The 1986 Michigan Wolverines had a lot of momentum coming into the season, after finishing #2 in the nation in 1985. But it had been 1982 since they reached the Rose Bowl, and that was an eternity in the era of Bo Schembecler, who had guided the program to Pasadena seven times since 1969. The […]
The 1986 Penn State football team came into the season focused on nothing less than the national title. They had gone undefeated in the 1985 regular season, but an Orange Bowl loss to Oklahoma ended their year in disappointment. The Lions were loaded in 1986 for another run at college football’s mountaintop and in a […]
The 1986 World Series is one of the games’ historic, thanks to an ill-fated groundball that skipped through the legs of Bill Buckner. But the battle between the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox had more—it had early twists of fate, a Game 7 itself that was dramatic and the entire Game 6 run-up […]
The New York Mets came into the 1986 NLCS as a 108-win team and the clear favorite to win the World Series. The Houston Astros were a turnaround story under rookie manager Hal Lanier. It turned into an incredibly tense, taut National League Championship Series that had the Mets giving thanks for their survival. GREAT […]
One team was one of baseball’s history-laden franchises, the other an expansion team. But they were united a shared heritage of heartbreak. The Boston Red Sox and California Angels met at the 1986 ALCS and it was inevitable that somebody’s fan base would be crushed when it was over. In a rare turnabout for the […]
After making the postseason in 1980 and 1981, the Astros had slipped into mediocrity. Over the next four years they ranged between 77-85 and 85-77, the very definition of being predictably average. The 1986 Houston Astros had a new manager in Hal Lanier and a new result as they won the NL West. GREAT 1980s […]
Gene Mauch and the California Angels parted ways after a heartbreaking loss in the 1982 American League Championship Series. The Angels promptly fell apart and by 1985 Mauch was back in the fold. He put the Angels back into contention that year and even though the 1986 California Angels again suffered October heartbreak, they first […]
They’re remembered for a fatal error that cost them the World Series. Kinder observers will also remember that they had a miracle comeback of their own in the American League Championship Series. But before the 1986 Boston Red Sox could do any of the above they had to win the AL East and that, in […]
The 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins were a team that came mostly out of nowhere. Even though Mario Lemieux was a rising star who won the MVP award in 1988 and finished in the top five each of the following two years, Lemieux only played 26 regular season games. The Penguins had missed the playoffs seven of the previous eight years. But it all came together at the right time in 1991.
The 1979 Notre Dame basketball team came into the season with high expectations, coming off the first Final Four appearance in school history the previous year. The ’79 team spent much of the year mostly meeting expectations, until an NCAA Tournament loss to eventual national champion Michigan State signaled the end of an era in […]
After chasing the NL West title to the final weekend in 1982, the San Francisco Giants slid off the map for the next three years and bottomed out with a 100-loss campaign in 1985. The organization reached out to Roger Craig, one of the game’s highly regarded pitching coaches and one who had been part […]
The 1986 New York Yankees continued a pattern of close-but-not-quite. After the glory years of 1976-81 when they won two World Series and four American League pennants, the Yankees spent the early and middle part of the decade with high expectations, mostly winning teams, but no playoff appearances. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTSStart reading today. New York […]