The "D's" of the Yankees helped New York prevail over Los Angeles in 1978. When it was over, Lowell Reidenbaugh of the Sporting News, summed up two men on the Yankees' whose last name began with the letter, "D" in this manner, "Brian Doyle and Bucky Dent will never be remembered by history as the modern counterparts of Paul and Lloyd Waner, the diminutive destroyers of the Pirates in the 1920s and 30s, but they will be recalled as the unlikely Yankee heroes of the sixth World Series game." Not that the two didn't pick up their play a game earlier.
One, Bucky Dent was riding a high from his three-run home run off Mike Torrez in game number 163. The other was kind of a question mark. Brian Doyle had been a September call-up due to an injury to Willie Randolph. The Yankees had to get the big "Okay" from their opposition in the American League Championship Series to use Doyle come September.
Well, Kansas City was okay with Doyle being a potential foyle. Doyle got into three games, collected an RBI, and hit .286. Bucky Dent picked up where he'd left off at Fenway Park, ending up with four RBIs in as many games.
So the Yankees beat the Royals 3-1, and advanced to the Final Round, setting up a rematch from the World Series last year. The Los Angeles Dodgers were starting this Fall Classic round at home. And they came out flying.
Two home runs in the last of the second put them up 3-0. They stretched it to 7-0 through six frames, and things looked bad. But Mr. October started the top of the seventh off on the right foot. Reggie Jackson took Tommy John out of the park. At least there would be no shutout. Soon, they'd get two on, but with two out. That's when Bucky Dent made it nine RBIs in his last six games with a two-run single. And while it proved to be his only his of the ballgame, it showed the Yankees had plenty of fight in them. It was the Dodgers that won it, 11-5. Brian Doyle came in to play in the bottom of the eighth, but did not get a chance to bat.
The second game went much better. Did the two Yankees' players have anything to do with it? Well, Doyle started game two at second base, in the eighth slot (The designated hitter was used in this World Series, as it was an even year). Batting right behind him was the shortstop, Dent.
"D" is for down, which is where New York went in the second contest, but only 4-3. Doyle kept the top of the fourth alive with a single, but was stranded. Dent didn't seem to be doing much, but finally got a hit in the ninth.
But the hit itself could have meant something. It was a leadoff single. The Yankees trailed by just one run when Bucky came through. Roy White grounded out, but Dent moved to second. Paul Blair walked. So an extra-base hit would put the mighty Bronx Bombers ahead. However, Bob Welch came in to face two dangerous hitters. First, Thurmond Munson flied out. Reggie Jackson battled Welch to a grate at-bat, but ended up striking out.
So, it was 2-0 LA. But things would be different back at the Stadium. Not that it wouldn't be a daunting task. The Dodgers sent Don Sutton to the hill. The Yankees countered with their big winner from 1978, Ron Guidry. Guidry didn't have his best stuff, but did he ever have himself a ballgame, with exception of seven bases on balls permitted.
Roy White staked him to a lead in the bottom of the first with a long ball. The first two batters got on in the second for New York, giving Brian Doyle a chance. He hit into a force. So did Dent. However, out of those two outs, Graig Nettles moved to third, and scored. Mickey Rivers didn't hit into a force. He singled Bucky Dent to second. But then Roy White grounded out.
The Dodgers got on the board in the top of the third, as Bill Russell got a single. The ball itself was one that Buck Dent got to, but he was too far to the right, and nearly into the outfield, to get Russell at first. Still, it was a mighty close play at first. The good news for the pinstripers: That was the Dodgers only run!
As for the "D And D Boys", it was a strange game. Doyle got the ball to the outfield his last three times up, but ended the contest 0-4. Dent, though, singled in the bottom of the seventh. This hit, in which Bucky led off the inning, lead to a huge rally. The score was still only 2-1 for New York. But not for long.
Mickey Rivers got to first on a bunt single. Roy White forced him at second. But now, some important insurance was at third, in the form of Dent. It was time for Thurmond Munson to put a Dent into LA's chances. He singled, plating Dent.
The Yankees took off from there. Reggie Jackson followed suit with a single. 4-1. Lou Pinella grounded out, but another run scored. Graig Nettles tried to get another run or two home, but ended up with a long, loud out. The Yankees didn't need any more runs, though. Ron Guidry won, 5-1.
Game four was memorable, as it went into extras. Our two boys, though, didn't do much. For starters, or should I say, "Lack of starters", Doyle didn't even get into the game until the top of the tenth. Dent had a so-so game at best. Both Tommy John and Bob Welch held him to just a 1-4 day.
Still, Bucky got his hit in the bottom of the third. It was here that the ballgame was delayed for forty minutes due to rain. The Yankees at one point trailed 3-0, but battled back. The game was won by the home team in the last of the tenth, when Lou Pinella singled home Roy White, making the final score 4-3. Furthermore, though, Doyle didn't even get a chance to make a fielding play when Los Angeles batted in the Dodgers' half of that inning. Dent managed four putouts and two assists. One of his putouts was in the top of the ninth, and it had to have raised some eyebrows. Davey Lopes popped it up with a man on and two down. The ball drifted into centre field, where Paul Blair was. Blair was one awesome fielder, and you'd think, "It's his!" But Bucky would have none of it. Er, actually, he'd have all of the ball.
It was time, though, for Dent and Doyle to really wake up. And let me tell you, they put on a show in game five, worthy of Broadway!
Dent walked and scored his first time up. In the fourth, Doyle (Who was 0-1) singled with one away. Dent followed with one of his own. Mickey Rivers scored Doyle with a single. The next batter, Roy White, scored Dent by grounding out. The Yankees added another run. They were ahead 7-2 at this point. And they didn't stop touching home.
Bucky Dent added a single in the fifth. But, for the first time all game, did not score. Doyle would follow Jim Spencer's one out single in the last of the seventh with one of his own. A passed ball moved 'em both up into scoring position. What a chance for Bucky Dent. And...He fanned. So did Mickey Rivers. But rather than the third out, it was shades of 1941 with Mickey Owen all over again. Only this time, it was pitcher Charlie Hough fault, rather than catcher Johnny Oates'. In any event, instead of the inning being over, the wild pitch got Spencer home. Doyle advanced to third. Would he score? Yes, on Roy White's single. Another run was added via a Thurmon Munson two-bagger. It was a 7-11 scenario. The Yankees had played seven full innings, and scored eleven runs. Want some more? Some more Dent's in the Dodger armour!
The first two Yankees went down against Hough in the eighth, both via strikeouts. However, Jim Spencer knew if he could keep the inning alive, two hot batters were behind him. So, Spencer walked. You can guess what happened at this point. The Yankees were about to make it a dozen runs.
First, though, you needed to get the man into scoring position. So, Doyle singled. Then you needed to get the man home, and get the man on first into scoring position. So, Dent doubled. Paul Blair fanned on three pitches, leaving Brian Doyle at third. The Yankees won, 12-2.
Okay, how about the numbers for each. The quiet boys were LOL'ing. As in laughing out loud. Each had three hits. Each scored two runs. It seemed like now we could have a toss up for MVP. Dent was hitting .350 and Doyle, .333. This could be close.
But first, New York was more concerned with winning it all. Up 3-2, they headed back to Los Angeles. The home team had held serve every time, so the Yankees would need to win at least one game at Dodger Stadium. And while we are at it, couldn't Brian Doyle pick up an RBI? He still was looking for his first.
But not for long. His second-inning double (Remarkably enough, Brian hadn't had an extra bases hit at the big league level, prior to this) tied the game. Then, on cue, Bucky Dent singled home two more runners. The Yankees were ahead 3-1. That was all the offence they needed. The "D And D" Boys were beating the Dodgers, all by themselves.
Los Angeles, though, got a run back in the third. In the top of the fourth, our two delightful Dodger-destroyers were at it again. With two away, Doyle singled off Don Sutton. So did Dent. Mickey Rivers lined out, alas.
There would be no denying Doyle, Dent, destiny in the top of the sixth. The Dodgers could try any and all things. It wasn't going to work. Did somebody say, "Where are Doyle's RBIs?" Well, he got another one in that inning. So did Bucky Dent. It was back-to-back singles again. You think Reggie Jackson wasn't amazed by all this? Well, maybe not, knowing Reggie. However, the big guy blasted a two-run home run in the seventh to end any doubt of this game (and series) outcome.
It seemed though, that Doyle was about to tie a record held by Thurmond Munson and Goose Goslin. After all, didn't the hits keep right on coming for Brian? Munson held the record by getting six consecutive hits in the World Series with six (Later broken by Bill Hatcher in 1990), which he'd set in the last two games of the 1976 Fall Classic. Well, Doyle came up in the dish one last time in the top of the eighth.
He just missed. The first pitch was a ball, the second fouled into the crowd. The next one was also foul, but not by much. Right along the foul line in right. "Whoa! Came within inches of joining the two pretty good ballplayers," explained Joe Garagiola up in the broadcast booth. Alas, Doyle got a hold of the next one, but it was merely a comebacker to Doug Rau. Rau then completed a 1-2-3 inning by getting Dent to ground out to third.
The Yankees went on to win, 7-2. An article in the The Globe and Mail emphasized how Dent and Doyle were a long way from Jackson and Munson. And the rest of the Yankees, it seemed. "Brian Doyle and Bucky Dent, a pair of "nickel and dime" hitters in a million-dollar batting order, brought New York Yankees their second successive World Series championship last night with six hits and five RBIs between them to spark a 7-2 triumph over Los Angeles Dodgers."
It had been one awesome Fall Classic by Doyle and Dent. When push came to shove, it was Bucky that walked away with the World Series' MVP, and the Babe Ruth Award for outstanding Fall Classic performance. Doyle was left with nothing, and sadly would fade to the obscurity from whence he came. Still, the 1978 Fall Classic was won by two infielders who loved to choke up on the bat, and weren't afraid to step up when the Yankees needed them the most.
References
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Reidenbaugh, Lowell. “Yanks Do It With Deadly Duo: Dent, Doyle.” The Sporting News, 4 Nov. 1978, p. 41, https://paperofrecord.hypernet.ca/paper_view.asp?PaperId=834&RecordId=13&PageId=7621648&iZyNetId={E6849BAE-6FA3-457E-9B16-263D53EF3CAA}&iOrder=2&iOrderDir=0&iCurrentBlock=1. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.
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