This was back on June 1, well before the Mets’ stunning summer, before all the clutch home runs, before a postseason run few could see coming.
It was the day the Mets retired Darryl Strawberry’s No. 18 jersey.
At the time, the team was going nowhere, 10 games under .500.
Most observers felt they were headed for a trade deadline sell-off.
Even the most die-hard Mets fans couldn’t dream of the playoffs.
Strawberry felt differently, and during his speech at Citi Field, he addressed the Mets players.
“Don’t worry about it guys. It’s part of it. But push through it, because you guys have it,” Strawberry said then. “You have the talent. Believe in each other, care for each other, pick each other up.”
Over four months later, the Mets have made the legendary slugger look wise.
They own the best record in the sport since that day.
They entered Wednesday seven wins away from what would be an incredible World Series title, writing a story that Hollywood wouldn’t believe.
Looking back on their run on Wednesday night before Game 3 of the NLCS, Strawberry offered some insight into those comments.
He spent time with the Mets during spring training and felt they had far more to give.
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“I just tried to encourage them because they were going through a tough stretch there, and everybody was being very difficult and hard on them,” recalled Strawberry, who caught the ceremonial first pitch from former teammate Dwight Gooden. “We know what that’s like as a player playing here. I’ve been there and experienced that. But I just wanted them to realize that the table can turn when you guys start believing in each other, when it’s not just about your own personal stats and when it becomes about [the] team. … They’d been through the struggle the year before and a couple years before, they’ve been close and they get knocked out.
“This year I saw something different. They were more of a team that just needed to rally around each other. I think that’s what they did.”
Both former Mets have been impressed by the current group, by their tenacity, togetherness and fight. By their grit to rebound after the shaky start and all their memorable comeback victories in the last few weeks.
It reminds them a little of the 1986 champions.
“They’re fun to watch. That’s the most important thing about them,” Strawberry said. “They’re not afraid of the moment. They’ve learned how to be in it, and they’ve learned how to make the best out of it. And when you get to that place, you’re going to be good. Their future is bright with the younger players that they have coming through the organization, and they’ve got a chance to be just like we were every year.”
Strawberry is particularly interested in this series.
He still remembers the 1988 NLCS, when the Mets lost to the Dodgers in seven games despite holding a 2-1 series lead.
Everything changed in Game 4, when Mike Scioscia took Gooden deep in the ninth inning to erase a two-run deficit.
“I don’t know how Doc walked [John] Shelby,” Strawberry joked, referring to the walk that preceded the Scioscia homer. “All he had to do was bounce one up there.”
Both Gooden and Strawberry feel that Mets team was actually more talented than the 1986 one.
More so than Gooden, Strawberry is still not over it.
When this series was set, he immediately thought back to that series.
“Of course. How could I not think of ’88 — ’88 sucked for me,” he recalled with a laugh. “I’ve never gotten past ’88. And I’m thinking to myself when it’s the Mets and Dodgers, I hope the Mets get revenge [for that year] and beat them for the ’88 season that we lost to them.”