Dave Magadan was a member of the 1986 New York Mets World Series championship team. Despite limited time in 1986, Magadan hit .444 in the month of September and was in the starting lineup the night the Mets clinched the National East title on September 17, 1986. On that night, Magadan went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI including the eventual game-winning hit.
But as the calendar flipped to October, Magadan was back home in Florida as the teammates went on a historic run beating the Houston Astros in the NLCS and winning the World Series against the Boston Red Sox.
On October 23, 1986, like the rest of baseball fans across the country, Magadan was on the edge of his seat as the Mets and Red Sox battled back-and-forth into the 10th inning. After falling behind 5-3 in the 10th, Magadan was — again — like the rest of us: sad. Everyone (except for the Mets) believed the season was over.
“I was watching the game at home just like millions of other people,” said Magadan. “It was very sad, right. They had such a great season. It was coming down to lose it in Game 6 … it just showed the resilience that team that they never gave up when they had their backs against the wall.”
Magadan became one of five Mets players who contributed to the Mets success who did not receive a World Series ring.
“When I got it, it was 10 years later,” said Magadan. “We were in uniform just like a lot of other guys. We felt like we deserved rings, but we were not given rings. We were very disappointed. There was five of us that didn’t get rings … so it was very disappointing, but I never thought anything more than that.”
But former teammate Randy Myers, who Magadan played with through the minor leagues and at the major league level, didn’t get a ring either.
“He pitched a lot that year,” said Magadan. “He was called up during the season. So that was unbelievable that he didn’t get a ring. So he lobbied to have the team get us rings for you for years.”
Finally, in 1996, Joe McIlvaine relented and released the blue print to have the rings made.
“The only caveat was they would only pay for what the ring costs in 1986,” said Magadan. “So in 10 years you could imagine how the cost of the ring had gone up. Randy Myers picked up the tab, the difference between what the Mets paid and what the actual cost to make the ring. He picked up that tab, paid for it and presented us with the rings.”
Magadan credited Myers for his persistence. “He kept fighting, and in a lot of ways, it’s almost more special because a very good friend that I played baseball with took it upon himself to take the initiative and, and fight for trust and get those rings to us.”
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