The New York Yankees clinch their 40th American League pennant with a 5 – 2 win over the Angels in Game 6 of the ALCS. The familiar tandem of Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera earns the win and save, as Pettitte claims his record 16th postseason win.
The Indians sign 40 year-old Manny Acta to a three-year deal to be the team’s 40th manager in franchise history. The former Nationals’ field boss, who was fired by Washington in July, is the first Cleveland skipper to be hired outside the organization since John McNamara piloted the club in 1990.
Hideki Okajima becomes the first Japanese-born player to pitch in the World Series. The former Nippon Ham Fighters hurler comes out of the bullpen in relief of Curt Schilling and retires seven straight Rockies, including Kazuo Matsui, making it the first time Japanese natives have faced one another in the Fall Classic.
The first World Series game ever to be played in the state of Texas proves to be memorable when Geoff Blum’s 14th-inning solo home run (30th MLer to hit an HR in first WS AB) becomes the beginning of the end of the longest Fall Classic contest ever played. The 7-5 victory, which gives the White Sox a commanding 3-0 advantage over the Astros, takes 5 hours, 41 minutes to complete, with the 14 frames equaling the number of innings the Red Sox needed to beat the Dodgers in Game 2 of the 1916 series.
2003 – As the World Series heads back to Yankee Stadium, pitcher Josh Beckett, on three days’ rest, throws a complete game shutout, allowing just five hits, to give the Florida Marlins their second World Championship in 11 seasons with a 2 – 0 victory over the New York Yankees. Beckett is named Series MVP. This is the 100th and last World Series game ever played at Yankee Stadium, as the Marlins become the first opposing team to win a Series championship on the field at the famed ballpark since 1981, when the Los Angeles Dodgers did it. When the Yankees return to the Fall Classic in 2009, they will have moved into New Yankee Stadium.
Mike Piazza becomes the first player to hit a World Series home run at both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium. The backstop’s third-inning homer off Denny Neagle will account for the only two runs the Mets will score in a 3-2 Game 4 defeat to their cross-town rivals.
1997 – In the World Series, pitcher Chad Ogea gets two hits with two RBI and scores one run while also earning the win as the Cleveland Indians force a seventh game with a 4 – 1 victory over the Florida Marlins.
1996 – Frank Torre, the brother of New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, receives a heart transplant after months of waiting. Frank was the recipient of a World Series ring as a member of the Milwaukee Braves when they beat the Yankees in 1957, and his brother Joe will make him a gift of a World Series ring that’s 39 years newer after Game 6 of the 1996 Series.
1995 – Atlanta Braves pitcher Steve Avery throws six innings of three-hit baseball and reliever Pedro Borbón, Jr. comes out of the bullpen for his first appearance in 19 days to save a 5 – 2 victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 4 of the World Series.
1991 – George Brunet dies of a heart attack in Poza Rica, Mexico at age 56. The lefthander made 22 appearances for the Colt .45s in their first two seasons as part of a 15-year major league career. After that, he continued to pitch in the minors and then in Mexico until he was 54.
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