ABC Sports: MLB 1986-NLCS-Game 3-Houston Astros @ New York Mets: Full Game

Source:Real Life Journal 

An interesting matchup in the 1986 NLCS, because it sort of looked like a miss-match on paper. The Mets clearly looked like the best all around team in MLB in 1986 and dominated the National League. One of the best teams since divisional play started in MLB in 1969. They had great pitching, starting and the bullpen. A very good defense and very good, deep and balanced lineup offensively, as well as a very good bench. They had both speed and power in their lineup and Davey Johnson was their manager. All of these qualities for one team tend to equal MLB World Series champion.

The 1986 Astros sort of reminds me of the 1969 Mets. Very good pitching, very good defense and a lineup that only seemed to produce enough hits and runs for the team to win. This would’ve been a miss-match had the Astros not of gotten the pitching and defense that they did in this series. And they got a lot of timely hitting Kevin Bass in this series who had a career year and didn’t do much pre-86 or after 86. Which sounds like several New York Mets of 1969. The Astros did enough in 86 to make this series one of the best NLCS’s of all-time.