Ok...since we have a bunch of Boston and St. Louis folks here, what do you think of the following?
Which was the more overemphasized blunder of the mid-80s:
1. Don Denkinger's missed call in game 6 of the 1985 World Series
OR
2. Bill Buckner's error in game 6 of the 1986 World Series?
Denkiner:[/b] There's no question that Denkinger egregiously missed the call, but other things were far more important. On the very next pitch, Steve Balboni hit a pop foul in front of the first base dugout. Converted outfielder Jack Clark, who was playing first base, allowed catcher Darrell Porter to call him off. At the last second, Porter said he lost the ball, and Clark couldn't locate it. That ball was Clark's ALL THE WAY. He should have called off Porter and caught the ball (as the guy whom the Cardinals trade away a couple years earlier would have done in his sleep). Balboni then singled to leftfield, so there were runners on first and second with no one out. If Denkinger makes the correct call, you have a guy on first with one out. The next batter, Jim Sundberg, tried to sacrifice, but the Cards threw out Jorge Orta at third. That left runners on first and second with one out. Had Denkinger made the correct call, and assuming Sundberg still tries to sacrifice, he probably successfully moves Onix Concepcion (the pinch runner for Balboni) to second, which would leave a runner on second with two outs. If that's the case, then the Cards probably walk Hal McRae immediately (which means the Porter pass ball never happens), which means we now have runners on first and second with two outs. Dane Iorg's single to right would easily have scored Concepcion from second, and McRae would have moved to third and Iorg probably ends up on second. The game is then tied with runners on second and third and two outs. No way to predict what happens after that.
Buckner: What a lot of people forget about the Buckner game is that it was game 6 (I thoroughly expect the folks who read this will not be among that group). People also forget that the Red Sox were winning by one run after the 7th inning. After the 7th, Red Sox manager John McNamara removed starter Roger Clemens for a pinch hitter.** Although Clemens had given up only a single earned run and had shut down the Mets in order in the bottom of the 7th, his pitch count was nearing 140, so it was hardly unreasonable for McNamara to remove him. In the bottom of the 8th, McNamara inserted former Met, Calvin Schiraldi. Although multi-inning saves were not a new thing for Schiraldi, he had blown a save in game 2 of the ALCS and hadn't pitched since game 1 of the Series, a week earlier. In the bottom of the 8th, Schiraldi allowed the Mets to load the bases and score the tying run on a sacrifice fly (all while throwing 18 pitches). Schiraldi threw another 21 pitches to shut down the Mets in the bottom of the 9th and send the game to extra innings. The Sox scored two runs in the top of the 10th, and Schiraldi quickly got two outs in the bottom of the inning. At that point, he had thrown 46 pitches to 13 batters, so most of the Mets hitters were seeing Shiraldi for a second time. Gary Carter and Kevin Mitchell then hit back-to-back singles, leaving the Mets with runners on first and second with two outs and the tying run at the plate. Schiraldi's pitch count was now at 52. Only after Ray Knight got the Mets' third consecutive single did McNamara yank Schiraldi and bring in the Sox leader in saves, Bob Stanley. Stanley then proceeded to allow Mitchell to score the tying run on a wild pitch, after which the infamous Buckner play happened.
I think the Buckner game is the bigger overreaction because, not only did it happen in game 6 (which is also true of the Denkinger game), the Sox had also already blown a two run lead with some monumentally bad pitching and pitcher management. If Buckner makes the play, the game simply goes to the eleventh inning. With the Denkinger game, you have to make some assumptions. Of course, in both cases, the Sox and Cards crapped the bed in game 7 gave up a three run lead after five and the Cards got Andujared (which I can still remember watching and finding absolutely hilarious). Interestingly (for me), both game 7's happened on my birthday.
** - 1986 was the first year where the teams used a DH in the AL park and no DH in the NL park. Prior to that, they alternated, using the DH in even years and not using it in odd years.
Topic: 2022 MLB Thread formerly the 2021 thread.. (Read 72276 times)
