1985 World Series
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The 1985 World Series, popularly known as the "Show-Me Series" and the "I-70 showdown Series", pitted the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the American League champion Kansas City Royals. Interstate 70, which crosses Missouri and links the two cities together, inspired the nickname for this year's Major League Baseball championship.
In the 1985 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, umpires' mistaken calls influenced the outcome of the game. In the 4th inning of the scoreless game, Frank White seemed to have stolen second base but was called out by the umpire. Replays later showed that White had been safe, and the following batter, Pat Sheridan, hit a harmless single into the outfield. Jorge Orta's Royals were trailing 3 games to 2 in the Series and 1-0 on the scoreboard when he led off the bottom of the ninth with a ground ball to Cardinal first baseman Jack Clark, who flipped the ball to Cardinal pitcher Todd Worrell covering first. First base umpire Don Denkinger called Orta safe, but television replays later showed that Worrell had beaten him to the base. The call shifted momentum of the Series to the Royals, who won the game 2-1, and the Series the next night on Bret Saberhagen's 11-0 shutout.
It was the second Missouri-only World Series: the first was the 1944 World Series between two St. Louis teams, the Cardinals vs. the Browns.
Although the Royals lost the first two games at home, they overcame their poor start and became World Series champions for the first time, thanks in particular to MVP Bret Saberhagen and his victories in Games 3 and 7.
Managers: Dick Howser (Kansas City), Whitey Herzog (St. Louis)
Umpires: Don Denkinger (AL), Billy Williams (NL), Jim McKean (AL), Bob Engel (NL), John Shulock (AL), Jim Quick (NL)
Television: ABC (Al Michaels, Tim McCarver and Jim Palmer announcing)
Contents |
[edit] Game 1
October 19, 1985 at Royals Stadium (Kansas City Royals)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
St. Louis Cardinals 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 1
Kansas City Royals 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 0
PITCHERS: STL - Tudor, Worrell (7)
KC - Jackson, Quisenberry (8), Jackson (9)
WP - Tudor
LP - Jackson
SAVE - Worrell
HOME RUNS: STL- none
KC- none
ATTENDANCE: 41,650
John Tudor continued his regular season success in the World Series by stopping the Royals, 3-1. Danny Jackson was the Royals starter and loser.
[edit] Game 2
October 20, 1985 at Royals Stadium (Kansas City Royals)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
St. Louis Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 6 0
Kansas City Royals 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 0
PITCHERS: STL - Cox, Dayley (8), Lahti (9)
KC - Leibrandt, Quisenberry (9)
WP - Dayley
LP - Leibrandt
SAVE - Lahti
HOME RUNS: STL- none
KC - none
ATTENDANCE: 41,656
Charlie Leibrandt continued a history of tough luck in the post-season. The previous year, he had lost game three of the 1984 ALCS, 1-0, when he pitched a three-hit complete game. He lost game four in the 1985 ALCS in the ninth inning. And clinging to a two-run lead in the ninth, manager Dick Howser opted to not send in his relief ace Dan Quisenberry to close out the game. Leibrandt faltered, and only one out from tying the series at one apiece, Leibrandt yielded a bases loaded double to Terry Pendleton that scored three runs and gave the Cardinals a 4-2 win at Royals Stadium.
[edit] Game 3
October 22, 1985 at Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Kansas City Royals 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 6 11 0
St. Louis Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 0
PITCHERS: KC - Saberhagen
STL - Andujar, Campbell (5), Horton (6), Dayley (8)
WP - Saberhagen
LP - Andujar
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: KC - White
STL - none
ATTENDANCE: 53,634
The Royals got back into the series by riding ace Bret Saberhagen to a 6-1 victory against twenty-game winner Joaquín Andújar. Saberhagen flashed messages on the television screen to his pregnant wife who was due to give birth any day. She eventually gave birth on October 26.
[edit] Game 4
October 23, 1985 at Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Kansas City Royals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
St. Louis Cardinals 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 X 3 6 0
PITCHERS: KC - Black, Beckwith (6), Quisenberry (8)
STL - Tudor
WP - Tudor
LP - Black
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: KC - none
STL - Landrum, McGee
ATTENDANCE: 53,634
John Tudor's complete game shutout put the Cardinals on the verge of winning their second World Series in four years, 3-0. Tito Landrum, only playing due to an injury to Vince Coleman, continued to make his case for MVP with a home run.
[edit] Game 5
October 24, 1985 at Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Kansas City Royals 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 11 2
St. Louis Cardinals 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1
PITCHERS: KC - Jackson
STL - Forsch, Horton (2), Campbell (4), Worrell (6), Lahti (8)
WP - Jackson
LP - Forsch
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: KC - none
STL - none
ATTENDANCE: 53,634
Entering this game, the Royals were three for three in must-win games in the postseason. They ended this one four for four with a victory over the Cardinals, again by the score of 6-1. Danny Jackson was the winning pitcher, following the same formula and pitching rotation as the Royals did in the ALCS where Jackson also won game five.
[edit] Game 6
October 26, 1985 at Royals Stadium (Kansas City Royals)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
St. Louis Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 0
Kansas City Royals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 10 0
PITCHERS: STL - Cox, Dayley (8), Worrell (9)
KC - Leibrandt, Quisenberry (8)
WP - Quisenberry
LP - Worrell
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: STL - none
KC - none
ATTENDANCE: 41,628
Many St. Louis Cardinals fans recall this game as the night the Cardinals won the World Series only to have it stolen from them due to a bad call by first base umpire Don Denkinger. A pitcher's duel unfolded between Danny Cox and Charlie Leibrandt, the tough-luck loser in Game Two. They traded goose eggs until the eighth, when Brian Harper singled home Terry Pendleton to give the Cardinals the lead and inside track for the title. But the bottom of the ninth featured controversy and a collapse by the Cardinals.
Whitey Herzog called on rookie reliver Todd Worrell to pitch the ninth. The first batter, Jorge Orta, sent a routine bouncer to Jack Clark. He tossed to Worrell and got Orta for the seeming first out, but umpire Don Denkinger erroneously called Orta safe. Every replay angle indicated that Orta was out. Instead of one out, the Royals now had one on and slugger Steve Balboni at the plate. Balboni lifted a routine pop-up in foul territory along the first base dugout. Darrell Porter claimed he had it and then didn't, and the ball fell harmlessly behind Jack Clark. Given a reprieve, Balboni singled, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. Sent to bunt the runners over, Jim Sundberg's bunt was fielded perfectly by Worrell, and he threw out Orta at third.
But the rally stopper was undone when Porter's passed ball allowed the runners to move up and forced Herzog to walk Royals pinch-hitter Hal McRae. With the bases loaded and one out, pinch-hitter Dane Iorg looped a single to right field. Pinch runner Onix Concepcion scored the tying run and Sundberg approached the plate with the winning run. Andy Van Slyke's throw was on the money, but Porter made a short attempt to tag Sundberg, who slid home safely with the game-winning run.
The Cardinals fumed afterward, blaming Denkinger for the call and the loss. Denkinger was also scheduled to be the home plate umpire in Game Seven. See also:
[edit] Game 7
October 27, 1985 at Royals Stadium (Kansas City Royals)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
St. Louis Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Kansas City Royals 0 2 3 0 6 0 0 0 X 11 14 0
PITCHERS: STL - Tudor, Campbell (3), Lahti (5), Horton (5), Andujar (5), Forsch (5), Dayley (7)
KC - Saberhagen
WP - Saberhagen
LP - Tudor
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: STL - none
KC - Motley
ATTENDANCE: 41,658
One night after becoming a father, Bret Saberhagen tossed a five-hitter and the Royals became the only team to ever come from a three games to one deficit twice in the same postseason to win the World Series. Saberhagen got all the offense he needed when Darryl Motley homered to left off John Tudor. Tudor left the game trailing in the third, and hit a power fan that resulted in a cut fingertip. In the long fifth inning, reliever Joaquín Andújar twice charged home plate umpire Don Denkinger to disagree with his strike zone. Andújar and Whitey Herzog were both ejected, and Andújar was suspended for the first ten games of the 1986 season.
[edit] Trivia
- This was the first World Series in which all games were played at night.
- The Cardinals' .185 batting average was the lowest for a seven-game World Series until the New York Yankees hit .183 in the 2001 World Series.
- Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog was ejected in Game 7 by the home plate umpire, Don Denkinger. Denkinger had infamously and incorrectly called safe Jorge Orta at first base in Game 6. When asked about why he would allow himself to get ejected from the seventh game of the World Series, Herzog said "I've seen enough!"
- The day before starting Game 7, World Series MVP Bret Saberhagen's wife Janeane gave birth to the couple's first child, a nine-pound, three-ounce boy named Drew William. By the 8th inning of Game 7, Saberhagen looked directly towards ABC's cameras and asked his wife over the air, "Is the baby still there?"
- John Tudor was so enraged after his performance in Game 7, in which he allowed five earned runs and four walks in 2 1/3 innings, that he took a punch (with his throwing hand) at an electric fan. The fan got the better of the encounter. Many viewers were initially confused when the announcers reported that Tudor had "punched a fan in the clubhouse."
- This was the first World Series that featured commentator Tim McCarver, who called the World Series with Al Michaels and Jim Palmer for ABC. Howard Cosell was originally supposed to be in the booth, but he was removed from his assignment just prior to Game 1 because of the controversy surrounding his book I Never Played the Game.
- Game 6 hero (and former Cardinal) Dane Iorg got his nose broken when his teammates, led by 230 pound (104 kg) pitcher Mike Jones, mobbed him after his game winning hit.
- Perhaps the most memorable image of the Series was George Brett racing over to hug Bret Saberhagen after the clinching out. Just moments earlier, Brett approached his pitcher at the mound and told him to stick around on the mound once the final out was made. Brett said he wanted to make sure Saberhagen went to either himself or Frank White, the two franchise players who had spent 12 years helping get the Royals to that point.
- The Royals became the first team ever to win the World Series after dropping Games 1 and 2 at home.
- The Cardinals scored only 13 total runs, an all-time low for a seven game series, scoring only once in the final 26 innings of the series. If they had held on for the win in Game 6, they still would have been outscored in the series 15-13.
- According to George Brett, although he has come in contact with embattled umpire Don Denkinger (briefly crossing paths at banquets for instance) years after the controversial events in the 1985 World Series, Brett has claimed that he has never directly mentioned "The Call" to Denkinger.
- According to Cardinals reliever Todd Worrell, catcher Darrell Porter had a routine where if he wanted to change pitches, he would gesture to his mask for the signal. Just prior to Worrell throwing a passed ball (which allowed the Royals to tie the game in the in Game 6), Porter reached into his mask to push his glasses back (as opposed to simply touching the side of the mask). As a result, Worrell thought that Porter wanted to him to pitch a slider as opposed to a fastball.
- The 1985 Royals were the sixth and (as of September 2006) the last team to come back from a 3 games to 1 deficit to win the World Series, the others being the 1903 Red Sox, 1925 Pirates, 1958 Yankees, 1968 Tigers and 1979 Pirates. Amazingly, the '85 Royals also came back from a 3 games to 1 deficit to win the American League Championship Series against Toronto.
- Game 7 at Royals Stadium marked the last time to date that the DH was not used at an American League ballpark.
- The ten year run of alternating between use and non-use of the DH in the World Series had come to an end. Ironically, teams from one league won the majority of the Series played by the other's rules. N.L. teams won 3 of the 5 Series played with the DH (Cincinnati-1976, Philadelphia-1980 and St. Louis-1982), while A.L. teams won 3 of the 5 Series played without the DH (N.Y. Yankees-1977, Baltimore-1983 and Kansas City-1985).
[edit] Quotes of the Series
| “ | Is the baby still there? - Bret Saberhagen (see above) | ” |
| “ | Little squibber to the right side, Worrell racing to cover and the throw doesn't get him! - ABC Sports announcer Al Michaels calling Don Denkinger's infamous call in Game 6 | ” |
| “ | Looks like he's out! - ABC Sports color commentator Jim Palmer pointing out Don Denkinger's mistake. | ” |
| “ | And there's a blooper to right field for a base hit! Concepcion scores! Here comes Sundberg! Here comes the throw...he scores!!! We go to a seventh!!! - Al Michaels | ” |
| “ | That's Whitey Herzog screaming at Don Denkinger! - ABC Sports color commentator Tim McCarver talking about the Cardinal manager's frustrations with the home plate umpire in Game 7. | ” |
| “ | To (Darryl) Motley...for the title! The Kansas City Royals are the 1985 World Champions. - Al Michaels | ” |
| “ | Eleven to nothing. The one-oh pitch...fly ball, Motley going back to the track...no outs to go! The Royals have won the 1985 World Series. And they converge on the mound in celebration! - Denny Matthews | ” |
[edit] External links
- 1985 World Series by Baseball Almanac
- Baseball-Reference.com > Postseason > 1985 World Series
- History of the World Series - 1985
- 1985 Kansas City Royals
- 1985 St. Louis Cardinals
- K.C. Had A Blast
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