Unlikely World Series Heroes
The list of World Series heroes is filled with Hall of Fame names, of course, from Ruth to Reggie, from Honus Wagner to Mike Schmidt, from Christy Mathewson to Sandy Koufax.
But every so often the Series produces an unlikely hero, and those players who really surprised the experts by rising to the occasion tend to be among my favorites.
Here are some of them, starting in 1955, the first year a World Series MVP was chosen.
Johnny Podres, Dodgers, 1955
Podres was the fourth pitcher in a rotation led by Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, and Billy Loes. He had a 9-10 record during the season, compared to 20-5 for Newcombe, 11-8 for Erskine, and 10-4 for Loes.
But, after Newcombe and Loes lost the first two games to the Yankees, Podres got his team back into it with an 8-3 win in the third game. Then he pitched a masterful 2-0 victory in the seventh game to give the Brooklyn Dodgers their only World Series championship.
The ERAs for Brooklyn's four top pitchers in the World Series: Newcombe, 9.53; Loes, 9.82; Erskine, 9.00; and Podres, 1.00.
Bobby Richardson, Yankees, 1960
Richardson stands out for a couple of reasons. First, he was a good-fielding second baseman who hit only .253 on a team that included Maris, Mantle, Berra, Bill Skowron and Elston Howard. Second, he's the only World Series MVP ever chosen from the losing team.
But he couldn't be ignored. In the Series, Richardson batted .367 with two doubles, two triples, and a home run, scored 8 runs, and set a record with 12 RBI. Despite his heroics, though, the Pirates won the series on Bill Mazeroski's home run in the ninth inning of the seventh game.
Donn Clendenon, Mets, 1969
The Mets weren't supposed to be in the World Series, but they upset the Braves in three straight games in the NLCS. Clendenon didn't even play in that series. A right-handed hitter, he platooned at first base with Ed Kranepool, and hit only .248 for the season.
He started four of the five games against Baltimore in the World Series, though, and came through in grand fashion. Clendenon hit solo home runs in Games 2 and 4, both of which were 2-1 victories for the Mets, and had a two-run shot when the Mets won the fifth and deciding game, 5-3.
Clendenon hit .357 for the series, scored 4 of the Mets' 15 runs, and had 4 of their 13 RBI.
Gene Tenace, Oakland, 1972
Tenace was a part-time catcher and sometime pinch-hitter in 1972. He had only 5 home runs and 32 RBI in 227 at-bats during the regular season.
Reggie Jackson was out with an injury, but the As still had some pretty good hitters, including Joe Rudi, Sal Bando, Matty Alou, and Mike Epstein.
It was Tenace who did most of the hitting in the Series, though. As a team, the As hit only .209 and scored only 16 runs in 7 games against the Reds. Tenace hit .348, with 4 of the team's 5 home runs, and he drove in 9 of Oakland's runs.
He got the As off to a good start in the first game, driving in all of their runs with 2 homers in a 3-2 victory.
In Game 4, another 3-2 win, he drove in the first run with a solo shot and scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
That gave the As a 3-1 lead, but the Reds came back to win the next two and even the Series, despite Tenace's 3-run homer in the fifth game.
Tenace was so hot that manager Dick Williams started him at first base in the seventh game of the Series.
Smart move. Tenace drove in the team's first two runs in yet another 3-2 victory, and Oakland had the first of three straight championships.
Bucky Dent, Yankees, 1978
Dent hit the home run that gave the Yankees the pennant in a playoff game against the Red Sox, and the shortstop kept right on hitting in the World Series.
This was a Yankee team that boasted Reggie Jackson, Chris Chambliss, Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles, Lou Piniella, Mickey Rivers, Roy White, and Paul Blair.
But Dent and second baseman Brian Doyle, who hit .243 and .192, respectively, during the regular season, were the top hitters during the Series.
Doyle hit .438, Dent .417. But Dent won the MVP award because he had 10 hits to Doyle's 7 and because he accounted for 10 of the Yankees' 36 runs, scoring 3 and driving in 7.