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.
Umpires: John Kibler (NL), Jim Evans (AL), Harry Wendelstedt (NL), Joe Brinkman (AL), Ed Montague (NL), Dale Ford (AL)
Series MVP: Ray Knight
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Getting there
The Mets had been in a swirl of controversy during the entire season thanks in part to their edgy and rowdy players, but the team went 108-54 during the regular season, easily the best record in baseball, finished the season 20 games ahead of the next National League East division contender, and won the 1986 National League Championship Series, 4 games to 2, over the Houston Astros.
The Red Sox, on the other hand, went 95-66 during the season, and played a back-and-forth series against the California Angels in the 1986 American League Championship Series. All but eliminated, the Red Sox stormed back to win the pennant (breaking the hearts of Angels fans as a result) and advance to the World Series.
The Red Sox won the first two games of the Series in New York, but the Mets won the next two in Boston. Game 5 went to the Red Sox, leaving them just one game away from their first title since 1918.
Game 6, October 25
In Game 6 [1] (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_86ws_gm6_bosnym), at Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, 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, but again the Mets rallied, tying the game on a Gary Carter sacrifice fly. The 3-3 tie forced extra innings.
In the top of the 10th inning, Dave Henderson homered to pull the Sox within 3 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 in the bottom of the 10th, the championship seemed at hand.
Then, Carter singled to left. Pinch hitter Kevin Mitchell singled to center. Knight hit a single that scored Carter and advanced Mitchell to third base, making the score 5-4. The Red Sox replaced pitcher Calvin Schiraldi with Bob Stanley to face left fielder Mookie Wilson. Stanley quickly got two strikes on Wilson. Then, with Boston one strike away from a championship, Stanley threw a wild pitch, and Mitchell scored to tie the game, 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. Wilson fouled off a few pitches, then he hit a roller up the first base line and through the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner. Knight scored the winning run from second, and the Mets stormed the field, as a dejected Buckner walked off.
Line score
123 456 789 10 R H E Red Sox 110 000 100 2 | 5 13 3 Mets 000 020 010 3 | 6 8 2
Box score
Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox AB R H RBI 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).
New York Mets
New York Mets AB R H RBI 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).
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 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 (http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B10250NYN1986.htm)
Aftermath
Game 7 was delayed a day due to rain, but on Monday, October 27, the Mets came from behind again to win the game 8-5, and claim their second World Series title.
Due to the destruction wreaked by Met 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 (by New York standards) in their celebration of the city's first baseball world championship in eight years. It would take a decade for a New York team to bring the winner's trophy back.
Trivia
- Bruce Hurst would've 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 (which was pushed back a day due to a rain-out) even though Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd was originally supposed to start.
- Roger Clemens shaved soon after being removed from Game 6. The newly clean-shaven Clemens had hoped that he would look good for the ultimately aborted Red Sox post game championship celebration. In addition, NBC's Bob Costas was already in the Red Sox's clubhouse in preparation for what was preceived to be the Red Sox's championship celebration.
- Just prior to Jesse Orosco striking out Marty Barrett to clinch the World Championship for the Mets, a pink smoke bomb was released in centerfield.
- 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 ominious interview resurfaced during an episode of ESPN Classic's Battlelines.
- 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 9th inning of Game 6. Hernandez, who originally accepted defeat, eventually came to the conclusion that Johnson's chair that Hernandez was sitting in was a good luck charm.
- According to sports journalist Dick Schaap, while approaching an elevator sometime after Game 6, he caught newly elected National League president Bart Giamatti, who was a major 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.
- When it seemed like the Red Sox winning Game 6 would be a foregone conclusion, 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.
- A Monday Night Football game between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants directly opposed Game 7 of the World Series. This was not done intentionally: Game 7 was originally scheduled for Sunday night but was postponed due to rain.
- This was the first World Series in which the designated hitter rule was used when the game was played in the American League team's home stadium, with pitchers batting in games played at the National League venue. From 1976-1985 the DH rule had been used in even-numbered years.
External links
- 1986 NLCS | Game 1 (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_86nlcs_gm1_nymhou)
- 1986 ALCS | Game 5 (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_86alcs_gm5_boscal)
- 1986 NLCS | Game 6 (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_86nlcs_gm6_nymhou)
- 1986 World Series by Baseball Almanac (http://baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1986ws.shtml)
- History of the World Series - 1986 (http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/worldseries/1986.html)
- 1986 New York Mets (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/teams/1986mets.stm)
- 1986 Boston Red Sox (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/teams/1986redsox.stm)
- Game 7, Marty Barrett vs. Jesse Orosco: NBC TV version - Vin Scully & Joe Garagiola (http://members.aol.com/msimon6986/nbcg7.htm)
- Good To The Very Last Out (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/features/1997/wsarchive/1986.html)
- Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: E-3 on Bill Buckner (http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/25moments/8.html)
- Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Dave Henderson's Home Run (http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/25moments/24.html)
Mookie Wilson's at bat
- CBS Radio version - Jack Buck & Sparky Anderson (http://members.aol.com/msimon6986/cbsradio.htm)
- NBC TV version - Vin Scully & Joe Garagiola (http://members.aol.com/msimon6986/mets.htm)