Being a fan of the team that loses the
baseball World Series is a disappointing experience. It is a deeper frustration
than your favorite football team losing the Super Bowl. That is just
one game. But with the World Series, you have the emotionally
draining ebb and flow of four to possibly seven games. I could see this
emotional frustration on the faces of Los Angeles Dodgers' fans during this
year’s World Series. The Boston Red Sox defeated the Dodgers 5 – 1 at
Dodger Stadium this past October 28 to win the 2018 Series 4 games to 1.
It would be the second straight year Dodger fans had to watch the opposing team
celebrate winning the World Series at the Dodgers’ home field. The
Houston Astros won Game Seven of the 2017 Series 5 – 1 in front of the
frustrated Dodger fateful. The last two World Series have been horrible
experiences for Dodger fans. Both have been like nightmares.
Being a rabid baseball fan for just
over 60 years, I can relate to what the Dodgers’ fans experienced; I have had
more than a few World Series nightmares. The Milwaukee Braves losing
three straight to the New York Yankees after being ahead three games to one in
the 1958 World Series and the St. Louis Cardinals losing their three games to
one lead to the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 Series were two of my
nightmares. I still painfully flinch when I remember Curt Flood
misplaying Detroit’s Jim Northup’s long fly ball as the Cards lost Game Seven.
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| Willie McCovey |
Another of my World Series nightmares
involved Hall of Fame first baseman Willie McCovey who died October 31, three
days after the end of this year’s Series. Eighty years old, the six-time
National League All-Star lost his battle with an infection and other on-going
health issues at the Stanford University Medical Center. Tributes from
both inside and outside of professional baseball are still continuing to come
for the big (6’4”, 198 lbs.) left-handed slugger who my older brother and I
along with others called “Stretch”. Born January 10, 1938 in Mobile,
Alabama; McCovey made his Major League debut with the San Francisco Giants July
30, 1959 getting four hits against Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts of the
Philadelphia Phillies. He finished the season hitting .354 with 13 HRs in
54 games and received the National League Rookie of the Year award.
After his sensational 1959 rookie
season, McCovey fought a batting slump through the summer of 1960 hitting .238
in 101 games with 13 HRs and even spent time back in the minor leagues.
He regained his hitting stroke in 1961(18 HRs, 50 RBIs, .271 BA in 106 games)
and created a dilemma for the Giants. Both McCovey and 1999 Hall of Fame
inductee Orlando Cepeda were first basemen. In order to get both their
bats in the line-up one of them had to play in the outfield, not the strongest
position for either. However, with Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Mays
covering ground in center field, it worked in 1962 as the Giants won the
National League pennant with McCovey and Cepeda splitting time between playing
first base and right or left field.
That set the 1962 World Series between
the San Francisco Giants and the defending champion New York Yankees. The
main reasons for my World Series nightmares at that time, the Yankees had won 8
Series in the prior 13 years and were favored to win in 1962 for their
ninth. Be sure to read Part Two of this post to see how my hope for a
World Series win by the Giants turned into another nightmare for me.
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