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The San Francisco Giants might win the 2010 National League pennant.

If they do, they could meet the New York Yankees in the World Series.

On the weekend of June 7, 2002, at Yankee Stadium, the Giants and Yankees played each other for the first time since Willie McCovey lined out to Bobby Richardson to end the 1962 World Series.

40 years later, many of the players involved vividly remember the final inning of that final game.

Felipe Alou, who was the Giants’ lead off hitter and right fielder in game seven, was still upset.

“That’s something that’s going to die with me. I didn’t do my job. That was the lowest point of my life. It was the kind of thing that’s engraved on your life, your mind and your heart,” he said.

The Giants trailed Ralph Terry and the Yankees, 1-0. Alvin Dark sent Matty Alou, Felipe’s younger brother, in to pinch-hit for pitcher Billy O’Dell.

Alou hit a foul pop fly near the Giants’ dugout. Catcher Elston Howard thought that he had it for the first out, but the ball popped out of his glove.

Howard was extremely upset, later saying, “Somebody bumped me on the shoulder.”

The dugouts at Candlestick Park were walk-in dugouts. Howard said that the Giants told him they were trying to make sure he didn’t fall. He thought either Bob Nieman or Alvin Dark was his “helper.”

Matty Alou had a second chance, which he didn’t waste. Matty beat out a drag bunt between the mound and first base, bringing up Felipe.

One of Casey Stengel’s strengths was that he never asked a player to do something the player couldn’t do. Alvin Dark was no Casey Stengel.

“I was asked to sacrifice him over. I don’t think I had been asked all year to sacrifice. The first one went foul. The wind was blowing so hard, it blew it foul.”

Dark then had Alou swing away. He struck out.

Harvey Kuenn also struck out. Alou was still on first, but now there were two outs. Willie was the Giants’ last hope.

In his first at bat during the regular season, Willie hit a home run. This was going to be his last at bat of the season.

40 years later, Ralph Terry described facing Willie.

“I was trying to pitch him inside. The way the wind was blowing, if he gets it up, it’s gone. But I threw ball one and ball two inside. I can’t keep pitching in there all day, so I went low and away. Willie threw his arms out and hit the ball to right field.”

Roger Maris cut the ball off before it reached the wall to hold Alou at third as Willie moved into second with the potential winning run.

Willie McCovey always said that Bobby Richardson was playing him out of position.

“I mostly blame Richardson for playing me out of position. No second baseman ever played me that close to second base because I was a dead pull hitter. When I hit a ball in that direction, I figure it’s a base hit.

I’m up in the spot I want to be in. I cherish being up in that spot. I dreamed about it as a kid. But the results were different from what I dreamed about.”

Ralph Terry, given a second chance after giving up Bill Mazeroski’s home run in 1960, was a winner.

Willie McCovey, never had a second chance, but he was as much a winner as Terry or anyone else who ever played the game.

Willie was never afraid.

Reference:

MURRAY CHASS. (2002, June 7). BASEBALL :A Final Out That Continued for 40 Years. New York Times (1923-Current file),p. D6. Retrieved August 14, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2006). (Document ID: 727150152).

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It seemed as if Pat Burrell had done it again, but this time, he needed help.

The San Francisco Giants trailed the Chicago Cubs in the finale of a four game series, 3-1.

Pat Burrell led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a home run to left-center field. Pablo Sandoval followed with his first home run in his last 46 games to tie the game.

Sanodoval was happy and relieved that he finally had broken his streak of 178 at bats without a home run.

“It was exciting. It was my first home run in 46 games, so when you hit it you feel great.”

In the bottom of the fifth, the Giants loaded the bases without a hit against Cubs’ starter Randy Wells.

Aaron Rowand reached first on an error by third baseman Jeff Baker, stole second, and moved to third on a Freddie Sanchez sacrifice bunt. Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey followed with walks to load the bases, bringing up Burrell.

Wells missed with his first two pitches to Pat. His third delivery wound up in the left field stands, giving the Giants a seemingly safe 7-3 lead with Matt Cain on the mound.

So, Burrell followed a fourth-inning homer with a grand slam in the fifth.  Not bad for a reject from the “toughest division in baseball.”

The fans implored Pat to make a curtain call. Pat spoke to reporters after the game.

“It’s great. It’s just been such a great ride, being back in the Bay Area, Let’s just hope it’s not over. Certainly personally right now I’m on a hot streak and let’s hope it continues”

Of course, with the Giants, nothing is easy.

Bruce Bochy replaced Matt Cain with relief pitcher Chris Ray, who had some difficult days in Baltimore. Ray was ineffective after striking out the first two batters he faced while trying to protect the Giants’ four-run lead.

Ray fell behind his third batter, Starlin Castro, who wound up with a four-hit day. Castro, who is rapidly making Cubs’ fans forget Shawon Dunston, but not Ernie Banks, singled to right field on a 3-1 pitch.

Kosuke Fukudome then hit a deep drive to right center field that caromed off the wall into the glove of center fielder Aaron Rowand for a double that scored Castro, the Cubs’ fourth run.

Marlon Byrd beat out an infield single, bringing up Xavier Nady with runners on the corners. Ray got Nady out on a ground ball to end the inning, and the fans let out a sigh of relief. 

The Giants’ eighth inning relief pitchers made the fans’ relief short-lived.

Bochy used Javier Lopez, Guillermo Mota, and Sergio Romo in the eighth inning as the Cubs scored three runs to tie the game at 7-7.

Adding to the woes, Burrell had been taken out the game for defensive purposes. The Giants would have to win without Pat.

Brian Wilson worked a scoreless top of the ninth, and there was a feeling among the players and fans that the Giants were going to win it in the bottom of the ninth.

It is a feeling that those who never played or watched the game don’t understand, but it is real, and it is usually accurate.

Cubs’ rookie Andy Cashner, who came into the game with a 1-4 record and an ERA over 5.00, gave up an infield single to Aaron Rowand. Freddie Sanchez moved the fleet former Phillies’ outfielder to second on a sacrifice bunt.

Cashner wasn’t flustered, but he was in trouble, especially when he was instructed to intentionally walk Aubrey Huff to set up a potential double play.

Buster Posey had a great at-bat. The potential National League Rookie of the Year worked out a walk on a low, inside 3-2 delivery to load the bases with only one out.

The count on Andres Torres, who was batting for Brian Wilson, went to 2-0. Cashner had to get the ball over and he did.

Torres hit a deep fly ball over drawn-in center fielder Marlon Byrd. The ball landed in deep center field, Rowand scored, and the Giants won because Pat Burrell gave them the chance to win.

References:

San Francisco Giants Beat Chicago Cubs in Ninth Inning

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Barry Zito expressed it best: “He has that young fire in a veteran type of mentality. It’s a great mix. He wants it really bad. That’s what we need right now, some guys stepping up and having that hunger to get to October.”

Last Friday against the Atlanta Braves, Pat Burrell drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly. On Monday, against the Chicago Cubs, Burrell drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly.

Yesterday night, in the third game of the four game set against the Cubs, Burrell hit an eighth inning home run to win the game. The count was 1-2 when rookie Justin Berg delivered the pitch that Burrell hit for his 10th home run.

An amazing statistic is the Burrell sees 4.19 pitches per plate appearance. He is nothing like the free-swinger who has averaged 157 strikeouts a season.

Pat is now a disciplined free swinger, and that is not an oxymoron.

The San Francisco Giants signed Burrell as a free agent on May 29. They assigned him to the Fresno Grizzlies, who sent Buster Posey to the big team. On June 4, Burrell joined the Giants.

In his 52 games, Burrell is batting .293, has a .385 on base average, and is slugging .520. He has struck out 37 times in 179 plate appearances.

In last night’s game, Barry Zito failed to protect a three run lead he was staked to in the first inning. Burrell contributed a two run single to that rally.

In the top of the second, the Cubs threatened.

Blake DeWitt beat out an infield single, bringing up eighth place hitter Welington Castillo. Zito was not as sharp as he has been in many of his games this season.

Castillo hit a line drive to left field. Burrell fielded the ball, fired to shortstop Juan Uribe, and Uribe’s relay to Buster Posey nipped DeWitt at the plate.

The Cubs scored once in the fourth inning on Marlon Byrd’s 11th home run.

In the sixth, Xavier Nady doubled home Starlin Castro to cut the Giants lead to 3-2, and Nady scored the tying run on an Alfonso Soriano single.

The game didn’t remain tied long. Aaron Rowand hit a two-out home run in the bottom of the sixth, but it was the attitude that Pat Burrell has brought to the Giants that will be remembered.

His exuberance when Rowand, a former Philadelphia Phillies’ teammate, put the Giants ahead, was similar to that of a teen-ager whose mother has told him that he can have the keys to the car and that she has removed the car’s tracking system.

Zito gave the lead right back in the seventh inning. After retiring pinch-hitter Carlos Zambrano, left-hand batting Tyler Colvin hit a home run to right field.

Bruce Bochy had seen enough. Sergio Romo replaced Zito and got out of the inning.

Brian Wilson took over for Romo in the ninth.

After getting Micah Hoffpauir on a swinging third strike, pinch-hitter Kosuke Fukudome singled on a soft ground ball back to the mound to put the potential tying run on first.

Tyler Colvin grounded out to first, moving Fukodome to second, but Wilson reached back for a little extra and struck out Starlin Castro on three pitches, tying Heath Bell for the league lead in saves with 33.

The Giants trail the first place San Diego Padres by two and one-half games, which they hope to make up this week end when the teams play each other.

San Francisco leads the wild race by a single game over both the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds.

Reference:

Giants Beat Cubs, 5-4

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The 2010 season has been dubbed “the year of the pitcher.”

References are made to 1968, when pitching was so dominant that the height of the pitching mound was lowered from 15 inches to 10 inches for the 1969 season.

Yes, compared to 1968, offense has decreased, but that is not true when one compares 2010 to 2009.

The following table summarizes the National League figures (this eliminates the designated hitter rule) for 1968 compared to 2010.

YEAR R/G HR BA OBA SA
1968 3.43 89 .243 .300 .341
2010 4.40 151 .257 .326 .403

It isn’t even close. The projected 2010 figures reveal that National League teams today are averaging one run more than they did in 1968.

Teams in 2010 are hitting more home runs and have much better batting averages, on base averages, and slugging averages than teams in 1968.

A comparison of offense in the 2010 National League with offense in the 2009 National League reveals that offense has not decreased significantly.

YEAR R/G HR BA OBA SA
2009 4.43 155 .259 .331 .409
2010 4.40 151 .257 .326 .403

Where is the difference? The numbers are so close that a statistical analysis in not necessary. The small variations must be attributed to chance.

Now, let us return to that thrilling season of 2000, when National League teams averaged five runs a game, and compare it to this season.

YEAR R/G HR BA OBA SA
2000 5.00 188 .266 .342 .432
2010 4.40 151 .257 .326 .403

What a difference 10 years makes.

Comparing individual offensive leaders graphically illustrates that there is little difference between the 2009 season and this year.

Carlos Gonzalez leads the 2010 National League with a .326 batting average. Last season, Hanley Ramirez batted .342 to win the batting title.

In 1968, the great Pete Rose led the league with a .335 average, which becomes more remarkable with the passage of time.

There was no designated hitter in the 1968 American League. Carl Yastrzemski led the league with a .301 average, which is the lowest average for any batting champion.

In 2000, Todd Helton led the National League when he hit .372.

One must conclude that, compared to 2009, National League offense is about the same, but compared to 2000, there is quite a difference. The same is true two or three years before and after the 2000 season.

Maybe Major League Baseball’s substance abuse programs are the reason.

Maybe the baseball is less lively.

Maybe the pitchers really have gotten bigger, stronger, and smarter over the last few seasons.

Maybe the strike zone is a little larger than it was ten years ago.

Games today are more exciting, because more rides on every offensive play. When a team fell behind by three or four runs 10 years ago, it was no big deal. Today, it is usually fatal.

On Aug. 10, 2010, Mike Pelfrey of New York’s most beloved team, the New York Mets, shut out the Colorado Rockies (1-0).

Rookie Jeremy Hellickson, Joaquin Benoit, and Mike Ekstrom of the Tampa Bay Rays combined to shut the Detroit Tigers (8-0).

Finally, Seattle’s Felix Hernandez and David Aardsma combined to blank the Oakland A’s (2-0).

A balance is being reached between offense and defense. It makes the games more interesting, each pitch and each play becomes more important, and it allows weak teams to remain competitive longer into the game.

Reference:

Baseball Reference

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Yes, it was better than a loss, but it was ugly. Bruce Bochy’s statement after the game was an exercise in understatement.

“We left some men on base, but after a tough trip to Atlanta, it’s nice to get a win to start this home stand. We grinded hard to win that game.”

The San Francisco Giants are a gritty, gutsy team, which just might be enough, but they were extremely fortunate last night against the Chicago Cubs.

Carlos Zambrano made his first start since he underwent anger management. The way he pitched, he probably created a few more anger management candidates.

The Giants received seven walks over Zambrano’s five innings of work. They touched the temperamental right-hander for four hits and were quite lucky to have scored as many as two runs.

The second inning graphically illustrated the Giants’ problems.

Trailing 2-0, Pat Burrell, who hit .361 with seven doubles over his last 13 games (what a pick up), led off with a walk.

Pablo Sandoval reached on a single to put Giants at first and second. The usually reliable Juan Uribe hit into a double play.

With Burrell on third, Zambrano walked Travis Ishikawa. It was the third walk of the game from Zambrano, but the Giants would frustrate themselves, Bochy, and the fans much more.

Carlos Zambrano walked pitcher Madison Bumgarner on four pitchers to load the bases.  Not too many things are better than having your pitcher walk to load the bases.

Imagine how Lou Piniella must have felt. It was enough to make Yul Brynner or Vic Mackey want to grow hair so they could pull it out.

Andres Torres struck out on three pitches.

Andres Torres led off the fifth inning by drawing a four-pitch walk and moved to second on an Edgar Renteria single to left field.

After Aubrey Huff lined out to second, likely National League rookie of the year Buster Posey scored Torres by blasting a ground rule double to left center field. Renteria was held up at third.

Zambrano, true to form, uncorked a wild pitch. The game was tied, 2-2, with Posey representing the potential lead run at third with only one out. He never scored.

Just when the fans felt a little better and somewhat optimistic, Carlos Zambrano hit a two-out ground ball to the mound that Bumgarner deflected.

Zambrano beat it out, Blake DeWitt, who was at second, moved to third, and Tyler Colvin promptly singled to put the Giants behind again.

But remember that these are the Cubs. There is always hope against the Cubs.

Justin Berg replaced Zambrano to start the sixth inning, and the Giants tied the game on a two-out Torres single that scored Ishikawa.

Neither team could score in regulation. The score was still 3-3 when Edgar Renteria led off the eleventh with a single to left off Marcus Mateo, who was making his major league debut.

Mateo has worked all of 12 and two-thirds innings in AAA ball during his career.

Aubrey Huff lined a single to right, moving Renteria to third. Buster Posey was walked intentionally, bringing up Pat Burrell with the bases loaded and no outs.

Pat went after the first pitch and lifted a fly ball to center field. Marlon Byrd made the catch, Renteria tagged up and scored, and the Giants escaped.

Bruce Bochy was right.

The Giants received 11 walks, wasted numerous opportunities to win the game, and made two errors. It wasn’t good, and if it continues, it will be costly, but last night, against the Chicago Cubs, it didn’t matter.

The Giants played hard to win, and it certainly felt good when the game was over.

All that mattered was that the Giants won.

Reference:

Recap: San Francisco vs. Chicago Cubs
By Sports Network

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“If I was playing with the Yankees now, or even then, if somebody said, ‘Hey, I’ll give you a million dollars a year to go to Cleveland,’ my ass would have been in Cleveland. But they didn’t have that.

“When I came to the Yankees, I was 19-years old. I was like a little brother.”

Right fielder Hank Bauer, who made sure that anyone who could help the Yankees win helped the Yankees win, took Mickey under his wing.

The only clothing Mickey had was a pair of Levis and penny loafers.

Bauer took Mickey shopping, bought him a few suits, and slowly taught him the ropes.

Mickey was loyal to the Yankees. He credited their great run in the late 1940s and 1950s to a feeling of family.

“Heck, if we’d won in ’54 and ’59, it would have been like 16, 17 straight years (it would have been 1949-1964). I don’t think it will ever happen again. They don’t have the family feeling on a club anymore. I blame free agency.”

To the Yankees, Mickey Mantle was a leader, but he was also one of the guys.

“It wasn’t like I was their idol. I was their friend, their drinking friend.”

How revealing, how wonderful, and how sad.

When Mickey and the great Roger Maris were challenging Babe Ruth’s single season home run record, which Roger broke and still, to this day, holds, some baseball writers, looking for a juicy story, wrote that Mickey and Roger didn’t get along.

It was a lie.

Mickey loved to tell how, after reading the garbage that was written, he and Roger would go shopping at a Queens supermarket, each pushing his own shopping cart.

They were sometimes recognized, but often they were taken for what they were – two young men loading up on food for their apartment.

“I was as close to Roger Maris as I was to Whitey and Billy. That (61 homers) was the greatest single thing I’ve ever seen.”

Mickey Mantle retired after the 1968 season. He returned to his home in Dallas, where he was virtually forgotten, despite his name.

“It was like Mickey Mantle died for about two or three years. I had Mickey Mantle Country Cookin’ and a bowling alley. None of it worked. Then, somebody bought a bubble gum card or something, Next thing I know I’m getting letters, getting invited to banquets and stuff. It was like being reborn to me.”

Mickey Mantle made more money in one year from baseball cards than he did during his career with the New York Yankees, which has been estimated at “only” $1 million.

“It’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”

Of course, that statement must be taken with a grain of salt, but it is a fact that the memorabilia business changed Mantle’s and other retired players’ lives.

Mantle related how he had been retired for 25 years and that he was awed that a father would arrive at 8:30 AM for a signing that was scheduled for 7:30 PM.

He shouldn’t have been.

Mickey was in St. Louis for a card show. When one says “St. Louis,” one might as well be saying “Stan Musial.”

Just as fans were thrilled to meet one of their heroes, Mickey was just as excited to meet one of his.

“Stan Musial came up and had breakfast with me. I couldn’t believe it. I got goose bumps.”

Mickey’s hero was a real hero. So was Mickey.

References:

Shaughnessy, Dan. “Young Mickey Mantle: He Was the Ultimate in Speed, Power.” Baseball Digest. Feb. 1995.

Mickey Mantle at Baseball Reference

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This time, it was different.

At the end of play on Aug. 21, 1971, the San Francisco Giants led the Los Angeles Dodgers by eight games. This time, it would be the Dodgers who would try to come from behind.

An eight game lead in early September is not insurmountable, but if the team being chased is a solid team, eight games are usually—but not always—enough.

The Giants were barely good enough.

The Giants hosted the Houston Astros on Sept. 3 for a crucial four game series.

San Francisco won the first game easily by a score of 16-6, and won the next day with difficulty, 1-0, behind Don Carrithers, to extend their winning streak to five games.

The next day, Houston swept a twin bill.

The Giants headed for Los Angeles with a chance to put the final nails into the Dodgers’ coffin. The Dodgers had the chance to make the Giants understand what it felt like to be chased by a relentless pursuer.

The Dodgers won the first two games of the three game set. San Francisco needed the third game, which meant a two game swing in the standings.

The Giants’ great Marichal faced Bill Singer, who was known as the “Singer throwing machine.”

Going to the ninth inning, Marichal had given up three runs, while Singer had held the Giants to a pair of harmless singles.

Chris Arnold flied out to center field to open the Giants’ ninth, but then Ken Henderson drew a walk. Pinch-hitter Jim Ray Hart also walked, bringing the potential tying run to the plate.

The batter was Willie Mays.

Lefty Jim Brewer replaced the tiring Singer.

The move might appear to be going against the “percentages” of having a right-handed pitcher face a right-handed hitter, but Brewer had a nasty screwball which was more effective against right-handed batters than against left-handed batters.

Brewer was careful with Mays. He walked him, bringing up Barry Bonds’ daddy, Bobby.

Bonds was a great player, but he wasn’t great on this day.

He ended the game by hitting into a double play.

The Dodgers now trailed the Giants by five games.

Off to Atlanta to meet the Braves, The Giants dropped the first two games to extend their losing streak to seven games. They were creating an interest in a division race that they would rather have not created.

Every contending team needs a stopper. For the Giants, it turned out to be John Cumberland, who limited the Braves to a single run over nine innings after being staked to a four-run first inning lead.

The lead was three games after the Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres.

The Giants flew home from Atlanta to face the Dodgers at Candlestick Park. Once again, Singer beat the great Marichal. The lead was down to a precious pair.

The next day, Gaylord Perry faced former New York Yankees left-hander Al Downing, who had become the Dodgers’ most effective pitcher. Going to the ninth inning, San Francisco led 5-3.

The Dodgers won 6-5.

One game separated the teams who, when they were in New York, were the greatest rivals in sports history.

The defending National League champion Cincinnati Reds were next. The Reds swept a two game series. The lead was still one game.

The Giants took two out of three from the Padres to end the home stand at 2-5, but the 1971 Dodgers were a far cry from the 1951 New York Giants. They dropped two of four games to the Braves, and the Giants led by one and one-half games.

Going into the next to last day of the season, the lead was still one game.

The Giants were in San Diego, where they lost to the Padres. This gave the Dodgers the chance to catch them, but the Dodgers were not up to the task.

Ken Forsch of the Houston Astros shut them out at Dodgers’ Stadium.

It came down to the last game for each team.

Marichal started. He held the Padres to one run, five hits, and no walks. The Giants won the division.

Although it turned out to not matter matter, as the Dodgers and Don Sutton beat the Astros, 2-1.

Neither the Giants nor the Dodgers was solid teams. Given the opportunity to catch a reeling team, the Dodgers fell short.

The division race was exciting because there wasn’t a safety net, which is referred to today as the wild card.

A major drawback to the wild card is that it often dilutes division races, but in 1971, with two six-team divisions, it would have provided almost unimaginable excitement.

The Dodgers finished at 89-73, one game behind the Giants. The St. Louis Cardinals finished seven games behind the Pirates, but the Cards were 90-72.

What a wild card race it would have been.

Reference:

San Francisco Giants’ 1971 Game Log at Retrosheet

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Orlando Cepeda played in three World Series. The first was in 1962 against New York’s other team, the New York Yankees.

It was not a good series for Cepeda or for the San Francisco Giants.

New York Yankees’ manager Ralph Houk and right-handed pitcher Ralph Terry agreed that Terry would face left-hand hitting Willie McCovey in the ninth inning of the seventh game with the potential tying run on third and the potential winning run on second.

Right-handed slugger Orlando Cepeda was on deck.

The percentage move would have been to face Cepeda, since he hit from the right side, but Houk went against the book and won.  Houk took more of a gamble than many realized.

Neither McCovey nor Cepeda had hit much in the Series.

When Willie stepped in against Terry, he had three hits in 14 at bats for a .214 average, but he had hit a triple in the game, and he had one home run in the Series.

Cepeda was three for 19 (.158). His only extra base hit had been a double in the sixth game.

The move was to face Cepeda, but maybe Houk took Orlando’s sixth game performance into account.

“That sixth game was a good one for me and the Giants,” Cepeda told baseball writer George Vass in a 1970 interview.

“I got a double and drove in a run….I also drove in another run with a single later in the game, which we won, 5-2.”

Orlando continued, and his statement revealed why he was a great player, a great teammate, and a great leader.

“I got three hits in that game so maybe I should think of it as the Series game most important to me, but I don’t. It was a good game for me, but then we lost the Series the next day, so it did not mean anything big.”

Orlando Cepeda would wait until 1967, when he was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, to play in the game he would never forget.

The Giants foolishly traded Orlando to the Cards on May 8, 1966 for left-hander Ray Sadecki.

It was a horrible trade, as Sadecki won only three games, lost seven, and had an obscene ERA+ of 69.

He was 12-6 the next year, but in 1968, the “Year of the Pitcher”, Sadecki led the National League with 18 losses, despite a respectable 106 ERA+.

Meanwhile, Cepeda, who had fully recovered from a knee operation, which led to the trade, helped lead the Cardinals to the 1967 pennant, batting .303, hitting 25 home runs, and leading the league with 111 RBIs.

The Boston Red Sox, who had finished ninth in 1966, were the American League champions. The Sox, led by pitcher Jim Lonborg and the great Carl Yastrezemki, gave the Cardinals all they could handle.

Lonborg started the seventh game on two days rest against the Cardinals’ Bob Gibson. The Sox didn’t stand a chance, as Gibson limited them to three hits, while striking out 10, in a 7-2 Cardinals’ victory.

1967 was an important year for Orlando Cepeda, but as Orlando said, it was a more important year for the St. Louis Cardinals.

“I feel real proud about that year. It is not only because I won the Most Valuable Player Award—and got all the votes—but because it was a year in which the team won the championship.”

Cepeda considers the game the most memorable of his career. The reason he gives provides the insight to a winner.

“You might look at the box score and wonder why I pick that one. It shows I got no hits and was at bat five times. I’ll tell you why that seventh game is the one I’ll never forget. It is because we won it.

Reference:

Cepeda, Orlando as told to George Vass. “The Game I’ll Never Forget. Baseball Digest , Oct. 1970, p. 27.

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Last night, Aug. 1, the San Francisco Giants completed a sweep of their arch-rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, which brought back memories of another Giants sweep of the Dodgers many years ago.

However, it was the next game, against the San Diego Padres, that lives on forever.

Giants manager Clyde King rested Willie Mays in the first game of a three-game series in San Diego on Sept. 22, 1969 following a successful home stand that ended with a sweep of the Dodgers.

At the end of six innings, the teams were tied with two runs each.

The Giants held a slim half-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the division that was referred to that season as the “Wild, Wild West.” King wanted the game.

Ron Hunt, the gutsy little second baseman, led off the Giants seventh with a slow roller to the left side. Padres shortstop Tommy Dean charged the ball and fired a strike to first, but Hunt beat it out.

King made his move. He sent the greatest of all Giants to the plate to bat for a young rookie outfielder named George Foster, who would have a 1977 season for the Cincinnati Reds in which he would hit 52 home runs.

Willie stepped into the batter’s box to face rookie right-hander Mike Corkins, whom the Giants had signed as an amateur free agent in 1965.

The Padres drafted Corkins in the expansion draft three years later, and now he was facing Willie Mays.

Everyone in the ballpark knew that Willie had 599 home runs. What might seem unbelievable is that there were only 4,779 paying customers in the ballpark.

Corkins went into the stretch, got the signal from his catcher, Chris Cannizzaro, checked Hunt at first, and delivered Willie Mays’ 600th home run, which won the game.

Don’t let the small crowd give the impression that there was a lack of excitement about Willie’s accomplishment.

Everyone connected with baseball marveled at Mays’ achievement..

Legendary baseball journalist Arthur Daley wrote: “When Willie stepped up to bat as a pinch-hitter…and smote a home run, he advanced to a new and spectacular plateau in baseball history.”

Willie Mays achieved what only Babe Ruth had achieved, and it cemented Willie as one of the great sluggers of all time.

There was excitement everywhere, especially in San Francisco, where for the first few years in his new home, Willie was viewed as New York’s, but that was no longer the case.

Willie told the media that the pressure was building up: “I was trying too hard to hit home runs.”

Since Willie became the second player to hit at least 600 home runs, Henry Aaron (755), Barry Bonds (762), Sammy Sosa (609), and Ken Griffey Jr. (630) have joined the club.

Presently, Alex Rodriguez is stuck at 599 home runs.

The contrast between the indifference to Rodriguez’ pursuit of his 600th home run and the excitement, respect, and love with respect to Willie’s quest for his 600th home run is striking.

Teammates, Giants fans, and most baseball fans loved Willie Mays. Opponents respected and feared him. All marveled his great skills, and all appreciated his great accomplishments.

The same cannot be said with respect to Alex Rodriguez. As a wise woman once said, “No one can hurt you as much as you can hurt yourself.”

References

Willie Mays’ 600th Home Run at Retrosheet

No. 600 Is One Ruthian Home Run for Willie Mays: Giants’ Star, at 38, Is 2d on List and Richer, Wiser. (1969, September 24). New York Times (1923-Current file), 39. Retrieved August 2, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006). (Document ID: 88865325).

By ARTHUR DALEY. (1969, October 1). Sports of Times: An Epic Home Run. New York Times (1923-Current file), 50. Retrieved August 2, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006). (Document ID: 81992636).

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Philadelphia Phillies rookie Pat Burrell strode to the plate on June 20, 2000, to lead off the top of the ninth inning at Shea Stadium.

Hard-throwing closer Armando Benitez was on the mound for New York’s most beloved team, the Mets, who were leading the hapless Phillies, 2-1.

Burrell hit a home run off Benitez to tie the game that the Phillies would win, 3-2, in 10 innings.

The next night, the teams were tied, 5-5 in the top of the ninth inning.

The Phillies loaded the bases against John Franco. The tie was broken when the usually reliable Franco walked Ricky Jordan to force home future New York Times baseball writer, Doug Glanville.

Mets manager Bobby Valentine yanked left-hander Franco in favor of right-hander Benitez. Burrell was next to hit.

Burrell promptly hit a grand slam against Benitez to put the game out of reach.

Yesterday, July 31, 2010, Los Angeles Dodgers manager, Joe Torre, who sometimes mistakes closer Jonathan Broxton for Mariano Rivera, brought in Broxton with two outs in the eighth inning for a potential four-out save against the San Francisco Giants.

The inning started out innocently enough.

With the Dodgers leading, 2-1, left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo, who had retired the Giants in order in the seventh inning, got Freddy Sanchez out on a harmless fly ball to right fielder Garrett Anderson on one pitch.

The dangerous Aubrey Huff, one of the great acquisitions of the season, took Kuo’s first pitch for a called strike, and then grounded out harmlessly to first baseman James Loney for the second out.

Buster Posey was the next batter.

According to Torre, the Dodgers didn’t want to give Posey a chance to extend his arms and hit a long ball that might tie the game, so Kuo worked him inside.

The Dodgers’ problem was that Kuo worked him too much inside. His first delivery hit Buster on the upper left arm, putting the potential tying run on first.

Torre, who has admitted that he sometimes overworks his most effective relievers, as Scott Proctor knows, brought in Broxton to face Burrell.

Broxton is 6’4″ and weighs 295 pounds. He throws close to 100 mph.

Benitez is 6’4″ and weighed 260 pounds. He threw close to 100 mph.

Burrell stepped into the batters box. Benitez—sorry, Broxton, fell behind, three balls and no strikes. Burrell took the next delivery for a called strike.

Posey took his lead off first base, Broxton went to the stretch, checked Posey at first, and delivered. Burrell fouled it off.

With the count full, Posey would be off with the next pitch.

Broxton peered in to get the signal from Russell Martin, nodded in assent, checked Posey at first, and delivered.

Burrell blasted the 3-2 pitch on a line drive into the left field seats. The crowd went wild.

Guillermo Mota did what Broxton could not.

The former Dodger, who entered the game in the top of the eighth inning with one out and struck out Rafael Furcal and Matt Kemp, retired the Dodgers in order in the ninth inning to get the win.

After the game, Burrell, whose game-winning home run was his first since June 29, and who had hit home runs to put the Giants ahead two other times this season, spoke with reporters.

“We’re in a real good situation. You have to be fortunate to be in position to make the playoffs. We’ve got to approach every game as if it is crunch time, because in reality it is.”

Manager Bruce Bochy said it best, “It’s hard to get a bigger hit than that.”

Tonight, the Giants and Dodgers meet again. Don’t be surprised if Torre brings in Broxton again. It’s only August.

Reference:

Retrosheet

CBS Sportsline

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