October 14, 1973: Game 2 of the World Series is played at the Oakland Coliseum, between the defending World Champions, the Oakland Athletics; and, yet again in seemingly miraculous fashion, the New York Mets. The A's had won Game 1. (Through the 2022 World Series, the Mets have been in 5 World Series, and have lost Game 1 every time, 0-5. They are 2-3 in Game 2, 5-0 in Game 3, 2-3 in Game 4, 2-3 in Game 5, 1-1 in Game 6 and 1-1 in Game 7.)
Curt Gowdy, as usual the lead broadcaster for NBC, called this contest "one of the longest and weirdest games in World Series history." Indeed, at 4 hours and 13 minutes, it was the longest game by time in Series history, a record long since broken.
Neither starting pitcher got the job done: The A's scored 3 runs off Jerry Koosman in the 1st 2 innings, while Vida Blue gave up home runs to Cleon Jones and Wayne Garrett, and was knocked out of the box in the 6th inning, as the Mets scored 4 runs, including 2 thanks to a throwing error by Blue's replacement, Darold Knowles.
Knowles is known for 2 things. In this series, he became the 1st pitcher to appear in all 7 games of a World Series. And he said of Reggie Jackson, his team's best player, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover that hot dog." After missing the previous year's World Series with an injury sustained while scoring the winning run in the deciding game of the American League Championship Series, Reggie went 4-for-6 with 2 RBIs in this game, including the 1st of back-to-back RBI singles with Gene Tenace in the bottom of the 9th, sending this game to extra innings; and ended up as the Series' Most Valuable Player.
Willie Mays, now 42 and looking even older on the field, entered the game as a pinch-runner in the top of the 9th inning, and was left in to play center field for the 2,852nd and last time. He led off the top of the 11th inning by popping up to Tenace at 1st base.
He led off the 11th because he was left on deck when the top of the 10th ended. The Mets thought they had the lead when Félix Millán singled, and Bud Harrelson came home, but was thrown out at the plate. Mays was on his knees, motioning for Harrelson to slide, but catcher Ray Fosse tagged him out. Willie was left on his knees, pleading his case to home plate umpire Augie Donatelli, one of the few men who'd been in the National League longer than he had. (Donatelli's rookie year was 1950; Mays', 1951.)
It was still 6-6 when Harrelson led off the top of the 12th by doubling off Oakland relief ace Rollie Fingers. Yogi Berra, who'd seen it all in a big-league career going back to 1946, had no more pinch-hitters available, and had to let his own closer, Frank "Tug" McGraw, bat for himself. He tried to bunt Harrelson over to 3rd, and shortstop Bert Campaneris was unable to throw him out.
Fingers got Garrett to strike out and Millán to pop up. But Mays, no longer a Kid, had 1 more "Say Hey" moment, 1 more major league hit, left in him: He singled to center -- and stumbled getting out of the batter's box, but still made it to 1st base in time -- to drive Harrelson home. It was 7-6 New York. Cleon Jones singled to load the bases. A's manager Dick Williams brought in Paul Lindblad to pitch.
Here's where the game went from "classic" to "bizarre." John Milner hit the ball to 2nd baseman Mike Andrews, who had entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning. He mishandled the ball, letting it go through his legs, much like Bill Buckner would do against the Mets, 13 years later. McGraw and Mays scored. 9-6 Mets.
That would have been bad enough. But the next batter, Jerry Grote, also hit a ground ball to Andrews. This time, he fielded the ball cleanly, but made a bad throw, and Jones scored. 10-6 Mets.
But the A's did not go down without a fight. Reggie led off the bottom of the 12th with a triple. Tenace drew a walk. Yogi took Tug out, and replaced him with George Stone. He allowed a single to Jesús Alou, scoring Reggie. But Stone settled down, getting Fosse to ground into a forceout, walking Andrews, getting pinch-hitter Vic Davalillo to pop up, and getting Bert Campaneris to ground out. Mets 10, A's 7.
Andrews, who'd previously played for the Boston Red Sox in their 1967 "Impossible Dream" Pennant season, was subsequently put on the "disabled list" by an enraged A's owner Charlie Finley, triggering the baseball equivalent of a constitutional crisis, just as the one started by the Watergate scandal is reaching a new peak.
Finley ordered Andrews to sign an affidavit saying he was injured, which would make him ineligible to play in the rest of the series, and allow Finley to replace him. Andrews refused. Finley told him his baseball career would be over if he didn't sign it. Such coercions were all too common before the fall of the reserve clause 2 years later. Andrews signed it.
Williams was enraged at Finley's meddling, which he'd endured many times before. He spoke to the media, saying that Andrews was not injured. Some of Andrews' teammates wrote his uniform number, 17, on masking tape and put it on their sleeves, as if a tribute to a dead teammate.
Bowie Kuhn, whose one saving grace as Commissioner of Baseball was his recognition of Finley's abuses, ordered that Andrews be reinstated, and there was nothing that Finley could do. The Series moved on to Shea Stadium, where the Mets won Game 3. In Game 4, Williams again put Andrews in the game as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning, and Met fans, always with an affinity for the underdog, gave him a standing ovation.
Andrews grounded out, but the A's won the game. Finley ordered Williams to bench Andrews for the rest of the Series. Williams told his players that he was resigning after the Series, no matter what. The Mets won Game 5, to get within 1 win of the title. But the A's won Games 6 and 7 in Oakland to repeat.
On November 1, Finley released Andrews, and Andrews never played in the major leagues again, done at age 30. He returned to Boston to help run the Red Sox' official charity, the Jimmy Fund. Finley replaced Williams with Alvin Dark, and won another World Series in 1974. Williams would later manage the California Angels, the Montreal Expos, the San Diego Padres (winning that team's 1st Pennant in 1984, making him the 1st man to manage 3 different teams into the World Series) and the Seattle Mariners.
Williams was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008, and had 3 years to enjoy it before he passed away. Finley died in 1996, and has still never been elected.
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October 14, 1973 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that day:
* The New York Giants lost to the Washington Redskins, 21-3 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. The Giants were playing there because Yankee Stadium was being renovated, and, since they'd already announced their intention to move to the Meadowlands of New Jersey, Mayor John Lindsay refused to allow them to use City-owned Shea Stadium.
* The New York Jets beat the New England Patriots, 9-7 at Schaefer Stadium (later Sullivan Stadium and Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. This was 20 years away from becoming a real rivalry, unlike New York vs. Boston in the other major sports.
* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Chicago Bears, 46-6 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium).
* The New Orleans Saints beat the Detroit Lions, 20-13 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.
* The Denver Broncos beat the Houston Oilers, 48-20 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Buffalo Bills beat the Baltimore Colts, 31-13 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.
* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 19-7 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers played to a tie, 10-10 at Milwaukee County Stadium. The next season, the NFL would institute regular-season overtime, seriously reducing the number of tie games, but not eliminating them.
* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 27-24 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Oakland Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers, 27-17 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).
* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Dallas Cowboys, 37-31 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers, 17-13 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Miami Dolphins beat the Cleveland Browns, 17-9 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
There were 3 games played in the NBA:
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 95-83 at the Cleveland Arena.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns, 120-95 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 109-100 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
And 1 game was played in the American Basketball Association: The Utah Jazz beat the San Antonio Spurs, 101-95 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.
There were 5 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers played the Los Angeles Kings to a tie, 1-1 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New York Islanders lost to the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Boston Garden.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The Minnesota North Stars and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 1-1 at the Chicago Stadium.
* And the Montreal Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the California Golden Seals, the St. Louis Blues and the Atlanta Flames were not scheduled.
And there were 5 games played in the World Hockey Association:
* The New York Golden Blades lost to the New England Whalers, 2-1 in overtime at Madison Square Garden. On November 21, the former New York Raiders went bankrupt, and were sold and moved to the Philadelphia suburbs, becoming the Jersey Knights, barely lasting the 1973-74 season.
* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Toronto Toros at the Varsity Arena in Toronto.
* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Chicago Cougars, 3-2 in overtime at the Cleveland Arena.
* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Vancouver Blazers, 6-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.
* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Houston Aeros, 5-2 at the Edmonton Coliseum.
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