Remembering Mets History (1986) Ray Knight Starts A Classic Brawl In Cincinnati

Tuesday July 22nd, 1986: Davey Johnson's New York Mets were riding high 13 games up in first place, very confident & cocky. 

Controversy was still surrounding the club after the incident in Houston where four of the Mets had been arrested at a popular night spot. But that just added to the 86 Mets legacy. On the field they were the best team in baseball & also the rowdiest.

On this road trip to Cincinnati there was yet another on field brawl that once again just added to their legacy.

On this Tuesday night the Mets (62-28) were at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, facing Pete Rose's fourth place Reds (44-47).

The game began with Bobby Ojeda going up against Scott Terry in front of 23,707 fans. But this wild game would see eight Mets pitchers take the mound & 22 players overall on the field. The Reds would have six pitchers & 22 players overall as well.

In the home 3rd inning, Scott Terry singled & Dave Parker hit a two run HR giving the Reds a 2-0 lead. In the 5th, Rafael Santana walked & was forced, as Bobby Ojeda bunted. Lenny Dykstra then tripled in the Mets 1st run.

In the bottom of the inning, the Reds Buddy Bell hit his 6th HR of the season, putting the Reds up 3-1. In the top of the 6th, Rob Murphy came in to pitch for Cincinnati. Darryl Strawberry was called out on strikes, Straw disagreed, argued with home plate umpire Gerry Davis & was ejected.

Rob Murphy got the Reds to the 8th & then Ron Robinson came on to pitch. After Bob Ojeda, Rick Anderson, Randy Meyers & Doug Sisk got the Mets to the 9th as well.

In the top of the 9th, Howard Johnson struck out looking, catcher Bo Diaz dropped the ball & Johnson accidentally kicked the ball away, he then reached first base safely as Diaz's throw hit Johnson in the back. Reds coach Billy DeMars got ejected for arguing the call.

But HoJo was quickly erased as Mookie Wilson then grounded into a double play. With two outs, Dykstra walked & Tim Teufel doubled, bringing up Keith Hernandez. 

John Franco was on the mound for the Reds. Hernandez hit a fly ball to left field that should have been the third out, but Dave Parker dropped the ball. 

Parker admitted his anger toward the '86 Mets, saying he would curse out the TV set when he would see their nightly highlights. Now his error allowed Dykstra & Teufel to both score tying the game. 

It was just another routine night for the '86 Mets on their way to another win.

In this crazy game, Mets manager Davey Johnson sent up pitcher Rich Aguilera to pinch hit for the pitcher Doug Sisk. Aguilera walked bit was left stranded on base.

In the bottom of the 10th, Jesse Orosco came in to pitch for the Mets. He started out by striking out Dave Parker. Then player / manager Pete Rose pinch hit & singled. He brought in Eric Davis to pinch run for him, Davis stole second base & then stole third as Orosco struck out Eddie Milner.

When Davis went into third base, he popped up into Mets third baseman Ray Knight. Knight the former Gold Gloves Boxer, had already been the center of a few team brawls during the season. (Knight had played for the Reds from 1974 to 1981). 

He yelled at Eric Davis "What's wrong with you" shoving Davis back, trying to push him off the base. Davis pushed back, Knight then punched Davis in the face, dropped his glove like a hockey player & was ready to box. 

Third base umpire Eric Gregg tried to break holding back Davis, Eddie Milner came in trying to get to Knight but then grabbed Jesse Orosco. Davis stepped back & then tried to come again but Gary Carter tackled him to the ground. 

Davis was then pulled away by his coach Tommy Helms. 

Big Dave Parker came running in pulling Mets players aside shouting at Knight. 

Another Mets tough guy, former gang member, Kevin Mitchell went after Parker but was stopped when Mario Sotto & Bill Gullickson tackled him. Gullickson was tossed aside by Mitchell as was Soto, but karate expert John Denny managed to keep Mitchell down.

The area around third base had a lot of pushing & shoving going on. Ray Knight continued to yell wanting to go after Reds players.

This was not your typical baseball brawl with players just hanging around, this one had all kinds of punching & tackling. Eventually Order was finally restored after a long delay, Knight, Mitchell & Davis were all ejected.

As the Mets returned to the dugout, they saw George Foster, a former Reds player, sitting there. He was the only player or coach (for that matter) who had not gotten involved in the fight. He would later say he did not want to send the wrong message to the kids. 

This would mark the eventual end of George Foster's Mets career. Soon after, Davey Johnson who enforces team work, would demote Foster from the left field position, giving the job toa rotation of  Kevin Mitchell, Danny Heep, Mookie Wilson & soon Lee Mazzilli who would be signed shortly. Foster was released a few weeks later.

After all the madness in this wild game, the Mets were short of position players. Davey Johnson thought fast & made the only moves he could. Mets pitcher Roger McDowell went to play right field, Gary Carter went to play third base & Ed Hearn came in to catch. 

McDowell would switch from right to left field & eventually relieve Orosco on the mound. Orosco would go out to then play the outfield.

The game went to the 14th inning when Ed Hearn doubled & Jesse Orosco walked. Howard Johnson finally ended it with a three run HR off Ted Power. McDowell closed out the Reds in the bottom of the inning & the Mets won the game.