1986 World Series

1986 World Series
Team (Wins) Manager(s) Season
New York Mets (4) Davey Johnson 108–54, .667, GA: 21+12
Boston Red Sox (3) John McNamara 95–66, .590, GA: 5+12
DatesOctober 18–27
VenueShea Stadium (New York)
Fenway Park (Boston)
MVPRay Knight (New York)
UmpiresJohn Kibler (NL), Jim Evans (AL), Harry Wendelstedt (NL), Joe Brinkman (AL), Ed Montague (NL), Dale Ford (AL)
Hall of FamersMets:
Gary Carter
Red Sox:
Wade Boggs
Jim Rice
Tom Seaver (DNP)
Broadcast
TelevisionNBC
TV announcersVin Scully and Joe Garagiola
RadioCBS
WHN (NYM)
WPLM (BOS)
Radio announcersJack Buck and Sparky Anderson (CBS)
Bob Murphy and Gary Thorne (WHN)
Ken Coleman and Joe Castiglione (WPLM)
ALCSBoston Red Sox over California Angels (4–3)
NLCSNew York Mets over Houston Astros (4–2)
World Series program
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The 1986 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1986 season. The 83rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion New York Mets and the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox. The Mets won the series four games to three to claim their second World Series title and first since 1969.

The series is best remembered for its Game 6, which saw the Mets rally from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the 10th inning, despite having two outs and no one on base. The Red Sox, who held a 3–2 series lead, were twice one strike away from securing the championship, but failed to close out the inning as the Mets won off an error by Boston first baseman Bill Buckner. Due to the Mets claiming the series in Game 7, the Game 6 collapse entered baseball lore as part of the Curse of the Bambino superstition used to explain the Red Sox's championship drought between 1918 and 2004.[1][2][3]

The 1986 World Series marked the second time, after the previous year's series, in which the winning team lost the first two games of the series at home. It was also the first World Series to use the designated hitter only in games played at the American League representative's stadium, a policy that was maintained until the National League's adoption of the DH in 2022.[a][4]

  1. ^ Shaughnessy, Dan (2004). The Curse of the Bambino. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-525-24887-0.
  2. ^ Shaughnessy, Dan (2005). Reversing the Curse. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-618-51748-0.
  3. ^ Dodd, Mike (October 28, 2004). "Curse RIP: 1918–2004; After decades of pain, Red Sox on top of world". USA Today. p. C1. Archived from the original on February 11, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2010. The Curse of the Bambino, said to have started after Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees after the 1919 season...soared in popularity after the Sox came within one strike of winning the 1986 Series, only to collapse after a score-tying wild pitch.
  4. ^ Vescey, George (October 19, 1986). "The Designated Hitter Rule Is Unfair to Don Baylor". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018. Starting in 1976, baseball allowed the American League to use its designated hitter in even-numbered years. -- But this year, after taking polls that showed a modest majority of fans dislikes the rule, baseball decided to use the designated hitter in American League parks during the Series.


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