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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…
I was one of the few to see the Diamond Vision. It said Congratulations Boston Red Sox, 1986 World Champions with the MLB emblem in the middle. It was up for a few seconds after Carter foul tipped strike three but Gedman dropped it (or it went straight to the dirt — either way from the upper deck it looked like strike three). Next pitch was the rope to LF and I remember thinking ‘why couldn’t he have done that last time up with the bases loaded’ — and I never even thought a HR was coming. The rest is history, and it is the best game I have ever, or will ever attend.
I get stoked just reading this!
Wilpon’s; we urge you; sell our team to someone who can run a baseball team!!!
I wasn’t old enough (16 months old) to watch this game nor attend it. It was a great moment in baseball and Met history. I love the 86 team I wish I were old enough to watch and appreciate them at the time. That all being said its sad that we have to continue to look back on this game every year because our organization has not been able to put a team on the field to give us a new memory. Sure the grand slam single is nice but in the end we lost that series and in the grand scheme of things the 99 mets were just some team that lost in the nlcs. The Yankees have won, the Braves, Phillies, and even Marlins have won WS’s. We are a big market team in NY and all we have since 86 is 1 NL pennant which cant even be celebrated since we lost to the freakin Yankees. I’m just so sick of living in the past, the Wilpons need to wake up and run this team properly or sell it to someone who will, enough is enough.
Go to http://neverforget69.metsblog.com for the 10th inning transcript of Bob Murphy and Gary Thorne–posted today.
What is really sad is that our golden age of glory was 1986, 25 years ago! This team is awful and we as fans suffer year after year and come back for more. The worst time in history for mets fans has been 2006-2009. Why? Because we had a team full of dreams and hope and we failed, in 2006 and we all thought that 2007 would be THE YEAR, it was not and neither was 08 or 09. When a team is bad and NOT expected to win, like the mets in the 70’s and early 80’s that fine. But, when we go out and get Pedro, Beltran, Santana and K-Rod and then fall flat on our faces, that is terrible. This team needs to do what must be done to win, we cant be happy with Santana, and stop, we need to go all the way and stack the deck in our favor. We got rid of Willie and we should do the same with Jerry, he was there for everything as well. I think that the most recent success of this team, 1999-2000, under Bobby V, is what the fans rememmber most, and, why we want him back. We want that hope and we dont have it in Jerry. So keep that feeling of 1986 in your heart and dont forget it, because, it may be a very long time before we can all celebrate that together as METS fans again.
If I were a Cubs fan, I’d tell you stop complainin’ 25 years is nothing.
Game 6 was by far the best game in Mets history – far better than Game 5 of the ‘99 NLCS.
Game 5 was exciting and all, but it only led to Kenny Rogers walking in the winning run and Chipper Jones telling Mets fans to go get their Yankee gear. Ultimately, Game 5 led to nowhere.
Once the Mets won Game 6 however, you just knew they’d win Game 7, even when they were behind in the early innings.
Plus, Game 6 is not only relevant to the Mets but is also one of the better baseball comebacks in MLB postseason history.
Now, if only Beltran doubled to end Game 7 of the ‘06 NLCS, Game 6 might have had a rival. But for now, Game 6 is THE GAME in Mets history as far as I’m concerned.
Happy Birthday Mrs. Baron! And how cool that you got to go to that game!