1980s loom large in Mets' Opening Day lore

NEW YORK -- No club’s Opening Day history is quite like that of the Mets, who lost their first eight openers before turning into an early-April juggernaut. The Mets spent the next five decades beating just about everyone on Opening Day, regardless of how successful their subsequent seasons turned out to be.

Here are five of the most memorable openers in Mets history, plus a sixth for good measure:

1. April 9, 1985
Mets 6, Cardinals 5: Carter’s debut a memorable one

With Keith Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden already in place to form the most potent core in franchise history, the Mets appeared ready to take their place as one of baseball’s best teams when they acquired Expos catcher Gary Carter in a trade at the 1984 Winter Meetings. Four months later, Carter hit a 10th-inning walk-off homer in his debut to lead the Mets to the first of 98 victories in a 6-5 win over the Cardinals. Carter and Hernandez combined for five hits and three RBIs in the win.

2. April 5, 1983
Mets 2, Phillies 0: Seaver returns to Flushing

Perhaps the most anticipated pitching duel in Mets history occurred on Opening Day 1983, when Tom Seaver returned to Queens following 5 1/2 years with the Reds. Mets fans angered by the “Midnight Massacre” trade that sent him to Cincinnati in 1977 were jubilant upon his return, with 46,687 -- including New York governor Mario Cuomo and mayor Ed Koch -- on hand to watch Seaver face Phillies ace Steve Carlton. Although a thigh injury limited Seaver to six shutout innings, Carlton cracked for two runs in the seventh and Mets rookie reliever Doug Sisk pitched the final three innings for the win. Seaver also outdueled Carlton almost 10 years earlier to the day in a 3-0 victory on Opening Day 1973.

3. April 4, 1988
Mets 10, Expos 6: Strawberry hits the ceiling as Mets roll

One of the three 100-win seasons in franchise history began in style north of the border. The Mets were up by three when Darryl Strawberry boomed a home run -- his second of the game -- off a lighting fixture affixed to the roof at Olympic Stadium. A local physics professor told the New York Times that the ball would have carried 525 feet if unobstructed; more than a quarter-century before the dawn of Statcast, urban legend would have to suffice. Even so, plenty of official numbers did go into the record books that day, including six total Mets homers. Lenny Dykstra hit the most impactful of them, tagging Dennis Martínez for a tiebreaking, three-run shot in the sixth.

4. April 7, 1987
Mets 3, Pirates 2: Mets raise the banner

This game was memorable less for the win -- Strawberry hit a three-run homer, Bob Ojeda was brilliant, Jesse Orosco held on for the save -- and more for the World Series banner-raising ceremony at Shea Stadium. The Mets were six months removed from the second title in franchise history, with reason to celebrate. The day did carry a subdued tone due to the absence of Dwight Gooden, who was in a drug treatment program and would not return until June. It was nonetheless the type of start the Mets needed as they tried -- unsuccessfully, it would turn out -- to defend their National League pennant.

5. April 7, 1970
Mets 5, Pirates 3: Miracle Mets offer an encore

No longer underdogs, the Mets entered 1970 with the eyes of the NL upon them. Raising the championship banner would have to wait, as the Mets opened on the road in Pittsburgh. But another win would not. Although Seaver was uncharacteristically hittable, allowing three runs in eight innings (including a pair of RBI singles to Roberto Clemente), the Mets spotted him three of his own. With the bases loaded in the 11th, newly minted World Series MVP Donn Clendenon hit a two-run single to snap the tie. Tug McGraw worked around a leadoff walk of Clemente in the 11th to nail down the save, giving the Mets their first Opening Day victory in team history.

Honorable Mention: April 11, 1962
Cardinals 11, Mets 4: A franchise is born

Most of the pomp and circumstance occurred two days later, when the Mets made their first appearance at the Polo Grounds. (Mayor Robert Wagner threw out the ceremonial first pitch for that one, following a ticker-tape parade through lower Manhattan on the eve of the game.) Still, the inaugural game in franchise history was significant. The Mets committed three errors and lost, of course, en route to dropping their first nine games and each of their first eight Opening Days (though Gil Hodges did launch the first homer in franchise history). That the team recovered to go 39-12 over its next 51 openers remains one of the great improbabilities of Mets lore.