Looking Back At The Wacky Season of 1986
From SABR member Mark Simon at ESPN.com on April 1:
Note: Twenty-five years later, the 1986 season remains one of the most interesting in baseball history. But it’s not just the postseason that made the year so amazing, but all the rich and unusual moments and performances leading up to it. All season long, Mark Simon will chronicle one of the craziest, wildest and wackiest seasons in major league history.
We start with Opening Day and, yes, the obvious moment to recollect is Dwight Evans’ leadoff home run on Jack Morris’ first pitch of the 1986 season, believed to be the only such homer to start a year.
But there was another noteworthy Opening Day home run the next day. So our focus instead is on the Angels-Mariners game of April 8th.
With the Mariners down two runs in the ninth inning, third baseman Jim Presley slugged a game-tying home run against Angels closer Donnie Moore, the same Donnie Moore who would give up a much more famous home run in October to Dave Henderson (who coincidentally began the season with Seattle). Presley’s next turn would come an inning later with the score tied, the bases loaded and two outs.
Read the full article here: http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/8297/wackiest-season-ever-look-back-at-1986
Originally published: April 1, 2011. Last Updated: April 1, 2011.