John McNamara, Manager of ill-fated ’86 Red Sox, Dies at 88

BOSTON (AP) — Former Boston Red Sox manager John McNamara has died. McNamara managed the Red Sox to within one strike of a World Series victory in 1986 before an unprecedented collapse extended the team’s championship drought into the new millennium. Ellen McNamara said her husband died Tuesday in Tennessee. McNamara managed six major league teams but never got closer to winning it all than in '86, when the Red Sox led the Mets 5-3 in the 10th inning of Game 6 before a series of mistakes gave the victory — and eventually the championship — to the Mets. McNamara was 88.