NEW YORK -- The Mets, one of Major League Baseball’s first expansion teams, have since developed a long and rich history. Over six-plus decades, they have experienced some of the game’s highest highs and lowest lows. There has been misery, for sure; few franchises can truly empathize with what’s happened over more than half a century in Queens.
About those highs, though -- there have also been lots of those. After some torturous self-debate, here are my picks for the Top 10 moments in Mets history:
1. Ball gets by Buckner
The little roller that squirted underneath Bill Buckner’s glove in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series quite simply changed the course of baseball history. Until that moment, the Mets seemed likely to fall short of their goals despite having completed one of the greatest regular seasons ever. Then came a bases-empty, two-out rally, including an RBI single and a wild pitch to tie the game in the 10th, before Mookie Wilson sent his infamous ground ball to first base. Ray Knight dashed home to force Game 7.
2. Mets win 1986 World Series
About that Game 7 -- it’s easy to forget the Mets trailed the Red Sox for much of it. Winning the second title in Mets history required a three-run, game-tying sixth-inning rally, a go-ahead homer from Knight in the seventh and a six-out save from Jesse Orosco. When Orosco finally struck out Marty Barrett to end things, he leaped off the mound, threw his glove in the air and briefly celebrated before Gary Carter arrived and the entire Mets roster knocked them to the field. The Mets haven’t had a moment quite like that since.
3. Mets win the 1969 World Series
Before 1969, and even for a portion of that year, the Mets were known for little more than their bumbling foibles. That changed during a dramatic run up the National League East standings in August and September, followed by a dismantling of the Braves in the NL Championship Series. A World Series matchup against the heavily favored Orioles produced plenty of its own highlights, including Ron Swoboda’s diving catch in Game 4. But it wasn’t until the final out of Game 5 settled into Cleon Jones’ glove that history came complete.
4. Piazza helps heal a city
This one stands in a category all its own. Ten days after terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, the Mets returned to Shea Stadium for the first game in New York City since the attacks. Debate raged as to whether the Mets and Braves should even play a baseball game that night. Tension permeated the ballpark. Then, in the bottom of the eighth inning with the Mets trailing, 2-1, Mike Piazza hit a go-ahead, two-run homer to send the crowd into hysterics. No other moment in Mets history can quite compare to this one.
5. Ventura’s “grand-slam single”
Some moments are memorable because of their uniqueness. Some, due to their impact. Robin Ventura’s walk-off hit in 1999 NLCS Game 5 folded both aspects into one. Needing a victory to keep the series alive, Ventura came to the plate with the bases loaded, one out and the game tied.
He proceeded to put a Kevin McGlinchy pitch over the right-field fence, but in the post-homer commotion, Ventura never made it past first base. It went into the record books as nothing more than an awfully dramatic RBI single.
6. Endy (briefly) saves the day
Much like Ventura’s “grand-slam single,” Endy Chavez’s home run robbery in 2006 NLCS Game 7 would be higher on this list had the Mets won the series. As things happened, Chavez leaped over the Shea Stadium fence to take a homer away from Scott Rolen in the sixth inning, keeping things tied against the Cardinals with a trip to the World Series on the line. At the time, it was one of the most impactful moments in franchise history. But Yadier Molina wound up breaking the Mets’ hearts anyway with a go-ahead homer in the ninth.
7. At long last, a no-no
In the early part of the 2010s, as seemingly nothing went right for the rebuilding Mets, there was little reason to suspect magic from the team. There was certainly little reason to expect the Mets’ historic streak of 8,019 games -- the entire span of franchise history -- without a no-hitter might end on an otherwise inauspicious Friday night. Then Johan Santana took the mound, relying on loads of guile, a bit of luck and his signature changeup to keep the Cardinals hitless over nine innings and 134 pitches. For better or for worse, neither he nor the Mets were ever the same again.
8. The Polar Bear gives the Mets new life
Throughout baseball history, some of the most memorable moments also tend to be the most unexpected. So it was during 2024 Wild Card Series Game 3, when the Mets’ “OMG” season seemed like it was ending with little more than a whimper. But despite a weeks-long slump, Alonso had a plan, waiting out Devin Williams until he hung a changeup over the heart of the plate. Alonso didn’t miss it, hitting a go-ahead, three-run homer to send the Mets on a run that landed them within two wins of another NL pennant.
9. Lindor vanquishes the Braves
Alonso’s heroics wouldn’t have been possible without those of Francisco Lindor, who hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in Game 161 of the 2024 season to clinch a playoff berth for the Mets. Poor weather in Atlanta forced the Mets into a chaotic travel week, which required them to fly to Georgia for a hastily scheduled doubleheader one day after the regular season. Needing a single win to make the playoffs, the Mets engaged in a seesaw affair that wasn’t secure until after Lindor -- on a bad back, no less -- went deep in the top of the ninth.
10. Mets outlast the Astros in the NLCS
While several games above can stake their claim as the greatest in Mets history, it’s entirely possible that the true best was 1986 NLCS Game 6. Needing a win to clinch the third pennant in franchise history, the Mets trailed from the first to ninth inning before rallying to tie things. Then came an extra-innings classic. Both teams scored in the 14th. Roger McDowell threw five scoreless innings of relief. The Mets finally rallied for three runs in the top of the 16th, and Orosco held on in the bottom of the inning to strand the tying run in scoring position and send the Mets to the World Series.