Throughout the history of the majors, there have been some wacky characters in the league whether it be players or managers. But normally, this craziness is reserved to a single player or manager per team. However, there was a single team that will without a doubt go down as the craziest in MLB history and probably the craziest in any sport, period. The team I am of course referencing is none other than the 1986 New York Mets. Not only was the team insane, but they were also incredibly talented. Here I will tell you all you need to know about the craziest baseball team in MLB history.
Leading into the 1986 season, the New York Mets were fresh off of a great 98-64 season in which Gary Carter, Daryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez, George Foster and Dwight Gooden helped lead the team to that record. So, naturally, people thought they would do well and those people would be right. The Mets finished with a franchise record breaking regular season of 108-54. Their success also continued into the playoffs, when the Mets went on to win the World Series in seven games over the Boston Red Sox. They were also among the most popular teams in the league with the second highest attendance of the season. This would be the last World Series title that the Mets have won so far.
(source: abc7ny.com)
Now that you know about their success on the field, let’s talk about why they are widely seen as the craziest team ever. The reason was that the team was basically full of cocky, womanizing, pill popping players who were simply off the rails. The players would regularly be involved with hard drugs, partying, getting into fights and much more questionable acts that simply wouldn’t pass in today’s game.
One example of just how crazy this team was occurred when they boarded a plane back to New York after clinching the NLCS against the Houston Astros. The flight began with some simple drinking and yelling, which is to be expected, but then things got a little crazy. Even with the player’s wives and girlfriends on board, the players engaged in debauchery from railing lines of cocaine, harassing flight attendants, throwing up everywhere and more, causing thousands of dollars of damage.
(source: pintrest.com)
It wasn’t only during celebratory moments that the team engaged in crazy antics, the team would basically get belligerently drunk after every game (win or lose) and would regularly do drugs, get in fights, chase women and way more questionable antics. And even though taking drugs was more normal back then, these Mets players went above and beyond with their drug and alcohol use, yet still managed to win all those games on the field.
This behaviour continued for the 80’s and early 90’s, while the Mets were still on of the better teams out there. Obviously the team (and league itself) have cleaned up their acts, and as a result, I doubt we will see another team like this in pro sports history.
