The most
infamous person in the
1986 World Series - Game 6 comeback by the New York Mets against the
Boston Red Sox was first baseman Bill Buckner, who let
Mookie Wilson's ground ball in the bottom of the 10th inning skip under his glove.
Kevin Mitchell had scored the tying run during Mookie's at-bat, and
Ray Knight scored the winning run on Buckner's error.
What many Mets fans, and almost all baseball fans, forget is that Bill Buckner did not in fact lose the World Series for the Red Sox with that error. Stephen Jay Gould has correctly noted that the score was already tied when Mookie hit the ground ball that Buckner missed, so even if Buckner had made the play, the game would have gone on to the 11th inning and the Red Sox would still have had a chance to win. And, of course, even though they lost Game 6, the Red Sox still had a chance to win the Series in Game 7.
The Red Sox pitcher at that moment, Bob Stanley, must have known the cosmic truth, however. The psychological effect of allowing the Mets to tie and win Game 6 was an absolutely crushing weight to bear. This is supported by the fact that despite the 3-0 lead they took in Game 7, the Red Sox seemed to know they would not win that final game either.
This may well be another instance in The Curse that Boston has suffered ever since they traded Babe Ruth, but I think the situation was heightened by the fact that the Mets have played a disproportionately high number of nail-biting cliffhangers for such a young team with so few expectations of it.
- October 15, 1986 - the Mets defeat the Houston Astros 7-6 in 16 innings (this followed a previous 12-inning victory in the series) in the National League Championship Series. They win the series 4-2 and thereby avoid having to face Mike "Dread" Scott in Game 7.
- October 17, 1999 - National League Championship Series Game 5 - the "Grand Slam Single" game - Robin Ventura ends a 15-inning, rain-soaked marathon against the Atlanta Braves in what in many ways was a more exciting overall game than the famous Game 6. Ventura hits a grand slam to end the game, but because of the crazy celebration he cannot run around all the bases and only gets credit for a single. The final score is not 7-3 but 4-3. The Mets almost top themselves in Game 6 of that series with a five-run comeback--they eventually lose the game and the series 10-9 on a heartbreaking bases-load walk by Kenny Rogers.
- June 30, 2000 - The Mets score 10 runs in the eighth inning against the Braves to come back from an 8-1 deficit. They win 11-8.
- October 7, 2000 - National League Division Series Game 3 - Benny Agbayani, who has his own coffee blend, hits the game-winning homer in the bottom of the 13th inning against the San Francisco Giants.
- October 21, 2000 - World Series Game 1 - Timo Perez fails to run all-out when he thinks Todd Zeile has hit a home run. In fact, the ball bounces back onto the field of play and Timo is thrown out at home. The Mets lose 4-3 in 12 innings.