1969: Game 3, Mets vs. Orioles
The stage: The Mets and Orioles split the first two games in Baltimore, and that was already considered an accomplishment in some circles because many so-called experts had predicted a four-game sweep for Baltimore, which had won 109 games that season.
The hero: Tommie Agee was great from the get-go. The Mets’ center fielder led off the bottom of the first with a home run over the distant center field fence. But Agee was just getting started. In the fourth, with the Mets leading 3-0, Baltimore had two on when Elrod Hendricks drilled a line-drive into the left-center field gap that seemed certain to score two runs. But Agee made a spectacular backhanded, running catch and held onto the ball as he crashed into the wall. It was 4-0 in the seventh when the Orioles loaded the bases with two outs. This time it was Paul Blair who smacked one to the right-center field gap that seemed certain to clear the bases. But again Agee performed a miracle – sprawling full out to make a diving catch near the warning track. He had saved at least five runs in a 5-0 Mets victory.
The goat: Baltimore starter and loser Jim Palmer put his team in trouble early, allowing three runs in the first two innings and four of the five the Mets scored.
The result: Do you believe in miracles? Mets fans and players certainly did after Agee’s outfield dramatics. The Game 3 victory propelled them to an unexpected five-game Series triumph over the heavily favored Orioles.
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1975: Game 6, Red Sox vs. Reds
The stage: Cincinnati led the Series, 3-2, heading back to Boston, where rain forced Game 6 to be postponed for three days. It was worth the wait. The Red Sox jumped to a 3-0 lead on Fred Lynn’s three-run homer in the first. But the Reds eventually drove starter Luis Tiant from the game in the top of the eighth after Cesar Geronimo’s solo homer gave the Reds a 6-3 lead. But in the bottom of the eighth, when Red Sox Nation was in full gloom, pinch-hitter Bernie Carbo hit a dramatic three-run, game-tying homer off Rawley Eastwick. Cincinnati left fielder George Foster threw out the potential winning run at the plate in the ninth while Boston right fielder Dwight Evans made a spectacular catch in the 11th to rob Joe Morgan of at least one RBI. Carlton Fisk was the first man up against reliever Pat Darcy in the bottom of the 12th.
The hero: Fisk didn’t wait long for his forever moment. He lofted the first pitch from Darcy high and far into the New England night. It was far over the fabled Green Monster in left field, but would it stay fair? Fisk took a couple of steps out of the batter’s box then stopped to watch the flight of the ball. He gestured wildly with two hands to wave it fair and then exploded with joy and threw both hands skyward when the ball clanged hard off the foul pole for an epic 7-6 victory.
The goat: Darcy, a sinker ball pitcher, threw one down and in to Fisk, a low-ball hitter. But earlier, Reds manager Sparky Anderson could have worn some horns for his decision not to bring in left-handed reliever Will McEnaney to face lefty pinch-hitter Carbo in the eighth. In fact, Carbo said later that he never expected to get a chance to swing, expecting to be pulled for a right-handed pinch-hitter against McEnaney.
The result: The game is considered by many the greatest ever played in World Series history, and for years, was the only thing long-suffering Red Sox fans could enjoy talking about when it came to their October failures. Despite any momentum they might have gained from that victory, Cincinnati rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win Game 7 the next day, 4-3, on Joe Morgan’s bloop single in the top of the ninth.
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1977: Game 6, Dodgers vs. Yankees
The stage: As much as the World Series was a showcase for two beloved franchises that hadn’t faced each other in October since 1956 when the Dodgers called Brooklyn home, it was also a chance for the baseball world to put a microscope on the dysfunctional Yankees. They fought and feuded all summer in Reggie Jackson’s first season in pinstripes. He seemed to divide a team full of forceful personalities, including fiery manager Billy Martin and feisty catcher Thurman Munson. The Yankees came back to the Bronx from Los Angeles holding a 3-2 lead in the series.
The hero: Reggie broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth when he hit a two-run homer off Burt Hooten on the first pitch. Jackson made it 7-3 in the fifth with another two-run homer, this one of the first pitch from Elias Sosa. Yankee Stadium was buzzing when Jackson led off the eighth. He sent the crowd into a frenzy and his name into the history books with a monstrous shot off knuckleball artist Charlie Hough into the distant black seats in center field, also on the first pitch.
The goat: The way Reggie was swinging the bat that night – he reportedly hit 20 balls into the seats during batting practice – perhaps no pitcher would have fared well. But shouldn’t Hooten, Sosa or Hough at least tried to get Jackson to chase a pitch out of the strike zone?
The result: Jackson became the only player besides Babe Ruth (who did it in 1926 and ’28) to hit three homers in a World Series game. His five total home runs is a Series record and cemented his legacy as “Mr. October.” His heroics also catapulted the Yankees to their first Series victory since 1962.
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1980: Game 6, Phillies vs. Royals
The stage: It seemed as if the bases were loaded every time Tug McGraw, the screwball pitcher with an appropriately zany personality, entered the game during the 1980 World Series. He had struck out Jose Cardenal with the bases loaded to save Game 5 in Kansas City and left three Royals runners on base to end the eighth inning with the Phillies leading 4-1. So, of course the bases were loaded again in the ninth with one out. That’s when first baseman Pete Rose, Captain Hustle himself, thrilled the home crowd by catching a foul pop that had bounced out of the glove of catcher Bob Boone for the second out.
The hero: McGraw was appearing in his fourth game of the Series, and trouble was his middle name. But he was a master escape artist and sent the Philly fans into hysteria when he struck out Willie Wilson to end the game and the Series. He wound up with one victory, two saves and a 1.17 ERA.
The goat: Fittingly, it was Wilson who ended the Series with a strikeout. The Royals’ speedy center fielder set a Fall Classic record by striking out 12 times and batted just .154 (4-for-26).
The result: It was the beleaguered franchise’s first World Series appearance since the Whiz Kids of 1950 and their first – and only – Fall Classic triumph.
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1985: Game 6, Royals vs. Cardinals
The stage: The Cardinals won three of the first four games and there was champagne on ice before Game 5 in St. Louis. But the Royals spoiled the party with a 6-1 victory that sent the Series back to Kansas City for Game 6. The Cardinals still appeared poised to win a title when they took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Closer Todd Worrell got leadoff batter, pinch-hitter Jorge Orta, to hit a routine grounder to first baseman Jack Clark who flipped to Worrell covering for what seemed like the first out. But Orta was shockingly called safe by first base umpire Don Denkinger. You didn’t need replays to know that a call was obviously blown, and on the game’s biggest stage.
The hero: Worrell and the Cardinals never recovered. Steve Balboni singled to left and after a force play, a passed ball moved the runners into scoring position. Pinch-hiter Dane Iorg then blooped a single to right field to send home the winning runs and force a Game 7. It was Iorg’s only hit of the Series but it became part of Kansas City folklore when the Royals won Game 7 the next day, 11-0, behind Bret Saberhagen, who pitched his second complete-game victory of the Series. Saberhagen and Iorg were the heroes but there was only one goat …
The goat: There was no explanation given for Denkinger’s flagrantly erroneous call. Orta was a full step behind Worrell getting to first base, but Denkinger didn’t see it that way.
The result: The Royals capitalized on Denkinger’s call to win their first – and only World Series, ironically defeating Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog, who had been the Royals’ manager for those excruciatingly close playoff losses to the Yankees in 1976-78.
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1986: Game 6, Mets vs. Red Sox
The stage: The Red Sox were three outs away from ending the so-called “Curse of the Bambino” and win their first World Series since 1918. They led the Mets 5-3 entering the bottom of the ninth at Shea Stadium and reliever Calvin Schiraldi retired the first two Mets, Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez. Several Mets players were already in the clubhouse when Gary Carter and pinch-hitter Kevin Mitchell singled to put the tying run on first base. One of those who had given up was Hernandez, who was drinking a beer in manager Davey Johnson’s office as the improbable rally unfolded.
The hero: Ray Knight made it 5-4 with a two-strike single off Schiraldi that scored Carter, moved Mitchell to third and caused Boston manager John McNamara to summon Bob Stanley from the bullpen. More heroic, though was the at-bat by Mookie Wilson. First, Wilson alertly danced away from a low inside pitch from Stanley. Had it hit him, Wilson would merely have gone to first base, but by avoiding the ball, the wild pitch allowed Mitchell to score the tying run and Knight to reach second. The count reached 3-and-2 and Wilson fouled off another pitch. On the 10th pitch of the at-bat, Wilson pulled a grounder to first.
The goat: Buckner, playing deep, might not have beaten the fleet Wilson to the first base, especially with his two sore legs. But when the ball squirted under his glove, Knight was able to score the winning run. Buckner’s despair lasted beyond that game. He became as infamous in Boston as Bucky Dent, and a fine career that included 2,715 hits was mostly ignored because of his untimely error.
The result: Buckner might have been forgiven if the Red Sox had managed to win Game 7, but the Mets rallied to win that one, too, and The Curse lived on until 2004.
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1988: Game 1, A’s vs. Dodgers
The stage: The Dodgers were not supposed to beat the Mets in the NLCS and were underdogs against the A’s for the World Series. They entered the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 trailing 4-3 against Oakland’s peerless closer Dennis Eckersley, who retired the first two batters before walking Mike Davis. That brought up Kirk Gibson, the wounded spiritual leader of the Dodgers who was in such pain that he didn’t take the field for pre-game introductions and spent most of the night in the trainer’s room getting treatment for a strained tendon in his left hamstring and a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
The hero: Gibson strode to the plate to a thunderous ovation, but looked thoroughly overmatched against the fastballs from The Eck. He could generate no power in his legs and seemed to flail and Eckersley’s hard stuff. But he managed a couple of weak fouls balls and got the count to 3-and-2. For seven pitches, Eckersley had thrown nothing but fastballs and Gibson couldn’t catch up. But the Dodgers’ outfielder remembered the scouting report that said on full counts, Eckersley often went to his back-door slider. Eck did and Gibson was ready. Though his swing was mostly flat-footed, Gibson was able to pull the ball into the lower deck in right field for a thrilling, shocking, game-winning home run that prompted announcer Jack Buck to utter the words, “I don’t believe what I just saw!”
The goat: Eckersley is one of baseball’s all-time great relief pitchers and a member of the Hall of Fame. But why he didn’t shake off the sign for a slider given by catcher Ron Hassey is a mystery. On most nights to most hitters, the slider might have been the pitch that would make a hitter looking for a fastball look helpless. But on this night, the slider was the only pitch in Eckerlsey’s repertoire that Gibson, in a weakened state, could handle.
The result: Rarely does one pitch or one swing in the first game of a World Series set the tone. But Gibson’s home run off the invincible Eck sparked the light-hitting, hard-pitching Dodgers to a five-game world championship. Gibson did not have another at-bat. One was more than enough.
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1991: Twins vs. Braves
The stage: It had been 101 years since a team had gone from last place to first place, but in 1991, both World Series combatants accomplished the feat. Minnesota and Atlanta put on a show that October that was as good as anything else staged in the 20th Century. Five games were decided by one run, and the final two games were decided in the home team’s final at-bat – both in extra innings no less. The Braves arrived at Minnesota’s Metrodome for Game 6 with a 3-2 lead in games, having taken all three in Atlanta.
The hero: Minnesota center fielder Kirby Puckett truly did it all in Game 6. He drove in two runs early with a triple and a sacrifice fly. He kept the game tied with a spectacular leaping catch at the wall in left-center to rob Ron Gant. Then in the bottom of the 11th, he hit a game-winning home run off Atlanta lefty Charlie Liebrandt to give the Twins a 4-3 win and force a Game 7. The home run, under the circumstances, rivaled that of Carlton Fisk’s Game 6 blast in 1975.
The goat: Liebrandt was the goat in Game 6, but Atlanta outfielder Lonnie Smith wore horns in Game 7. In the eighth inning of a scoreless game, he was duped by the Twins’ Chuck Knoblauch into thinking that Terry Pendleteon’s double into the gap had been caught. The cost the Braves a run and perhaps the Series.
The result: Puckett wasn’t the hero of Game 7, but if not for his memorable Game 6, we would never have witnessed Jack Morris’s epic pitcher’s dual against John Smoltz. Morris prevailed in the 10th inning on Gene Larkin’s single that scored Dan Gladden.
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1993: Game 6, Blue Jays vs. Phillies
The stage: The Blue Jays were trying to become the first team since the 1977-78 Yankees to win back-to-back world championships. They had taken a commanding 3-1 lead in games with an ugly but satisfying 15-14 victory in Game 4 that set a Series record for most runs scored by both teams. But Curt Schilling pitched a 2-0 gem in Game 5 and a three-run homer by Lenny Dykstra helped the Phillies rally from a 5-1 deficit to take a 6-5 lead into the ninth inning of Game 6. Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams earned his nickname for his streaks of wildness that made every save situation a great adventure. But the Phillies’ closer had a devastating slider and had rescued Philadelphia more times than not en route to the World Series. But he walked Rickey Henderson to start the ninth inning of Game 6, an ominous sign. He retired Devon White but Paul Molitor lined a single to center.
The hero: The Blue Jays’ most dangerous slugger, Joe Carter, stepped to the plate against Williams, having gone hitless in his previous seven at-bats in the Series. Carter ran the count to 2-and-2, then turned on a down-and-in slider and drove it on a line to left field. It cleared the wall, setting off a raucous celebration in the Skydome as Carter deliriously circled the bases with his helmet off and his arms upraised.
The goat: Afterwards, Williams was as crushed as the pitch he served up to Carter. His eyes were bloodshot with tears as he stared ahead and answered reporters’ questions. He said he had made a mistake and let his team down. “I have to carry that burden,” Williams said.
The result: Carter’s home run was only the second in history to end a World Series. The first had been Bill Mazeroski’s Game 7 blast against the Yankees in 1960.
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2001: Game 7, Diamondbacks vs. Yankees
The stage: A nation was in mourning in the autumn of 2001, still suffering the grief and aftershocks of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Postseason baseball seemed to provide an escape for many, especially when the Yankees staged two miraculous comebacks against Arizona in Games 4 and 5 at Yankee Stadium. In Game 4, Byung-Hyun Kim allowed a two-out, two-run ninth-inning homer to Tino Martinez to tie the game and a walkoff blast by Derek Jeter in the 10th to tie the series at 2-2. The next night, Kim again took a two-run lead into the ninth, but this time Scott Brosius delivered a game-tying blast and Alfonso Soriano won it for New York with a single in the 12th. The Diamondbacks crushed the Yankees, 15-2, to force a Game 7 in Phoenix. Soriano’s home run in the eighth gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead for closer Mariano Rivera, who struck out the side in a scoreless bottom of the eighth. Rivera had not blown a postseason game since 1997 when Mark Grace stepped in to lead off the ninth.
The hero: Grace singled to center, Rivera made a throwing error on a bunt and Tony Womack doubled to tie the score. Up stepped Luis Gonzalez, who had hit 57 home runs that season. With the infield drawn in, Gonzo looped a Series-ending single over Jeter’s head, making a winner out of Randy Johnson, who had relieved Curt Schilling. The pitchers shared the MVP awards but Gonzalez broke the Yankees’ hearts.
The goat: Hard to picture the Yankees’ magnificent closer with goat horns. But even though Grace’s single was soft and Gonzalez’s softer, Rivera had only himself to blame for the throwing error on a sacrifice bunt and the well-struck double by Womack that was the key to the inning.
The result: The Diamondbacks joined the Florida Marlins as recent expansion teams that won World Series. Arizona’s Game 7 comeback, combined with the earlier drama in the Bronx made the 2001 Series memorable across the country for baseball fans looking to escape the horrible real-life intrusion of the terrorist attacks. The D-Backs also ended the Yankees’ streak of three straight world championships. The Yankees haven’t won a World Series since.
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