Of all the 30th anniversary moments the 1986 Mets are celebrating this year — and this October, especially — it shouldn’t go overlooked: The supremely talented, thoroughly debauched World Series champs were responsible for probably the most infamous plane ride in baseball history.
The carnival-esque flight from Houston to New York after clinching the pennant in Game 6 of the NLCS is lovingly and hilariously illustrated in a new video from Victory Journal (which produced a similarly expressive account of Dock Ellis’ no-hitter-on-LSD).
With fresh interviews with Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Lenny Dykstra and Kevin Mitchell, and brilliant artwork — a personal favorite: fearsome Astros ace (and noted ball scuffer) Mike Scott seen with his handy supply of sandpaper — it shows the booze-and-coke-addled, groupie-chasing Mets at their destructive worst.
“We had a good four hours to f–k that plane up,” Dykstra says. “It was like a bomb hit that f–king place.”
From Mookie Wilson and the milk-drinkers in the front of the jet (“not even plural … milk-drinker,” Dykstra clarifies) to the Scum Bunch in the back, the trip quickly spun out of control. There’s girl-on-girl action and a unique serving spot for salad.
“A bunch of bad boys,” Strawberry says, in summary. “We knew how to be ugly, we knew how to be raunchy.”