John McNamara

Bruce Hurst

Davey Johnson

Ron Darling

Would the Red Sox be able to bounce back from their disspiriting defeat in Game 6?

• Their plight was perhaps eased when rain all day Sunday caused Commissioner Peter Ueberroth to postpone Game 7 to Monday night.
• The Mets wanted to play Sunday night. Said Keith Hernandez, I really wanted to play Sunday night. This definitely gives them an advantage. Saturday's game was an emotional one for us and a draining one for them. I didn't want to give them an extra 24 hours to catch their breath. On the other hand, the miracle comeback in Game 6 had led some Mets to believe they were a Team of Destiny meant to win the World Series. That could be a dangerous perspective if you go into Game 7 overconfident.
• Boston skipper John McNamara welcomed the postponement. I don't know about the rest of them, but it's good for me. I had a sleepless night, which is obvious since we came so close to winning the world's championship.
• Feeling the heat from reporters and fans about his Game 6 decisions, McNamara declared, I don't want to hear any of this crap about the past or choking.

The postponement caused both managers to rethink their starting pitching selections.

• The extra day allowed McNamara to return to southpaw Bruce Hurst, winner of both Game 1 and Game 5 and 3-0 in the post-season with a 1.70 ERA. That decision broke Oil Can Boyd's heart since the Game 3 loser had been scheduled to start if Game 7 had been played Sunday night. I make decisions without emotion, Mac said. We go with the people we think can win us the World Series. Boyd: It hurts so bad, what can i do? Bruce is on a roll, and Mac thinks the Mets have a better left-handed lineup. It's just that it was my turn, and after all I've been through ...This one hurts more because I was so psyched to pitch the one game that means everything.
  Hurst was voted the Series MVP during the last inning of Game 6 when it appeared the Sox would win. He thus became the first MVP ever to have to prove the voters right in another game.
• On the other side, Davey Johnson stayed with his selection, Ron Darling, the winning P in Game 4, who gained an additional fourth day of rest as well.
  Darling, the 26-year-old history major from Yale, was born in Hawaii but grew up in Red Sox country. He wrote in his book about Game 7: I was raised in the hardworking, hard-cheering heart of New England. We lived and died with our Boston teams.
  The postponement didn't help Ron. After a thrilling, sick-glorious, back-from-the-dead win like the one we'd managed in Game 6, you want to come right out and do it again the next day. You're juiced, jacked, jumping to get back out on the field, and you know the other guys are probably so derailed by their loss they won't have time to focus. They'll want to turn tail, lick their wounds, block the game from memory. ... That extra day left me with all that time to think, and by Monday night, after going through all my pregame rituals a second time, I was a bundle of restless energy - an agitated, unfocused mess.
• The extra day gave Darryl Strawberry more time to cool off after his angry outburst following Game 6. The Mets RF was upset that Johnson took him out as part of a double switch to start the 9th inning.
  The move had paid off in the 10th inning comeback. Kevin Mitchell, pinch-hitting for P Rick Aguilera, who was batting in Strawberry's spot, smacked a single to keep the inning alive and later scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
  Johnson made the move cognizant of the fact that Darryl hit 57 points lower at home, including a hitless August at Shea Stadium. In addition, Straw's power numbers were much worse in New York.
  His poor performance in the Big Apple may have been because of the presence of the enablers for his alcohol and drug addictions.

Mac's lineup had Game 6 Goat Bill Buckner batting third again and playing 1B.

• In fact, the first eight spots were identical to the Sox's Game 6 list.
• Johnson, however, in a procedure he followed throughout the season, made two changes from his Game 6 lineup to deploy additional righthanded bats against Hurst.
  • Tim Teufel replaced Wally Backman at 2B.
  • Kevin Mitchell, one of the heroes of Saturday night's tenth inning uprising, played LF with switch-hitter Mookie Wilson moving to CF and leading off in place of Lenny Dykstra.
• So the player who hit the game-winning grounder in Game 6 would start the final game on the bench.
  When Darling reported to Shea Stadium Monday afternoon, an MLB official informed him of a death threat. Darling: I shrugged it off. It was vague, nonspecific. I was twenty-six years old, about to take the mound for Game 7 of the 1986 World Series. I was immortal, you know. Nothing could touch me. ... I put it out of my mind. It wasn't something to tell my wife, my parents, my brothers. ... I wasn't concerned for my own safety so much as I worried over ... my preparation. This was the most important moment of my baseball life, and everything had to fall just right for me to keep on my game. I didn't have time to listen to how the league meant to keep me safe. There would be extra precautions, I was told - and, indeed, if you look at the footage from that night, you can see a bunch of plainclothes guards up and down our dugout bench. When the meeting ended, he asked, So we're good? ... And we were. Good enough, anyway, for me to turn my attention to these Boston Red Sox - the only threat I gave a plain shit about just then.

Vince Scully and Joe Garagiola

Wade Boggs

Marty Barrett

Jim Rice

Tim Teufel

Dwight Evans

Rich Gedman

Spike Owen

Kevin Mitchell

Gary Carter swings.

Hernandez talks to Darling.

Rafael Santana

Mel Stottlemyre

Darling exits Game 7.

Sid Fernandez

Gary Carter

Lee Mazzilli

Roger McDowell

Wally Backman

Tony Armas

McDowell pitches to Boggs.

Knight celebrates HR.

Len Dykstra

Al Nipper

Ed Romero

Darryl Strawberry launches HR.

Bob Stanley

Smoke bomb interrupts 9th inning.

Orosco rejoices after last strike.

Carter exults after Barrett swings and misses.



Bob Costas interviews Keith Hernandez.

Mookie Celebrates

Mets celebrate on pitcher's mound.

55,032 packed Shea Stadium on a cool night - 53° at game time with a bit of fog but little wind.

• NBC's telecast with Vince Scully and Joe Garagiola, two future Ford Frick Award winners from the Baseball Hall of Fame, behind the mike drew a 38.9 national rating and a 55 share, which are still records for a World Series.
  The national pastime caused ABC's Monday Night Football that evening to have its lowest rating ever (8.8) despite having teams from two large metropolitan areas, the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins.
• Jack Buck (another Ford Frick winner) and Tigers manager Sparky Anderson (a 2000 inductee into the Hall as a manager) did the radio broadcast.
  Before the game, Red Sox DH/1B Don Baylor received a phone call from Reggie Jackson, his former teammate on the Angels, whom Boston had defeated in the ALCS. Reggie also spoke to John McNamara, whom he once played for, and Bill Buckner. According to Baylor, Reggie told Buck that what happened last night was just part of the game. He told me to just don't let the guys get down. It's easy at this point to just sit back and not take it to them. We're not going to sit back and just be a spectator.

1st inning

• 3B Wade Boggs (batting .263 for the Series but 0-for-7 against Darling) took the first pitch as he always did. He ran the count full before lining to SS Rafael Santana.
  Marty Barrett (.418) had hit safely in all six games of the Series. Stottlemyre had told his pitchers to jam the piss out of him. With the crowd chanting "Mar-ty," the second sacker went for a fast ball at his knees and hit a looping liner to Darryl Strawberry in RF.
  Many Mets fans gave Bill Buckner (hitting only .179 for the six games) a standing ovation as he stepped in.
  Darling on Buckner: Over in the National League we all knew him as one of the finest hitters of his generation. ... After the way Game 6 ended ... I didn't want to have to face him in a key spot. He had something to prove.
  Amid calls of "Billy, Billy," Buck came back from an 0-2 hole with a lunging swing that drove a ground single into RF. 1B Keith Hernandez, thinking Carter had called for a splitter that was more likely to be pulled, took a step toward the line when the ball was pitched only to see the hit go past him to the right.
  Jim Rice (.222) had missed the '75 World Series with a broken hand.
  Rice joined the Red Sox in 1975 just as Darling was starting to play ball in high school. He could dent the wall of the Green Monster with a simple flick of his massive wrists. Wherever you were, whatever you were doing, you had to stop and watch him hit. That's how it was in our house.
  Jim was hitting .304 (7-for-23) in the Series but had yet to drive in a run. The main reason was that he had led off an inning 14 times as the result of Buckner having made the third out.
  Choking up on the bat, the left fielder smacked a liner that Strawberry backhanded as he ran toward the RF corner.
  Darling recalled: Going in, I worried about my control. I had walked five Sox batters in Game 4, so it felt to me like these veteran hitters were stalking me, waiting patiently at the plate like the cheetahs I'd watched on those Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom shows as a kid. Just lurking in the batter's box, ready to pounce the moment I left the ball up in the strike zone, as if they were calling me out. ... even though I managed to pitch my way through the first inning ... I knew this wasn't going to be my night. The ball felt heavy in my hand.
• Mookie Wilson (.184) hit the first pitch right to Barrett, who tossed to 1st.
  Keeping the ball away from the right-handed batters, Hurst got Tim Teufel to pop to Barrett.
  Teufel had played for the Minnesota Twins from 1983-85, making him the only Met who had faced Hurst prior to the '86 Series. Tim had gone a respectable 7-for-20 (.350) against Bruce in the AL.
  Hernandez (.250) socked a liner to Dave Henderson in CF.
  

• After the gut-wrenching defeat in Game 6, the Red Sox needed to get on the board first. And they did.
  RF Dwight Evans (.240) was a perennial Gold Glover whose defense overshadowed his offense - "a tough, workmanlike hitter" in Darling's words. Ron thought he had Evans struck out on a 1-2 hard sinker, but John Kibler called it a ball.
  Darling: I liked John Kibler, thought he was a tremendous umpire, but here I think this was one of those instances when his own big-game jitters clouded his thinking. It was a good pitch, but the call went the other way, and on the back of that one call I went from feeling like I was in control to feeling like the at bat was slipping away from me. ... If the home plate umpire wasn't going to give me that call, it was going to be a long night.
  Four pitches later with the count full, Dwight timed a low inside fast ball and drove it into the LCF bleachers.
  Dwight's clout was the ninth HR of the Series, all by the visiting team. It also ended Darling's streak of 15 consecutive scoreless innings. I knew it was gone the moment he hit it, said Ron. If you watch the replay, you can see my shoulders sag at the crack of the bat. You can see my head drop. I didn't even turn to watch the ball clear the fence. I just waited for Evans to round the bases and get the hell off the field.
  Darling's "lifelong nemesis," C Rich Gedman (.278) stepped to the plate.
  Darling and Gedman had faced each other many times playing for rival Catholic high schools in Massachusetts.
  Rich hit a 1-1 delivery on the ground foul down the 1B line. When the fans in the first row of the temporary stands reached down for the ball, they pushed over the fence in front of the seats. So play was delayed while the wall was secured.
  Despite Darling's best efforts to stay calm, he allowed the wall collapse to distract him. I caught myself thinking I was playing for some rinky-dink, minor league operation, instead of a major league baseball club in the seventh game of a World Series. ... I cursed the Mets and Major League Baseball for adding those extra folding seats along the right- and left-field lines. Everyone else on the field and in those stands was able to laugh about this ... but to me it was unsettling.
  During the four-minute delay, Darling threw some warmup pitches and tried to stay loose and focused. When play finally resumed, Gedman picked on a high fast ball and drove it toward the RCF wall. Strawberry ran over, leaped, and got his glove on the ball but lost it when it arm hit the fence. Darryl looked in his glove and jumped up and down in frustration at not catching the ball.
  Darling: When Dwight Evans and my old high school rival Rich Gedman led off the second with back-to-back home runs, you could see my shoulders sag and my false-swagger slip away.
  Next up was Dave Henderson (.344, admired by both teammate and foe alike because of the joy he radiated on the ball field. When Darling walked him, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre came out to stall and give lefty Sid Fernandez time to warm up in the bullpen.
  Fernandez won 16 games but faltered in the second half of the season and was dropped from the World Series rotation by Johnson. Sid stewed but kept quiet. He had contributed to the Game 5 victory with four scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
  SS Spike Owen (batting .395 in the Series, a whopping 212 points that his regular season mark) hit a soft liner on an 0-2 pitch to Santana.
  Darling explained his pitching philosophy. First at bat, you show as little as you can, as much as you need. Second at bat, you show a little bit more, because you might need a little bit more. By the third at bat, you're putting it all out there, because by now the hitters have adjusted, so you find an extra gear, a different arm angle, a subtle shift in your delivery ... whatever you've got left, whatever it takes.
  This night, Ron would not have to worry about a third trip through the Boston order.
  With Hernandez making his patented charge from 1B, Hurst bunted toward 3B Ray Knight, who was also running in. Ray missed the ball, but Darling backed him up and threw to Teufel covering 1st.
  With hot-hitting Barrett on deck, the Mets didn't consider walking Boggs, the leading hitter in the majors, with 1B open. The strategy backfired when Wade hit a low outside pitch on the ground past a diving Santana into CF. With the ball slowing down when it reached the soggy outfield grass, Henderson scored easily from 2nd. The hit broke Darling's streak of retiring all 12 Red Sox he had faced with runners in scoring position in his first two starts.
  Darling: There was no pitching going on, only throwing. I wasn't mixing up my speeds, wasn't mixing up my location - it just wasn't a very good game plan.
  Barrett caught the Mets completely by surprise when he dropped a perfect drag bunt down the 3B line to put runners at 1st and 2nd.
  Darling: It was an odd play. In a lot of ways, it was a selfish play. Ray Knight was playing deep, so Barrett knew if he executed he could reach first safely. But all he was doing was passing the baton to Bill Buckner, putting the burden on the next guy in the order to do the real damage - the kind of play that doesn't always endar youself to your teammates.
  The Mets escaped further damage when Wilson ran down Buckner's liner in LCF.
  Red Sox 3 Mets 0
  With 40 come-from-behind victories, including Game 6, the Mets had no reason to panic. Nobody was worried, said Davey Johnson. We were going to win that game.
• With the crowd quiet after the Boston uprising, Carter took a page out of Barrett's book with a bunt halfway between the 3rd base line and the mound. But Hurst picked up the ball, turned, and fired his best fastball to 1st for the out. Bruce had now retired the first four batters he faced on only 11 pitches. His split-finger fastball was mesmerizing the Mets like Mike Scott's sinker/spitball did in the NLCS against the Astros.
  Carter had gotten a reputation with the Expos as a fine player but a showboat who was out for himself. For that reason, "The Kid" wasn't the most popular player on the Mets, although all his teammates respected him and appreciated what he brought to the team offensively and defensively. The bunt attempt to start the inning could be construed as another attempt to show off.
  Many considered Gary the Mets All-American guy, not one of club's party crowd.
  Strawberry popped to Rice in short LF.
  Knight rapped a fast ball just to the left of Owen for the Mets' first hit. The benumbed fans made hardly a whimper.
  Kevin Mitchell tried to check his swing, but the ball rolled down the 1B line. Buckner had no trouble with this one and stepped on the bag.

3rd inning

• Rice smashed a hanging curve on a line directly over the head of Mitchell in LF. Kevin turned, took the short hop off the wall, and fired a one-hop bullet to Teufel at 2nd to get the sliding runner. That brought the crowd to its feet.
  Darling: This one play gave me life, hope, and it put back some of the air I'd let out of the stadium.
  Finally mixing his pitches better, Darling got Evans on a fly to CF.
  Gedman bounced to Hernandez.
  Darling: Before you could blink I was out of the inning. Again, it wasn't exactly a clearn sheet, but it felt for a moment like I had turned some sort of page. Out of the five pitches I threw that inning, four of them were breaking balls, and I realized this was how I should have been pitching all along.
• Santana became Hurst's first strikeout victim.
  Darling swung at the first pitch and sent Evans to the warning track in RCF.
  Darling: I really drove that sucker. Against any other pitcher in the National League, Evans would have been playing in, and I'd be standing on second with with a double, but he was playing me like a hitter, so I kicked the dirt in frustration as I rounded the bag at first. Of course, the Boston scouts had seen me play not all that long ago. They knew I could hit.
  After taking several pitches to give his hurler a chance to catch his breath, Mookie lined the ball to the warning track in RF where Evans again gathered it in easily.

• Darling, who had thrown 55 pitches to Hurst's 29 in three innings, started Henderson with "the first good breaking ball I'd thrown all night." But just when Ron thought he was settling in, he plunked Dave in the left hip with a split-finger fast ball that got away from him.
  Darling: One pitch, and I went from settling to unsettled. Gary Carter came out to the mound to talk to me, but this was another one of those moments when there was nothing much to say. ... He was mostly stalling, giving Sid Fernandez a few extra throws in the bullpen ...
  Owen hit the ball hard but right at Strawberry.
  3B Knight came in close and fielded Hurst's bunt and threw to 1st.
  Johnson called in his lefthander to face Boggs, who had hit two line drives off Darling.
  Darling: I left the game with my head held low - the picture of defeat. ... The contrast between the crowd I left and the crowd that greeted me as I took the mound for my warm-ups was startling. Top of the first, I'd never seen the Shea faithful so pumped. The place was rocking! But it didn't take long for those savvy New York fans to see I wasn't as sharp as I'd been earlier in the series ... They were still with me in the end - I don't think there was a single boo ... as I left the field - but the few cheers that came my way felt more like pity than appreciation. ... The Red Sox were a veteran team that was facing me for the third time in ten days; obviously, they made better adjustments than I did.
  Johnson explained afterward that he went to Fernandez because he had thrown well in Fenway Park. Davey was referring to Sid's four innings of shutout ball in the 4-2 loss in Game 5.
  Sid was happy to have a chance to contribute in relief. We were down at the time, and I just wanted to hold them. I used mostly fastballs and some curves. The last two times against Boston was the best my curve has been all year. I just told myself, "Don't sulk. Just do your best."
  Pitching carefully with 1B open, Fernandez walked Boggs on six pitches.
  Barrett hit a ball in on his hands to Strawberry.
  
• Continuing to look sharp, Hurst struck out Teufel on a curve.
  Hernandez belted a hanging curve to RCF but high enough for Evans to haul it in.
  Carter went out 4-3.

5th inning

• Buckner hit a lazy line drive to Strawberry.
  Fernandez blew Rice away on three fast balls.
  Mixing a slow curve with his fastball, Sid also fanned Evans on three pitches.
  The crowd rose to give their lefty a rousing ovation as he left the field.
• But any momentum from Sid's dominant inning dissipated before Hurst's continued mastery.
  Strawberry hit a 3-1 fast ball to Henderson.
  NY's best hitter against southpaws, Knight bounced over the mound to SS.
  After fouling four pitches, Mitchell swung over a sharp curve to become Hurst's tenth straight out.

6th inning

• After Gedman swung through two high fast balls, Fernandez caught the outside corner with another heater for his three straight K.
  "Hendu" flew to center.
  An offspeed curve broke right over the plate on 1-2 to retire Owen.
  The Mets faithful again roared their appreciation in hopes that they could inspire their offense.
• With Fernandez due up second, Roger McDowell got ready in the Mets bullpen.
  Hurst had been cruising, but the complexion of the game would change within his next ten pitches.
  Owen ranged past 2B to take Santana's hopper and toss to 1st.
  The crowd stirred when Lee Mazzilli came to the plate to hit for Fernandez.
  Johnson on why he pinch hit for Fernandez: We had McDowell and Orosco and Gooden in the bullpen. And we had to shoot for the gusto when we have the opportunity.
  A fan favorite during his first tour with the Mets (1976-81), Lee had singled to start the 8th inning rally that tied Game 6.
  A New York native, Mazzilli wanted to come home so badly that when he signed as a free agent with the Mets in August 1986, he agreed to play at Tidewater to earn a trip back to the majors.
  A switch-hitter batting from the right side, Mazzilli came through again, ending Hurst's streak of eleven straight outs by smacking a breaknig ball through the SS-3B hole.
  With the southpaw pitching from the stretch for the first time since the 2nd inning, Wilson stroked a soft liner into short LF. 1st and 2nd with one out.
  In the Mets dugout, Darling noticed that there was a whole lot less swagger to Hurst's demeanor. In the space of just a half-dozen pitches, he'd been figured out, and, for the first time, there was activity in the Red Sox bullpen.
  Would Johnson order Teufel to bunt? The answer was no, not when the second sacker had gone 4-for-9 against Hurst. When the count reached 3-1, the fans stood up and cheered. "Let's go, Mets!" The noise level rose when a curve ball broke inside to load the bases.
  Teufel: He was trying to get me to nibble. We later (1991) became teammates in San Diego. As soon as I saw him, he came right over to me and said, "How did you take this pitch? How did you take that pitch?" He threw me a split-finger and that was his go-to pitch ...
  McNamara came to the mound to speak to his hurler as Steve Crawford threw in his pen. Mac gave Bruce permission to pitch from the stretch against Hernandez.
  As Keith approached the plate, he considered what was happening as "deja-vu all over again" (to use Yogi Berra's phrase). In Game 7 of the 1982 World Series, he came to bat in the sixth inning against southpaw Bob McClure and hit a two-run single to tie the game and send the Cardinals on their way to victory.
  I was like, "You've got to be kidding me," Hernandez recalled. It was the same situation basically, which I thought was kind of ironic. My brother was there, and I looked up to where he was sitting in the box seats behind home plate, and he gave me the big power sign. I got up on my one knee in the on-deck circle and was walking towards home plate, and I just did what I always did in a tight situation, which was take a couple of deep breaths and count to ten, slow everything down and get in the box. I mean you can't run and hide. There I am. I'm either going to do it or I'm not.
  Tugging at his sleeves a bit more than usual, Hurst quieted the roar of the standing crowd with an excellent curve for strike one to Hernandez, who had been thinking fast ball. Then Keith got a shoulder-high hard one and laced it into LCF to drive home two and send Teufel to 3rd amid the din. Wally Backman ran for Teufel.
  Hernandez: That at-bat, I was just so relaxed and confident. I was up for that at-bat. That's the situation you thrive on, but I didn't have any butterflies. I had great concentration. ... I told my brother in the morning, "I'm swinging good. If I come up with people on base, I'll be a big part of this. ... Even when they led 3-0, we felt we would get to Bruce Hurst. And once we got to their bullpen, we felt we had it. They have basically a right-handed bullpen, and we knew in the late innings that we'd get them with our big left-handed hitters.
  With Hurst on the ropes, Carter, who started the winning rally in Game 6, swung at the first pitch and fisted a blooper into RF. Evans ran in, stumbled, and dove. He had the ball in his glove momentarily but lost it when he hit the ground. However, Dwight got up and threw to 2nd to get Hernandez, who didn't know whether the catch was made. In the meantime, Backman crossed the plate with the tying run. Keith left the field yelling at RF umpire Dale Ford for making the call earlier, but Ford was blocked by Evans's body. Carter bemoaned the fact that Hernandez's hesitation cost him a hit although he did get the RBI.
  Darling: My silent prayer was answered. We'd gotten one more run to tie the game and I was off the hook ... at long last.
  Hurst threw to first several times even though Carter was no threat to run - a sign the hurler needed to compose himself before facing Strawberry. When he finally pitched, Darryl sliced a liner into LF. Not considered in Evans's class as a fielder, Rice nevertheless came in and made a diving catch to prevent further damage.
  Red Sox 3 Mets 3
  
  Marty Barrett (L) and Rich Gedman meet with Bruce Hurst.
  When the 3-3 score was posted at the Meadowlands where the Giants faced the Redskins on Monday Night Football, the crowd started chanting "Let's go, Mets!" so loudly that play was halted.

• McDowell came in to pitch with Backman at 2B.
  McNamara ended Hurst's evening by sending Tony Armas up to hit for him. Roger struck out the pinch-hitter with his patented sinker.
  Hurst, who lost his chance to join Christy Mathewson, Harry Brecheen, Lew Burdette, and Mickey Lolich on the list of pitchers who won three games in a World Series, admitted he had gotten tired. I didn't recognize it as quickly as I should have. ... My arm got tired before I realized it, and I started to get the ball up. I didn't want to come out, but it was a good decision on Mac's part. In retrospect, I was a little tired. It's a tough thing to admit, because you want to stay in there. Sometimes, you look at those things with your heart instead of your head.
  McNamara could see Bruce fading. The same thing happened to him in Anaheim (in Game 5 of the AL playoffs). He went in a hurry. He lost his location and a little bit of his velocity.
  Boggs hit a chopper to Knight who threw low to 1st, but Hernandez caught the short hop. It was just another fine play that his teammates took for granted from the universally recognized best fielding 1B in baseball.
  Santana ran in, fielded Barrett's bouncer, and threw out the runner.
• Calvin Schiraldi, the former Met who couldn't hold the lead in the 10th inning Saturday night, took the hill. The fans chanted "Cal-vin, Cal-vin."
  Schiraldi didn't leave many friends behind when the Mets traded him to the Red Sox in November 1985. His former teammates considered him shaky, soft, and unreliable. The Mets were happy to see him take the mound in Game 7.
  After blowing Game Six, Calvin told the press, I don't deserve any more chances. That didn't bode well for his confidence entering Game 7.
  The Mets jumped on Calvin before he could get comfortable. Knight greeted the reliever with a homer to deep LCF on a 2-1 fastball. It was the first HR by the home team in the Series.
  Knight: I was looking for a fast ball. I'm a fast ball hitter. I looked for a pitch up and in the strike zone, and he threw it right there. I knew I hit it well enough for it to go out. I didn't know if it was high enough. I've hit many balls off the wall that were hard enough to go out.
  At Giants Stadium, word of Ray's homer spread quickly from people with transistor radios. The noise got so loud that the officials stopped the game and reset the clock.
  
  With a shaken righthander on the mound, Lenny Dykstra hit for Mitchell. His severe crouch creating one of the smallest strike zones in baseball, Len took three balls, then cracked a 3-1 fastball into RF for a base hit.
  Schiraldi: I tried to bear down on Dykstra, but I got behind and got myself in trouble. I thought I had good stuff. I just wasn't throwing strikes.
  Pitching coach Bill Fisher visited the mound as southpaw Joe Sambito and righty Bob Stanley worked in the bullpen.
  With Boggs in on the grass expecting a bunt, Santana took a ball, then watched as Schiraldi threw wild on a pitchout. Dykstra gleefully took 2nd. Then, trying to hit the ball to the right side to advance the runner to 3rd, Rafael took an inside-out swing and grounded a single just inside the 1B bag to make it 5-3.
  One of the best bat handlers on the Mets staff, McDowell laid down a two-strike bunt. Buckner looked to 2nd and seemed to have a play at 2nd but decided to take the easy out at 1st.
  McNamara called in southpaw Sambito, another ex-Met, to face Hernandez.
  Mac on why he summoned Schiraldi so early in the game: We've done that before. Schiraldi is our short man. He got us here. We thought that was the spot for him. I was looking for Schiraldi to go two with Roger Clemens to pitch the ninth inning.
  Mookie got an intentional pass to bring up Backman, a switch-hitter who was not as effective from the right side.
  Wally worked a base on balls on a full count.
  So Hernandez came up with the bases loaded against a southpaw for the second time in as many innings. Looking to hit a gapper to clear the bases, Keith swung at the first pitch and lofted a long fly to CF that scored Santana, Wilson moving to 3rd.
  Bob Stanley took the mound for the first time since throwing the wild pitch that tied Game 6 in the 10th inning.
  Carter hit the ball into the ground. Owen came in took the one long bounce and nipped Gary at 1st.
  Mets 6 Red Sox 3
  After the inning, a phalanx of 80 police on horseback rode into the stadium and took up stations in the bullpens. They were determined to avoid the rowdiness that led to the field being torn up after the Mets clinched the NL East in September.

8th inning

• Dykstra took over CF, with Mookie moving to LF. McDowell took the mound for what would undoubtedly be his last inning since Johnson would bring in Jesse Orosco for the 9th.
  But Roger couldn't finish the 8th.
  McDowell set a Mets record with 75 appearances during the '86 season (since broken) and still-standing marks of 128 innings and 14 innings in relief.
  With Shea rocking, Buckner looped a single to LF on a pretty inside-out swing - only Boston's second hit since the 3rd inning. McNamara chose not to run for Bill.
  Rice turned down the decibels when he slapped a one-bagger into CF, Buckner stopping at 2nd.
  Orosco began to loosen in the Mets pen.
  Evans plugged the gap in RCF for a double that easily scored both Buckner and Rice.
  Johnson couldn't wait until the 9th to bring in his left-handed closer. He called on Orosco to face Gedman. Jesse had a 0.00 ERA in four appearances in the Series.
  Orosco may have been the best all-around athlete on the Mets. He was the most sought-after golf partner.
  His curve ball had a big break, and he could zip a fastball by hitters. Darling wrote, He wasn't one of those guys you'd see working out all the time, but he was a natural. He could fall out of bed and pitch.
  Gedman wanted to at least pull the ball to the right side to send Evans, the tying run, to 3rd with only one out. Knight played even with the bag at 3rd should the Sox C bunt, but Rich had only one sacrifice all year.
  Orosco threw two straight curves, one for a called strike, another for a swinging strike. After a ball, Gedman reached out and poked a soft liner to Backman at 2nd. Wally threw to 2nd as Santana, the ball, and Evans arrived at the bag together, but Dwight got a hand in just in time.
  Henderson, a dangerous righthanded hitter with power, came up next. Could he again put Boston ahead in the late innings as he did in the 9th inning of Game 5 of the ALCS? Jesse threw him two jughandle curves to get a foul and a swing and miss. On 0-2, Orosco tried to get the hitter to chase one in the dirt. Hendu didn't bite, and Carter did a fine job of keeping the ball in front of him to prevent the tying run from going to 3rd. Then Henderson swung over another sharp-breaking curve.
  Don Baylor, the most feared DH in the AL who had to ride the bench at Shea, stepped up in place of Owen. Pitching Don the way he pitched Hendu, Jesse got a bouncer to SS to end the inning.
  Mets 6 Red Sox 5
• Al Nipper became Boston's fifth P, batting 8th. Ed Romero played SS, hitting 9th.
  This was another McNamara decision that was second-guessed. Why not go with Sammy Stewart, who hadn't allowed a run in twelve innings of three World Series with the Baltimore Orioles? But Stewart was in Mac's doghouse after he spit on traveling secretary Jack Rogers after Rogers left Stewart behind when he was a few seconds late for a bus.
  Instead, the Boston skipper chose Nipper despite his 5.38 ERA during the regular season.
  Al got ahead of Strawberry 0-2, then hung a curve that Darryl deposited over the 371' mark in RCF. He celebrated breaking an 0-for-12 string at Shea Stadium by rounding the bases at a measured pace.
  Darryl may also have been making a statement to his manager who took him out late in Game 6. See, I can come through in the clutch in this ballpark.
  Nipper didn't appreciate Strawberry's super-slow trot. The first time he faced Darryl in spring training '87, he plunked him hard.
  Knight stroked a single over 2B.
  On the 3-1 pitch to Dykstra, Ray took off for 2nd. Dykstra grounded through the box but Romero, coming over from SS to cover the bag, fielded the ball on the 1st base side of 2nd and threw to 1st.
  The next batter was Santana, whose .250 Series average was 32 points higher than his regular-mark mark. The Red Sox walked him to get to Orosco.
  The Mets closer had only three at-bats all year with no hits, but Johnson wasn't about to pull him for a PH. So surely Jesse would bunt.
  Joe Garagiola told the TV audience, I'd almost bet the house that he's going to bunt.
  Orosco squared but took a high pitch. 3rd base coach Woody Harrelson came in to consult with his batter. Jesse squared again and took a strike. The two tries gave the batter and the 3rd base coach a chance to see how the defense was playing the bunt. 2B Barrett went to 1st, and SS Romero raced to 3rd so that the corner men could charge the plate. So, on the next pitch, Orosco faked a bunt and slapped the ball through the vacated middle to score Knight and send Santana to 3rd. If Romero had been covering 2nd in the bunt defense, he could have turned the grounder into an easy DP to end the inning. It was Jesse's first hit of the year (and would turn out to be the last of his career).
  Vin Scully told Garagiola, Joe, you justlost your house.
  McNamara turned to Steve Crawford to hold the Mets in check as the crowd sang "We will, we will rock you!" in unison with the music, and Nipper sat on the bench with his head in a towel in his hands.
  Dykstra and Carter had pounded HRs off Crawford in Game Four
  Still showing postseason jitters, Crawford overthrew the 0-1 pitch and nailed Mookie, who couldn't jump high enough to get out of the way.
  With the infield in, Backman broke his bat on the first pitch and bounced to Barrett, who threw to Gedman for the force at home.
  Hitting with the bases loaded for the third straight time with a chance to blow the game open, Hernandez hit a sinking liner that Barrett knocked down and threw to 1st.
  Mets 8 Red Sox 5
  The Mets dugout filled up with police and stadium security, reporters, and even Mayor Ed Koch.
  Darling and Fernandez, not wanting to change their club's luck, stayed huddled at the far corner of the bench.

• Could the Sox do to the Mets what the Mets did to them in Game 6?
  The Mets had no "book" on Romero, who was stepping to the plate for the first time in the Series. But it made no difference as the weak-hitting SS fouled out to Hernandez who made a running catch closer to home plate than 1B.
  Boggs chopped a curve to Backman. Two outs.
  Wade hit .352 against southpaws in 1986 but would hit only .160 against Orosco in his career.
  The game was delayed because someone threw a pink smoke bomb into LF. Without a breeze, it took a few minutes for the smoke to dissipate as fans in the upper deck threw toilet paper streamers. Thoughtful Mets fans knew they couldn't celebrate yet. The night before, their team rallied from a two out-none on situation in the last inning.
  The Shea DiamondVision crew prepared a congratulations screen for their Mets but, unlike the night before when they congratulated the Red Sox before the last out was record, waited until the final out to display the message.
  
  Orosco faces Barrett with two outs in 9th.
  Barrett, Boston's best hitter in the Series - his 13 hits tied Bobby Richardson (Yankees 1964) and Lou Brock (Cardinals 1968) for most in history, represented Red Sox Nation's last hope.
  Fast ball - called strike.
  Curve - high, ball one.
  Barrett twisted out of the way of an inside fast ball. No swing said 1B umpire Jim Evans.
  Same pitch but this time home plate umpire John Kibler ruled that Barrett went around.
  Curve ball, fouled to the right.
  Fast ball, swing and miss.
  Orosco threw his glove into the air and sank to his knees before his teammates surrounded him. Wilson in LF recalled, I was frozen in the outfield. I thought, "Is it over?"
  FINAL SCORE: METS 8 RED SOX 5

View the entire game.

A year after the Cardinals became the first team to win the first two World Series games on the road and lose the Series, the Red Sox did the same.

Ray Knight won the Series MVP Award.

The show of force by New York's finest kept the postgame celebration jubilant but mostly in the stands.

• Several fans managed to get on the field after the last out, but the crowd was generally well-behaved.
• Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward: It was a lot of horses and a lot of men and a lot of planning. The Mets did a great job, and the cops did a great job.
• Some of the 700 officers assigned to duty in and around the stadium reported that the subways were rowdy and crowded but not violent.
• The police arrested 15 people on charges from assault to scalping.

Mets Clubhouse

• Commissioner Peter Uberroth presented the Championship Trophy to Davey Johnson with GM Frank Cashen next to him and co-owner Fred Wilpon nearby.
• Johnson: I'm glad the bad guys won. They rallied, and it looked like we put it away, then let 'em (almost) catch us, and then put it away again. ... It wasn't easy. We beat a formidable foe. ... It's very sweet to be here after having seen the team gradually improve over the last three years.
  He pointed to Fernandez's performance as crucial to the victory. Sid was the key. He stopped the Red Sox in the middle of the game, and it brought the crowd back to our side. It was like, "If he could do it, we have a chance."
  On MVP Ray Knight, who started spring training as a backup: He'd be in my ear about how good he was, and I understand his tremendous determination. I had been down that road myself.
  Davey said the critics didn't bother him. I don't second-guess myself. I've been with the players for eight months. I'd better know them and what they can do better than some of the second-guessers who've only seen them for a few weeks or a few games.
• Knight credited his wife, golfer Nancy Lopez, for keeping his spirits up in the spring. She said, "You're going to be the third baseman this year." I said, "You're wrong, Nancy, no matter what you say." She said, "I believe that. I know you can play. I saw you play at Cincinnati. If there's any justice in this world, you're going to get an opportunity to play."
• Mookie Wilson savored the championship more than most of the Mets. I know what it's like to be in the cellar, to be home during this time of year watching the World Series with a pizza and beer. I really don't know what I'm thinking right now. I know I might appreciate this more, but you have to give credit to the young guys on this club. They showed the world you don't need 10 years' experience and three in the playoffs to win.
• Tim Teufel was thankful that his error that cost the Mets Game 1 1-0 would be forgotten. Personally, it was a draining Series. I took a lot of criticism for one play, and if we had lost, everyone would have looked at me. They would have viewed me on that one error and not the whole season. Now maybe Bill Buckner will have to live with it. That's too bad. He's a good player.
• Wally Backman recalled the bleak outlook two nights earlier. I remember in that sixth game having an empty feeling in the 10th inning and knowing I would feel that way all winter. I just would not have been satisfied without winning the World Series. But now I can go home. He added that he was not as nervous as he expected to be in Game 7. I remember as a kid watching the World Series. I would have butterflies and my palms were sweaty. I had some butterflies tonight, but it was easier being on the field than watching as a kid.
• Darryl Strawberry still fumed about Johnson removing him from Game 6 in the 9th inning as part of a double switch. Angry even after the victory, he said he didn't know if he could communicate with Johnson ever again. But as Kevin Mitchell emptied a champagne bottle over his head, Darryl said he was still hurt but would try to understand his skipper's reasoning. Davey is a fine man, and we just disagreed on some things. I know I'm a clutch player, and after three and a half years here, I didn't think that kind of thing could happen to me anymore. I had a tough time in the World Series (he hit only .227), but I'm surrounded by great players who helped pick us up. I'm just happy I could contribute that home run tonight. To hit one in a World Series is a great thrill.
• Keith Hernandez: This is the greatest Mets team of all time. Sure, we have weaknesses. No team can be solid all down the line. But this team is the best.
• Rich Gedman sought out his boyhood friend Ron Darling to offer his congratulations.
  Darling: I remember heading back out to the field, to the mound, and sitting with a bunch of my teammates - Rick Aguilera, Howard Johnson, Wally Backman - and swilling champagne. Toasting the crowd. Drinking in the moment. Roughousing, same way I used to do with my brothers ... Wanting this night to never, ever end. Wishing like crazy I could forget how it started.