Part III: My Most Memorable New York Sports Minutes

Photo by Larry Neuberger

The 1976 Word Series was humbling for Yankee fans. Putting up a crooked number would have been much appreciated, but a sweep was pretty startling after the game five heroics.

So, when the Yankees signed Reggie Jackson, the chance to answer back must have resounded through the fan base and the team. Not quite…

The Bronx Zoo begins.

In 1976, the Yankees were cute, cuddly, and diligently built. Jackson’s signing had the Yankees going Hollywood, and I was probably among a percentage who could have done without. The team was also somewhat reluctant, and Billy Martin’s general objection sowed the seeds for the Bronx Zoo.

Reggie himself bloomed the flowers, though. "Munson thinks he can be the straw that stirs the drink, but he can only stir it bad,” Jackson supposedly told Robert Ward.

True or not, Jackson put himself on an island, and starting off egregiously slow didn’t help. The same went for the 2-8 Yankee start.

Things eventually turned and the Yankees got into contention, but the drama came to a head on June 18 at Fenway Park. A single to right and Jackson didn’t get to the punch fast enough in right field. So Billy Martin decided he would deliver one in the dugout.

The two went at it and was a national TV embarrassment. Getting swept, the Bombers found themselves two and a half games out, and the lead would grow to five by August 10.

But the Red Sox are always good for a collapse, and the full emergence of Ron Guidry helped them oblige. Two out of three at Yankee Stadium mostly sealed the deal, and going into the ALCS, a pennant would definitely not do.

1976 in Reverse?

Unfortunately, as this series progressed versus the Royals, the spikes seemed on the other foot. Frank White viciously taking out Willie Randolph in game one had the Yankees chasing this time, and all the way to the bitter end. Ron Guidry’s dominance in game two initiated the back and forth, and Thurman Munson and Cliff Johnson delivered the big blows in the 6-2 Yankee victory.

Of course, momentum did not get its due in game three, and the two straight road victories ahead seemed like a lot to ask after the 6-2 defeat. So, what were these Yankees made of?

At lead off, Mickey Rivers’s four hits stirred the Yankees stew, and two more by Pinella and Munson had the AL Champs up 5-4 after four. Ed Figueroa, on the other hand, was gone by then.

So, by today’s standards, the middlemen must have been lining up. But what we’ve forgotten is that your closer should be ready to deliver at the game’s most crucial moment. In this case, the fourth inning sufficed.

Five and a third innings of guile and mastery by Sparky Lyle had us gasping for air. In the end, though, it was KC that felt the choke hold, and the Cy Young to come was only the set up.

Game 5 Come from Behind

Nonetheless, the script continued to work in reverse. In the bottom of the first, George Brett tripled in Hal McRae and came in hard to third. Nettles kicked back, and Brett retaliated to let us know this wasn’t 1976.

In other words, there was no more innocence, and two teams getting their first taste was long past. Obviously, Brett and the Royals seethed more, but settled a bit as Al Cowens singled Brett home.

Nonetheless, the Yankees got on the board when Munson singled in Rivers in the top of the third, but the Royals answered right back and ended Guidry’s night.

This left Mike Torrez to step up as the first hero by pitching five innings of scoreless baseball. Reggie Jackson then rose above the game’s storyline.

Benched by Billy Martin for defensive reasons, Jackson swallowed hard on the slight and drove in Willie Randolph in the eighth to get the Yankees within one.

The writing was so on the wall now, and Paul Blair’s leadoff single began to unravel the Royal’s turn. Mickey Rivers tied the score after Roy White walked and Willie Randolph’s sacrifice fly gave the Yankees the lead. An error brought in Rivers, and the wear and tear on Sparky’s arm showed no quarter to the Royals in the ninth.

The 5-4-3 double play ending the game left an enduring moment that displayed the full depth of the crushing defeat. Freddie Patek sat doubled over and alone in the dugout—completely succumbed to the pain.

In contrast, the turnabout may have been even more dramatic than the year before. The Yankees played from behind the whole series and gutted out this 5-3 win. It was sheer ecstasy.

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