Remembering Mets History (1986) World Series Game Six!
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Saturday October 25th 1986 World Series Game Six- Shea Stadium, New York. from centerfield: This game was probably arguably the greatest Mets game of them all. It was most definitely the greatest Mets post season comeback of them all & one of the most emotionally draining one of all. I am proud to say, as a true lifelong Met fan, centerfieldmaz was there that night.
After seeing that fans were setting up TV’s and watching the game in the parking lot during the Series, I figured that where I'll go with other Mets fans. This was my original plan for Game six. A friend of mine at the time and I armed ourselves with a duffel bag full of beer cans parked in the Flushing Marina area near Shea & went looking for a spot in the parking lot to hang out.
On our way to the car, we met a really kool police officer who actually had a beer with us. Thats when he witnessed a guy jumping out of a plane & pointed it out to us. That was when Sergio jumped out of the small plane with his "Lets Go Mets" banner onto the playing field. After the cops apprehended him, Ron Darling gave him a high five while sitting on the edge of the dug out. It was a wild night in New York.
The 1986 Mets had left New York after the first two games of the World Series down two games to none, getting stunned by the Boston Red Sox.
In Boston they took two of three, winning the first two games but lost Game #5. They were still down three games to two & were facing possible elimination in Game #6 at Shea Stadium. 55, 078 wild Met fans came out to Shea Stadium & would witness one of the most exciting World Series games in baseball history.
From a Mets standpoint this game defines the Championship team of that era. It ranks as probably the greatest game in team history as well.The starting pitchers for tonight's classic were Bob Ojeda for the Mets, Bobby O had won Game #3 at Fenway Park, allowing just one run in seven innings. Ojeda was 2-0 in three post season games up to that point in 1986 for the Mets.
His opponent that night was Roger Clemens for the Red Sox. Clemens earned no decision in Game #2, allowing three runs on five hits in 4.1 innings of work. He had gone 0-1 in the ALCS allowing seven runs in Game #1 to the Angels.
Neither pitcher would be around for the game's amazing climax four hours & two minutes after the game began.
In the 1st inning, Bobby Ojeda had trouble right away, Wade Boggs led off with a base hit & then after getting the next two outs he walked Jim Rice. Dwight Evans seized the moment with a run scoring double putting Boston up 1-0.
Queens Forest Hills native, Paul Simon got things going by singing the National Anthem.
Michael Sergio jumped out of a plane & parachuted onto the field with a Let's Go Mets banner & things got under way.
In the top of the 2nd, Spike Owen & Wade Boggs both singled. Marty Barrett then drove a base hit to left field, making it 2-0 Boston right away quieting the Shea Stadium crowd.
Meanwhile, Roger Clemens was shutting out the Mets until the 5th inning. He fanned Lenny Dykstra & Wally Backman in the 1st, then Ray Knight & Mookie Wilson in the 2nd. In the 3rd he struck out the side, getting Rafael Santana, Ojeda & Dykstra again.
Meanwhile, Roger Clemens was shutting out the Mets until the 5th inning. He fanned Lenny Dykstra & Wally Backman in the 1st, then Ray Knight & Mookie Wilson in the 2nd. In the 3rd he struck out the side, getting Rafael Santana, Ojeda & Dykstra again.
then stole second base, getting the crowd back into it. Ray Knight followed with a base hit to center field, scoring Straw to put the Mets up on the board. Mookie Wilson followed with a base hit to right field putting runners on the corners.
Mets manager Davey Johnson sent up Danny Heep to pinch hit for Rafael Santana. Heep who was always an excellent pinch hitter for the Mets, grounded into a double play but did bring home the tying run making it a 2-2 game.
In the top of the 6th, Spike Owen singled with one out, but Ojeda got Roger Clemens on a force play & Wade Boggs to ground out to Wally Backman at second to end the inning. Ojeda was lifted after six innings, allowing two runs on eight hits, two walks & three strike outs.
The pesky Barrett got to second on a ground out & then reached third base when Ray Knight made a throwing error on Jim Rice's ground ball.
The error came back to haunt the Mets as Dwight Evans ground out to second, scoring Barrett with the Red Sox taking a 3-2 lead.
With two outs, Sox catcher Rick Gedman singled to left field, Jim Rice raced toward home plate. Mookie Wilson fielded the ball & threw perfectly to home plate.
Mets catcher Gary Carter held his ground, caught the ball & tagged out Jim Rice for the third out in a very crucial play.
blister on his finger which aided the decision for his departure. On the night he went seven innings, allowing a run on four hits as he struck out eight & walked two.
The Mets Roger McDowell had a rough 8th inning, Dave Henderson singled to start the inning. Spike Owen bunted him over. Mike Greenwell struck out for the second out, then Wade Boggs was walked intentionally. McDowell then walked Marty Barrett to load up the bases. Davey Johnson went to left hander Jesse Orosco in the bullpen. Orosco got Bill Buckner to fly out to end the inning.
Former Met, Calvin Schiraldi came into pitch the bottom of the 8th inning for Boston.
With the Mets down 3-2, pinch hitter Lee Mazzilli singled to right field. He was moved over to third base, as Lenny Dykstra & Wally Backman both sacrificed. Keith Hernandez was intentionally walked bringing up Gary Carter.
With the Mets down 3-2, pinch hitter Lee Mazzilli singled to right field. He was moved over to third base, as Lenny Dykstra & Wally Backman both sacrificed. Keith Hernandez was intentionally walked bringing up Gary Carter.
Carter already had seven hits & seven RBIs in the Series, although he went 0-4 in Game #5.
But once again, Carter delivered with a sac fly scoring Mazzilli to tie up the game at three. Now the Shea crowd really started to get going.
The Mets Rick Aguilera who had been summoned to the bullpen in the entire post season, pitched a perfect 9th inning.
The Mets Rick Aguilera who had been summoned to the bullpen in the entire post season, pitched a perfect 9th inning.
In the top of the 10th inning the tension was building & there was an excitement of October World Series baseball in the air. The Red Sox Dave Henderson took the life out of Shea Stadium when he blasted a Rick Aguilera pitch, down the left field line for a lead off HR. Shea was silenced, as was all of New York. The bench drew very irritable as well, as the Mets now faced possible elimination.
announced as the Series MVP in the bottom of the inning, singled to center making it 5-3 Red Sox. It seemed the nail was beaten in a bit deeper on the Mets coffin & it seemed Boston was ready to celebrate their first Championship since 1918, although there wasn't much mention of that back in the eighties.
Rick Aguilera was devastated, Davey Johnson was visibly upset pacing in the dugout, he even banged his head behind him, against the dugout wall in frustration. The Mets bench was very quiet & hanging their heads as well. Kevin Mitchell was already in the club house making arrangements to fly home to the west coast.
Calvin Schiraldi came out to the mound; he had two saves in the post season including one in Game 1 of this Series. He got Wally Backman to fly out to left field to Jim Rice for the first out. Next up Keith Hernandez lifted a fly ball to center, but it died in the glove of Dave Henderson who carefully caught it & snugged it in with some emotion.
from centerfield: At this point it all seemed over. After our main clutch guy, Keith Hernandez made out & the Mets were down to their last out it was almost final. I can clearly remember saying well we might as well go down with them & watch the final outs. It was such a hurting feeling, to be a Mets fan my whole life, be this close in Shea Stadium & have it all end. But still some where for me & the 56,000 others who never left there was a small hope inside of us. In the next twenty minutes, the swing of emotions was never felt before or afterward in my life. There was a special bond with all the fans around me, people I didn't even know. There was witness to a sports miracle, witness to what the Amazing Mets legend always was & witness to what has defined a franchise to that generation. Shea Stadium would go from total silence & a feeling of draining defeat to nail biting nervous energy to absolute bedlam & an ecstatic happiness of winning orgasm. I am thankful to have been there live & witness this great night of Mets history, live in person.
Quotes- Keith Hernandez: " I was going to go out get drunk, stay up all night. I was thinking of eating a hamburger at 7AM."
The Shea Stadium message board even put up "prematurely" once again, as they did with pronouncing Barrett the Series MVP: "Congrads Red Sox".
Gary Carter came to the plate.
The Shea Stadium message board even put up "prematurely" once again, as they did with pronouncing Barrett the Series MVP: "Congrads Red Sox".
Gary Carter came to the plate.
Quotes- Gary Carter: " I was not going to make the last out of the World Series. I felt certain of that. It would have been unacceptable, impossible; I would have had to live with that all winter & probably beyond."
a pulse in the Mets season.
Next, due up was Aguilera, he had moved into the 5th spot when Davey Johnson made the decision for double switch in the 9th inning. He left Mazzilli in the game batting 9th & put Aguilera in Darryl Strawberry's fifth spot.
This angered Darryl Strawberry, but Johnson felt he was out of quality relievers in his bullpen at that point in the game.
Strawberry Drama: After the game Strawberry was angry in the Mets clubhouse. He told the media he had lost a lot of respect for his manager for being removed from the game. He said he was embarrassed & didn't even want to talk or sit down next to Johnson.
Quotes- Davey Johnson:" After Darryl gets a few more years in, maybe he'll be managerial material. But right now, I wouldn't classify him as that".
Kevin Mitchell had to be called in from the clubhouse, he had to grab a bat, get ready & come to bat as a pinch hitter.
Quotes- Kevin Mitchell:
"My grandparents at home must have been doing a lot of praying".
"My grandparents at home must have been doing a lot of praying".Mitchell came through with a base hit to center field. There was life in the Mets season as the tying runs were now on base.
The crowd grew restless & nervously anxious. Next up was Ray Knight, who had been holding his bat since he returned to the dug out between innings. Even though he was scheduled up fifth, Knight was still upset at himself for the throwing error earlier.
The crowd grew restless & nervously anxious. Next up was Ray Knight, who had been holding his bat since he returned to the dug out between innings. Even though he was scheduled up fifth, Knight was still upset at himself for the throwing error earlier.
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Quotes- Ray Knight:" I didn't
want to be the goat that lost the World Series. I said a prayer &
thought if there are redemptive factors in this game, then I'd get
another at bat. So, I was happy to be up in that situation".Knight got down to two strikes at 0-2 the Mets were down to their final strike as more tension built inside Mets fans stomachs.
But Knight looped a base hit to center field scoring Gary Carter making it a one run game. Kevin Mitchell was now on third base & Shea Stadium was alive again.
Mookie Wilson came up to the plate in one of the most important & best at bats in Mets history.
Mookie Wilson came up to the plate in one of the most important & best at bats in Mets history.
Boston manager John McNamara had seen enough, he lifter Schiraldi & brought in veteran Bob Stanley. Shea Stadium was now very restless, very noisy & very lively. In the Mets clubhouse, Keith Hernandez was going to come to the dugout to watch but said "no way this chair has hits in it" & he remained in Davey Johnsons office.Bob Stanley then threw a pitch that almost hit Mookie Wilson on the foot. Mookie did a dance got out of the way of the pitch & fell down. The ball got past catcher Rich Gedman & Kevin Mitchell came scampering in with the amazing tying run.
Unbelievable, just like that it was tied. Shea Stadium erupted, into an emotional frenzy. It was loud, the upper deck was literally shaking as people were jumping up & down in amazement.
At this point I knew & I believe every other Mets fan knew, the Mets were going to win this game.
Then Mookie Wilson made contact as he tapped a little roller along the first base line.
Sox first baseman Bill Buckner who was known to have had a bad ankle & usually was replaced in late innings for defensive purposes that season, went after it. He attempted to field it, but the ball got by him, under his glove rolling into right field. Ray Knight came running home hands on his helmet in amazement as he scored the winning run.
The crowd was even more ecstatic if that's possible. Shea Stadium fans were jumping for joy, hugging, kissing high fiving each other.
Papers & anything else that was not harmful was tossed in the air in celebration. Even legendary NBC broadcaster Vin Scully was silenced & let the TV cameras do all the work.
Quotes- Vin Scully: " If a picture is worth a thousand words, then you've just seen a million of them".
Quotes- Mookie Wilson:" Mirrors, magic wands, no matter how we did it we won the ball game". Mookie has always said that he felt with his speed he was going to beat Buckner to the bag even if he had fielded the ball cleanly.
Maybe it was true maybe it was in Buckner's defense. Bill Buckner lived a baseball hell for many years after that & was known as one of the most hated Red Sox in team history. Finally, after the Sox did win a World Series in the new millennium, he was forgiven & welcomed back to Fenway Park in a ceremony.
Quotes- Bill Buckner:
" I did concentrate on the ball. I saw it well, it bounced & bounced & then it did not bounce. It just skipped; the ball missed my glove. I can't remember the last time I missed a ground ball. I'll remember that one."
Mets first base coach Bill Robinson: "This is a very tricky infield. It's a good infield but it hasn't been the same since the fans came out on the field & destroyed it".
Davey Johnson- " I'm not an emotional guy. I never run on the field, but when I saw the ball get by Buckner, I was out on the field."
This game was certainly one for the ages.
" I did concentrate on the ball. I saw it well, it bounced & bounced & then it did not bounce. It just skipped; the ball missed my glove. I can't remember the last time I missed a ground ball. I'll remember that one."Mets first base coach Bill Robinson: "This is a very tricky infield. It's a good infield but it hasn't been the same since the fans came out on the field & destroyed it".
Davey Johnson- " I'm not an emotional guy. I never run on the field, but when I saw the ball get by Buckner, I was out on the field."
This game was certainly one for the ages.
Comments
Thouroughly enjoyed reading your Game 6 post.That was a very special time in my life, as I was living in Boston then. The company that I was working for had seats at Fenway,; they had a pair of tickets to each of the playoff and WS games to be held there, and held a raffle to see who would wind up with them. My girlfriend (who later became my wife) was a Mass gal, won a pair of tix for Game 5 and opted to take her dad, who being a lifelong Sox fan, had never been to a postseason game in his life. I couldn't be mad about it because a) we'd only been dating for a few months, and I'd be rooting for the Mets, and b) my sister spent a couple of hours on the phone and got some seats out in LF for Game 6 in NY. After watching the Mets go down in defeat in Game 5 (on TV), I hopped the train down to the city. I remember buying a couple of airplane bottles of Remy off some guy in the parking lot, and missing Sandra Santiago (of Miami Vice fame - she was kinda hot in that 80's sort of way) singing the National Anthem. After we got to our seats, we heard all this cheering which seemingly came out of nowhere: Because we were under the overhang, we didn't realize that the cheering was for the parachute jumper because we didn't see him until he was almost on the ground.
I remember the premature message flashing on the scoreboard in the 10th inning: New York Mets Congratulate the 1986 World Champion Boston Red Sox, and thinking that although I was kinda bummed, it wasn't so bad, because the Mets, with that team they had, would certainly be back. My most vivid memory of the evening was when Stanley came into the game after the Mets began their comeback. I saw him emerge from the pen and started jumping up and down with joy. The guy sitting next to me asked what the story was, and I said something like, "I live in Boston, I know this team really well, and that guy fucking sucks. He'll blow this game for sure!" After he did, I remember people going crazy, running up and down the ramps. Do you remember the cardboard cutouts of Carter and Gooden that were in the park that year? The ones that people used to take pictures with? Well there was a woman who must have weighed 300 lbs.; she was so happy the she was ready to strip naked and have her picture taken with them. Needless to say, we left the area; I didn't want to be a witness to that crime. My sister and I did have our picture taken with them (the cutouts, not the woman), I'll have to dig it out of that box in my garage one of these days.
The next day, as pre-arranged, my girlfriend picked me up at the train. I was determined not to gloat; as a Boston resident, I knew what those people were going through, and I have to admit that I felt sorry for them. There may have been a game left, but it was over, and those fans knew it. There was a sports talk radio guy in town who stayed on the air after the game taking calls until 3:00AM, talking people down.
Finally, I remember being surprised that Ray Knight wound up as the MVP; I always felt that Sid Fernandez' stellar relief appearance in Game 7 was what got them to the promised land.