It's a good thing those 3-way rumors between the Mets/Dodgers/Red Sox involving Tom Seaver, Don Sutton, and Jim Rice, never came to anything.
Otherwise, the Mets may never have won the 1986 World Series.
Jim Rice, a legit inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame played a significant role in Mets history, albeit one overlooked because of the actions of others.
Rice went 9-for-27 with 6 walks and 6 runs scored in his only World Series appearance. But most significant were his 0 RBI, and the runs he didn't score.
The Red Sox scored five runs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. If Rice was a little faster, they might have scored seven.
Rice had two chances to add to the Red Sox tally on a day in which he went 0-for-5. His first inning walk put runners on first and second with two outs. On a 1-1 pitch, Dwight Evans launched a double to left center field, plating the first run for Boston. Rice held at third after Len Dykstra played the carom off the fence perfectly. Rich Gedman flied out on the next pitch to limit the damage to one run.
"I have no idea how he didn't come home," Bob Ojeda told Jeff Pearlman in the book, The Bad Guys Won. Pearlman refers to the play as "a shameless display of lazy base running."
By the seventh inning, the score was tied, 2-2 and it was a frame that featured a pair of key mistakes. The first was an error by Mets third baseman Ray Knight on Rice's ground ball.
The second was Rice failing to score an insurance run, getting thrown out at home, after the Red Sox took the lead.
To his credit, Rice beat a throw to second base on a hit and run, allowing the Red Sox to go ahead initially, but his lack of fleetness afoot cost him. Rice had a good secondary lead, and a fast runner would no doubt have scored on a hit by Rich Gedman that took three hops before it reached Mookie Wilson in left field.
Wilson hit catcher Gary Carter a little off target with an on-the-fly throw, but Rice was moving at a glacial pace (In The Bad Guys Won, Pearlman quotes a story in Sports Illustrated saying "Rice cut the bag like a 16-wheeler turning into a McDonald's"), and once Carter caught the throw, he rode Rice to the inside, and tagged him out on the arm before the plate could be reached.
People also tend to forget who the last out was for Boston in the 10th inning of Game 6. It was Rice who, after the Red Sox had scored twice, flew out to right with a pair of men on to put an end to what was a disastrous half-inning for the Mets. Fortunately, some pretty good things happened just a few minutes later.
Rice hit .324 with 110 RBI in what was the last good season of a Hall-worthy career. He was an eight-time All-Star and one of the most feared hitters in the game for an extended period of time. But October 25, 1986 was not one of his better days, and for that, Mets fans should be quite thankful.
Showing posts with label Bill Buckner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Buckner. Show all posts
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Didja Ever Notice: Would They Have Beaten Seaver?
Long Island Ducks manager Gary Carter recently wrote on his blog about how he's sure the Mets would have beaten Mike Scott in Game 7 of the 1986 NLCS, had the Astros beaten the Mets in Game 6.
To a man, every member of the 1986 Mets says that. And I have no problem with that, other than that I've heard it a million times.
But let me ask this: Would the Mets have won Game 4 of the 1986 World Series if Tom Seaver had been healthy and had started for the Red Sox?
Carter had two home runs against Red Sox starter Al Nipper in that Game 4 win(he also hit his 300th homer off Nipper, noted in a subsequent blog entry).
But is there any guarantee he or his teammates would have had the same success against Seaver? Not at all. Take a look at this:
Tom Seaver vs Key Members of the1986 Mets
Gary Carter: .188 BA, 1 HR, 64 AB
Keith Hernandez: .196 BA, 0 HR, 46 AB
Mookie Wilson: .267 BA, 4 K, 15 AB
Ray Knight: .300 BA, 10 AB
Granted, the Tom Seaver of 1986 was on his last legs and wasn't the guy who beat Carter and Hernandez up in the early parts of their careers, but would you have wanted to face him in a key postseason game? I think not.
True Meteavers know... Among those who played for the Mets who had success against Seaver are:
Tim Teufel : .467 BA, 15 AB (unlikely would have played against Seaver in a WS game)
Chris Cannizzaro: .429 BA, 1 HR, 21 AB
Julio Franco: .400 BA, 15 AB
To a man, every member of the 1986 Mets says that. And I have no problem with that, other than that I've heard it a million times.
But let me ask this: Would the Mets have won Game 4 of the 1986 World Series if Tom Seaver had been healthy and had started for the Red Sox?
Carter had two home runs against Red Sox starter Al Nipper in that Game 4 win(he also hit his 300th homer off Nipper, noted in a subsequent blog entry).
But is there any guarantee he or his teammates would have had the same success against Seaver? Not at all. Take a look at this:
Tom Seaver vs Key Members of the1986 Mets
Gary Carter: .188 BA, 1 HR, 64 AB
Keith Hernandez: .196 BA, 0 HR, 46 AB
Mookie Wilson: .267 BA, 4 K, 15 AB
Ray Knight: .300 BA, 10 AB
Granted, the Tom Seaver of 1986 was on his last legs and wasn't the guy who beat Carter and Hernandez up in the early parts of their careers, but would you have wanted to face him in a key postseason game? I think not.
True Meteavers know... Among those who played for the Mets who had success against Seaver are:
Tim Teufel : .467 BA, 15 AB (unlikely would have played against Seaver in a WS game)
Chris Cannizzaro: .429 BA, 1 HR, 21 AB
Julio Franco: .400 BA, 15 AB
Friday, September 12, 2008
Didja ever notice? Mookie This, Mookie That
Part of an ever-continuing series of stories related to the baseball game played on October 25, 1986.
The first 10 games in which Mookie Wilson (and Wally Backman) played for the Mets, the team did not win.
Thankfully, management was not discouraged by this in any way.
Mookie Wilson had a fine Mets career, one best remembered for one moment about which we can all reminisce fondly. It's my understanding that he's recently had a falling out with the organization, and that's too bad, because there are other stories that Mookie could tell about his Mets career as the (now second) greatest base-stealer in team history.
One you won't get to hear is about Mookie's first Mets win. It came on September 14, 1980, and revealing the opponent partly gives away the punchline, so I won't do that just yet.
Mookie Wilson had 11 four-hit games, as well as one five-hit game for the Mets, and this was one of his finer performances. He showed off his speed at every opportunity, first by tripling to lead off the bottom of the first inning. He'd score on a Backman single, something that would become a common occurrence the next few years.
In the third inning, with the Mets down, 3-2, Wilson singled, stole second, went to third on Backman's bunt hit, then scored on Lee Mazzilli's groundout. He'd single again in the fourth, but the Mets stranded two, then struck out in the sixth, which was of little consequence.
Meanwhile, both teams piled on some runs. The visitors scored three, but the Mets responded with two, on a Lee Mazzilli home run, putting them a run behind, 7-6.
The Mets would rally on this day, winning 10-7 on Steve Henderson's three run home run off Bruce Sutter in the bottom of the ninth. You can read about that if you click here. But that wasn't the pivotal moment of this contest.
Leading off the bottom of the ninth, a run down, the Mets needed a baserunner in the worst way. Mookie Wilson led off with a bunt, in front of the plate. The catcher for the Chicago Cubs needed to rush his throw to first due to Mookie's speed, and his toss could not be handled by his first baseman, allowing Wilson to scoot to second as the all-important tying run.
Who was the Cubs first baseman, who went 1-2, plating a run on a sacrifice fly to Wilson in the visitors first, but could not catch Tim Blackwell's throw?
Bill Buckner.
The first 10 games in which Mookie Wilson (and Wally Backman) played for the Mets, the team did not win.
Thankfully, management was not discouraged by this in any way.
Mookie Wilson had a fine Mets career, one best remembered for one moment about which we can all reminisce fondly. It's my understanding that he's recently had a falling out with the organization, and that's too bad, because there are other stories that Mookie could tell about his Mets career as the (now second) greatest base-stealer in team history.
One you won't get to hear is about Mookie's first Mets win. It came on September 14, 1980, and revealing the opponent partly gives away the punchline, so I won't do that just yet.
Mookie Wilson had 11 four-hit games, as well as one five-hit game for the Mets, and this was one of his finer performances. He showed off his speed at every opportunity, first by tripling to lead off the bottom of the first inning. He'd score on a Backman single, something that would become a common occurrence the next few years.
In the third inning, with the Mets down, 3-2, Wilson singled, stole second, went to third on Backman's bunt hit, then scored on Lee Mazzilli's groundout. He'd single again in the fourth, but the Mets stranded two, then struck out in the sixth, which was of little consequence.
Meanwhile, both teams piled on some runs. The visitors scored three, but the Mets responded with two, on a Lee Mazzilli home run, putting them a run behind, 7-6.
The Mets would rally on this day, winning 10-7 on Steve Henderson's three run home run off Bruce Sutter in the bottom of the ninth. You can read about that if you click here. But that wasn't the pivotal moment of this contest.
Leading off the bottom of the ninth, a run down, the Mets needed a baserunner in the worst way. Mookie Wilson led off with a bunt, in front of the plate. The catcher for the Chicago Cubs needed to rush his throw to first due to Mookie's speed, and his toss could not be handled by his first baseman, allowing Wilson to scoot to second as the all-important tying run.
Who was the Cubs first baseman, who went 1-2, plating a run on a sacrifice fly to Wilson in the visitors first, but could not catch Tim Blackwell's throw?
Bill Buckner.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Didja Ever Notice: Nifty 50
Part of a continuing, neverending series, related to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
Nineteen dollars and 95 cents provides you the ability to purchase 50 archived newspaper articles within a 30-day span at NewsLibrary.com.
Guess what I used it to find?
Shocker, as Billy Wagner might say, that I purchased 41 articles published on October 26, 1986.
You may recall that I've done this with newspaper databases before, but I found the archives at NewsLibrary to have a little more variety to them. I was able to span the Boston Globe, get my curiosity satisfied by the Philadelphia Inquirer, and breeze through the Torrance (Calif.) Breeze among others.
They fill 77 pages of 12-point Times New Roman type in my word processor, and without indented paragraphs, they're going to be a pain in the arse to sift through. But I've begun to peruse. Here are some of my favorite sentences.
"Bill Buckner has bone spurs on his ankles, an Achilles stretched like linguini and feet as sore as beat cop's. On the Red Sox, he almost looks quick."
-- Steve Kelley, Seattle Times
"If Bill Buckner were a car, he'd be in a junkyard. If he were an airplane, you couldn't give away a ticket on him. He's practically playing from a stretcher. And he's the most compelling figure of the 83rd World Series."
-- Edwin Pope, Knight-Ridder News Services
"If the Red Sox don't come back to win this World Series, manager John McNamara might want to move to another town."
-- Ian Thomsen, Boston Globe
"The moon suddenly fell out of the sky and landed on the Red Sox' heads. Ker-plunk! Ka-boom! Ouch and double ouch!"
-- Leigh Montville, Boston Globe
"The ledgers are balanced. The miracles are even. Appropriately, so are The games. "
-- Tom Jackson, Sacramento Bee
"Now the miracle is on the other foot."
-- Tom Boswell, Washington Post
"Bob Stanley sat in his locker in Boston's cramped clubhouse and took it. Calvin Schiraldi, a few cell blocks away, sat and took it. Bill Buckner hobbled over to his crawlspace and took it.
The questions came from all sides. It was a genuine media mugging."
-- Mark Kreidler, San Diego Union Tribune
"From 200 miles away, you could practically feel New England quaking with fear, grief and disbelief. The Boston Red Sox were one out away from their first World Series championship since 1918 early this morning, and the New York Mets rose up like the ghosts of Denied Christmases past and extended big-league baseball's most extraordinary postseason by one more game."
-- Barry Lorge, San Diego Union Tribune
"There is a seventh game scheduled today.
The winner should be the team that plays baseball the way it oughta be played."
-- Steve Kelley (again), Seattle Times
Nineteen dollars and 95 cents provides you the ability to purchase 50 archived newspaper articles within a 30-day span at NewsLibrary.com.
Guess what I used it to find?
Shocker, as Billy Wagner might say, that I purchased 41 articles published on October 26, 1986.
You may recall that I've done this with newspaper databases before, but I found the archives at NewsLibrary to have a little more variety to them. I was able to span the Boston Globe, get my curiosity satisfied by the Philadelphia Inquirer, and breeze through the Torrance (Calif.) Breeze among others.
They fill 77 pages of 12-point Times New Roman type in my word processor, and without indented paragraphs, they're going to be a pain in the arse to sift through. But I've begun to peruse. Here are some of my favorite sentences.
"Bill Buckner has bone spurs on his ankles, an Achilles stretched like linguini and feet as sore as beat cop's. On the Red Sox, he almost looks quick."
-- Steve Kelley, Seattle Times
"If Bill Buckner were a car, he'd be in a junkyard. If he were an airplane, you couldn't give away a ticket on him. He's practically playing from a stretcher. And he's the most compelling figure of the 83rd World Series."
-- Edwin Pope, Knight-Ridder News Services
"If the Red Sox don't come back to win this World Series, manager John McNamara might want to move to another town."
-- Ian Thomsen, Boston Globe
"The moon suddenly fell out of the sky and landed on the Red Sox' heads. Ker-plunk! Ka-boom! Ouch and double ouch!"
-- Leigh Montville, Boston Globe
"The ledgers are balanced. The miracles are even. Appropriately, so are The games. "
-- Tom Jackson, Sacramento Bee
"Now the miracle is on the other foot."
-- Tom Boswell, Washington Post
"Bob Stanley sat in his locker in Boston's cramped clubhouse and took it. Calvin Schiraldi, a few cell blocks away, sat and took it. Bill Buckner hobbled over to his crawlspace and took it.
The questions came from all sides. It was a genuine media mugging."
-- Mark Kreidler, San Diego Union Tribune
"From 200 miles away, you could practically feel New England quaking with fear, grief and disbelief. The Boston Red Sox were one out away from their first World Series championship since 1918 early this morning, and the New York Mets rose up like the ghosts of Denied Christmases past and extended big-league baseball's most extraordinary postseason by one more game."
-- Barry Lorge, San Diego Union Tribune
"There is a seventh game scheduled today.
The winner should be the team that plays baseball the way it oughta be played."
-- Steve Kelley (again), Seattle Times
Monday, August 04, 2008
Didja Ever Notice?: The Other Game
Part of a continuing series of articles related to the events of October 25, 1986.
Bill Buckner played in 2,541 games, combining regular season, postseason, and All-Star Games.
Two of them ended with him making an error.
This is the story of the other one.
It took place on July 13, 1985 at the Kingdome in Seattle, and I'm guessing that not many people remember it, since it was fairly inconsequential to the pennant race. Brian Snyder might be the only one. It was a game in which he earned his only big league win, one that snapped his team's six-game losing streak.
The pitching matchup was Bruce Hurst against Matt Young, a battle of lefties, and Alvin Davis struck the first blow against Hurst with a second-inning homer to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.
Seattle added to that advantage when future Buckner teammate Spike Owen doubled home a run in the third. Boston answered with a run in the fourth, and then another in the fifth on Dwight Evans' 10th home run of the season.
Tied at two in the seventh, the Mariners again grabbed the lead off Hurst. Barry Bonnell's pinch-hit double made it 3-2 and home runs by Phil Bradley and Gorman Thomas in the eighth made it a 5-2 Mariners lead.
That should have been the final score, and would have, if not for the inefficency of the Mariners bullpen.
Boston put the first two runners on base to start the visitors ninth, but Buckner did his best to kill the rally, bouncing into a 4-6-3 double play. Seattle needed just one out to secure the win.
But we all know how difficult it is to get that last out.
Jim Rice singled in a run and Mike Easler walked. Still, Boston trailed 5-3 with two on and two out, and when Dave Sax appeared to hit a game-ending ground ball, to short, this looked to be a pretty unremarkable victory.
But wait! An error by second baseman Domingo Ramos trying to catch the throw kept the Mariners from a win. And go figure that Glenn Hoffman, the next batter, would single home two runs to tie the game.
Steve Lyons popped out (the only batter Snyder would face), but the damage was done, and the score was tied, 5-5.
In the bottom of the ninth, Hurst was pulled and relieved by none other than Bob Stanley. Ivan Calderon promptly greeted the new Boston moundsman with a double. Fearing the power of Mariners third baseman Jim Presley, the Red Sox granted him an intentional walk, and decided to take their chances with Bob Kearney.
Prior to a couple of weeks ago, Bob Kearney had one claim to fame, by my account. I remember, when I was little, reading an article about how Kearney was an odd fellow, and how he and his wife decided to name their child by blindly picking four Scrabble tiles. The four he picked were D-A-N-A. But Kearney didn't want his child to have that name, so they drew another letter, an I. Rather than name his kid D-I-A-N-A, the Kearneys went the illogical route, dubbing their daughter D-A-N-A-I. Poor kid.
Anyways, Kearney now has a second claim to fame. With two on and no out in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, Kearney dropped a bunt down the first base line. Buckner fielded and decided, in a poor choice of wisdom, to try to nail Calderon at third base.
The description, provided by Bob Finnigan of the Post-Intelligencer was as follows:
"Not only was his throw late, but when it rolled 15 feet past third baseman Wade Boggs, Calderon got up and sped home with the deciding run."
True Metnais know...That this game has 3 important things in common with Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
1- The final score of both games was 6-5.
2- The pitcher on the mound at the end of the game was Bob Stanley.
3- Bill Buckner went 0-for-5 with a game-ending error.
Metswalkoffs would like to thank Jeff Evans of the Mariners media relations department for his assistance in procuring details about this game.
Bill Buckner played in 2,541 games, combining regular season, postseason, and All-Star Games.
Two of them ended with him making an error.
This is the story of the other one.
It took place on July 13, 1985 at the Kingdome in Seattle, and I'm guessing that not many people remember it, since it was fairly inconsequential to the pennant race. Brian Snyder might be the only one. It was a game in which he earned his only big league win, one that snapped his team's six-game losing streak.
The pitching matchup was Bruce Hurst against Matt Young, a battle of lefties, and Alvin Davis struck the first blow against Hurst with a second-inning homer to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.
Seattle added to that advantage when future Buckner teammate Spike Owen doubled home a run in the third. Boston answered with a run in the fourth, and then another in the fifth on Dwight Evans' 10th home run of the season.
Tied at two in the seventh, the Mariners again grabbed the lead off Hurst. Barry Bonnell's pinch-hit double made it 3-2 and home runs by Phil Bradley and Gorman Thomas in the eighth made it a 5-2 Mariners lead.
That should have been the final score, and would have, if not for the inefficency of the Mariners bullpen.
Boston put the first two runners on base to start the visitors ninth, but Buckner did his best to kill the rally, bouncing into a 4-6-3 double play. Seattle needed just one out to secure the win.
But we all know how difficult it is to get that last out.
Jim Rice singled in a run and Mike Easler walked. Still, Boston trailed 5-3 with two on and two out, and when Dave Sax appeared to hit a game-ending ground ball, to short, this looked to be a pretty unremarkable victory.
But wait! An error by second baseman Domingo Ramos trying to catch the throw kept the Mariners from a win. And go figure that Glenn Hoffman, the next batter, would single home two runs to tie the game.
Steve Lyons popped out (the only batter Snyder would face), but the damage was done, and the score was tied, 5-5.
In the bottom of the ninth, Hurst was pulled and relieved by none other than Bob Stanley. Ivan Calderon promptly greeted the new Boston moundsman with a double. Fearing the power of Mariners third baseman Jim Presley, the Red Sox granted him an intentional walk, and decided to take their chances with Bob Kearney.
Prior to a couple of weeks ago, Bob Kearney had one claim to fame, by my account. I remember, when I was little, reading an article about how Kearney was an odd fellow, and how he and his wife decided to name their child by blindly picking four Scrabble tiles. The four he picked were D-A-N-A. But Kearney didn't want his child to have that name, so they drew another letter, an I. Rather than name his kid D-I-A-N-A, the Kearneys went the illogical route, dubbing their daughter D-A-N-A-I. Poor kid.
Anyways, Kearney now has a second claim to fame. With two on and no out in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, Kearney dropped a bunt down the first base line. Buckner fielded and decided, in a poor choice of wisdom, to try to nail Calderon at third base.
The description, provided by Bob Finnigan of the Post-Intelligencer was as follows:
"Not only was his throw late, but when it rolled 15 feet past third baseman Wade Boggs, Calderon got up and sped home with the deciding run."
True Metnais know...That this game has 3 important things in common with Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
1- The final score of both games was 6-5.
2- The pitcher on the mound at the end of the game was Bob Stanley.
3- Bill Buckner went 0-for-5 with a game-ending error.
Metswalkoffs would like to thank Jeff Evans of the Mariners media relations department for his assistance in procuring details about this game.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Didja Ever Notice: What else did he do?
Appropos of nothing, other than that I haven't written one of these in awhile. Part of our continuing series regarding Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
Other stories in the series can be found here:
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/search/label/Bill%20Buckner
I just noticed that if you include the World Series in your tally, Bill Buckner played in 162 "other" games against the Mets. That is the equivalent of a full major league season.
So how did he fare? Among our discoveries:
* Bill Buckner had 174 hits in 623 at-bats in those "other" 162 games against the Mets, good for a .279 batting average. That's about 10 points below what he normally hit, so the Mets did a good job of keeping him in check.
* Bill Buckner had 8 home runs and 55 RBI in those games against the Mets. He played at least 140 games against 9 other teams. The Mets held him to fewer RBI than any of those teams.
* Of the 8 home runs that Buckner hit against the Mets, 7 gave his team the lead.
* Bill Buckner played in 162 "other" games against the Mets. His teams went 81-80-1(yes, a tie) in those 162 games. Add in Game 6 of the World Series and Buckner's teams went exactly .500 against the Mets.
* In 1982, Bill Buckner had 4 home runs and 18 RBI in 18 games against the Mets. He had more RBI against the Mets that season than any other player in baseball that season and also managed a 12-game hit streak against them.
* Bill Buckner had 19 hits against Craig Swan, his most against any Mets pitcher.
* Bill Buckner, in those 162 "other" games struck out a total of 27 times, which is VERY impressive. Tom Seaver struck him out the most- 4 times. Buckner was 13-for-59 against Seaver (.220 batting average) during Seaver's Mets tenure.
It should also be noted that Buckner led his league in being toughest to strike out in four different seasons, including 1986. That the Mets struck him out 3 times in that series is impressive.
* Bill Buckner had 15 go-ahead hits against the Mets. Amazingly, none came in the 7th inning or later.
* Bill Buckner was the final batter in 12 Mets wins. In 1979, he was the final out on April 5 against Jesse Orosco, in a game in which Orosco was making his major-league debut.
* Bill Buckner had three games against the Mets in which he had 4 hits. Two of them came in losses.
* Bill Buckner made 9 errors against the Mets. None came in games that the Mets won by walk-off.
* Bill Buckner was never, other than in the top of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the World Series, hit by a pitch by any Mets moundsman.
True Metners know... That Bill Buckner played in 9 "other" games that the Mets won by walk-off.
Other stories in the series can be found here:
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/search/label/Bill%20Buckner
I just noticed that if you include the World Series in your tally, Bill Buckner played in 162 "other" games against the Mets. That is the equivalent of a full major league season.
So how did he fare? Among our discoveries:
* Bill Buckner had 174 hits in 623 at-bats in those "other" 162 games against the Mets, good for a .279 batting average. That's about 10 points below what he normally hit, so the Mets did a good job of keeping him in check.
* Bill Buckner had 8 home runs and 55 RBI in those games against the Mets. He played at least 140 games against 9 other teams. The Mets held him to fewer RBI than any of those teams.
* Of the 8 home runs that Buckner hit against the Mets, 7 gave his team the lead.
* Bill Buckner played in 162 "other" games against the Mets. His teams went 81-80-1(yes, a tie) in those 162 games. Add in Game 6 of the World Series and Buckner's teams went exactly .500 against the Mets.
* In 1982, Bill Buckner had 4 home runs and 18 RBI in 18 games against the Mets. He had more RBI against the Mets that season than any other player in baseball that season and also managed a 12-game hit streak against them.
* Bill Buckner had 19 hits against Craig Swan, his most against any Mets pitcher.
* Bill Buckner, in those 162 "other" games struck out a total of 27 times, which is VERY impressive. Tom Seaver struck him out the most- 4 times. Buckner was 13-for-59 against Seaver (.220 batting average) during Seaver's Mets tenure.
It should also be noted that Buckner led his league in being toughest to strike out in four different seasons, including 1986. That the Mets struck him out 3 times in that series is impressive.
* Bill Buckner had 15 go-ahead hits against the Mets. Amazingly, none came in the 7th inning or later.
* Bill Buckner was the final batter in 12 Mets wins. In 1979, he was the final out on April 5 against Jesse Orosco, in a game in which Orosco was making his major-league debut.
* Bill Buckner had three games against the Mets in which he had 4 hits. Two of them came in losses.
* Bill Buckner made 9 errors against the Mets. None came in games that the Mets won by walk-off.
* Bill Buckner was never, other than in the top of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the World Series, hit by a pitch by any Mets moundsman.
True Metners know... That Bill Buckner played in 9 "other" games that the Mets won by walk-off.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Didja Ever Notice: Where It All Began
I haven't written one of these essays, devoted to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series in quite some time, partly due to the many stories I've already penned on that game, and partly because I've found the conjuring of trivia quizzes to be more entertaining and less time-consuming.
I was in the midst of preparing another trivia quiz when I came upon a piece of information that just had to be shared. I'm a little puzzled that I hadn't previously read about it, so if someone is aware of a source for more information on this matter, please share it.
September 21, 1969, is a significant day in Mets history in a rather peripheral sort of way, far beyond the Mets recording a doubleheader sweep against the Pirates, three days before clinching the NL East. It marks the major-league debut of one William Joseph Buckner for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The action for that day took place in San Francisco, appropros for the moment since the teams of those two cities meet this week (albeit not in SF), and it even involves a fellow named Bonds, whose name apparently has been in the news recently for other reasons.
This was an important game for both teams because the NL West, as it is presently, was a 3-team race at the time, with the Giants and Braves battling for the top spot, while trying to nudge off the Dodgers. Los Angeles was one game off the pace in the loss column so this marked a pivotal contest in the divisional race.
Hall of Famers Jim Bunning (yes, he was a Dodger) and Gaylord Perry were the opposing moundsmen in this contest and the host Giants snatched a quick 2-0 lead by the end of the first. Willie McCovey brought home a run with a single and Bobby Bonds (perhaps with his son watching?) drove home another with a groundout.
The game became a pitchers duel with both men up to the challenge. The Dodgers scored once in the second, than neither team tallied again until the Dodgers got even in the 7th when Willie Crawford tripled, and scored on a bad relay throw by shortstop Hal Lanier (the future Astros manager).
This was the point at which the game turned into a see-saw. The Giants scored in the 7th on a wild pitch (one you'll appreciate more in a few paragraphs) to go ahead and then the Dodgers tied it in the 8th on a home run by Willie Davis.
Buckner's chance came in the top of the 9th, with the score still tied. Dodgers manager Walter Alston gave the rookie a chance to be a pinch-hitting hero with two on and one out, but Perry managed to induce Buckner into popping out to second, then escaped when Maury Wills grounded out. Buckner's day was done at that point, as there was no need to bring him into the game for defense or anything of that sort. His appearance was brief and he probably didn't realize then how the events of the day would foreshadow an important moment in his career (and no, we're not talking about his climb of the left field fence in pursuit of Hank Aaron's 715th home run, another topic we should touch on soon). It was Buckner's only appearance that 1969 season, one remembered by many as a magical campaign. He'd have to wait a bit for his career to take off.
This game went 10 innings and the ending is such that it leapt off the page and grabbed us. With two outs and nobody on base, McCovey came to the plate against reliever Pete Mikkelsen. McCovey was 4-for-4 already with a walk and Alston must have been quite fearful that the game could end with one swing, for he ordered an intentional walk (McCovey's 44th of the season).
That strategy did not work out well at all. Whatever control Mikkelsen had disappeared as he walked both Bonds and Ken Henderson. That meant, with the bases loaded and two outs, continuing the game came down to whether or not Mikkelesen could get Jim Davenport out.
Now consider all that has happened in this game that bears resemblance to October 25, 1986. Forget the odd managerial strategy, that it featured a Henderson, that a centerfield-playing teammate of Buckner's hit a home run, or that the Giants scored their next-to-last run on a wild pitch. That all pales in comparison to the way this contest concluded, in a manner that produced a rather devastating defeat . I excerpt from Bill Becker's story appearing in the New York Times the following day:
"The usually reliable Maury Wills let a grounder go through his legs..."
I was in the midst of preparing another trivia quiz when I came upon a piece of information that just had to be shared. I'm a little puzzled that I hadn't previously read about it, so if someone is aware of a source for more information on this matter, please share it.
September 21, 1969, is a significant day in Mets history in a rather peripheral sort of way, far beyond the Mets recording a doubleheader sweep against the Pirates, three days before clinching the NL East. It marks the major-league debut of one William Joseph Buckner for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The action for that day took place in San Francisco, appropros for the moment since the teams of those two cities meet this week (albeit not in SF), and it even involves a fellow named Bonds, whose name apparently has been in the news recently for other reasons.
This was an important game for both teams because the NL West, as it is presently, was a 3-team race at the time, with the Giants and Braves battling for the top spot, while trying to nudge off the Dodgers. Los Angeles was one game off the pace in the loss column so this marked a pivotal contest in the divisional race.
Hall of Famers Jim Bunning (yes, he was a Dodger) and Gaylord Perry were the opposing moundsmen in this contest and the host Giants snatched a quick 2-0 lead by the end of the first. Willie McCovey brought home a run with a single and Bobby Bonds (perhaps with his son watching?) drove home another with a groundout.
The game became a pitchers duel with both men up to the challenge. The Dodgers scored once in the second, than neither team tallied again until the Dodgers got even in the 7th when Willie Crawford tripled, and scored on a bad relay throw by shortstop Hal Lanier (the future Astros manager).
This was the point at which the game turned into a see-saw. The Giants scored in the 7th on a wild pitch (one you'll appreciate more in a few paragraphs) to go ahead and then the Dodgers tied it in the 8th on a home run by Willie Davis.
Buckner's chance came in the top of the 9th, with the score still tied. Dodgers manager Walter Alston gave the rookie a chance to be a pinch-hitting hero with two on and one out, but Perry managed to induce Buckner into popping out to second, then escaped when Maury Wills grounded out. Buckner's day was done at that point, as there was no need to bring him into the game for defense or anything of that sort. His appearance was brief and he probably didn't realize then how the events of the day would foreshadow an important moment in his career (and no, we're not talking about his climb of the left field fence in pursuit of Hank Aaron's 715th home run, another topic we should touch on soon). It was Buckner's only appearance that 1969 season, one remembered by many as a magical campaign. He'd have to wait a bit for his career to take off.
This game went 10 innings and the ending is such that it leapt off the page and grabbed us. With two outs and nobody on base, McCovey came to the plate against reliever Pete Mikkelsen. McCovey was 4-for-4 already with a walk and Alston must have been quite fearful that the game could end with one swing, for he ordered an intentional walk (McCovey's 44th of the season).
That strategy did not work out well at all. Whatever control Mikkelsen had disappeared as he walked both Bonds and Ken Henderson. That meant, with the bases loaded and two outs, continuing the game came down to whether or not Mikkelesen could get Jim Davenport out.
Now consider all that has happened in this game that bears resemblance to October 25, 1986. Forget the odd managerial strategy, that it featured a Henderson, that a centerfield-playing teammate of Buckner's hit a home run, or that the Giants scored their next-to-last run on a wild pitch. That all pales in comparison to the way this contest concluded, in a manner that produced a rather devastating defeat . I excerpt from Bill Becker's story appearing in the New York Times the following day:
"The usually reliable Maury Wills let a grounder go through his legs..."
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Didja Ever Notice? A Good Walk-Off Spoiled
Among the sightings at Shea Stadium on Tuesday were a fan in a Joe McEwing jersey, what I'm guessing was the father of two children wearing a t-shirt that read "I love my (balls)," a teen sporting a "Please hold this beer while I f*** your girlfriend" t-shirt, and a brawl between a mother-daughter combo more fit for Jerry Springer than the returning No. 7 train.
Other than the McEwing jersey, I found the other sites rather discomforting, particularly that of baseball clearing fence in the 11th inning. Tuesday was the first time all season that the Mets were tied entering the 9th inning and failed to win, basically meaning that it was the first time they'd had an opportunity for a walk-off in which they failed to convert.
It was an odd night, one in which I'm embarassed to admit that I got stumped by a between-innings trivia question for which I should have known the answer, and I'll post it here as a public service to those who may also be uninformed.
Whose hosting of Saturday Night Live was taped and subsequently postponed due to the lengthy running of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series?
The answer is the actress, Rosanna Arquette (my dad and I both guessed Mets fan Glenn Close), someone with whose work I'm not terribly familiar.
Other than the McEwing jersey, I found the other sites rather discomforting, particularly that of baseball clearing fence in the 11th inning. Tuesday was the first time all season that the Mets were tied entering the 9th inning and failed to win, basically meaning that it was the first time they'd had an opportunity for a walk-off in which they failed to convert.
It was an odd night, one in which I'm embarassed to admit that I got stumped by a between-innings trivia question for which I should have known the answer, and I'll post it here as a public service to those who may also be uninformed.
Whose hosting of Saturday Night Live was taped and subsequently postponed due to the lengthy running of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series?
The answer is the actress, Rosanna Arquette (my dad and I both guessed Mets fan Glenn Close), someone with whose work I'm not terribly familiar.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Dida ever notice: A different kind of Metmorable Moment
Part of a continuing series of essays within this blog related to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series
There was a brief discussion the other day, when I told the story of a Mets loss on the night of Richard Nixon's resignation announcement, of other significant events to take place on the date of momentous Mets victories.
Loyal reader Barry Federovitch pointed out that the famous "Ball on the Wall" victory over the Pirates took place the same day as the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Fellow blogger Greg from "Faith and Fear in Flushing" noted how Matt Franco's game-winning hit against Mariano Rivera in 1999 took place the same day of Brandi Chastain's goal that gave the United States women's soccer team victory in the championship game of the World Cup.
While I haven't been able to find many events of historical or sporting significance, I did come across one of particular importance to some.
If you've ever watched the video "An Amazin' Era," which celebrates the history of the Mets, you're familiar with the voice of Tony-award winning stage and screen actor Len Cariou, who narrated that documentary in 1986. You might also be familiar with him from his work singing the National Anthem at Shea Stadium. More likely you've either seen him on Broadway (his Tony came for "Sweeney Todd") in a movie (such as "About Schmidt"), or one of many TV guest-starring roles (including "Law & Order," "The West Wing," and "Murder She Wrote."). He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2004.
Len Cariou also happens to be a big Mets fan, dating back to 1969, according to an article that ran in the New York Times in August of 1989. In that story (penned by Cariou), the author tells of how the 1986 squad holds a special place in his heart and memory for more than one reason.
That's because Cariou and his wife, best-selling author Heather Summerhayes, had the distinction of getting married in Los Angeles on the favorite date of this blogger, October 25, 1986. (How appropriate that this blog "rings" in the New Year with a story involving a wedding). Cariou writes how he frequently sent someone to another room, while at the reception, to update him on the score of Game 6 of the World Series. Upon finding out that the Mets were trailing the Red Sox late in the game, Heather decided to make her baseball allegiance known too. She announced to the room that the "something blue" that she brought to the ceremony was a blue and orange garter, commemorating the Mets team colors.
"Perhaps it was just coincidence, but the Amazin's rallied from that moment on," Cariou wrote. "...My wife said it was a good omen for our marriage."
Heather was kind enough to send me a link to this story after I got in touch with her, and she was kind enough to answer one query for me. The one thing that was not made clear within the piece was whether or not Len Cariou got to see the end of the game that night. I appreciated Heather's reply:
"What do you think? He was getting married!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
True Metleyweds know... The three "Len's" to get a walk-off RBI for the Mets are Lenny Randle, Lenny Harris, and Len Dykstra.
Also of note: Len Cariou also narrated Major League Baseball's World Series highlight films from 1992-1997. That would mean he told the stories of four walk-off hits, including the World Series-clinching hits by Joe Carter (HR vs Phillies in 1993) and Edgar Renteria.
There was a brief discussion the other day, when I told the story of a Mets loss on the night of Richard Nixon's resignation announcement, of other significant events to take place on the date of momentous Mets victories.
Loyal reader Barry Federovitch pointed out that the famous "Ball on the Wall" victory over the Pirates took place the same day as the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Fellow blogger Greg from "Faith and Fear in Flushing" noted how Matt Franco's game-winning hit against Mariano Rivera in 1999 took place the same day of Brandi Chastain's goal that gave the United States women's soccer team victory in the championship game of the World Cup.
While I haven't been able to find many events of historical or sporting significance, I did come across one of particular importance to some.
If you've ever watched the video "An Amazin' Era," which celebrates the history of the Mets, you're familiar with the voice of Tony-award winning stage and screen actor Len Cariou, who narrated that documentary in 1986. You might also be familiar with him from his work singing the National Anthem at Shea Stadium. More likely you've either seen him on Broadway (his Tony came for "Sweeney Todd") in a movie (such as "About Schmidt"), or one of many TV guest-starring roles (including "Law & Order," "The West Wing," and "Murder She Wrote."). He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2004.
Len Cariou also happens to be a big Mets fan, dating back to 1969, according to an article that ran in the New York Times in August of 1989. In that story (penned by Cariou), the author tells of how the 1986 squad holds a special place in his heart and memory for more than one reason.
That's because Cariou and his wife, best-selling author Heather Summerhayes, had the distinction of getting married in Los Angeles on the favorite date of this blogger, October 25, 1986. (How appropriate that this blog "rings" in the New Year with a story involving a wedding). Cariou writes how he frequently sent someone to another room, while at the reception, to update him on the score of Game 6 of the World Series. Upon finding out that the Mets were trailing the Red Sox late in the game, Heather decided to make her baseball allegiance known too. She announced to the room that the "something blue" that she brought to the ceremony was a blue and orange garter, commemorating the Mets team colors.
"Perhaps it was just coincidence, but the Amazin's rallied from that moment on," Cariou wrote. "...My wife said it was a good omen for our marriage."
Heather was kind enough to send me a link to this story after I got in touch with her, and she was kind enough to answer one query for me. The one thing that was not made clear within the piece was whether or not Len Cariou got to see the end of the game that night. I appreciated Heather's reply:
"What do you think? He was getting married!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
True Metleyweds know... The three "Len's" to get a walk-off RBI for the Mets are Lenny Randle, Lenny Harris, and Len Dykstra.
Also of note: Len Cariou also narrated Major League Baseball's World Series highlight films from 1992-1997. That would mean he told the stories of four walk-off hits, including the World Series-clinching hits by Joe Carter (HR vs Phillies in 1993) and Edgar Renteria.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Didja ever notice: The Bill Buckner of...
So I'm eavesdropping on a conversation between two people the other day, one famous and one not, and the celebrity says to the non-celeb that the greatest relief of his career is that he never had a "Bill Buckner moment."
But others have. I did a number of googlings to try to find references and wasn't particularly satisfied when I searched for "Bill Buckner moment" or "Bucknerian." The best results came from trying to find Bill Buckner equivalents, ie: "The Bill Buckner of..." Here's what I found.
*When 1996 Team USA Olympic softball player Dani Tyler was called out for failing to touch home plate after hitting a home run, Peter King's story in Sports Illustrated said "She may go down as the Bill Buckner of fast-pitch softball."
* Television reporter Andrew Gilligan has been called "The Bill Buckner of the BBC" due to some unsual blunder of which I'm not aware.
* A Massachusetts News headline regarding gover Paul Cellucci said "The Mark McGwire of Tax Cuts Becomes the Bill Buckner of Beacon Hill. "
* A frustrated message board poster, lamenting the one that got away, wants to be known as "The Bill Buckner of Striped Bass Fishing."
* USA Today hockey writer Kevin Allen once dubbed former Olympic goalie Tommy Salo as "the Bill Buckner of Sweden."
* John Kerry and Al Gore have been called the "Bill Buckner of presidential candidates." or variations thereof in multiple spots. Michael Brown has been called the "Bill Buckner of national disaster management" and a person who blundered on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was called "The Bill Buckner of quiz-show contestants."
and lastly a New Mexico-based high school baseball player was saved from becoming "The Bill Buckner of Capital High" by a nifty rally by his teammates in a state tournament game. How did they win? By walk-off, of course.
Those truly amazed know... That, at least for now, googling "The Casey Stengel of" yields an appopriate number of hits- 37 to be exact.
The idea to find "The Bill Buckner of" was partly inspired from a massive list seen many years ago of "The Babe Ruth of..." A google search of that yields many, many, many hits. Can anyone recall seeing the list I saw?
But others have. I did a number of googlings to try to find references and wasn't particularly satisfied when I searched for "Bill Buckner moment" or "Bucknerian." The best results came from trying to find Bill Buckner equivalents, ie: "The Bill Buckner of..." Here's what I found.
*When 1996 Team USA Olympic softball player Dani Tyler was called out for failing to touch home plate after hitting a home run, Peter King's story in Sports Illustrated said "She may go down as the Bill Buckner of fast-pitch softball."
* Television reporter Andrew Gilligan has been called "The Bill Buckner of the BBC" due to some unsual blunder of which I'm not aware.
* A Massachusetts News headline regarding gover Paul Cellucci said "The Mark McGwire of Tax Cuts Becomes the Bill Buckner of Beacon Hill. "
* A frustrated message board poster, lamenting the one that got away, wants to be known as "The Bill Buckner of Striped Bass Fishing."
* USA Today hockey writer Kevin Allen once dubbed former Olympic goalie Tommy Salo as "the Bill Buckner of Sweden."
* John Kerry and Al Gore have been called the "Bill Buckner of presidential candidates." or variations thereof in multiple spots. Michael Brown has been called the "Bill Buckner of national disaster management" and a person who blundered on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was called "The Bill Buckner of quiz-show contestants."
and lastly a New Mexico-based high school baseball player was saved from becoming "The Bill Buckner of Capital High" by a nifty rally by his teammates in a state tournament game. How did they win? By walk-off, of course.
Those truly amazed know... That, at least for now, googling "The Casey Stengel of" yields an appopriate number of hits- 37 to be exact.
The idea to find "The Bill Buckner of" was partly inspired from a massive list seen many years ago of "The Babe Ruth of..." A google search of that yields many, many, many hits. Can anyone recall seeing the list I saw?
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Didja Ever Notice: The Forgotten Encounters of Buckner and Mookie?
The hubbub surrounding Tom Glavine's re-signing failed to intrigue me enough to cure my case of blogger's block and in search of inspiration, I went to my freshly purchased 1986 World Series DVD set. My viewing of choice was Game 7 and the "Extras" bonus collection that adds some fresh perspective to the memories.
The most entertaining viewing on the latter came in the form of a discussion between Mike Piazza and Mookie Wilson in which Piazza asks Mookie just what it was like to be a part of the most memorable moment in Mets history. Mookie recounts the usual stories and mentions that he and Buckner chat about their most significant encounter and tells how Buckner has made good money by turning a negative situation into a positive one.
I wonder if they ever got around to discussing their come-togethers in Game 7, lesser appreciated than that in Game 6, but each bearing some significance on the final outcome.
For those who forget, the first came in the second inning, after the Red Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead on back-to-back home runs by Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman. Boston actually mounted a threat to extend the lead to a greater margin when Buckner came up in that frame, with two on and two out.
Buckner got pretty good wood on a 1-0 pitch from Ron Darling, and hit a line shot to left center field. The ball didn't have a lot of hang time and was reminiscent of Jose Reyes' shot to center in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. It looked, off the bat, like it could be trouble. I wouldn't rate Mookie's eventual catch as difficult (I count he had to race 11 steps to snag the sphere), but if the ball was a little bit more to Wilson's right, it would have been two runs worth of trouble and made the deficit a possibly insurmountable five runs.
Flash-forward to the sixth inning in which the Mets, still trailing by three, finally threatened against Bruce Hurst, putting two men on base with one out for second baseman Tim Teufel. Hurst fell behind 1-0, than missed away. The pitch was such that Rich Gedman thought it worthwhile to take a chance. He fired a strike to first base where Buckner was waiting. Wilson, who was on first, may have been caught by surprise. He retreated back quickly, but the throw beat him to the bag.
However, Buckner had to reach shoulder-high to snag the toss, then tried to block the base with his right knee as he brought the tag down. Wilson ducked in and slid right into Buckner, and the base, jamming his shoulder against Buckner's leg. He was safe, barely, and there's a moment shortly therafter where the expression on Buckner's face shows he knew that the opportunity to kill the rally was missed. It was similar to Buckner's expression as he walked off the field at the conclusion of Game 6, which might help trigger your recollections of these particular moments.
The most entertaining viewing on the latter came in the form of a discussion between Mike Piazza and Mookie Wilson in which Piazza asks Mookie just what it was like to be a part of the most memorable moment in Mets history. Mookie recounts the usual stories and mentions that he and Buckner chat about their most significant encounter and tells how Buckner has made good money by turning a negative situation into a positive one.
I wonder if they ever got around to discussing their come-togethers in Game 7, lesser appreciated than that in Game 6, but each bearing some significance on the final outcome.
For those who forget, the first came in the second inning, after the Red Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead on back-to-back home runs by Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman. Boston actually mounted a threat to extend the lead to a greater margin when Buckner came up in that frame, with two on and two out.
Buckner got pretty good wood on a 1-0 pitch from Ron Darling, and hit a line shot to left center field. The ball didn't have a lot of hang time and was reminiscent of Jose Reyes' shot to center in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. It looked, off the bat, like it could be trouble. I wouldn't rate Mookie's eventual catch as difficult (I count he had to race 11 steps to snag the sphere), but if the ball was a little bit more to Wilson's right, it would have been two runs worth of trouble and made the deficit a possibly insurmountable five runs.
Flash-forward to the sixth inning in which the Mets, still trailing by three, finally threatened against Bruce Hurst, putting two men on base with one out for second baseman Tim Teufel. Hurst fell behind 1-0, than missed away. The pitch was such that Rich Gedman thought it worthwhile to take a chance. He fired a strike to first base where Buckner was waiting. Wilson, who was on first, may have been caught by surprise. He retreated back quickly, but the throw beat him to the bag.
However, Buckner had to reach shoulder-high to snag the toss, then tried to block the base with his right knee as he brought the tag down. Wilson ducked in and slid right into Buckner, and the base, jamming his shoulder against Buckner's leg. He was safe, barely, and there's a moment shortly therafter where the expression on Buckner's face shows he knew that the opportunity to kill the rally was missed. It was similar to Buckner's expression as he walked off the field at the conclusion of Game 6, which might help trigger your recollections of these particular moments.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
What They Said
So I had this piece in mind, a multi-thousand word reminiscence of the 2006 season and its most memorable moments. It was going to be called "Coming Full Circle," referencing how a sportswriting colleague of mine talked about circling all the meaningful games that your team plays during a season, so that it's easy at the end of the year to go back and refresh your memory.
Then reality, in the form of work and other obligations set in. Thankfully, a fellow blogger has penned a work of a similar nature. I strongly recommend you check it out, as it will totally be worth your time. Part I is here and I imagine part II is forthcoming
http://faithandfear.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2006/11/2/2467800.html
and when you're done with that, check out a few more links to some of the 20th anniversary stories regarding the game of October 25, 1986. Each offers its own unique, worthwhile perspective. Enjoy!
http://www.boston.com/sports/nesn/wilbur/sports_blog/blog/2006/10/25/an_error_turns_20/index.html
http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_4532322
http://www.harvardindependent.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=10010
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/leave_it_to_buckner
and also check out information regarding the movie "Chasing Buckner"
http://www.chasingbuckner.com
Then reality, in the form of work and other obligations set in. Thankfully, a fellow blogger has penned a work of a similar nature. I strongly recommend you check it out, as it will totally be worth your time. Part I is here and I imagine part II is forthcoming
http://faithandfear.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2006/11/2/2467800.html
and when you're done with that, check out a few more links to some of the 20th anniversary stories regarding the game of October 25, 1986. Each offers its own unique, worthwhile perspective. Enjoy!
http://www.boston.com/sports/nesn/wilbur/sports_blog/blog/2006/10/25/an_error_turns_20/index.html
http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_4532322
http://www.harvardindependent.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=10010
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/leave_it_to_buckner
and also check out information regarding the movie "Chasing Buckner"
http://www.chasingbuckner.com
Monday, August 14, 2006
Didja ever notice the potential Knightmare?
Continuing our everlasting series on the events of October 25, 1986...
Michael Tucker got hurt as a young player creating his own walk-off scenario but perhaps a far more dangerous proposition for a player is celebrating the actual walk-off moment itself. Though the post walk-off scenario is certainly fun and entertaining, caution must be exercised to prevent accident and injury.
Consider the Mets mini-pummeling of Jose Valentin a few weeks ago, which was actually mild in comparison to what the Dodgers did to Cookie Lavagetto after his walk-off hit broke up a no-hitter and won a World Series game back in 1947.
"They are beatin' him to pieces," said Red Barber on the radio broadcast. "It's taken a police escort to get Lavagetto away from the Dodgers."
Or consider the story of current Norfolk Tide Tagg Bozied. In July of 2004, while playing for the Padres Triple-A squad, Bozied hit a walk-off grand slam. When the team converged on Bozied, as he jumped on home plate, Bozied crumpled. He described the pain as feeling like his leg had just been shot off. The resulting injury was a ruptured achilles. This story was repeated two years later, when at my alma mater, the head coach ruptured his achilles celebrating a conference-championship winning walk-off grand slam.
We're happy to report that Bozied apparently learned his lesson, having survived his first walk-off home run since the injury, which came a few weeks ago for the Tides.
This brings us to the events of October 25, 1986, which we often like to report about in this space, in which we track a few rather eventful minutes in the life of Ray Knight, who scored the run that ended Game 6 of the World Series.
I'm guessing that most of those people who watch tape of that historic contest, conclude their viewing with Knight's stomp on home plate, at which he's engulfed by the sea of humanity that is Howard Johnson, Davey Johnson, Lee Mazzilli, Mike the Batboy, Rick Augilera, trainer Steve Garland, and a couple of other unidentified personnel.
After 20 seconds or so, Knight freed himself from the mob and sprinted to the dugout. NBC's cameras switch at this point to reaction of various Red Sox, including Bill Buckner, and celebration in the stands, before coming back to a shot of a sitting Knight being hugged by Garland in the Mets dugout. As the camera peels back, Garland releases his embrace and it looks like Knight, for lack of a better description, is dazed and confused. Augilera comes over to check out the scene, as do Kevin Mitchell and Gary Carter, with Knight wrapping his arms around Mitchell's neck.
There's another cutaway, this time to Calvin Schiraldi in the Boston dugout and then a return back to the victors. This time Knight's face is hidden by the back of Ed Hearn, and it appears, just for a second or two that Hearn is giving Knight mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Thankfully, the situation wasn't dire in any way. After a couple of seconds, Knight emerged disheveled, but unscathed. He's well enough to chat with Bud Harrelson and join Mookie Wilson for a postgame interview with Marv Albert.
"I'm just exhausted," Knight said, feeling well enough to make faces at a couple of folks in the crowd. "I've never been more tired in all my life."
It turns out that there was no need to worry. John Feinstein closed out his Washington Post piece that night with the following quote from Keith Hernandez regarding the vitality of the 1986 Mets:
"Somehow, even when we're dead, we're not dead"
Michael Tucker got hurt as a young player creating his own walk-off scenario but perhaps a far more dangerous proposition for a player is celebrating the actual walk-off moment itself. Though the post walk-off scenario is certainly fun and entertaining, caution must be exercised to prevent accident and injury.
Consider the Mets mini-pummeling of Jose Valentin a few weeks ago, which was actually mild in comparison to what the Dodgers did to Cookie Lavagetto after his walk-off hit broke up a no-hitter and won a World Series game back in 1947.
"They are beatin' him to pieces," said Red Barber on the radio broadcast. "It's taken a police escort to get Lavagetto away from the Dodgers."
Or consider the story of current Norfolk Tide Tagg Bozied. In July of 2004, while playing for the Padres Triple-A squad, Bozied hit a walk-off grand slam. When the team converged on Bozied, as he jumped on home plate, Bozied crumpled. He described the pain as feeling like his leg had just been shot off. The resulting injury was a ruptured achilles. This story was repeated two years later, when at my alma mater, the head coach ruptured his achilles celebrating a conference-championship winning walk-off grand slam.
We're happy to report that Bozied apparently learned his lesson, having survived his first walk-off home run since the injury, which came a few weeks ago for the Tides.
This brings us to the events of October 25, 1986, which we often like to report about in this space, in which we track a few rather eventful minutes in the life of Ray Knight, who scored the run that ended Game 6 of the World Series.
I'm guessing that most of those people who watch tape of that historic contest, conclude their viewing with Knight's stomp on home plate, at which he's engulfed by the sea of humanity that is Howard Johnson, Davey Johnson, Lee Mazzilli, Mike the Batboy, Rick Augilera, trainer Steve Garland, and a couple of other unidentified personnel.
After 20 seconds or so, Knight freed himself from the mob and sprinted to the dugout. NBC's cameras switch at this point to reaction of various Red Sox, including Bill Buckner, and celebration in the stands, before coming back to a shot of a sitting Knight being hugged by Garland in the Mets dugout. As the camera peels back, Garland releases his embrace and it looks like Knight, for lack of a better description, is dazed and confused. Augilera comes over to check out the scene, as do Kevin Mitchell and Gary Carter, with Knight wrapping his arms around Mitchell's neck.
There's another cutaway, this time to Calvin Schiraldi in the Boston dugout and then a return back to the victors. This time Knight's face is hidden by the back of Ed Hearn, and it appears, just for a second or two that Hearn is giving Knight mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Thankfully, the situation wasn't dire in any way. After a couple of seconds, Knight emerged disheveled, but unscathed. He's well enough to chat with Bud Harrelson and join Mookie Wilson for a postgame interview with Marv Albert.
"I'm just exhausted," Knight said, feeling well enough to make faces at a couple of folks in the crowd. "I've never been more tired in all my life."
It turns out that there was no need to worry. John Feinstein closed out his Washington Post piece that night with the following quote from Keith Hernandez regarding the vitality of the 1986 Mets:
"Somehow, even when we're dead, we're not dead"
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Didja Ever Notice: Did you Know?
* From a story in the October 28, 1986 edition of the Boston Globe, the day after the World Series concluded...really! It came from a notes column co-written by Dan Shaughnessy, Jackie MacMullan and Larry Whiteside.
"Trade talks at the World Series are at best preliminary, but one source says the Red Sox have now added backup first baseman Danny Heep to the deal in which outfielder Mookie Wilson would come to Boston...The Mets want a middle reliever in return and have their sights on Bob Stanley."
"Trade talks at the World Series are at best preliminary, but one source says the Red Sox have now added backup first baseman Danny Heep to the deal in which outfielder Mookie Wilson would come to Boston...The Mets want a middle reliever in return and have their sights on Bob Stanley."
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Didja ever notice: Roger, the Dodger
I'm sure I won't be the first and I likely won't be the last to tell you that Roger Clemens is pitching today...on 6/6/06...how appropriate!
It came to my attention that Thursday marks 25 years to the day that the Mets selected that particular righthander, out of Spring Woods High, with the 288th overall pick in the 12th round of MLB's Amateur Draft. I do not begrudge him for choosing not to sign. He told the New York Times in 1986 that Mets manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Bob Gibson had watched him pitch in 1981 and neither came oaway particularly impressed. That apparently was a turn-off and enough reason to walk-off.
However, there are plenty of reasons to dislike Roger Clemens and I could easily list 100 why, but I'll simply choose to discuss one. There is strong reason to believe that the man is a vandal.
I harken back to October 25, 1986, the sixth game of the World Series, which I do every so often in this space, and a particular camera shot not long after Dave Henderson's home run gave the Red Sox the leadin the top of the 10th inning. It is of the Red Sox bullpen, where a few young men are clapping and exchanging high-fives. One of them is Roger Clemens. The other is Al Nipper. Alongside them, on one of the nearby walls, are huge blotches of red spray paint. In rather large letters are the initials "RC" and "AN."
I presume that Clemens was rather proud of himself at that particular moment, both for his pitching performance and his artistry. I'm guessing that Clemens would likely deny that he committed this particular act, for which others would likely have been arrested and prosecuted. He'll claim he had a blister on his finger, that which forced him to depart this game, and thus couldn't operate a spray can. I'm willing to hire the necessary handwriting experts to determine whether the work came from Clemens or Nipper. Either way, "Roger the Dodger" is guilty of some significant misdeed because it's very apparent that he either did it, or knows who did. I'm surprised no one filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Mets to reimburse the team for the damage done.
The statute of limitations may have run out, but it's good to see that the punishment for Clemens was long-lasting. Just desserts came not only in the form of the manner in which this contest concluded, but in the following numbers. 0-3, 5.47. That's Clemens' record and ERA at Shea Stadium since that particular date.
And you know what's kind of neat? The last two times that Clemens has paid a visit to Shea, he's been given a little reminder of his inappropriate actions. In 2002, if memory serves, Shawn Estes' home run off Clemens landed not far from the scene of the crime. And on April 13, 2005, Clemens pitched rather well, but had to watch the Mets celebrate after winning in walk-off fashion after Jose Reyes' game-winning single.
True Metmens know... Roger Clemens has a 5.09 career ERA against the Mets in regular-season play. That's his worst ERA against any team he's faced.
It came to my attention that Thursday marks 25 years to the day that the Mets selected that particular righthander, out of Spring Woods High, with the 288th overall pick in the 12th round of MLB's Amateur Draft. I do not begrudge him for choosing not to sign. He told the New York Times in 1986 that Mets manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Bob Gibson had watched him pitch in 1981 and neither came oaway particularly impressed. That apparently was a turn-off and enough reason to walk-off.
However, there are plenty of reasons to dislike Roger Clemens and I could easily list 100 why, but I'll simply choose to discuss one. There is strong reason to believe that the man is a vandal.
I harken back to October 25, 1986, the sixth game of the World Series, which I do every so often in this space, and a particular camera shot not long after Dave Henderson's home run gave the Red Sox the leadin the top of the 10th inning. It is of the Red Sox bullpen, where a few young men are clapping and exchanging high-fives. One of them is Roger Clemens. The other is Al Nipper. Alongside them, on one of the nearby walls, are huge blotches of red spray paint. In rather large letters are the initials "RC" and "AN."
I presume that Clemens was rather proud of himself at that particular moment, both for his pitching performance and his artistry. I'm guessing that Clemens would likely deny that he committed this particular act, for which others would likely have been arrested and prosecuted. He'll claim he had a blister on his finger, that which forced him to depart this game, and thus couldn't operate a spray can. I'm willing to hire the necessary handwriting experts to determine whether the work came from Clemens or Nipper. Either way, "Roger the Dodger" is guilty of some significant misdeed because it's very apparent that he either did it, or knows who did. I'm surprised no one filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Mets to reimburse the team for the damage done.
The statute of limitations may have run out, but it's good to see that the punishment for Clemens was long-lasting. Just desserts came not only in the form of the manner in which this contest concluded, but in the following numbers. 0-3, 5.47. That's Clemens' record and ERA at Shea Stadium since that particular date.
And you know what's kind of neat? The last two times that Clemens has paid a visit to Shea, he's been given a little reminder of his inappropriate actions. In 2002, if memory serves, Shawn Estes' home run off Clemens landed not far from the scene of the crime. And on April 13, 2005, Clemens pitched rather well, but had to watch the Mets celebrate after winning in walk-off fashion after Jose Reyes' game-winning single.
True Metmens know... Roger Clemens has a 5.09 career ERA against the Mets in regular-season play. That's his worst ERA against any team he's faced.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Didja ever notice The Player of the Game?
Part of a continuing series of posts related to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
I don't remember if it was during the initial viewing or one of the many reruns of the events of October 25, that my dad and I became rather puzzled by the judgement of NBC's broadcast crew.
"The Miller Lite Player of the Game (portrayed humorously in the "RBI Baseball Reenactment of Game 6") is Marty Barrett," Vin Scully declared with two outs, nobody on, and Gary Carter up in the last of the 10th inning. Scully proceeded to run down Barrett's credentials- three singles, two walks, two RBI, and "handled everything hit his way" (one putout, four assists).
Several issues come into play here. One is that the game was not over yet, but that one's so obvious that it goes without saying? The other issue is this: By citing Barrett aren't you slighting the man who, had the Red Sox won, would have had the biggest hit in franchise history?
It's not like Dave Henderson hasn't gotten his proper due, but consider this. If the Red Sox had won, wouldn't he have had THE HIT MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR WINNING THE TEAM'S FIRST WORLD SERIES IN 68 YEARS???
Henderson's resume for the rest of the contest wasn't as good as Barrett's, but it wasn't exactly all that shabby. Prior to the home run, Henderson went 1-for-4. He too handled everything hit his way (his catch of the second out in the 10th inning gave him five putouts).
Any way you figure it, Henderson's performance was better than Barrett's. Common sense tells you that, but so does mathematics. I ran the numbers for "Win expectancy" (a neat new stat that calculates player value based on moment-to-moment performance) and found that Henderson's home run increased Boston's chances of winning by 36.7 percent. By comparison, Barrett's three hits and two walks increased Boston's chances of winning by a combined 31.4 percent. Never mind that Henderson had THE HIT MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR WINNING THE TEAM'S FIRST WORLD SERIES IN 68 YEARS.
The other issue I want to ponder is this: Had NBC shown the proper patience and discipline and waited until the game was over to decree a "Miller Lite Player of the Game" award, who should they have chosen?
Think about that for a second. Who was most responsible for the Mets winning the game? (don't cheat and answer "Bill Buckner."
Do you give the award to Mookie Wilson? Well, that would be giving Mookie a significant amount of credit for a few two-strike foul balls and his "One Giant Leap for Metkind" (I refer to his dodging Bob Stanley's wild pitch...interesting to note he got hit in a similar such situation in Game 7). Considering that Mookie's success comes from the misfortune of others (Stanley/Gedman and Buckner), that isn't necessarily an easy call.
Do we give the award to Ray Knight? Knight had two hits and two runs scored. He drove in the first Mets run of the game, with the team hitless and down 2-0 in the 5th, then fought off an 0-2 pitch from Calvin Schiraldi for an RBI single in the 10th inning rally and scored the eventual winning run after Mookie's grounder rolled through Buckner's legs. But we can't forget Knight's foible, an 8th inning error that led to Boston's taking the lead.
Do we give the award to Gary Carter? Carter was the batter in two of the biggest moments in the game: The first came with the bases loaded and one out, down one run in the eighth, when his sacrifice fly tied the score at three. Detractors will note that the out came on a 3-0 pitch, one Carter might have been better off taking. The second didn't do much for the scoreboard, but his two out single in the 10th inning kept the game alive.
Considering that 20 years have passed, I think it's about time we corrected NBC's faux pas. Would anyone like to cast their vote on "The MetsWalkoffs Player of the Game?" Feel free to do so in the comments section.
Other installments of "Didja ever notice?" can be found...
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/08/didja-ever-notice.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/09/didja-ever-notice-signs-signs.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/10/didja-ever-notice-how-telecast-ended.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/10/didja-ever-notice-evolution-of-bill.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/09/didja-ever-notice-what-they-wrote.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/08/didja-ever-notice-look-on-his-face.html
I don't remember if it was during the initial viewing or one of the many reruns of the events of October 25, that my dad and I became rather puzzled by the judgement of NBC's broadcast crew.
"The Miller Lite Player of the Game (portrayed humorously in the "RBI Baseball Reenactment of Game 6") is Marty Barrett," Vin Scully declared with two outs, nobody on, and Gary Carter up in the last of the 10th inning. Scully proceeded to run down Barrett's credentials- three singles, two walks, two RBI, and "handled everything hit his way" (one putout, four assists).
Several issues come into play here. One is that the game was not over yet, but that one's so obvious that it goes without saying? The other issue is this: By citing Barrett aren't you slighting the man who, had the Red Sox won, would have had the biggest hit in franchise history?
It's not like Dave Henderson hasn't gotten his proper due, but consider this. If the Red Sox had won, wouldn't he have had THE HIT MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR WINNING THE TEAM'S FIRST WORLD SERIES IN 68 YEARS???
Henderson's resume for the rest of the contest wasn't as good as Barrett's, but it wasn't exactly all that shabby. Prior to the home run, Henderson went 1-for-4. He too handled everything hit his way (his catch of the second out in the 10th inning gave him five putouts).
Any way you figure it, Henderson's performance was better than Barrett's. Common sense tells you that, but so does mathematics. I ran the numbers for "Win expectancy" (a neat new stat that calculates player value based on moment-to-moment performance) and found that Henderson's home run increased Boston's chances of winning by 36.7 percent. By comparison, Barrett's three hits and two walks increased Boston's chances of winning by a combined 31.4 percent. Never mind that Henderson had THE HIT MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR WINNING THE TEAM'S FIRST WORLD SERIES IN 68 YEARS.
The other issue I want to ponder is this: Had NBC shown the proper patience and discipline and waited until the game was over to decree a "Miller Lite Player of the Game" award, who should they have chosen?
Think about that for a second. Who was most responsible for the Mets winning the game? (don't cheat and answer "Bill Buckner."
Do you give the award to Mookie Wilson? Well, that would be giving Mookie a significant amount of credit for a few two-strike foul balls and his "One Giant Leap for Metkind" (I refer to his dodging Bob Stanley's wild pitch...interesting to note he got hit in a similar such situation in Game 7). Considering that Mookie's success comes from the misfortune of others (Stanley/Gedman and Buckner), that isn't necessarily an easy call.
Do we give the award to Ray Knight? Knight had two hits and two runs scored. He drove in the first Mets run of the game, with the team hitless and down 2-0 in the 5th, then fought off an 0-2 pitch from Calvin Schiraldi for an RBI single in the 10th inning rally and scored the eventual winning run after Mookie's grounder rolled through Buckner's legs. But we can't forget Knight's foible, an 8th inning error that led to Boston's taking the lead.
Do we give the award to Gary Carter? Carter was the batter in two of the biggest moments in the game: The first came with the bases loaded and one out, down one run in the eighth, when his sacrifice fly tied the score at three. Detractors will note that the out came on a 3-0 pitch, one Carter might have been better off taking. The second didn't do much for the scoreboard, but his two out single in the 10th inning kept the game alive.
Considering that 20 years have passed, I think it's about time we corrected NBC's faux pas. Would anyone like to cast their vote on "The MetsWalkoffs Player of the Game?" Feel free to do so in the comments section.
Other installments of "Didja ever notice?" can be found...
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/08/didja-ever-notice.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/09/didja-ever-notice-signs-signs.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/10/didja-ever-notice-how-telecast-ended.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/10/didja-ever-notice-evolution-of-bill.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/09/didja-ever-notice-what-they-wrote.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/08/didja-ever-notice-look-on-his-face.html
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Game 6, the Video Game
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8547285560243429315&q=RBI+baseball&pl=true
The above is a link to an amazingly done reenactment of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 WS, using the video game RBI baseball. I suggest you check it out while waiting for my next posting.
I'm planning my own version, using sock puppets...
The above is a link to an amazingly done reenactment of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 WS, using the video game RBI baseball. I suggest you check it out while waiting for my next posting.
I'm planning my own version, using sock puppets...
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Didja ever notice: The Most Amazing Walk-Off of 1986
Continuing our series of essays tying in various aspects related to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
We've talked in the past about the signs indicating that its your year and how so many events foreshadowed the end result for the 1986 New York Mets, but those same mysterious powers were at work for a couple of other baseball teams that season. That's what I like so much about that particular season. My fellow bloggers over at Faith and Fear in Flushing are relating, on a weekly basis, their favorite thoughts about that campaign and I encourage you to indulge them every Friday. I don't know what their topic of choice is this week, but I'm going to write about one of my favorite 1986 games, one that I've never even seen, other than in boxscore form. If you thought the Mets comeback on October 25, 1986 was improbable, fasten your seatbelts, as a wise man once said, for one that surpasses it in terms of amazingness and includes a couple of Metsian blasts from the past.
I'm referring to the 128th game of the season for the California Angels, which took place on August 29, against the Detroit Tigers and ended probably long after most New Yorkers went to bed. It took Detroit all of four batters to start what appeared to be a rout of Angels starter Kirk McCaskill. Johnny Grubb hit a three-run home run in the top of the first to give starter Frank Tanana a nice cushion. The Tigers extended what was a 3-1 edge to 5-1 when Darrell Evans went deep off McCaskill in the third.
Chuck Finley replaced McCaskill for the middle three innings and he too got rocked, allowing three runs in the fifth. The Angels got two back to make it 8-3, but Detroit responded in the seventh, as Chet Lemon hit a three-run homer off Vern Ruhle. With an 11-3 lead, Tigers manager Sparky Anderson pulled Tanana after six innings for Randy O'Neal and the Angels scored what appeared to be two meaningless runs in their half of the seventh to make it an 11-5 game. Alan Trammell homered in the top of the eighth to make it 12-5 and the score stayed that way until the last of the ninth.
Angels skipper Gene Mauch made a substitution in the top of the final inning, pulling out his best hitter, third baseman Doug Decinces (apparently eager to leave early both to rest his bad back, celebrate his birthday, and muster up enough strength to hit a walk-off home run the next day) for second-year man Jack Howell, indicating that Mauch was basically conceding at that point.
If I'm attending a game as a fan, I always approach a blowout game like this with the same thought process. Let's just get to the point where the other manager has to think about using his closer. It's a way of providing hope for the hopeless and gives me something to do while those around me are contemplating the bleakness of an ugly defeat. Most people don't like that approach, but I find it entertaining.
Dick Schofield reached on an infield single off O'Neal to start the last of the ninth. Rick Burleson lined out, but a walk and single loaded the bases with one out for Howell, who came through in timely fashion with a two-out double to right. That cut the lead to 12-7 and made Anderson nervous enough that he felt the need to bring in his closer, southpaw Willie Hernandez, who two seasons prior was so dominant that he won both the Cy Young and MVP, and was on the mound for the final out of the World Series.
On this night, Hernandez, pitching after two days of rest, was not at his finest. George Hendrick plated a run with a single to left and Bobby Grich followed with one as well, cutting the lead to 12-9 and bringing the tying run to the plate with only one out. Speedy Gary Pettis grounded into a force play for the second out. That brought up backup catcher Jerry Narron, and having already used Bob Boone, Mauch was basically stuck. If he pinch-hit for Narron, he'd have no one to catch should the game go 10 innings. However, if he let Narron bat, the chance that he'd strike out on three pitches was pretty high. So Mauch took a shot and sent up lefty Rupert Jones, even though Jones didn't hit southpaws particularly well. Remarkably, Hernandez walked Jones, loading the bases and bringing up Schofield.
Dick Schofield was the Mets starting shortstop in 1992 and to be blunt, he was a pretty pathetic batsman that season. Sure he led NL shortstops in fielding percentage, but I really can't think of any redeeming quality about him from his one Flushing campaign. If I were to rank all-time Mets shortstops, Schofield would settle in somewhere in Ross Jones territory.
Hernandez's first pitch was a strike. His second pitch was a strike. The third pitch to Schofield was a strike as well except that Schofield crushed it to left field. The ball carried and carried and carried until it was over the fence for a game-winning home run. The hit rendered Schofield practically speechless afterwards. Mauch simply told reporters they had just witnessed an all-timer of a comeback. In Japan, they call such a hit a Sayonara Slam. Here in the states, we simply say, as a wise man once did: "Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing."
True Metfields know...Sparky Anderson was the color commentator for play-by-play man Jack Buck on the national radio broadcast of the 1986 World Series and thus was at Shea Stadium for Game 6.
We've talked in the past about the signs indicating that its your year and how so many events foreshadowed the end result for the 1986 New York Mets, but those same mysterious powers were at work for a couple of other baseball teams that season. That's what I like so much about that particular season. My fellow bloggers over at Faith and Fear in Flushing are relating, on a weekly basis, their favorite thoughts about that campaign and I encourage you to indulge them every Friday. I don't know what their topic of choice is this week, but I'm going to write about one of my favorite 1986 games, one that I've never even seen, other than in boxscore form. If you thought the Mets comeback on October 25, 1986 was improbable, fasten your seatbelts, as a wise man once said, for one that surpasses it in terms of amazingness and includes a couple of Metsian blasts from the past.
I'm referring to the 128th game of the season for the California Angels, which took place on August 29, against the Detroit Tigers and ended probably long after most New Yorkers went to bed. It took Detroit all of four batters to start what appeared to be a rout of Angels starter Kirk McCaskill. Johnny Grubb hit a three-run home run in the top of the first to give starter Frank Tanana a nice cushion. The Tigers extended what was a 3-1 edge to 5-1 when Darrell Evans went deep off McCaskill in the third.
Chuck Finley replaced McCaskill for the middle three innings and he too got rocked, allowing three runs in the fifth. The Angels got two back to make it 8-3, but Detroit responded in the seventh, as Chet Lemon hit a three-run homer off Vern Ruhle. With an 11-3 lead, Tigers manager Sparky Anderson pulled Tanana after six innings for Randy O'Neal and the Angels scored what appeared to be two meaningless runs in their half of the seventh to make it an 11-5 game. Alan Trammell homered in the top of the eighth to make it 12-5 and the score stayed that way until the last of the ninth.
Angels skipper Gene Mauch made a substitution in the top of the final inning, pulling out his best hitter, third baseman Doug Decinces (apparently eager to leave early both to rest his bad back, celebrate his birthday, and muster up enough strength to hit a walk-off home run the next day) for second-year man Jack Howell, indicating that Mauch was basically conceding at that point.
If I'm attending a game as a fan, I always approach a blowout game like this with the same thought process. Let's just get to the point where the other manager has to think about using his closer. It's a way of providing hope for the hopeless and gives me something to do while those around me are contemplating the bleakness of an ugly defeat. Most people don't like that approach, but I find it entertaining.
Dick Schofield reached on an infield single off O'Neal to start the last of the ninth. Rick Burleson lined out, but a walk and single loaded the bases with one out for Howell, who came through in timely fashion with a two-out double to right. That cut the lead to 12-7 and made Anderson nervous enough that he felt the need to bring in his closer, southpaw Willie Hernandez, who two seasons prior was so dominant that he won both the Cy Young and MVP, and was on the mound for the final out of the World Series.
On this night, Hernandez, pitching after two days of rest, was not at his finest. George Hendrick plated a run with a single to left and Bobby Grich followed with one as well, cutting the lead to 12-9 and bringing the tying run to the plate with only one out. Speedy Gary Pettis grounded into a force play for the second out. That brought up backup catcher Jerry Narron, and having already used Bob Boone, Mauch was basically stuck. If he pinch-hit for Narron, he'd have no one to catch should the game go 10 innings. However, if he let Narron bat, the chance that he'd strike out on three pitches was pretty high. So Mauch took a shot and sent up lefty Rupert Jones, even though Jones didn't hit southpaws particularly well. Remarkably, Hernandez walked Jones, loading the bases and bringing up Schofield.
Dick Schofield was the Mets starting shortstop in 1992 and to be blunt, he was a pretty pathetic batsman that season. Sure he led NL shortstops in fielding percentage, but I really can't think of any redeeming quality about him from his one Flushing campaign. If I were to rank all-time Mets shortstops, Schofield would settle in somewhere in Ross Jones territory.
Hernandez's first pitch was a strike. His second pitch was a strike. The third pitch to Schofield was a strike as well except that Schofield crushed it to left field. The ball carried and carried and carried until it was over the fence for a game-winning home run. The hit rendered Schofield practically speechless afterwards. Mauch simply told reporters they had just witnessed an all-timer of a comeback. In Japan, they call such a hit a Sayonara Slam. Here in the states, we simply say, as a wise man once did: "Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing."
True Metfields know...Sparky Anderson was the color commentator for play-by-play man Jack Buck on the national radio broadcast of the 1986 World Series and thus was at Shea Stadium for Game 6.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Didja ever notice the other walk-off of October 25?
Continuing along our series related to the baseball game between the Mets and Red Sox that took place on October 25, 1986.
Sometime around 3 a.m., after 482 pitches of a wacky Game 3 of the World Series, I asked a couple of folks I knew which game they considered to be crazier- the one which they had just viewed on October 25, 2005, or the one that they had the chance to view on that date 19 years previous. Both selected the one from the past, which pleased me, but it also reminded me of a blog post I wanted to write, about another baseball game that took place on an October 25.
The game of baseball was so much different in 1911 than it is today that it's staggering to think this was the same sport. Ninety four years ago there were only 16 teams, and as basketball was played in its infancy on the ground instead of the air, so too was baseball. No American League club hit more than 35 home runs. The National League had the power hitters. The Phillies slugged a major-league best 60 long balls and Frank "Wildfire" Schulte of the Cubs became the first player of the century to surpass 20 long balls (he had 21). The game emphasized speed as there was an abundance of both stolen bases (the average team has 213 that season) and errors (the average team committed 283!). The stars of the game were pitchers like Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander, and high-average hitters like Ty Cobb (who hit .420), "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and Honus Wagner.
The two best teams in baseball that season were Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics and John McGraw's New York Giants, who met in the World Series that season. The Athletics featured Frank Baker, who clubbed 11 long balls that season as part of what was known as "The $100,000 infield," pitted against the speed of the Giants (347 steals) and the pitching of Mathewson and future Hall of Famer Rube Marquard. Mathewson won Game 1, but the Athletics squeaked out a win in Game 2, then beat Mathewson in Game 3 in extra innings after Baker's home run tied it in the ninth (he was aptly nicknamed "Home Run" Baker thereafter, so the story goes). After six (yes, six) days worth of rain delays, the series resumed and the Athletics moved within a win of repeating as champs after beating Mathewson again, 4-2.
Game 5 was played on a Wednesday afternoon in New York on a date that would become much more well known three-quarters of a century later. In the third inning, Athletics centerfielder Rube Oldring clubbed a Marquard pitch for a three-run home run and it looked like the Athletics would run away with a decisive win. Or maybe not. Philadelphia would not score again. The Giants got one run back in the seventh in uneventful fashion (a walk, an error, a force play and a sacrifice fly producing it) but still trailed by two against Athletics starter Jack Coombs heading into the last of the ninth.
The situation appeared pretty grim, much like it was for the Mets in the 10th inning against the Red Sox, or, if you want to harken back to a few weeks ago, to the Cardinals in the ninth inning of their NLCS Game 5 with Houston, but the Giants came up with an amazing rally. Eyewitness accounts reference that some fans headed for the exits when the inning began, not wishing to view the conclusion of an inevitable defeat. They missed something special.
New York had a runner on third with two men out and McGraw let pitcher Doc Crandall bat as his teams last hope, in what would be considered blasphemy now, but not terribly unorthodox back then. Crandall, capable with the bat (he finished his career with a .285 batting average, was sometimes used as a pinch-hitter and played 70 games at second base), delivered a double to right center, then scored the tying run when leadoff man Josh Devore singled to left.
Crandall set down the Athletics in order in the 10th and Mack, attempting to stuff this game back into its proper place in the victory column, called on usual starter Eddie Plank for relief duty. Giants second baseman Larry Doyle played the role of Ray Knight, atoning for a key error earlier in the game by doubling to start the frame. He advanced to third, sliding in ahead of the throw as Fred Snodgrass reached via bunt. With runners on the corners and nobody out, the Giants needed only a long fly to win. They got one on their second try, from Fred Merkle, he of "Merkle's Boner" fame three years previous (he cost the Giants a walk-off win with a baserunning blunder in what turned out to be a key game in a tight pennant race).
This game was not without a bizarre finish though. Doyle's "toboggan"-like slide into home (as described by the New York Times) resulted in his missing the plate, at least in the eyes of home plate ump Bill Klem. However, neither Mack nor any of his players noticed this (Doyle insisted afterwards that he touched home plate). Klem told reporters afterwards that had a member of the Athletics protested he would have called Doyle out, but since they did not, he was not obligated to do so (even back in 1911 umpires were in the middle of controversy).
Feeling rather confident, Marquard authored a column in the newspaper the next day, the headline of which read "We'll Be Champions Yet." Marquard was a Hall of Famer, but Mark Messier-like, he was not. The Athletics drubbed the Giants, 13-2 the next day to win the World Series, four games to two, leaving the events of that October 25 mostly forgotten in baseball history.
True Mettyfifths know...Other World Series games played on October 25th took place in 1981 (Dodgers 2, Yankees 1 in Game 5), 1987 (Twins 4, Cardinals 2 in Game 7), 1995 (Braves 5, Indians 2 in Game 4), 1997 (Indians 4, Marlins 1 in Game 6), 2000 (Yankees 3, Mets 2 in Game 4) and 2003 (Marlins 2, Yankees 0 in Game 6)
Sometime around 3 a.m., after 482 pitches of a wacky Game 3 of the World Series, I asked a couple of folks I knew which game they considered to be crazier- the one which they had just viewed on October 25, 2005, or the one that they had the chance to view on that date 19 years previous. Both selected the one from the past, which pleased me, but it also reminded me of a blog post I wanted to write, about another baseball game that took place on an October 25.
The game of baseball was so much different in 1911 than it is today that it's staggering to think this was the same sport. Ninety four years ago there were only 16 teams, and as basketball was played in its infancy on the ground instead of the air, so too was baseball. No American League club hit more than 35 home runs. The National League had the power hitters. The Phillies slugged a major-league best 60 long balls and Frank "Wildfire" Schulte of the Cubs became the first player of the century to surpass 20 long balls (he had 21). The game emphasized speed as there was an abundance of both stolen bases (the average team has 213 that season) and errors (the average team committed 283!). The stars of the game were pitchers like Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander, and high-average hitters like Ty Cobb (who hit .420), "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and Honus Wagner.
The two best teams in baseball that season were Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics and John McGraw's New York Giants, who met in the World Series that season. The Athletics featured Frank Baker, who clubbed 11 long balls that season as part of what was known as "The $100,000 infield," pitted against the speed of the Giants (347 steals) and the pitching of Mathewson and future Hall of Famer Rube Marquard. Mathewson won Game 1, but the Athletics squeaked out a win in Game 2, then beat Mathewson in Game 3 in extra innings after Baker's home run tied it in the ninth (he was aptly nicknamed "Home Run" Baker thereafter, so the story goes). After six (yes, six) days worth of rain delays, the series resumed and the Athletics moved within a win of repeating as champs after beating Mathewson again, 4-2.
Game 5 was played on a Wednesday afternoon in New York on a date that would become much more well known three-quarters of a century later. In the third inning, Athletics centerfielder Rube Oldring clubbed a Marquard pitch for a three-run home run and it looked like the Athletics would run away with a decisive win. Or maybe not. Philadelphia would not score again. The Giants got one run back in the seventh in uneventful fashion (a walk, an error, a force play and a sacrifice fly producing it) but still trailed by two against Athletics starter Jack Coombs heading into the last of the ninth.
The situation appeared pretty grim, much like it was for the Mets in the 10th inning against the Red Sox, or, if you want to harken back to a few weeks ago, to the Cardinals in the ninth inning of their NLCS Game 5 with Houston, but the Giants came up with an amazing rally. Eyewitness accounts reference that some fans headed for the exits when the inning began, not wishing to view the conclusion of an inevitable defeat. They missed something special.
New York had a runner on third with two men out and McGraw let pitcher Doc Crandall bat as his teams last hope, in what would be considered blasphemy now, but not terribly unorthodox back then. Crandall, capable with the bat (he finished his career with a .285 batting average, was sometimes used as a pinch-hitter and played 70 games at second base), delivered a double to right center, then scored the tying run when leadoff man Josh Devore singled to left.
Crandall set down the Athletics in order in the 10th and Mack, attempting to stuff this game back into its proper place in the victory column, called on usual starter Eddie Plank for relief duty. Giants second baseman Larry Doyle played the role of Ray Knight, atoning for a key error earlier in the game by doubling to start the frame. He advanced to third, sliding in ahead of the throw as Fred Snodgrass reached via bunt. With runners on the corners and nobody out, the Giants needed only a long fly to win. They got one on their second try, from Fred Merkle, he of "Merkle's Boner" fame three years previous (he cost the Giants a walk-off win with a baserunning blunder in what turned out to be a key game in a tight pennant race).
This game was not without a bizarre finish though. Doyle's "toboggan"-like slide into home (as described by the New York Times) resulted in his missing the plate, at least in the eyes of home plate ump Bill Klem. However, neither Mack nor any of his players noticed this (Doyle insisted afterwards that he touched home plate). Klem told reporters afterwards that had a member of the Athletics protested he would have called Doyle out, but since they did not, he was not obligated to do so (even back in 1911 umpires were in the middle of controversy).
Feeling rather confident, Marquard authored a column in the newspaper the next day, the headline of which read "We'll Be Champions Yet." Marquard was a Hall of Famer, but Mark Messier-like, he was not. The Athletics drubbed the Giants, 13-2 the next day to win the World Series, four games to two, leaving the events of that October 25 mostly forgotten in baseball history.
True Mettyfifths know...Other World Series games played on October 25th took place in 1981 (Dodgers 2, Yankees 1 in Game 5), 1987 (Twins 4, Cardinals 2 in Game 7), 1995 (Braves 5, Indians 2 in Game 4), 1997 (Indians 4, Marlins 1 in Game 6), 2000 (Yankees 3, Mets 2 in Game 4) and 2003 (Marlins 2, Yankees 0 in Game 6)
Friday, October 28, 2005
Didja ever notice where everybody else was?
You don't have to have a long, drawn out story about Game 6 of the 1986 World Series for it to be worthwhile. The fact that people can remember anything about that particular October 25 makes it noteworthy. Here are a couple of other memories that my friends shared. If you haven't contributed already, feel free to share yours in the comments section.
Mike Duggan
October 1986....It was the best of times, It was the best of times.
After striking out on getting post season tickets when they originally went on sale, my brother in law was able to get us tickets for three games, Game 4 of the NLCS ( We lost to Mike Scott), Game 1 of the World Series (Mets lost 1-0 when Tim Teufel let a ground ball go thru his legs) and Game 7 of the World Series. The tickets were way up in sec 42 of the Upper Deck, but I was going to post season games for the first time in my life. The Mets were terrible all my life. I never thought this could happen.
October 25, 1986. I received a phone call from my friend, Tony, who worked at Shea in the Luxury boxes. He asked me if I wanted to go to Game 6. Tony had snuck me in for the Sept 17 division clinching game. I told Tony, "No, if the Mets lose tonight, I would jump from the Mezzanine. I have tickets for tomorrow night. I will see you then."
Instead I went out with my friend, Michael Murphy, and a few of his friends to watch the game in a bar in Queens.J.P. Od's (affectionately called J Pods) is located on Union Turnpike across the street from St. John's University. It is a great place where the beer is cold and anything can happen. (Side Note: Randy Myers would go to J. Pods every Wednseday when he pitched for the Mets. Wednesday was ladies nite. lol)I am not going to bore you with the details of the game. I think we all know what happened. The Bad Guys Won. lol
But the question is always: where were you when the ball went thru Buckner's legs? I was in the back corner of the bar glued to the TV. When the ball went thru buckner's legs, everyone collectively jumped. When you touched the ground, you felt the entire floor move. then a half second later, all the beer peopple were holding hit the ground. We waded thru beer for the duration of the night. The place was drenched.After that it was just a feeling of euphoria. We had won. I was going to game 7. then I realized it was daylight savings time and we had an extra hour to celebrate. And we did. It was great night.Game 7 was to be Sunday, October 26, but was rained out and played Monday October 27, 1986. the latest a World Series game had been play up to that point.
Side note part 2. Two years later. the Mets were down three games to two heading back to LA and badly in need of soem J Pods luck. When me and Murph arrived at the bar, they had a drink special: for every run the Mets scored every person in the bar would get a free shot of Woo Woo. The luck held out again that night. the mets scored 7 or 8 runs on thier way to an easy victory. We all had many, many Woo Woos that night. It was such a raucous crowd that every time a runner was on third, a huge chorus of "WOO WOO," rang out thru the bar. I wish I can say the next night was just as good, but Murph and I were not able to go out that night to J. Pods, and the Mets lost.
Gus Ramsey
I don't have a great story for that moment. I was in the TV room in my dorm at Rollins College. The thing I remember the most was when Mookie was batting andMitchell was on 3rd I said to my friend Troy, "We could really use a 'Catch-X' right here." That's referring to Strat-O-Matic of course. Next pitch was Stanley's wild pitch. The rest was just sitting in amazement.
Noah Lubowsky
I clearly remember where I was. I was watching the game in my basement with my parents (my parents' basement is furnished like a family room). When the ball went through Buckner's legs, I jumped up and down and started screaming at the top of my lungs I was so overjoyed (and shocked). I still get goosebumps every time they show a replay of that game.
Mike Duggan
October 1986....It was the best of times, It was the best of times.
After striking out on getting post season tickets when they originally went on sale, my brother in law was able to get us tickets for three games, Game 4 of the NLCS ( We lost to Mike Scott), Game 1 of the World Series (Mets lost 1-0 when Tim Teufel let a ground ball go thru his legs) and Game 7 of the World Series. The tickets were way up in sec 42 of the Upper Deck, but I was going to post season games for the first time in my life. The Mets were terrible all my life. I never thought this could happen.
October 25, 1986. I received a phone call from my friend, Tony, who worked at Shea in the Luxury boxes. He asked me if I wanted to go to Game 6. Tony had snuck me in for the Sept 17 division clinching game. I told Tony, "No, if the Mets lose tonight, I would jump from the Mezzanine. I have tickets for tomorrow night. I will see you then."
Instead I went out with my friend, Michael Murphy, and a few of his friends to watch the game in a bar in Queens.J.P. Od's (affectionately called J Pods) is located on Union Turnpike across the street from St. John's University. It is a great place where the beer is cold and anything can happen. (Side Note: Randy Myers would go to J. Pods every Wednseday when he pitched for the Mets. Wednesday was ladies nite. lol)I am not going to bore you with the details of the game. I think we all know what happened. The Bad Guys Won. lol
But the question is always: where were you when the ball went thru Buckner's legs? I was in the back corner of the bar glued to the TV. When the ball went thru buckner's legs, everyone collectively jumped. When you touched the ground, you felt the entire floor move. then a half second later, all the beer peopple were holding hit the ground. We waded thru beer for the duration of the night. The place was drenched.After that it was just a feeling of euphoria. We had won. I was going to game 7. then I realized it was daylight savings time and we had an extra hour to celebrate. And we did. It was great night.Game 7 was to be Sunday, October 26, but was rained out and played Monday October 27, 1986. the latest a World Series game had been play up to that point.
Side note part 2. Two years later. the Mets were down three games to two heading back to LA and badly in need of soem J Pods luck. When me and Murph arrived at the bar, they had a drink special: for every run the Mets scored every person in the bar would get a free shot of Woo Woo. The luck held out again that night. the mets scored 7 or 8 runs on thier way to an easy victory. We all had many, many Woo Woos that night. It was such a raucous crowd that every time a runner was on third, a huge chorus of "WOO WOO," rang out thru the bar. I wish I can say the next night was just as good, but Murph and I were not able to go out that night to J. Pods, and the Mets lost.
Gus Ramsey
I don't have a great story for that moment. I was in the TV room in my dorm at Rollins College. The thing I remember the most was when Mookie was batting andMitchell was on 3rd I said to my friend Troy, "We could really use a 'Catch-X' right here." That's referring to Strat-O-Matic of course. Next pitch was Stanley's wild pitch. The rest was just sitting in amazement.
Noah Lubowsky
I clearly remember where I was. I was watching the game in my basement with my parents (my parents' basement is furnished like a family room). When the ball went through Buckner's legs, I jumped up and down and started screaming at the top of my lungs I was so overjoyed (and shocked). I still get goosebumps every time they show a replay of that game.
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