The victory, their third straight over the Angels after they had been one strike from elimination in Game 5 last Sunday, gave the Red Sox their first AL pennant since 1975.
And how does Boggs see the World Series, which opens Saturday night in New York against the Mets?
"I don't know," he said, "but it'll probably follow the same storybook script that made this (the LCS) so great."
If Boggs is right about a greater presence fashioning a plan for major league baseball in 1986, several things might logically be deduced: Boggs always was penciled in to win the AL batting championship over Don Mattingly; after 26 years of owning the Angels, the only champion Gene Autry, the old singing cowboy, has had or may ever have is his horse; and California manager Gene Mauch, still without a pennant after a quarter-century of trying, evidently has been assigned a cross of considerable proportions to bear.
Divine intervention, indeed. What else could explain Boston's giddy comeback from a 3-1 deficit? They were three runs down entering the ninth inning of Game 5 in Anaheim, Calif., and, at one point, were a single strike
from elimination. Surely somebody up there must like these Red Sox, or at least hold something against the unfortunate Angels.
Last night, with a sellout crowd of 33,001 whipped into a primal frenzy, the Red Sox formally executed California in a game devoid of suspense, the complete opposite of the Game 5 turnaround classic. Boston ace Roger Clemens, whose 24-4 regular season brilliance had been sullied by an 0-1 record and 5.75 earned run average in two ALCS starts, dominated the Angels despite a touch of the flu that sapped him of his strength. And a spate of California errors opened the door to seven unearned runs.
When it was over, Bruce Hurst, who likely will be Boston's starting pitcher in Game 1 of the World Series, proclaimed in the champagne-drenched winners' locker room that "maybe there really are such things as miracles."
