The Kansas City Royals rout the Cardinals, 11-0, to win their 1st World Championship, and the 1st All-Missouri World Series since the Cardinals-Browns matchup of 1944.
They become only the 6th team to rally from a 3-1 deficit and win the Series. (Only the 2016 Chicago Cubs have done it since.) Series MVP Bret Saberhagen pitches the shutout, while Cardinals ace John Tudor allows 5 runs in just 2 1/3 innings.
The Royals had won the American League Pennant, but lost the World Series, in 1980; and had won the AL Western Division, but lost the AL Championship Series, in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1984. This time, the Royals were crowned.
The Cards were still upset over the blown call by 1st base umpire Don Denkinger, which they believed cost them Game 6. And, 37 years later, despite 5 Pennants and 3 World Series wins, they and their fans are still upset about it.
According to Baseball-Reference.com,if the right call had been made, giving the Cardinals an out, they would have had an 87 percent chance of winning the game. Even with the call blown, they had an 66 percent chance -- just under a 2/3rds chance. They still should have won it. And they still could have won Game 7.
Whitey Herzog wasn't the first postseason manager to, as they say in English soccer, lose the plot, and let it carry over to his players. He certainly hasn't been the last. He could have told his players, "We got screwed, but if win tomorrow night, we're the World Champions. So let's forget tonight's result, and get it done tomorrow night.
Instead, Whitey was still fuming, and his team followed his lead, and allowed it to affect their performances and their minds for Game 7.
To make matters worse, for Game 7, Denkinger was the home plate umpire. Tudor believed that Denkinger was "squeezing" him, shrinking the strike zone. After being lifted from the game‚ Tudor punched an electric fan in the clubhouse, and severely cut his hand.
Herzog replaced him with fellow 20-game winner Joaquín Andújar. The Dominican, for whom English was a second language, was once quoted as saying, "You can sum up the game of baseball in one word: Youneverknow." He also thought Denkinger was squeezing him during Kansas City's 6-run 5th inning, and ended up waving his arms and screaming at Denkinger, who ejected him. Herzog also argued, and was also tossed.
The Cardinals finished the World Series with a .185 team batting average‚ lowest ever for a 7-game Series. There's the reason they lost: They didn't hit.
The Cardinals had won the World Series in 1982, then traded Keith Hernandez to the New York Mets the next year. The Cards lost the World Series in 1985, and again in 1987, blew a 3-games-to-1 lead in the 1996 National League Championship Series, got swept by the formerly "cursed" Boston Red Sox in the 2004 World Series, and also lost in the Playoffs in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2005. St. Louis fans began to speak of a "Curse of Keith Hernandez." But they won the World Series in 2006, just 24 years after their last Series win, so that put an end to "curse" talk.
It took the Royals 29 years to even reach the Playoffs again, and I began to wonder if they were cursed. But they won the Pennant in 2014, and went all the way in 2015, so if they were cursed, the curse was broken.
In other baseball news on this day, Billy Martin was fired by the New York Yankees for an unprecedented 4th time (not counting all those firings in 1977 that didn't take), and was replaced by former Yankee outfielder Lou Piniella‚ who had been the team's hitting instructor since retiring as a player in 1984. Billy would be hired a 5th time in 1988, and fired before June was out.
UPDATE: The Royals have a team Hall of Fame. From before their 1st Pennant in 1980, they have inducted 1st baseman John Mayberry Sr., 2nd baseman Cookie Rojas, shortstop Freddie Patek, general manager Cedric Tallis and manager Whitey Herzog.
From the 1980 American League Pennant, but not the 1985 title: center fielder Amos Otis, pitchers Paul Splittorff and Steve Busby.
From their 1985 World Champions: 3rd baseman George Brett, designated hitter Hal McRae, 2nd baseman Frank White, left fielder Willie Wilson; pitchers Dennis Leonard, Larry Gura, Dan Quisenberry, Bret Saberhagen and Mark Gubicza; manager Dick Howser, general manager Joe Burke, scout Art Stewart, owners Ewing and Murial Kauffman, groundskeeper George Toma, and broadcaster Denny Matthews.
From between their titles: Left fielder Bo Jackson, pitchers Jeff Montgomery and Kevin Appier, and catcher Mike Sweeney.
From their 2014 Pennant and their 2015 World Champions: Through the 2025 season, only Stewart, Matthews, left fielder Alex Gordon and manager Ned Yost.
Patek, Mayberry, Herzog, Otis, Splittorff, Busby, Brett, White, McRae, Wilson, Leonard, Quisenberry, Gubicza, Ewing Kauffman, Stewart, Toma, Jackson, Montgomery, Sweeney, Gordon and Yost have been elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. So have 1970s catcher Darrell Porter, 1970s pitcher Al Hrabosky (probably more due to his association with the Cardinals), 1980s catchers John Wathan and Jamie Quirk, 1980s outfielder Jim Eisenreich, 1990s catcher Mike MacFarlane, 2000s pitcher Jeff Suppan, and 2014-15 general manager Dayton Moore.
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October 27, 1985 was a Sunday. These games were played in the NFL:
* The New York Giants beat the New Orleans Saints, 21-13 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
* The New York Jets beat the Seattle Seahawks, 17-14 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.
* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Buffalo Bills, 21-17 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The New England Patriots beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 32-14 at Tampa Stadium.
* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 26-21 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Washington Redskins beat the Cleveland Browns, 14-7 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Miami Dolphins, 31-21 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Green Bay Packers, 37-10 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings, 27-9 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* It wasn't a good day for the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, either: They lost to the Houston Oilers, 20-10 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 30-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Atlanta Falcons, 24-10 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, 28-14 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).
* And, the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Los Angeles Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers, 34-21 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
There was only 1 game in the NBA: The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors, 116-99 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. There were 5 games in the NHL:
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins, 2-1 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 7-4 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-2 at the Chicago Stadium.
* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.
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