10-25-86 From the book One Pitch From Glory
One out away. The tension and excitement were overwhelming me. I began to recall all the minor league parks I had been in..All the years and all the games.
Time seemed suspended. It was surreal. Gary Carter singled to give the Mets a glimmer of hope…Kevin Mitchell singled to center…Two out, two strikes on Ray Knight. There was no way we could lose now…No God could ever be so cruel to allow victory to slip away. But Knight singled up the middle, and Carter scored to give the Mets a fourth run
(John McNamara replaces Calvin Schiraldi with Bob Stanley
Mookie Wilson kept fouling off pitches.. with the count 2-2, Rich Gedman had called for a fastball down at the knees…(but) Gedman moved too late and Stanley’s pitch ..darted down and in glancing off Gedman’s glove..Mitchell raced home with the tying run.
Our group froze in its tracks..too stunned to accept what had happened…My wife reached out to grab my hand..’We’re going to win this ballgame’ she said.//
What happened next will live forever in Red Sox infamy..a slow grounder to Buckner at first base..He was in perfect position to make the play..but incexplicably it scooted through his legs into short left field. Knight scored to give the Mets a 6-5 win.
As we began consoling each other..Mrs Yawkey motioned for me to sit next to her. She looked me straight in the eye and said ‘Your manager just cost us the World Championship.’ I began to respond but she continued, ‘Do you understand what I’m telling you? Your manager just cost us the World Championship.’
– Mike Passanisi
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