Once Upon a Time in Queens Part 2

S1, E2: As spring training in 1986 began, Mets manager Davey Johnson predicted to reporters that his team was going to dominate the National League. To this day, Johnson shrugs when asked about his brashness. All he was doing was telling the truth. In ’86, the Mets made a few key additions to the team that had won 98 games in 1985, and the Mets began the season so confident in their prospects that they recorded a forgettable rap single, “Get Metsmerized,” to capitalize on the excitement surrounding their prospects. After an early stumble in the season’s first week, the Mets took flight. They won 44 of their first 60 games, capturing the imagination of a city that was intoxicated with indulgence – hypnotized by the allure of money, fame, and drugs. And while just about every member of the club, from the often moody, fantastically talented Darryl Strawberry to the smooth but complicated Keith Hernandez, enjoyed the trappings of celebrity and being the most famous stars in the greatest city of the world, nobody epitomized the team’s slippery line between success and excess more than Dwight Gooden. Still just 21 years old, Gooden was coming off one of the greatest pitching seasons of all time. Overwhelmed by the fame and expectations, he was one of the Mets who turned to cocaine, though seemingly one of the few whose performance was impacted by his partying. Propelled by a blend of talent, good luck, baseball magic – and no small amount by the sport’s wonder drug of choice in the era, amphetamines – the Mets dominated the first half just as their manager said they would. And beyond that, their swagger infuriated opponents, leading to four bench-clearing brawls over the course of the season. It all only made New York love them more. By midsummer, the city was on a high, and the Mets were carrying them through it, night after night after night.