A couple of days ago I talked about Duke losing in the NCAA title game to Louisville. After that loss and the end of the school year, my family took a summer trip to the North Carolina coast. On the way to the beach we would be stopping in Durham to visit some family friends and visit Duke. After a spending spree at the bookstore we went by Cameron Indoor Stadium and I schooled some kids who had wasted their parents money at the Duke Basketball camp. They were spared further humiliation from a 9 year old when my Mom began calling for me. By the tone of her voice I knew I was not in trouble when I got to her she handed me a pen and paper and pointed in the direction of my hero, Johnny Dawkins. In a state of shock I asked for his autograph, I think a mumbled a thank you but I was still stunned that the player I had been emulating for the past couple of years was right there. We could have cut our trip short and I would have been fine with that.
We eventually left Durham and drove to the beach. On our way reports started coming out that Len Bias had died of an apparent cocaine overdose.
This was shocking news, just 2 days earlier Bias had been drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 2nd pick and the Celtics had just won the title, it looked like the rich were about to get Bill Gates rich. Bias would have allowed the Celtics to continue their NBA dominance and allow them to reduce the minutes of Bird and McHale. Len Bias’s death remains a great “what if” in the history of sports. How many titles would Boston have won with Bias? How many years would he have added to McHale and Bird careers? Duke’s coach Mike Krzyzewski has said that the two best players he has coached against in the ACC were Michael Jordan and Len Bias. Len Bias’s tragic passing served as a prelude to what would happen to the city of Boston in October.
Back in 1986 I was a casual baseball fan. When we lived in Michigan I had gone to a couple of games in Chicago. Living close to Cincinnati we got the radio broadcast of all the Red games but I was never a big fan. When the season started to wind down I did start paying attention because my Dad’s favorite team the Boston Red Sox were going to be in the playoffs. 1986 would be the first time the Red Sox made the playoffs since their epic World Series against the Reds in 1975.
I also got to hear my first story about the 1978 season and Bucky “Bleepin” Dent’s homer in the 1978 playoff game. My Dad explained to my brother and I that being a fan of the Red Sox was an often futile enterprise. They had not won a World Series since 1918 and had a number of close calls that made the franchise seemed cursed. Since I was only 1 in 1978 this was the first time Boston had made the playoffs in my lifetime.
Back in 1986 some of the playoff games were played during the day, this seems like a novel concept in today’s world but it allowed a 9 year old to watch the games. The Red Sox had a great team that year, a pre-steroid Roger Clemens, Bruce Hurst and Oil Can Boyd were the primary starters. They had Wade Boggs who was one of the best hitters in the league, Jim Rice and Dwight Evans were the power hitters and Bill Buckner had another solid season driving in over 100 runs. In the American League Championship Series the Red Sox played the California Angels. The series was not going on how many Red Sox fans had hoped, they Angels led the Series 3-1 and it looked like the Red Sox would have to wait to end their World Series drought. Game 5 was turning out like games 1,3 and 4 the Red Sox were behind and would need a miracle to win. Going into the 9th the Red Sox trailed by 3 runs and seemingly no chance. Then Don Baylor hit a 2 out 2 run homer and suddenly the Red Sox had life. The next Red Sock got on which set the stage for David Henderson. Earlier in the game Henderson had misplayed a Bobby Grich ball that went over the fence for a homer, I remember my Dad calling him a “bum” and my Dad’s opinion of Henderson did not change when he came up. Down to his last strike Henderson hit one of the great clutch homer runs in baseball history.
The Red Sox would win Game 5 and then in Games 6 and 7 they demolished a demoralized Angels team that was 1 strike away from a World Series.
Boston’s opponent in the World Series was the New York Mets. I learned from my Dad that any team from New York is the enemy. The Mets that year were the best team in baseball, Doc Gooden and Daryl Strawberry were in their primes and the rest of the team was a mix of veterans and talented younger players. The Red Sox won the first two games in Shea and needed to win 2 of 3 in Fenway to win the World Series. The Mets ended any chance of the Red Sox celebrating in Fenway when they won games 3 and 4. Boston won game 5 and would have to win the World Series in New York. Game 6 went back and forth, Boston scored the first runs, New York came back and tied the game at 2. Both teams scored once more and after a scoreless 9th the game was tied at 3. Boston scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th and retired the first two Mets hitters, they were one out away from the World Series. Boston’s relief pitching in 1986 was it’s achilles heel and it hurt them when they needed it the most. New York got back to back singles from Gary Carter and Kevin Mitchell, Ray Knight was the next up and fell behind 0-2, the Red Sox were 1 strike away from the World Series. Knight hit a single that scored Carter and put the tying run on 3rd. Bob Stanley came in relief and faced Mookie Wilson again Boston was again 1 strike away from winning the World Series and then Stanley uncorked a wild pitch that scored Mitchell. The next pitch led to the moment that would haunt Red Sox fans for 18 years. Mookie hit a dribbler up the 1st base line that rolled trough Buckner’s legs and Ray Knight scored the winning run.
My brother and I were dumbfounded we could not believe that a major leaguer could not make a play on a grounder that a kid could make. My Dad, well you could hear my Dad yelling at the TV downstairs and calling Buckner his favorite word, a bum. It was tough to take for my Dad and Grandpa and this was my brother and my initiation to being a fan of the Red Sox. The next night the Mets won game 7 and the Red Sox still had not won a World Series since 1918.
Being a fan of both teams I have also experienced incredible highs, Duke has won 3 titles and Boston has won 2 World Series and comeback from a 3-0 deficit against the Yanks. But both teams losing titles in the same year in heartbreaking fashion was tough for a 9 year old and easily made 1986 the worst year.
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