The following is an excerpt from our partner’s Curator Corner.
Forty years after one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history, The Sports Museum at TD Garden is celebrating the 1986 Boston Red Sox with a new exhibit, 1986 Red Sox: Rocketing to the Top. The exhibit, which opened in September 2026, honors the team that won the American League pennant and came within one strike of a World Series championship. For museum hours, tour availability, and ticket reservations, visit here.
The 1986 club was built under the leadership of Jean R. Yawkey, who carried forward her late husband Tom Yawkey’s legacy as the team’s owner and president. That season also reflected the grace with which Mrs. Yawkey led. At the World Series, she shared ceremonial first-pitch duties with Mets owner Nelson Doubleday. After the Mets won in seven games, she said simply, “We got beat, fair and square, and there was nothing to be ashamed of.”
In the Curator’s Corner essay below, longtime Sports Museum curator Richard A. Johnson tells the story of two Worcester County natives, Rich Gedman and Mets pitcher Ron Darling, who met on baseball’s biggest stage that fall. The Yawkey Foundation is proud to support The Sports Museum and bring to life the iconic images and personalities that relive a baseball season that brought all of Red Sox Nation to its feet.