A fantastic piece of writing by Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy on the death of former Boston Red Sox manager John McNamara Tuesday in Tennessee at 88. His complicated legacy was never more apparent, 34 years after the 1986 World Series.
McNamara’s widow, Ellen, spoke to Shaugnessy and addressed the issue of whether her husband took Roger Clemens out of Game 6 in the eighth innng with a 3-2 lead in the game and Series before the historic collapse against the New York Mets.
“Game 6 is always going to be hanging over him,” she started.
“I just want to say one thing: My husband did not take Roger Clemens out of that game,” she insisted without solicitation. “Roger asked out of the game. He said he had a little cut or something.
“It tore John up that the press believed Clemens. John would not make something like that up. When Roger told him he wanted to come out, John said, ‘You’ve got to be [expletive] me!’ That’s what happened. When the chips were down, Roger spit the bit.
“That’s what happened, and I will believe John until I take my last breath. Why would John have taken out his best pitcher there? I couldn’t believe that anyone bought that crap. John deserves to have a better sendoff than for anybody to be critical of him.”
Game 6 in 1986 remained a difficult chapter in John McNamara’s life https://t.co/a9Wc2l2WLJ via @BostonGlobe
— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) July 29, 2020
Just like that, it was Oct. 25, 1986, at Shea Stadium again for Bostonians. And despite four World Series championships since the wounds remain brutal.
Shaugnessy reached out to Clemens, who was 24-4 that season, and got text responses:
I informed Clemens, via text, that Ellen McNamara made some harsh remarks concerning his role in Game 6. He responded with, “Interesting. I think after Fish [pitching coach Bill Fischer] corrected him on the non-truthful things, they didn’t talk much after that. Need to focus on the positives . . .
“Sorry to hear of the passing of John. We had great success with him as our manager. All of us played extremely hard for him, Fish, and all the coaching staff. A lot of great memories!”
Shaughnessy concluded with a text from Ellen McNamara:
“I do not want John’s professional career defined by one game,” she wrote. “He was so much more than that. A good, kind, loving man.”
In all, McNamara was 1,160–1,233 over parts of 19 seasons, also winning the NL West title with the Reds in 1979 and leading Cincinnati to the best record in baseball in the strike-shortened 1981 season, when they did not make the playoffs. He was the 1986 AL Manager of the Year.