| Don Denkinger |
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| baseball umpires | |
| denkinger, don | |
| 1936 births | |
| living people | |
| people from iowa | |
| kansas city royals | |
| st. louis cardinals | |
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Denkinger attended Wartburg College , where he was on the Wrestling team. He became interested in umpiring while serving in the Army from 1957 to 1959. He began umpiring in the minor leagues in 1960, joined the AL staff in September 1968 , and became an AL crew chief in 1977 . Denkinger also umpired in the All-Star Game in 1971 , 1976 and 1987 , calling balls and strikes for the last game. He officiated in six American League Championship Series ( 1972 , 1975 , 1979 , 1982 , 1988 , 1992 ) and in the 1995 AL Division Series . He was the home plate umpire for the one-game playoff that decided the AL's Eastern Division champion in 1978 ; the New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox . He is one of seven umpires who have worked in two Perfect Game s; he was the second-base umpire for Len Barker 's perfect game on May 15 , 1981 ; and the first-base umpire for Kenny Rogers ' perfect game on July 28 , 1994 . He was also the home plate umpire for Nolan Ryan 's sixth no-hitter on June 11 , 1990 . He umpired in four , 1980 , 1985 and 1991 , serving as crew chief the latter two years. Despite his long career, Don Denkinger is probably best remembered – and reviled by St. Louis Cardinals fans – for a blown call he made at first base in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series (see "The Call" below). Denkinger called Kansas City Royals player Jorge Orta safe at first; television replays showed that the throw had beaten Orta to the bag. The Royals went on to defeat the Cardinals and then win Game 7, becoming World Champions . "''THE CALL''" "''The Call''" remains one of the most memorable, controversial, and/or heartbreaking (for Cardinals fans at least) moments in World Series history. It was Game 6 of the 1985 World Series ( October 26 ), with the St. Louis Cardinals leading the Kansas City Royals 3 games to 2. The Cardinals had taken a 1-0 lead on an 8th-inning single by little-used backup catcher Brian Harper after Danny Cox (of the Cardinals) and Charlie Leibrandt (of the Royals) had battled tit-for-tat all game long. Todd Worrell was now in the game for the Cardinals in the 9th inning, facing Jorge Orta for the Royals. Orta hit a slow roller to first baseman Jack Clark , who tossed to Worrell covering first base. First-base umpire Denkinger called Orta safe, but later replays and photographs showed he was clearly out by a step. According to Denkinger, he got too close to the play, first looked at Worrell's glove, and a second later looked at Orta's foot. Many Cardinals fans blamed the loss on Denkinger's call, but the Cardinals made a number of mistakes that enabled the Royals to stay in the game and win. In the next at-bat, Clark misplayed a foul pop-up by batter Steve Balboni . Instead of popping out, Balboni singled on the next pitch, and Onix Concepcion came in to pinch-run. With runners on first and second, Jim Sundberg then bunted into a force play at third. Catcher Darrell Porter then allowed a passed ball, allowing the runners to advance to second and third. Pinch-hitter Hal McRae was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Dane Iorg knocked a bloop single to right that scored Concepcion and Sundberg, who avoided Porter's tag at the plate to score the winning run. Shortly after the game, Denkinger found Commissioner Peter Ueberroth waiting for him in front of the umpires' room. Denkinger asked Ueberroth if he had gotten the call right. Ueberroth shook his head from side to side, and said, "No, you didn't." Game 7 Denkinger was assigned to work behind home plate umpire in Game 7, a move that further upset the Cardinals and manager Whitey Herzog . Some observers suggested that the move to put Denkinger behind the plate affected the Cardinals' gameplay, as ace pitcher John Tudor got out to a terrible start, giving up five earned runs and four walks in only 2 1/3 innings. Todd Worrell would later compare the idea of Don Denkinger working behind home plate to putting a stick of Dynamite back there and lighting it. The Cardinals made their frustrations clear throughout the game. ABC television cameras caught Herzog screaming and belittling Denkinger from the Cardinals' dugout throughout the contest. Pitcher Joaquín Andújar -- who gave up four runs in 3 2/3 innings -- exploded twice over Denkinger's calls at the plate, finally being ejected with Herzog after a heated argument over Denkinger's strike zone. Herzog even went as far as to directly tell Denkinger that had he gotten "the call" right in Game 6, the Cardinals wouldn't have been subjected to a seventh game in the first place. In the immediate aftermath of his World Series meltdown, Andújar smashed a toilet in the Cardinals' clubhouse. This came after Tudor (out of frustration for his disastrous performance) punched an Electric Fan with his pitching hand. The Cardinals completely self-destructed as Kansas City would go on to win Game 7 in an 11-0 blowout, taking home their first ever World Series Trophy . LIFE AFTER "''THE CALL''" In the immediate aftermath of the 1985 World Series debacle, Denkinger received many hateful letters (and even Death Threat s) from Cardinals fans. Two St. Louis Disc Jockey s went so far as to reveal Denkinger's telephone number and home address. At one point, Denkinger pulled up to his house to find a police car in the driveway of his Waterloo, Iowa home. Denkinger claimed that the letters continued on through 1987 (before Denkinger got into contact with Major League Baseball Security, who in return contacted the FBI ), when the Cardinals were ramping up for another World Series appearance. The breaking point for Denkinger was when he received a particularly menacing letter (with no return address) in which the writer tells that if he sees Denkinger in person, he would ''"blow him away"'' with a .357 Magnum . More than 20 years after the fateful events in Kansas City in October 1985 , Don Denkinger has regularly appeared at sports memorabilia shows (including ones in St. Louis) willing to autograph photos containing ''The Call''. Denkinger even owns a painting featuring himself, Todd Worrell and Jorge Orta enacting ''The Call''. “YOU CAN’T BLAME DON DENKINGER!” In October 2005 , 20 years after "The Call", ESPN Classic aired '' The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... Don Denkinger for the Cardinals losing the 1985 World Series.'' Their reasons why the umpire should not be held as the Scapegoat :
The episode also featured a "Best of the Rest" which focused on the need for Instant Replay . Had it existed at the time, Denkinger's call would very easily have been reversed. Also, the American League Championship Series was in its first year of a best-of-seven after having played a best-of-five since the inception of the playoffs in 1969 . Had it retained its best-of-five format, the Toronto Blue Jays would have been facing the Cardinals in the World Series, having won three of the first four games in its series with Kansas City. But the Royals came back to win the next three games to win the ALCS and faced St. Louis in the World Series instead. EXTERNAL LINK |
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