the Mets, he still finished with a career OPS of .862 and a career War close to 40. Maybe if the drug problem was managed better he would have been a Hall of Famer.Davey Johnson, manager of '86 Mets, dies at 82
Davey Johnson, the manager of the 1986 world champion New York Mets, has died. He was 82.www.espn.com
I thought this was a good article. He accomplished a lot as a player as well.
Straw and Goodwin really squandered huge opportunities for sure. They really could have soared to great heights, but drugs derailed their path to greatness. Thankfully both seem to be in good stead today. As I mentioned before, Bernie Williams was a key support for Straw when he really needed it.
classof2010
Well-known member
He won every where he went. He’s the laid back version of Billy, he always came in jump started a team except for the 99 Dodgers. With the Mets only thing you can be mad about he wasn’t a disciplinarian. With some of questionable folks in HOF, the Vets committee should put him in. The 86 Mets and 85 Bears very similar larger than life. I still hate Mike Sciosca, in fairness Cashen tore that team down not resigning RK, Mitchell for McReynolds( never cared about being here at the time not a bad deal) trading both Lenny and Mookie in season of 89. I always heard the rumor of Darryl for Tony Gwynn around 89. Is that true, Also had a chance to trade for Bagwell in 90 from the Red Sox for Darling.
What if the 1986 Mets stayed together? Breakup of World Series team still eats at Davey Johnson
The reunion at Citi Field this weekend celebrates the grit and glory of the ’86 Mets, forever remembered for pulling off the miracle rally in Game 6 of the World Series. And yet there is alwa…
www.nydailynews.com
The one year Dykstra showed up at Fillies camp with 30lbs of “muscle” everyone knew. I agree with Mitchell but Kent was an asshole and was never going to survive New York. He hated it here. Letting Knight go was a bad move because of his presence to stabilize the lunatics in our clubhouse. However, Hojo was emerging and it was his time. The development and numbers prove it. I am not as upset. Knights career fizzled on the field after 1986. He played only those two years.
Just to prove that Knight was no nonsense a few years ago I went to an Autograph signing that had Knight, Straw and Lenny. Anyway, Lenny showed up a 1/2 hour late and was clearly drunk. Knight was seething. Straw calmed him down. This was YEARS after they played. Weird day.
guinness77
Well-known member
I thought Dykstra might have still been on the Mets when Davey got fired but I might be mistaken. Regardless, the Dykstra/McDowell-Samuel trade is the Tom Seaver trade of my generation. Lenny was my favorite Met, I have an ‘86 home jersey with him on it and McDowell was also one of my favorites. I watched the ‘86 season to remember video like 70 times by 1989 (I’m probably close to 200 times now) and McDowell was clearly one of the best guys in the clubhouse. And, immediately started a brawl with Jeffries when he was on the Phillies, so that goes to show you they were trying to center the team around him, as misguided as that ended up being.
The Mitchell trade was sad because Mitch was a team guy who had passion plus had his teammates backs. Imagine fighting this dude?? No thanks. And worse, you trade him for a stepford wife in McReynolds, who was a great player but absolutely emotionless. You take Ray Knight out of the mix, who absolutely knew how to keep a team together, had passion like crazy and was a captain-type, and there goes the momentum. When they took that shot in the mouth in game 4 against the Dodgers, they didn’t have the cajones like the ‘86 team to overcome that. I know you had HoJo all lined up to play 3rd—and Kevin Elster to play SS—but losing Mitch and Knight already screwed that team.
And Davey knew, he wasn’t happy about any of it. I know Carter is gone but Davey passing really hurts because he was our manager and I loved baseball so much in the 80s.
guinness77
Well-known member
Haha, good post, 2 minutes before mine. Same thoughts.What if the 1986 Mets stayed together? Breakup of World Series team still eats at Davey Johnson
The reunion at Citi Field this weekend celebrates the grit and glory of the ’86 Mets, forever remembered for pulling off the miracle rally in Game 6 of the World Series. And yet there is alwa…
The one year Dykstra showed up at Fillies camp with 30lbs of “muscle” everyone knew. I agree with Mitchell but Kent was an asshole and was never going to survive New York. He hated it here. Letting Knight go was a bad move because of his presence to stabilize the lunatics in our clubhouse. However, Hojo was emerging and it was his time. The development and numbers prove it. I am not as upset. Knights career fizzled on the field after 1986. He played only those two years.
Just to prove that Knight was no nonsense a few years ago I went to an Autograph signing that had Knight, Straw and Lenny. Anyway, Lenny showed up a 1/2 hour late and was clearly drunk. Knight was seething. Straw calmed him down. This was YEARS after they played. Weird day.
Kevin Michell - once caught a fly ball barehanded when he turned thecwrong way on a ball hit over his head.
Ray Knight best Met moment: Eric Davis slides hard into 3rd so Knight applies the tag equally as hard. Davis bounces up, goes nose to nose and says "You dirty mother--" Bam!!! Knight, a golden gloves champ floors Davis with one punch. After the game reporters asked Knight what Davis had said, and he replied, "I dunno what he was gonna say, but as soon as he said mother I hit him. Nobody talks about my mama." Next best moment, scoring the winning run in game 6, hands over his head in disbelief.
Love Darryl, who overcame a ton. Kudos to George Steinbrenner, who rescued Darryl from serious IRS tax troubles and paying him enough to clear the debt.
classof2010
Well-known member
Carter dying for me was big. Had his jersey, which I lost when I moved 15 years back. He was always nice guy at shows.
guinness77
Well-known member
Legend has it when Tyson did that photo op with Doc and Darryl he wanted to meet the guy who threw a perfect right cross…Knight of course.
One of my favorite moments in the ‘86 year to remember video is Steve Zabriski’s call of Dave Parker dropping Hernandez’s liner with 2 outs in the top of the ninth. “and Parker cat…NO, HE DROPS THE BALL!!” Such an underrated announcer because the Mets have always had such great ones. If Parker caught the ball, the Knight-Davis fight never happens, the Keith to Carter to Teufel double play never happens and the Orosco and McDowell pitchers mound-outfield switches never happen. That game was a microcosm of how good of a manager Davey was.
Have told this story here before; prior to a home game versus the Astros in the ‘86 NLCS my wife (fiancée at the time), her mother and aunt were part of a multiple car rear ender on Harlem River Drive. Several of the crashers were seriously PO’d and the climate was volatile. My future mother-in-law and her sister were in their sixties and both petrified over the situation.
Kevin Mitchell was among several people who stopped to help and when he saw the distress the ladies were in told them to relax, they had nothing to be afraid of and stayed right with them until enough police arrived that the situation was calmed.
My mother-in-law and her sister never forgot his help, kindness and understanding.
Funny aside, my wife’s cousin, Joe Carini, trained several NFL players, most notably Tiki Barber. Joe and Tiki wrote a book together, “Tiki Barber’s Pure Hard Workout”, about the experience and Tiki became a family friend but the ladies would always rib him that he was “only” their second favorite pro athlete.
As an aside, Tiki and his brother Ronde have also written children’s books together.
Kevin Mitchell was among several people who stopped to help and when he saw the distress the ladies were in told them to relax, they had nothing to be afraid of and stayed right with them until enough police arrived that the situation was calmed.
My mother-in-law and her sister never forgot his help, kindness and understanding.
Funny aside, my wife’s cousin, Joe Carini, trained several NFL players, most notably Tiki Barber. Joe and Tiki wrote a book together, “Tiki Barber’s Pure Hard Workout”, about the experience and Tiki became a family friend but the ladies would always rib him that he was “only” their second favorite pro athlete.
As an aside, Tiki and his brother Ronde have also written children’s books together.
Great stories.
Kent was traded to the Indians for Carlos Baegra in the mid 90’s. He went from Cleveland to the Giants in a trade following the next season.
The way the Yankees are handling Volpe reminds me of the way Cashen and crew handled Greg Jeffries.
RIP Davey.