Tombstone
Born: August 1975 – Affiliation change from Lynchburg Rangers
Affiliation Change: September 29, 1987 (Lynchburg Red Sox)1Ryan, Bob. “Red Sox Notebook”. The Globe (Boston, MA). September 30, 1987
First Game:
Last Game: August 30, 1987 (L 8-2 @ Salem Buccaneers)
Carolina League Champions: 1978, 1983 & 1984
Stadium
Ownership & Affiliation
Owners: Lynchburg Baseball Corporation (Calvin Falwell, et al.)
Major League Affiliation: New York Mets
Attendance
Background
The Lynchburg Mets were the Carolina League Class-A farm club of the New York Mets for 12 seasons. This included a stretch in the early 1980’s when the Mets boasted one of the richest farm systems in Major League Baseball. The L-Mets won back-to-back Carolina League crowns in 1983 and 1984 and produced four straight Carolina League Most Valuable Players during the middle of the decade: Lenny Dykstra (’83), Barry Lyons (’84), Shawn Abner (’85) & Gregg Jeffries (’86).
Doc & Nails Pace 1983 Champs
The 1983 Lynchburg Mets club was especially dominant. It’s somewhat surprising that the 1983 L-Mets were left off of Minor League Baseball’s 2001 list of the Top 100 Minor League Teams of all-time. The team ran roughshod over the Carolina League, posting a 96-43 record. 18-year old phenom Dwight Gooden went 19-4 and struck out 300 batters in just 191 innings. Gooden won his last 15 decisions of the 1983 season. Leadoff man Lenny Dykstra was an offensive machine – 188 hits, 107 walks, 132 runs and a Carolina League record 106 steals.
Playing without Gooden (a late season call-up to Triple-A Tidewater), the Mets swept the Winston-Salem Red Sox 3 game to none in the 1983 Carolina League championship series.
17 players from the 1983 Lynchburg club would eventually play in the Major Leagues. Gooden and Dykstra would help key the Mets 1986 World Series championship team. The infamous/miraculous Game Six, decided by Bill Buckner’s shocking 10th inning fielding miscue, was both won and lost by former L-Met pitchers. Rick Aguilera (Lynchburg ’84) earned the win for New York. Calvin Schiraldi (Lynchburg ’83) blew two separate leads in the 8th and 10th innings in taking the loss for Boston. (Schiraldi would also take the loss for the Red Sox in the decisive Game 7).
The Boston Red Sox replaced the New York Mets as Lynchburg’s parent club during the offseason following the 1987 season.
Trivia
Calvin Falwell, head of Lynchburg’s Carolina League ownership group, was a cousin of the arch conservative evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, whose megachurch operation was based in the Virginia city.
L-Mets right-hander Steve Ibarguen hurled a 6-inning rain-shortened perfect game against the Alexandria Dukes on August 15th, 1981.
Lynchburg Mets Shop
Links
“Simply Amazin’: The Rise of the Lynchburg Mets“, Andy Bitter, The Lynchburg News & Advance, April 11, 2008
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