Requiem for the Dynasty that Never Was

Yesterday I saw the Mets clinch an Eastern division title for the first time in my life. No, you didn't just emerge from a two-week bender; the Mets still haven't locked up this year's title yet.

Yesterday I was returned to September 22, 1988, a day I lived through, a game I almost certainly watched, but of which I have no recollection.

It's the gift and the curse of us early 80's babies -- born just in time to have no choice other than to become a Mets fan, but just late enough to have no memory of why we made that choice.

When you're young you root for a winner, and you root for the team your dad and older brother roots for. For me, for basically everyone I know, that team was the Mets.

Born at the end of 1982, I was but 3 years old when the Mets had that magical run in 1986. It's a team that exists for me only on the grainy footage of my tattered (but still kicking) 1986 Mets Tape, in the pages of The Bad Guys Won, on the airwaves of SNY, and in the desperate camaraderie of Mets fans, all of us so far removed from the last championship, all of us grasping at straws.

But 1988 is a different story. 1988 is a forgotten team. From what I gather, it's a team whose memory is defined by unfulfilled promise. A dominant team in the regular season which beat up on the Dodgers during the regular season only to lose in 7 games of the NLCS. Something to do with Orel Hershiser. That's all I know.

That, and that 1988 was the last gasp of the should-have-been Mets dynasty of the 1980's.

I was reminded of that sad history yesterday as I watched the the three final outs of the Mets' 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Fran Healy had the call on the old SportsChannel network along with Lorn Brown.

As Ron Darling worked his way through a flawless ninth, the broadcasters marveled at what was to be the team's second division title in three years. Healy commented that it might well have been their third in a row, had injuries not wreaked havoc on the 1987 team.

Then it was Brown's turn. He confidently asserted that it was the second in three years, but it wouldn't be the last. "With that pitching?" Healy replied. "No way."

With as little as I know about that 1988 team, I feel fairly certain that no one out there would have disagreed with either commentator. Sure, the co-captains Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter were getting on in years, 34 years each, and showing signs of decline.

But the pitching staff still had it in spades. Ron Darling (27 years old), 17-9, 3.25 ERA. Doc (23) 18-9, 3.19 ERA. El Sid (25) 12-10, 3.03 ERA. Bobby Ojeda (the elder statesman at 30), 10-13 with a 2.88 ERA. And last but certainly not least, David Cone (25), 20-3 with a 2.22 ERA.

It's the kind of nucleus we can only dream about, but somehow it never won another division title, let alone another World Series. I don't really know how it's possible, but I know it's got something to do with drugs and Juan Samuel.

So I think there's a lesson to be learned from 1988, a lesson we would do well to heed in the week or two ahead, when the Mets finally capture their first division title since 1988.

No matter how good this current nucleus looks long-term, you can't take anything for granted. You can't take it for granted that any flags that fly out in centerfield next year will soon be accompanied by many more.

None of us need to be reminded that we should enjoy clinching the playoff spot when it happens. We're all acutely aware of how rare a division title is.

And none of us need to fear that this current core will flame out. I don't think Reyes, Wright and Beltran will be susceptible to the same failings that did in Doc and Darryl. I also think the Mets have a promising enough farm system (Pelfrey, Humber, Milledge) and the resources to plug holes where necessary. But one way or another, it's pointless to worry about such things.

All I'm saying is, in case you've recalibrated your expectations for this season, in case winning the NL East is no longer enough, in case you see clinching the division as just a formality, a stepping stone on the way to something more important, just remember that you're going to see something that hasn't happened to the Mets in 18 years.

Not every team wins 14 division titles in a row. Not every team that has tremendous promise or tremendous resources makes good on it.

So when it finally happens, feel free to dream like it's 1986, but let yourself party like it's 1988. Division titles deserve appreciation in their own right.

- A.F.O.M.G.