Suck it! 1985 style

[DanOregon]

"True story....who's pitching today?"

 

[Songbird]

1, Who did it worse, Denkinger or Joyce?



2, 1985 provided the worst and most hurtful moment in my sports loving life.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Joyce at least faced the music and apologized.

 

[TigerVols]

It's a wonder this then-freshman's brain cells survived 7 nights at T-Bakers and Harpo's in CoMo, partaking in the festivities as a neutral (re: Braves fan) observer. Man, was that an amazingly fun experience.

 

[FileNotFound]

I was a senior in high school in a part of Missouri that was neither St. Louis nor Kansas City. It's still the best couple of weeks I've experienced as a sports fan.

And all Denkinger aside, the Cardinals hit like .190 in that series and shat the bed in Game 7. They deserved to lose.

 

[exmediahack]

Neither team could hit in the series until the Royals cracked it open in Game 7. Both teams had a lot of exposed flaws that series.

The 1985 Royals weren't that good. They just weren't. Brett and then some incredible starting pitching came home at the end.

The 1985 Cardinals WERE that good until the tarp.

 

[swingline]

Funny, @FileNotFound, I was the same, a senior in a Missouri town that wasn't either metro. I usually missed a few innings drinking beer and "working" on a homecoming float.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Neither team could hit in the series until the Royals cracked it open in Game 7. Both teams had a lot of exposed flaws that series.

The 1985 Royals weren't that good. They just weren't. Brett and then some incredible starting pitching came home at the end.

The 1985 Cardinals WERE that good until the tarp.

As a Mets fan, I loved that those Cardinals fell short in such agonizing fashion. Then Vince Coleman came to New York a few years later and proved to be maybe the worst guy to ever wear a Mets uniform. But I do sorta feel bad for the Cardinals that their legacy was determined by a tarp and the vagaries of home field advantage. They were definitely the better teams in '85 & '87. If they win three titles in six seasons, they're behind only the dynastic A's and Yankees as the best teams of the expansion era. But with just the one title, they sort of just fade into the woodwork.

 

[Chef2]

Neither team could hit in the series until the Royals cracked it open in Game 7. Both teams had a lot of exposed flaws that series.

The 1985 Royals weren't that good. They just weren't. Brett and then some incredible starting pitching came home at the end.

The 1985 Cardinals WERE that good until the tarp.

It seemed like every game in that series was 3-2….2-1……until the 11-0 disaster.
Brett is right though. I remember STL just absolutely lost their minds at Denkinger behind the plate. Andujar just went mental. Missed by a foot on some pitches and was throwing his arms in the air like he was on a roller coaster.

 

[Chef2]

Joyce at least faced the music and apologized.

Did Denkinger ever come out and say he missed it?

 

[exmediahack]

Did Denkinger ever come out and say he missed it?

Yes.

I interviewed him — just for myself and my Royals fandom. Not for a story. No camera, no recorder. Just on my own time. Called him up at his house. He answered and said "come on over".

Incredibly gracious.

 

[UNCGrad]

I know this is weird on this thread, but I reread Joe Pos' Baseball 100 essay on Brett tonight. Kind of a sad experience given how tough his dad Jack was on him.

Brett was five hits from .400 in 1980. His dad Jack, to his son, on that season: "You couldn't get five more forking hits?!"

And it was not meant as a joke. Brett said he always played in fear of his dad, even in the big leagues. Pretty tough.