I know we've all have heard about the umpire being blamed for the outcome of the game; in fact, I would guess most of us have been accused of a game-deciding call. But this one takes the cake. I was googling for something else when this book came up in the search:
The Worst Call Ever!
The Most Infamous Calls Ever Blown by Referees, Umpires, and Other Blind Officials
By Kyle Garlett, Patrick O'Neal
So I had to check it out. I didn't buy it, but I found an exerpt on the publisher's web site. Note that a call in the 9th inning of game 6 of a World Series between the Royals and the Cardinals is blamed for
deciding the series!!!
I've highlighted several things in their exerpt that would seem to me to have
actually decided the series...
Read at your own amusement...
Quote:
And after Kansas City dropped the series' first two games at home (no team in World Series history had ever rallied from such a fate to take the title), it was a foregone conclusion that St. Louis would be raising its tenth championship banner. In fact, it was a surprise to most that the Cardinals failed to close the door at Busch Stadium—dropping two of three games—and were forced to go back to Kansas City to finally pop their champagne.
But the moment for bubbly was finally at hand in Game 6, as the Cardinals entered the bottom of the ninth inning up 1-0 and a perfect 88-0 on the season when leading after eight innings. Rookie closer Todd Worrell, who struck out a World Series record-tying six consecutive Royals in Game 5, was on the mound to nail it down. And just three outs separated St. Louis from their second World Championship in four years, and the I-70 Series win.
Just three outs—and first base umpire Don Denkinger.
Pinch hitter Jorge Orta led off the inning with an innocent ground ball to first baseman Jack Clark, who then flipped the ball to the covering Worrell, who beat Orta to the bag by a full step—as seen by everyone in the stadium but the one and only man who really mattered, Don Denkinger.
His call was "safe," and despite a series of rapid-fire reenactments by Worrell, protests from Clark, and what looked to be a steady stream of obscenities from manager Whitey Herzog, Denkinger didn't budge.
The next batter, Steve Balboni, popped up along the first base dugout—only to be given new life when the still-fuming Clark misplayed the ball. Balboni then got a single, and a pinch runner, a bunt out, and a passed ball later, the Royals had runners at second and third and a chance to win with Dane Iorg at the plate.
Iorg, who hit .529 in the Cardinals' 1982 World Series win, came up clutch for K.C., lining a single to right field that chased home Onix Concepcion and Jim Sundberg for the 2-1 comeback victory.
The following day in Game 7, with Denkinger now behind home plate, the demoralized Cardinals disgraced their way to an 11-0 loss, handing Kansas City its first and only World Series crown.
It'd be easy to point to World Series MVP Bret Saberhagen's two complete games and 0.50 ERA as the reason for the Royals' win. Or the Cardinals' .185 series batting average and just two stolen bases, following a regular season where they led the National League in both categories at .264 and 314 respectively.
The foregoing is excerpted from The Worst Call Ever! by Kyle Garlett, and Patrick O'Neal. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission from HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022
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Sigh...
If the rest of the book is similar, I'm not at all tempted to waste my money.