World Series 100 years

[Music] and with its another world the first game of this dark 1948 World Series gets underway [Music] it's 1969 World Series Baseball the first night game in the history of the World Fair fans this is Melanie and her daddy hi everybody I'm Vin Scully and everybody I'm Keith Jackson and welcome to the world series by 1981 first time in history two countries have made it to the World Series faster than any franchise in major league history 44 years of the Subway Series is back it's no wonder then this [Music] it's not easy to get there it takes a lot of work and it takes a lot of guys contributing this is one thing I think we go to spring training for to work hard to go and play in the World Series I think every players dream or goal is to play and win a World Series you realize it and then there were two left standing and you're one of the two US a-- did i dream that someday I would be playing you're serious you no longer that child that's sitting in front of television set and watching the World Series this is the moment I've been bringing a lot and here you are I say to myself thank you my dream come true it's the ultimate level really the two best teams for that year from the American nationally and you're part of it you're part of history and the world is watching you know scary electrifying it's wonderful and it's just different you know you don't think about you all you do is think about getting the guy out you don't think about the fan you don't think about what it means you don't think about the TV cameras enjoy it you may not get in another one and I didn't in life it was one of the goals that I set out to achieve and I live [Music] just felt really good today and I told the guys and said guys don't worry about it today you got a jump on my back on the carry if I was a Dodger fan here comes Kurt you know I dreamed it up and it happened and why it happened I can't tell you the writers wanted to interview my glove and not me Koufax pitch the greatest game that I've ever seen pitch Bob Gibson that name is untouched unbelievably will never again see anyone come close to three complete game shutouts when a player he was his whole career and then to emphasize it with the World Series like he had was just fantastic [Applause] what he's been able to do has just been incredible regi was always at his best when they turned the bright lights [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is history he's not called mr. octo for nothing well I was pretty nervous myself was quite a thrill I'm glad it happened to me that day I wish LD kept the ball I gave him the ball and is going to the gym for you know catch in 47 is frequently group who the Willie Mays captured in 54 I knew right away I was going to kiss the ball hitting a homerun in Chicago at that time the Lord was with me when I called the shots I caught the whole Red Sox infield napping beat me beat him we beat the gray Yankees I know exactly where I was beat this hit that home run I wonder if the foul ball didn't have that screen on the inside pole or what happened I don't know he's trying to survive it's just sheer luck [Applause] we quite became or the ground ball and I'm thinking why did not learn to do cartwheels [Applause] [Music] [Applause] as greatest go in the world we happen to win it's magnified that much greater you know they also said if you're gonna lose you better lose early because if you lose in the World Series that's what's remembered the most to go to the World Series I mean we took it as far as we could go unfortunately came out on the short end and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything I can remember people saying well you know you shouldn't feel so bad because at least you got there look at all the other teams that went home well but in go there to lose because all of your dreams as a kid you never lost but if you don't win it you know I don't know what you feel I don't know what the Red Sox feel the whole thing that we're feeling too good you've got to win it you know you know planning is one thing but you got to take home that ring in that trophy win it that's it knowing that you've worked that hard for one reason as to win championship and you're able to do it Oh World Series is the World Series no matter where you're poor it's not another ballgame we just can't get any higher than that well it's a fulfillment of a dream being able to run out of that mouth and the last hours recorder and jump around and be world champions it's the greatest feeling in the world they're all Little League kids again this is the dream come true they're going to own a ring that says World Series champions you know whatever you're at the pinnacle of what you do the sport that you play you can't describe it until you go there the chills that I get them still when I watch the introduction the national anthem it's I think the purest form of championship in any sport Major League Baseball Productions presents 100 years of the World Series [Music] [Music] [Applause] through the latter part of the 19th century major league baseball was becoming established as the national pastime but only with a national league with the turn of the century however came the advent of a competing League the American League grew out of a high Miley called the Western League or Western Association which was run by a gentleman named ban Johnson to compete with the monopolistic National League major cities in the east and Midwest were granted teams in the American League in 1901 and were soon able to coax some stars away from the nationally liked nap lash away the league's preeminent hitter and siyoung the most accomplished pitcher of his era The Sporting News strongly endorsed Johnson's new league and fans flocked to the games in just its second year the American League out drew its national counterpart by half a million fans the league faulted from a stepchild status into a full-blown league finally in the American league's third season the champions of the two leagues agreed to meet from October it was at first simply a matter of challenge the American League champions Boston challenged Pittsburgh the nationally champions and they agreed on a nine game series ban Johnson gave the Boston team one injunction you must beat them and behind the pitching of sy young and Bill Denis who threw 69 of 71 innings between them Boston did beat Honus Wagner and the Pirates five games to three there isn't much people remembered today about the 1903 World Series but what should be remembered is boston defeated pittsburgh so it was the upstart American League beating the established National League and in a lot of ways that added credibility to the American League so not only had the National League lost some of its best players to the American League it had also lost the first official World Series as such there was a residue of bitterness perhaps best exemplified by the owner of the New York Giants and their fiery manager John McGraw the next year the National Champion New York Giants McGraw's first pennant winner had an owner who refused to accept the challenge from the upstart American League this cancellation caused so much fuss that the same owner of the Giants John brush then wrote up rules for how a World Series should be played and those rules exist to this day and so in 1905 the World Series as we now know it finally got underway in 1905 we saw really the first official World Series it was the biggest sporting event in American history at that time the two biggest cities in the country Philadelphia in New York the two most famous managers in baseball Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics John McGraw of Jets and the two great pitchers Matheson and Gettysburg Eddie plank matched up in Game one Christy Mathewson was the first great superstar of the 20th century year in and year out good pitching will win in the World Series and really that goes back to 1905 Matheson wins three shutouts only one guy gets the third base in fact what Mathewson did in 1905 while leading the Giants to a four games to one victory may be the single greatest performance in World Series history for in the course of six days Christi through three complete game shutouts a feat that could never be equaled today structure the game no longer permits three consecutive complete game shutouts teams that get to the World Series will have deep bullpens they'll have outstanding closers and we will never again see anyone come close to three complete game shutouts in a series be done still another feat many thought would never be duplicated took place in 1906 when the Chicago Cubs won a phenomenal 116 regular season games a record unmatched for nearly a century at that time the Cubs were sort of what the New York Yankees represent today they were perhaps the consistently best baseball team in the major leagues the 1906 World Series was the first of three straight for the Cubs it was also the first intra-city series as the crosstown White Sox upset the heavily favored Cubs four games to two when the Cubs returned to the Fall Classic in 1907 they met Detroit and promptly became part of an historic series moment the game one of the World Series in 1907 has that kind of romantic ohright the cups were down three to two in the bottom of the ninth and then the tiger catcher Charlie Schmidt dropped a third strike which allowed to run to score and the game was tied it went on another three innings it was then called on account of darkness as was common in that era Cubs went on to win the next four games and sweep the series it was pretty dramatic in your opening game of the series too to have a 12 inning time call it Cubs karma if you like but it continued to follow Chicago into the 1908 season as the team maintained its winning ways and its reputation as the best franchise in the game 19:08 is the third year of what Cub fans would consider the best three year period in the teams history three consecutive pennants and you hear that team referred to as a Cubs dynasty but they were in a nip and tuck tremendous pennant race with McGraw's New York Giants and it all came down to one bizarre play one still known today yes as Fred Merkel's boner so what exactly was Fred's faux-pas his boner was that he did what everybody was doing at that time two-out game-winning hit scoring a man from third Merkle's on first base he didn't go all the way down to touch second base beavers calls for the ball steps on second base the umpire calls Merkel out and you have pandemonium because you've got hundreds of people on the field at this point instead of a 2-1 Giant victory it was a 1-1 tie which had to be replayed at the end of the season because the team's finished with identical records and the Cubs won the playoff game and when either the World Series the cubs once again faced the Tigers in that 1908 series and won the first two games to stretch their series winning streak to six they'd win the series four games to one but was it thanks to Merkel's boner or his curse people who really know the early baseball think that maybe if the Cubs hadn't sort of stolen that pennant they might not be a cursed ballclub today it's kind of funny to think about but when maybe you're not the team that's supposed to be there that could cast a little shadow on your history the Tigers got another shot in 1909 riding Ty Cobb's third straight batting title to their third straight series the 1909 World Series was the Pittsburgh Pirates versus the Detroit Tigers but it was more than that it was a pitting of the two great players won the stalwart the veteran and one the upstarts from Detroit the thing that's so amazing is the personality differences between Ty Cobb on the one hand this fiery fiery temperamental player and Honus Wagner this immigrant said big lumbering noble generous with two of the game's marquee players center stage the World Series went to a deciding Game seven for the first time as it turned out Wagner outplayed Cobb in almost every respect Wagner was a hero he was one of the reasons that the Pirates won the World Series he batted over 300 sparkled in the field stole six bases in the seven-game series Wagner helped the Pirates atone for their 1903 Series defeat as for cough the most dominant player of a zero he would never again play in a World Series [Music] [Applause] in just its second decade the world series had become an American tradition in 1910 the confident philadelphia aides won their third American League pennant and were matched up in the series against the perennial powerhouse Chicago Cubs in 1910 the Chicago Cubs are the class of the baseball they're facing the new champions of the American League offense clerics have a pitcher named Jack Combs he wins three of the four games that Philadelphia's Coons dominated on the mound but the true genius behind the A's was their manager Connie Mack who cast a lasting image he's standing on the dugout steps with a score card in his hand moving his outfielders pitch by pitch and setting his infielders what they now use with elaborate charts to show where every hit has gone Connie had that all in his head when the Athletics met the Giants in the 1911 World Series they hadn't forgotten what happened six years prior yeas were smarting from their defeat in 1905 by the Giants and the A's basically shut down the Giants offense Philadelphia captured its second straight series thanks in part to the most valuable infield of the day they have what is then called $100,000 infield $100,000 was supposed to be their value the public imagination didn't go beyond the hundred thousand dollars of those days they didn't yet thinking Millions before the series A's third baseman Frank Baker it hit 11 home runs to lead the league by the end of the series he was officially known as homerun Baker McGraw had told the pitchers whatever you do to Frank Baker don't throw him anything up here and mcward in the second game of the series threw something up here and Baker hit it out of the park third game Matheson's got it one and bingo he throws a high pitch he hits it up into the Polo Grounds in the left feel in that overhang the Polo Grounds played host is still another World Series in 1912 which was also the first year of Boston's lucky new park in the early days of Fenway Park Fenway was kind of a good-luck place you know which is amazing to think of now but it opened 1912 the Red Sox head what might have been their greatest team ever and the Red Sox also had some rather passionate fans there were these guys in Boston called the Royal rooters you cannot describe these guys rabid fans of the world with fans like that behind them how could Boston lose especially with their not so secret weapon the Red Sox that year a young sensational picture Smokey Joe would would 134 games that year and three more in the World Series to beat Christy Mathewson and earn a lucrative reward 1912 for $24 and 70 cents a share in 1913 the Athletics again won the World Series sending the Giants to their third straight Series defeat Jays pitching was really the story they had two complete games by Eddie plank and two by Chief Pender and the Giants just couldn't do anything with these guys he is just better they are now the dominant team in baseball they are what the Yankees later became those days of Connie Mack at the baseball at that time it seemed as if it would take a miracle to beat the powerful A's and in 1914 Boston's National League team was more than happy to provide just on the Boston Braves producing miracle they go from last place in July to winning the pennant handling over the Giants and then sweep the A's in a four-game world series the first ever four-game sweep in series history brought to a close the reign of Connie Mack says but Philadelphia remained in the picture in 1915 future hall-of-famer Grover Cleveland Alexander 131 games to lead the Philadelphia Phillies into the series against the Red Sox Boston won in five games with a star-studded outfield of Tris speaker Harry Hooper and Duffy Lewis but the biggest name on hand was Woodrow Wilson for this marked the turning point a president at the the World Series which is the nation's showcase of our game baseball then he's a lot having the nation's leader throw out the first pitch attend the ball game I really put a stamp on the game meaning this was a national venue beyond just sporting events Wilbert Robinson's Brooklyn Robins with a national league team in 1916 and making the first of his many World Series appearances was Casey Stengel the mighty Red Sox were seeking their third World Series title in five years and about to make a name for himself was a young Boston pitcher named Babe Ruth Shari Smith went the distance for Brooklyn in Game two matching the rising young Boston star pitch for pitch but Ruth prevailed two to one in a 14 inning masterpiece that began an amazing World Series scoreless inning stream it's been said that he was the best left-handed pitcher in the league at the time he was extremely proud of his pitching record behind Ruth Boston won its second straight five game series the National League entry in the 1917 World Series once again was John McGraw's Giants this time facing the White Sox this was a team of several shady characters and we'll never know what they were doing in 17 18 19 they were a very good tough and tough to beat team when they wanted to be the White Sox beat the Giants that year but stumbled in 1918 amidst rumors of suspicious play in turn the Red Sox earned their fourth series birth of the decade the wonder unusual circumstances the season was cut short by World War one there was a work or fight order which made the baseball season end abruptly Labor Day it wound up as a World Series between the Red Sox and Cubs in that series Ruth's extended his World Series scoreless inning streak to a record 29 and 2/3 and Boston won for the fourth time in seven years Red Sox fans never had it so good if you're a baseball astoria it's no secret that the Red Sox were one of the dominant teams in the early years of the American League certainly and they won five of the first 15 World Series which is pretty dominant including three World Series in the teens when Babe Ruth was here in 1919 the Chicago White Sox returned to the series and took on the Cincinnati Reds the Reds went 96 and 44 that year eight more wins than Chicago but most observers still thought that the White Sox were a lot to win it all they went into that World Series very strong favorites although the odds started to change as the series approach because word started to slip out that some of these players might not be trying their best and indeed they were first baseman chick Gandil was the apparent ringleader of a plot to throw the series he recruited as many as seven teammates the most important being Eddie sacani and Lefty Williams the team's two best pitchers and they'll even manage to enlist one of the game's top players in the scheme the great Shoeless Joe Jackson when sacani hit the first batter of the series it's signaled that the fix was on the performance of the Sox in losing game one was not very artful the errors were blatant this is an open secret among those who were in the know players and writers many baseball riders in Chicago knew of the scandal or at least suspected of the scandal that had occurred during the World Series the Reds went on to win the series but shortly thereafter the owners chose the no-nonsense judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as commissioner it would be his job to look into the fix and clean up the game judge Landis issued his famous ruling that any man who conspires or guilty knowledge of a fixed ballgame is gone in the end eight members of the team that would be known as the Black Sox were banned from baseball including shoeless joe the nadir the worst moment of baseball has got to be the throwing of a series by the black stockings [Music] it is my belief that baseball is loved by an entire nation because it embodies that priceless spirit of equality that is the very backbone of America itself while the Black Sox scandal was a very dark chapter in baseball history in 1920 the game was revived and by a mere babe perhaps the perfect contrast to move attention away from the Black Sox and back on the field became this bigger than life player Babe Ruth what this converted pitcher did was hit homeruns more than anyone before him and his prowess captivated fans everywhere so the whole era of baseball changed and at the center of that was Babe Ruth with that big bat that explosive power and that Ringling Brothers personality and it came right at the edge of the White Sox scandal it was the most fortuitous conjunction imaginable but not even the powerful roof could do it alone and in fact he wasn't even part of the 1920 World Series the American League was represented by the Cleveland Indians a team that had persevered in the face of tragedy 1920 was a very emotional season near the end of the season the Cleveland Indians shortstop ray Chapman passes away after an on-field accident he was hit in the temple by a pitched ball and he never recovered consciousness the team rallied around this and they had a great final month of the season a late season call-up filling in for a Chapman Joe Sewell went on a tear and eventually a Hall of Fame career he was joined by Tris speaker the greatest centerfielder of his day who as player-manager led the Indians to their first pennant and World Series in franchise history [Music] the 1920 series drew quite a bit of attention and fan interest in the outcome of each game between Cleveland and the Brooklyn Robbins was evident in the streets think the people of Cleveland were so happy with their first pennant and the the people in Brooklyn were the people of Brooklyn that I think they ever entertained the slightest doubt that these were good men control and the series of course was played completely aboveboard and it was a memorable series indeed the Indians won the championship five games to two but even that took a backseat to some World Series firsts like Elmer Smith's grand slam and a most peculiar play that involved three Robins and a then-unknown Cleveland infield bill Lansky is the quintessential being in the right place at the right time guy while a decent infielder we would never have heard of him today more for the fact that in the 1920 World Series he got a line drive stepped on 2nd and tag the runner coming from the first a second to create the only unassisted triple play in World Series history everybody would steps in the field has a chance in the blink of an eye to live forever being the guy who performed they got a sister to play really bother him because he's quoted as saying that it was like I was born the day before and died the day after Babe Ruth continued his offensive onslaught in 1921 and welcomed some old teammates thanks to the Yankees new GM and Baro had been the manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918 the last year they had won the World Series when he came to the Yankees everybody remembers that he recruited Babe Ruth but the fact is that within three years nearly half the Yankee team were former Red Sox baro had simply raided the team bought it retail and wholesale and moved it to New York the new additions helped the Yankees win three consecutive pennants and square off in all three World Series against John McGraw's Giants Giants was still the power but McGraw was losing New York to Ruth and the Yankees the Yankees outdrew the Giants in the Polo Grounds and this just drove McGraw crazy Ruth was hurt for part of the 21 series and the Giants took the title but what a healthy Ruth returned in the 22 classic McGraw devised a scheme to neutralize the bay would grow tall his pitches to just pitch him in the dirt that he was going to be swinging and anything there's no question that Ruth is the greatest fastball and curveball hitter in the business he could not hit close down he just couldn't hit it the plan worked perfectly and McGraw's Giants won their third World Series title though now twice a bridesmaid in New York the Yankees had become the darlings of the city's fans and the Giants skipper had had enough the crew couldn't stand the Yankee popularity he didn't like Babe Ruth and so they yes the Yankees to leave and so they built Yeti Stadium and they did so just a stone's throw literally across the river from the Polo Grounds it was in Yankee Stadium but the 23 series opened but it was the Giants who struck first ironically thanks to the efforts of a future Yankees manager in the very first game two outs in the ninth Casey Stengel who was an outfielder for the Giants hit a ball between the outfielders the hustling Stengel flew around the bases for a game-winning inside-the-park home run and had another game winner in Game three but the Yankees did come back and they won four of the next five weeks it was the Yankees first-ever World Series title even further obscuring their crosstown rivals what gets lost in there is filled with the Giants we the Giants were equally successful the Giants I believe had lost the shadows in 1924 those Giants won their fourth straight pennant but once again were overshadowed in the series this time by an aging pitcher known as the big Train Walter Johnson who was by then acknowledged as the greatest pitcher of water pitching year of the year for losing teams setting fantastic told he won over 400 games he pitched over 100 shutouts he was it but he was now at the end of his career it looked like Johnson might ends his career without having had that distinction but Washington assembled a really good team behind Johnson the Senators won the American League pennant now they get into the World Series against it was Giants his team had 7 Hall of Famers and managed by John McGraw regarded by many as the greatest manager in the history of the game the mainstay of a second division team his entire career Johnson now tugged at the fans hearts in his quest for series glory Johnson the grizzled veteran was quite the figure of sympathy everybody wanted the Senators to win so that Johnson could it wasn't that there was a national consensus behind the Senators because Washington was our nation's capital it was because Johnson was a popular figure Johnson lost the first two games he pitched and this was regarded as a national tragedy Walter Johnson was going to be regarded as the goat but the Senators weren't about to let that happen to the big train they even the series at three games apiece and in Game seven Bucky Harris caught a break it's a hard grounder and a third base that presumably it's a pebble and bounces Oh afraid Lindstrom said for a double that scores the tying run Walter Johnson who had been beaten badly two days before as one days rest came in and held this powerful New York Giants lineup scoreless four innings and then in the twelfth inning the same thing happens another drive down a third base it's by legend of the same pebble and goes for the game-winning hit and long behold the Senators of won the World Series Washington went crazy and after waiting all those years Walter Johnson had the most glorious of all victims the line that got circulated so much was God just couldn't stand to see the big train lose another hood Johnson led the Senators to another World Series in 1925 but Bowie won two games in that classic the Pittsburgh Pirates won Game seven for their second title the Yankees returned to the series in 1926 to face the st. Louis Cardinals led by perhaps the greatest right-handed hitter ever player manager Rogers Hornsby the team would be bolstered by the acquisition of a castaway pitcher a future hall-of-famer more than happy to join the winning team in st. Louis but midseason Cubs ask waivers on over Cleveland Alexander was alcoholic epileptic but one of the greatest pitchers who ever lived even a great pitcher he has the same number of wins lifetimes Christy Mathewson he under 73 Hornsby though he hit Alexander while himself knew the few others did he said I want him I don't care where the drinks are Matt Alexander had a renaissance in the Cardinals rotation in one Game two of the series with snake Louis facing elimination he got the call again for Game six in the sixth game he pitched a complete game victory to even the series at three to three game 7 is started by Jessie Haynes the bottom of the seventh the Yankees load the bases two out and Haynes can go further and I can't tell it's got to come after Lester Bell the third baseman Cardinals said there we younger men in the bullpen fresher arms there was only one man we wanted to see Alexander came out and he told Hornsby how he's gonna pitch the lazarey hard-hitting young second baseman who was at the plate I'm gonna pitch the first one fastball inside and then a curveball it away 1 2 3 as long as we said no he can't do that he can't throw my fast boys a fastball you know and Alexander said if I put it where I want to put it he's gonna hit it foul if he hits it at all and then Hornsby who the hell am I to tell you how to pitch horns be returned to his position and Alexander followed his plan including of course an inside fastball that lazarey pulled foul and two outside curves that ensured his place in history funny how many people think that was you the game but it wasn't the game ended oddly in the night he gets down with two out it gets his freedom - on Babe Ruth and he pitched him with such caution he ended up walking and Ruth for some reason got it into his head to steal second base the big guy takes off tag is made in the series and for once age triumph over youth it was the first title for st. Louis and the final flash of glory for Alexander of all the many games and innings that Alexander worked with his London mostly for one had bet by now Ruth had been a Yankee star for seven seasons and though he continued to rewrite the record books New York had one just one title all that changed however in 1927 when the Yankees assembled a team for the ages and 2017 is considered you know maybe the greatest baseball team of all time and Ruth sits right in the middle of it the babe had a record 60 home runs defying all logic when you have a guy who hits more home runs and most of the teams that's a pretty special player he was joined by first baseman Lou Gehrig now entering his prime Gehrig drove in a hundred seventy five runs and won the MVP award Gehrig had a fierce combative spirit when he went up there to hit he had one purpose to knock the hell out the ball there were two great hitters and they were a one-two punch Ruth and Gehrig were complimented by Tony Lazzeri Earl Coombs and Bob Musil but in truth they needed only one name this rare assemblage of talent was called murderers row the 27 Yankees led the league in runs and home runs but they were more than just offense there was a great great team plus it was a team that had incredible depth on their pitching staff the Yankee top pitches had two top three earned run averages in the league that year exactly how can you beat that combination heading into the World Series the Yankees had already achieved legendary status and even though the Pittsburgh Pirates fielded five future hall-of-famers of their own it was apparent from the start that this would be no contest the Pirates was sitting in the stands and walking all over ball to go out over the park ticket it beat him right there following their batting practice barrage the men of murderers row led by the big two swept the Pirates offering further proof of what many still believe today despite all the enormous ly talented Yankee teams down to the years I would still select that as the greatest New York Yankee team of all time and perhaps the best baseball team of all time still the offensive show put on by Ruth and Gehrig in the 1928 series remains the benchmark by which all others are measured in 28 Ruth had three home runs all in the final game but daring at four four home runs four games the two of them together hit well over 500 it was a four-game sweep over the Cardinals with two straight titles now the Yankees seem poised to carry their domination into the next decade [Music] boy this Babe Ruth has already stated that the Yankees have dependent their already won I think feel that it's up to you boys to show him that he's all wrong and the Philadelphia's would do just that as the one struggling franchise returned to greatness thanks to the visionary skill of owner manager Johnny Mac Mac gradually has been piecing together what will be the greatest of all the A's team that in 1929 overtakes the Yankees the Athletics were loaded with stars who stood toe-to-toe with even the greatest Yankees teams they were silent all around they had Mickey Cochrane catching and left field and Al Simmons Jimmie Foxx off first base he was the strongest man I ever saw in baseball I mean that's a hitter yeah an armed like blacks they called Jimmie Foxx the right-handed Babe Ruth and he did hit more home runs than Ruth four times but the A's also had the most dominant pitcher of his era in lefty Grove he could get you out I think he threw 200 miles an hour look like a peacoat up there you see it he would to him the A's were the new class of the league and entered October filled with confidence maybe we'll all have more to say after we play the cup filly met Joe McCarthy's Cubs in the 29 series Woodgrove the obvious choice to start Game one but the crafty Mack had a different plan back study that 1929 Chicago lineup which was powerful wanted to be Carlos Stevenson Wilson but they will all right-handed hit his empty was an all cagey right-hander who threw a lot of slow curves and Mac guessed that empty would keep them off balance and he did allowing just one run while striking out a venn World Series record 13 batters later in the series the offense took over in the fourth game turns out to be a five-game series they beat the Cubs with a dramatic 10 run seventh inning Nosa wins the last game with 9th inning rally to wrap it up the A's would steam roll into the Fall Classic again the next year barring all the features of a dynasty in 1930 they beat the st. Louis Cardinals in six games 1931 they were in a pennant again three in a row their knowledge they are the class of the baseball world the 31 series matched Philly and st. Louis once again but this time the Cardinals had a little more seasoning pepper Martin was added to the team in 1931 coming off for the 1930 Hays Cardinals World Series he's the new guy on the team but he's incredible he batted 500 he stole five bases and really was the difference in the seven-game series so the A's rain of glory was interrupted by a star who had arrived in the nick of time pepper Martin was exactly what the country needed in 1931 he needed a hero we were in Depression it was an ugly time it also became an ugly time for Connie Mack forced to sell off many of his stars after the 31 series thus ending the last great dynasty of the era [Music] I was on a 1932 Yankees the world's champions and you go back and check the records the 1932 Yankees was better than the 1927 Yankees that everybody says is the greatest ballclub for bang check the records well both the 27 and 32 teams featured the one-two punch of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and though the spotlight still fell on the babe his career was winding down as he entered his 10th Fall Classic [Music] the 1932 Yankees were piloted by manager Joe McCarthy and in the World Series they faced the Chicago Cubs a team McCarthy had led to the pennant in 1929 only to be fired a year later so it's no surprise that there was animosity between the two teams and it peaked in the fifth inning of Game three with the score tied at four it was here a legendary tale was born as Ruth came to the play in Game three of the 1932 World Series the X plan two Cubs is bad blood between the two teams that resulted in a lot of bench jockeying primarily from the Cubs side directed at babies in this one particular time when I went to bath especially the first pitch bomb was a call strike well I thought it was outside and didn't like it very much so the boys there was ever give me the onion horn yelling from the cub that was positively as sulfurous he was taking a lot of ribbon from the bench and they call me you know big fat guy and slob and stuff like that this is the Fuhrer and there's a guy standing still in the middle of a night bat doing all this and then he makes his famous gesture he just holds up these hands of that that's only two strikes and it was only two strikes because the next one he hit our side yes he rounds the bases he gestures again to the Cubs pushing at them with both hands as to say it don't ever challenge me again like this you know cuz I'm Babe Ruth said I can do what I want and so he did did he do it well you can add this home run to the long list of things these teams did not agree upon men on the field were later interviewed the Yankee side of it followed the party line said yes of course he was pointing out his home run cut players just smiled shook the head said nonsense fact or fable the Yankees won Game three swept the series and took their fourth World Championship Ruth wasn't in the 33 series but cheered on Joe Cronin's Senators in addition to Cronin Washington's twenty six-year-old player manager the Senators featured feared hitters like goose Gosselin and buddy Myers a consistent 300 hitter but they'd have to master New York's pitching tandem of Hal Schumacher and the great left-hander Carl Hubbell the two had combined for 17 shutouts during the regular season still the decidedly young Cronin was confident of the Senators chances in the World Series Bill Terry was the new player manager of the Giants having succeeded the legendary John McGraw a year prior and Terry also put on a positive if not emotional game face one that one the front of the National League and I believe it will beat Washington in the series Terry's confidence was vindicated when Hubble dominated Game one screwball that he'd start off with him wanted to drop in for striking you say to yourself well I can hit that low throw it again and then makes when it explode and then first thing you know where to strike so and then they tell you another explosive and B try to hit him but we take our hats off the Hubble's particular fit throughout the series the Giants pitching staff proved too much to overcome but a good deal of credit also has to go to slugger Mel OTT who hit 389 and showcased his all-round talents I hope I don't overuse the word respect and admiration but he was a great ballplayer yeah that unusual batting stance where he was raised his right leg and playing it down and get positioned to hit that ball and it's a lot of power and a good Bunter why not came up with the score tied at 3 in the 10th inning of Game five New York was looking to close out the series [Applause] thanks to spike by Mel often to the stands that not the senators out of the series and the tenth inning of the final session four out of five games for the Giants and soft in the world stamp [Applause] in 1934 one brash team stood out I don't say we were the best club in 1934 but we thought we were the best we were 25 that went together and if anybody on the other Club said anything about anybody he had to lick all 25 that's the kind of frisky was one of the nicer things said about Frankie fresh and the 34 Cardinals called the Gashouse gang because of their rough-and-tumble style of play the cards were led by the Dean Brothers pitchers dizzy and Paul who won 49 games between them that year they'd face Mickey Cochran's Tigers in the 34 Series the Tigers feature their own solid ace in schoolboy row [Music] [Music] but it was dizzy who came out on top in the opener backing up his boasts by leading the gas house gang to an 8-3 victory the irrepressible Dean continued to make his mark on the series in Game four but much to the dismay of manager Frisch he did so not with his arm but with his head spud Davis got a base hit and we're looking around for a pinch runner and is just run right off the bench and he went to first base I said Chris must be crazy his star pitcher run with all those guys sitting on the bed and fresh said who the hell sent him over their eyes not me I thought you did well the next hitter up and hit a ball to Charlie Geary the DoublePlay ball and Billy Rogel came across second base got the ball from Charlie to throw the DoublePlay ball thinking that the runner you know who did you Dean think he's gonna slide Rogel hit him right there when you should go down there's one up I did though I hit him I never saw him I still get letters people think I hate him on purpose and to tell you the truth I never saw what I hit him the ball bounced up in the air you know and dizzy went down like he was shot right into the hospital and everything course you know the newspapers came out the next day that Dizzy's head was x-rayed and they found nothing that was always a punchline that they ended up the story but dizzy did make a quick recovery and the legend of Dizzy Dean grew only larger hard-nosed Hall of Famer Joe ducky Medwick also had an impact on that series going into Game seven Medwick had 10 hits and needed to to tie pepper Martin's 1931 Series mark with Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in attendance game 7 got underway and Medwick and the Cardinals ran roughshod over Detroit building a commanding lead [Music] then in the sixth inning Medwick slammed a triple and even though the game was well out of reach and the throw had not yet reached third duckie slid hard into the bag and then all hell broke loose Joe at roughly and he slid in the third base and Joe had a way of sliding with his right leg was underneath him and his left leg was up about knee-high and he caught Marvin on the shirt here and I guess Marvin saw dude trying to cut him and it was not intentional and it soon anyway new out of slide and he didn't try to cut on or anything and with that when Marvin took the ball started after and he took a punch to Joe and that was his first mistake it's a good thing they stopped him because med would've probably injured Bowen for life and the war was on the next battlefield turned out to be left field but when Medwick took his position the artillery came raining down and then with Medwick took his place out in the field the fans out there was so discouraged and upset by that time they'd all come out to the game early expecting the Tigers to win the seventh game and they all brought their lunch with them and they started a sort of network in the field they threw everything bottles and it was really a dangerous situation so dangerous in fact that a decision had to be made by Commissioner Landis he said too fresh and the best thing is for Joe to leave the game and that was the best thing and let it went and now was Ducky's turn to show his unhappiness with the Detroit fans was a bad display on the part of the baseball fans of Detroit but I I can understand I felt if I'd had something to throw in mind it's probably throw up I was so upset the Cardinals then wrapped up this emotional World Series behind the head strong Dizzy Dean that was a big disappointment because we had a better team than the Cardinals and we never got the recognition for it because they were a won the World Series and B they had a very colorful Club a football team I thought we were better [Music] as it happened the Tigers got a chance to prove how good a team they were in the very next World Series and they went charging into that 1935 battle with an elite group of ball players the g-men Tiger said Greenberg Gehringer and Gosselin and they were known as Detroit's g-men this was quite a threesome Detroit would face the Chicago Cubs and in Game two the Tigers suffered a severe blow when Hank Greenberg the American League MVP suffered a broken wrist while sliding into home plate we're gonna edition but we showed we could win without indeed four in the ninth inning of Game six goose Gosselin had a premonition about his 120 ninth and final World Series at-bat goose Gosselin and I was sitting on the dugout steps and the last thing when we were all tied up with the Cubs and goose was fourth hitter and he turned around to me and he said I have a feeling he said I have a feeling I'm going to be at bat with a winning run on base and he said if I am he said we're going to be the world's champions [Applause] when he came in after that hit I ran out on the field and goose came toward me and we threw her arms around each other and all he said what that I didn't want that I don't want it teddy and that was a moment that I'll never forget but the fans went absolutely wild in Detroit that night they literally upset streetcars Detroit could not contain itself the Tigers had given the city its first ever World Series championship so when you talk about Detroit just say the city of chance because we really were in the mid 1930s a truly powerful team brought a winning tradition back to New York the 36 to 39 crew doesn't get much attention yet it could be argued that this was the greatest of all you had deep contingents Ruth was gone after the 34 season it was now Lou Gehrig's team but only for a nanosecond because Joe DiMaggio came in in 36 and instantly made an impact you added DiMaggio let me just think you demand you and Gary in the same lineup this team couldn't lose it began in 1936 against their crosstown rivals the New York Giants as the Yankees embarked on still another run of greatness [Music] [Music] [Music] jørgen Hubble well in 36 the bats of Gehrig and the rest of the Yankees prevailed as the Bombers captured the crown four games to two led by a blossoming DiMaggio the Yankees beat the Giants in a rematch in 37 then swept the Cubs in 38 3 straight and Counting for joltin Joe 19:39 was probably in some ways Joe DiMaggio's best season it was a year when he really dominated a winning team and a league in a way very few people ever had DiMaggio would have to pick it up in 39 for this was the Yankees first postseason since 1923 without Lou Gehrig the iron horse had been diagnosed earlier in the year with the illness that now bears his name and all he could do was watch as the Yankees went after an unprecedented fourth straight title against a very good Cincinnati team Cincinnati was a wonderful ballclub in 39 they had a Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi was their great hitter they had a very strong line-up they had very good pitching so they seemed to be a serious threat to this Yankee dominance and of course by now after three World Series in a row something that no other team in the history of baseball had ever done it could be argued that this 1939 team was the most dominating team of the century and in the World Series they certainly proved it DiMaggio and the Yankees beat up on the vaunted Reds pitching staff winning the first three games then in Game four Charlie Keller and DiMaggio combined to create still another chapter in Yankees lore with the help of Reds catcher Ernie Lombardi it all began with the Yankee Clipper I believe I got a base hit to right field for all the Yankee 10th Wallace pitching against DiMaggio was singled to right for City scores and the ball going over hybl Goodman's back somehow all the things happened in the World Series and Goodman and thrown the ball home and Barney was waiting for him and Keller he instead of sliding he went in standing up and he hit and barred on the side of the head accidentally and knocked him down and beside the plate and the ball went out of Lombard his hand well the body was sort of sitting it to plate with a boy little ways off his feet DiMaggio came at the time as I was getting so close to the plate he had Boyd quicken and he grabbed the ball and put it right on top of home plate and I was fortunate enough to put my foot right over the ball and tag the plate on the other side and the feeling was that DiMaggio scored because Lombardi was not alert and aware enough to get the ball and it was nicknamed by the media which always does the labeling The Grates News four straight World Series victories for the Yankees as they took their rightful place in big-league history the Yankees of 36 to 39 not only did they win the World Series each year but they annihilated the opposition they just rolled over four pennants four World Championships they were a juggernaut [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and now for the seasons classic the World Series where champion meets champion for the highest honors in baseball and in 1940 that honor once again went to the Cincinnati Reds who returned this time to face the Detroit Tigers the Reds showed no ill effects from their loss in 39 and even when trailing three games to two went back to Cincinnati confident with Bucky Walters and Paul derringer set to start Game six and seven we felt as a team that with our pitching Walters dominated Detroit in Game six with a five-hit shutout and Derringer beat Bobo Newsome in the finale to bring the title back to Cincinnati after 21 years the greatest thrill I had at a baseball was when in the World Series in 1944 Cincinnati the people in Cincinnati so supported that ballclub that he just wanted to do something for them the 1941 World Series pitted the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Yankees a rivalry that was to become famous but was not yet famous the first-ever meeting between the two teams featured three straight tightly contested games each decided by a run the Dodgers lost two of the three but led Game four by four to three heading into the night and it looks like the gods are gonna wrap the ballgame up they got you Casey was almost unhittable and he's facing Tommy Henrik and he has to get him out to end the ballgame Casey's got me three and two two men out and catch her Mickey Owen called for Casey's best pitch and I gave the curveball side and he rolled off that big win it and this one broke and it's true it turns out to be the sharpest breaking curveball a few Casey has ever thrown so as I'm gone through I'm trying to hold the ball bat up too late at the same time I'm looking behind me and there goes the ball the ball got past Nikki and it didn't really surprise him and we were both fooled Owens pass ball gave the Yankees new life and they proceeded to take full advantage [Applause] [Music] of course the Yankees rally and win the game and then win this series the next day four to one so that one play Tommy Henrich strike out against you case he became one of those memorable World Series events and it was the most emotional loss of a World Series ever the Yankees now seemed unstoppable and in 1942 hosted in the World Series once again in search of their sixth championship in seven years the Bombers were a perfect 8 and Oh in the series since 1927 a record unmatched by any other team now they faced a st. Louis squad that had finished the season an amazing 43 and 8 to pass the Dodgers and capture the National League pennant the Cardinals were a team of young aggressive hustling player Stan Musial eNOS slaughter a great pitcher by name a howard paulette monty marrying the great fielding shortstop and got into the World Series against the Yankees they were the best the Yankees for years and years and years back in those days the Yankees were baseball and I think the feeling was that the Yankees were gonna really give them a lesson and show them you know what baseball was all about and this is another Yankee sweep and the Cardinals will be finished even though the Yankees probably had better talent we did at that particularly year we knew they could not beat us because we were very confident but after losing the first game the Cardinals were put to the test in Game two having seen a 3 to nothing lead disappear late pnina's slaughter came up huge in the bottom of the 8th scoring the go-ahead run and then gunning down tucks came back to thwart a Yankees rally in the ninth penis was noted for that play because it did turn the series around the momentum swing helped the Cardinals win the next three games to beat the mighty Yankees in five they dominated the Yankees and all of a sudden when everybody looked up the Cardinals had won this surprising World Series but these were different times and winning the World Series was not the only thing on eNOS slaughters mind well you know beating the Yankees in the 42 World Series that had to be a great thrill but it was taboo I'd already listened in airports and when after the series played I went in the Air Force in three years by the end of the 1942 series the United States was fully engaged in world war ii and like most young men at the time major league baseball players answered the call to military duty well some of the very greatest players went abroad lord knows how many games Bob Feller would have won if he had spent all those years on shipboard Hank Greenberg was one of the first greatest stars of his time and one of the first to volunteer and go overseas Ted Williams of course served in that war but there was enough talent to to keep the game going and so too did the World Series go on the 43 classic was in fact a rematch of 42 - of course some of the big stars Rizzuto was gone DiMaggio was gone but the Cardinals seemed not to lose as many players of Musial was still around so that the Cardinals were a strong team but maybe not as strong again as the Yankees were [Music] just like the year before one beginning proof pivotal as the Yankees scored five times in the eighth in Game three to come back and win that game and eventually take the series four games to one no doubt the revenge factor played a role [Music] the extra incentive having lost in 42 wanting to come back emotionally and prove their dominance and I think they certainly did the 1944 series was the third straight for the Cardinals and largely due to thinned out wartime rosters they'd face their intra-city rivals the st. Louis Browns a perennial second division team the st. Louis Browns got to the World Series in 1944 I just took a global conflict to bring ahead about in st. Louis a large part of the sentiment was with the longshot it was amazing the grass had so many brand new fans they were really rooting for the Browns I guess they're ready for the end of does but nothing to help the Browns at the plate where they hit a paltry 183 losing to the Cardinals in six [Applause] and the partner take the world theories of 1944 or games to code by 1945 some of the enlisted players had returned to their respective teams Greenberg for example returned to the tiger lineup in July of 45 you're talking about one of the greatest denied on in baseball when Dan came back he destroyed the spirits of all Greenberg rejoined the team in midseason and led the Tigers to the 45 world series where they faced the Cubs his two home runs and seven RBIs helped Detroit win in seven games Jhansi swings on wine slaps it down - Skeeter web tosses underhand to Mayo and I grasp realizing at that time as a member of the World Championship baseball team a dream come true by 46 the stars had returned and the Cardinals battled hard to return to the World Series the Cardinals who had dominated in 42 43 44 were back in 46 but so were the doctors on the final day of the season the two finished in a dead heat so he was a one game playoff for the pennant the Cardinals wanted and their World Series opponents were the Boston Red Sox making their first Fall Classic appearance since the days of Babe Ruth to me that was a real real good interesting world series and there was a case of their power against our vision of speed the centerpiece of Boston's powerful lineup was the great Ted Williams but the splendid splinter had little luck in his only World Series appearance we were pretty fortunate that we did hold head down in his hitting but he had some balls awful hard I was playing second base and I was playing practically in the first base position when he hit I can remember it hitting balls at me almost turned me over people say Williams didn't hit anything that's where averages are really misleading because Williams hit some shots net this series meanwhile a good deal of the credit for the Cardinals success in the series must go to Harry brikene the left-hander threw complete game victories in games two and six and that set up game seven there eNOS slaughter showcased his aggressive style in one of the most memorable plays in series history the mad dash well you know one's a type of player that hustle all the time he'd give every ounce of its energy to win a ballgame but a great play requires more than just a great player it needs a special moment well you know in the first game my triple mike gonzalez our coach stopped me third on bad relay and we lost the ballgame so edit out of the manager he says from now on with two men out and you think you've got a chance score you go ahead and gamble and I'll be responsible and that's what was in my mind on this plate it was the last game that day the seventh game and in the bottom of the eighth inning was slaughter all based on to our full account with two balls of one strike and he was stealing on the play when I hit the ball in left in a field I saw this to evolve we hit too hard looped into left center when I hit second I says I can score Venus kept running and took everybody by surprise because we all thought that Gonzalez he stands up to stop him I never saw Mike Gonzalez at third base coach called he tried to stop me and I don't know I never looked up [Music] Venus kept running and that was the winning run it was a great play the Cardinals won their third title in five years and life was good for a baseball fan in st. Louis but casting a daunting shadow over the Redbirds and every other team in baseball with the New York Yankees back in the World Series in 47 facing the Brooklyn Dodgers and their rookie of the year jackie robinson robinson was a man on a mission and he was really going to get into that series and show the yankees how he could play Jackie's presence and his aggressive play especially on the bases help make the 47 series a classic every game seemed to be filled with incredible drama that was almost the first no-hitter in the World Series Bill bevens and with two out and a ninth inning it's broken up by a pinch hit by cookie lavagetto and Brooklyn wins the game miraculously seeing a near no-hitter in the World Series was about as rare as any sign of emotion from Joe DiMaggio but that's what fans got to see when he just missed a dramatic home run late in Game six and the margov DiMaggio hitting the ball Gyan frito caught the ball bouncing of a little iron fence outside the bullpen when John frito came down with the catch and leaned against the bullpen gate exposing the ball for all to see DiMaggio uncharacteristically kicked at the dirt for him second although Joe D and the Yankees lost that game six they won the series the next day their eleventh in franchise history following this all New York series there was almost in all Boston series in 48 but Cleveland beat the Red Sox in a one-game playoff thanks to player manager Lou boudreaux's two home runs he was coming off a great year and Boudreau was an inspirational type and he was a fine leader behind Boudreau and Cleveland aces Bob Feller and Bob lemon the Indians topped the Boston Braves duo of Johnny Sain and Warren Spahn to win the World Series four games to two bring to an end another year of our great max okay [Music] New York was the capital of baseball particularly in the 40s and I think most particularly in the 50s imagine a world in which everything in New York City comes to a complete and utter halt when the World Series happens between two New York teams like the song says it was New York New York when it came to Major League Baseball between 1949 and 1956 a New York team won every World Series during those eight years and six of them were Subway Series New York with three teams they created this wonderful atmosphere and it was hardly a day in the summer time that one of those teams was not at home and so many huge stars played in this golden New York era May's Robinson Snider DiMaggio Berra and mantle just to name a few she always thought the day Yankees won the World Series they were supposed to do that every year I mean they man is just about so connected with the Yankees to the Fall Classic that when the Bombers finished third in 1948 they fired manager Bucky Harris and hired Casey Stengel to get them back to the postseason and he did just that right away in 1949 won for the third time the Yankees faced Brooklyn in the series in Game one the teams were scoreless to the bottom of the ninth and that's when Tommy Henrich came to bat Tommy Henrich was quite a ballplayer they called him old reliable Newcombe had it he hadn't walked a man all day long he said it was a curveball he didn't have a good curveball and as I hit it and went out to right field I'm going down there I don't know whether that's in or not but I can see Carl Furillo as eyes go I says that's all it's in the seats the Yankees were back the team's first ever World Series game ending home runs set the tone and the Yankees won their 12th World Championship four games to one over the Dodgers they accomplished this feat despite the fact that Joe DiMaggio had played just 76 games that year and the Yankee Clipper had a subpar World Series I think I got two base hits out of the 18 times a bet one was a little dribbler the third-base and one I had as far as I could and just got to the bleachers out in left field for a home run and I don't either the Yankee fans cheer for me but also the Dodger fans that's how revered Jodie was in New York but there weren't too many cheers from Yankees opponents in the American League as 1949 began a streak of five straight pennants for the Bombers in 1950 they faced a team making its first World Series appearance since 1915 a scrappy bunch of young Philadelphia Phillies who were known as the whiz kids there was a gentleman a writer who came up with that name we were young there were about fourteen of us there were 23 and younger on that ballclub so he just came up with this name whiz kids it was something that people always associated with that club the youngest team ever to play in a World Series fought the good fight against the veteran and talented Yankee squad four even though the Yankees did sweep the series it was a lot closer than it may have seen well the Yankees didn't exactly clobber us in that World Series the first game was one nothing and the second one was two-to-one in third game was 3 to 2 and the 4th game I believe was 5 2 or not took away quite a bit of the pleasure of having won a national the whiz kids tumbled a 5th place in 1951 and the New York Giants advanced to the World Series for the first time since 1937 thanks to the shot heard round the world Bobby Thompson's unforgettable home run [Music] [Applause] [Music] the Giants seemed to be a team of destiny but they still had to beat the Yankees whose heart and soul Joe DiMaggio was playing in his final Fall Classic the Yankees beat the Giants and won Jody his last ring but the series was bittersweet because of what happened to promising 19 year old rookie Mickey Mantle in game 2 was a ball hit between Joe and Mickey and it was an easy fly ball that either and the next thing I know that Mickey was on the ground I had to beckon to the bench to come out to the field to administer some first aid and he wound up finally awakening but he wakened with a burst of tears and asked the capacities all right but that's not lead that was described through the pain that he it was an injury that would haunt mantle throughout his Hall of Fame career but in 1952 it was Mickey who led the Yankees into the series against Brooklyn Mantle hit 345 in the classic and helped the Yanks take a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh of the seventh game at Ebbets Field and that's when the Yankees defense took over they brought bob kuzava in to pitch to me with the bases loaded and one out I popped up to the infield and then Jackie came up and he hit a pop fly to the first base side a pitcher's mound the Sun was going down and it was a little hard to see from where Joe Collins the first baseman was playing Joe Collins is nowhere near this baseball the second baseman billy Motte running from deep second base identified as one of the great clutch defensive plays in the history of World Series baseball it's the biggest play of the series it saves the game in the world championship for the Yankee as the garbha hold that for the two margin for the end there was sort of a fatalism about it the Dodgers were gonna lose the Yankees we can't win this this is the way the scripture had been penned the eyes of the baseball world are fastened on New York ports the golden anniversary of the World Series and a rematch unfortunately for the Dodgers Billy Martin was still with the Yankees only this time he did most of his damage with his bat I remember Billy Martin that we didn't even take up in a meeting and he end up getting more hits than anybody in the World Series Martin up in the bottom half of the ninth Martin laced one right up the middle his 12th hit of the series making him the hero of heroes are scored and the inks won the game and the series yes sir the Bombers did it again five World Series in the low 40s tingle and his American League quiz bags they made baseball history what a team it took a record-breaking year to unseat these New York Yankees and that's just what the Cleveland Indians had in 1954 winning an American League record 111 games while losing only 43 New York was still represented in the series though by the Giants led by willie mays their breakout star the say hey kid was as great in the field as he was at the plate and in the eighth inning of Game one at the Polo Grounds he showed wine it's a tie ballgame and hilarious on second base and I'm on first I knew that if ball hit up the mill it's no whack at the ladder Dilbert out a second so I was playing Barry shadow words hits this ball that looks like it's gonna fall in there for three bases anyhow [Music] [Applause] [Applause] what made that play was his great throw the runners tying it was selected that distance if he misses him on the cutoff its come on but he was right on on the way in I said to him I said I didn't think he's gonna get to that one he said you're kidding he said I had it all the way I said you did huh you can tell that to tell that to somebody else Willie's nearly unbelievable catch sparked the Giants and they swept the heavily favored Indians to claim the world championship for many New Yorkers the baseball universe was finally righted in 1955 when the Yankees and Dodgers once again met in the classic with Brooklyn now won five against the Yankees forget everybody else the Yankees are the only people to play they're the only ones that were beating us for heaven's sake we played good games against him with him play basketball games in Game one the Dodgers trailed six four in the eighth and on third base was Jackie Robinson not content to wait for a hit to drive him in the daring Robinson bolted for home and in a signature play slid in under yogi Berra's tag stealing home is you know probably the toughest thing in baseball to do yogi and I said no he was out I know I had I wouldn't argue that let's fight I think I heard him he was just playing out I talked to Jackie about the call he said he thought he was probably out he was called safe full that's all we go by either way it wasn't enough as Brooklyn lost both games 1 and 2 still the Dodgers hung in and the series reached a dramatic game 7 at Yankee Stadium Brooklyn needing just that one more win for their first ever world championship but the Dodgers seventh game starter caught many off-guard that was coming off a year that was 9 and 10 and if I if the Yankees beat me they were supposed to beat me powder that they had good control we finally got two men on in it weren't any there when I come up yogi hit a line drive sort of a line drive down the left for your life I knew where sandy Amoros was and I probably should have moving a little bit more with the left-handed pitcher but when the ball was hit I did not think that sandy would get to it I said oh my god here it goes again the only guy that could catch Yogi's ball would be a left-handed feeling outfielder and sandy could run and he made one hell of a catch and there what the Yankees the amazing grab my amorous preserve the Dodgers lead and brought all of Brooklyn to a frenzy now if only Padres could hold on brilliant ball [Applause] [Music] we had a ticker tape parade all the way back at the Brooklyn Bridge we went across the Brooklyn Bridge and once we got into Brooklyn people were just all over the street I can remember the victory party in the hotel in Brooklyn and thousands of people lining the streets behind the wooden sawhorses people banging pots on the fire escape car horns church bells ringing was like the liberation of Paris VJ Day New Year's Eve all rolled into one so Brooklyn had its first title and Johnny Podres was named the first ever World Series MVP just a year later these two teams marched back into action to do battle again with the series tied at two games apiece another surprise starter a man who had been beaten in Game two took the mound for the Yankees I got to the ballpark Ari Frankie Cross Eddie the third-base coach was Arabic I went up to Frankie who's pitching today he said Lars I knew I'd be in the bullpen but I didn't think I'd start why you knew you was pitching there be a brand new ball and you shoot so you got this locker rough down there and there was that ball and together big gulp you know mm-hmm [Music] that day he he threw everything over the blades anything I called for he gotta go we never shook me off once the whole game he bounces the ball to the box and Watson parses him out I think I was the only guy that took the count of three and 200m intoning he came into the dugout Larsen been and he said extra Mickey and he said to Mickey says wouldn't it be something if I had pitched a no-hitter Mickey said shut the hell now get away from me it's a great superstition among ballplayers not to mention it I just didn't use the word no-hitter and I saved that for my climactic moment at the end [Applause] Spike's ball one here comes the pitch [Applause] it's a great thrill bag this games been prayed over on and something years has never been a no-hitter in a World Series and he pitched the perfect one the Dodgers were able to force a Game seven but the Yankees proved too overpowering as the Bombers behind yogi Berra's two home runs shutout the Dodgers at Ebbets Field and were crowned champions of New York and of baseball that was a bleak day in Brooklyn but it was not as bleak as the days that were coming because all of a sudden after 57 there were no more New York Giants and there were no more Brooklyn Dodgers it was the end of a historic era in baseball history true the Yankees winning tradition endure and New York fans many of them continued to bask in their glory but it was never again the same as the days when the Giants Dodgers and Yankees were all the toast of the town [Music] guys in the baseball world I focused on the old familiar setting of Yankee Stadium by 1957 had become clear that rooting for the Yankees was a bit like rooting for us steal the eggs had monopolized the World Series winning six of the previous eight the Fall Classic had become a franchise trademark and the Yankees knew it it was almost a given that the Yankees were going to be in a World Series every year didn't see Michael world series was a world series without the Yankees I was really lucky I played with with the greatest teams in the world we talked about it we'd go to sign my contract if the general manager would say when you're signing your contract he would always say well now you know you'll get a World Series here so while reaching the World Series in 1957 was nothing new for the Bronx Bombers the Milwaukee Braves were charting new territory after Hank Aaron had clinched the pennant with a home run the nucleus at a club was very young we had never been through anything like a chase before and I felt like we were ready to go ride into the sunset and play whoever we needed to play and that was the Yankee but not all of his teammates shared Aaron's cavalier attitude for these were the Yankees and this was the World Series for most of us there was the first time to be in his World Series the course going up gifts the Yankees was even more mysterious but the Braves had Lou Burdette on the mound he won Game two and then pitched a complete game shutout in Game five when the series reached the climactic seventh game Lou kicked back thinking he'd watch his teammate Warren Spahn bring it home I was scheduled to pitch the seventh game of that series and I came up with Asian flu and I was sick again so with spon bedridden the Braves turned to Burdette looking for his third series victory but on a short turnaround and Burdette went again after only two days rest all he did with the Mickey Mantle Yogi Berra lineup of the Yankees was shut them out Matthews makes a miraculous backhanded stab at the ball and the Milwaukee Braves are the new world champion we finally got to be the champions over the Yankees which I consider the greatest feat whatever beat the Yankees everybody jumped on me you felt strong enough to hold them up - it's a great feeling the defending champs returned to the series in 1958 and they again took on the Yankees having been through the pressure of a series the Braves were confident that they could repeat 58 was a great year for us and we actually had a better team than we did in 57 we jump off threw good pitching and pretty good hitting to it three games to one lead the Braves are only one game away capping tip but to some the Braves confidence had begun to resemble cockiness as their two star pitchers supposedly made some comments that the Yankees couldn't help but overhear Warren Spahn looper get popped off and he says they wish the Yankees were internationally cuz we wouldn't come in fifth place whether those fightin words did it or not the Yankees came storming back in the series Bob Turley got things started with a shutout in Game five and Shirley came on to save Game six when the game 7 starter Don Larsen faltered Shirley was called upon once again and much as Lou Burdette had done to his Yankees the year before Shirley shut the Braves down and the Yankees completed the phenomenal comeback Rolle but the Yankees didn't get a chance to repeat in 1959 as the gogo White Sox finally broke through to win the American League pennant it was just the second time in the past 11 years that the Yankees didn't represent the American League the White Sox had fought many years to the 50s came in second came in third the Yankees were always there ahead of us it seemed like its World Series time but what a change of scenery for baseball's greatest drama a change because the White Sox would face the Dodgers who though no strangers to the Fall Classic were now representing the city of Los Angeles and after each team won a game in Chicago a World Series contest took place in California for the very first time as a kid I used to go to the 4th of July to see fireworks at the Coliseum the Los Angeles never dreaming that there'd be a World Series all three games we had 92 thousand people in a football stadium really these massive crowds watched their Dodgers win two of three then head back to Chicago where they would eliminate the White Sox in game six it was a big thrill to win a World Championship the first World Championship in Los Angeles in 1960 the Yankees returned to the series from their one-year break there they met the Pirates who had been on a 33 year series hiatus after that long await Pittsburgh was one big party [Applause] but although the city was on fire the Pirates tried to keep their cool knowing they were facing no ordinary team the Yankees were the world champions for years and years we were definitely underdogs because we hadn't won anything for 30 years the 1960 World Series in my mind really is one of the most historic because it was a feast and famine World Series the Yankees would win by double digits the next day the Pirates would squeak out a win gratitude Yankees dominated but they couldn't put them away in fact the Yankees had outscored Pittsburgh 46 to 17 through the first six games but somehow the Pirates had extended it to a deciding game 7 they're in the top of the sixth the Yankees took a 5-4 lead on yogi Berra's home run and then appeared to put the game out of reach with two more runs in the top of the eighth but up by three in the bottom half of the eighth inning the Yankees got a somewhat dubious lesson in home-field advantage I don't know who had the worst infield Pittsburghers state bus but it was like playing on a rock the ground boiler tony kubek a double-play would have ended the inning the groundskeeper at Forbes Field can't even rake the damn field so the ball hits a pebble a pebble what is a pebble doing on the field in the middle of a major league ballpark bad luck then turned to bad baseball when Jim Coates failed to cover first on Roberto Clemente's grounder now the Pirates trailed by just 1 and catcher Hal Smith made the Bombers pay with a three-run homer incredibly Pittsburgh now to a two-run lead into the ninth and get three outs and we're world champions but it wouldn't be that easy the Yankees got 2 in the top of the ninth and the game was tied at 9 we finally hit the third up and I'm back in the dugout and I'm sitting in a dugout and I'm just wondering how in the world we're gonna beat these Yankees you know somebody L didn't as a rep going into the last inning I was already thinking about the 10th inning who was batting for us I never I know things going through my mind as we beat em we beat them we beat the gray [Laughter] [Applause] with the bitter taste of the 1960 series still lingering the 1961 Yankees made a powerful push to return to the Fall Classic led by Roger Maris's 61 home runs the Bombers as a team hit a record 240 regular season blasts and they won a hundred nine games to earn their shot at redemption I think if you took that team and played the all-star team of either league that year they'd have had a cover time trying to beat us that was truly one of the greatest teams of all time there was no team that was going to beat the 61 Yankees that just wasn't going to happen of course that's what they also said in 1960 and it's possible but the Cincinnati Reds used the Pirates as inspiration but the Yankees quickly showed that this was a different year all I remember I was just a very young guy at that time and I know that the kicked our tails four games to one the Yankees didn't just dominate with their power whitey Ford pitched his 3rd straight World Series shutout in Game one and was less than three inning short of Babe Ruth's record of 29 and 2/3 consecutive scoreless World Series innings but before Ford took the mound for Game four he got a history lesson I had no idea that Babe Ruth had ever pitched before the game in Cincinnati or fourth game me right is what he going for the record today and I had no idea what they were talking about away from a new record of consecutive World Series for listening to mr. Richardson [Music] people were cordoned they says people don't usually applaud me in Cincinnati before leaving the game in the sixth inning with an injury Ford extended his streak to 32 innings and the Yankees won the title that day in Cincinnati the streak would eventually end at 33 and 2/3 the next year as the Yankees returned to the series this time to face Willie Mays and the Giants who had to win a three-game playoff against the Dodgers to reach that 62 series we just came from LA where we won two out of three in a playoff we come back into San Francisco having to play the next day we land in San Francisco during the morning we go home about 4:00 in the morning have to be the ballpark 9:00 in the morning it's kind of funny what you feel when you play the Yankees I remember when I saw the team took the field I said Wow but if the Giants were intimidated by the pinstripes more exhausted by the playoff with the Dodgers they never showed it back and forth the two teams went neither able to win two in a row through the first six games then in the deciding seventh game the Yankees had a one nothing lead going to the bottom of the ninth on the mound for New York was Ralph Terry the guy who'd given up Bill Mazeroski's dramatic game-winning blast two years prior and now he hit the ball right down the first base line and Matty Alou running and he couldn't fly and a hair I am sent a third base oh god this games tied Roger Maris made a tremendous getting over there cutting the ball off a good relay and then I threw at home I got rid of the ball quick and I threw it it was on line as it turned out it bounced tie and so the runner possibly could have slid in there the only way that you could have dumped Matty Alou Roger would had so that ball all the way home and probably in the air he had to stop it was always been an argument could he amazing he did never move so the Giants have runners at second and third with two outs Willie McCovey the batter you know McCovey coming up now you got men on second 32 hours that's when my knees start shaking understandably because McCovey was one of the most feared sluggers in the game but first base was open and I thought they was discussing as to whether or not he wanted to walk me I had had a real good series against Terry so Ralph Houk says look we got first base open they want to walk in well Jerry said no I want to pitch some a copy when he hit the ball to Bobby everything stopped first place it all we're gonna be 1963 marked the 8th time the Yankees and Dodgers would meet in the series it was also the 26th time Yankee Stadium would host the Fall Classic as a baseball player it was like no other stadium the stands were so high it's like being at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is pretty exciting to do in a New York pitch the first game in the World Series this was something we were all looking forward to whitey Ford against Sandy Koufax the best against the best and you kind of thought the Yankees would prevail because that was their history but Sandy Koufax took it to another level that day for Bobby Richardson his neck and he strikes out on a whistling fastball Tom Craig takes this break and his fall out as a lifelong Yankee fan I still stand in awe of Sandy Koufax mantle faces Koufax in the second inning and is and now Roger Maris steps up to try his luck Maris swing well that day the best I've ever seen absolutely the best stuff that I've ever seen in the hand baseball [Applause] after Koufax had set the tone of the series the Dodgers pitching continued to shut the Yankees lineup down it wasn't much action in the los angeles bullpen as the Dodgers held the Yanks to just one run total in games two and three the outcome of the series seemed a mere formality as LA Senate's ace to the mound for Game four to go and beat the Yankees four on a row that was the greatest feeling of more [Music] of course that didn't stop them from trying returning in 64 for the 18th time in 23 years although the Yankees were older and slower they were still the preeminent team in the game this was their fifth consecutive pennant and even though they'd lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers the year before it was still playing against the New York Yankees and you've got to understand how important that was it's a world theory part st. Louis and everyone converges on 1480 it was our first World Series for the Cardinals since 1946 you can imagine how excited the fans were in st. Louis how excited our ballclub was and I can remember more than anything else the awesome presence of Mickey Mantle by 1964 Mickey Mantle was already a baseball legend but in the bottom of the ninth of Game three with both the game and the series tied at one mantle status as a mythical baseball figure grew even more as he came to the plate against knuckle bawling reliever Barney Schultz in the dugout Mickey Mantle was standing there he was leading off in the ninth and he said I'm gonna hit party Schultz right honey [Applause] if it forever I mean forever hit it to New Jersey [Applause] [Music] riding the wave the Yankees jumped out to a 3 nothing lead early in game 4 but then in the bottom of the 6th with the bases loaded the Cardinals Kenny Boyer stepped to the plate with his brother Clete looking on from third base truthfully I was probably as happy as him I can imagine how my mother felt Kenny's Grand Slam had tied the series at 2 and now it was time for the Cardinals to turn loose their biggest weapon in that series they had a guy named Bob Gibbs it was nasty Gibson through all 10 innings in a game 5 st. Louis victory after the Yankees even the series Gibson got the call again to pitch game 7 in st. Louis on two days rest all he did was throw another complete game and lead the Cardinals to the top of the baseball world amidst the jubilation on the field in st. Louis few could have guessed the secondary significance of this the final game of the 1964 World Series when the Cardinals beat the Yankees in 64 the ants were a damaged team a damaged franchise the last drop of greatness they had went into getting into the World Series and six and five began the years of really being in the wilderness [Music] the team that did return in 65 was the Dodgers behind the most dynamic pitching duo in the game the big guy sandy and Don where the keys Koufax and Drysdale they were both great pitchers and probably the two greatest pitchers in the game at that time but the American League pennant winning Minnesota Twins had a few stars of their own they had some good pictures and some guys seemed pretty good hitters Killebrew and Oliva and Allison Koufax everyone assumed would start Game one Koufax was supposed to start the first game and it was a Jewish holiday yeah I'm Kippur so right so start the first game and we beat Don and the second game sandy pitched and we beat Sandy our two Hall of Fame pitchers get people we're going home thinking what happened here we're all into the Dodgers couldn't believe their misfortune when we got back to LA in that home we were down to state we thought guys we might have a chance to sweep the series we lost three straight in the Dodger Stadium I don't know if we would have beat him by Christmas out there they kind of did a number on us back in Minnesota the twins won Game six to set up a classic Game seven but Minnesota would once again have to beat Koufax with just two days rest on a Sandy Koufax pitched the the greatest game that I've ever seen pitch and showed us how to do nothing as you with Koufax Pizza we didn't have to score a lot of runs one would be sufficient enough and the Dodgers have won the 1965 World Series well a 66 World Series I think we came in to Los Angeles as the underdog the Dodgers had beat the twins the year before and they've been in three out of less four World Series and going into the World Series they said we didn't belong with the Dodgers on the same thing with the Dodgers Triple Crown winner Frank Robinson was just part of the Orioles package we had a pretty good game with myself in aparicio and Davey Johnson Boog Powell we had Paul Blair in center field and you just don't get any better than that Drysdale again started Game one and got hit hard early before I got my shirt off after warming Drysdale up to two Robinson's Brooks and Frank and hit home runs against this in the first inning Dave McNally won that first game and with Jim Palmer and Wally bunker to follow the Orioles now had a small edge but young Palmer knew he had quite a challenge facing Koufax in Game two didn't take a rocket scientist to see when you're pitching against Sandy Koufax that you definitely had a great chance of losing but as it turned out I pitched my first shutout ever and that started a trend the last three games were all shutouts I made six nothing one nothing one nothing it was just knocking us out of the box all the bottles really before we knew it it was over in many respects the 66 series was the best pitched since Mathison did it virtually all by himself in 1905 the Dodgers probably having had the worst team batting average in World Series history and for a winning team we had the worst batting average for a team in World Series history pretty close to it but despite the fact that Baltimore did hit just 212 Aires we beat the Dodgers fourth straight Hollywood would put something like the catalyst there would be too far Fitz seeking to write a Hollywood ending of their own in 1967 the Boston Red Sox were improbable winners of the American League pennant we're going to go up against a seasoned Cardinal team Brock flood Shannon McCarver Cepeda Maris and then if Gibson is pitching you can see why they played as well and one of many games as they did in Game one of the series the Red Sox faced Bob Gibson and lost so Boston's best hitter took some post game time two to nothing after Game one I was kind of wandering out into the into Fenway Park and who is out there taking extra hitting after the first game of the World Series for car you string ski and sure enough the next day still the 1967 Triple Crown winner took a back seat to Jim'll on board the 22 game winner took a perfect game into the seventh and eventually even the series at a game apiece go out the st. Louis they beat us the next two games then I beat him in the fifth game to bring it back to Boston again they hadn't even packed their bags to make the trip back to Boston we were surprised because we thought was gonna beat him in five games we went all the way to seven game and back in Boston the Cardinals got some inspiration from the Boston papers headlines big three or four-inch block letters it said longboard and champagne I said to myself and I think our ballclub said there's no way just won't happen it probably isn't a good idea to give Bob Gibson any extra incentive I remembered we were going to the ballpark they say this is my game I won this game he was determined and there was nothing more fearsome than a determined Bob Gibson I felt sorry for the Boston hitters in a sense he was one guy that when all is said and done I don't ever care if I face again as long as I live and I won't not even in one of these old fantasy camps Gibson allowed just three hits and it was the Cardinals who drank the champagne did it Bob did it he won three games he did it and the story yes the following year Bob Gibson was still the story banking system was a very special season for the baseball purist it was the year of the pitcher in 68 for some reason just happens to be the year that everything came together and yeah I was in a zone his microscopic 1.12 er a said a modern-day record and in Game one of the 68th series he left the Detroit Tigers stunned Kaline told me no way nobody could have had Gibson that day he was certainly a dominating pitcher in that first game he pitched was always overwhelming that particular day I don't care what team they play he blown Massimo I'm a he think he could do anything wrong when I went up to try to bunt off of him I swear to you I never saw the ball [Music] [Applause] it's surprising that Bob only struck out 17 with the type of stuff he had the Cardinals won two of the next three to take a 3-1 lead in the series but then things started to fall apart if you had a team down you got to put him away we had the Tigers three games of one we had an opportunity to put him away and we allowed them we got off the deck Lou Brock was one of the great base stealers of all time and an outstanding World Series performer so it was ironic that a base running gaffe by Lou would start to turn the time Rock doesn't slide and that was simply the turning point of the series at that point in time the Tigers began to believe the Tigers won two straight to set up a game 7 showdown between Gibson and Mickey Louis each of whom had won twice they kept the game scoreless into the seventh but that's when the Cardinals slipped up in the center field and that triple by Northup they might still be playing the Tigers won four to one and celebrated their first World Series title since 1945 [Music] 1969 man performed two feats that staggered the imagination of the American public one took place when man first landed on the moon the other took place in October that's right because in their first seven seasons the New York Mets had never finished above ninth place in their ten-team League but come 1969 they proved to be simply we knew we had the pitching staff because the other ball clubs aren't destroying any runs but in the 69 series these upstart Mets would have to beat a Baltimore team that had won 109 games that's probably the best team I played on and we just kind of blew everyone away when Don Buford slammed Tom Seavers second pitch for a home run the Mets appeared to be in trouble when we stepped on second base beautiful said you haven't seen anything you know he'd met if I can hit a home run you got Frank and Brooks and bull power and all these people coming up that it's gonna be a very very short series he was right it's gonna be a short world series but he's gonna be on the other side after losing Game one the Mets showed what made them so amazing what kept us in in the World Series was our defensive players Agee made tremendous plays in centerfield this reporter made a tremendous catch in right field I can remember at the time saying boy you just the cat's here and this is a World Series ages two catches plus four botas they helped define our team in the World Series pitching and defense they made all the plays it was a lot of crazy look things that happen in that World Series when you get in the spotlight near the only game in town you never know what's gonna happen and sometimes the bed really doesn't wet I says we were better team than they were how can you say that we were the world champions we had to be a better ball we beat in 401 the Orioles were determined to make amends in 1970 and the Big Red Machine that was just now revving up was thanks to injuries stuck in neutral I had two or three guys with bad arms and we really took advantage of that the Orioles averaged more than six runs a game and won the series four games to one but the 70 series will always be remembered as the Brooks Robinson show day in the morning about the third game I said man I hope this thing gets over because I can't keep this up this is unbelievable we thought the balls and extra-base hits and he really took us out of the World Series with this club I don't think I ever had five games in a row like I had in that particular shirt and for the second time in five years in 71 Pittsburgh's Roberto Clemente took on an impossible mission of his own the same type of performance that Brooks did the year before Roberto that the following year his goal was to show the people around the country around the world what he had shown to people in the tri-state area around Pittsburgh for a lot of years but against the World Series savvy Orioles Clemente and the Pirates weren't given much of a chance we will play against a great ballclub while Orioles who had four 20-game winners we had Dobson Palmer Cuellar and McNally and that's something that'll never happen again most people thought that we had no shot I mean we just sit well we have no reason to even be here we should just stay at home they didn't already won and the Orioles did win the first two games in Baltimore but that's when Clemente took matters into his own hands we lost that the second game in Baltimore Clemente came in a clubhouse and he started screaming and said that we were gonna go back to Pittsburgh we're gonna kick their butts three games in a row you have to have a player who believes that he can beat the supposedly better team and we went back to Pittsburgh and we did exactly that it was like a runaway truck downhill with no brakes Clemente drove the box to victory the Pirates be able to do all of those sayings that you hear a guy can do when everyone is watching I mean that's the epitome of being the best player there is I'd probably have another World Series ring if it wasn't for him Roberto homered in Game seven and Steve Blass pitched a four-hitter Pittsburgh had captured the World Series and now everyone knew of the Pirates greatest treasure people survey will now understand what they were saying when they were talking about Roberto Clemente in the 71 World Series I saw what everybody was talking about somebody was definitely the difference in the series well many has been named the outstanding player of the series [Music] the 1972 World Series saw the Big Red Machine of Cincinnati face a lively colorful raucous band of Oakland Athletics who were changing the face of baseball if we would have had a camera crew following us around we could have had our old sitcom but some kind of way we all got together and you just kind of jail in tennis got in the series groove early hitting home runs in each of his first two at-bats that's a world series record it was a feat that tennis took in stride kind of work to our some dunk away I got high and picked up the slack and while tennis did his part at the plate outfielder Joe Rudi's stepped to the floor with his glove [Applause] and the ball after bad I thought it was out I'm really good it was just a blessing because I'm the ball was literally within an inch or two of the Sun and I looked up and I just jumped the size I could I was just as surprised as anybody that I caught Faulk so I really did think it was out in a series marked by surprising performances it was only right that the A's surprised the baseball world by defeating the heavily favored Reds in seven games it was the A's first title in 42 years I think after we beat him and everything still the newspaper said that Cincinnati was better we didn't care watch that we want the defending champion A's returned to the Fall Classic the following year but this time the surprise team in attendance was the New York Mets who never wavered from their mantra he had got a belief there was no question that we could beat those guys because we had what every team needed and that was pitching that pitching did neutralize the potent A's lineup and timely hitting by the Mets put them in a position to win it all but once the Amazings let Game six slip away then they had to face the fact that they'd awakened a sleeping giant the Oakland A's that everybody knew and we had read about slept for six games they never showed up but the seventh game the real Oakland law club showed up all the Burt campaneris hit for a home run opposite field was a curve ball that I thought was a hell of a pitch how he hit it I still don't know every time I see him we talked about it to this day and the pitch Reggie hit should have been hit maybe should have been hit further I had plain and simple hung a curveball and he drilled it [Applause] the A's had now captured two straight World Championships and they were making converts every step along the way the question in 74 was could they do it yet again but even though Oakland was back in the series not everyone was willing to give them credit case in point the Dodgers Bill Buckner going into the World Series bill had made some statements in the paper that only a couple of guys in the 80s can play on the Dodgers team I kind of upset the rest of us in a clubhouse so somebody put that on the bulletin board you got to love those bulletin boards as the a is were inspired to triumph in a five-game series most of the games were tight but the A's became the first team to win three straight championships in 21 years man he wants five games that when I was a little shorter because the Dodgers made his man heaven in 1975 the A's bid to win a fourth straight title was thwarted by the Red Sox who faced Cincinnati in the World Series the first five games were exciting and the Reds took a 3-2 lead but then a little rain fell on the World Series parade when you have a World Series as a thousand reporters at the offense they had nothing to do but write stories and everyone in the country realized what we were doing and who it was it was doing it because all the press five long days later the build-up paid off as the Red Sox took a three nothing lead at Fenway Park only to watch it become a 6-3 deficit by the 8th the Reds were now just four outs from the title when pinch-hitter Bernie carbo came up with two men on [Music] [Applause] and as I rounded second base I'm yelling at Petros don't you wish you were this prom don't you wish you were this crime and Pete Rose's yelling at me isn't this what world series is about isn't this fun three pressure packed innings later Dwight Evans kept the game tied at six [Applause] Dewey's defense had set the stage for one of the most memorable moments in World Series history now it's the 12th inning and I'm on the on-deck circle with Fred Lynn and I said Freddy I don't know but I feel something good here I'm gonna hit one off the wall drive me we were talking about it on deck before he went up there and he said you know I'm gonna get on you drive me in well he hog - OH [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you know and after that it's almost like your mind just goes blank the adult everything kind of the sounds are muffled and just make sure you touch every base it was such a special moment and it's what American sports is all about it's our Americana baseball hot apple pie and called Fisk Fisk's ultra dramatic homerun made Game six indelible but the next night in Game seven the joy in Beantown ended as the Reds wanted overall I don't think it had anything to do with who won or lost so only people won this are the fans it was 1976 saw the return of the Yankees to the World Series propelled there by Chris Chambliss as League Championship Series winning home run against Kansas City [Music] [Applause] the World Series would now be back in New York for the first time in 12 years the way that game ended against Kansas City I mean we party pretty hard after that because it was the biggest thrill we would have any of their ever had at that time but the euphoria was short-lived as the defending champions crashed the party [Applause] that was a huge moment for us back to back we'd swept the playoff swept the Yankees that was the ultimate win the World Series in four straight the Cincinnati Reds win their fourth World Championship the Yankees got another shot in 1977 when they squared off for the ninth time against their longtime rivals the Dodgers but this time it was LA that seemed unprepared we weren't quite ready for the Yankees who had more experience I think at that point for us the Yankees took a commanding 3-1 series lead and though they failed to close it out in the fifth game at Dodger Stadium the Dodgers got a peek at their future in Reggie Jackson's last at-bat but that was just the beginning for Reggie was about to rock the Bronx he knew that everyone be watching he knew the yet step of big for us you were sensing the moment that this was going to be a great evening for Reggie [Music] Reggie cool is up the first inning it's a whole moon one pitch you don't think too much but on the next pitch he saw Reggie put another one into the seats counting his last at-bat in LA he had now hit three straight pitches four home runs but he possibly make it four in a row he'd have to do it against knuckleballer Charlie Huff [Applause] my main thought the way the fans were reacting was I cannot walk this guy and I threw what I thought was a very good knuckleball [Music] [Applause] you know now you know this is history you know three home runs in the World Series game is certainly something that I'm very proud of I don't think I understood the impact that would have on the game was over I remember Reggie sitting in the manager's office talking about how next year was gonna be great and he was right as the Yankees returned to the series to once again face the Dodgers but this time they lost the first two games in LA the frustrated Yankees headed back to the Bronx where they saw a defensive display that defied belief by third baseman Greg Nettles [Music] [Applause] standing next to him and watching them you know a couple plays you just go wow [Applause] all the difficult place that he had to make with people on base tell us right in half every time in the next game Reggie once again got in the way of the Dodgers best laid plans [Music] [Applause] it was obstruction no question about it so it was a bad call and he should have been called out [Applause] you have to give Reggie a lot of credit for doing it but then he got away with it that's what hurt me more than anything else personally I know that Smart Play he did act pretty good I didn't like it against us we just didn't handle it I don't think we had enough time to mentally work ourselves through it it was a big momentum swing as far as the world series went when that happened Reggie's rum got him over the hump and the Yankees took the next two games in the process they became the third back-to-back champions of the decade every time you win a World Series it's one of the greatest things in the world really in 1979 the Pittsburgh Pirates matched the game's best hitting against the Baltimore Orioles and their great pitching but the Pirates had a secret weapon they were family we did have a unique closeness and about that and we called it the family took a theme song that Sister Sledge had made popular that year we are family and we adopted it as our thing so then I have to take my hat off because that's that's kind of like my second national anthem through four games Baltimore managed to keep the Pirates bats at bay and got timely hits of their own to put them on the verge of their first World title since 1970 so Pop's decided to call a family meeting we expected to win that ballgame because we felt that if we're going to lose let's show the world that we haven't played and let's play like the Pirates capable planned and the Pirates won games five and six then in Game seven [Music] [Applause] STARTTLS colossal blow had brought the family to the brink of an amazing comeback [Applause] the Bucks became the first team in 11 years to come back from a 3-1 deficit by winning Game six and seven on the road when we won the World Series it was like who cares what anybody did we were the champions of the world in 1980 the Philadelphia Phillies finally made it back to the series trying to give their frustrated fans their first ever title over the years and we let them down so many times and we want to know we're trying as hard as we can try but now they'd have to be George Brett and the Kansas City Royals also looking for their first crown the series went back and forth each team refusing to lose in its own Park but in Game five in Kansas City the Phillies got a pivotal victory putting them on the precipice of the championship it all came down to a weary tug mcgraw accorded that much left he had a very tired arm but he cranked it up one more time it was one of those where you reached back for some extra 79 mile an hour fastball and struck him out they were world champions in a heartbeat [Music] we put all the demons to rest so to speak you know and just needed to happen [Applause] a player strike-shortened the 81 season and the altered postseason format required teams to win two playoff series to reach the World Series the Dodgers won the National League rights and hope to meet their nemesis in the series I'm saying dear God if you ever have a chance to put us into another Fall Classic please let it be against the Yankees now I want them so bad now we have another chance against the dreaded Yankees so what did we do we lost the first two games of the series all of a sudden dropping the first two games and everybody saying up there goes that gihan Yankees gonna they might even sweep the Dodgers but this was now a playoff tested team one that had a reputation for coming from behind we're down two games to Houston we came back and won that series three to two we were down two games to one to Montreal we won that series so even though we were down two games coming out of New York I never really doubted our chances the Dodgers confidence would be rewarded as they won the next three games at home and destroyed the Yankees spirit in the process that set up a shot for sweet revenge as the Dodgers had a chance to win it all at Yankee Stadium it presented us an opportunity to come back and to rewrite a chapter that we kept reading over and over and over [Applause] baseball he was really kind of a culmination of all the hard work and effort so it finally got even with the Yankees after beating us twice in a World Series finally we got [Music] you [Music] baseball and the crazy 80s taught us that no uniform is too bright no style too magical and of course anything can happen anything can happen anything could happen who did that was certainly the case in the 82 World Series where the speedy st. Louis Cardinals took on the heavy hitting Milwaukee Brewers I love the nickname of them and Milwaukee Brewers Harvey Keene was the manager and somebody slapped the tag on this team is Harvey's Wallbangers and a great moniker and that that's exactly what they weren't but it was the Cardinals who made a big bang in Game three led by slap hitting rookie Willie McGee [Applause] one home run for a guy that hit only four all season was a story but for McGee dia two in one World Series game he found his moment McGee also had a moment in the night with a spectacular catch well series would climax with a seventh game in st. Louis going into that game of course we were all very nervous but we were confident that if we played our game that we have a chance of winning and closer Bruce suitor made sure that's what happened [Applause] while Cardinals rule the routes than 82 it was the Orioles who flocked to the series in 83 we were definitely the underdogs and here we are going against the Philadelphia Phillies with names like Pete Rose Joe Morgan Mike Schmidt these guys are the gods of baseball but with the score tied at one in Game one it was another higher power who made his presence felt about the seventh inning the president comes up to me and he stops at Howard Cosell and starts telling baseball stories and the game gets delayed anything that throws you out of your routine you don't like you know you're on the mound and you just seem to go on and on and on I forget let's pitch he got cold did scouting MacGregor and he gave up a home run and the Orioles lost their only game they lost to me 83 World Series and it's all the fault of the Gipper so the Phillies won one for the Gipper but the Orioles took the next three and in Game five Eddie Murray made a name for himself with a pair of blasts [Applause] and he came up he homered the right-center field and I never forget his name being on the board and the ball hitting on his name on the scoreboard and just to make things perfect game ones losing pitcher God revenge hug Scotty McGregor and lifted that orange catcher's mitt in the air and I was thinking he had finally done it if the Orioles had felt like underdogs imagine being the 84 Padres having to face a Detroit Tigers team that began the regular season 35 and 5 and never look back we had the incredible start the feeling was is that we were whoever we played that we were gonna win Jack Morris did just that in game 1 and then the bats took over [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Tramell did most of the damage in Game four but the series decisive blow was delivered in Game five by Kirk Gibson I [Applause] looked over at Sparky and I said he's not gonna walk me dip Williams comes out he goes he want the infield and he says no goose not for sure he can overpower him and go Guinea Williams comes out I said hey let's go after him and that was the missile that sunk our ship [Applause] [Music] [Applause] when I had that whole run everybody knew the series was ours and you know it's time to start party in the city Detroit there was no question that the World Series trophy would stay in the Midwest the next year as the Kansas City Royals faced the st. Louis Cardinals in the first ever i-70 world series it was it was kind of a little storybook World Series because the first two games we lost at home at that point in time there had been no team that have come back from losing the first two games at home to win a World Series so history was against us yes but saw Young award-winner Bret Saberhagen was on the Royals side and they came back still they needed a bit of good fortune and three outs from elimination in Game six Kansas City got it it became known as the call [Applause] we got a favorable call at first we got a break to call when aiwei could have gone the other way that particular play happened the next guy comes up and hits a pop-up toward the first base dugout that wasn't caught you start warning on know what's going on here what it was was a Royal Flush [Applause] in Game seven the frustrated Cardinals had no chance against Saberhagen who conspired with his third baseman to plot their postgame celebration I said you know when this guy makes the last out and he will make the last out and just kind of hanging around the mound here I want to be the first one on the mound and sure enough that's what happened the Royals had bucked history but this was merely a precursor of 1986 it didn't the Red Sox lost two of three at home and the series returned to New York for Game six they are Boston held a two-run lead with two out of the 10th it looked to all of us like the curse of the Bambino was about to end Bob Costas was in the Red Sox clubhouse and had the stage set champagne was ready to be poured and when I came to the plate and I just knew in my heart I'm not gonna be the last out flying into left-field base [Music] [Music] no big deal still this is how can they come back get so one two on me and I'm looking hard away and he busts the fastball up and hit on me [Music] than getting hits you know you're just hoping that one of our guys would throw a ball a foot outside or something because I think all the hits came with like oh and two on on three or four different batters buddy Harris had just told me mitts be prepared for a ball in the dirt defense can win you a championship and so too can it help you lose one that morning I had written a column asking the question of whether Buckner should play or not and I ended by saying that people should practically say a prayer for Buckner that he had tried so hard and contributed so much but was so battered that something sad shouldn't happen to him but that the fates usually found players like that [Music] [Applause] I don't remember ever touching the ground it was like I floated to home play and win 85 over the star-crossed read songs in 1987 the Cardinals made their third Series appearance in six years though injuries had saddled both Jack Clark and Terry Pendleton as for their opponents well just being there proved that almost anything can happen everything but they did have the ultimate home-field advantage a deafening dome [Applause] you couldn't hear yourself think the homer hankies in the whole deal you know [Applause] you can kind of see with the way that we played that it made it very very tough inspired by their fans the twins won all four of their home games including the loudest game seven on record [Music] [Applause] a title for favored st. Louis just wasn't in the cards but in 1988 it seemed like Oakland held a hand that couldn't be beat when you talk about our lineup there weren't many little guys in it you go to me Canseco McGwire Parker Lansford time back we demolish and people the A's opponents in 88 were the Dodgers and while they did have the siyoung and MVP award winners the latter wasn't expected to play the lead up to the World Series was like you expect it to win with Canseco providing the power and the best closer in the game coming on to protect a one-run lead Game one looked to be a foregone conclusion goals and since I popped him up I said that's that not so fast a two-out walk by Eckersley just his 14th all year opened the door for the Dodgers hobbled slugger the clubhouse boy came to me and said Gibson wants to see up in the runway so I go up there and there's Kurt he said skipper I think I could hit for you so I said great [Music] you know he needed a long time to get there so it was driving me nuts just like just get this guy up here he's the last out let's get this thing over with you got your foot on their throat you want to put him away [Music] Gibson worked the count full and then guess I stepped out of the box and said to myself partner sure as I'm standing here breathing you're gonna throw me that three two back to our slider our show [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] they were stunned and it shook them up so bad it paralyzed them and they never were really able to recover while Gibson's dramatic blasts provided the spark it was Orel Hershiser who fanned the flames not to mention 70 nays as the Dodgers won a tidy five-game series the A's returned to the World Series in 1989 still smarting from their defeat to the Dodgers and ready for their showdown with their Bay Area rivals the San Francisco Giants and the early returns did look promising then the series moved across the bay to San Francisco and out of the clear blue sky everything changed we went on the air at 5 o'clock Eastern Time and I started talking about Dave Parker and I could hear it it was the sound that was perhaps the most ominous at second base so the Oakland A's take [Applause] next the green is open in the history of television in the midst of the Fall Classic a seismic shift had rocked the baseball world [Music] when you get back to your houses wherever you're living in you see you know you know this freeways collapsed and killed hundreds and the marinas on fire and the Bay Bridge had a big section collapsed you know you sort of got the gravity of it you know like hey wait oh this is not good at all we're postponing the game because there is no power in the stadium we would like you to leave in an orderly way as the residents of the Bay Area picked up the pieces of their lives Commissioner Fay Vincent kept the games on hold it would be the longest such delay in World Series history when the game did resume which was ten days later there was really no emotion at all I mean you know Oakland wind up went in next two games and swept us but it was sort of anti-climatic after that I think we'd probably won the most historical all series of all the time they have to deal with the delay and the emotional tugs and still come on play competitive baseball I don't know anybody has had to do more than that they're wearing win overall championship or compete for the world championship [Music] in 1990 the A's became the first team in more than a decade to reach the World Series three consecutive years this time they faced the Reds who despite going wire-to-wire came in as heavy underdogs no one gave us a chance at really winning they thought we might win one or two games we didn't think Cincinnati was that good and that was a mistake and in the very first inning of the very first game Eric Davis let that be known [Music] [Applause] Eric at that home run I think that was it you know they knew that okay it's on while Davis set the tone for the series Reds ace Jose Rio made it stick allowing just one run in his two series wins in the end the nastiest boys on this team resided in the bullpen Dibble and Charlton and Brandi Myers they just they were at the top of the game and they threw hard in fact this exceptional trio wouldn't be sport upon in almost nine full innings of work stunned stunned to the tune of a three games to none deficit as the Reds embarked on one of the most unlikely sweeps and World Series history and their fifth franchise time into the four games after we swept them I think they understood that you know you might have better players man-for-man but you better have a better unit when you take the field and I think that's what we showed him no one expected us to do the things that we did that was a special Club and I'll never ever forget that you know when you look back on and you think about let's get off to a good start anything can happen and it happened we end up being a world champion [Music] after a decade of mostly surprise champions the 91 series featured two surprises the twins and the Braves both worse - first World Series qualifiers glad to be here they filled the series with excitement thanks to constant game ending heroics [Applause] I remember us going back to Minnesota having to win only one game because we had won all three at home but home in the dome that year was just as precious and in Game six Kirby Pucket took matters into his own hands I told the guys that came in the clubhouse and I call it a meeting I said guys don't worry about it today he had a jump on my back I'm a carrier today in just the third inning Kirby made his point eight quarks at the left center and chase by puckett [Music] [Applause] then in the bottom of the 11 with the game tied at three apiece Kirby Pucket was primed for an encore chili Davis to sell Bunny again on bass and chili uh said Bobbie said bump my you-know-what said get up there get a good changeup hanging changeup and hit it out let's go home I said okay I'll do that [Applause] and we'll see you the dome was in a frenzy as the future hall-of-famer had both come through in the clutch and set the stage for a classic they gave us a chance to see one of the best games of all times no mr. Smoltz against mr. Morris game seven going through that first seventh game of the World Series against guy grew up just watching my whole career was great the pressure of the decisive Game seven didn't faze the winningest pitcher of the eighties and right from the start both pitchers were on their game in the eighth fans might have thought that Morris had reached his limit what with runners on second and third and Tom Kelly making the walk from the dugout TK came out he smiled he's done several times when he's taking me out and I just stood there like I'm gonna kill you if you take me yes his subtle persuasion did the trick and following an intentional walk Morris sought to prove that it was the right move and the play is to hole out there Jack Morris did not want to come out of that ballgame you could see he was determined if that game went 18 innings Jack Morris still would have stood out there in the 18th inning Smoltz proved a worthy adversary but he departed in the eighth this unbelievable Game seven went scoreless into the 10th and now Morris needed closure and her pinch-hitter gene Larkin [Applause] are they were sitting there thinking we just let this one get away because I really thought we were the better team so I mean I'm a heart which it hurt heart and determination brought the Braves back to the Fall Classic the following year but in their way was a team and a country making its World Series debut and a hungry Blue Jays veteran in search of his first championship Toronto team in 1992 I thought that when I came there that we put it all together win it it was a talent Laden Club but after losing Game one in Atlanta and on the brink of another loss in Game two the hopes of bringing a title to Canada were in jeopardy until that is a lesser known Blue Jay rocked the south one of the big turning points in that series was Ed Sprague hitting the home run to put us ahead [Applause] [Music] after winning Game two and taking two of three in Toronto the Blue Jays returned to Atlanta where an 11th inning hit would be the stuff of dreams is the 11th inning you know it's same thing two outs men on base the way you finish every practice when you're a kid you're up men on base you know your time to do something in the big game boom [Applause] [Music] [Applause] 200 to hit a double and stand in the middle kind of at the center of the ballpark and 50,000 people you only have maybe 1,000 cheering for you because they're stunned they're shocked they're on the heels and they know what might be coming [Applause] that's as good a feeling as you'd be getting because they're standing there looking at you like that you know as you just feel good you guys are cheering for me so that's as good as it gets with the Blue Jays hoping to repeat in 93 they'd have to overcome a Phillies team that was tough as nails we knew that the Phillies that year they were very very feisty club a scrappy Club it was one heck of a series and it was back and forth between two really good ball clubs [Applause] game floor alone featured a World Series record 29 runs in the rain [Applause] [Music] with Toronto up three games to one Philadelphia's modes rested on the arm of curt schilling we threw a complete game shutout to send it back to Canada Curt Schilling ended up throwing a gem in Game five that pushed us to Game six but we were still up 3-2 and we didn't want to see a game seven Toronto was looking to become the first team to repeat in 15 years a trailed six to five in the ninth inning of Game six with the tying run on second in the winning run on first Joe Carter came slowly to the plate ready to duel with Philly closer Mitch Williams I [Music] was not thinking home at the time it never in in my mind I just knew that somehow someway the game was going to revolve around what I did that particular had bad two strikes I know I can get him to swing at something that's not a strike and that's why the next pitch was supposed to be up and away I'm trying to get him to chase out of the strike zone and neither is he gonna strike out on it or he's gonna hit a week flyball the right field but don't miss down there [Applause] I didn't have a look I know it some of you hit it it was gone [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] watching everything unfold right in front of you and the fans and the World Series ends you know with me standing at centerfield is kind of like the twilight zone out there the way it just happened it's a job and sometimes you get sometimes you get God a touch home plate and I just just let it go and with everybody on top of me I mean it was it was great [Applause] tirado's shot at a three-peat was put on hold in 1994 as the piercing silence of a labor dispute sent shivers through the baseball world and ended with a fans worst nightmare [Music] everyone in baseball knew what was going to happen all the insiders know I'm really sorry I wish to stay obviously had never happened knowing the animosity between the union and management I don't think anybody could have been surprised baseball is now headed into unchartered waters a World Series postponed for the first time in 90 years a world of change and flux in the century of war and disruption one thing was always there the World Series 1994 it was on the field of dreams a giant anticlimax yes the baseball season is over the absence of the World Series in October was a void some will never forget all of a sudden the work stoppage came and we looked up and we're in first place and and it was like you know hey we had a pretty good shot the witness thing I felt like we were the best team I just feel like we were getting better all the time but nobody I don't think thought that there would be no world series we were proud to make a good run in it and to have that rug pulled out from underneath us was was very tough to think about for some the missed opportunity to play in a World Series was a momentary setback for one of Showalter Zone Yankees however it couldn't have happened at a worse time reaching you know that light at the end of the tunnel you know I just didn't get a chance to get to that final light you know I got some pretty bright where I was getting close but I didn't get to that last little rung you know that was what disappointing part of my career is not getting a chance to play in a World Series but Mattingly's failure to satisfy his World Series hunger has been felt throughout baseball history just ask legends Rod Carew Ralph Kiner Billy Williams and many others we can only say what if five years after I retired I mean I had dreams almost every three nights about playing in the World Series then I would wake up o said it's just not happening I love to pitch and I thought I did a pretty good job at it but didn't get any postseason play that maybe proved to myself that I was maybe a little step better a lot of things have to have from a positive standpoint for you you got to have a lot of things that you know work in your favor a look being proud at the top of the list a little bit of luck dad some hard work got baseball back on track in 1995 and with it a familiar team continue to chase its own World Series dream but in the Braves way with a Cleveland Indians who'd gone 144 in the shortened regular season with baseball's most prolific offense so the 95 World Series was a showdown of great hitting against awesome pitching game one starter Greg Maddux pitched a two-hit game gem for the Braves picking everybody awesome performance a tremendous display of control and movement on pitches and he completely frustrated Cleveland Tom Glavine was next in line to stymie the Indians and help give Atlanta a commanding two games to none lead when the series shifted to Cleveland the Indians bats finally came alive and in the bottom of the 11th of a tie game they were rewarded for their perseverance [Music] [Applause] but not for long as a game for loss put them in dire straits lose and go home win and go south but game to winner Tom Glavine was poised to erase any hopes Cleveland had of coming back when I walked off the mountain the first thing I knew I had I knew I had what I wanted I couldn't have asked for better stuff so to speak after throwing six scoreless innings Glavine still needed runs to back him up up came David Justice who'd been struggling for weeks [Applause] [Music] as each end he went on he got closer to the ninth inning he knew how much that one run meant it remained the only run in the game in the ninth Glavine who pitched one of the best games in series history with discretion over valor as much as I would have loved to pitch a complete game shutout selfishly and just felt like the best thing to do would be to get rollers out there and get our closer on the mom I didn't want to go out there and blow it in the ninth inning when we had a guy like him waiting in the wings [Applause] World Championship [Music] in 1995 that was probably one of the greatest offensive teams ever assembled not think we got them to a batting average of about 176 in that series [Applause] 95 and ended the way we wanted it to end and like I say there's no better feeling [Applause] peace is in place [Music] once upon a time the New York Yankees were synonymous with baseball excellence the October classic is back in the Bronx [Music] 1996 marked a return to the World Series for the game's most successful franchise for the first time in 15 years the Yankees could reclaim the October glory that had been so much a part of their past [Music] their opponent seeking to defend its title was the Atlanta Braves for whom things look good early thanks to rookie Andrew Jones Jones became the youngest player ever to hit a World Series home run in just the second man of any age to hit home runs in each of his first two World Series at-bats despite losing the first two games the Yankees skipper didn't panic everybody had written us off because we're going on the road down two games to none but I happen to say to George that we'll go to Atlanta we'll win three games there and come back and win it for you next Saturday and he looked at me like I had two heads the Yankees did win the first game in Atlanta and in the next Jim Leyritz capped a stirring six run comeback [Applause] [Music] six-six here the we felt you know what this is our destiny and then that the game Ford turned completely around and really gave us an idea that hey you know what we got a chance to beat these guys in game five and depended on John Smoltz waged a classic pitchers duel five strikeouts already for small one is start for Andy Pettitte tonight bats number 10 but it was Pettit who prevail over the veteran Smoltz and the Yanks went on to win in dramatic fashion [Music] [Applause] we knew after we won that game we're going back to New York you know there's just no way that we're gonna live when the team's return to New York it was clear that those dark days of Yankees baseball were finally a thing of the past they have surmounted every challenge every mountain [Applause] [Music] the 1997 World Series featured at least one unlikely participant in just their fifth year of existence the expansion Florida Marlins were already bidding for a title opposing them an old-school Cleveland team with no intention of being upstaged by these new kids on the block the Cleveland Indians have been around for a long time playing the Florida Marlins who haven't been around so long the mindset was we don't want to let this team that's so new win a world championship Miami was so excited to see baseball in October it rubbed off on the Florida players the energy and the noise the vibration in that stadium was unbelievable and I remember the hair stand up on the back of my neck and I was like okay this is the World Series from the tropical heat in Florida to the bone-chilling cold of Ohio this world series was a study in extremes [Applause] take it still it is the raw series you know you can't think about the weather they have to plan it too we did everything possible to stay warm and the climate change was reflected in the nature of this series as neither team won back-to-back games all series long [Applause] pretty incredible with the seesaw battles back and forth we won Game one they won - we won three it was back and forth like that all the way to Game seven in that final game Cleveland took a 2-1 lead to the bottom of the ninth but with one out and runners on the corners for Florida Craig Counsell had a chance to tie it that guy's a money player and you know I knew that well you know we got the right guy up there you'd have to be tied up there's so much so much pressure so much hype going on that was just was unbelievable with the score still deadlocked at two the game moved to the bottom of the 11th up came Edgar Renteria we've been clutch all series we just said the game is over the right guys up there at the right time [Music] just unbelievable this is the most amazing thing they were helping my career for me it was it was one of the best seven games I've ever seen and ever been it sucked at all don't forget the Yankees were back in the World Series picture in 1998 and with added pressure to succeed thanks to a record-setting regular season everyone expected us to go to the World Series and win the World Series and breezed through the playoffs so there are some high expectations as they were now just four wins away from perhaps the greatest season in Major League history and in the World Series the San Diego Padres got an early sign that magic had returned to the Bronx [Applause] [Music] that's what I remember about the 1998 world surge watching that that grand slam go out of there and just watching the people who crazy the Yankees were feeling it with timely plays and late-game heroics [Music] [Applause] really struck me when I saw the emotion on his face I mean how to do not be pumped in the world series in this type of situation but that's one of the great performances in World Series history and Yankee World Series history it was only fitting that the Series MVP third baseman Scott Brosius would put the cap on the sweet [Music] boy if I had one word in probably this be storybook this team as far as what it's accomplished to this point it's it's kind of mind-boggling 1998 was a difficult year to follow but these Yankees had resolved we didn't live up to the expectations of the 9018 but we were able to do even better in the postseason the 1999 World Series would be a rematch of 96 and it was obvious that the Bombers meant business they disposed of the Braves in four straight giving them a postseason record that year of eleven and one and they won their 12th consecutive World Series game in the process [Applause] successful it's a team of guys that have put personal things aside that have put individual goals aside for this one team goal and when you look you need to see in everybody's face yeah this is what it's all about that's what I remember [Applause] just seems like every year that there's a fairytale ending to our season and stuff magical happens for the Yankees to continue their run in 2000 they'd have to beat the New York Mets and the first Subway Series in 44 years [Music] if you were in New York you couldn't escape everything I heard or saw was this Subway Series right from the start there was an unmistakable intensity in the Big Apple [Applause] this classic showdown went the Yankee's way very early on and they emerge from the Bronx with a two-game lead they did lose Game three their first World Series loss since 96 but it was just a bump in the road as they rebounded in Game four right off the bat [Music] and in Game five in Queens they became Kings once again [Music] [Music] and reach the summit of the sports world big one third straight championship it's just amazing the fact that we have been able to do it year after year after year in 2001 the Yankees reached the series for the fourth straight year their 38th Fall Classic overall it was just the first for Arizona but a pair of 20 game winners quickly helped them shed their rookie image the Yankees made their way back to a city still coping with the aftermath of September 11th and before game 3 came a visit that stirred some hearts it was an incredible show of support for getting back to normal by by the president after the president delivered the night's first pitch Mariano Rivera threw the last and the Yankees took Game three in Game four the yankees continued to feed off the pulse of their city and the hallowed bronx grounds and even wily veterans have come to fear [Music] like being down by two in the ninth against Arizona's bullpen ace with Tino Martinez at the plate two outs and a runner on [Music] [Music] now a World Series first a game in November the Yankees already had a mr. October in Reggie Jackson was a new title waiting Derek Jeter [Music] I've never hit a walk-off home run before you dream of when your kids hit a home run in a key situation in the World Series and get an opportunity to do that as three over one we can't really put in the words what the feeling is life with the series now tied at two games apiece how could Game five possibly top that about the same inning same lead same closer two outs and a runner on base this time with Scott Brosius [Music] [Applause] Oh a two-out game-tying two-run home run by Scott Brosius the most unbelievable Oh series history it's being a little kid again that's all it is here's filled with so much excitement and adrenaline especially on the heels of the night before it's going around the basis going wow you know no way did this happen again and we still have a chance to win the game now and three innings later the Yankees would do just that [Applause] when you win a game in that fashion you know two outs of the ninth again those are the stores and that people are gonna remember you know where you at game for you at Game five of the 2001 World Series because it was absolutely the most fun two games I think I've ever played in my life but how things changed on the long flight back West in Arizona for Game six the Diamondbacks dominate [Applause] force a game seven tomorrow night so it was time for the final test one game stayed between Arizona's first title and the Yankees fourth in a row and in the eight and looked as if New York just might get it [Applause] beside of Alfonso Soriano rounding the bases had to cause some hearts in the hometown stands to sink but these Diamondbacks were determined to strike back there was a real grim determination that this team was going to make it happen it all came down to Luis Gonzales this is the situation you dream about bases-loaded Game seven of the World Series you have a chance to be a hero don't mess this thing up the chance of a lifetime for the Luis Gonzales [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the feeling went through my body that I've never felt before I felt what a champion feels like [Applause] there's no question the 2001 World Series is the best World Series ever just looking at this toric will record I don't think anything else's is really that close it is Oh won the 2002 series would give its predecessor a run for its money the first ever all wild card series the Angels had waited more than four decades for the chance to take the series stage and the Giants Barry Bonds had endured a 17 year wait in act 1 bonds stole the spotlight after leading the Giants to victory in Game one of the series bonds was ready for an encore [Applause] the Angels won that second game but in Game three bonds made history [Music] bonds had become the first player ever to hit home runs in his first three World Series games and he led the Giants to a three games to two series lead putting San Francisco on the doorstep of a championship you tip your hat to them but guess what is it gonna be game six let's go pop one more time the San Francisco Giants a 1 went away from winning there World Series the Angels with their backs while Adam against the wall early in Game six for the first time all series the bats on both sides was signed with four innings of scoreless ball but then San Fran got a giant surprise just so the angels called on red-hot reliever Francisco Rodriguez to keep the Giants at bay but against this man even he proved vulnerable the Giants had taken a five nothing lead and now appeared a lock for the title but that's when the Angels turn to their season-long good luck charm the fans just go crazy seeing that thing and it gives us a nice boost of adrenaline to go up there and try to kick butt [Applause] then it was Darren Erstad turn to close the gas [Applause] [Music] next Troy Glaus capped the amazing Rolly [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and with Troy Percival they weren't about to relinquish it what was on the line with us as far as facing elimination that series I don't think I've ever been involved in any more exciting involving John Lackey was trying to become the first rookie to win a deciding Game seven since babe Adams of the Pirates in 1909 I knew you know I had to step up I was on short rest I was just gonna go as hard as I could for as long as I could Lackey showed the poise of a veteran holding the Giants to one run through five now the Angels needed a hero at the plate and they found just the man with San Francisco finally looking like a beaten team Anaheim prepared to finish them off here's the pitch to Lofton wide loss center field [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] 42-year comes to [Music] I'm Bob Costas thanks for watching 100 years of the world series we leave you now with a century of Champions [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] you

Channel: Sports Revisited

Views: 741,173

Rating: 4.5167885 out of 5

Keywords: World Series, mlb, baseball, classic

Id: 9o9Gr9kakGg

Length: 202min 16sec (12136 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 02 2018