By now, you know the story: The Cardinals, the clear favorites in the series, won the first two games and split the next two, claiming a seemingly-insurmountable 3-1 series lead. No baseball team had ever come back from 3-1 to win the World Series. The Royals won Game 5 at Busch Stadium, pushing the series back to Kansas City, and forcing a Game 6.

Everyone remembers Game 6 for “The Call,” a controversial but, ultimately, not that critical bad call in the bottom of the ninth (it was quantified by Royals writer Aaron Stilley here, and yesterday, on the 25^th anniversary of Game 6, by Bill Ivie here and Adam Shupe here). Few fans still remember that the Royals were hosed on a call earlier in Game 6 when Frank White was called out on a stolen base attempt. But here was the difference: Royals manager Dick Howser moved on and focused on the rest of the series, while Cardinals skipper Whitey Herzog chose to focus on the bad call and hang the Cardinals’ ultimate loss on it. I’m not saying Whitey Herzog is a bad manager – he’s a former Royal, and a Hall of Famer, for crying out loud. But in that seven-game stretch in 1985, Whitey succumbed to the pressure and was out-managed by Dick Howser.

The Royals, of course, won Game 6, and forced a Game 7.

Many fans say the Cardinals simply rolled over and gave up in Game 7, while others claim the Cards lost because infamous umpire Don Denkinger was behind the plate that game. It’s hard to argue, though, with two facts: first, the Royals’ offense put up 11 runs against Cardinal pitching, led by Hall of Famer George Brett, and second, Royals ace Bret Saberhagen pitched a brilliant complete-game shutout to secure a victory by the score of 11-0.

To this day, the end of Game 7 – Saberhagen and Brett embracing on the pitcher’s mound – is undoubtedly the greatest moment in Kansas City Royals history.

And Royals fans should be proud of that. Some franchises haven’t won a single World Series title, while others won their last long before 1985.

While we should be able to look back with pride at 1985, fans should also be asking: When will we win another one?

(Even fans of the Yankees, a franchise that has won an astounding 27 World Series titles, or more than a fifth of all the World Series trophies ever awarded, ask that question.)

Since 1985, the Royals have taken a long and often heartbreaking journey to rock bottom.

In the late ‘80s, the Royals were a good, and often great, baseball team. They contended for a title every year, and posted a winning record every season except 1986. Then, in the early 1990s, five events occurred, which I believe helped lead to the Royals’ downfall:

1990: Eight-time Gold Glove winner Frank White retires

1990: General manager John Scheurholz leaves, taking his winning tradition to the Atlanta Braves

1991: The team trades two-time Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen to the New York Mets

1993: Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett retires

1993: Team owner Ewing Kauffman dies

The Brett and White retirements are not, in themselves, bad things – both players were at the end of great careers, and keeping them on the roster would have made the team worse. But losing the two most recognizable players in team history weas detrimental to the Royals’ culture. The Royals should have tried to do more to hang on to Scheurholz, and his departure was a major blow to the team. Perhaps Scheurholz doesn’t trade away their best pitcher in a feeble attempt to improve the offense.

The biggest blow of all was Kauffman’s death. Ewing Kauffman wasn’t a perfect owner (he allowed Scheurholz to leave, after all), but he was the heart and soul of the Royals, and the lifeblood of Kansas City. The effect of his death, and the team’s subsequent sale, is immeasurable.

The Royals produced mixed results in the early 1990s, posting winning records in ’91, ’93 and strike-shortened 1994. But after the strike, the Royals completely fell apart.

Since 1994, the Royals have had fifteen (!) losing seasons, including four seasons with 100 or more losses. And since 1994, the Royals have had one winning season.

One.

And that season, 2003, under manager Tony Pena, is largely considered a fluke.

I was born in 1979. Some of my earliest memories are the Royals winning the 1985 World Series, including Saberhagen’s Game 7 gem. By the time I was really old enough to understand what baseball meant, the Royals were on the downhill slide.

For two-thirds of my life, my favorite baseball team has been terrible.

But I still remember fondly the title we won in 1985.

And am I hopeful for the future?

You bet I am.

By many accounts, and not just in Kansas City, the Royals have the best minor league system in all of baseball. We also have a general manager in Dayton Moore who has not had success at the major league level yet, but he is largely responsible for building that farm system.

And under whom did Dayton Moore learn the game? John Scheurholz.

You bet I’m hopeful.

The Royals have some impressive young bats and arms coming up through the system, bats and arms that could make an impact on the big league level as soon as next year, bats and arms that will be in Kansas City in full force by 2012 and 2013, and bats and arms that will continue to come up beyond that.

The Royals are in a position to be the strongest team in the AL Central in a few years.

My team won the World Series in 1985, twenty-five years ago, and since then they have appeared in the postseason a grand total of zero times.

But I have hope. I have all the hope a fan needs. This team is going to be good. In a few years, this team could even be great.

And until then, we’ll always have 1985.

Matt Kelsey is a Royals writer and the content editor for I-70 Baseball. He can be reached at mattkelsey@i70baseball.com.

Although Herzog once described the locker room after that Game 6 as the most despondent one he had ever sat in, the Cardinals would eventually recover from this loss. It would not be in 1986; they finished 3 games under .500. Not that it would have mattered, because in 1986 the New York Mets won 108 games, tying the 1975 Cincinnati Reds for the third most wins in a season in NL history.

It would be 1987. That Cardinal team sprinted out of the gate, opening a 9-game lead over Montreal at the All-Star Break. They would stumble down the stretch, entering a key September series with New York clinging to a 1.5 game lead. But they took two of three, won the division, then held off the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS (thanks to back-to-back shutouts in Games 6 and 7) to reach the World Series.

Sadly that series ended like the one two years before, although the Cardinals took a different route to get there. In the first Series where the home team won every game, the Cardinals returned to Minneapolis with a 3-2 lead but lost Games 6 and 7. Even more excruciating, the Cardinals held early leads in both those games (5-2 after 4.5 innings in Game 6, and 2-1 at the same point in Game 7) but could not hold off the Twins. It would be their last World Series appearance for 17 years.

Mark McGwire

The 1987 team was also Herzog’s last foray into the post-season as a manager. The 1989 edition scrapped and clawed, but were unable to catch the Cubs. From there the club entered a mini-Dark Age of mediocre teams and bad personnel decisions. But like the Phoenix, the Cardinals would rise from the ashes of those early 90′s teams. Hiring Walt Jocketty before the 1995 season signaled the end of bad personnel decisions. Hiring Tony LaRussa before the 1996 season foretold the end of mediocre play on the field. The Cardinals surprisingly won their division in 1996, and although they sank back into mediocrity from 1997-1999, the acquisition of Mark McGwire helped keep fans interested. Once the new millennium started, the Cardinals embarked on a period of sustained superior performance unprecedented in Cardinal history.

Those of us who lived through that 1985 World Series will never forget it, but it did not haunt the Cardinals like, for instance, trading away Babe Ruth seemed to haunt the Boston Red Sox. The Cardinals recovered, and ultimately returned to their rightful place among the National League’s elite teams.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals

Game 7 – October 27, 1985

Location: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

Attendance: 41,658

Recap: The Kansas City Royals came back from a 3-1 deficit in the 1985 World Series to win it all, culminating in a dominating 11-0 victory in Game 7. It was a battle of aces – Kansas City’s Bret Saberhagen against the Cardinals’ John Tudor. Both pitchers had been the driving forces of their teams earlier in the series, but in Game 7, only one reigned surpreme. Tudor was knocked out of the game early, giving up five runs in only 2.1 innings, including a second-inning home run to Darryl Motley that ended up being the winning hit. The Cardinals ended up using seven pitchers in the game, one more than the Royals used the entire series. One of those Cardinal pitchers, Joaquin Andujar, was ejected for arguing ball-and-strike calls with home plate umpire Don Denkinger, who made a controversial bad call in Game 6, and St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog also got the boot. Meanwhile, the Royals put up 14 hits on the Cardinals’ weakened pitching staff, including a four-hit game for George Brett. Saberhagen gave up only five hits and threw a complete-game shutout. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Andy Van Slyke smacked a fly ball to right field, and the ball settled in Darryl Motley’s glove, giving the Royals their first and only World Series title.

Line Score:

TEAM R H E

St. Louis 0 5 0

Kansas City 11 14 0

Winning pitcher: Bret Saberhagen

Losing pitcher: John Tudor

Notables: Besides Motley’s second inning home run, only one of the Royals’ hits was for extra bases, a double by Lonnie Smith; Kansas City first baseman Steve Balboni smacked two singles, scored two runs and drove in two RBIs; Motley was 3 for 4 with three RBIs; although Tudor gave up five runs in the first three innings, the real disaster struck for the Cardinals in the fifth, when a multitude of relief pitchers gave up six runs to the Royals; Willie Wilson had two hits, a run, an RBI and a stolen base for KC; no Cardinals batter recorded multiple hits or an extra-base hit; Ken Dayley pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game for St. Louis.

Matt Kelsey is a Royals writer and the content editor for I-70 Baseball. He can be reached at mattkelsey@i70baseball.com.

Wait, what?

Allow me to break away from my Cardinal brethren and stand out on the limb here and say that the opening statement of this article may be the biggest lie in Cardinal Nation.

Cardinal fans will always remember that call. The call at first base is emblazoned in my mind. The images, the commentary, the arguments and the replays play vividly in my memories. I was angry when it happened. I am still angry now. I think it is time for fans of both teams to live in reality here.

First of all, it was not a deciding out. It is not like “The Call” would have ended the game and handed the Cardinals the championship. The Cardinals had every opportunity to finish that inning, produce in the next inning, or show up at all for game seven of the series. They failed.

Secondly, the Cardinals were a young ball club, and they were subject to the mistakes on the field causing things to unravel. If that play would have ended in an error, would they be so adamant about that being the turning point in the game? Would any player on that field be put through the scrutiny that the umpire, Don Denkinger, was?

Finally, the Royals seized a moment in time to overcome adversity and put together a win. That, by definition, is what a championship team does.

Perhaps it is time to bury “The Call.” It is time for Royals fans to embrace a World Series win and continue to remind Cardinal fans that, when it came down to a Championship, they had a better team in 1985.

Cardinal fans can take solace in the fact that other than 1985, their team has been better since the existince of two teams in the state of Missouri came in to being.

When it comes down to it, Jeffery Maier, Steve Bartman, Don Denkinger and countless other bystanders on the baseball field should not be held responsible for the loss or win of a baseball game. Ultimately, it comes down to the players on the field being able to produce the results a professional is paid to produce at the end of the day.

After all, we all know that the Cardinals lost the World Series in 1985 because of a freak accident with a tarp in the National League Championship Series. Rookie of the Year Vince Coleman would have made all the difference.

But I could probably go on for quite a while with multiple excuses.

It is time to simply congratulate the Kansas City Royals on a phenomenal 1985 season.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals

Game 6 – October 26, 1985

Location: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

Attendance: 41,628

Recap: This game is remembered for “The Call,” an infamous blown call by umpire Don Denkinger in the ninth. But few fans now remember another blown call that went the Cardinals’ way: in the fourth inning, Royals second baseman Frank White was called out attempting to steal second base, even though replays showed he beat the tag (the next batter hit a single, meaning White may have scored if the call had been correct). The Cardinals scored the first run of the game in the eighth, and with a 1-0 lead the Cardinals progressed to the bottom of the ninth with the championship hanging in the balance. Kansas City manager Dick Howser sent pinch hitter Jorge Orta to the plate to lead off the inning against Todd Worrell. Orta hit a squibbler down the first base line to Jack Clark, and Clark flipped the ball to Worrell covering first. Worrell beat Orta to the bag by a step, but umpire Denkinger called Orta safe. The next batter, Steve Balboni, hit a routine pop-up in foul territory, but the catch was bungled by Clark and catcher Darrell Porter. Balboni then hit a single, advancing Orta to first. When Jim Sundberg tried to bunt the runners over, a quick-thinking Worrell threw to third and got the lead runner (Orta), leaving a runner on first and second with one out. But Porter allowed a passed ball, and the runners advance. Pinch hitter Hal McRae was walked to set up the double play. With the bases loaded, pinch hitter Dane Iorg hit a single to right. Onix Concepcion, running for Balboni, scored, and Sunberg slid around Porter’s tag for the winning run.

Line Score:

TEAM R H E

St. Louis 1 5 0

Kansas City 2 10 0

Winning pitcher: Dan Quisenberry

Losing pitcher: Todd Worrell

Notables: The Royals piled on 10 hits in the game, despite scoring only two runs; pinch hitter Brian Harper knocked in the only run for the Cardinals; The Cardinals’ Danny Cox and Kansas City’s Charlie Leibrandt started the game, and both pitched extremely well: Cox gave up no earned runs and struck out eight in seven innings, while Leibrandt gave up a single run in 7.2 innings; according to reports, a bad coincidence added insult to injury for the Cardinals: in preparation of their pending victory, the team’s locker room was filled with champagne on ice – and the champagne was waiting for them when the Cardinals walked into the locker room after the loss.

Tomorrow: A recap of Game 7.

Matt Kelsey is a Royals writer and the content editor for I-70 Baseball. He can be reached at mattkelsey@i70baseball.com.

“One call, that’s all. When fans reflect on the all-Missouri World Series between St. Louis and Kansas City in 1985, first base umpire Don Denkinger is certain to be a focal point in the conversation.”

Emotions ran wild that night. I’m not sure anyone involved could predict how fresh the passion would still feel a quarter of a century later. This offseason the St. Louis Cardinals held a Baseball Writer’s Banquet, with Denkinger in attendance as a guest, seated next to Todd Worrell. I can only imagine what that conversation was like.

Joe Posnanski was in attendance and recalled the scene in a Sports Illustrated article, “When he was introduced at the banquet, he was booed. I suppose an announcer might call them “good natured boos.” I’m not a boo-ologist. They sounded like regular boos to me.

“There was quiet while Denkinger spoke and the quiet followed by polite applause — everyone could admire the man for appearing. But as Denkinger walked out of the Hall, I heard this exchange:

“It’s nice that he came.”

“Whatever. He still blew the World Series for us.”

The fact is throughout history the fans and media have searched for scapegoats to give salvation to their favorite players. What is truly lost when depicting a seven game series on one call are the managers, players, and plays made.

Throughout the years fans have attempted to quantify just how costly Denkinger’s mistake was. Fellow I-70 Baseball blogger Aaron Stilley produced a well researched and interesting piece about quantifying “The Call.” For everyone involved though, it seems a play like this can’t be put into numbers. It’s an unquantifiable spark; I’m not sure how to measure momentum or confidence.

Momentum is a huge factor in every sport. Baseball provides a unique tension in between plays, in between pitches, which especially in the postseason can’t be matched. It allows everyone involved to reset and hold their breath in anticipation for what’s to come. The great thing about it, is just when you think the tension, or anxiety, is about to boil over the top, somehow it is delayed. The pitching coach takes a quick scamper to the mound, a batter steps out with dust in his eye, a pitcher steps off the slab to compose himself.

Ballplayers are taught from an early age the importance of hustle. “It’s a game of inches,” they say. The best players, or at least most respected, are those who always run out a ground ball and always back up the play.

Game Five of the 2010 ALCS between the Rangers and Yankees provides us a perfect example. The Rangers trailed the Yankees 3-2 in the top of the sixth. Nelson Cruz is on first with one dead. Ian Kinsler hits a deep fly ball to center field, forcing Curtis Granderson to range deep into the gap. Cruz tags at first and easily beats Granderson’s throw, a fairly unnoticed play by those in attendance and watching from home.

In reality, it resulted in ‘the spark’ I spoke about previously. Next, Joe Girardi calls for an intentional walk to left-handed David Murphy, who had taken A.J. Burnett deep earlier in the year. Bengie Molina steps in and torches Burnett’s gas can with a dinger landing in the left field seats. It put the game out of reach, maybe the series.

Who’s to blame?

Surely Yankees fans blame Burnett. The New York media will second guess Girardi’s decision to walk Murphy and leave Burnett in to face Molina. Molina will get all the praise in Arlington, but in reality none of it would have ever happened if Cruz hadn’t tagged up.

The fact is a baseball game, even more so a series, can’t be measured on one play. Baseball is a game of constantly moving parts. So many elements go into a single play. When those plays are intertwined with the aspects of the play’s before and after the exercise in second guessing becomes futile. It is an infamous pastime for fans and the media alike, but any ball player will tell you playing the “what if?” is a sure path to an exit from the game.

This sort of perspective shift is what drives fans and the media. A devoted passion to the ballclub is what creates these scapegoats. Fans have invested their emotions so much when things don’t go their way; someone is needed to take the blame (see Steve Bartman, Jeffery Maier, Bill Buckner). These feelings go against everything players are taught.

You constantly hear coaches or broadcasters talking about how players who have made an error ‘need to move on, because the next one is coming to them.’ It takes me back to an adage I always remembered thinking about as a hitter. One’s for me, one’s for you (the pitcher), and one’s for Blue. In other words, I’m gonna get three strikes, one will be a pitcher’s pitch, one will be a boarderline call from the umpire, and one will be a pitch to hit. Obviously every at-bat is different, but this was something which helped keep my mind right as a hitter.

Human error has always been a part of the game; this is one of the things that makes baseball great. ESPN’s ‘Outside the Lines’ conducted a study of 184 games from June 29 to July 11 this season and reviewed every call made. They determined, “Of the close plays, 13.9 percent remained too close to call, with 65.7 percent confirmed as correct and 20.4 percent confirmed as incorrect.” Although it is a small sample size, this research suggests umpires miss one out of every five bang-bang plays, or an average of one and a half per game.

Denkinger may have missed the call, but odds are it wasn’t the only missed call in Game Six, let alone the entire series.

What we are left with 25 years later, is a World Series cadaver to dissect. Even though the series lasted seven games, statistically the Royals dominated. Kansas City outhit the Cardinals 68 to 40, outscored them 28-13. The Royals swiped five more bags and had an OPS over 200 points higher.
Meanwhile Royals hurlers walked ten less batters, resulting in 14 less earned runs allowed than St. Louis. Kansas City posted an insane WHIP at 0.935 over the series compared to the Cards’ 1.565, all while using five less pitchers than St. Louis needed.

So who deserves the accolades or the blame?

Royals fans will tell you the reason they won the Series was starting pitching headlined by Bret Saberhagen and timely hitting.

Cardinals fans will blame Denkinger.

Willie McGee went off in 1985 (.353/.384/.503, 26 2B, 18 3B, 10 HR, 56 SB), earning the NL MVP. McGee led off in the series, followed by Ozzie Smith and Tom Herr in Whitey Herzog’s lineup. Smith hit .276, with 54 RBIs, 70 runs, and 31 SB, while Herr produced a .302 batting average with 110 RBIs, 97 runs, and 31 Sb. A formidable top of the lineup which was good enough for 101 regular season wins.

In the ’85 Series the three combined for only 13 hits, five runs, two RBIs, two stolen bases and one home run. The lack of production from the hitters the Cardinals relied on all season was obvious. Why not blame Willie, Ozzie, and Tommy?

Todd Worrell was the pitcher who got tagged for the infamous loss. Worrell had Jorge Orta in a 0-2 hole, but failed to put him away. Instead he caught too much of the plate which allowed Orta’s ground ball to Jack Clark. Worrell went 0-2 to the next hitter, Steve Balboni, as well. Once again Worrell made an 0-2 mistake and allowed a single to center. Eventually, Worrell fell behind Dane Iorg and gave up another rocket to right to seal the deal. Why not blame Worrell?

During the bottom of the ninth first baseman Jack Clark had a play on a foul pop-up, but misplayed the ball. Clark later admitted it was a play which he should have made. He was still seething from Denkinger’s call a few moments prior. Later in the inning with runners on first and second base, catcher Darrell Porter mishandled a Worrell delivery, causing a passed ball. The runners moved up to second and third, forcing Whitey Herzog to intentionally walk Hal McRae. Why not blame Clark and Porter?

John Tudor, the Cardinal’s ace, pitched well in his first two appearances in the series. In his Game Seven performance though, he couldn’t make it out of the third inning. Tudor walked four and gave up five earned runs, including Darryl Motley’s two run dinger in the second inning. Why not blame Tudor?

Whitey Herzog was the Cardinals’ beloved manager who had turned them into an aggressive base stealing machine. With the game on the line in Game Six, though, Herzog opted for Worrell, a 25 year old rookie who had only 21 big league innings under his belt. He also decided the best option for Game Seven was Tudor making his third start in the Series. Why not blame Herzog?

While the Royals rotation got most of the publicity for the Series, the Cardinals provided a stellar staff. St. Louis had two 20 game winners, Tudor and Joaquin Andujar. Andujar threw 269.2 innings going 21-12 with 112 SO during the regular season.

In Game Three of the World Series though, Andujar couldn’t make it past the fourth inning, giving up four runs on nine hits. This was the only start for Andujar; he didn’t see the field again until Game Seven was already out of reach. Why not blame Andujar?

During the World Series, the Cardinals were without one of their most potent weapons, NL Rookie of the Year Vince Coleman. The speedster swiped 110 bags in the regular season. On an overcast night during the NLCS though, Coleman was nearly swallowed whole by the automatic tarp at Busch Stadium.

Cardinals’ third baseman Terry Pendleton stated, “I was just turning around [when] I heard this scream and the thing just swallowed him up.”

Tito Landrum was responsible for taking over in left field. He hit .360 for the series, but couldn’t provide the spark on the base paths like Coleman could. Why not blame the killer tarp or its operator?

One play, one decision, will never decide a game, or series. Even if fans wanted to point to one play which defined the game, Denkinger’s call wouldn’t be it. Stilley concluded in “Quantifying the Call” Orta’s single caused a 22% swing in WE (win expectancy). According to Baseball Reference using WE, Orta’s single wasn’t even one of the top five most significant plays in the game. The list reads as follows:

1. Iorg’s line drive single to right field for the win.

2. Brian Harper’s single in the eight to give the Cards the lead.

3. Darrell Porter’s passed ball.

4. Jim Sundberg’s sac bunt.

5. Steve Balboni’s single to center in the ninth.

In the end, the life threatening voicemails and letters Cardinals fans provided Denkinger were uncalled for. Since then, the Cardinals have continued their storied baseball history, making nine postseason appearances and relinquishing the title in 2006. The Royals haven’t sniffed the postseason since the I-70 Series. Dwelling on one call 25 years ago is a fruitless endeavor. Cardinals fans should enjoy their past and present successes, while Royals fans deal with ‘The Curse of Don Denkinger.’

I could certainly rattle off a whole number of things which have changed in 25 years to bring perspective to the length of time it’s been since 1985. Instead I’d like to focus on how the game has changed. Specifically, how the fantastic seven game series we all remember, likely should have ended prior to Game 7. No, I’m not talking Denkinger. I’m talking relief pitchers.

Specifically, I’m talking about Game 2. The Royals had lost their home-field advantage by losing Game 1 at Kauffman by a score of 3-1. Winning Game 2 before hitting the road to St. Louis was seen as paramount to their goal of becoming World Champions.

Charlie Leibrandt

Charlie Leibrandt was taking the hill as the starter. He was 28 and was having the best year he would ever have. He had a 2.69 ERA and came in 5^th in the Cy Young voting. The Royals needed him to do what he had done all year – put the Royals in a position to take this “must win” game. Leibrandt gave the team and the fans exactly that. He was absolutely dealing that night. A single by Willie Wilson in the bottom of the fourth inning, followed up by a pair of doubles by George Brett and Frank White put the Royals ahead 2-0. Usually a two-run lead seems precarious, but not on that night. The score remained the same through eight innings. Leibrandt had allowed only two hits and struck out six.

In baseball circa 2010, with a two run lead going into the ninth inning, most fans, announcers and managers are thinking “time to bring in the closer”. In fact, it wasn’t too different in 1985. Managers brought in their closers late in games when the score was close. It wasn’t as common as it is today, but it also wasn’t exactly a ground breaking bullpen move.

Dick Howser, the Royals Manager had a decision to make after the 8^th inning. Leibrandt was dealing, but could he do it for three more outs? Dan Quisenberry, the AL leader in saves and owner of a 2.37 ERA had only walked 16 batters in 129 innings. However, Quisenberry had appeared in four of the seven games in the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, and he hadn’t fared well. He’d pitched 4 innings and given up 3 earned runs. He led all relievers in innings during the regular season and pitched four times in seven games during the ALCS. It’s possible he had been over-worked, but maybe Howser relied too much on a small sample size. He possibly put too much stock in a couple of rough outings against the Blue Jays.

While the use of relievers in 1985 was common late in games, it was still commonplace to see pitchers throw complete games. Leibrandt had eight complete games in 1985, so he wasn’t a stranger to that 9^th inning. However he wasn’t very effective in them. In the nine games during the 1985 regular season in which he pitched, his ERA in the 9^th inning was 6.14. It’s only 7.1 innings, so again we run into the sample size issue, but he wasn’t really effective in the eighth inning either, posting a 4.40 ERA and an opponent’s batting average of .333 in 14.1 innings pitched.

It was one of those gut-instinct moments for Dick Howser. Does he run out the pitcher who is just rolling along, but tends to run out of gas in the last innings? Does he go to the closer, who dominated during the regular season but was having some troubles in the post season? It wasn’t a particularly unique moment; those are the kinds of decisions that managers are faced with all the time. However, in this case, the wrong decision could mean losing a championship.

Dan Quisenberry might have been a better option

Howser ultimately decided to go with Leibrandt and hope he could get the last three outs with a two run lead. The first batter, Willie McGee doubled to left field. Dick Howser might have questioned himself at that very moment. Ozzie Smith then grounded out and Tommy Herr flied out. All the Royals needed to take a two game lead in the World Series was a single out. The decision to leave Leibrandt in had worked pretty well up to that point. Then, a single by Jack Clark scored McGee and a double by Tito Landrum brought back the unease.

The tying run was now on third base, 90 feet away from resetting the score. Leibrandt walked Cesar Cedeno and the bases were loaded. Again, Dick Howser had to choose to either bring in his closer or let Leibrandt finish the game. He elected to let Leibrandt pitch to Terry Pendleton with the go-ahead run on second base. Pendleton hit a base clearing double to left field, the Cardinals had suddenly taken a two run lead, and the best relief pitcher in Royals history was sitting on the bench. The Cardinals took care of business in the bottom of the ninth, and suddenly, the Royals were down two games to none and had lost both games at home.

After the game Dick Howser said “I thought Charlie was in complete command.” It was a gut call for him at that moment, and it ended up being the wrong one. With the Cardinals in control of the series, lots of heat fell on the manager for his decision. In the moment, when all you need are a couple of outs, managers can tend to ignore the percentages and put their faith in their feel of the game. It’s something that’s as old as baseball and is what can make the game so great and so frustrating. Royals fans were seriously concerned about the World Series, but without that bad decision by Howser, we don’t get that fantastic (for Royals fans) Game 7. So, thanks Dick, for making that call. In the end it actually worked out better. Could you imagine the 1985 World Series without Bret Saberhagan taking the mound for Game 7?

About a month after the defection of the 32-year old Sutter to the Braves, the Cardinals unexpectedly fired general manager Joe McDonald, a close Herzog confidant from the Mets organization, who Whitey imported in ’81, shortly after accepting Gussie Busch’s deal to take over control of the team.

Suddenly, the front office now also appeared to be a mess; to the casual observer, the Cardinals organization was a complete disaster, just two months before spring training was due to commence. I must admit, I was not at all optimistic about the team’s direction, as I glumly anticipated another season of futility. I think most of Cardinal Nation shared that pessimistic mind-set. Needless to say, the media had a field day with all the turmoil, and who could blame them for reporting the gory details of a crumbling, once-proud organization?

Gradually, as the winter of ’85 progressed, good things started happening; on January 23, the team signed a relatively unknown free-agent, Mike LaValliere, to a contract. Nobody really seemed to notice or care; the big news would happen a little over a week later.

If you’re a Cardinals fan, February 1, 1985 is a date that will be fondly recalled as the turning point in the team’s mid-1980s fortune. That date has always put a smile on my face as I sit back and reflect upon its wonderful significance over the years.

February 1, 1985 was the date the Cards swung a deal with the unsuspecting San Francisco Giants, essentially trading a bunch of worthless players for the player who would be the offensive catalyst for a squad that would be attending two of the three next World Series engagements.

The player: Jack Clark, aka “Jack the Ripper.”

Jack Clark

The disposable players the Cards dispatched to San Fran: David Green, Dave LaPointe, Gary Rajsich, and Jose Uribe. Uribe turned out to be a pretty decent player for the Giants; the other guys didn’t pan out so well. As it would turn out, Clark would only spend three mostly glorious seasons in St Louis; but he is to this day, still a huge fan favorite, and rightfully so. I love him!

To me, and most of the other Cards fans I knew, our team had become an automatic contender in the good old National League – East for the upcoming season; now, I could hardly wait for Opening Day.

In the meantime, Dal Maxvill was hired as general manager on February 25, giving further stability to the organization. In early April, they swung a couple of additional deals that seemed rather inconsequential at the time, but would prove to be definite winners for the club, short-term and long-term. The first deal brought future “folk hero” Jose Oquendo over from the Mets, and he has been with the organization ever since, first as an amazingly versatile utility player, then later on as a coach and possible managerial candidate, if Tony La Russa ever decides to quit his day job.

The second deal brought pitcher Bill Campbell and infielder Ivan DeJesus over from the Phillies, in a move that shored up the bullpen a bit and gave them another valuable utility player to lend further stability on the infield. DeJesus was rock solid for the Redbirds in ’85, doing stellar work whenever called upon to start a game or two, providing his share of clutch hits for the team, especially down the stretch. I’m not so sure the Cardinals would have survived the strong challenge from the New York Mets that year, without DeJesus’ solid play and timely hitting.

As Opening Day approached, I felt good about the team’s chances for postseason play as I reviewed the new, improved roster. Not only did the offense look much better with Clark now batting cleanup, but the addition of lefty John Tudor (acquired from Pittsburgh for George Hendrick) gave the Cards another quality starter. What impressed me about Tudor was the fact that he spent a number of years pitching quite well for the Boston Red Sox, who play half their games in a right-handed hitter’s paradise – Fenway Park. I felt the change of venue would certainly work in his favor; that would turn out to be a huge understatement.

The rest of the baseball establishment did not share my optimism about the Cardinals; in fact, most “experts” predicted a last place finish for St Louis, proving that most “experts” are “morons” (except me).

After the Cardinals lost the first four games of the season, the experts appeared to be right; the team still looked shaky, and to add insult to injury, one of their best players – Willie McGee – got banged up running into a wall (trying to catch a ball that was well on its way to leaving the yard for a home run). Forced to tap into their farm system, Dal Maxvill called up rookie Vince Coleman to fill in for the injured McGee; this “temporary” reserve player, of course, never returned to the minors, and would go on to win the National League’s Rookie of the Year Award, highlighted by a NL rookie record 110 stolen bases for the Runnin’ Redbirds. Coleman was the final piece to the offensive puzzle, giving the team the ability to score by utilizing speed to scratch out runs, almost at will.

After that dubious 0-4 start, the Cardinals gradually started their climb out of the division cellar, towards respectability. The much maligned bullpen was starting to pitch exceptionally well, as a unit. One night, Jeff Lahti might be called upon to get the save; the next night, it might be Ken Dayley; a third night, perhaps it would be Bill Campbell. “The Bullpen by Committee” was created, almost by accident, but they always seemed to get the job done, game in and game out.

Meanwhile, the starting pitching – anchored by Joaquin Andujar, Danny Cox, and newcomer John Tudor – was emerging as one of the elite rotations in the league; Tudor, who began the season poorly, turned things around when a buddy of his tipped him off about a mechanical flaw in his delivery, after watching him pitch in mid-May against Bruce Sutter’s Atlanta Braves on WTBS. Tudor lost that game, but quickly got his act together for the remainder of the season, hardly ever losing again, with a slew of shutouts; as he and Andujar both eclipsed the 20 win plateau.

By the time St Louis finally reached .500, at the end of May, they became an almost unstoppable force; by season’s end they had won an impressive 101 games with relative ease, and clearly seemed to be baseball’s best team heading into the postseason. Certainly, the regular season was filled with many thrilling moments for the Redbirds in 1985; aside from the spectacular 1967 season, I don’t recall any other year that quite compares to 1985, in terms of wild moments, exciting plays, or fantastic finishes. Here are some of my favorite moments from the wild and crazy regular season, in chronological order:

May 17 – The Cards were trailing Houston 6-5 at the Astrodome in the top of the ninth inning; with two outs and nobody on base, consecutive singles by Willie McGee, Tom Herr, Jack Clark, Andy Van Slyke, and Terry Pendleton give the Redbirds an 8-6 win.

May 31 – Danny Cox takes a perfect game into the eighth inning against the Reds at Busch Stadium, retiring the first 23 batters he faces; he yields two consecutive singles before settling back down again to complete the complete game shutout, 5-0.

June 8 – Tom Herr’s ninth inning home run at Shea Stadium vs the Mets provides the lone run of the game; John Tudor pitches a brilliant complete game shutout, 1-0.

June 14 – The Cards pull off a wild 11-10 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field; the final out of the game is recorded when right fielder Andy Van Slyke makes a spectacular catch of a foul pop up near the line in right, avoiding a collision with both Tom Herr and Jack Clark, who were chasing after the ball, as well. The Cubs had two men on base when Van Slyke saves the day. The Redbirds would go on to sweep that three game series, setting the tone for the remainder of the season; the Cubs fell out of first place, then quickly faded into oblivion shortly thereafter.

June 22 – Curt Ford delivers a 10th inning pinch single to drive in Ozzie Smith with the winning run at Busch Stadium, over the Cubs again; 2-1. This was Ford’s first major league at-bat.

June 23 – John Tudor’s two-hit shut out stymies the Cubs once again; 7-0.

July 25 – The Cardinals rallied from a 6-0 deficit against the Padres in San Diego, scoring five runs in the ninth innng, en route to a 9-6 win.

August 8 – John Tudor’s one-hitter beats the Cubs at Busch Stadium; 8-0. Former Cardinal Leon Durham singles in the fifth inning for the Cubs’ lone hit.

August 23 – Joaquin Andujar wins his 20th game of the season with a 6-2 decision over the Braves in Atlanta. Unfortunately, he only won one more game down the stretch, going 1-5 with a 6.35 ERA.

August 29 – The Cardinals trade Mark Jackson to the Reds for 34 year-old veteran, Cesar Cedeno. All Cedeno did for the rest of the year was hit .434 in 76 at-bats, with six home runs. This would be his last hurrah as a major league player; he would play in only 37 more big-league games after this season.

September 11 – John Tudor pitches a 10-inning complete game shut-out over the Mets at Shea Stadium; this was his third consecutive shut-out; Cesar Cedeno’s 10th inning home run provides the margin for victory; 1-0.

September 21 – Trailing 5-0, the Cardinals rally to beat the Expos 7-6 at Busch Stadium; a two-run home run by Jack Clark in the seventh inning puts the Cards in the lead for good.

September 22 – Down 5-4 with two outs and nobody on base in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Expos at Busch Stadium, Willie McGee singles and Tom Herr homers for a 6-5 win.

September 26 – John Tudor’s 10th consecutive win also happens to be his 10th shut-out and 20th win of the season; 5-0 over the Phillies at Busch Stadium.

October 3 – The Cards salvage the third game of a three-game series against the Mets at Busch Stadium; 4-3. The win gives the Redbirds a two game advantage over the Mets with three games to play.

October 5 – The Cards clinch the division title with a 7-1 win over the Cubs at Busch Stadium; John Tudor records his eleventh consecutive win, and 21st, overall.

One thing that really stood out about the Cardinals’ regular season play that year – They never lost a single game whenever they had the lead after eight innings. The bullpen, which was considered to be the weak link for the team, heading into the season, emerges as one of the best in baseball; rookie reliever Todd Worrell is called up in August, and quickly asserts himself as the closer.

Heading to Los Angeles to begin postseason play against the Dodgers, the Cardinals seemed invincible; it seemed playing the best of seven NLCS vs the Dodgers was a mere formality; and surely, whoever they faced in the World Series would stand no chance either. This was the perfect team; perfectly suited for their ballpark and ready to roll over any team standing in their way to the World Series championship.

October 9 – The Cardinals open the NLCS with a 4-1 loss to the Dodgers in Los Angeles. John Tudor pitches poorly, allowing all four runs in less than six innings of work. The lowlight of the night occurs when Tudor intercepts a Terry Pendleton pass attempt to first base with his back. Terry had fielded a bunt attempt nicely, but John failed to get out of the way of the throw. Ouch.

October 10 – The Cards lose again; 8-2. Joaquin Andujar, who pitched poorly over the last two months of the regular season, does it again; he gets racked for six hits in a little over four innings of work.

October 12 – Vince Coleman’s baserunning prowess unnerves the Dodgers, as the Cardinals win; 4-2. It would be Coleman’s last postseason appearance in 1985.

October 13 – While performing stretching exercises just prior to Game Four, Vince Coleman is run over by a one ton automatic tarpaulin, clocked at one mile per hour. Coleman is diagnosed with bone chip near his left knee, to go along with his “bonehead”. This is the first time in MLB history any player has been able to induce a tarp to roll over them; to this day, one of the fastest players the game has ever seen, has no idea how he was able to accomplish this feat.

Later that night, Coleman’s replacement, Tito Landrum, collects four hits in five at-bats, as the Cards rout the Dodgers; 12-2. John Tudor pitches well and picks up the easy win.

October 14 – Ozzie Smith’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning gives the Cardinals a 3-2 win. This was Ozzie’s first career home run as a left-handed batter in over 3000 plate appearances; announcer Jack Buck’s “Go crazy, folks” call after the home run is now the ring-tone for the I-70 Baseball radio program. I love it.

October 16 – Jack Clark’s three-run ninth inning home run gives the Cards a 7-5 win, and another trip to the World Series. I sent Tommy Lasorda a “thank you” card for pitching to Clark with first base open and Andy Van Slyke on deck. I wonder if he got it?

October 19 – The I-70 World Series begins with St Louis winning Game One, in Kansas City; 3-1. John Tudor is the winning pitcher, again; I was already envisioning Tudor winning Game 7, for his third World Series victory, claiming the MVP honors, and wondering if he’d really want that Corvette he’d just won. Looking back on it, I think I may have been just a bit overconfident at this point.

October 20 – Entering the ninth inning, the Cards trailed the Royals, 2-0. By the time they were done, the Redbirds walked away with a thrilling 4-2 win, highlighted by Terry Pendleton’s three-run double. I almost felt sorry for the hapless Royals, who had never won a World Series championship, and certainly had absolutely no chance of winning one this year; not against the best team in baseball, who just won the first two games of the World Series on the road, and were now coming home to finish off the four game sweep; or so I thought.

Fun fact: Prior to 1985, no team in World Series history had ever lost the first two games at home and then gone on to win the Series. Reality: There is a first time for everything.

October 22 – The Royals turn the tables and beat the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, with an easy 6-1 win. Royals pitcher Bret Saberhagen appears to be having way too much fun; suddenly, the script for the World Series has been changed, and I am getting mildly irritated. Who is Bret Saberhagen, anyway? Punk.

October 23 – Order is seemingly restored in Cardinal Nation, as the invincible John Tudor’s five-hit shutout gives the Cardinals a seemingly insurmountable 3 games to 1 lead in the World Series. The fact that the St Louis Cardinals had a 3 games to 1 lead over the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 World Series, and ended up blowing that Series; did not even cross my mind at all.

October 24 – The Royals win again; 6-1. The champagne, which was on ice, must now be shipped to Kansas City, where the Cardinals will surely win one game out of the two chances they are afforded. Fat chance.

October 26 – With the Cardinals leading 1-0 entering the bottom of the ninth, Todd Worrell comes in to finish off the Royals. Two nights earlier, he pitched two perfect innings – the sixth and seventh – striking out the side in both innings.

The first batter he faces, Jorge Orta, taps a slow roller towards first base; Jack Clark fields the ball and tosses the ball to Todd Worrell, covering the bag at first base. The play is a bit awkward looking, with Worrell reaching high for the toss and doing a “tap dance” on the bag to record the out. First base umpire Don Denkinger blows the call; Orta is ruled safe; the Royals rally for two runs to win the game and put the Cardinals in a state of catatonic shock.

Fun fact: Prior to this game, the Cardinals were 91-0 when leading after eight innings; they never lose games in the ninth inning; this is the best team in baseball. Reality: There is a first time for everything.

October 27 – The Cardinals send John Tudor to the mound in Game 7; the same John Tudor who won 21 games during the regular season, with ten shutouts; the same John Tudor who had already beaten the Royals in Games One and Four of the 1985 World Series.

The stage is set. The ace of the staff is on the mound to start Game 7 of the World Series. Surely, the blown call the night before was a tough break; but that’s baseball. The measure of a championship team is the ability to bounce back from adversity; to overcome any obstacle standing in the way of victory. Unfortunately, the Cardinals had already given up after Game 6; they never really showed up for Game 7; even with their ace on the mound.

Final score: Royals 11 – Cardinals 0.

That was a sad way to end what was otherwise a glorious season for the Cardinals. For a quarter of a century, Cardinals fans have lamented the bad call Denkinger made in Game 6, as if that was the deciding game of the Series. They still had a chance to win the very next night; people seem to forget that; maybe because the game itself was forgettable.

Still, 1985 was one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history; and certainly one of the craziest. I enjoyed every minute of it; until, of course, Game Seven. I prefer to dial that one out of my memory bank.

Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Game 5 – October 24, 1985

Location: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Mo.

Attendance: 56,634

Recap: A day after John Tudor’s brilliant complete game for the Cardinals, placing Kansas City on the brink of elimination, the Royals bounced back with their own strong pitching performance to stay alive in the series. Danny Jackson threw a five-hit, one-run complete game at Busch Stadium, sending the series back to Kansas City. Offensively, the Royals put up an 11-hit attack led by Willie Wilson, who knocked in two runs and collected two hits, including a triple. Leadoff hitter Lonnie Smith smacked two singles, scored two runs and stole a base. Willie McGee had two hits for the Cardinals, while cleanup hitter Jack Clark drove in St. Louis’ only run.

Line Score:

TEAM R H E

Kansas City 6 1 2

St. Louis 1 5 1

Winning pitcher: Danny Jackson

Losing pitcher: Bob Forsch

Notables: Royals manager Dick Howser shook up the lineup a bit in Game 5, starting Pat Sheridan in right field over Darryl Motley, and Sheridan responded by collecting two hits and an RBI; Buddy Biancalana also had two hits, drove in a run and scored for Kansas City; The Cardinals’ offense received no production from the bottom half of the lineup; St. Louis starter Bob Forsch lasted only 1.2 innings, giving up four runs on five hits and leaving the game in the hands of the bullpen, and for their part, four relievers (Horton, Campbell, Worrell and Lahti) allowed only two runs the rest of the game; the Cardinals’ pitching staff struck out 15 KC batters, compared to Danny Jackson’s five strikeouts.

Tomorrow: Off day

Tuesday: A recap of Game 6

Matt Kelsey is a Royals writer and the content editor for I-70 Baseball. He can be reached at mattkelsey@i70baseball.com.

I had no reply. I never bothered to come up with one. It was at this point in the conversation I realized that this was going nowhere, so I should just change the subject or find some other way to move on.

I was actually born one year to the day after game 7 of the 1985 World Series. By the time I was old enough to really follow the team and know what was going on, the ‘Whiteyball Era’ was long over, and the only two names that I really knew of from those glory days were Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee. In my house, Ozzie was a legend, and McGee a villain.

Willie McGee - Villian

Yes, you heard me. I thought Willie McGee was awful when I was little. It is not my fault – that is how I was raised. Actually, everything about my upbringing was strange if the topic is baseball. Despite the fact that I grew up about an hour north of Kauffman Stadium and have never actually had a permanent residence within 300 miles of Busch, I was always a Cardinals fan. I actually had no idea that I was in the wrong until I was 7 or 8 and some well-meaning adult asked why I was a Cardinals fan instead of Royals.

“Who are the Royals?”

I knew my Cardinals, and I knew that the Cubs, Braves and Mets were enemies, but at that point, there was not enough time in the day to figure out who the Royals were and why I should care. That mindset changed once interleague play started in 1997. Suddenly the Cardinals and Royals were squaring off once or twice a year and I had a reason to go with my family to that place in Kansas City known merely as ‘the K.’ It was also around then that the 1985 series first entered into my life.

I never disliked the Royals. Just to appease friends I told them that when we went to Royals games I could be a Royals fan as long at the other team was not wearing the birds on the bat. But the minute they mentioned 1985 I bristled, and eventually that question came back. Why didn’t the Cardinals win the 1985 series? A casual inquiry (this was before I really got into baseball history – it was enough for me to know all the players in the starting lineup back then) led me to “The Call,” and for a few years I actually was convinced that one blown call had literally lost the World Series for the Cardinals back then.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. I know that now. Back then I obviously had no clue. I can claim ignorance, because who is going to yell at a 12 year old girl who was living and dying with every game in the present? I was already an enigma, and people were impressed that I knew the roster and could follow along with a scorecard. They were not about to fault me for not understanding something that happened before I was born.

I figured it out after reading Wizard, an autobiography of Ozzie Smith. The call was in Game 6, and there was no reason for the team to roll over and play dead in Game 7. The series was winnable, but the Cardinals lost. It happens. However, understanding 1985 was not helping me in the early 2000s when I was living in Royals territory and trying to singlehandedly defend my boys’ honor against all my friends. They knew the Royals stunk, but they had 1985 to hold over my head, and I had a string of playoff appearances but no titles since that fateful year.

In 2006, I was in college. I no longer lived in Royals territory, and no longer talked to most of the people who gave me so much crap when I was growing up. Right when I had something to rub their faces in…

Angela Weinhold covers the Cardinals for i70baseball.com, BaseballDigest.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries. You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.