The Baseball Digest Archives 10/83

Mar 31, 2025

October 1983

I have a lot of affection for the 1980’s Chicago White Sox uniforms. They had just the right amount of garishness, and more importantly this was a time when players still generally wore stirrups. Look at the Ron Kittle photo on the cover. It’s been quite some time since players on the White Sox actually wore white socks.

This issue was heavily centered on the World Series - more than 20 pages worth of data including stats, records, and boxscores. It also included the magazine’s choices of the greatest World Series pitching performances since Don Larsen’s perfect game. Some of the selections are fairly obvious: Bob Gibson’s 17 strikeouts in 1968, Sandy Koufax in 1965, Steve Blass in 1971. There are other choices that are not as well known these days: Moe Drabowsky’s relief appearance in 1966, Darold Knowles pitching in all 7 games in 1973.

Knowles and Drabowsky are not household names among younger fans; they could have also been included in a later article in this issue which discusses lesser known players who had their World Series moment. Among the names dropped were Howard Ehmke, Nippy Jones, and Al Weis. Ehmke was the surprise starter in Game 1 of the 1929 WS, and all he did was strike out 13 Cubs in a series the Philadelphia A’s would go on to win in 5. Jones was a featured player in the turning point of the 1957 WS. He pinch hit while the Braves were trailing in the 10th inning of Game 4 and claimed that he was hit in the foot by a pitch. The umpire noticed shoe polish on the baseball and awarded him first base, the Braves rallied to win the game and took the series in 7. (Strangely enough, there was another shoe polish incident involving a player named Jones in the 1969 series, this time Cleon.) Weis was a light hitting infielder whose 2 home runs in that same 1969 Series epitomized the “how did that happen?” narrative surrounding the Miracle Mets.

In addition to the reference of his World Series heroics, Steve Blass was mentioned in a second piece in this issue. Reliever Kevin Saucier retired after the 1982 season following a sudden & inexplicable loss of control, an affliction which is now commonly referred to as Steve Blass Disease. The article mentions that before quitting Saucier attempted to call Blass for advice but was unable to reach him.

This issue was cover dated October, which meant it hit newsstands in September, which meant the 1983 season was far from complete by the time the magazine was sent to the printers. Which made their listing of the year’s top rookies a bit premature. Ron Kittle would win the AL Rookie of the Year award, so his placing at #1 here checks out. But NL ROY Darryl Strawberry only placed 10th on the Baseball Digest list. To be fair he got off to a slow start, it wasn’t until the end of the season that he was clearly established as the National League’s best rookie.

Now for the rapid fire portion: Dan Quisenberry content is always welcome. Not only was he a great relief pitcher, but he was also a fun guy to root for, with his underhand motion and quick wit. Dickie Thon was one of the sadder What Could Have Beens, he was hit in the face with a pitch early in the 1984 season. He was able to come back and played in the majors for nearly 10 years, but his time as a high potential guy was effectively over. And I have clear memories of Rich Dauer for an unusual reason. In the days before statistical information was easily accessible we had to wait until the league leaders were listed - sorted by batting average - in the Sunday newspaper. I don’t know how often it actually happened, but my memory tells me that every season the initial listing would be led by an Orioles infielder who simply happened to get off to a hot start. One year it would be Billy Smith, the next it would be Rich Dauer. “Ooh, Dauer is hitting .440 as of April 10. Can he keep it up all year?” Narrator: no, he did not.

Most Memorable Moment - Boston Red Sox

Original 1976 Choice: 1967 Impossible Dream Sox clinch pennant on last day of the season

My Updated Selection: Dave Roberts steals second base

The magic of the 1967 season was still upmost in people’s minds when MLB made that moment as their selection. An unexpected season always has its own special charm. That moment is no longer as prominent as it was, particularly once the Red Sox broke their extended championship drought.

There are several other moments that could be strong candidates. Ted Williams going 6 for 8 in a doubleheader on the season’s final day to finish with a batting average above .400. Williams hitting a homer in his final at bat. Carlton Fisk’s home run in 1975. Any of the walk offs that David Ortiz hit on the march to the 2004 title. In the end, I would choose the moment that served as the catalyst for that championship, one which broke an 86 year long drought.

There has only been one occurrence in the long history of MLB in which a team has come back from a three games to zero deficit to win a 7 game series, and I truly believe this was the only instance in which such an event could have been possible. The contrast in clubhouse cultures between the self described Band Of Idiots in Boston and the buttoned down (uptight) Yankees could not have been more striking. Chalk it up to delusion, but the Sox honestly thought that all they needed was to win one game and that would open up the floodgates. That’s not rewriting history either, there are multiple clips of Kevin Millar shouting “don’t let us win one!”

That’s why it’s fitting that it was Millar of all people who got it all started. Down 1 run in the 9th inning of game 4 of the ALCS, facing the untouchable Mariano Rivera and a series sweep, Millar worked out a walk. Terry Francona then sent Roberts in to pinch run, with one job. Get into scoring position. He stole second, followed by Bill Mueller singling up the middle which drove Roberts in with the tying run. The rest is history - extra inning wins in games 4 & 5, the bloody sock game, the game 7 blowout, the 4-game sweep in the World Series. It could not have happened without that stolen base.

When the Sox completed the ALCS victory, the stunned faces in the Yankees dugout contrasted with the jubilation in the Red Sox scrum reminded me so much of the Miracle On Ice. The Yankees looked like the Soviet Red Army team. Defeat is inconceivable, especially against these guys? That 2004 season was a major catharsis, it was hard not to think of the decades worth of Red Sox greats who never reached the ultimate goal in a Boston uniform or the generations of die hard fans who went to their graves without seeing their team triumph. It all started with a stolen base, the most memorable Red Sox moment.

Meet the Nominees - Soundgarden

The Hall of Fame has made a noticeable philosophical change in constructing recent ballots. They have cut down severely on recirculating the same names year after year. Seemingly gone are the days of Chic’s annual nomination followed by their inevitable rejection. Of the 14 artists on the 2025 ballot, 8 of them are first time nominees. 5 received their second nomination this year. The one veteran? Soundgarden, who have been nominated for a whopping third time. Whether that means they have done well enough in their previous elections that they only need a small amount of additional support to reach the finish line is TBD.

One trait shared by each of the Big 4 Seattle grunge bands is that they all had exceptionally charismatic frontmen. As far as pure vocal skill goes, however, Chris Cornell was far and away the best of the lot. Just listen to the way he sings circles around Eddie Vedder on the Temple Of the Dog album. It’s not just that he was blessed with a set of powerful pipes either. There was passion and emotion in his voice.

Soundgarden helped pave the way for the alternative rock explosion in the post Nirvana era. Their major label debut, which got light airplay on some of the more adventurous album rock stations, came out in 1989 and their breakthrough record, Badmotorfinger, was already in stores when Nirvana took off. In many ways they were a perfect mashup of classic rock and more modern sounds. Kim Thayil was as talented of a guitar hero as any of his predecessors, while at the same time the band perfected the muddy mix with the deep bottom which was so prevalent at the time.

Chris Cornell was something special. It’s no accident that despite no acting experience he had some spoken lines in the movie Singles. He had clear command on screen. Sadly, he was also a tortured soul and his struggles with depression were long part of their subtext. His suicide was a tragic loss, but the band has left a strong legacy. It’s impossible to fully tell the story of the era without their inclusion. Add that to the fact that they have several songs in the classic rock canon, and they are a strong candidate for induction. I also presume that if/when they are inducted it will serve as an impetus for the Hall to finally complete the Seattle cycle and nominate Alice In Chains next year.

Biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit: Asterisks are required here. Billboard used to have a policy that a song could not chart on the Hot 100 without a physical single, and Soundgarden’s commercial peak came during the period when record companies rarely released singles from rock artists, forcing fans to spend their money on the albums instead. As a result, Soundgarden only had 1 hit on the singles chart, which was Black Rain, which reached #96 for 1 week in 2010. If it had been eligible to chart Black Hole Sun would have been their biggest hit.

My Personal Favorite: Burden In My Hand

If elected, how would their induction be handled in the ceremony?: Remains to be seen. The surviving members could perform, but who would be recruited to fill in for Cornell? And could that replacement be able to fill his shoes? Or would it make more sense to have a current band or an all-star collective take over the honors entirely and perform a couple of Soundgarden songs in their honor, a la last year’s A Tribe Called Quest segment?

Late Night

Late last week two different disheartening pieces of news came out of the world of late night TV. The first was the news that CBS is cancelling After Midnight when its second season ends this year. The initial reaction from many was dismay over the fact that the only late night show entirely hosted by a woman was ending. The news soon emerged that Taylor Tomlinson was leaving on her own accord so that she could devote more focus to her standup career and that rather than search for a new host CBS chose to cut down the network’s late night hours and give the post-Colbert time slot to its affiliates.

I don’t watch After Midnight; there are only so many hours in the day and I have to draw the line somewhere, but I have seen one of Tomlinson’s standup specials. She is very funny, and I am confident that the format of the show plays to her strengths quite well. The main reason why the end of the show is so disappointing is because of what it means for the late night landscape.

Tomlinson’s departure means that except for the evenings when either Desi Lydic or Ronny Chieng hosts The Daily Show all of the late night shows on network TV or basic cable are hosted by white guys. Nothing against any of the hosts (well, except for one. Sometimes I think it’s time to write my Why I Hate Jimmy Fallon magnum opus, but I fear it would be Robert Caro type length.) but that lack of variety isn’t ideal. I know that somehow the word “diversity” has become a slur, but different voices and different perspectives have great value.

The other story made my blood boil. The White House Correspondents’ Association made the chickens*** decision to cancel Amber Ruffin’s planned hosting gig for this year’s dinner. In this time, in this atmosphere, the choice to pull the plug on a black gay woman sends all sorts of signals, all of them bad. He who shall not be named had recently criticized her, claiming that she is hate filled. Amber Ruffin? Hate filled? She just might be an actual ray of sunshine brought to human form.

I’ve read all of the pros and cons surrounding the purpose of annual White House Corresponents’ Dinner, specifically if it’s appropriate to stage such an event. There are a lot of smart people who feel that the event has no good reason to exist; the press and the government should not be acting buddy buddy. This cancellation is a tipping point for me; I am now firmly Team Discontinue The Event. Yes, I am going to negatively judge individuals and organizations who choose to take part in this charade. Don’t mess with Amber Ruffin.

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The Baseball Digest Archives 10/83

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