I spent the morning in a Queens hospital having surgery in a place that no man ever wants to ! Hours later, quite high on pain meds and dreading the need to urinate, I turned on the TV .

Ex-Met Mike Scott outduels Dwight Gooden for a 1- 0 victory at the Astrodome in Game One of the N.L.C.S. Scott fans 14 Mets on his way to a complete game shutout. Glenn Davis supplies all the offense with a second-inning home run. New York complains about Scott scuffing the ball but the umpires find nothing wrong.

At 11:39 pm, I screamed! I peed! We lost!

I was a freshman in college in PA and was feeling a little homesick because I felt like I was missing all the excitement at home with the Mets making it into postseason. I had been a loyal fan since 1975 and had known nothing but mostly losing during all that time. When the Mets took the field to be introduced I kept thinking about all those Mets teams from the late 70's and all the suffering and my eyes began to tear up. I was just thankful I was alone because I couldn't believe how emotional I was. I can just imagine how Red Sox fans must have felt in 2004.

Met fans most often remember Ojeda for winning the critical 3rd game of the 1986 World Series at Fenway after the Mets had lost the first two games. However, his win in this game was almost as critical since the Mets would otherise have left the Astrodome down two games in the NLCS. He scattered nine singles and a double, pitching a complete game while the Mets got to Nolan Ryan in the middle innings.

I was only 8 years old, but I still remember that game vividly. I had only become a big Mets fan about two years earlier when my dad took me to my first game against the Expos in September. After that I was hooked. Game Three of the National League Playoffs was the first post season game I ever went to. I remember sitting in the Upper Deck, about 5 rows from the back, on the first base line. Lenny Dykstra was my favorite player on the Mets because he was lefty (so am I) and because of the way he played. I remember jumping and down like a maniac when he hit the home run into the Mets bullpen to win the game. I remember trying to see what was going on, but I couldn't see over all the people in front. It was probably the most exciting game I've ever been to.

This game represented the first postseason baseball experience for me and my brother Gian. We sat in the wheelchair-accessible seats just inside the left-field foul pole beneath the "NY Newsday" sign. I remember Dykstra taking a big rip at next-to-last pitch of the game; enraged that he was deluded into thinking he could reach the seats against a sinkerballer, I screamed, "Who ever told him he was a home run hitter?!!!". Lenny then lofted Dave Smith's next offering deep to right. I watched Kevin Bass drift back to the rightfield wall. When he looked up, I knew it was gone! Bedlam at Shea! Amid the bedlam, I received a knowing look from the older woman seated next to me, which chastized me for ever having doubted Lenny. As we descended the ramps, I watched as complete strangers hugged each other. One stuck a souvenir pennant in my hand which I keep as a momento of that incredible win.

What a finish. Wally drops a drag bunt and barely beats it out. Lenny steps in and hits a blast to right off of Smith (I never liked him). I can still hear Keith Jackson's call on ABC ("...deep to right...she is gone"). I couldn't remember why Dykstra was hitting after Backman that day until looking at the box score above and realizing that neither of them started the game.

I also remember that we lost power in our area for an hour during start of the game on that Saturday afternoon. By the time it came back on we were down 4-0 courtesy of Doran's homer. Darryl also took the lefty - Bob Knepper - deep for a 3-run shot to get us back in it. I think he took it the other way to left-center if I remember correctly. I always confuse this one with the one he hit off of Nolan Ryan later in the series. What a post-season.

Joe, I'm pretty sure Strawberry's homer was a line drive right down the RF line. I was sitting in the upper deck just past first base and I remember thinking that the ball was going to go foul. But he hit it too hard for it to have enough time to go foul!

Strawberry's homer in this game, his first of the series, was a bomb into the lodge level off of Knepper. His screaming line drive, just down the foul line was off of Nolan Ryan at Shea, game 5.

Gone are the days of the passion and the drive that the Mets showed in those great games in the 80's. You could see it in all of the players eyes.

Like the 1st poster, I was only 8 years old when the Mets won it all in 1986, and this is the very first game I remember watching. It turned me into a Mets fan for life, and Lenny Dykstra has been my favorite athlete of all time since that day.

There once was a time when Lenny Dykstra wasn't on the juice and didn't have more muscle in his arms than most people Patrick Ewing's size. That time was 1986. Lenny Dykstra was by no means a home run hitter, but he will always be remembered for one specific home run, which came in this game. Strawberry had to hit a laser- beam bomb to get them back in it, and then Dykstra lifted it down the line and everyone was jumping around and the Mets had managed to surprise us again!

I remember sitting on the 1st base line mezzanine with my future wife freezing our tails off. After falling behind early, Darryl got us back in it with a line shot homer to right. Down 1 in the ninth, the last thing I was thinking with Lenny up was a homer (pre-steriod days). I was hoping for a double to tie it up. I couldn't believe it when I saw the ball keep carrying until it left the park. I must of high fived and hugged everyone in our row! With all the screaming and cheering, I couldn't speak clearly for days afterwards. I just saw an autographed picture of Lenny running around the bases after the homer...it will soon be on my wall.

On the morning of this game, I did not have a ticket but after dreaming of seeing the Mets in the playoffs since I became a fan back in 1975, I so wanted to experience the atmosphere at Shea. Since I was without a ticket my plan was to simply get a good view on the train platform so I could at least see half the field. I left my house at 8 am and got there around 9:30. When I got there I was surprised to hear that tickets were on sale. I excitedly got on line and debated whether to find a phone and call my friends but if I did that I would lose my place in line and lose out on the chance to see a playoff game at Shea. So I stayed and bought the ticket.

I remember sitting there in the mezzanine and just looking out and I could not believe I was at the NLCS and of course the way the game turned out with Strawberry's dramatic sixth inning blast to tie it and Dykstra's game winner just put the cap on a happily memorable day at Shea.

WHAT A GAME!! My only post season game so far. Bought a ticket in the Upper Level Boxes down the left field line behind the foul pole with my brother off a scalper for 75 bucks each. I remember 2 Astro fans sitting in front of us. They were a pain in the butt. Shea went absolutely bonkers after Lenny's home run. Those Astro fans mysteriously disappeared after that (HA HA)!!

My friend got us seats in the back of the Loge. You almost knew Strawberry was going to hit it out. That ball got out in a hurry. I swear I'm still hoarse from screaming "LENNY!! LENNY!!" after the game. This game is #2 on my list of thrilling games I saw at Shea (I was at Game 6 of the Series).

I remember this as being my very first Mets' play-off game thanks to the mom of a guy at my college who got students tickets for that weekend's games. I lucked out in getting that ticket to one of the great games that weekend. I sat in the RF loge watching Straw's HR land a few rows ahead of me. When Lenny hit his HR, I remember the fans cheering and waiting for an 1986 curtain call. Dykstra had said that he hadn't hit a HR like that since when he beat his brother in Strat-O-Matic. Ironically, Dykstra's quote was on the Shea scoreboard's Who Said It? Friday night and I didn't have to even think about it. Seeing the quote tonight made me rush home to type this entry. To this very day, I still have my ticket stub and 1986 NLCS program.

My first postseason game, section 23 upper deck. The best memory: LENNY, LENNY, LENNY chant from everyone on the ramps leaving the stadium.

This was my very first NLCS game I attended. Sitting in the Upper Deck Section all I can say is WOW!! Mets down 4-0 till bottom of the 6th. Strawberry hitting a homer to tie the game. Mets down by a run bottom of the ninth. And then came Lenny (Nails) Dykstra hitting a two run homer to win the game. All I can say is WOW!!

Dykstra's home run was TOTALLY UNEXPECTED. It wasn't even within the realm of possible outcomes. It's hard to explain this to today's fan, but, in the mid-80s, a game winning walk-off home run from Lenny was the last thing on my mind. I remember praying for a single to tie it.

Watched this game with a bunch of friends. Was 16 at the time. First a look of complete surprise, then total jubilation. Really a special moment from a magical year.

I rushed home from school and turned on the TV just in time to see Wally Backman's drag bunt. When Dave Smith threw the pickoff throw away I knew the Mets were going to win. Lenny's home run had me jumping and screaming around the TV room.

The next day my uncle (who lived in Flushing) told me that he was on the 7 train during the 9th inning and someone was playing the game on the radio. He said the moment Lenny hit the home run the people on the train went so crazy that the train had to stop. I can't verify if that's true, but it has become mythological in my mind. Every time I watch the home run on YouTube, I can't help imagining the 7 train having to stop from all the jumping and shaking as Lenny is being mobbed at home plate.

A few minutes after I submitted my post about this game last night, I realized that I mixed up elements of Game 5 with this game, namely, the pickoff throw in the 9th inning, which happened in game 5, not in this game.

Also, this game was played on a Saturday, so I barely made it home in time to see the ending for game 5, which was played on a Tuesday.

I actually watched this whole game in my TV room, wearing my home Mets jersey (no number) with my Mets batting helmet and little league bat when they were hitting, and a mesh, snapback Mets hat and glove when they were in the field. I watched every playoff game in uniform.

So another element of game 5 that always gets mixed up with this game is Strawberry's home run. Before I watched both of Strawberry's home runs, I only remembered the game 5 home run off Nolan Ryan (even though it happened when I was still at school).

The difference is Straw's home run in game 3 off Knepper had a higher trajectory, almost like a punt with a 3+ second hang time before landing about ten rows behind the Newsday sign in the Loge level.

The game 5 home run off Nolan Ryan was a screaming line drive that took less than two seconds to get out and just barely cleared the wall in the right field corner.

By the way, I also watched the 6th inning again and Craig Reynolds made an error on a double-play ball hit by Carter. The ball rolled under his glove, allowing Mitchell to score from second, making the score 4-1 with two men on and no one out, instead of 4-0 with two outs and one man on base.

With the score now 4-1, Straw hits the 3 run homer and the camera shot cuts to the sign guy (just like 1969) holding up a professional-looking sign that says: STRAW BURIED. Classic.

Moving ahead to the ninth, Backman gets on base J.C Martin style, then Danny Heep bats next. On an 0-1 pitch, Dave Smith throws a wild pitch that goes to the backstop, and THAT's how Wally gets to second base.

Heep takes the count full but eventually hits a routine fly to center on a high fastball, not far enough for Backman to tag up.

Then Lenny comes to the plate. The way ABC cover this at bat is worthy of an Emmy. Just before the home run pitch, Keith Jackson sets the defense:

"Walling on the grass at third, Davis just off the grass at first, (camera cuts to Terry Dykstra) everybody's on the dirt..." and then with the shot still holding on Lenny's wife with a look of determination on her face, Tim McCarver says, "Or the edge of their seats." Classic.

On the next pitch, an 0-1 offering, bang.

"Hit to right. Bass goin' back. Goin' back. Iiiiiiiit's gone!"

Pandemonium. "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang starts playing over the PA. They cut to a shaky overhead shot of Shea, with the "Baseball like it oughta be" banner visible on the side on the stadium, and at that moment the LENNY! chant can be heard. This whole time, Keith Jackson is quiet, letting the pictures and the crowd noise tell the story. Just before he starts his recap of the home run, a guy holds up a sign that says: WELCOME TO THE ASTRO DOOM

Classic.

Correcting an earlier post, the Strawberry home run? in the 6th inning landed about 4 rows back in the right field Loge level behind the Newsday sign, not 10 rows back. Also, I used a stopwatch to time the exact hang time of his home run off Knepper, and it was in the air for 5.77 seconds.

The attendance at this game was 55,052, the highest of any game played in that year's NLCS (home or away). Surprisingly, more people attended this game than Game 7 of the World Series, which was played on a Monday night.? It was the Mets' first home playoff game in 13 years, and watching it again, you can feel the electricity from the crowd, especially after Mitchell scores to make it 4-1 with two men on and Straw at the plate.

On October 11, 1986, I watched the ABC telecast, but whenever I replay Lenny Dykstra's home run back in my mind, I can only hear Bob Murphy's call. The reason is that they used Murph's call on the 1986 Mets highlight video, so I've heard Murph's call hundreds of times, whereas I only heard Keith Jackson's call once, at least before the game was added to YouTube.

Bob Murphy's call of Lenny's home run still gives me chills. As Lenny wiggles his fingers in the batter's box, Murph says: "Lenny Dykstra, the man they call "Nails" on the Mets ballclub is waiting. Now the pitch... and a high fly ball, hit to right field; it is fairly deep; it's way back; it's by the wall; HE DID IT! IT'S A HOME RUN! A HOME RUN! THE METS WIN THE BALLGAME! DYKSTRA HITS A HOME RUN! LEN DYKSTRA HIT A HOME RUN! THIS BALLGAME IS OVER!" At this moment, the highlight video shows Lenny screaming as he's being mobbed at home plate and I swear I can hear Lenny scream louder than everyone else in the stadium.

Wrapping up my (third) summary of this classic game, I know I've already related my uncle's story: that he was on the 7 train the moment Lenny hit the home run, and because all the Mets fans on the train went nuts, the train stopped in its tracks.

What I failed to mention in my previous post is that when he told me this, my first thought was, "Why the hell were you on the 7 train and not at home watching the game?"

However, all I said was, "Wow."

I was lucky enough to be at Game 3, which was delirious, and then this one a few nights later, which stunk. Cold night, and Scott absoultely dominated us. Not even a hint of a rally. I recall my brother and I (we were 12 and 14) going home and poking holes in one of Mike Scott's baseball cards with a thumb tack after the game.

Only thing I remember about this game is that on top of the 2nd, Alan Ashby flied to foul territoty to the third base side, which would have been an out, if there had been no extra seats created specially for the playoffs, so no play. Saved from fouled out with a runner on, Ashby promptly hit a two-run homer in the same at-bat. The Mets promptly drop the game by two, and after the game I grew worried about the momentum of the Series, how a little thing like this can sway it. On well, little did I know about its outcome, 4 days later...

My sister and I were at this game, still the only postseason game I ever saw live. Worst seats at Shea: Mezzanine Reserved, last row. I can personally vouch for them being the worst as a result of being there 10/12/86. The Upper Deck hanging over you make it impossible to see anything hit in the air. Upper Deck Reserved, despite being nosebleed territory, wasn't nearly as bad. The game, of course, matched our seats: awful.

Oh boy, where do I start ?

First of all, I had just graduated college in May and I was unemployed and living at home. My friend Ed had two tickets to this afternoon game which he would sell me for $ 40. I bought both tickets but had no one to go to the game with.

It was a rainy afternoon, but I went out to Shea and tried to unload the extra ticket. No luck, there were very few people there at game time and I didn't want to miss a pitch. I can remember sitting through the first 4 innings praying for rain, so that I wouldn't end up eating the extra ticket.

Well, the sun came out, more and more people began to arrive at the stadium. Although, I don't believe that Shea was anything close to being full (maybe 40 - 45,000 ??), the crowd that afternoon was frantic. It was NOT that corporate crowd that you get nowadays for the big games.

I think that I stood for the last 4 innings and by the 12th, I was exhausted. Thank you Charlie Kerfeld !!

I took a lot of crap from my mom for spending $ 40 for TWO tickets when I should have been out looking for a job. Too bad.

More than anything, I remember Fred Brocklander calling Craig Reynolds out at 1B on a double-play when Reynolds was clearly safe. Everyone saw it when it happened and then again on the replay but Brocklander stayed in denial about it after the game.

That blown call kept a runner from scoring from third base, and the Astros went on to lose in extra innings.

Brocklander also failed to ring up Ray Knight on a strike three right down the middle of the plate in the 9th inning of Game 6. Knight then hit a sac fly to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

The true NLCS MVP was not Mike Scott, but Fred Brocklander.

The main thing I remember is that I wondered how Fred Brocklander could have been considered to even be a little league umpire much less an umpire during a major league playoff series. I'm an Astros fan who still hasn't forgiven Brocklander for giving New York the pennant in 1986. Everybody who watched the NL series knows it should have been Houston and Boston in the World Series that year. Major League baseball ultimately got rid of Brocklander, but by that time it was too late. New York had already been given the NL pennant by the worst excuse I've ever seen for a major league umpire.

It's been 17 years and I still can't forget how the sorriest umpire ever left baseball without admitting that he robbed the Astros of a World Series. I only hope that when he's gone, if he's not already, his epitaph will read "I should have had the balls to say I blew the call".

I was only 3 years old, but apparently I was on my dad's lap at the game. After watching video highlights years later, I don't know how I kept my ability to use my young ears for hearing again. The one thing I know for sure: Dwight Gooden is my favorite athlete of all time. Bar None.

I hate the NY Mets and I hate Fred Brocklander even more. What a crummy call he made. He wouldn't even admit that he made the wrong call. Calling a base runner safe or out is not like calling balls and strikes. There's no "maybe" about it. Craig Reynolds was either safe or out. And he was definitely safe. He screwed the Astros out of a run. As Nolan Ryan said after his great pitching "If he made the right call, we would have won that game in 9 innings." I hope this S.O.B. (Fred Brocklander) is dead by now. I really do. The 1986 Mets were the luckiest team ever to win the World Series. The Astros should have won this series in 5 games. The only game that the Mets won outright was game 2. I was glad when the Mets lost to L.A. in 1988, then Atlanta in 1999, and finally St. Louis in 2006. I hope the Mets never win a World Series ever again.

Dear Astros Fans, If Fred Brocklander and his fellow men in blue had been better umpires, Mike Scuff would have been ejected in Game One and/or suspended for the series for doctoring the ball. Chalk it up to baseball karma.

Brocklander is the worst excuse for an umpire. I was only 13 at the time but I will never, ever forgive that man for robbing us from the World Series.

David Mo- no evidence against Scott was ever found so get over the "scuff" routine. Plenty of evidence to show Brocklander blew that call.

To David Mo...We got Mike Scott from the New York Mutts. If in fact he was cheating he probably learned it in the big rotten apple. When it comes to that gutless pig Brocklander, I remember other Astros fans hanging him in effigy at the Dome. Believe me, a lot of us wanted to see him hanging for real. And I've always wondered if Brocklander was a NY Mets fan just wanting his team to win or if he was being paid under the table to make sure the big market Mutts made it to the World Series instead of our team here in Dixie, of if he was just a piss poor excuse of an umpire that somehow or other lucked into the job at the major league level.

Wow... Hey Astros fans... why do you NEVER bring up the fact that you LUCKED into having home field advantage for this series? There was an Oiler game and the first two games had to be played at the Astrodome....so while it was actually supposed to be the Mets home field advantage (due to alternating east and west coast teams during that time I believe...and the west coast Dodgers had home field in 85) you completely lucked into it. And as any player who ever played in that dome can say, that's a HUGE advantage in that place.

On to the game... I remember the fans chanting "Gary, Gary" when he walked up to the plate. Fantastic finish.

Some things I remember from this game:

Nolan Ryan was virtually unhittable. The Mets, I believe, had a grand total of three baserunners in the first 11 innings.

Darryl Strawberry's game-tying home run was an unusual home run -- a bolt, that barely disappeared over the home run line about two seconds after it hit the bat.

I remember Charlie Kerfeld's behind-the-back snag of Gary Carter's grounder in the eighth inning. He pointed to Carter before throwing to first. I thought it was pretty funny, even though I was rooting for the Mets to win.

Brocklander's call did cost the Astros the game. But I think some Houston fans may need to get a grip . . .

To summarize:

1) Astros should not have had home field advantage; 2) Scott's "scuffball" was suspicious, but nothing was ever proven; 3) Video DID prove that Fred Brocklander directly cost the Astros at least one game, and possibly the pennant; 4) Fred Brocklander should die a long and agonizing death from testicular cancer, since he never had the balls to own up to his poo umpiring; 5) May the Mets never win another World Series. Amen

Was at this game but was not supposed to be. The game was scheduled for Monday of Columbus day afternoon. It was also Yom Kippur that day, so I gave the tickets to a family friend. Then the game was rained out and the friend could not go that next day, so they gave me back the tickets. Since Yom Kippur was over I was now able to go because of the rain out that day.

And what a duel it was between Gooden and Ryan matching pitch for pitch. Then Carter finally broke out of his slump and drive in the winning run to give the Mets the 3-2 series lead. We might have maybe got a gift from Brocklander but not so sure on that. It could have gone either way. When its a teams year to win, they get calls to go their way and 1986 was ours.

I've hated the New York Mets ever since this series took place 25 years ago. There's no denying the pennant was stolen from the Astros by a pathetic scab of an umpire named Fred Brocklander. In fact he gave two games to New York. First there was the blown call against Craig Reynolds that gave New York a 1-run win. And then there was the game where Ray Knight was obviously struck out, but Brocklander called the pitch a ball. The pennant was given to New York and stolen from the Astros and their fans. On top of that Brocklander was such an arrogant prick that he refused to admit he had cheated in favor of New York, though it was as obvious as day is light and night is dark.

Michael, You say you "might" have gotten a gift from Brocklander? Try being honest and admitting you got TWO gifts and the N.L. pennant thanks to that no good pile of sh*t Brocklander. He will never be forgiven for stealing the pennant from us in 1986.

I attended Game 5 of the 86 NLCS. I had a great box seat in the front row of the right field loge next to the foul pole. My cousin Debbie and I traveled out to Shea from Rockland County that Monday only to have the game rained out. I skipped work the next day to come back (I paid $75 each for those seats and I wasn't about to miss out.) By far, this was the greatest baseball game I ever attended. Nolan Ryan was on fire retiring 2 of 3 Met hitters by strikeout in the first 3 innings. He pitched that game with a broken bone in his landing foot. Dwight Gooden pitched 10 innings that day and got a no-decision. Darryl Strawberry's home run virtually landed at my feet as it cleared the wall at the base of the foul pole. On the super slo-mo replay during the broadcast I can see myself jump out of my seat as he hit the ball and follow its trajectory over the wall. Each inning was tension-filled which grew with each passing inning. The errant pickoff from Kerfeld which allowed Wally Backman to advance to 2nd in the 12th inning was the breakthough. It was like two heavyweight fighters gong at it. One of the best days of my life.

I wonder what all the Astros fans think now about a post-season series being “stolen“ in light of the revelations that have become known in the past six months. As for Astros fans’ hatred of the Mets, at least the Mets did not cheat. At most, the Mets were beneficiaries of some poor umpiring.

I was sitting in the dentist's chair during that incredible 9th inning rally. He had the game on the radio on the old WHN(usually he would be playing that awful dentist music!). He did get me nervous a few times when he would try to cheer while working on my mouth- especially when he was drilling when the Mets tied the game! He did finish in time for me to rush home to catch the eventful extra innings!

The greatest baseball game ever played. Astros leading 3-0 in the ninth. Mets tie it with 3 in ninth. Mets take the lead in the 15th, Astros tie it same inning. Mets had to win that game to win series, because if there would have been a game 7, Mets would've faced that year's Cy Young winner Mike Scott, who dominated Mets all year. I wanted to be a play-by-play broadcaster so I brought my tape recorder to the Astrodome and did my own "radio" version of the game. Actually, I had been "broadcasting" dozens of games into my tape recorder for the last ten years. I have never felt so emotionally exhausted after a game as I was after this one.

I've been a baseball fan and a Mets fan for nearly 25 years, and this is still my favorite game of all time. I was a freshman in college, and with the Mets losing 3-0 and not hitting a lick off Bob Knepper, I decided to attend calculus class. Fortunately, one of my classmates had a walkman, and when the Mets rallied to tie it in the 9th, he was giving everyone pitch-by- pitch updates. I can still feel the tension, especially when Danny Heep was fouling off 3-2 pitches with the bases loaded. We made it back to the dorm to watch from about the 12th inning on. I vividly remember the Hatcher home run, the Strawberry bloop double, and the Astros rally in the bottom of the 16th (the rest is a blur of orange and yellow just like those Astros uniforms). About ten of us celebrated wildly afterwards - we all knew how important it was to win this game and avoid Mike Scott and a game seven.

Every true Houston fan holds this game deep in their heart.

If only we could have pulled it out, we could have put Mike Scott on the mound the next day. The Mets couldn't touch Scotty, and the 'Stros would have faced the Bosox.

Bruce Hurst vs. Scott for game 1. Roger Clemens vs. Nolan Ryan for game 2. This Astros fan weeps at possibilities lost...

1986 was the Alamo to Astros fans.

Best game in Mets, if not, baseball history! BAR NONE! I worked at a liquor store in Bloomfield, New Jersey at the time. Unfortunately, my shift continued through the tenth inning. But on the radio in the store I listened to the remarkable! Bob Knepper pitching the game of his career. Having only given up 2 hits through 8, needed only 3 outs with a three-run lead to get to Mike Scott for Game 7 who would have, without a doubt, sealed it. After the remarkable had happened and Keith came across with the tying run, one inning later my shift ended. I race home, then to pick up Dad at the train station. We're listening on the radio coming home from the station as the Mets are up 4-3 and about to clinch. Hatcher hits the homer to tie it and we both nearly cry. We get inside to see the Mets blow it open 7-4, only to let 2 more come across in the bottom of the 15th. Then, Orosco throwing only curves to Kevin Bass, gets him swinging on strike 3. Dad and I were jumping in each others arms. Best clutch inning in Mets history, the top of the 9th. Knepper was pitching a helluva ballgame and the Mets knew they faced Scott the next day.

Skipped Hebrew school to watch the game (not realizing that everyone watched it at Hebrew School that night!!!!!) Stayed in my basement throwing a rubber ball against a cement wall all night watchning the game on an old black and white TV knowing that if we lost we'd have to face Scott tomorrow and our chances of making it to the series were as good as done. I kept turning the TV off and on and off and on thinking that it would somehow affect the Mets chances. When they won I just remember feeling exhausted .. Maybe it's because the game took place in Houston, but I don't remember the celebration. My mind was set for Boston .....

I distinctly remember this game because I literally thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest in the later innings.The ominous spectre of Mike Scott was looming and when Hernandez tripled off of Bob Knepper in the 9th I felt like I just got off of Death Row at San Quentin. I knew that we were destined after winning 108 games but Houston was doing their best to send me into the Psych Ward. I remember questioning Orosco's ancestry when he surrendered the homer to Billy Hatcher and exploding with sheer ecstasy when he struck out the same infernal rascal to mercifully end it. It's been 17 years and my chest still hurts every time I think of that game.

I worked in an investment bank at the time and it was hard to get time away, so I had to watch this on work on a one-inch portable TV.

Quitting time coincided with all the good stuff starting to happen, so I didn't want to walk to a bar because it would have taken 20 minutes or so and I didn't want to miss anything. (BTW, I worked in the World Financial Center, next to the WTC. In those days, the area had not been built up, so it took forever to walk to shopping, bars, etc.)

So, long story short, I watched the entire 4+ hours or whatever it was on a 1-inch TV. Come to find out, American Express had their big corporate theater tuned to the game just a few floors above me -- so, I could have watched it in a movie theater. Insteady, I nearly went blind watching on a tiny portable.

Who cares!! One of the greatest wins ever!!!!

May be my Dad's all-time favorite Met game, and he is the ultimate Met fan - he has seen all the good and the bad.

Forgot to mention in a previous post...

After the game, my best friend and I kept calling Cooter's in Houston, TX and shouting "Let's Go Mets" into the phone.

Astute Met fans will recall that Cooters was the Houston bar where Teufel, Darling, et al were arrested in the summer of '86.

I may have the name of the bar wrong...whatever it was called, we gave them a very hard time and they ended up taking the phone off the hook after five or six calls.

All things considered I think this has to be the most thrilling game in Mets history. Even better then Game Six of the 1968 World Series or Game Five of the 1999 NLCS. I remember I skipped two college classes to watch it. It went on all afternoon and into the evening. The tension was unbelievable. We HAD to win because Mike Scott was going the next day and we just weren't going to beat him.

What can you say about this one. Dykstra pinch- hits vs. the lefty in the 9th and gets a huge triple to leadoff. Mookie's liner goes off of the SS glove and we are in business. Hatcher's homer was a killer, especially because he hit one just inches foul on the previous pitch.

This is also supposedly the game where Hernandez came to the mound in the 16th and told Orosco not to throw another fastball. Jesse threw curve after curve and finally struck out Bass swinging to end it.

The day NYC stood still. I remember seeing the news that night where people all over the city stood in little groups wherever there were TV's, afraid to get on the train or subway lest they miss the events to come. I played hookey that day (I had a GREAT boss), so I suffered in the comfort of my own living room, but the wife had to go to work.

She had a radio for most of the game, and came home as soon as she could. She tells the story of being on the Riverdale bus when Hatcher hit the tying HR. The radio crapped out soon after. She missed an inning or two, and came bursting into our apartment completely out of breath, not knowing if the game was over or not. In any event, she did get to see the 16th inning.

There was a great story told by Keith Hernandez during that winter's hot stove league dinner on LI. Someone from the audience posed the question about what he told Orosco and Carter when he came to the mound with Bass at bat in the 16th. He said he told Carter that if he called for fastball, that they would have a fight right there. Then he did a great imitiation of Carter saying "No kidding!" to illustrate the reply.

Later that night, it sunk in that the World Series tickets that we had were valid. A great game, a great night, a great time to be a Mets fan.

The best Mets game ever. Period. End of discussion. I had a real dilemma that day - skip my college class and watch the game in its entirety, or have my conscience nag at me and, I thought, bring bad luck to the Mets. I raced across campus after class and caught the game in the 6th with a group of friends. The sweetest reward ever. Period. End of discussion.

Probably the greatest Mets game ever. I was in college and I watched the entire game on my black and white tv in my dorm room. The game started in the afternoon. I remember missing a class and dinner, may have missed lunch too, wasn't going to leave that set. I remember my dad telling me he went to bar after work and no one leaving until game ended; the entire city was like that. I was home for weekend before that; luckily set VCR up to tape game where Lenny Dykstra wins it, and have last 2 innings of this game.

God I remember this game like it was yesterday. The Mets were down 3-0 in the 9th and I sat on the couch with my sister all quiet until my late mom came home from work and told us to wake up the Mets and boy, did it ever. Lenny started it with the triple and we were on one heck of a roller coaster ride. I still remember Hatcher's homer hitting the foul pole and the now-famous "Throw another fastball and we'll fight" meeting and it all ended when Orosco threw the good pitch to strikeout Kevin Bass and I still have Bob Murphy's WHN call on tape all these years later "SWING AND A MISS! SWING AND A MISS! STRUCK HIM OUT! STRUCK HIM OUT! THE METS WIN IT! THE METS HAVE WON IT! THEY'LL BE IN THE WORLD SERIES SATURDAY NIGHT AT SHEA". This woulda been the best Mets game ever in my eyes except for a game that was played 10 days later.

Both the Mets and Astros fans knew that this game was going to be a clincher for either team, considering if there were the Game 7, the invincible Scott would be on the hill for the 'Stros. Not many people may remember, but the Mets were on the verge of going ahead in that inning, except Danny Heep swung ball four from Dave Smith with 2 outs with based loaded. So after those hours and inning afterwards, I was cursing to myself why Heep swung that stinking pitch. We know what happened from there, with the Mets going ahead, but the Astros would rally back - exchanging blows until Orosco finally shut them down. The Game 6 of the 1986 WS was the "most improbable" game ever played, while this one was the "most nerve racking" game ever played. While anxious moments in the Game 6 of the WS lasted for some 10-20 minutes or so, this one lasted for a couple of hours, however, eons to many fans witnessing. This makes it the most exciting game I have ever watched, including the game played 10 days later.

I'm a life long Red Sox fan but this game is the GREATEST game I've ever seen. I love Bobby Ojeda crediting himself with making the greatest play in the history of baseball when he made a diving tag of Kevin Bass in the top of the first inning to limit the damage to 3. This was essentially game 7 as there was no way anyone was beating Mike Scott in the Astrodome that year. Between games 3, 5 and 6 of the NLCS, games 4 and 5 of the ALCS and game 6 of the WS this was probably the best playoffs from the division (1969-1993) era. Dave Smith somehow flies under the radar whenever anyone talks about the greatest chokes ever. Between the Dykstra walk off home run in game 3 and the 3 run BS in game 6, this was worse than anything Schiraldi ever did.

I was 10 years old and remember getting in the car after school and listening to this game on the car radio until I was able to get to our tv at home. I watched the 8th inning on....my eyes start to water up every time I see Billy Hatcher hit that home run in the 14th. I just know in my heart if we would have won that game, there was no way the Mets would have beat Mike Scott.

I have been a die-hard Astros fan all my life. As an adult, I am a season ticket holder at Minute Maid Park. Very passionate about the game of baseball. I still remember the 1986 season vividly. The Astrodome was a special place for us to watch baseball. I love the old rainbow orange uniforms, Astroturf, and the Home Run Spectacular scoreboard.

It still hurts thinking about it...the Astros should have won the series. They had the Mets and just couldn't finish them off.

I laugh to myself when I hear talk about the Cubs, Red Sox, and Indians fans having suffered serious heartbreak....try being an Astros fan....or better yet, a Houston sports fan (Astros, Rockets, Oilers, and Cougars). Then, you will know what heartbreak is.

One moment I recall from this pennant clincher was Lenny Dykstra's triple in the ninth inning that started the three-run rally. Tim McCarver was asking on television how Lenny was able to hit the ball so deep into the pull alley on an outside breaking pitch. He told his partner Keith Jackson that it showed how strong Dykstra was. I wonder if it ever occurred to Tim or anybody else that Lenny might have been experimenting with steroids at that time.

My brother and sit in the cold and watch in agony as Bruce Hurst frustrates the Mets. A brilliant pitching performance by Ron Darling is wasted as Tim "@#$%*" Teufel allows Gedman's ground through his legs, allowing Rice to lumber home for the game's only run.

Teufel's error was probably the worst moment of my very young life to date at the time.

My only World Series game ever.

What a DUD!!!

Not only did the Mets lose - it was freezing cold and the game was awful.

The only run scored on the error by Tim Teufel, but I think Ron Darling had Jim Rice (who scored the run) 0 and 2, then ended up walking him. That was frustrating.

"Frustrated" does not begin to describe the guy next to me, who paid $500 apiece for two seats!!!

I'd rather watch an Adam Sandler film festival than sit through this disappointing yawner again.

Final note: I went to this game; my best friend went to Game 7. He still gives me grief for that!

It was a pitcher's duel between Bruce Hurst and Ron Darling and suddenly, Tim Teufel lets the ball go through his legs and the Mets couldn't come through. I guess Buckner was payback.

This game was torture for Mets fans. I was at Game 1, freezing my ___ off, so I was happy to be on my couch for Game 2. It was such a drubbing and a long, ugly American-league-style game. I remember going out for a jog in about the 7th inning, even though it was dark and I had consumed some beers, because I could not stand to watch any more. Not quite the Mike Scoscia homer game, but still one of the post season's worst.

This is when I started to worry. They roughed up Doc. Evans went deep early and it was a dreary game. Losing the first two at home was not what I had in mind at the start of the series. Thank God for Lenny's homer leading off game three.

I was at this game. What a dreary drag. Gooden was knocked around and Clemens wasn't much better. I remember Keith Hernandez throwing to second on a bunt play and bouncing it into Santana's chest. Howard Johnson came up as a pinch-hitter in the fourth or fifth inning with a couple of runners on, when it was still a game, and hit the ball a mile, but the wind held it up and it was caught or it blew foul. Would have been a home run on a normal day.

It was at this point that many of us began to think that the '86 Series would be something worth forgetting. I remember the next game, the first one at Fenway, which the Mets won easily, and still thought that in terms of excitement, thrills, and suspense, this Series would never measure up in history. Who knew what was coming...

BOSTON -- Lenny Dykstra's lead-off home run off Oil Can Boyd keyed the Mets' 7-1 rout of the Red Sox. As a 21-year-old college senior living in Boston, I'll never forget sleeping outside Fenway Park to get tix for this game, or sitting behind the Red Sox bullpen in right field when "Nails" pulled that pitch right down the right-field line and just inside the foul/fair pole. After being down 2-0 and dropping those two games at Shea, the Mets needed a laugher.

The Mets tied the series at 2 here as Carter hit two homers over the Green Monster, and Dykstra hit one that went off Dwight Evan's glove and into the seats and the Mets won.

Before this game a friend of mine who was a Mets fan but watched a lot of Red Sox games on one of those old satellite dishes, said to me: "Don't worry, the Mets will win tonight, Al Nipper is the Red Sox' version of Ed Lynch..."

This is the game where the now-infamous "DARRYL" chant began.

I know a lot of people probably make this claim, but I was at this game, and I remember it distinctly 14 years later. I was high above first base, in the upper deck, far from the V.I.P.'s.

I remember how silent Shea got in the top of the 10th when the Red Sox scored those two runs. I remember seeing people flooding out of the ballpark. I couldn't believe anybody would leave early from the sixth game of a World Series. I remember thinking, "If the Mets make a comeback, these people will regret for the rest of their lives the five minutes they saved by leaving early.

I remember, when the Mets had two out and nobody on, the DiamondVision scoreboard briefly, and erroneously, flashing "Congratulations Red Sox." And I remember having my heart in my mouth, desperately hoping against hope, as first Gary Carter, then Kevin Mitchell, then Ray Knight singled to keep the Mets alive.

And, of course, I remember Bob Stanley's wild pitch, and the ground ball Mookie hit that bounced through Buckner's legs. From high above, I figured that Mookie had a chance to beat it out. When it trickled "through the wickets" I remember pointing and shouting "LOOK! LOOK!" as if Ray Knight needed me to tell him to come home with the winning run. I still think sometimes of those people who left early, who must have heard the roar from the ramps and the parking lot. What a night! Being at that game was the peak of my "career" as a baseball fan.

Now here's a coincidence... I was having a college party that night at my house (yes, my parents knew about it! They even joined us for a couple of innings!) Forty of my friends, crammed into my basement, watching one of the most memorable games in World Series History! 37 Mets fans, and 3 Sox fans. when the Sox scored in the top of the 10th, you could hear a pin drop... until the Sox fans started rubbing it in! Revenge is oh so sweet! Bottom 10th, the wild pitch, and I thought the roof was going to blow off the house! Then the grounder thru Buckner's legs! Sheer madness! Yelling in the streets! And the neighbors joined us! To this day, when I talk to friends who were there, they still rave about the great time... though I'm surprised some of them actually remember the night!

I remember watching the game at my Mother's house with my brother and cousin. My brother and I are insane Mets fans, my cousin really couldn't care less. As the bottom of the 10th unfolded, I was laying on one couch, and my brother was laying on another. We just laid there feeling that this glorious season was coming to a crushing end. As we watched the first two Mets make out, and the smile widen on Roger Clemens face, we couldn't help thinking it was all over. As the next series of events unfolded, our gloomy feelings brightened with each Met reaching base, to the point where, when Mookie came up, we were both sitting up on our respective couches feeling that fate may be taking a bizzare turn. All this time my cousin sat on a chair in the corner showing no emotion at all. When the ball went through Buckner's legs and Knight scored, my brother and I jumped up and down on the couches and pounded the furniture like two complete lunatics for at least two or three minutes. All the while my cousin sat there like a statue. Once we had calmed down, my cousin looked at us and jokingly said, in a straight voice, "Who won?" It was an incredible night, and the second greatest memory I have as a Mets fan (for my all-time greatest memory, look at game three of the 1973 NLCS).

i was visiting the cooperstown hall of fame with my wife. we had a nice dinner at a victorian style restaurant out in the woods outside of the village. after dinner we went to the lounge where there was a wide screen tv playing the game. baskets of popcorn and mugs of beer being sold. this being New York state the place was loaded with red sox fans.... when all seemed lost my wife bravely said, don't worry were going to win. Well, after the "impossible happend", we were jumping up and down and screaming our heads off - the place was packed with quiet but angry sox fans giving us the evil eye. we dashed out to the car to hear bob murphy's happy recap --- oh what a night !!!!

I am an avid videotaper. I have 1700 movies on tape and hundreds of "Specials". Events, concerts, prize- fights, etc. But I was so enthralled with the Mets, that I didn't bother to tape any of the games, until the 6th game. When the Mets came up for their last at bat, trailing by two, with Vince Scully bemoaning Howard Johnson and Davy Johnson's mistakes, I told my wife I was gonna turn the VCR off. "Why," she asked, "when you've taped so much of the game. Wait till they make the final out". Thank God I listened, because of her I have the entire 6th and 7th Games of the series, including commercials in my collection. Every once in a while, I put it on just to listen to Vince Scully's error in judgement, and the one error that my wife didn't let me make.

All summer long I felt that this was the Mets' year of destiny, that after going 108-54, we would win the World Series. When we fell behind in the 10th, I couldn't believe what was happening. Being only 17 at the time, I was just naive enough to think the Mets had a chance, even after the two quick outs in the bottom of the 10th. I remember making a big deal about Mitchell getting to third on Ray Knight's base hit. Who knew that a wild pitch was in store! I remember the relief of that play, knowing that our season couldn't end on the next pitch. I felt the destiny was back, that the Mets would win this game somehow, even if it went 15 innings. The Buckner play was a total blur. I had so much adrenaline that I couldn't sleep - I was up until 5 a.m. watching TV looking for every highlight and recap I could find.

I remember the cameras picking up Red Sox pitchers in the bullpen when the Mets were down to their last out. It caught Roger Clemens borrowing a comb from somebody and combing his hair in preparation for the post-game festivities and interviews. It cemented my opinion of him as a jackass, but oh, what a pitcher, and I'm glad the Yanks have him.

I remember I was at home (in Los Angeles) getting ready to go out to a club. I was with about five of my friends and we were all dressed up for a night on the town. We were watching the game and my friends were bugging me to get going in the 10th with two outs because, as they said, "it's over." I convinced them to stay because I wanted to watch the Red Sox run out and celebrate and watch the post game interviews. I remember a quick shot of the red Sox locker room with the lockers covered in plastic and a cart with champagne on it. As each Met got on base, my friends, who had been standing yelling at me to "come on", began to all sit down and watch the events unfold. Once Stanley threw the wild pitch, their faces were fixed on the TV. To this day I will never forget Scully's call of Mookies grounder ... "a little roller up along first, beHIND THE BAG ... HERE COMES KNIGHT AND THE METS WIN IT!!!!!" At that point we were all jumping up and down screaming and were so amped we didn't make it out until 1:30 a.m.. We stayed home drinking and talking about the game until then. It is still, to this day, the greatest single game I have ever witnessed!

I was a photographer for a suburban Indianapolis newspaper and, of course, had to shoot the state high school marching band contest! I kept trying to catch glimpses of the game on the big-screen TVs in the suites at the Hoosier Dome where the contest was being held.

I finally made it back to my upstairs apartment above this elderly couple to watch the game in the eighth inning and thought it was over! The miracle then ensued!! What an unforgettable night! I thought I was going to wake my landlords up when I started leaping up and down celebrating.

Maybe I did. During the series finale on Monday, they called me down to talk to them. Wearing my Mets shirt and Mets hat, they asked me to move out -- said their daughter was coming home with her kids from California and needed the room. Next morning, sure enough, there was her luggage on the back porch! But, I didn't care. The Mets had won!

To this day, I still can't believe the Mets won this game. It defies all probability or logic.

I watched it on TV at my sister's house in Vermont. I had to be quiet because her young son was sleeping in the next room. When the Sox got the second out in the 10th, I started getting ready for bed and said to her, well, it's been a nice season. Then the bottom fell out. I quietly cheered the Mets rally. But when the ball went through BB's legs, I jumped up and let out a yell that could have woken up my nephew. But I didn't care! "The Mets are gonna win!" I screamed.

My sister, who wasn't much of a baseball fan before then (and when she was, she rooted for the Sox), said that this game crystalized her feelings about baseball--meaning that she realized what a great game it is.

As much as I was happy, I felt bad for the Sox. What a way to blow it. They must be truly cursed.

I was in the upper deck in section 37 for this game. I can still see the skydiver floating into the stadium and the startled Keith Hernandez scrambling away. I also remember seeing the "Congratulations 1986 World Chapions Boston Red Sox" on the scoreboard prematurely. I can still see my dad's face ready to cry as we were about to lose the series. Then after all of the miracles and the Buckner ball..the place EXPLODED! I was jumping up and down on my chair and it broke. I still remember people SCREAMING as we left the stadium heading down the exit ramps. There was a fire truck outside trying to get to an emergency and the fans just swarmed it and it didn't go anywhere. What an emotional roller coaster of a night. Still have my ticket stubs too :-)

The Mets broke my heart this night. You guys have your 1969 banner, couldn't you be happy with that? Why wouldn't you give us just one measly banner? We hate the Yankees, we were the original home of Bob Ojeda, what else do you want from us? - A lonely, depressed Red Sox fan

What can I say that hasn't been said. I was a freshman in college at the time and I remember actually crying after Barrett doubled in Boggs. It just couldn't end that way and of course it didn't. I agree that the Wild Pitch was the most emotional moment in my sports-watching life (even more than Scott Norwood's wide right in Super Bowl XXV). I also remember the faces on the Red Sox pitchers in the bullpen and Oil-Can Boyd in the dugout. What awesome revenge. I can almost still taste it.

The at-bat by Mookie has to be the greatest at- bat in the history of the franchise. I've played it videotape from time to time and it is still hard to believe it happened like it did.

Every now and then I think back to this game and still cannot believe the Mets won it. It flies in the face of all reason, probability and possibility. I think, in reality, when Gary Carter came up to start the rally, the two teams entered a worm-hole in the universe, and from that moment until Knight scored, the game was played in a dimension other than our known world. What I'm saying is that the Red Sox (who I felt bad for) really won the 1986 Series. And somewhere in a far-off land, Red Sox fans celebrated that night, while the moon was shining bright.

Just some statistics for you from that miracle inning that I compiled by analyzing the tape:

After the outs made by Backman and Hernandez, the Mets faced 19 pitches with two outs, and had four 2-strike pitches in which the game could have ended had Wilson (or Knight) waved at them (not counting the three 2-strikers that faced Wilson with the game tied).

Now had Buckner made the play, there was a good chance Wilson would have beaten Buckner to the bag, which would have kept the game tied with runners at first and third. HOWEVER, with Howard Johnson at the plate, the Armando Benitez of post- season play, there would be a more than likely chance we would have gone to the top of the 11th, with good old Doug Sisk on the mound.

Don't think for a minute we don't appreciate the favor, Billy.

I was seven years-old...

My parents dragged me to their friends house, whom they had plans with that evening, and I convinced the other children in the house that watching the game was the "cool" thing to do. As the later innings approached, all of the adults in the house came downstairs to watch the game.

I watch the tape of that game today, and can still remember the yelling and screaming I did after the ball went through Buckner's legs. As long as I live, and as many great baseball memories as I'll have, that will always be the day to me that cemented my place as a Met fan and a baseball lover.

As long-term fans (we had our engagement party at Shea Stadium) and season-ticket holders (believe me it was a fortune to us...and worth it), my husband and I sat in the Mezzanine section 8 on the rail, with the two close friends we'd made by sharing that box with them over the years. Our rally caps on, tears flowing and hearts breaking, all clutching each other...we then experienced the most incredible turn-around emotional and thrilling game I can possibly imagine. It was so unbelievably exciting, I can't believe any game in my life will ever match it as long as I live.

Remember the parachutist? In this day and age we would have thought he was a terrorist. Back then it was just fun and exciting and cool.

Also present elsewhere in the stadium was my dear mom and also dear friend Pat Grande. I'm so glad they both were there too.

Even the 7th game that we also attended, where they actually won the Series was anti-climactic if you can believe it. I still miss the fun and friendly regulars in the nearby box seats and their camaraderie, who might still remember Vicky and Joe. I can picture everyone there. Eternal thanks to Tom who later gave me a copy of his videotaped version to enjoy for posterity. (Let's not forget how wild those playoffs were too, but I won't take up any more space here!) Thanks for the memories!

Oh my, the famous game 6.. I was 11 years old and, living in Florida, pretty much the only Mets fan I knew.

I remember my mom let me stay up really late to watch this game. I had practically given up all hope of a World Series win with the loss the day before. But I knew the Mets still had a chance..

When the Sox scored twice in the top of the 10th, I had tears in my eyes. But I put on what would become my 'lucky' baseball glove and forced myself to watch all the way to the final out, cause I thought that's what a real fan would do. Every time the Mets were down to their last strike I was hiding my face in the glove. Then Carter got a hit. Then Mitchell. Then Knight. The magic was starting.

Then Mookie came up and a wild pitch later, it was suddenly looking possible. Then Wilson hit that little dribbler that Bill Buckner will probably never forget. I remember screaming "No!" when he first hit it, thinking there was NO WAY this wasn't the final out... and it quickly turned to "YES YES YES!" when the ball skittered between Buckner's legs. My glove went flying as Knight crossed the plate and I jumped up and down on my bed. Much like Orosco's did the next day.

Everything after that moment is a blur, but I'll never, ever, forget that comeback. It cemented me as an official Mets Fan For Life. Even as a professed Marlins fan these days, I still silently root for the Mets cause that's where the real magic is.

I am a Red Sox fan, and just like the 2003 ALCS was lost as a result of a managerial decision, so was the 1986 series with the Mets. It's rather curious, but I've not heard this position taken by any analyst. Bill Buckner should not have been in the game at the point in time of the infamous error. Throughout the second half of the season, when the Sox were protecting a lead in the late innings, Buckner would come out. He was replaced by Dave Stapelton at 1st for defensive purposes. Why didn't this occur in Game 6? The Sox' manager went brain-dead, again.

I was about 17 and drinking at a party down a couple of blocks where I lived. I had to make curfew and so I left in the 9th inning before the Red Sox went up to bat. I ran, but was drunk so it took longer then it should've, by the time I reach my house the Red Sox already scored the two runs, and the bottom of the 10th just started. My parents were sitting there with the tv off, with my brother (who had MS at the time and couldn't talk because of the disease). I asked why the tv was off, my Dad said your mom shut it off because she can't take watching them anymore. I said turn it on we need to watch the last out, and that was when Mookie was up and the magic happened. I didn't even get in trouble for drinking that night either.

I thought 1969 would never be topped, I was wrong. . Nothing those bums did after this game bothered me as it once might have:1987, Soscia's HR, Dwight and drugs, Daryl leaving(which signalled the end both for him and the Mets) the Dykstra trade, the Torborg years, Bobby Bo,Vince Coleman....right up to Alomar and the Mo(uhhh Vaughn that is). None of it really mattered much as I had been to the depths of hell only to rise to the mountaintop.Maybe that was the story of the whole franchise post Buckner.. I must admit though, Seventeen years later, I still think back on this game,this one moment and smile.

I watched this game at my Dad's house with him and my best friend: three HARDCORE Mets fans. I made the mistake of watching Game 5 at a bar, where there were Boston fans and Yankee fans making a lot of anti-Mets noise.

Like everyone else, we were shocked, depressed, and ready to hit the 'off' button on the TV the minute the Sox closed out the 10th inning. I kept saying 'it wasn't supposed to end this way!' and my Dad and best friend looked like their dog died.

After the second base hit, we perked up a bit, and my Dad got into one of his many (and statistically dubious) "lucky" Mets vantage points in his living room.

When the ball went through Buckner's legs, all three of us (combined weight est. to be 600+ lbs) were jumping up and down in a group hug. I had my hand on my Dad's heart and kept telling him to calm down because he was overweight. Of course he did not.

After a minute, I went and woke up my sister, who could not have cared less about the game, because I felt I HAD to explain what just happened to someone. She was bleary-eyed and feigned happiness...a real good sport.

Hate to commit this sacrilege, but I like Vin Scully's call of this moment better than The Murph's and I love The Murph.

Ahhhh, I bid $25,000 for a time machine that would let me be at the Big Shea for this game. I saw Game 1 and it was the dullest game ever!!!

Another memory of this game:

Remember that utlimate hot dog Dave Henderson catching out #2 in the 10th inning? He threw the ball back in and froze like a statue with a big smile on his face as if to say "this is it, boys."

I actually kind of like Hendu, but in that series, his act was a bit tiresome.

Someone made a great post earlier about Clemens and retribution - great point. I still feel he got off lightly with respect to the two Piazza incidents in 2000, but he will never escape the fact that he chickened out of game 6 when he could have nailed down the WS for Boston.

First of all, this site is very cool! I just purchased this game and am watching it right now. I recall my girlfriend and I were at a party. I kept checking on the game. With the game close late, she and I went to my house (okay, my mom's house) to watch the end. When we got down two outs and two strikes, I recall vividly sitting on the couch, with girlfriend at my side, not believing what I was seeing. I just remember silently urging each hitter to get something going. Then, one by one, they did. When the Mets won, I absolutely couldn't believe it!

The next night, my girlfriend and I watched the Mets win the World Series.

By the way, I married that girl and she's now disgusted at the fact that I collect and watch vintage games as a hobby! Oh well, love her anyway!

I can never forget. I was living in a co-op in Queens at the time. Resigned to the “wait until next year” refrain when suddenly Gary hit a single, then Mitchell, then Knight. . . then. . . Mookie’s at bat . . .

Vince Scully: “A little roller up along first . . . it’s behind the bag!! It gets through Buckner. . . here comes Knight and the Mets WIN IT!!!!”

The whole co-op building SHOOK violently!! I thought it would come down! I guess everyone was looking at the game at the same time.

I imagine the architects of the building said “This building’s solid – unless all of its occupants jump up and down simultaneously. But how likely is that?”

Little did they know!

I’ll never forget that thunderous vibration caused by hundreds of remote, ecstatic Mets’ fans basking in our dramatic and improbable comeback win! Somehow we knew it’d be our last of the century.

I was a Met fan going to college in Massachusetts at the time, so after the first two games I was getting razzed horribly. It calmed down after the Mets won the next two in Boston. My parents were up that night for parents weekend and I missed the start of the game for some stupid dinner dance but watched the rest in their hotel room. With two outs in the tenth I was thinking I'm never gonna hear the end of this. These Sox fans are gonna be so obnoxious, but then the comeback, proof there is a God. I have never nor will I ever leave a game early after seeing this.

Hands down, the greatest Mets game of all time. It started with Roger Clemens, the best pitcher in baseball, vs. Bob Ojeda. If Clemens won, the Sox had the series. Clemens is pitching great, has a 3-2 lead in the 7th, but for some reason, McNamara decides to take him out, and this is when we got our chance. The Mets rallied and tied it in the 8th. The T.V. screen showed Clemens' face in the dugout, which looked almost as if he had just been hit by a truck.

Then in the 10th, Dave Henderson, who had saved the Red Sox from defeat in the ALCS with a three-run bomb on the last strike against the Angels, hit a two-run bomb that seemed to end it for the Mets. Once again, it showed the Red Sox dugout and Clemens and the rest of the team was jumping up and down. In the bottom of the 10th, the first two outs were made and the champagne bottles were being wrapped in the Sox dugout.

No one could dream of what would happen next. Carter gets a base hit, Knight gets a base hit, Keith Mitchell brings in Carter with one strike left, and in comes Bob Stanley. Mookie Wilson stays alive, fouls em off, Stanley throws it to the backstop, and we all went crazy!!! And then... "A little roller up along first... BEHIND THE BAAAAAAAG! IT GETS THROUGH BUCKNER! KNIGHT SCORES AND THE METS WIN IT!!!" Utter chaos.

I always wondered what it was like on the other side, for all those Red Sox fans. And then I thought, nah!

My girlfriend and I were big Mets fans; we would always go to the city to catch the games on SportsChannel. The 86 World Series, my girlfriend's sister won tickets in an office pool (Mezzanine between 1st and home plate), she had no interest in going to the game, lucky us. What an atmosphere in the park had that night. The night starts off with Michael Sergio parachuting into Shea. The game looked hopeless for the Mets that night until something magical happened. The Metsies refused to die. Which old Brooklyn Dodger ghost lifted Buckner's glove that night to change the course of history? One of my future grandkids will someday be the lucky recipient of my game 6 ticket.

I will never forget this game for the rest of my life. Watching with my best friend John and his cousin Steven. I remember starting to cry when Keith Hernandez flied out, and thinking how could we have lost this World Series! Then my friend John's mother says it's not over yet and I just wanted to get up and scream at her to shut the **** up! But I didn't. 3 hits, a wild pitch and a dribbler up along first and John, Steven and myself fell over together on the couch. I was hysterical crying from so much emotion it was such a thrill to watch that game that night, that it really has no words to describe how I felt when Ray Knight scored that winning run. I can honestly say I know now why they are called the amazing Mets. What a game, what a World Series, what a year!

Besides all the obvious euphoria surrounding this game, I remember it was daylight savings time, clocks at 2 am moved back to 1 am. All us Mets fans got an extra hour on a Saturday night to celebrate the greatest "in game" comeback in World Series History! I think i'm still recovering!

I was only 4 years old when this game took place. Sometimes I regret being too young to enjoy this game "LIVE" but what are you going to do? When I first heard about the "Buckner Game" I was 14, it was incredible and simply amazin the way they came back on the Red Sox and the way the Mets were down to their last strike three times and the Red Sox couldn't shut the door. (Not even the 1998 Yankees can recover from that.) Now that I'm 24 years old I purchased the game and I'm watching it now. Every time I'm watching "Game 6" and I hear Vin Scully yell into eternity "BEHIND THE BAG IT GETS BY BUCKNER, HERE COMES KNIGHT AND THE METS WIN IT!!!! I get goosebumps and hoping that some day we can come back like that on the Yankees in a 7th game of a World Series.

This game...where to begin? Since the early 90's, when I got a new copy of the scorecard, (it was published in the 1987 SI baseball preview) it has hung on my wall, with one word written between the Mets and Red Sox's sections: BELIEVE. During the '86 series, I was a month shy of my 14th birthday, and a total baseball geek. The night of game 6 there was a school dance, but I didn't even consider going: the Mets needed this game. In hindsight, it was a hideous managing job by Johnson, mostly revolving around his handling of the shortstops (not letting Santana try to hit Clemens, messing with the bunt sign with HoJo, tossing Elster to the wolves), but blame was easily spread around here as McNamara was even more off his game than Davey. There was the irony, too, of one of the best relievers of the early 90's (the Mets would trade Aguilera just as he was showing talent as a reliever) getting torched for 2 runs.

I was still confident going to the bottom of the 10th, as we had Backman, Hernandez, and Carter coming up-You couldn't ask for much better. After the first two outs, I was on the verge of tears. We won 108 games, won a ton at home, and we were going to be skunked in the World Seies? It was impossible. I wanted to shut off the TV, but I just couldn't- I had to watch the bitter end. Then Carter, Mitchell and Knight all singled to start the impossible. Mookie's at-bat was one of the most amazing things I ever saw. Poor Buckner takes way too much flak when he should have been on the bench or in the hospital getting that ankle operated on. But the impossible happened, and we all could believe in things that seemed impossible.

I still can't believe it when I think of this game. It still seems like a dream.

I was a 14 year old, sitting in a couch at home watching the game on NBC, stunned with a Hendu 10th inning home run and another run coming, with the Mets down to 3 outs after the top of the 10th. I was praying and begging that the Mets, just once - just once more, would pull off a miracle like they did in the Game 6 of NLCS. And we all know what unravelled from there.

To this day, whether baseball game or not, I admit, like all millions of people, that this is one of the most incredible events that I have encountered in my life. When I am at against all odds and have to pull off something in real life, I always think back to THE GAME 6, and say to myself, "hey, the Mets pulled it off, why can't I ?". Well, THE GAME 6 does not happen to our lives every day, but this game really taught a 14 year old a very important lesson in life - don't give in as long as that chance, as miniscule as it may be, is still with you.

On the SNY special "Simply Amazin", they had footage of Bill Buckner saying that "It could come down to someone giving up the winning run by letting the by the way, I was watching all alone in my apartment since my mother had gone to bed and when the ball went through Buckner's legs; I screamed "YES" and my mother ran into the living room thinking that I was being attacked or something. For years afterward, I got to be friendly with a few Red Sox fans and I didn't even dare mention "Game 6" or "Buckner" which is like wishing a member of Jehovah Witness a "Merry Christmas." As a matter of fact, I was glad for the fact that the Red Sox won in 2004 and 2007.

I was in the Uecker seats somewhere along the first base side of the upper deck, one row from the back. I was actually mad when Carter got his hit after Wally and Keith flew out to start the bottom of the 10th. I felt like Carter was just prolonging my agony and there was no way we could win. I just wanted to go home and get a head start on a winter-long depression. The rest of this well documented ending is etched in my mind and will never be topped by any sporting event for the rest of my life. I'll never get over how much the upper deck shook that night. The ending was so frantic that I didn't see the ball go through Buckner's legs. All I knew was Knight scored and we all jumped and screamed as loud as we could. It took a while listening to Murph on the crappy AM radio I brought to figure out what had happened.

It's amazing that fans are still blogging about this historical game decades later! I'm a lifelong Mets fan (Brooklyn native born when the Dodgers won the '55 series). My former paralegal gave me (yes, for free) two lower level, third base line seats because she and her husband, who worked for Ticketron, were not New Yorkers or baseball fans. My wife and I went and it was a Miracle Game, to be sure. Unfortunately, my most striking memory of the event was that a bunch of business men who had a row of seats in front of me left the game in the 6th inning to grab dinner! I thought of all the loyal Mets fans, and baseball fans in general, who would have given their right arms for a chance to attend a NY-Boston World Series. Never forgot seeing a group of non-fans abandon one of the greatest games, in any sport, in history.

I still get goose bumps thinking about it 22 years later.

On October 25th, 1986, I was a long way from Shea, but I was determined not to miss this game...despite the fact that I had to work until after it started, and the despite the fact I was working in Mexico at the time. I was working for a San Diego radio station whose on air studio was in Tijuana.

By the time I finished my shift, I knew I'd never make it across the border and take the trolley home in time to see the game...so I stopped into one of the numerous bars on Ave Revolution, that was jammed packed with Americans and Mexicans... all of whom seemed to be Met fans. It was so crowded, you couldn't even hear the audio on the one 19-inch screen above the bar, but you could tell whenever the Mets made a great play, whether you saw it or not, based on everyone's reaction. By the time Mookie Wilson was at bat in the 10th it was still noisy, but noticeably tense, and the whole place erupted on the wild pitch to tie, and exploded when the grounder dribbled thru Buckner's legs. My ears were ringing from the noise, and I expected the several TJ cops present to shoot their guns in the air...thank goodness, they didn't.

It still amazes me how Buckner has been vilified about this game over the years. THIS JUST IN: Buckner misplaying Mookie's grounder was irrelevant; even if he makes the play the game goes on. Stanley's wild pitch was a far bigger travesty; it tied the game and the Mets were off the hook when Mookie came to bat.

POP CULTURE MOMENT: In the 2011 Garry Marshall movie "New Year's Eve"; there is a scene where the Times Square Ball is darkened by a power glitch and the VP of the Times Square group (played by Oscar winner Hillary Swank) has to get it fixed in time for midnight. In a brief scene, the President of the TS group (played by an uncredited and also a big Mets fan Matthew Broderick) reminds Swank about Bill Buckner's error and how he tells her no one remembers who else was on the field at that moment. NEWSFLASH TO FERRIS BUELLER: Mookie hit the ball, Ray Knight scored the winning run, Bob Stanley threw the pitch (although Calvin Schraldi got the loss) and the rest is history!!

The strangest fact about this great comeback victory was Rick Aguilera’s emergence as the winning pitcher. In the top of the 10th, Aguilera surrendered a leadoff homer, gave up a double and an RBI single and then hit a batter with a pitch in putting the Mets into a deep hole. He had the worst performance of all pitchers in the game and still got the W next to his name. Try to comprehend that one!

People forget that Buckner got hit by a pitch from Aguilera in the 10th inning. He got hit pretty hard and looked as if he wanted to charge the mound. The umpire made sure that wouldn't happen by casually getting in between. Anyway maybe he felt the bruise while playing that ground ball? We'll never know.

I was watching this game over my wife's parents house (we were dogsitting) when the Sox took the 5-3 lead I shut the game off and went to bed I couldn't stand to watch the Mets lose after being the best team all year (fan since 1969) so I heard nothing until the next afternoon when told by my sister that the Mets had won that game, and I argued with her until I saw the highlights of the game. Can't believe I turned game off now.

I didn't even see them win that night because it was past my bedtime. I clearly remember watching the 9th inning, but after the Mets didn't score, my mom made me go to bed because we had church the next day. I couldn't even listen to it on the radio.

So the next morning, we're at church, and EVERYONE is saying "Did you see the Mets game?" "Did you see the Mets game?" "Did you see the Mets game?" I was silently screaming to myself WHAT HAPPENED????" but I didn't ask anyone because I was 9 and shy around strangers.

I finally found out how it happened months later, when I got the 1986 Mets highlight video for Christmas.

I know game 6 is one of the greatest games ever played, but the Mets still had to win game 7 or it wouldn't mean anything. And the Mets were flat in the beginning of the game. My memory of this game is of Sid Fernandez coming in in the 4th and dealing. I think he struck out the side in at least one inning and the momentum swung to the Mets.

I met someone by chance who was looking to unload Game 7 tickets. My brother and I plunked a few bucks to see our team finally win one. The seats were 8 rows behind the Red Sox dugout. We had such a great time. The Mets were down by three in the sixth and we all knew they would win. After what happened in Game 6, how could you not believe? I remember the cool air and the smoky like atmosphere as I panned the packed stadium from my ground level seat trying to absorb the moment and get my monies worth. The crowd was doing a Darr-yl like chant to every Boston player. The sound echoed through the air. We weren't sure if we'd ever be at such a monumental game again, even though the Mets appeared invincible. As we drove away from Shea, strangers were leaning in our car and hugging us. It was great. Whenever I hear talk of retribution to Roger Clemens, I think of Games 6 and 7 in 1986. He thought he was winning but didn't. Thats enough for me.

I was a poor, recent-college grad, working as a photographer for an Indianapolis suburban newspaper. I had just started watching this game on my 13-inch color TV (a set I had bought only weeks before to celebrate the Mets pennant -- before I was still watching games on a 5-inch black and white set I won from my local Dairy Queen in 1982).

Then, my landlords -- an elderly couple -- called me downstairs to talk to them. I thought of all the freakin' times to possibly call me!! Maybe I did too much celebrating after Game 6, I thought, and they just wanted to talk about it. Wearing my Mets shirt and Mets hat, I went down and was then asked to move out.

It wasn't my celebrating, they said, it was just that their daughter and her kids were coming home from California the next morning and needed the room. I went back upstairs, depressed. Grew even more depressed as I watched the Mets fall three runs down, and then celebrated again with their victory.

Sure enough, next morning, there was their daughter's luggage on the back porch! But, I didn't care. The Mets had won!

"Here comes Wilson. Here comes Mazzilli," were the words of Vin Scully after Hernandez singled sharply off of the seemingly invincible Bruce Hurst to put us right back in the game. El Sid was the second coming of Koufax in this epic as he overmatched the Bosox while our bats were still heating up. The sight of Ray Knight homering off of the befuddled Schiraldi is etched in my memory forever. I never doubted them even after Darling fell behind 3-0 early. There was no way we were succumbing to these perpetual losers after we rose like Rasputin in game 6.

The base hit by Keith may be my #1 favorite Met memory of all time. He had no business swinging at a pitch that high -- except that he was Keith and he was clutch.

We were still down after this basehit, but was there any doubt?

Another beautiful sight: Ray Knight's homer hitting that blue tarp behind the wall. When you saw the little dimple in the tarp that was the cue to go crazy.

As a few people have already said, Sid Fernandez sealed his place in Mets history in this one. He was awesome and really turned the momentum by mowing down the Sox for a few innings. Meanwhile, the greatest clutch hitter in Mets history, Keith Hernandez, got the second huge game seven hit of his career (he had a two run single for St. Louis in Game 7 in 1982).

And then in the 9th - after the red stink bomb or whatever it was - Barrett struck out to end the game.

"Swing and a miss. Swing and a miss! Struck him out! Struck him out! and the Mets have won the World Series!" We still love you Murph.

I was 9 years old back in '86 for Game 7. I remember the second inning and the Boston homer that popped out of Straw's glove and over the fence. Then El Sid came in to stop the bleeding and on came the typical Mets rally that was so normal that season. Keith with the 2 RBI's and the Ray Knight putting us ahead for good with a blast. After that I just remember everything in slow motion. Then Straw crushed one and rounded the bases for what seemed like 5 minutes, and I knew the time was close. That damn smoke bomb delaying my celebration! Finally bottom of 9, two down, two strikes...Marty Barrett swings through Jesse Orosco's offering and Jesse launches the glove into outer space. I was jumping on my bed in my parents house and remember then going outside and celebrating with a bunch of my neighbors on the Island.

It all happened 18 years ago. It still stands as one of the greatest memories of my life. Still seems like it was yesterday.

How's this for a coincidence? When the Mets won the World Series in 1969, Jerry Koosman was on the mound. When they were World Champs in 1986, Jesse Orosco was on the mound. The true beauty is that in 1978, Koosman and Orosco were traded for each other.

That was the ultimate birthday present, as I turned 22 that day! Been a Mets fan since I was 5, and don't remember 1969. But, I will ALWAYS remember that last out on 10/27/86.

Keith's three run double didn't really surprise me too much cause after Game 6, everyone knew the Mets had the series. But one thing I will always remember is when Orosco threw that last pitch for Strike 3, he threw his glove up in the air and you never see it come down. Did his glove ever return to the ground? We will never know.

Hmm. well I don't really have much memory of that wonderful day. Would it be maybe because that was the day I was born!! I was born in the morning, and my father STILL went to the game!! Ha Ha. Twenty years later, I am still waiting for my Amazings to pull through again! Another birthday gift? =)

I love my Mets! ahh!

I was a little over one year old when this game took place, so unfortunately was not there watching the game live. However, after buying both games 6 and 7 on videotape through Ebay, I've been able to watch this game over...and over...and over again. This is my favorite Met game of all time. Straw's home run, triumphant, breathtaking and arrogant as he took his sweet time rounding the bases epitmoizes the entire season in my view. Met superiority, the ONE TIME we've been the favorites...God bless the VCR and modern technology!

I was at this game with my father. Although not a Mets fan, I lived in the New York area at the time, and couldn't pass up a chance to be at the seventh game of the World Series.

I will admit I was a bit concerned when Ron Darling gave up the two early Boston home runs, but Davey Johnson's best move was to bring Sid Fernandez into the game in the middle innings. He completely shut the Red Sox down. After the Mets tied the game in the sixth with three runs, I had a feeling they would win.

Then, in the seventh, when Boston manager John Mcnamara brought Calvin Sharaldi in, the fun really began. First, Ray Knight blasted his memorable home run. After that, the stadium just erupted into this haunting chant of "Callll-Vinn Callll-Vinnn", taunting Sharaldi derisively, in the spirit with which the Red Sox fans had taunted Darryl Strawberry at Fenway earlier in the series.

The Red Sox didn't go away, and it got nervous for us fans rooting for the Mets again in the eighth, when Boston scored two off McDowell. Then, after Davey brought Orosco in, Strawberry hit that huge homer, and we had a feeling it was over. Then, Orosco hit an RBI single to boot, and the party could begin.

Although not really a Mets fan, I was very happy when Orosco struck out Marty Barrett of the Sox for the final out. The scoreboard flashed "116" for the Mets 116th win of the season, and it was truly awesome, as I can tell my grandchildren that I was at a clinching game of the World Series. It was an experience to remember.

Can't believe the 25th anniversary is coming up. I still have my ticket stub hanging on my wall, upper reserve section 23, row k seat 5. I didn't really need the seat; no one sat down after the 3rd inning. The stadium was bouncing so much I was glad I was on the top deck. We knew after Game 6 that the series was ours. We waited until after the final out to celebrate with the champagne we snuck in. All these years later and I can't believe it was the last championship. But at least I know I can die in peace. This night made the hardship of being a Mets fan worth it.