Donnie Ray Moore (February
13, 1954 – July 18, 1989) was an American
relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for
the Chicago Cubs (1975, 1977-79),
St. Louis Cardinals (1980),
Milwaukee Brewers (1981), Atlanta Braves (1982-84) and California Angels
(1985-88).
Playing career
In a 13-season career, Moore posted a 43-40 record with 89
saves, 416
strikeouts,
and a 3.67
ERA in 655
innings. He was selected as an
All-Star in
1985.
A native
of Lubbock,
Texas
, Moore is most remembered for the home run he gave up as an Angel to Dave Henderson in Game 5 of the 1986 American League
Championship Series with only one more strike needed to clinch
the team's first-ever pennant, allowing the Boston Red Sox to come back and
win.
Moore was battling injury at the time of that game, and was never
able to remain injury-free following it. After saving only 9 more
games in 41 appearances over the next two seasons, Moore was
released by the Angels. He signed with the
Kansas City Royals for the
1989 season, but played only in the
minor leagues before being
released in June of that year, ending his 14-year career in
baseball.
Game 5 of the 1986 ALCS
The game
took place on October 12, 1986 in Anaheim
. The
Angels held a 3-1 lead in the
best-of-seven series against the
Boston Red Sox. In the game, the
Angels held a 5-2 lead going into the ninth inning. Boston scored
two runs on a home run by
Don Baylor
(scoring
Dave Stapleton, who was
pinch-running for
Bill Buckner),
closing the gap to 5-4.
When Moore came in to shut down the rally, there were two outs and
a runner on first base (
Rich Gedman, who
had been
hit by a pitch). The Angels
were one strike away from advancing to the
World Series.
Dave
Henderson hit a 2-2 pitch off Moore for a home run, giving the
Red Sox a 6-5 lead. The Angels were able to score a run in the
bottom of the ninth, pushing the game into extra innings.
Moore remained in the game for the Angels; he was able to stifle a
10
th inning Red Sox rally by getting
Jim Rice to ground into a
double play. Nevertheless, the Red Sox were able
to score off Moore in the 11th inning via a
sacrifice fly by Henderson. The Angels could
not score in the bottom of the 11th, and lost the game 7-6.
The defeat
still left the Angels with a 3-2 advantage, with two more games to
play at Fenway
Park
. However, the Angels were not able to close
it out, losing both games by wide margins, 10-4 and 8-1.
In the public perception, Moore became indelibly associated with
the Angels' loss of the pennant, in much the same manner that
Bill Buckner became associated with the
Red Sox' subsequent loss of the World Series later that year.
Suicide
On July
18, 1989, during an argument with his wife Tonya, Moore shot her
three times, the incident occurring in view of their three children
at their Anaheim Hills
home. Tonya Moore and daughter Demetria,
then 17 years of age, fled from the house and Demetria drove her
mother to the hospital. Both survived the shooting.
Back inside the house, still in the presence of one of his sons,
Moore then fatally shot himself.
When he was cut by Kansas City, he'd really been
depressed about that.
I mean, here he is, the high-life career
.
.
. then all of a sudden, it's
gone.
He comes back home .
.
. and the marriage, the family, is all
destroyed.
I mean, what else does he have
left?
- — Demetria Moore on what drove her father to his final acts of
desperation
See also
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