World Series: Did You Know?

 The top two batters in 1984 were a superstar and a ridiculed player. Well, opposite ends of the spectrum.

Al Trammell, the shortstop on Detroit, was the big gun for the Tigers. San Diego countered with Kurt Bevacqua. The Padres were a bit of an underdog, but if you think about it, they had the edge. The 1984 World Series would (as it is now) use a designated hitter all Fall Classic, even in San Diego. So, a team that normally just had the pitcher in the ninth slow could add a hitter.

Kurt played two positions in the infield (3B and 1B) plus two outfield (LF and RF) positions. His stats suggest he was a below-average fielder. In the National League Championship Series, Kurt played in two games, coming to bat twice. 0-2, and hit into a double play. Trammell was great in the American League Championship Series, hitting .364 against Kansas City. He'd win his fourth Gold Glove in 1984. So Alan could field. Could he hit? .314, 14 home runs, 69 runs driven in.

See, Bevacqua got into only 59 regular seasons game in 1984, hitting just .200 with one home runs and nine runs driven in. So he couldn't hit or field in '84. What was his manager thinking? Putting him in the designated hitter role for game one. Detroit wasn't fooling anyone in that they wanted this thing. They started out 35-5 that year, ending up with 104 wins. San Diego had to be content with just 92 wins themselves.

So game one was close. Trammell, who graduated from Kearny High School, right there in San Diego,  put the Bengals on top with an RBI in the top of the first via a single. The shortstop then caught trying to go to second with Kirk Gibson up. Was this crucial? Well, The Tigers got two more hits in that inning, both of them singles, but no runs.

Surprisingly, the Padres came back with two of their own to answer that, right in their first at-bats. But Bevacqua was behind Trammell in hits and RBIs. In fact, Alan added a single next time up, in the top of the third, and this time stole second! However, no runs were scored, period, by Detroit that inning.

Trammell was retired in the fifth inning, but so was Bevacqua. And, more importantly, Detroit reclaimed the lead on a two-run home run by Larry Herndon. From there, the pitching of the Tigers' Jack Morris and the Padres' Andy Hawkins / Dave Dravecky did the job. San Diego starter Mark Thurmond hadn't pitched too bad, allowing three runs in five innings. So he took the loss, but the bullpen gave San Diego a chance to win. Perhaps some of the defeat could be placed on Kurt Bevacqua, as he out attempting to stretch a double into a triple in the seventh. Kurt was batting in the ninth slot, and there were no outs when got the hit. I guess both he and Allan needed to stop being so aggressive on the bases. Still, bottom line, Trammell was 2-5 and Bevacqua was 1-3. It's not like these two men took their time becoming heroes in the 1984 October Finale.

Speaking of heroes, it was pretty much Kurt that was in game two. Oh, it started out pretty bad for the home team. The Padres watched as Allan Trammell followed Lou Whitaker's leadoff single in the first with one of his own. Both ended up scoring. Whitaker on Kirk Gibson's single. There were still no outs, and the first three men had gotten hits. Lance Parrish cashed in Trammell with a sacrifice fly. Gibson, too, ended up scoring.

So down 3-0, San Diego came up in the bottom of the first, and got one run back. But when would Kurt Bevacqua do something? I told you he was the big gun in the second contest.

Okay, here's what he did. He singled in the fourth. Garry Templeton got a one-out single himself. Bevacqua motored to third. As he got up, Kurt talked to third base coach, Ozzie Virgil (Sr.)

"I pulled a muscle," he told Virgil. "You did?" Where, in the leg?" the coach asked of his player. "It's alright," Bevacqua assured him. Ozzie was firm in his reaction that his player was truly okay. "You make sure now [That you can still play]." Bobby Brown hit into a force, and the man from third scored. Trammell fanned his next two times up, but Kurt Bevacqua wasn't retired after grounding out in the bottom of the second. In the fifth, he came up with two on and one out. His team trailed by a run. "Get it done, Kurt. Right man in the right spot!" That was his manager Dick Williams with some great encouragement. But even Williams could not have expected what happened on an 0-1 pitch.

Bevacqua sent Detroit starter Dan Petry to the showers with a huge three-run home run. That turned his teams' fortunes around. Down 3-2, now up, 5-3. Talk about charging up your team! Kurt was so charged up, he did a jump and spin around as he neared first. Let him explain.

“It certainly gets your adrenaline going," Kurt would say in a Zoom session years later, "especially the first one [The home run] in game two  that I hit, because you know, I wasn't, known to be a home run hitter. I don't recall, at least at the professional, level ever going the plate trying to hit a home run and getting it done.”

Alan Trammell singled in the eight but was stranded. Bevacqua had added a single an inning earlier, part of his 3-4 day. Alas, Carmelo Martínez came up in the bottom of the seventh. Kurt was still on first. One out, one on. Doug Bair fanned him on a payoff pitch, which Bevacqua took off on. Lance Parrish fired to Lou Whitaker, and Kurt was DOA. 

Well, some good and some bad from the San Diego designated hitter. But, the important thing was, Kurt had redeemed himself. A 5-3 win by the Padres sent this extravaganza to Detroit, tied 1-1. We can say that So blunders on the base paths were still a bit of a problem for both players. More Bevacqua at this point. However, the win in game two was huge. It's quite likely that the Padres would have been swept had they lost it.

It seemed like the Tigers were ready, willing and able to settle this nonsense. Their big guns chased starter Tim Lollar in the second. Well, there was Marty Castillo, the number nine hitter, swatting a big, two-run dinger. Lou Whitaker kept the rally going with a walk, and then Alan Trammell continued his hot-hitting. His doubled plated his pal Whitaker. Detroit loaded the bases, with Trammell scoring on a bases on balls to Larry Herndon.

Well, 4-0. San Diego got one back in the top third, but that only temporarily made it closer. Trammell had a walk and a hit to his name. He was one of three Tigers' who walked in the bottom of the third. Darrell Evans crossed the plate when Kirk Gibson was hit by a pitch. So, twice the Tigers' had gotten men home as the Padres loaded the bases and forced in the man. Walks, hit by pitches, had to stop. Gotta make the opposition hit the ball!

Kurt Bevacqua tried to help. He started the top of the fourth with a single. With one away, Garry Templeton singled. But the next two batters hit into force plays, so San Diego got nothing. They finally pried a run loose in the seventh, but that was it. Trammell ended the game with two hits and two walks. Bevacqua was only 1-4 (Even though his team out-hit Detroit, 10-7).

Well, Kurt and the boys would have to be better in game four, which was a big one. But you know what, Alan Trammell had no intentions of letting San Diego get ahead. He belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the first.

Here, though, San Diego didn't waste much more time. Terry Kennedy hit a solo shot in the top of the second. Bevacqua was next, and he doubled. They were getting to Jack Morris early. Morris got out of the inning without further damaged, and that proved to be vital.

You know, though? Alan Trammell came back up in the third. As was the case in the first, his fellow double-play partner Lou Whitaker was on first. And, again Alan came up big. A two-run home run put Detroit up 4-1. Trammell added a single in the fifth, but did not score. Kurt Bevacqua had to settle for his double first time up. Still, he finished 1-3. He was now hitting .375 in the postseason despite that tough League Championship Series. Trammell, though, finished 3-4. There just had to be "MVP" whispers. Two hits in game one. Two more in the second contest. Still again, two, in the third. And now three here in the fourth. Alan was up to a .563 batting average in the 1984 World Series. His team, which won the pivotal fourth contest, 4-2, was but one triumph away from a season for the ages.

So it was do-or-die for Kurt and company in game five. Detroit didn't want to go back to San Diego.

Again, the Tigers were deadly early in the game. Trammell himself forced Whitaker at second in the first inning. But then Kirk Gibson hit a two-run home run. 2-0. It as 3-0 by the time the Padres got that third out.

Still, come the top of the fourth, San Diego battled. They'd gotten one run back in the third. Kurt Bevacqua walked. A good start. Garry Templeton hit a one-out double, on which left fielder Larry Herndon, slipped after cutting it off. Tying run at second. Bobby Wiggins hit a sacrifice fly to centre. It was fitting that Bevacqua scored here. All throughout the 1984 World Series, he'd helped his team stay right with the Tigers. Before Detroit could pick up lumber in their half of the inning, it was tied.

The home team regained the lead an inning later. Lance Parrish added a solo home run to make it 5-3, Detroit, in the seventh. Time was running out. San Diego had one last gasp. Guess who came up in the top of the eighth? Why Bevacqua. But he was up against Detroit's bullpen ace, Willie Hernández. Two down, no one on. The first pitch to Kurt was a fastball. But it caught too much of the plate, and was at the letters. Bevacqua smashed it deep to left. It landed in the second deck, high above Larry Herndon. The Padres were not going away quietly. "...we got a game again," observed Vince Scully. Two home runs in the 1984 October Finale for Kurt Bevacqua, who'd hit a grand total of one in the regular season.

Unfortunately for Kurt and company, the Tigers regrouped in their half of the eighth. Alan Trammell, who finished the game without a hit, came up with two on and nobody out. He bunted both men into scoring position, setting up Kirk Gibson's three-run home run. It was game over, and everybody knew it.

Neither Trammell nor Bevacqua would bat again in this Fall Classic. Each had gone yard twice in only five games. Trammell led all hitters with a .450 batting average. But right behind him was Kurt Bevacqua. Tommy Lasorda probably got around to thanking Trammell at some point, for outhitting him, .412.

References

“An Interview with Major League Baseball Player Kurt Bevacqua From Dirty Kurt’s Dugout.” YouTube, Keeping The Nostalgia Alive Show, Google, 19 Nov. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AipqYQRImjs&t=2547s. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023. 


Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005.


James H. Williams at Coachella, "Dodgers' Joc Pederson hits a 3-run home run. Pederson reaches bases and yells 'YOU LIKE THAT!' #ThisTeam" Twitter, 28 Oct. 2017, https://twitter.com/JHWreporter/status/924475161197264896

Major League Baseball Productions. 1984 World Series Highlights. Youtube.

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

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

--------------. The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903-1989, St. Martin's Press, 1990.

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


1984 World Series. National Broadcasting Company, Oct. 1984, Accessed 28 Apr. 2023. Television broadcast (YouTube). 


“1984 World Series Highlights.” YouTube, Major League Baseball Productions, 1984, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LlPFj32aNM. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023. 

Society For American Baseball Research, SABR. https://sabr.org/. 28 Apr. 2023.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. 28 Apr. 2023.

Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/. 28 Apr. 2023.

YouTube, Google, https://www.youtube.com/. 28 Apr. 2023.

World Series: Did You Know?

Jack Morris led (or tied for the lead) in K's in 1984, 1991, and 1992. He was Jack-of-All-Trades for Detroit in '84 and Minnesota in '91, but couldn't quite help Toronto in '92, alas.

But, as a member of that great Detroit Tigers team in 1984, Morris had some strikeout experience. He'd topped the American League in K's the year before with 232. The Detroit Tigers were invincible in '84, but Jack finished with just 148 strikeouts. What could possibly be different in the playoffs?

Well, Jack Morris was 19-11 that season, but his earned run average was high, 3.60. That didn't stop him from winning his only start in the American League Championship Series vs. Kansas. 7 IP, 5 H and 4 K. The key stat is that Jack allowed just one run. So much for the ERA.

The same in the Fall Classic vs. San Diego. Morris won a close first game, 3-2. It was far from easy. And it seemed like Jack was about to get lit up and not make it out of the first inning.

The Tigers, playing on the road in a World Series that featured the last use of the designated hitter in National League ballparks until this year (2020), gave Jack a run to work with. That was in the top of the first. Morris started out on the right foot with a strikeout of Alan Wiggins. The dangerous Tony Gwynn flied out. Two away. What could possibly go wrong?

Steve Garvey singled. So did ex-New York Yankee Greg Nettles. Terry Kennedy cashed 'em both in with a two-bagger. 2-1, San Diego.

Jack, to his credit settled down. No one else reached base that inning. The second was 1-2-3 and another K. The Padres would threaten. Morris had the answers. No inning better illustrated it than the bottom of the sixth: First two batters reach, Jack fans the next three!

The eighth inning was his best. Morris got 'em 1-2-3 again, but with two strikeouts. Bobby Brown was the last strikeout by Morris as he led off the ninth. Morris then retired the next two batters for a second-straight three up, three down frame. Jack had gotten stronger, it seemed, as the contest moved on.

And Detroit rallied for the win, Morris had nine K's, and the Tigers were off on the right foot.

 

Jack also won game four, but only 4-2. He went nine innings, allowed five hits, two runs, walked none. Now for the bad part: Just four strikeouts.

The Tigers clinched it by doubling up on the Padres 8-4 at home in the fifth contest. Morris had thirteen strikeouts in two games. The second-most was by Craig Lefferts of San Diego. But Craig had only seven.

In 1991, Jack Morris was on the Minnesota Twins, and they were in the Fall Classic. They beat Toronto in just five games in the ALCS, with Jack picking up two more wins. And again, in the World Series, Jack showed 'em how.

Having gone 18-12, but with a 3.43 earned run average in the regular season, you'd think Jack, who'd beaten the Blue Jays 5-4 and 9-3 (For an ERA of 4.05) in the American League Championship Series, might need a lot of run support. It was not the case in the first game of October's Showdown vs. Atlanta. Jack beat the Braves 5-2 in the first contest. The home side, Minny, was up 4-0 by the time Atlanta finally nicked Morris for a run in the top of the sixth. Jack went seven strong, allowing just five hits and two runs. His strikeout totals for this contest were a tad disappointing: Just three!

And Atlanta got another crack at him. Having lost the first two games in Minnesota, Atlanta returned home and won all three games at Fulton County Stadium. Game five was a 14-5 rout by the Braves.

And they had won the fourth contest even though our boy had started for the visitors. It was a close game, but Jack couldn't quite help.

Morris lasted six innings and allowed only one run. The bad news is, another low K total, four. In the last of the third, he looked like he had a nice 1-2-3 frame as Jack fanned John Smoltz, the pitcher, and Lonnie Smith. But Terry Pendleton hit a game-tying solo home run.

The series went to the limit. Jack pitched game seven and won it. But just barely. It took the home team ten innings to walk it off, 1-0. But what you want to know is how many strikeouts did Jack Morris get, right?

He fanned Ron Gant to end a 1-2-3 top of the first. He left the only runner to get on in the second, fanning Brian Hunter along the way. But Atlanta's starting pitcher, John Smoltz, was staying right with him in this deciding contest. Smoltz fanned the very first batter he faced in this big one, Dan Gladden, in a 1-2-3 first of his own. When he departed after 7 1/3 innings, John had allowed the Minnesota Twins no runs, just six hits and fanned four. This task of winning the game (And getting strikeouts) seemed steep for Morris!

In the seventh, he fanned two in a three-up, three-down frame. Morris got the side 1-2-3 again in the ninth and ten innings, picking up a strikeout in each frame. When the smoke cleared, Morris had gone ten innings, allowed seven hits and fanned eight!

Oh, the Twins won the game in dramatic fashion! Morris' last K was that of Lonnie Smith in the top of the tenth, but what about the bottom of the frame? The game was still scoreless, you see.

Dan Gladden didn't fan to start it, like he had in the first. This time, Dan doubled off reliever Alejandro Pena. Winning run in scoring position. Chuck Knoblauch bunted him to third. Kirby Puckett and Ken Hrbek were put on to set up a force at home.

Gene Larkin was sent up to the dish to bat for Jarvis Brown. First pitching swining, Gene singled to drive in Danny with the World Series-winning tally! Well, Jack Morris had a shutout, the win, another World Series ring...And something else, too!

The 8 whiffs gave Jack Morris 15 K's. John Smoltz ended up in second with 11 (But in one less start and only 14 1/3 innings). Morris walked off the field with the Most Valuable Player of the 1991 World Series. Why not? His ERA, so high in the regular season, was a miniscule 1.17 in the Fall Classic!

Jack had one last time in the October Classic the next year. Morris was up north pitching for the Blue Jays. He'd become the first Toronto Blue Jay pitcher to win 20 games (Morris actually won 21) that year, but his earned run average was over four (4.04). And Jack Morris was not Jack Morris in the postseason.Oakland handed him a 4-3 loss in the first game of the ALCS that year. In game four, Jack got hammered. Morris lasted just 3 1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs. Toronto won the game 7-6 in extras, but was something wrong with the great righty?

Didn't seem to be in the World Series. Toronto finished off Oakland in six games to advance, and they turned the ball to him to get it done in the opener. It was Atlanta again. Jack, pitching on the road, stopped the Braves through five innings. Joe Carter had hit a home run off Tom Glavine earlier to make it 1-0 for the visitors.

Morris had picked up a strikeout to end the first, stranding Otis Nixon at second. The next inning was even better: 1-2-3 went the home team and Morris fanned Ron Gant and Damon Berryhill back-to-back!

Two more K's in the fourth. Another in the fifth. But Berryhill hit a two-out three-run home run off Morris to make it 3-1 for Atlanta in the sixth. It certainly hadn't been a bad outing for Jack. In six frames, he'd allowed just four hits, three runs and fanned seven. However, the five walks were a problem. Jack was removed for Todd Stottlemyre, who would fan two batters himself in the bottom of the seventh. The Braves won, 3-1. A rare postseason loss for Morris!

But when game five at SkyDome rolled around, Toronto was at home, up 3-1 and looking to finish it off. Who'd they turn the ball to?

You see, in the ALCS vs. Oakland, the Blue Jays had gone with a three-man rotation: Morris, David Cone, and Juan Guzman. Morris was 0-1, Cone 1-1, Guzman 2-0. In the World Series, it was a four-man rotation. Cone had been pulled in game two, but Toronto won 5-4. Guzman went eight strong in game three, got a no-decision like Cone, but the Blue Jays won 3-2 via a walk-off single. Jimmy Key, who hadn't started in the American League Championship Series, and only 13-13 in the regular season, beat Tom Glavine 2-1 in the fourth contest.

But here, Toronto was looking to clinch at home. And they had the right guy to do it. Morris had brought it home to Minnesota against this very same Atlanta team the year before. Why not in 1992? The Blue Jays were also looking for their very first championship.

Morris didn't quite look like himself. He wasn't walking anyone, but Atlanta was swinging. Otis Nixon led off with a double. Morris fanned Deion Sanders. But Terry Pendleton drove Nixon home with a two-bagger of his own.

Jack Morris was still picking up the K's as the game progressed. The second frame was much better. Atlanta was retired in order and Jack fanned Jeff Blauser. The home team tied the game against Morris' old pal John Smoltz. The third inning saw neither team score, and Morris fan Pendleton.

But the Braves were not to be denied. The fourth inning stared with Dave Justice rocketing a home run to right for a 2-1 Braves lead. The Blue Jays did tie it in their half, but Jack was soon out of gas.

He fanned Damon Berryhill to start the top of the fifth. That gave Jack five strikeouts in just 4 1/3 innings. Mark Lemke grounded out. It was the fourteenth batter retired by Morris. But it was also the last batter Jack Morris got out.

Nixon singled, stole second and Sanders singled. It was 3-2, Atlanta. Pendleton hit a double, touched by a fan, to get Sanders to third. Toronto had Justice put on intentionally, given how dangerous his bat was. The bases were loaded.

Morris looked poised to get out of it, however. Jack quickly got two strikes on Lonnie Smith. But Lonnie stayed alive by fouling off two pitches with the count 1-2. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, he hit it into the Braves' bullpen. 7-2 for the visitors. Morris was done, and so were the Blue Jays. Atlanta was heading back home for a sixth game.

Morris had allowed the seven earned runs on nine hits in this important fifth contest. He'd lasted just 4 2/3 innings. John Smoltz got some sweet revenge for last year's seventh contest. He'd gone just six innings himself. But he'd fanned 4, allowing 5 hits and 4 walks. The four strikeouts (None in the fifth and six innings, though) would be crucial, as you will see later.

But Toronto won, 4-3 in eleven innings, with Jimmy Key picking up his second World Series game won. Duane Ward, the reliever, won the other two games for the Blue Jays. So Jack Morris was left was the worse Toronto pitcher in the 1992 Fall Classic: 8.44 earned run average!

Now compare that ERA to the other starting pitchers on the Jays' staff. You had Key at 1.00. Juan Guzman at 1.13. David Cone 3.48. Over on Atlanta, it was Tom Glavine with an earned run of just 1.59. He'd beaten Morris in that first contest, remember? Then Tom had narrowly lost to Jimmy Key 2-1 in game four. Steve Avery had narrowly lost the previous game 3-2, walk-off style. While Steve was knocked out early in the sixth contest, he finished the 1992 World Series with an earned run average of 3.75. How about John Smoltz?

Well, he'd gone more innings than Jack Morris, 13 1/3. Toronto had scored three times off him in 7 1/3 innings in the second contest, then twice more time in just six innings in game five. However, Smoltz had fanned five of the first six batters to face him in game two, finishing with eight strikeouts. Add to that the four K's in the fifth tilt, John tied Jack Morris for the lead with twelve in this Fall Classic. Morris only pitched 10 2/3 innings, though.

References

Enders, Eric. 100 Years of the World Series: 1903-2004. New York, Sterling, 2005. Print.

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

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 01 Oct. 2020.

Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/. 01 Oct. 2020. Web.

Sure Could Have Fooled Me! MJ And Sam Bowie

Despite all his injuries, centre Sam Bowie actually played more games than Micheal Jordan in three seasons!

I thought Sam was the one hurt!

Well, it wasn't only because MJ got hurt. Truth is, that only happened in 1985/86. That was His Airness' and the unfortunate Bowie's second NBA campaign. Jordan had wowed 'em as a rookie the previous season. Bowie had shown plenty of promise. The problem, of course, was Sam's injuries.

The Portland Trailblazers had drafted Sam second, and the Chicago Bulls drafted Michael third. The never-ending story you hear is how this was one, if not the, worst draft pick of all-time. Hadn't there been warning signs at the collegiate level (Bowie missed his second and third seasons with injuries)?

But Sam had been good enough to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated in December of 1983, his senior year at the University of Kentucky. He played in all 34 games games as the 'Cats went 29-5. But his numbers in 1983/84 were off from his 1980/81 output. His points-per-game went from 17.4 to 10.5. Uh oh.

So the Portland Trailblazers took him, following Houston's pick of some chap who also played centre named Olajuwon first. Jordan was picked third by Chicago. Dallas picked Sam Perkins, MJ's teammate at North Carolina, fourth, and a chap named Barkley went fifth to Philadelphia.

That, alone, made the 1984 NBA draft memorable. But while Hakeem, MJ and Charles had great careers (And Perkins went on to a solid, 17-year NBA campaign of his own), the unfortunate Bowie lasted just parts of ten seasons and just 511 games in the bigs.

Mind you, there had been other big men cut down with injuries. Portland had drafted another flop named LaRue Martin some years earlier. Then they'd drafted Bill Walton. While Bill nabbed an MVP award and two NBA rings, he played just 468 games in the National Basketball Association.

Was Bowie another flop? Yes, in the minds of many. But it didn't start out that way.

The Trailblazers had Clyde Drexler and Jim Paxon in the backcourt already, so it didn't look like they needed Michael Jordan. Plus, they'd drafted another NBA man in 1984: Jerome Kersey! Jerome ended up like Sam Perkins, a solid 17-year NBA career.

The Portland Trailblazers beat the Kansas (Now Sacramento) Kings in the season opener of the 1984/85 NBA season. Final score? 140-116! Bowie only scored 4 points in 23 minutes, but held opposing centre LaSalle Thompson to just 4-16 from the floor. The backcourt of Drexler and Paxon combined for 45 points and 9 rebounds.



But we gotta talk about MJ, right?

MJ ended up playing all 82 games and averaging 28.2 points-per game for the Chicago Bulls. Compare that to Bowie playing 76 games and averaging just 10 points and 8.6 assists. Sam and MJ shared a spot on the All-Rookie team that year. Remember the game where Michael got 38 vs. Dr. J, Mosses Malone and Charles Barkley?



Jordan played just 12 games the following season. Bowie, too, was hurt (And it wouldn't be the last time, believe me). The difference was Sam played in 38 games, and improved his scoring output, albeit slightly. 11.8 PPG. Was it a step back for Portland? Chicago had lost in the first round to Milwaukee in 1985, while Portland actually lost in the Western Conference semis. The Trailblazers and Bulls lost in the first round in 1986, but MJ had made his dramatic return!

Jordan scored a playoff-record 63 points against the eventual-NBA Champion Boston Celtics in the second contest. But the reality was, it was merely a double-OT loss by Chicago. Boston went on to a sweep. So, it was still a little hard to call either Chicago or Portland the "winner" in the '84 draft at this point.

But then came Sam's injuries.

Jordan averaged better than 37 points in 1986/87. Bowie played well in the five games he appeared that season. Notice I said 5 games? That'd be all Sam appeared in a Portland jersey for the next two seasons. Five games into the next season, this happened!



So Sam missed the rest of 1986/87 (77 games), all of  1987/88 (82 games), then play in just twenty games in 1988/89. Meanwhile, MJ was MJ. There's no real reason to bring up his stats, they're devastating. In '88/89 alone, he was at 35 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, leading Chicago to within two games of their first NBA finals.


So Portland traded Bowie to New Jersey for Buck Williams and a 1st round pick, getting to the finals in 1989/90 and 1991/92. Detroit beat both Jordan's Bulls and Clyde Drexler's Trailblazers in the last two rounds in the 1990 playoffs. Guess who Portland lost to in '92? Chicago. Ah.


Drexler and MJ went to the Olympics that year, for good measure. Where was Sam? He was now on the New Jersey Nets, and not fairing that bad all things considered. Oddly, he was healthy, and putting some more-than-respectable numbers.

Bowie averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds in 68 games in '89/90. By '91/92, he was up to 15 points-a-game.



The big men were suddenly a dying breed in the NBA: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had left after 1989, Mosses Malone was on the slide! Left were Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and newcomer David Robinson. On the horizon was a kid named Shaquille O'Neal! Another big man, Tim Duncan, arrived at the end of the 1990s!

Sam and MJ met up in 1991/92, of course.



But Bowie's best game of 1991/92 (Or in his entire career) came against the man drafted ahead of him in 1984: The Dream!

Sam dropped 34 points and 15 rebounds on Hakeem Olajuwon on boxing day in 1991. The Dream had just 17 points and 7 rebounds on his own.

Michael Jordan, feeling the competitive fire burning out, surprisingly retired from the game in 1993, right after throwing out the first pitch of game one of baseball's American League Championship Series (Chicago vs. Toronto). MJ must have liked what he saw then. He tried his hand at some minor league baseball in 1994. Sam was still around the NBA, however. He'd played a career-high 79 games in 1992/93, some of them against rookie Shaq.



Bowie played just 25 games the next year, now in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. He then played one final season in 1994/95, appearing in 67 games, but averaging just 4.6 points-per-game. He announced his retirement in the fall.

MJ had decided to come back in '94/95, but not until March. After 17 regular seasons games, his Chicago Bulls were back in the playoffs where Shaq and company of Orlando ran 'em out of there. But quick as lightning, Chicago did what they'd done from 1990/91-1992/93, 3-peat!

Sam Bowie, although retired at this point, actually had a chance to be a part of that, if you can believe it. The Bulls, looking for more strength in the middle, had Sam come down and workout with the Bulls. He even got have dinner with one of MJ's bosses, coach Phil Jackson. But Sam choose not to stick around. He'd already successfully transitioned to another passion: Horse racing! So he missed out on the 1995/96 72-10 Chicago Bulls.

Jordan retired two more times, for good after the 2002/2003 season (Sadly, he couldn't get his new team, the Washington Wizards, to the playoffs his last two seasons). He'd certainly outlasted Bowie, and there is no comparison as far as the rings go. But wouldn't it have been neat for the two of them to play together for a season or two? Just to show how the 1984 NBA draft was still huge years after the fact?


References


Bondy, Filip. Tip-off: How The 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2007. Print.

Elderkin, Phil. “Rookie Sam Bowie No Smash Hit, But Blazers Like His Potential.” The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Nov. 1984, http://www.csmonitor.com/ 1984/1113/111304.html. Web (Magazine Archive). 20 Aug. 2018.

Friend, Tom. “Sam Bowie Doesn't Ask 'What If?'.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 20 Dec. 2012, http://www.espn.com/espn/espnfilms/story/_/id/8748334/espn-films-documentary-examines-sam-bowie-legacy. Web. 20 Aug. 2018.

Falk, Jeff. “Sam Bowie Subject Of ESPN Documentary « Lebanon Sports Buzz.” Lebanon Sports Buzz, 5 Points Auto Center, http://www.lebanonsportsbuzz.com/sam-bowie-subject-of-espn-documentary/. Web. 20 Aug. 2018.

Halberstam, David. Playing For Keeps: Michael Jordan And The World He Made. New York: Broadway Book, 2000. Print.

Howard-Cooper, Scott. “THE NBA : Nets Are More Than Happy Sam Bowie Can Play It Again.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 1990, http://articles.latimes.com/1990-03-20/sports/sp-646_1_sam-bowie. Web (Newspaper Archive). 20 Aug. 2018.

Kalb, Elliott. The 25 Greatest Sports Conspiracy Theories of All Time: Ranking Sports' Most Notorious Fixes, Cover-ups, and Scandals. New York: Skyhorse Pub., 2007. Print.

“Rodman Hit With Fine.” Orlando Sentinel, 5 Jan. 1994, http://www.articles.orlandosentinel.com/ 1994-01-05/sports/9401050540_1_dennis-rodman-sprained-thumb-los-angeles-lakers. Web (Newspaper Archive). 20 Aug. 2018.

Sachare, Alex. The Chicago Bulls Encyclopedia. Lincolnwood (Chicago): Contemporary , 1999. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Basketball-Reference.com - Basketball Statistics and History. http://www.basketball-reference.com/. Web. 20 Aug. 2018.

Sports Reference LLC. College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com - College Basketball Statistics and History. http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/. Web. 20 Aug. 2018.

Tuohy, Brian. The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations Of The NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NASCAR. Feral House, 2010.

Youtube. Youtube. Web. 20 Aug. 2018. <https://www.youtube.com/>.

Common Denominator: 1984 NBA Draft

"Drafted 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 1984 NBA Draft, to be exact. Met up with Boston at some point in the 1985/86 season, with some drama."

That would be Hakeem Olajuwon, Sam Bowie, and of course, Micheal Jordan. The Dream went first, to Houston, where he joined Ralph Sampson to form, The Twin Towers. Sam Bowie went second to Portland, and MJ to Chicago.

MJ took his team to the playoffs in 1984/85, but the Milwaukee Bucks beat 'em 3-1 in the first round, and that was the end of his first season in the league. His second season was sort of like Bowie's: Injured!

Bowie went down after 38 games. But Sam, who'd taken his team to the second round of the postseason in 1984/85, was showing potential. The Boston Celtics lost just one game at home that regular season, and Sam had something to do with it.

It was game number 20 on the season for Boston. They came in 17-2. Bowie's Portland Trail Blazers were just 12-10. Another win for Boston? Not in this contest on December 6th.

Not quite. Okay, Larry Bird had 20 points, 11 boards and 7 assists. But, his field goal percentage was bad: 9-26!

The ex-Trail Blazer, Bill Walton, who took 'em all the way back in 1976/77, played 18 minutes, and scored just 2 points, turning the ball over 5 times. Robert Parish, the man Walton backed up at centre, scored just 12 points himself. Parish shot 5-11 and Walton 1-3. The man guarding them was Sam Bowie.

All Sam did was score 18 points (8-15 from the field). Jim Paxon, who's younger brother John played with MJ in Chicago, poured in 16 and fellow back court man Clyde Drexler scored 19 himself. Steve Colter and Jerome Kersey (The other player Portland took in the 1984 draft) were the surprising game-high scoring leaders in this contest. By scoring 22 each for the visitors, they helped their team to a rather stunning 121-103 blowout!

MJ sat around that year, hurt. So it was up to The Ice Man to cometh! Well, the Minnesota Iceman. George Gervin played guard that year for Chicago. In Jordan's absence, he scored 16.2 points per game. The only game, out of 6, that Chicago actually beat Boston in that season was later in December, the 17th. Chicago won at home as Gervin scored 19.

Okay, so back came Jordan on March 15th. He'd played 3 games at this point. His minutes were to be limited, so his performance wasn't like what you'd expect of him. Remember, this was years before guys named Pippen, Grant, Armstrong and Cartwright (Centre for New York in 1985/86) would arrive. On the 21st of the month, he got 20 points in 16 minutes in a loss against the Celtics. Michael was back over 20 minutes a game by his seventh game back. He got 22 points vs. New Jersey on the 28th of March. He started 4 of the next 8 games, averaging 29.8 minutes and 28.0 points per game. A nice way to close out the season.

Try as he might, he couldn't propel his team past Larry Bird and company in the playoffs. Jordan scored 49 points in Boston in the first contest of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. His big game, though, was then next one!

The Bulls had lost 123-104. They also lost game two, on April 20th in Boston. But was MJ ever on fire! 22-41 from the field and 19-21 from the line! All this for an amazing 63 points! MJ enjoyed ribbing Bill Walton over the fact that The Redhead had fouled out in this contest, even years later. Jordan also dished out 6 assists and 5 rebounds. However, here we go again, Boston 135, Chicago 131. The Celtics had a more balanced scoring. But it was MJ's second of many great scoring games in the postseason! He'd arrived!

After sweeping Chicago, it was not long after that Boston was in the NBA grand stage again: The Finals!

Waiting for them were the Houston Rockets. You see, Hakeem and company eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, needing just 5 games. Hakeem got 30 points in the clincher, making the trip to the last stage in only his second season!

Olajuwon was outstanding in his first NBA Finals. Points? 24.7. Rebounds? 11.8. Blocks? 3.2. Sampson, however, wasn't up to the task, 14.8, 9.5 and 0.8. And though it went six games, Boston ended up having an easy time in all their wins except game four (106-103), en route to their third NBA Championship of the decade.

But Hakeem had sure shown he was a force to be reckoned with. Although Jordan won three in a row from 1990/91 to 1992/93 (Beating Portland in the 1992 NBA Finals, who'd drafted Bowie because they already had a pretty good guard named Clyde Drexler), here came the big man from Lagos, Nigeria! His pal Sampson's career ended due to injuries, but the big man soldiered on. In 1993/94 it was the Knicks and Patrick Ewing that were the victims of the Houston Rockets' seven-game win in the finals. The next year, a kid named O'Neal of the Orlando Magic (Who'd beaten MJ's Chicago Bulls in the playoffs) felt the full force of Olajuwon's fury in the finals: 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, and even 5.5 assists per game!

Four games, and it was all over. Shaq had 28.0/12.5/6.3 in a losing effort. His time would come, but not then. His team was swept by MJ's the next year, and the Bulls were back for another 3-peat.

Bowie wasn't quite so lucky. Beset by knee injuries even before being drafted, he hung around until 1994/95, and ending up facing Olajuwon a lot, no matter what jersey he was wearing. Although limited to just 512 games, Sam wasn't exactly the bust that so many made him out to be. On Boxing Day in 1991, now with New Jersey, Sam lit up Hakeem, outscoring him 2:1 (34-17). Sam averaged 15 points per game that year. He ended up in Los Angeles (Lakers) but didn't end up winning a ring like Jordan or Olajuwon.


References


Sports Reference LLC. Basketball-Reference.com - Basketball Statistics and History. http://www.basketball-reference.com/. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

Bondy, Filip. Tip-off: How The 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2007. Print.

Halberstam, David. Playing For Keeps: Michael Jordan And The World He Made. New York: Broadway Books, 2000. Print.

Sachare, Alex. The Chicago Bulls Encyclopedia. Lincolnwood (Chicago): Contemporary , 1999. Print.

Sure Could Have Fooled Me!

Tom Seaver and Jim Palmer pitched against each other precisely once. Not in the 1969 World Series.

Tom was the big ace of the New York Mets, while Jim Palmer was a great for the Baltimore Orioles. When Seaver took the mound to begin the 1969 Fall Classic, it was Mike Cuellar on the hill for the O's.

Seaver struggled. Don Buford greeted him with a home run in the bottom of the first. The Orioles were off and flying at home. They didn't look back, either, winning 4-1. Seaver took the loss of course.

But a funny thing happened next. The Mets won the next four games!

Palmer took a loss in game 3. Seaver edged 'em 2-1 in the next contest, and the Mets came back from 3-0 down in the fifth game to win. And while Palmer and company were back in the Fall Classic in 1970, 1971, 1979 and 1983, Seaver had only the 1973 World Series for his "other" appearance. The Mets lost that in seven to the Athletics.

Palmer was just amazing. He was "Lights out" in many of the key games when Baltimore needed him. Seaver was that, too. However, Seaver's teams were not up to par with the Orioles. It's too bad, really. This could have a pitch a pitching matchup that would have been awesome in the 70s and 80s in the Fall Classic.

Seaves was a remarkable 14-2 in 1981, despite being 36. By 1984, he in the American League with the Chicago White Sox. By then, Jim Palmer had helped the Orioles win their third (And to date, final) World Series. Seaver was 15-11 in 1984, 16-11 the next season. But Palmer wasn't around in 1985.

Palmer and Seaver didn't oppose each other on opening day in 1984. Instead, the Chicago White Sox's LaMarr Hoyt beat World Series hero Scott McGregor. Palmer and Seaver had to wait until April 23rd to face off.

It wasn't really a good game. Palmer was gone after just 3 2/3 IP. 4 earned runs and five hits. Seaver went 6 innings, giving up 4 earned runs of his own. Neither got a decision. The White Sox won 7-6 in 10 innings at home.

When Seaver lost 2-0 on June 28th, Palmer had already retired. Seaver kept right on going, finishing his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1986. Palmer tried to come back in 1991, but didn't make it to opening day. He was nearly 46 years old at the time. Seaver had also tried a comeback in 1987. But at age 43, he was through.

Palmer and Seaver were, in my opinion, better than Nolan Ryan. Were they better than say Bob Gibson or Juan Marichal? That's open to debate. I think they were both better than Jim Bunning. Better than Catfish Hunter. Since then, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, and yes, Roger Clemens have come and gone. Who was the greatest right-handed pitcher ever? Well, I didn't mentioned Cy Young and Walter Johnson now right? Can't go wrong with any of the above, eh?

Sure Could Have Fooled Me! Crosby And Gretzky

Sidney Crosby won a Stanley Cup at an age younger than when Wayne Gretzky won his first. With his win this year, he has also won a Cup at an older age than Gretzky ever did, too!

Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers had a march to the finals when he was 22 years old in 1982/83, but it was the New York Islanders who swept them in the finals. The next year, fueled by 446 goals for in the regular season, it was Edmonton back in the Stanley Cup Finals for a rematch. After splitting the first two games on Long Island (With the Oilers scoring just two goals, total) it was out west for games three, four and five.

Edmonton won game three, 7-2, despite trailing 2-1 at one point. Gretzky got two assists. Then he scored two goals in game four, another 7-2 win for his team. They needed just one more win. It came, 5-2 in the fifth contest, Gretzky getting two goals and an assist.

The Oilers repeated in 1985, then won back-to-back in 1987 (The year Crosby was born) and 1988. Gretzky was 27, and had an amazing playoffs. But, he was then traded to the Los Angeles Kings in August. The Kings only made it to the Stanley Cup Finals once when Gretzky was there, in 1993, but came up empty. Ten years after appearing in the Grand Finale for the first time, The Great One had seen his last chance come and go.

Sid Crosby saw, age 21, his team in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2008. The Pittsburgh Penguins were matched up against the Detroit Red Wings. Unlike Gretzky's Oilers, his team put up quite a fight. They extended the Wings to six before falling 3-2 in the last game. But the next year, it was the Penguins coming out on top over the Wings in seven games. Sid was just 22 at the time.

Sid and his pals didn't repeat. Nor did they make it back until 2016. Crosby was now 28 years old. His team had changed a lot since 2009. But they got by the New York Rangers in five, the Washington Capitals in six, and then the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven. It was getting harder and harder.

The San Jose Sharks were the opposition in the last round. They'd come into the league in 1991/92, the same year Pittsburgh their second straight Stanley Cup. The Pens made sure they took the first two games at home. It was close, as game two went into overtime, but it was 2-0 heading west to San Jose.

The Sharks dug deep and took game three despite trailing 1-0 and 2-1. In overtime, it was the home team that pulled it out at the 12:18 mark of the extra session. Joonas Donskoi scored. The Pens recovered from that setback and pushed the Sharks to the brink of elimination with a 3-1 win in game four. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist. One more win.

But in game five at home, the home team didn't do that. All throughout the playoffs, San Jose had turned to their amazing goalie Martin Jones to pull them out of tough situations. He'd won a Stanley Cup of his own in 2014, his first season at the big-league level. Here, he was looking for another. And by stealing game five (4-2) in Pittsburgh via his astonishing 44 saves, Martin was within two games himself of another Cup. And San Jose, was heading back home.

Jones turned aside 24 of 26 shots, but found his team trailing 2-1 with three minutes to go. He headed to the bench, only to see Patrick Hornqvist take a pass from Crosby and pop it into the empty net. Sid's second helper of the game. Pittsburgh won, 3-1.

Crosby was 28 (He'll be 29 in four days) and had his second Stanley Cup and first Conn Smythe. It had been seven long years for him. The Pens still haven't quite become the dynasty they were expected to be back in 2009. But they are still a young team. As for how many more Sid and company will win, only time will tell.

"The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:

http://hsp.flyershistory.com

or

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/"

References

Anson, Peter. “Hockey Summary Project.” Hockey Summary Project, 3 Aug. 2016, hsp.flyershistory.com/.

"Official Site of the National Hockey League” | NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 3 Aug. 2016. <https://www.nhl.com>

Sports Reference LLC." Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. Web. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 3 Aug. 2016.

McEnroe: French Open Antics Proved Costly!

John McEnroe was by far the most entertaining tennis player I ever saw play. Alas, I didn't catch him until the end of his career. His career, as a whole, was also missing an important pierce: A championship at Roland Garros!

McEnroe had not won it by time his old pal Bjorn Borg played (and won) the 1981 French Open. It ended up being the last time Borg played at Roland Garros. The next year saw another Swede put his name on the map: Mats Wilander

So McEnroe had the task of trying to stop him from a repeat in 1983. And John came out smoking in their quarter final contest:

Pretty good stuff from Johhny Mac, eh? But the Swede then took over. Soon it was a set all. Then, here's where McEnroe lost his concentration, and the match. McEnroe took a 4-1 lead into the third set, and seemed primed for a 2-1 lead in sets. Do that, and all John had to do is win one of the two remaining sets. But we are getting ahead of ourselves here.

McEnroe lost the lead. That was bad enough.

And then, at 4-4, a call went against him. McEnroe was soon fighting everyone in the stadium over that!

Things didn't get too pretty from there. If you can believe it, McEnroe did not win another game. Yep, Wilander won the last eleven games in the match, and McEnroe was out of Paris.

The next year, McEnroe was back in the finals, where he faced Ivan Lendl. The Czech had still not a slam to his name. He was 0-5 in Grand Slam finals. 0-3 at the US, 0-1 at Australia, and 0-1 at the French. And after two sets in '84 vs. McEnroe, all signs pointed to 0-6.

But Lendl wasn't having any of that. McEnroe, however, must take a little of the blame for what transpired. He was up 2-0 in sets, but his mind was wandering...And chances were slipping by...And Lendl was charging...Charging...

The Czech had his first slam! But let's face it. You just watched those youtube vids. What did you see? I see a guy (McEnroe) who wasn't focusing on the "Here and now," to tell you the truth. Even on the very last point, it was clear McEnroe should have had it!

That loss, of course, was not the last you would see of McEnroe. Lendl, McEnroe, Wilander and Jimmy Connors were the final four of the 1985 Roland Garros tournament. McEnroe stormed through the first four rounds without the loss of a set. Joakim Nystrom presented a challenge in the quarter finals, however. McEnroe needed five to take care of another Swedish pest (To him, at least). Nystrom had a pair of clay-court titles to his name in '85, and gave John all he could handle. But another Swede was waiting. "Swede Dreams", McEnroe!

Well, not really. Wilander took the first set, 6-1 (Quite the reverse of '83, eh?). McEnroe was not serving well. When the match was over, he'd made just 46% of his first serves. That was not the only problem (Yes, Mats was also playing well), as McEnroe wasn't behaving well.

The rest of the match was close (And very similar to the Men's Australian Open finals of 2016), but McEnroe wasn't close to playing in the present. By the third set, after Wilander edged him in the second, McEnroe had to make a match of it. Or lose, of course.

McEnroe built a 5-1 lead. Wilander even got a little frustrated.

And then the wheels came off the chariot.

Well, that was a bad stretch of six games! Mats went on to beat Lendl (Who routed Connors) in four sets to win his second French (He'd lost in '83 to Yannick Noah in the finals). Mats added a third in 1988 after Lendl won it again in 1986 and '87.

The French Open eluded John McEnore. He'd come close. Tennis is (along with golf) the sport that requires the most concentration. The slightest lapse and the break and / or lead is gone. Johhny Mac was entertaining when he lost his cool, but here, but he could not afford to. Lendl and Wilander were formidable clay-court players, but McEnore had this aura about him in the early to mid-80s. With Borg out of the picture, he took over from Connors as the male tennis player. But while he may have had the talent, he didn't always have the cool head on the court. And yes, that proved to be fatal sometimes.

World Series: Did You Know?

Tony Gwynn got his first and last Fall Classic hits off two pitchers who combined for 510 wins!

Gwynn, who just passed away earlier today, was a member of the 1984 and 1998 San Diego Padres. In '84 they were up against a team for the ages, the Detroit Tigers. The Bengals started off 1984 35-5. And they were there in the October classic and had not the slightest intention of losing any games!

So game was at home for Gwynn and the gang. And Detroit was off and running in the top of the first. And scoring, too!

Lou Whitaker, the second basemen for the Motor City, led off the game for the Tigers against the Padres starter Mark Thurmond. It was a great at-bat, going ten pitches. But Lou doubled. Alan Trammell, who formed the dynamic double play combo with Lou at short, then went almost ten pitches himself. On the eighth pitch, Alan singled to score his buddy. A fitting start for the Tigers. Trammell then made a rare mistake and was caught stealing. But Detroit put two more runners on via singles before Thurmond got out of the inning. Needless to say, Mark was lucky to give up just that one run.

But Detroit sent to the hill Jack Morris. Morris, the winner of 254 games lifetime, always loved being there in big games. Not the guy San Diego wanted to face. Proof of that came as Alan Wiggins fanned to start things off. Gwynn was out on a fly to Kirk Gibson in right. Two outs, nobody on. What could the Padres do now?

Steve Garvey kept the inning alive with a single. When Greg Nettles followed suite, San Diego had something going. When Terry Kennedy surprised everyone with a double to left, San Diego had the lead, 2-1!

Gwynn batted again in the bottom of the third. Wiggins had gotten a single to start it off. Gwynn walked. But Garvey hit into a double play. The Padres got another man on as Nettles walked, but Jack got the Tigers out of the mess with a fly ball out from Kennedy.

The Tigers then took advantage of that missed opportunity as Larry Herndon hit a two-run home run in the top of the fifth. Detroit reclaimed the lead, 3-2. Gwynn and his boys had some work to do!

Morris got the first two batters out in the bottom of the frame, but Tony Gwynn got a single to keep the inning going. Then, for good measure, he stole second. Runner in scoring position. Steve Garvey could only ground out.

The Padres them got a little too aggressive on the base paths in the bottom of the seventh. Kurt Bevacqua, who was the last ever DH in a National League ballpark in the Fall Classic, led off with a double. Kurt was out trying to make it a triple. With two down, Gwynn walked. But when Tony tried for another theft of second,, Tiger catcher  Lance Parrish threw him out. The promising inning was over. And Detroit still had the 3-2 lead.

Morris would retire the next six batters as Detroit took this close one, 3-2. And although San Diego took game two, it was Detroit's last loss of 1984. The Tigers would win it all in just five games!

Fourteen years later, Gwynn was back in the World Series on the same team, but with a lot of new faces. But here, the Padres were up against the New York Yankees. This was another team to be reckoned with. And the Bronx Bombers proved that by winning game one, 9-6, game two, 9-3. Game three in San Diego went 5-4 for New York. The Padres needed game four to avoid the sweep.

It was an almost impossible task as the Yankees sent Andy Pettitte to the hill. Pettitte, winner of 256 games lifetime, was in fine form on this day. Gwynn and his mates may as well have been facing Jack Morris again the way this one went down!

Gwynn was the second batter for the Padres in the bottom of the first inning and grounded out. He was also the second batter in the bottom of the third. Again, all Tony could do was ground out.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead of Padres' starter Kevin Brown in the top of the sixth inning. Bernie Williams scored Derek Jeter with a ground out. Gwynn came to the plate again in the bottom of the frame.

Leading off the bottom of the sixth, Gwynn came through with a single. But Greg Vaughn would force him at second and Ken Caminiti hit into an inning-ending double play.

The Yankees plated two more runners in the top of the eighth as Scott Brosius singled home a man with the bases filled. Ricky Ledee followed with a sac fly to make it, 3-0 for New York. The end was growing near for San Diego.

John Vander Wal batted for pitcher Kevin Brown to begin the bottom of the eighth for the Padres. He flied out out to center off Pettitte, who was still working on the shutout. But Quilvio Veras, the Padres' leadoff hitter, walked. When Gwynn followed with a much-needed single, San Diego had the tying run at the dish with only one out!

Pettitte had thrown his last pitch as Jeff Nelson came in. It was a good move by Yankees' manager Joe Torre, as Greg Vaughn went down on strikes.

Mariano Rivera replaced Nelson but gave up a single to Ken Caminiti. The bases were loaded and there were two outs. But Rivera got it together and got Jim Leyritz out on a fly to center. San Diego got another hit of Mariano in the bottom of the ninth before the game ended.

Tony Gwynn will be missed by all, and his 1984 and 1998 World Series appearances would prove to be the only time his team's advanced to the Fall Classic. But still, to have gotten your first World Series hit off Jack Morris, such a great competitor in the postseason, and your last off Andy Pettitte (19-11 in the postseason himself) must have been something. Sometimes it's not what you do, but who you do it to!

References

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

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 Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 16 Jun. 2014.

World Series: Did You Know?

Kurt Bevacqua was the last DH in a national league park.

The Designated Hitter, which was used in every AL ballpark starting in 1973, wasn't used in the World Series until 1976. From there, even years DH. Odd years, no DH. Every World Series game. But starting in 1986, the designated hitter was only used in Amercian League ballparks.

The San Diego Padres were looking overmatched in the 1984 World Series against a Detroit team that started out 35-5. And just to prove that they were for real, they beat the Padres 3-2 in game one of the 1984 Fall Classic. Close, but no cigar for the Padres. A loss in game 2, and it's off to Detroit for three games. But down 2-0? Game five would not be necessary, for sure.

Detroit wasted no time in getting 'er going in game 2. Picking off where they'd left off from the opening tilt, the Tigers touched home three times in the top of the second inning. Kirk Gibson, Lance Parrish and Darrell Evans each got an RBI. The Tigers' DH, Johnny Grubb hit a single, but it did not fair into the scoring. Was Detroit setting the tone?

San Diego actually got one back in the bottom of the first as Greg Nettles got a sac fly to score Alan Wiggins. Bevacqua led off the second for the Padres and was retired on a ground ball to Evans at third.

Bevacqua led off the bottom of the fourth against Tigers' starter Dan Petry. This time he singled. After a strikeout and another single, Bobby Brown got the job done for San Diego. His ground out scored the Padres' DH. 3-2, Detroit. Wiggins hit another single to keep the ball rolling, but one run would be all San Diego got.

Andy Hawkins, who relieved battered starter Ed Whitson, was keeping Detroit off the scoreboard following the first. He got 'em 1-2-3 in the top of the 5th. Our boy put the icing on the cake in the bottom of the frame.

Steve Garvey led off by flying out. But Nettles walked. Then Terry Kennedy, the catcher, singled. Guess who's next?

Bevacqua stroked a three-run home run on the second pitch by Petry. It was now 5-3 San Diego! How about that? DH stood for designated hero on this day for San Diego! It was also the end of the line for Petry.

Grubb was pinch-hit for by Rusty Kuntz in the top of the 7th. He fanned. Bevacqua also batted in San Diego's half of the 7th. Now facing Bill Scherrer, Kurt hit a single. It was his last plate appearance. When the next batter hit into a double play, the inning was over and San Diego still led, 5-3.

With two outs and Kuntz in the on deck circle, Larry Herndon popped out to second. San Diego had won the game 5-3. But the Padres would lose all three games in Detroit as the Tigers won the 1984 World Series, four games to one.

Bevacqua might be best remembered as mentioned in between profanities by Tommy Lasorda during a memorable blow-up, but in Fall Classic history, he's the man in game 2 for the San Diego Padres back in 1984. The last DH in a national league park in the World Series, as well!

Kirk Gibson: Clutch long before 1988!

Sometimes, doing a deed once forever marks you for life.

It doesn't matter if you never do it again.

You hit a game-winning home run, sink a game-winning shot, score a game-winning goal, you are remembered forever.

That is, if it's a memorable game.

You're Mr. Clutch for life.

But there are some like Micheal Jordan in basketball, who make it a habit. And yes, I am well aware of this commercial:

But are any of you buying that MJ wasn't the guy you wanted with the game on the line?

25 years ago, Kirk Gibson swatted that memorable 2-run home run off Dennis Eckersley (who was the best relief pitcher in the game at the time) to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 Dodgers win.

Now, was that the only time he hit a home run to just say, put the Dodgers (or any team he played for) ahead?

No way!

Coming into the 1988 World Series, Gibson had 62 home runs that put his team ahead. Of these, 5 were walk-offs. And by the time his career came to an end in the 1995 season, Kirk had hit 92 go-ahead home runs, 27 game-tying home runs, and 7 walk-off home runs.

That, of course, is just the regular season!

But for those wondering, the only other home run Gibby hit off Eckersley was 6 years before their historic meeting.

The Red Sox, Eckersley's team that day, took this one easily. But in the top of the 8th inning, with the Red Sox up 9-3, Kirk Gibson led off.

And slammed Eck's pitch for a solo shot! A flyball out and a double by Larry Herndon finished off Eckersley.

A bit of a sidenote here: Eckersley was once a starter

And a pretty good one at that, winning 149 games there. This was one of those 149 wins, of course.

Gibson's Tigers are a story in themselves two seasons later.

See, the Tigers in 1984 (the season, not the novel) were one awesome team. And it seemed as though they thrived off Kirk! It was somehow better then the novel, if you asked me.

How's this for a stat: Tigers' record when leading after 8 innings (including postseason), 100-0!

But I've given you the false sense that it all came easy. It didn't.

Now, as it was, the Tigers were 104-58. Only two teams, Baltimore and Boston were above .500 against Detroit that season. Seattle went 6-6 against them, if it matters.

But how about 1-run games? The Tigers were 25-11. So 36 games were nail-biting close.

Gibson had 2 hits in the opener of the ALCS against Kansas. The Tigers ended up sweeping them. But this was a KC team that won it all the next year. And while game 1 was a rout, 8-1, the next two games were anything but.

In game 2, Gibson's home run in the top of the 3rd made it 3-0. But Kansas fought back to tie it before the Tigers pulled it off in the 11th.

In game 3, we almost had a double no-hitter. Each team managed just 3 hits. The Tigers managed to score the game's only run.

So it was on to the World Series, but that ALCS was anything but easy. The last two games could have gone to KC. And then you're down 2-1, in a best of 5 Series. Odds not looking good for Detroit.

Gibson, I should tell you, ended up getting the MVP of that short Series. Short, but tough!

The San Diego Padres would face the Tigers in the World Series of 1984.

San Die-Go. Not exactly a fitting name, for the Padres did anything but, "Go Die."

The Tigers might have told them to do that. But it was obvious from the first game that the Padres weren't about to listen.

The Tigers were behind 2-1, when a 2-run home run by Herndon made it 3-2 Tigers. They held on to win this one. But San Diego won game 2, despite Gibson's 2 hits, an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base.

In game 3, now in Detroit, the Padres out-hit the Tigers 10-7. But somehow lost 5-2! Gibby didn't get a hit, but walked twice and got another RBI.

In game 4, the Tigers won 4-2, but again they only got 7 hits. Gibby got one and stole a base. No RBIs or runs scored, though.

Something had to Gib in game 5.

Did it ever!

Gibson swatted a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 1st to put the Tigers up 2-0.

By the top of the 4th, the Tigers had watched their 3-0 lead become a 3-3 tie. Gibson was needed.

So in the bottom of the 5th, Gibson singled and scored (on short fly ball) to put the Tigers ahead again. A Lance Parrish later hit a home run of Goose Gossage to made it 5-3 Detroit. Game in the bag?

Not quite.

The stubborn Padres got a home run of their own in the top of the 8th, by Kurt Bevacqua. We need a laugh now! Remember what Tommy Lasorda had to say about Kurt? Oh, wait! I don't want to lose 99 percent of my readers!

Seriously though, if you have not seen it, make it a point to.

As long as you don't mind some colourful words!

Anyways, where was I?

Oh, the bottom of the 8th. Tigers holding on for dear life.

Yep, it's only 5-4, and there were runners on 2nd and 3rd and only one out. Gossage still on the mound.

Gossage was in the middle of a conference on the mound. He begged his manager, Dick Williams, to allow him to pitch to Gibson.

Yes, first base is open.

But we need to look at the head-to-head stats, don't we?

Gibson was 1-9, lifetime in the regular season vs. Gossage.

And 0-1, lifetime in the World Series vs. Gossage.

Yep, we got a case of a .100 hitter vs. pitcher!

So, the decision was made to pitch to Kirk. Would it work?

Well, not quite! Gibson would swat a 1-0 pitch to deep right. This sewed up The Detroit Tigers' World Championship!

Alan Trammell got the MVP of the World Series that year, but man, did Gibby ever help!

So, let's get to '88, right?

Quick stop in 1987, though. Tigers trail the Jays 3 1/2 with 7 games to play. Done deal right?

Top of the 9th, Jays looking for the 4 game sweep. Looking to go up 4 1/2 games with only 6 to play.

Up 1-0, too! That is, until Kirk Gibson saved the day!

3 outs away from victory, Gibson snatched it away from Toronto by belting a home run off Tom Henke (another great relief specialist, another 300 + saves).

Then in the 13th, it was Kirk's single that put the Tigers ahead for good!

A few days later, October 1st, the Tigers were facing the Baltimore Orioles. They were holding on to a slim 7-5 lead.

Here comes that man again!

Another dinger, another game blown wide open. The Tigers were down only 1 game to the Jays with 3 to play. 3 to play against the Jays.

And the Tigers won all 3 games. In fact the Jays ended the season on a 7-game losing streak. That Gibson home run off Henke made the difference. His single later started the Jays down the loss road!

So it is now on to 1988. And a new league and team for Gibson: Los Angeles Dodgers

Kirk Gibson was MVP that season.

Odd, isn't it? He didn't hit 30 home runs, he didn't drive in 100 runs. He didn't even bat .300.

But was he ever needed in the NLCS of that year.

The Mets were too good it seemed.

Poor Gibby had just 1 RBI in the first three games, and the Dodgers were down 2 games to 1.

The Mets were 3 outs away from being down 3-1, but a clutch home run by Mike Scioscia scored 2. It was on to extra innings!

The Dodgers seemed to lose steam here. They couldn't do a thing in the 10th or 11th. Then there were 2 outs in the top of the 12th.

That's when our boy came through, again!

Gibson hit a home run and the Dodgers survived a bases loaded jam. Series tied at 2!

In game 5, the Dodgers were up 3-0. But this was a Met team that was known to come back with run after run. More offence was needed. Gibson would provide it.

Gibson hit a 3-run shot in the top of the 5th. The Dodgers really did need it. The Mets came back and scored 4 times, but the Dodgers held on to win, 7-4.

The Dodgers lost game 6, however. It was down to a winner-take-all game 7.

In the bottom of the 1st, Gibson hit a sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. That's all pitcher Orel Hershiser (who had a knack for throwing shutouts that year, believe me!) would need. But buoyed by Kirk, the Dodgers scored 5 more times in the second!

It was Hershiser who got the MVP, but I think Gibson really provided the spark. Games 4 and 5 would not have been won without him!

And then, of course, the World Series.

And Kirk Gibson's home run off Eckersley. At this point I have one question for everyone:

What did you expect?



References

Brenner, Richard J. "A Team Of Destiny." The World Series: The Great Contests. East End Publishing, 1989. Print. pp. 95-120.

Toronto Blue Jays Souvenir Program. Spring Training, 1988. 

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.

Retrosheet. Web. 15 Aug. 2013.  <www.retrosheet.org>.

Youtube. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com>.