| 1986 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | Major League Baseball |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | April 7 – October 27, 1986 |
| Number of games | 162 |
| Number of teams | 26 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC, NBC |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Jeff King |
| Picked by | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| Regular Season | |
| Season MVP | AL: Roger Clemens (BOS) NL: Mike Schmidt (PHI) |
| Postseason | |
| AL champions | Boston Red Sox |
| AL runners-up | California Angels |
| NL champions | New York Mets |
| NL runners-up | Houston Astros |
| World Series | |
| Champions | New York Mets |
| Runners-up | Boston Red Sox |
| World Series MVP | Ray Knight (NYM) |
The 1986 Major League Baseball season saw the New York Mets win their second World Series title, their first since 1969.
| Month | American League | National League |
|---|---|---|
| April | Kirby Puckett | Johnny Ray |
| May | Wade Boggs | Hubie Brooks |
| June | Kent Hrbek | Kevin Bass |
| July | Scott Fletcher | Eric Davis |
| August | Doug DeCinces | Dale Murphy |
| September | Don Mattingly | Steve Sax |
| Month | American League | National League |
|---|---|---|
| April | Roger Clemens | Dwight Gooden |
| May | Don Aase | Jeff Reardon |
| June | Roger Clemens | Rick Rhoden |
| July | Jack Morris | Todd Worrell |
| August | Mike Witt | Bill Gullickson |
| September | Bruce Hurst | Mike Krukow |
| Statistic | American League | National League | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVG | Wade Boggs BOS | .357 | Tim Raines MTL | .334 |
| HR | Jesse Barfield TOR | 40 | Mike Schmidt PHI | 37 |
| RBI | Joe Carter CLE | 121 | Mike Schmidt PHI | 119 |
| Wins | Roger Clemens BOS | 24 | Fernando Valenzuela LA | 21 |
| ERA | Roger Clemens BOS | 2.48 | Mike Scott HOU | 2.22 |
| SO | Mark Langston SEA | 245 | Mike Scott HOU | 306 |
| SV | Dave Righetti NYY | 46 | Todd Worrell STL | 36 |
| SB | Rickey Henderson NYY | 87 | Vince Coleman STL | 107 |
American League
| National League
|
| League Championship Series (ALCS, NLCS) | World Series | ||||||||
| East | Boston | 4 | |||||||
| West | California | 3 | |||||||
| AL | Boston | 3 | |||||||
| NL | NY Mets | 4 | |||||||
| East | NY Mets | 4 | |||||||
| West | Houston | 2 | |||||||
| Team | Manager | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Orioles | Earl Weaver | Weaver's final season as a Major League manager |
| Boston Red Sox | John McNamara | Won American League Pennant |
| California Angels | Gene Mauch | Won AL West |
| Chicago White Sox | Tony La Russa, Doug Rader, Jim Fregosi | |
| Cleveland Indians | Pat Corrales | |
| Detroit Tigers | Sparky Anderson | |
| Kansas City Royals | Dick Howser, Mike Ferraro | |
| Milwaukee Brewers | George Bamberger, Tom Trebelhorn | |
| Minnesota Twins | Ray Miller, Tom Kelly | |
| New York Yankees | Lou Piniella | |
| Oakland Athletics | Jackie Moore, Jeff Newman, Tony La Russa | |
| Seattle Mariners | Chuck Cottier, Marty Martínez, Dick Williams | |
| Texas Rangers | Bobby Valentine | |
| Toronto Blue Jays | Jimy Williams | First season as Blue Jays manager |
| Team | Manager | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves | Chuck Tanner | Tanner's final season as a Major League manager |
| Chicago Cubs | Jim Frey, John Vukovich, Gene Michael | |
| Cincinnati Reds | Pete Rose | |
| Houston Astros | Hal Lanier | Won NL West |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Tommy Lasorda | |
| Montreal Expos | Buck Rodgers | |
| New York Mets | Davey Johnson | Won World Series |
| Philadelphia Phillies | John Felske | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Jim Leyland | |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Whitey Herzog | |
| San Diego Padres | Steve Boros | Boros' final season as a Major League manager |
| San Francisco Giants | Roger Craig |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game | Est. payroll | %± |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers [1] | 73 | -23.2% | 3,023,208 | -7.4% | 37,324 | $15,213,776 | 38.7% |
| New York Mets [2] | 108 | 10.2% | 2,767,601 | 0.2% | 34,168 | $15,393,714 | 42.1% |
| California Angels [3] | 92 | 2.2% | 2,655,872 | 3.4% | 32,389 | $14,427,258 | 0.0% |
| St. Louis Cardinals [4] | 79 | -21.8% | 2,471,974 | -6.3% | 30,518 | $9,875,010 | -16.4% |
| Toronto Blue Jays [5] | 86 | -13.1% | 2,455,477 | -0.5% | 30,315 | $12,801,047 | 37.2% |
| Kansas City Royals [6] | 76 | -16.5% | 2,320,794 | 7.3% | 28,652 | $13,043,698 | 23.5% |
| New York Yankees [7] | 90 | -7.2% | 2,268,030 | 2.4% | 28,350 | $18,494,253 | 29.9% |
| Boston Red Sox [8] | 95 | 17.3% | 2,147,641 | 20.2% | 26,514 | $14,402,239 | 32.2% |
| Baltimore Orioles [9] | 73 | -12.0% | 1,973,176 | -7.5% | 24,977 | $13,001,258 | 7.6% |
| Philadelphia Phillies [10] | 86 | 14.7% | 1,933,335 | 5.6% | 24,167 | $11,590,166 | 8.9% |
| Detroit Tigers [11] | 87 | 3.6% | 1,899,437 | -16.9% | 23,450 | $12,335,714 | 19.2% |
| Chicago Cubs [12] | 70 | -9.1% | 1,859,102 | -14.0% | 23,239 | $17,208,165 | 35.5% |
| San Diego Padres [13] | 74 | -10.8% | 1,805,716 | -18.3% | 22,293 | $11,380,693 | 1.7% |
| Houston Astros [14] | 96 | 15.7% | 1,734,276 | 46.4% | 21,411 | $9,873,276 | -1.2% |
| Cincinnati Reds [15] | 86 | -3.4% | 1,692,432 | -7.8% | 20,894 | $11,906,388 | 42.4% |
| Texas Rangers [16] | 87 | 40.3% | 1,692,002 | 52.1% | 20,889 | $6,743,119 | -12.2% |
| San Francisco Giants [17] | 83 | 33.9% | 1,528,748 | 86.7% | 18,873 | $8,947,000 | 8.8% |
| Cleveland Indians [18] | 84 | 40.0% | 1,471,805 | 124.6% | 18,170 | $7,809,500 | 19.2% |
| Chicago White Sox [19] | 72 | -15.3% | 1,424,313 | -14.7% | 17,584 | $10,418,819 | 5.8% |
| Atlanta Braves [20] | 72 | 9.1% | 1,387,181 | 2.7% | 17,126 | $17,102,786 | 15.5% |
| Oakland Athletics [21] | 76 | -1.3% | 1,314,646 | -1.5% | 15,839 | $9,779,421 | 8.0% |
| Milwaukee Brewers [22] | 77 | 8.5% | 1,265,041 | -7.0% | 15,813 | $9,943,642 | -11.9% |
| Minnesota Twins [23] | 71 | -7.8% | 1,255,453 | -24.0% | 15,499 | $9,498,167 | 64.8% |
| Montreal Expos [24] | 78 | -7.1% | 1,128,981 | -24.9% | 14,112 | $11,103,600 | 17.2% |
| Seattle Mariners [25] | 67 | -9.5% | 1,029,045 | -8.8% | 12,549 | $5,958,309 | 29.2% |
| Pittsburgh Pirates [26] | 64 | 12.3% | 1,000,917 | 36.0% | 12,357 | $10,938,500 | 18.0% |
| Network | Day of week | Announcers |
|---|---|---|
| ABC | Monday nights Sunday afternoons | Al Michaels, Jim Palmer, Tim McCarver, Keith Jackson, Don Drysdale |
| NBC | Saturday afternoons | Vin Scully, Joe Garagiola, Bob Costas, Tony Kubek |
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