31 Years Ago…Yesterday
Watching the Yankees take the first two games of the 2009 ALCS from the Los Angeles Angels got me thinking about another time when a Yankees team faced a team from “Los Angeles” in the post-season…where the home-team took the first two games of the seven-game series…and that would be the 1978 World Series between the Yankees and Dodgers.
In the 1978 World Series, the Dodgers took Games 1 and 2, at home, over the Yankees…like the Yankees have taken Games 1 and 2 of the 2009 ALCS, at home, against the Angels. I seem to recall Thurman Munson being a tad upset with the Dodgers in the way they conducted themselves in those wins. If memory serves correct, Munson thought that Davey Lopes had showboated, too much, on some homeruns in those games, running the bases with one-finger up in the air. At least I think that’s what went down…but, I confess, all these years later, I might have mangled the facts a bit…
In any event, when the Yankees took that Series back “home” in 1978 for Game 3, it all turned around. Down two games to none, in Game 3, Ron Guidry and Graig Nettles saved the Yankees bacon. And, in Game 4, Reggie Jackson stuck out his hip in a key spot to aid another Yankees win. Next, in Game 5, the Yankees pounded the ball and Jim Beattie, of all people, pitched like he was Christy Mathewson. In the end, after returning home for three games, the Yankees now had a three-two lead in games, heading into Game 6 of the Series.
And, Game 6, out in L.A., was more Yankees magic. Catfish Hunter threw the ball like a man who made a deal with the devil. Brian Doyle and Bucky Dent sprayed hits all over the field. And, the Yankees won…the game…and the World Series. By the way, that Game 6 of the 1978 World Series was played on October 17, 1978…which was 31 years ago, yesterday. Maybe that’s why it was on my mind?
Let’s hope the 2009 Los Angeles Angels don’t pull a 1978 New York Yankees in this seven-game post-season series. Game 3 of the 2009 ALCS is tomorrow, at 4 pm ET. Then again, I don’t see Jered Weaver and Chone Figgins pulling a “Ron Guidry and Graig Nettles”…at least…I hope not…
Ah, good old optimistic Lombardi.
Hey, why didn’t you just use 1981 as your example? Surely that works much better since you don’t have to flip the teams. Or did you forget about that one?
@ Weekly Journalist:
Too many bad memories from 1981. I tend to want to block Yankees post-season losses from my memory.
It was mainly Lopes wagging his “We’re #1″ finger in the air the first two games in LA. Next time you watch Game 3 when they play it on Yankees Classics, watch Lopes on the pivots at 2nd. No fewer than Chris Chambliss, Brian Doyle and Paul Blair all take him out with hard slides at 2nd.
Albeit it’s not Graig Nettles bulldozing Frank White at 2nd base in Game 4 of the 1977 ALCS, after Hal McRae’s cheap slide on Willie Randolph two days earlier – nevertheless the message want sent to Lopes, and by some of the lower key placid Yankees to boot.
@ 77yankees:
BTW, thought you might like this one, because of your handle:
http://waswatching.com/2007/07/08/77-yanks-jan-brady-champs/
Yeah, it was my first championship. I’m sure the 80s & 90s generation will view 1996 as I do 1977 down the road.
FWIW, it was my first one too.
1977 was my first one, too. I remember well game 3 in 1978. Most folks were expecting another shut-down performance from Guidry, but he was tired by the end of that year and was really never the same again (close, but not quite). Nettles was a wizard in the field, saving Guidry and the series. If he had hit just a little he would have won MVP. That man routinely made outstanding plays and was a joy to watch. Led the league in HR’s, too, in 1976.
Anyway, good memory Steve. And mid-October is the right time for the WS, not November.
Thing about Gid was, he had three 20 win seasons (1978, 1983 & 1985) The one common, was that Billy Martin was the manager for most of those wins. Billy had that knack for getting that extra out something of pitchers, even if he did ruin some of them for the long haul like in did in the early 80s with Oakland.