MLB: 1986 Postseason Retrospective Filled with Triumph and Tragedy
1986 American League Division Winners
The American League Championship Series had two compelling teams competing for a World Series berth. The California Angels were an expansion team in 1961 and had yet to make it to the World Series. They lost the ALCS in 1979 and 1982 and had finished in second place in the AL West in 1984 and 1985. They returned to the playoffs with a 92-70 season in 1986, finishing five games ahead of the Texas Rangers.
The 1986 Angels finished sixth in the league in runs scored and allowed the second-fewest runs in the league. They had four lineup regulars who were 35 years old or older—Brian Downing, Doug DeCinces, Bob Boone, and Reggie Jackson. They also had three veterans in part-time roles in Rick Burleson, George Hendrick, and Bobby Grich. Rookie first baseman Wally Joyner was one of only two regular starting players under the age of 28. Joyner led the team in RBI and was second on the team in home runs.
The team’s top starting pitcher was Mike Witt, who went 18-10 with a 2.84 ERA and finished third in the voting for AL Cy Young. Kirk McKaskill and Don Sutton were the other two mainstays in the rotation, with three other pitchers starting at least 12 games. In the bullpen, Donnie Moore led the team in saves, with 21, but Doug Corbett also had 10 saves and Terry “Tub of Goo” Forster had five.
One of the endearing stories of the 1986 Angels was manager Gene Mauch, who had been around seemingly forever. He began his career as a manager with the 1960 Phillies and was most known for the collapse of the 1964 team. Those Phillies led the National League by 6 ½ games with two weeks to go in the season, but went 2-10 down the stretch and finished tied for second place with the Cincinnati Reds, one game back of the St. Louis Cardinals. It was a crushing collapse.
Mauch managed the Phillies, Expos, and Twins, then took over the Angels in 1981. He guided them to the playoffs in 1982, but they lost the best-of-five series to the Milwaukee Brewers in five games. The 1986 season was another chance for Mauch to get the monkey off his back. He had managed for 24 seasons and had been to the playoffs just once, but had never made it to the World Series.
The Boston Red Sox were the only non-expansion franchise in the 1986 MLB postseason. Their last World Series championship was in 1918. They had returned to the World Series three times since then, losing all three in seven games. In the three years leading up to the 1986 season, the Red Sox had finished sixth, fourth, and fifth in a seven-team division. The ’86 Red Sox finished third in the league in runs scored and third in the league in ERA.
Wade Boggs was the best hitter on the Red Sox, but Jim Rice was the most “feared.” Rice led the team in RBI, with 110, while Bill Buckner, Dwight Evans, and Don Baylor all drove in at least 90 runs. Outfielder Dave Henderson had joined the Red Sox in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on August 19, but hit just .196/.226/.314 in 36 games with the team after the trade. He probably wouldn’t do anything important in the playoffs, right?
Roger Clemens was a 23-year-old pitcher having his breakout season. He went 24-4 with a league-leading 2.48 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. He was an all-star for the first time and won the AL Cy Young and AL MVP awards. Behind him in the rotation, Oil Can Boyd was 16-10 with a 3.78 ERA, and Bruce Hurst went 13-8 with a 2.99 ERA. The bullpen looked like a weakness. Bob Stanley led the team in saves with 16, but had a 4.37 ERA. Joe Sambito picked up 12 saves despite a 4.84 ERA. The savior in the bullpen looked to be Calvin Schiraldi, who had come up to MLB in July and saved nine games with a 1.41 ERA down the stretch.