Ray Knight - New York Mets

New York Mets

Knight platooned third base with the newly acquired Howard Johnson for the 1985 and 1986 seasons. In his first full season with the Mets, Knight batted only .218 with six home runs and 36 RBIs. During the off-season, the Mets attempted to trade Knight to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Lee Mazzilli, but were denied.

Knight came out of the gate eager to prove the Mets wrong, crushing six home runs and batting .306 with twelve RBIs in the month of April. On July 22, Knight incited a bench clearing brawl at Riverfront Stadium against his former teammates. Eric Davis pinch-running for Reds player/manager Pete Rose in the tenth inning stole second and third base. Knight took the throw from Mets catcher Gary Carter late, brought his glove to Davis' face and knocked his helmet off. A stare off ensued, followed by a right cross from Knight. The benches emptied and as a result of all the ejections from this fight, back-up catcher Ed Hearn was brought into the game, and Carter moved from behind the plate to third. Roger McDowell replaced Jesse Orosco on the mound, and Orosco went into right field. They traded positions with two outs in the eleventh, and McDowell traded positions with left fielder Mookie Wilson with one out in the 12th. This rotation continued for the remainder of the game, which the Mets won in fourteen innings.

The Mets won 108 games in 1986 and took the National League East convincingly by 21.5 games over the Phillies. For the season, Knight batted .298 with eleven home runs and 76 RBIs to earn NL Comeback Player of the Year honors. Knight batted only .167 in the 1986 National League Championship Series against his former teammates, the Houston Astros. In the World Series, however, Knight broke out with a .391 batting average and five RBIs.

The Mets won the 1986 World Series in seven games over the Boston Red Sox. Knight's single in the now-legendary tenth inning of game six of the Series drove in Gary Carter for the first run of the inning, and also pushed Kevin Mitchell to third, allowing him to score on Bob Stanley's wild pitch. Knight then scored the winning run from second after Mookie Wilson's ground ball went through the legs of Bill Buckner, and Knight's celebration as he rounded third to score was one of the indelible images of the series.

He hit the tiebreaking home run in game seven, and was rewarded with the World Series MVP award and the Baseball Writers Association of America's Babe Ruth Award for the best performance in the World Series.