October 21st, 1980
World Series, Game 6
Kansas City Royals at Philadelphia
Phillies
Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
The
Kansas City Royals came into the American League as an expansion franchise in
1969. In a few short years, they had put together a team worthy of being in
contention on a yearly basis. In 1976 (their eighth year in existence) they won
the A.L. West Division title. They would follow that up with two more in 1977
and 1978. But despite winning three divisions in a row, they came up short of the
World Series. All three years, they lost the ALCS to the New York Yankees.
After failing to qualify for the post season in 1979, the Royals were back in
1980, having won another AL West title. This time, they beat the Yankees in the
ALCS in a three-game sweep to make their first trip to the Fall Classic.
The
Philadelphia Phillies, meanwhile, were also looking to win their first World Championship.
But they had been around since 1883. Long before the Chicago Cubs had the
title, the Phillies were the losers of baseball. They had lost the World Series
in 1915 and 1950, and had lost the NLCS in 1976, 1977 and 1978. In 1980, they
won the NL East for the fourth time in five years, and then beat the Houston
Astros in a thrilling five-game NLCS.
The
Phillies took the first two games at home by 7-6 and 6-4 scores. The Royals
were able to tie the series by winning Game 3, 4-3 in 10 innings, and 5-3. But
the Phillies won Game 5 (the first road team to win a game in the 1980 Series)
and took the three games to two lead back to The Vet in Philly.
Future
Hall-of-Famer Steve Carlton would start on the mound for the Phils while Rich
Gale would get the ball for the Royals.
While
the Royals would get their share of hits off of Carlton, they couldn’t plate any
runners until the eighth inning. All the while, the Phillies were able to score
two runs in the third when a Mike Schmidt single scored Bob Boone and Lonnie
Smith. They added their third run of the game in the fifth inning when a ground
ball out off the bat of Bake McBride scored Smith.
Another
run was added in the sixth when Larry Bowa scored on a single by Boone. So it
was a 4-0 lead the Carlton took to the eighth when the Royals finally scored on
a sacrifice fly by U.L. Washington that scored John Wathan. But the Royals had
a chance to score more. After Carlton was relieved by Phillies closer Tug
McGraw (McGraw had been the pitcher to give up the sac fly to Washington), the
Royals loaded the bases with two out. But McGraw induced a ground ball out to
second base off the bat of Hal McRae for the third out.
The
Phillies took the 4-1 lead to the ninth but the Royals refused to go quietly.
After McGraw struck out Amos Otis, a walk and two singles loaded the bases with
only the one out. Frank White was the batter for Kansas City.
On McGraw’s first
pitch, White hit a high pop up that looked sure to be an easy out for catcher
Bob Boone. But as the ball came down, Boone couldn’t squeeze and it popped out
of his glove and seemed destined to hit the ground and be a harmless foul ball.
But Phillies first baseman, Pete Rose, showed his baseball savvy and charged
towards the ball while it was still in the air. Even though it looked like
Boone would make the play, Rose kept coming and was only a few feet away from
the catcher when the ball popped out of his glove. Because Rose was in the
perfect position because of his renown hustle, he caught the ball before it hit
the ground, for the second out.
After McGraw struck out
Royal centre fielder Willie Wilson, the Phillies had the first World Championship
in the 98-year history of the club.
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