Red Sox Memories: What happened to these 1986 players?
The Boston Red Sox in 1986 were this close to vanquishing the curse. Now a look at six players from the team who were not stars.
The Red Sox long curse of having vacant space for a World Series Championship flag was erased in 1986. How do I know that? How did you miss that? The New York Mets had inadvertently posted a congratulatory message on their message board directed at the Red Sox. The message was quickly removed as quick as you can say on to game seven.
The dramatic conclusion of game six is etched in Red Sox lore and is now passed down from one generation to the next. Names reverberate regarding that dismal chapter – Bill Buckner, Calvin Schiraldi, Dave Stapleton, and Mookie Wilson with their roles in the drama at first base recounted and analyzed.
A cottage industry has grown around that game and one play in particular. That can be reviewed here for those who wish the pain.
Looking at the Red Sox roster for 1986 many names surface that are iconic to the franchise – Roger Clemens had a 24-4 season to lead the talent parade. Dwight Evans produced his usual power numbers and Wade Boggs won another batting title.
Jim Rice was putting the finishing touches on a Hall of Fame career with a .325 average and 20 home runs. But what about some lesser names? Let’s take a look. What happened? Where are they now?
Spike Owen came to the Red Sox in mid-August with Dave Henderson in a swap with the Seattle Mariners. Henderson built his history, but this is about Owen a former first-round draft pick from the University of Texas (Austin) who was physically similar to Dustin Pedroia. The trade was one of shortstops as Rey Quinones was part of the package going west.
Owen was a switch hitter who hung around MLB for 13 seasons hitting .246. If you were to create a scouting profile on Owen’s the words “intense” and “competitive” would be in the mix. Owen would generally find himself tethered to shortstop where he played for 41 starts after arriving in Boston.
A very capable defensive player whose bat went silent with the Red Sox hitting just .183. Quinones also had his difficulties with an anemic .189 for the M’s. Where Owen’s earned his keep for 1986 was in the playoffs hitting the Angels and Mets to the tune of .390 in 41 at-bats.
During the season Owen’s did have one remarkable game scoring six runs to tie an MLB record and in 1987 Owen’s would be the regular at short and when pennant hangover hit the Red Sox, who finished a wretched 78-84, with Owen’s contributing .259. By 1988 Owen was gone – traded to the Expos where for four seasons became the regular shortstop before moving on to the Yankees and Angels.
Owen was certainly coaching and managerial material and served in that capacity for both the Astros and Rangers in their minor league systems including a stint with the Rangers as an interim coach in 2016.
Right-handed Sammy Stewart had a unique statistical anomaly of leading the American League in earned run average (2.32) in 1981 while primarily working out of the bullpen. The year may trigger memories since it was strike-shortened and statistically adjusted to compensate for lost time.
Stewart went just 4-8 in that season and managed three starts, but his record was symptomatic of his career bouncing between rotation and bullpen with limited success.
Stewart was grabbed from Baltimore in a trade that sent Jackie Gutierrez southward. Stewart would assume the role that he had semi-refined in Baltimore for eight seasons, but was relegated strictly to the bullpen and omitted from spot starter duty.
My memories of Stewart and the 1986 season were related to the drama not on the field but off the field. The O’s became aware that Gutierrez had emotional issues and attempted to nullify the trade. Stewart was rather vocal in that he had already become a temporary Bostonian and had relocated. The trade stood but there was more.
Stewart and Red Sox manager John McNamara were at loggerheads during the season and Stewart eventually was omitted from the playoffs. Stewart was quite outspoken about Johnny Mac as the deciding factor in costing the Red Sox a World Series. I have to agree with Stewart who was finished in Boston after a 4-4 season.
Stewart moved on to the Indians for one more season before retiring in 1987, but then came a tragic finish. Stewart had issues with Alcohol while with the O’s including pulling 18-month probation for a DUI. Post career the substance abuse magnified into cocaine and a lengthy prison stay and a series of family tragedies complicated Stewart’s life even more. Stewart passed away in 2018 at age 63.
Ed Romero is in the news again in connection with the Red Sox since he is the father of Eddie Romero who is now assistant GM for the Red Sox. Ed Senior started his baseball journey as a 19-year-old with the Milwaukee Brewers – a journey that would go to Boston, Atlanta, and finally Detroit.
Romero was never a regular – a classic utility player who only twice in a 12-year career topped 100+ games. One of those seasons was 1986 when Romero took the field for 100 games hitting just .210. Romero – traded to Boston by the Brewers for Mark Clear – played just about anywhere needed in his four years with the team including an extended stint at shortstop in 1986.
That, of course, leads back to Owen in the first slide. The hole in 1986 was at short.
Romero’s contribution in the playoffs was rather undramatic as he went hitless in five at-bats. In August of 1989 a roster move was made and Romero was released and signed by the Braves before being shipped a few weeks later back to his career starting point in Milwaukee and then to Detroit in 1990 where the career curtain came down.
Being on the bench for 12 years a player picks up the nuances of handing game situations and managerial style. Romero became utility in another department as a manager, coach, and instructor with several organizations – even as a bench coach for the Astros. Ed may not have taken over the MLB hot seat, but his lessons seemed to have culminated in his son’s advancement.
Baseball history is littered with the strange, unusual, and the bizarre in the realm of personalities so step right up Steve Lyons of the 1986 Red Sox. Now that notation certainly comes with an asterisk attached since Lyons was gone by the end of June and future Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver arrived to bolster a Red Sox staff. Seaver fell into the just OK category going 4-7, 3.80.
Steve was a product of the Red Sox system being honored as a first-round pick (19th) in 1981. Lyons proceeded up the organizational food chain and I remember watching him cavort in the Pawtucket outfield in 1984.
In 1985 it was to Boston and .264 in 133 games. As 1986 drifted along so did the left-hand hitting Lyons as he joined the other Sox. I missed Lyons as he was a quick favorite of mine so he gets a slide.
He made the baseball rounds never quite living up to what is expected from a number one draft choice -even pinch-hitting with a career .170 average. Lyons eventually – like a feather in the wind – drifted back to Boston where he put the lid on a career 1.9 bWAR. Then Lyons hit the big time.
Lyons’s nickname was “Psycho” and that may be an understatement as his antics either unintentional or intentional have become baseball lore. Most notable was Lyon’s famous “Moon Shot” where the need to get the dirt out of his pants simply had Lyons drop his draws for the fans and television audience.
Lyons’s post-career has been as nomadic as his career but only in broadcasting with hirings and firings and controversy. Red Sox fans know him on NESN and occasionally in the broadcast booth. A love him or hate him personality best described by his literary accomplishment – with a foreword by (no surprise) Steven King. Lyons just made the game fun.
The Red Sox just jettisoned Sandy Leon over the issue of his projected salary – a cost-cutting measure. Leon was that baseball specialist is known as a backup catcher that either has a great glove or a great bat but rarely the two combined. If they did, they would be regular.
Boston had a great catcher in 1986 in 26-year-old left-hand hitting Rich Gedman. Gedman started 124 games, hit .258, banged out 16 home runs, and contributed a 50 CS%. But who was his backup? Well, it pays to be the boss’s son or in the instance of Marc Sullivan the son of Haywood Sullivan. I’ll avoid the whole “Coup LeRoux” follies.
The Sullivan’s had something in common since both were essentially backup catchers with Pops hitting just .226 in 312 games – 60 of those with Boston spread over four seasons. Junior hit just a Leon like .186 in 137 games over five seasons – all with the Red Sox.
In 1986 Sullivan was true to form hitting .193. The right-hand hitting Sullivan did slam one home run that was a three-run shot that sealed a game against Seattle. A season highlight.
Throughout his years with the Red Sox Sullivan had to endure being on the team based on his father’s connections and not his admittedly limited talent. Sports radio was in its infancy and Sullivan certainly provided a ripe target for that outlet especially with his anemic offense.
I remember hearing one commentator discussing Sullivan’s pitching prowess – Sullivan had considered that possible option – that the only way he would succeed at pitching is if he pitched to himself.
Sullivan’s days in Boston ended with a trade to Houston where a sore elbow ended in his release. Then came time with the Phillies and Cleveland organizations before retiring and moving into scouting with the Rangers. Eventually, Sullivan left baseball in 1994 and entered the private sector and another challenge.
Sullivan is involved in real estate development as president of Sullivan-Florida Group, is active in fantasy camps, and has put the past animosity of his Boston years in his rearview mirror.
Players are allowed much leeway as long as they produce, but when that evaporates so does their welcome. In 1986 the Red Sox had a remarkably talented 26-year-old right-handed called Oil Can Boyd – a nickname supposedly derived from his propensity for drinking beer in his more youthful years.
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Boyd had a great year for the 1986 Red Sox (16-10, 3.78) taking the hill for 30 starts and 10 complete games – second on the staff not behind Clemens, but lefty Bruce Hurst. In the World Series “Can” took on the Mets in one start and was treated with little respect giving up six runs. With Boyd, it is a real magical mystery tour.
Living as I do close to Brockton, Massachusetts the last time I saw Boyd pitch was with the Brockton Rox of the Can-Am League back in 2005. Boyd – then in his mid-40s – was a full-fledged baseball vagabond with visits to several minor league teams and even into Mexico and barnstorming. What happened?
The downfall or skid started in 1986 when he was not selected for the All-Star team. Boyd exploded over the slight and that was just one of a string of incidents over the next two seasons including run-ins with Jim Rice and Mike Boddicker. At one point Boyd quit the team in 1986 and to this day I find it amazing that Don Baylor just didn’t kick the can.
Boyd was colorful. erratic, flamboyant, bizarre, and unreliable. Boyd was also suffering from injuries in the 1987-89 Boston time period and excessive use of alcohol and drugs. The problem was eventually solved by Boyd signing as a free agent with the Expos and then continuing the slide to MLB oblivion.
Red Sox All-Decade Team 2010-2019. dark. Next
Boyd has spent time in jail for threatening a former spouse, saw a real estate venture fail, but is still living off his notoriety with autographs shows, speaking engagements, and even dabbling in reality TV. Boyd comes across – at least the Brockton Rox Boyd – as a likable miscreant. What more on the “Can?” Boyd is now an author and it is an excellent read.