Tonight, the Detroit Tigers take on the San Francisco Giants in Game One of the 2012 World Series. As the Fall Classic begins in the City by the Bay, I have been thinking back to our visit on the final evening of our summer vacation five months ago.
As I saw shots of picturesque AT&T Park during the NLDS and NLCS, I couldn’t help but sneak a peek to see the area where we sat down the left field line (near the Coke bottle and oversized baseball mitt). Talk about a special place.
I would love to be there, again, tonight but, alas, I will have to settle for watching the Fox broadcasts of the Series on television.
As the Series begins, Atlanta Braves beat writer David O’Brien, of the AJC, blogged about his Top 5 World Series. He listed some good ones, some classic Fall Classics.
I don’t want to copycat his idea, but I’d be remiss, on this occasion, if I didn’t mention what a wonderful World Series we enjoyed last year – so dramatic – as St. Louis came from behind to defeat Texas.
Also, as we head into tonight’s Game One, I’d like to share my thoughts about some of the memorable World Series I have enjoyed over the years (and a couple I didn’t enjoy!).
When I was a huge Cardinals fan in the 1980s (the days before Tony LaRussa took a lot of fun out of it), they lost two classic, heartbreaking World Series. I’ll never get over the shock of them losing the ’85, largely because Game 6 got away after a blown safe/out call at first base by umpire Don Denkinger.
I read that the next night, Cardinals Manager Whitey Herzog was almost tossed out of the game when he handed in the line-up card for making a crack to Denkinger along the lines of “We wouldn’t be here tonight if you hadn’t blown that call!”
Lots of 1980s Series were memorable. The ’86 series featured the Mets comeback to beat the Red Sox (dramatically featured in the movie, “Fever Pitch”). In Game One of the ’88 Series, we all saw Kirk Gibson, on one leg, hit his dramatic home run that really turned around the Dodgers-A’s Series. The following year, the Bay Series, was the year the San Francisco earthquake interrupted the Series for (list info about).
Moving into the 90s, there were so many Braves appearances in the Fall Classic that my memories are dominated by those. In 1995, everyone in Braves Country celebrated their victory over the Indians to win Atlanta’s first World Championship.
A year later, I was fortunate enough to get tickets to Game 3 of the 1996 World Series. The Bravos had beaten the Yankees in the first two games of that series. When the Series came South, Atlanta was poised to close out the Bronx Bombers with a couple wins.
Everyone always remembers Game 4 of that series – the one where Atlanta let a 6-0 lead get away from them. The Yanks eventually won in extra innings 8-6 and went on to pull out the Series 4 games to two.
But I was at the pivotal Game 3 – a pitching duel between David Cone and Tom Glavine. The Yankees took a 2-1 lead into the 8th inning but were able to bust the game open with a three run rally. That rally was keyed by a Bernie Williams home run. New York won that game (with me and my friend, John McManus, in attendance) 5-2.
No one really remembers Game 3 (compared to the uber-dramatic Game 4). But, I remember it…because I was there!
Another World Series I’d like to highlight is the one from 2001. Contested just weeks after the tragedy of 9/11, I think of how that World Series was so patriotic and how it served as a unifying point for our nation. It ended in dramatic fashion, too, with Arizona rallying in the 9th inning of Game 7 to defeat New York.
I could go on and on because there are so many classic World Series moments. You can close your eyes and see them:
- Bill Mazeroski’s dramatic walk off home run for the Pirates in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series against the Yankees
- The Carlton Fisk Home Run – where he wills the ball to stay fair – to win Game 6 of the 1975 Series
- The Bill Buckner play in Game 6 of the ’86 Series
- Joe Carter’s shot to win the 1993 World Series
How will this World Series stack up? What plays will be memorable? What players will be the stars? And how will we remember the 2012 World Series?
We’ll find out…starting tonight.
JG
Originally posted 10/24/2012
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