The began on
October 19 1985 and ended
October 27 . The American League champion
Kansas City Royals played against the National League champion
St Louis Cardinals , winning the series 4 games to 3. The Series was popularly known as the "'''Show-Me Series'''", or the "'''
I-70 Showdown Series'''", as both cities are in Missouri, separated by the connecting Interstate 70.
The Cardinals won the
National League East division by three games over the
New York Mets , then defeated the
Los Angeles Dodgers , four games to two, in the
National League Championship Series . The Royals won the
American League West division by one game over the
California Angels then defeated the
Toronto Blue Jays , four games to three, in the
American League Championship Series .
The Cardinals were seeking to win their NL-leading tenth World Championship, while the Royals were seeking to become the first AL expansion team to win the World Series.
In the 1985 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, umpires' mistaken calls influenced the outcome of game 6. In the 4th inning of the scoreless game,
Frank White seemed to have stolen second base but was called out by the umpire. Replays later showed that White had been safe, and the following batter,
Pat Sheridan , hit a harmless single into the outfield.
Jorge Orta 's Royals were trailing 3 games to 2 in the Series and 1-0 on the scoreboard when he led off the bottom of the ninth with a ground ball to Cardinal first baseman
Jack Clark , who flipped the ball to Cardinal pitcher
Todd Worrell covering first. First base umpire Don Denkinger called Orta safe, but television replays later showed that Worrell had beaten him to the base. The call shifted momentum of the Series to the Royals, who won the game 2-1, and the Series the next night on Bret Saberhagen's 11-0 shutout.
It was the second Missouri-only World Series: the first was the
1944 World Series between two
St. Louis teams, the
St. Louis Cardinals vs. the
St. Louis Browns (a team that later moved and is now the
Baltimore Orioles ).
Although the Royals lost the first two games at home, they overcame their poor start and became World Series champions for the first time, thanks in particular to
MVP Bret Saberhagen and his victories in Games 3 and 7.
October 19 ,
1985 at
Royals Stadium in
Kansas City, Missouri
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
St. Louis Cardinals 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 1
Kansas City Royals 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 0
PITCHERS: STL - Tudor, Worrell (7)
KC - Jackson, Quisenberry (8), Jackson (9)
WP - Tudor
LP - Jackson
SAVE - Worrell
HOME RUNS: STL- none
KC- none
ATTENDANCE: 41,650
John Tudor continued his regular season success in the World Series by stopping the Royals, 3-1.
Danny Jackson was the Royals starter and loser.
October 20 ,
1985 at
Royals Stadium in
Kansas City, Missouri
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
St. Louis Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 6 0
Kansas City Royals 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 0
PITCHERS: STL - Cox, Dayley (8), Lahti (9)
KC - Leibrandt, Quisenberry (9)
WP - Dayley
LP - Leibrandt
SAVE - Lahti
HOME RUNS: STL- none
KC - none
ATTENDANCE: 41,656
Charlie Leibrandt continued a history of tough luck in the post-season. The previous year, he had lost game three of the
1984 ALCS , 1-0, when he pitched a three-hit complete game. He lost game four in the 1985 ALCS in the ninth inning. And clinging to a two-run lead in the ninth, manager
Dick Howser opted to not send in his relief ace
Dan Quisenberry to close out the game. Leibrandt faltered, and only one out from tying the series at one apiece, Leibrandt yielded a bases loaded double to
Terry Pendleton that scored three runs and gave the Cardinals a 4-2 win at
Royals Stadium .
October 22 ,
1985 at
Busch Stadium in
St. Louis, Missouri
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Kansas City Royals 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 6 11 0
St. Louis Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 0
PITCHERS: KC - Saberhagen
STL - Andujar, Campbell (5), Horton (6), Dayley (8)
WP - Saberhagen
LP - Andujar
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: KC - White
STL - none
ATTENDANCE: 53,634
The Royals got back into the series by riding ace
Bret Saberhagen to a 6-1 victory against twenty-game winner
Joaquín Andújar . Saberhagen flashed messages on the television screen to his pregnant wife who was due to give birth any day. She eventually gave birth on
October 26 .
October 23 ,
1985 at
Busch Stadium in
St. Louis, Missouri
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Kansas City Royals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
St. Louis Cardinals 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 X 3 6 0
PITCHERS: KC - Black, Beckwith (6), Quisenberry (8)
STL - Tudor
WP - Tudor
LP - Black
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: KC - none
STL - Landrum, McGee
ATTENDANCE: 53,634
John Tudor 's complete game shutout put the Cardinals on the verge of winning their second World Series in four years, 3-0.
Tito Landrum , only playing due to an injury to
Vince Coleman , continued to make his case for MVP with a home run.
October 24 ,
1985 at
Busch Stadium in
St. Louis, Missouri
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Kansas City Royals 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 11 2
St. Louis Cardinals 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1
PITCHERS: KC - Jackson
STL - Forsch, Horton (2), Campbell (4), Worrell (6), Lahti (8)
WP - Jackson
LP - Forsch
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: KC - none
STL - none
ATTENDANCE: 53,634
Entering this game, the Royals were three for three in must-win games in the postseason. They ended this one four for four with a victory over the Cardinals, again by the score of 6-1. Danny Jackson was the winning pitcher, following the same formula and pitching rotation as the Royals did in the ALCS where Jackson also won game five.
October 26 ,
1985 at
Royals Stadium in
Kansas City, Missouri
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
St. Louis Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 0
Kansas City Royals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 10 0
PITCHERS: STL - Cox, Dayley (8), Worrell (9)
KC - Leibrandt, Quisenberry (8)
WP - Quisenberry
LP - Worrell
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: STL - none
KC - none
ATTENDANCE: 41,628
A pitcher's duel unfolded between
Danny Cox and Charlie Leibrandt, the tough-luck loser in Game Two. They traded goose eggs until the eighth, when
Brian Harper singled home Terry Pendleton to give the Cardinals the lead and inside track for the title. But the bottom of the ninth featured controversy and a collapse by the Cardinals.
is called safe by
Don Denkinger .]]
Whitey Herzog called on rookie reliever
Todd Worrell to pitch the ninth. The first batter,
Jorge Orta , sent a routine bouncer to
Jack Clark . He tossed to Worrell and got Orta for the seeming first out, but umpire
Don Denkinger erroneously called Orta safe. Every replay angle indicated that Orta was out. Instead of one out, the Royals now had one on and slugger
Steve Balboni at the plate. Balboni lifted a routine pop-up in foul territory along the first base dugout.
Darrell Porter claimed he had it and then didn't, and the ball fell harmlessly behind Jack Clark. Given a reprieve, Balboni singled, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. Sent to bunt the runners over,
Jim Sundberg 's bunt was fielded perfectly by Worrell, and he threw out Orta at third.
But the rally stopper was undone when Porter's passed ball allowed the runners to move up and forced Herzog to walk Royals pinch-hitter
Hal McRae . With the bases loaded and one out, pinch-hitter
Dane Iorg looped a single to right field. Pinch runner
Onix Concepcion scored the tying run and Sundberg approached the plate with the winning run.
Andy Van Slyke 's throw was on the money, but Porter made a short attempt to tag Sundberg, who slid home safely with the game-winning run.
The Cardinals fumed afterward, blaming Denkinger for the call and the loss. Denkinger was also scheduled to be the home plate umpire in Game Seven.
See also:
October 27 ,
1985 at
Royals Stadium in
Kansas City, Missouri
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
St. Louis Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Kansas City Royals 0 2 3 0 6 0 0 0 X 11 14 0
PITCHERS: STL - Tudor, Campbell (3), Lahti (5), Horton (5), Andujar (5), Forsch (5), Dayley (7)
KC - Saberhagen
WP - Saberhagen
LP - Tudor
SAVE - none
HOME RUNS: STL - none
KC - Motley
ATTENDANCE: 41,658
One night after becoming a father,
Bret Saberhagen tossed a five-hitter and the Royals became the only team to ever come from a three games to one deficit twice in the same postseason to win the World Series. Saberhagen got all the offense he needed when
Darryl Motley homered to left off
John Tudor . Tudor left the game trailing in the third, and hit a power fan that resulted in a cut fingertip. In the long fifth inning, reliever
Joaquín Andújar twice charged home plate umpire Don Denkinger to disagree with his strike zone. Andújar and
Whitey Herzog were both ejected, and Andújar was suspended for the first ten games of the
1986 season.
over
St Louis Cardinals (N.L.)
- This was the first World Series in which all games were played at night.
- The day before starting Game 7, World Series MVP Bret Saberhagen 's wife Janeane gave birth to the couple's first child, a nine-pound, three-ounce boy named Drew William. By the 8th inning of Game 7, Saberhagen looked directly towards ABC's cameras and asked his wife over the air, ''"Is the baby still there?"''
- John Tudor was so enraged after his performance in Game 7, in which he allowed five earned runs and four walks in 2 1/3 innings, that he took a punch (with his throwing hand) at an electric fan. The fan got the better of the encounter. Many viewers were initially confused when the announcers reported that Tudor had "punched a fan in the clubhouse."
- This was the first World Series that featured commentator Tim McCarver , who called the World Series with Al Michaels and Jim Palmer for ABC . Howard Cosell was originally supposed to be in the booth, but he was removed from his assignment just prior to Game 1 because of the controversy surrounding his book ''I Never Played the Game''.
- Game 6 hero (and former Cardinal) Dane Iorg got his nose broken when his teammates, led by 230 pound (104 kg) pitcher Mike Jones , mobbed him after his game winning hit.
- Perhaps the most memorable image of the Series was George Brett racing over to hug Bret Saberhagen after the clinching out. Just moments earlier, Brett approached his pitcher at the mound and told him to stick around on the mound once the final out was made. Brett said he wanted to make sure Saberhagen went to either himself or Frank White , the two franchise players who had spent 12 years helping get the Royals to that point.
- The St Louis Cardinals scored only 13 total runs - an all-time low for a seven game series - scoring only once in the final 26 innings of the series. If they had held on for the win in Game 6, they still would have been outscored in the series 15-13.
- According to George Brett , although he has come in contact with embattled umpire Don Denkinger (briefly crossing paths at banquets for instance) years after the controversial events in the 1985 World Series, Brett has claimed that he has never directly mentioned "The Call" to Denkinger.
- According to Cardinals reliever Todd Worrell , catcher Darrell Porter had a routine where if he wanted to change pitches, he would gesture to his mask for the signal. Just prior to Worrell throwing a passed ball (which allowed the Royals to tie the game in the in Game 6), Porter reached into his mask to push his glasses back (as opposed to simply touching the side of the mask). As a result, Worrell thought that Porter wanted to him to pitch a Slider as opposed to a Fastball .
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 407-411)
