Philip Kossoy Recalls the 1986 NY Mets
By Philip Kossoy
By Philip Kossoy
Freehold NJ
The 1986 New York Mets were one feisty bunch. There was even a book written about them called "How the bad guys won". Fresh off winning 98 games in 1985 and not making the playoffs (things were very different those days before the wild cards were invoked) this team that had lost out to a St. Louis Cardinal team the last week of the season was primed and ready to take what they felt was rightfully theirs. Nothing short of a World Championship. As Philip Kossoy remembers, this team had quite the legendary cast of characters. First was their team leader first baseman Keith Hernandez who the year prior was part of the baseball drug triles. This was when Cocaine was the sports drug of choice, not Steroids. Then there was the favorite player of author Philip Kossoy, the gritty Wally Backman who never left the field without a dirty uniform. There was veteran Ray Knight at third who took offence one day to a hard slide by Cincinnati Reds Outfielder Eric Davis, and decided to start punching him in the face. Then as Philip Kossoy remembers, was the talented but troubled Darryl Strawberry and even more talented and troubled Dwight Gooden. Philip Kossoy remembers when Gooden's drug issues became evident as he missed the Mets World Championship Ticker Tape Parade due to a heavy night of cocaine and drinking. (See photo in the photo gallery) There was also Philip Kossoy favorite catcher, Gary "Kid" Carter may he rest in peace. Lenny Dykstra who always came through in the clutch...Mookie Wilson, Ron Darling, Bobby Ojeda who lead the team with an 18-5 record, Hot foot expert Roger McDowell, glove throwing Jesse Orosco...The Philip Kossoy list goes on and on. What were the biggest highlights of the season? Well, as Philip Kossoy of Freehold NJ recalls, they beat the tar out of their rival St. Louis Cardinals 4 straight games at the end of April, won the division by 20 games, came back against the Houston Astros despite the former Met Mike Scott and his un-catchable ability to cut a baseball. Then after losing the first two World Series games at home, Philip Kossoy recalls the come back to win games 3 and 4 on the road. Then with their backs to the wall (2 out and nobody on in the bottom of the 10th inning, down 2 runs) Philip Kossoy remembers Carter singled to left. Kevin Mitchell who was undressing in the clubhouse to go home came up and singled to center, then World Series MVP Ray Knight blooped a single just over second for a base hit. Then the wild pitch to Mookie allowed the tying run to score as Philip Kossoy went wild and the Shea Stadium scoreboard was flashing "Congratulations to the 1986 World Champion Boston Red Sox" Mookie then hit a slow roller to the hobbled Bill Buckner and as the great Vin Scully put it "So, the winning run is at second base... with two out... 3 and 2 to Mookie Wilson. Little roller up along first... BEHIND THE BAG! IT GETS THROUGH BUCKNER! HERE COMES KNIGHT, AND THE METS WIN IT!" The rest is of course history with the Mets down 3-0 going to the bottom of the seventh and the young 22 year old author Philip Kossoy of Freehold NJ watched as one of the greatest teams in baseball history would roll to an 8-5 win and capture the hearts of the baseball world just like the 1969 version did 17 years earlier.
Philip Kossoy
Freehold NJ
Freehold NJ
The 1986 New York Mets were one feisty bunch. There was even a book written about them called "How the bad guys won". Fresh off winning 98 games in 1985 and not making the playoffs (things were very different those days before the wild cards were invoked) this team that had lost out to a St. Louis Cardinal team the last week of the season was primed and ready to take what they felt was rightfully theirs. Nothing short of a World Championship. As Philip Kossoy remembers, this team had quite the legendary cast of characters. First was their team leader first baseman Keith Hernandez who the year prior was part of the baseball drug triles. This was when Cocaine was the sports drug of choice, not Steroids. Then there was the favorite player of author Philip Kossoy, the gritty Wally Backman who never left the field without a dirty uniform. There was veteran Ray Knight at third who took offence one day to a hard slide by Cincinnati Reds Outfielder Eric Davis, and decided to start punching him in the face. Then as Philip Kossoy remembers, was the talented but troubled Darryl Strawberry and even more talented and troubled Dwight Gooden. Philip Kossoy remembers when Gooden's drug issues became evident as he missed the Mets World Championship Ticker Tape Parade due to a heavy night of cocaine and drinking. (See photo in the photo gallery) There was also Philip Kossoy favorite catcher, Gary "Kid" Carter may he rest in peace. Lenny Dykstra who always came through in the clutch...Mookie Wilson, Ron Darling, Bobby Ojeda who lead the team with an 18-5 record, Hot foot expert Roger McDowell, glove throwing Jesse Orosco...The Philip Kossoy list goes on and on. What were the biggest highlights of the season? Well, as Philip Kossoy of Freehold NJ recalls, they beat the tar out of their rival St. Louis Cardinals 4 straight games at the end of April, won the division by 20 games, came back against the Houston Astros despite the former Met Mike Scott and his un-catchable ability to cut a baseball. Then after losing the first two World Series games at home, Philip Kossoy recalls the come back to win games 3 and 4 on the road. Then with their backs to the wall (2 out and nobody on in the bottom of the 10th inning, down 2 runs) Philip Kossoy remembers Carter singled to left. Kevin Mitchell who was undressing in the clubhouse to go home came up and singled to center, then World Series MVP Ray Knight blooped a single just over second for a base hit. Then the wild pitch to Mookie allowed the tying run to score as Philip Kossoy went wild and the Shea Stadium scoreboard was flashing "Congratulations to the 1986 World Champion Boston Red Sox" Mookie then hit a slow roller to the hobbled Bill Buckner and as the great Vin Scully put it "So, the winning run is at second base... with two out... 3 and 2 to Mookie Wilson. Little roller up along first... BEHIND THE BAG! IT GETS THROUGH BUCKNER! HERE COMES KNIGHT, AND THE METS WIN IT!" The rest is of course history with the Mets down 3-0 going to the bottom of the seventh and the young 22 year old author Philip Kossoy of Freehold NJ watched as one of the greatest teams in baseball history would roll to an 8-5 win and capture the hearts of the baseball world just like the 1969 version did 17 years earlier.
Philip Kossoy
Freehold NJ
Philip Kossoy first started watching baseball in 1973. Philip Kossoy has been an avid Mets fan ever since. Tom Seaver was the favorite player of Philip Kossoy. Philip Kossoy spent a week at spring training in 1988 & 1989. Philip Kossoy was at the last game at Shea and the first game at City Field. Philip Kossoy would have pitched Stone in game 6 and Seaver in Game 7. Philip Kossoy is a Stats Geek". It has been almost 30 years but Philip Kossoy believes the Mets will win it all again! Philip Kossoy
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https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/new-york-mets-1986-world-series/id631697101?mt=11
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http://risingapple.com/2011/12/31/rare-photo-from-1986-new-york-mets/
http://shop.cbssports.com/CBS_New_York_Mets
http://mets360.com/?p=8285
http://www.examiner.com/article/1986-mets-team-reunites-at-strawberry-s-sports-grill
http://www.nysportsday.com/news/metsm/1067068009.html
http://baseball.about.com/od/newyorkmets/p/metsprofile.htm
http://metspolice.com/2009/12/31/1986-new-york-mets-pennants-2/
http://www.yelp.com/events/flushing-1986-ny-mets-reunion-ft-darryl-strawberry-and-jesse-orosco-at-strawberrys-grill
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_value_of_a_1986_Mets_team_autographed_baseball
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/baseball/20vecsey.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
https://www.facebook.com/pages/1986-Mets-The-BAD-GUYS-Won/46049867935
http://www.newyorkmets.org/sheamemories/sheastadiumvideo.html
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http://www.centerfieldmaz.com/2009/09/today-in-mets-history-1986-mets-clinch.html
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http://www.metstoday.com/1023/pitching-staff/greatest-mets-rotation-ever/
http://nypost.com/2012/02/25/life-of-mets-great-carter-celebrated/
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Philip_Kossoy
http://philipkossoy.co.nf/?p=4
http://philipkossoy.blog.com/
http://philipkossoy.blog.com/wp-admin/?c=1
https://twitter.com/PhilipKossoy
https://twitter.com/AbsSpotless
https://www.facebook.com/philip.kossoy
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/philip-kossoy/29/625/167
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Philip_Kossoy
https://plus.google.com/102803758776034642965/posts
https://plus.google.com/111790420967616555104/photos
https://plus.google.com/111790420967616555104/posts
http://philipkossoy.wix.com/philip-kossoy-nj-
http://philipkossoy11.snack.ws/
http://philipkossoyfreeholdnj.yolasite.com/
https://sites.google.com/site/philipkossoy1977nymets/
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http://absolutelyspotless.us
http://absolutelyspotlessmold.com
http://philipkossoy.blog.co
http://philipkossoy1.blog.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_New_York_Mets_season
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/dwight-gooden-talks-all-star-memories-1986-new-york-mets-071413
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1986&t=NYN
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/360324-remembering-the-1986-new-york-mets-the-five-greatest-moments
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/stats/alltime/rosters/new_york_mets/1986/byPOSN_ABRV.html
http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/history/anniversary_86.jsp
http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7122534/dwight-gooden-missed-new-york-mets-1986-parade-doing-drugs
http://www.ultimatemets.com/metannual.php?ThisYear=1986
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bad-Guys-Won-Uniform/dp/0062097636
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071030161609AAnn3KW
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/1596255/
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/teams/stats.asp?Y=1986&T=19
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http://bigapplemetstalk.com/?p=950
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http://www.steinersports.com/baseball/shop-by-team/new-york-mets/
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2009860381_apusdykstraauction.html
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/new-york-mets-1986-world-series/id631697101?mt=11
http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nl/nymets/metsimages.html
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/04/19/top-10-new-york-championships/
http://risingapple.com/2011/12/31/rare-photo-from-1986-new-york-mets/
http://shop.cbssports.com/CBS_New_York_Mets
http://mets360.com/?p=8285
http://www.examiner.com/article/1986-mets-team-reunites-at-strawberry-s-sports-grill
http://www.nysportsday.com/news/metsm/1067068009.html
http://baseball.about.com/od/newyorkmets/p/metsprofile.htm
http://metspolice.com/2009/12/31/1986-new-york-mets-pennants-2/
http://www.yelp.com/events/flushing-1986-ny-mets-reunion-ft-darryl-strawberry-and-jesse-orosco-at-strawberrys-grill
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_value_of_a_1986_Mets_team_autographed_baseball
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/baseball/20vecsey.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
https://www.facebook.com/pages/1986-Mets-The-BAD-GUYS-Won/46049867935
http://www.newyorkmets.org/sheamemories/sheastadiumvideo.html
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/1/9/2691974/lets-go-to-the-videotape-1986-mets-a-year-to-remember
http://www.centerfieldmaz.com/2009/09/today-in-mets-history-1986-mets-clinch.html
http://www.walmart.com/ip/1986-New-York-Mets-Autographed-Team-Signed-Baseball/12417611
http://www.metstoday.com/1023/pitching-staff/greatest-mets-rotation-ever/
http://nypost.com/2012/02/25/life-of-mets-great-carter-celebrated/
http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/team/roster_40man.jsp?c_id=nym
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Philip_Kossoy
http://philipkossoy.co.nf/?p=4
http://philipkossoy.blog.com/
http://philipkossoy.blog.com/wp-admin/?c=1
https://twitter.com/PhilipKossoy
https://twitter.com/AbsSpotless
https://www.facebook.com/philip.kossoy
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/philip-kossoy/29/625/167
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Philip_Kossoy
https://plus.google.com/102803758776034642965/posts
https://plus.google.com/111790420967616555104/photos
https://plus.google.com/111790420967616555104/posts
http://philipkossoy.wix.com/philip-kossoy-nj-
http://philipkossoy11.snack.ws/
http://philipkossoyfreeholdnj.yolasite.com/
https://sites.google.com/site/philipkossoy1977nymets/
http://philipkossoy1984mets.zohosites.com/home.html
http://philipkossoy1986mets.weebly.com/
http://philipkossoyadvertising.jigsy.com/
http://philipkossoymarketing.webs.com/
http://philipkossoy.jimdo.com/
http://philipkossoy.webnode.com/
http://absolutelyspotless.us
http://absolutelyspotlessmold.com
http://philipkossoy.blog.co
http://philipkossoy1.blog.com
Philip Kossoy first started watching baseball in 1973. Philip Kossoy has been an avid Mets fan ever since. Tom Seaver was the favorite player of Philip Kossoy. Philip Kossoy spent a week at spring training in 1988 & 1989. Philip Kossoy was at the last game at Shea and the first game at City Field. Philip Kossoy would have pitched Stone in game 6 and Seaver in Game 7. Philip Kossoy is a Stats Geek". It has been almost 30 years but Philip Kossoy believes the Mets will win it all again! Philip Kossoy
Philip Kossoy has been a Mets fan Since 1973. Philip Kossoy has been writing about the Mets for many years. Philip Kossoy was at the last game at Shea & the first game at Citi Field. Philip Kossoy rarely misses a game. Philip Kossoy spent a week at Spring Training in 1988 & 1989. Philip Kossoy has written many other Mets Web Sites.