The New York Mets won the World Series in 1986, and had the foundations of a possible dynasty. It didn't happen; for one thing, the team's top young players (Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry) both self-destructed, and their careers collapsed. Another problem was that the team gave away its other best young players, like Lenny Dykstra and Kevin Mitchell. This year, Mitchell was the MVP — for the Giants.

         In 1985, the Giants were one of the worst teams in the league, losing 100 games. The next season, led by a rookie named Will "The Thrill" Clark, they improved by 21 games, then won the division title in 1987. This year, they won the pennant. Clark was a complete player, an excellent hitter and defensive player; he was also famous for having one of the sweetest swings in baseball.
        The Giants had improved dramatically under the leadership of manager Roger Craig and GM Al Rosen. They had developed some excellent young players, notably Clark but also Robby Thompson and Matt Williams; the Giants also acquired Kevin Mitchell from the Mets. This year, both Mitchell and Clark had the best seasons of their careers; Mitchell won the MVP Award, while Clark was runner-up.
        Mitchell remained a formidable hitter the rest of his career, but never had another season like this one. Injuries, bad defense and a weight problem all conspired to keep Mitchell out of the lineup. Only twice more in his career did Mitchell play over 100 games; he moved to Seattle in 1992, then Cincinnati in 1993, then Boston and several more teams as his career slowly withered to an end. Mitchell finished his career with 284 home runs.
        Will Clark also had injuries that hampered a career that had startled brilliantly. Clark played for 15 years; he was a career .303 hitter who never hit lower than .282 in any season. He also hit 284 home runs in his career, to go along with over 2100 hits.
        No one likes to root for a bad team. Nevertheless, they are a necessary part of the game. Without bad teams, there would be no good ones. And bad teams take chances on any kind of player, which occasionally results in a terrific story. This year, the Braves took a chance on Lonnie Smith, and he responded with the best year of his life. The Braves still lost 97 games, but three years later Lonnie would be starring with them in the World Series.
        Pedro Guerrero finished third in the MVP vote. He had a fine year, played everyday, and drove in a lot of runs. But he had no defensive value, and couldn't run. He scored only 60 runs. He was clearly overrated by the voters, who had some better options.
        Howard Johnson was an outstanding base stealer and power hitter, and almost had a 40-40 season. Johnson was third in the league in runs produced and total bases, behind Clark and Mitchell. HoJo's career was short and injury-plaged, but he managed to have a few big seasons, and in his career had more than 200 home runs and stolen bases.
         Against all odds, the Cubs led the National League in wins this year. After two MVP-type seasons in 1984-85, Ryne Sandberg hadn't played quite at the same level the past three years, though he was still good. This year, he reinvented himself as a power hitter, and led the Cubs to a division title.