Random Box Score: 6/9/79 Yankees at Royals

[leatherman]

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes ... 6090.shtml

Those of you that were around in the late 70s remember the battles between the Royals and Yankees, particularly in the ALCS where the Yankees beat the Royals 3 straight years from 1976-1978. The Royals finally broke through and defeated the Yankees in the 1980 ALCS, before losing to the Phillies in the World Series.

This June game from 1979 is a great example of those matchups (starting pitchers were Tommy John and Larry Gura). The Yankees stormed to a 5-0 lead in the top of the third before the Royals cut the lead to 5-3 in the fourth. The Royals score 3 more in the bottom of the 6th to take a short 6-5 lead, before giving up 2 runs in the top of the 7th and falling behind 7-6. Of course, the Royals immediately tied it up in the bottom of the 7th with a run. Graig Nettles doubled home Willie Randolph in the top of the 9th for an 8-7 lead, but George Brett singles with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game 8-8 and send it to extra innings.

The Royals and Yankees exchange scoreless frames until the bottom of the 13th, when Royals CF Willie Wilson leads off the inning. He ends up hitting a walk off home run, but it is hardly a "walk" off shot. You might want to call it a "run off" home run, as Wilson races around the bases for a game winning inside-the-park home run. It would be the only walk-off home run in his career.

Wilson would have 5 inside the park home runs in 1979 (he only hit one out of the park that year). In fact, 13 of his first 16 home runs would be of the ITP variety. I remember another game in 1979 which was the Saturday "Game of the Week" between the Royals and Red Sox. Wilson led off the game hitting the ball down the left field line. As Jim Rice went to field the ball, it hit a doorway in the side of the stadium, made a few strange ricochets, and by the time Rice got to the ball, Wilson was heading home for a leadoff inside the park home run. A hell of a way to lead off a game.

David

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Willie was always one of my favorite players, its hard to believe he was only a 2x All-Star considering the teams he was on. Thanks!

 

[RL24]

WoW, that really was a great game! I love that site... while sitting around on vacation, I decided to try to find a game I went to when I was a kid, and discovered I have been lying about the game my whole life. :shock: Or something. I saw the Angels beat the Indians in Cleveland, and I have always remembered it like this: The Angels beat the Indians 1-0 in a rather boring pitchers dual, and the only HR was by Wally Joyner. By researching Joyners career HRs, I realized that my story could not be true. I don't know what went wrong, I'm pretty sure it really was 1-0, maybe it wasn't Joyner who hit it. I was thinking it was 1986, but now I'm pretty sure it was 1987, because we also saw the Royals @ Tigers and I saw Bo Jackson, which is really all I remember about that game. Jackson didn't debut until 9/86, and it was definitely during the summer, so it must have been 1987. I remember I got an awesome old skool mesh A's hat, only back then they weren't old skool, right? Good old mesh hats. And the chocolate malt things (too solid to really be called a malt, but I think they did anyway)...

 

[leatherman]

WoW, that really was a great game! I love that site... while sitting around on vacation, I decided to try to find a game I went to when I was a kid, and discovered I have been lying about the game my whole life. :shock: Or something. I saw the Angels beat the Indians in Cleveland, and I have always remembered it like this: The Angels beat the Indians 1-0 in a rather boring pitchers dual, and the only HR was by Wally Joyner. By researching Joyners career HRs, I realized that my story could not be true. I don't know what went wrong, I'm pretty sure it really was 1-0, maybe it wasn't Joyner who hit it. I was thinking it was 1986, but now I'm pretty sure it was 1987, because we also saw the Royals @ Tigers and I saw Bo Jackson, which is really all I remember about that game. Jackson didn't debut until 9/86, and it was definitely during the summer, so it must have been 1987. I remember I got an awesome old skool mesh A's hat, only back then they weren't old skool, right? Good old mesh hats. And the chocolate malt things (too solid to really be called a malt, but I think they did anyway)...

I went through all the 1-0 shutouts of the Indians by the Angels, and there are only 6: in 1963, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1977, and 1989. There were no 2-0 shutouts of the Indians by the Angels in the 80s, and they had no other shutouts against the Indians from 1986-1988.

Wally Joyner hit a Sac Fly to CF to score the only run in 1989, but this was in Anaheim: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes ... 8200.shtml

 

[RL24]

Sad isn't it? :lol: I didn't mean to lie to myself... I'll just have to do a Clemens and blame it on the fact that I misremembered what happened. :lol:


There is this though... I definitely saw the Angels @ Indians! I was there!! They can't take that from me. :lol: Sure would have been smart to save the ticket stub, but keeping track of it for 23 years might have been a challenge.

 

[leatherman]

Maybe this game in 1988: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes ... 7070.shtml

Might be considered boring to a kid, as the Angels went up early and the Indians never really threatened. Joyner hit the only home run in that game (a deep shot down the LF line), but the final score was 7-1.

I went through all the Angels/Indians games in Cleveland in the 80s, and there isn't any game that I can find that matches your criteria. The only games which might be considered pitcher's duels were both losses by the Angels with no home runs.


David

 

[markakis8]

How about finding this one for me leatherman:

Something I remember about the Orioles games I went to as a kid was that there was something EXTREMELY significant in history each game.

Examples:

1st O's game I ever went to was in Memorial Stadium. I saw the last no-hitter pitched there by Wilson Alvarez ::facepalm:: ::facepalm:: Boy was I pissed.

I was not able to attend another O's game until 2130 of Cal Ripken's streak (best earliest b-day present I ever got). Ripken hit a home run that day too and it was magnificent. (He hit one the day before in 2129 and the next day 2131 too)

The next game is where I can't remember WHEN it was. But I do remember the significance. The Orioles were in the midst of tying the AL or MLB record for most consecutive shutouts as a team - pitching wise.

I was at one of those games and I believe it was against the Tigers....any help?

 

[leatherman]

How about finding this one for me leatherman:

Something I remember about the Orioles games I went to as a kid was that there was something EXTREMELY significant in history each game.

Examples:

1st O's game I ever went to was in Memorial Stadium. I saw the last no-hitter pitched there by Wilson Alvarez ::facepalm:: ::facepalm:: Boy was I pissed.

I was not able to attend another O's game until 2130 of Cal Ripken's streak (best earliest b-day present I ever got). Ripken hit a home run that day too and it was magnificent. (He hit one the day before in 2129 and the next day 2131 too)

The next game is where I can't remember WHEN it was. But I do remember the significance. The Orioles were in the midst of tying the AL or MLB record for most consecutive shutouts as a team - pitching wise.

I was at one of those games and I believe it was against the Tigers....any help?

The 1995 Orioles tied the AL record of 5 consecutive shutouts on October 1, 1995. It was the 144th, and last, game of the strike shortened season. The last 3 games were all against the Tigers. Mike Mussina tossed the 1st and 5th games of the streak, and was the Opening Day starter in 1996 as well. He allowed a run in the 2nd and 3rd innings of that game, which ended the streak (the O's won 4-2 over the Royals).

The 1974 Orioles are the only other AL team to toss 5 consecutive shutouts. They almost had a 6th, but Charlie Spikes hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the ninth off starter Ross Grimsley to end the streak. The Orioles won that game 3-2, incidentally.


David