Ray Knight: 1986 Mets World Series MVP (1984 - 1986)

Charles Ray Knight was born December 28, 1952, in Albany, Georgia.

Gold Gloves Boxer: As a boy his father had him boxing at the age of eight. He went through the Golden Gloves boxing until he was sixteen years old. After being 17-0 a southpaw broke his nose & he was done, concentrating on baseball full time.

The six-foot right hand hitting Knight was drafted in the tenth round of the 1970 draft by the Cincinnati Reds. 

MLB Career- Reds: Although Knight made his debut with Cincinnati in September 1974, he didn't play again at the big-league level during the Big Red Machine's glory years. The Reds won two straight World Series 1975-1976.

As a first baseman there was no room behind Tony Perez & Dan Driessen. As a third baseman not much room behind Mr. Pete Rose. Knight did not appear with the Reds again until 1977 as a utility player.

He was a highly touted prospect who was thought of as the guy to replace Pete Rose & those were some big expectations to live up to. 

In 1977 Knight saw action in 80 games mostly at third base behind Rose & Joe Morgan. He batted .261 with a HR 5 doubles & 13 RBIs in 92 at bats. 

The next season he hit a lowly .200 while only seeing action in 83 games.

By 1979 he became the Reds regular third baseman when Rose left for Philadelphia as a free agent. Knight did well with his big chance, batting .318 (third best in the league) with 175 hits. He hit10 HRs with 37 doubles 79 RBIs & posted an .814 OPS playing in 150 games. 

It was the only year he made the post season with the Reds, coming at the end of The Big Red Machine's dominance of the 1970's. 

1979 NLCS: Even with Tom Seaver pitching for them, the Reds were swept by the eventual World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS. Knight went 4-14 with a double & two hits in Game #3. Overall, he was 4-14 hitting .286.

1980 All Star: In 1980 he made his first All-Star team; playing as a reserve in the NL's 4-2 win at Dodger Stadium. In the 6th inning, he singled off Tommy John & scored on George Hendrick's base hit. He later drew a walk off the Blue Jays Dave Stieb.

That season his average dropped off to .264, although he did have career highs in HRs (14) and doubles (39) while driving in 78 runs, just one shy of his career high set the previous year.

Two HRs & 6 RBIs in the Same Inning: On May 13th, 1980, after an going 0-15, Knight homered twice in the same inning against the New York Mets team. He led off the 5th inning with a HR off Mark Bomback & then blasted a grand slam off Ed Glynn, as the Reds went on to a 15-4 win. 

In his career Knight was one of the leagues slowest runners, grounding into the most double plays two straight seasons in the early eighties (1980-1981).

Knight stayed in Cincinnati through 1981 batting .259 his last season there. He was then traded to the Houston Astros for Cesar Cedeno, making way for Johnny Bench’s transition from catcher to third base.

Astros Career: In his first season at Houston, he led the team in hits (179 which was 8th most in the NL) average (.294) doubles (36) & RBIs (70). That year Houston finished fifth.

1982 All Star: He made the 1982 NL All-Star team, going 0-3 in the NL's win at Stade Olympique in Montreal. In the 6th inning he was struck out by Dan Quisenberry.

He was also one of the leagues better third baseman defensively, leading the league in games played twice & was number three in fielding twice. 

In 1983 he won the Hutch Award, batting .304 (5th in the league) with 36 doubles (5th most in the NL) 9 HRs & 70 RBIs. 

By 1984 Knight & the Astros organization weren’t getting along. Phil Garner had taken over the Houston third base position after Knight’s average fell to .223. In late August he was traded to the New York Mets for three minor leaguers.

Mets Career: Ray Knight debuted with the Mets on August 29th at Shea Stadium playing third base in a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

His first big hit came on September 5th, as he broke open a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Shea. 

In the bottom of the 6th inning, he hit a base hit with the bases loaded, putting the Mets ahead leading to a 4-2 win. The win put the Mets behind the first place Chicago Cubs by six games & in the heat of a pennant race. 

It was the Mets first winning season in eight years & there was a lot of excitement around Shea Stadium. 

Dwight Gooden's One Hitter: Two days later in an important head-to-head matchup against the first place Cubs at Shea Stadium. In the top of the fifth inning, Knight misplayed a ground ball off the bat of Kith Moreland, that was ruled a hit. It ended up being the only hit of the game. 

That night Dwight Gooden gave up just that one hit, in a ten strikeout 10-0 shut out. centerfieldmaz was in attendance that night with a homemade "Kill Kubs" banner. 

Mets fans weren't too happy with Knight for a long while after that game.

On September 21st he hit his first Mets HR, it came in a 6-2 win over the Expos. Knight closed out the 1984 season batting .280 in 27 games for the Mets, with a HR four doubles & six RBIs.

1985: There was a lot of excitement surrounding the Mets for 1985. The team had traded away Hubbie Brooks, who had been the regular third baseman in the deal to get Gary Carter. 

Knight was now sharing time at third base (73 games) with a young Howard Johnson (113 games) who had come over from Detroit. But neither one was giving the team much production at the third base position.

HoJo saw more playing time batting .242 with 11 HRs. Knight batted a dreadful .218 with six HRs 12 doubles 36 RBIs & a .252 on base %. 

Knight struggled most of the season but did have a few bright spots. On May 17th, he hit a 7th inning, two run HR off the Giants Dave Lapoint, tying up the game at two. They would win it in the bottom of the 12th on Gary Carters walk off single. 

Four RBI Game: On May 27th, Knight hit a three run HR off the Dodgers Jerry Ruess, just his second HR of the year. He added a 7th inning RBI double leading the Mets to an 8-1 win at Shea Stadium. 

On June 4th, he hit a solo HR off the Dodgers Fernando Valenzuela helping Dwight Gooden to a 4-1 complete game Mets win at Dodger Stadium.

Knight did not hit over the .200 mark until July 7th. Then he went on the DL missing over two weeks of action. 

Four RBI Games: He returned on July 27th in a 16-4 Mets blow out against his old Astros teammates at Shea Stadium. In the 6th inning, Knight hit a three run HR off Frank DiPino putting the Mets up 10-4. In the 7th, he hit one of three Mets doubles in the inning, driving in his fourth run of the game, matching his season high. 

On September 2nd, he matched his season high four RBIs, for the third time. He hit his sixth HR of the year a three-run shot off the Padres Bob Patterson in a 10-4 Mets win at San Diego.

The Mets finished second to the rival Cardinals that season, getting as close as just one game out with four left to play. In the final eight games Knight batted .350 (7-20) but did not drive in any runs.

Off Season Deal Nixed: After his poor '85 season, the Mets tried shopping Knight to the Pittsburgh Pirates that winter, in hopes of getting back, an old Mets fan favorite; veteran Lee Mazzilli. No deal could be worked out, so Knight stayed as the Mets platoon third baseman. Lee Mazzilli would end up coming back to the Mets that August after he was released by the Pirates.

1986 Championship Season: In Spring Training 1986, Mets hitting coach Bill Robinson worked closely with Knight on his hitting. He changed his batting stance from a lower crouching position to a more straight-up type of stance. The result was Knight raising his average eighty points to bat .298 (8th best in the NL).

Ray began the year determined to prove he was not finished. 

On April 12th, he first appeared in the third game of the '86 season. Although the Mets lost the game at Philadelphia, Knight hit his first HR of the season, coming off veteran Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. 

He would hit HRs in back-to-back games, gathering up five hits with three RBIs in those two straight losses at Philadelphia. 

On April 21st, he hit an 8th inning two run HR with the Mets down 4-2 to the Pirates, tying up the game. Gary Carter would win it with a walk off single. Ray homered the next game as well. 

Multi HR Game: On April 25th, he hit a pair of HRs in a 9-0 win over the rival Cardinals in St. Louis. The first off Pat Perry & a second off Ricky Horton. The Mets swept the four-game series with Cardinal manager Whitey Herzog soon claiming the Mets would win the division. 

At the end of April Knight had six HRs with 12 RBIs &was batting over .306. 

In May the revived
Knight had two different eleven game hitting streaks, batted .348 in the month with ten doubles & 11 RBIs raising his average to .333 on the season. 

On May 30th, Knight had an RBI single & a sac fly RBI in a game with the Giants at Shea Stadium. The game went to extra innings & the Mets fell behind 7-6 in the bottom of the 10th. With the bases loaded Knight tied the game with a sac fly off Juan Berenguer. The next batter Rafael Santana provided the game winning hit.

Quotes- Ron Darling: "Besides our pitching, it has been Ray Knight's emergence that has been the difference, he carried us for a long time".

Over the next two months, hit safely 40 of 51 games. But not only was his hitting a leading factor for the team, his leadership came out standing up for his team, not taking any nonsense on a team that was being recognized as a rowdy bunch.

Brawls: Ray Knight was a hardnosed player on the rough housing in your face '86 Mets Championship team. He became notorious for being the center figure in on the field brawls.

Brawl with Dodgers: On May 28th in a series opener with the Dodgers at Shea Stadium, the Mets took a 2-0 lead. In the 6th inning, Dodger pitcher Tom Niedenfuer served up a grand slam HR to the Mets George Foster, giving the Mets a 6-0 lead. The Shea crowd went wild & Foster took a curtain call. The pitcher was visibly upset & unable to control his emotions. 

The next batter was Knight,  Niedenfuer hit him with the first pitch thrown. Knight flung his bat & headed right to mound, after the 6-foot, 5-inch Niedenfuer. Although he was tackled to the ground Knight got his punches into Niedenfuer's back & his face.

Quotes- Ray Knight: "If he wants to hit me, fine, I'll do the same thing to him."

The melee cleared both benches & bullpens. The Shea fans got rowdy & threw debris on the field. After the game Dodger manager, Tom Lasorda blasted them in the media, claiming someone threw a quarter coin at him that almost caught him in the eye. 

centerfieldmaz was at the next game, sitting right on top of the Dodger dugout, as the heckling of the Dodgers carried over into that game as well. Knight drove in runs in three straight games that week starting with two in those games with the Dodgers.

Brawl with Reds: On July 22nd the first place Mets & fourth place Reds were tied up a wild game in Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, the Reds Eric Davis stole second base. He then stole third base coming in hard with a pop-up slide into the base. Ray Knight leaned on him & Davis shouted words to Knight. Ray barked right back at Davis unappreciative of his antics. 

Next the former Gold Glove boxer Knight expecting Davis to hit him, struck first. He cracked Davis square in the jaw with a punch. Davis' head snapped back like it was on a rubber band & all hell broke loose on the field. 

The benches emptied, and fights broke out all over the infield field. Gary Carter tackled Eric Davis, Kevin Mitchell went at it with pitcher John Deny then Keith Hernandez jumped into that battle. The Reds big man, Dave Parker came over to Knight & asked him if he was really that tough. Knight said, "there's only one way to find out big boy". 

Parker may have backed down but at that point most of the scrum had cleared up. (George Foster was reportedly the only Met to stay on the bench, saying it was a bad example to children. This proved to be the final straw for Foster, as he lost now lost respect from his teammates & manager. He was soon released)

After all the ejections in that game, the Mets were short of position players. Manager Davey Johnson used pitchers Jesse Orosco and Roger McDowell to alternate between pitching and the playing outfield. Howard Johnson later blasted a three-run homer in extra innings as the Mets won it, in one of the most memorable regular season games of that year. 

The next day Dwight Gooden & Bobby Ojeda brought a local paper to the clubhouse for Knight to see. In an article Dave Parker said if knew what room Knight was in, he'd have gone to his hotel last night. 

When Knight got to the ballpark he was fuming over the comments. During batting practice, he went over to Parker & confronted him. Parker told him, he had to say that stuff to the paper, but Knight was "his man".

Knight had two walk off hits during his eventful regular season as well.

Walk Off HR: On July 3rd, Knight hit a walk off 10th inning HR, off the Astros Frank DiPino.
The Mets had gone into the inning down 5-3, then Daryl Strawberry hit a two-run shot to tie it, his second HR of the game. It was Knight's 9th HR of the year & second game winning hit off Dipino. 

Walk Off Hit: On August 3rd, in an extra inning game against the Montreal Expos, Knight first broke a 1-1 tie with a two run double in the 8th inning off Bryn Smith.

But Mets reliever, Roger McDowell was unable to hold the lead & the game went to extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th, Knight singled off Tim Burke with the walk off winning hit as Wally Backman scored. 

In July he batted just .186 with 13 hits in 70 at bats. He had just three extra base hits & drove in just eight runs, the only month he did not have double figures in that category. After a poor July, he batted .330 in August driving in seventeen runs, with ten multi-hit games. In that month he had 32 hits with two four hit games.

On August 7th, Knight had four hits & drove in two runs in the 12-3 win at Wrigley Field. On August 26th in an 11-6 win in San Diego, Knight had four hits while driving in three runs with a two-run single & RBI single.

In mid-September during a nine-game hit streak, he drove in eight runs, with three multi-hit games. On September 17th, the night the Mets clinched the NL East with a win over the Cubs, Knight had two hits in the game.

Come Back Player of the Year: Knight went on to win the 1986 Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award as well as the Babe Ruth Award.

Knight batted .298 with 24 doubles, two triples 11 HRs 76 RBIs & 51 runs scored. He struck out
63 times with 40 walks posting a .351 on base % & .775 OPS. Knight also hit eight sac flies (8th most in the NL) & grounded into 19 double plays (5th most in the NL). 

At third base he posted a .948 fielding % making 16 errors & turning 17 double plays in 132 games played at third.

Post Season- 1986 NLCS: In the NLCS win over the Houston Astros Knight only hit .192. After going hitless in Game #1, he collected hits in each of the next three games. 

In the epic Game #6 at the Houston Astrodome, Knight began what would be his hot hitting through the rest of the post season.

The Mets entered the top of the 9th inning down 3-0. Thy came back with two runs on Len Dykstra's triple, Mookie Wilson's RBI single & Keith Hernandez's RBI double. After two walks, Knights came to bat with the bases loaded & one out facing reliever Dave Smith. Knight's sac fly to right field scored Keith Hernandez to tie up the game sending to exciting extra innings. 

In the top of the 16th inning, Darryl Strawberry led off with a double. Knight then drove in the go ahead run as he doubled off Aurelio Lopez scoring Strawberry & advancing to third on the throw. Knight later scored on a wild pitch thrown by Jeff Calhoun. The Mets won the game 7-6 advancing to the World Series.

1986 World Series: Ray Knight went to his first & only World Series, becoming the 1986 World Series MVP.

In the opening Game #1 Mets loss, he went hitless, then did not play in Game #2. The Mets dropped the first two game at home.

In Game #3 at Fenway Park in Boston, Knight drove in a run with an 8th inning single off native New Yorker, Joe Sambito. 

In Game #4 he had two hits starting out with a 2nd inning base hit. In the 4th inning, following a Gary Carter double, Knight singled off Al Nipper giving the Mets a 3-0 lead. 

After going hitless in the Game #5 loss at Fenway Park, Knight & the Mets came back home to Shea Stadium down three games to two.

Game Six: In the now famous Game #6, Knight drove in the Mets first run in the 6th inning, with a base hit off Roger Clemens. He then scored the tying run on Danny Heeps ground out double play.

In the 7th inning, he made a throwing error on a Jim Rice ground ball, Marty Barrett already on first. Dwight Evans then grounded out, allowing Barrett to score the go ahead run. Next Rich Gedman singled to left but Jim Rice was thrown out at home plate on a Mookie Wilson throw to Gary Carter.

In the 10th inning, with the Mets down 5-3 & two outs, Knight singled off Sox pitcher Calvin Schiraldi, driving in Gary Carter for the first run of the Mets amazing comeback win. Knight advanced to second when Bob Stanley threw a wild pitch to Mookie Wilson, which scored Kevin Mitchell. 

Knight would score from second when Mookie Wilson's “little roller” went through first baseman Bill Buckner’s legs. Knight came around from third, scoring the game's winning walk off run, in one of the greatest comebacks in World Series history.

In Game #7, in the 7th inning Knight sealed his fate as the World Series MVP, when he hit the go-ahead HR off Calvin Schiraldi to put the Mets ahead 4-3. They would score two more runs in the inning & go on to a 8-5 win, winning the clubs second Championship.

Overall, in the World Series Knight went 9-23, batting .391 with a HR, a double five RBIs & four runs scored & a .1.005 OPS. In three career post season series’ he hit .279.

'86 Mets Legacy- Not for Knight: Stories about the '86 Mets have become legendary, some over blowing the teams partying & late-night carousing. But Ray Knight (along with Gary Carter & a few others) did not do drugs, drink alcohol. Knight was also happily married at the time. He always resented the team's bad reputation. 

Knight was also upset when Ron Darling said that "greenie" amphetamines were all over the club house, readily available in jars. After he had heard the story, he called Keith Hernandez up to get Darling's phone number in order to tell him how he felt. Knight stated that the amphetamines were only there if you were looking for them. 

After the Championship: After the 1986 Championship season the Mets G.M. Frank Cashen & Ray Knight couldn’t come to any contract agreement. Knight was expecting a big pay day after his big season & World Series MVP play.

But they offered him a take it or leave it $800k contract. When he didn't accept, they let him go to free agency. Howard Johnson became the Mets regular third baseman for the next few years. 

Trivia: Knight became the first player in MLB history to join a new team after winning the World Series MVP award.

As Mets fans know the team has not won a World Series since then. The Mets team of that era only went on to one more post season & lost in the NLCS to the 1988 Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Many players & people close to the team believe the downfall of those Mets teams was not bring back Ray Knight & Kevin Mitchell. 

Ray Knight wasn't the best player on that team, but he may have been the most intimidating & had lots of fire in him.

Post Mets Career: The free agent market wasn't eager to sign Knight, he settled for a two year $600k deal with the Baltimore Orioles.   Knight went on to hit .256 with 14 HRs & 65 RBIs for the last place Orioles who lost 95 games. 

After the season Knight was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Mark Thurmond. In 1988 he hit .217 for Detroit in 105 games retiring at the end of that season at age 36.

Career Stats: In a 13-year career, Knight hit.271 with 1311 hits 84 HRs, 266 doubles 27 triples with 595 RBIs & 490 runs scored. He struck out 579 times with 343 walks 36 hit by pitches posting a .321 on base % & .11 OPS in 1495 games. 

At third base Ray played 1021 games with a .957 fielding % with 144 double plays turned, 105 errors made in 2452 chances. He also played 339 games at first base & ten in the outfield.

Family: Ray Knight was first married to Terri Schmidt in 1976, they were divorced in 1981.

Marriage to Nancy Lopez: He then met LPA champion golfer Nancy Lopez while in Japan. They were introduced by teammate Pete Rose. In 1982 Ray & Nancy Knight were married, together they had three children. They were married for 27 years, divorcing in 2009. When they were married the family resided in Albany, Georgia. 

Retirement: After his playing days Knight became a coach with the Cincinnati Reds (1993-1995) under his old Mets manager Davey Johnson. 

He then managed the Reds from 1996-1997 going 125-137 as the team's skipper. The team finished third in 1996 as his team was 81-81. In 1997 the Reds were 43-56 when he was dismissed before the end of the year.

Knight went back to coaching for the Reds (2002-2003) & managed one more game in 2003 filling in as interim manager when Bob Boone was being replaced by Dave Miley.

Broadcaster: Knight was briefly an analyst for ESPN & then landed the job as the Washington Nationals studio analyst for MASN's network.

Angry at the Wilpon's: Although he wore his 1986 Mets World Series ring every day, Knight was upset at the Mets for not resigning him after his MVP World Series performance. He had a falling out with the Mets organization & it took him thirty years to forgive them. 

He chose not to attend the 20th anniversary reunion of the 1986 Championship team, or the closing ceremonies of Shea Stadium in 2008.

Return to the Mets: But finally in 2016 he put his differences aside & came to Citi Field for the 30th Anniversary of the 1986 Championship Season.

Quotes- Ray Knight: “People think I didn’t go because I was angry or something. You can’t stay hurt that long, but I’m really excited. I’m really excited, almost giddy, about getting back. I never called, they never reached out to me, and it just became more and more and more of a separation.

I saw guys getting called back to throw out first pitches and things like that, and I never got a call like that. What really stung me was some of the publications that the Mets put out — whether it was a yearbook or a poster or something commemorating the ’86 team — there’d be seven or eight pictures of guys on there, and I’d never be on there.

And it’s hard for me to understand, as much as I contributed to that team, why I was never even featured in the small thing. Sensitivities are big. We just want to be appreciated. I knew my teammates appreciated me, but the powers that be, I don’t know that they did at that time.

" I never called, they never reached out to me, and it just became more and more and more of a separation. That team is so special to me, the fans, since I left, never has any fan said anything to me but sweet, positive things. And they were really good to me. They probably pulled harder for me than any fans I ever had.”