Al Bello/Getty Images
Todd Pratt's home run won a playoff series, but was it the Mets most notable postseason homer?This is the second in a series of top 10 lists we will be generating on the Mets this month. Last week, with the Gold Glove Awards upon us, we went through the 10 greatest defensive players in Mets history (Part 1 | Part 2). Our next look is at the Mets' most notable home runs.
Five years ago, I embarked on trying to rank the most memorable Mets home runs and came up with a list that I shared with family and friends. That list hasn’t changed much, but it seemed like a good idea to share it with a wider audience.
We did regular-season round-trippers Tuesday; today, we turn to the postseason.
10. Darryl Strawberry, 1986 NL Championship Series, Game 3
Darryl Strawberry, 1986 NL Championship Series, Game 5
Strawberry hit two hugely important home runs in helping the Mets beat the Astros in the 1986 NLCS.
In Game 3, with the Mets down 4-1 in the sixth inning, he hit a game-tying three-run home run to right field against Bob Knepper. The Mets would go on to win (as we’ll note shortly) and take a 2-1 lead in the series.
In Game 5 of the series, the Mets trailed the Astros 1-0 and had been stymied to the tune of 13 straight outs by future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan before Strawberry hit a line-drive home run inside the right-field line to tie the game.
The Mets would go on to win that one in the 12th inning on Gary Carter's hit to take a 3-2 lead in a series they would eventually win in six games.
9. Edgardo Alfonzo, 1999 NL Division Series, Game 1
Alfonzo had gotten big hits for the Mets all season long, including a home run in the one-game playoff with the Reds.
That would be Alfonzo’s biggest home run for about 24 hours, until he hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks to put the Mets ahead 1-0 in that series.
8. Lenny Dykstra, 1986 World Series, Game 3
It was important in Game 3 to give Boston fans absolutely nothing to cheer about as the World Series came to Fenway with the Red Sox up two games to none.
The first at-bat of the game would take care of that.
Dykstra's leadoff home run opened the floodgates against Oil Can Boyd on the way to an easy Mets victory.
The Mets would take two of three in Boston (with Dykstra homering again in Game 4) to send the series back to New York.
7. Tommie Agee, 1969 World Series, Game 3
Agee's leadoff home run against Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer set the stage for a day in which all the magic moments belonged to him. Agee would become better known for the two amazing catches he would make later that day.
The Mets would win 5-0 to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series and would not lose again en route to the title.
6. Benny Agbayani, 2000 NL Division Series, Game 3
The turning point of the 2000 NLDS came in the 13th inning of Game 3, when, after the Mets had rallied to tie in the eighth inning, ever-popular Agbayani hit a walk-off home run against Giants reliever Aaron Fultz. As Tim McCarver and newspaper headlines the next day would note, Agbayani had provided just the right "Hawaiian punch."
The Mets would take a 2-1 lead in the series and would clinch it the next day on Bobby Jones’ one-hit shutout.
5. Todd Pratt, 1999 NL Division Series, Game 4
Pratt, starting at catcher because of an injury to Mike Piazza, clinched the NLDS with his Game 4 walk-off home run against Diamondbacks reliever Matt Mantei.
There was some doubt on Pratt’s fly ball, as center fielder Steve Finley came very close to making a leaping catch at the fence. But there is no doubt this will be one of the Mets' most memorable (and unlikely) moments.
(Tie) 3/4. Donn Clendenon and Al Weis, 1969 World Series, Game 5
Clendenon and Weis each earned some postseason MVP recognition for the Mets, and since they can split that, they can split their spot on this list too.
With the Mets trailing 3-0 in the sixth inning, Clendenon followed Cleon Jones' hit-by-pitch (a controversial one that became known as “the shoe polish play”) with a two-run home run to bring the Mets to within a run.
Weis, who hit .215 with two home runs in the regular season but was 5-for-11 in the World Series, homered in the seventh inning to tie the score. The Mets would score twice in the eighth inning to go ahead 5-3. Three outs later, they would be World Series champions.
2. Lenny Dykstra, 1986 NL Championship Series, Game 3
The Mets trailed the Astros 5-4 in the ninth inning, and a loss would mean a 2-1 series deficit, with Astros ace Mike Scott looming in Game 4.
Focus on Sport/Getty Images
Lenny Dykstra's Strat-O-Matic swat put the Mets ahead in the 1986 NLCS.The Mets would rally to win when Wally Backman drag-bunted for a hit and, two batters later, Dykstra golfed a home run off Astros closer Dave Smith, putting the Mets ahead in the series 2-1.
Dykstra would joke afterward that the last time he had hit a home run that big came when playing the board game Strat-O-Matic with his brother. Still, Dykstra would show a penchant for coming up big in key spots -- as his multiple inclusions on this list would attest.
1. Ray Knight, 1986 World Series, Game 7
The 1986 season was one of redemption for Knight after an awful 1985 campaign, and he closed the books on it by becoming a World Series hero. With the score tied 3-3 in the seventh inning, Knight homered off Red Sox closer Calvin Schiraldi to put the Mets ahead for good.
Not long thereafter, the Mets would clinch their second World Series title.
Knight would be fully redeemed with World Series MVP honors.