FSD History Flashback: October 25 ~ Basic Bloganomics

On October 25, 1986, one of the most remembered games in World Series history had taken place. At Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York, the Boston Red Sox took on the New York Mets in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Boston led the series 3-2 and had their ace Roger Clemens on the hill to try and put away the Mets for their first World Series title since 1918. Opposing Clemens was former Red Sox southpaw, Bob Ojeda.

The Red Sox took the early lead in the 1st inning on a Dwight Evans RBI single. They added another run in the 2nd inning on a RBI single from Marty Barrett. The Mets came back to tie the score in the 5th inning after Ray Knight's RBI single and a double play by Danny Heep that scored a run for the Mets. The Red Sox took back the lead in the 7th on an error by Knight that allowed Barrett to score the go-ahead run. The Red Sox blew a golden opportunity to pile on more runs in that inning, but Mets reliever Jesse Orosco struckout Bill Buckner with the bases loaded.

The very next inning after having the lead, Red Sox manager John McNamara pulls starter Roger Clemens from the game in favor of Calvin Schiraldi. The Mets took advantage of Clemens' departure as they tied the game 3-3 on a sacrifice fly by Gary Carter. The Mets had a chance to win the game in the bottome of the 9th inning after getting the first two men on base. Mets manager Davey Johnson sent Howard Johnson to the plate to sacrifice the winning run to third base. However, Johnson fell behind 0-2 in the count, and struckout after being told to swing away. Lee Mazilli then came up and flied out to deep left that would have scored the winning run had Johnson successfully laid down a bunt. Lenny Dykstra flied out to end the frame, and send the game into extra innings tied.

Mets reliever Rick Aguilera was back on the hill for his second inning of work. Red Sox OF Dave Henderson hit a solo homer, and Marty Barrett's RBI single to drive in Wade Boggs gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead.

The Mets came to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning to try and extend the series. Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez were retired with ease to start the inning. The Shea Stadium scoreboard had already congratulated the Red Sox on winning the series at this point.

The Mets stayed alive as Gary Carter and Kevin Mitchell singled in back-to-back at-bats. Ray Knight was the next hitter, and he faced an 0-2 count from Schiraldi. But Knight came up big as he singled to centerfield to score Carter as the Mets cut the score to 5-4 with Mitchell advancing to third base on the hit. This prompted McNamara to pull Schiraldi in favor of Red Sox closer Bob Stanley to face Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson.

Wilson had the count 2-2 against Stanley, and the Mets were down to their last strike again. After fouling off two more pitches, Stanley and cather Rich Gedman got crossed up on a pitch. The ball went sailing towards Wilson's knees and towards the backstop. The wild pitch allowed Mitchell to score from third to tie the game 5-5, and Knight advanced to second on the wild pitch. Shea Stadium was going crazy at this point.

Wilson stayed alive at the plate after fouling off the next two pitches. Then on the tenth pitch of the at-bat, Wilson hit a slow-roller towards first base. The ball somehow goes between Buckner's legs as Knight came around from second to score the winning run as the Mets won Game 6 by the score of 6-5! The Mets had tied the series at three a piece, and would go on to win Game 7 two days later.

The Red Sox would eventually triumph in World Series play after winning the title in 2004 and again in 2007.

My opinion on this matter: This was one of the most memorable moments both good and bad in sports history. I have said it plenty of times, and I will say it again. Buckner is NOT the reason the Red Sox lost this game, and ultimately the series. McNamara made very bad management decisions throughout the postseason that year, and it showed even more in this game. What should be noted also is that he failed to put Don Baylor in as a pinch hitter for Clemens in the top of the 8th inning. Instead, he put in rookie Mike Greenwell, and he struckout on three pitches. He pulled Clemens too early in my book in Game 6, and this was questionable because the Red Sox bullpen had trouble against the Angels in the ALCS as well as World Series. You have to leave your ace in the game knowing the struggles of the bullpen. Also, Buckner was normally pulled from first base late in the game during the season for Dave Stapleton because of Buckner's chronic knees and ankles. MnNamara didn't in Game Six, and even if he fields the ball cleanly, it is very debatable that he could have beaten the speedy Mookie Wilson to the bag. We will never know on that.

My last point, the game was tied when Buckner had the ball go between his legs. It's too easy to assume that the Red Sox still could have won this game later on if the play would have been made. Also, there was another game left to be played, and once again, the bullpen was ineffective for the Red Sox in Game 7, too. I felt bad for Buckner for a long time because he was a solid batter, but his defense was never that good. Still, McNamara shouldn't have put him in that situation in the first place. I was glad to see Buckner being allowed to come back to Fenway Park to throw out the first pitch in a game this year.

Here's a video of the 10th inning of that game. This is a version of the 10th inning by NES' version of RBI Baseball. Note: They don't show the ball getting by Buckner, but instead, it shows him booting the ball. Vin Scully(as he did for this game) is calling the play-by-play, and thanks to Nationalhighfiveday.com for the footage:

Thanks for viewing, and I hope you enjoyed today's FSD History Flashback!