Ron Darling: 1986 World Champion Mets Pitcher (1985 - 1991) & Emmy Award Winning Broadcaster (2007 - 2026)

1988 NL East Champs: In 1988, Darling bounced back strong; having arguably his best regular season of all his Mets years. The Mets staff was now even stronger with the emergence of David Cone. 

In the Mets second game of the year, Darling took a loss at Montreal. Over seven innings he gave up just two earned runs, but Pascal Perez held the Mets to a run in his 5-1 win.

Shut Out: On April 12th at Shea Stadium, Darling pitched a three hit complete game five hit shut out, beating the Expos for his first win of the year. It was the first of his four shut outs that season & his first since July 1986.

Shut Out: After a no-decision to the Cardinals at Shea, in which the Mets won the game 3-2, Ronnie threw his second shut out of the year.  On April 22nd, he shut out the rival Cardinals at Busch Stadium in an eight hit five K performance. After being held to a run by Jose DeLeon, Howard Johnson hit a three run 9th inning HR off Todd Worrell in the 4-0 win.

After taking a loss to Zane Smith & the Braves in Atlanta, Darling beat the Reds in a three hit one run victory to get to 3-2 on the season with a 1.54 ERA. Thru his first seven starts Darling had allowed more than two runs just once.

On May 14th, he took a loss in San Francisco, giving up three runs, for just the second time on the season. But Mike Kruko held the Mets to two runs with Atlee Hammaker earning the save.

From May 19th thru May 30th, Ronnie won three straight starts beating the Padres in San Diego then the Giants & Dodgers at Shea Stadium. He followed up with a no decision then a loss in Montreal giving up four runs, including a three run HR from former Mets teammate Hubie Brooks.

Shut Out: On June 21st at Shea, Darling threw his third complete game shut out of the season. Darling allowed seven hits to the Pirates in the 9-0 Mets win. He struck out three & didn't allow a walk for the second straight game. It was the ninth shut out of his career. In the Mets five run 8th inning, Darling hit his first career triple, scoring Howard Johnson with the Mets ninth run.

On July 1st, he matched up with Joaquin Andujar in Houston & beat the Astros 3-2, pitching into the 8th inning. 

On July 6th, the Mets were down 4-2 to the Reds in the 6th inning. RBI hits from Gary Carter & Dave Magadan tied the game. Ron Darling then singled to center off Rob Diddle scoring Magadan in what was the games winning run. With the 5-4 win over the Reds, Darling reached ten wins in the first half of the season (10-5) with a 2.70 ERA.  The Mets were in first place with a 3.5 game lead over the Pirates.

In his first start after the break Ronnie gave up seven runs, including HRs to Dale Murphy, Andres Thomas & Gerald Perry. The Mets got HRs from Darryl Strawberry & Kevin McReynolds as McReynolds drove in four runs. Howard Johnson also added two RBIs as the Mets won the game 9-8.

On July 19th, he was shelled for nine runs in Cincinnati, giving up HRs to Chris Sabo & Eric Davis. On the same road trip the Phillies beat him at the Vet 3-2. In his worst stretch of the season, he had given up 19 runs (15 earned) in 12.2 innings including three HRs, losing two straight decisions for the first time that season.

On August 5th in Pittsburgh, Darling would win his 12th game of the season, beating Bob Walk 7 the Pirates 3-2. The Mets took three of four from the Pirates building their lead in the East to six games.

Over his next three starts, he lost consecutive decisions for just the second as well as last time on the year. On August 21st in San Diego, Darling pitched into the 8th inning having just allowed one run. The Padres Andy Hawkins & Mark Davis combined to shut out the Mets 1-0.

From August 27th to the end of the regular season Ronnie had his best stretch, as he was undefeated going 5-0 with a 2.83 ERA allowing 19 earned runs in 60.1 innings.

On August 27th he beat the Giants 17 game winner, Rick Reuschel in a 2-1 game in San Francisco. Howard Johnson provided the two Mets runs.  

Shut Out: On September 2nd at Shea, Darling struck out eight Dodgers pitching a five hit complete game shut out to beat former Met Tim Leary his fourth shut out of the year & tenth of his career.

On September 7th, he gave up six runs in just four innings at Wrigley Field but earned no decision. On September 12th in another tough game with the Pirates, Darling exited the game in the 9th inning with a2-2 tie. Gary Carter won it with a walk off HR.

1988 NL East Clincher: On September 22nd, Darling took the mound against the Philadelphia
Phillies in front of 45,274 fans at Shea. He allowed just six hits striking out four, in the 3-1 win that clinched the NL Eastern title of the Mets, their second divisional title in three years. The victory was his 15th of the year, matching a career high set in 1985.

On October 2nd, in his final regular season start, Darling beat the Cardinals to earn his 17th win of the season, setting a new career high. In the game he hit his second career triple scoring a run & also collected a 4th inning RBI single  for his only multi- RBI game of the year. The win was his fifth straight as well.

Record At Shea: In 1988 when pitching at home, Darling was an incredible 14-1 with a 2.29 ERA at Shea Stadium. On the road he was 3-8 as his ERA almost doubled at 4.83. In his career at Shea, Darling was 57-29 with a 3.09 ERA.

In the 1988 Mets Eastern Division Champion season, Darling was 17-9 (8th most wins in the league). That year he was third on the staff behind David Cone (20 wins) & Dwight Gooden (18 wins). 

Darling pitched four shut outs (6th in the NL) & seven complete games. He threw 240 innings, with 161 strikeouts (10th in the NL) posting a 3.25 ERA. That year he had the lowest amount of walks in his career (60). 

At the plate he batted .220 with six extra base hits, ten sac hits & four RBIs.

1988 Post Season: Darling had a bad 1988 NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In Game #3 at Shea, with the series tied 1-1, he fell behind 3-0 by the 3rd inning. He pitched six innings, three runs five hits, four walks & five K's before getting relieved by Roger McDowell. 

But the Mets came back to win the game 8-4 with a big five run 8th inning.

In the deciding Game #7 he went up against that years Cy Young Winner & Player of the Year, Orel Hershiser, 

Darling gave up six runs, four earned due to two Mets errors, six hits while getting knocked out in the second inning. The Dodgers shocked the Mets, winning the game & moved on to the World Series, where they beat the mighty Oakland A's.

1989: Although the Mets disappointed expectations the previous year, they still made the NLCS in an era with no wild card. But from here on in the Mets would finish second the next two seasons then go in decline until the late 1990's. 

Quotes- Ron Darling: "the dynasty that never was".

In 1989 Darling started out the year  giving up six runs in Montreal in his first start. After a loss at Pittsburgh, he gave up seven runs to the Phillies to start out at 0-3 with an 11.57 ERA.

On April 29th, he finally got his first win in a 5-1 victory in Houston. After a no decision in a 3-2 win over the Reds, he won his second game of the season with a win at Cincinnati.

On May 24th Darling shut out the Padres for six innings, combining with Rick Aguilera in a 3-0 shut out, to get to 3-3. 

Complete Game: On June 3rd, Ronnie pitched a complete game victory over the Pirates at Shea giving up three runs on eight hits. At the end of the month he won back-to-back decisions vs Philadelphia & Cincinnati.

At the Plate- HRs: During the summer, he hit HRs in back-to-back games that he started, the only two HRs of his career. On June 24th he homered off the Phillies Floyd Youmans in a 4-2 win. On June 30th he hit a three-run shot off the Reds Norm Charlton in Cincinnati in an 11-2 win. That year Darling also had a career high, five RBIs while at the plate.

Complete Game: On July 13th, Ronnie pitched his second complete game win of the year,
allowing just one run on five hits in a  5-1 victory in Atlanta. 

On July 17th, The Astros Jim Deshaies shut out the Mets for eight innings in a combined shut out with Larry Anderson. Darling was on the losing end of the 6-0 loss as he fell back to .500 at 7-7.

On July 31st the Mets acquired Frank Viola in a deal with the Twins strengthening the pitching staff 

Back to Back Complete Games & Six Straight Double Digit Win Seasons: At the start of August, Darling pitched back to back complete game victories. On August 5th, he allowed just two runs to the Expos then just one run to the Cardinals next time out. Darling reached four complete games on the year. He now had ten wins reaching double figures in wins for the sixth straight year.

As the west coast teams came to Shea, Ronnie first beat the Padres then the Giants on August 21st, as he struck out a season high ten batters in the 4-1 win. It was his fourth straight win reaching 12-9 on the season with 3.49 ERA.

From August 26th to September 6th, he lost three straight starts giving up ten runs in 19.1 innings. On September 6th Darling gave up just one earned run but two Mets errors led to two more runs as he took the 3-2 loss to fall to 12-12.

Darling would split his next two decisions to end the season. On September 22nd his last win of the year, he got the Mets to 5.5 games behind the Pirates with nine to play. But the Mets could not catch up as they Mets finished second to the Chicago Cubs 87-75 six games back.

Gold Glove: That season Darling became the first Mets pitcher to win a Gold Glove Award making just four errors in 56 chances. 

Trivia: Darling was the last N.L. pitcher to win the Gold Glove award before Greg Maddux's remarkable streak of 13 consecutive Gold Gloves.

On the season Darling finished at 14-14, the first season he did not have a winning record. That year he was one of the team's three 14 game winners as Sid Fernandez & David Cone also reached that mark.

Darling had 153 strike outs, with 70 walks, in 207 innings over 33 starts (7th most in the NL) posting a 3.52 ERA. He pitched four complete games & threw 12 wild pitches, six most in the league.

The 1989 season would be the last for aging veterans Keith Hernandez & Gary Carter who had been two of the key players of the Mets core in the teams best years of the 1980s. That year the Mets had already  traded Mookie Wilson, Len Dykstra & Roger McDowell as well. The good days were gone.

1990: Darling started out the season at 0-2 although he gave up just two runs in each start. In both games the Mets had just put up one run each time for him. After collecting his first win, he took another loss to fall to 13 with a 6.84 ERA.

As his struggles continued, the decision was made to put him in the bullpen to work things out. 

On the season in 33 appearances Darling made just 18 starts going 7-9 having the first losing season of his career. In 126 innings he struck out 99 batters, walked 44 & posted a 4.50 ERA. 

The 1990 Mets fell short again, coming in second place four games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. That year they fired Davey Johnson & gave Bud Harrelson the manager's job. It was the teams last winning season for the next six years until 1997.

1991: Darling began the year back in the starting rotation, but would continued to struggle. In April he won his third start of the season , pitching six scoreless at Philadelphia. In May he earned his second win, his only decision of the moth in five starts. By mid June he was 2-4 with a 3.88 ERA. On June 16th & 22nd he won back-to-back starts beating the Reds then the Braves in Atlanta, to get back to .500.

Darling Braves Trivia: In his career Darling had the most success against the Braves than any

other team. He went 13-3 with a 3.64 ERA 24 games vs Atlanta.

Last Mets Win: On July 3rd in Montreal, Darling pitched a two hit, eight inning 4-0 shut out in to beat the Expos, in a game which turned out to be his last win as a New York Met. Howard Johnson led the offense with a two run HR.

Final Mets Start: On July 14th, a good crowd of 46,836 came out to Shea to see Ron take on the Padres. He gave up just two runs but took the loss in what was his final Mets game. 

Traded: On July 15th, Ron Darling was traded to the Montreal Expos for pitcher Tim Burke. 

Mets Career Stats & All Time Leader Board: Ron Darling spent nine seasons pitching with the Mets, posting a 3.50 ERA, collecting 99 victories (4th on Mets All Time list). He made 241 starts (5th all time) posting 1148 strike outs (7th on Mets All Time list). 

Ronnie has ten shut outs (7th on Mets All Time list) threw 25 complete games (10th on Mets All-time list) & made 257 appearances overall (17th on Mets All Time list).  Darling also walked 614 batters (4th most) & allowed 155 HRs (3rd most on Mets all time list).

Post Mets Pitching Career: Darling pitched just three games for the Expos going 0-2. Two weeks later he was sent to the Oakland A’s in exchange for two minor leaguers. 

For the Oakland A's, Darling won his first three decisions, but then lost seven straight games. Overall, in 1991 he was 8-15 with a 4.26 ERA for the three teams. 

That year the A's finished fourth ending their three-year AL Champion World Series run.

In 1992 Darling made a solid return, rebounding to have a final quality season. He pitched 206 innings, his most since 1989. He won 15 games going 15-10 with the most wins since his 1988 season. Darling notched 99 strike outs walking 72 batters posting a 3.66 ERA. Darling also tossed three shut outs (4th in the AL). These were his first shut outs since 1988.

Three Shut Outs: On May 24th, Ron returned to Boston, near his hometown & made his first start there since the 1986 World Series. He pitched a two-hit shutout beating the Red Sox 4-0.

On July 12th, he pitched another two hit shut out against that years eventual World Champion- Toronto Blue Jays. 

On July 20th, in his return to New York Darling took a heartbreaking 1-0 complete game loss to Shawn Hillegas.

On July 25th, in Oakland, he shut out the Blue Jays once again 6-0. 

That season the A's won 96 games & took the AL West for the fourth time in five years making the playoffs.

1992 ALCS: In the ALCS, Darling pitched Game #3 against the Blue Jays whom he had shut out twice in the regular season. In this game he gave up HRs to Roberto Alomar & Candy Maldonado, taking the loss. The A's lost the series to the eventual World Champion Blue Jays. 

In 1993 Darling struggled, at 5-9 with a 5.16 ERA, as the A's fell to a last place finish, their worst run since 1979. In 1994 Darling came back with a good season leading the Athletics staff going 10-11 as the only pitcher in Oakland to win double figures. He posted a 4.50 ERA leading the league with 25 starts. In 1995 after going 4-7 into August, he was released ending his playing career at age 35.

Career Stats: In his 13-year career, Darling made three post seasons, winning a World Series with the 1986 Mets. He made one All Star team, won a 1989 Gold Glove & a June 1984 Pitcher of the Month Award.

On the mound he was 136-116 with 1,590 strikeouts (194th all time), 13 shut outs, 37 complete games in 2360 innings pitched and a 3.87 ERA. 

He made 364 starts (192nd most all time) allowing 906 walks (157th all time) 97 wild pitches (116th all time) & served up 239 HRs (151 all time).

At the plate he is a .144 hitter with 76 hits in 526 at bats, 2 HRs 21 doubles & 21 RBIs.

Retirement: Ron began his career as a broadcaster for the Oakland A's right after his playing
days. In 2005 he was commentator for the inaugural season of the Washington Nationals. 

SNY Career: In 2006 he came home to the New York Mets on the new SNY-NY Sports Network as a color commentator & studio analyst.

At the start of their time together Ron told Keith you take the hitting & I'll handle the pitching,. The rest is history as that formula has worked very well.

The Mets broadcast team of long time play by play man Gary Cohen, Ron Darling & his 1986 World Champion Mets teammate Keith Hernandez are rated one of the best broadcast teams in the game. 

They are very popular among Mets fans, as their knowledge as well as their antics & bantering are beloved by the fans. They have created a website, various sports memorabilia & hold many charitable events.

Emmy Award Winner: Starting in 2007 he worked the TBS network during the post season. For his outstanding television work, he was won an Emmy Award. In 2013 he joined the MLB network as a studio analyst as well.

In 2009 he published a book called "The Complete Game" which is broken down in chapters titled innings. The book explains the mind of an MLB pitcher breaking down what goes through his head in certain situations.

Family: Previously he was married to Irish model Antoinette O'Reilly. She had small roles on television and in movies, using her married name: Toni Darling. During their marriage, they appeared in numerous magazine features together. They had two children, Tyler and Jordan Darling.

In 2004, he married Joanna Last, a makeup artist for Fox Sports. Together they have one son, Maurice born 2016.

Darling & his second wife first lived in Williamsburg Brooklyn. One of his favorite hangouts was Bamonte's Restaurant in Williamsburg (this is the place centerfieldmaz met him the first time).

Quotes-Ron Darling: "Two blocks away is an Italian place called Bamonte's. It’s an institution in Williamsburg. We all love the food there, but for me it’s also a historical place.  After game days, Joe DiMaggio would go there — he’d get a seat at the corner table. More times than not, I get that seat, too, and to sit where DiMaggio sat and eat the chicken and sausage that DiMaggio ate, it’s just a huge thrill."

The Darlings then moved to Norwalk Connecticut & keep a home in the Uperr East Side of Manhattan.

Author: Darling is the Author of three books, "The Complete Game Reflections on Baseball" & "the Art of Pitching, Game 7; 1986 Failure & Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life" & "108 Stitches. Loose Threads Ripping Yarns & the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game."

Drama: In that 2019 release, Darling wrote that former teammate, Lenny Dykstra yelled racial slurs to Red Sox pitcher, Oil Can Boyd, during the 1986 World Series. Dykstra denies the comments & filed a lawsuit against Darling.

Health Scare: In March of 2016 Darling announced he had been diagnosed with Thyroid cancer. He had surgery to remove a mass on his chest & the prognosis was that the cancer was treatable. He returned to the booth in early June.

Quotes- Ron Darling: “My doctors have informed me that my thyroid cancer has been stabilized for now and that I have been cleared to return to work,” 

Darling said in a statement. “The doctors will continue to closely monitor me over the next several months to assure my progress remains on the right track. 

I look forward to rejoining my partners Gary and Keith in the SNY booth to call tomorrow night’s Mets vs. San Francisco Giants game at Citi Field.” He was soon recovered & back in the booth.

Honors: In 2021 he was elected into the New York Mets Hall of Fame. 

Ron Darling threw out the ceremonial first pitch of Game #7 of the 2006 NLCS.

He has been on hand for the 20th, 30th & 40th Anniversary tributes to the 1986 Championship
team.

Ron was also on hand for the Ralph Kiner Tribute night & the Closing ceremonies of Shea Stadium in 2008. He was also there to support former teammates Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry & Keith Hernandez on their number retirements. Darling was also on hand for the Mets 2022 Old Timers Day.

Trivia: Ron Darling has also had small roles in the films Shallow Hal, Mr. 3000 and The Day After Tomorrow.