20 years ago today...

... the ball slipped through Buckner's legs at Shea.

I believe there should be a plaque on the grass behind first base marking the site where it occurred, like a historical marker or something. Every time I'm in that tiny visitors' clubhouse at Shea I think about the scene after that Game 6 when workers had to tear down the podium and put away the champagne by the time the Red Sox made it from the dugout, down the narrow, plank board covered hallway and into the clubhouse.

During the entire inning, Bob Costas saw the entire scene unfold and was prepared to hand the Series trophy to Jean Yawkey and then MVP Award to Bruce Hurst.

Such a wild, wild game.

Here's a re-enactment:



Better yet, here's the Sports Illustrated account by Ron Firmite about Game 6 and the aftermath from Nov. 3, 1986.

Box score

Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox    AB  R  H BI BB  K PO  A
Boggs 3b           5  2  3  0  1  0  1  0
Barrett 2b         4  1  3  2  2  0  1  4
Buckner 1b         5  0  0  0  0  0  5  0
Rice lf            5  0  0  0  1  2  5  0
Evans rf           4  0  1  2  1  0  1  0
Gedman c           5  0  1  0  0  1  8  0
Henderson cf       5  1  2  1  0  0  5  0
Owen ss            4  1  3  0  0  1  2  2
 Clemens p        3  0  0  0  0  1  0  1
 Greenwell ph     1  0  0  0  0  1  0  0
 Schiraldi p      1  0  0  0  0  1  0  1
 Stanley p        0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0
Totals            42  5 13  5  5  7 29  8

FIELDING -
DP: 1.
E: Buckner (1), Evans (1), Gedman (2).

BATTING -
2B: Evans (1, off Ojeda); Boggs (3, off Aguilera).
HR: Henderson (2, 10th inning off Aguilera 0 on, 0 out).
SH: Owen (1, off McDowell).
HBP: Buckner (1, by Aguilera).
IBB: Boggs (1, by McDowell).

New York Mets

New York Mets      AB  R  H BI BB  K PO  A
Dykstra cf          4  0  0  0  0  2  4  0
Backman 2b          4  0  1  0  0  1  0  4
Hernandez 1b        4  0  1  0  1  0  6  1
Carter c            4  1  1  1  0  1  9  0
Strawberry rf       2  1  0  0  2  0  5  0
 Aguilera p        0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0
 Mitchell ph       1  1  1  0  0  0  0  0
Knight 3b           4  2  2  2  1  1  0  0
Wilson lf           5  0  1  0  0  1  2  1
Santana ss          1  0  0  0  0  1  0  1
 Heep ph           1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0
 Elster ss         1  0  0  0  0  0  3  3
 Johnson ph, ss    1  0  0  0  0  1  0  0
Ojeda p             2  0  0  0  0  1  0  0
 McDowell p        0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1
 Orosco p          0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0
 Mazzilli ph, rf   2  1  1  0  0  0  1  0
Totals             36  6  8  3  4  9 30 11

FIELDING -
DP: 1.
E: Knight (1), Elster (1).

BATTING -
SH: Dykstra (2, off Schiraldi); Backman (1, off Schiraldi).
SF: Carter (1, off Schiraldi).
IBB: Hernandez (1, by Schiraldi).

BASERUNNING -
SB: Strawberry 2 (3, 2nd base off Clemens/Gedman 2).

Pitching

Boston Red Sox      IP H HR R ER BB K
Clemens              7 4  0 2  1  2 8
Schiraldi L (0-1)  2.2 4  0 4  3  2 1
Stanley              0 0  0 0  0  0 0
Totals               9 8  0 6  4  4 9

New York Mets       IP H HR R ER BB K
Ojeda                6 8  0 2  2  2 3
McDowell           1.2 2  0 1  0  3 1
Orosco             0.1 0  0 0  0  0 0
Aguilera W (1-0)     2 3  1 2  2  0 3
Totals              10 13 1 5  4  5 7

WP: Stanley (1).
HBP: Aguilera (1, Buckner).
IBB: Schiraldi (1, Hernandez); McDowell (2, Boggs).

Umpires: Ford (home), Kibler (1B), Evans (2B),
Wendelstedt (3B), Brinkman (LF), Montague (RF)

Attendance: 55,078

Here you can pick up the bottom of the 10th with two outs and one on: