1986 World Series

1986 World Series

Team (Wins) Manager Season New York Mets (4) Davey Johnson 108–54, .667, GA: 21½ Boston Red Sox (3) John McNamara 95–66, .590, GA: 5½
Dates:	October 18–October 27
MVP:	Ray Knight (New York)
Television:	NBC
TV announcers:	Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola
Radio:	CBS
Radio announcers:	Jack Buck and Sparky Anderson
Umpires:	John Kibler (NL), Jim Evans (AL), Harry Wendelstedt (NL), Joe Brinkman (AL), Ed Montague (NL), Dale Ford (AL)
Hall of Famers:	Mets: Gary Carter. Red Sox: Wade Boggs, Jim Rice.
ALCS:	Boston Red Sox over California Angels (4–3)
NLCS:	New York Mets over Houston Astros (4–2)
World Series Program
< 1985 World Series 1987 >

The 1986 World Series pitted the New York Mets against the Boston Red Sox. It was cited in the legend of the "Curse of the Bambino" to explain the error by Bill Buckner in Game 6 that allowed the Mets to extend the series to a seventh game. The NL champion Mets eventually beat the AL champion Red Sox, four games to three.

Background

New York Mets

Main article: 1986 New York Mets season

The New York Mets finished the regular season with a 108–54 record, winning the National League East division by 21 ¹⁄₂ games over division rival Philadelphia Phillies. They then won a tightly contested 1986 National League Championship Series, four games to two, over the Houston Astros, clinching the series in a sixteen-inning Game 6. 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 in Houston. 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 left-hander 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 fourteenth inning on a three-run homer by Howard Johnson. 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.

Boston Red Sox

Main article: 1986 Boston Red Sox season

Boston went 95–66 during the season, winning the American League East division by 5 ¹⁄₂ games over their biggest nemesis, the New York Yankees, the first time that the Yankees finished second in the standings to them. The gritty play of eventual 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, pushed the Red Sox to the World Series. The team's defining moment occurred in Game 5 of the 1986 American League Championship Series against the California Angels. With the Angels leading three games to one in the best-of-seven series and their 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 eleventh. 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 a seven-game win.

Summary

NL New York Mets (4) vs. AL Boston Red Sox (3)

Game	Date	Score	Location	Time	Attendance
1	October 18	Boston Red Sox – 1, New York Mets – 0	Shea Stadium	2:59	55,076
2	October 19	Boston Red Sox – 9, New York Mets – 3	Shea Stadium	3:36	55,063
3	October 21	New York Mets – 7, Boston Red Sox – 1	Fenway Park	2:58	33,595
4	October 22	New York Mets – 6, Boston Red Sox – 2	Fenway Park	3:22	33,920
5	October 23	New York Mets – 2, Boston Red Sox – 4	Fenway Park	3:09	34,010
6	October 25	Boston Red Sox – 5, New York Mets – 6 (10 innings)	Shea Stadium	4:02	55,078
7	October 27†	Boston Red Sox – 5, New York Mets – 8	Shea Stadium	3:11	55,032

†: postponed from October 26 due to rain

Matchups

Game 1

Saturday, October 18, 1986 at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York

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
WP: Bruce Hurst (1–0)   LP: Ron Darling (0–1)   Sv: Calvin Schiraldi (1)

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 when Mets second baseman Tim Teufel committed an error eerily similar to the one committed by Felix Millan in Game 1 of the 1973 World Series that allowed two unearned runs to score in Oakland's 2–1 victory over the Mets. 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.)

Game 2

Sunday, October 19, 1986 at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York

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
WP: Steve Crawford (1–0)   LP: Dwight Gooden (0–1)   Sv: Bob Stanley (1) Home runs: BOS: Dave Henderson (1), Dwight Evans (1) NYM: None

After dropping the first game, the Mets turned to young phenom Dwight Gooden in what figured to be a classic matchup with Boston's own young pitching sensation Roger Clemens. That duel never materialized, as Gooden was shelled for six runs on eight hits over five innings, and Clemens was pulled before pitching five complete innings and did not earn the win.

Game 3

Tuesday, October 21, 1986 at Fenway Park in 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
WP: Bob Ojeda (1–0)   LP: Oil Can Boyd (0–1) Home runs: NYM: Lenny Dykstra (1) BOS: None

The Mets bounced back from their early-series sluggishness in the top of the first inning, when Lenny Dykstra led off with a home run to score the first of four runs for the Mets in the inning. After the rocky start, Red Sox starter Oil Can Boyd settled down, but Bob Ojeda pitched well and Boston was unable to overcome their early deficit. In his first at bat in the World Series, Don Baylor almost homered in the second inning but it turned out to be a double off the Green Monster.

Game 4

Wednesday, October 22, 1986 at Fenway Park in 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
WP: Ron Darling (1–1)   LP: Al Nipper (0–1)   Sv: Jesse Orosco (1) Home runs: NYM: Gary Carter 2 (2), Lenny Dykstra (2) BOS: None

Gary Carter hit two home runs over the Green Monster and Ron Darling (who grew up near Boston), continued his masterful performance throughout the 1986 postseason with seven shutout innings as the Mets evened the series at two games apiece.

Game 5

Thursday, October 23, 1986 at Fenway Park in 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
WP: Bruce Hurst (2–0)   LP: Dwight Gooden (0–2) Home runs: NYM: Tim Teufel (1) BOS: None

Mets ace Dwight Gooden once again struggled, this time surrendering four runs on nine hits in just four innings. Despite a strong relief effort from Sid Fernandez, Bruce Hurst was dominant again, allowing ten hits and just two runs in a complete game win to give Boston a 3–2 series lead heading back to New York.

Game 6

Saturday, October 25, 1986 at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York

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
WP: Rick Aguilera (1–0)   LP: Calvin Schiraldi (0–1) Home runs: BOS: Dave Henderson (2) NYM: None

In Game 6, 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 seventh to give Boston a 3–2 lead.

In the top of the eighth, the Red Sox had Dave Henderson on second with one out. Manager John McNamara sent rookie Mike Greenwell to pinch hit for Roger Clemens in an effort to match Greenwell, a left-handed batter, against the Mets' dominant short-relief man Roger McDowell even as righty slugger Don Baylor sat on the bench; Greenwell struck out and the Sox scored no runs that inning. The Mets tied the game on a Gary Carter sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning. The score remained tied through the ninth inning, forcing the game to go into extra innings.

In the top of the tenth inning, Dave Henderson homered to give the Sox a lead, and Barrett singled in Wade Boggs to make it 5–3. When Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez were retired to start the bottom of the tenth, the Red Sox were one out away from the series victory. The scoreboard in right-center field actually had flashed, briefly, "Congratulations, Boston Red Sox, 1986 World Champions."

Game 6: Ray Knight (not pictured) scores the winning run as Bill Buckner and Bob Stanley watch Mookie Wilson's slow roller.

Down to their final out, the Mets would go on to stage a historic comeback. With the count 2–1, Carter singled to left field. Darryl Strawberry's spot would have come up next, however Mets manager Davey Johnson had removed the slugger earlier in the game through a double switch. With pitcher Rick Aguilera due up, Johnson sent Kevin Mitchell to the plate to pinch hit. Mitchell singled to center field and Carter advanced to second.

Mitchell was followed by Knight, who was down to a final strike that would've won the Red Sox the game and the series. On an 0–2 pitch from Calvin Schiraldi, Knight hit the next pitch into center field for a single that scored Carter and advanced Mitchell to third base, bringing the score to 5–4 and leaving the tying run only 90 feet (27 m) away.

Red Sox manager John McNamara had seen enough, and with left fielder Mookie Wilson coming to the plate he removed Schiraldi in favor of Bob Stanley. On the seventh pitch of the at bat, with a 2–2 count, Stanley's pitch was too far inside and slipped past catcher Rich Gedman for a wild pitch, sending Wilson to the ground and allowing Mitchell to score from third base with the tying run. Knight moved up to second base on the wild pitch. With the count 3–2, Wilson fouled off the eighth and ninth pitches from Stanley. Meanwhile, Ray Knight was straying far from second base when Boston shortstop Spike Owen sneaked in behind him. Had Stanley glanced back at second, he would have easily picked Knight off.

Wilson stepped back in with a full count and the winning run in scoring position. On the tenth pitch of the at-bat, Wilson hit a slow ground ball up the first base line that appeared to be playable for Boston first baseman Bill Buckner. As the speedy Wilson busted out of the box, the ball sneaked between the legs of Buckner, who was playing on two bad ankles. The ball skirted around his glove and rolled slowly into right field. Knight grabbed his helmet as he jumped on home plate to win the game in an iconic image of one of the most famous comebacks in World Series history.^{[citation needed]} The irony is that, throughout the playoffs, whenever the Red Sox had a late inning lead, Buckner was usually pulled for Dave Stapleton for defensive purposes. This time, Red Sox manager John McNamara left Buckner in the game, possibly so he could be on the field for the final out if the Red Sox won.

Vin Scully's call of the play on NBC Television 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!

”

Scully then remained silent for more than three minutes, letting the pictures and the crowd noise tell the story. Scully resumed with:

“

If one picture is worth a thousand words, you have seen about a million words, but more than that, you have seen an absolutely bizarre finish to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The Mets are not only alive, they are well, and they will play the Red Sox in Game 7 tomorrow!

”

Bruce Hurst was set to be named the World Series MVP minutes before the Mets comeback. The award would eventually be presented after Game 7 (see below) to Knight.

In 2011, MLB Network ranked this as the third greatest game of the preceding fifty years.

Game 7

Monday, October 27, 1986 at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York

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
WP: Roger McDowell (1–0)   LP: Calvin Schiraldi (0–2)   Sv: Jesse Orosco (2) Home runs: BOS: Dwight Evans (2), Rich Gedman (1) NYM: Ray Knight (1), Darryl Strawberry (1)

Game 7 was delayed a day because of rain and was played on Monday, October 27. The postponement seemed to work in Boston's favor—in addition to giving Boston an additional day to recover from the ending of Game 6, Red Sox manager John McNamara was able to start Bruce Hurst on three days' rest and give him a chance for his third Series win, bypassing Oil Can Boyd after his struggles in Game 3.

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, however, delivered another clutch relief performance, retiring seven consecutive hitters while 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 by Dwight Evans in the eighth cut the Mets lead to a single run, but Sox reliever Al Nipper gave back those runs in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff home run by Darryl Strawberry and an RBI single by closer Jesse Orosco. Orosco worked a 1-2-3 ninth to clinch the title, striking out Marty Barrett swinging for the final out.

After striking out Barrett, Orosco then provided one of the most memorable images of that World Series, which would become an iconic image to the Mets and their fans: he threw his glove way up in the air and immediately dropped to his knees while catcher Gary Carter ran out to the mound to embrace him. The photo was taken by Mets photographer George Kalinsky. For many years, this was the final scene shown during the ending credits of the syndicated Major League Baseball news show This Week in Baseball.

This was the Mets' second championship, and their first since 1969. For the city of New York, this was their first World Series championship and their first major professional sports championship since the Yankees won in 1978. For the New York metropolitan area, this was their first major professional sports championship since the New York Islanders swept the 1983 Stanley Cup Finals. The NFL's New York Giants would follow the Mets' World Series triumph by winning Super Bowl XXI at the conclusion of the 1986 NFL season.

Composite box

1986 World Series (4–3): New York Mets (N.L.) over Boston Red Sox (A.L.)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
New York Mets	4	0	2	3	3	3	7	6	1	3	32	65	5
Boston Red Sox	1	5	5	1	4	0	4	4	1	2	27	69	4
Total attendance: 321,774   Average attendance: 45,967
Winning player’s share: $86,254   Losing player’s share: $74,986

Television ratings

NBC's broadcast of Game 7 (which went up against a Monday Night Football game between the Washington Redskins and New York Giants on ABC) garnered a Nielsen rating of 38.9 and a 55 share, making it the highest-rated single World Series game to date.

In popular culture

The collapse of the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 and Game 7 prompted a series of articles by George Vecsey of the New York Times, in which he mentions a "Babe Ruth Curse." Although it had long been noted that the selling of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees had marked the beginning of a down period in the Red Sox's fortunes, this was one of the first instances, if not the first, in which mention of a "curse" was made. The term "Curse of the Bambino" was not in common use by the press during the 1920s, nor can it be found through the 1970s, as a search of historical newspapers will illustrate. In fact, even though Vecsey's articles mention a "Babe Ruth Curse," the New York Times did not use the phrase "Curse of the Bambino" until 1990, the year that Dan Shaughnessy's book of the same name and a Boston Globe article about it were published. Shaughnessy's book The Curse of the Bambino helped that phrase become a key part of the Red Sox lore in the media thereafter.

The dramatic sixth game was the subject of Game 6, a 2005 independent film starring Michael Keaton, based on a 1991 screenplay by novelist Don DeLillo.

In his song "Faith and Fear in Flushing Meadows", twee/folk artist Harry Breitner makes mention of Ray Knight and Mookie Wilson.

NBC's telecast of the Series ended with the song "Limelight" from Stereotomy, penultimate album of The Alan Parsons Project.

The Series, and especially Game 6, were referenced in the Seinfeld episode "The Boyfriend", which also guest starred former Mets player Keith Hernandez.

In the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode "Mister Softee," Bill Buckner appeared as a guest star, and mocked his famous 1986 mishap by missing a crucial catch of a Mookie Wilson-signed baseball. As the episode being concluded, he redeemed himself by catching a baby thrown from a burning building.

See also

• Michael Sergio - a fan who was arrested and imprisoned for parachuting into Shea Stadium during Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, wearing a sign proclaiming "Let's Go Mets".

References

• Neft, David S.; Richard M. Cohen (1990). The World Series. 1st ed.. New York: St Martins. pp. 412–418. 
• Forman, Sean L.. "1986 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information.. http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1986_WS.shtml. Retrieved 2007-12-09. 

External links

• 1986 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1986 World Series at Baseball Almanac
• 1986 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
• The 1986 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) at Retrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1986 at The SportingNews. Archived from the original on 2008.
• 1986 NLCS: Game 1 at MLB.com
• 1986 ALCS: Game 5 at MLB.com
• 1986 NLCS: Game 6 at MLB.com
• Good To The Very Last Out at SI.com
• 1986 New York Mets at baseballlibrary.com
• 1986 Boston Red Sox at baseballlibrary.com
• Game 7, Marty Barrett vs. Jesse Orosco: NBC TV version - Vin Scully & Joe Garagiola
• The Ultimate Mets Database - 1986 World Series
  • Game 6 Memories
  • Game 7 Memories
• Re-creating a classic
• Ghost of World Series 1986 still resonates
• Mets Win World Series - Bob Murphy Call

Mookie Wilson's at bat

• (Audio call)
• NBC TV version with audio from WHN - Bob Murphy