Conversation with TBS analyst Ron Darling on the challenges of playoff expectations

Ron Darling doesn't have to imagine what it's like to be part of a 108-win team heading into the playoffs; he lived it, as a key part of the 1986 New York Mets.

BSJ spoke with Darling -- a Massachusetts native who will be working with Brian Anderson on the TBS telecast of the Red Sox-Yankee ALDS -- about the challenges that come with being on such a team.

BSJ: You spoke in the broadcast (of the A.L. wildcard game Tuesday night) about the pressures that come with having the kind of regular season the Red Sox had. What was that like for you in 1986 and how much of a burden were those expectations on the players when the post-season started?

Ron Darling: When you're in the middle of it, when you're having that kind of season, everything kind of falls into place and you have a lot of comeback wins -- the Red Sox, I know, had 15 unbelievable moments this year, with the grand slams and all that stuff -- and you get into this kind of 'alpha' mode, where it's, 'Listen, we're the biggest, we can't do anything wrong, it's always going to come out right.' But once you get here, in the post-season, you start to see a little vulnerability because everybody else is trying, too, and they're all pretty good, too. And sometimes they're peaking, whether you're peaking or not.

So, even though we won 108 games, we could have easily lost to Houston (in the NLCS) and should have lost to the Red Sox (in the World Series) and somehow, someway, belief in ourselves, because of all the good things that came our way, kind of won out over your ability to play.

BSJ: Did the Mets feel that, because of the win total, you had a bit of a target on your back when the postseason started?

Darling: Well, we had a target on our back just because we were kind of an obnoxious team. But also, when you win that many games, every team wants to take you down. The difference now, though, is that you have three ballclubs in the postseason on the American League side that won 100 games or more. So, the Yankees had some great moments and Houston, to be able to win more games than they did last year with all the injuries they had? They've got to feel pretty good about themselves, too. So, I would say this is a uniquely interesting battle between alpha dog-type teams because they're all good.

You've got the depth of Houston, versus the size of the Yankees, versus the all-around great play of the Red Sox...that's going to be a battle.

BSJ: You were born here. You know about the history and atmosphere and the way people respond. The last two post-seasons have not gone well here, despite winning the division both times. Do you think the players feel any of that weight of expectations, where they won 108 games and yet people have this attitude of: 'Well, let's see what they do in October.' Can that seep into the clubhouse at all and create external pressure.

Darling: I don't know if it seeps through, but they had a team that was built around such an interesting rock in (David) Ortiz, that despite winning a lot of games, that center, that rock was no longer there. And I think with the play of J.D. (Martinez), that's been mitigated, so they're back to where they were before and I think that's going to be a big difference.

To have (Mookie) Betts and (Andrew) Benintendi and (Xander) Bogaerts, to me, you usually don't get that many draft picks who all come through. So, to me, they've got a chance. But their whole thing is, they don't have a starting pitcher on the staff who's ever won a game. I think that's where they've fallen short (the last two years): those guys, who are so talented, just haven't had that signature game. The Red Sox will only go as those really talented pitchers go. If they pitch like they did in the regular season, that's all they need.

BSJ: As accomplished as those guys are, do you have to learn how to win in the postseason?

Darling: I don't know if you have to learn. I think that what you have to realize -- because I had some amazing games (in the postseason) and I've had some fall-flat-on-my-face games -- is that you can put in all the hard work, but the mercurial nature of postseason is that the other team is really good and the other team is trying, just as hard as you are. The mistake you make in June in Anaheim that's a pop-up, is a three-run home run in the postseason.
So I think you have to, if you can, you almost have to treat every pitch you throw with double the importance that it has in the regular season. The best games I ever had came when I honored every pitch that I had to throw and almost honored my opponent, knowing that (the hitter) is in a really good place and so am I. So, execution is five times as important as it usually is.