Presented by LIGHTING ON DEMAND.
This Day In Sports…October 28, 1981:
Once down two games-to-none to the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers storm back to win their fourth straight game and claim the World Series. The Dodgers’ Pedro Guerrero stung the Yanks with a home run and five runs batted in during the 9-2 romp in the finale. This was the third Series meeting between the two teams in five years—the Yankees had taken the title over L.A. in six games in both 1977 and 1978. It marked the Dodgers’ first World Series crown since 1965.
The Series was the culmination of a tumultuous season that was shut down from June 12 to August 8 by a players strike. For the first time in major league history (and the only time until 1995), there were divisional playoffs leading to the championship series in each league, as the season was divided into two halves. The Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the playoffs before defeating the Oakland A’s—who had bested the Kansas City Royals—in the ALCS. The Dodgers eliminated the Houston Astros in the playoffs before bouncing the Montral Expos—who had gotten past the Philadelphia Phillies—in the NLCS.
Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda celebrated this victory heartily after losing those other two World Series to the Yanks. Lasorda was a hugger, and between the field and the clubhouse, he didn’t miss a single player. In fact, he handed out hugs regularly to his stars during the Series, and there were many, including Steve Yeager, Ron Cey, Jerry Reuss, Fernando Valenzuela and Guerrero. Lasorda was the ultimate players’ manager. The Dodgers had culture before culture was a recognized thing.
The Yankees’ George Steinbrenner was not exactly a players’ owner, and after the Dodgers’ win he stung his own troops, issuing a public apology for his team’s play in the Series. Yanks star Reggie Jackson, who had a .333 average in the Fall Classic, was told of the apology, and the slugger said he didn’t think he had anything personally to apologize for. “I see Reggie makes light of my apology,” Steinbrenner scoffed in a UPI story. “I do kind of resent when players make light of it when I apologize to the City of New York. That apology wasn’t made by them. I made it and I meant it.”
Jackson became a free agent after five years with the Yankees, and Game 6 was indeed his last in New York, as he would sign with the California Angels in the offseason. Steinbrenner also said he disagreed with some of manager Bob Lemon’s moves during the World Series. The owner was non-committal on Lemon’s return. The manager was back in 1982—and he lasted 14 games before he was fired. Lemon said it was “a relief.”
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
