Dave Henderson: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:18, 24 May 2006

Revision as of 02:19, 24 May 2006

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"Hendu" began to jump for joy, even running backwards for a few steps, while making his way down the first baseline as he watched the ball sail over the outfield fence, having just smacked possibly the most stunning clutch homer since [[Bobby Thomson]] in [[1951 in baseball|1951]]. The Angels were able to tie the score up at 6-6 in the bottom of the 9th, but in the 11th inning, Henderson hit a [[sacrifice fly]] that would go on to be the game winner.

Still down 3 games to 2, the Red Sox returned home to [[Fenway Park]] for the final two ALCS games, where they defeated the devastated Angels 10-4 and 8-1 to win the series. In a twist of fate, the Red Sox, who went on to take a 3 games to 2 lead over the [[New York Mets]] in the [[1986 World Series]], were one strike away from winning their first title since [[1918 World Series|1918]], thanks in part to a 2go-runahead solo home run from Henderson. However, they couldn't finish it off, and this time they were the victim of a late-inning comeback as the Mets scored three in the bottom half of the winning to win Game 6 of the [[1986 World Series]], 6-5, in 10-innings at [[Shea Stadium]]. The stunned Red Sox then blew a 3-0 lead in Game 7 and ending up losing 8-5 on the road, handing the Mets the championship.

Henderson was one of baseball's biggest surprises after signing as a free agent with Oakland following a brief stint with the Giants. In the [[1988 in baseball|1988]] season he set career highs in [[batting average]] (.304), [[Run (baseball statistics)|runs]] (100), [[Hit (baseball statistics)|hits]] (154), [[slugging average]] (.525) and [[Double (baseball)|doubles]] (38). He also hit 24 HRs that season and the Athletics were 23-1 when he homered.