Is the 1986 World Series to blame for Mets' struggles?

If you’re a New York Mets fan, surely you were looking forward to this season with great (if perhaps, subdued) excitement. After their success last year and the roughly $87 billion they spent in the offseason, the Mets seemed destined to get back to the World Series. It didn’t take too long, however, for the wheels to come off, and it’s now looking more and more likely that it will be another wait-until-next-year year.

It’s also looking like the team may be cursed, and their last World Series title could be to blame.

Whether you watched it live, on tape later or perhaps on YouTube recently, Game 6 of the 1986 World Series is one of the most ridiculous games in the history of baseball. The Mets really had no business winning it, as it took numerous boneheaded moves from the Red Sox, along with two uncharacteristic errors in the span of a few minutes for them to get the victory.

So, the question becomes: Did they sell their soul to get that win? (And if so, was Lenny Dykstra involved?)

Since the 1986 season, the Mets have made it to the playoffs just seven times. And while that includes two trips to the World Series, they were both lopsided losses. Over the last few decades, the best way to sum up the Mets is with Murphy’s Law (and not Daniel): Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

They’ve made horrible trades. They signed the wrong players (one of which they’re still paying). They let pitchers go that ended up pitching no-hitters—and winning World Series rings—on other teams, often the Yankees, which is particularly grating to fans.

In big games, managers have taken pitchers out too soon. They’ve left them in too long. Can’t-miss prospects have missed. Drug use prevented others from becoming all-time greats.

And then last season, the Mets won 101 games—and just one in their first-round playoff loss. In the offseason, their star closer who just signed a huge contract, gets hurt in the World Baseball Classic celebrating his team’s victory.

Looking at the evidence, perhaps Mets fans should’ve expected something like this.

It took 86 years for the Red Sox to break the Babe Ruth curse and 108 years for the Cubs to break that weird goat curse. Do the Mets similarly have to wait another several decades before the Bill Buckner curse is broken?

The owner of the Buckner infamous ball is none other than Steve Cohen, who also happens to own the Mets. Cohen always seems to be eager to do things to engage with fans, so maybe he should host a Break the Curse day. Mookie Wilson could come out, and have someone pitch him that ball so he could hit a little roller up along first—and straight into a wood chipper.