There were all the young dudes, already half in the bag an hour before game time, standing in front of the Sportsman’s Bar and Restaurant, making sounds like, “Yaaahhh, Yaaaahh,” at those ticket-holdres who were hurrying to the safety of the Stadium as if running away from the plague.
And when it was over, with the Yankees scoring the winning run at the stroke of midnight, the people gave one short but spectacular shout of joy and then began tamely filing to the exit.
There seemed to be a sense of relief, not only at the final score but also at the actual conclusion of the long game; it was, after all a week night and there was school and work looming hours away.
ex NYT Kornheiser 11/12/77
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Saturday, November 12, 1977
Thursday, October 20, 1977
Yankees’ Center of Controversy
“Reggie Jackson on your ball club,” Reggie Jackson said on his second day of spring training with the Yankees last March, “is part of a show of force. It’s a show of power. I help to intimidate the opposition, just because I’m here. That’s part of my role.”
His teammates did not accept him at first; then, just as Thurman Munson, the acknowledged team leader, had made a breakthrough, a magazine article appeared in which Jackson was quoted (accurately) as saying, “I’m the straw that stirs the drink. Munson thinks he can be the straw that stirs the drink, but he can only stir it bad.” (Was he provoked by Munson’s racist comments? Munson was not the leader of the black players).
Jackson, never one of the crowd wherever he was, spent the rest of the season virtually alienated from the rest of the team. Billy Martin didn’t like him either, despite his hitting ability, because he was Steinbrenner’s prize. Not the manager’s.
Jackson’s ultra-sensitivity and his insecurity plagued him during the first few months of the season. His constant show of money (he would sit in the aisle seat on the team bus and count his ‘roll,’) his frequent references to his so-called ‘160 IQ’ and his compulsive loquaciousness did nothing to endear him to the other players. Resulting slights by his teammates bothered him and affected his play.
He sees a lot of girls,” a friend related yesterday, “but he doesn’t need the East Side singles bars, the Joe Namath bar scene. He goes to bed early. One o’clock is late for him. It’s not what you would expect from a bachelor athlete living in New York.”
Jackson avoids liquor, prefering white wine and an occasional beer.
On a shopping trip in KC with Hunter, Gullet and Pinella, only Pinella, the only nonmillionare in the group, purchased anything. “Lou bought $50 shoes, but I would neve wear anything like that,” said Jackson, minutes after counting the $100 bills in his wallet. “He also got some $20 shirts, but the shirt I’m wearing now cost $60.)
His superiority (actually inferiority – result of racism?) complex created problems with other Yankees. The problems, in turn, helped plunge Jackson into periodic states of deep depression. Only Fran Healy, a seldom used catcher was able to stir Jackson out of those depths, becoming his confidant and his only genuine friend on the team.”
“He’s extremely complex, sensitive, articulate, loquacious and at times controversial,” Healy said yesterday before the parade. “One thing is for certain: he’s not one dimension. As a baseball player, under the circumstances, he had a great year.”
Jackson reached his lowest point the night of the final game against KC when Martin removed him from the lineup. One the plane ride home Jackson was severely depressed and filled with hatred for Martin.
Then, just nine days later, the dramatic and dynamic qualities soared to the top of Jackson’s being and he concluded the most trying year of his life with an exhibition that only he among present day players could have produced.
“If we win tonight,” Hunter and Ken Holtzman, also Jackson’s teammates in Oakland, had said before the game Tuesday night, “Reggie will be the hero. We’ll bet our salaries on it.”
Like Jackson, they were winners.
RECORDS BY JACKSON
Most home runs, consecutive, in game – Three
Most home runs in a Series – Five
Most total bases in a Series – Twenty-Five
Most runs in a Series – Ten
Most home runs in a game – Three tying Babe Ruth who did it twice
Most runs in game – Four – tied four other including Enos Slaughter
Most total bases in game – twelve tying Babe Ruth
ex NYT Chass 10/20/77
His teammates did not accept him at first; then, just as Thurman Munson, the acknowledged team leader, had made a breakthrough, a magazine article appeared in which Jackson was quoted (accurately) as saying, “I’m the straw that stirs the drink. Munson thinks he can be the straw that stirs the drink, but he can only stir it bad.” (Was he provoked by Munson’s racist comments? Munson was not the leader of the black players).
Jackson, never one of the crowd wherever he was, spent the rest of the season virtually alienated from the rest of the team. Billy Martin didn’t like him either, despite his hitting ability, because he was Steinbrenner’s prize. Not the manager’s.
Jackson’s ultra-sensitivity and his insecurity plagued him during the first few months of the season. His constant show of money (he would sit in the aisle seat on the team bus and count his ‘roll,’) his frequent references to his so-called ‘160 IQ’ and his compulsive loquaciousness did nothing to endear him to the other players. Resulting slights by his teammates bothered him and affected his play.
He sees a lot of girls,” a friend related yesterday, “but he doesn’t need the East Side singles bars, the Joe Namath bar scene. He goes to bed early. One o’clock is late for him. It’s not what you would expect from a bachelor athlete living in New York.”
Jackson avoids liquor, prefering white wine and an occasional beer.
On a shopping trip in KC with Hunter, Gullet and Pinella, only Pinella, the only nonmillionare in the group, purchased anything. “Lou bought $50 shoes, but I would neve wear anything like that,” said Jackson, minutes after counting the $100 bills in his wallet. “He also got some $20 shirts, but the shirt I’m wearing now cost $60.)
His superiority (actually inferiority – result of racism?) complex created problems with other Yankees. The problems, in turn, helped plunge Jackson into periodic states of deep depression. Only Fran Healy, a seldom used catcher was able to stir Jackson out of those depths, becoming his confidant and his only genuine friend on the team.”
“He’s extremely complex, sensitive, articulate, loquacious and at times controversial,” Healy said yesterday before the parade. “One thing is for certain: he’s not one dimension. As a baseball player, under the circumstances, he had a great year.”
Jackson reached his lowest point the night of the final game against KC when Martin removed him from the lineup. One the plane ride home Jackson was severely depressed and filled with hatred for Martin.
Then, just nine days later, the dramatic and dynamic qualities soared to the top of Jackson’s being and he concluded the most trying year of his life with an exhibition that only he among present day players could have produced.
“If we win tonight,” Hunter and Ken Holtzman, also Jackson’s teammates in Oakland, had said before the game Tuesday night, “Reggie will be the hero. We’ll bet our salaries on it.”
Like Jackson, they were winners.
RECORDS BY JACKSON
Most home runs, consecutive, in game – Three
Most home runs in a Series – Five
Most total bases in a Series – Twenty-Five
Most runs in a Series – Ten
Most home runs in a game – Three tying Babe Ruth who did it twice
Most runs in game – Four – tied four other including Enos Slaughter
Most total bases in game – twelve tying Babe Ruth
ex NYT Chass 10/20/77
The Two Season of Reggie Jackson
Nearly three hours after his three home runs had won the World Series for the Yankees and redemption for himself, Reggie Jackson, like almost everyone else around him, appeared in awe of what he had accomplised. “There’s a part of me I don’t know,” he was saying softly at his locker. There’s a ballplayer in me that responds to all the pressure.”
At King Arthur’s Court on the Upper East Side in July he had said: “I’m still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else in the club.”
All the other Yankees had dressed and departed Tuesday night except for Thurman Munson who was on his way out now. “Hey, coon,” called the catcher grinning, “Nice goin’, coon.” Reggie Jackson laughed and hurried over and hugged the captain. “I’m going down to the party here in the ball park,” said Munson, grinning again. “It’s just for white people but they’ll let you in. Come on down.”
The day after the Jackson-Martin confrontation at Fenway in June, there was a meeting in Gabe Paul’s office. Jackson said Billy stood over him challenged him. He stood over me and said, “I’ll make you fight me, boy.” But there was no way I was going to fight him. I’m 215 pounds, he’s almost 50 years old. I win the fight, but I lose.”
That’d be something, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson. Somehow I don’t fit.”
Thurman Munson reappeared. “Hey, nigger, you’re too slow, that party’s over but I’ll see you next year. I’ll see you next year wherever I might be.
“You’ll be back.”
“Not me,” said Thurman Munson, who has talked of demanding to be traded to the Cleveland Indians. “But you know who stuck up for you, nigger, you know who stuck up for you when you needed it.”
“I know,” said Reggie Jackson. “But you’ll be here next year. We’ll all be here.”
ex NYT Anderson 10/20/77
At King Arthur’s Court on the Upper East Side in July he had said: “I’m still the straw that stirs the drink. Not Munson, not nobody else in the club.”
All the other Yankees had dressed and departed Tuesday night except for Thurman Munson who was on his way out now. “Hey, coon,” called the catcher grinning, “Nice goin’, coon.” Reggie Jackson laughed and hurried over and hugged the captain. “I’m going down to the party here in the ball park,” said Munson, grinning again. “It’s just for white people but they’ll let you in. Come on down.”
The day after the Jackson-Martin confrontation at Fenway in June, there was a meeting in Gabe Paul’s office. Jackson said Billy stood over him challenged him. He stood over me and said, “I’ll make you fight me, boy.” But there was no way I was going to fight him. I’m 215 pounds, he’s almost 50 years old. I win the fight, but I lose.”
That’d be something, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson. Somehow I don’t fit.”
Thurman Munson reappeared. “Hey, nigger, you’re too slow, that party’s over but I’ll see you next year. I’ll see you next year wherever I might be.
“You’ll be back.”
“Not me,” said Thurman Munson, who has talked of demanding to be traded to the Cleveland Indians. “But you know who stuck up for you, nigger, you know who stuck up for you when you needed it.”
“I know,” said Reggie Jackson. “But you’ll be here next year. We’ll all be here.”
ex NYT Anderson 10/20/77
Yanks Revel in Unabashed Adulation
Broadway, for nearly a mile from Bowling Green to City Hall, was a huge smile and triumphal shout yesterday as hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers staged one of the city’s most memorable ticker tape parades to honor the Yankees for their first World Series victory in 15 years.
The city, it seemed, had a future again. Joe DiMaggio, one of the greatest stars of earlier Yankee teams that won World Series titles with apparent ease, caught the feeling on the stage of City Hall. With the banners of the first Yankee championship hanging over the City Hall entrance behind him, DiMaggio, who had become tearful during the singing of the national anthem, reluctantly yielded to requests to say something.
“I hope the players get a good rest and perhaps start another dynasty in New York.”
ex NYT Schumach 10/20/77
The city, it seemed, had a future again. Joe DiMaggio, one of the greatest stars of earlier Yankee teams that won World Series titles with apparent ease, caught the feeling on the stage of City Hall. With the banners of the first Yankee championship hanging over the City Hall entrance behind him, DiMaggio, who had become tearful during the singing of the national anthem, reluctantly yielded to requests to say something.
“I hope the players get a good rest and perhaps start another dynasty in New York.”
ex NYT Schumach 10/20/77
Wednesday, October 19, 1977
Yankees Take Series; Jackson Equals Mark of 3 Homers in Game
With Reggie Jackson hitting three home runs in three straight at bats, the New York Yankees swept all those family feuds under the rug last night and overpowered the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-4, to win their first World Series in 15 years.
They won it in the sixth gme of a match that had enlivened both coasts for the last week, and that rocked Yankee Stadium last night as hundreds of fans poured through a reinforced army of 350 security guards and stormed onto the field after the final out.
The last Yankee championship was in 1962 when they defeated the San Francisco Giants toward the end of a postwar reign. And it marked a dramatic comeback from the four-game sweep they suffered last October at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds.
Jackson hit his three home runs on the first pitches off three pitchers, and he became the only man in history to hit three in a Series game since Babe Ruth did it for the Yankees twice, in 1926 and again in 1928.
But nobody had ever before hit five in a World Series – let alone five in his last nine official times at bat – a feat that the 31-year-old Pennsylvanian accomplished during his last three games in California and New York.
This was mainly a night for hitting by both the Yankees and Dodgers – late of Brooklyn – the teams that once produced the perfect game, the dropped third strike and the Subway Series.
In the ninth inning Jackson left for a batting helmet to protect himself in right field.
The Best Bonus for Martin is Presented by the Players
Martin’s day at Yankee Stadium began with a 1:30pm meeting the Paul, the club president, who had called him at his NJ apartment and asked him to come in early. “I didn’t know what he wanted. I wondered who jumped the club now.”
Paul told him he would return next year for the second year of his three year contract and a hefty bonus: $35,000 in cash, a blue Lincoln Continental Mark V that retails for $22,000 and payment of the rent on his $400 a month apartment.
ex NYT Durso 10/19/77
They won it in the sixth gme of a match that had enlivened both coasts for the last week, and that rocked Yankee Stadium last night as hundreds of fans poured through a reinforced army of 350 security guards and stormed onto the field after the final out.
The last Yankee championship was in 1962 when they defeated the San Francisco Giants toward the end of a postwar reign. And it marked a dramatic comeback from the four-game sweep they suffered last October at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds.
Jackson hit his three home runs on the first pitches off three pitchers, and he became the only man in history to hit three in a Series game since Babe Ruth did it for the Yankees twice, in 1926 and again in 1928.
But nobody had ever before hit five in a World Series – let alone five in his last nine official times at bat – a feat that the 31-year-old Pennsylvanian accomplished during his last three games in California and New York.
This was mainly a night for hitting by both the Yankees and Dodgers – late of Brooklyn – the teams that once produced the perfect game, the dropped third strike and the Subway Series.
In the ninth inning Jackson left for a batting helmet to protect himself in right field.
The Best Bonus for Martin is Presented by the Players
Martin’s day at Yankee Stadium began with a 1:30pm meeting the Paul, the club president, who had called him at his NJ apartment and asked him to come in early. “I didn’t know what he wanted. I wondered who jumped the club now.”
Paul told him he would return next year for the second year of his three year contract and a hefty bonus: $35,000 in cash, a blue Lincoln Continental Mark V that retails for $22,000 and payment of the rent on his $400 a month apartment.
ex NYT Durso 10/19/77
The Moving Finger Writes, Etc.
It had to happen this way. It had been predestined since Nov. 29, 1976, when Reginald Martinez Jackson sat down on a gilded chair in New York’s Americana Hotel and wrote his name on a Yankee contract. That day he became an instant millionaire, the big honcho on the best team money could buy, the richest, least inhibited, most glamorous exhibit in Billy Martin’s pin-stripped zoo. That day the plot was written for last night – the bizarre scenario Reggie Jackson played out by hitting three home runs, clubbing the Los Angeles Dodgers into submission and carrying his supporting players with him to the baseball championship of North America. His was the most lurid performance in 74 World Series, for although Babe Ruth hit three home runs in a game in 1926 and again in 1928, not even that demigod smashed three in a row.
Reggie’s first broke a tie and put the Yankees in front, 4-3. His second tattened the advantage to 7-3. His third completed arrangements for a final score of 8-4, wrapping up the championship in six games.
Jackson had made a home run on Saturday and another in his last at bat on Sunday. His first at bat last night was a walk so in his last four official turns he hit home runs. In his last nine times at bat, this Hamlet in double knits scored seven runs, made six hits and five home runs and batted in six runs for an average of .687 compiled by day and by night on two seacoasts 3,000 miles and three time zones apart.
Ever since the Yankees went to training camp in March, Jackson had lived in the eye of the hurricane. All summer long as the spike-shod capitalists bickered and quarreled, contending with their manager, defying their owner, Reggie was the most controversial, the most articulate, the most flamboyant.
His first home run knocked the Dodgers’ starting pitcher, Burt Hooton out of the game. His second disposed of Elias Sosa, Hooton’s successor. Jackson was the lead off hitter in the eighth. For the third time, Reggie hit the first pitch but this one didn’t take the shortest distance between two points. Straight out from the plate the ball streaked, not toward the neighborly stands in right but on a soaring arc toward the unoccupied bleacher’s in dead center, where the seats are painted black to give batters a better background. Up the white spec climbed, dwindling, diminishing until it settled at last half way up those empty stands, probably 450 feet away. This time he could not disappoint his public. He stepped out of the dugout and faced the multitude, two fists and one cap uplifted. “I must admit,” said Steve Garvey, the Dodgers’ first baseman, “when Reggie hit his third home run and I was sure nobody was listening, I applauded into my glove.”
When the last jubilant playmate had been peeled off his neck, Reggie took a seat near the first-base end of the bench. The crowd was still bawling for him and comrades urged him to take a curtain call.
ex NYT Smith 10/19/77
Reggie’s first broke a tie and put the Yankees in front, 4-3. His second tattened the advantage to 7-3. His third completed arrangements for a final score of 8-4, wrapping up the championship in six games.
Jackson had made a home run on Saturday and another in his last at bat on Sunday. His first at bat last night was a walk so in his last four official turns he hit home runs. In his last nine times at bat, this Hamlet in double knits scored seven runs, made six hits and five home runs and batted in six runs for an average of .687 compiled by day and by night on two seacoasts 3,000 miles and three time zones apart.
Ever since the Yankees went to training camp in March, Jackson had lived in the eye of the hurricane. All summer long as the spike-shod capitalists bickered and quarreled, contending with their manager, defying their owner, Reggie was the most controversial, the most articulate, the most flamboyant.
His first home run knocked the Dodgers’ starting pitcher, Burt Hooton out of the game. His second disposed of Elias Sosa, Hooton’s successor. Jackson was the lead off hitter in the eighth. For the third time, Reggie hit the first pitch but this one didn’t take the shortest distance between two points. Straight out from the plate the ball streaked, not toward the neighborly stands in right but on a soaring arc toward the unoccupied bleacher’s in dead center, where the seats are painted black to give batters a better background. Up the white spec climbed, dwindling, diminishing until it settled at last half way up those empty stands, probably 450 feet away. This time he could not disappoint his public. He stepped out of the dugout and faced the multitude, two fists and one cap uplifted. “I must admit,” said Steve Garvey, the Dodgers’ first baseman, “when Reggie hit his third home run and I was sure nobody was listening, I applauded into my glove.”
When the last jubilant playmate had been peeled off his neck, Reggie took a seat near the first-base end of the bench. The crowd was still bawling for him and comrades urged him to take a curtain call.
ex NYT Smith 10/19/77
Delirious Fans Run Wild As Some Violence Erupts
While hundreds of people gasped, and others ran to police officers to lodge complaints, a teenage boy was beaten up at third base by three men wearing blue uniforms. There were conflicting reports whether the men with clubs who hit him were New York police officers or the Stadium’s private security force.
“They sure had a little rumpus over there,” said one hospital employee, “it’s been busy all night.”
Meanwhile dozens of people in the stands who tore out the blue stadium seats were taken away.
“I bet the kids aren’t from the city. Were are they from? Yonkers? They think they can come down here and do this to us.”
At the start of the eighth inning when a Yankee victory seemed assured, cherry bombs and firecrackers began exploding in the stands and on the field. The barrage led Reggie Jackson to don a hard hat for protection.
At the end mounted police were overwhelmed in the effort to stem the tide of roaring fans.
The scene outside the stadium became turbulent as the fans departed. Police chased some fans up 161st Street and curious crowds followed.
The fans stormed out, heading for anyone in pinstripes. Jackson dodged a few and elbowed a few. Nettles swung in self-defense before finding shelter in the dugout.
Reggie Jackson, who wore a hard hat out in right field after a series of cherry bombs made the muscular slugger jump with fear, dashed away from fans as best he could. He bowled one over, chopped another down with a right hand. He ran out of fear.
His quickness impressed Don Sutton who said: “He’s the most valuable player, you bet, and his most impressive move all night was the open field run he made to get to the dugout and escape those crazies at the end of the game. He could help the New York Giants.”
ex NYT Eskenazi 10/19/77
“They sure had a little rumpus over there,” said one hospital employee, “it’s been busy all night.”
Meanwhile dozens of people in the stands who tore out the blue stadium seats were taken away.
“I bet the kids aren’t from the city. Were are they from? Yonkers? They think they can come down here and do this to us.”
At the start of the eighth inning when a Yankee victory seemed assured, cherry bombs and firecrackers began exploding in the stands and on the field. The barrage led Reggie Jackson to don a hard hat for protection.
At the end mounted police were overwhelmed in the effort to stem the tide of roaring fans.
The scene outside the stadium became turbulent as the fans departed. Police chased some fans up 161st Street and curious crowds followed.
The fans stormed out, heading for anyone in pinstripes. Jackson dodged a few and elbowed a few. Nettles swung in self-defense before finding shelter in the dugout.
Reggie Jackson, who wore a hard hat out in right field after a series of cherry bombs made the muscular slugger jump with fear, dashed away from fans as best he could. He bowled one over, chopped another down with a right hand. He ran out of fear.
His quickness impressed Don Sutton who said: “He’s the most valuable player, you bet, and his most impressive move all night was the open field run he made to get to the dugout and escape those crazies at the end of the game. He could help the New York Giants.”
ex NYT Eskenazi 10/19/77
Scrappy, Controversial Yankee Manager – Alfred Manuel (Billy) Martin
“I’m insecure too,” said Martin (in LA), “but I’m insecure because I don’t have a lot of mone, and that’s natural isn’t it?” Then he smiled and said: “How about that? One beer and I’m philosphizing.”
“I’ll never change and I never have changed.” Alfred Manuel Martin was born on May 16, 1928 in Berkeley,CA. With his father gone and him mother working, he was raised by his grandparents, who lived a few blocks away. His grandmother called him “Bellissiomo” or “Belli” for short. Other kids, hearing him called that, naturally made it “Billy.”
ex NYT Koppett 10/19/77
“I’ll never change and I never have changed.” Alfred Manuel Martin was born on May 16, 1928 in Berkeley,CA. With his father gone and him mother working, he was raised by his grandparents, who lived a few blocks away. His grandmother called him “Bellissiomo” or “Belli” for short. Other kids, hearing him called that, naturally made it “Billy.”
ex NYT Koppett 10/19/77
Monday, October 17, 1977
Dodgers Rout Yanks, 10-4, and Trail, 3-2
The Los Angeles Dodgers struck a few blows for brotherhood when they mauled the New York Yankees, 10-4, and sent the World Series back east with the Yankees now leading by only three games to two. The Dodgers routed the Yankees pitching star Don Gullet on a total of 13 hits.
ex NYT Durso 10/17/77
ex NYT Durso 10/17/77
Sunday, October 16, 1977
Yankees Win, 4-2, and Can Take World Series Today
Ron Guidry threw nine sizzling innings of four-hit ball.
The Yankees buried their hatchets today, behaved with the decorum of prep school boys.
Reggie Jackson, the team leader in money, quarrels and controversy. Lou Pinella made a leaping catch above the left-field fence.
ex NYT Durso 10/16/77
The Yankees buried their hatchets today, behaved with the decorum of prep school boys.
Reggie Jackson, the team leader in money, quarrels and controversy. Lou Pinella made a leaping catch above the left-field fence.
ex NYT Durso 10/16/77
Yankee Discord
“What was your reaction to Gabe Paul’s statement?” someone asked Martin. “He gave you a vote of confidence.”
“Then I’m fired,” the manager said.
Actually, Gabe Paul had said, “I don’t believe in votes of confidence. In most cases, it is the kiss of death.”
“On any ball club,” Paul had said, “there is only one manager, only one owner and only one president.”
“And his name is George Steinbrenner,” a man responded.
Fitted together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, they make a picture of the best team money could buy, the damnedest agglomeration of clashing egos and battling capitalists that ever contended for the rounders championship of North America.
Ever since Abner Doubleday converted a cow-pasture to unnatural uses, it has been agreed that it took a good team and a lucky one to win a pennant.
Thurman Munson wants to go to Cleveland. Craig Nettles wants to go to San Diego. Mike Torrez wants to go to Boston. Mickey Rivers says he is leaving the team.
ex NYT Smith 10/16/77
“Then I’m fired,” the manager said.
Actually, Gabe Paul had said, “I don’t believe in votes of confidence. In most cases, it is the kiss of death.”
“On any ball club,” Paul had said, “there is only one manager, only one owner and only one president.”
“And his name is George Steinbrenner,” a man responded.
Fitted together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, they make a picture of the best team money could buy, the damnedest agglomeration of clashing egos and battling capitalists that ever contended for the rounders championship of North America.
Ever since Abner Doubleday converted a cow-pasture to unnatural uses, it has been agreed that it took a good team and a lucky one to win a pennant.
Thurman Munson wants to go to Cleveland. Craig Nettles wants to go to San Diego. Mike Torrez wants to go to Boston. Mickey Rivers says he is leaving the team.
ex NYT Smith 10/16/77
Saturday, October 15, 1977
Yankee Egos and Tommy John
When the World Series resumed tonight, the Yankees were in midseason form, meaning their egos were producing obnoxious fumes again. Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson were snarling at each other. Thurman Munson was hoping to be traded and protesting his ticket locations at Dodger Stadium this weekend.
ex NYT Anderson 10/15/77
ex NYT Anderson 10/15/77
Torrez Stops Dodgers on 7 Hits as Yanks Take 2-1 Edge in Series
Just when people were suggesting that brawling in public would bring them no good end, the New York Yankees put aside their family feuds tonight, overpowered the LA Dodgers by 5-3 and took a lead of two games to one in the 74th World Series.
The Yankees scored three times in the top of the first off Tommy John stunning the largest crowd to pay its way through the turnstiles of the palatial park since it opened 15 years ago.
Not many people here believed that all this success would turn the Yankees into a peaceful, harmonious clan of baseball capitalists. Gabe Paul, the president of the club, even portrayed their latest flap as “another chapter in the tumultous history of the 1977 Yankees.”
They not only defeated the Dodgers’ best pitcher, they moved to within two victories of the championship.
“We’ll go to Yankee Stadium to play,” said Tommy Lasorda, “we’ll go to Fairbanks Alaska. Look, just because a couple of kooks do something is no indication of the overall crowds. (Not so sure about that.) We’re not worried about the fans. It isn’t the guys with the hot dogs who get the hits.”
Dusty Baker tied the score in the third with a home run. This was the Yankees first appearance in Dodgers Stadium since 1963 when they were swept by the Dodgers in 4 games (a few famous Brooklyn players were still on the team).
Yogi Berra said of the Yankees turmoil, “I didn’t see nobody punch anybody yet.”
ex NYT Durso 10/15/77
The Yankees scored three times in the top of the first off Tommy John stunning the largest crowd to pay its way through the turnstiles of the palatial park since it opened 15 years ago.
Not many people here believed that all this success would turn the Yankees into a peaceful, harmonious clan of baseball capitalists. Gabe Paul, the president of the club, even portrayed their latest flap as “another chapter in the tumultous history of the 1977 Yankees.”
They not only defeated the Dodgers’ best pitcher, they moved to within two victories of the championship.
“We’ll go to Yankee Stadium to play,” said Tommy Lasorda, “we’ll go to Fairbanks Alaska. Look, just because a couple of kooks do something is no indication of the overall crowds. (Not so sure about that.) We’re not worried about the fans. It isn’t the guys with the hot dogs who get the hits.”
Dusty Baker tied the score in the third with a home run. This was the Yankees first appearance in Dodgers Stadium since 1963 when they were swept by the Dodgers in 4 games (a few famous Brooklyn players were still on the team).
Yogi Berra said of the Yankees turmoil, “I didn’t see nobody punch anybody yet.”
ex NYT Durso 10/15/77
Despite the Remonstrance, ABC Espouses Trust in Cosell
Despite a torrent of complaints from viewers around the country about the verbal excesses and melodramatic style of Howard Cosell during the World Series telecast, officials of ABC Sports said yesterday they had no intention of relieving him of the assignment.
They said they believe his abrasiveness contributed to rather than detracted from the viewers enjoyment of the broadcasts. ABC conceded that the calls about Cosell had been very heavy and virtually all negative.
A lot of people said they turned off the sound and listened to radio coverage. Ratings were substantially higher this year than they were last year when the games were televised on NBC. Nationally, the opening game drew 50% (!) of the prime time audience.
“That’s Cosell. People have strong reactions to him, but for all their complaining they watch him and seem to enjoy disliking him. It’s not our style to give into this kind of criticism and pressure. We think Cosell is one of the best announcers in the business”
ex NYT Brown 10/15/77
They said they believe his abrasiveness contributed to rather than detracted from the viewers enjoyment of the broadcasts. ABC conceded that the calls about Cosell had been very heavy and virtually all negative.
A lot of people said they turned off the sound and listened to radio coverage. Ratings were substantially higher this year than they were last year when the games were televised on NBC. Nationally, the opening game drew 50% (!) of the prime time audience.
“That’s Cosell. People have strong reactions to him, but for all their complaining they watch him and seem to enjoy disliking him. It’s not our style to give into this kind of criticism and pressure. We think Cosell is one of the best announcers in the business”
ex NYT Brown 10/15/77
Friday, October 14, 1977
World Series Shifts Across the Continent
The city of Los Angeles; which had already taken the 1984 Olympics and Joe Namath from New York, braced today for another confrontation: the 74th World Seriesm which will resume here tomorrow with the Dodgers and the Yankees deadlocked at one game apiece.
The crowd of 56, 691 in New York for game two was the largest and at times most unruly of the season in Yankee Stadium.
Five young men who had hopped out of the grandstand and run onto the field were chased, ejected and arrested – one in the seventh and four in the ninth. A smoke flare was tossed onto the grass in right-center field and delayed the game until Reggie Jackson picked it up with his glove and fipped it over the fence. And the Dodgers complained that they had been pelted by all manner of flying objects. “Whisky bottles, beer bottles, little rubber balls, they were throwing anything they could get their hands on,” said Mike Garman, who weathered the storm in the bullpen below the left field seats. “The security officers out there were doing nothing. There weren’t enough of them anyway.”
“Ice cubes, fruit, you name it,” said Reggie Smith, the right fielder for the Dodgers. “Somebody hit me with a hard rubber ball, right on top of the head. Ot was like someone hit me with a hammer.”
ex NYT Durso 10/14/77
The crowd of 56, 691 in New York for game two was the largest and at times most unruly of the season in Yankee Stadium.
Five young men who had hopped out of the grandstand and run onto the field were chased, ejected and arrested – one in the seventh and four in the ninth. A smoke flare was tossed onto the grass in right-center field and delayed the game until Reggie Jackson picked it up with his glove and fipped it over the fence. And the Dodgers complained that they had been pelted by all manner of flying objects. “Whisky bottles, beer bottles, little rubber balls, they were throwing anything they could get their hands on,” said Mike Garman, who weathered the storm in the bullpen below the left field seats. “The security officers out there were doing nothing. There weren’t enough of them anyway.”
“Ice cubes, fruit, you name it,” said Reggie Smith, the right fielder for the Dodgers. “Somebody hit me with a hard rubber ball, right on top of the head. Ot was like someone hit me with a hammer.”
ex NYT Durso 10/14/77
Martin-Jackson Feud On the Road
Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson, star performers in the Yankees’ version of “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” escalated their soap opera into a major war of words today.
The latest episode began when Martin responded to Hackson’s remarks about the manager’s use of Catfish Hunter, and when Martin repeated his implication that Jackson had been inept against Paul Splittorff in KC.
“Why do we have to have all this kind of talk now when we’re trying to win the World Series?” Martin asked, angrily ripping the baseball cap from his head and swinging it onto the desk in his clubhouse office (in LA).
“If you can’t do your job, shut up. He’s got enough trouble playing right field without second-guessing the manager.”
“His job is to play right field and hit, and he’s getting paid a lot to do that. My job
is to manage, and I’m not getting paid a lot to do that. He’s a man of many moods, and it’s too bad he is. He’s putting pressure on himself. He’s better get two hits tomorrow night.”
“I think we found out this summer I’m running this ball club,” Martin continued.
The fiery Yankee manager also referred to the first Series game, when Jackson’s tardy fielding of a single to right field almost gave the Dodgers a run.
“Did you hear me criticize him the other night? When Rivers had to come all the way over and make the play? I didn’t say a word then. If I’m going to back him, why doesn’t he back me? What is this – a one way street? He’s got a lot of growing up to do.”
“Catfish couldn’t throw in September because of his illness. He did throw on the side. You’d think some people had enough trouble doing their own job without doing mine.”
“It’s just an overheated argument,” Munson said. “Reggie’s been struggling, and he’s like to be doing better. Billy just doesn’t realize he’s Mr. October.” (Good call by Munson!)
ex NYT Chass 10/14/77
The latest episode began when Martin responded to Hackson’s remarks about the manager’s use of Catfish Hunter, and when Martin repeated his implication that Jackson had been inept against Paul Splittorff in KC.
“Why do we have to have all this kind of talk now when we’re trying to win the World Series?” Martin asked, angrily ripping the baseball cap from his head and swinging it onto the desk in his clubhouse office (in LA).
“If you can’t do your job, shut up. He’s got enough trouble playing right field without second-guessing the manager.”
“His job is to play right field and hit, and he’s getting paid a lot to do that. My job
is to manage, and I’m not getting paid a lot to do that. He’s a man of many moods, and it’s too bad he is. He’s putting pressure on himself. He’s better get two hits tomorrow night.”
“I think we found out this summer I’m running this ball club,” Martin continued.
The fiery Yankee manager also referred to the first Series game, when Jackson’s tardy fielding of a single to right field almost gave the Dodgers a run.
“Did you hear me criticize him the other night? When Rivers had to come all the way over and make the play? I didn’t say a word then. If I’m going to back him, why doesn’t he back me? What is this – a one way street? He’s got a lot of growing up to do.”
“Catfish couldn’t throw in September because of his illness. He did throw on the side. You’d think some people had enough trouble doing their own job without doing mine.”
“It’s just an overheated argument,” Munson said. “Reggie’s been struggling, and he’s like to be doing better. Billy just doesn’t realize he’s Mr. October.” (Good call by Munson!)
ex NYT Chass 10/14/77
Thursday, October 13, 1977
O lost, and by the wind grieved, ghost, come back again – Thomas Wolfe
For a couple of days and nights now, it has almost seemed like old times- the Yankees and the Dodgers – with the D train an elbow-rubbing aprlor car for ticketholders as it coursed under the Harlem River to the Stadium stop at 161st Street. But it isn’t old times – even Joe DiMaggio has a hard time getting Yankee Stadium tickets.
The Yankees vs, the Dodgers – a match that once made the city stop in its tracks on October afternoons. It was the Bronx against Brooklyn, and all other allegiances were cancelled for the duration. It was Pee Wee Reese vs. Phil Rizzuto, Don Newcombe vs. Allie Reynolds, Red Barber vs. Mel Allen. It was fans lined up outside Yankee Stadium and Ebbets Field in all-night procession by the thousands. It was a city under the seige of baseball, and anyone who wasn’t interested had a week in October to play solitaire.
It is 36 years since Mickey Owen dropped that third strike, 22 since Johnny Podres beat the Yankees for the Dodgers first Series victory, 21 since Don Larsen pitched his perfect game, and a generation sice Walter O’Malley abandoned Ebbets Field for the gold mine of Chavez Ravine.
For those of us who gave up serious consideration of baseball with the passing of the Brooklyn Dodgers, this is a week for reminiscence at best, accompanied by a massive lack of interest in the outcome.
The baseball generation brought up on the Mets doesn’t know how to hate. But to those of us for whom Ebbets Field was a second home, the Yankees – even more than the Giants – were, and remain the enemy.
For, after years of futility in the National League, when the Dodgers finally won the pennant in 1941 it was the Yankees who ened our reverie and won the Series.
It was the same in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953 before Johnny Podres shut them out in the final game of the 1955 series. But then, the Yankees won again in 1956.
In 1941 the Dodgers were all that Brooklyn thought about, and when they won the pennant, they closed the schools, had a parade, and two million people showed up. The team promised to beat the Yankees.
But unlike the Mets, who knew how to finish miracles once begun, the Dodgers found ways to undo them. In 1941 the darkest moment came when Mickey Owen dropped the game-ending third strike and the Yankees poured four runs over in the ninth and won the game.
The Yankees won in 1947 despite heroics on the field from the Dodgers. The Yankees won again in 1949, and in1952, when we had barely recovered from Bobby Thomson’s home run of the year before – a hit that will live in infamy – it was Billy Martin (ah, for sweet revenge) who did it to us with a catch he never should have made.
The victory in 1955 was sweet, but its effect short-lived.
In 1963, when the Dodgers returnedf from Los Angeles, it was still possible to root because Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax and Johnny Podres (all Brooklyn heroes) helped destroy the Yankees.
Since then it hasn’t mattered.
ex NYT Schnurman 10/13/77
The Yankees vs, the Dodgers – a match that once made the city stop in its tracks on October afternoons. It was the Bronx against Brooklyn, and all other allegiances were cancelled for the duration. It was Pee Wee Reese vs. Phil Rizzuto, Don Newcombe vs. Allie Reynolds, Red Barber vs. Mel Allen. It was fans lined up outside Yankee Stadium and Ebbets Field in all-night procession by the thousands. It was a city under the seige of baseball, and anyone who wasn’t interested had a week in October to play solitaire.
It is 36 years since Mickey Owen dropped that third strike, 22 since Johnny Podres beat the Yankees for the Dodgers first Series victory, 21 since Don Larsen pitched his perfect game, and a generation sice Walter O’Malley abandoned Ebbets Field for the gold mine of Chavez Ravine.
For those of us who gave up serious consideration of baseball with the passing of the Brooklyn Dodgers, this is a week for reminiscence at best, accompanied by a massive lack of interest in the outcome.
The baseball generation brought up on the Mets doesn’t know how to hate. But to those of us for whom Ebbets Field was a second home, the Yankees – even more than the Giants – were, and remain the enemy.
For, after years of futility in the National League, when the Dodgers finally won the pennant in 1941 it was the Yankees who ened our reverie and won the Series.
It was the same in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953 before Johnny Podres shut them out in the final game of the 1955 series. But then, the Yankees won again in 1956.
In 1941 the Dodgers were all that Brooklyn thought about, and when they won the pennant, they closed the schools, had a parade, and two million people showed up. The team promised to beat the Yankees.
But unlike the Mets, who knew how to finish miracles once begun, the Dodgers found ways to undo them. In 1941 the darkest moment came when Mickey Owen dropped the game-ending third strike and the Yankees poured four runs over in the ninth and won the game.
The Yankees won in 1947 despite heroics on the field from the Dodgers. The Yankees won again in 1949, and in1952, when we had barely recovered from Bobby Thomson’s home run of the year before – a hit that will live in infamy – it was Billy Martin (ah, for sweet revenge) who did it to us with a catch he never should have made.
The victory in 1955 was sweet, but its effect short-lived.
In 1963, when the Dodgers returnedf from Los Angeles, it was still possible to root because Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax and Johnny Podres (all Brooklyn heroes) helped destroy the Yankees.
Since then it hasn’t mattered.
ex NYT Schnurman 10/13/77
It Was a ‘New York Night’ In and Out of the Stadium
It was a night, like every night in New York, of small battles and small victories. It was a World Series night at Yankee Stadium and the crowd that filled the stately park in the Bronx was simply New York shoehorned into a baseball field.
By the time Steve Garvey hit his homer in the ninth, the crowd had become restless and unruly. Firecrackers and smoke bombs were tossed from the stands onto the field and fights broke out in the seats. Some fans in the upper levels doused those below them with beer. The game was delayed several times as young fans raced across the field. (One fan slid across home plate in the ninth!)
ex NYT Eskenazi 10/13/77
By the time Steve Garvey hit his homer in the ninth, the crowd had become restless and unruly. Firecrackers and smoke bombs were tossed from the stands onto the field and fights broke out in the seats. Some fans in the upper levels doused those below them with beer. The game was delayed several times as young fans raced across the field. (One fan slid across home plate in the ninth!)
ex NYT Eskenazi 10/13/77
Wednesday, October 12, 1977
Yankes Top Dodgers in Opener 4-3
Blair’s single in the 12th Decides First World Series Contest Here
The faces were different and the names were different, but the drama and memoires were were the same last night when the New York Yankees beat back the Dodgers in 12 innings as the old rivals opened baseball’s 74th World Series in Yankee Stadium.
And for those people who suspected that the Yankees might have run out of gas, strength or rebound ability after a summer of feuding and rallying, the smask ending showed otherwise.
ex NYT Durso 10/12/77
The faces were different and the names were different, but the drama and memoires were were the same last night when the New York Yankees beat back the Dodgers in 12 innings as the old rivals opened baseball’s 74th World Series in Yankee Stadium.
And for those people who suspected that the Yankees might have run out of gas, strength or rebound ability after a summer of feuding and rallying, the smask ending showed otherwise.
ex NYT Durso 10/12/77
Tuesday, October 11, 1977
It Was an Exciting Day for New York: Yankee Fervor
The triumphant homecoming of the New York Yankees yesterday with their second consecutive American League pennant created a mood of excitement that had an inimitable New York City cachet.
There were unruly surges of thousands of baseball fans at the stadium for bleacher seats in which hundreds were thrown to the sidewalks, with many trampled, while ticket scalpers nearby flourished. (This mini-bleacher riot took place on the afternoon of the Commodores riot at MSG later in the evening).
A pregnant woman was rescued from the throng by police and taken to the front of the line where she bought tickets. “I was getting squashed. I was afraid I’d have the baby in the line.”
The police were angry at times, saying the Yankees should have opened their box office during the night instead of waiting for 9am when thousands were already 8 abreast for about 5,000 bleacher seats for each of the first two games.
Officer Robert Johnson, who was in charge of the few dozen officers at the stadium said of the scene: “This is the worst I’ve ever seen.” (See Commodores riot for the same words by another cop.)
Between 3000 and 4000 fans were at Newark Airport to greet the arriving Yankee flight from Kansas City at 4 AM shouting “We’re Number 1!” A mini-riot ensued and fans broke through police barracades and “charged across the field, with some pushing up to the landing ramp.” (Thousands of fans surrounding the Yankees charter plane ?!?)
At the stadium fans watched the final game at Stadium taverns and then broke for the ticket line when Fred Patek grounded into a double play to end the game.
The first fan was on line by 11:30pm. Scalpers were cuttingdeals left and right. One guy missed out on tickets because he went to Newark airport to greet the team before heading to the Stadium.
ex NYT Schumach 10/11/77
There were unruly surges of thousands of baseball fans at the stadium for bleacher seats in which hundreds were thrown to the sidewalks, with many trampled, while ticket scalpers nearby flourished. (This mini-bleacher riot took place on the afternoon of the Commodores riot at MSG later in the evening).
A pregnant woman was rescued from the throng by police and taken to the front of the line where she bought tickets. “I was getting squashed. I was afraid I’d have the baby in the line.”
The police were angry at times, saying the Yankees should have opened their box office during the night instead of waiting for 9am when thousands were already 8 abreast for about 5,000 bleacher seats for each of the first two games.
Officer Robert Johnson, who was in charge of the few dozen officers at the stadium said of the scene: “This is the worst I’ve ever seen.” (See Commodores riot for the same words by another cop.)
Between 3000 and 4000 fans were at Newark Airport to greet the arriving Yankee flight from Kansas City at 4 AM shouting “We’re Number 1!” A mini-riot ensued and fans broke through police barracades and “charged across the field, with some pushing up to the landing ramp.” (Thousands of fans surrounding the Yankees charter plane ?!?)
At the stadium fans watched the final game at Stadium taverns and then broke for the ticket line when Fred Patek grounded into a double play to end the game.
The first fan was on line by 11:30pm. Scalpers were cuttingdeals left and right. One guy missed out on tickets because he went to Newark airport to greet the team before heading to the Stadium.
ex NYT Schumach 10/11/77
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