Long Island Ducks manager Gary Carter recently wrote on his blog about how he's sure the Mets would have beaten Mike Scott in Game 7 of the 1986 NLCS, had the Astros beaten the Mets in Game 6.
To a man, every member of the 1986 Mets says that. And I have no problem with that, other than that I've heard it a million times.
But let me ask this: Would the Mets have won Game 4 of the 1986 World Series if Tom Seaver had been healthy and had started for the Red Sox?
Carter had two home runs against Red Sox starter Al Nipper in that Game 4 win(he also hit his 300th homer off Nipper, noted in a subsequent blog entry).
But is there any guarantee he or his teammates would have had the same success against Seaver? Not at all. Take a look at this:
Tom Seaver vs Key Members of the1986 Mets
Gary Carter: .188 BA, 1 HR, 64 AB
Keith Hernandez: .196 BA, 0 HR, 46 AB
Mookie Wilson: .267 BA, 4 K, 15 AB
Ray Knight: .300 BA, 10 AB
Granted, the Tom Seaver of 1986 was on his last legs and wasn't the guy who beat Carter and Hernandez up in the early parts of their careers, but would you have wanted to face him in a key postseason game? I think not.
True Meteavers know... Among those who played for the Mets who had success against Seaver are:
Tim Teufel : .467 BA, 15 AB (unlikely would have played against Seaver in a WS game)
Chris Cannizzaro: .429 BA, 1 HR, 21 AB
Julio Franco: .400 BA, 15 AB
To a man, every member of the 1986 Mets says that. And I have no problem with that, other than that I've heard it a million times.
But let me ask this: Would the Mets have won Game 4 of the 1986 World Series if Tom Seaver had been healthy and had started for the Red Sox?
Carter had two home runs against Red Sox starter Al Nipper in that Game 4 win(he also hit his 300th homer off Nipper, noted in a subsequent blog entry).
But is there any guarantee he or his teammates would have had the same success against Seaver? Not at all. Take a look at this:
Tom Seaver vs Key Members of the1986 Mets
Gary Carter: .188 BA, 1 HR, 64 AB
Keith Hernandez: .196 BA, 0 HR, 46 AB
Mookie Wilson: .267 BA, 4 K, 15 AB
Ray Knight: .300 BA, 10 AB
Granted, the Tom Seaver of 1986 was on his last legs and wasn't the guy who beat Carter and Hernandez up in the early parts of their careers, but would you have wanted to face him in a key postseason game? I think not.
True Meteavers know... Among those who played for the Mets who had success against Seaver are:
Tim Teufel : .467 BA, 15 AB (unlikely would have played against Seaver in a WS game)
Chris Cannizzaro: .429 BA, 1 HR, 21 AB
Julio Franco: .400 BA, 15 AB
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