Magadan made his major league debut on September 7, 1986, pinch hitting for Kevin Elster, and hit a double in his first MLB at-bat. He won the hearts of Mets fans in his first major league start on September 17, by hitting three singles, and reaching on an error in his four at-bats, and collecting two RBIs in the Mets' National League Eastern division clincher. For the season, Magadan went eight for eighteen for a .444 batting average. Although he arrived too late in the 1986 season to join their postseason roster for their World Series championship run, he was given a World Series ring in 1995 for this, nine years after the series.