THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 10
"IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER"...
 1986 WORLD SERIES, GAME #2
The Red Sox roll over the Mets

October 19, 1986 ... The Red Sox hammered the Mets in a manner few people envisioned when the World Series began. And virtually nobody expected a pummeling like this on a night when the young pitching masters of baseball, Dwight Gooden and Roger Clemens, were supposed to duel. In an offensive explosion more typical of Fenway Park, the Red Sox handed the National League champion Mets an embarrassing 9-3 drubbing at Shea Stadium before a crowd of 55,063.

This was a beating, a humiliating experience that was even more damaging for the Mets because Gooden was victimized for six runs and eight of Boston's 18 hits, a team World Series record. Included among the assault were homers by Dave Henderson and Dwight Evans.

Clemens lasted only 4 1/3 innings, but it didn't matter as the Red Sox not only pounded Mets’ pitching but also played superb defense. The showdown with Gooden was more myth than reality. Neither man displayed Hall of Fame credentials. Yet there never seemed a doubt about Boston's dominance in a contest that Mets manager Davey Johnson called "a must game."

Gooden began to unravel in the third, when Boston scored three runs. By the time they were finished with Gooden and four relievers, the Sox had come within two hits of the Series record (shared by the 1921 Giants and 1946 Cardinals) and easily surpassed their previous high, a 14-hit attack against the Pirates on Oct. 7, 1903.

It was a fortunate time for such an outbreak, because Clemens, again working on three days' rest, was simply off his game. He gave up two runs in the bottom of the third after getting the 3-0 lead in the top of the inning. With a 6-2 lead, he let two of the first three batters he faced in the fifth get on base, and only a running, stumbling catch by Evans kept the third man from reaching.

Gooden pitched five weak innings, at least by his standards. He had his fastball, but the Red Sox were ready for it, as they proved by tagging him for three runs in the third, one in the fourth and two in the fifth.

Gooden's downfall began when he issued a leadoff walk to Spike Owen in the third. Clemens then laid down a sacrifice bunt, but Owen, thinking the ball had been popped up, started to retreat to first. Hernandez went for the easy force at second, but his throw bounced in front of Rafael Santana, then caromed off the shortstop's chest, leaving both runners safe.

Expressing their gratitude for this largesse, the Sox proceeded to drill Gooden. Wade Boggs doubled to left, scoring Owen and sending Clemens to third. Marty Barrett's single brought Clemens home and sent Boggs to third. Bill Buckner's single to right delivered Boggs for the 3-0 lead.

But the Mets promptly roughed up Clemens. Santana led off the bottom of the third with a single, and Gooden reached on a bunt to first that the lunging Buckner couldn't grab. After a sacrifice by Len Dykstra, Wally Backman's single scored Santana, and Keith Hernandez' groundout brought Gooden home with the run that narrowed the deficit to 3-2. Boggs prevented the inning from being more damaging when he dived to spear Gary Carter's grounder to third with two out.

The Sox then put the game away by unveiling a more typical Boston attack, the long ball. Henderson tagged Gooden for a leadoff homer in the fourth, and Evans followed a Rice single with his first homer of the Series in the fifth.

Clemens faltered again in the bottom of the fifth, walking Backman and surrendering a single to Hernandez that put Mets on first and third with one out. He departed in favor of Crawford, who allowed a run-scoring single to Carter but combined with Stanley to stifle the Mets the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, Boston continued to pound out hits and wear out the Mets' bullpen. Rick Aguilera, who replaced Gooden at the start of the sixth, was rapped for five straight singles in the seventh, including RBI hits by Henderson and Owen. The Sox scored their final run off Sid Fernandez, who showed why he is being bypassed as a starter at Fenway, yielding three hits in the ninth, including a run-producing double to Boggs.

The Red Sox 2-0 Series lead certainly doesn't guarantee that the Red Sox are going to win their first championship since 1918. But it can be stated without fear of contradiction that the New York Mets are not going to win the 1986 World Series in four or five games. In fact, if the Mets do come back to win the Series, they'll be only the second team in 83 years to win after losing the first two games at home.