The first clue that repeating as champions would not be as easy for the 1987 Mets as so many experts predicted came in the spring training clubhouse in St. Petersburg, Fla., on April Fools’ Day.
General manager Frank Cashen stood before the team and told them Dwight Gooden would not be starting the season with them. Instead he would be in a drug rehabilitation center in New York.
As players waited to board a bus to Bradenton that day, their dynasty suddenly was in doubt.
“To get to spring training and have the general manager tell you one of your best two players is not going to be around because he’s addicted to drugs, it’s a hard thing to wrap your brain around,” said Ron Darling, a pitcher on that team and current SNY analyst.
The 1987 Mets went on to finish in second place and miss the playoffs. It was not just Gooden’s two-month absence but a series of injuries to their starting pitchers that made the Mets’ hopes of repeating vanish. They serve as an example of just how difficult it is to repeat as champions.
As the Yankees set out to win back-to-back crowns there is no way to predict what challenges await them. A short offseason, player defections and being the No. 1 target of every team can turn a champion into an also-ran in a year. That’s not even considering the normal problems of injuries and slumps.
These are the things that make repeating as a champion in any sport difficult. Kevin McHale won three championships with the Celtics, but they failed to repeat each time.
“I think the most challenging part is you get everyone’s best,” said McHale, now an analyst for NBA TV and TNT. “It’s always a packed arena with the other teams’ best coming at you. When you’re a defending champion, it’s a big, big deal.”
McHale remembers playing in Sacramento before a full house with a playoff-like buzz in the crowd. He saw a friend who lived locally after the game and praised the home crowd to him. His friend told him, “Two nights ago, there weren’t 5,000 people here.”
“I was just a country kid,” McHale said. “That’s how it always was for us. I was under the delusion that everyone played in front of sellouts every night.”
Another problem that arises for championship teams is what sudden success brings with it. Champions are invited to numerous awards dinners, and are given the chance to make some extra money.
“There’s opportunities out there when you become a champion to do other things, make appearances, sign autographs, endorsements” said ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth, who won Super Bowl rings with the Redskins and Broncos. “Do you come back ready to play? Do you come back in shape? I think the season can kind of sneak up on you. You’re taking trips and all of a sudden the season arrives and you’re not ready.”
The Yankees enter this season as the favorites, and the pressure will mount if they stumble at all.
Greg Anthony remembers the glare that was on the UNLV team he played on as a senior coming off an NCAA title. That 1990-91 team went undefeated in the regular season but lost to Duke in the national semifinals.
“The team I played on my senior year was a better team,” Anthony, now a CBS analyst, said. “More than anything, the media started to grow with each day. There was more and more talk about going undefeated as well as winning the national championship.”
Like those ‘91 Rebels, the ‘87 Mets were one of the all-time favorites to repeat who fell short.
“For us, we really thought we had a three-year window between 1986 and 1988 to win championships,” Darling said. “If we had pulled it off, we would be considered one of the great teams. Instead we’re considered a team that had a great year.”
Couldn’t get it done
Here are some of the notable teams that were thwarted in their bid for a repeat:
1986 Bears: The year after going 18-1 and romping 46-10 over the Patriots in Super Bowl XX, the Bears rolled through another strong season, going 14-2. But they lost their opening playoff game, 27-13 to the Redskins, and were one and done.
1987 Mets: Dwight Gooden’s drug suspension and injuries to the rotation derailed a good team that went 92-70 but finished three games behind the Cardinals in the NL East.
1990 49ers: The Niners were bidding for a three-peat, but Leonard Marshall steamrolled Joe Montana, Roger Craig coughed up a key fumble and Matt Bahr kicked five field goals to send the Giants to Super Bowl XXV instead.
1991 UNLV: Jerry Tarkanian’s Runnin’ Rebels took a 34-0 record into the 1991 NCAA semifinal against Duke, whom they had beaten by 30 points for the title the year before. The Blue Devils won the rematch, 79-77.
1995 Rangers: After a lockout postponed the start of the season until January, the Rangers finished fourth in the Eastern Conference, beat the Quebec Nordiques in 6, then were swept by the Flyers. Their Cup, which still might have to last a lifetime, ended up in the hands of the Devils.
2001 Yankees: Going for four rings in a row, the Yankees seemed on a magical ride after back-to-back, game-tying homers by Tino Martinez and Scott Brosius in Games 4 and 5 of the World Series. But the Diamondbacks came back to win the title, beating Mariano Rivera in Game 7.