Note: Anniversary of the Buckner Ball
Update, 12:47 pm:
Lou Di Falco, from Never Forget ’69, has posted the entire transcript from the WHN broadcast of the 10th inning of this game, which you can see here.
Original Post:
Today marks the 23rd anniversary of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, a game the Mets won 6-5 in 10 innings thanks to an improbable rally, capped by one of the most unbelievable moments in World Series history.
…i’ll never forget that day, as my dad couldn’t go to the game because it was my mother’s birthday, leaving the ticket for me…that was a really cold night at Shea, and i remember saying “even Keith Hernandez is wearing long sleeves”…
…by the way, happy birthday, mom…
That game featured three rallies by the Mets.
In the fifth inning, Ray Knight singled in Darryl Strawberry and then Danny Heep grounded into a double play which scored Knight and tied the score at 2-2.
In the bottom of the eighth, down 3-2, Lee Mazzilli who pinch hit for Jesse Orosco, led off with a single and would later score on a Gary Carter sacrifice fly to Jim Rice in left field.
Rick Aguilera replaced Mazilli and pitched a scoreless ninth, but Red Sox center fielder Dave Henderson led off the tenth inning with a solo home run off the scoreboard in left field, which gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead.
…i vividly remember that home run, as my seat for the game was in our box in Loge 472A, right above where that ball hit…
The Red Sox would add another run on a Marty Barrett RBI single which gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead.
In the bottom of the tenth inning, things were not looking good for the Mets, as Wally Backman flew out to Rice in left field, and then Hernandez flew out deep to Henderson in center field, leaving two out and nobody on in and it looked like Boston was going to win it.
…i cannot confirm whether or not a congratulations to the Red Sox was displayed on Diamond Vision, and i don’t remember it being mentioned, but our seats were not in a good position to see it anyway…
But then, Carter singled to left, Kevin Mitchell then looped a single into center field, and then Knight singled in Carter.
Bob Stanley replaced former Met Calvin Schiraldi, and Mookie Wilson fouled off what seemed to be 15 pitches until Stanley lost his control and threw one under Wilson, scoring Mitchell and the tying run.
…from our angle, which you can see here, it was difficult to see the ball go all the way to the back stop, except we saw Wilson fall to the ground, and as Mitchell scored, the Shea Stadium crowd was as loud as i could ever remember it…
Then, a couple of pitches later it appeared Wilson had grounded out to Bill Buckner, and the rest is history.
…i remember not knowing what had happened, because at first it appeared to be routine, and we couldn’t see the ball that well on the ground, but then Buckner kind of stumbled, and as loud as the crowd was when Mitchell scored the tying run, it then got louder…
…it was probably my fondest memory of the Mets, because i was six, at the World Series, and even i knew things were not looking good just two minutes before they won that game, but they came back…as i got older i began to understand and appreciate the magnitude of that comeback because it was an elimination game, they were down by two runs with two outs in the tenth inning, and it would have been terrible if the 108 game winning Mets were the team that gave the Red Sox their first championship in the modern era…and comebacks like that just don’t happen, except that night…
