Notable baseball games to air on ABC

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The following is a list of noteworthy games to air on ABC's coverage of Major League Baseball.

Main article: Major League Baseball on ABC

Contents 1 Regular season 1.1 1976 1.2 1978 1.3 1979 1.4 1980 1.5 1981 1.6 1982 1.7 1983 1.8 1985 1.9 1986 1.10 1987 1.11 1988 1.12 1989 2 League Championship Series 2.1 1976 American League Championship Series 2.2 1986 American League Championship Series 3 World Series 3.1 1977 World Series 3.1.1 "The Bronx is Burning" 3.1.2 Reggie Jackson 3.1.3 1989 World Series 4 See also 5 References 6 Sources

[edit] Regular season

[edit] 1976

• N.Y. Yankees at Detroit^[1]: Mark Fidrych wows Tiger Stadium crowd and Monday Night Baseball audience.

• Los Angeles at Pittsburgh^[2]: John Candelaria no-hits the Dodgers.

• Kansas City at Baltimore^[3]: Reggie Jackson in his only year as an Oriole.

[edit] 1978

• Philadelphia at Cincinnati^[4]: Perhaps the worst start (2+ IP, 7 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 3 K) of Tom Seaver’s career.

• N.Y. Yankees at Boston (AL East playoff)^[5]: Bucky Dent continues the "Bambino Curse."

[edit] 1979

• N.Y. Yankees at California^[6]: Reggie Jackson breaks up Nolan Ryan’s no-hit bid in ninth inning.

• Baltimore at N.Y. Yankees^[7]: Bobby Murcer has a five RBI night after eulogizing his fallen teammate, Thurman Munson earlier in the day.

[edit] 1980

• Houston at Los Angeles (NL West playoff)^[8]: Art Howe (3-for-5, HR, four RBIs) helps the Astros move on into the NLCS.

[edit] 1981

• St. Louis at Philadelphia^[9]: Pete Rose singles off of Mark Littell for his 3,631st career hit, breaking the National League record of Stan Musial.

[edit] 1982

• Milwaukee at Baltimore^[10]: The AL East is at stake on the season’s final day; Don Sutton vs. Jim Palmer.

[edit] 1983

• Kansas City at Toronto^[11]: Jim Clancy tosses a five-hitter to lead Blue Jays over Royals.

[edit] 1985

• Chicago Cubs at N.Y. Mets^[12]: Gary Carter homers; Ron Darling tosses a five-hit shutout.

• N.Y. Mets at Cincinnati^[13]: Keith Hernandez, who went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, comes within triple of hitting for the cycle.

[edit] 1986

• N.Y. Mets at St. Louis^[14]: Tim Teufel hits two two-run home runs for the Mets.

• San Francisco at N.Y. Mets^[15]: Dan Gladden goes 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

• Oakland at Boston^[16]: Tony La Russa's first game as A's manager; Dave Stewart vs. Roger Clemens.

[edit] 1987

• Minnesota at N.Y. Yankees^[17]:Frank Viola vs. Ron Guidry; Viola allows only five hits.

• N.Y. Yankees at Minnesota^[18]: Mark Salas’ three-run homer in seventh inning lifts Yankees.

• Toronto at Detroit^[19]: On the final day of the regular season, Frank Tanana pitches the Tigers to the AL East title.

[edit] 1988

• N.Y. Yankees at Oakland^[20]: Dave Henderson leads off 14th inning with game-winning home run for the A's.

• St. Louis at N.Y. Mets^[21]: David Cone pitches 10 innings; Lee Mazzilli's RBI single in 12th gives the Mets the win.

• Los Angeles at San Francisco^[22]: Kevin Mitchell's two-run homer propels the Giants over their arch-rivals.

[edit] 1989

• Chicago Cubs at San Francisco^[23]: Giants score seven runs in the seventh inning.

• Cincinnati at N.Y. Mets^[24]: Little Luis Quiñones hits two home runs for the Reds.

• Kansas City at N.Y. Yankees^[25]: Andy Hawkins fires a three-hit shutout.

[edit] League Championship Series

[edit] 1976 American League Championship Series

In the decisive fifth game of the 1976 American League Championship Series, Chris Chambliss' home run off Mark Littell of the Kansas City Royals gave the Yankees their first trip to the World Series since 1964.

“

Mark Littell delivers . . . High drive hit to right-center field . . . It could be . . . it is . . . gone! -- Keith Jackson

”

“

Chris Chambliss has won the American League pennant for the New York Yankees. . . . A thrilling, dramatic game. . . . What a way for the American League season to end! -- Howard Cosell

”

[edit] 1986 American League Championship Series

On October 12, 1986 at Anaheim Stadium, Al Michaels along with Jim Palmer called Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. Michaels would eventually consider this particular game to be "the greatest of all the thousands of games" he has ever done. The California Angels held a 3 games to 1 lead of a best-of-seven 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 hit by Wade Boggs and a home run by Don Baylor, closing the gap to 5-4.

When Donnie 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 out from getting into the World Series for the very first time in their existence. But 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.

“

The pitch . . . Deep to left and Downing goes back. And it's gone! Unbelievable! You're looking at one for the ages here. Astonishing! Anaheim Stadium was one strike away from turning into Fantasyland! And now the Red Sox lead 6-5! The Red Sox get four runs in the ninth on a pair of two-run homers by Don Baylor and Dave Henderson. - Michaels on the call.

”

He also said,

“

Dave Henderson, its a long way from Seattle.

”

Pointing out that Dave Henderson had played for the last place Seattle Mariners earlier in 1986.

Moore continued to pitch 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 in a 3 games to 2 advantage, with two more games to play at Fenway Park. The Angels were not able to recover, losing both games by wide margins, 10-4 and 8-1.

Game 7 of the 1986 ALCS ended with Calvin Schiraldi striking out Jerry Narron. Just prior to the moment, Michaels set-up the situation by summarizing the Red Sox's dramatic come back in the series.

“

The Red Sox can go from last rites to the World Series...and they do! - Michaels on the call.

”

[edit] World Series

[edit] 1977 World Series

[edit] "The Bronx is Burning"

Game 2 of the 1977 World Series took place in blustery Yankee Stadium on October 12, 1977. An hour or so before game time, a fire started in Public School Number 3, an abandoned elementary school a few blocks from the ball park. By the time the game began at 8 p.m., the building was fully involved and the fire had gone to five alarms. A helicopter-mounted camera lingered on the scene for a few seconds and Cosell, who was calling the series for ABC, intoned in a weary voice,

“

There it is, ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning.

”

Cosell misidentified the building as a tenement, many of which had indeed burned down in recent years as landlords fled the borough and burned their buildings for the insurance money. Cosell's comment seemed to capture the widespread sensibility that New York was on the skids and in a permanent state of decline. In retrospect, of course, it was the darkness before the dawn. Author Jonathan Mahler truncated the quote and used it as the title for his 2005 book on New York in 1977, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning.

[edit] Reggie Jackson

During the World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, Yankee catcher Thurman Munson was interviewed, and suggested that his teammate Reggie Jackson, because of his past postseason performances, might be the better interview subject. "Go ask Mister October", he said, giving Jackson a nickname that would stick. (In Oakland, he had been known as "Jax" and "Buck.") Jackson hit home runs in Game 4 and Game 5 of the Series. His crowning achievement came with his three-home-run performance in Game 6, each on the first pitch, off three different Dodger pitchers. The first came off starter Burt Hooton, and was a high-arcing shot into the lower right field seats at Yankee Stadium. The second was a line drive off reliever Elias Sosa into roughly the same area. With the fans chanting his name, "Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE! Reg-GIE!" the third came of reliever Charlie Hough, a knuckleball pitcher, making the distance of this home run particularly remarkable. It was a towering drive into the black-painted "hitter's background" seats in center, 475 feet away, one that stunned the ABC sportscasters covering it:

“

Keith Jackson: High... Tom Seaver (interrupting):

”

As the ball bounced into the black bleachers, the first time a player had hit those stands in Yankee Stadium's post-renovation configuration...

“

Howard Cosell: Oh, what a blow! What a way to top it off! Forget about who the Most Valuable Player is in the World Series. How this man has responded to pressure! Oh, what a beam on his face. How can you blame him? He's answered the whole WORLD! After all the furor, after all the hassling, it comes down to this!

”

Jackson became the first player to win the World Series MVP award (named for Babe Ruth, the only other player to his three home runs in a World Series game) for two different teams. In 27 World Series games, he amassed 10 home runs, including five in a row during the 1977 Series (three of them on consecutive pitches), 24 RBI and a .357 batting average. In the aftermath, Bill White, who did pre-game work for ABC during the 1977 World Series, covered the trophy presentation in the Yanks' clubhouse following the Game 6 title clinching.

[edit] 1989 World Series

On October 17, 1989, Al Michaels, Tim McCarver, and Jim Palmer were in San Francisco, California, preparing to cover the third game of the 1989 World Series between the home team, the Giants, and the visiting Oakland Athletics. ABC's network telecast began with a recap of the first two games, both won by Oakland. In the pre-game TV segment for ABC, some game footage of Oakland Athletics slugger Dave Parker hitting a double to the wall in right field to drive in José Canseco from Game 2 was being shown.

Soon after Al Michaels handed off to his broadcast partner, Tim McCarver, who started assessing the Giants' chances for victory in the game, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck. McCarver fell into a stunned silence, but Michaels astutely said into the microphone,

“

I'll tell you what, we're having an earth--!

”

just as it went dead, providing the only concurrent broadcast account of what had happened. Audio was restored minutes later (a green ABC Sports graphic replaced the picture though) where Michaels, over a telephone line started off by trying to make light of the chaotic situation by quipping that it was

“

The greatest open in the history of television -- bar none!

”

Following the earthquake, ABC went with a rerun of The Wonder Years for about 15 minutes before returning. After ABC restored the telecast with a backup generator, Michaels gave an eyewitness account of the aftermath at Candlestick Park, the Giants' stadium, for which he later was nominated for an Emmy Award for news broadcasting. Michaels' nomination was by virtue of his presence on the scene and the already existing video link, was ABC's main contact from San Francisco, feeding reports and commentary to anchorman Ted Koppel (in Washington D.C.). The Goodyear Blimp (which was already aloft for the game) provided video of structural damage and fires within the city.

Al Michaels, Tim McCarver, and Jim Palmer remained a calm and reassuring presence in what could have been a scene of panic. According to Tim McCarver, when the earthquake hit, he, Michaels and Palmer immediately grabbed a hold of what they perceived to be the armrests. In reality, the announcers were clutching on each others' thighs and they were left with bruises the next day. Years later, Al Michaels would boldly admit his strong belief that had the earthquake lasted much longer than 15 seconds, he would've gotten killed. Michaels added that the only time that he really got scared during the earthquake was when he moved in a position which he perceived to be backward. The three announcers were simply sitting on a ledge with their backs turned and nothing else behind them in the booth.

[edit] See also

• Monday Night Baseball
• List of American League Championship Series broadcasters
• List of National League Championship Series broadcasters
• List of American League Division Series broadcasters
• List of National League Division Series broadcasters
• List of Major League Baseball All-Star Game broadcasters
• List of World Series broadcasters

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

• Games on Tape