Part 6: The ALCS
(Games 4-7)
With the Royals back in the
series, the Blue Jays sent ace Dave Stieb back to the hill—on three days’
rest—for the crucial Game 4. The Royals countered with lefthander Charlie
Leibrandt. For the second straight start in the series, Stieb would pitch
brilliantly, but he didn’t get the run support he had in Game One.
He would pitch 6 2/3 innings,
giving up one run on two hits while striking out six. He did, however walk
seven batters (one of the walks was with the bases loaded scoring the only run Stieb allowed) and was relieved in the seventh by closer Tom Henke. Leibrandt
shut out the Jays over eight innings and entered the ninth with a 1-0 lead and
an opportunity to help the Royals tie the series at two wins a piece.
Damaso Garcia, the Jays’ second
baseman, led off the ninth inning with a walk. Centre fielder Lloyd Moseby
lined a double to right field, and the speedy Garcia easily scored from first
base to tie the game at one. Leibrandt was then replaced on the mound by
Royals’ closer Dan Quisenberry. The first batter he faced, George Bell, singled
to centre moving Moseby to third, with still none out in the inning. Jays’ DH
Al Oliver lined another double to right scoring Moseby and Bell to give the
Jays a 3-1 lead.
Henke struggled in the bottom of
the ninth—walking two batters—but was able to get two fly ball outs to Moseby
in centre and a pop up to shortstop Tony Fernandez and the Jays had the game
and a 3-1 lead in the series. If played under the previous format, the Jays
would have already clinched the pennant and a trip to the World Series. But the
best of seven format meant they needed one more.
Despite getting eight hits off
of Kansas City starter Danny Jackson in Game 5, the Jays were unable to push any runs
across the plate and ended up losing 2-0. Jimmy Key was the tough-luck
losing pitcher for Toronto, not getting any run support. The Royals scored a
run in the first on an RBI ground out by George Brett and then scored their
second run on a sacrifice fly by Darryl Motley. Kansas City had staved off
elimination but now had to go Toronto for Game 6 and (if necessary) Game 7.
Doyle Alexander started Game 6
for Toronto and quickly gave up a run in the top of the first. The Jays
responded with a run in the bottom of the inning when Rance Mulliniks grounded
into a double play, scoring Garcia from third. The Royals took a 2-1 lead in
the top of the third, but again the Jays tied it in the bottom of the inning
when a Moseby ground out scored Fernandez.
The Royals scored another run in
the fifth and then added two in the sixth. The Jays only managed one run the
rest of the game, leaving the final score at Kansas City 5, Toronto 3. The
series was tied, the 3-1 lead gone.
Before Game 7, the Jays and
Royals found out who their opponent would be in the World Series if they won
the decisive game. The St. Louis Cardinals, after falling behind 2-0 in games
to the Los Angeles Dodgers, had won four straight to capture the National
League flag.
Dave Stieb would start his third
game of the series and with the Jays bats struggling as they had been the past
few games, it was suggested that Stieb would have to shut the Royals out if
Toronto was to advance to face the Cardinals.
A Jim Sundberg single in the
second inning drove in the first Royals run of the game with Pat Sheridan
denting the dish. 1-0 Royals. In the fourth, Sheridan homered, upping the score
to 2-0. It was starting to look bleak until the bottom of the fifth when the
Jays cut the lead to 2-1. Damaso Garcia reached base on a single and first
baseman Willie Upshaw doubled him home to give the team and the fans some life
and hope.
In the top of the sixth, Stieb
got Royals’ centre fielder Willie Wilson to fly out to Moseby in centre. He
then walked Brett and hit Hal McRae with a pitch. After a ground ball forced
Brett out at third, Steve Balboni walked, loading the bases with two out. The
batter was catcher Jim Sundberg. He took a Stieb pitch and hit it high in the
air to right field. Jesse Barfield went back…..and back….and back…and looked
up. The ball hit the top of the fence and bounced high in the air. By the time
it came back down, still in the field of play, and Barfield fired it back into
the infield, three Royals had scored making the score 5-1. Stieb was taken out
of the game and Sundberg would later score on a single to give the Royals a 6-1
lead.
The Jays failed to score in the
sixth, seventh and eighth. They came to bat in the bottom of the ninth, still
down by five runs. With one out, Barfield singled and Fernandez doubled. Garcia
grounded out, allowing Barfield to score. The batter was Moseby. He hit a
ground ball to second baseman Frank White who tossed the ball to Balboni for
the final out. The Royals won 6-2 and had come back from a three games to one
deficit to advance to the World Series.
My heart was broken. To this
day, it still hurts. I still have memories of walking into my classroom the
next morning and seeing that World Series poster staring me in the face. Oh,
what could have and what should have been. The Jays, on paper, were the better team, but what they didn’t have was
the experience that the battle-tested Royals had. There was still optimism as
the team was still young and would only get better. But it would be another
four years before the Jays would visit the post season again, and a good chunk
of the ’85 team would be gone: Alexander, Garcia, Barfield, Upshaw, Jim Clancy,
Garth Iorg, Oliver and Cliff Johnson, just to name a few. And manager Bobby Cox
would resign after the 1985 season to go to Atlanta to become the general
manager before moving back into the dugout and lead the Braves on the
incredible run they had from 1991 to 2005.
The Royals would go on to win
the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. As had been the case in the
ALCS, Kansas City trailed three games to one but rallied to win three in a row
to capture the first and only World Championship in team history. The Royals
would not make another trip to the postseason until 2014, a long 29 years.
I’ve come to appreciate what the
Royals did as the years have gone past. I consider George Brett one of my
favourite players of all time and I still remember the way Frank White used to
drop perfect bunts down the third base line and beat them out for base hits.
Dan Quisenberry’s side arm delivery still resonates in my memory, as does Jim
Sundberg’s fly ball bouncing off the top of the right field fence.
But despite the heartache, the
1985 Toronto Blue Jays still is, and always will be, my favourite team in franchise
history. They got me hooked on baseball. The pictures in my classroom, the
images on TV, listening to games late at night on the radio. All are memories I
don’t ever want to forget.
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