10/18/1973 – The Mets’ Jerry Koosman and Tug McGraw combined to three-hit the Oakland A’s and take 3-2 lead in the World Series. The A’s won that World Series in 7.
I miss the good old days. Referring to 1973 as the “good old days” is a bit of a stretch but back then the World Series meant something. The teams played within their own Division, not interleague, so when it came time for the playoffs, the teams in each Division earned the right to represent their Region, eventually the Pennant and a trip to the World Series. The American League vs the National League. The World Series truly represented the “best” of each League back then.
On June 12, 1997, Interleague play was introduced. The first MLB Interleague game took place between the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants in Arlington, Texas.
Another change in Major League Baseball was the addition of the Designated Hitter. It was first adopted by the American League in 1973 on a trial basis for three years. 50 years later we’re still stuck with it. The National League didn’t adopt it until 2022, making it universal in MLB. National League fans all knew it was coming but it didn’t make it more palatable. (See Previous Post on DH ~December 10, 2012 ~ refers to 1972:))
So much has happened in the past 50 years. The Giants won not only one or two but three World Series! And they’ll win again. In the meantime, let’s support our San Francisco Giants and all of our Major League Baseball Teams and be thankful for the entertainment they bring us each year, win or lose.
Any Niner fans out there? (I have a friend who’s asking ………:))
Note: This is a Repost of a Blog written back in 2010 but sentiment’s the same.
“I couldn’t see well enough to play when I was a boy, so they gave me a special job – they made me an umpire.” President of the United States, Harry S. Truman.
As a player I probably would have said the toughest position in baseball is catcher. I wasn’t particularly afraid of the ball, but when you’ve been beaned a couple times and missed a ball that was impossible to catch anyhow and the other team scores, you realize even when things are going right, they can still go really, really wrong. But looking at this as a spectator the toughest job has to be, without a doubt, the lowly umpire.
My first exposure to this was at age 10 watching my dad at my brother’s games giving the ump the going-over, beer in hand, standing up yelling obscenities and setting a stellar example for a couple of kids learning by example. Totally mortifying! So years later when I became the parent in the stands cheering my heart out in support of my little darlings at T-Ball I was very cognizant of these memories. Imagine my shock and humiliation when I was thrown out of a T-Ball game for, you guessed it, yelling at the umpire! The embarrassment is still with me.
So all of these memories came flooding back as I watched a replay of a Cleveland/Detroit infamous tag at first. The missed call denied the young pitcher the rarest of rare “perfect game”. This mornings sports headlines would have been all about Ken Griffey Jr’s retirement had this incident not occurred. Well maybe not. A perfect game for sure demands a certain amount of headlines. But no matter. History has been made and it won’t be changed.
I feel for the Tiger fans. I hope the Commissioner’s going to step in and make things right. And he should. It’s the right thing to do. But please, please don’t bring in the instant replay. For crying out loud this is baseball! What really strikes me about this scenario is the candid manner in which the umpire immediately spoke up about the matter on seeing the replay. But then, what else could he have done? (Now’s the time we probably should give this guy a name. He has, after all been a major league umpire for 22 years without any, well, almost any, controversy).
But I didn’t really want to talk about the umpire, or the kid who threw the unrealized perfect game. or instant replay. This story’s about the DETROIT TIGER FANS. What would baseball, or any sport for that matter, be without the fans? Today when the same players, same umpire(s) and the same fans sat for another round of Cleveland/Detroit baseball, the umpire Jim Joyce was introduced among a smattering of boos, it’s expected, always happens, not a surprise. But what was a surprise was the standing ovation and cheers that went up for this guy. I’m emotional just writing about it. And so was he. He had to wear sunglasses to hide the tears for a press conference later.
I’ll bet Jim Joyce didn’t get two hours sleep last night. As much as we love to razz the umps, they have the reputation of being the most honest trustworthy bunch of guys (a little nearsighted at times) but never ever do we believe they make a bad call “on purpose”. And for all those split second “how did they do it?” johnny-on-the spot calls, they get no special recognition. It’s their job and they love it and they do it better than anyone. Detroit Tiger fans know this. They know the umpire has the toughest job in baseball so they cut him a little slack and on they go to the next game. That’s what’s so great about baseball. The Detroit Tiger fans. A real Class Act…….representing the best of baseball ….. “back in 2010”!
“….The toughest call an Umpire has to make…. It’s having to throw a guy out of the game after you blew the hell out of the play.” American League Umpire Bill Kinnamon.
"I was the worst hitter ever. I never even broke a bat until last year when I was backing out of the garage." Lefty Gomez, Yankees pitcher.
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. ~George F. Will.
"Does Pete Rose hustle? Before the All Star game he came into the clubhouse and took off his shoes and they ran another mile without him." Hank Aaron.
More Baseball Quotes!
“You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.” - Jim Bouton
"I was such a dangerous hitter I even got intentional walks during batting practice." - Casey Stengel
"This isn't a job. This is a privilege, that's what this is!" - Mike Krukow, TV Commentator, on being at the ballpark each day.
"I've found that the knowledge of the game is usually in inverse proportion to the price of the seats." -Bill Veeck, Chicago White Sox owner.
"Derek Jeter's accomplishment puts Pete Rose's hits record in perspective. 3,000 hits is phenomenal. 4,000? Freakish!" - Anthony Castrovince via Twitter
"The best possible thing in baseball is winning the World Series. The second best thing is losing the World Series." - Tommy Lasorda
"You teach me baseball and I’ll teach you relativity.... You will learn about relativity faster than I learn baseball." - Albert Einstein
"Baseball is a game of race, creed, and color. The race is to first base. The creed is the rules of the game. The color? Well, the home team wears white uniforms, and the visiting team wears gray."
Joe Garagiola
GARLICFRIESANDBASEBALL is written by a long-time fan who simply loves the game. I write my own articles (hence the grammar and occasional misspellings). If I include an article from another source, credit is given to that source and will include links when appropriate. The opinions are my own.
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