The date was Oct. 28, 1986. It should have been the happiest day of my life but it turned out to be one of the worst and it still haunts me today.

The day before we won the World Series in dramatic style against the Red Sox. While my teammates were being honored by over two million people in a parade down Broadway (The Canyon of Heroes), I was doing drugs in my dealer’s house. That’s the moment I can never recapture.

Another moment is coming up for me which I never thought could happen considering my past mistakes.

On April 14, my number 16 will be retired.

When Steve Cohen called me that day to tell me, I started to cry. I thought I had blown it and would never get a chance to say thanks to the Mets fans. I really appreciate Steve and Alex giving me the opportunity to have another shot at saying goodbye.

Through everything, the suspensions, my time in jail, my bouts with cocaine and drinking, the fans have always been there for me.

In the spring of 1987, I tested positive for cocaine and entered rehab, rather than face suspension. My first game that year was June 5, 1987 at Shea Stadium against the Pirates and I didn’t know what to expect. Would I get booed, would anyone show up? Well, there were over 51,000 people there that night and I got a standing ovation when I went to the mound. I pitched into the seventh inning and we won, 5-1. I still tear up when I think how nice the fans were to me that night.

After I left the Yankees my dream was to come back to the Mets one more time. I called the front office a few times but we couldn’t make a match.

That’s why my night was so key for me. I can give my official goodbyes to people who meant so much to me.

I am already working on my speech. I know I won’t get through it without breaking down. The sad part for me is that my mom and dad (Ella and Dan) won’t be there. The day would have meant so much to them. My dad put the ball in my hand when I was four or five.

When I got to the Mets I spoke to my dad before I spoke to the media. The team had gotten him a television set to watch all of our games. He always told me what I was doing right or wrong. It pains me that the both of them won’t be there with me.

So many people were a part of my success and I guess it really starts with Davey Johnson. In 1983, Davey was working in our minor league system and he saw me pitch at Lynchburg when I struck out 300 that year. He came over to me and said if I get to manage the Mets next year, you will be with me. He was a man of his words.

It didn’t come without a battle in 1984. I went to camp with No. 64 on my back. I was 19 at the time and some people in our front office thought I should go back to the minors for more seasoning. Davey stuck to his guns.

I didn’t know I made the team until the last day. Davey called me into his office at the old Huggins-Stengel field in St. Petersburg and told me to have a seat. He matter of fact said to go back home and get some suits. You are coming with us to New York.

I was getting No. 35 and I was kind of upset about that. I wore 16 in high school and the minors. It was kind of my good luck charm. That number had belonged to former All-Star Lee Mazzilli and a lot of people felt it was too early to give it to another player. Well Frank (Cashen) pulled some strings and I got my number.

I had to wait until the fourth game of the year in Houston in 1984 for my first start. Boy, was I nervous. Our hotel was close to the Astrodome and I couldn’t wait for the bus so I decided to walk. That was a mistake. When I got there the guards wouldn’t let me in because I didn’t have a pass.

They called down to the locker room and spoke to our trainer Steve Garland who was there and he verified that I was going to start for the Mets.

Things could not have worked out better. I went five innings, gave up one run and won, 3-2. The best part of everything was that the Mets flew in my parents and they were able to enjoy everything with me. To this day I never will forget the smile on my dad’s face when I saw him in the locker room.

I couldn’t have scripted the 1984 and 1985 seasons better for me. Rookie of the Year in 1984 and a Cy Young in 1985 when I went 24-4 and won the Triple Crown of pitching.

Gary Carter deserves so much credit for my success. He caught for me in the 1984 All-Star Game when I struck out the side and I remember him telling me, wouldn’t it be great if we could do that on a regular basis.

Well we got Gary that winter and he guided me to all those wins the following year. The great thing about Gary is that he could go 0-for-4 but he only cared if we won. His goal was for me to strike out double figures each outing.

I would go on to lead the NL in strikeouts with 276 and had 41 strikeouts with one walk in my last three starts.

I wanted to give a shout out to the guys who started the K Korner. That really made me feel great. When I was pitching I always told people I never paid attention to the board. Truth is, I always looked at it. When I was at nine it gave me that extra added incentive to get to double figures.

I was fortunate to achieve a lot of individual goals in 1984 and 1985. We won 90 or more games each season but still no championship. That spring Davey gave a great speech. He told us not only were we going to win everything but we were going to dominant baseball.

That’s exactly what happened. We won 108 regular season games and eight more in the postseason. Finally, we all had a ring.

I was fortunate to pitch the Division clinching game against the Cubs on Sept. 17. I went nine innings and gave up two runs on six hits.

I remember jumping into Gary’s arms after the final out. I think we had close to 50,000 fans in attendance that night.

I had a no-decision in one of the best outings of the year in Game 5 of the playoffs at home. I went 10 innings against Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. We won 2-1 on Gary’s single in the bottom of the 12th.

One of my most disappointing years with the Mets was 1988. We won 100 games. I went 18-9 with an ERA a little over 3.00. We were to face the Dodgers who owned us during the year, winning 10 of 11 games. I was on the mound for Game 4 of the playoffs. We were ahead two to one and I took a 4-2 lead into the ninth inning. Then I gave up a walk to John Shelby, then a two-run homer to Mike Scioscia and we wound up losing the game in 12 innings and the series in seven games.

Davey has gotten a lot of heat for leaving me in to face Scioscia, we had a lefty in the bullpen, Randy Myers, and some thought he should have been brought in to pitch to Mike. I still felt strong at the time and Davey was just showing his faith in me.

My career with the Mets didn’t end well. In 1994 I was suspended for cocaine which led to me being suspended for the 1995 season.

Jan. 18, 2024: 'We needed help'

As you can see my path didn’t have a straight line to it, that’s for sure. I persevered and I am happy with my life now.

People say I should have made the Hall of Fame. That may be true but what I am doing now; going to schools, churches and hospitals, and speaking to kids, is more important than a plaque. I am telling kids basically not to do as I did. No good can come from doing drugs or drinking.

I am glad I can speak to the fans again and express my regrets for some of my mistakes and how I made it difficult for our team.

My speech is done now. I hope my words convey to the Mets fans how important it was for me to say thanks for being with me through everything.

Hundreds of documents totaling more than 1,000 pages have been unsealed over the last week in Manhattan Federal Court in a now-settled defamation lawsuit against Epstein’s convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, brought by Virginia Giuffre, one of the deceased financier’s most vocal accusers.

Judge Loretta Preska ordered the filings to be made public last month, finding there was no legal basis to keep them hidden. Most of those whose names were made public were not accused of wrongdoing and had already been publicly identified.

Monday’s batch included rehashing some of the most salacious claims to come out in the litigation — the existence of sex tapes Epstein made of his high-profile pals. The woman who made the allegations, Epstein accuser Sarah Ransome, ultimately retracted them.

In October 2016, Ransome emailed a reporter saying she wanted to retract all of the allegations “and walk away from this,” the filings unsealed Monday show. A 2019 article in the New Yorker reported that Ransome, by her own admission, made up the tapes “to draw attention to Epstein’s behavior, and to make him believe that she had ‘evidence that would come out if he harmed me.’”

Ransome, who could not be reached for comment, has long alleged she was abused by Epstein. She read a victim impact at Maxwell’s 2022 sentencing following her conviction for enabling Epstein’s abuse.

The mountain of documents unsealed over the last week contain few details that were not already known. The most consequential papers in the case were unsealed before Epstein killed himself while awaiting trial in 2019.

The names — who were largely not accused of wrongdoing — featured among more than 1,300 pages of court filings made public in Manhattan federal court starting late Wednesday in a lawsuit settled in 2017 between Epstein’s convicted right-hand, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Virginia Giuffre.

Giuffre, now 40, has long alleged she was recruited to be abused by Epstein as a teenager and loaned out to powerful men in his orbit for sex. More than 1,000 pages were unsealed on Friday alone.

The paperwork comprises motions by Giuffre and Maxwell, excerpts from their depositions and those of other Epstein victims, members of his house staff, and law enforcement, as well as records from a 2005 investigation into the disgraced financier by the Palm Beach police that almost brought him to justice.

The tranche of documents had remained under seal throughout the litigation, primarily to protect victims’ identities and individuals whose names came up but didn’t do anything wrong, the judge who unsealed them wrote last month.

Manhattan federal court Judge Loretta Preska noted their contents were largely public record, whether from being revealed in court cases or media reports, documentaries, podcasts, books, or elsewhere. Vast swaths of the case were unsealed at various intervals in recent years following legal efforts led by the Miami Herald, including a massive release on the eve of Epstein’s 2019 suicide while he was awaiting trial in a Manhattan jail cell.

Most of the elite names to hit the headlines this week have long been known to have socialized with Epstein. Still, new tidbits of their dealings with the perverted financier add sharper detail to claims by scores of women who say he sought to leverage his high-profile contacts while grooming them for repeated sexual abuse.

Here’s a look at some of the most notable figures referenced.

Prince Andrew

Prince Andrew’s well-documented friendship with Epstein comes up throughout the filings, including Giuffre’s allegations the financier forced her to sleep with him as a teen. The disgraced British royal, who stepped down from his military duties in 2022 amid fallout over his friendship with the disgraced perv, settled a suit with Giuffre the same year for a reported $16 million. He did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement and has adamantly denied any abuse.

Andrew, King Charles’ brother, is accused in one filing by alleged Epstein victim Johanna Sjoberg of groping her at the financier’s Manhattan townhouse in April 2001 while holding a puppet of himself. Buckingham Palace previously denied it ever happened.

In her deposition, Maxwell acknowledged being on Epstein’s Caribbean island with the British royal. It was on the private island, Little St. James, where Epstein was alleged to have committed much of his abuse. There are no further details of the prince’s activities there in the deposition.

In excerpts from Juan Alessi’s deposition unsealed Friday, Epstein’s longtime house manager at his Palm Beach estate recalled the prince visiting for extended trips.

“Prince Andrew, yes, Prince Andrew spent weeks with us,” Alessi testified, adding that he received daily massages.

The Daily News in 2015 first reported on the deposition from Alessi in a 2009 case featured in Giuffre and Maxwell’s suit. Epstein’s house manager from 1990 to 2001 provided crucial testimony at Maxwell’s trial, recalling how he regularly saw famous faces at Epstein’s Florida mansion and young girls walking around topless.

Maxwell, the daughter of the disgraced publishing baron Robert Maxwell, who owned the Daily News when he died in 1991, became friends with Prince Andrew while at Oxford. She was convicted in 2021 of charges alleging she procured young girls to be abused by Epstein for around a decade and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Bill Clinton

At least 70 references to Clinton came up in the latest tranche regarding previously reported events, which he did not object to being made public.

Clinton has not been accused of abuse by Giufffre or anyone else. But her lawyers doggedly fought to depose him in vain about his relationship with Epstein and Maxwell, describing him as “a key person” who could disprove various claims made by Maxwell.

Clinton’s name was featured on multiple flight logs in evidence at Maxwell’s trial, though none to Epstein’s private island, Little St. James. At Maxwell’s criminal trial, jurors heard about how he was among the famous figures who traveled on Epstein’s private planes, along with Trump, Prince Andrew and many others.

Sjoberg’s lengthy May 2016 deposition included a particularly unfavorable and unverified claim about Clinton allegedly made by Epstein “that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.”

Clinton has admitted traveling on Epstein’s aircraft but has denied visiting his properties in the Virgin Islands, New York, and New Mexico or staying in touch with him after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a 14-year-old girl for sex. Maxwell claimed she couldn’t recall if the two men were friendly or why they once went to Thailand together, Giuffre’s lawyers wrote in one filing.

Donald Trump

Passing references are made to Trump, but nowhere is he accused of any abuse.

He also came up as one of the celebrities Alessi said he saw at Epstein’s Florida home in his 2009 deposition, along with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., celebrity hair stylist Frédéric Fekkai, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Kennedy, Fekkai, and Ferguson were not accused of wrongdoing.

The house manager recalled Trump often coming over to Epstein’s when he was in town at his Mar-a-Lago estate, saying, “He never sat at the table. He eats with me in the kitchen.”

Epstein was placed at Trump’s Atlantic City casino in Sjoberg’s deposition. She said they stopped off when Epstein’s private pilots rerouted their flight to New York from Florida due to bad weather.

“Jeffrey said, ‘Great, we’ll call up Trump,'” Sjoberg testified, later adding she was never asked to massage Trump.

The current Republican front-runner for the 2024 election has said that he once thought the Brooklyn-born money manager was a “terrific guy” but that they never spoke after a disagreement.

Michael Jackson, David Copperfield

Sjoberg recalled meeting Michael Jackson at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion, saying she was not required to massage him. She said she also met celebrity magician Copperfield at a dinner at Epstein’s attended by a girl she believed may have still been in high school.

After doing some magic tricks, Sjoberg testified, Copperfield asked if she was “aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls.” She said he didn’t specify if they were underage.

Copperfield and Jackson were not accused of wrongdoing.

Jean-Luc Brunel

Long suspected of steering underage girls to Epstein, Brunel features throughout the tranche of legal papers. Giuffre has claimed that Maxwell forced her into sex with the French model agent multiple times.

Last year, Brunel killed himself in a French jail cell while facing sex trafficking allegations, seeing an eerily similar demise to Epstein.

Stephen Hawking, Naomi Campbell, Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz, Bruce Willis and Leonardo DiCaprio

There is no evidence the esteemed late theoretical physicist and Cambridge professor Stephen Hawking was involved in Epstein’s depravity.

His name has come up in news reports about the document dump because Epstein mentioned it in a typo-laden email to Maxwell in 2015 about baseless rumors they could debunk.

Blanchett, Diaz, DiCaprio, and Willis similarly appeared spontaneously in filings unsealed in the case, whether in depositions or email correspondence between parties and journalists.

None were accused of wrongdoing. Reps for DiCaprio, Diaz, and Blanchett this week denied having any association with Epstein to The Guardian.

Sjoberg said Epstein name-dropped them during massages, claiming he’d been talking to some on the phone. She said she never saw or met any of the celebrities.

Campbell’s name came up when Giuffre said in her deposition that Giuffre had been forced to sleep with a French hotel owner around the same time as the supermodel’s birthday party. Campbell was not accused of wrongdoing and has condemned Epstein.