October 17, 1978: Jackson vs. Welch, Part II

When you're Mr. October, you can drink a bottle of good champagne

and two cans of weak beer at the same time.

October 17, 1978: The New York Yankees complete their last of many comebacks in this amazing season, taking Game 6, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium, and winning their 22nd World Championship, their 2nd in a row, having taken the last 4 games after dropping the first 2.

Reggie Jackson has his chance for revenge over Dodger rookie Bob Welch for striking him out with the bases loaded to end Game 2, and his revenge goes to right field, halfway to the San Gabriel Mountains.

Both halves of the Yankee double-play combination, Bucky Dent and Brian Doyle (substituting for the injured Willie Randolph) collect 3 hits. Dent batted .417 for the Series and is named the Most Valuable Player, capping a month that began with his Playoff homer over Boston. Doyle bats .438, and, along with 3rd base wizard Graig Nettles and reliever Goose Gossage, also makes a pretty good case for Series MVP.

Jim "Catfish" Hunter, hurting and apparently finished earlier in the season, completes his late-season renaissance, starting and winning. The final out is Gossage popping up Ron Cey behind home plate, where Thurman Munson catches it. The Goose thus becomes the 1st pitcher to nail down the final out of a Division clincher, a Pennant clincher, and a World Series clincher in the same season.

This remains my favorite single-season sports team of all time, as it was the first baseball season I was really old enough to "get" what was happening. I was aware of the 1977 title, but I didn't really comprehend what the Yankees had to overcome to win it.

Unfortunately, as with the year before, my parents waited until the Yankees were winning, and then sent me to bed, so I didn't see it. Despite being a fan of the greatest franchise in the history of sports, I was almost 27 years old before I saw my favorite team win a World Series while it was actually happening. And I don't think it was until that 1996 Series that I got over that fact.

The next season, 1979, Munson was killed in a plane crash. The Yankees didn't win another World Series until said 1996 Series. That is not a coincidence.

UPDATE: Among the Yankees' many traditions is Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. From the 1976-81 team that won 4 American League Pennants, including 2 World Series, they have given a Monument to team owner George Steinbrenner; and Plaques to manager Billy Martin (who managed the 1977 title), coaches Lawrence "Yogi" Berra and Elston Howard; catcher Thurman Munson, 2nd baseman Willie Randolph, right fielder Reggie Jackson, pitchers Ron Guidry and Rich "Goose" Gossage (who arrived in 1978); public address announcer Bob Sheppard, and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto.

Bob Lemon, who managed the 1978 title, has not been honored. The Yankees have retired uniform numbers 1 for Martin, 8 for Berra, 10 for Rizzuto, 15 for Munson, 32 for Howard, 44 for Jackson and 49 for Guidry.

Despite being on the 1981 Pennant winners, and having been elected to the Hall of Fame, Dave Winfield has not been honored with a Plaque, or with the retirement of his Number 31. Despite having never played on a Pennant winner, and not having been elected to the Hall of Fame, 1980s 1st baseman Don Mattingly has been honored with a Plaque, and the retirement of his Number 23.

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October 17, 1978 was a Tuesday. Football was in midweek. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Seattle SuperSonics, 120-109 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Washington Bullets, 113-109 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The New Orleans Jazz beat the Detroit Pistons, 114-109 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Pete Maravich scored 36 points.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 113-111 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns, 110-107 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Larry Kenon scored 39 for the Spurs.

* The San Diego Clippers beat the Chicago Bulls, 99-94 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Kansas City Kings, 115-112 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Mychal Thompson scored 37 for the Blazers.

There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum. However, as it turned out, the Isles weren't quite ready to overtake the Habs as the best team in the NHL, and the Habs weren't yet willing to cede that title, either.

* The Atlanta Flames beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-2 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Vancouver Canucks, 8-6 at the St. Louis Arena -- or the Checkerdome, as it was then known, during the time that St. Louis-based Ralston-Purina, with its "Checkerboard Square" logo, owned the Blues. The Canucks blew a 3-0 lead, as Garry Unger and Wayne Babych each scored 2 goals.

And there were 2 games played in the World Hockey Association, early in what turned out to be its last season. The Quebec Nordiques and the Cincinnati Stingers played to a tie, 5-5 at the Colisée de Québec. And the New England Whalers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.