1986 World Series
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The 1986 World Series, the 83rd playing of the modern championship series in Major League Baseball, was a memorable battle between the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox which helped to spread the legend of the "Curse of the Bambino" to mass public awareness.
This was the only Series in which a team was one out away from losing and came back to win. Moreover, the Mets were actually a single strike away from losing during two different at bats.
Managers: John McNamara (Boston), Davey Johnson (New York)
Umpires:: John Kibler (NL), Jim Evans (AL), Harry Wendelstedt (NL), Joe Brinkman (AL), Ed Montague (NL), Dale Ford (AL)
Series MVP: Ray Knight (New York)
Television: NBC (Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola announcing). In 2006 a "collector's edition" DVD box set containing the original telecasts of all seven games was issued by Major League Baseball and A&E Home Video.
Contents |
[edit] Background
The Mets finished the regular season with a 108-54 record, easily the best in baseball, and ran away with the National League East division, winning by 21½ games. They then won the 1986 National League Championship Series, 4 games to 2, over the Houston Astros. The talent of the team was colored by controversy during much of the season with scrappy players both on and off the field. On July 19, 1986, Mets infielder Tim Teufel and pitchers Rick Aguilera, Bobby Ojeda and Ron Darling were arrested after fighting with policemen outside a bar. Just three days later, they played a game which became a microcosm of their season when two Mets were ejected after a bench-clearing brawl. A total of three ejections in the game forced starting catcher Gary Carter to play third base, and the Mets to play a pitcher in the outfield, with lefthander Jesse Orosco and righty Roger McDowell alternating between the pitcher's mound and the outfield as needed. Despite the adversity, they still won the game in the 14th inning. [1] Former NL MVP George Foster was released a few days after the game, based partly on his refusal to move from the Mets' bench during the fracas.
The Red Sox went 95-66 during the season, winning the American League Eastern Division by 5½ games over their rivals, the New York Yankees. The gritty play of ALCS MVP Marty Barrett and Rich Gedman, clutch hitting from veterans Jim Rice, Wade Boggs, Don Baylor, Dwight Evans and Dave Henderson, and quality starting pitching, especially from 1986 American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, Bruce Hurst and Oil Can Boyd, were the main reasons the Red Sox were able to make it. The team's defining moment occurred in Game 5 of the 1986 American League Championship Series against the California Angels. With the Angels up 3 games to 1 in the best-of-7 series and with the Angels' top reliever Donnie Moore on the mound, the Sox needed a last-out miracle home run from Henderson to survive Game 5; they later loaded the bases and got the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly from Henderson off Moore in the 11th. The Angels never recovered from this blow, and with Boston capitalizing on some defensive miscues by the Angels, and clutch performances by some of their big name players (namely Rice and Clemens in the deciding game), the Red Sox clinched the pennant with their seven-game win.
[edit] Game-by-Game Recap
[edit] Game 1
October 18: Shea Stadium, Flushing, Queens
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| W: Bruce Hurst (1-0) L: Ron Darling (0-1) S: Calvin Schiraldi (1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: none | ||||||||||||
In the opener, Boston's Bruce Hurst dazzled the New Yorkers with his looping curve and forkball, allowing only four hits over eight innings. New York's Ron Darling was equally effective, yielding only an unearned run in the seventh inning on an error by second baseman Tim Teufel. That run proved to be the only run of the game, and just as they did in the League Championship Series against Houston, the Mets opened the series with a 1-0 defeat. (Mets legend Tom Seaver, as a member of the Red Sox, got a large standing ovation from the Shea Stadium fans during the Game 1 introductions. Seaver did not pitch in the series because of injury.)
[edit] Game 2
October 19: Shea Stadium, Flushing, Queens
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 18 | 0 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Steve Crawford (1-0) L: Dwight Gooden (0-1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: BOS – Dave Henderson (1), Dwight Evans (1) | ||||||||||||
After dropping the first game, everybody expected the Mets to come back strong, especially having Dwight Gooden on the mound. With his counterpart Roger Clemens taking the hill for Boston, Game Two figured to be a fabulous duel between baseball's top two pitchers. What it turned out to be was the poorest game of the series, the Red Sox crushing the Mets behind an 18-hit attack. Gooden's excellent pitching in the League Championship Series did not carry over to the World Series, as he lasted only five innings, yielding six runs and eight hits. Clemens was not much better himself, as he departed before five innings and didn't even earn the win.
[edit] Game 3
October 21: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 0 |
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| W: Bob Ojeda (1-0) L: Oil Can Boyd (0-1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYM – Lenny Dykstra (1) | ||||||||||||
The Mets regrouped in a big way, scoring four times in the first inning. Their rally began when Lenny Dykstra belted a lead-off homer off Boston's Oil Can Boyd to give the New Yorkers a lift. Boyd settled down after that, allowing no more runs until the seventh inning; however, the Red Sox were unable to mount a comeback as Bob Ojeda, the Mets' main man in the Calvin Schiraldi deal, pitched a gutsy game, allowing five hits for a win.
[edit] Game 4
October 22: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| W: Ron Darling (1-1) L: Al Nipper (0-1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYM – Gary Carter (1,2), Lenny Dykstra (2) | ||||||||||||
Boston skipper John McNamara took a gamble by starting Al Nipper. His earned run average of 5.38 was the highest for a series starter since Hal Gregg's 5.87 for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Despite his bloated ERA, Nipper performed well, allowing only three runs in six innings. It didn't matter, though, as Ron Darling continued to sparkle in the postseason, this time pitching the Mets to even the series at 2 apiece, featuring two home runs over the Green Monster by Gary Carter.
[edit] Game 5
October 23: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 1 |
| Boston | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| W: Bruce Hurst (2-0) L: Dwight Gooden (0-2) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYM – Tim Teufel (1) | ||||||||||||
The Red Sox halted the Mets' momentum behind another dominating performance from Bruce Hurst, leaving Boston just one game away from their first title since 1918. Hurst pitched a complete game, striking out six and allowing just two earned runs. Dwight Gooden had his second consecutive ineffective start for the Mets, being pulled after allowing nine hits and four runs in just four innings. The one bright spot for the Mets was a sharp outing from Sid Fernandez in relief, pitching four scoreless innings and allowing just three hits.
[edit] Game 6
October 25: Shea Stadium, Flushing, Queens
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 3 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| W: Rick Aguilera (1-0) L: Calvin Schiraldi (0-1) | |||||||||||||
| HR: BOS – Dave Henderson (2) | |||||||||||||
In Game 6 [2], Boston took a quick 2-0 lead on RBI base hits from Dwight Evans and Marty Barrett. The Mets tied the score in the fifth inning on a single from Ray Knight and a run-scoring double play by Danny Heep. An error by Knight led to Barrett scoring in the 7th to give Boston a 3-2 lead and it looked like Knight may be the goat of the World Series but the Mets rallied again in the 8th, tying the game on a Gary Carter sacrifice fly. The Mets missed a golden opportunity to win the game in the 9th. After a walk and an error put two men on with nobody out, Howard Johnson was sent to the plate to sacrifice the winning run to third. It was then, however, that Mets manager Davey Johnson made his most criticized decision of the series. After HoJo failed in his first bunt attempt, Davey took the bunt off and had HoJo swing away; HoJo ended up striking out, leaving runners at first and second with one out. Lee Mazzilli followed with a deep fly to left that would have won the game had the runner been at third, but it became the second out as runners held first and second. Lenny Dykstra then flied out for the third out, sending the game to extra innings.
In the top of the 10th inning, Dave Henderson homered to pull the Sox within three outs of a world championship, and Barrett singled in Wade Boggs to make it a 5-3 lead. When Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez were retired to start the bottom of the 10th, the championship seemed at hand.
Then, Carter singled to left. Pinch hitter Kevin Mitchell singled to center and Shea Stadium started to get loud. Knight went down in the count 0-2 bringing the Mets to their last strike but he hit the next pitch into center field for a single that scored Carter and advanced Mitchell to third base, making the score 5-4 and bringing Shea back to life. The Red Sox replaced pitcher Calvin Schiraldi with Bob Stanley to face left fielder Mookie Wilson. Wilson got the count to 2-1 but fouled the fourth pitch away to bring the Mets to their last strike again. He stayed alive fouling off two more Stanley pitches. Then, the seventh pitch sailed towards Wilson's knees sending him to the ground but the ball hit nothing and went straight to the backstop. Mitchell scored uncontested to tie the game and Shea Stadium erupted while Knight advanced to second base. The Red Sox were shocked to have blown the lead with the game all but over, much as they had done to the Angels in the ALCS almost two weeks prior.
When things calmed down, Wilson was still at the plate and fouled off two more pitches in a fantastic at bat. Finally, on the tenth pitch, Wilson hit a slow rolling ground ball up the first base line that appeared to be easy to field. The most pressing question in the few seconds was whether the lumbering Bill Buckner, with his chronic bad ankles and knees, would be able to beat the speedy Wilson to first base to finish the inning. The question would never be answered as the ball somehow snuck between his legs under his glove and rolled slowly into right field. Shea Stadium exploded and the Mets' players and fans looked as though they couldn't contain themselves. Knight tried to hold his helmet on while jumping towards home plate with the winning run in a scene that many Mets fans would never forget. Buckner and the stunned Red Sox slowly walked off the field.
Vin Scully's call of the play would quickly become an iconic one to baseball fans, with the normally calm Scully growing increasingly excited:
| So the winning run is at second base, with two outs, three and two to Mookie Wilson. (A) little roller up along first... behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight, and the Mets win it! |
[edit] Box score
[edit] Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox AB R H BI BB K PO A Boggs 3b 5 2 3 0 1 0 1 0 Barrett 2b 4 1 3 2 2 0 1 4 Buckner 1b 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 Rice lf 5 0 0 0 1 2 5 0 Evans rf 4 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 Gedman c 5 0 1 0 0 1 8 0 Henderson cf 5 1 2 1 0 0 5 0 Owen ss 4 1 3 0 0 1 2 2 Clemens p 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Greenwell ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Schiraldi p 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Stanley p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 42 5 13 5 5 7 29 8
FIELDING - DP: 1. E: Buckner (1), Evans (1), Gedman (2).
BATTING - 2B: Evans (1, off Ojeda); Boggs (3, off Aguilera). HR: Henderson (2, 10th inning off Aguilera 0 on, 0 out). SH: Owen (1, off McDowell). HBP: Buckner (1, by Aguilera). IBB: Boggs (1, by McDowell).
[edit] New York Mets
New York Mets AB R H BI BB K PO A Dykstra cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 Backman 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 4 Hernandez 1b 4 0 1 0 1 0 6 1 Carter c 4 1 1 1 0 1 9 0 Strawberry rf 2 1 0 0 2 0 5 0 Aguilera p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mitchell ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Knight 3b 4 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 Wilson lf 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 Santana ss 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Heep ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Elster ss 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 Johnson ph, ss 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Ojeda p 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 McDowell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Orosco p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mazzilli ph, rf 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 36 6 8 3 4 9 30 11
FIELDING - DP: 1. E: Knight (1), Elster (1).
BATTING - SH: Dykstra (2, off Schiraldi); Backman (1, off Schiraldi). SF: Carter (1, off Schiraldi). IBB: Hernandez (1, by Schiraldi).
BASERUNNING - SB: Strawberry 2 (3, 2nd base off Clemens/Gedman 2).
[edit] Pitching
Boston Red Sox IP H HR R ER BB K Clemens 7 4 0 2 1 2 8 Schiraldi L (0-1) 2.2 4 0 4 3 2 1 Stanley 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 9.2 8 0 6 4 4 9
New York Mets IP H HR R ER BB K Ojeda 6 8 0 2 2 2 3 McDowell 1.2 2 0 1 0 3 1 Orosco 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Aguilera W (1-0) 2 3 1 2 2 0 3 Totals 10 13 1 5 4 5 7
WP: Stanley (1). HBP: Aguilera (1, Buckner). IBB: Schiraldi (1, Hernandez); McDowell (2, Boggs).
Umpires: Ford (home), Kibler (1B), Evans (2B), Wendelstedt (3B), Brinkman (LF), Montague (RF)
Attendance: 55,078
Box score and play-by-play from Retrosheet
[edit] Game 7
October 27: Shea Stadium, Flushing, Queens
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | x | 8 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Roger McDowell (1-0) L: Calvin Schiraldi (0-2) | ||||||||||||
| HR: BOS – Dwight Evans (2), Rich Gedman (1); NYM – Ray Knight (1), Darryl Strawberry (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 7 was delayed a day due to rain, being played on Monday, October 27. The postponement seemed to be a major point in Boston's favor; not only would it give them an additional day to recover from their crushing defeat in Game 6, but it allowed them to bypass Oil Can Boyd (who had lost to the Mets in Game 3) in the seventh game and give series star Bruce Hurst the start. Things looked promising for Boston in the beginning. After two excellent outings, the Mets' Ron Darling struggled as the Red Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Sid Fernandez saved the Mets' hopes, however, by coming on in relief and retiring seven consecutive hitters, striking out four. Meanwhile, after being held to one hit through five innings, the Mets lineup finally figured out Hurst in the sixth, scoring three runs to tie the game. Ray Knight homered off Calvin Schiraldi leading off the seventh to give the Mets their first lead. The Mets scored two more runs in the inning to go up 6-3. A two-run double in the eighth cut the Met lead to 6-5, but Sox reliever Al Nipper gave back those runs in the bottom of the frame on a Strawberry leadoff home run and a Jesse Orosco RBI single. Orosco worked a 1-2-3 ninth to clinch the title, whiffing Marty Barrett for the last out. Final score: Mets 8, Red Sox 5.
Due to the destruction wreaked by Mets fans storming the field when the team clinched the division championship at home, security was tight at Shea Stadium for Game 7 and the crowd was well-behaved in their celebration of the city's first baseball world championship in eight years.
[edit] The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Bill Buckner
ESPN Classic's The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... series featured Bill Buckner. Here are the reasons they gave for not blaming him:
5) Roger Clemens' mysterious exit from Game 6: Nobody knows for sure if Clemens asked to be taken out of the game or if John McNamara pulled him on his own. Whatever the cause, it definitely put added strain on the bullpen.
4) Calvin Schiraldi: The Red Sox reliever lost both Game 6 and Game 7 as a reliever. He had been one strike away from winning the series in Game 6.
3) Rich Gedman and Bob Stanley: They got their signals crossed, resulting in the game tying wild pitch in the dramatic 10th inning of Game 6.
2) Mookie Wilson's speed: Wilson was a speedy player and given how far from the base Buckner was and adding to that the fact that Buckner was playing with sore knees and was hobbled greatly, even if he had fielded the ball cleanly, he probably wouldn't have beaten Wilson to the bag. Indeed this point is highlighted by Vin Scully's immediate call: "Behind the bag", calling attention to Buckner's fielding position.
1) John McNamara: The Red Sox manager made several poor decisions in the World Series:
- Removing Clemens from Game 6 too early
- Pinch-hitting Mike Greenwell for Clemens instead of Don Baylor with a runner on second. Greenwell was a major-league rookie in 1986, while Baylor was a former MVP who hit 31 homers that year.
- Not replacing Bill Buckner with Dave Stapleton, which he usually did toward the end of close games.
- Bringing Schiraldi in Game 7 two days later to pitch after he had been shelled in Game 6.
- The Best of the Rest included the fourteen runners left on base in Game 6, Oil Can Boyd jinxing the team, and the announcement on the scoreboard jinxing the team.
[edit] Trivia
- With the Boston Red Sox one out away from winning the World Series in the bottom of the tenth inning of Game 6, the Shea Stadium scoreboard did flash the message, "CONGRATULATIONS RED SOX, 1986 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS." In addition, NBC's Bob Costas was already in the Red Sox clubhouse in preparation for their championship celebration.
- Bruce Hurst would have been named the World Series Most Valuable Player if the Red Sox had held on. Hurst was the Red Sox's starting pitcher in Game 7. When the Mets came back to win, Ray Knight was named MVP instead.
- Bruce Hurst is an anagram for "B. Ruth Curse"
- All season long, Roger Clemens followed a routine of not shaving on days he pitched. He shaved soon after being removed from Game 6, hoping that he would look good for the ultimately aborted Red Sox post game championship celebration. Several Mets noticed this and became angered by it.
- Just prior to Jesse Orosco striking out Marty Barrett to clinch the World Championship for the Mets, a pink smoke bomb was released in center field.
- Just prior to the start of the World Series, Bill Buckner during an interview for Boston television, jokingly brought up the fear of allowing the other team to score the winning run after letting the ball go through his legs. This now unintentionally ominous interview resurfaced during an episode of ESPN Classic's Battlelines.
- Throughout the series, NBC announcers Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola made repeated references to the fact that Bill Buckner's legs were not 100% healthy. On more than one occasion, Scully referred to Buckner as a "one-legged first baseman."
- Only two players on the Mets' 24-man roster had been on a club that played in a World Series: Keith Hernandez (with St. Louis in 1982) and Howard Johnson (with Detroit in 1984).
- In Game 3, the Mets' Bob Ojeda became the first pitcher ever to start a World Series game against the team he played for the previous year.
- Before being called to pinch-hit in Game 6, Kevin Mitchell was busy making flight arrangements in order to go home to San Diego. According to Mitchell, just prior to Bob Stanley's wild pitch, Mets third base coach Bud Harrelson had informed Mitchell to be prepared for a ball in the dirt.
- Keith Hernandez claimed to Bob Costas during the clubhouse celebration that he walked into manager Davey Johnson's office to drink a Budweiser during the ninth inning of Game 6. (He later explained that considering all the Mets had gone through that year, he simply couldn't bear to watch the Red Sox celebrate on the Mets' home field.) Hernandez, who originally accepted defeat, remained in Johnson's office during the rally explaining in his autobiography, "I wasn't about to leave my good-luck position".
- According to sports journalist Dick Schaap, while approaching an elevator sometime after Game 6, he caught newly elected National League president Bart Giamatti, a Red Sox fan, mutter profanities out of frustration for Red Sox manager John McNamara's decision to keep a battered Bill Buckner in the late innings rather than put in Dave Stapleton for defensive purposes as he had done many times that season.
- McNamara also received criticism for not pinch-hitting for Clemens with veteran slugger Don Baylor, but with rookie Mike Greenwell, who struck out on three pitches.
- When a Red Sox victory in Game 6 seemed certain, third base umpire Harry Wendelstedt told Wade Boggs to give him his cap as soon as the game was over. Wendelstedt's reasoning, according to Boggs, was that he always collected caps from teams that had just won a ball game. Boggs brushed off the request, warning Wendelstedt that the game was not over yet.
- Postponed by rain, Game 7 was televised opposite a Monday Night Football game between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants at the Meadowlands. NBC received a national Nielsen rating of 38.9 for Game 7 versus an 8.8 for ABC's football telecast. Local fans at the football game kept an eye on the electronic scoreboard which updated the crowd on Game 7. Midway through the third quarter the scoreboard announced that the Mets had tied the game in the sixth inning. Many in the crowd began shouting "Let's Go Mets."
- From 1976-1985, the designated hitter rule had been used in even-numbered years, and completely excluded in odd numbered years regardless of the venue. Beginning with the 1986 World Series, a new rule was implemented whereby the DH would be used in all games played in the American League team's home stadium, with pitchers batting in games played at the National League venue.
- 1986 was the second consecutive year that a team won the World Series after losing the first two games at home. It was also the second consecutive year that one team was three outs away from being eliminated in Game 6, came back and won, and then won Game 7 as well. (This had happened the previous year between the series champ Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals. Ten years later, the New York Yankees would win four straight against the Atlanta Braves after losing the first two at home).
- The run scored by the Red Sox in the second inning of Game 5 marked the first time that the home team had a lead in any game. Similarly, the Mets failed to lead in any home game in the postseason until the seventh inning of Game 7, winning three games on hits in the final at bat after not leading throughout the game.
- The Saturday Night Live episode scheduled for October 25, 1986, hosted by Rosanna Arquette, was not aired until November 8. NBC was broadcasting Game 6 of the 1986 World Series on the evening of October 25; the game entered extra innings, causing that night's broadcast of SNL to be first delayed and then cancelled. The show was performed for the studio audience starting at 1:30 a.m. Eastern Time, recorded, and broadcast two weeks later.
- Game 6, a film by Michael Hoffman released in March 2006, uses the eponymous World Series game as a focal point.
- Gary Carter has said that he was extremely confident that he was going to get a hit off of Calvin Schiraldi in the bottom of the 10th in Game 6. Carter and Schiraldi were teammates for the Mets the year before. Carter claimed that during a game in Philadelphia against the Phillies Schiraldi was on the mound as the Mets were losing soundly. Carter went on to accuse Schiraldi of having the body language (and therefore, lack of "killer instinct") of a person who was scared during that particular game. Schiraldi responded to Carter's accusations by boldly writing Carter off as a liar. But during an interview with ESPN after Schiraldi saved Game 1, he acknowledged that he was "scared to death."
- Ray Knight's World Series heroics were his last accomplishments as a Met. His contract expired at the end of 1986, and the Mets chose not to renew it. Knight ended up signing with the Baltimore Orioles, marking the first time that a World Series MVP began the following season with a different team.
- Ray Knight's tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning of Game 7 was the 11th homer hit overall in the series, but the first by a team in its home stadium.
- Boston manager John McNamara was named American League Manager of the Year after his widely criticized managerial decisions in the series. (The votes for the award, however, were tabulated before the World Series was played.)
- In 1986, the New York Mets had the best Major League Baseball regular-season record in the 1980s (108-54).
- Chicago Cubs first baseman Leon Durham made a similar error two years earlier in the deciding game of the 1984 National League Championship Series when he saw a game-tying ground ball go through his legs in a game eventually won by the Padres. Buckner was with that Cubs team, although he was traded in midseason and was not with the team during the postseason.
- In the first inning of Game 6, parachutist Michael Sergio landed in the middle of Shea Stadium with a banner waving off his back that read "Go Mets!" during Bill Buckner's first at-bat.
- Simply Amazin', the story of the 1986 New York Mets, narrated by Mets play-by-play Gary Cohen, was aired on SNY on June 29, 2006, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Mets' 1986 championship season. The one hour story consisted of player and organizational memories of the 1986 season.
- During the 1986 season, the New York Mets had 4 bench-clearing brawls.
- Mets shortstop Rafael Santana was the only Dominican-born player to play for the Mets in 1986.
- Tom Seaver, the Mets' star pitcher from the 1969 Miracle Mets, played 16 games for the Boston Red Sox in 1986 posting 5 wins and 7 losses, 3.80 ERA, and 72 Stikeouts. He did not play in the series.
- Mets manager Davey Johnson played against the Mets in the 1969 World Series with the Baltimore Orioles, and, ironically, he flied out to end the series and complete the Mets' remarkable upset. He was also teammates with Boston's Don Baylor on the Orioles in the early 1970s.
- Darrell Johnson, who led the Red Sox to the American League pennant in 1975, was a scout for the Mets in 1986.
- In 1987 Mets' first baseman Keith Hernandez would be named the very first Mets' team captain.
- After 1986, four Mets from the 1986 Championship team, when on to win the World Series with other clubs, Darrly Strawberry (New York Yankees 1996-1999), Dwight Gooden (New York Yankees 1996), Rick Aguilera (Minnesota Twins 1991), and Jesse Orosco (Los Angeles Dodgers 1988).
- If the Red Sox had held on to win Game 6, Red Sox's Marty Barret was going to be named "Player of the Game", ironically he would be the final out of Game 7 two nights later.
- Mets' Gary Carter was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in August 2001, he is also a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, he was inducted in July 2003.
[edit] Quotes of the Series
| And it's going to go to the backstop- here comes Mitchell to score the tying run and Ray Knight is on second base! -- Vin Scully (NBC SPORTS) calling Mets' pinch hitter Kevin Mitchell scoring the tying run on Bob Stanley's wild pitch. |
| ...So the winning run is on second base, with two outs, three and two to Mookie Wilson. Little roller up along first; BEHIND THE BAG! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it! -- NBC Sports play-by-play announcer Vin Scully |
| "...and a ground ball, trickling, its a fair ball..gets by Buckner!! Rounding third, Knight! The Mets will win the ball game! The Mets win! They win!" "Unbelievable, the Red Sox in STUNNED DISBELIEF!" -- Bob Murphy and Gary Thorne, respectively, on WHN Radio, radio home of the New York Mets. |
| He struck him out! He struck him out! The Mets have won the World Series! And they're crowd- jamming and crowding all over Jesse Orosco! He's somewhere at the bottom of that pile. He struck out Marty Barrett. The dream has come true! The Mets have won the World Series, coming from behind to win the seventh ballgame. -- Bob Murphy calling the final out of the World Series on New York Mets' WHN radio. |
| If one picture is worth a thousand words, then you have seen about a million words, but more than that you have seen an absolutely bizarre finish of game 6 of the 1986 World Series, the Mets are not only alive, they are well, and they play the Red Sox in Game 7 tomorrow. -- NBC's Vin Scully 3 minutes after Bill Buckner's error. |
| Got 'em!!! -- NBC's Vin Scully calling the final out of Game 7. |
| The worst nightmare is letting the winning run score on a ground ball going through your legs..... -- Red Sox's Bill Buckner being interviewed in a Boston TV sports broadasting segment on October 7, 1986. |
| And that's one of the many reasons.... an unexpected guest at Shea Stadium! -- Vin Scully (NBC) play-by-play, while parachutist Micheal Sergio landed behind the pitcher's mound at Shea Stadium in Game 6. |
| Can you believe this ball game at Shea!? -- Vin Scully (NBC Sports) during the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 6. |
| Daaaryyl, Daaaryyl, Daaaryyl! ---- Red Sox fans mocking Mets outfielder Darryl Strawberry in Game 5 at Fenway Park. |
| It is so noisy at Shea you can't even hear the airplanes --Vin Scully NBC Sports after Mets' third baseman Ray Knight hit the lead off home run in the bottom of the 7th of Game 7. |
| Caaalviiin, Caaalviiin, Caaalviiin!---- Met Fans serenating Red Sox relief pitcher Calvin Schiraldi after giving up a lead off homerun to Mets' third baseman Ray Knight in the bottom of the 7th inning of Game 7. |
| It's so quiet in New York you can almost here Boston.----Joe Garagiola in the top of 10th inning of Game 6 after Red Sox's Dave Henderson hit a dramatic homerun. |
[edit] External links
- 1986 NLCS: Game 1
- 1986 ALCS: Game 5
- 1986 NLCS: Game 6
- 1986 World Series by Baseball Almanac
- History of the World Series - 1986
- 1986 New York Mets
- 1986 Boston Red Sox
- Game 7, Marty Barrett vs. Jesse Orosco: NBC TV version - Vin Scully & Joe Garagiola
- Good To The Very Last Out
- Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: E-3 on Bill Buckner
- Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Dave Henderson's Home Run
- Pearlman, Jeff (2004). The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform, and Maybe the Best. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-050732-2.
- The Ultimate Mets Database - 1986 World Series
- Re-creating a classic
- Ghost of World Series 1986 still resonates
[edit] Mookie Wilson's at bat
| Modern Major League Baseball World Series 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 |
