New York Yankees vs. Cincinnati Reds
Game 1: Catfish Hunter vs. Don Gullett, Riverfront Stadium
BAILEY'S
3-RUN PINCH HR IN 10TH GIVES REDS 1-0 SERIES LEAD
Hunter, Gullett Struggle at Outset
But Find Footing
CINCINNATI, Oct. 16 (AP) - Pinch hitter Bob Bailey hit a
three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the
Cincinnati Reds a dramatic 6-3 victory in the opening game of the 1976 World
Series at Riverfront Stadium. Bailey, hitting for designated hitter Dan
Driessen, drove the first pitch he saw from New York Yankees reliever Sparky
Lyle over the left field wall, sending the sellout crowd into a frenzy and
giving his team a 1-0 lead in the series.
Both starters--Catfish Hunter of the Yankees and Don Gullett of the
Reds--struggled early on but settled down beginning in the middle innings and
worked deep into the game. Neither received a decision.
The Yankees had good scoring opportunities in each of the first two frames but
came up empty both times. Mickey Rivers drew a four-pitch walk to open
the contest and moved to second on Roy White's single. Both baserunners
advanced 90 feet on Thurman Munson's dribbler to the mound but Gullett retired
both Lou Piniella and Chris Chambliss on shallow fly balls to prevent any
damage. In the top of the second, Graig Nettles drew another lead-off
free pass from Gullett and, one out later, moved to third base on Willie
Randolph's base hit to right. But Fred Stanley popped up and Rivers
grounded to short to end the threat.
The Reds had a decent scoring opportunity in the bottom of the first when Ken
Griffey singled with one out and Joe Morgan walked, but Hunter retired Tony
Perez on a line drive to short and Driessen on a roller to first to end the
inning.
The Reds used a two-out second inning rally to seize the lead. Cesar
Geronimo sliced an opposite field single and then stole second base, with a
Munson throwing error allowing him to take third. Dave Concepcion then
grounded weakly to short but Stanley let the ball dribble under his glove for
an error. Geronimo scored on the play and the unearned run gave the Reds
a 1-0 advantage. With Rose at the plate Concepcion stole second and on
the succeeding offering, Hunter uncorked a wild pitch, advancing Concepcion to
third. Rose then lined a single to left and Concepcion trotted home with
Cincinnati's second run.
The Yankees finally stopped wasting scoring chances in the top of the
third. White drew a lead-off free pass--the third time in as many innings
that Gullett had walked the lead-off man--and after Munson and Piniella flied
out, Chambliss worked the count full and then laced a double into the right
field corner. White, who had been off with the pitch, scored without a
throw and New York had cut the lead to 2-1. Nettles followed with a
single to left-center, scoring Chambliss with the tying run. Elliott
Maddox grounded out to end the inning with the score knotted at two.
Morgan's lead-off home run, just inside the right field foul pole, put the Reds
back on top in the bottom of the third, but the Yankees got the run back
immediately in the top of the fourth. Gullett retired Randolph and
Stanley with ease but he hit Rivers with a 2-2 curve and then saw Rivers swipe
second. White followed by bouncing a single through the left side of the
infield, scoring Rivers to tie the game at three.
It was at this point that the starters started to get their acts
together. Hunter recorded his first 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the
fourth and Gullett followed suit in the top of the fifth. Griffey's
lead-off single in the bottom of the fifth was erased by a Morgan double play
grounder and Gullett induced a twin killing of his own with runners on first
and second and one out in the top of the sixth. From that point on, only
one man--Geronimo's lead-off infield single in the seventh--reached base and he
never advanced past first through the eighth inning.
In the top of the ninth, Gullett was lifted in favor of Rawley Eastwick, who
set the Yankees down in order. Hunter remained on the mound in the bottom
of the inning and recorded the first two outs but then surrendered Geronimo's
third hit of the day--a ringing triple down the right field line. With
the winning run on third, Hunter survived a meeting at the mound and then fired
a 1-2 fastball past Concepcion to send the game to extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, Eastwick walked White on five pitches to start the
inning, then got Munson on a fly to left. Carlos May pinch hit for
Piniella, but Eastwick struck him out--the first punch out registered by a Reds
pitcher all game. That brought Chambliss to the plate. He lined a
ball deep to left. Foster, who was playing deeper than normal as the Reds
implemented a no-doubles defense--snared the ball just before he hit the wall
and the saw it pop out of his glove following the impact. He grabbed it
on the first bounce off the warning track and fired to Concepcion, who was
serving as the cutoff man. White tried to score but Concepcion threw him
out at the plate on a very close play, keeping the score tied.
In the bottom of the 10th, reliever Sparky Lyle replaced Hunter and took his
warm-up tosses with the crowd still buzzing about the play at the plate in the
previous half-inning. Rose led off with a base hit to left, bringing the
already noisy audience to its collective feet. Griffey flied to right for
the first out but Morgan drew a walk on a 3-1 pitch, putting runners at first
and second. Perez hit a shallow fly to right that was handled by Maddox
for the second out. With lefty swinging Driessen due, Cincinnati manager
Sparky Anderson sent Bob Bailey to the plate as a pinch hitter. Lyle
tried to get ahead with a fastball and Bailey was waiting for it. His
drive to straight away left cleared the fence with plenty of room to spare,
landing in the second row of the lower tier of seats for a three-run
game-winning homer. It was a dramatic end to a contest filled with drama.
Game 2 will be tomorrow night. Ed Figueroa of the Yankees is expected to
face Pat Zachry of the Reds.
10/16/1976, NYA76-Cin76, Riverfront Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E LOB DP
1976 Yankees 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 2 8 1
1976 Reds 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 10 0 6 1
Yankees AB R H BI AVG Reds AB R H BI AVG
Rivers cf 3 1 0 0 .000 Rose 3b 5 1 2 1 .400
White,R lf 3 1 2 1 .667 Griffey rf 5 0 2 0 .400
Munson c 5 0 0 0 .000 Morgan,J 2b 3 2 1 1 .333
Piniella dh 4 0 0 0 .000 Perez,T 1b 5 0 0 0 .000
May,C ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Driessen dh 4 0 0 0 .000
Chambliss 1b 5 1 2 1 .400 Bailey ph 1 1 1 3 1.000
Nettles 3b 3 0 1 1 .333 Foster,G lf 4 0 1 0 .250
Maddox,E rf 4 0 1 0 .250 Bench c 4 0 0 0 .000
Randolph 2b 4 0 1 0 .250 Geronimo cf 4 1 3 0 .750
Stanley,F ss 4 0 1 0 .250 Concepcion ss 4 1 0 0 .000
36 3 8 3 39 6 10 5
Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Hunter 9.0 8 3 1 1 5 132 86 1.00
Lyle L 0-1 0.2 2 3 3 1 0 14 7 40.50
9.2 10 6 4 2 5 146 93
Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Gullett 8.0 7 3 3 3 0 109 70 3.38
Eastwick W 1-0 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 20 13 0.00
10.0 8 3 3 4 1 129 83
NYA: May,C batted for Piniella in the 10th
Cin: Bailey batted for Driessen in the 10th
E-Munson, Stanley,F. 2B-Chambliss 2(2). 3B-Geronimo(1). HR-Morgan,J(1),
Bailey(1). RBI-White,R(1), Chambliss(1), Nettles(1), Rose(1), Morgan,J(1),
Bailey 3(3). SB-Rivers(1), Foster,G(1), Geronimo(1), Concepcion(1). K-May,C,
Driessen, Bench, Concepcion 3. BB-Rivers, White,R 2, Nettles, Morgan,J 2.
HBP-Rivers. HB-Gullett. WP-Hunter.
GWRBI: Bailey
Temperature: 56, Sky: cloudy, Wind: none.
Attendance: 51,470
Game Time: 2:28
Game 2: Ed Figueroa vs. Pat Zachry, Riverfront Stadium
RELENTLESS REDS TAKE 2-0 SERIES LEAD
White's 4-Hit Day Goes for Naught
CINCINNATI, Oct. 17 (AP) - The Cincinnati Reds banged out 13
hits off four New York Yankees pitchers en route to a 5-2 victory in Game 2 of
the World Series at Riverfront Stadium. The Reds lead the series, two
games to none. Reds starter Pat Zachry was nicked for two runs in the
third inning but held the Yankees scoreless from that point until he was
removed from the game in the eighth inning. Relievers Will McEnaney and
Rawley Eastwick combined to record the final five outs. Yankees right
fielder Roy White had four hits and is now 6-for-8 in the series with a pair of
walks.
New York broke on top in the third inning when Fred Stanley singled with one
out and raced home on Mickey Rivers' triple down the right field line.
White followed with his second base hit of the day, plating Rivers and giving
the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
New York starter Ed Figueroa allowed only two baserunners--both singles--in the
first four innings but the Cincinnati bats awoke in the fifth. George
Foster led off the frame with a single to center and, with the runner on the
move with a full count, Johnny Bench followed with his first hit of the
series. His double past first baseman Chris Chambliss scored Foster and
cut the Yankees advantage to 2-1. Bench advanced to third on Cesar
Geronimo's soft grounder to short and then scored on Dave Concepcion's game-tying
base hit. Pete Rose walked to put runners on first and second and the
runners moved to second and third on Ken Griffey's ground out to the right
side. Joe Morgan was given an intentional free pass and Figueroa induced
Tony Perez to pop out with the bases loaded to end the inning. The Reds
stranded three runners but managed to tie the game.
Cincinnati took the lead for the first time in the sixth. Foster singled
with one out and took third on Bench's base hit to right. Figueroa, who
had thrown 38 pitches in the previous inning and appeared to be running out of
gas, was removed from the game in favor of left-hander Grant Jackson. But
Geronimo defied the move and grounded an opposite field single, scoring Foster
with the lead run. Jackson avoided further trouble but the Reds now held
a 3-2 lead.
The top of the eighth was the key to the game's outcome. Zachry yielded a
lead-off double to the irrepressible White, but retired Thurman Munson on a
comebacker. With left-handers due up, Reds manager Sparky Anderson replaced
Zachry with McEnaney, who retired Chris Chambliss on a grounder to short.
There were now two outs and White was still standing on second base. Lou
Piniella pinch hit for Carlos May and McEnaney was ordered to walk the pinch
hitter intentionally to face the lefty swinging Graig Nettles. But
McEnaney clipped Nettles' uniform with a 1-1 pitch, loading the bases.
Oscar Gamble was due but Yankees manager Billy Martin lifted Gamble for pinch
hitter Otto Velez. Anderson countered with right-hander Eastwick.
Martin's ace in the hole was lefty swinging Elrod Hendricks. So, with the
bases loaded and the game seemingly on the line with two outs, Eastwick
prepared to face Hendricks. Eastwick fell behind 3-1 and knew he had to
come in with a pitch. Hendricks knew it too and hammered the fastball on
the outer half of the plate deep to left field. It was reminiscent of the
ball hit by Chambliss in the ninth inning of Game 1. Left fielder Foster
broke back, snagged the drive on the warning track, slammed into the wall and
held onto the ball. The sold out Riverfront crowd gave Foster a standing
ovation as he headed back to the dugout.
As if buoyed by the dramatic events of the previous inning, the Reds added some
insurance. Facing reliever Dick Tidrow, Bench led off with his third hit
of the contest, a single to right. Geronimo forced Bench at second for
the first out but Concepcion bounced a single through the box. Geronimo
headed for third and Rivers' throw got past Nettles. Geronimo scored,
giving Cincinnati a 4-2 lead, with Concepcion ending up on second. Sparky
Lyle took over for Tidrow and got Rose on a long fly to center; Concepcion
tagged and moved to third on the play. Griffey then came through with a
base hit to center, scoring Concepcion to give the Reds a three-run lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, Eastwick yielded a one-out double to Elliott Maddox
but set down Rivers and White to close out the game.
An off-day will allow the two clubs to travel to the Bronx and Game 3 will take
place on the 19th. Gary Nolan and Dock Ellis are the anticipated starters
as the Yankees try to climb out of a 2-0 World Series hole.
10/17/1976, NYA76-Cin76, Riverfront Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1976 Yankees 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 1 9 0
1976 Reds 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 2 x 5 13 0 11 1
Yankees AB R H BI AVG Reds AB R H BI AVG
Rivers cf 5 1 1 1 .125 Rose 3b 4 0 0 0 .222
White,R lf 5 0 4 1 .750 Griffey rf 5 0 2 1 .400
Munson c 4 0 0 0 .000 Morgan,J 2b 3 0 0 0 .167
Chambliss 1b 4 0 1 0 .333 Perez,T 1b 5 0 1 0 .100
May,C dh 3 0 0 0 .000 Driessen dh 3 0 1 0 .143
Piniella ph 0 0 0 0 .000 Bailey ph 1 0 1 0 1.000
Alomar pr 0 0 0 0 .000 Foster,G lf 4 2 2 0 .375
Nettles 3b 3 0 1 0 .333 Bench c 4 1 3 1 .375
Gamble rf 3 0 0 0 .000 Geronimo cf 4 1 1 1 .500
Velez ph 0 0 0 0 .000 Concepcion ss 4 1 2 1 .250
Hendricks ph 1 0 0 0 .000 37 5 13 4
Mason ss 0 0 0 0 .000
Randolph 2b 4 0 0 0 .125
Stanley,F ss 3 1 2 0 .429
Maddox,E rf 1 0 1 0 .400
36 2 10 2
Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Figueroa L 0-1 5.1 7 3 3 2 2 93 55 5.06
Jackson,G 1.1 2 0 0 0 0 24 18 0.00
Tidrow 0.2 3 2 1 0 1 14 11 13.50
Lyle 0.2 1 0 0 1 0 15 8 20.25
8.0 13 5 4 3 3 146 92
Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Zachry W 1-0 7.1 9 2 2 0 2 84 56 2.45
McEnaney H 1 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 10 3 0.00
Eastwick S 1 1.1 1 0 0 0 0 21 13 0.00
9.0 10 2 2 1 2 115 72
NYA: Piniella batted for May,C in the 8th
Velez batted for Gamble in the 8th
Alomar ran for Piniella in the 8th
Hendricks batted for Velez in the 8th
Mason inserted at ss in the 8th
Maddox,E inserted at rf in the 8th
Cin: Bailey batted for Driessen in the 7th
E-Rivers. 2B-White,R(1), Chambliss(3), Maddox,E(1), Bench(1). 3B-Rivers(1).
RBI-Rivers(1), White,R(2), Griffey(1), Bench(1), Geronimo(1), Concepcion(1).
K-Chambliss, Randolph, Griffey, Foster,G 2. BB-Piniella, Rose, Morgan,J 2.
HBP-Nettles. HB-McEnaney.
GWRBI: Geronimo
Temperature: 73, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 3 MPH.
Attendance: 52,024
Game Time: 2:54
Game 3: Gary Nolan vs. Dock Ellis, Yankee Stadium
MORGAN'S
2 BLASTS KEY REDS WIN; CINCY EYES SWEEP
Yanks Outhit Reds 12-6, Lose by 5
Runs
NEW YORK, Oct. 19 (AP) - Joe Morgan hit a pair of home runs
and drove in five as the Cincinnati Reds powered past the New York Yankees 8-3
in Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. The Reds hold a
commanding 3-0 advantage in the Series and will go for the sweep
tomorrow. Cincinnati starter Gary Nolan allowed one run while scattering
seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. Pedro Borbon tossed 2 2/3 scoreless frames
to close out the contest.
This game was an illustration of just how difficult it is to beat the
Cincinnati Reds, who have now won six of the seven postseason games they've
played after leading the major leagues with 103 victories during the regular
season. The Yankees not only outhit the Reds in the game, they doubled
them up (12-6). But New York not only failed to win the contest, they
lost by five runs. All but two of the 12 Yankees hits were singles; New
York has failed to hit a home run in the World Series to date. The Reds,
on the other hand, have four home runs in the first three games.
Yankees starter Dock Ellis held the Reds hitless through four innings, though
he struggled with his control; the three walks issued in the first four frames
were an ominous sign.
Reds starter Nolan kept the Yankees off the scoreboard until the fourth when
New York finally broke through, but--as has been the case throughout the
series--the Yankees made the least of their scoring opportunity. Red hot
Roy White led off the inning with a base hit and advanced to second on Thurman
Munson's hit-and-run ground out to third. Chris Chambliss worked the
count to 3-1 and then ripped a double into the right field corner, scoring
White with the game's first run. Carlos May then fought off an 0-2 pitch
and dropped a base hit in front of left fielder George Foster; Chambliss
advanced to third. But with a chance to put a crooked number on the
board, Graig Nettles bounced into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
Nolan bent but didn't break; the Yankees led but only 1-0.
As has been the case all series long, the Reds answered immediately.
Johnny Bench recorded Cincinnati's first hit of the game when his smash to
third ate up Nettles for an infield single. Cesar Geronimo worked a
walk--Ellis' fourth of the game--and the Reds were in business with runners on
first and second and nobody out. Dave Concepcion laid down a beautiful
sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third with one out and then
Pete Rose drew the fifth walk of the game from Ellis to fill the bases.
That brought Yankees manager Billy Martin to the mound for an animated
discussion with his battery. Martin had left-hander Ken Holtzman getting
ready in the bullpen, but Holtzman--who hadn't pitched in relief all
year--needed extra time to prepare and Martin preferred to stay with his
starter anyway. Ken Griffey was due and Ellis had already fanned him
twice. This time Griffey put the ball in play and his fly ball to center
was deep enough to allow Bench to score the tying run. By now, Holtzman
was ready in the pen but Martin didn't budge from his dugout seat; he wanted
Ellis to face Morgan. Ellis worked ahead 0-2 but Morgan, known for his
patience, worked the count full. Morgan lined the 3-2 offering into the
right field bleachers for a three-run homer and a 4-1 Reds advantage.
Yankee Stadium was as quiet as a tomb as Morgan rounded the bases. Ellis
retired Tony Perez on a pop to second to end the inning but the damage had been
done.
Nolan got the much desired shutdown inning in the bottom of the fifth, pitching
around Willie Randolph's one-out single. Holtzman came on for the Yankees
in the sixth and retired the Reds in order.
In the bottom of the sixth, Munson singled with one out and Chambliss followed
him with a walk. With Will McEnaney loosening quickly in the bullpen,
Nolan induced a fielder's choice grounder from May; the force at second left
the Yankees with runners on first and third and two outs. With Nettles
due, Reds manager Sparky Anderson called on the southpaw McEnaney to replace
Nolan and he did the job, inducing Nettles to foul to Bench.
If the Reds hadn't quite put the game away in the fifth, they did so in the
seventh. With one out, Concepcion sliced a triple into the right field
corner. Holtzman fanned Rose on three pitches, but Griffey came through
with a single to right to make it 5-1. Morgan then added the coup de
grace, ripping a hanging Holtzman curve ball into the lower grandstand in right
field for his second home run of the game (and third of the series).
World Series game or not, the 7-1 lead saw the beginning of fans heading to the
exits.
The Yankees had one last uprising in them. Elliott Maddox led off the
bottom of the seventh with a pinch hit single and Randolph followed with a base
hit of his own to center. Fred Stanley's soft grounder resulted in the
first out by forcing Randolph at second but Rivers followed with a ringing
double off the right field wall, scoring Maddox easily and chasing Stanley to
third. White then lined a single to left, plating Stanley with Rivers
stopping at third. All of a sudden the tying run was standing in the on
deck circle with only one out and the heart of the New York order coming
up. Anderson lifted McEnaney and replaced him with Borbon, who was making
his first appearance of the series. And the right-hander did the job,
inducing a double play grounder off the bat of Munson. The Yankee Stadium
crowd, which had started to buzz during the rally, was again deflated.
That was more or less all she wrote. The Reds pushed an unearned run
across in the ninth when Geronimo, who had reached on an error and moved up on
a passed ball--both charged to Munson--scored on Griffey's fielder's choice to
increase the Cincinnati advantage to 8-3. Borbon surrendered a one-out
ninth inning single to Randolph--the second baseman's third hit of the
contest--but it was the only baserunner that Borbon allowed during 2 2/3
shutout innings. Borbon retired Rivers on a fly to center to end the
game.
The Yankees now have their backs firmly against the wall. It remains
unclear if they will send Catfish Hunter, on short rest, to the mound in Game 4
or will go with Doyle Alexander, who came within one out of a complete game
shutout to finish off the Oakland A's in the American League Championship
Series. The Reds have already announced Fred Norman as their Game 4
starter.
10/19/1976, Cin76-NYA76, Yankee Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1976 Reds 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 0 1 8 6 0 5 2
1976 Yankees 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 12 1 7 0
Reds AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG
Rose 3b 2 1 0 0 .182 Rivers cf 5 0 2 1 .231
Griffey rf 4 1 1 3 .357 White,R lf 4 1 2 1 .667
Morgan,J 2b 5 2 2 5 .273 Munson c 4 0 1 0 .077
Perez,T 1b 5 0 0 0 .067 Chambliss 1b 3 0 1 1 .333
Driessen dh 1 0 0 0 .125 May,C dh 4 0 1 0 .125
Bailey ph 1 0 0 0 .667 Nettles 3b 4 0 1 0 .300
Lum ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Gamble rf 2 0 0 0 .000
Foster,G lf 4 0 0 0 .250 Maddox,E ph 1 1 1 0 .500
Bench c 4 1 1 0 .333 Alomar ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Geronimo cf 3 2 0 0 .364 Randolph 2b 4 0 3 0 .333
Concepcion ss 3 1 2 0 .364 Stanley,F ss 3 1 0 0 .300
33 8 6 8 Hendricks ph 1 0 0 0 .000
36 3 12 3
Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Nolan W 1-0 5.2 7 1 1 1 0 80 51 1.59
McEnaney H 2 0.2 4 2 2 0 0 12 9 18.00
Borbon S 1 2.2 1 0 0 0 2 22 15 0.00
9.0 12 3 3 1 2 114 75
Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Ellis,D L 0-1 5.0 2 4 4 5 3 98 54 7.20
Holtzman 1.2 3 3 3 0 1 28 20 16.20
Tidrow 1.2 1 1 0 0 1 28 19 3.86
Lyle 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 13 10 13.50
9.0 6 8 7 5 6 167 103
Cin: Bailey batted for Driessen in the 6th
Lum batted for Bailey in the 8th
NYA: Maddox,E batted for Gamble in the 7th
Maddox,E moved to rf in the 8th
Alomar batted for Maddox,E in the 9th
Hendricks batted for Stanley,F in the 9th
E-Munson. 2B-Rivers(1), Chambliss(4). 3B-Concepcion(1). HR-Morgan,J 2(3).
RBI-Griffey 3(4), Morgan,J 5(6), Rivers(2), White,R(3), Chambliss(2).
CS-Rivers. K-Rose, Griffey 2, Morgan,J, Perez,T, Foster,G, Chambliss, Alomar.
BB-Rose 3, Driessen, Geronimo, Chambliss. SH-Concepcion. SF-Griffey.
PB-Munson.
GWRBI: Morgan,J
Temperature: 56, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: left to right at 16 MPH.
Attendance: 53,730
Game Time: 2:55
Game 4: Fred Norman vs. Doyle Alexander, Yankee Stadium
YANKS
AVOID SWEEP, SEND SERIES TO GAME 5
Alexander, Jackson Tame Reds Bats
NEW YORK, Oct. 20 (AP) - Facing elimination and a 1-0
deficit the New York Yankees rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the
seventh inning and went on to defeat the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 in Game 4 of the
World Series at Yankee Stadium. Doyle Alexander and Grant Jackson
combined to hold the Reds to a single unearned run. Chris Chambliss and
Graig Nettles rapped out consecutive run-scoring hits during the two-run rally.
Reds starter Fred Norman took a no-hitter into the sixth inning but ran out of
gas in the seventh, yielding three straight hits to the Yankees and absorbed
the defeat. Alexander pitched into the seventh before giving way to
Jackson, who recorded the final seven outs and was credited with the victory.
The Reds failed to take advantage of a scoring opportunity in the second.
Tony Perez led off with a double and advanced to third on Dan Driessen's
grounder to first. George Foster then drew a walk to put runners on first
and third. But Alexander fanned Johnny Bench and retired Cesar Geronimo
on a grounder to short to escape damage.
The Yankees botched a gift-wrapped chance to break out on top in the
fourth. Rivers reached to open the frame when shortstop Dave Concepcion
fumbled his grounder for an error, and advanced to second when Roy White worked
a walk. But Thurman Munson grounded into his third double play of the
series and Lou Piniella rolled out to end the inning.
The Reds took the lead in the fifth, aided by a New York miscue. Nettles
grabbed Bench's roller to the left side but airmailed his throw to first,
allowing Bench to advance to second base. Geronimo struck out but
Concepcion grounded a single into center field; Bench beat Mickey Rivers' throw
to the plate and Cincinnati held a 1-0 advantage. Alexander retired Pete
Rose and Ken Griffey on ground balls to end the inning, but the Yankees now
trailed 1-0.
The Reds had a chance to extend their lead in the sixth when Alexander hit Joe
Morgan with a pitch to open the frame--an incident that nearly led to both
benches clearing. Morgan stole second, but Perez lined out for the first
out. Dan Driessen followed with a deep fly to left-center that White ran
down, with Morgan advancing to third. Foster grounded to short to end the
threat.
The Yankees had a threat of their own in the sixth. With one out, Fred
Stanley ended Norman's no-hit bid by dropping a single in front of Geronimo in
center field. Rivers' squibber to the right side eluded everyone for an
infield hit, putting runners on first and second. White flied to center,
with Stanley taking third on the play and Munson grounded to second for the
final out of the frame.
Bench led off the top of the seventh with a single and moved to second on
Geronimo's hit-and-run ground out. Alexander fanned Concepcion on a 3-2
pitch and then, with the top of the order due, Yankees manager Billy Martin
inserted Jackson into the game. The left-hander forced Pete Rose to turn
around and hit right-handed and then retired the Cincinnati third baseman on a
ground ball to Stanley at short.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Yankees finally got to Norman. Piniella
led off with a double over the head of Foster in left and was replaced on
second base by pinch runner Sandy Alomar. Chambliss worked the count full
and then looped a single to center. The speedy Alomar beat Geronimo's
throw to the plate and Chambliss advanced to second on the play. Nettles
followed by crushing a triple off the right-center field wall, scoring
Chambliss easily with the go-ahead run. Reds manager Sparky Anderson
replaced Norman on the mound with Manny Sarmiento, but the horse was already
out of the barn. Of course, the Yankees had a golden opportunity to add
an insurance run, with Nettles on third and nobody out, but in an eerie reminder
of failed scoring chances throughout the World Series, New York couldn't get
the job done. Sarmiento retired pinch hitter Oscar Gamble on a pop to
first and then, with the infield in all the way around, got Willie Randolph to
roll weakly to Perez at first base. Stanley grounded out to short to end
the inning and the Yankees were still clinging to a 2-1 lead.
When Griffey led off the eighth with a single off Jackson, it seemed certain
that the Reds would rally. But Jackson was equal to the task. He
retired Morgan, Perez and pinch hitter Bob Bailey in order to avoid any damage.
After Sarmiento held the Yankees scoreless in the bottom of the eighth, Jackson
retired Foster and Bench to open the ninth. Geronimo delayed the end with
a two-out single but Jackson struck out Concepcion to end the game.
The Yankees avoid the sweep but still trail the Reds, three games to one.
The opening game starters--Don Gullett for the Reds and Catfish Hunter for the
Yankees--will face off in Game 5 as New York hopes to send the series back to
Cincinnati.
10/20/1976, Cin76-NYA76, Yankee Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1976 Reds 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 1 8 1
1976 Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 x 2 6 1 5 0
Reds AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG
Rose 3b 3 0 0 0 .143 Rivers cf 4 0 1 0 .235
Griffey rf 4 0 1 0 .333 White,R lf 2 0 0 0 .571
Morgan,J 2b 3 0 0 0 .214 Munson c 4 0 1 0 .118
Perez,T 1b 4 0 1 0 .105 Piniella dh 3 0 1 0 .143
Driessen dh 3 0 1 0 .182 Alomar pr 0 1 0 0 .000
Bailey ph 1 0 0 0 .500 May,C ph 1 0 0 0 .111
Foster,G lf 3 0 0 0 .200 Chambliss 1b 3 1 1 1 .333
Bench c 4 1 1 0 .313 Nettles 3b 3 0 1 1 .308
Geronimo cf 4 0 1 0 .333 Maddox,E rf 2 0 0 0 .375
Concepcion ss 4 0 1 1 .333 Gamble ph 1 0 0 0 .000
33 1 6 1 Randolph 2b 3 0 0 0 .267
Stanley,F ss 3 0 1 0 .308
29 2 6 2
Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Norman L 0-1 6.0 5 2 2 2 3 86 51 3.00
Sarmiento 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 14 11 0.00
8.0 6 2 2 2 3 100 62
Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Alexander,D 6.2 4 1 0 2 3 109 68 0.00
Jackson,G W 1-0 2.1 2 0 0 0 1 29 22 0.00
9.0 6 1 0 2 4 138 90
Cin: Bailey batted for Driessen in the 8th
NYA: Alomar ran for Piniella in the 7th
Gamble batted for Maddox,E in the 7th
Gamble moved to rf in the 8th
May,C batted for Alomar in the 8th
E-Concepcion, Nettles. 2B-Perez,T(1), Piniella(1). 3B-Nettles(1).
RBI-Concepcion(2), Chambliss(3), Nettles(2). SB-Morgan,J(1), Geronimo(2).
CS-Griffey, White,R. K-Bench, Geronimo, Concepcion 2, Rivers, Munson,
Nettles. BB-Rose, Foster,G, White,R 2. HBP-Morgan,J. HB-Alexander,D.
GWRBI: Nettles
Temperature: 45, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 8 MPH.
Attendance: 54,161
Game Time: 2:26
Game 5: Don Gullett vs. Catfish Hunter, Yankee Stadium
EPIC
REDS COMEBACK SECURES SERIES CLINCHER
Yanks Blow 7-Run Lead; Morgan
Named MVP
NEW YORK, Oct. 21 (AP) - With a postseason comeback for the
ages, the Cincinnati Reds shook off a 7-0 deficit to defeat the New York
Yankees 9-7 in Game 5 and win the 1976 World Series, four games to one.
Four Cincinnati relievers combined to throw eight innings of one-run baseball,
George Foster hit a three-run homer and Joe Morgan drove home three runs to
lead the Reds. Afterwards, Morgan, who finished the series with five
extra base hits, including three home runs, drew five walks and drove in nine
runs, was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.
Early on, it seemed certain that the series would be headed back to Cincinnati
for a Game 6. The Yankees pounded Reds starter Don Gullett, scoring six
times in the first two innings. Mickey Rivers opened the bottom of the
first with a single and moved to second on Roy White's infield hit.
Thurman Munson popped to first and Lou Piniella lined to Rose at third and it
appeared that New York would blow another scoring chance. But, Chris
Chambliss rolled a single into right field, scoring Rivers and advancing White
to third. Graig Nettles followed with an opposite field base hit, plating
White with the second run of the inning and moving Chambliss to second.
Elliott Maddox then blooped a single just inside the left field line, driving
home Chambliss to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Willie Randolph flied to
center to finally end the inning but it had been an auspicious beginning for
New York.
The Yankees drove Gullett from the game in the second before he could record a
single out. Fred Stanley led off with a triple over Cesar Geronimo's head
in center field and Rivers followed with an infield single, scoring Stanley for
a 4-0 advantage. White then drew a walk and that was it for Gullett, who
had allowed eight of the 11 batters he faced to reach safely. Reds
manager Sparky Anderson replaced Gullett with Jack Billingham, but Munson
greeted the right-hander with a single to left. It was just the second
hit of the series for Munson, but it scored Rivers with the fifth run and
advanced White to second. After Piniella flied to center, Chambliss
ripped a single to right, scoring White to make it 6-0. Billingham
retired Nettles and Maddox but the Reds were now in a big hole.
In the bottom of the third, Randolph led of with a home run into the seats in
left, the first long ball of the World Series for the Yankees. It was now
7-0.
Yankees starter Catfish Hunter, meanwhile, was cruising along
effortlessly. He retired the first seven Cincinnati batters, yielded a
one-out single to Geronimo in the third, and then set the next two batters down
in order.
But in the fourth, the failure to get the third out of the inning started the
Reds' comeback. Ken Griffey grounded out to open the frame but Morgan
drew a one-out walk. Tony Perez hit a roller to short, forcing Morgan at
second, but the Yankees infield was a bit slow trying to turn the double play
and Perez beat the relay at first. It seemed meaningless at the time but
Dan Driessen followed by flaring a single to left, putting runners on first and
second with two outs for Foster, who worked the count in his favor 3-1 and then
launched a mammoth home run to into the monuments in left field off a
get-me-over fastball. Suddenly, it was 7-3. The Reds had scored
three runs on only four baserunners to that point.
The palpable nervousness running through a chilled Yankee Stadium crowd mostly
disappeared in the middle innings. The Yankees had, somewhat predictably,
blown a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the fourth when Billingham, after
allowing back-to-back singles to Munson and Piniella to open the frame, retired
Chambliss, Nettles and Maddox in order to prevent allowing New York to extend
the lead. But Hunter cruised through the fifth and sixth, yielding only a
harmless walk to Griffey in the top of the sixth.
Billingham, meanwhile, held the Yankees at bay into to the bottom of the
sixth. After retiring White on a lead-off infield pop, he was replaced by
Santo Alcala who pitched around a walk to pinch hitter Carlos May to take the
four-run deficit into the seventh.
The crucial top of the seventh started innocently enough as Hunter retired
Foster on a routine fly ball and then worked ahead of Johnny Bench 0-2.
But Hunter made a critical mistake by putting that 0-2 offering in the strike
zone and Bench swatted it into left-center field for a base hit. Geronimo
followed with a grounder to short that was too slowly hit for a double play and
the Yankees settled for a force on Bench at second for out number two. When
Hunter failed to put Concepcion--who singled Geronimo to second on a 1-2
pitch--away, Yankees manager Billy Martin had seen enough. With the top
of the order due up--switch-hitting Pete Rose and lefties Griffey and
Morgan--the tying run in the on deck circle and Hunter showing signs of fading
command, Martin brought southpaw Sparky Lyle into the game to close out the
seventh and hopefully the game. It didn't go well. Rose greeted
Lyle by grounding a single into left field, scoring Geronimo and advancing
Concepcion to second. It was now 7-4. On the first pitch he saw,
Griffey lined a single to center, scoring Concepcion and moving Rose to
second. The tying runs were now on base. Lyle fell behind Morgan
3-1 and the Reds second baseman drove the offering into the Death Valley area
of left-center field. Rose and Griffey scored easily, tying the game, and
Morgan cruised into third with a stand-up triple. The seven run lead was
gone in its entirety. Perez was walked intentionally and Lyle retired
pinch hitter Bob Bailey, but all of the air had gone out of the Yankees'
balloon.
With the game now tied, Anderson brought Will McEnaney in to pitch the bottom
of the seventh and he easily disposed of Nettles, Maddox and Randolph.
Lyle got the first two outs of the top of the eighth but then yielded a single
to Geronimo and walked Concepcion on four pitches. Martin replaced Lyle
with Grant Jackson who retired Rose on a grounder to third to escape any
damage.
The Yankees had life in the bottom of the seventh when Stanley singled off a
3-2 pitch from McEnaney to open the inning. Fleet-footed Sandy Alomar ran
for Stanley. Rivers worked the count full and, on the 3-2 offering,
Alomar broke for second. Rivers uncharacteristically swung and missed and
Bench cut down Alomar at second base for a devastating
strike-him-out-throw-him-out double play. McEnaney then got White to roll
out to second to end the frame.
In the top of the ninth, Griffey led off with a single to center. Morgan
worked the count from Jackson to 2-1 and then, with Griffey off to the races,
Morgan hooked a ball fair, just inside the first base bag, into the right field
corner. Griffey raced all the way around to score as Morgan settled for
an RBI-double, giving the Reds their first lead of the game. Dick Tidrow
took over for Jackson on the mound and gave up a long fly ball to left-center
field off the bat of Perez. White ran it down, but Morgan tagged and
moved to third. Mike Lum made his debut in the series by hitting for
Bailey and drew a walk; Lum was replaced on first base by speedy Ed
Armbrister. With the corners in and and the middle infield in double play
depth, Foster hit a weak grounder to the left of the mound. Alomar's only
play was at first and he threw Foster out but Morgan raced home with the ninth
Cincinnati run. Bench then struck out to end the inning but the Reds now
held a 9-7 lead.
Rawley Eastwick came on to close out the game for Cincinnati in the bottom of
the ninth and quickly disposed of Munson and Carlos May. But Chambliss reached
on an infield hit when Morgan could only knock down his chopper in shallow
center field. Nettles followed by rolling a single into right field with
Chambliss stopping at second. The potential winning run then strode to
the plate in the form of pinch hitter Oscar Gamble. Gamble swung at the
first pitch from Eastwick and lifted a fly ball to fairly deep center
field. Geronimo settled under it, roughly 15 feet shy of the warning
track, and made the catch to end the game. The Reds were World Series
champions, beating the Yankees four games to one.
The Reds outscored the Yankees in the series, 29-17, and outhomered them
5-1. The Yankees struck out only 11 times in the five games but only drew
10 walks. Roy White hit .500 (9-for-18) for the Yankees and drew five of
his team's 10 free passes. Chris Chambliss hit .400 (8-for-20) with four
doubles and drove in five runs. In addition to Joe Morgan's
offensive prowess, Cesar Geronimo (.368) and Ken Griffey (.364) were the primary
hitting stars for the Reds. Cincinnati hit into only one double play in
five games, but turned five of their own on the Yankees. Defense was
definitely a factor; the Yankees allowed five unearned runs while the Reds
surrendered none. The Reds committed only one error compared to five
Yankees miscues.
10/21/1976, Cin76-NYA76, Yankee Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1976 Reds 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 2 9 11 0 7 1
1976 Yankees 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 15 0 9 0
Reds AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG
Rose 3b 5 1 1 1 .158 Rivers cf 5 2 2 1 .273
Flynn 3b 0 0 0 0 .000 White,R lf 4 2 1 0 .500
Griffey rf 4 2 2 1 .364 Munson c 5 0 2 1 .182
Morgan,J 2b 4 1 2 3 .278 Piniella dh 3 0 1 0 .200
Perez,T 1b 4 1 0 0 .087 May,C ph 1 0 0 0 .100
Driessen dh 3 1 1 0 .214 Chambliss 1b 5 1 3 2 .400
Bailey ph 1 0 0 0 .400 Nettles 3b 5 0 2 1 .333
Lum ph 0 0 0 0 .000 Maddox,E rf 4 0 1 1 .333
Armbrister pr 0 0 0 0 .000 Gamble ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Foster,G lf 5 1 1 4 .200 Randolph 2b 4 1 1 1 .263
Bench c 5 0 1 0 .286 Stanley,F ss 4 1 2 0 .353
Geronimo cf 4 1 2 0 .368 Alomar pr 0 0 0 0 .000
Concepcion ss 3 1 1 0 .333 41 7 15 7
38 9 11 9
Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Gullett 1.0 7 6 6 1 0 47 26 9.00
Billingham 4.1 5 1 1 0 1 61 42 2.08
Alcala 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 9 5 0.00
McEnaney W 1-0 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 31 19 6.00
Eastwick S 2 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 14 10 0.00
9.0 15 7 7 2 3 162 102
Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Hunter 6.2 5 5 5 2 3 102 64 3.45
Lyle BS 1 1.0 4 2 2 2 1 36 15 15.00
Jackson,G L 1-1 0.1 2 2 2 0 0 12 7 4.50
Tidrow 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 17 10 2.70
9.0 11 9 9 5 5 167 96
Cin: Bailey batted for Driessen in the 7th
Lum batted for Bailey in the 9th
Armbrister ran for Lum in the 9th
Flynn inserted at 3b in the 9th
NYA: May,C batted for Piniella in the 6th
Alomar ran for Stanley,F in the 8th
Alomar moved to ss in the 9th
Gamble batted for Maddox,E in the 9th
2B-Morgan,J(1). 3B-Morgan,J(1), Stanley,F(1). HR-Foster,G(1), Randolph(1).
RBI-Rose(2), Griffey(5), Morgan,J 3(9), Foster,G 4(4), Rivers(3), Munson(1),
Chambliss 2(5), Nettles(3), Maddox,E(1), Randolph(1). CS-Alomar. K-Perez,T,
Bench 3, Concepcion, Rivers, Nettles 2. BB-Griffey, Morgan,J, Perez,T,
Concepcion, Lum, White,R, May,C.
GWRBI: Morgan,J
Temperature: 35, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 9 MPH.
Attendance: 53,899
Game Time: 3:23