It was 30 years ago that the Mets won the world championship. I almost did something for the site on the 30th anniversary of Game Six, but I fought the urge. To me, Game Six means nothing without Game Seven. Without fulfilling the destiny, the glory of Game Six is the Carlton Fisk home run in the 1975 World Series: a tremendous moment, but invariably anticlimactic because Boston blew a 3-0 lead in Game Seven in ’75. And the Red Sox blew a 3-0 lead in Game Seven in 1986.
Many people forget that the Mets were down by three runs in the sixth inning and were dominated by Bruce Hurst in the deciding game, who’d already beaten them twice in the Series. Then in the span of just over a dozen pitches, the Mets rallied to tie the game. Keith Hernandez’s two-run single to put the Mets on the board may be the biggest hit of his Mets career. And during our interviews for One-Year Dynasty, Keith still couldn’t believe that it was almost the exact same situation as Game Seven in the 1982 World Series, when Keith the Cardinal got the big hit with his team trailing the Brewers in the deciding game. “I just did what I always did in a tight situation,” he said, “which is take a couple of deep breaths and count to ten, slow everything down and get in the box. I mean you can’t run and hide. There I am. I’m either going to do it or I’m not.”
If he’d hit into a double play, the inning is over. Maybe Hurst pitches a complete game like he did in Game Five. Then there is no Curse of the Bambino and perhaps Boston has an even more inflated image. It’s possible. Hurst had already been voted Series MVP. But of course, Keith got the hit, Ray Knight got the Series MVP, and Hurst and the Red Sox got the short end of the stick. But who cares about them? It’s the Mets who have had to hold onto that moment, milk it, have people not yet born accept it as their team’s greatest moment. It was a superb moment. The team didn’t have staying power but the moment certainly did.
I still have a pennant from that season—as do the Mets—but all the swag I received at Christmas disappeared over time. And while I have bought a couple of Mets NL Champion shirts and Division Series shirts over the intervening three decades, I rarely wear them. I am holding out for the real thing. And I am going to make sure I don’t let it out of my sight. With the Mets you never know how long you’re going to have to make it last.