Monday, January 19, 2015

World Series: Did You Know?

Mike Hegan got a walk in the 1964 Fall Classic after appearing in just five games for the Yankees in the regular season. Mike had no hits in the regular season. He also failed to get any against the St. Louis Cardinals that October.

But he was there, and not even a rookie until 1967, when New York traveled to St. Louis for game one. Needless to say, he couldn't have expected to play. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have.

But October of 1964 was not a healthy time on the New York Yankees. Late in the season, Tony Kubek, the shortstop, had punched a door that he thought was made of wood. It was made of sheet metal. The timing could not have been worse. It was September 29th. Needless to say, he would miss the rest of the campaign. And all of the Fall Classic. The injuries didn't stop their.

Whitey Ford, who would start game one, had a damaged arm. He had battled circulatory problems in the regular season, and his game one start was the only appearance. Another pitcher, Pedro Ramos, had been acquired too late to make the postseason roster.

Hegan, though, was obviously on it. But would he finally get a hit? I guess the World Series is a fine time to get your first. Mike made it into the game and contributed. Without getting a hit. But he used his legs to help.

It was the top of the eighth inning in this game played at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Cardinals have driven Ford from the hill and gotten still another run off Al Downing. Even so, it was only 6-4, St. Louis. The big problem here, was it was the bottom of the order coming up for the Bronx Bombers. And remember, this was in the day and age before the DH!

So Clete Boyer went down on a grounder off Barney Schultz, the relief pitcher for the Cards. But then, Johnny Blanchard batted for Downing and hit a double to deep right. But Blanchard was a catcher and occasional outfielder. And he was slow.

So Mike Hegan came in to pinch run. Phil Linz grounded out to Clete's brother Ken at third. Hegan held. Bobby Richardson, up next, singled to left. Hegan motored on around third towards home, and scored! 6-5, St. Louis! Putting him in had payed dividends!

The Yankees themselves seemed to be coming alive. Roger Maris singled Richardson to third. The tying run was ninety feet away, and The Legend was at the dish. That would be Mickey Mantle. But Schultz managed to get hit out on a grounder to second.

St. Louis went on to win that game, 9-5. But New York was not discouraged. They had to face the great Bob Gibson in game two. But, go figure, the won, 8-3. And Mantle faced Barney Schultz and hit a double this time. Hegan didn't play in this game or game three, which New York also won, 2-1. The Mick took Schultz out of the park in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the ninth!

The Cards came back to win game four, by one run, 4-3. Game five was back to Gibson, who took an early 2-0 lead, but could not hold it. Tommy Tresh tied it was a dramatic home run of his own. And it was with two down in the bottom of the ninth. The Cardinals thought, snapped back and plated three more runners in the top of the tenth to take a 5-2 lead.

Gibby needed just three more outs and his team was up three games to two in this great Fall Classic. Bob didn't want to squandered this golden opportunity. Pete Mikkelsen, the relief pitcher who'd pitched well for 1 2/3 innings before the roof caved in on him in the top of the tenth, was due up. So Hegan batted for him, Gibson fanned him, for his thirteenth K of the day. Phil Linz popped out. Richardson continued his onslaught of Cardinal pitching (Most notably, Gibson) with a single. Roger Maris popped it up foul to third, where Ken Boyer reached in to the stands to make a fine catch. That came right next to the President of the National League, Warren Gilles!



Now up, three games to two, and back to St. Louis, the Cards needed just one more win. But New York had other ideas. Another rout, another 8-3 win, as this thing was not in the cards yet for St. Louis. But Hegan had nothing to do with it. New York, however, was looking like that fine-oiled machine again!

Bob Gibson went out to put an end to that. He started game seven against Mel Stottlemyre. An early 3-0 lead for St. Louis seemed to spell the end. Stottlemyre himself jammed his shoulder covering first on an attempted double play, so he was removed for a pinch hitter. And it was Mike Hegan who batted for him in the top of the fifth.

Gibson was conceding to nothing and no one at this point. But Tom Tresh actually led off the fifth with a walk. Then, after an out, Hegan got his pinch hitting appearance. He worked Gibson over and got a walk himself. The tying run was at the dish. Phil Linz hit a sinking liner to right, and Mike Shannon made the catch. Tresh was doubled off second for the third out. A nice double play.



The Cardinals went on to win the game, 7-5. Hegan would make it back to the bigs, but not until 1967. He also made it back to the World Series, but not until 1971 with Oakland. In 1972, he found himself on a Fall Classic winner.




Hegan was somewhat of an afterthought on the Yankees in 1964. Had New York been healthy, he probably would not have been on the postseason roster. But sometimes in situations like this, a door opens due to an unfortunate event. Hegan got into the World Series as a result!


References


Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Ford, Whitey, and Phil Pepe. Slick. New York: W. Morrow, 1987. Print.


Gallagher, Mark. Explosion!: Mickey Mantle's Legendary Home Runs. New York: Arbor House, 1987. Print.

Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print.

Halberstam, David. October 1964. New York: Villard, 1994. Print.

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

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. 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.


Retrosheet. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.  <www.retrosheet.org>.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.

Youtube. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>.

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