October 26, 1985

Since the World Series game has been postponed for this evening (Weds., 10/26) due to inclement weather in St. Louis, I thought I would do a short World Series '85 blog entry. It was on this day in 1985, in Game 6 of the Series, that most Cardinal fans would love to forget, Denkinger made his famous bad call. Now, being a Royals fan, I know that I benefited from it but what goes overlooked is what happened in the 4th inning of this very same game.

Jorta is called safe - Denkinger

Granted, the game was marked by controversy. In the fourth inning of the scoreless game, the Royals' Frank White appeared to have stolen second base, but was called out. The following batter, Pat Sheridan, hit a single to right field. Through 7 innings, Danny Cox and Charlie Liebrandt pitched a couple of gems until Liebrandt gave up a hit to Brian Harper that scored Terry Pendleton in the top of the 8th. Cards fans were excited until the blown call in the bottom of the 9th on the squibber by Jorge Orta where Denkinger called him safe. The Royals ended up scoring two runs in the 9th and taking game 6 to even the series. That next night, Sunday, October 27, 1985 the Royals won their one and only (to date) World Series 11-0. It was a complete melt-down by the Cards. It probably did not help matters that Denkinger was behind the plate calling balls and strikes and Andujar came completely unglued arguing balls and strike calls. He would later stick his hand in a fan and get suspended 10 games in the '86 season for charging Denkinger.

I am not a Cardinals hater. I am a long-suffering Royals fan. Go Rangers in the 2011 World Series!