October 20, 1982: "That's a Winner!" In St. Louis

Bruce Sutter (left) hugs Darrell Porter

October 20, 1982: Game 7 of the World Series was played at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. It concludes the "Suds Series": Not only were the teams involved playing in the American cities best known for producing beer, but one was named the Milwaukee Brewers; while the other, the St. Louis Cardinals, was owned by August Anheuser Busch Jr., a.k.a. Gussie Busch, also the owner of Anheuser-Busch Brewing, producers of Budweiser.

For the Cardinals, it was their 17th Pennant, their 13th since entering the National League, but their 1st in 14 years. They were managed by Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog. "Whitey" Herzog, or "The White Rat," was from near St. Louis, in New Athens, Illinois. He had been a mediocre infielder, and then managed the Kansas City Royals to 3 straight American League Western Division titles, but couldn't get them to the Pennant.

This was his 1st, with a team designed to take advantage of Busch Stadium's artificial turf and deep outfield. His "Whiteyball" was reminiscent of past Cardinal titlists, including the 1934 "Gashouse Gang" and the Billy Southworth teams of the 1940s.

For the Brewers, it was their 1st Pennant ever, coming from 2 games to none down in the AL Championship Series to beat the California Angels, 3-2. It was the 1st Pennant for any Milwaukee team since the 1958 Braves. They were managed by a Milwaukee native, former AL batting champion Harvey Kuenn, and had power hitters like "Stormin'" Gorman Thomas, Cecil Cooper, Don Money and Ben Oglivie, plus contact hitters like former Cardinal catcher Ted Simmons, Robin Yount and Paul Molitor, who was nicknamed "The Ignitor." They were known as "Harvey's Wallbangers."

At first, it looked like a wipeout: The Brewers won Game 1, 10-0. Ted Simmons, the Brewers' catcher, hit a home run against the team with whom he'd built his Hall of Fame credentials. Mike Caldwell, owner of one of the best curveballs of that era, pitched a 3-hit shutout, outpitching Bob Forsch. Molitor became the 1st player ever to get 5 hits in a single World Series game.

And when the Brew Crew jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the 3rd inning in Game 2, with the next 3 games -- if they were all to be necessary -- in Milwaukee, it looked like the Cardinals were in deep trouble.

But the Cards came back, tying the game at 4-4 in the 6th, on a 2-RBI double by Darrell Porter. The Brewers were without their Hall of Fame reliever, Rollie Fingers: The 1981 AL Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award winner, who'd helped the Oakland Athletics win 3 straight World Series in the 1970s, had a back injury that caused him to miss not just the last month of this season and the entire postseason, but the entire 1983 season.

Pete Ladd was forced to take the closer role, and in the bottom of the 8th, he walked Steve Braun with the bases loaded, and the Cardinals won, 5-4. There would be a relief pitcher ending up in the Hall of Fame who was this game's winning pitcher, but it was Bruce Sutter of the Cardinals, rather than Fingers.

Bill Haller was the home plate umpire. He was retiring, and this was his last time behind the plate. This made him the last home plate umpire to wear the "balloon" chest protector. When he umpired at 1st base in Game 7, it made him the last umpire to wear a tie as part of his uniform.

Each team's ace started Game 3 at Milwaukee County Stadium: Joaquín Andújar for the Cardinals, and former Cardinal Pete Vukovich, the 1982 AL Cy Young winner, for the Brewers. Andújar was backed by 2 home runs and 2 great defensive plays by Willie McGee, who probably should have been awarded the NL's Rookie of the Year. The Cardinals won, 6-3.

The Brewers scored 6 runs in the 7th inning to take Game 4, 7-5. Behind Caldwell and a home run by Yount, they won Game 5, 6-4. The only had to take 1 of the 2 remaining games in St. Louis to win their city's 1st World Championship since 1957.

But the Cardinals, already up 7-0, including a home run by Porter, exploded for 6 runs in the bottom of the 6th, including a home run by Keith Hernandez. They won, 13-1.

Game 7 was played on Hernandez's 29th birthday. As in Game 3, the starters were Andújar and Vuckovich. With 1 out in the bottom of the 6th, the Brewers led, 3-1, with Oglivie having hit a home run. They were 11 outs from the title.

But Vukovich was dealing with a shoulder injury, which would limit him to 14 innings in 1983, missing all of 1984, and retiring after 1986, right before his 34th birthday. He gave up a single to Ozzie Smith, and a double to Lonnie Smith (no relation).

Kuenn pulled him for Bob McClure. Instead of Fingers, the 1970s A's hero who ended up making a difference in this Series was Gene Tenace, who drew a walk to load the bases. Mike Ramsey (no relation to the 1980 Olympic hockey Gold Medalist of the same name) was sent in to pinch-run for Tenace. And then Hernandez singled both Smiths home to tie the game, and George Hendrick singled Ramsey home to give the Cards the lead.

Porter drove in another run in the 8th, and was named the Series' MVP. Sutter came on to close the game out, and did so by striking out the powerful Thomas. The final score was 6-3. On KMOX, the flagship station of their powerful radio network, Cardinal broadcaster Jack Buck said, "Sutter from the belt, to the plate, a swing and a miss! And that's a winner! That's a winner! A World Series winner for the Cardinals!"

This "pitch invasion" did not result in any injuries,

unlike the one in Moscow earlier in the day.

This was also the only World Series ever broadcast by Dick Enberg, and the 11th and last for Tony Kubek, both on NBC. (Enberg had been a regular announcer for the team then known as the California Angels, while Kubek had previously been a star shortstop for the New York Yankees.)

The Cardinals won their 9th World Series, a total surpassed only by the Yankees. Since then, if you combine their Philadelphia and Oakland titles, it has been matched by the Athletics, although the Cards have now made it 11.

As far as I know, Hernandez is the only player ever to appear on the winning side of a World Series-winning game on his birthday.

Porter had been a member of the Kansas City Royals team that lost the 1980 World Series. Ironically, he would be a member of the Cardinal team that lost to the Royals in the 1985 World Series.

The next season, Herzog, also the Cardinals' general manager, had had enough of Hernandez's ego and cocaine use, and traded him to the New York Mets. This turned out to be a great move for the Mets, and a bad one for the Cards. They won the Pennant in 1985 and 1987, but lost the World Series each time; while Hernandez cleaned up his act, and led the Mets to win the 1986 World Series.

The Cardinals didn't make the Playoffs again until 1996, blowing a 3-1 NLCS lead to the Atlanta Braves. In 2004, they won the Pennant, but got swept in the World Series by the Boston Red Sox. In Game 3, pitcher Jeff Suppan, not used to running the bases, made a blunder at 3rd base. It probably didn't matter as far as determining the outcome, but someone noticed that Suppan wore Number 37, which had been Hernandez's number with the Cardinals.

That, and the team's inability to win a Series since 1982 led to talk of a "curse" on the team, "The Curse of Keith Hernandez." But such talk ended when they won the 2006 World Series, ending the "drought" at 24 years.

The Brewers should have been so lucky: After their 1982 Pennant, they have never won another. In 1998, the Brewers moved to the National League, into its Central Division, where they play the Cardinals several times a season. In 2008, they won the NL Wild Card, but lost the NL Division Series to the Philadelphia Phillies. In 2011, they won the Division and got to the NLCS, but lost to the Cardinals, who won another World Series. From 2018 to 2021, they made 4 straight postseasons, including winning the NL Central in 2018 and 2021, but failed to win the Pennant, losing the 2018 NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7.

UPDATE: The Cardinals have a team Hall of Fame. From their 1982 World Champions, they have inducted team owner August "Gussie" Busch, coach Albert "Red" Schoendienst, scout George Kissell, broadcasters Jack Buck and Mike Shannon, manager and general manager Whitey Herzog; 1st baseman Keith Hernandez, 2nd baseman Tom Herr, shortstop Ozzie Smith, center fielder Willie McGee; and pitchers Bob Forsch and Bruce Sutter.

From their 1985 World Champions: Busch, Schoendienst, Kissell, Buck, Shannon, Herzog, Herr, Smith, McGee, Forsch; left fielder Vince Coleman, pitcher John Tudor, and former pitcher turned broadcaster Al Hrabosky. From their 1987 Pennant: All of those, plus 2nd baseman José Oquendo.

After losing the 1987 World Series, the Cardinals had some near-misses. In 1996, they blew a 3-1 lead in the National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves. In 2000, they lost the NCLS to the New York Mets. In 2001, they lost the NL Division Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2002, they lost the NLCS to the San Francisco Giants. In 2004, they won the Pennant, but were swept in the World Series by the Boston Red Sox, who not only ended an 86-year title drought (by means both fair and not), but avenged Series defeats to the Cardinals in 1946 and 1967. In 2005, the Cardinals lost the NCLS to the Houston Astros, who thus won their 1st Pennant in team history. Finally, in 2006, the Cardinals won another World Series.

Elected to the Cardinals Hall of Fame from this period, but not the one before or the one after, have been 1st baseman Mark McGwire, center fielder Ray Laknford, shortstop Édgar Rentería and pitcher Matt Morris.

Busch, Herzog, Schoendienst, Kissell, Buck, Shannon, Adamie, Hernandez, Herr, Smith, McGee, Porter, Forsch, Sutter, 3rd baseman Terry Pendleton, left fielders Bernard Gilkey and Kerry Robinson, right fielder Andy Van Slyke, catchers Tim Pagnozzi and Mike Matheny; pitchers Mark Littell, Danny Cox, Todd Worrell, Ricky Horton, Lee Smith, Alan Benes, his brother Andy Benes, and Rick Ankiel; and coach Lee Thomas were elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Busch, Schoendienst, Kissell, Buck, Shannon, Herzog, Sutter, Hernandez, Herr, Smith, Van Slyke, Cox, Worrell, Gilkey, Smith, Lankford, 2nd baseman Ken Oberkfell, 3rd baseman Gary Gaetti (after having been on the opposite side of the 1987 World Series, with the Minnesota Twins) were elected to the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.

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October 20, 1982 was a Wednesday. This was also the day of the Luzhniki Stadium disaster, at a soccer game in Moscow. I have a separate entry for that event.

It was midweek for American football. The NBA regular season wouldn't start for another 9 days. There were 8 games played in the new National Hockey League season:

* The New Jersey Devils, having debuted on October 5, lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 7-4 at The Forum in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California.

* The New York Rangers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-5 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals played to a tie, 3-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-0 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. 

June 18, 1976: Charlie Finley's Fire Sale Is Canceled

June 18, 1976: Charlie Finley's attempt to hold a "fire sale" so that he could rebuild his Oakland Athletics is canceled by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn.

Charles Oscar Finley built a team that won 5 straight American League Western Division titles, 1971 to '75. And 3 straight World Series, 1972 to '74. But their attendance was never all that high. In only 2 of the 21 seasons that he owned the team in Kansas City and Oakland, 1960 to '80, did the A's get over 1 million in official attendance, '73 and '75. And the '73 figure of 1,000,763 is in dispute, because some people think Charlie O tinkered with it.

He discovered what Connie Mack, known for building up winners and then breaking them up with the earlier A's in Philadelphia, discovered: It brings in more fans if you have a good team that stays in the race most of the way and doesn't win, than if you have one that runs away with the Pennant. And then, when the players don't win, you don't have to give them big raises.

Pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter had it written into his contract that Finley had to pay toward an annuity -- and when Finley didn't, Hunter took Finley to an arbitrator, and Catfish was declared a free agent. Finley didn't lift a finger to re-sign him, and lots of other teams did. Of course, the fingers that George Steinbrenner of the Yankees lifted were clutching a lot of money.

Without Catfish, the A's still won the West in 1975, but got swept by the Red Sox in the AL Championship Series. At the dawn of the '76 season, Reggie Jackson (who liked to say that Finley gave him his chance in baseball, "Lord, but the man was cheap, though") and Ken Holtzman were traded to Baltimore for Don Baylor and Mike Torrez. Within a year, none of them was on either of the teams involved in this trade.

On June 15, then the trading deadline, Finley sold Vida Blue to the Yankees for $1.5 million, and Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox for $1 million each. Finley had players and the lust for money. Steinbrenner of the Yankees and Tom Yawkey of the Red Sox had money and the desire for a championship. These sounded like good deals for all 3 owners.

Rollie Fingers, a Red Sock for 3 days

Kuhn didn't think so. He usually bent over backwards to help the owners and screw the players, and, certainly, Blue could make more money with the Yanks, and Rudi and Fingers with the Sox, than anyone was making with the A's. But Kuhn hated Finley (and the feeling was mutual), and ordered the Yanks and Sox not to play their new acquisitions until he could straighten everything out.

Kuhn thought about it for 3 days, then canceled the deals, citing "the best interest of baseball." He said he didn't want Pennants to be bought outright.

Well, what the hell did he think the Yankees were doing all through the 1920s, '30s, '40s, '50s and into the '60s? What did he think Steinbrenner had been doing the last 3 years? What did he think Yawkey, who was then dying of leukemia, had been trying to do for over 40 years?

It's professional baseball. The players are paid for their services. Every championship has been bought, since the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings.

Clearly, Kuhn put the kibosh on the deals for one reason, and one reason only: He hated Finley. Whether this was the best thing for baseball is a debate for another time; whether the Yankees, or the Red Sox, or both, would have been better off if the deals had gone through, is still another debate.

So let's have that debate:

* The Red Sox needed a better bullpen. It's why they signed Bill Campbell in the following off-season. Fingers would have helped. But they were loaded with outfielders. They didn't need Rudi. And with the dissension they already had, things could have gotten worse. The fact that Yawkey had leukemia, and died on July 9, didn't help: His wife, Jean, inherited the team, and the guys she let run the team made a lot of mistakes over the next few years.

* But the Yankees would have had a bigger problem: Blue's drug problem. George Steinbrenner would have had to get rid of him. And who would have taken him, knowing he had that problem? Having Blue would have made no difference in the 1976 World Series, and might have prevented them from winning the Pennant over the Kansas City Royals in 1976, '77 and '78.

* So who would have benefited the most from the sales, if they had gone through? The Orioles would both have been able to take advantage of the Yanks' and Sox' problems. The Royals did take advantage of the A's' problems. And, if the Yankees or the Red Sox had managed to get past the Orioles, as the Yankees did in '76, '77, '78 and '80 (but not '79, when the California Angels beat the Royals out for the AL West title), the Royals would have faced a more troubled and possibly weaker New York or Boston team.

So, after the '76 season that we know, in which the weakened A's won 87 games, and finished 2nd in the AL West behind the Royals, came the first off-season in which free agency came into play in more than the infrequent example, such as Hunter in '74 and Ken Harrelson in '67 -- both let go by Finley, interestingly enough.

Fingers and Gene Tenace signed with the San Diego Padres, owned by Ray Kroc, the man who built McDonald's. Rudi signed with the team then known as the California Angels, owned by Gene Autry, the movies' former "Singing Cowboy" who had made millions buying and operation radio stations.

Like Steinbrenner and Yawkey, Kroc and Autry had no issue with spending big bucks, if they thought it would bring them big results. They both ended up doing better than Jean Yawkey did after Tom died. But neither did as well as Steinbrenner. A's team captain Sal Bando signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, and Bert Campaneris signed with the Texas Rangers.

In 1977, with only Blue and Bill North left from the '74 World Champs, the A's lost 98 games, and finished dead last, half a game behind the expansion Seattle Mariners.

In '78, having finally dumped off Blue (to the San Francisco Giants) and North (to the Los Angeles Dodgers), it was 93 losses.  In '79, 108 losses -- the most by an AL team since the 1939 St. Louis Browns lost 111. Even the AL expansion teams of 1961, 1969 and 1977 hadn't lost that many. Attendance at the Oakland Coliseum was 306,763. That's not for a weeklong homestand, that's for an entire season, 81 home games. That's 3,787 per game. I've been to a high school basketball game with a better attendance than that. The place became known as the Mausoleum.

In the 1977-78 off-season, fed up with baseball, Finley came very close to selling the A's to Marvin Davis, who wanted to move the team to Denver and Mile High Stadium, but the deal fell through. A year later, he tried to sell them to a group that would have moved them to the Superdome in New Orleans. In 1979-80, again, he tried to sell the team to Davis, but it didn't happen.

Finally, in 1980, having hired Billy Martin as manager, the A's fortunes turned around, and Charlie O found a buyer, Levi Strauss heir Walter Haas, who kept the team in Oakland, saving the team for the East Bay for the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.

UPDATE: In 2024, A's owner John Fisher, unwilling to do what it took to get a new ballpark in or around Oakland, announced he was moving the team to Las Vegas. The new domed stadium there is on schedule to open for the 2028 season. In the interim, they're playing in the Class AAA ballpark in West Sacramento, California.

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June 18, 1976 was a Friday. Country singer Blake Shelton and FBI actress Alana de la Garza were born.

These games were played in Major League Baseball that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Roy White won the game with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 14th inning. making a winning pitcher of Grant Jackson, in relief of Holtzman. No home runs, but Mickey Rivers went 3-for-7. Bucky Dent, who would be a Yankee 10 months later, went 2-for-5 with an RBI for the South Siders. This was the only extra-inning game of the day.

* The New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. John Milner and Ed Kranepool hit home runs in support of Tom Seaver.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 6-5 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Dick Allen and Mike Schmidt hit home runs. George Foster hit 2 homers for the Reds, Pete Rose went 2-for-3 with 2 walks, but Johnny Bench went 0-for-5. Joe Morgan only appeared as a pinch-runner.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 9-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The O's got home runs from Reggie Jackson, Lee May and Andres Mora. Brooks Robinson did not play.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 7-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell hit a home run off J.R. Richard.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. They did this despite George Brett going 0-for-4. Manager Frank Robinson did not put 41-year-old veteran outfielder Frank Robinson in the game.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Rod Carew went 1-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 8-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lou Brock and Dave Winfield hit home runs. Randy Jones, who came in 12-2 and, as Sports Illustrated put it a "Threat to Win 30," was outpitched by future Met Pete Falcone.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the California Angels, 3-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). They didn't need either Rollie Fingers or Joe Rudi, because, in the top of the 9th inning, they got a single from Carl Yastrzemski, an RBI double from Jim Rice, and a single by Rico Petrocelli.

* And the Oakland Athletics? They lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. All 3 Brewer runs came on solo home runs: By George Scott, Bernie Carbo and Hank Aaron. It was the 750th round-tripper of Hammerin' Hank's career. There would be 5 more.