'51 Boys of Summer steal all the miracles from '86 Mets

GAME 1 (Shea): Brooklyn 9, New York 1
From the opening pitch the Boys of Summer let it be known that they were going to bring their hitting sticks with them. After 2 innings 'dem Bums were up 8-0 and starter Dwight Gooden was shell shocked. Now let's not put all the blame on Doc, since only 3 of the runs scored were earned. The '86 Mets made 2 big errors to help the onslaught. Gooden's counterpart Don Newcombe was brilliant. When he lost his bid for a shutout in the 7th he was lifted just in case he would be needed later on in the series. Roy Campanella had a great day at the plate going 2 for 5 with 3 RBI's + a HR and double.

GAME 2 (Shea): Brooklyn 9, New York 6
Dem Bums again scored 9 runs, but this one wasn't a laugher. After staking Preacher Roe to a 4 run lead the Dodgers gave back 3 runs to the Mets in the bottom of the 4th. Brooklyn scored 3 in the top of the 7th off reliever Terry Leach and thought they were home free until the Mets countered with 3 of their own in the bottom half of the inning as Preacher Roe got chased from the mound. Clyde King and Ralph Branca combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings to shut the Mets down and put NY on the brink of elimination. Again the Mets were betrayed by their gloves as they made 3 errors in the contest. Amazingly there were 15 runs scored and only one home run hit, which was by Jackie Robinson, who had 3 hits and 3 RBI's.

GAME 3 (Ebbets): Brooklyn 7, New York 6
These elimination games are NEVER easy. Brooklyn tagged New York's starter, Bob Ojeda, for 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st. The big blow coming in the way of a 3 run homer by Roy Campanella. The Mets answered back with 2 runs off of Ralph Branca in the next frame. Dykstra tripled home Straw for the first run and when Raphael Santana hit into a 5-4-3 DP Straw came on to score. The Dodgers increased their lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the 4th. Hodges led off by grounding out to Ray Knight. Pafko and Cox both singled and were bunted over to 2nd and 3rd by Branca. With 2 outs the clutch little shortstop from Louisville, KY...Pee Wee Reese singled to center off of Bobby O to knock in 2. Time began to run out on the Mets, but this 86 team is no stranger to comebacks. The scored 2 in the 8th when Branca gave up a hit to Mookie and Wally Backman. That was it, Podbielan was called in from the pen, but he wasn't able to get Keith Hernandez out. Mex singled to left and Mookie came around to score to make it 6-3. Hatten was then summoned from the pen to put out the fire. Hatten plunked "Kid" Carter in the ribs and then groved one to Straw who narrowly missed a homer. Instead NY had to settle for a sac fly and the score was now 6-4. Clyde King came on to get the next 2 outs. Brooklyn didn't score in the bottom of the 8th. In fact they hadn't scored since the 4th. Orosco and McDowell each held Brooklyn at bay and allowed their offense to chip away at a the Dodger lead. Down by 2 the Mets had 3 outs left and they needed some sort of miracle. If ever there was a team that could count on miracles this was the one. While Clyde King was not Bob Stanley he still wasn't Mariano Rivera. Pinch hitter Dave Magadan walked to lead off the inning and Mookie, who always seems to be in the middle of Met miracles, crushed a 2-1 offering into Bedford Avenue to tie the game. Dodger fans were stunned, but then again they should be used to their "bums" who had a nasty habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Things got tense as no one scored in extra innings until the bottom of the 11th when things went a bit crazy. Andy Pafko led off with a clean single off of Doug Sisk. Bobby Cox got drilled in the shoulder and just like that there were runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Clyde King came up to the plate with one thing in mind...lay down a great bunt and push the runners up. With Keith Hernandez and his gold glove at 1st everyone knew the bunt was going to go toward 3rd, which it did. King layed down a beauty and just like that there were runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out and up stepped the Captain, Pee Wee Reese. Reese battle Sisk to a 3-2 count and fouled off countless pitches. Finally Sisk threw his best sinker and got Reese to fish for strike three. Strike three are the two best words in a relief pitcher's vocabulary. Unfortunately wild pitch might be one of the two worst. Sisk's offering sunk so hard, that it skipped right under Carters mitt. By the time Carter chased it down to the backstop Reese was standing on 1st. More importantly Andy Pafko crossed the plate and the game/series was over. Could there be a stranger way for a series to end ? A strike out / passed ball / run scored ending is almost unheard of. The '86 Mets ran out of miracles and the '51 Dodgers finally got theirs.