When starting second baseman Willie Randolph suffered a hamstring injury and had to miss the 1978 playoffs, the New York Yankees needed someone to step up in his place.
A 24-year-old originally from Cave City, Kentucky, Doyle had been a five-year minor league journeyman in the Texas Rangers’ organization and worked at Golden Farley men’s clothing store in Bowling Green in the offseason to help make ends meet.
One day while working at the store, Doyle received a phone call. The voice on the other end said, “This is Cedric Tallis of the New York Yankees, congratulations, you have just been traded to the Yankees.”
Doyle went back and forth from the majors to Triple-A Tacoma throughout the ’78 season and had never seen significant big-league action when he got “the call” to replace Randolph on September 29.
But Doyle almost wasn’t eligible to play. Because he had participated in the Pacific Coast League playoffs that year while playing for Tacoma, special permission had to be granted by MLB for him to participate in the American League playoffs. And participate he did.
In Game 1 of the ALCS versus the Kansas City Royals, Doyle promptly went 2-for-5 with an RBI in a 7-1 Yankees victory. The boys from the Bronx then disposed of the Royals in four games and were headed to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the Fall Classic, Doyle was nothing short of brilliant. In Game 5, he went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, and in Game 6, he went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs, helping the Yankees secure the World Series, four games to two, over the Dodgers. Overall, he batted .438 for the Series.
But one of the more memorable moments for Doyle occurred after the Series, when the team was on a charter flight from Los Angeles to New York. Halfway across the nation, Yankee captain Thurman Munson approached Brian and his wife, Connie, and asked that they move to the front of the plane. Doyle was confused at the odd request.
“As we were moving to the front of the plane, I saw all of my teammates get up from their seats and walk to the back of the plane. A few minutes later Thurman came to us and said that the team just voted me a full share of awarded dollars for winning the World Series,” Doyle told Baseball Digest. “Please understand that the money was not what I was thinking about. What is the most memorable is that, as a rookie, who was not on the team the entire season, I had been back and forth from Triple-A to the majors five times that season. My teammates, by their vote, said that I belonged on the team. They were rewarding me with their gratitude for my performance. There is nothing more memorable than having the New York Yankees showing their appreciation to me. The most storied franchise in the world appreciated me. Teammates came up to me and said they would have me on their team anytime.”
After retiring from baseball, Brian founded Global Sports Ministry and has shared his faith all over the world.
Not bad for a boy from Cave City, Kentucky.
This article originally appeared on Facebook by Baseball Digest
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