Some players come up big in World Series

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Some players come up big in World Series

Wed, 11/09/2022 - 18:21
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I wasn’t surprised when Jeremy Pena was named the Most Valuable Player of the recently concluded World Series. A case could be made for one of the Astros pitchers who was dominating on the mound, but Pena earned it as he had 10 hits including a home run and played great defense at his shortstop position. Like so many of his teammates, he is from the Dominican Republic and is the first rookie position player (non-pitcher) to win the Series MVP. Pena is 25 and appeared to be even younger. But to me, even 45-year old quarterback Tom Brady looks young.

When I heard sports broadcasters talking about the award, one mentioned that the Series MVP recognition dates back to 1955. That brought my overactive rememberer to action. I remember the 1955 award. It went to Johnny Podres, the pitcher that shut down the New York Yankees and helped the Brooklyn Dodgers win their first-ever World Series.

Podres won the Corvette that Sport Magazine was giving to the MVP winner. I think I’ve shared my love for that publication that dated back to 1953 when my mother bought a bunch of magazines from our neighbor girl, who was selling on behalf of her high school class as a money-making project for the classes’ Senior Sneak. She looked over the list of magazines that were available and after she bought the Saturday Evening Post, Readers’ Digest and the Christian Herald for herself, chose Sport and Argosy magazines, ones that she thought I would like, Sport was a good choice, because after I received the latest copy in the mail, would pore over every word. Argosy wasn’t a good choice. She said it said it appealed to people who liked sports, but I think it was more of the adult variety of sports. I didn’t understand it much and after about the second or third month I didn’t see a copy. I have a hunch one or both of my parents were doing a little censorship.

I remember when Sport announced that it was going to give a Corvette to the Most Valuable Player in the World Series. I thought “Wow,” that’s a big deal.” And in 1955 it was a big deal. Pro Athletes in this day and age make so much money that winning a car wouldn’t be an impressive accomplishment-- even a sports car the caliber of a Corvette. Back then it was a big deal.

Podres was the first winner and there were pictures posted all over the media then with the pitcher sitting in the car waving at the photographers. The next year it was won by Don Larsen, an almost automatic pick because he pitched a perfect game. (By the way, the no-hitter that several Houston pitchers combined to pitch pales in comparison--in my view-- to Larsen’s accomplishment in retiring all 27 Brooklyn Dodgers).

In 1957, it was Lew Burdette of the Milwaukee Braves. All Burdette did was to shut down the Yankees three times as his team won for the first time for a team based in Milwaukee. I liked Burdette, although I knew he was accused of throwing a “spitter”. My Dad called him a cheater, but Dad quickly forgave Burdette because he beat a team that Dad disliked immensely-- the Yankees. And in 1958 the car went to Bob Turley of the Yankees as they won over the Braves.

I noticed that when Pena won the award this year, it was called the Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player Award. The Willie Mays part of the name surprised me. I wasn’t aware of that development. In checking it out, I learned that it was decided in 2017 to honor Willie in this way. It is interesting to note that Mr. Mays never received the award himself during his playing days but he may have if one had been awarded in 1954, the year of his great catch. But I have no problem in honoring one of the two or three greatest all-around players to ever play the game.

I see that a car still is given to the Series MVP. I tried to learn what kind of vehicle is given out but after a few minutes gave up trying. Most of my sources didn’t identify the make or the vehicle. I saw a photo of Pena with a vehicle, but am not savvy enough to identify it from the photo. The closest I came to learning was a statement that General Motors has provided a vehicle to the winner over the years. Doesn’t matter, I know that Sport started the tradition in 1955 and that at that time a Corvette was the prize. Sport expanded the practice to include the MVP of the NFL championship game and then the Super Bowl. I think it was 1958 when Johnny Unitas was named the MVP of the NFL title game against the New York Giants. I remember seeing Unitas sitting in a Corvette.

Pitchers have won the Series MVP award 29 times. In fact, the first five were won by pitchers, with Bobby Richardson, a second baseman for the Yankees breaking the string in 1960. In my way of thinking, the MVP of the 1960 Series probably should have been Bill Mazeroski, who hit the walk-off home run that gave the Pittsburgh Pirates the Series title. But Richardson did have an outstanding seven games and undoubtedly deserved being honored. Richardson is the only member of the losing team to have been awarded the MVP.

In looking over the list of recipients, it was interesting to me to note that only three players have won the MVP award more than once. Sandy Koufax won in 1963 and 1965, Bob Gibson in 1964 and 1967 and Reggie Jackson in 1973 with the Oakland Athletics and 1977 with the New York Yankees.

But looking over that list brought back plenty of memories. In 1966, Frank Robinson won as a member of the Baltimore Orioles. That completed quite a year for Robinson as he was traded between the 1965 and 1966 seasons from Cincinnati to Baltimore. The Reds came to the conclusion that Frank was over the hill and they wanted to get a good player in a trade for him. The player Baltimore gave up to get Robinson was Milt Pappas, who never became a star in Cincinnati. On the other hand, Robinson won the triple crown (batting average, home runs and RBIs) in Baltimore and then led them to a World Series victory. The Baltimore pitching staff may have deserved the Series MVP honor, as they shut down the highly favored Dodgers completely.

Gibson was always a dominant pitcher, but in the 1967 Series, he was unhittable. He won three games over the Boston Red Sox, and in the process struck out 26 batters. The next year he was almost as good, but the Cardinals lost to Detroit in seven games and Mickey Lolich who won three games for the Tigers won the award.

In 1970, Brooks Robinson of Baltimore won the award. He had a .429 batting average, two home runs and four RBIs. But what I remember most is his play at third base, where he made some unbelievable plays.

In 1972, Gene Tenace of the Oakland A’s was the MVP. Tenace, who wasn’t known as a power hitter hit four home runs in the Series and drove in 9 runs. I remember especially the first game when he hit a home run in each of his first two at bats. He was the first in World Series history to hit a home run in his first two times at the plate. And he drove in all three of the A’s runs in a 3-2 win over Cincinnati. I remember having my transistor radio on my mower as I was giving the yard a final cut for the year and thinking “Tenace, who?” as I was listening to the game.

In 1972, Darrell Porter of the St. Louis Cardinals was the MVP. I don’t remember too much about Porter’s performance, but he did drive home five runs for his team as they defeated Milwaukee in seven games. I was always a fan of Porter dating back to his days on the Kansas City Royals. Porter got in trouble with several of his teammates while in Kansas City for possession of a controlled substance and he battled substance abuse problems all of his life, eventually dying from an accidental drug overdose at age 50. By the way the St. Louis (home of Budweiser) and Milwaukee (home of Miller) World Series was named the “Suds Series” by some enterprising sports writer.

In 1985, Bret Saberhagen of Kansas City was the MVP. Saberhagen pitched 18 innings and allowed only one earned run winning two games. I loved the results of the 1985 Series. It was the first World Championship ever for a Kansas City baseball team. I know Cardinal fans believe that a bad call from umpire Don Denkinger stole the Series from their team, but to a Kansas City fan, it was a sweet, sweet turn of events.

I could go on and on, but as usual, the memories from long ago are especially fun to think about for me. I celebrate young Mr. Pena on this year’s award. I have a hunch we’ll hear more of him down the road.