One of the more memorable moments of my childhood happened on October 25th, 1986. If that doesn’t ring a bell, think “baseball in 1986”. There is a good chance you might remember what has become known as one of the most amazing games in sports history. That was the night the Mets beat the Boston Red Sox 6-5 in extra innings, one for the ages. My dad and I had been given the tickets from my uncle, who had box seats on the first base side, great seats to witness what was to come.
That was also the game where a Mets fan actually parachuted onto the field with a huge message that said “GO METS”! My dad had brought his 35mm camera (no cell phones back in the 80s) and took an amazing shot of him flying in, which I will share.
Let me give you a quick rundown of the game:
First, the Mets had to go up against Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, who won the Cy Young award in 1986 as well. He was no nonsense and brought the heat, literally.
Boston took an early lead, 2-0, but the Mets tied it back up 2-2 in the fifth inning by hits from Ray Knight and Danny Heep.
The Red Sox went back up 3-2 in the seventh on a ground out hit and run, and that score stayed into the 8th inning. There, the Mets loaded the bases, and after Gary Carter hit a deep fly, Lee Mazzilli was able to tag home from third and again tied the Red Sox 3-3.
The Red Sox scored two runs off of a home run and a couple of hits to go up 5-3 in the 10th. The Mets first two batters in the bottom of the 10th hit easily catchable flies into the outfield, creating an almost insurmountable situation to overcome. Two outs in the 10th inning, and no one on base. The Red Sox were twice one strike away from being World Series Champions, and ending the curse of the Bambino, but failed to close out the inning.
Here we go.
Gary Carter comes up again, and hits a single to center field. Utility man Kevin Mitchell came in to pinch hit and also hit a single into center field. Men on 1st and 2nd and the tying run was now on base.
Ray Knight comes up and gets two strikes on him, and then miraculously hits another single into left-center and Gary Carter scores, to now make it 5-4, and Kevin Mitchell advancing to 3rd. This brings up Mookie Wilson in perhaps the craziest at bat you will ever see.
Mookie Wilson gets up to the plate, and proceeds to hit foul ball after foul ball. Then pitcher Bob Stanley throws a wild pitch that goes to the backstop, and Mitchell scores from 3rd to tie it up 5-5. Pure pandemonium in the stands. I cannot begin to tell you how pumped up everyone was and how loud it was at Shea Stadium. I will never forget it.
Back to the game… don’t want to keep you in stitches. Mookie Wilson begins hitting foul balls again, and then finally hits the ball… a ground ball up the first base line, and right to first baseman, Bill Buckner.
And the ball goes through Buckner’s legs. He misplayed it.
Ray Knight scores from 2nd base and the Mets win the game!! If ever there was a Phil Rizzuto moment…
“HOLY COWWW”.
I don’t think I have high fived as many people in such a short amount of time, yelling all the while. Such a great moment that will be remembered forever.
Take a minute and watch the short short version of what I actually experienced and get a taste of how monumental that game was, even to this day.
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