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The 1986 World Series , the 83rd playing of the modern championship series in Major League Baseball , was a memorable battle between the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox which helped to spread the legend of the " Curse Of The Bambino " to mass public awareness. This was the only Series in which a team was one out away from losing and came back to win. Moreover, the Mets were actually a single strike away from losing during two different at bats. Managers: John McNamara (Boston), Davey Johnson (New York) Umpires:: John Kibler (NL), Jim Evans (AL), Harry Wendelstedt (NL), Joe Brinkman (AL), Ed Montague (NL), Dale Ford (AL) Series MVP: Ray Knight (New York) Television: NBC ( Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola announcing) Getting there The Mets had been in a swirl of controversy during the entire season thanks in part to their edgy and rowdy players, but the team went 108-54 during the regular season, easily the best record in baseball, finished the season 21½ games ahead of the next National League East division contender, the Philadelphia Phillies , and won the 1986 National League Championship Series , 4 games to 2, over the Houston Astros . The Red Sox, on the other hand, went 95-66 during the season, and played a back-and-forth series against the California Angels in the 1986 American League Championship Series . All but eliminated, the Red Sox stormed back to win the pennant (breaking the hearts of Angels fans as a result) and advance to the World Series. GAME-BY-GAME RECAP Game 1 Game 1: Boston 1, New York 0 In the opener, Boston's Bruce Hurst dazzled the New Yorkers with his looping curve and forkball. He allowed only four hits over eight innings and outpitched New York's Ron Darling , who was equally effective, yielding only an unearned run in the seventh inning on an error by second baseman Tim Teufel . Game 2 Game 2: Boston 9, New York 3 After dropping the first game, everybody expected the Mets to come back strong, especially having Dwight Gooden on the mound. With his counterpart Roger Clemens taking the hill for Boston, Game Two figured to be a fabulous duel between baseball's top two pitchers. What it turned out to be was the poorest game of the series, the Red Sox crushing the Mets behind an 18-hit attack. Gooden's excellent pitching in the League Championship Series did not carry over to the World Series, as he lasted only five innings, yielding six runs and eight hits. Clemens was not much better himself, as he departed before five innings and didn't even earn the win. Game 3 Game 3: New York 7, Boston 1 The Mets regrouped in a big way, scoring four times in the first inning. Their rally began when Len Dykstra belted a lead-off homer off Boston's Oil Can Boyd to give the New Yorkers a lift. Bob Ojeda , the Mets' main man in the Calvin Schiraldi deal, pitched a gutsy game, allowing five hits for a win. Game 4 Game 4: New York 6, Boston 2 Boston skipper John McNamara took a gamble by starting Al Nipper . His Earned Run Average of 5.38 was the highest for a series starter since Hal Gregg 's 5.87 for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 . Despite his bloated ERA, Nipper performed well, allowing only three runs in six innings. It didn't matter, though, as Ron Darling continued to sparkle in the postseason, this time pitching the Mets to even the series at 2 apiece, featuring two home runs over the Green Monster by Gary Carter . Game 5 Game 5: Boston 4, New York 2 The Red Sox halted the Mets' momentum behind another dominating performance from Bruce Hurst, leaving Boston just one game away from their first title since 1918 . Hurst pitched a complete game, striking out six and allowing just two earned runs. Dwight Gooden had his second consecutive ineffective start for the Mets, being pulled after allowing nine hits and four runs in just four innings. The one bright spot for the Mets was a sharp outing from Sid Fernandez in relief, pitching four scoreless innings and allowing just three hits. Game 6, October 25 In Game 6 {Link without Title} , at Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows , Boston took a quick 2-0 lead on RBI base hits from Dwight Evans and Marty Barrett . The Mets tied the score in the fifth Inning on a single from Ray Knight and a Run -scoring double play by Danny Heep . An error by Knight led to Barrett scoring in the 7th to give Boston a 3-2 lead and it looked like Knight may be the goat of the World Series but the Mets rallied again, tying the game on a Gary Carter Sacrifice Fly in the 8th which forced extra innings. In the top of the 10th inning, Dave Henderson homered to pull the Sox within three outs of a world championship, and Barrett singled in Wade Boggs to make it a 5-3 lead. When Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez were retired to start the bottom of the 10th, the championship seemed at hand. Then, Carter singled to left. Pinch Hitter Kevin Mitchell singled to center and Shea Stadium started to get loud. Knight went down in the count 0-2 bringing the Mets to their last strike but he hit the next pitch into centerfield for a single that scored Carter and advanced Mitchell to third base, making the score 5-4 and bringing Shea back to life. The Red Sox replaced Pitcher Calvin Schiraldi with Bob Stanley to face Left Fielder Mookie Wilson . Wilson got the count to 2-1 but fouled the fourth pitch away to bring the Mets to their last strike again. He stayed alive fouling off two more Stanley pitches. Then, the seventh pitch sailed towards Wilson's knees sending him to the ground but the ball hit nothing and went straight to the backstop. Mitchell scored uncontested to tie the game and Shea Stadium erupted while Knight advanced to second base. The Red Sox were shocked to have blown the lead with the game all but over, much as they had done to the Angels in the ALCS almost two weeks prior. When things calmed down, Wilson was still at the plate and fouled off two more pitches in a fantastic at bat. Finally, on the tenth pitch, Wilson hit a slow rolling ground ball up the first base line that appeared to be easy to field. The most pressing question in the few seconds was whether the lumbering Bill Buckner , with his chronic bad ankles and knees, would be able to beat the speedy Wilson to first base to finish the inning. The question would never be answered as the ball somehow snuck between his glove and leg and rolled slowly into right field. Shea Stadium exploded and the Mets' players and fans looked as though they couldn't contain themselves. Knight tried to hold his helmet on while jumping towards home plate with the winning run in a scene that many Mets fans would never forget. Buckner and the stunned Red Sox slowly walked off the field. Line score 123 456 789 10 R H E | ||
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