1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. Disgraceland is 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,560 Speaker 1: a production of Double Elvis. All right, guys, In a 4 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: perfect world, you would have heard this episode on the 5 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: New York Mets a week or so ago while they 6 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: played in the World Series against the New York Yankees. 7 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,639 Speaker 1: But that didn't happen because the Mets never made it 8 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: out of the NLCS, and then the Yankees embarrassed themselves 9 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,479 Speaker 1: in humiliating fashion against the LA Dodgers and lost it 10 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: all in five games. So our risky plan of producing 11 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: a Mets episode and releasing it during a Mets world 12 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: series didn't work. But we can't get enough baseball and 13 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: true crime here in Disgraceland, so we are serving you 14 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: up this Mets episode right now. Think of it as 15 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,159 Speaker 1: a timeless love letter to the working class, or perhaps 16 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: just a final nail in the coffin that is the 17 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: Yankees twenty twenty four season. I mean, seriously, fuck the Yankees. 18 00:00:53,400 --> 00:01:08,679 Speaker 1: Go Mets. Mellow draw. This is a story about one 19 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 1: of the most compelling teams in baseball history, but it's 20 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: also a story about the Burrow, where that team played 21 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: Queens New York. It's a story about addiction, corruption, hardworking 22 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: lunch pale types, and dirty, disgraced, pinstriped politicians. It's a 23 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:33,279 Speaker 1: story about sex, cocaine, a private investigator and an iconic journalist, 24 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: a doc, a strawberry, a mustachie at first baseman, and 25 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,199 Speaker 1: one of the most vile group of ballplayers ever assembled 26 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: on a Major League Baseball field, the nineteen eighty six 27 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: New York Mets, a team that made headlines and a 28 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: team that, on the field figuratively anyway, made great music. 29 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: Unlike that music I played for you at the top 30 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: of the show. That wasn't great music. That was a 31 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: preset loop from my melotron called High and Tight MK two. 32 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 33 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: rights to rock me Amedaeis by Falco. And why would 34 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: I play you that specific slice of wigged and Boustier Cheese. 35 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 36 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: song in America on April eighth, nineteen eighty six, and 37 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:33,799 Speaker 1: that was the day the New York Mets began one 38 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: of the wildest seasons in Queens New York's history. On 39 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: this episode, Cocaine, corruption, in the eighty six mets. I'm 40 00:02:45,880 --> 00:03:24,519 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan, and this this disgraceland Fran Declan hated his name, 41 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: interrupted him on his barstool at Pep Maguire's by calling 42 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: him Fran and badge or no badge, you'd be spitting 43 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: your teeth into your Jamison Declan. That was his name, 44 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: just Declan. Fran Declan was his father, And as far 45 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: as this Irish working stiff was concerned, Fran Declan was 46 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: dead and forgotten. Declan hated his job too, private investigator. 47 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: It was a constant reminder of the job he no 48 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: longer had, detective first grade. But that's another story. This story, 49 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: this job that Declan hated, forced him to work in 50 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: opposition to the city he loved. Queen's New York Queen's 51 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty six, with its urban grit, suburban ease, 52 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: and hard working people, Queen's was the life's blood of Manhattan. 53 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,599 Speaker 1: New York City may have never slept, but Queen's kept 54 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:27,919 Speaker 1: the city's lights on with its residents who got up 55 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: early to go to work in Manhattan. Construction workers and cops, 56 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,600 Speaker 1: the housekeepers and bookkeepers, the small shop owners and public 57 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: school teachers, the cabbies, and factory workers. Queen's was the 58 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: blue collar grist for Manhattan's glitzy mill. But all that aside, 59 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: Declan had a job to do. Keep an eye on 60 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: the pitcher, trail him after he left the stadium, report 61 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: back to the Commissioner of Major League Baseball and the 62 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: pitcher's activities translation illegal activities. Declan did his job, and 63 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: he hated himself for it, because, like everyone else in 64 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,840 Speaker 1: Queens during that summer of nineteen eighty six, he wanted 65 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: nothing so much as he wanted the New York Mets 66 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:20,039 Speaker 1: to win the World Series that year. The Mets were 67 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: perennial losers, professional laughingstocks compared to the hated Yankees over 68 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: in Manhattan. The Mets, like Declan, were second class all 69 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: the way. The Yankees had been business like in their 70 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: dominance of the league throughout baseball history, winning twenty two 71 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: championships before the year in nineteen eighty six. The Mets 72 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: had one championship, a fluke back in sixty nine. The 73 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 1: Yankees were steeped in Major League lore, and their Hall 74 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: of Fame names were as iconic as their pinstripe uniforms. 75 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: Ruth and Garrick Mantlin DiMaggio. The Mets history was checkered. 76 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: They had Tom sever In Nolan Ryan, but they also 77 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: traded Tom sever In Nolan ryan In. The Mets' uniforms 78 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,600 Speaker 1: were far from iconic. They were an ugly blend of 79 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: blue and orange over gray, color coded reminders of loss, 80 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: the blue representing the departure of the cities beloved Brooklyn 81 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: Dodgers to Los Angeles, and the orange representing the New 82 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: York Giants abandoning New York for San Francisco, and the 83 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: gray representing the gloomy outcome of the next time the 84 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: Mets took the field, with a World Series loss to 85 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: the Oakland Athletics in the nineteen seventy three World Series. 86 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 1: The Mets were at best also rans and at worst 87 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: bottom feeders throughout the seventies and early eighties, Yet their 88 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: fans and queens still loved them. Maybe that love was 89 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 1: because the Mets were reliable. They lost all the time, 90 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: but they showed up the next day and went to work. 91 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: It's a familiar routine for most hard working Americas. The 92 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:04,479 Speaker 1: deck is stacked against you getting ahead and winning in 93 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: this life. Like those Gordon get Goos over in Manhattan 94 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: is nearly impossible. What are you gonna do? What can 95 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 1: you do? Not much? So you just hit the bar 96 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: after work, then sleep it off and go back to 97 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: work the next morning, sort of like the Mets. In 98 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: the seventies and eighties, residents of Queens could easily find 99 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: players from their favorite teams sitting on the same barstools 100 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: they sat on over at Rusty's or Fid mccool's. Say 101 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: what you will about the Mets and their lack of 102 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: winning record from seventy six to eighty four. They were 103 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: a lot of things. Losers, sure, but at least they 104 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: weren't the fucking Yankees unapproachably aloof with all their clean cut, 105 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: corporate automaton bullshit pinstripes like the fucking Brooks Brothers, Wall 106 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: Street blowhearts who filled Yankee Stadium, Solis stands, Shay Stadium 107 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: where the Clash played in eighty two, where Queen's resident 108 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: Johnny Ramon threw rocks at the Beatles when they played 109 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: Shay back in sixty six, was a stadium that rocked 110 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: every night with the drunken, steam whistle blown energy of 111 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: the fifty thousand working stiffs who were just happy to 112 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: be at the ballpark and not on the job. The 113 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: players on the field seemed to have a similar attitude 114 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: as the fans in the stands. They were just happy 115 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: to be there in the bigs working for a living. 116 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: But by the mid eighties things had begun to change 117 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: around Shay new ownership, a new GM Frank Cashin, a 118 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: new manager, Davy Johnson, an ex player who was part 119 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: dirt dog, part intellectual, and two bright young stars, one 120 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: Darryl Strawberry with a swing that drew comparisons to the 121 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: greatest hitter of all time, Boston's Ted Williams, and the 122 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 1: other a pitcher with natural talent that rivaled out of 123 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: another one time Mets phenom Nolan Ryan named Dwight Goodin 124 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: aka Doctor k aka Doc. Doc was as problematic as 125 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: he was talented, both he and Strawberry were, but Doc 126 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: was the player the commissioner was paying Declan to investigate 127 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,400 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty six. It was a bullshait. Gig had 128 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: decland still been the detective his old man wanted him 129 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: to be. He would have been on a real case, 130 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: like the case that was all over the front pages 131 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: that summer, a case that no one who lived in 132 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:36,200 Speaker 1: Queens wanted to talk about, but a case that everyone 133 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 1: else wanted to talk about, A case that put the 134 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: corruption of New York City's leaders front and center for 135 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: all to see, A case that weighed heavily on New Yorkers, 136 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: but a case that, thankfully was easy to forget. When 137 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: the Mets were storming their way toward the National League 138 00:09:52,760 --> 00:10:00,160 Speaker 1: pennant in nineteen eighty six, the car looked a and 139 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: in just a couple of blocks from Shay Stadium, but 140 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: the interior light glowing inside caught the two patrolling officers attention. 141 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:10,960 Speaker 1: The cops pulled their cruiser over and parked in a 142 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: way that trained its headlights directly on the suspicious vehicle. 143 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: The officers exited and approached the car with caution. Someone 144 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: was inside alone on this abandoned street at this early 145 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 1: morning hour. The driver couldn't be seen beyond the steamed 146 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: up windows. Whoever was inside the foggy glow of the 147 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: interior had to know that two cops were now outside 148 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: and slowly approaching, But the driver made no effort to 149 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:46,359 Speaker 1: indicate his presence. As the officers approached, it was curious ominous. 150 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 1: Both cops palmed the pistols on their hips. One called 151 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 1: out for the car's owner to come out with his 152 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: hands up. Nothing. The other cop unholstered his weapon and 153 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: trained it on the driver's side window. Cop number one 154 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:06,440 Speaker 1: shouted again, commanding the car's driver to exit. Still nothing. 155 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: Both cops froze, looked at each other. The shouting one nodded. 156 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:15,680 Speaker 1: The other cops slid to his right, still with his 157 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: gun trained on the automobile to provide cover for his partner, 158 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,839 Speaker 1: who reached for the car's driver's side handle and pulled 159 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: the door open. Inside, a middle aged white man slumped 160 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: over in the driver's seat, barely conscious, blood covering his lap. 161 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: Both cops fell back in shock, not so much because 162 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:38,439 Speaker 1: of the blood, but because they both knew this man. 163 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:42,560 Speaker 1: Any New York City cop would, any resident of Queen's would. 164 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: This was the man elected to serve their interests, to 165 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:49,239 Speaker 1: do the residence of Queen's as bidding over in Manhattan 166 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: with the mayor. This was the man tasked with ensuring 167 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: that their queens wasn't overlooked in favor of the other Burrows. 168 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: This here was the popular and well respect did Queen's 169 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 1: Borough President Donald Maynes fifty two years old, political powerhouse, 170 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: pride of Queen's the one time youngest Assistant DA ever elected, 171 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: also the youngest person ever elected the city Council. Donnie 172 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 1: Maynes was, as they said down at PEP McGuire's, a 173 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: real comer. He was for the people, a fighter, and 174 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,839 Speaker 1: Donnie Maynes was also bleeding out in the front seat 175 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: of his Forward Ltd. A few hundred yards from Shay Stadium, 176 00:12:34,360 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: fighting for his life. Declan watched the Ozark Airlines stewardess's 177 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:11,080 Speaker 1: eyes as she explained the nightmare she'd just endured a 178 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: three and a half hour flight with the nineteen eighty 179 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: six Mets. The woman was traumatized, nearly in shock. Declan 180 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: listened intently as she explained the plane ride was pure mayhem. 181 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 1: From the minute the players boarded, chaos ensued. The celebration 182 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:34,719 Speaker 1: of the last series win had begun back at the stadium, 183 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:39,079 Speaker 1: and Lenny Dykstra, the mets filthiest player in every sense 184 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:43,680 Speaker 1: of the word, boarded first, completely cocked and preceded shotgunned 185 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: Beer after Beer. Pitchers Jesse Rosco, Sid Fernandez and third 186 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:53,680 Speaker 1: baseman Ray Knight. After shotgunning Beer's then began shooting glasses 187 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: of champagne. Ron Darling and his wife and some of 188 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: the other players wives got in on the action. Unable 189 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:04,439 Speaker 1: to handle so much alcohol so quickly, the wives started 190 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:09,080 Speaker 1: to vomit. It was contagious. One wife would puke, another 191 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: would catch wind, and then she would vomit, and so on. 192 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: But that didn't stop the party. No. After the puke 193 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: fest cake was served, and as soon as the plates 194 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: landed on the player's laps, the players started chucking the 195 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: cake around the plane in a full on Animal House 196 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 1: style food fight. Darryl Strawberry, the Mets starright fielder, was 197 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: not in a celebratory mood. His wife was along for 198 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: the flight and they weren't getting along. It would be 199 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: learned later that Strawberry had physically assaulted his wife before 200 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: the game. His anger was still present on the plane, 201 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 1: so Strawberry decided he needed to relax. He started converting 202 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: the plane seats into loungers. Their upright positioning just wouldn't 203 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:56,040 Speaker 1: do for such a long flight. Strawberry needed to stretch 204 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 1: out and chill, so we used the power of a 205 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: six foot six frame and to physically bend the backs 206 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: of the plane seats backward breaking them into makeshift couches. 207 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: When the plane landed, the wives, covered in vomit had 208 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:12,800 Speaker 1: to be carried out through thousands of dollars in damage 209 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 1: to the DC ten and onto the tarmac by their 210 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: drunken husbands, who now had the task of readying themselves 211 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: for the next home series. The Mets swashbuckling, take no 212 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: prisoner's swagger, their cockiness and hard partying ways had been 213 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: fodder for the back pages of New York newspapers all summer. 214 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: Mets players were vile, disgusting human beings who, aside from 215 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: catcher Gary Carter and a few others such as veteran 216 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: first baseman Keith Hernandez, had little to no sense of decency. 217 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: But Keith's reputation was already sullied. Along with a dozen 218 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: or so other prominent MLB players, Keith had been dragged 219 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: into a grand jury by the Feds to testify about 220 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: his cocaine use while playing a full on cocaine scandal 221 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: erupted in Major League Baseball, and as a result of 222 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,640 Speaker 1: Keith Hernandez's drug use, he'd been traded from the Cardinals 223 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: to the Mets. Keith's reputation took a hit, but he 224 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: was still a star by all accounts, had quit doing cocaine. 225 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 1: Declan wondered if Keith Hernandez was the reason the commissioner 226 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: had him investigating Dwight Gooden, because ultimately baseball didn't want 227 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 1: more cocaine headlines, and they especially didn't want those headlines 228 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: generated by star players like Doc Gooden, who suspected bad 229 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 1: influence could have landed another star, Keith Hernandez, right back 230 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: inside of those troublesome legal crosshairs, something that would prove 231 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: to the public that baseball indeed still had a very 232 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: prevalent cocaine problem. Keith Hernandez might have cleaned up his act, 233 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: but there was no way Dwight Gooden was clean. The 234 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 1: stewardess reinforced this fact for Declan by recounting the blatant 235 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: cocaine use on display in the flight's bathroom. Troubled Declan 236 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,480 Speaker 1: because despite Goodin's menacing frame on the mound, he was 237 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:08,959 Speaker 1: just an innocent country kid caught in an apex athlete's body, 238 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 1: with every temptation under the sun available to him. In 239 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: the big city, Doc Gooden fell victim to that temptation. 240 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 1: The flight was just the latest example, and there were 241 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:24,400 Speaker 1: countless other episodes all season long. Everyone knew Doc was abusing, 242 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:27,920 Speaker 1: but nobody could do anything about it. The same went 243 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:32,199 Speaker 1: for Darryl Strawberry. Both young stars partied hard, and at 244 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: various points throughout the year their poor play reflected their 245 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:41,159 Speaker 1: up all night lifestyle. New York City opened itself up 246 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,719 Speaker 1: for the Mets as their winning ways continued. By mid season, 247 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 1: it was no longer just queens who supported the ball club. 248 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,640 Speaker 1: It was Manhattan and the rest of the Borrows, except 249 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: perhaps for the Bronx, but nothing went on up there anyway, 250 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: and the real action was downtown or in Midtown Spark Steakhouse, 251 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 1: the Rush and Tea Room, the China Club, wherever celebrities 252 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,719 Speaker 1: and social lights hung out in New York City. Mick Jagger, 253 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: Mike Tyson, Madonna, the New York Mets were welcomed and 254 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 1: celebrated free meals, free drinks, and standing ovations under crystal 255 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: chandeliers with crystal flowing among the cokespoons. It was the 256 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:25,600 Speaker 1: mid eighties and cocaine was everywhere, so was sex for 257 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:28,720 Speaker 1: the Mets, who enjoyed a level of adoration and celebrity 258 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: that summer in New York usually reserved for rock stars 259 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:35,400 Speaker 1: and matinee idols. It all added up to something beyond debauchery. 260 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: It was hedonism. Most players kept it under wraps, but 261 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: for Doc Gooden there was a sense that it would 262 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,920 Speaker 1: eventually blow up. Major League Baseball was very worried about 263 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,200 Speaker 1: the potential press follow Declan knew this. New York City 264 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,199 Speaker 1: knew this, and despite the hedonistic hug, it pulled the 265 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 1: Mets into the people of New York, and especially the 266 00:18:56,160 --> 00:19:00,439 Speaker 1: residents of Queens. Didn't want their stars dirty laundry spilling 267 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 1: out into the public and threatening their team's ability to 268 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:07,720 Speaker 1: win a championship, so Declan had his work cutout for him. 269 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,879 Speaker 1: He gathered information on Doc and reported back to the 270 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: office of Major League Baseball's commissioner. He was unsure of 271 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 1: what happened with his information from there. For now, all 272 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:21,919 Speaker 1: was good. The winning the Mets did on the field 273 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: in the unconventional way in which they won. Playing cocky 274 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:30,199 Speaker 1: in hard separated the Mets from their competitors. The Mets 275 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,199 Speaker 1: were marauders. They went into an enemy city and not 276 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:37,679 Speaker 1: only publicly declared their on field dominance, they made it 277 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: known they were going to steal the other team's beer, 278 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: and fuck their women while they were at it. The 279 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,720 Speaker 1: words cocky and arrogant don't quite do the nineteen eighty 280 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: six Mets justice. Throughout that summer, they made quick work 281 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:53,680 Speaker 1: of the iron of the league, the Reds and the Phillies, 282 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: jumping out to a fifteen game lead in the division 283 00:19:56,600 --> 00:20:00,200 Speaker 1: in July. By August, they had the NL sewn up. 284 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: Winning by whatever means necessary pitching dominance from four starters 285 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,639 Speaker 1: who could have topped most teams rotations as number ones 286 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:12,719 Speaker 1: Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Bobby Oheita, and Sid Fernandez, and 287 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,919 Speaker 1: winning with dramatic walk off hits with contributions from the 288 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: entire roster, from seasoned veterans like Ray Knight and Mookie 289 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:24,160 Speaker 1: Wilson to rookies like Kevin Mitchell. And winning with team 290 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:29,199 Speaker 1: unifying bench clearing brawls four in total brawls at the 291 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,160 Speaker 1: Mets with their take no shit street fighting, Queen's Boulevard 292 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 1: attitude won handily every single time. All that on field violence, 293 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:42,920 Speaker 1: all that off field drama, all of that winning captivated 294 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: Queen's residence on the back pages of the New York 295 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,600 Speaker 1: papers and distracted New Yorkers from the violence and drama 296 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:57,360 Speaker 1: unfolding on the front pages. From the beginning, Donnie Mains's 297 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: story didn't track. When Mains was discovered bleeding out down 298 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,679 Speaker 1: the road from Shay Stadium, it was a major news story, 299 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 1: not just in Queen's but throughout all of Manhattan. Here 300 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 1: was a borough president nearly murdered for what and by who. 301 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:17,719 Speaker 1: Mains claimed that two hoodlums had been waiting for him 302 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:20,360 Speaker 1: in the back seat of his LTD and they ambushed 303 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: him when he got into his car and stabbed him. 304 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:25,359 Speaker 1: But what was Mains doing in his car at that 305 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:29,200 Speaker 1: hour of the night. The cops had a lot of questions, 306 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: and the politician's answers weren't adding up. Another son of Queen's, 307 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: the fame Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin, had answers. This 308 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:45,119 Speaker 1: was unfortunate for Donnie Maines because after Breslin filed his 309 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,920 Speaker 1: next story and took his god given seat after work 310 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,240 Speaker 1: at pet Maguire's alongside Declin in a barroom full of 311 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:56,639 Speaker 1: other Queens working stiffs, Donnie Maines would be dead. But 312 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: that didn't matter all that much because the Mets were 313 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:11,720 Speaker 1: still very much alive. We'll be right back after this 314 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: we're We're, We're. The newspapers didn't lie, at least back 315 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:25,120 Speaker 1: in those days. They didn't. Sure, they editorialized, and there 316 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 1: was inherent bias, as there is in most things. But 317 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,879 Speaker 1: the rot that is so prevalent in mainstream media today 318 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 1: hadn't yet set in back in the nineteen eighties, back 319 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: before the Internet disrupted the news business and forced it 320 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:42,080 Speaker 1: to switch from ad sales to a subscription based model, 321 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,679 Speaker 1: where news outlets newspapers are forced to over deliver the 322 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,760 Speaker 1: exact point of view that their readers demand lest they 323 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 1: lose subscribers and thus revenue. Before this new paradigm, in 324 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: decades passed, the traditional daily newspaper was almost universally trusted 325 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 1: local news. The morning and afternoon edition newspapers delivered stories 326 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: via local sources that local residents could trust because those 327 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: sources were woven into the fabric of the local community. 328 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 1: It's hard for journalists to publish editorialized content disguised as news, 329 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:20,360 Speaker 1: or to lie outright if they have to go into 330 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 1: their neighborhood every day and look the people they're lying 331 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:26,919 Speaker 1: to in the eye. Today it's all different. There are 332 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 1: hardly any local newspapers anymore. But in nineteen eighty six, 333 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: New York City was still a local newspaper town, just 334 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:38,399 Speaker 1: as most cities and towns in America were. Queen's residents, 335 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: along with a healthy portion of the rest of the city, 336 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,400 Speaker 1: read the daily news, and the daily news didn't lie, 337 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: and Queen's calmness Jimmy Breslin definitely didn't lie. Jimmy was 338 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 1: a lot of things. Brash, often drunk, egotistical, dogged, stubbornly, 339 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:02,600 Speaker 1: old school, unkempt, hypocritical effect, undeniably talented as a writer, 340 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,639 Speaker 1: and compelling as a personality. But he wasn't a liar. 341 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:10,040 Speaker 1: So when he reported back in eighty six that local 342 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: politician and Queen's Borough President Donnie Maynes was a liar, 343 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:18,199 Speaker 1: the city believed him. There's an old adage in the 344 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: news business, and it's this often the first story is 345 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: the wrong story. News takes a minute to develop, and 346 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: as the news concerned Donnie Mans, the first reports on 347 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:34,919 Speaker 1: the politician's Shay Stadium stabbing had it all wrong. Donnie 348 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:40,639 Speaker 1: didn't get stabbed, Donnie stabbed himself. Donnie was looking to 349 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:44,400 Speaker 1: create a distraction, perhaps trying to manipulate some sympathy from 350 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: his constituents. Poor old Donnie, Look how hard he's working 351 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:50,720 Speaker 1: for us, up laid in a bad part of town, 352 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: doing his job and getting stabbed for there is something 353 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: like that. Who really knows what? We do know because 354 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,200 Speaker 1: Jimmy Breslan told us so in the pages of the day. 355 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 1: The news is that while the New York Mets have 356 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,160 Speaker 1: been entertaining the people of Queen's, Donnie Maines had been 357 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 1: scamming the people of Queen's and of New York City 358 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: in general for years, executing a long running grift wherein 359 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,520 Speaker 1: he'd extorted over four hundred thousand dollars for himself and 360 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 1: tens of thousands for others. The scam went like this. 361 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,720 Speaker 1: Donnie mains, as powerful borough president, had influence over which 362 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:31,920 Speaker 1: contractors received lucrative deals for city work. Dear Old Donnie, 363 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 1: man of the people, would dispatch his ski little buddy, 364 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,320 Speaker 1: Jeffrey Lindenauer to meet with said contractors, and the contractors 365 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:41,400 Speaker 1: would slip Jeffrey and envelope stuff with cash. The cash 366 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,399 Speaker 1: would find its way into Donnie Maynes's personal coffers, and 367 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: Donni would see to it that the contractor got the 368 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: lucrative contract. It was basically as simple as that, and 369 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,159 Speaker 1: there were a bunch of details about the various ways 370 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:57,000 Speaker 1: the scam was run and on whom, including cable TV contractors, 371 00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:01,679 Speaker 1: debt collectors, soliciting pass du parking tickets, but essentially it 372 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:06,240 Speaker 1: was blatant paid of play and greed to declan. The 373 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: nature of the case this once proud son of Queen's 374 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: found stabbed under questionable circumstances near where the Mets played 375 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: every night, was an embarrassment. Donnie Mayns wasn't supposed to 376 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,840 Speaker 1: be embroiled in controversy. Donnie Mayns was supposed to be 377 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 1: doing what the Mets were doing, representing Queen's Declan wished 378 00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: that this whole story would resolve itself quickly. It didn't. 379 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:34,280 Speaker 1: Things got worse and quick word got back to Donnie 380 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,040 Speaker 1: Mayins that Jimmy Breslin had got into Donnie's corrupt bagman, 381 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,920 Speaker 1: Jeffrey Lindenauer, and that Jeffrey was spilling everything he knew 382 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 1: to the Barstool newspaper man. And by this time tomorrow, 383 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 1: as Queen's residents grabbed their daily news to read about 384 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,679 Speaker 1: their Mets, the story of who Donnie Mayins really was 385 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,640 Speaker 1: and how he'd become a corrupt embarrassment would be all 386 00:26:54,680 --> 00:27:00,439 Speaker 1: over the front page. Donnie couldn't have that. Sure of 387 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:05,120 Speaker 1: what to do, Donnie called his psychiatrist. Donnie was frantic. 388 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,600 Speaker 1: His shrink tried talking him down. Donnie spun out wildly. 389 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:12,720 Speaker 1: The doctor pleaded, and Donnie pulled up in a drawer 390 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:14,640 Speaker 1: in his kitchen and found what he was looking for, 391 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:16,919 Speaker 1: And the doctor heard a thump on the other end 392 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 1: of the line. Then the line went dead. Hours later, 393 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,240 Speaker 1: Donnie Mainz's daughter found her father prone on the kitchen floor, 394 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: Donnie's fourteen inch echo flint knife sticking straight up out 395 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: of the dead politician's chest. It was suicide, similar to 396 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,840 Speaker 1: a corrupt politician. The New York Mets were not accustomed 397 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:44,160 Speaker 1: to not getting what they wanted, whether it was Lenny 398 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: Dykster trying to find an all night high stakes card 399 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 1: game in the seedier part of an away game town, 400 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,040 Speaker 1: or Darryl Strawberry having sex with a groupie in the 401 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,400 Speaker 1: tunnel behind the dugout during a game, or Keith Hernandez 402 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,639 Speaker 1: smoking a cigarette on the bench, or Gary Carter partaking 403 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,919 Speaker 1: in one of what seemed like all insufferable curtain calls 404 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 1: her doc goodin staying up all night on a cocaine 405 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: bender before starting the next day on the mound. The 406 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: Mets were winners that year, and to the winners go 407 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: the spoils. The entitled jock attitude ran deep with the 408 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:21,119 Speaker 1: Mets in eighty six. They were the cool kids, the bullies. Basically, 409 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 1: they were dicks everywhere they went, and they expected to 410 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,680 Speaker 1: be treated with a certain level of respect and accommodation 411 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 1: whether they were in New York or not. Texas didn't agree. 412 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:38,920 Speaker 1: Texas knew about big Texas knew about big egos, and 413 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 1: Texas could give a shit about the New York Mets, 414 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:46,520 Speaker 1: which was why the security at Cooter's Bar in Houston, 415 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 1: two off duty cops did not take lightly the comment 416 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: made by Mets ballplayers when they were asked to leave 417 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 1: for the umpteeth time after closing. Where the fucking New 418 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 1: York Mets And we'll leave when we want to, Joa, 419 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:04,600 Speaker 1: Ron Darling, Rick Aguilera, and Tim tuffle eventually got off 420 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:08,120 Speaker 1: their barstools and went out through the exit. Stupidly, However, 421 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,560 Speaker 1: Tuffe still carried his half empty Heineken, which was all 422 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:15,240 Speaker 1: the off duty cops needed to pounce. One cop told 423 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 1: Tuffle he couldn't leave at the beer. Tuffel told the 424 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 1: cop to fuck off. The cop lunged for Tuffle, Tuffle 425 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,200 Speaker 1: drew back and walloped the cop. Two dormen jumped into 426 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,720 Speaker 1: the fray to help the cop, and they pinned Tuffle down, 427 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: and Ron Darling walked out of the bar just in 428 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: time to hear the doorman encouraging the cops to break 429 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:35,000 Speaker 1: Tuffle's arm. Darling jumped into the melee to help Tuffle, 430 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 1: punching one of the cops in the throat, and the 431 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 1: cop threw Darling back into a glass sign, shattering it 432 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:44,520 Speaker 1: into pieces. Darling was cuffed, Tuffel was cuffed, and inside 433 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 1: the bar, Ohita and Aguilero were cuffed two despite the 434 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:50,800 Speaker 1: fact that they weren't involved in the fight in any way. 435 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 1: All they were guilty of was being New York Mets, 436 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 1: and they were all fingerprinted, booked, and forced to spend 437 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,560 Speaker 1: the night in a Houston jail. But by eleven am 438 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:03,800 Speaker 1: they'd been released and we're on the field at the 439 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 1: Astrodome for the next game's warm ups. Still, the damage 440 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 1: was done, the news was out and back home the 441 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 1: evening edition papers in New York were covered with ridiculous 442 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 1: headlines slap happy Mets, a fine day for Mets base 443 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:26,640 Speaker 1: brawl The Boys of Slammer Declan threw his paper down 444 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 1: on the bar in discussed who came up with the shit. 445 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: The Mets had managed to do exactly what Donnie Maines 446 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:39,720 Speaker 1: had done, embarrassed Queen's but neither black Mark would last. 447 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: Fall was in the air, and something was about to 448 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: happen in this burrow that hadn't happened in a long time. 449 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 1: The New York Mets were about to win the National 450 00:30:50,800 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 1: League pennant On September seventeenth, nineteen eighty six. With Dwight 451 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 1: Gooden on the mound at Chase Stadium about to record 452 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: the last out of a complete game, six hit shutout, 453 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:24,880 Speaker 1: the New York Mets were poised to clinch the pennant 454 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,040 Speaker 1: and a World Series birth, but the Mets players on 455 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:34,120 Speaker 1: the field were petrified. About seventy miles north, in a 456 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 1: drab New Haven, Connecticut hotel room, US attorney Rudolph Giuliani 457 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,480 Speaker 1: was prepping his documents for the racketeering and bribery case 458 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: he was mounting against the remaining living defendants in the 459 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 1: Mains corruption case. A small transistor radio broadcasting ongoing events 460 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 1: at Shay. Down at pet Maguire's, Declan was watching the 461 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:57,000 Speaker 1: game on the tiny television above the bar. A small 462 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:00,280 Speaker 1: handful of men ignored the TV, choosing to talk among 463 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: themselves in the corner. The Mains case and Donnie getting 464 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 1: a raw deal or some shit. Declan couldn't really tell. 465 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:10,840 Speaker 1: The Mets players on the field weren't afraid of the 466 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,040 Speaker 1: US Attorney. They were afraid of the Mets fans and 467 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,640 Speaker 1: the stands. As soon as the game's last out was 468 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:21,440 Speaker 1: recorded and the pennant was clinched, all hell would break 469 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: loose At Shay, Giuliani stacked his documents neatly on his 470 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:30,960 Speaker 1: bed and considered the past summer's events. Somehow, as the 471 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 1: Mets were overtaking his Yankees in New York City popularity, 472 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:38,240 Speaker 1: he'd been following the corrupt spiderweb of the Mains Case 473 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 1: into the dirtiest corners of New York politics, uncovering corruption 474 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:46,080 Speaker 1: at multiple levels and netting some of the city's most 475 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:50,360 Speaker 1: powerful local political leaders. It made the staying of the Yankees, 476 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,720 Speaker 1: losing the American League pennant to Boston and the inevitable 477 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:58,640 Speaker 1: Mets NL Pennant win much less painful. Declan watched the 478 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,040 Speaker 1: tension mount on the televion. The fans in the stands 479 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 1: at Shay looked and sounded rabid. Their energy matched the 480 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:08,880 Speaker 1: energy inside the barroom. It felt like a happy bomb 481 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,600 Speaker 1: was about to explode, but the energy back behind Declan 482 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:17,400 Speaker 1: was off. The small handful of men were now drunkenly 483 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:20,480 Speaker 1: toasting Donnie Mans as if the Mets weren't about to 484 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,200 Speaker 1: cap off the best fucking season they'd had since sixty nine. 485 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 1: Declan shot them a look that went unnoticed. Back at Shay, 486 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 1: Keith Hernandez kicked the dirt at his feet near first 487 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 1: base and contemplated his exit strategy. Once the Mets got 488 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: the last out, he was just going to bline it 489 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:40,400 Speaker 1: for the dugout into the tunnel and straight back to 490 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: the clubhouse. He wasn't going to get cute, like he 491 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,360 Speaker 1: knew some of his other teammates were planning and make 492 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 1: for the bullpen, or even crazier descend into the madness 493 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 1: in the stands and up and over and out of 494 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 1: the stadium to the parking lot. Giuliani, in his hotel room, 495 00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 1: considered the defendants who were corrupted in the Donnie Mains 496 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:02,960 Speaker 1: case won the chairman of the Bronx Democratic Party and 497 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: another the director of the city's parking violations bureau. He 498 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,640 Speaker 1: also thought of the c suite corporate city contractors he'd indicted, 499 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 1: who had received millions in government contracts in exchange for payoffs. 500 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 1: They were all guilty, and Giuliani was confident the jury 501 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:24,279 Speaker 1: would find them so. At pet Maguire's Declan realized why 502 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:26,600 Speaker 1: the group of men behind him wouldn't shut up about 503 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:29,000 Speaker 1: Donnie Manz and were paying no mind to the history 504 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:32,480 Speaker 1: about to be made on the television. They were Yankees fans. 505 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:37,880 Speaker 1: The expensive pinstriped suits should have tipped them off, some detective, 506 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:42,360 Speaker 1: he thought. On the Say Stadium infield, Wally Backman fielded 507 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:45,319 Speaker 1: a ground ball, made the transition from glove hand to 508 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:49,319 Speaker 1: throwing hand, tossed to Hernandez at first, and that sealed it. 509 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:55,280 Speaker 1: The New York Mets were National League champions. It was instant. 510 00:34:55,680 --> 00:35:01,320 Speaker 1: The stadium exploded in violent jubilation. Mets fan Queen's residents, 511 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: thousands of them, poured onto the field from the stands 512 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:08,359 Speaker 1: to celebrate. Doc Gooden was swarmed and Keith Hernandez's plan 513 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:10,880 Speaker 1: was foiled. The Mets ace was on the bottom of 514 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:14,400 Speaker 1: a giant pile of slap happy fans. Hernandez and Burley 515 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:17,000 Speaker 1: center fielder Kevin Mitchell dove into the pile to pull 516 00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:20,759 Speaker 1: their ace out of the melee pet Maguires exploded in 517 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,560 Speaker 1: cheers around for the bar was ordered up. The Yankees 518 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,600 Speaker 1: fans and the Backs spit in their beers and drank accordingly. 519 00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:31,200 Speaker 1: Donnie was gone, so was their ticket to the trough, 520 00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:34,880 Speaker 1: and the fucking Mets were going to the World Series. 521 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:39,000 Speaker 1: Giuliani listened to the riot unfolding at Shay and shook 522 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,840 Speaker 1: his head. He was too confident to care. The Mets 523 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,600 Speaker 1: might have been winners, but so was he. He knew 524 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:49,560 Speaker 1: the jury would convict the defendants in this case, and 525 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:55,480 Speaker 1: the prosecutor smiled and went to bed back at Shay. Hernandez, Mitchell, 526 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,760 Speaker 1: and Gooden eventually made it into the clubhouse without harm, 527 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:01,360 Speaker 1: as did the rest to the Mets players, except for 528 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,120 Speaker 1: number five starter Rick Aguilera, who suffered a dislocated shoulder 529 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:08,400 Speaker 1: from a fan who jumped on his back. As the 530 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:11,600 Speaker 1: champagne flowed in the dugout, the Mets and their fans 531 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,240 Speaker 1: knew they were set for a historic run. The cheating 532 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:19,160 Speaker 1: Houston Astros wouldn't keep them down in the NLCS, nor 533 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,719 Speaker 1: would the Boston Red Sox with their fearsome young ace 534 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:27,320 Speaker 1: Roger Clemens. In the World Series. It was inevitable, almost preordained. 535 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:32,440 Speaker 1: Nineteen eighty six was different. This year. The people of 536 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,920 Speaker 1: Queen's were going to come out on top. No amount 537 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:41,560 Speaker 1: of bad headlines, bench clearing, brawls, arrests, cocaine, alcohol, or 538 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:46,120 Speaker 1: corrupt politicians could alter the outcome. This year, the people 539 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:52,120 Speaker 1: of Queen's were winners. Mike Scott and the Astros did 540 00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:54,200 Speaker 1: their best to cheat their way into a series win, 541 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,440 Speaker 1: but they were disposed of in six. It took a 542 00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:00,880 Speaker 1: miracle and Bill Buckner's bad knees, but Boston was brought 543 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:05,440 Speaker 1: down in seven. The nineteen eighty six World Series Championship 544 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:10,320 Speaker 1: Parade was, of course, held in Manhattan, not Queen's. Millions 545 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:13,000 Speaker 1: of New Yorkers swarmed the streets to celebrate the Mets. 546 00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:17,760 Speaker 1: Everyone who as anyone was there except for Doc Gooden. 547 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:21,120 Speaker 1: He was watching the parade on TV from a Queen's 548 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:26,440 Speaker 1: drug den, high on crack cocaine outside in his Sedan. 549 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:31,240 Speaker 1: Declan was watching doc now that the eighty six season 550 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:34,560 Speaker 1: had wrapped. The gig with the Commissioner was up, but 551 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:37,839 Speaker 1: Declan had nothing better to do by now. He saw 552 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:41,120 Speaker 1: it as a public service. Making sure the Mets Young 553 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,279 Speaker 1: Ace didn't end up in jail on Queen's most significant 554 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:47,799 Speaker 1: day and over a decade was Declan's way of giving back, 555 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 1: which is more than could have been said for Donnie 556 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:55,640 Speaker 1: Mainz or any of the city's public servants who lined 557 00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:57,920 Speaker 1: up at Donni's trough to feed off the cash from 558 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:03,680 Speaker 1: dirty corporate contractors. They were all convicted criminals now. When 559 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:06,920 Speaker 1: they laid Donnie out at Schwartz Brothers Jeffery Memorial Funeral 560 00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:09,799 Speaker 1: Home and then toasted him down at Pep's, they said 561 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:11,520 Speaker 1: he wasn't what the papers made him out to be. 562 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 1: They said he was a hard working man from Queen's. 563 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:19,600 Speaker 1: That was just something, they said. The dead politician had 564 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:21,840 Speaker 1: less in common with the hard working people he was 565 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:25,160 Speaker 1: supposed to serve than he did with the pinstripe suits 566 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:29,439 Speaker 1: he'd been scamming with. In the end, mains was more 567 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:32,960 Speaker 1: of a Yankee than a Met. The eighty six Mets 568 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:36,239 Speaker 1: reflected the people in queens who rooted for them, and 569 00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:39,799 Speaker 1: that year they were the best Major League Baseball had 570 00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:43,840 Speaker 1: to offer. The best this country has always had to 571 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:46,400 Speaker 1: offer is its people who get up and go to 572 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:50,040 Speaker 1: work every morning, who punch a clock somewhere, who work 573 00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:53,600 Speaker 1: for somebody, who works for somebody else. It's not at 574 00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:57,880 Speaker 1: C suite officeholders or celebrities or pundits or the political class. 575 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:01,360 Speaker 1: It's not the people who designed the buildings. It's the 576 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:04,320 Speaker 1: people who build them. It's not the people who collect 577 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:07,640 Speaker 1: the taxes. It's the people who pay them. And it's 578 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:10,440 Speaker 1: not the people who start the fires. It's the people 579 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:14,920 Speaker 1: who put them out. It's the grinders, the stiffs, the humps. 580 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:17,920 Speaker 1: There are millions of them, and a million more just 581 00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:21,239 Speaker 1: like them. They've got dirt under their fingernails, not in 582 00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:27,840 Speaker 1: their bank accounts. Sometimes they're brash, foul mouthed, violent, cocky, 583 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:36,200 Speaker 1: sometimes drunk and even disgraced. Sometimes they're the eighty six Mets. 584 00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:56,440 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan in this this disgrace Slam. All right, guys, 585 00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:59,200 Speaker 1: hope you dug this episode. This was obviously a story 586 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:02,000 Speaker 1: about a baseball team, but it's also about a baseball 587 00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:05,760 Speaker 1: town queen. So with that the question of the week 588 00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:09,640 Speaker 1: is which city in America or anywhere actually is the 589 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:12,880 Speaker 1: best sports town? There is, of course, only one answer. 590 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:16,160 Speaker 1: It's Boston six seven nine oh six six six three eight, Though, 591 00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:18,360 Speaker 1: text and voicemail to tell me I'm wrong and to 592 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:20,319 Speaker 1: prove to me. Why come at me? All right? This goes? 593 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:21,960 Speaker 1: Let me know and Mets fans, I want to hear 594 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,400 Speaker 1: from you, queens represent fifty cent DMC let me know, 595 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:28,520 Speaker 1: get at me again. Six one seven nine oh six 596 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:32,240 Speaker 1: six six three eight, Lead me a voicemail. Greatest sports 597 00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:34,279 Speaker 1: town out there? All right? Lead me voicemail, send me 598 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:35,759 Speaker 1: a text and let me know. You can also reach 599 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: me at disgracelam pod as well on Instagram, X and Facebook. 600 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:42,239 Speaker 1: Leave a review for the show on Apple Podcasts or 601 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:44,680 Speaker 1: Spotify and win some free merch. All right, here comes 602 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:49,920 Speaker 1: some credits. Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is 603 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:53,560 Speaker 1: produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode 604 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:56,400 Speaker 1: can be found on the show notes page at disgracelampod 605 00:40:56,480 --> 00:41:00,000 Speaker 1: dot com. 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Visit disgracelampod dot com slash membership for details, 613 00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:30,600 Speaker 1: rate and review the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, 614 00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:34,560 Speaker 1: and Facebook at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot 615 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:44,160 Speaker 1: com slash at disgracelampod. Rock a rolla he Man