Back To The Future – 1986 Mets title team honored with touching ceremony

Suddenly, it was quiet at Shea Stadium. Too quiet.
The capacity crowd of 55,085, so loud, so boisterous, so 1986, typifying the team they had come to honor, was now mesmerized by the Sharp Jumbotron in left centerfield detailing the many highlights of the 1986 New York Mets, the most recent of only two teams that have brought a World Series championship to Queens, on screen.
They roared again when the tape of Mookie Wilson's grounder trickled - as Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Bob Murphy had described it - through Bill Buckner's legs, the archetype highlight of the unforgettable ending to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, the win that has been replayed time and time again at Shea and everywhere else.
For a half hour, amidst the raindrops and the retro music, they cheered for their former heroes. They chanted each player's name and thanked the team's architect, Frank Cashen, who was wheeled out to join his players.
Indeed, albeit briefly, the fun-loving, bench-clearing, fisticuff-flying, never-say-die thrilling Mets - with drooping bellies, sagging shoulders, slightly wrinkled faces - were back home in Flushing, as the organization honored them before the Mets beat the Colorado Rockies, 7-4, Saturday evening at the 20th anniversary celebration of their title.
They were all received warmly, notably Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez, Lenny Dykstra, Gary Carter and Wilson. There were a few missing, such as Dr. K, Doc Gooden, serving time in a Florida jail cell for breaking probation; the clutch third baseman Ray Knight, who had a previous engagement; and Manager Davey Johnson, off coaching Team USA.
But for those in attendance, the 23 former players and coaches, it was a special evening. &#8220It's the greatest feeling I've had in a long time,” said Strawberry.
The occasion also gave the players a chance to catch up. What enabled that Mets team to come from behind as often as they did, observers and baseball historians have said, like in the 10th inning of the 1986 World Series, facing elimination, down two runs, one out to go, was their closeness, the common bond they formed with one another. It wasn't altered in the last 20 years later.
&#8220Just talking to all the players,” former closer Jesse Orosco said, &#8220we were so excited to be a part of this because mainly it gives us a chance to all see each other again.”
Kevin Mitchell, himself now a minor league batting instructor in Mexico with the Tijuana Mexicali, looked around before the festivities. Not much had changed. Except the size of the media. He wanted to take batting practice, show some of the new Mets some things. &#8220I can still hit,” he said, as serious as the night was enjoyable.
Orosco, who struck out Marty Barrett to begin the championship celebration 20 years ago, still has dreams of that pileup, hoisting his glove high in the air, jumping into Carter's arms. &#8220I don't forget,” he said. &#8220It feels like it was a year ago.”
When the celebration has finally ended, as the Mets and Colorado Rockies started preparing for baseball, the players headed over to the warning track in centerfield, where Dykstra and Wilson took up residence. There, they joined the fans, all eyes now watching the big scoreboard, re-living the year, the season, the team, the comeback, of their dreams. New York went back into time on this night. 20 years back.