I love that stuff - I remember the '67 Series fairly well. Mayo Smith and Mickey Lolich flipped the outcome in '68. And don't forget the "craziness" of putting Mickey Stanley at shortstop to get Kaline back in the lineup. Baseball, the Beautiful Game.
@Lando Lincoln There are few things equal in this life to the taste of our steaks and the flavour of our baseball, no matter how often either change. Think, too, of . . .
* Casey Stengel staggering the "purists," actual or alleged, when he brought in Bob Kuzava to close out back-to-back World Series against "the percentages," knowing---and this was before anyone ever thought of sabermetrics---that the lefthander Kuzava was actually tougher against righthanded hitters.
* Howard Ehmke, nearing the end of such career as he had, starting a World Series game and setting a new record for strikeouts in a Series game, subsequently broken by Carl Erskine, Sandy Koufax, and Bob Gibson.
* Moe Drabowsky, known better as a flake than a relief pitcher, relieving Dave McNally in Game One, 1966 World Series, and striking out eleven, still a record for relievers in a Series game.
* Gil Hodges, Cleon Jones, the shoe polish, and Donn Clendenon's immediate two-run homer, 1969 World Series, Game Five.
* Davey Johnson, Mets manager, solving a bullpen shortage for a game by inserting Jesse Orosco on the mound, Roger McDowell in right field (Darryl Strawberry was out of the game), and rotating them between the mound and right field each inning until the Mets won the game.
* Billy Martin blowing his nose and prompting an immediate double-steal attempt that backfired on the Yankees---because Martin momentarily forgot that touching his nose was the sign for Yankee runners to try a steal if they weren't thinking of it already. (He usually let men like Mickey Rivers try to steal at will.)
* Vladimir Guerrero swinging at a pitch that
bounced up to the plate---and still hitting a double deep to the outfield. (If he isn't the best bad-ball hitter baseball has seen since Yogi Berra, I don't know who is.)
* Everybody knows: Ted Williams's final major league at-bat was a home run at a season's end. Nobody seems to appreciate: David Ross's final major league at-bat was also a home run---in a World Series. Of course, Grandpa Rossy wan't Teddy Ballgame, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone else ending a career with a blast in a World Series at all, never mind Game Seven. Speaking of which . . .
* The 2016 Cubs.
* Dave Roberts stealing with The Mariano on the mound, starting maybe the most improbable comeback and series overthrow in postseason history---2004 Red Sox.
* George Burns as God to John Denver in
Oh, God!---
Oh, every now and then I work a small one to keep My hand in. My last miracle was the 1969 Mets. Before that, I think you have to go back to the Red Sea. Aaaaah, that was a beauty!* Luke Appling---all 74 years old of him---opening an old-timer's game in Washington's RFK Stadium by hitting one past the specially drawn-in left field fence (to accommodate the old farts) and
into the left field seats, with Warren Spahn (who'd surrendered the bomb) chasing him around the bases playfully, whacking him on the ass with his glove almost all the way. It got Appling more fame than he'd ever known when he did play in the majors, and he was a Hall of Famer in the bargain.
* Reds rookie Chico Ruiz staggering everyone in the yard
including Phillies pitcher Art Mahaffey, who then had the best pickoff move in the league, by stealing home with Frank Robinson at the plate (it helped that Mahaffey was startled enough by the attempt that he threw the pitch home a little wild), for the only run of the game that started the Phillie Phold of 1964.
* Darryl Strawberry channeling his inner Roy Hobbs and hitting the Busch Stadium clock on the rim of the upper deck, late 1985.
* Sandy Koufax going
mano a mano with Willie Mays.
* Juan Marichal v. Warren Spahn, sixteen innings, 1963.
* Yogi Berra happening upon a pre-All Star Game of American League pitchers discussing how to pitch Stan Musial and saying, "Forget it---you guys are trying to figure out in fifteen minutes what nobody's figured out in fifteen years."
* Tom Seaver knocking Bob Gibson down in retaliation for Gibson decking a Mets batter in a spring training game and hollering, "We can stop right now if you want, but if you want to continue you'd better remember I throw a lot harder than you now, you old fart!" (For the record, Gibson loved it---he recognised a fellow samurai.)
* Pedro Martinez tweeting admiration when Noah Syndergaard opened Game Three, 2015 World Series, by knocking the Royals' plate-crowding Alcides Escobar on his ass. (Tom Verducci,
Sports Illustrated writer working as a colour man on the television broadcast: "
That's announcing yourself. Game on!" P.S. It was the only game the Mets won in a Series they
could have won but handed the Royals thanks to their porous defense.)
* Albert Pujols hitting three homers in one World Series game
beginning in the seventh inning.
* The 2011 Cardinals coming back from their final strike
twice to win Game Six and go on to win Game Seven.
* Bill Mazeroski, Chris Chambliss, Kirk Gibson, Joe Carter, Aaron Boone, and . . .
* Travis Ishikawa channeling his inner Bobby Thomson. 2014 National League Championship Series.
* Randy Johnson pitching a perfect chair from his walker. OK, that's a joke, son, but he was the oldest man ever to pitch a perfect game---40.
* Bartolo Colon's first major league home run . . .
! No longer available* And, his play to first base . . .
! No longer available
