MLB Baseball's Seasons: 1978

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome to baseball seasons 1978 familiar foes [Music] [Applause] [Music] in 1977 the New York Yankees won the World Series despite having one of the most contentious clubhouses in baseball history with a win at all costs owner and George Steinbrenner a hyper-intense manager and Billy Martin and playing in the media center of the world the 77 Yankees had been a caldron of turmoil and yet they fought through the adversity to become champions those Yankees were the toughest team I've ever seen or heard of very few athletes in any sport can perform that well under pressure and those Yankees did [Applause] [Music] [Applause] how can you touch the club like this all right Lori we're just gonna try to get them all together and we'll be back again next year winning cured everything and everybody was in love with each other at the end of that 77 World Series and ready to go out and do battle even under the same conditions in 78 well somebody said you oughta you ought to get the Nobel Peace Prize actually in 1978 the Nobel Peace Prize would be shared by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Bagan for their landmark peace agreement and while not nearly as significant as the state of the Middle East the New York Yankees had also risen above their discord to reach a date on for Jackson and the Yanks the 78th home opener would be a sweet one as fans were given a candy bar named after Reggie and when they were treated to a homer in his first at-bat the fans showed their love for him in a most unusual way all the free Reggie bars wound up raining down on the field and one of the most bizarre celebrations and Yankee history this game marked the beginning of yet another tumultuous year in Yankee history the controversy would begin in the bullpen in 77 reliever Sparky Lyle was named the best pitcher in the American League but when New York sign flamethrower goose Gossage Lisle lost his job how can you witness all younger warden and then go out and get another guy to take your place he's being used in the fifth inning which is not Sparky Lyle time the way he sees it and they want him to go out for the sixth inning he's in the clubhouse he won't come out Billy sends art Fowler his pitching coach to the clubhouse and he says tell Billy I'm a closer I'm not a middle reliever Gossage is early season struggles only amplified the issue I stood up I couldn't get anybody out I lost the ball game every way conceivable I'd come to the mound at Munson and say how you gonna lose this one he would pitch guys were gone not him again I even refused to let him come into some of my games because you know I told him til you get guys out I'll pitch my own game and as the calendar turned to June the rest of the Yankees began to flounder in their own right our offense has been sputtering and we haven't made a big play or got or have gotten a big hit but really the biggest problem wrong with the Yankees is Boston Red Sox the Sox had finished his two and a half games behind New York in 77 and it entered the 78 season feeling good about themselves I'm not a guy to predict Eastern Division championships but I know we're a hell of a ballclub and we're gonna be tough to beat Boston had the best hitting lineup that I've ever seen [Applause] going back if you had Lin you had rice you had your scrim ski you had Fisk he had Scott you had Hobson all of those guys here 31 they had so much power can top the bottom of the lineup it was just amazing [Applause] and if you look at them as far as how they were in the field they had a gold Glover at catcher Fretilin Gold Glove and Senator Dwight Evans a cold glove and right I mean they were just an incredible mind but what made this Red Sox team special was the pitching staff they'd signed eventual 16 game winner Mike Torrez away from the Yankees traded for rising star Dennis Eckersley and paired them with former all-stars Bill Lee and Luis Ti before Messala top to bottom location the early results were quite impressive we were born people out it was nothing for us to win Series in score 30 runs in a series and let the other team score three or four the Red Sox were on a roll and threatening to run away with the division it seemed as if Boston's bomb squad was on their way for a chance at their first World Series title in 60 years as the Los Angeles Dodgers began their nationally title defense in 1978 they had to feel good about themselves in 77 they'd seemingly done the impossible by deep droning the two-time champion Reds but in 78 the Dodgers would be hunted and Cincinnati was taking direct aim at them one year doesn't make you the wonder you know you have to do it more than once and I would like to prove one thing that their Dodgers are not any better than we are and that maybe we are the best team stolen Iceland and with four former MVPs in their everyday lineup and one of the league's best pitchers and Tom Seaver the Big Red Machine was humming nicely George Foster began smacking homers Pete Rose was banging out its bras lines 1 and Seaver threw his first career no-hitter the Reds had fired the first salvo and waited to see how the Dodgers would respond when you try to define pressure I think the greatest definition is it's something that comes from within only because of the fear of failing and we don't ever think about fairly with a cast of excellent veterans like Steve Garvey Ron Cey Davey Lopes Reggie Smith Tommy John and Don Sutton the Dodgers had the talent and the hunger to repeat [Applause] don't have the same attitude we're going to go out there meet some people we're gonna go out there and we want to get back to the World Series and led by their manager Tommy Lasorda the Dodgers stayed the course Tom's role is to keep us focused he tried to keep it light which is town Tom's a master at that levity was important but the Dodgers could respond to the width as was evidenced in an early season game against the Reds with Tommy John protecting a small lead and the first plane out of the inning and I go on and I win the game but that was sorted while the resilient Dodgers were doing their best to cope with meeting lofty expectations the Philadelphia Phillies were consumed with them to win they have won the division title the last two seasons and I think that if they don't do more than that this season however a lot of people are going to be a little disappointed the Phills were on a mission the franchise had never won a World Series hadn't been to one since 1950 had suffered back-to-back frustrating postseason defeats in 76 and 77 the fills clearly had something to prove in 78 this year I think that the Phillies players and the entire organization even the Phillies fans are saying let's go get it the bills were a collection of all-stars gold Glover's homerun champs and psy Young Award winners but as a unit they had moved beyond individual motivation they were playing for one reason only to win a challenge for us to fall short in the playoffs or a lot a lot of focus was put on that you know they're great team but they can't win the big one and you know until you can do that you're never going to be one of the all-time great teams and the players are never going to be referred to as all-time great players playing each ad with a chip on their shoulder the Phills took the division lead in June while yearning for October if any single team could relate to the Phillies plight it was the Kansas City Royals two years in a row the AL West champs had lost the pennant in the last the last game to the Yanks but the Royals had distinguished themselves by playing valiantly in defeat especially their all-star third baseman George Brett [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we had some tough losses to the Yankees and yet you're the guy that was supposed to get it done for you continue to get it done I felt very comfortable with the game on the line to be the guy up in the batter's box two outs bottom of the ninth a lot of guys don't want to be in that position I always wanted to be that guy [Applause] in 78 the Royals would need Brett's confidence to fight off a rising California angel team who had signed budding star line in Bostock for big money to bolster their attack this guy was on his way to holla he was on his way to Cooperstown this kid get flat-out hit but when Bostock got off to a slow start he made the most unusual of gestures he felt guilty about taking this check and he took his check and he donated to his church because he said I don't deserve this money as soon as he did that he caught on fire with the now pocketing Bostock Judy forces with Slugger Don Baylor and all-star pitchers Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana the Angels were hoping to grab the team's first-ever playoff berth as spring turns to summer in 78 it was becoming clear that some players were not just having great years but transcendent ones and one of those was Pete Rose who became the 13th player in history to notch 3,000 licks [Applause] and in the summer of 78 he would captivate the entire baseball world as he began an assault on one of the most hallowed records and sports Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak would not only perpetuate this streak segment that it was generating it was quite a feeling inside with the hand that get me out I was I could have just called time we shook hands every one of them he thoroughly enjoyed that Pete loved the limelight and as that streak stretched on and on and on he had the interviews every night the press corps was following him he see that ball come down out of the stands that one about that big that's where the ball look for me tonight say now tomorrow might look like a golf ball saying then it gets down to an afternoon you go over for and in the 45th game he finally did go over for but not before tying the second-longest hit streak in history he hung with them for forty four straight games one of the most remarkable batting feats especially for a 37 year old player roses torrid hitting was helping the Reds keep pace with the Dodgers while at Fenway Park Jim Rice of the division leading Red Sox was also having a remarkable season the amount of damage that he did was almost unforgettable and how hard he hit the ball at times was just astounding they could get him out if their they pray just hit a single but he rarely did as rice was on his way to leading the league in home runs triples RBIs slugging percentage and total bases he just crushed it it was amazing to watch and what was equally amazing was the season at Yankee pitcher Ron Guidry was putting together every time he stepped on the mound that season nobody touched he was electrifying he had a great fastball outstanding control and he had a slider that disappeared that year Guidry slider was incredible nobody could lay off of it as soon as he got two strikes especially in Yankee Stadium everybody's like there every time they screamed the guys walk Guidry would win his first 13 decisions instead of the a including a memorable shutout over the Angels his slider got better and better the game progressed and it towards the end of the ballgame it was unhittable [Applause] he probably had the greatest year individual year of any picture in the history of the game but for the Yankees in the first half of 78 Guidry was the only one providing any thrills as the team continued to stumble this infuriated their owner George Steinbrenner who took action he had everybody come in Clubhouse and told everybody sit in your locker and told Billy you sit right you stand right here and he proceeded to run down his lineup that lineup are you going to yourself where does a guy that has a shipbuilding company know about this damn game and the shipbuilders medley only rot the boat further as it infuriated his manager Billy Martin who in turn directed some of his frustration toward Reggie Jackson the owners prized free agent pickup of a year ago each day you could feel the tension as a sports writer walking into that Clubhouse if you walked up to Reggie you saw Billy looking out from his office what is he saying is he talking about me the relationship finally exploded on July 17th in an extra inning game against Kansas City Billy wants Reggie to button great she can't fund so Reggie was at this point he was a mess and he say he wants me to bunt so he bunts once badly Billy takes off to sign Reggie keeps punting I'll show him but it was Martin who showed Jackson as he suspended him for five games and then demanded an apology upon Reggie's return to the team the way that they have interpreted the and apologies Nora but the way I have interpreted events you know like I don't really feel like being on Billy is just beside himself with anger how dare he not apologized and then he said it he said one's a born liar and the others convicted now the deal is the born liar is Reggie the convicted liar is George Billy had gone too far and would be forced to resign my coaches my players [Music] the Yankees were in chaos and more than 10 years out of first place it seemed that if they were going to repeat as champions they would need a miracle not long after the all-star break the Dodgers would play their best ball of the season and it would be Pete Rose's Reds who had willed in August the Big Red Machine was a DJ while the Dodgers were fueled by young Bob Welch an unflappable midseason call-up weather starting work closing the hard-throwing rookie gave LA's pitching a huge boost while the veteran Reggie Smith proved to be the savior for the offense Smith has to be [Music] we were back the magic was back and we were going to to win it all la was returning to the postseason which was the only place the 78 filius wanted to be but to get there they would have to fight off the Pittsburgh Pirates who made a late charge to try and steal the division in the end however the Phills held firm and won their third straight division crown really what's important once you get over that initial hurdle is what can you do when the Heat's off you know how good can you be in front of the country in front of the world on a big series shrits Phillies were going to get another chance to find out as were the Royals Casey was able to outlast the Angels down the stretch California would then be further devastated by the shooting death of their new star Lyman Bostock manager of a ball club it was a player but as a man you lose a friend while the Angels grieved back east one of the great pennant races in history was still unfolding between Boston and New York two longtime rivals the use of years these AR these powerhouses had been battling each other with an edge [Music] when I played the Yankees the Yankees do not like the rest and then when I played with the Red Sox and the Red Sox hated the Yankees playing the Red Sox I just get full of fury and I want to beat this ballclub his best but you know just more than anything in the world the 78th pennant race would turn out to be one of the most intense battles in their shared history but it didn't seem that way in mid-july as the Red Sox were 14 games up on the Yankees and sporting the best record in baseball I just remember having his feeling as I look down on the field that I was looking at the champions but then a confluence of events would transpire to change that vision and it began but the Yankees hiring Bob lemon to replace Billy Martin as their manager things had gotten too out of control with billion and it was just too much tension and there was nobody better to bring in as management and Bob lemon who was this laid-back guy who let the players play he was like the anti ability the Yankees would also benefit from a New York newspaper strike that began on August 10th the media feeding frenzy that had surrounded the team had suddenly been replaced by an air of calm that particular time we kind of needed that the game was a chance to kind of focus on baseball it wasn't a lot of you know who doesn't like who Reggie's Mike Thurmond or augustness and that and there was the unexpected revival of catfish hunter the former cellular Ward winner who had been pitching woefully and in pain all season but then in early August after a shoulder manipulation catfish miraculously regained his old magic suddenly he was pitching beautifully he wasn't throwing as hard but he was such a control artist and he was such a smart pitcher and he was so courageous that he was a just when almost every starting and while catfish was helping bowls through the rotation the goose had become a true bully in the pen he was intimidating I gave you that that glare that's there and came at you with arms and legs and the hitters didn't have a chance with goose lemming being shot and Guidry continuing his dream season the Yankees soon began to click on all cylinders would go out when the next night you win we start to go by you're just winning you're continually looking at the standing you know we're on what's Boston doing then all of a sudden what you saw was there there Lulu I had a great hitting lineup and all of a sudden as a team we stopped hitting we couldn't score a run like three and as the lead began to melt away the Yankees claimed the psychological high ground in our hearts we knew we were better than one and we also know they were afraid of it's no no thing is choked you know you can easily go out there you're not playing aggressive ball that's not choking when the guys is welcome to feel they give up that's choking in early September New York trailing by four games pulled into Fenway for a four-game series the Yankees were ready to make a statement that would not be forgotten we jumped on them real quick and we never let up I think at one point we batted around twice before this birth matter got up once we got rolling that you could stop us so we park was just that the silence was deafening they just couldn't believe out come up there just uh steamroll them like that the series would become known as the Boston Massacre as the Yankees won all four games held scoring the Red Sox 42 to nothing I remember during the Boston Massacre a fan came down from way up in the upper bottom boxes and just leaned over in the dugout was screaming it similar the teams were tied for first but headed in opposite directions and the next weekend the Yankees moved three and a half games ahead of Boston but just when all hope seemed lost the ridiculed Red Sox arose from the dead and made a gallant final charge incredibly they won their last eight games of the season talk about the comeback to me our team made the comeback fittingly Boston caught New York on the last day of the season setting up a one playoff to decide the winner once and for all and so after 162 games New York and Boston is settled nothing at all after an epic pennant race the Yankees and Red Sox were set for a dramatic one game playoff Boston had the comfort of playing at Fenway but the Yanks had the security of throwing the league's best pitcher Ron Guidry he felt like going up there you know with Guidry on the mound that you know we had a great chance of winning the game taking the hill for the Red Sox was ex-ante Mike Torrez who had helped New York when the World Series just one year before I had a lot of butterflies I was nervous they knew I was gonna have to pitch a good game against them and just wanted to keep the scores and close especially in Fenway pitching the biggest game of the season Torres would do more than that but pitching on three days rest for the third straight start Guidry was running on [Applause] it seemed like it was going to be a great day for Boston as Red Sox icon calling Yastrzemski got them on the board early and the league's most dominant hitter chipped in giving Boston a two runs [Applause] with Boston out in front Torres was in complete control and one out away from getting through the seventh inning then with two men on like him but he came to the plate I thought we had it in the bag two to nothing seventh inning two outs and I wasn't worried it just kept drifting drifting you would keep looking you know we'd saying go go go and you know they're saying hit the wall hit the wall balls gone and Reggie Jackson would seemingly had the exclamation point just like in the first 162 or the Yankees had caught and passed Boston but in a repeat that the seasons in Boston would come back [Applause] [Music] [Applause] appropriately this game would go to the ninth with the Yankees up Warren irani and right on T Boston when Malcolm Ali [Applause] the Yankees were in trouble in more ways than one and that Sun set right behind home plate and right into the right fielders eyes and I told Bob lemon our manager if the ball hit to me in the line there's a big problem I can't see a thing [Applause] all of a sudden I don't see it anymore at the last second whether the park comes out of the Sun I grabbed it and pearls in a second Vanilla's play kept the tying run from advancing to third where the runner would have been able to score on a fly ball from nice [Music] for Missy Italian second place is going up there to the funny it would come down to one last chance and yes coming to the plate I remember going to bed the night before that playoff game and thinking that man I'm gonna be facing Yastrzemski tomorrow yes for the final out I had never been so nervous in a ball game in my whole life yeah they were probably 25,000 people in the ballpark do not say that jazz would fail to get a hit [Applause] the division leading the Red Sox five to four in a game that will go down in his one of the most memorable hard-fought contest ever Gossage has managed to hang on Guidry won his league-leading 2015 and the Yankees were back in the postseason it's been a great year for me and come back and win on the last day of the season that made my year complete if I would have lost it I don't think that would have meant anything but when you got like Bukka here to come through you know everything's reward let's say Larry guys did a good job he had a great year as the Phillies and Dodgers got set to square off in their second straight NLCS each team had victory on their minds the Phills were hoping to wash away the bitter taste of two straight playoff failures while the Dodgers who had beaten Philly in 77 were more than ready for the rematch we know it was going to be a battle and we had the pieces to be able to win and right from Game one the Dodgers showed those Phil's the difference between hope and belief in the opener Steve Garvey smacked two homers to power Dodger win and in game 2 Tommy John threw a for each shot [Applause] the fills were on the brink of another elimination but back in LA they would managed to stay alive in game 3 in the fourth game however in the bottom of the 10th inning with the score tied they would pick the wrong time to make the costly mistakes that was the big moment for us and that door opened up for us and the good teams take advantage of that Oh [Applause] for the Phillies it was going to be another long winter but for the Dodgers they were going to have an autumn to anticipate and their opponents in the Fall Classic would be the winner of the Royals Yankee series New York had beaten Casey in the previous two Championship Series but Kansas City was still confident mainly because they still had George Wright the game itself had made upon big plays big plays at the right time and George we really found was our key to helping us beat him and with the series tied at one game apiece in the crucial third game Brett would once again step into the spotlight [Music] breath would eventually hit not one not two but three homeless and his Royals would take a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the utility now it would be the Yankees who would look for a hero and would find a broken-down one in there captain Thurman Munson he knew the end was near knees shoulders he was through he was never going to be a great hitter again [Applause] the ball wins 460 feet he was no longer capable of doing that and he did it [Applause] when seven months to hit that homerun you say to yourself not again you know this can't be happening again with one defining blow Munson had sent the Royals to a crushing game three defeat and the next night his Yankees would send the Royals cold for a third straight season the series clinching game for victory [Applause] the team that wouldn't die was going back to the World Series the 78th World Series pitting the Yankees against the Dodgers would be a rematch of the 77 Fall Classic we knew that the Yankees were formidable had beaten us a year before obviously we had some retribution on our minds but the Dodgers were also dealing with the devastating death of the r11 coach and lifelong Dodger Jim Gilliam [Music] the number 19 that would kill Gilliam's number it was a sad sad moment trust me it had an effect on every man in that clubhouse [Music] it was pretty tough to be honest with you he had a tremendous impact on me he and I went back a long way an in-game one davey lopes would ride that emotion as he hit not one but two [Applause] [Music] [Applause] notes would lead LA to a game one win and in Game two they would look to fire balling rookie Bob Welch to fan the flames the Dodgers held a one-run lead with two outs in the ninth as Reggie Jackson came to bat with a chance to win the game a year ago Jackson had correct the Dodgers but now la would ask the world to stop him I was shaking in my drawers to tell you truth you know it's the first time I get a chance to pitch in a World Series then here comes Reggie Jackson up I started shaking a little bit more and the crowds starting a little bit louder the chapter pitch the kid challenged the veteran as the tension mounted [Applause] [Music] I can remember how tight my stomach was and shortness of breath the excitement in every swing that he took it was the greatest that your versus batter confrontation I have ever seen in my entire life and six minutes after it began the etiquette that finally came to an end the Dodgers at seemingly taken control of this series going to New York l2o was really the heights of optimism for us we were kind of on a high going there the Yankees were back home and back in a big hole but they were used to digging out at them I can remember Munson said if we win tonight's game somehow we can win we can win all of us we have the team to come back and win so I pumped everybody over they had the right pitcher on the mound as well Ron Guidry had been saving the Yankees all season long but in this game it would be their third baseman who would be their Savior [Applause] [Music] they just kept hittin and down me and I kept catching it and seemed like every time they hit the ball to him it seemed like the bases were loaded and hadn't made some kind of a fancy play the defensive heroics of nettles would win them a game they had to have [Applause] [Music] I always tease no that's a you know if I really would have had good stuff nobody would have known that you were that good a third baseman as Guidry closed the door on the Dodgers Helen still owned the two 2-1 series lead but it was far from a safe one [Music] while the Yankees had the momentum going into game for the Dodgers still held a two-to-one series lead and we're looking to bury the Yankees but the Yankees had LA right where they wanted them and began to chip away we had the feeling that all we needed was one break in a game to turn the game around and in the bottom of the sixth they would get it [Applause] [Music] Dodger shortstop Bill Russell Stroh had hit Reggie and LA claimed it was interference [Music] was he trying to get out of the way or was he trying to get in the way to me it's obvious that he wasn't trying to get out of the way he did what he thought he could to help the demon you know we got away with them it changed the momentum and that point on the Yankees thought that they could beat us and I truthfully I don't know what happened to us the Dodgers were really and as the game went to extra innings Lou Piniella looked to land the fatal blow when I went up the home plate I told Steve Yeager the catcher this game's over I knew I was gonna hit the ball hard somewhere and the first pitch is a high fastball the line [Music] and games over the antes had tied the series at two games apiece and in Game five the teams will continue to move in opposite directions the Dodgers were falling apart while the Yankees were giving unexpected contributions from players like rookie Brian Doyle and Bucky Dent who was having an October to remember [Applause] the Yankees would crush the Dodgers in game 5 and seize control of the cities [Music] [Applause] and it was only appropriate that in the sixth game in LA catfish hunter would be on the mound to help complete the Yankee comeback mutters own personal journey had murdered that of his team and now the resilient Yankees would finish the job that year was just really really a special year the team itself had such a grit to him just tremendous competitors [Applause] those Yankees if they had to nor off your leg and their leg to win they would do it and Reggie Jackson and would put the icing on the cake as he got revenge on Bob Welch [Applause] [Music] it was an incredible journey from the end the 14 gangs out to will be ended up accomplishing I put that tune up against anything the Yankees had completed one of the most remarkable seasons in history having been down 14 games in the regular season and own two in the World Series they fought through it all to repeat this champions not many clubs could have gone through what we went through all year long and still won the World Series that's what makes that whole year so special the Dodgers Yankees and Red Sox would see their fates intertwined for years to come in 1981 the Dodgers would have their revenge on the eggs for the Yankees it would be the start of a long championship drought that would last almost two decades and end with four World Series titles in a five-year span and the Red Sox would ultimately find redemption as well [Music] in 2004 they would become the first team to overcome a three to nothing playoff deficit to beat the Yankees on their way to winning their first World Series in 86 years [Music] [Music] you

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Length: 44min 57sec (2697 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 03 2019