After Don Baylor's 9th-inning home run reduces the deficit to 5-4‚ reserve outfielder Dave Henderson slugs a 2-out‚ 2-run homer off Donnie Moore to give Boston a 6-5 lead. California ties the score with a run in the bottom of the 9th, but Henderson‚ who had appeared to be the goat when he dropped Bobby Grich's long fly ball over the fence for a home run in the 7th inning‚ delivers a sacrifice fly in the 11th for the winning run.
Red Sox 7, Angels 6. Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated and Fox Sports has called this the greatest game he's ever seen.
The Sox would win the Pennant 3 days later. Three years after that, still despondent over having given up the home run that blew the Pennant for the Angels, Moore shot his wife, then himself. She lived, he didn't. A loss in a baseball game may be a terrible disappointment, but there is a difference between disappointment, however great, and tragedy.
Henderson would also hit the home run that appeared to give the Sox Game 6 of the World Series, and their 1st title in 68 years. That they did not finish the job, and how they failed, has become legend. If they had, Henderson would have become a god in New England, as David Ortiz eventually did. That he is not is no fault of his.
Hendu would later help Oakland with 3 straight Pennants, and he was invited to throw out the ceremonial first ball before Game 3 of the 2009 ALDS between the Red Sox and Angels. Unfortunately for the Sox, it didn't work any more than the Yankees bringing out Bucky Dent to do the honors before Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS between the Yanks and the Sox. He died of a heart attack in 2015, only 57 years old.
Hendu would later help Oakland with 3 straight Pennants, and he was invited to throw out the ceremonial first ball before Game 3 of the 2009 ALDS between the Red Sox and Angels. Unfortunately for the Sox, it didn't work any more than the Yankees bringing out Bucky Dent to do the honors before Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS between the Yanks and the Sox. He died of a heart attack in 2015, only 57 years old.
In 2010, the MLB Network listed this game at 8th on their list of MLB's 20 Greatest Games -- limited in scope, due to the availability of surviving videotape, to 1975 onward.
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October 12, 1986 was a Sunday. Game 4 of the National League Championship Series was played that day, at Shea Stadium. The Houston Astros shook off the previous day's walkoff loss to the New York Mets, and won, 3-1, to tie up the series at 2 apiece. Alan Ashby hit a home run. So dids Dickie Thon, the once-promising 2nd baseman whose career nearly ended early in 1984, when he was beaned by Mike Torrez, then with the Mets.
These NFL games were played that day:
* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, 35-3 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.
* The New York Jets beat the New England Patriots, 31-24 at Sullivan Stadium (formerly Schaefer Stadium, later Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.
* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Los Angeles Rams, 26-14 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 30-19 at Tampa Stadium.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills, 27-14 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Houston Oilers, 20-7 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat their arch-rivals, the Washington Redskins, 30-6 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
* The Cleveland Browns beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 20-7 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts, 17-14 at the Hoosier Dome (later the RCA Dome) in Indianapolis.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers, 21-14 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
* The Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, 31-14 at Jack Murphy Stadium (later Qualcomm Stadium) in San Diego.
* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Seattle Seahawks, 14-10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers, 27-24 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Chuck Nelson kicked a 28-yard field goal in overtime.
* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-22 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
The NBA season started 19 days later. There were 4 games played in the NHL:
* The Boston Bruins beat fellow New England team the Hartford Whalers, 7-2 at the Boston Garden.
* The Calgary Flames beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1 at the Chicago Stadium.
* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.
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