This Day in Playoff History: Buckner blows it in '86 World Series

Oct. 25, 1986, will forever go down as one of the most magical or tragic moments in baseball history, depending on your perspective.

The Boston Red Sox took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets. With two out and nobody on base, the Red Sox were one strike away from breaking the Curse of the Bambino and claiming their first World Series title since 1918 - until Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter inspired one of the most historic comebacks in baseball history.

Carter stroked a single to center field with the Mets' season on the line, and then Kevin Mitchell did the same, and then Ray Knight followed suit with a single that scored Carter, cutting the Boston lead to 5-4. Red Sox right-hander Bob Stanley then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Mitchell to plate the tying run. What happened next would taint Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner's entire 22-year career in the majors.

METS' 10TH-INNING RALLY

Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson hit what legendary broadcaster Vin Scully descibed as "a little roller up along first," which snaked between Buckner's legs and rolled into right field, allowing the winning run to score from second base.

"I thought what is going on," Buckner recalled. "I turned around to go after the ball and I realized the game was over."

The Mets went on to win Game 7 by a score of 8-5, rocketing Buckner's gaffe to the top of baseball's all-time blooper list.

"The punishment didn't fit the crime," Buckner said years later about the incident. "But the bottom line is, we might not have won the Series if I caught that ball or not. We still might not have won. There was still another game. If I lost the World Series, then hey, I can take that abuse. But I didn't. I had something to do with it, but I didn't lose it. It was a team thing."

New York returned to the Fall Classic in 2000, when they fell in five games to the Yankees, and are set to face the Royals in the 2015 World Series. The 1986 World Series title still stands as the franchise's last.

The Red Sox would finally break their famous curse when they won the 2004 World Series, and then added two more titles in 2007 and 2013.