A senior White House official said today that he “would not quarrel” with the Soviet contention that President Reagan had endorsed Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s proposal for banning all offensive strategic forces by 1996, and not just ballistic missiles. The official, who is familiar with details of the Iceland talks, said the President’s comments fell far short of a “formal agreement” and the talks ended without time “to get down to the nuts and bolts” of such a ban. The Soviet Union never contended that there had been “formal agreement.” Mr. Gorbachev, in a broadcast speech Wednesday, said, “The President did, albeit without special enthusiasm, consent to the elimination of all strategic offensive arms.” The White House official, who spoke on condition that his name not be used, suggested that Mr. Reagan might not have reflected the concern of his advisers about the dangers inherent in agreeing to a sweeping ban on all strategic, or long-range, offensive forces. The advisers, he said, had cautioned the President to limit a ban to ballistic missiles to prevent Moscow from capitalizing on its superiority in conventional forces.
Although American and Soviet civilian officials have suggested that arms control could lead to eventual elimination of nuclear weapons, the abolition of nuclear arms is not an idea with much attraction to the military establishments of either superpower, arms analysts say. At the moment, the two sides are arguing over how definite a prospect was discussed at talks this month in Reykjavik, Iceland, on the elimination of all nuclear weapons in 10 years. The Russians quote President Reagan as having raised the possibility of a total ban on nuclear weapons within 10 years and as having said that such an agreement, if achieved, might be signed when Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, visits the United States for a summit meeting. The Americans insist that a ban on nuclear arms was meant to be a distant goal and that nothing concrete was agreed to in Iceland. But the debate over the prospects has not cast much light on the question of whether such an attractive-sounding political goal is desirable militarily, and hence whether national leaders would ever agree to it.
Soviet scientific experts are scheduled to visit the United States early next month to discuss potential sites for monitoring American tests of nuclear weapons. The Soviet scientists will not be permitted to visit the sites under the terms of their visa.
After years of withholding data on child mortality, the Soviet Union has resumed publishing figures on this key social indicator. The Soviet Union is also again announcing the size of its grain harvests, after a five-year silence. These are among statistics that are again being released, either in the annual statistical yearbook or in newspapers, after years of silence. The new figures on infant mortality, published in the weekly Ekonomicheskaya Gazeta, show that the Soviet level has remained at more than twice the Western level. Publication of the data had ended in 1974, when the rate began to rise sharply.
An American lawyer said in Moscow today that he had been allowed to speak up on behalf of five Jews who were arrested late Saturday for disturbing the peace during an noisy holiday celebration on the street outside the Moscow Synagogue. The lawyer, Samuel Pisar, who practices in New York and Paris and is often involved in dealings with the Soviet Union, said the five men got off with a 50-ruble ($75) fine after a hectic five hours of negotiating with judges and calming an angry group of Jews. Mr. Pisar happened to be in Moscow with a delegation of the American Jewish Congress, which has been meeting with people seeking emigration and with Soviet officials. He and Theodore R. Mann, president of the organization, and Henry Siegman, executive director, were at the synagogue for the celebration of Simhath Torah, a Jewish holiday that traditionally draws several thousand people to dance and sing in the street outside.
A treaty calling on nations to report nuclear accidents to their neighbors has gone into effect, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced in Vienna. The agreement stems from the April 26 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident in the Soviet Union. The U.N. agency said that 58 nations, including the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, France and China-the countries known to possess nuclear weapons-have signed the treaty. In most cases, the treaty must still be approved by lawmakers of the signatory nations.
The United States told Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar today that it would contribute $100 million to the United Nations’ 1986 budget, less than half of what it is obligated to pay under the Charter, the chief United Nations spokesman said. The contribution is significantly higher than was forecast after dramatic Congressional cuts. These were expected to slash the American contribution by 70 percent, to less than $60 million. But in recent weeks Administration officials, led by Under Secretary of State John C. Whitehead, began a campaign in Congress to reverse the cuts, arguing that the United Nations was a key forum for American foreign-policy interests.
British government deregulates financial markets in a “Big Bang,” enhancing London’s status as a financial capital.
Spiritual leaders from 12 religions gathered in Assisi, Italy, to pray for peace with Pope John Paul II, who had asked them to join him in a “World Day of Prayer for Peace.” Their efforts were described as at least partly successful. Guerrilla fighters and warring factions in at least 11 nations temporarily laid down their weapons in a response to the Pope’s call for a global 24-hour truce today. The Governments of 60 countries, including Israel and Iraq, had sent messages supporting the idea, according to the chief Vatican spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, who termed the truce initiative “a substantial success.”
An Israeli military court jailed for life the blind leader of a Palestinian guerrilla band found guilty of killing British tourist Paul Appleby and an Israeli businesswoman in Arab East Jerusalem. Ala Edin Bazian, 28, was arrested on suspicion of heading a seven-member gang that shot Appleby to death last April near Jerusalem’s Garden Tomb, revered by some Christian groups as Jesus’ burial place. Bazian, who lost his sight in a 1979 bombing attempt, was among 1,150 convicted guerrillas freed by Israel in a May, 1985, prisoner exchange for three Israeli soldiers captured in Lebanon.
The International Red Cross added the Muslim crescent to its title, prompting a dissent from Israel. Delegates meeting in Geneva agreed to make the group’s official name the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Israeli delegate Pinhas Eliav said that restricting recognition to Christian and Muslim emblems meant that Israel’s Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) society, which uses the Star of David emblem, will be excluded from full membership.
Under a truce negotiated by Syrian military observers, neutral Sunni Muslim militiamen were deployed between warring Shia Muslims and Palestine Liberation Organization guerrillas in southern Lebanon. Gunfire continued to crackle, and police said two people were killed and 10 hurt in truce violations. PLO fighters launched an offensive Saturday against the Shia Muslims’ Amal militia, which has besieged a Palestinian refugee camp at Tyre. Deployment of the Sunni militiamen halted the PLO drive into Shia territory. Amal has been fighting to keep the PLO and Chairman Yasser Arafat from rebuilding a foothold in southern Lebanon, fearing the PLO would become an Israeli target. Israel drove out the PLO in a 1982 invasion.
The United States is considering imposing punitive economic sanctions on Syria in an effort to persuade the Damascus Government to stop supporting terrorism, a ranking Administration official said today. To coordinate United States actions with those of other Western countries against Syria, the head of the State Department’s antiterrorism unit, L. Paul Bremer 3d, flew to London on Sunday night to consult with the British Government and other allies. The source said the Administration would not decide on sanctions against Syria until Mr. Bremer returns to Washington at the end of the week, but that there was a “good possibility” that punitive steps would be taken against the Government of President Hafez al-Assad. The discussion of economic moves against Syria comes in the aftermath of Britain’s decision to break off diplomatic relations with Damascus, charging that there was “conclusive evidence” that Syrian diplomats and intelligence agents were involved in an attempt to bomb an Israeli airliner in April.
Aides and a relative of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s chosen successor have been arrested on suspicion of murder, kidnaping and underground activities, Iran’s official news agency reported. The agency said that Mehdi Hashemi, former head of Iran’s Global Islamic Movement, and some unidentified associates have been arrested. Hashemi was identified as a relative of the Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, whom Muslim authorities have picked to eventually succeed Khomeini. The Mujahedeen, Iran’s main underground opposition group, last week reported arrests in what appeared to be a growing power struggle in Iran’s clerical leadership.
A work stoppage to protest the recent killing of eight Hindus and Sikhs by Sikh terrorists led to sporadic violence in the Punjab today and forced businesses, offices and markets to close in the state. The authorities also announced the arrest of a radical Sikh leader, Sukhjinder Singh, a former Punjab cabinet member, and the capture of two policemen and an army deserter in connection with an assassination attempt last month on the state’s top law-enforcement official, Julio Rebeiro.
A Thai Airways International jetliner that lurched wildly before making an emergency landing Sunday in Osaka, Japan, had suffered severe damage to its rear pressure bulkhead before the landing, a Transport Ministry official said today. The official, Kiyoshi Nishimura, said the bulkhead on the European-made A-300 Airbus had broken into three pieces. The aircraft was virtually brand-new, having gone into service just three weeks ago.
Advisers to President Corazon C. Aquino urged her today to take action against her Defense Minister, Juan Ponce Enrile. But despite an increase in his criticism of her Government, she declined, palace sources said. One official said that before Mrs. Aquino took action, “the President will have to be really convinced that Enrile is doing something deliberate to destabilize her Government.” The official also said the Government was investigating recent bombings in Manila to determine if they were politically motivated.
Key members of Congress warned today that even if the Philippine Defense Minister, Juan Ponce Enrile, was not actively seeking to overthrow President Corazon C. Aquino, his open defiance was already hurting the young democracy by undermining the image of stability that the Philippines needs to attract foreign investment. Representative Stephen J. Solarz, Democrat of Broooklyn, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, said he did not think a coup was imminent or that one could be successfully engineered by Mr. Enrile. But he said that the possibility of a coup was now being openly discussed and that that was itself “cause for concern.” There has been concern here for months over the Defense Minister’s increasingly aggressive campaign of criticism of Mrs. Aquino. Last week, the American Ambassador, Stephen W. Bosworth, pointedly told a luncheon audience in Manila that United States support for the Aquino Government remained firm.
Former Attorney General Griffin B. Bell, who is helping in the legal defense of an American captured while flying supplies to insurgent forces, suggested to Nicaragua today that some form of prisoner exchange with the United States could lead to his client’s release. Mr. Bell, a lawyer who served in the Carter Administration, gave the Government a list of 19 Nicaraguans being held in Federal prisons in the United States. The lawyer said he gave the list to Saul Arana, a middle-ranking Foreign Ministry official with whom he met this morning to discuss the case of his client, Eugene Hasenfus. Mr. Hasenfus parachuted safely from a C-123 transport plane when it was shot down last month by Nicaraguan forces as it flew arms and other supplies to rebels in southern Nicaragua. The American pilot, a third American crewman and a man identified as a rebel were killed. The Reagan Administration has denied any United States Government involvement.
The Foreign Minister of Ethiopia announced here today that he was resigning to protest what he called his country’s authoritarianism and dictatorship. “I cannot, in good conscience, continue to serve a Government whose short-sighted and rigidly doctrinaire policies are leading the country and the people into misery and destruction,” said the official, Goshu Wolde. Asked if he was seeking political asylum in the United States, Mr. Wolde, who is in New York for the 41st session of the General Assembly, said he had not made a decision about his future. He refused to say what he has been doing since addressing the Assembly on October 9.
The head of Mozambique’s weather service, appearing to reject South African accounts, said weather conditions had not been bad enough to have been a factor in the plane crash in South Africa that killed President Samora M. Machel. South African officials have suggested that navigational problems, pilot error and bad weather were the main causes of the crash on October 19 that killed Mr. Machel.
President Reagan signed an executive order implementing stringent sanctions imposed on South Africa by Congress last month over his opposition. The order makes effective immediately the Anti-Apartheid Act banning imports of South African iron, steel, uranium, coal, sugar and other agricultural products as well as textiles. In addition, it bars new American investments in the country and direct airline travel between South Africa and the United States.
Thousands of black gold-mine workers today entered the first full day of a strike over wage proposals after earlier clashes with mine security forces. Marcel Golding, spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers, said that 35,000 miners went on strike Sunday night at the Deelkraal, Doornfontein and Kloof mines west of Johannesburg but that miners had been forced back to work at three other mines.
President Reagan participates in a signing ceremony for H.R. 5484, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. The President signed an antidrug bill that provides $1.7 billion to help produce what Mr. Reagan hopes will be a “drug-free generation.” President Reagan, declaring a “major victory” in the battle against drugs, signed into law the most sweeping anti-drug program ever passed by Congress. “Our goal in this crusade is nothing less than a drug-free generation,” Reagan said as he signed the $1.7-billion measure that doubles the federal government’s budget for pursuing drug dealers and smugglers and stiffens penalties for traffickers. Reagan also saluted his wife, Nancy, for having “mobilized the American people” with her five-year effort against drug abuse among children. “Today marks a major victory in our crusade against drugs,” Reagan said. “The American people want their government to get tough and go on the offensive.”
A major change in the nation’s bankruptcy law that backers said will give new hope to thousands of farmers being forced into foreclosure was signed by President Reagan. The revision, part of a law that creates 52 new bankruptcy judgeships, establishes a new chapter of bankruptcy law allowing farmers holding up to $1.5 million in debt to declare bankruptcy and seek protection from creditors under streamlined procedures similar to those used by small businesses. The measure is restricted for use only by family farmers, defined as those who receive at least half their income from farming.
President Reagan signs H.R. 2921, to provide for water conveyance systems rights-of-way.
Advisers to President Reagan are deeply divided over whether he should sign a comprehensive health bill designed to promote exports of prescription drugs and to compensate children injured by vaccines. The bill would also require states to provide medical and psychiatric care for homeless people, but this portion of the bill is not the focus of dispute. Aides to Vice President Bush, Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige and the United States Trade Representative, Clayton K. Yeutter, said that the three officials wanted Mr. Reagan to sign the bill because, for the first time, it would permit drug companies to export drugs that have not been approved for sale or use in the United States. But Justice Department officials are urging the President to veto the measure because it would also create a new Government program to compensate people injured by childhood vaccines. The program would be financed by a new excise tax imposed on each dose of the vaccines for poliomyelitis, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, mumps and rubella.
A half-day shutdown of the federal government, forced this month when Congress failed to agree on a spending bill, cost taxpayers at least $33 million, a study said. About $28 million of the cost comes from wages that will be paid to 556,000 furloughed employees, said Andrew Feinstein, staff director of the House civil service subcommittee that conducted the study. After reaching agreement on the spending bill, Congress approved a provision to pay the workers for the afternoon they were sent home.
The F.A.A. warned private pilots against violating rules governing restricted areas over the nation’s 23 busiest airports. The agency proposed new restrictions to make it less likely for pilots to stray into the zones inadvertently.
The way many Americans borrow is likely to change under the new tax law, which restricts many interest deductions. Attention is turning to home loans, where interest deductions will be preserved.
Gentlemen farmers are concerned about the new Tax Reform Act, which will prohibit agriculture investments from being used to shelter income. It’s feared that some buyers may now sell their holdings.
In a vote that could end nearly 40 years of independence, members of the United Mine Workers of America today authorized their leaders to seek a merger or affiliation with another union. After only 20 minutes of debate, the proposal was approved by virtually unanimous voice vote. The merger resolution, part of a package of proposals put forth by the union’s leadership, was intended as a signal to coal operators of the union’s willingness to take extreme measures, if necessary, in next year’s contract negotiations. But the union’s leaders also acknowledged that the merger proposal was an indication of the proud union’s diminished strength.
Both the Democratic and Republican Congressional campaign committees have prepared last-minute negative tactics for use in key contests for the House of Representatives. While lobbing these political grenades in the final days before the election November 4, they will also be hunkering in the trenches to escape potentially lethal return fire, especially in the three dozen or so races that are very close. All 435 House seats will be filled this year. Democrats say the Republicans “market-tested” some of the negative tactics in 1984; Republicans say the strategies the Democrats plan to resort to are a good deal older. “In the final days of the 1984 campaign, many House Democrats, even with ‘safe’ seats, were hit with vicious and often illegal attacks by their Republican opponents and/or the National Republican Congressional Committee,” said a letter sent to House Democratic candidates last week by Representative Tony Coelho, a Californian who is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “We should expect more of the same. In fact, it has already started.”
The key question of the 1986 Senate campaign in this state is boiling down to: How much difference can President Reagan make? Senator James T. Broyhill, a Republican, is betting his 24-year political career on one answer: enough. To the surprise of many politicians, Mr. Broyhill’s campaign against one of the oldest representatives of the New South, former Gov. Terry Sanford, has become one of the handful of races that will determine which party wins control of the United States Senate. Instead of seeking the ease of retired respectability, Mr. Sanford, a 69-year-old Democrat and former president of Duke University, continues to fight Mr. Broyhill. Indeed, the momentum appears to be shifting to Mr. Sanford.
Heading off the proliferation of AIDS among heterosexuals has begun to preoccupy many health officials, who recognize that past ignorance and inertia allowed the fatal disease to course through the populations of homosexual men and intravenous drug users with devastating effect. The gathering concern was evident in the Surgeon General’s extraordinary plea last week that children be frankly told about sex, drugs and AIDS. Although recent studies have shown conclusively that the virus that causes AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, can pass between men and women through ordinary intercourse, important questions remain about how easily the virus spreads this way, how often it already has and whether a major epidemic among heterosexuals is likely. So far, the proportion of the country’s AIDS cases attributable to heterosexual contact remains small. Some experts fear that the AIDS virus is spreading insidiously among heterosexuals and that a surge in cases is in store. Because of the estimated average lag of at least five years between a patient’s infection with the virus and diagnosis of the deadly disease, the experts note, statistics on current disease patterns could be dangerously lulling.
A former Air Force staff sergeant was arrested today and charged with trying to pass classified information on Air Force reconnaissance to Soviet agents. The former sergeant, Allen John Davies, a naturalized American citizen from England who is employed as a laboratory technician at the Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation in Palo Alto, was arrested at work this morning on the basis of an affidavit signed by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is charged with attempting to deliver national defense information to aid a foreign government. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
More than 9,000 workers in the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in California went on strike today after failing to reach an agreement over Kaiser’s demand for separate wage systems for new and old employees. The workers, who voted Saturday to strike, are members of Local 250 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents nursing assistants, licensed vocational nurses, X-ray technicians, housekeeping aides and other service workers in the 26 hospital and medical clinics in the Kaiser system. Daniel Danzig, a spokesman for the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, the corporation which operates the medical care program, said Kaiser would keep all of its facilities open but would cancel elective surgery and clinic appointments. He said the strike does not include nurses at the facilities, although some nurses honored the picket lines today.
A simple drug treatment is virtually 100% effective in curing a form of reproductive cancer that is a major health hazard among women in many parts of the world, new research concluded. The disease, choriocarcinoma, is a form of cancer of the uterus that can occur after pregnancy. Although rare in the United States, it may strike one of every 200 women in less-developed countries. Dr. Stephen Curry, chief of obstetrics at New England Medical Center in Boston, planned to present the results today at the World Congress on Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasms in Brazil.
The American Civil Liberties Union, under a new formal policy statement, is seeking elimination of legal barriers to homosexual and lesbian marriages, officials of the group said. According to the new policy statement, recognition of homosexual and lesbian marriages and of economic benefits similar to those enjoyed by a spouse in heterosexual marriage is “imperative for the complete legal equality of lesbians and gay men.”
Guidance counseling should start as early as elementary and junior high school, especially for disadvantaged students who might not otherwise aim for college, a College Board study concluded. The two-year study, titled “Keeping the Options Open,” was released at the College Board’s annual meeting in New York. The report also urged a redefinition of the counselor’s role to make it clearer that the counselor’s chief function is academic guidance, rather than social or psychological counseling.
Many Midwest farmers are hard hit by rains and flooding at a time when they expected to reap one of their biggest crops. Despite the bad weather, officials say, farmers will still produce bumper grain crops.
Paul McCartney releases single “Pretty Little Head”.
Major League Baseball, 1986 World Series, Game 7:
The New York Mets staged a rousing finish to their splendid season by rallying twice to defeat the Boston Red Sox, 8–5, and win their first World Series in 17 years. Third baseman Ray Knight, whose leadoff home run off Calvin Schiraldi in the 7th inning, triggers a 3-run rally, is named MVP. Schiraldi is pinned with his 2nd straight loss, the only pitcher ever to lose games 6 and 7.
In the hours that followed the end of Game 6, a rainstorm passed over the New York metropolitan area. The field at Shea Stadium was rendered unplayable and Game 7 was postponed one night, moving to Monday, October 27. The pitching matchup was originally supposed to feature Ron Darling, the starter for Games 1 and 4 who had yet to allow an earned run in the World Series, going up against Oil Can Boyd, who started and lost Game 3 by giving up six runs. The rainout offered a chance for both managers to adjust their pitching strategies if they desired. The Mets had been using a three-man rotation with each of their starters pitching on three days’ rest, with Darling followed by Dwight Gooden and then Bob Ojeda. Instead of throwing Gooden, his ace, in Game 7 on three days’ rest, manager Davey Johnson stuck with his rotation and gave the start to Darling, who was now pitching on his normal four days’ rest.
The Red Sox, however, decided to go in a different direction. Bruce Hurst, who as mentioned above would have been the series MVP had the Red Sox won Game 6, gained a third day of rest with the rainout and, since he had pitched so well in his two starts in the series against the Mets in Games 1 and 5, manager John McNamara gave him the ball for the decisive Game 7. Boyd did not take kindly to being replaced by Hurst. After he disappeared into the clubhouse and had been missing for sone time, McNamara dispatched pitching coach Bill Fischer to find him. When Fischer discovered the Oil Can in the clubhouse, Boyd was so heavily intoxicated that he could not even function, much less be available to pitch if he was needed. Fischer moved Boyd into the manager’s office where he locked the door and left him for the entire game.
In the 500th game played in World Series history, Boston got to Darling early, recording three runs in the second inning. Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman hit back to back home runs to lead the inning off and with two out, Wade Boggs drove in Dave Henderson with a single for a 3–0 Red Sox lead. Gedman’s home run was noteworthy for several reasons: It occurred on the first pitch after a delay of just over three minutes during which portable stands down the first base line had to be restored after several fans reaching for a foul ball had caused them to collapse. The subsequent pitch by Darling, which came on a two-strike count (1–2), led to Gedman’s home run. However, the ball was almost caught by Darryl Strawberry, who was reaching over the right-field wall. Fortunately for the Red Sox, the ball fell out of Strawberry’s glove and cleared the fence for a 2–0 Boston lead. If Strawberry had recorded the out, the inning may have ended with only one Boston run instead of three, as three batters later, Red Sox pitcher Bruce Hurst would have stepped to the plate to bat with two outs instead of in a sacrifice situation, which he successfully converted to set up Boggs’ run-scoring hit.
The Mets, meanwhile, could not muster much against Hurst and through three innings had only recorded one hit. In the fourth Henderson reached after Darling hit him with a pitch. After Spike Owen flew out, Hurst laid down a bunt that moved Henderson into scoring position. Johnson then lifted Darling from the game and brought in Sid Fernandez to face Boggs and the leading hitter of the series, Marty Barrett. Boggs managed to draw a walk, but Fernandez retired Barrett on a fly ball to right field to end the inning. The Mets still did not have an answer for Hurst through the fourth and fifth innings, going down in order in both frames. The Red Sox, conversely, went down in order against Fernandez in the fifth and sixth, which kept the deficit at three. In the bottom of the inning, the Mets were finally able to break through against their series nemesis and turn the tide in their favor.
After Hurst got the first out when Rafael Santana grounded out, Lee Mazzilli came up to pinch-hit for Fernandez and singled. Mookie Wilson followed with a single of his own, and second baseman Tim Teufel drew a walk to load the bases. Keith Hernandez then drove the lead runners in with a single, and Wally Backman came in to run for Teufel representing the tying run. Gary Carter was the next batter and he lifted a fly ball to Evans in right. The veteran outfielder had to dive in order to catch it, and was unable to come up with the catch. Right field umpire Dale Ford did not immediately rule that there was no catch, which crossed up Hernandez on the basepath; since the ball was ruled to be in play, he had to attempt to advance to second base. Since there was a delay in the ruling, Evans was able to throw back into the infield and force out Hernandez at second. Backman managed to score on the play to tie the game, but the Mets lost the opportunity to have Darryl Strawberry come up with a chance to drive in the go ahead run; instead, Hurst got him to fly out and escaped further damage. Hurst was lifted for a pinch hitter after this inning.
Roger McDowell entered the game for the Mets in the seventh and retired pinch-hitter Tony Armas, Boggs, and Barrett in order. McNamara called upon Game 6 loser Calvin Schiraldi to pitch the home half of the inning, despite his struggles in the extended outing he had two nights earlier. The day of rest did not help, as he immediately surrendered a home run to Ray Knight (playing in what would be his final game as a Met) leading off, giving the Mets their first lead of the game. Lenny Dykstra came up as a pinch-hitter and singled, then advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Santana. After McDowell successfully moved Santana into scoring position, McNamara decided to take the ball from Schiraldi and brought in Joe Sambito. After putting Wilson on intentionally, Sambito walked Backman to load the bases and Hernandez followed with a sacrifice fly to score Santana and give the Mets a three-run advantage. Bob Stanley recorded the final out by getting Carter to ground out to Owen at shortstop.
Down to their last six outs, Boston had not had a runner reach base since Boggs’ walk in the fourth inning. Jim Rice had recorded the last Red Sox hit, a single in the third, but had been thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. They tried to rally against McDowell in the eighth and Bill Buckner led the inning off with a single. Rice followed with another single, and Evans doubled after that to make the score 6–5 and bring Gedman to the plate with the potential go-ahead run. Needing to stop the rally, Johnson pulled McDowell in favor of his closer Jesse Orosco to face the Red Sox catcher. After inducing a line drive to second that Backman caught for the first out, Orosco struck out Henderson for the second out and then got Don Baylor, batting for Owen, to ground out and end the Boston rally.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Mets finally were able to put the game away at the expense of Game 4 loser Al Nipper. Strawberry led the inning off with a solo home run, and Knight singled and advanced to second on a groundout by Dykstra. Santana was intentionally walked to get to the pitcher’s spot, but Orosco not only came to bat but also managed to drive Knight in as he swung away on a fake bunt attempt to extend the lead back to three. Steve Crawford then came in to face Wilson and hit him, loading the bases. Backman then grounded into a force retiring Santana, and Hernandez grounded out and ended the inning.
Staked to an 8–5 lead, Orosco faced Ed Romero, who took over at shortstop for Owen in the eighth, to start the top of the ninth and retired him on a foul pop. Boggs then grounded out to Backman at second, leaving Barrett as the last hope for the Red Sox. Orosco worked a 2–2 count before getting Barrett to swing and miss, then tossed his glove high into the air and dropped to his knees as the Mets all converged on the mound to celebrate their world championship victory. McDowell was awarded the victory, with Orosco garnering his second save of the series. Schiraldi was saddled with the loss for the second consecutive game, having been charged with all three runs the Mets scored in the seventh in one-third of an inning. He gave up seven runs in his final two outings of the series.
Due to the rainout, this game coincided with another sporting event taking place in the New York metropolitan area that night. The New York Giants were taking on the Washington Redskins at Giants Stadium on Monday Night Football, with the kickoff happening approximately thirty minutes after Game 7 started. Many of the fans at the football game, which sold out, were following along with the baseball game and cheering loudly during high points of the game. When Orosco recorded the final out, the Giants were driving late in the third quarter and a collective roar went up from the crowd as the stadium scoreboard operator flashed “METS WIN” on the board to inform the fans of the result. The Giants would later win Super Bowl XXI, following in the Mets lead in winning their championship.
Boston Red Sox 5, New York Mets 8
NFL Monday Night Football:
If you thought the Mets’ victory was exciting, you should have seen the one the Giants executed tonight. In the first half against the Washington Redskins, they played magnificently on offense and defense. In the second half, although they fell asleep, the Giants staggered to a 27–20 victory that put them into a tie for their division lead. In the dying minutes, with the score 20–20, it began to rain, a bad omen for someone. It turned out to be bad for the Redskins because the Giants scored the winning touchdown on Joe Morris’s 13-yard touchdown run with 98 seconds remaining. That culminated a night to remember for Morris. The 5-foot-7-inch Morris carried 31 times for 181 yards, his highest total ever except for 202 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers in last year’s final regular-season game. Morris also caught five passes for 59 yards. Phil Simms of the Giants completed 20 of 30 passes for 219 yards and one touchdown, a 30-yarder to Bobby Johnson. The Giants built a 20–3 lead early in the third quarter, then allowed the Redskins to catch up with 17 straight points. The Redskins tied the game on Max Zendejas’s 30-yard field goal with 4 minutes 6 seconds left in the game. The Giants responded with an 81-yard drive that was hardly a thing of beauty. Simms overthrew passes, and his 22-yard completion to Solomon Miller was negated by a pass-interference penalty against Miller. But the Giants got the plays when they needed them, including two illegal-contact penalties against Redskin defenders on incomplete passes. The big play was Morris’s 34-yard run on first down and 20 yards to go. That put the ball on the Redskins’ 22-yard line. Then Morris ran for 5 yards, then 4, then the final 13 on a sweep around right end.
Washington Redskins 20, New York Giants 27
Stock prices inched higher yesterday on Wall Street, but once again the attention of investors focused mainly on takeovers and restructurings. Goodyear, which on Friday said it was studying a restructuring, jumped to the top of the day’s most-active list, rising 4 1/8, to 48 1/4, in consolidated trading of almost 13 million shares. A rumor circulated that Sir James Goldsmith, the British investor, had been accumulating Goodyear shares. With Goodyear supplying most of the push, the Dow Jones industrial average moved ahead 9.56 points, to 1,841.82.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1841.82 (+9.56)
Born:
Lou Williams, NBA point guard and shooting guard (Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers), in Memphis, Tennessee.
Crystal Langhorne, WNBA forward and center (WNBA Champions-Storm, 2018, 2020; WNBA All-Star, 2011, 2013; Washington Mystics, Seattle Storm), in Queens, New York, New York.
Anna Cruz, Spanish WNBA guard (WNBA Champions-Lynx, 2015; New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx), in Barcelona, Spain.
Shalee Lehning, WNBA guard (Atlanta Dream), in Liberal, Kansas.
Jon Niese, MLB pitcher (New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates), in Lima, Ohio.
Pedro Beato, Dominican MLB pitcher (New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies), in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Chris Butler, NHL defenseman (Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues), in St. Louis, Missouri.
Roddrick Muckelroy, NFL linebacker (Cincinnati Bengals), in Longview, Texas.
Inbar Lavi, Israeli actress (“Prison Break”, “Lucifer”), in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Alba Flores, Spanish actress (“Money Heist”), in Madrid, Spain.
Died:
Alan Branscombe, 50, British jazz and session pianist, vibraphonist, and saxophonist (Tubby Hayes; Beatles — “Got To Get You Into My Life”)
