Monday, November 24, 2014

World Series: Did You Know

Gene Tenace participated in the Fall Classic in 1972, 1982, and 1992. Oh, he was also there in 1973, 1974 and 1993!

Tenace was one of those World Series surprises that year of '72. With the Oakland A's, and up against a great Cincinnati Reds' team, he provided the boast they needed. The teams were pretty evenly matched, but Cincy had made it to the Fall Classic two years earlier and were looking for their first triumph since 1940. They might have got it, if not for Tenace.

Having played in just 82 games in '72 and hitting just 5 round-trippers, what went down in the Fall Classic was a shocker. Especially when Gene hit just .059 in the American League Championship Series vs. Baltimore.

Gene went out to the World Series, played all seven games at catcher, and hit, hit hit. Home run, home run, home run! He connected for two in the first game, another in the third, and still another in the fifth game. The Oakland A's were up three games to one when Tenace got his fourth. The Reds would rally and take this game and game six, but Oakland ultimatly triumphed in game seven. For his efforts, which included a .348 batting average, Gene was named World Series MVP.

He did not, however, have things his way in the 1973 and '74 Fall Classics. Gene hit poorly. The Athletics, nonetheless, won both years. They made it back to the ALCS in 1975, but were swept by the Boston Red Sox. Tenace played to the end of 1976 with Oakland before being dealt to San Diego.

But in 1982, he was back in the Fall Classic with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Athletics made it back to the postseason in 1981 without him, but here, Gene was trying to prove he could get it done with any team.

He didn't do much in the World Series. He only played in five games, got no hits, and only reached base once. But again, it was his team that came through in seven. This would prove to be his last World Series as a player. But ten years later he was back in October's Classic.

He was the bench coach of the Toronto Blue Jays, who were still seeking their first World Series win. He even had gotten some managerial experience at the big league level the previous year, 1991. Cito Gaston had a herniated disc and missed 33 games. Tenace went 19-14 during the span. Cito returned, but the Jays lost the ALCS to Minnesota. But in 1992, Toronto beat Gene's old team, the Oakland A's, in six games to advance to the World Series. But Gene got ejected in game five!

There were no ejections of Tenace or any of the Jays' coaches in the World Series. The Jays got several key moves from Gaston and co. to win it all against Atlanta in six games.

Gene Tenace ended up with six World Series rings to his name. It's about being in the right place at the right time, isn't it?


References


Dan Diamond and Associates and Toronto Blue Jays Club. Toronto Blue Jays Official Guide 1987, 1993, 1994. Print.

Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Gamester, George, and Gerald Hall. On Top Of The World: The Toronto Star’s Tribute To The ‘92 Blue Jays. Doubleday Canada, 1992. Print.

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Informationhttp://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

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