October 26th, 1985
World Series, Game 6
St. Louis Cardinals at Kansas City
Royals
Royals Stadium, Kansas City
The
Kansas City Royals had been a contender for ten years. After coming into the
American League as an expansion team in 1969, they won their first division
title in 1976. Three consecutive division championships, however, were followed
by losses in the ALCS to the New York Yankees all three seasons. After winning
another AL West crown in 1980, the Royals swept the Yankees in the ALCS before
falling to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.
A
loss to the Oakland A’s in the 1981 ALDS and a three-game sweep at the hands of
the Detroit Tigers in the 1984 ALCS only added to the frustrations of the Royals
and their fans. If it weren’t for the switch to a best-of-seven in the ALCS for
1985, Kansas City would have come up short again. But after falling behind
three games to one to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Royals came roaring back to
win three straight games to advance to the World Series.
Their
opponent would be the St. Louis Cardinals, no stranger to comebacks themselves.
They had trailed the Milwaukee Brewers three games to two in the 1982 World
Series and had won the last two contests to capture the championship. And in
the 1985 NLCS, they had dropped the first two games to the Los Angeles Dodgers
before winning four consecutive games to capture the pennant.
And
the Cards came out of the gate strong in the World Series, winning the first
two games in Kansas City by scores of 3-1 and 4-2. After the Royals took Game
3, 6-1, St. Louis took the fourth game, 3-0, and were one win away giving
Kansas City another disappointment. But the Royals stayed alive by winning Game
5, 6-1, and sending the Fall Classic back to Royals Stadium.
Eighteen-game
winner, Danny Cox, would start on the mound for the Cardinals for Game 6, while
KC would go with Charlie Liebrandt, who had won 17 games during the regular
season. Both pitchers would throw magnificently and keep the opposing batters
baffled all night long.
Cox
would pitch seven innings, and although he allowed seven hits and one walk, he
struck out eight Royals and didn’t allow a run. Liebrandt matched him, pitching
a shutout over seven innings as well.
The
Royals’ left-hander would start the eighth and would give up a one-out single
to Cardinal third baseman Terry Pendleton. Outfielder, Cesar Cedeno, would then
walk before Liebrandt struck out catcher Darryl Porter for the second out. The
pitcher’s spot was due up and St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog sent up Brian
Hunger to pinch hit for Cox. After falling behind in the count, 1-2, Harper
came through in the clutch with a single to centre field, scoring Pendleton and
giving St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
After
a scoreless bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth, the Cardinals brought in
closer Todd Worrell to close out the Royals and win St. Louis their second
championship in four years. The lead off batter for KC was Jorge Orta and no
one was prepared for what would happen next.
With
two strikes against him, Orta send a bouncing ball to Cardinal first baseman,
Jack Clark, who fielded the ball and tossed it to Worrell who was covering the
bag. It appeared the pitcher touched the bag before Orta, but umpire Don
Denkinger ruled Orta safe. Replays confirmed Orta had been out, but there was
no replay review back in 1985 and the safe call was not overturned.
Things
got worse for St. Louis a few pitches later. The Royals’ batter was Steve
Balboni and he lifted a high pop up into foul territory that was sure to be the
first out. Both Clark and catcher Darryl Porter chased the ball towards the
first base dugout. Clark looked at Porter, expecting the catcher to make the
play, but Porter was already looking at Clark. The ball fell harmlessly to the
ground for a foul ball. Balboni singled on the next pitch. Now, instead of the
Cardinals being one out away from the World Series, the Royals had two on and
none out.
Onix
Concepcion pinch ran for Balboni. The next batter was catcher Jim Sundberg and he
tried to drop down a sacrifice bunt, but Worrell forced Orta at third for the
first out. But after the failed
sacrifice attempt, Worrell uncorked a wild pitch to advance the runners anyway.
To
set up a force play at every base, Hal McRae was walked intentionally to load
the bases for Dane Iorg, pinch hitting for Kansas City relief pitcher, Dan
Quisenberry. On the second pitch of the at bat, Iorg lined a pitch into right
field for a base hit. Concepcion scored easily to tie the game and Sundberg
rounded third attempting to score and give the Royals the victory. The throw
from Cardinal right fielder Andy Van Slyke was on target, but Sundberg slid
under Porter’s tag and was safe.
The
Royals had won in improbable fashion and had forced a seventh game. Still
traumatized from the events in the ninth inning of Game 6, the Cards were
hammered 11-0 by Kansas City. While over the years, the Cardinal players and
fans have blamed Denkinger’s bad call for losing the World Series, they fail to
mention that their pitchers were horrendous in that seventh game—and that had
nothing to do with Denkinger.
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