Krazy George, admiring his invention
October 15, 1981: The New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-0 at the Oakland Coliseum, and sweep the American League Championship Series in 3 straight.
Once and future Yankee manager Billy Martin, a native of nearby West Berkeley, California, had previously played for the Oakland Oaks' 1948 Pacific Coast League champion under Casey Stengel, and now, once again, he had revived the fortunes of his hometown team, saving the A’s from total incompetence and irrelevance, taking them from 108 losses the year before he arrived to 2nd place in his 1st season to the AL West title in his 2nd.
This was the 5th time Billy had managed a team into the postseason, and with the 4th different team: Minnesota in 1969, Detroit in '72, the Yankees in '76 and '77, and now the A's in '81. He came close to making it 6 times with 5 different teams, with Texas in '74.
When introduced before Game 1 of this series at Yankee Stadium, Billy got a huge ovation. That made him very happy. George Steinbrenner couldn't be reached for comment. But in this series, the Yankees just had too much for the A's, and took their 33rd Pennant -- the A's, if you count their Philadelphia years, are 2nd among AL teams, with 12.
Billy was outmanaged by the man who replaced him as Yankee manager the 1st time he left, Bob Lemon. Lemon dropped 2nd baseman Willie Randolph from his usual leadoff spot in the order to the bottom, 9th. Randolph responded by hitting a home run, and ended up catching the last out, a popup by Wayne Gross. Dave Righetti pitched 6 innings, Ron Davis 2, and Rich "Goose" Gossage 1, to complete a 5-hit shutout.
For reasons partly, but not entirely, his fault, Billy would never manage in the postseason again. And, for reasons partly, but not entirely, Billy's fault, the Yankees' 34th Pennant would not be soon in coming. Today, the total stands at Yankees 40, A's 16.
During this Game 3 at the Oakland Coliseum, "professional cheerleader" Krazy George Henderson, a snare-drum-beating native of nearby San Jose, led the audience in "The Wave." He invented it. "And anybody who says I didn't is a stinkin' liar," he would later say.
Robb Weller, later to co-host Entertainment Tonight, would say he invented the Wave himself, at a University of Washington football game. But the game in question happened 2 weeks later, so I'm inclined to believe Krazy George, who says he first did it in 1979, at a hockey game at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
In 1996, Krazy George once came to a Trenton Thunder game I was at, in Trenton, New Jersey, and we won. I told him, "George, stick around, we need the wins!" To be honest, though (and I didn't tell him this), I've always hated the Wave. I find it juvenile.
Robb Weller, later to co-host Entertainment Tonight, would say he invented the Wave himself, at a University of Washington football game. But the game in question happened 2 weeks later, so I'm inclined to believe Krazy George, who says he first did it in 1979, at a hockey game at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
In 1996, Krazy George once came to a Trenton Thunder game I was at, in Trenton, New Jersey, and we won. I told him, "George, stick around, we need the wins!" To be honest, though (and I didn't tell him this), I've always hated the Wave. I find it juvenile.
People outside North America first saw the Wave during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, and that's why they call it the Mexican Wave.
As of October 15, 2022, Krazy George is still alive and leading fans in The Wave and other activities.
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October 15, 1981 was a Thursday. It was a travel day for the National League Championship Series. The Montreal Expos and the Los Angeles Dodgers were tied, 1-1. The Dodgers won that series in 5 games.
Football was in midweek. The NBA season didn't start for another 15 days. There were 5 games in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum. This would turn out to be a preview of the Stanley Cup Finals, with the Isles winning again.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Hartford Whalers, 7-2 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Calgary Flames, 5-4 at the Saddledome in Calgary.
* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Colorado Rockies, 10-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. The Kings got 2 goals each from Marcel Dionne, Greg Terrion and Larry Murphy. This would be the last season in Denver for the Rockies: The next season, they became the New Jersey Devils. In 1993, Denver would get a Major League Baseball team, and it would take on the Colorado Rockies name.
Also, singer Keyshia Cole was born on this day.
