Bookshelf Review: Once Upon a Time in Queens

This four-hour love-fest is a bittersweet reminder of what was but also what could have been.

As a life-long Mets fan, I joined millions in suffering through the decade-long, post-Miracle Mets and celebrating when they won their second “Amazin'” championship. As the 1970s turned into the 1980s, the vibe changed from more mellow to more “me,” as evidenced by the Wall Street mentality that greed was good, that flashy was better, that image was more important than reality.

Once Upon a Time in Queens — not to be confused with the 2013 feature film about the Mafia — is the latest in ESPN’s “30 for 30” oeuvre. It might strike some as the standard documentary these days: talking heads offering their recollections of events, interspersed with photos and video of the time. But for those of us who experienced the Mets’ ups and downs, it’s more than that.

The mini-series — directed by Nick Davis — features the before and after of that 1986 season, It also shows the state of mind in the city of New York as well. The Big Apple was dealing with some serious issues: crime, racism, economic hardship. And then the new, brasher Mets came along under the leadership of manager Davey Johnson and with veterans like Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter as well as exciting rookies like Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry to give us something to look forward to.

which gives Hernandez a large share of screen time. As a baseball movie fan, I was tickled and a bit horrified to hear him compare his dad anecdotally to Jimmy Piersall’s overbearing father in the film version of Fear Strikes Out.

By the way, Mets fans know how much Hernandez dotes on his cat Hadji and it’s adorable to see the feline basking in the spotlight during the interviews. Or not; you know how cats are.

A number of other Mets from that team are happy to share their thoughts, including Mookie Wilson, Bobby Ojeda, Ed Lynch, Ron Darling, Ray Knight, Kevin Mitchell, Syd Fernandez, Wally Backman, and Lenny Dykstra (particularly raunchy and perhaps why the program received an MA rating). Calvin Schiraldi, traded by the Mets at the end of 1985 to the Boston Red Sox, offers a view from both sides. Sadly, Carter passed away in 2012. It would have been interesting to hear his take on this rowdy bunch, given his strict Christian tenets. Fortunately his widow, Sandra, ably serves as his surrogate.

Non-ballplayers also weigh in: baseball writer nonpareil Roger Angell, who just turned 101; authors Jeff Pearlman (The Bad Guys Won), Eric Sherman (Kings of Queens: Life Beyond Baseball with the ’86 Mets), and Greg Prince (Faith and Fear in Flushing: An Intense Personal History of the New York Mets); tennis legend John McEnroe; championship boxer Mike Tyson; singer Cyndi Lauper; former Mets PR director Jay Horwitz, who had a unique perspective; and some others I apologize for blanking on. (I would have liked to hear more from Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin.)

The first two episodes focus on building the club while the latter two go into a deep dive into the championship series with the Houston Astros and the fall classic against the Sox. Both were the stuff of high drama with the Mets on the precipice both times. And like they said a few times over the course of Once, to fail at that point would have negated the entirety of their 108-win campaign.

Knowing the outcome does not take detract from the fun. But for every cheer there seems to be a tear as we revisit Gooden and Strawberry’s slides into addiction. Both were quite candid about their failures and our disappointments.

As an aging fan of the team, I feel a twinge of sadness that not only are my heroes getting older, but so am I. Once Upon a Time in Queens carries that idea to the bitter end as a haunting rendition of the jaunty theme song “Meet the Mets” plays over the closing credits.

I don’t know if baseball fans who did not experience that era can enjoy or understand it as much as me and my contemporaries, but nevertheless they should invest the time to watch it. I can’t think of any franchise since then having the same impact, but then I’m speaking as a New Yorker.

P.S. Once Upon a Time in Queens: An Oral History of the 1986 Mets, written by Nick Davis, will be available as a book in less than a month. Can’t wait.