October 21, 1973: The "Swingin' A's" Send the Mets, Mays, and Their Manager Off

October 21, 1973: Game 7 of the World Series at the Oakland Coliseum. Bert Campaneris and Reggie Jackson hit home runs off Jon Matlack, and the Oakland Athletics beat the New York Mets, 5-2, for their 2nd straight World Championship.

Reggie is named the Series' Most Valuable Player. After having missed the previous year's Series with an injury sustained while scoring the winning run in the American League Championship Series, he has begun to build his reputation as a big-time postseason performer.

A's reliever Darold Knowles -- who once said of Reggie, "There isn't enough mustard in the world to cover that hot dog" -- becomes the 1st pitcher, and through 2021 remains the only one, to appear in all 7 games of a Series.

It was Dick Williams' last game as Oakland manager. He had had enough of the meddling and the cheapness of team owner Charlie Finley, and, before Game 3, had told his team that he was quitting after the Series, win or lose. He had led "the Swingin' A's" to the last 3 AL Western Division titles and the last 2 World Championships.

He had previously led the Boston Red Sox to the 1967 AL Pennant, accepted an offer to manage the New York Yankees, was denied that chance because Finley insisted their A's contract was still in effect, got out of that contract in time to accept the California Angels' managing job, nearly took the Montreal Expos to the 1980 National League Eastern Division title in 1980, won the Pennant with the San Diego Padres in 1984, and closed his career with the Seattle Mariners in 1988.

Finley hired Alvin Dark, and he led the A's to a 3rd straight title in 1974, and a 5th straight Division title in 1975. Then Finley began to break up his team, to save money on player salaries.

As for the Mets: Willie Mays was appearing on a major league game roster for the last time. He had not played since Game 3. He retires with a .302 lifetime batting average, 3,283 hits including 660 home runs, and 12 Gold Gloves, and he would have won more if the award was founded earlier than his 5th season.

Met fans still blame Yogi Berra for starting Tom Seaver on 3 days' rest in Game 6, instead of saving him for Game 7 on full rest. They shouldn't: Seaver was the best pitcher in baseball at the time -- although the A's Jim "Catfish" Hunter and the Baltimore Orioles' Jim Palmer might have had something to say about that -- and if you have the chance to close the World Series out with the best pitcher in baseball, sending him out there is the right call.

The Mets had a 3-games-to-2 lead, but considering what that A's team was capable of, and that the A's had the home-field advantage for Games 6 and 7, it’s hard to say that the Mets "choked." They just got beat.

And at least Finley had the intention of starting over and building a new winner on the cheap. M. Donald Grant, the Mets' team president, running them for team owner Joan Payson, didn't seem to care about anything except saving money -- her money, not his own. He didn't think any player was worth money, not even Seaver.

And so, he broke up the team that had won 2 Pennants in 5 years. He had already traded right fielder Ron Swoboda after 1970, pitcher Nolan Ryan after 1971, and center fielder Tommie Agee after 1972. He released Cleon Jones during the 1975 season, and traded right fielder Rusty Staub and 3rd baseman Wayne Garrett after 1975.

In that off-season, Mrs. Payson died, and her daughter, Lorinda de Roulet, inherited control of the team, and, even more than her mother, pretty much let Grant do what he wanted. Most infamously, he traded Seaver during the 1977 season, and traded catcher Jerry Grote later in the season.

After that season, 2nd baseman Félix Millán left, and Grant traded 1st baseman John Milner, and let Matlack go via free agency. Finally, he traded pitcher Jerry Koosman and shortstop Bud Harrelson after 1978. Right fielder and 1st baseman Ed Kranepool, the last of the original 1962 Mets, was the last of the '69 "Miracle Mets" and the '73 Pennant winners to go, retiring after 1979.

The Mets crashed and burned: In less than 4 years, from October 21, 1973 to October 2, 1977, they went from Pennant winners to a last-place team. Per-game attendance at Shea Stadium went from 23,610 to 13,170, and in 1979 to 9,739. Shea was so sparsely populated, it was called Grant's Tomb. Mrs. de Roulet fired Grant after 1978, and sold the team in 1980, at which point the rebuild that resulted in the 1986 World Championship, and the 1984-91 "dynasty of one," began.

*

October 21, 1973 was a Sunday. These games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 45-28 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The New York Jets lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 26-14 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Washington Redskins beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 31-13 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills, 27-6 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Houston Oilers, 42-13 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Kansas City Chiefs,14-6 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Baltimore Colts beat the Detroit Lions, 29-27 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The New England Patriots beat the Chicago Bears, 13-10 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-21 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the San Diego Chargers, 41-0 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Green Bay Packers, 24-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Rams defensive end Fred Dryer scored 2 safeties in the game. He's the only NFL player ever to do that. I have a separate entry for this event.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints, 40-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders played to a tie, 23-23 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

There were 3 games in the NBA:

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Capital Bullets, 107-99 at Cole Field House in the Washington suburb of College Park, Maryland. Chet "the Jet" Walker scored 30 points.

Shortly thereafter, the Capital Centre opened in nearby Landover. And the former Baltimore Bullets (and the former Chicago Zephyrs, and the former Chicago Packers) became the Washington Bullets the next season, and the Washington Wizards in 1997.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 119-100 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 30 points.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Phoenix Suns, 116-112 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 2 games in the ABA. The New York Nets beat the Utah Stars, 114-94 at the Nassau Coliseum. And the Indiana Pacers beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 112-105 at double overtime at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. Serge Savard scored the winning goal with 2:43 left to play.

* The New York Islanders and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 3-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-2 at the Boston Garden. Bobby Orr had 2 goals and an assist.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the California Golden Seals, 11-2 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. Guy Charron had 3 goals. Nick Libett had 2 goals and 3 assists. Red Berenson had 2 goals and 1 assist. Garnet "Ace" Bailey had 2 goals. Mickey Redmond had a goal and 4 assists. Gary Bergman also had 4 assists. Alex Delvecchio, in his final season, had 2 assists. So did Thommie Bergman and Robbie Ftorek.

And there were 6 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The New York Golden Blades beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-3 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New England Whalers beat the Toronto Toros, 4-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Houston Aeros, 2-0 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota North Stars, 2-1 in overtime at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Chicago Cougars, 4-1 at the Edmonton Gardens.

* And the Los Angeles Sharks beat the Vancouver Blazers, 4-1 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

October 14, 1984: A Magic Season for the Detroit Tigers

Left to right: Alan Trammell, Willie Hernández, Darrell Evans

October 14, 1984: The Detroit Tigers beat the San Diego Padres, 8-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, in Game 5, and win the World Series.

It was a magic season for the Tigers. They won their 1st 9 games, and the 4th was a no-hitter by their ace, Jack Morris. They won 35 of their 1st 40. Even after that, they went 69-53, a pace to win 91 games. They finished 104-58, winning the American League Eastern Division by 15 games over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Their last Pennant had come in 1968, the last season of single-division play. If that format had still been in place, 84 wins would have gotten the Kansas City Royals to 6th place. Instead, they won the AL Western Division by 3 games over the California Angels and the Minnesota Twins, but were no match for the Tigers, who won the AL Championship Series, 4 games to 1.

The San Diego Padres had reached the postseason for the 1st time, going 92-70, and winning the National League Western Division by 12 games over the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros. In the NL Championship Series, they fell behind the Chicago Cubs 2 games to 0 in Chicago. But, at home at Jack Murphy Stadium, they won Game 3, won Game 4 on a walkoff home run by former Los Angeles Dodger star Steve Garvey, and won Game 5 thanks to some sloppy Cub fielding, to take their 1st Pennant.

The Series turned out to be closer than it looks. The Tigers won Game 1 in San Diego, but only 3-2, as Mark Thurmond was almost a mound match for Morris. A home run by Larry Herndon made the difference. The Padres won Game 2, 5-3, as Andy Hawkins outpitched Dan Petry. Kurt Bevacqua hit a home run. Through the 2022 season, this remains the only World Series game the Padres have ever won: October 10, 1984 remains the high-water mark of their franchise.

The Series moved to Tiger Stadium. Milt Wilcox outpitched Tim Lollar, Marty Castillo hit a home run, and the Tigers won, 5-2. Game 4 began at 1:30 PM, Eastern Time on a Saturday afternoon. Morris outpitched Eric Show, Alan Trammell hit 2 home runs, and the Tigers won, 4-2.

Game 5 began at 4:45 PM, Eastern Time, on Sunday, October 14. Through the 2021 season, it remains the last World Series game started in daylight. On October weekends, MLB doesn't want to compete with college football on Saturdays or the NFL on Sundays.

The Tigers jumped on Thurmond for 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st, including a home run by Kirk Gibson. The Padres tied the game with a run in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th, so Petry also didn't figure in the decision. The Tigers scored in the 5th and the 7th, including a home run by Lance Parrish, in support of Aurelio López.

In the 8th, Bevacqua homered off Willie Hernández, whose strong season made him one of the rare relief pitchers to be named his League's Most Valuable Player. Through the 1997 season, Bevacqua had 2 World Series home runs, while all other Padres players combined had 1 (Terry Kennedy in Game 4).

The opposing managers were Dick Williams for San Diego and George "Sparky" Anderson for Detroit. They had faced each other in the 1972 World Series, Williams for the Oakland Athletics and Anderson for the Cincinnati Reds. Williams had won the World Series with the A's in 1972 and '73, Anderson with the Reds in 1975 and '76. One would become the 1st manager to win World Series in both Leagues.

And both were wearing miniature microphones for the official World Series highlight film. In the bottom of the 8th, with the Tigers up, 5-4, and the Tigers having runners on 2nd and 3rd bases with 1 out, Williams went out to the mound to talk to his relief pitcher, former Yankee fireballer Rich "Goose" Gossage. Also on the mound with him were Garvey and former Yankee 3rd baseman Graig Nettles, opponents in the 1977, '78 and '81 World Series.

With 1st base open, Williams told Gossage he should walk Gibson intentionally, to pitch to Parrish with the double play (or, at least, a play at the plate) available. But Gossage, owner of one of the fastest pitches of all time, let his ego get the better of him: Williams can be heard on the video saying, "You're talking about striking him out?" And Gossage can be heard saying, "Yeah!"

In the dugout, standing next to his pitching coach, former Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Roger Craig (who went on to manage the San Francisco Giants to the 1989 NL Pennant), pointed to Gibson, and yelled, "He don't wanna walk you!" In other words, be prepared for the Goose's fastball.

Strategically, it made sense: Although Parrish was just as capable of hitting the ball out of the park as Gibson -- both men had seemingly Hall-of-Fame-bound careers derailed by injuries, Gibson hit 255 home runs in his career, Parrish hit 324, and 3rd baseman Darrell Evans topped both of them with 407 --and Tiger Stadium was a hitter's park, regardless of handedness, having the righthanded Gossage walk the lefthanded Gibson, setting up the double play, and pitching to the righthanded Parrish was the right strategy. But Williams, so often regarded as a "my way or the highway" manager, let Gossage talk him out of it.

Gossage threw Gibson his best fastball. Gibson put it into the upper deck in right field. He became a World Series hero for the 1st time. It would not be the last. Until then, the overall score had been 20-15 in the Tigers' favor, the 8-4 final, and the 4-1 Series margin, plus the Tigers' 104-92 edge in regular-season wins and their much-easier LCS route, made it look like a wipeout for the Tigers, when it really wasn't.

Hernández got 24-year-old right fielder Tony Gwynn to fly to Herndon in left field for the final out. When the Padres next won the Pennant in 1998, Gwynn would be the only one left, and knocking on the door of 3,000 career hits.

Trammell was named the Series MVP, and Anderson was now the 1st manager to win the World Series for a team in each League. The clinching Game 5 was the 44th postseason game managed by Dick Williams. It turned out to be the last. Anderson would manage 5 more, the 1987 ALCS, for a total of 55. Both managers went on to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, as would Trammell, Morris, Gossage and Gwynn -- but, as of the election of 2022, surprising many, not Gibson, not Parrish, not Garvey, and not Nettles.

Each team had a broadcaster who would receive the Hall's award for broadcasters, the Ford Frick Award: For the Padres, former Yankee 2nd baseman Jerry Coleman; for the Tigers, Ernie Harwell, who announced, "Let's listen to the bedlam here at Tiger Stadium!"

There would be bedlam outside the ballpark, too. Detroit fans rioted in victory, smashing store windows, overturning and burning cars. They repeated this for the Pistons' NBA Championships in 1989 and '90. By the time the Red Wings started winning Stanley Cups again in 1997, they had stopped doing it.

It was the Tigers' 4th World Championship. Through the 2022 season, the have never won another, losing the World Series in 2006 and 2012; losing the ALCS in 1987, 2011 and 2013; losing the ALDS in 2014; having some historically bad seasons, losing 109 games in 1996, 106 in 2002, an AL record (since broken) of 119 in 2003, and 114 in 2019; and moving from Tiger Stadium to Comerica Park in 1999-2000.

The Tigers do not have a team Hall of Fame, but they honor their Hall of Fame players on the outfield wall at Comerica Park. From the 1984 World Champions, they honor pitcher Jack Morris, shortstop Alan Trammell, manager George "Sparky" Anderson, and broadcasters Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey, George Kell, Al Kaline and Norm Cash, the last 3 being former Tiger stars.

Each of those has also been elected to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. So have 2nd baseman Lou Whitaker, right fielder Kirk Gibson, catcher Lance Parris, pitcher Willie Hernández, coach Gates Brown, and general manager Jim Campbell. From their 1987 American League Eastern Division Champions, but not the 1984 title, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame has inducted pitcher Frank Tanana.

From their 2006 and 2012 American League Pennants, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame has inducted Kaline (still a Tigers broadcaster at those points), manager Jim Leyland (also honored on the Comerica Park wall as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame), and owners Mike and Marian Ilitch.

*

October 14, 1984 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Atlanta Falcons, 19-7 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The New York Jets beat the Cleveland Browns, 24-20 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The New England Patriots beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 20-14 at Sullivan Stadium (formerly Schaefer Stadium, later Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Indianapolis Colts, 16-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Redskins beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 34-14 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Houston Oilers, 28-10 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints, 28-10 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 13-7 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the team that should have been their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 38-21 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Diego Chargers, 31-13 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings, 23-20 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-17 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. This turned out to be the only game the Niners lost all season, on the way to winning Super Bowl XIX.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Buffalo Bills, 31-28 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers played in a blizzard. Rare? For the Packers, no; in October, yes. But it wasn't at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin: It was at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado, and fumbles on the 1st 2 Packer possessions gave the Denver Broncos a 14-0 lead. The Packers' comeback failed, and the Broncos won, 17-14.

The NBA season started 12 days later. There were 8 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Minnesota North Stars, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Bruins beat their fellow New Englanders, the Hartford Whalers, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 9-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. Gord Sherven had a hat trick: 3 goals. Wayne Gretzky had a goal and 3 assists.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 7-5 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

* And the New York Islanders, the New Jersey Devils, the Montreal Canadiens, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins were not scheduled.

October 14, 1973: The Mike Andrews Game

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.

*

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.

October 12, 1967: Gibson and Champagne, and the Debut of the Commissioner's Trophy

Ball Four fans, take note: Number 3 here is Joe Schultz,

then the Cardinals' 3rd base coach,

who would manage the Seattle Pilots 2 years later.

Working for Gussie Busch on the Cardinals explains

his frequent mentions of Budweiser in that book.

October 12, 1967: Baseball and the Summer of Love converge on Fenway Park in Boston for Game 7 of the World Series, as a fan holds up a sign saying, "THE RED SOX ARE VERY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE."

Fenway Park, earlier in 1967

Because the Boston Red Sox were in such a tight race for the American League Pennant, they had to use their ace, Jim Lonborg, on the final day of the regular season, a 5-3 win over the Minnesota Twins which, combined with the Detroit Tigers only splitting a doubleheader, clinched the flag for the Sox.

The St. Louis Cardinals had clinched the National League Pennant earlier, and their manager, Red Schoendienst, who had played on their 1940s dynasty and also with the 1957 World Champion Milwaukee Braves, was able to set up his pitching rotation just the way he wanted: Bob Gibson, who won Games 5 and 7 for the Cardinals in the 1964 World Series, would pitch Games 1 and 4, and, if necessary, Game 7 this time.

Red Sox manager Dick Williams, who had won a Pennant in his 1st season as a major league manager, would have to wait until Game 2 to use Lonborg again. With Gibson on the mound, the Cards won Game 1 in Boston, but the Sox won Game 2, as Lonborg took a perfect game into the 7th inning and a no-hitter into the 8th.

The Series moved to St. Louis, and the Cards won Games 3 and 4, the latter behind Gibson, and were 1 win away. But Lonborg again pitched well in Game 5. In Game 6 at Fenway, the Sox won, thanks to a home run by Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski, one by Reggie Smith, and 2 by their slick-fielding but not especially powerful shortstop, Rico Petrocelli.

So Game 7 would be Gibson on 3 days' rest, against Lonborg on 2 days' rest. If either one felt tired, he had until the following March to regain his strength. With his ace, and with home-field advantage, Williams makes a bold prediction made the day before, after a Game 6 win, by Sox manager Dick Williams, of "Lonborg and champagne." It's put on the front page of the Boston Record-American.

It does not happen: Gentleman Jim has nothing, and gets shelled. Gibson not only had plenty left, he hit a home run off Lonborg. Lou Brock stole 2 bases, raising his total to 7, a new World Series record. In the 6th, a Julián Javier home run ended Lonborg's day. In contrast, Gibson was still going in the 9th, when he struck George Scott out for the last out. The Cardinals won, 7-2, for Gibson's 3rd win of the Series, the team's 2nd title in 4 seasons, and their 7th World Championship.

If only... If only Tony Conigliaro, the hometown hero who got off to as good as career start as any slugger ever had, before or since, hadn't been beaned in August and missed the rest of the season, and all of 1968... If only Lonborg had just 1 more day of rest before Game 7... If only general manager Dick O'Connell had gotten manager Dick Williams one more good starting pitcher, thus giving Lonborg that extra day of rest... 

No, it was, "If only Bob Gibson had not been, in 1967 and 1968, as good as any pitcher has ever been." A fully-rested Jim Lonborg was not going to beat Gibson on October 12, 1967.

For the Red Sox, what had become known as "the Impossible Dream" came to an end a game too soon, but the season did revitalize the franchise, restoring its profitability and its place of veneration among the people of New England. They lost the World Series, but they cannot be called a failure. Without this season, the Red Sox might have ended up leaving Fenway Park, sharing a stadium out in Foxborough with the NFL's New England Patriots. Or owner Tom Yawkey, who really wanted out of Fenway, might have moved them out of Boston entirely.

So, even more than 2004, this is the most important season in Red Sox history. Years later, after the Red Sox failures of 1975, 1978 and 1986, but before the tainted triumphs of 2004, 2007 and 2013, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy would write that, of all Red Sox teams, this one is absolved from criticism by "Red Sox Nation" -- which, he says, essentially began that summer.

By the same -- pardon my choice of words here -- token, this was an incredibly important season in St. Louis. The holdovers from the 1964 season proved it was no fluke, and, much more so than the '64 team, the '67 team, with its mixture of white stars (Tim McCarver, Dal Maxvill and an aging but still power-hitting Roger Maris), black stars (Gibson, Brock and Curt Flood) and Hispanic stars (Javier and Orlando Cepeda) showed St. Louis, still thinking of itself as a Southern city, what integration could really do. Fans in Brooklyn had learned that 20 years earlier.

Yet, somehow, the 1964-68 Cards, as good as they were, have not been celebrated by Baby Boomers as much as have the 1950s and '60s New York Yankees, the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers, the '60 and '71 Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1962-66 Los Angeles Dodgers, the 1962-66 San Francisco Giants, the 1966-71 Baltimore Orioles, the '67 Red Sox, the '68 Tigers and the '69 New York Mets. Hopefully, that's mainly because St. Louis was, and is, one of baseball's smallest markets. Still, the Cardinals were then, and are now, one of baseball's most profitable and most admired franchises.

This title was the 1st and only one for Cepeda, who was named the National League's Most Valuable Player; and the 3rd and last for Maris. It was something of a redemption for both.

This was also the 5th title, and the last game, for Elston Howard, who had been traded by the Yankees to the Red Sox in midseason. In his last at-bat, against Gibson, he flied to left field in the 5th inning, being removed for a pinch-hitter.

Instead of Lonborg, it was Gibson and champagne.

The 1967 World Series was also the 1st one with a trophy awarded to the winner. It was probably to match the NFL's new World Championship Trophy, which was named for Vince Lombardi after his death in 1970. The World Series trophy didn't get a name until 1985: The Commissioner's Trophy.

The 1967 version. I couldn't find a photo

of it being presented to the Cardinals.

With each new expansion, new flags were added to the trophy: From 20 in 1967 to 24 in 1969, to 26 in 1977, to 28 in 1993, to 30 in 1998. In 2000, it was redesigned to its current form.

The 2000 version

Through the 2021 World Series, the New York Yankees have won it the most times, 7. For their previous 20 titles, there was no trophy. But even with their most dynastic teams before the trophy, they've still won the most. Other teams: 

The Cardinals, the Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics, 4;

the Cincinnati Reds, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants, 3;

the Detroit Tigers, the New York Mets, the Baltimore Orioles, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Kansas City Royals, the Minnesota Twins, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Atlanta Braves and the Miami Marlins, 2; and the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Angels, the Chicago White Sox, the Chicago Cubs, the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals, 1.

UPDATE: The Astros made it 2 in 2022, the Texas Rangers 1 in 2023, and the Dodgers 5 with their 2024 and 2025 titles.

UPDATE: The Cardinals have a team Hall of Fame. From their 1967 World Champions and their 1968 National League Pennant winners, they have inducted team owner August "Gussie" Busch, manager Albert "Red" Schoendienst, scout George Kissell, left fielder Lou Brock, center fielder Curt Flood, right fielder Mike Shannon, 2nd baseman Julián Javier,  catcher Tim McCarver, pitcher Bob Gibson, and broadcaster Jack Buck. Through the 2025 season, general manager Vaughan "Bing" Devine, 1st baseman Orlando Cepeda (only 3 seasons with the Cardinals), right fielder Roger Maris (only 2 seasons) and broadcaster Harry Caray (once every bit as identified with the Cardinals as he now is with their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs) have not yet been inducted.

The Cardinals fell apart after their 1968 Pennant. From between their 1968 and 1982 Pennants, their Hall of Fame has inducted catcher Ted Simmons, 1st baseman Joe Torre, and pitcher Al Hrabosky, "The Mad Hungarian."

Busch, Schoendienst, Gibson, Flood, Brock, Cepeda, Simmons, Torre, Reuss, and 2nd baseman Ted Sizemore were elected to the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. Busch, Schoendienst, Kissell, Gibson, Brock, Cepeda, Simmons, Reuss and Hrabosky were elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

The Red Sox also have a team Hall of Fame. From their 1967 American League Pennant winners, they have inducted left fielder Carl Yastrzemski, right fielder Tony Conigliaro, center fielder Reggie Smith, 1st baesman George Scott, shortstop Rico Petrocelli, pitcher Jim Lonborg; team owner Tom Yawkey, manager Dick Williams, general manager Dick O'Connell, scout George Digby, executive Edward Kenney; public address announcer Sherm Feller, and broadcasters Ken Coleman and Ned Martin.

Busch, Schoendienst, McCarver, Shannon, Brock, Flood, Gibson, Maris, Cepeda, Kissell, Buck, Devine, Simmons, Hrabosky, pitcher Jerry Reuss, 3rd baseman Ken Reitz, and team scorekeeper Lou Adamie were elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

*

October 12, 1967 was a Thursday. The NBA began its season, and the American Basketball Association began its history, the next day. And the NHL season had begun the day before, but no games were scheduled for this day.

But there was one other score on this historic day, in the Southwest Conference in college football: Texas A&M beat Texas Tech, 28-24 at Clifford B. & Audrey Jones Stadium, Tech's home, in Lubbock. A&M went on to win the SWC Championship, and beat Alabama in the Cotton Bowl.