The Baseball Digest Archives 11/81

November 1981

At the moment the 1981 strike began Pete Rose was tied with Stan Musial for the most hits in National League history. Knowing how Rose rolled it must have been killing him to sit through a work stoppage which lasted almost 2 months with the record was so close yet so far away. It’s not much of a surprise that he broke the record in the first game back following the strike’s end and part of this month’s cover story included an at bat by at bat breakdown of the game. He set the mark in his 4th at bat of the evening. I had forgotten that it was Mark Littell who had given up the hit, the same Mark Littell who 5 years earlier served up the Chris Chambliss home run which ended the 1976 ALCS. The guy was constantly on the wrong side of history.

Much of this issue was seen through the prism of the work stoppage. One piece speculated that the break in the schedule would somehow lead to premature ends for the careers of several veteran players. Um, no. At least for the players that were spotlighted in the article. Such as Rick Monday. When the article was written the editors had no way of knowing that Monday would hit the pennant winning home run for the Dodgers shortly after the magazine hit newsstands. Monday would remain in the majors until 1984. Or how about this line regarding Pete Rose? “He had visions of breaking Ty Cobb’s major league mark of 4,191 hits… but because of the strike, he can probably kiss that one goodbye.” Among the other veterans mentioned in this article whose careers extended well past 1981 were Tony Perez, and Tommy John. John was still pitching as late as 1989!

The article on the strongest outfield throwing arms feels timely in light of Dave Parker’s recent passing, but he wasn’t listed as the best right field arm in the National League. That honor instead went to Ellis Valentine. He earned points for his accuracy.

This one jumped out at me. I have previously mentioned that one of the striking features of the letters to the editor section was how challenging it could be to find information in the pre-internet era. Readers would often send requests to settle arguments and wait patiently in the hopes that the magazine would address the query. This one takes the cake. A reader asked for the lineups of a doubleheader that his father had attended in 1938. Not even Baseball Digest, the most prestigious monthly baseball magazine, knew the answer for sure so they instead supplied a list of the usual regulars for the 2 teams who played that doubleheader and surmised that most of them would have been in the lineup for the games that the reader’s father had gone to.

What were the 12 greatest World Series blunders as of 1981? The magazine this month provided their list of the dubious honorees. Some of them are still famous, others have faded from memory. Included here was the time that Babe Ruth ended the 1926 World Series when he was thrown out in a stolen bad attempt. It was a little unfair to include the claims that Johnny Pesky held the ball for too long as Enos Slaughter made his mad dash for home in 1946. Film footage of the play shows that while Pesky may have momentarily frozen before he threw home, it was only a very brief lapse and Slaughter had gotten such a great jump that he likely would have scored regardless. Pesky didn’t deserve those goat horns.

I’ll close with another of Stan Mack’s ballpark cartoons, this one of the Polo Grounds. Unlike most of his others I don’t see a copyright date, but based on the inclusion of the Willie Mays catch from the 1954 WS, it seems likely that he drew this one shortly after the Giants had left for San Francisco and before the Mets temporarily used the Polo Grounds as their home park while Shea was being built. The entirety of the Giants’ New York history is included here.

Most Memorable Moment - New York Mets

MLB’s Original 1976 Choice: The 1969 Miracle Mets

My Updated Selection: A little roller, up along first, BEHIND THE BAG!

The 1969 Mets were one of the most special teams in league history. With that title they became the first expansion team to win a World Series title, but putting it that way doesn’t fully put into perspective just how unlikely that victory was. It’s not just that the Mets were a bad team in their first 7 seasons - finishing either last or next to last each year - but that they were often comically bad. That is, until a crop of promising young pitchers simultaneously matured and history was made.

There were a couple of other strong contenders for the Mets selection. The home run that Mike Piazza hit in the first game played in New York following 9/11 was a chilling and thrilling moment. And the sheer comedy of the event means that Robin Ventura’s grand slam single will always have its place in highlight reels. But with all due respect to the 1969 Miracles, the top Mets moment comes from their other championship season.

The 1986 World Series was the culmination of what was already quite the eventful postseason. The Mets defeated the Astros in 6 games in the NLCS, with the clinching Game 6 being a grueling 16 inning affair. Even though the Mets led the series 3-2 going into that game, they were actually the more desperate team. They did NOT want to face Mike Scott in a winner take all Game 7. As for the ALCS, the Angels were one strike away from winning their first pennant until Dave Henderson homered in the top of the 9th to give the Red Sox a one run lead. The Angels came back to tie it back, but the Red Sox ultimately prevailed in 11 innings. Still, that was only Game 5 and the Angels still led the series 3-2. The Red Sox kept the foot on the pedal, winning Games 6 & 7.

That set the stage for the WS matchup. To this day if you mention the phrase “Game 6” to any baseball fan in either New York or Boston no further explanation is necessary. The Sox, who at the time had gone 68 years since their most recent title, led 3 games to 2, and Game 6 was a back and forth affair with the game tied 3-3 going into extra innings. And then…

Dave Henderson played hero once again with a leadoff home run in the 10th, and the Sox added an insurance run. The first 2 Met hitters in the bottom of the inning hit soft fly balls for outs and the season looked all but over. How so? Someone in stadium operations at Shea accidentally hit a button which prematurely sent congratulations to the Red Sox on the Jumbotron. And the Red Sox clubhouse was carefully prepared for the trophy celebration. They just needed to get that crucial last out.

Which never happened. Mets fans (in their dreams) and Red Sox fans (in their nightmares) know all too well what happened next. Three consecutive singles. A wild pitch. And then finally after fouling off pitch after pitch Mookie Wilson’s slow tapper down the first base line went through the legs of poor Bill Buckner and sent Shea Stadium into pandemonium. True, there was still a Game 7 to win, but did anyone really think the Mets were going to lose after that? To make the torture even worse, Game 7 was postponed due to rain and everyone had to wait another day for the inevitable result.

This would be the most memorable Mets moment regardless, but I also have to admit that my own personal memories of this game skew the results. I had originally told this story a couple of years ago, so I’ll recap briefly. I was a junior at Fordham for this game, which took place on a Saturday evening. My suitemates left early to go to the off campus bars, but I needed to watch the game without any distractions so I stayed behind. I watched the game with one of my other suitemates, who was rooting for the Sox. He was mercilessly busting my chops as that 10th inning developed, but as the narrative turned in the bottom of the inning he would be as stunned into silence as I was. When the game ended I practically had a Jim Valvano moment, staggering around campus looking for someone to hug. I finally stopped at the campus radio station, as we aired a call-in sports show on Saturday evenings I knew there would be a lot of people there. Everyone was as stunned as I was. I would suspect that there are plenty of people who had similar reactions to mine. That is why it is the most memorable Mets moment.

The All-Star Break

As expected, if you showed a little patience, almost all of the players who warranted a spot in the All-Star Game were eventually added to the rosters. In fact, I can’t think of a single glaring omission for the American League. Maybe Carlos Narvaez instead of Alejandro Kirk as the backup catcher? The National League is a different story, and the league made things worse by really stepping in it.

The two most deserving position players who were left out were Juan Soto and Andy Pages, both of whom are having better seasons than Kyle Stowers, but because there needs to be a Marlins representative that made things more difficult for either to grab a spot. I suppose one could also say that Ronald Acuña Jr. missed so much time that he shouldn’t be there, but the fans voted him in and he also has enough of a track record that he has earned a pass.

In my eyes Christopher Sánchez deserves to be on the team as well, although to be fair since he started yesterday’s game he would have been unavailable to pitch and the league avoids naming replacement players who can’t take part in the game. At the same time MLB made a huge mistake by naming Jacob Misiorowski to the team. He is one of the most promising prospects in the game and he is off to a strong start, BUT, the dude has only pitched in 5 games thus far. Naming him to the squad with such a thin résumé is a big reach, and it cheapens the honor. It’s not Rafael Palmeiro winning a Gold Glove level bad, but it is a selection that is impossible to defend. I feel sorry for the kid, none of this is his fault and he is already getting a lot of blowback.

There are two changes to the ASG this year, one of which is actually a return to the old norm and was a long time coming. In a rare instance of Rob Manfred listening to feedback, players will once again wear their own team uniforms in the game rather than the hideously generic AL or NL uniforms that had been in use. Those threads were as bland as could be, and the team wearing the dark colored uniforms always looked like they were playing in slacks. Now we return to the wonderful mosaic of different uniforms which made past All-Star Games a real visual pleasure.

In addition, in a sign that the ABS system will likely be instituted in the major leagues next season, it will be a part of this year’s All-Star Game. Just like in spring training, either the batter, pitcher, or catcher can challenge a ball or strike call. The review is made almost instantaneously, and since each team only has 2 challenges it would theoretically only be used for the most obvious missed calls. I liked what I saw of it in spring training games this year. Get used to it, it will almost certainly be part of big league play beginning next year.

Finally I will once again reiterate my annual suggestion for how to improve the ASG. It’s an exhibition game, it’s perfectly fine to tinker with the rules. For this game only, allow players to reenter. Wouldn’t you want to see the biggest stars in the game come to the plate in clutch situations? Think of some past memorable moments from the game. For example, think back to Ted Williams walkoff home run in 1941. Williams started and was still in the game for the 9th. Or those 2 famous throws that Dave Parker made in 1979, which came in the 7th & 8th innings. Yes, Parker had started the game and was still playing. I want to see potential 9th inning at bats from Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. The game doesn’t count, no reason not to try weird things to improve the product.

TV Of the 21st Century - The Inbetweeners

Sit right back kids, and I will tell you the story of a basic cable channel known as BBC America, which, and this might be hard to believe, had a programming lineup largely consisting of British programming. Making jokes about legacy cable channels that have long strayed from their original concept has been low lying fruit for years, but BBC America is one of the more egregious violators. On a typical day you will find the sort of movies that used to run constantly on TNT, or marathon blocks of Bones reruns. Nothing specifically British to be seen.

Back in the day this network was the go-to home for British imports, as well as reruns of classic series such as The Avengers. Now there are 2 choices to satisfy your appetite for British TV programming. PBS runs prestige dramas; anything other than Masterpiece Theatre levels of quality and ambition is limited to the BritBox streaming service. Otherwise there is no opportunity to discover little gems, such as this wonderfully vulgar comedy which ran for 3 seasons beginning in 2008.

The Inbetweeners told the story of a quartet of mates in a British high school. They were named so because they were left outside of all of the main cliques. They weren’t freaks, they weren’t geeks, they weren’t jocks, they weren’t the cool crowd, they were the others. The exposition in the premiere episode came with the introduction of William, a new transfer student. He was the sort of prematurely middle-aged high schooler who carried around a briefcase. The others were Simon the hothead, Jay the unfiltered vulgarian, and Neil the lanky guy who was not only terribly uncomfortable in his own skin but also far from the sharpest tool in the shed. That’s an unfortunate combo for a teenager.

Over the course of the 3 seasons which lasted only 6 episodes each, they got into your prototypical shenanigans. They were constantly trying to get laid, get drunk, get laid, party, get laid, participate in mischief, get laid, and if there was still time they would try to get laid. One of the great running jokes was that everyone was attracted to William’s mother and they were constantly making inappropriate comments to him about how badly they dreamed of shagging her. As you can guess it was cringe comedy at its best.

Jay in particular was a standout. At times he was almost like a live action Cartman. He would say whatever was on his mind, consequences be damned. That wasn’t the only parallel to South Park. At its essence The Inbetweeners recognized how awful young people can be to each other without actively intending to do so. In the end none of the 4 are bad guys, not even Jay. They are just terminally immature.

In addition to the 3 seasons that the show ran there were also 2 theatrical movies, neither of which I have seen so I can’t vouch for how well they hold up in comparison to the half hour episodes. Thinking of The Inbetweeners makes me lament what BBC America has become. (Fun fact, when Queen Elizabeth died a cable channel with BBC in its very name did not see fit to interrupt the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode that was airing at the time of the announcement.) I’m sure there are many gems in the BBC library that are relegated to one of the smaller streaming services. I would bet that Jay has some NSFW things to say about that.

Originally aired on: BBC America

Currently streaming on: Prime Video, Pluto TV, and Tubi

Closing Laughs

Let’s see if anyone is brave enough to bunt in tonight’s Home Run Derby. The defense is just leaving that big hole down the third base line. Have a great day everyone, and I’ll see you again on Wednesday.