40 years ago tonight: the Mets' Game 6 comeback and the ball that went through Buckner's legs
On Oct. 25, 1986, the Mets were one strike from losing the World Series at Shea Stadium. Here is how the 10th inning unfolded, and where the famous ball ended up.
Photo: slgckgc / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
- Game 6 of the 1986 World Series was played Saturday, Oct. 25, 1986, at Shea Stadium before 55,078 fans; the Mets won 6-5 in 10 innings, per Baseball-Reference.
- Boston scored twice in the top of the 10th, and the Mets made the first two outs in the bottom half before a Gary Carter single started the rally.
- With the score tied and Ray Knight on base, Mookie Wilson's ground ball rolled through first baseman Bill Buckner's legs and Knight scored the winning run.
- After a rainout, the Mets beat Boston 8-5 in Game 7 on Oct. 27. It is still the franchise's most recent title.
- The Game 6 ball, signed by Wilson, has been on display at the Mets Hall of Fame & Museum at Citi Field.
Forty years ago tonight, a slow ground ball changed Queens. On Saturday, Oct. 25, 1986, the Mets were one out from losing the World Series to the Boston Red Sox at Shea Stadium. Instead, they won Game 6 in the 10th inning, and two nights later they were champions.
The 10th inning
The game started at 8:30 p.m. in front of 55,078 fans and ran just over four hours, according to the Baseball-Reference box score. Boston scored twice in the top of the 10th to take a 5-3 lead, and Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez went down to open the bottom half. Reliever Roger McDowell, who had pitched the seventh and eighth, later told MLB.com he was watching from the clubhouse and thought it was over.
It was not. Gary Carter singled to start the rally, ABC7 recounted, and the Mets kept the inning alive and tied the game. Then Mookie Wilson's routine grounder slipped through first baseman Bill Buckner's legs, and Ray Knight ran home with the winning run: Mets 6, Red Sox 5. Rick Aguilera got the win.
Rain pushed Game 7 back a day. On Oct. 27, the Mets came from behind again and won 8-5, their second World Series title and, four decades later, still their last.
The team, 40 years on
The 1986 Mets went 108-54 in the regular season; only nine teams in major league history have won more games, MLB.com notes. Nearly the whole roster, from Wilson and Dwight Gooden to Darryl Strawberry and Hernandez, plus the family of the late Gary Carter, returned to Citi Field on Aug. 1 for a 40th-anniversary celebration. Wilson told ABC7 that no one on that team could have imagined how much joy one moment would bring to people.
Where the ball is now
The ball Wilson hit, signed and dated by him, has been displayed at the Mets Hall of Fame & Museum at Citi Field. In a 2010 photo of the case, the label says Mets fans voted the play the "Greatest Moment" in Shea Stadium history.
- ABC7 New YorkMets mark 40 years since iconic Game 6 comeback
- Baseball-Reference1986 World Series Game 6, Boston Red Sox vs New York Mets: October 25, 1986
- MLB.com'More than just a team,' beloved 1986 Mets feted 40 years after title
- MLB.com1986 World Series team look back on city's support four decades later
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