Jesse Orosco throwing his glove to the heavens and hugging Gary Carter after striking out Marty Barrett to end Game 7 of the 1986 World Series is the enduring image of the New York Mets’ victory over the Boston Red Sox to win their second world championship.
But the ace of that Mets staff had a different ending in mind for that October night at Shea Stadium.
Dwight Gooden, a guest on the latest episode of “The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman,” revealed a previously untold story about Game 7: He almost got a chance to take the mound and close out the series.
With the Mets up 8-5 in the top of the ninth inning, Orosco faced Barrett, the Red Sox’s second baseman.
According to Gooden, if Barrett had gotten on base, manager Davey Johnson had a surprise in mind.
“Believe it or not, I’ve never said this before publicly, but when Orosco struck out Barrett, I was actually kind of hoping he would walk him. I was actually warming up in the bullpen,” Gooden told Sherman and Heyman.
“And Davey, I don’t know if he was going to bring me in to face [Jim] Rice, whatever, but I was kind of hoping Barrett would get on because I wanted to redeem myself, which is very selfish, to come in, at least face Rice and end on a good note. I mean, it’s very selfish to think that way but that’s just where my mindset was at that time.”
Had Barrett reached base, Gooden likely would have had to wait one more batter to enter the game, since lefty-hitting Bill Buckner was on deck, with Rice not due up until after him.
Gooden made a pair of starts in the 1986 World Series, losing Games 2 and 5 while posting an 8.00 ERA.
The hard-throwing right-hander never got a chance to atone for his World Series clunkers despite winning rings with the Yankees in 1996 and 2000.
Gooden’s final World Series appearance was Game 5 of the 1986 World Series at Fenway Park, when he surrendered four runs (three earned) in four innings of work as the Mets lost to the Red Sox, 4-2.
That defeat put the Mets in a 3-2 hole, giving the Red Sox a chance to close out the series in Game 6.
Of course, we all know how that went.