Bill Buckner's Error Gives Mets Incredible World Series Win (October 25, 1986)
October 25 was a Saturday evening and I had gone to the commitment ceremony for two lesbian friends, Helena and Diana, who lived on Manhattan's Upper East Side. After the ceremony our party of fifteen hopped into taxis and went down to the Chinese restaurant Marvelous Mandarin in the East Village. The entire night we followed Game 6 of the World Series between the Red Sox and Mets. (By coincidence I had gone to the Mets' last game of the regular season with Helena and Diana.) After dinner the gang was going to continue celebrating this happy occasion and go to a dance club, but I had a touch of a cold and was low on energy and decided to go home instead.
When I left the restaurant shortly after midnight the Mets, who had come back twice to tie the game, had once again fallen behind. It was now the bottom of the 10th inning, Boston was ahead 5-3 and there were two outs and the bases were empty. I reconciled myself to the reality that the World Series was over and the Red Sox had finally broken their "curse". Of course it was a disappointment, especially since the Mets had a 108-54 record during the regular season. However, a few minutes after I began walking across town to my apartment in the West Village the streets exploded as if it was New Year's Eve. Curious, I popped my head into a nearby bar and heard the unbelievable news that the Mets had come back to win the game after an easy ground ball hit by Mookie Wilson went through the legs of Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner!
The Mets went on to win Game 7 two days later, making them World Series champions, but after Game 6's amazing finish it was almost anti-climatic. It was somewhat similar to the 1975 Series in which the Red Sox's Carlton Fisk's memorable home run in Game 6 is remembered more than the fact that Boston lost the Series the next day.
(To further immerse yourself in the '86 World Series the 1986 Mets World Series Collector's Edition DVD is worth considering.)
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