TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

October 14, 2003 – Holding a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning over the Florida Marlins with only 5 outs standing between them and their first World Series appearance since 1945, the Cubs fall apart after a fan, sitting along the left-field foul line at Wrigley Field, tries to catch a foul ball that is about to be caught by Cubs’ outfielder Moises Alou for the second out of the inning. The Cubs argued for interference, but umpire Mike Everitt ruled there was no fan interference because the ball had broken the plane separating the field of play from the stands.

With the count still at 3-and-2, Prior’s next pitch was wild. Castillo walked and Pierre advanced to third. The tying runs were aboard. Ivan Rodriguez, Florida’s Division Series hero, brought one in with a single on a two-strike curveball. Now leading by a score of 3-1 and with a man out, Prior could still escape if he could induce a groundball from Miguel Cabrera. The 20-year-old did exactly that. A tailor-made 6-4-3 double play if there ever was one. But surehanded shortstop Alex Gonzalez booted it. Safe all around.

Prior, on the other hand, was anything but safe. Derek Lee took his next offering and laced it to left field. Castillo and Rodriguez crossed the plate. Tied at three. A sacrifice fly by Jeff Conine, sandwiched between two intentional passes, gave the Marlins a lead they wouldn’t let go. To make sure of that, the offense continued to add on. By now, Prior’s sterling performance was but a memory. Kyle Farnsworth had come in relief, but gave little of it. Mordecai’s ivy-raiding double to left-center went between and beyond either outfielder’s reach and emptied the once-loaded bases. Pierre, the 11th (and second-to-last) batter to come up in this nightmarish half-inning for Chicago, hit a single to right that drove home the eighth run, five of which were unearned because of Gonzalez’s miscue.

Wrigley Field security staffers, worried for his safety, escorted Bartman into the bowels of the ballpark for the remainder of Florida’s 8-3 victory. They dressed him in disguise and waited until just about every depressed patron had departed the surrounding area before sending him off.2

“I had my eyes glued on the approaching ball the entire time and was so caught up in the moment that I did not even see Moises Alou, much less that he may have had a play,” Bartman said in a statement released the next day. “I am so truly sorry from the bottom of this Cubs fan’s broken heart.”

Parts of this article appears in “Wrigley Field: The Friendly Confines at Clark and Addison” (SABR, 2019), edited by Gregory H. Wolf. To read more stories from this book online, click here.

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October 14, 1965 – Game 7 1965 World Series. Sandy Koufax throws a 3 hit shutout on 2 days rest. After walking 2 in the 1st he tells catcher John Roseboro my arm is sore I can’t throw the curve. We’ll just blow them away..

Dodger manager Walt Alston was torn between starting Drysdale on normal rest or Koufax with only two days’ rest. He decided on the left-handed Koufax, figuring if needed he would use the right-handed Drysdale in relief, then go back to his left-handed relief ace Ron Perranoski. Koufax told announcer Vin Scullyin a post-game interview that he and Drysdale had come to the ballpark not knowing which would be on the mound. According to Koufax, the manager announced the decision purely in strategic terms regarding lefty vs. righty, saying he worded his announcement without even using the pitchers’ names, saying only that he thought he’d “like to start the left-hander.” The Twins went with Kaat, also starting on two days’ rest. Both managers had relief pitchers warming up as their starters began the game.

Koufax had trouble throwing his curveball for strikes but escaped a couple of early jams, including one in the third inning when Zoilo Versailles stole second base with one out, but was called back after batter Joe Nossek was ruled out for interference. Koufax effectively gave up on his curveball and pitched the late innings almost exclusively with fastballs, still baffling the hard-hitting Twins. In the fourth inning, Dodger left fielder Lou Johnson told Koufax that he would get him the only run he would need. Johnson promptly hit one off the left-field foul pole to give the Dodgers a 1–0 lead. Ron Fairly followed with a double and scored on a Wes Parker single. The two runs came on three consecutive pitches.

Knowing Kaat was on short rest, manager Mele pulled him quickly. Al Worthington, Johnny Klippstein, Jim Merritt, and Jim Perry combined to shut out the Dodgers for the rest of the game. The Twins threatened again in the fifth inning when they had runners on first and second with only one out. Versailles hit a hard grounder down the third base line that appeared to be going for a double. This could have ended Koufax’s day as Drysdale was warming up in the bullpen. But third baseman Jim Gilliam (who was often replaced late in games for defensive reasons) made a diving, backhanded stop and stepped on third for a force. Koufax bore down and got the third out. He ended up tossing a three-hit shutout, striking out ten in one of the greatest Game 7 pitching performances ever

October 14, 1972, At Riverfront Stadium Gene Tenace hits home runs in his first two World Series at-bats to lead the Oakland A’s to a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Game One.

Tenace, who went 1-for-17 in the ALCS, becomes the first player in history to hit two home runs in his first two at-bats in the Fall Classic. His second and fifth inning homers account for all of the A’s runs in the team’s 3-2 victory.

October 14, 1975, At Three Rivers Stadium the Cincinnati Reds take a 2-1 lead in the World Series with a controversial 6 – 5, 10-inning victory over the Boston Red Sox. In the 10th inning, Reds pinch-hitter Ed Armbrister attempts a sacrifice bunt and bounces the ball in front of the plate. Boston catcher Carlton Fisk, in an attempt to field the ball, collides with Armbrister and throws the ball into center field while trying to force Cesar Gerónimo at second base. Gerónimo goes to third base and later scores the game winner (On a Joe Morgan Single) as Armbrister moves to second. Home plate umpire Larry Barnett rules there is no interference despite heated protests by the Red Sox.

Lost because of the 10th inning, Dwight Evans tied the game with a 2 run homerun with 1 out in the 9th off Rawley Eastwick

October 14, 1969 Tommy Agee led off the game for the Mets with a home run off Jim Palmer, then saved at least five runs with his defense. With two out in the fourth and Oriole runners on first and third, Agee raced to the 396 foot sign in left-center and made a backhanded running catch of a drive hit by Elrod Hendricks. In the seventh, the Orioles had the bases loaded with two out, but Agee made a headfirst diving grab of a line drive hit by Paul Blair in right-center.

Ed Kranepool added a home run and Jerry Grote an RBI double for the Mets, while Gary Gentry pitched ​6 2⁄3 shutout innings and helped his own cause with a second inning two-run double. Nolan Ryan, making his only World Series appearance of his 27-year career, pitched the final ​2 1⁄3 innings (benefiting from Agee’s second catch) and earned a save.

October 14, 1985 — Ozzie Smith provides one of the most memorable moments in Cardinals history by hitting a dramatic homer to win Game 5 of the NLCS. The round-tripper hit off Tom Niedenfuer was the first left-handed home run of the Wizard’s career, which spans 3009 major league at-bats. Niedenfuer had given up just 19 homeruns over 344 innings.

October 14, 1992 — In Game 7 of the NLCS, pinch-hitter Francisco Cabrera delivers a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth, scoring the tying and winning runs for the Atlanta Braves in the seventh game of the National League Championship Series. Cabrera’s heroics give the Braves a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. When Sid Bream slide across the plate beating a throw from former teammate Barry Bonds.

The backup catcher had only three hits during the regular season.

October 14, 2006, at Comerica Park in Detroit, Tiger right fielder Magglio Ordonez slugs a three-run, walk-off homer off A’s closer Huston Street to win the American League pennant. The homer, Ordronez’s second of the game, gives Detroit a 6-3 victory and a four-game sweep of Oakland. It is Detroit’s first pennant since 1984, 22 years ago. he fans, who suffered through an historic 119 loss season just three years ago, but Jim Leyland was brought in to turn things around.

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