" IT GETS BY BUCKNER !! THE METS WIN !!!"
Do you know where you were on this date twenty-four years ago ? If you are Mets fans and were older than the age of two and were at full mental capacity, this day should hold much happiness for you ! Today marks the almost silver anniversary of game six of the 1986 world series – a game that would be the defining moment of many a Mets fan that had come of age in the ’80′s.
The game started out as bleak as it could on that cold autumn Saturday in . The Red Sox jumped out to early 2–0 lead on the strength of RBI base hits from Dwight Evans and Marty Barrett. The Mets would come back and tie the score in the fifth inning on a single from Ray Knight and a run-scoring double play by Danny Heep. The score would stay unchanged until the top of the seventh when Marty Barrett would score on a fielding error by third baseman, Ray Knight which would give the ” Boys From Beantown” a 3–2 lead. The Mets would tie the game in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly by catcher, Gary Carter.The score remained tied through the ninth inning, forcing the game to go into extra innings.
This is where the fire-works started !! A Dave Henderson homer along with a RBI single by Marty Barrett put the Red Sox ahead 5-3. The ’86 Mets – a team that was as dominant as any baseball team ever constructed were three outs away from having their season ended without being coronated as the World Series champions. And after Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez were retired to start the bottom of the tenth you could feel the tension in Shea Stadium as well as wherever you were watching the game. But then something miraculous happened. After the scoreboard briefly flashed the message “Congratulations, Boston Red Sox, 1986 World Champions.” ( I hope whoever cued that up was fired on the spot !)Gary Carter, who was down to his final strike, promptly singled to keep the inning alive. Mets manager Davey Johnson had Kevin Mitchell pinch hit for reliever, Rick Aguleria. Mitchell singled to center field to advance Carter to second. Up next was Ray Knight, who sent a Calvin Shiraldi pitch into centerfeld for a RBI single. The game was now 5-4 and John McNamara decided to end things by bringing in his closer – Bob Stanley to pitch to Mookie Wilson.
Mookie battled Stanley, grinding out the at bat when on the seventh pitch Stanley’s uncorked a wild pitch which allowed Mitchell to score from third base with the tying run. This is when one of the most magical moments of Mets history unfolded. With the count 3–2, Wilson kept fouling off Stanley’s pitches. Shea Stadium was going crazy,literally rocking as well as shaking ! And on the tenth pitch of the at-bat, Wilson hit a slow ground ball up the first base line that should have been a inning ending ground out but in the words of the immortal Bob Murphy “Little roller up along first. Behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it !”
Buckner who was playing on two bad ankles. The ball slipped under 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. And we all know what would transpire the next day ….
And with that said… HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!
Happy birthday Pedro Martinez (1971). Yes you may not have led the Mets back into the promise land of the World Series as we had hoped, but you did help reinvigorate a disenfranchised fan base as well as inject life back into a listless Mets team.
New York Mets claimed utility infielder, Bill Spiers on waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers on October 25, 1994.
“Mr Warmth” himself , Kevin McReynolds, was granted free agency on October 25, 1994.
Mo Vaughn is working for the weekend !!!
21 comments
metsfan4decades
10/25/2010-2:45pm at 2:45 pm (UTC -4)
I sure remember.
Remains my favorite Met game of all time.
rustyjr
10/25/2010-2:47pm at 2:47 pm (UTC -4)
truly unforgettable
GravediggerHebner
10/25/2010-2:57pm at 2:57 pm (UTC -4)
I grew more and more depressed as that game unfolded. I kept thinking “how can they lose this?”
I will never forget the climactic moment for obvious reasons known to everyone but also for one very personal reason. The room I was watching that game in (in my “lucky” chair) had a low, stucco ceiling. When Knight scored I leaped out of my chair and thrust my hands in the air in joy, and violently scraped the back of both hands on the stucco ceiling.
There was blood on the ceiling and in part because it was thinned by the amount of alcohol I had consumed when I held my hands up it ran down my arms and when I held them down it dripped onto the reddish-orange shag carpet.
If you watch Family Guy and you’ve seen those extended moments when Peter Griffin falls and skins his knee you know how I felt physically at that moment while simultaneously feeling such joy emotionally and spiritually. Unforgettable.
GravediggerHebner
10/25/2010-3:02pm at 3:02 pm (UTC -4)
Video link: Peter Griffin hurts his knee.
Ceetar
10/25/2010-3:05pm at 3:05 pm (UTC -4)
My wedding tables were fall themed. Obviously one of the table names was “World Series” and was the photo featured above.
rustyjr
10/25/2010-3:13pm at 3:13 pm (UTC -4)
Congrats again on your nuptials ceetar
metsfan4decades
10/25/2010-3:22pm at 3:22 pm (UTC -4)
I would have been stealing that photo, had I been there.
Congrats!
Ceetar
10/25/2010-3:52pm at 3:52 pm (UTC -4)
Pretty sure my aunt took it. I downloaded it online, and it was actually one with signatures on it, was the only high-res version I could find.
kistics
10/25/2010-3:32pm at 3:32 pm (UTC -4)
Congrats Ceets! Now you have to work on making little Ceetars, so that you can buy little Mets jerseys, even though they’ll cost $50 and will be worn only once or twice!
Ceetar
10/25/2010-3:44pm at 3:44 pm (UTC -4)
I’m gonna name my first kid Ceetarette.
kistics
10/25/2010-3:56pm at 3:56 pm (UTC -4)
Even if it’s a boy? Or are you hoping for a girl?
Ceetar
10/25/2010-4:06pm at 4:06 pm (UTC -4)
Sure, why not?
Hoping for a girl probably. Definitely not trying yet. debt and purchasing a house are probably the next financial black holes i’m targeting.
GravediggerHebner
10/25/2010-4:09pm at 4:09 pm (UTC -4)
The way my mind works this makes me think of Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll”
“Ceetarette holder which wigs me
over her shoulder she digs me
out cattin’ that satin doll”
kistics
10/25/2010-4:29pm at 4:29 pm (UTC -4)
LOL strange how your mind works..
Ceetar
10/25/2010-4:33pm at 4:33 pm (UTC -4)
There’s a strip club on 17 named Satin Dolls.
kistics
10/25/2010-4:50pm at 4:50 pm (UTC -4)
The home of Bada Bing!
stickguy
10/25/2010-3:08pm at 3:08 pm (UTC -4)
I still feel bad for Buckner. all he did was keep the mets from having to play another inning to win it, since I find it hard to beleive at that point the Red Sox were coming back. But, who knows!
Interesting story Grave. I was at a party with work people, but my friends from home were at one guys house watching. I find out later that my best friend got so excited, he jumped up in the air. But, he did not notice he was in a doorway (and an older house, so low ceilings/doorways). Whams his head on the jamb, and literally knocks himself out. ANd front what I was told by others, no one actually paid attention to him while he laid there. He did get up eventually and seemed to be OK!
metsfan4decades
10/25/2010-3:24pm at 3:24 pm (UTC -4)
You know they left him in, instead of a defensive replacement, out of respect for the fact that he was a big part in them getting to the WS that year and thus could celebrate on the field as the last out was made.
Instead, he became THE scapegoat of the Mets winning that WS, when in fact Shiraldi, Stanley and Hurst all had a hand in it as well.
kingman 26
10/25/2010-3:14pm at 3:14 pm (UTC -4)
Hmm, TWO clutch at bats by a Met catcher in this game?? Tell THAT to your fat friend on the radio!!
I was a junior at the U of Vermont, a place thoroughly infested with Red Sox fans–every one with a really vile Boston accent.
Was watching in the living room of a house I shared with three other guys, the guys upstairs were there, the girls across the street, and there were maybe 18 people in the big living room, I think 3 Met fans and the rest were loud Red Sox fans, just waiting for The Curse to end. About as much booze had been consumed in that room as would be in the Met clubhouse after Game 7.
With each out, then each strike to Carter, they all jumped up again and again, shouting and pointing and yelping, as Roger Clemens was pictured smiling and preparing for the celebration.
After Carter got on, the screaming continued, and it got a few decibels quieter when Mitchell got his hit, but when Knight singled, they mostly started to shut up.
And after the wild pitch, EVERY Red Sox fan in New England knew there was no chance they would win the game–or the series.
Never was there a better moment to be a Met fan than that night, and no place outside of Shea could have been sweeter to see it.
Thanks for the memories Rusty!!
stickguy
10/25/2010-4:36pm at 4:36 pm (UTC -4)
so, how come no reports yet about how the big interview to day with Byrnes went?
Since Alderson goes tomorrow, really no reason this needs to drag on past Wednesday. Perfect timing to announce it just before the WS starts.
fongy2
10/25/2010-8:25pm at 8:25 pm (UTC -4)
Really, really hard to believe it’s been 24yrs!!!
So much has transpired in my life…..All our lives, the game, our country
and the world…..Yet like Heb, I can remember where I was, what I was doing,who I was with and how I felt that night.
…..Pretty Amazing indeed!
I have to believe Mr.Wilpon understands the depth of the feelings of
so many of us true die-hards and can only hope the rebuilding
which will certainly follow MUST be conducted at very least by
someone whos resume warrants the opportunity to do so……..
And is not dictated by saving a few million dollars and/or his
continued attempt to help his son built HIS resume.
…..No…Sandy Alderson is not a perfect candidate BUT compared to the
others who have applied and been interviewed, this should be a no-brainer.October 25th, 1986…….It’s now almost a quarter century…..