World Series Flashback Week

In the wonderful world of interleague play, we are constantly pressed to find connections between the teams that are facing off against one another.

It’s not sufficient to say that the interleague contests are just being played in National League parks to raise the ire of those, like Hank Steinbrenner, who feel that the senior circuit is mired in the 19th century.

And it's not enough for those of us who feel that interdivisional play is more exciting and more impactful on postseason races. It just seems that once we get past the unnatural “natural” rivalries, we must develop justifying labels for these games that are being played.

This week, it seems that the games have been scheduled to specifically meet the needs of nostalgist like yours truly.

1954 Revisited

For example, last night, for the first time since the 1954 World Series, the Giants played an official game in Cleveland. This is the San Francisco Giants versus the New York variety, and this is Progressive Field instead of Municipal Stadium. This was game 77 for each of these clubs as opposed to Game Four of the Series, and last night there were 29,024 fans at Progressive Field, compared to 78,102 at Municipal Stadium. Other than that, it was really very dissimilar.

Just a quick reminder: The Indians had won a then-record 111 games (in just a 154-game schedule) and had 23-game winners Early Wynn and Bob Lemon on the mound. The Giants had Willie Mays and Dusty Rhodes. In the four-game Giants sweep, Rhodes had the Giants' only two home runs and seven of the team's 20 RBI. However, the Series will live forever because of the web gem of the "Say Hey Kid" to rob Vic Wertz, deep in center field at the Polo Grounds.

Johnny Antonelli picked up the save for the Giants in Game Four (according to Walkoffs, Last Licks, and Final Outs—Baseball’s Grand (and not so grand) Finales, Antonelli is the last player to play for the New York and San Francisco Giants and the Boston and Milwaukee Braves), and last night Brian Wilson picked up the save in the Giants 3-2 win (not the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson).

1959 Revisited

The White Sox and Dodgers met last night for the third time ever during the regular season, and second time in Los Angeles. That made me the only person who cares that the White Sox and Dodgers played in the 1959 World Series, won by Los Angeles in six games.

The Sox swept a three-games series at U.S. Cellular Field in June of 2005, and took two of three games at Dodger Stadium in June of 2003. But in 1959, the Dodgers were the victors in the first Fall Classic played on the West Coast.

The Dodgers defeated the White Sox in six games, becoming the first team to win a championship after finishing in seventh place the previous season. With two victories and two saves, Dodger reliever Larry Sherry earned Series MVP honors, and reserve outfielder Chuck Essegian became the first player in World Series history to hit two pinch-hit home runs.

All three games at the L.A. Coliseum drew more than 92,000 fans, and it remains the three most-attended postseason games in MLB history. Last night, at Dodger Stadium, 43,900 fans saw the White Sox top the Dodgers, 6-1.

The fast working Mark Buehrle made this one a rapid affair. The game took just 2 hours and five minutes, which meant that for a number of the late arriving, early departing Dodger fans, they saw about three batters.

1960 Revisited

In the first six games of the 1960 World Series, the Yankees outscored the Pittsburgh Pirates 46-17 and out-hit them 78-42. But those numbers are as meaningful as the first 46 minutes of an NBA game. What really counts is who wins four games.

And everybody knows it was the first ever Game Seven walkoff homer, and it was hit by Bill Mazeroski over the left field, ivy-covered wall of Forbes Field as Yankees left fielder Yogi Berra looked up helplessly as the Pirates defeated the Yankees.

Last night, Hall of Famer Mazeroski threw out the ceremonial first pitch in the first game these two teams have played in Pittsburgh in 48 years. In 1960, the Pirates scored six runs in the final two innings of Game Seven to win 10-9. They continued their hot-hitting last night defeating the Yanks, 12-5.

The crowd of 38,867 was the third largest since PNC Park opened in 2001. PNC has a capacity of 38,365. In 1960, the Pirates drew 36,683 to Forbes Field, which had a capacity of 35,000.

2006, 1968, and 1934 Revisited

Mickey Lolich, last night, threw a ceremonial first pitch to Bill Freehan, as Detroit honored the Tigers' 1968 championship team that beat St. Louis. The two teams were meeting for their seventh interleague series, their fifth at Detroit. The Cardinals were 6-14 all time against the Tigers, and Detroit had swept the Cardinals in their past two interleague series (2007 and 2006).

The Cardinals' last regular-season win over Detroit came on July 14, 2001, but that all ended last night as Kenny Rogers faced the St. Louis Cardinals last night for the first time since he beat them in Game Two of the World Series on October 22, 2006.

Rogers, that night, blanked the Cardinals on two hits over eight innings of work, fanning five batters as the Tigers posted a 3-1 win. The Cardinals won the 2006 Series in five games. The Tigers won the Series in 1968 in seven games, and in 1934, the Cards won in seven.

Last night, Rogers (5-5) gave up five runs in five-and-one-third innings, giving up one more earned run than he had in his previous five starts, as the Cards topped the Tigers, 8-4. The game drew 44,446 fans, the third-largest crowd in Comerica Park history.

St. Louis won in Detroit during the regular season for the first time since July 14, 2001. The Cardinals were swept by the Tigers in the previous two interleague matchups.

Well, that’s the thrill this week in interleague play. Chris Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune blogged about listening to Joe Torre talk about interleague play. "As far as appeal," Torre said, "I think interleague play lost a lot after the 2000 World Series."

Torre added that his greatest concern was the inherent unfairness of interleague play, the competitive imbalance created when one division draws a stronger or weaker division in the other league. Plus, clubs in the same division aren't even playing the same clubs on the interleague schedule, tilting the playing field further.

I’m with you Joe. The other issue is when teams like Colorado and Kansas City play each other, the baseball-fan suicide hotline is always busy.

Bill Chuck is the creator of Billy-Ball.com and, with Jim Kaplan, is the author of the book, “Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs – Baseball’s Grand (and not so Grand) Finales,” with a Foreword by Jon Miller, published by ACTA Sports, and available worldwide.

 Autographed first editions are available by contacting, [e-mail] or order directly from Acta Sports, http://www.actasports.com/detail.html?&id=3427 or from your favorite bookstore.