A Tale Of Two Cities, Part 2: The Epic '86 ALCS of the Red Sox vs. the Angels

Author's Note: This will be the second of a six-part series focusing on a new feature/collaboration series of articles by Yvette and myself about two cross-country metropolitan sports powers, as well as the authors themselves!

Yvette will discuss and look into this great duel with some modern Los Angeles flavor with her three works, while I'll bring in some "hometown" flavor to my wicked "pissah" friends back in the Boston area.

Fans need not pick sides, but hey, that's what B/R is all about! Enjoy and debate! - Rob

When you think of Boston and Los Angeles, the Celtics and Lakers are often mentioned, and why not?

As previously mentioned in Part One, which detailed the NBA rivalry with the C's and now 15-time champs, these two hard court titans have dueled on the hard court in 11 astonishing contests for the title.

Boston holds the advantage over their cross-country mates, having won nine of those match-ups.

However, the duel between East and West is also strong and prevalent on the diamonds of Major League Baseball.

From spirited playoff epics and blockbuster trades to familiar faces sporting their sworn enemy's colors and apparel, it is quite evident that these two cities have a rich history of competition against each other.

For Red Sox fans, the thought of Los Angeles immediately conjures up their American League West adversaries in the form of the Angels.

This terrific rivalry was especially heightened from a classic, seven-game American League Championship Series in 1986.

Yea, we Boston fans can revel in our sweeps of the 2004 and 2007 American League Division Series, which were sweet triumphs that led to our World Series titles in those years.

And while I may be too young to recall these memories, a little reading and viewing of these games have led me to appreciate these seven games as much as I do with the two World Series championships of the decade.

Those dreams for Red Sox fans some 22 autumns ago seemed more like pipe dreams when Los Angeles, then known as the California Angels, held a 3-1 advantage heading into Game Five of the series.

Simply put, it was a baseball playoff series for both sides to remember, especially for Bostonians who were dreaming of a World Series title.

Were we facing certain defeat yet again?

Was there some higher being causing America's Beloved Losers from tasting victory?

Or were we Boston fans doing what we're best at: panicking before it's even over?

Well, the Red Sox were loaded with aging but still potent talents like pitchers Roger Clemens and Bruce Hurst and sluggers like the Dwight Evans, Bill Buckner, Dave Henderson, and Jim Rice.

Stacked with young pitchers backed by a veteran defense who were nearing the twilight of their careers, it appeared, at least on paper, to be a match made in heaven for Sox fans' hopes of a championship.

However, California would have its way with the Beantown heroes, clobbering them in Game One to the tune of an 8-1 victory and narrowly defeating the Sox with close victories in Games Three and Four (5-3 and 4-3 in a heartbreaking, 11-inning thriller).

It appeared as if the World Series was waiting for these Golden State Angels, who did everything they had to do to get those Boston boys on the brink of elimination.

Now, if you know how we Boston fans react when our team is down but not quite out, it's almost like someone has sucked the life out of the near millions of residents who bleed red and white.

Nearly every sports broadcaster and reporter in the city has successfully managed to convince the fans at home or at the bar to quit following the Sox.

Hell, they probably told their listeners and viewers to support the New England Patriots (Who were they?) and the tenants of the "Gahden" in the Celts and Bruins (the latter, who at this point, were going to start breaking our hearts even more in the closing years of the 1980s).

Having been born in 1985, I have only begun to truly appreciate this amazing series as I have grown older, watching the condensed television airings of Game Five of the '86 ALCS which has been shown on ESPN Classic throughout this decade.

For my parents and for any Sox fan who can remember where they were on Oct. 12, 1986, it had to be a tense feeling to watch every pitch and swing.

Each moment of that memorable game was adorned by the commentary of ABC Sports announcers Al Michaels and baseball legend Jim Palmer (the Money Store dude, to us kids born in the mid-1980s).

It probably didn't sit easy for Sox fans across the country when the Boston bashers struck first blood, getting the early advantage with a 2-1 lead through five innings.

As Denis Leary said in the 2004 World Series DVD, "the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same."

In this case, the early Red Sox lead spelled trouble in the form of a 5-2 lead heading into the top of the ninth.

Baby boomers and old-time Sox fans were in collective disbelief.

How could it be, that a team that had the lead, and had gone this far, choke down the stretch?

Well, 1986 was going to shake things up with the world of normalcy. For once, a change was going to happen that would forever change the playoff complexion for both teams.

Mike Witt, who was California's reliable hurler throughout the season, just needed to close out the game for his second complete effort, and more importantly, a ticket to the World Series.

Future MLB manager Don Baylor had other things in mind, like a two-run homer on a two-strike count which made that apparent, insurmountable lead into a single run deficit.

Witt was eventually replaced by southpaw Gary Lucas after he retired the next batter.

Lucas had a bit of a snafu when he plunked Rich Gedman on his first pitch, immediately being sent to the dugout and putting California's hopes to close the game out with reliever Donnie Moore.

Unfortunately for Moore, Boston center fielder Dave Henderson had other ideas in mind for a great finish, going yard off the hurler for a two-run bagger that gave the Sox its second and one of its most pivotal leads of the game and ALCS.

Shocking the fans in attendance at Anaheim Stadium, Henderson dusted off his defensive goof-up from the early innings to become an instant Boston sports hero. Not quite Larry Bird stratosphere, but nevertheless, a likeable icon for the time.

If you're a history major, then you know what happened next. A common rule of thumb for a Boston sports fan is that no lead is safe, and just as they did so many times in this ALCS, this lead was short-lived.

California's Bob Boone would set the table up for his hungry teammates, as Rupert Jones, who pinchran for B-Squared, would run home via a sacrifice fly by Gary Pettis and a Rob Wilfong single.

Event-less would describe the 10th inning of play, with only teases by both teams highlighting what would eventually lead to the dramatics of the 11th.

Henderson, who had already made a defensive lapse earlier in the game and dialed long distance for two in the top of the ninth, made sure his heroics with Red Sox all over the bases.

Hitting a sac-fly which sent Baylor home from third base, Boston would finally grab a lead that it would never relinquish.

Sure, David Ortiz' homers and hits against the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS were magnificent, important, and special for Red Sox Nation.

His efforts, along with the fine pitching gems by Curt Schilling and Derek Lowe in that series, led the Sox to a fruitful World Series appearance with a trophy in hand that year.

Equally as impressive was Henderson's performance in Game Five in the '86 ALCS, which truly defined the rest of the series for both teams.

Boston's Calvin Schiraldi would close out the game by retiring the side in order, thus prompting Halo nation to feel a bit of nervousness and shock. After all, who else would blow a three-run lead over a team that was on its collective knees?

Despite the return back to friendly territory, aka Fenway Park, even an early lead for the Angels in Game Six did not change matters over their shocking defeat in the previous contest.

Journey could probably sum it up best for the Boston fans, as the Sox "didn't stop believin'" in emerging victorious from the hard fought contest.

To the tune of a 10-4 win in the sixth game, Boston would tie the series in incredible fashion, with Oil Can Boyd grabbing a victory for the Sox.

Game Seven could be best summed up by the lyrics of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," who famously sang that "good times never seemed so good."

In the case of this '86 Boston Red Sox roster, those were times that were as good as it got, as they would go on to win the final game with an 8-1 score over California.

Irony has a way of showing itself in untimely situations. Perhaps in a weird twist of fate of sorts, the Sox found themselves in the same position that the Halos were in a series ago.

This time, it was the BoSox who were just a strike away from a pennant, though this was for the World Series.

And just like their Golden State opponents, Boston would squander opportunities to win and seal the deal for a title. Then again, that tune has been played continuously for Bostonians since, well, 1986.

While these players didn't hoist a World Series title in the fall of '86, they would go down in Boston sports lore as one of the best Red Sox teams of all-time.

It was a year to remember for Bostonians, even if the Patriots were clobbered by Mike Ditka's Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX, or if the Red Sox choked down the stretch (and stop blaming Buckner!).

For it was indeed, the Spirit of '86 that forever lives with Beantowners who remember how close we were to not even realizing these great sports memories in a certain Game Five of the 1986 ALCS classic.