New York at the Center of the Baseball World<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In the ten seasons prior to 1957:<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n My Braves upset the favored Yankees four games-to-three in a Series that featured the likes of Hank Aaron<\/strong>, Eddie Mathews<\/strong> and Warren Spahn<\/strong> on one side \u00a0and Mickey Mantle<\/strong>, Yogi Berra<\/strong> and Whitey Ford<\/strong> on the other.\u00a0 Not a bad World Series to start your Fall Classic memory bank on. The hero, star and MVP \u00a0of the Series, however, was Braves’ righty \u201cFidgety\u201d Lew Burdette (a former Yankee), who won three games versus the Yankees (all complete games \u2013 two shutouts) and gave up just two runs in 27 innings pitched.<\/p>\n “He (Lew Burdette) could make coffee nervous.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Braves Manager Fred Haney.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Side note: Bob Hazle \u00a0got off to a slow start in 1958, hitting just .179 in 20 games with the Braves before being sent to the Tigers. He finished the season as .211-2-10 in 63 games and did not play in the major leagues again. Still, he finished with a career MLB average of .310.<\/em><\/p>\n ____________________________________<\/p>\n Number-Two … The 1960 World Series<\/strong> <\/span>won by the upstart Pirates over the Yankees \u2013 despite the fact that the Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-27, outhit them .338 to .256 and out-homered them 10-4.<\/p>\n In 1960, the New York Yankees set the record for the highest batting average, most hits and most run scored (55) in a World Series (seven-game format) \u2013 and lost to the Pirates four games-to- three.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I took great pleasure \u00a0in this one for a couple of reason.\u00a0 First, the Yankees were still considered the titans of baseball and so this was a true upset.\u00a0 Second, I saw this as payback for 1958, when the Yankees came back from being down three games-to-one to beat my Braves in the World Series.<\/p>\n Mazeroski’s 1960 home run trot earned him a immortalized at PNC Park.<\/p><\/div>\n I most fondly remember Game Seven – a see-saw battle won by Pirates 10-9 on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth by Bill Mazeroski<\/strong>.\u00a0 As a Karpinski<\/em>, I always rooted for MLB\u2019s \u201cskis.\u201d\u00a0 For more on this World Series, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson<\/strong> drove in a\u00a0 World Series record 12 runs and was selected as the WS Most Valuable Player \u2013 still the only WS MVP from a losing squad.<\/em><\/p>\n For the Record – But Not for the Win<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In 1964, Bobby Richardson added to his World Series resume, setting the record for base hits in a World Series (seven-game format), going 13-for-32 (.406) against the Cardinals.\u00a0 The Yankees lost that series four-game to three.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n ____________________________________________________<\/p>\n Number Three … The 1991 World Series<\/strong><\/span>, when my Twins (I moved to Minnesota in 1969) topped the Braves four games to three. I most fondly remember the tension of Game Seven (I was in the park for Games Two and Seven), when Jack Morris (the Series MVP) pitched a ten-inning, complete-game shutout for 1-0 win. The Series was actually filled<\/em> with tension, including five one-run ball games \u2013 three decided in extra innings,<\/p>\n Worst -to first<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The 1991 World Series was the first Fall Classic in which two teams that had finished in last place the previous season advanced to the World Series. In 1990, the Braves finished last in the NL West at 65-97, while the Twins finished in the cellar of the AL West as 74-88).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I recall lots of tension filled innings and the fact that Mark Lemke<\/strong> (a .234 hitter in the regular season) torched Twins pitching for a .417 average with three triples (he had just two three-baggers in 136 games during the regular season).<\/p>\n Like Mazeroski, Kirby Pucket tgot a statue. Photo by compujeramey<\/a> Before Game Six \u00a0– a must-win for the Twins \u2013 in the 1991 World Series, Twins star center-fielder Kirby Puckett<\/strong> told is teammates \u201cYou guys should jump on may back tonight, I\u2019m going to carry us.\u201d\u00a0 Puckett then backed up his words with a run-saving leaping catch in the third inning \u2013 along with a three-for-four (two runs, three RBI ) game that include walk-off home run in the bottom of the eleventh inning to give the Twins a 4-3 win.<\/p>\n The next game was, of course, Jack Morris’ ten-inning, complete-game shutout that gave the Twin a 1-0 win and the Series title (and Morris the Series MVP Award).<\/p>\n _______________________________________<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baseballroundtable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Bushville-192x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Number-One \u2026 The 1957 World Series<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 won by the Braves (of my hometown Milwaukee) over the Yankees. I was just ten-years-old and already a baseball fanatic. I most fondly remember Game Four when Eddie Mathews (my childhood hero and still all-time favorite player) hit a two-run, tenth-inning walk-off home run to win the game. The whole experience was made all the sweeter by the fact that my Braves were significant underdogs \u2013 and the city of Milwaukee was getting no \u201clove.\u201d (One of the Yankees’ traveling staff was reportedly even quoted as referring to Milwaukee as \u201cBush League.”)<\/p>\n\n
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<\/a>As a kid, I was focused not only on the stars (and Hall of Famers), but also on a rookie Braves\u2019 outfielder named Bob \u201cHurricane\u201d Hazle<\/strong>, who had been called up in late July (due to an injury to the Braves’ Billy Bruton) and had taken MLB by storm \u2013 playing a notable role in getting the Braves to the Fall Classic. Hazle (whose previous MLB experience had been six games with the Reds in 1955 \u2013 three singles in 13 at bats) played in 41 of the Braves last 55 regular-season games \u2013 hitting .403, with seven home runs and 27 RBI. (He also walked 18 times versus 15 strikeouts.) While Hazle hit just .154 in four World Series Games, he did collect two hits and score a pair of runs in the Braves\u2019 5-0 win in the seventh and deciding game.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baseballroundtable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/ironic_moments_in_pittsburgh_history-300x225.jpg\")
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<\/a>Number Four … The 1988 World Series<\/strong><\/span>, as the, as the Dodgers topped the A\u2019s in five games. Who can forget gimpy Dodger Kirk Gibson\u2019<\/strong>s iconic, pinch-hit, walk-off home run off premier closer Dennis Eckersley<\/strong> to end Game One.\u00a0 I also recall fondly how capably\u00a0 and enthusiastically former Twin (and a favorite of mine) Mickey Hatcher<\/strong> filled in for Gibson during the Series (hitting .368 with two homers). To this day, I still feel Hatcher should have shared the Series MVP award with Oral Hershiser, who picked up two complete-game wins for the Dodgers.\u00a0 Hatcher, who hit .293, with just one home run and 25 RBI in 88 regular-season games, hit .368, with two home runs and five RBI in the five-game World Series.<\/p>\n