2026 to Honor Davey Johnson
By Jay Horwitz
I am thrilled that we are wearing a memorial patch “DAVEY” this year to honor my dear friend Davey Johnson who passed away last September.
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Davey led the Mets to their most successful period in our history. From 1994–1990, we won 595 games the most wins every by a manager. Who can ever forget 1986, 108 victories and the historic world series title. But for me the patch also denotes great sadness because Davey won’t be here on August 1 when celebrate the 40th anniversary of that championship.
There is no doubt in my mind there is no World Series crown without Davey’s guidance. He was the perfect leader of a club that had so many diverse personalities. He knew when he clamp down and when to let things go. He was analytics before analytics. He was bold, brash, decisive and was never afraid to speak his mind.
When he got the job in the fall of 1983 he said this at the press conference, “What took you so long to hire me?” In the Spring Training of 1986 in a speech to our players Davey uttered these words. “No only are we going to win this year, we will dominate.” Boy was he right.
The best way to honor Davey’s memory this year would be to win another world series crown. I know that would make him happy.
