Game 7, 1986: Failure and Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life

by Ron Darling, Daniel Paisner

Overview

New York Times Bestseller

An inside look at one of the most famous baseball games of all time, game seven of the 1986 World Series from Emmy-winning baseball analyst Ron Darling, the METS' starting pitcher, in his words.

Every little kid who's ever taken the mound in Little League dreams of someday getting the ball for Game Seven of the World Series. Ron Darling got to live that dream - only it didn't go exactly as planned. In New York Times bestselling Game 7, 1986, the award-winning baseball analyst looks back at what might have been a signature moment in his career, and reflects on the ways professional athletes must sometimes shoulder a personal disappointment as their teams find a way to win.

Published to coincide with the anniversary of the 1986 New York Mets championship season, Darling's book breaks down one of baseball's great "forgotten" games - a game that stands as a thrilling, telling, and tantalizing exclamation point to one of the best-remembered seasons in Major League Baseball history.

Working once again with bestselling collaborator Daniel Paisner, who teamed with the former All-Star pitcher on his acclaimed 2009 memoir, The Complete Game, Darling offers a book for the thinking baseball fan, a chance to reflect on what it means to compete at the game's highest level, with everything on the line.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250118745
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	666,674
Product dimensions:	5.55(w) x 8.18(h) x 0.61(d)

About the Author

Ron Darling is a New York Times bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning baseball analyst for TBS, the MLB Network, SNY, and WPIX-TV, and author of The Complete Game. He was a starting pitcher for the New York Mets from 1983 to 1991 and the first Mets pitcher to be awarded a Gold Glove.

Daniel Paisner has collaborated with dozens of athletes and public figures on their autobiographies and memoirs, including I Feel Like Going On, with NFL great Ray Lewis; and, Chasing Perfect, with Hall of Fame basketball coach Bob Hurley.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction: Be Careful What You Wish For 1

1 Who'll Stop the Rain? 15

2 The Impossible Dream 39

3 Scouting Report 51

4 Rinse and Repeat 67

5 Strutting Our Stuff 85

6 Things Fall Apart 105

7 Put Me Out, Put Me Out, Put Me Out of Misery 127

8 Middle Innings 143

9 Game on the Line 165

10 Redemption, of a Kind 189

11 The Morning After 205

Index 227

Editorial Reviews

"The book ... is a departure from the typical sports narrative. You know—hero overcomes long odds, shines in big moment and the world swoons." —Anthony McCarron, The New York Daily News

"[Ron Darling's] new book is a reminder of the gulf that separates players from fans."—Ian Crouch, The New Yorker

"[Delivers] just what the title promises: a close analysis of one game, the night when Darling performed poorly but the Mets won the World Series anyway." —New York Times

"Ron Darling's new book offers insight into Game 7 of the 1986 World Series" —SB Nation

"What makes this book so interesting is how Darling puts the reader into his head as he stands on the mound in Game 7" —Bob D'Angelo, The Tampa Tribune

"These Mets saw themselves as a team of destiny, brimming with the necessary talent, killer instinct, arrogance, and even a certain selfishness to claw back the game Darling had almost given away. These hard-partying ballplayers proved, in Darling’s words, 'too young, too full of ourselves' to be great for more than one season, wasting their gifts and a very real chance at a dynasty. But in ’86, they were magic." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

5/6/2016
Baseball fans of any age are familiar with the 1986 Mets, a team that dominated the regular season but needed to fall back on an endless supply of miracles to win the World Series. Game 6 of their battle against the Boston Red Sox provided the iconic moment, a ground ball sneaking through Bill Buckner’s legs, but the Mets needed to win Game 7 to take the championship, and Ron Darling got the ball—and failed. Darling’s reflection on living his childhood dream of pitching Game 7 of the World Series, only to leave it after three innings, is a refreshing take on the sports memoir, focused on disappointment rather than a triumphant moment. Read More

B&N Reads

04/15/2016
While game six of the 1986 World Series is one of the most infamous games in baseball history, pitting the New York Mets against the Boston Red Sox, many fans might not remember that there was a game seven. Darling, the starting pitcher for the Mets in that game, delivered a performance that did not match the success of his childhood dreams and the lifetime of preparation that led him to expect to achieve. In this account, commentator Darling, with the assistance of Paisner (coauthor, I Feel Like Going On), recounts his baseball career. This retelling shares the author's experiences playing in game six and pitching in game seven, along with relevant aspects of his 13-year career as a pitcher with the Mets, Oakland Athletics, and Montreal Expos. VERDICT With an accessible writing style and an overall motivating message, Darling effectively shares stories from his life to create a compelling narrative. Mets fans and baseball history buffs should enjoy this firsthand account of a shocking baseball moment.—Matt Schrano, Magnus Wahlstrom Lib., Bridgeport, CT

Library Journal

2016-01-19
As we approach the 30th anniversary, a former All-Star pitcher, now broadcaster, reflects on the last game of the historic 1986 World Series. Remember Vin Scully's famous 10th inning call about Mookie Wilson's little dribbler along first? Rolling "behind the bag!...it gets through Buckner!...here comes Knight!...and the Mets win it!" Even hard-core fans sometimes forget the New York Mets needed a seventh game to seal the series victory over the Boston Red Sox, a contest Darling (The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on the Mound, 2009) left after three innings, having put his team in a three-run hole. With an assist from Paisner, Darling revisits this "bittersweet" moment of personal failure and team success. During the course of his inning-by-inning treatment, the author analyzes the reasons for his collapse: hoping simply to avoid embarrassment, leaving the door open to worry and fear, refusing to go earlier to his breaking ball. He poignantly recalls the "walk of shame" back to the dugout after failing to deliver in the big spot. He expands the narrative to explain the various meanings of the baseball "glove tap," to deconstruct the pitcher-batter-catcher dynamic upon which the umpire sometimes intrudes, and to recall his blue-collar boyhood in Massachusetts. He focuses, though, on Game 7, assessing Boston stars like Jim Rice, Wade Boggs, Dwight Evans, schoolboy rival Rich Gedman, and opposing pitcher Bruce Hurst and commenting on notable teammates like Keith Hernandez, Lenny Dykstra, Doc Gooden, Gary Carter, and Darryl Strawberry. These Mets saw themselves as a team of destiny, brimming with the necessary talent, killer instinct, arrogance, and even a certain selfishness to claw back the game Darling had almost given away. These hard-partying ballplayers proved, in Darling's words, "too young, too full of ourselves" to be great for more than one season, wasting their gifts and a very real chance at a dynasty. But in '86, they were magic. Mets fans in particular will enjoy this wholly unique perspective on one of their fondest memories.

Kirkus Reviews