No. 3 vs. 6 seed
The 1988 New York Mets won the NL East at 100-60 before losing to the Hershiser-Gibson led Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. Most of the veteran cast was still around and still performing brilliantly. Strawberry hit 39 home runs with 101 RBIs, left fielder Kevin McReynolds added 27 homers and 99 RBIs, Carter, Hernandez, center fielder Lenny Dykstra and infielder Howard Johnson all had presentable seasons.
On the mound, Gooden was 18-9 and Darling had a 17-9 season. Meanwhile, David Cone emerged as a powerhouse, winning 20 of his 23 decisions and fanning 213 opponents. He was third in Cy Young voting.
The 2015 Mets won the National League pennant before losing to Kansas City in the World Series. A trio of young arms Matt Harvey, Jacob DeGrom and Noah Syndergaard, were on hand to excite fans, although ageless Bartolo Colon led the staff with 194 innings of work.
The balanced offense featured no stars, Daniel Murphy’s .281 leading the regulars in average. First baseman Lucas Duda hit 27 home runs, and he and Murphy both drove in 73 runs.
Game 1: The 1988 team’s 100-60 season translated to a .625 percentage. In 2015 the Mets were 90-72, 10 games and nearly 70 points worse.
Game 2: The 2015 Mets took out the Dodgers in a five-game division series, then swept the Cubs in the NLCS before losing in five to Kansas City in the World Series. That’s a .500 post-season percentage. In 1988 the Mets played .429 post-season ball. This series is tied at 1-each.
Game 3: The 1988 Mets had a 111 team OPS+. The best the 2015 team could do was 96.
Game 4: Both teams compiled 111 staff ERA+, throwing this game to a tiebreaker, best individual score. For the 1988 team that was Cone’s 145; in 2015, DeGrom led the way at 149. The series is again tied at 2-each.
Game 5: The 2015 team had 38.4 WAR, not nearly good enough to stay with 1988’s 54.7 WAR.
Game 6: The 1988 Mets fielded .981, two percentage points better than the league average. In 2015 the Mets fielded .986, also two points better than the league average. Carried out to further decimals, however, the advantage goes to 1988.
Result: 1988 in six games