Klapisch: The greatest World Series game ever
From Bob Klapisch at The National Pastime Museum on May 29, 2016:
Any self-respecting Mets fan will fix a gaze that’ll cut you in two at the mere mention of 1988. That’s how much it (still) hurts to think of the NL Championship Series loss to the Dodgers, the team the Mets had beaten 11 times in the regular season and represented nothing more than calisthenics on the way to the World Series.
The real prize was waiting there: the A’s, who’d won 104 games and looked indomitable. No wonder everyone was looking forward to this matchup. The renegade Mets, still a wild bunch, not much different in flesh or in spirit from the ’86 version, were the perfect foil for the monstrous A’s. Specifically, the Bash Brothers, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, combined for over 200 home runs while Oakland ran off three consecutive pennants from 1988 to 1989.
The Mets had the pitching, boasting the Majors’ lowest ERA (2.91). The A’s had the muscle, second only to the Blue Jays in HRs in both leagues. The Mets only had to neutralize the Dodgers and America would be treated to a collision as irresistible as matter versus antimatter.
Of course, it never happened, and you don’t dare remind the Mets community why.
Read the full article here: http://www.thenationalpastimemuseum.com/article/greatest-world-series-game-ever
Originally published: May 31, 2016. Last Updated: May 31, 2016.