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.^[1][2][3] The NL champion Mets eventually beat the AL champion Red Sox, four games to three.

[edit] Background

[edit] New York Mets

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.^[4][5][6] 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.^[7] 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.

[edit] Boston Red Sox

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.^[8] 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.

[edit] Summary

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

†: postponed from October 26 due to rain

[edit] Matchups

[edit] Game 1

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

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.)

[edit] Game 2

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

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.

[edit] Game 3

Tuesday, October 21, 1986 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts

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.

[edit] Game 4

Wednesday, October 22, 1986 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts

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.

[edit] Game 5

Thursday, October 23, 1986 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts

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.

[edit] Game 6

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

In Game 6,^[16] 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 Red Sox brought in closer Calvin Schiraldi to replace Clemens for a potential two-inning save. It was a move that failed to pay off in two ways, as the Mets tied the game on a Gary Carter sacrifice fly. However, the Mets would get no more as Darryl Strawberry flew out with Lenny Dykstra, the go-ahead run, on third and the inning came to an end. After the inning, however, Strawberry was removed from the game as part of a double switch which saw Lee Mazzilli take his spot in right field instead of Mookie Wilson's in center.

In the Red Sox ninth, Rick Aguilera faced off against Evans, Jim Rice, and Rich Gedman. Rice led off the inning by striking out. Evans reached on a Kevin Elster error, but Aguilera got out of it by inducing Gedman into a double play. The Mets threatened again early, as Knight reached on a walk and Wilson laid down a bunt that Schiraldi misplayed, throwing to second to try to get Knight but throwing wide. However, Schiraldi escaped further damage by striking out pinch hitter Howard Johnson and getting Mazzilli and Dykstra to fly out to send the game to extra innings.

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

In the top of the tenth inning, Aguilera's second pitch to Henderson was driven out of the park to left field to give Boston a 4–3 lead. After striking out Spike Owen and Schiraldi back to back, Wade Boggs doubled and Barrett followed with a single to drive him in. This made the score 5–3 and with Barrett now in scoring position having advanced on the throw home, Aguilera hit Bill Buckner to put two runners on. Rice then responded with a flyout to end the inning, but the Mets were now two runs behind entering their half of the tenth.

For the home tenth, John McNamara began with two decisions that would later come into question. He left Schiraldi on the mound for a third inning of work, something he was not used to doing, and sent Buckner out to play first base instead of replacing him with Dave Stapleton as he usually would do late in games due to Buckner's bad ankles (McNamara saying that he felt Buckner deserved to be on the field)^[17]. The move initially did not cause any problems, as Schiraldi retired