One of two companion volumes of biographies of the players, coaches, announcers, and others involved with the 1986 World Series, one on each team, the Mets and the Red Sox. One of the most dramatic World Series in baseball history, the 1986 series featured many more twists and turns than just "the Buckner gaffe." The Mets were a colorful group of characters including Keith Hernandez, Dwight Gooden, and Darryl Strawberry, and we examine each one.

This book on the 1986 season re-tells the story of that year's classic World Series. After four games, each team had won two away games and neither had won at home. Then the Red Sox won Game Five at Fenway, and were one game away from winning their first World Championship in 86 years. It came to the point they were one pitch away from baseball Nirvana.

And then....

Just about everyone knows what happened, but there are takes on it here you might not have read elsewhere. Mostly, this is the story of each of the players, coaches, managers, and broadcasters, their lives in baseball and the way the 1986 season fit into their lives.

As with many of the books published by the Society of American Baseball Research, this was a true collaborative effort. There are 74 different SABR members who contributed to making these two books on the Mets and Red Sox a reality. It took us two books to tell the story as well as we wanted. Be sure to pick up the companion 1986 Boston Red Sox book for the rest of the story!