Rick Aguilera walked off the mound with regret, with anger, with disappointment, with disbelief. There would be no celebration, no champagne, no championship.
After the Mets amassed 108 regular-season wins — a feat last bested in the National League by the 1909 Pirates — Aguilera allowed a tie-breaking home run to Dave Henderson and an RBI single to Marty Barrett that stunned Shea Stadium in the 10th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, putting the Mets down two runs with only three outs left in their season.
“I know walking off that field after getting the third out, personally, I thought I’d just blown it for the best team in baseball that year,” Aguilera said.