One Pitch Away: The Players' Stories of the 1986 League Championships and World Series (The players' stories of the 1986 league championships & World Series) [Hardcover]

Mike Sowell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1995 | Series: The players' stories of the 1986 league championships & World Series

An inside-the-dugout account, based on interviews with the key players among the Angels, Astros, Mets and Red Sox, of a remarkable season and arguably the most spectacular comeback in the history of the sport.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The 1986 baseball playoffs and World Series have been called the most exciting ever. Here Sowell (The Pitch That Killed) looks back at the triumphs and tragedies that followed that fateful post-season. In the Boston-California playoffs we see California manager Gene Mauch?"the greatest manager never to win a pennant"?one out away from victory, and still managing to lose. Donnie Moore?the relief pitcher who bore the brunt of the loss?was so depressed by the outcome that he killed himself. In the New York-Houston series, we witness pitcher Bob Knepper blowing two big leads; experience the fear that Mike Scott and his split-finger fastball instilled in the Mets; and feel the tension of game six?16 innings of perhaps the best baseball game ever played?finally going to the Mets. The Red Sox-Mets World Series had it all: comebacks, hero, goats. There is drama as Mookie Wilson squibbs the ball past a crippled Bill Buckner; we meet nervous relief pitcher Calvin Schiraldi, who lacks the confidence to get the big out; Pat Stapleton, Buckner's caddy, waiting for the call to defense that never came; and Ray Knight, goat-turned-hero, hitting the ball out of the park to win the Series for the Mets. A book that proves that baseball imitates life. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Sowell (July 2, 1903, LJ 5/15/92) focuses on the key players who competed in the electrifying championship series of 1986. Each series was decided by a single pitch or play. Sowell profiles the heroes as well as the scapegoats. Recommended for regional and larger collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan General Reference (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0026124165
• ISBN-13: 978-0026124164
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a dream read for fans who go beyond the game..., December 30, 2009

By 

80s Boy (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Pitch Away: The Players' Stories of the 1986 League Championships and World Series (Paperback)

What baseball fan who lived through the 80s could forget 1986? It's not a short-sighted statement to conclude that '86 featured the greatest post-season ever for the sport. I'm sure some longtimers would wag their finger at me, and we've had a handful of good series the last 15 years or so. But look at the 2000s as they close out: it's gone sweep, sweep, 4-1, sweep, 4-2, and 4-2 the last six years. After being spoiled in 2001 and '02 with 7 game WS, there's been a severe lack of drama (save for a couple of one-game playoff games, ha!). 1986, was another story completely.

This is back when the postseason only featured three series (ALCS, NLCS, WS), and even with that limited schedule, EACH series managed to create its own pychological exhaustion. Houston battled for a 1-0 Game 1 win, there was the Dystra last-gasp homer in game 3, with the two teams depleting themselves in 12-inning and 16-inning back-to-back(!) games, respectively, to finish it.

Boston and California bookended their LCS with a bunch of blowouts, but their two middle games were insanity. The Angels waking up late in game 4, and (of course) Boston's breathless win of game 5. And just to show how powerful that post-season was, the WS really only contained one heart-stopping game. But what a monumental impression it has still left (ohhh, Billy Bucks).

Sowell covers all this capably, but does jump around a bit in terms of his storytelling. It seems the set-up is coming for a particular game, only to have Sowell rewind back to the player's origins. How much you care about each player covered *outside* of that playoff year will make or break that section of the read for you.

But Sowell more than compensates with player thoughts and the impacting effects of their participation in said games. Someone on Amazon whined about Sowell even going beyond '86 to track the player's lives since then. Are you nuts? What a dynamic it adds to the residual trauma of not only fan and city reaction, but by the player's front offices. The mistreatment is really something to behold.

Though Sowell manages to snare many of the key names involved, there was a bit of disappointment at the lack of others. Where are the managers in all of this? Most notably Mauch and McNamara, who never ended up living their decisions down. Davey Johnson would be unscathed because the Mets were the last team standing at the end, but his insight would've been a boon as well. As far as players go, Bobby Grich, Gary Lucas, Jesse Orosco, Keith Hernandez, and Nolan Ryan were unfortunate omissions.

As a whole, the book is still a great entertainment, flowingly put together by Sowell, with very little to dissatisfy the hardcore fans of '86. Ironically titled as well (although, One *Strike* Away would've been more apt), seeing how uncannily close to a final pitch so many of these games were to giving the other side glory.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For lovers of the game, October 25, 1999

By 

Fabio Paoleri (Baschi,Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Pitch Away: The Players' Stories of the 1986 League Championships and World Series (Paperback)

The things I love the best in the ball game are its histories and the way a whole season may change in a eye blink. In this book, I found each of them: it's the history of the unbelievable 1986 baseball post-season, and the way a single pitch could change a whole season and, why not, a whole lifetime. Not only the Billy Buck ball, but also the Donnie Moore tragedy, the Red Sox curse, the Angels and the Astros: an unbelievable amount of puzzle pieces all in their place for the final picture. If you love the ball game, you'll love this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book!, June 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: One Pitch Away: The Players' Stories of the 1986 League Championships and World Series (Paperback)

I loved this book. Even though I'm only 12 and was only a month old during the 1986 playoffs, this book made it seem like I was there watching every single game. It's one of the best books I've read in my short life.