Lonnie Smith's grand slam in game five of the 1992 Fall Classic was the first by a player on the Senior Circtu since Ken Boyer's in 1964? Yep, the National League was a little behind the ball in the four-baggers for four runs! Each of them seemed to be needed. The World Series usually makes heroes out of these kinds of home run hitters!
Boyer hit his in game four. The New York Yankees were up two games two on over the St. Louis Cardinals. Boyer, whose brother Clete was on the Yankees, was looking at his 'mates and probably feeling a little glum. Ken had Phil Linz trapped in a rundown but failing to nail him in the first, Boyer and his mates soon were behind 3-0.
It stayed that way until the top of the sixth. Car Warwick pinch hit for pitcher Roger Craig. He singled off Al Downing, who was pitching well. Curt Flood singled Warwick to second. But then things seemed to fizzle for St. Louis. Lou Brock was out on a fly ball and then Dick Groat hit a grounder to Bobby Richardson. Bobby had trouble getting the ball out of his glove and threw wide to shortstop Linz covering the bag. So the inning was not over, the bases were loaded and Boyer was up. Ken, 1-13 so far in the Fall Classic, hit a 1-0 changeup from Downing to deep left. It was just fair, and St. Louis had a 4-3 lead. They held on to win the game.
In Lonnie Smith's case, he was stuck in a slump of his own and so was his team. It seemed worse. He wasn't getting his bat on the ball and Atlanta wasn't getting runners home. Smith was a bit of a veteran in the Fall Classic. The 1992 World Series had seen him up his career total of games played to 31 by showing up in game five.
But he hadn't played in game one. Jack Morris pitched for Toronto and was his usual, tough postseason pitcher. He ended up losing 3-1, but fanned 7 batters in only six innings. This guy was tough. So was the rest of the Jays' staff. Smith had just one RBI going into game five. But a player of his experience is going to get a big hit at some point, right?
Morris was struggling early in game five, but so was his mound adversary. The pressure, however, was on the Atlanta Braves. They were behind three games to one and this game was at the SkyDome (Now, The Rogers' Centre).
Morris was nicked for a run in the top of the first. But Smith could only fly out to end it. Toronto came right back at Atlanta in the bottom of the second after Morris got 'em 1-2-3 in the top of the frame. Pat Borders doubled home John Olerud.
Both Morris and Smoltz had an easy third. Dave Justice, though, hit a home run to put Atlanta back on top in the top of the fourth. Smith followed with a fly to right. Morris got out of there with no further damage. His mates tied it again in the bottom of the frame. Smoltz used up 25 pitches to get out of there. By comparison, Morris had used only 11 in the top of the inning. Smoltz needed a rest. Smith gave it to him!
Morris started out the top of the fifth by fanning Damon Berryhill on seven pitches. It was his fifth K of the game. When Mark Lemke then grounded out on the first pitch, it looked like an easy 1-2-3 inning for Morris.
But Otis Nixon singled and stole second. When Deion Sanders singled to centre, it was 3-2, Atlanta. Then, Terry Pendleton doubled to right. A fan touched the ball and Sanders had to go back to second. The Jays decided to walk Dave Justice intentionally. Well, they found a way to keep the ball in the park, right? Not this inning, as it turned out!
Lonnie Smith walked up to the dish. So, a pair of flyballs to right, so far. But he was about to hit a fly to right, just like Dave Justice had the previous inning. And like Dave's blast, there was no catching it!
Lonnie fouled off the first pitch, then took a ball. Another foul and he was one strike away from going down. But he persevered and fouled off two more Morris offerings. Then, Jack made a big mistake. He threw Smith a fastball that was on the outside edge of the plate. That's not a problem. But it was high, at the waist level. That's a problem. Smith swung and sent it to right. It ended up in the Braves bullpen! It was 7-2, Atlanta.
Smoltz was done after six, but Atlanta went on to win the game. Smith was out of his slump, and up to five RBIs in four games. How's that?
Ken Boyer, after his slam, had five RBIs in four games as well. Both Boyer and Smith were veterans at their moment of glory. Smith was 36 and Boyer was 33. It's experienced players like these that can give your team the lift they need when struggling. Or needing a boost. And if four runs on one swing doesn't help the cause a lot, what does?
Gamester, George, and Gerald Hall. On Top Of The World: The Toronto Star’s Tribute To The ‘92 Blue Jays. Doubleday Canada, 1992. Print.
Halberstam, David. October 1964. New York: Villard, 1994. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 26 Dec. 2014.
Youtube. Web. 26 Dec. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/>
Boyer hit his in game four. The New York Yankees were up two games two on over the St. Louis Cardinals. Boyer, whose brother Clete was on the Yankees, was looking at his 'mates and probably feeling a little glum. Ken had Phil Linz trapped in a rundown but failing to nail him in the first, Boyer and his mates soon were behind 3-0.
It stayed that way until the top of the sixth. Car Warwick pinch hit for pitcher Roger Craig. He singled off Al Downing, who was pitching well. Curt Flood singled Warwick to second. But then things seemed to fizzle for St. Louis. Lou Brock was out on a fly ball and then Dick Groat hit a grounder to Bobby Richardson. Bobby had trouble getting the ball out of his glove and threw wide to shortstop Linz covering the bag. So the inning was not over, the bases were loaded and Boyer was up. Ken, 1-13 so far in the Fall Classic, hit a 1-0 changeup from Downing to deep left. It was just fair, and St. Louis had a 4-3 lead. They held on to win the game.
In Lonnie Smith's case, he was stuck in a slump of his own and so was his team. It seemed worse. He wasn't getting his bat on the ball and Atlanta wasn't getting runners home. Smith was a bit of a veteran in the Fall Classic. The 1992 World Series had seen him up his career total of games played to 31 by showing up in game five.
But he hadn't played in game one. Jack Morris pitched for Toronto and was his usual, tough postseason pitcher. He ended up losing 3-1, but fanned 7 batters in only six innings. This guy was tough. So was the rest of the Jays' staff. Smith had just one RBI going into game five. But a player of his experience is going to get a big hit at some point, right?
Morris was struggling early in game five, but so was his mound adversary. The pressure, however, was on the Atlanta Braves. They were behind three games to one and this game was at the SkyDome (Now, The Rogers' Centre).
Morris was nicked for a run in the top of the first. But Smith could only fly out to end it. Toronto came right back at Atlanta in the bottom of the second after Morris got 'em 1-2-3 in the top of the frame. Pat Borders doubled home John Olerud.
Both Morris and Smoltz had an easy third. Dave Justice, though, hit a home run to put Atlanta back on top in the top of the fourth. Smith followed with a fly to right. Morris got out of there with no further damage. His mates tied it again in the bottom of the frame. Smoltz used up 25 pitches to get out of there. By comparison, Morris had used only 11 in the top of the inning. Smoltz needed a rest. Smith gave it to him!
Morris started out the top of the fifth by fanning Damon Berryhill on seven pitches. It was his fifth K of the game. When Mark Lemke then grounded out on the first pitch, it looked like an easy 1-2-3 inning for Morris.
But Otis Nixon singled and stole second. When Deion Sanders singled to centre, it was 3-2, Atlanta. Then, Terry Pendleton doubled to right. A fan touched the ball and Sanders had to go back to second. The Jays decided to walk Dave Justice intentionally. Well, they found a way to keep the ball in the park, right? Not this inning, as it turned out!
Lonnie Smith walked up to the dish. So, a pair of flyballs to right, so far. But he was about to hit a fly to right, just like Dave Justice had the previous inning. And like Dave's blast, there was no catching it!
Lonnie fouled off the first pitch, then took a ball. Another foul and he was one strike away from going down. But he persevered and fouled off two more Morris offerings. Then, Jack made a big mistake. He threw Smith a fastball that was on the outside edge of the plate. That's not a problem. But it was high, at the waist level. That's a problem. Smith swung and sent it to right. It ended up in the Braves bullpen! It was 7-2, Atlanta.
Smoltz was done after six, but Atlanta went on to win the game. Smith was out of his slump, and up to five RBIs in four games. How's that?
Ken Boyer, after his slam, had five RBIs in four games as well. Both Boyer and Smith were veterans at their moment of glory. Smith was 36 and Boyer was 33. It's experienced players like these that can give your team the lift they need when struggling. Or needing a boost. And if four runs on one swing doesn't help the cause a lot, what does?
References
Gamester, George, and Gerald Hall. On Top Of The World: The Toronto Star’s Tribute To The ‘92 Blue Jays. Doubleday Canada, 1992. Print.
Halberstam, David. October 1964. New York: Villard, 1994. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 26 Dec. 2014.
Youtube. Web. 26 Dec. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/>
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