How 1987 actually went.
The championship celebration ran into injuries, absences, and the difficulty of repeating. Gooden missed the start of the season while in drug rehabilitation, Bob Ojeda suffered a serious finger injury, and other pitchers lost time. The lineup remained powerful, but the rotation never had the health or order of the previous year.
Strawberry and Howard Johnson produced big power, while David Cone arrived and gave the staff another gifted young arm. The Mets stayed close enough to chase St. Louis, yet every rally in the standings seemed followed by another setback. A damaging late loss in St. Louis helped end the hope of catching the Cardinals.
Ninety-two wins were still excellent. Missing October with that total showed both the strength of the division and the opportunity the Mets had lost. The 1986 roster was talented enough to imagine a dynasty, but the first title defense revealed how quickly health, addiction, and ordinary baseball variance could interfere. The powerhouse remained; the feeling of control was gone.
A 92-win team felt disappointing only because everyone had already pictured another parade.