Mr. October
In 1977: Reggie Jackson of the New York Yankees tied Babe Ruth’s record by blasting three home runs in a single World Series game. Jackson only saw three pitches the entire evening in Game 6, but he drove each one farther than the last. When it was over, the Yankees had defeated the LA Dodgers 8-4 to win their 21st championship, Jackson was named MVP and became forever known as “Mr. October.”
In 1997: The worst World Series in history opened on a warm, bandwagon-y Miami evening as the Florida Marlins – with a powerhouse tradition all of five years – entertained the suffering-for-eons Indians from Cleveland in cavernous Pro Player Stadium, the football home of the Miami Dolphins. Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga purchased a fine National League pennant winner with the likes Devon White, Kevin Brown, Moises Alou, Gary Sheffield and Al Leiter. With the exception of a fine Game 7 won by Florida, each game tried to top the last in terms of uninspired play, poor pitching and sloppy defense. It was the lowest rated World Series ever up to that point as fans didn’t feel like tuning in to watch two football cities struggle at baseball in snowy weather. Heaping insult upon insult, Hanson sang the National Anthem to open the series. All of the aforementioned players were jettisoned by Huizenga for financial reasons within a few months of winning the series.
In 1920: An interesting little battle which would’ve seriously altered baseball history took place in a meeting between divided American League owners. Wanting American League president Ban Johnson out of office, the owners of the Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox and Tigers threatened to jump to the National League if the remaining owners who wanted Johnson to stay on did not join their movement. Both sides eventually agreed to replace Johnson – who they felt was doing very little to help put and end to the gambling that was destroying the game (re: Black Sox Scandal) – with Kennesaw Mountain Landis, baseball’s first commissioner.
