October 14th Is A Special Day In Baseball Lore
Every year October 14th auspiciously falls smack dab in the middle of the baseball playoffs. As such, there have been many great moments that have occurred on his date. To wit:
A mere 120 years ago, on October 14, 1905, Christy Mathewson threw a shutout against the New York Giants to give the Philadelphia Athletics the World Series crown.
We all recall that the Chicago Cubs broke a 108-year World Series drought with their victory over Cleveland in 2016. On this day in 1908, that streak began. The Cubs defeated the Detroit Tigers 2-0 in Game 5 in front of the smallest crowd (6,210) in World Series history to take home the title.
On the same day in 1929, the Philadelphia A’s turned the tables on the Cubs, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win Game 5 and the World Series.
On this day in 1964, the M&M boys were back at it again, with Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle hitting back-to-back homers (on consecutive pitches) off the Cardinals’ Curt Simmons to even that World Series at three games apiece. The Cardinals would go on to win the whole thing the next day.
The next year on this date, Sandy Koufax shutout the Minnesota Twins 2-0, giving us just three hits while striking out ten, to give the Dodgers a World Series title. It was his second shutout of that Fall Classic (he won Game 5 three days earlier, giving up just four hits while striking out ten).
On October 14, 1969, Tommy Agee became a household name with not one, but two, amazing catches (one in left center and one in right center), and hit a homer, in Game 3 of the World Series that the “Amazin’ Mets” would go on to win in five games.
The Mets would be back in the World Series four years later against the Athletics. On this day, in Game 2, Willie Mays recorded his final major league base hit (a run-scoring single to center off Rollie Fingers in the 12th inning).
Fifty years ago today, home plate umpire Larry Barnett made a name for himself when he decreed that Cincinnati Reds’ Ed Armbrister did not interfere with Boston’s Carlton Fisk when he ran into the catcher after attempting a sacrifice bunt. Fisk threw the ball into center field, allowing Cesar Geronimo to move to third, from where he would eventually score the winning run in Game 3 of what many still believe to be the greatest World Series ever played.
Exactly one year later, Chris Chambliss hit a ninth inning home run off Kansas City’s Mark Littell to give the New York Yankees their first pennant since 1964. As you may recall, the crowd stormed the field, and Chambliss barely survived his trip around the bases. It is hard to even imagine such a scene today.
On this day in 1984, the legend of Kirk Gibson may have been born (not really, insofar as he had already won the ALCS MVP while going 5-for-13 with one homer). On October 14th, Gibby hit two home runs and drove in five in Detroit’s clinching Game 5 victory over the San Diego Padres. Four years and a day later (October 15, 1988) Gibby truly became a legend.
The next year, famed broadcaster Jack Buck proclaimed, “Go crazy folks, go crazy,” when Ozzie Smith lifted a 2-1 pitch down the right field line for a game-winning homer in Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS at the famed Busch Stadium.
Today being an off day in the ALCS between the Seattle and Toronto, it is fitting to note that on this day in 1992 the Blue Jays became the first Canadian team to reach the World Series, after defeating the then-Oakland Athletics 9-2.
Later that night, the Pittsburgh Pirates took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves. It is worth reliving this stanza. Doug Drabek gave up a lead off double to Terry Pendleton (MVP in 1991; runner-up in 1992). David Justice then reached on a fielding error by second baseman José Lind. Sid Bream walked to load the bases. Pirates manager Jim Leyland replaced Drabek with Stan Belinda. Ron Gant then hit a deep drive to left to score Pendleton from third and make it a 2-1 game. Catcher Damon Berryhill walked to reload the bases. Brian Hunter, needing just a lazy flyball to tie the game, instead popped out to second. Up came Francisco Cabrera. Cabrera, who had eleven plate appearances all season, made his second of the post-season. He proceeded to line a 2-1 pitch to left, scoring Justice, with Bream chugging behind him. Barry Bonds – winner of eight Gold Gloves – threw home late, and Bream scored the pennant-winning run. It has become known in Atlanta baseball history as “The Slide.”
In 1998, the Padres cliched the right to play in their first World Series by defeating the Braves 5-0. They would then be swept by the Yankees in a series that was actually closer than the final verdict would reflect.
On October 14, 2015, with two on and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 3-3 Game 5 of the ALDS, José Bautista hit the second biggest home run in Toronto Blue Jays’ history (Joe Carter hit the biggest in 1993), which will always be remembered for Bautista’s epic bat flip.
Oh, and on this day in 1972, Gene Tenace became the first player to ever homer in his first two World Series at-bats, leading the A’s to a Game 1 victory over the Reds. According to family lore, my father witnessed these home runs on a television in the hospital’s waiting room while my mother gave birth to me.
PLAY BALL!!
