"With the New York Mets in 1986 when they won it all. With the Minnesota Twins when they won it all in 1991."
But Rick Aguilera was a starter on the 1986 Mets. And get this, it looked like he'd be the losing pitcher in a game that would have ended their season.
Aguilera was pitching the top of the tenth inning of game six of the World Series in 1986. The Boston Red Sox were leading the Fall Classic three games to two. Game six was needed by the Mets to stay alive, and it was at Shea Stadium. Well, it was 3-2 Boston at one point. New York tied it, only to see Dave Henderson take Rick out of the park in the top of the tenth. The Red Sox got more. Aguilera got the next two batters, but in working his second inning of the night, he faltered. Wade Boggs doubled. Marty Barrett singled. 5-3. Boston needed three more outs.
It looked like they were going to get them quickly. Wally Backman flied out to Jim Rice. Keith Hernandez stepped up to the dish. He sent Henderson to the warning track in centre, but Dave got to it. Two down.
Gary Carter was the batter. He popped it back up over the screen. 0-1. Two more strikes. Ball one. Ball two. But then New York woke up.
Carter stroked a single to left on the very next pitch. Kevin Mitchell went up there to hit for the pitcher who'd just given up two runs and put them in this mess. Mitchell singled to centre on an 0-1 pitch. Calvin Schiraldi faced Ray Knight next and put him in a quick 0-2 hole. But Knight fought off an inside fast ball and muscled it to right-centre for a single that scored Carter. Okay, 5-4. Bob Stanley came in to pitch. He got Mookie Wilson to 2-2. But a wild pitch on his eighth delivery saw Mitchell score from third. When Mookie sent a slow roller to first, it looked like it was on to the eleventh. But as all baseball fans know, it got through the legs of Bill Buckner for an error. Ray Knight trotted around from second to score. A 6-5 Mets win! And they came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Red Sox in game seven. Rick had a ring. Five years later, he got another one.
This time, though, Rick was in the closer role. Having not quite done it as a starter, he helped get Minnesota to the Fall Classic as he saved three games vs. Toronto in the ALCS. So, the next step was beating the Atlanta Braves. Minny won the first two games at home. Not only that, but Aguilera had himself two more saves. The Braves went home, and suddenly couldn't lose. Atlanta won games three, four and five. Rick took the lose in game three, as he couldn't hold off the Braves in the bottom of the twelfth in game three. He took the loss.
Here's where another game six presented itself. Rick pitched must better this time. He stopped the Braves at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in the top of the tenth and eleventh. Kirby Puckett went out and hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the frame, giving Minny a 4-3 win.
Sadly, in the next game, Rick just sat and waited. The game was finally won by the Twins in the bottom of the of the tenth on another walk-off single by Gene Larkin. Jack Morris went all the way for Minnesota, winning it 1-0. Rick wasn't a part of that classic, but he was a winner again.
References
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print.
Retrosheet. Web. 24 May 2016. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 24 May 2016.
Youtube. Web. 24 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/>
But Rick Aguilera was a starter on the 1986 Mets. And get this, it looked like he'd be the losing pitcher in a game that would have ended their season.
Aguilera was pitching the top of the tenth inning of game six of the World Series in 1986. The Boston Red Sox were leading the Fall Classic three games to two. Game six was needed by the Mets to stay alive, and it was at Shea Stadium. Well, it was 3-2 Boston at one point. New York tied it, only to see Dave Henderson take Rick out of the park in the top of the tenth. The Red Sox got more. Aguilera got the next two batters, but in working his second inning of the night, he faltered. Wade Boggs doubled. Marty Barrett singled. 5-3. Boston needed three more outs.
It looked like they were going to get them quickly. Wally Backman flied out to Jim Rice. Keith Hernandez stepped up to the dish. He sent Henderson to the warning track in centre, but Dave got to it. Two down.
Gary Carter was the batter. He popped it back up over the screen. 0-1. Two more strikes. Ball one. Ball two. But then New York woke up.
Carter stroked a single to left on the very next pitch. Kevin Mitchell went up there to hit for the pitcher who'd just given up two runs and put them in this mess. Mitchell singled to centre on an 0-1 pitch. Calvin Schiraldi faced Ray Knight next and put him in a quick 0-2 hole. But Knight fought off an inside fast ball and muscled it to right-centre for a single that scored Carter. Okay, 5-4. Bob Stanley came in to pitch. He got Mookie Wilson to 2-2. But a wild pitch on his eighth delivery saw Mitchell score from third. When Mookie sent a slow roller to first, it looked like it was on to the eleventh. But as all baseball fans know, it got through the legs of Bill Buckner for an error. Ray Knight trotted around from second to score. A 6-5 Mets win! And they came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Red Sox in game seven. Rick had a ring. Five years later, he got another one.
This time, though, Rick was in the closer role. Having not quite done it as a starter, he helped get Minnesota to the Fall Classic as he saved three games vs. Toronto in the ALCS. So, the next step was beating the Atlanta Braves. Minny won the first two games at home. Not only that, but Aguilera had himself two more saves. The Braves went home, and suddenly couldn't lose. Atlanta won games three, four and five. Rick took the lose in game three, as he couldn't hold off the Braves in the bottom of the twelfth in game three. He took the loss.
Here's where another game six presented itself. Rick pitched must better this time. He stopped the Braves at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in the top of the tenth and eleventh. Kirby Puckett went out and hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the frame, giving Minny a 4-3 win.
Sadly, in the next game, Rick just sat and waited. The game was finally won by the Twins in the bottom of the of the tenth on another walk-off single by Gene Larkin. Jack Morris went all the way for Minnesota, winning it 1-0. Rick wasn't a part of that classic, but he was a winner again.
References
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print.
Retrosheet. Web. 24 May 2016. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 24 May 2016.
Youtube. Web. 24 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/>
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