Baseball's Most Exciting Games, No. 3: The Tragedy of Donnie Moore

Game 5, 1986 ALCS: Boston Red Sox and California Angels

October 12, 1986, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

California leads series 3-1

What if Donnie Moore hadn't give up that home run? What if, instead of hanging the 2-2 splitter that Dave Henderson hit out for the biggest Red Sox home run in 11 years, Moore instead threw a great splitter, or simply blew Henderson away with a fastball? What if Moore succeeded in the biggest stage of his life? Would that have changed what happened next?

But why stop at Moore?

What if Mike Witt had been able to finish the 9th? After all, it wasn't Moore who started the 9th inning, when the Angels had a 5-2 lead, needing just three outs to reach the promised land. That Witt, the Angels' ace. Witt had completely shut down the Red Sox in a complete game victory in Game 1, and he was doing it again in Game 5, the one that could put the Angels in the World Series. But Witt didn't finish the ninth. Instead, he gave up a one-out home run to Don Baylor that cut the Angels lead to 5-4. 

And while we're at it, what if Angels manager Gene Mauch hadn't stepped out of the dugout one batter later, with the Angels one out from winning? What if Mauch hadn't taken the ball from his ace to set up a lefty-lefty matchup for the final out? Going to Gary Lucas to face Rich Gedman was kind of an odd choice, because he wasn't the Angels closer, having gotten only two saves all year, and he had gotten lit up in Game 2 of the series. But Gedman had homered off Witt earlier in the game, and Mauch didn't want that to happen again. And it so was Lucas who pitched, and it was Lucas who hit Gedman on the first pitch he threw, his first hit batter in four years.

Excitement and exasperation

That was when Mauch turned to Moore, and, well, we saw what happened next. But what if Moore hadn't been pitching through pain all year? He hadn't told anybody, but he had an undiagnosed bone spur near his spine, the pain of which altered his pitching motion, which in turn led to elbow and shoulder pain. So he was getting pain shots for his back, cortisone shots for his shoulder, and was suffering migraines. Moore probably shouldn't have even been out there. But he was, and Henderson hit the home run, and the Angels were toast.

Except they weren't. Because that home run didn't end the game. It just seemed that way at the time. There was still the bottom of the 9th to play, and the Angels rather quickly tied the game again on a ground ball single by Rob Wilfong. And they weren't done, either, as a single and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out. 

So what if Doug DeCinces' fly ball had been hit a little deeper rather than right at Dwight Evans' glove in right? What if Bobby Grich's two-out line drive had been a foot higher rather than right at pitcher Steve Crawford? The Angels would have been celebrating, that's what. Henderson's home run would have been quickly forgotten.

Moore was still in the game in the top of the 11th, although he absolutely should not have been. That just seemed to be the way things worked back then - if the closer blows the game, he stayed in until the game was over. Just because it happened doesn't mean it was right. An exhausted Moore hit the leadoff batter, then gave up a single. Then Gedman came up to bunt and hit a bad one - in the air toward third - but DeCinces let it drop and threw poorly to first. That wasn't Moore's fault, was it? And then came Henderson - that man again. Instead of having a base open to put him on, Moore had to face him. And Henderson hit a sacrifice fly to give Boston the lead again.

The Angels had another chance, of course. But they went down weakly in the bottom of the 11th. But what if they had shown some fight once the series went back to Boston? Would anybody have remembered Game 5? But as it was, the Angels kept up the weak play. They got crushed in Games 6 and 7, and Boston celebrated. We know how Boston's season ended. But what of Donnie Moore?

Many Angels players had to fail for them to blow a 3-1 series lead and a 5-2 lead in Game 5. But it's convenient to blame the closer when things go wrong. He was the one who gave up the go-ahead home run, after all. It's inconvenient to remember all the other points of failure. So Angels fans placed the blame on Moore for the next few years. And he placed the blame on himself. 

Immediately after Game 5, Moore mentioned the injuries he had been playing through, then quickly dismissed them, as if even suggesting that he was hurt went against baseball's code. So he took the blame, took the verbal abuse from Angels fans, became a symbol of his team's failure. Because he was the one who gave up the home run. (It may also not be a coincidence that of all the people mentioned who failed for the Angels, Moore was the only one who was a black man.)

It's also convenient to blame the home run for what happened next, the quick end to Moore's career, and the sudden, tragic end to his life. It was an easy narrative: Player fails at the worst possible time, then spirals. But Moore had been violent toward his wife their entire marriage, through good times and bad. It's possible his ending had already been written. It's possible that a save in Game 5, and a World Championship a week or so later, would have changed nothing.

But it all happened. It should have been a great moment for the Red Sox, a franchise-defining home run. But because of what happened after - both on and off the field - it instead has become one of the tragic tails in baseball history. 

Game 5, 1986 ALCS Overall Rank: 3 Top 10 Swing: 278 Top play: Dave Henderson's game-tying home run (WPA of 73% for Boston) Loser's largest WE: 97 Entire bottom of the 8th, California up 5-2 Average LI: 1.57 Highest leverage moment: 6.39 (B9, 2 outs, bases loaded, tied 6-6, Bobby Grich batting for California)

  

1982 ALCS: Brewer breakthrough

How they got here
The 1982 ALCS featured two teams who had never won a playoff series before. The Brewers made their first playoff appearance in the strike-shortened 1981 season, losing in five games to the Yankees.

With the majority of their team returning in 1982, they were expected to replace the Yankees atop the AL East. Instead, though, they struggled at the start of the season, leading to Harvey Kuenn taking over as manager. With a new manager, the Brewers became Harvey's Wallbangers, crushing the ball all over the park. They ended up leading the league in home runs and runs scored and finished with the second-highest batting average. It almost wasn't enough, though, as the Brewers let a four-game lead slip away in the final week before winning game 163 against the Orioles.

Joining them in the playoffs were the California Angels; after making their first playoff appearance in 1979, the Angels had two bad seasons before returning to prominence in 1982. They spent most of the season in a tight battle with Kansas City for the AL West lead, finally pulling away with a three-game sweep of the Royals in late September.

With Reggie Jackson and Rod Carew playing for the Angels and Paul Molitor and Robin Yount leading the Brewers, four future hall of famers were playing in this series; if Brewers closer Rollie Fingers hadn't been injured, it would have been five. However, it was Don Baylor and Fred Lynn, two other who have received Hall of Fame votes, who led the Angels in the first two games. Baylor had five runs batted in, while Lynn had a home run among his three hits to lead to an 8-2 win for the Angels in Game 1. Jackson's home run sparked California in Game 2, and the Angels went to Milwaukee one win away from the World Series.

Yount and Molitor sparked the Brewers the next two games, as Milwaukee evened the series, overcoming a Baylor grand slam in Game 4. The deciding Game 5 would be a rematch of the Game 2 pitching matchup between AL Cy Young winner Pete Vuckovich and World Series veteran Bruce Kison.

The Game
You'd think Luis Sanchez would have known enough not to relax, but you couldn't blame him if he had, if only for a moment. Facing Robin Yount with two outs and two on in the seventh, the Angel reliever had thrown eight tense pitches to Yount before walking him. It wasn't the preferred outcome, of course, but considering what Yount was capable of, a walk was almost like a win for the Angels.

Plus, following Yount was Cecil Cooper, normally a reliable hitter but one who had struggled terribly in the ALCS. Cooper had somehow only driven in two runs in the series at that point despite having Molitor and Yount batting directly in front of him. Now, he was given one more chance, batting with the bases loaded and the Brewers trailing 3-2.

The Angels had gotten there with a lot of help from Lynn. The former Boston star continued his red-hot series with a run batted in in the first and third. The Brewers had fought back, and the score had been 3-2 since the bottom of the fourth. By the time Cooper came to the plate in the seventh, both starters had been knocked out of the game.

Sanchez had been reliable for the Angels in these situations during the year, but he couldn't work out of the mess he created for himself on this day. Cooper drilled a single to left to score two, and the Brewers had a 4-3 lead.

Normally in this situation, the Brewers would turn to the dominant Fingers to shut the door, but Fingers was out for the season with an injury. Instead, they went first to Bob McClure, who was normally a starter, and then to Pete Ladd, who had thrown only 18 innings all season. Between the two of them, the Brewers got it done, advancing to their first World Series.

Aftermath
After getting past the Angels, the Brewers faced the Cardinals in the all-beer World Series, losing in seven games. Despite the power in their lineup, Milwaukee didn't get back into the playoffs until long after Yount and Molitor had retired and been enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

For the Angels, it was the start of heartache. After losing three straight elimination games to the Brewers, California lost three more in 1986. They didn't win their first playoff series until winning the World Series in 2002.

What I'm doing.

The list so far:
9. 1982 ALCS: Milwaukee 4, California 3
10. 2008 ALCS: Tampa Bay 3, Boston 1
11. 1984 NLCS: San Diego 6, Chicago 3
12. 2003 NLCS: Florida 9, Chicago 6
13. 2004 NLCS: St. Louis 5, Houston 2
14. 1972 ALCS: Oakland 2, Detroit 1
15. 1973 ALCS: Oakland 3, Baltimore 0
16. 1985 ALCS: Kansas City 6, Toronto 2
17. 2007 ALCS: Boston 11, Cleveland 2
18. 1991 NLCS: Atlanta 4, Pittsburgh 0
19. 1973 NLCS: New York 7, Cincinnati 2
20. 1987 NLCS: St. Louis 6, San Francisco 0
21. 1988 NLCS: Los Angeles 6, New York 0
22. 2004 ALCS: Boston 10, New York 3
23. 1986 ALCS: Boston 8, California 1
24: 1996 NLCS: Atlanta 15, St. Louis 0

Still to come:
1972 NLCS: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
1976 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1977 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1980 NLCS: Houston vs. Philadelphia
1981 NLCS: Los Angeles vs. Montreal
1992 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
2003 ALCS: Boston vs. New York
2006 NLCS: New York vs. St. Louis

1986 ALCS: Stomach Punch

How They Got Here
After both teams won their divisions by five games, the Boston Red Sox and California Angels met in the 1986 ALCS. Those two teams have met in the playoffs three times in the last decade, but 1986 was their first postseason meeting.

The first two games were noteworthy only because of the surprising beat-down the Angels handed Roger Clemens and the Red Sox in Game 1. Boston bounced back with a romp of their own in Game 2, and the series went across the country to Anaheim.

That's where the Angels surprised Boston by winning the next two games, putting them one win away from the first World Series appearance in franchise history.

And then Dave Henderson happened. With the Angels one strike from the World Series in Game 5, Henderson hit a go-ahead home run off Angels closer Donnie Moore. The Angels came back to tie the game in the ninth, but the Red Sox won the game in the 11th to send the series back to Boston. A 10-4 Boston win in Game 6 sent the series to a 7th game.

The Game
While there were two games still to play in the series, for all intents and purposes, the 1986 ALCS ended when Henderson's drive cleared the left field wall in Anaheim. The Angels never recovered from that shot; they were right at the doorstep to the World Series, only to find out that it was the wrong door.

Boston also had Clemens ready to go for Game 7. While he had been battered in Game 1 and gotten a no-decision in Game 4, that didn't give the Angels any extra advantage. In fact, that lack of success just made him angry.

Well, that's deceiving. That makes it sound like Clemens was breathing fire and throwing smoke, striking out Angel after Angel. That didn't happen. What did happen was that the Red Sox scored three unearned runs in the second and four unearned runs in the fourth, and Clemens cruised through seven efficient innings. That he gave up one run in the seventh seemed more like a charity case than anything else. The game was over long before that lone run came in.

Aftermath
After handing the Angels the most devastating loss in franchise history in the ALCS, the Red Sox moved on to the World Series, where they suffered the most agonizing loss in the history of their franchise. Leading the series 3 games to 2, Boston had the lead in the ninth inning in Shea Stadium in Game 6. Then Bill Buckner happened.

Though neither moment was the official end of its postseason series, Mookie Wilson and Bill Buckner are as intrinsically tied to the 1986 season as Dave Henderson and Donnie Moore. Both teams took a long time to get over their heartbreak, with the Angels not returning to the postseason until their World Championship season of 2002, and the Red Sox needing to wait until 2004 to end the Curse of the Bambino.

The difference, then, is what happened to the antagonists. Bill Buckner, long reviled in Boston, was finally forgiven when the Red Sox won. Donnie Moore never got that chance, hearing boos every time he took the mound for the Angels in 1987 and eventually taking his own life in 1989. He paid the ultimate price for his failure.

The Rundown
What I'm doing.

The list so far:
23. 1986 ALCS: Boston 8, California 1
24: 1996 NLCS: Atlanta 15, St. Louis 0

Still to come:
1972 NLCS: Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
1972 ALCS: Detroit vs. Oakland
1973 NLCS: Cincinnati vs. New York
1973 ALCS: Baltimore vs. Oakland
1976 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1977 ALCS: Kansas City vs. New York
1980 NLCS: Houston vs. Philadelphia
1981 NCLS: Los Angeles vs. Montreal
1982 ALCS: California vs. Milwaukee
1984 NLCS: Chicago vs. San Diego
1985 ALCS: Kansas City vs. Toronto
1987 NLCS: St. Louis vs. San Francisco
1988 NLCS: Los Angeles vs. New York
1991 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
1992 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
2003 NLCS: Chicago vs. Florida
2003 ALCS: Boston vs. New York
2004 NLCS: Houston vs. St. Louis
2004 ALCS: Boston vs. New York
2006 NLCS: New York vs. St. Louis
2007 ALCS: Boston vs. Cleveland
2008 ALCS: Boston vs. Tampa Bay

1995 AL West tiebreaker: The Big Unit's big moment

Pregame
On August 23, 1995, the Seattle Mariners lost a home game to Baltimore to drop them below .500 at 54-55 and leave them 11.5 games behind California for first in the AL West. From there began one of the most remarkable late-season comebacks in Major League history.

The comeback came in two stages. First came the collapse by the Angels. After winning on August 24, the Angels lost nine games in a row to tighten up the West Division race. While it was an unfortunate time to have a losing streak, the Angels eventually righted the ship and still had a six-game lead on September 8. That's when part 2 of the comeback began. Starting on September 8, the Mariners went on a 14-2 run. The Angels did their part by going on another nine-game losing streak. Suddenly, it was the Mariners who held a three-game lead with only six games to play.

But, the drama wasn't over. The Angels won their final six regular-season game, while the Mariners finished 3-3, allowing the teams to finish in a tie for the AL West title. The tiebreaker game was scheduled for the day after the regular season ended in Seattle, with the Angels looking for their first division title since 1986, and the Mariners looking for their first playoff appearance of any kind.

The Game
Despite the tight finish to the season, the Angels had their ace, Mark Langston, ready to go for the tiebreaker game. Unfortunately for them, the Mariners also had their ace ready to go. And Randy Johnson might have never been better than he had been in 1995, entering the tiebreaker game with a 17-2 record and fresh off his fourth consecutive strikeouts crown. To make matters worse for hitters, Johnson had harnessed his control like never before that year, walking fewer hitters than he ever had and making him that much more unhittable.

For the first four and a half innings, Langston tried to hold off the Mariners. While the Mariners had gotten five runners on base in the first four innings, they hadn't pushed a run across. Finally, they broke through in the bottom of the fifth, when a Vince Coleman single drove home Dan Wilson for the first run of the game.

While it was just a single run, it might as well have been nine runs. The way Johnson was pitching, it seemed utterly impossible that the Angels would be scoring in this game. He was perfect through five innings, with nine strikeouts already. He was as close to unhittable as a pitcher could look.

Johnson finally gave up a hit in the top of the sixth; the weak groundball by number 9 hitter Rex Hundler was so unexpected that people watching were downright shocked when it found its way through to the outfield. But Johnson got out of that inning and cruised through the seventh unscathed, as well.

In the bottom of the seventh, Langston finally cracked. He had been pitching valiantly all afternoon, but it was apparent early on that it would take a superhuman effort to beat Johnson on this day. The Mariners loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Langston got one out on a shallow lineout to left, but he couldn't get the second one. Luis Sojo's ground ball down the first base line turned into a three-run double, which turned into a four-run play as Langston threw the relay throw into the crowd to allow Sojo to score. It was 5-0, and Johnson was cruising. The Kingdome had never been louder, and with good reason; Sojo had just had the biggest hit in franchise history.

Though the Angels would never admit it, the game was over by that point. They put up a little bit of a fight in the 8th, but Johnson shut them down without giving up a run. Then the Mariners touched up the depleted California bullpen for four more runs in the bottom of the eighth.

The top of the ninth was nothing more than a coronation for the soon-to-be division champions. Johnson was still on the mound, the Mariner fans were screaming at full throat ... and Tony Phillips led off the top of the ninth with a home run. It was shocking. Not shocking in game-changing kind of way, but shocking along the lines of what someone would feel if God gave up a home run. Because that's how many Mariner fans viewed Johnson that day. He was the franchise's personal savior.

Johnson shrugged off the home run and set the Angels down in order the rest of the way, punctuating the win with his 12th strikeout of the game. He put both arms in the air and got mobbed by his teammates as Seattle celebrated the first postseason berth in franchise history.

Postgame
The Mariners' momentum wore out quickly, as they fell behind the New York Yankees 2-0 in the ALDS. But then it was Johnson's turn to pitch, and he led the Mariners to a win in Game 3. With the magic recaptured, the Mariners won Game 4, then summoned Johnson out of the bullpen to win Game 5 in extra innings.

From there, the Mariners' magic ran out, as they fell to the juggernaut Cleveland Indians 4 games to 2 in the ALCS, with an exhausted Johnson losing the deciding game.

The Rundown

25. Seattle 9, California 1 (1995 AL West tiebreaker)
26. Chicago 5, Atlanta 1 (2003 NLDS)
27. Houston 12, Atlanta 3 (2004 NLDS)
28. N.Y. Mets 5, Cincinnati 0 (1999 NL Wild Card tiebreaker)
29. Cleveland 8, Boston 3 (1948 AL tiebreaker)
30. Houston 7, Los Angeles 1 (1980 NL West tiebreaker)

October 12, 1986: Henderson homers off Moore

ANAHEIM, Calif. - It can change in an instant.

In one moment, the California Angels were one strike away from going to the World Series. Anaheim Stadium was rocking, the champagne was ready, and the Angels just needed one more strike.

In the next moment, they were trailing, the dreams of an entire franchise shattered with one swing. Instead of going to the Series, they were facing a deficit. Little did they know what was coming next.

Perhaps no fanchise has been so devastated by one swing as the Angels were when Dave Henderson homered of Donnie Moore in the top of the ninth on October 12, 1986. This was far more than a heartbreaking loss; it was a loss that set the franchise back decades, and it ended up possibly costing a man his life.

The ninth inning had started so promising for California. Leading the Red Sox 5-2 with their ace on the mound, they just needed three outs to advance to the World Series. But Mike Witt tired, and he eventually gave up a two-run home run. It was 5-4, but there were two outs. Witt gave way to reliever Gary Lucas, who promptly hit Rich Gedman on the first pitch. Exit Lucas, enter Moore, the Angels' closer, to face Henderson. Normally in that situation, the closer would be starting the inning, or would at least be the first reliever in, but Moore hadn't been summoned immediately because of a poor performance in game 2. But now he was in the most pressure-packed situation possible: an out away from the World Series.

The first pitch Moore threw to Henderson was a ball, followed by two strikes. Now the Angels were a strike away. Another ball came, followed by two foul balls. The seventh pitch of the at bat went into the left field bleachers.

And really, that was that. The Angels tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, but the Red Sox got one in the top of the 11th to win the game and send the series back to Boston. Games 6 and 7 were runaways, Boston winning easily to advance to the World Series.

It took the Angels franchise years to get over the loss, with them failing to reach the World Series until 2002. But the loss took an even heavier toll on Moore. Fairly or not, most of the blame for the loss was placed on Moore. Granted, he hadn't given up the first two runs of the ninth inning, and he hadn't hit Gedman, but that home run was the true dagger. He never lived it down. He went from an all-star caliber closer to out of baseball within two years, unable to cope with being the man that gave up the home run.

After he had burned out of the majors, in July of 1989, Moore got in an argument with his wife, shooting her. The wound wasn't fatal, and his wife was able to get herself to the hospital, but Moore then shot and killed himself. It might be unfair to blame the suicide on his giving up the home run, but many people pointed to that moment as the point where his life started going downhill, that Moore's suicide was just final act of a downward spiral that began when Henderson went deep.