Bone Daddy’s 1986 NLCS Astros vs Mets Pennants Collection Pieces

DOG ASIDE:

Bone Daddy’s trip to New York City to see the Games 3, 4 and 5 of the National League Championship Series between the Houston Astros (Mgr Hal Lanier) vs New York Mets (Mgr Davey Johnson) was an awesome trip for my big guy…..creating memories that have remained vibrant in his memory to this day….some 30 years later. BD and his good friend Dino…..were treated like royalty the minute they arrived in NYC by Dino’s brother Dwight….who was head of Harry M. Stevens food and concessions operations at Shea Stadium….the home of the New York Mets.

Game 3 was a back-and-forth contest won by the Mets when Lenny Dykstra hit a two-run walk-off homer against Astros’ reliever Dave Smith in the bottom of the ninth inning….giving New York a 6–5 victory and 2–1 series lead on a Saturday afternoon at Shea Stadium.  Houston broke through with four runs in the first two innings against Mets’ starter Ron Darling….highlighted by Bill Doran’s two-run home run in the second…..as Bone Daddy, who was on the mezzanine level sitting right behind the Mets dugout thanks to Dwight’s connections at Shea….and to say that BD was a vociferous fanatical Astro supporter…..would be a complete understatement….for the New York fans, in typical NYC fashion….were trying to decide whether to piss on him….or throw him off the mezzanine level….as Dino slouched in his seat trying to act like he didn’t know this goofy Astro fan.  Darling then threw three scoreless frames and the Mets came back by scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth as Darryl Strawberry’s three-run homer off Houston starter Bob Knepper tied the game 4–4…..however, the Astros struck back against reliever Rick Aguilera in the top of the seventh as a throwing error by Ray Knight led to an unearned run that came home when Denny Walling’s fielder’s choice plated Doran for a 5–4 lead. It was the only error committed by the Mets in the series….and Bone Daddy got more fanatical….as he was heard singing “We’re going to Kansas City (sight of the World Series)” in the bathroom at Shea. With the Astros still leading in the bottom of the ninth…closer Smith allowed a lead-off bunt single to Wally Backman….who appeared to have run out of the first-base line to avoid the tag of first baseman Glenn Davis….but was called safe by umpire Dutch Rennert despite an argument from Houston manager Hal Lanier. Backman advanced to second on a passed ball, and Danny Heep then flew out to centerfield for the inning’s first out. The next batter was Dykstra, who won it for New York by lacing a Smith pitch over the right-field fence for a two-run homer….and needless to say, Bone Daddy had to survive a ferocious barrage of superlatives from Mets fans…and from there on he had to eat some serious humble pie.