New York Mets: The All-Time Bracket
Championship
1986 vs. 1969
So we wind up exactly where we expected to be, with the 1969 Seaver Miracle team trying to pull one final upset against the 1986 powerhouse.
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Game 1: The 1986 club’s 108-54 record is eight games and 50 percentage points better than 1969.
Game 2: The 1969 champions were an .825 post-season team, easily beating 1986’s .615 percentage.
Game 3: In 1986 Hernandez had a 140 OPS+, Strawberry got to 139, six regulars exceeded 110 and the team OPS+ was 106. The 1969 team, which mostly got by on pitching, lacked anything approaching that punch. Jones did record a 151 OPS+, but the next best was Agee’s 122, and only second baseman Ken Boswell among the other regulars exceeded 91. The team OPS+ was 84.
Game 4: Seaver’s 165 ERA+ led an imposing 1969 staff that also included Koosman (160), Don Cardwell (121), closer Tug McGraw (163), and co-closer Ron Taylor (134). The team figure was 122. The 1986 team could boast of Gooden (126) and Darling (128), but the average only reached 115. This series is tied at 2 each.
Game 5: The 1986 team presents Hernandez (5.5 WAR) leading a total of 53.7. In Seaver (7.3), Jones (7.0), Koosman (5.9) and Agee (5.2), the 1969 club had by far the more productive stars. But it lacked anything approaching the depth of the 1986 team. Its WAR total only reached 41.2.
Game 6: The 1969 team fielded .980, three points better than the National League average. The 1986 team fielded .978, exactly on the National League average. The bracket championship comes down to Hall of Famers.
Game 7: We established in the semi-finals that the 1969 team had two immortals, Seaver and Ryan. The 1986 Mets can counter with catcher Carter…but that’s it. Once again, the Miracle Mets do the seemingly impossible.
Result: 1969 in seven games