The Seeding of the Mets half of the bracket is as follows:
The play-in series between the 1976 Mets and the 1985 Mets will be played later today. It is a best of 5 series, a series recap will be forthcoming.
1. 1986 Mets
The 1986 Mets were far and away the greatest Mets teams of all time, and one of the best baseball teams of the 80’s period. The team has been immortalized by taking part in one of the most famous plays of all time-Bill Buckner’s booted ground ball. A killer rotation that had four 15 game winners, combined with a potent offense headlined by Gary Carter, Lenny Dykstra, Keith Hernandez, and Darryl Strawberry make this team Mets team truly amazing.
2. 1969 Mets
The first Mets team to win the World Series, and the first team to have a winning record is rewarded with the second seed in the tournament. With the two-headed monster of Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman, and the excellent bullpen work of Tug McGraw the team dominated the playoffs, only losing one game. The offense wasn’t spectacular, but Cleon Jones and Tommie Agee were enough to carry them through.
3. 1988 Mets
Only two years removed from the incredible 86 season, the 88 Mets almost matched their success. David Cone dominated the NL winning 20 games, and Doc Gooden won 18. One of the most powerful teams in Mets history, the 88 Mets had three players with at least 20 homer runs-Kevin McReynolds, Darryl Strawberry, and Howard Johnson, unfortunately they did not do much hitting otherwise, only Wally Backman had a batting average over .300
4. 2000 Mets
The greatest Mets team of this century, and losing half of the 2000 World Series, gets the 4th seed in our bracket. Back when Mike Hampton was good, and Armando Benitez was a reliable closer this Mets pitching staff was the cream of the crop. Piazza, Alfonzo, Ventura, Payton, Bell, the lineup reads like a late 90’s allstar team.
5. 2006 Mets
Oh 2006, such high hopes, such a good playoff run, only to be stopped by Adam Wainwright and his killer curve. We all know the team, but maybe this time Beltran will take a hack. One interesting note, the Mets used 10 starting pitchers in 2006 more than any other team in the NL
6. 1999 Mets
One of the weakest Mets pitching staff in the tournament, no starters with more than 13 wins, or with an ERA under 4.00. Thankfully the offense was nearly as prolific as the 2000 iteration, and with Rickey Henderson on this team you never know what could happen.
7. 1973 Mets
The 1973 Mets are famous for one reason and one reason alone. The 73 Mets were the worst team of all time to have played in a World Series. That .509 winning percentage was just enough for them to squeak into the playoffs, and past the Reds where they almost beat the powerhouse 73 Athletics. The pitching on the team was excellent as was true on every Mets team with Seaver and Koosman, but the hitting was truly atrocious. The leading hitter was Felix Milan who hit .290 and the next highest average was from Rusty Staub-.279. Not so good.
1985 Mets and 1976 Mets
In a battle for the final seed we have the 1985 Mets, very similar to the 1986 team, but not as good offensively. 1985 was also Dwight Gooden’s bonkers year, in which he went 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA in over 275 innings pitched.
The 1976 Mets, like the 73 Mets were incredible in the pitching game, but offensively inept, and not nearly as lucky.
-Mose
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