October 20, 1990: One of the most stunning upsets in World Series history is completed. The Cincinnati Reds beat the Oakland Athletics, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum, completing a 4-game sweep of the World Series, a tremendous upset.
The teams had faced each other in the Series in 1972, when, despite losing their best player, Reggie Jackson, to injury, the A's beat the "Big Red Machine" in 7 games. But with an offense led by the "Bash Brothers," Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, and a pitching staff led by ace Dave Stewart and reliever Dennis Eckersley, the A's had won their 3rd straight American League Pennant. They had lost the 1988 World Series in an upset by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but beaten their cross-Bay neighbors, the San Francisco Giants, in the earthquake-interrupted 1989 edition.
The Reds had won the NL Western Division 6 times in the 1970s, winning 4 Pennants and 2 World Series. But the team was broken up. From 1985 to 1988, with team legend Pete Rose returning as manager, they finished 2nd 4 straight seasons. No Central Division at the time, and no Wild Card berths. Rose was permanently banned the next season, for betting on baseball games, and was replaced by former New York Yankees player and manager Lou Piniella.
The Reds won their 1st 9 games in 1990, and held the lead in the NL West the entire way. The horse racing expression "led wire-to-wire" was frequently used. Nevertheless, they were considered underdogs in the NL Championship Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They won in 6 games, anyway.
In the AL Championship Series, the A's swept the Boston Red Sox in 4 straight. They were the easy betting favorites for this World Series, and some people were predicting a 4-game sweep. They got one, but not in the direction they expected. They didn't count on the hitting of Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, of 3rd baseman Chris Sabo, and of outfielders Eric Davis and Billy Hatcher. They didn't count on the starting pitching of José Rijo. And they didn't count on the three-headed monster of the Cincinnati bullpen, known as the Nasty Boys: Rob Dibble, Randy Myers and Norm Charlton.
In Game 1, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Rijo pitched 7 shutout innings, outpitching Stewart, and was backed by a home run from Davis. The Reds won, 7-0. Game 2 went to extra innings, and, in the bottom of the 10th, Eckersley gave off 3 straight singles to lose it, to Billy Bates, Chris Sabo and Joe Oliver.
The action moved to Oakland for Game 3, and the same observers who had predicted an A's sweep now predicted that the A's would use home field to their advantage, and take control of the Series. They should have predicted that Chris Sabo would hit 2 home runs, in support Tom Browning, whose wife had a baby in between the games. The Reds scored 7 runs in the 3rd inning, and won, 8-3.
Game 4 was a rematch of Game 1, and while Stewart was considerably better than he was then, Rijo was strong again. The A's led 1-0 after 7 innings, and both Davis and Hatcher were injured. In the top of the 8th, Larkin singled, Herm Winningham beat out a bunt for a hit, and Stewart made a throwing error to allow Paul O'Neill to reach, loading the bases. A groundout by Glenn Braggs and a sacrifice fly by Hal Morris scored the runs the Reds would need to win the game. They had gotten 2 runs on only 2 hits. Myers saved the game for Rijo, who was named the Series' Most Valuable Player.
Neither team has reached the World Series since. The Reds have won 9 National League Pennants, while the A's, in Philadelphia and Oakland combined, have won 15 American League Pennants. But neither has won any from 1991 to 2022.
UPDATE: The Cincinnati Reds have won Division titles in 1995, 2010, 2012; and Wild Card berths in 2013, 2020 and 2025; but haven't won so much as a postseason series since the 1995 NL Division Series. But at least they still exist: After so many threats to move out of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Athletics moved to Sacramento in 2025, with the intent of using that only as a stopgap home until their domed stadium in Las Vegas is ready in 2028.
The Reds have a team Hall of Fame. Elected from this 1990 World Championship team have been 2nd baseman Ron Oester, shortstop Barry Larkin, 3rd baseman Chris Sabo, left fielder George Foster, center fielder Eric Davis; pitchers Tom Browning, José Rijo; manager Lou Piniella, and broadcasters Joe Nuxhall and Marty Brennaman.
From their 1979 NL Western Division title, but no other titles, their Hall has inducted pitchers Tom Seaver and Mario Soto. From their 4 straight 2nd-place finishes from 1985 to 1988, but not the 1979 or the 1990 postseason appearances, they have inducted right fielder Dave Parker.
From their 1995 Division Champions, they have inducted Larkin, Rijo, and outfielder Reggie Sanders. From the 2000s, but not either the 1995 or the 2010 postseason appearances, they have inducted center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., 1st baseman Sean Casey, left fielder Adam Dunn, and pitcher Danny Graves. From their 2010 Division title, they have inducted 2nd baseman Brandon Phillips and pitchers Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo.
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October 20, 1990 was a Saturday. The NBA season wouldn't begin for another 13 days. There were 8 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The New York Islanders lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 4-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Colisée de Québec.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3 at the Montreal Forum.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Minnesota North Stars and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 2-2 at the St. Louis Arena.
* The Calgary Flames beat the Boston Bruins, 8-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.
And there were college football games, including the following:
* Number 1 Virginia beat Wake Forest, 49-14 at Groves Stadium in Wake Forest, North Carolina. The next week, Virginia began an awful collapse, losing 4 of their last 5 games, and blowing the Atlantic Coast Conference title. They were still invited to the Sugar Bowl.
* Number 2 Miami were upset by Number 6 Notre Dame, 29-20 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. The Fighting Irish later lost to Penn State, but were still Number 5 when they played Colorado in the Orange Bowl. Had they won that game, they wouldn't have been awarded the National Championship -- then again, it's Notre Dame, so you never know -- but Colorado certainly wouldn't have, being 8-2-1.
* Number 3 Tennessee lost to Alabama, 9-6 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee still won the Southeastern Conference title, and beat Virginia in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama went to the Fiesta Bowl, losing to the University of Louisville.
* Number 4 Nebraska beat Oklahoma State, 31-3 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Two weeks later, Nebraska lost to Colorado, to knock them out of the Big 8, and national, title picture.
* Number 5 Auburn beat Number 7 Florida State, 20-17 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. But the Tigers blew their chance by losing 3 games the rest of the way.
* Number 10 Michigan were upset by Number 22 Iowa, 24-23 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Iowa went on to win the Big Ten Conference title.
* Number 11 Georgia Tech were tied by North Carolina, 13-13 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This would turn out to be the only blemish on Tech's record, as they won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and beat Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl, finishing 11-0-1.
* Number 13 Washington beat Stanford, 52-16 at the old Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California. Washington won the Pacific-Ten Conference title, and beat Iowa in the Rose Bowl.
* Number 14 Colorado beat Kansas, 41-10 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Colorado had already had their "Fifth Down" win over Missouri, and went on to win the Big Eight title, and beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, to win one of the more dubious National Championships in college football history.
Why weren't Georgia Tech, at 11-0-1, the only undefeated team in the country, and a school with a considerably better historical legacy than Colorado, given the National Championship over Colorado, who were 11-1-1 and should've been 10-2-1?
The only thing I can think of is, the ACC, while probably the most-respected league when it comes to college basketball, were not as respected in college football as the Big 8 (Colorado's league), the Big 10, the Pac-10, the SEC and the SWC. Then again, in 1984, Brigham Young (BYU) won the Western Athletic Conference title and were the only undefeated team, and were selected over Washington (11-1 and the only team with 1 blemish, but not Pac-10 Champions).
* Number 16 Oklahoma lost to Iowa State, 33-31 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma.
* Number 17 Florida beat Akron, 59-0 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.
* Number 19 Texas beat Arkansas, 49-17 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. They got up to Number 3 before losing to then-Number 4 Miami in the Cotton Bowl. And they'd already lost to Colorado on September 22. So even if they'd won the Cotton Bowl, they probably wouldn't have been ranked any higher than 3rd in the last poll.
This was also the day that a game in English soccer's football league got nasty and launched a rivalry, with North London team Arsenal beating Manchester United, 1-0 at United's home, Old Trafford. I have a separate entry for that event.
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