World Series: Did You Know?

Randy Arozarena is sort of the first designated hitter to bat in a National League home game.

But the reason I worded it that way is, Kurt Bevacqua is still the last DH to hit in a National League ballpark in the Fall Classic. Way back in 1984, with the San Diego Padres. Bevacqua's team was up against one awesome Detroit Tigers ballclub.

And having lost game one to the Bengals right there at Jack Murphy Stadium, the Padres came right back with a 5-3 win in the second contest. And Kurt had something to do with that. He went 3-4 at the dish. After grounding out his first time up, Bevacqua singled, went yard, and then singled again. The Padres won 5-3, sending the series to the Motor City all tied. Alas, despite a home run by Kurt Bevacqua in the fifth contest, the 1984 World Series did not return to San Diego as Detroit won the next three contests at Tiger Stadium.

Now flash-forward 36 years. Due to the Covid-19 crises, the Fall Classic is being played exclusively at the home of the Texas Rangers, Globe Lite Field. Now, that's an American League ballpark. The Los Angeles Dodgers (For the third time in four years) and Tampa Bay Rays, battled through the gauntlet that was the postseason to claim the AL and NL Flags.

So, Los Angeles was designated as the home team in game one, and the designated hitter will be used throughout the World Series. The universal DH had been put into effect for the first time in baseball all across the big leagues. Whether or not it will be this way in 2021 is yet unclear, although a recent article in the Star Tribute suggest the designated hitter will return to just the American League next year, possible returning throughout all of Major League Baseball in '22.

In any event, Tampa Bay batted in the top of the first, of course, in the opening contest of the 2020 World Series. With one on, and one out, Randy Arozarena stepped in to face the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw. Arozarena managed to coax a bases on balls from the lefty. Hunter Renfroe batted next, but Kershaw fanned him. Manuel Margot was then retired as the Rays failed to score.

And from there, Clayton Kershaw settled down. He allowed just one hit in the next five innings. After getting the Rays 1-2-3 in innings two and three, back came up the DH, Arozarena, in the fourth. Kershaw fanned him. When the inning was over, Clayton had six strikeouts. When he left the hill after six, he'd whiffed eight batters.

However, Kevin Kiermaier did get to Kershaw in the fifth, belting a solo home run. The game was close at the time of the home run, as it cut the Dodgers' lead to just 2-1. That was as close as it got for Tampa, alas. Los Angeles pushed across four runs in the bottom of the frame to put this game out of reach.

Ironically, the last batter that Kershaw would face in this contest was Randy Arozarena. In a 1-2-3 sixth, the Dodger lefty failed to K a batter, but needed just nine pitches to retire the side. Randy grounded out to second.

Arozarena batted one last time. Facing LA's Pedro Baez, Randy flied out to centre. Baez needed just eleven pitches himself to get the side 1-2-3.

Joe Kelly, the last Los Angeles pitcher of the night, then retired Tampa Bay in order in the ninth, as the Dodgers won the tilt, 8-3. The Rays, however, came back strong in the second contest, holding on for a 6-4 win, having been up 5-0 at one point. In that game, their DH's (Austin Meadows and Yandy Diaz) each collected a hit, albeit just singles. Game three is tonight and Tampa will be designated the home team, in Texas.


References


Cwik, Chris, and Yahoo Sports. Report: The Designated Hitter Will Only Be Used in the American League in 2021. 22 Oct. 2020, sports.yahoo.com/report-the-designated-hitter-will-only-be-used-in-the-american-league-in-2021-194000216.html?guccounter=1. Web. 23 Oct. 2020.

Neft, D. S., & Cohen, R. M. (1990). The World Series: Complete play-by-play of every game, 1903-1989. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. Print.

Morissey, Scott C. 114 World Series in 1 Book. Updated Edition ed., Pandamonium Publishing House, 2020. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. https://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 23 Oct. 2020.