A contest between the two highest scoring teams in their respective leagues was bound to produce the kind of slugfest we saw in the World Series opener Saturday night. Less expected were some of the players doing all that slugging. We shouldn’t be surprised that Boston’s David Ortiz continued his torrid pace as did the Cardinals’ Larry Walker. But Mark Belhorn? Home runs in three straight games?
The post season inevitably brings out the best in some player who is normally more likely to blend into the background than audition for the role of Mr. October. Don Larsen of the ’56 Yankees; Bill Mazeroski of the ‘60 Pirates; Don Clendenon of the ‘69 Mets; Gene Tenace of the ‘72 A’s; Bucky Dent of the ‘78 Yankees. The list is long.
Anything can and does happen in a short series including improbable catches, home runs and pitching dominance. Steve Blass of the Pittsburgh Pirates was certainly a good pitcher going into the 1971 World Series against the mighty Orioles but he wasn’t going to be confused with Bob Gibson. In that series, however, he was overwhelming, pitching two complete-game victories while limiting the O’s to seven hits over eighteen innings. The following season Blass was 19 – 8 with a 2.49 ERA. The next season he was 3 – 9 with a 9.85 ERA. Suddenly and inexplicably Blass couldn’t find the strike zone and by the end of the following season at age 32 he was out of baseball. In all his career lasted ten years, but the final two were dismal.
In this current installment of the Series we are likely to see fireworks from Manny Ramirez and Albert Pujols among other marquee sluggers but we can also expect the Mark Belhorns to have their moments in the spotlight. History is on their side, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment