Despite some bad misplays, it was Willie Davis with the best defensive play of the 1966 Fall Classic. What he and his teammates needed, however, was to generate more offence. The poor guy in centre for Los Angeles no doubt wanted to dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it at one point during the World Series that year.
The Baltimore Orioles went into the World Series of '66 as the underdogs. It was the Los Angeles Dodgers who had Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Claude Osteen. Phil Regan, who had one of the best seasons ever by a relief pitcher, was the Dodger stopped that year. "The Vulture" was an appropriate nickname.
But Baltimore won game one, right there in Los Angeles, 5-2. Drysdale struggled, although so did Orioles starter Dave McNally. Neither of them lasted very long.
In game two, Koufax pitched well, but lost 6-0 to Jim Palmer. Off the four runs scored against Koufax (Who left after six), only one was earned. Here's where Willie Davis had his problems. In the top of the fifth with the game scoreless, Willie dropped a flyball off the bat of the O's Paul Blair. There was one on and one out at the time. The next batter hit another fly towards Davis. And again, he dropped it. For good measure, Willie made a throwing error on a peg towards third, and that allowed two runs to score. As it turns out, Davis made half the Dodger errors in this game two. So he had plenty of company as far as poor fielding is concerned.
In game three, now in Baltimore, it was Wally Bunker of the home team doing the honours. He pitched the second Oriole shutout of the Fall Classic. The second in a row, of course. The Dodgers didn't make any errors this game, and held the O's to just three hits and one run. Baltimore made good on one run and three hits. Could the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers be swept?
The answer was "Yes!" after game four. Don Drysdale came back to pitch, and was he ever solid. Baltimore got just four hits off him. But Dave McNally beat him 1-0, allowing Los Angeles just four hits as well. But, this game was not without some highlights by Los Angeles. It was Davis' time to shine.
In the top of the fourth, Boog Powell (Who had one of the four Oriole hits) came to the dish, and sent a Drysdale pitch way back to centre. But Davis, with his back to the wall, scaled it and made the catch with his glove over the wall. A great catch to keep the score 1-0. But to no avail.
The Orioles got a nice catch of their own in the bottom of the eighth by Paul Blair. Los Angeles, fighting to the end, got a single and a walk in the ninth with only one out. But Willie lined out to right and Lou Johnson flied out to centre. A sweep of the Dodgers? Yes!
The Los Angeles Dodgers had been beaten by their very Achilles Heel. All throughout their times during the Koufax / Drysdale years of pennants (1959-1966), they had a shallow offence. Except for a few years. Koufax, Drysdale and the rest of the Dodgers' staff, would often have to win games 1-0 during that stretch. And the Orioles, with a fine pitching staff of their own, exploited that in the 1966 Fall Classic. The great pitching and defence of Los Angeles meant nothing without some offence!
References
http://www.baseball-reference.com
http://www.retrosheet.org/
The Baltimore Orioles went into the World Series of '66 as the underdogs. It was the Los Angeles Dodgers who had Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Claude Osteen. Phil Regan, who had one of the best seasons ever by a relief pitcher, was the Dodger stopped that year. "The Vulture" was an appropriate nickname.
But Baltimore won game one, right there in Los Angeles, 5-2. Drysdale struggled, although so did Orioles starter Dave McNally. Neither of them lasted very long.
In game two, Koufax pitched well, but lost 6-0 to Jim Palmer. Off the four runs scored against Koufax (Who left after six), only one was earned. Here's where Willie Davis had his problems. In the top of the fifth with the game scoreless, Willie dropped a flyball off the bat of the O's Paul Blair. There was one on and one out at the time. The next batter hit another fly towards Davis. And again, he dropped it. For good measure, Willie made a throwing error on a peg towards third, and that allowed two runs to score. As it turns out, Davis made half the Dodger errors in this game two. So he had plenty of company as far as poor fielding is concerned.
In game three, now in Baltimore, it was Wally Bunker of the home team doing the honours. He pitched the second Oriole shutout of the Fall Classic. The second in a row, of course. The Dodgers didn't make any errors this game, and held the O's to just three hits and one run. Baltimore made good on one run and three hits. Could the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers be swept?
The answer was "Yes!" after game four. Don Drysdale came back to pitch, and was he ever solid. Baltimore got just four hits off him. But Dave McNally beat him 1-0, allowing Los Angeles just four hits as well. But, this game was not without some highlights by Los Angeles. It was Davis' time to shine.
In the top of the fourth, Boog Powell (Who had one of the four Oriole hits) came to the dish, and sent a Drysdale pitch way back to centre. But Davis, with his back to the wall, scaled it and made the catch with his glove over the wall. A great catch to keep the score 1-0. But to no avail.
The Orioles got a nice catch of their own in the bottom of the eighth by Paul Blair. Los Angeles, fighting to the end, got a single and a walk in the ninth with only one out. But Willie lined out to right and Lou Johnson flied out to centre. A sweep of the Dodgers? Yes!
The Los Angeles Dodgers had been beaten by their very Achilles Heel. All throughout their times during the Koufax / Drysdale years of pennants (1959-1966), they had a shallow offence. Except for a few years. Koufax, Drysdale and the rest of the Dodgers' staff, would often have to win games 1-0 during that stretch. And the Orioles, with a fine pitching staff of their own, exploited that in the 1966 Fall Classic. The great pitching and defence of Los Angeles meant nothing without some offence!
References
http://www.baseball-reference.com
http://www.retrosheet.org/
