The Howard Johnson 1986 Time Machine

Welcome back to Howard Johnson’s 1986 Time Machine — where we don’t just remember Mets history… we drop you right into it.

In Episode 2, we set the dial to February 24 – March 1, 1986, as Spring Training opens at historic Al Lang Stadium — the Mets’ 25th straight spring home. The sun is out. The roster is loaded. And expectations have officially arrived.

We revisit the rising pressure on Darryl Strawberry coming off injury, the October-minded acquisition of Bob Ojeda, and the strategic chess moves of manager Davey Johnson.

Inside the clubhouse, battles are brewing — Backman vs. Teufel, HoJo vs. Knight — while a clean-shaven George Foster arrives knowing his Mets future may be on the line.

Meanwhile, a cloud hangs over Keith Hernandez following the Pittsburgh drug trials, with Commissioner Peter Ueberroth yet to rule. Add in public arbitration results for Dwight Gooden and Ron Darling, and suddenly Spring Training feels like serious business.

Forty years later, we look back at a week when money, pressure, uncertainty, and opportunity all collided — and the 1986 season truly began.

Next week: competition intensifies, and a freak drill injury changes everything.

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Forty years ago, everything changed.

Before the champagne, before the roller coaster, before the Mets became World Champions, there was a moment in time when the season hadn’t started yet — but you could feel something coming.

Welcome to Howard Johnson’s 1986 Time Machine, a weekly journey back to the exact moments that shaped one of the greatest seasons in Mets history. Each episode rewinds the clock 40 years, week by week, to relive what was happening inside the clubhouse, around the team, and behind the scenes on the road to a championship.

In this premiere episode, HoJo takes us back to the week of February 16, 1986, as the Mets are coming off a heartbreaking end to the 1985 season and Spring Training is just around the corner. Expectations are rising, questions are everywhere, and the hunger to finish the job is real.

What did the team learn from 1985?

What was the mindset heading into camp?

And did anyone truly believe what was about to unfold?

Travel back with us to the very beginning — before the first pitch, before the chaos — to hear it straight from one of the men who lived it.

⚾ New episodes weekly

🎙️ Exclusive memories and untold stories

🏆 The road to a World Championship, one week at a time

Only on Kiner’s Korner.