I remember Game Six so vividly, coming home from school, the game was still going. My sister wouldn't let me watch it on the TV in the living room. I went into my parents bedroom to watch it. The game seemed like it would never end. If the Mets had lost, the series was over. No chance they beat Mike Scott in Game Seven. The entire 1986 postseason remains my all-time favorite. All three series were epic.
That was a fabulous series Patrick. Wonderful to walk down memory lane with your article. I so was pulling for the Astros to get to game seven, and pulled for Boston in the WS. Mets had tough line up to pitch to, it's a shame that all anyone remembers is Buckner's play a first. He should have never been in that situation, but he was and the rest is history.
Totally agree. It's a shame when the '86 WS is reduced to that one play, because there was a lot going on beyond it. But it's even worse when the league championship series are overlooked, because they were both classics too. Next week, I'll look at the ALCS between the Red Sox and Angels. Thanks for reading, Ed!
Great to reminisce on this one, Patrick....thanks! I was 7 when both franchises were born, so my 'Stros.....well, we always found it easy to compare the teams, year to year, because of that lone kinship. Then, of course, the Mets blew it all up in '69 by getting the first Championship of the two teams!
As for the '86 series, I was living in Buena Park, CA at the time, having moved from Houston to L.A. in '80. I was wandering around Buena Park Mall on the day of the clinching regular-season game, and was standing in front of an electronics store to watch the last inning with Scott pitching! That was incredible to see!
When I was the Astros correspondent for The Runner Sports, 2015-2020, I was curious to see how that Astro '86 starting rotation got together, or, as I said in the sub-heading: "Like the Fab 4, the rainbow-wrapped 1986 Astros starting rotation didn’t just merge in one day….or by accident." It was amazing to see just how different each pitcher was: The perennial All-Star (and former Met), the re-tooled journeyman (and former Met), the crafty lefty, and the rookie.
Very interesting article, Brad. Thanks for sharing. I feel like we've lost something as a culture— no one watches TV in storefronts anymore. But it is surprising how intertwined those two franchise were at the time.
Thanks, Patrick! You're right about the storefront TV-peering! In relating that, I feel like that may have been the last TV in the last electronics store to have one in the window! Like the 45,000 fedoras seen in photos of a sold-out ball game in the '40s, another lost, curious artifact of the game!
I think the only time I ever personally did this was at a mall in the early 90's, watching the end of a KU-Nebraska basketball game, so it might have been rare, but it still was possible at that time. More recently, my son and I watched the end of the FAU-SDSU Final Four game in a store, but they were just showing it on a TV in the store, not in the storefront. I didn't have a fedora on in either situation, unfortunately.
I'd probably agree that 1986 had the best postseason ever. Only three series, and all of them were full of drama. The 1985 postseason was pretty good, but it definitely got overshadowed by the following year (although I suspect that if the teams were swapped between the two years and everything else played out the same, we'd hear way more about 1985 than just "Don Denkinger").
My memory of the 1986 NLCS was that Game 6 was a day game on Wednesday, and yet I didn't find out the result until after church that night. I was...not pleased.
Most of my personal memories of '86 are fairly hazy. I definitely watched, and even though I wasn't quite as invested as '85 (for obvious reasons), I was still really into it. It was my second WS, and I was innocent enough to believe the Royals would be back before long. I don't think any of the Royals WS wins are considered iconic (outside of KC), but I feel like both are unfairly overshadowed by iconic wins the year after by an all-time Mets team and the Cubs breaking the Curse. Especially unfair for '85, which compares very favorably with '86 on the field, but didn't have the same mystique, I guess, for anyone outside KS and MO.
I'm old enough to remember there was some sneering by the East Coast media about having to spend the entire 1985 World Series in flyover country, so what turned out to be a very entertaining Series definitely didn't get the respect it should have. And then, as you mentioned, the next season featured an all-time team and a franchise only known for heartbreak at that time. And both were Northeast teams, so...
It's a shame, because the 1985 Series had plenty of entertaining subplots: (Whitey vs. KC, the Royals vets trying to get their first ring, a state divided) but I think some of those writers couldn't get over the fact it wasn't a Subway Series.
2001 postseason is pretty high up there. The whole 9/11 backdrop. Yanks first team to go down 0-2 in DS and come back to beat the As—who were a stacked club. Mariners win 116 regular season games but fall to Yanks in ALCS. Diamondbacks walked off the Braves(?) in the DS. Schilling and Johnson had arguably the greatest postseason run ever as a 1-2 punch. The two Yankee comebacks down two runs with two outs in the bottom on the ninth in the WS. Gonzo walking off the WS vs. Mo Rivera.
Well done Patrick. But then again I am a Met fan. To be fair it's hard to compare postseason baseball today to what it was when the World Series was all there was!
I think you know the way those Mets behaved off the field (heck even on the field) would not be tolerated today. But that's fine. They were awesome to watch and for Mets fans like me 1986 was a very long time ago!
I'm not condoning the behavior, but I do think baseball was more fun when the players had more personality. Maybe that's just looking through the lens of nostalgia. It's still fun, but not quite the same.
I remember Game Six so vividly, coming home from school, the game was still going. My sister wouldn't let me watch it on the TV in the living room. I went into my parents bedroom to watch it. The game seemed like it would never end. If the Mets had lost, the series was over. No chance they beat Mike Scott in Game Seven. The entire 1986 postseason remains my all-time favorite. All three series were epic.
That was a fabulous series Patrick. Wonderful to walk down memory lane with your article. I so was pulling for the Astros to get to game seven, and pulled for Boston in the WS. Mets had tough line up to pitch to, it's a shame that all anyone remembers is Buckner's play a first. He should have never been in that situation, but he was and the rest is history.
Thanks for sharing!
Totally agree. It's a shame when the '86 WS is reduced to that one play, because there was a lot going on beyond it. But it's even worse when the league championship series are overlooked, because they were both classics too. Next week, I'll look at the ALCS between the Red Sox and Angels. Thanks for reading, Ed!
Great to reminisce on this one, Patrick....thanks! I was 7 when both franchises were born, so my 'Stros.....well, we always found it easy to compare the teams, year to year, because of that lone kinship. Then, of course, the Mets blew it all up in '69 by getting the first Championship of the two teams!
As for the '86 series, I was living in Buena Park, CA at the time, having moved from Houston to L.A. in '80. I was wandering around Buena Park Mall on the day of the clinching regular-season game, and was standing in front of an electronics store to watch the last inning with Scott pitching! That was incredible to see!
When I was the Astros correspondent for The Runner Sports, 2015-2020, I was curious to see how that Astro '86 starting rotation got together, or, as I said in the sub-heading: "Like the Fab 4, the rainbow-wrapped 1986 Astros starting rotation didn’t just merge in one day….or by accident." It was amazing to see just how different each pitcher was: The perennial All-Star (and former Met), the re-tooled journeyman (and former Met), the crafty lefty, and the rookie.
https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/days-of-dominance-the-houston-astros?utm_source=publication-search
Very interesting article, Brad. Thanks for sharing. I feel like we've lost something as a culture— no one watches TV in storefronts anymore. But it is surprising how intertwined those two franchise were at the time.
Thanks, Patrick! You're right about the storefront TV-peering! In relating that, I feel like that may have been the last TV in the last electronics store to have one in the window! Like the 45,000 fedoras seen in photos of a sold-out ball game in the '40s, another lost, curious artifact of the game!
I think the only time I ever personally did this was at a mall in the early 90's, watching the end of a KU-Nebraska basketball game, so it might have been rare, but it still was possible at that time. More recently, my son and I watched the end of the FAU-SDSU Final Four game in a store, but they were just showing it on a TV in the store, not in the storefront. I didn't have a fedora on in either situation, unfortunately.
I'd probably agree that 1986 had the best postseason ever. Only three series, and all of them were full of drama. The 1985 postseason was pretty good, but it definitely got overshadowed by the following year (although I suspect that if the teams were swapped between the two years and everything else played out the same, we'd hear way more about 1985 than just "Don Denkinger").
My memory of the 1986 NLCS was that Game 6 was a day game on Wednesday, and yet I didn't find out the result until after church that night. I was...not pleased.
Most of my personal memories of '86 are fairly hazy. I definitely watched, and even though I wasn't quite as invested as '85 (for obvious reasons), I was still really into it. It was my second WS, and I was innocent enough to believe the Royals would be back before long. I don't think any of the Royals WS wins are considered iconic (outside of KC), but I feel like both are unfairly overshadowed by iconic wins the year after by an all-time Mets team and the Cubs breaking the Curse. Especially unfair for '85, which compares very favorably with '86 on the field, but didn't have the same mystique, I guess, for anyone outside KS and MO.
I'm old enough to remember there was some sneering by the East Coast media about having to spend the entire 1985 World Series in flyover country, so what turned out to be a very entertaining Series definitely didn't get the respect it should have. And then, as you mentioned, the next season featured an all-time team and a franchise only known for heartbreak at that time. And both were Northeast teams, so...
It's a shame, because the 1985 Series had plenty of entertaining subplots: (Whitey vs. KC, the Royals vets trying to get their first ring, a state divided) but I think some of those writers couldn't get over the fact it wasn't a Subway Series.
I have no doubt. I feel like that sort of thing has only gotten worse over the years, but clearly it's not a new phenomenon.
2001 postseason is pretty high up there. The whole 9/11 backdrop. Yanks first team to go down 0-2 in DS and come back to beat the As—who were a stacked club. Mariners win 116 regular season games but fall to Yanks in ALCS. Diamondbacks walked off the Braves(?) in the DS. Schilling and Johnson had arguably the greatest postseason run ever as a 1-2 punch. The two Yankee comebacks down two runs with two outs in the bottom on the ninth in the WS. Gonzo walking off the WS vs. Mo Rivera.
This is a good candidate that probably gets unfairly overlooked. I wonder, as more time passes, if it will get more respect or be more overlooked.
Well done Patrick. But then again I am a Met fan. To be fair it's hard to compare postseason baseball today to what it was when the World Series was all there was!
Thanks! I'm not sure the '86 Mets could exist today, and I was too young to fully appreciate them, but they make every team today look dull.
I think you know the way those Mets behaved off the field (heck even on the field) would not be tolerated today. But that's fine. They were awesome to watch and for Mets fans like me 1986 was a very long time ago!
I'm not condoning the behavior, but I do think baseball was more fun when the players had more personality. Maybe that's just looking through the lens of nostalgia. It's still fun, but not quite the same.