Forty years ago, everything changed.

Before the champagne, before the roller coaster, before the Mets became World Champions, there was a moment in time when the season hadn’t started yet — but you could feel something coming.

Welcome to Howard Johnson’s 1986 Time Machine, a weekly journey back to the exact moments that shaped one of the greatest seasons in Mets history. Each episode rewinds the clock 40 years, week by week, to relive what was happening inside the clubhouse, around the team, and behind the scenes on the road to a championship.

In this premiere episode, HoJo takes us back to the week of February 16, 1986, as the Mets are coming off a heartbreaking end to the 1985 season and Spring Training is just around the corner. Expectations are rising, questions are everywhere, and the hunger to finish the job is real.

What did the team learn from 1985?

What was the mindset heading into camp?

And did anyone truly believe what was about to unfold?

Travel back with us to the very beginning — before the first pitch, before the chaos — to hear it straight from one of the men who lived it.

⚾ New episodes weekly

🎙️ Exclusive memories and untold stories

🏆 The road to a World Championship, one week at a time

Only on Kiner’s Korner.