Wally Backman - His Mets Career 1980-1988

Wally Backman was a hardnosed gritty player who came to symbolize the feistiness and tenacity of the 1986 World Championship team.

He started his Met career as a September call up in 1980 and would spend parts of the next four seasons with the Mets. He showed signs of promise over that time but could never stick with the big club, injuries also played a factor. During that time he spent much of the time with the Mets Triple A affiliate the Tidewater Tides. It was in the minors where Backman caught the eye of manager Dave Johnson who liked his style of play. When Johnson was named the manager of the Mets in 1984 he immediately made Backman his starting second baseman. and leadoff hitter. Backman would hit .280 while stealing 32 bases as the Mets surprised many and won 90 games for their first winning season since 1976. He quickly became a fan favorite with his hardnosed style of play, leading the league in dirty uniforms.

Rick Anderson - His Mets Career 1986

After spending 8 seasons in the Mets minor league system Rick Anderson finally made it to the show on June 9, 1986 as a 30 year old rookie. In his major league debut Anderson threw seven solid innings against the Phillies allowing just 4 hits and no earned runs.

He would pinch in 15 games for the Mets during their World Championship season as both a reliever and spot starter. He posted a 2 and 1 record with 1 save in 49.1 innings with a 2.72 ERA.

Unfortunately the Mets decided to leave him off the postseason roster instead taking Randy Niemann who was a lefty.

Following the season Anderson was traded along with Ed Hearn and Mauro Gozzo to the Kansas City Royals for David Cone and Chris Jelic.

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Rick Aguilera - 1985-1989

Rick Aguilera was drafted by the New York Mets in the third round of the 1983 amateur draft and made his Mets and Major League Debut on June 12, 1985.