History of the World Series – 1982 The Brewers, a team that started out as the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969 before moving to Milwaukee the next year, put on quite a show in the club’s first World Series game. And Manager Harvey Kuenn’s heavy-hitting American League champions did it not in the friendly and…

History of the World Series – 1981 This postseason rivalry dated to 1941, the year of Dodgers catcher Mickey Owen’s third-strike muff. The teams last had met in 1978, when the Yankees dropped the first two games of the Series and then beat the Dodgers four consecutive times. In the 10 Series meetings between the…

History of the World Series – 1980 So, with the Browns out of the running, only one still-existing club from ’03 was still trying to hoist its first World Series flag: the long-futile Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies would get another crack at a Series title in 1980. “Another” might be overstating the case. They had…

History of the World Series – 1979 “Pops” was veteran first baseman Wilver Dornel Stargell, whose fun-loving nature kept things loose in the clubhouse and whose powerful bat kept the opposition loose on the field. At 38, Willie Stargell thumped 32 home runs for Manager Chuck Tanner’s Pirates, helping the Bucs to a National League…

History of the World Series – 1978 A two-game deficit? No problem. Well, that’s the way it turned out. But considering the way the Los Angeles Dodgers played in Games 1 and 2 of the 1978 Series, the Yankees must have had some misgivings about their ability to come back this time. In the Series…

History of the World Series – 1977 The lefthanded-hitting slugger had belted 32 home runs and knocked in 110 runs in his first season with the Yankees, helping New York to its second straight American League pennant. After having a poor Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals (two hits in 16 at-bats), he was…

History of the World Series – 1976 Anderson presided over a talent-rich club that featured Johnny Bench behind the plate, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo and Ken Griffey in the outfield, Pete Rose at third base, Dave Concepcion at shortstop, Joe Morgan at second base and Tony Perez at first. On the bench, among others, were…

History of the World Series – 1975 In truth, a drenching New England rain caused the 72-hour postponement, a delay that proved frustrating for Manager Sparky Anderson’s Big Red Machine. Coming off a 20-game romp in the National League West race and a sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Championship Series, the Reds were…

History of the World Series – 1974 Jim (Catfish) Hunter was on record as saying he would attempt to declare himself a free agent after the Series — which would match the A’s against the Los Angeles Dodgers in baseball’s first all-West Coast classic — unless A’s Owner Charlie Finley paid Hunter the back salary…

For the New York Mets to stay with the Oakland A’s in the 1973 World Series surely would require an amazing effort by the National League champions. The ’73 Mets, it turned out, were downright amazin’. Manager Yogi Berra’s Mets had won the National League pennant in a fiercely contested five-game Championship Series against a…