Once Upon A Time in Queens: Episodes 3 & 4

“Our check engine light was on.”

What a baseball documentary ‘Once Upon A Time In Queens’ ended up being, man. 

A lot of what was covered tonight, I already knew. From the release of the brooding, washed-up George Foster to the plane ride from Hell after the Mets won the marathon game in Houston to avoid Mike Scott. Furthermore, I knew about Scott scuffing baseballs. 

Some thing I didn’t realize was the huge three home runs that Darryl Strawberry hit in the NLCS and then in the last frame of the World Series before the bottom of the ninth. I also didn’t realize how many pitches Mookie Wilson fouled off prior to the infamous Bill Buckner moment. 

Keith Hernandez strokes his cat all the way throughout, and you learn about the dead-end fates of so many of the names that dotted the 1986 roster. While most people speculate that the Mets of that era should have won at least two or three titles, in some ways, it’s amazing that they ever won it all to begin with. 

Obviously we can’t get in a time machine and go back to that magical time in the mid-80’s that was arguably the best time to be alive. Certainly, it was the best time to be a kid in New York. It was a fun couple nights to relive one of; if not the most unique team in baseball history. A true one of one, forever. 

The closing scene with Lenny Dykstra says it all. He’s had his up’s and his down’s like the rest of us. Still, he won a world title in the Big Apple. To him, what else is there? 

Obviously, I’ve seen this photo of Dykstra, Doc Gooden, and Bobby Ojeda crawled out to the mound drunk out of their minds after the win before. But really if you stare at it long enough it epitomizes everything that team was. Magical, never-say-die, and a team that will be talked about for as long as time rolls on. Hard partying rock stars who played baseball and had a trademark authenticity you can smell.