The National League Championship Series matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets represents their fourth postseason meeting in MLB history.
Prior to this year, the Mets and Dodgers last played in October during the 2015 NL Division Series. However, it is the 1988 NLCS that is most remembered whenever discussing Mets and Dodgers postseason history.
The Mets were the No. 1 seed for that matchup, but the Dodgers won in seven games as they were in the midst of an improbable playoffs.
Dwight Gooden believes the 1988 Mets were more talented than their 1986 World Series championship counterparts, but there were certain intangibles that put the title team a cut above.
“Obviously from ’88, what I remember is the Mike Scioscia home run in Game 5 because if we won that game, we go up 3-1. Obviously I made a bad pitch to Mike Scioscia in the ninth. He hit the home run. But the ’88 on paper was probably better than the ’86 team on paper. But I think the ’86 team, we had chemistry, we had heart,” Gooden recalled.
“What I mean by that, we were a lot closer than just ballplayers. We spent more time together than we did with our families at that time. We spent a lot of time together on the road. I think that plays a big part of getting to know your teammates personally. So I would I say ’88 on paper is probably a little bit better, but the ’86 team, I’d put that team against anybody.”
Gooden’s former teammate Darryl Strawberry agreed with that sentiment and shared what he remembered from the 1988 NLCS matchup against the Dodgers.
“The ’88 team was more talented than the ’86 team. The ’86 team had more guts than ’88 team. It was just a different breed of players with Ray Knight, Kevin Mitchell, players that didn’t fear the situation and the opportunity,” Strawberry began.
“I think the ’88 series against the Dodgers was heartbreaking. Yeah, I’ve never gotten over that, of losing that ’88 series. But you’ve got to remember the Dodgers were extremely hot coming in, playing at the end of that season. And they had some big moments — Scioscia home run, Gibson hit that big home run. They just did things right. Playoff baseball is about who comes up with the big hit in the big situation and who doesn’t.”
“And I think that’s what happened in the ’88 series for us. But the ’86 series, we had players on the team that sat on the bench. And if you got ahead in ballgame against us, we knew we were coming back and would win. That was the difference. We didn’t have that kind of same feeling. The chemistry was different.
“And, like I said, the ’86 team had a lot of guts. We realized that we were not going to lose. We were going to come back no matter what the circumstances was.”
With the Dodgers advancing to the World Series, they were matched up against the behemoth that was the 1988 Oakland Athletics. The A’s, who won an MLB-best 104 games during the regular season, swept the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS and were heavily favored in the World Series.
However, it was the battle-hardened Dodgers who took command, lifting their first World Series trophy since 1981 by eliminating the Athletics in five games.
“It made me feel better when they went on to sweep them. It just reminded me, after playing a seven-game series like that and both teams were drained, and pitching was drained. And the Dodgers go on and sweep that Oakland team, which was supposed to be the team of the century that year, better than everybody else,” Strawberry said.
“Kind of made me feel better after seeing that. I kind of just was able to turn it over. It was hard to turn that series over, that 1988 series over. But I had to eventually leave it there and get past it. But when they beat Oakland, it made you feel a lot better.”
Unable to get over the 1988 NLCS loss, a rematch of that series here in 2024 was the first thing that popped into Strawberry’s mind when the Dodgers advanced past the San Diego Padres.
“Of course. How could I not think of ’88; ’88 sucked for me. I’ve never got past ’88. And I’m thinking to myself when it’s the Mets and Dodgers, I hope the Mets get the revenge back and beat them for the ’88 season that we lost to them,” he said.
“Like I said, that Dodgers team, they beat us. And they beat a good ballclub. They didn’t beat just any ballclub. They beat a great ballclub in that ’88 series. And it was heartbreaking.”
As for Gooden, he was still basking in the glory of beating a division rival initially before the memories of the 1988 season came flooding back.
“For me, not off the bat. I was just happy that the Mets advanced past the Phillies, obviously. Our divisional rival, so I was happy they got past them,” Gooden explained.
“Obviously playing the Dodgers, like you just brought up, when you ask questions, it kind of takes you back to what could have been. So I’m just hoping they get past the Dodgers this time.”
Mets vs. Dodgers postseason history
1988 NLCS: Dodgers defeat Mets 4-3
In 1988, the Dodgers won a back-and-forth NLCS that was really either team’s series before the decisive Game 7. Game 4 proved to be the turning point of the series as the Dodgers pulled off a 5-4 win in 12 innings to avoid facing elimination in Game 5.
2006 NLDS: Mets sweep Dodgers 3-0
Nearly 20 years passed before the Mets and Dodgers clashed again in the postseason. The Mets won pretty handily, sweeping the Dodgers.
2015 NLDS: Mets defeat Dodgers 3-2
In 2015, the Dodgers and Mets battled it out in the NLDS once again, this time as the second and third seeds, respectively.
It was a much tighter series this time around, with the Dodgers forcing a winner-take-all Game 5 at Dodger Stadium after staving off elimination on the road.
Game 5 was even more intense as the Mets won 3-2 to advance to the NLCS.
2024 NLCS: Dodgers leading 3-2
Entering play Sunday, the Dodgers are one win from winning the NL pennant and returning to the World Series for the first time since 2020.
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