October 14, 1978: It's Game 4 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, and there's another allegation of interference, 3 years to the day after the Ed Armbrister Game.
The New York Yankees trail the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1 with 1 out in the bottom of the 6th. The Dodgers are 11 outs away from taking a 3-games-to-1 lead in the Series. But Reggie Jackson singles home a run, and Thurman Munson takes 2nd base on the play. Then Lou Piniella comes to bat. Sweet Lou hits a low line drive toward shortstop Bill Russell.
The ball was very low. If it had been any higher, the umpires would probably have invoked the infield-fly rule, which would automatically have declared the batter, Piniella, out for the 2nd out of the inning, and forced Munson to stay at 2nd and Jackson at 1st. But there is no time for the IFR to be called, and Russell… drops the ball. Thurman sees this and heads for 3rd. Russell recovers the ball, and steps on 2nd to force out Reggie, who's stuck just off of 1st, seemingly frozen. Russell throws to 1st, and…
And the ball hits Reggie on the leg and caroms away into foul territory. Lou gets to 1st safely. Thurman rounds 3rd and scores. The Yanks now trail 3-2, with Lou on 1st and 2 outs.
Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda storms out of the dugout, and furiously argues with the umpires' crew chief, AL ump Marty Springstead, that Lou should be called out due to Reggie's "intentional interference."
Springstead decides that he cannot determine Reggie's intent, and he lets the result of the play stand. Lasorda would later say he was impressed with Reggie's presence of mind to attempt the "tactic," which becomes known as "the Sacrifice Thigh," but he still thought it was an illegal play.
The Yankees tie the game in the 8th when Munson doubles home Paul Blair. The score remains tied until the bottom of the 10th, when Piniella singles home Roy White with the winning run, tying the Series at 2 games apiece.
This game still ticks off Dodger fans, but so what? They're rooting for a team that belongs in Brooklyn.
Dodger fans claim they can see Reggie sticking his hip out to deflect the ball on the replay. They need to get their vision checked. Umpires from both Leagues determined that there was no intentional interference. So we can also rule out AL bias.
Russell dropped the ball. If he'd caught it, he could have stepped on 2nd and thrown Piniella out at 1st, and the inning would have been over before anybody had realized what happened.
The Dodgers were still winning. After the run scored, it was Dodgers 3, Yankees 2. What's more, the Dodgers were up 2 games to 1. The Dodger bullpen could have held that lead, and they would then have had 3 chances to get 1 win. Even after losing the game, the Series was still tied. They had 3 chances to get 2 wins, with Game 6 and, if necessary, Game 7 at Dodger Stadium. Instead, they blew a 2-0 lead in games. The Dodgers flat-out choked, and the Yankees happily took advantage of this.
You could also blame Lasorda for losing the Series, for losing his cool. I don't blame him for arguing the call, because a manager needs to stand up for his team when he believes they're being wronged. But, as they say in English soccer, he lost the plot, and his team followed his lead.
He wasn't the 1st manager to do this in a postseason game, and he certainly hasn't been the last: Witness Whitey Herzog of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1985 World Series, Davey Johnson of the Baltimore Orioles in the 1996 AL Championship Series (also against the Yankees), and Mike Scioscia (a Lasorda disciple) of the Los Angeles Angels in the 2005 ALCS. And those are just examples from baseball in the last 40 years.
On top of everything else, the Yankees were simply better. They were the defending World Champions, having beaten the Dodgers the year before. They had won 100 games to the Dodgers' 97, and in a tougher Division, too. They had a better lineup, a better defense, a better starting rotation, a better bullpen, and a calmer manager in Bob Lemon.
Even if Reggie had been called out, and the inning ended, there's no guarantee that the Yankees still wouldn't have come from behind to win. This was a team that did what it had to do to win. The Dodgers wouldn't do that until 1981.
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October 14, 1978 was a Saturday. Singer Usher Raymond IV, who uses only his first name, was born.
Among the college football games played that day were these:
* Number 1 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 17-16 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.
* Number 2 Southern California were upset by Arizona State, 20-7 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona. USC would still win the Pacific-10 Conference title, but this loss would cost them the National Championship.
* Number 3 Arkansas had the week off, but lost their next 2 games, away to Texas and away to Houston.
* Number 4 Penn State had the week off. They finished the regular season undefeated and ranked Number 1.
* Number 5 Michigan were upset by in-State rivals Michigan State, 24-15 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Among the heroes for Michigan State that day was a receiver who would make his mark playing pro ball in Michigan -- not for the Lions, but the Tigers: Kirk Gibson.
The 2 schools finished in a tie for the Big Ten title. With the head-to-head tiebreaker, Michigan State should have gone to the Rose Bowl. However, they were on probation, so the bid went to Michigan, who lost to USC, on future Heisman Trophy winner Charles White's "phantom touchdown." (He fumbled the ball as he went over the goal line. This may have stuck in some poll voters' minds as a reason why they should vote for Alabama over USC.)
* Number 6 Texas A&M were upset by Number 17 Houston, 33-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. UH went on to win the Southwest Conference title.
* Number 7 Alabama beat Florida, 23-12 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 'Bama rebounded from an earlier non-conference loss to USC, and went on to win the Southeastern Conference title. The Sugar Bowl would be a true National Championship game, as Number 2 Alabama beat Number 1 Penn State. That was the 1st college football game I can ever remember seeing on television.
* Number 8 Nebraska beat Kansas State, 48-14 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska later beat Oklahoma, knocking them out of the Number 1 ranking. But Nebraska then lost to Missouri, forging a tie for the Big Eight Conference title. The head-to-head tiebreaker should have given the title, and the accompanying bid to the Orange Bowl, to Nebraska. But the Orange Bowl committee decided to invite both teams, setting up the 1st-ever bowl rematch of a regular-season game, and Oklahoma won it.
* Number 9 Pittsburgh were upset by Notre Dame, 26-17 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. With Joe Montana at quarterback, Notre Dame accepted a bid to the Cotton Bowl, and Montana led the first of his famed comebacks to beat Houston.
* Number 10 Maryland beat Syracuse, 24-9 at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York.
* Number 11 Louisiana State were upset by Georgia, 24-17 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
* Number 13 Colorado were upset by Oklahoma State, 24-20 at Lewis Field (now Boone Pickens Stadium) in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
* Number 15 Florida State were upset by Mississippi State, 55-27 at Scott Field (now Davis-Wade Stadium) in Starkville, Mississippi.
* Number 16 Ohio State were upset by Purdue, 27-16 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. Ohio State ended up going to the Gator Bowl, where they lost to Atlantic Coast Conference Champion Clemson, and head coach Woody Hayes punched a Clemson player, costing him his job after 28 seasons in Columbus.
* Number 18 Stanford were upset by Washington, 34-31 at the old Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California.
* Number 19 Missouri beat Number 20 Iowa State, 26-13 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. Missouri ended up beating LSU in the Liberty Bowl.
* Navy were the only service academy to win, beating Duke, 31-8 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Army lost to Holy Cross, 31-0 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York. And Air Force lost to Colorado State, 31-13 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs.
* As for New Jersey's teams, Rutgers beat Connecticut, 10-0 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey; while Princeton lost to Columbia, 14-10 at Baker Field in Manhattan.
There were 5 games played in the NBA:
* The New Jersey Nets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 102-100 at the Rutgers Athletic Center (now the Jersey Mike's Arena) in Piscataway, New Jersey.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Boston Celtics, 114-108 at the Boston Garden. Calvin Murphy scored 35 points.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons, 122-114 at The Omni in Atlanta.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 153-111 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. George Gervin led all scorers on the night with 37.
* And the Golden State Warriors beat the San Diego Clippers, 117-89 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
There were 7 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 10-7 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Although a defenseman, Isles Captain Denis Potvin scored 3 goals, while Mike Bossy scored 2. For the Leafs, Darryl Sittler had a hat trick, and Dave "Tiger" Williams scored 2.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-2 at the Montreal Forum.
* The Atlanta Flames beat the Washington Capitals, 6-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 4-4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* And the New York Rangers, the Chicago Black Hawks and the Vancouver Canucks were not scheduled.
There was 1 game played in the World Hockey Association: The Winnipeg Jets beat the Indianapolis Racers 6-3 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
In New Jersey high school football, the school that would become my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, beat Woodbridge, 14-6 at Nicholas A. Priscoe Stadium in Woodbridge.
And in English soccer, Birmingham-area team Wolverhampton Wanderers, a.k.a. Wolves, beat North London's Arsenal, 1-0 at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton.
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