.
L
.
R
.
l
.
Here's
his bitch.
Fastball hits the
left.
And house
such are the
joys this season.
As the first-place card
have come from behind to
D. Bletfield way back and out of here.
Grand slam home run.
And the Cardinals put it.
That's Tommy Hurts.
That's in a grand slam home run to win the ball game.
This year, you know, we got off to such a great start.
And we really thought we were going to have a good starting pitching.
And due to injuries and then some performances that weren't as good as last year,
our hitting really carried us all the way up to the all-star break.
The cards still have a plentiful supply of clutch hitters.
And not only the usual suspects.
Grand slam home run for Tom Bagnasi.
And another pitch to light.
Ground ball hit the left field.
Base hit.
Guerrero charging it.
Around third, Clark.
Guerrero bubbles the ball.
And the Cardinals win.
The squeeze is on.
Jack Clark has won.
The game is over.
Hey, makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Now, let's open the notebook for this week in baseball's twib notes from around the majors.
When Houston's Billy Hatcher beat out this infield hit against the Chicago Cubs,
he broke his band in the process.
But that wasn't all.
The bat looked suspicious.
And when the Ops took a closer look, found Cork on the inside.
So they threw Hatcher out of the game.
The first batter ejected this season for an illegal bat.
Baltimore manager Cal Ripken made a rather suspect move in a game against the Angels.
He pinch hit Fred Lynn, a left-handed batter, for another left-handed batter who had already homeward.
Now, all this against a left-handed pitcher in the last of the ninth.
And the result, look.
That's it, deep right field.
Way back and Fred Lynn wins the ball game.
Ha ha.
Some things just defy explanation.
By the way, that gave the O's their ninth straight win against the Angels.
Friends in New York, Hall of Fame syndicated sports columnist Dick Young died at the age of 69, ending a 50-year career.
I've had a wonderful life.
I'm a lucky man.
I grew up at the time when the heroes were all newspaper men.
Clark Gable was a newspaper man or a newsreel man.
Lee Tracy played the front page.
And just as you have lawyers now in television seem to be the heroes and you had cowboys, we had newspaper men.
And I didn't want to be a sports writer.
I wanted to be a police report.
I wanted to be that guy that had the press badge in his hat that came in and said, stop the presses.
Well, I got detoured into sports, but I'm very happy about it.
It's been wonderful.
We're sure going to miss you, Dick.
Time for this week's quiz brought to you by the 1988 Chevy full-size pickup.
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Second baseman Johnny Ray was recently traded from the Pirates to the penitentiary chasing California Angels.
With the trade, the seven-year veteran joins his second major league team.
Now, can you name the player with the longest service on one team?
Stay tuned for a pair of MVP winners.
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Over the last two decades, one private research agency has led the fight for auto safety.
Through exhaustive testing and thorough analysis, they've helped make the inside of an automobile a safer place for all of us.
Okay, hold it right there.
Who created and funded this agency?
That's it.
You're going to be surprised.
Your insurance company.
We do a lot more than sell insurance.
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The hits just keep on coming.
So here's Warner Fussell with a hit attraction.
Mel, the best insurance policy in Boston can be found at Fenway Park at Third Base.
Wade Boggs.
In his six-year major league career, Wade Boggs has a 355 lifetime average,
so you probably know that he's baseball's best hitter.
But there are some things about Mr. Boggs you may not know.
In 1976, when Boggs was drafted by the Red Sox, he was only the 166th player chosen.
Then in his rookie season at Elmira, he batted 263.
That was 12 points below the team average.
Still in the minors five years later at Pawtucket, Boggs caught on to win his first batting title.
In one historical game, Wade actually had eight at-bats without a hit,
but he still went 4 for 12 in the longest game ever played, 33 innings.
Finally arriving in the major leagues, Boggs found a great home and a close friend.
For example, in 1985 at Fenway Park, Wade hit 418.
This year his Fenway average has dropped to 408.
Fancy footwork produces some fancy numbers.
Last year in one game against the Twins, Boggs delivered five base hits.
Then against the Twins the next week, five more hits.
Five for five.
Now let's observe some pet quirks, like the first pitch.
Boggs takes the first pitch 94% of the time.
When he falls behind 0-2, well so far he's batting 397.
By the way, when ahead on the count, Wade's batting 485.
Now for the strangest sight of all, watch closely.
A fair ball pop-up in the infield.
Last year that happened only twice all season.
Boston's Ted Williams was the last man to hit 400 for an entire year.
Can it happen again? Well Mel, it already has.
From early June 1985 to early June 1986, a stretch of 162 games, Wade Boggs hit 401.
Now our new feature, the pennant race game of the week.
Dateline, County Stadium, Milwaukee. Pennant fever bubbling over in a thriller between the Brewers and Twins.
Kirby Puckett puts Minnesota up 1-0. Then in the third he strikes again.
And there she goes.
And it is a home run Kirby Puckett.
And with that, it's home run number 20 and RBI number 75.
The Twins have a 2-0 lead.
But the picture got much brighter for the Brewers next inning when Bill Schroeder came up with 2-0.
There it goes.
It is a lead of 3-2 for the Milwaukee Brewers.
But not for long, shifting the balance back Minnesota's way, rookie Mark Davidson did his share in inning number 5.
That could be trouble. And it's a face shift against the Twins to lead.
In the sixth, the Brewers loaded the bases, then flipped over Robin Yant's grand slam that wasn't.
Oh boy.
Called by Kirby. What a grab.
And now they're waving home Castillo.
Game is tied.
In the eighth with a score tied again, manager Tom Kelly sent up pinch hitter Gene Larkin who had an offer he couldn't refuse.
Runners on second and third, chance to untie.
Larkin, base hit. One run is in.
Guyetti digs home. Twins lead 8-6.
Rookie Gene Larkin delivers.
That's his biggest major league hit.
As for Red Hot Puckett, his hits just kept on coming.
Well hit. Way back.
Oh, touch them all, Kirby Puckett.
What a game.
His second home run, 6-for-6.
And he has 10 hits in his last 11 backs.
Phenomenal.
Yes sir, what a two game spree for Puckett. Four homers plus a record tying 10 straight hits as the twins climb back on top of the West.
Now, let's get on the ball with a catcher who tried and tried, but just couldn't.
What a day for the Rangers' Geno Petralli.
In contending with Charlie Huff's knuckleball, Petralli tied a major league record with six passed balls.
Off the glove of Petralli, no play, everybody moves up.
And that was only the beginning. Watch.
Now it's 2-0 Detroit.
Knuckleball all the way to the backstop, a swinging strike three.
Pitch up high, Whittaker going to third. The throw is out of the way.
In the dirt, and a run will score.
There's another one. We may have a play though. Huff got there too late.
The Tigers are finding out that on some days against the knuckleball you don't have to swing the bat to score runs.
True enough, Texas knuckled under 7-0. All seven runs unearned.
Now, let's pass along the answer to this week's quiz.
Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson won 16 gold gloves and an MVP during a career spent entirely with Baltimore.
Brooks' 23 years with one team is a longevity record shared only by Carl Yastremski, who spent his 23 seasons with the Red Sox.
Leading Boston to a pennant in 67, Yass won the Triple Crown and the MVP.
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Time now for Twib Tales.
This week's episode, the story behind the baseball nickname.
Former slugger Boog Powell played most of his career with Baltimore.
In 1970, he won the MVP as a member of the World Champion Orioles.
Now, Boog, of course, is not Powell's real name.
Where did he come from, Mr. Powell?
My daddy used to call me a little booger.
He said, boy, look at that little booger around.
And somehow it just got shortened to Boog.
And people know me as Boog. My real name is John Wesley.
I did an interview one time with Dizzy Dean.
And Dizzy Dean said, that's the worst name I've ever heard in my life.
I said, you've got to change your name to something else.
So what's your real name? We'll do it by you.
We'll do this interview with your real name.
And then he started calling me John.
And then I got to thinking.
I said, here's a guy named Dizzy saying that my name is bad.
Come on, give me a break.
Well, Boog, it's not exactly Dick or Jane either.
But then neither is out Mr. Alien Lifeform himself,
bringing us wondrous plays from out of this world.
First, like, you know, Rick Leach, Blue Jay.
Paul Kilgis, Rangers. Wow.
Texas teammate, Otabee McDowell.
The Phillies, Mike Schmidt.
Bobby Meacham, Yankee.
Teammate, Claudel Washington.
Houston's Ken Kamenidi.
Back for an encore, Kamenidi again.
The Padres, Mark Davis to Tim Flannery.
More teammate teamwork, FEMA Mark Grant to John Trupp.
Red Sox, Tucson.
Spike Owen to Wade Boggs.
Cleveland's Junior Naboa.
Cardinals, Ozzie Smith.
Mike Young, Orioles.
And a little chicanery from Montreal's Casey Candel.
Just when Robbie Thompson thinks he's safe, out comes the hidden ball.
Fooled me too.
Wow, and what fools these mortals be.
Now, when we last met up with Alan Cox and the Seattle ground crew,
he was chasing a stray cat.
Seems some critters are still giving him the jitters.
Like this little chickadee who recently flew the coop and became free.
Fact is, some things just vanish into thin air.
One minute you've got it, and the next you haven't.
Hey, kid, what's this?
Oh, man, you'd better disappear too.
Now, here's what's happened, a chain reaction.
Hey, you know what?
This looks more like a Polini movie all the time.
Back to the bird refrain.
What's next in this fine feathered adventure?
Don't hide, the best part's coming up.
Not only does the bird elude its capture again,
but it seems to have set things completely afoul at the hot corner.
Come, come, Mr. Cox, your approach is all wrong.
You've got to think like a bird and wing it.
Did I say wing it?
It's just a figment of your imagination,
like baseball's popping out of bubs.
I get it, you want me to say fair or foul.
Hey, look, you just snatch up your prey and take your silly puns with you.
Time for this week in baseball's flashback,
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It's October 12, 1986, game five of the American League playoffs.
Boston is on the brink of extinction,
as the Angels lead three games to one.
Dave Henderson, traded to the Red Sox in late August,
wishes he could trade away this moment in the sixth inning.
Bobby Grich hit a ball at the top of the wall,
and I was trying to make a play on it,
and the ball went in my glove and over the fence for a home run
and put us behind by a run.
We thought we were doomed then, but as baseball is,
it changed a couple of years later.
Yes, indeed.
California's dreaming pennant with a 5-2 lead going into the ninth,
but the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
are about to shatter the Angels.
One out, one on, the batter, Don Baylor.
To left field, left center, and Dee Pettis goes back,
leaps, and she's gone.
And it's 5-4.
The Red Sox then put two runners on,
but with two out, victory is still in California's pocket
when Dave Henderson comes to back.
We were down to one strike or going home,
and I just happened to be the guy at the plate,
and it was a tough situation for me,
and the count was 2-2, and I fouled off a couple of pitches,
and Donnie Moore threw a pretty good pitch,
and I hit it out of the ballpark.
To left field, and deep and down, he goes back, and it's gone.
Unbelievable.
You're looking at one for the ages here.
Yes, a miracle for the Red Sox
as Henderson's homer brought Boston back from the brink.
The Angels tied the game in the ninth,
but two innings later, Henderson delivered another crushing blow,
this time a sacrifice fly to win the ballgame.
Boston then took the next two games and won the pennant.
A stirring comeback, starring Henderson's heroics.
It just so happens I was doing it on prime time.
The whole world was watching,
and I came through with a few clutch hits,
and that made everything special.
Real special, and though Henderson is now with the San Francisco Giants,
his thrilling homer will play on and on in Red Sox history.
Well, that's all for now, folks.
See you next week on This Week in Baseball.
Here's this week's Roll Aids Relief Man update.
In the National League, the Phillies' Steve Bedrosian leads the league,
followed by the Cubs' Lee Smith.
In the American League, it's the Yankees' Dave Reggetti,
followed by Tom Hinke and Jeff Reardon.
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