Even with 45 years in Major League Baseball, the New York Mets are still something of a baby in the sport's history. The Mets have won just two World Series -- playing in four -- don't have a no-hitter to their credit, and are seemingly always playing in the shadow of that other team in the Big Apple.
Yet when looking for great moments in sports, it's a Mets event that stands out more often than most others.
That's what Eric Mirlis found out while putting together his new book, "Being There", which asks 100 well-known sports enthusiasts and sports media professionals to name the top five sporting events they have witnessed live.
The second most referenced event in the entire book is not only the most popular happening in Mets history but one of the most memorable in baseball -- Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Or more specifically, Mookie Wilson's two-out dribbler going through Bill Buckner's legs to give New York a thrilling 10th-inning win over the Red Sox to stay alive and allow them to eventually win the Series.
"When you talk about a team like the Mets, it might for them be a case of quality over quantity," said Mirlis, the senior editor of CSTV.com. "While there might be fewer (moments) they are clearly on the same level if not on a higher level, with most teams -- the Bill Buckner one being the most famous."
Actor Stephen Collins, a native New Yorker and sports fan, recalled his father jumping high in the stands after the play, as well as the exuberant ride home on the 7 train.
New York Times columnist George Vecsey remembered he and every other writer in the Shea Stadium press box groaning that they would have to rewrite, having already sent in their tales of the Red Sox winning their first World Series since 1918.
Mike Breen of ESPN and MSG Network was working for NBC Radio at the time, sitting in the Red Sox radio booth. Growing up a Mets fan, Breen couldn't help but jump up when the ball went through -- a professional no-no that earned him dirty looks from everyone in the booth.
Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin recalled how he was riding the press elevator down as the ball was hit, assuming like so many others that the game was over.
While the game was huge for the Mets, it was the moment that made it great.
"If the Mets had won Game 6 and won the World Series, everyone would remember the Mets won the World Series in 1986," Mirlis said. "But because of what happened, and you can't script things like this, you can't plan for things like that, that's the focal point."
Mirlis, a native New Yorker with 16 years in the sports industry -- starting with the New York Islanders and later the NBA -- got the idea for the book after talking with WFAN's Rick Ackerman.
Ackerman told Mirlis of a conversation in the Madison Square Garden media room involving FOX broadcaster Kenny Albert, New York Post columnist Steve Serby and veteran New York Times and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Dave Anderson. The trio was talking about the best moments they have covered over the years.
That gave birth to "Being There", published by The Lyons Press, as Mirlis spent about nine months compiling questionnaires sent out to members of the sports world. The only stipulation was they had to have witnessed the event in person - not on television.
The New York Rangers winning the Stanley Cup in 1994 topped the list with 13 references, two more than the Buckner game.
In third place with seven mentions was the Sept. 6, 1995 Angels-Orioles game at Camden yards as Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played.
Overall, 10 Mets events were cited in the book a total of 23 times, although that's roughly half the number of times a Yankee game popped up.
"There are more crystallized Yankee memories than there are Mets memories, especially over the last 10 years," Mirlis said. "Then you talk about the 1970s and there's Reggie Jackson's three home runs in (Game 6 of the 1977 World Series) and you have the Chris Chambliss home run (to win Game 5 of the 1976 ALCS).
"(But) when you think back over the last 20 years of some of the great moments in sports - the ones that jump off the page - Bill Buckner (is) the perfect example."
Other Mets moments mentioned in the book included Game 5 of the 1969 World Series, in which the Mets beat the Orioles for the Championship -- cited by Maury Allen -- and Game 7 of the NLCS against the Cardinals - a game the Mets lost but one CBS' Chris Wragge will always remember for Endy Chavez's sensational catch to rob Scott Rolen of a home run.
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