The fall classic is underway as the Los Angeles Dodgers face the New York Yankees for the twelfth time in MLB’s championship, The World Series. A championship game or series brings out the best in some athletes and the worst in others. The pressure of the event trickles down to every pitch, every swing of the bat, every time a playable ball is hit, and every time a runner tries to advance to the next base. In baseball unlike most other sports, when the pitcher releases the ball towards the home plate strike zone, no one on this earth knows for sure what will happen next. With each pitch the scenario changes however slightly for the next pitch. It’s only human when mental breakdowns take place and one or more players blunder allowing their opponents to win. There also is that magic moment when a player delivers the game winning play that serves to put his team in the championship circle. Here are some of those situations.
1926: The St. Louis Cardinals and N.Y. Yankees were tied with 3 games each when they met for game 7 in Yankee Stadium. Babe Ruth hit a solo home run to give the Yankees the early lead, but when it came to the bottom of the 9th inning, the Cardinals were up 3-2. With two outs Babe Ruth drew a walk. Bob Meusel was next up at the plate, but on the first pitch Ruth inexplicably attempted to steal second base. Noted for many good things in baseball, Ruth was not noted for base stealing, and at that critical moment he was caught and called out, handing the game and series to the Cardinals.
1941: The N.Y. Yankees led the Brooklyn Dodgers 2 games to 1. In game 4 the Dodgers were ahead 4-3 with two outs in the 9th inning. Yankees’ right fielder Tommy Henrich was at bat with a 2-strike count. On the next pitch Henrich swung and missed, but the ball eluded reliable catcher Mickey Owen and went all the way to the backstop on what would have been the third strike on Henrich ending the game. Instead, Henrich made it to first base safely owing to the dropped third strike. The Dodgers then collapsed in the face of a 4-run Yankee’s rally that won the game and placed them one win away from the championship, which they won the next day.
1946: The St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox were tied with 3 games each. At Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, game 7 was tied 3-3 in the 8th inning with the Cardinals’ Enos Slaughter on first base and two outs. With a 2 ball and 1 strike count, the Cardinal’s manager gave the hit and run sign, and Slaughter took off for second base with the pitch. The batter, Harry Walker, then hit a line drive to center field. The regular center fielder for the Red Sox, Dom DiMaggio (brother of famous Yankee’s player Joe DiMaggio), was injured and had to leave the game. His replacement fielded the drive and rather than attempt a throw to home plate, he threw it to Red Sox second baseman, Johnny Pesky. Pesky relayed the ball to the plate, but not in enough time to catch Slaughter who slid in with the go-ahead, and game winning run. Stories arose that Pesky delayed his throw to the plate by hesitating, and then throwing it up the 3rd baseline enabling Slaughter to score. Slaughter himself admitted that if Dom DiMaggio had been in the game, he would never have attempted to score on that play.
1955: Brooklyn Dodgers versus the N.Y. Yankees, the series was tied at 3 games each when in game 7 the Dodgers were leading 2-0 in the 6th inning. The Yankees had two runners on base when Yogi Berra hit a fly ball deep into left field. Dodgers’ left fielder Sandy Amoros raced over to the foul line and made an amazing one-handed catch of what could have been a 2-run double or triple. Instead, it turned into a double play for the Dodgers who went on to win the game 2-0, and the series 4 wins to 3.
1956: It was game 5, and the Brooklyn Dodgers were tied with the New York Yankees at two games apiece. Yankee pitcher Don Larsen took the mound and performed what may seem today as a miracle by pitching a perfect game against the Dodgers. No Dodger player made it even to first base, as the Yankees won 2-0, and went on to win the World Series.
1960: The N.Y. Yankees and the Pittsburg Pirates were tied with 3 games each going into game 7. The Yankees had outscored the Pirates in the first 6 games by a 46-17 margin, but were still tied at 3 wins each. In a see-saw game 7 with a nail-biting finish, the score was tied 9-9 in the 9th inning. Then Pirates’ second baseman, Bill Mazeroski, finished the drama by hitting the game winning, and series winning solo home run.
1981: In one of the many World Series meetings between the L.A. Dodgers and the N.Y. Yankees, game 4 was played at Dodger Stadium with the Yankees ahead in games 2-1. In the 6th inning Yankee right fielder Reggie Jackson, known as “Mr. October” for his exploits in previous World Series, lost a fly ball in the bright sunshine hit by the Dodgers Rick Monday. The Dodgers scored two runs in the inning and went on to win game 4 by a score of 8-7. They parleyed that momentum into winning games 5 and 6, and also the World Series.
1985: The St. Louis Cardinals led same-state rivals, the Kansas City Royals, 3 games to 2. But in game 6, the Cardinals scored a run in the 8th inning to take a 1-0 lead into the 9th. The Royals’ Jose Orta hit a ground ball to Cardinal’s first baseman, Jack Clark who fielded it and threw it underhand to pitcher Todd Worrell covering first base. Orta appeared to be out but was called safe by umpire Don Denkinger. Instant replays showed that Orta was out, but they were not binding in 1985, and the call stood. The Cardinals then self-destructed missing a pop-up that fell in for a single, a passed ball by the catcher moving the base runners up to second and third, and then a clean single by the Royals’ Dane Iorg that drove in two runs giving them the win. The next day, the discouraged Cardinals lost game 7 and the Series 11-0.
1986: The Boston Red Sox had not won the World Series since 1918 when they faced the N.Y. Mets in Game 6 with a 3 to 2 advantage in wins. In the bottom of the 10th inning with the score tied at 5 and a runner on base, the Mets’ Mookie Wilson hit a slow ground ball toward first base that bounced underneath the Red Sox’ first baseman Bill Buckner’s legs into the outfield scoring the winning run. Although other Red Sox players also failed to deliver during the game, Buckner received the blame. But it was only game 6—still the Red Sox could not turn it around in game 7 losing 8-5.
1991: The Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins, were even at 3 games each when game 7 was played in Minnesota’s Metrodome. The Braves’ Lonnie Smith, a good hitter but a challenged baserunner, was on first base in the top of the 9th inning of a scoreless game. The Braves’ Terry Pendleton then hit double all the way out to the left field wall that should have scored Smith easily. But for some unknown reason Smith apparently lost track of the ball perhaps fooled by Minnesota infielders pretending to field it. Smith rounded second base but then stopped suddenly. He took a few steps back towards second base, then realizing his mistake continued running to third base. The Twins retrieved the long hit and returned it to the infield preventing Smith from scoring what would have been the game’s only run. The Twins then pitched out of the jam with Smith stuck at third base forcing him out at the plate on an infield ground ball. In the 10th inning the Twins then scored a run, breaking the deadlock and winning the game 1-0 and also the series.
1993: The Toronto Blue Jays led the Philadelphia Phillies 3 games to 2, but the Phillies were ahead 6-5 in the 9th inning of game 6, and appeared poised to tie the series up. However, the Phillies called in their best reliever, Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams, who had a reputation for control problems. With two runners on and only one out, Joe Carter came to bat for the Blue Jays, promptly hitting a 3-run home run off Williams to give his team the championship in game 6 over the Phillies.
2001: The N.Y. Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks were tied at 3 games each. In game 7, the Yankees were ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th inning, and ace relief pitcher Mariano Rivera, was on the mound. It seemed inevitable that Rivera would shut out the D-Backs in the 9th to preserver the win and championship. However, after a lead-off single, the next batter bunted, and Rivera fielded the ball throwing it into center field.
A few batters later up came Tony Womack who hit a double tying the score. Rivera then hit a batter putting him on first base. Luiz Gonzales was up next and promptly hit a single, driving in the game winning run and taking the championship away from Rivera and the Yankees in a matter of a few minutes.
Sources: History.com, 7 of the Most Memorable World Series in Baseball History, By Chris Mueller, May 31, 2023.
History.com, 10 of the Biggest Blunders in World Series History, By Christopher Klein, May 31, 2023.
Wikipedia, Lonnie Smith.
Wikipedia Enos Slaughter.