As the next episode of Baseball Seasons rolls, we revisit the year 1985. That year brings back memories of a totally different kind in a totally different sport here in Chicago, but I already wrote about 23 blogs about those guys; you can check it out here if you’d like:
So for today, we’re going to stay on topic; the year in baseball 1985.
One of the best things about that year was Pete Rose, who would become the all-time hit king passing Ty Cobb with his 4,192nd career hit. Oh yeah, and he’s NOT in the Hall Of Fame. That’s just crazy to me, especially when you think of all the other stuff that’s went on in the league, especially when you think of how gambling is now universally accepted. No more need for secretive, illegal gambling with your local bookies; nope, turn on the TV and I guarantee you’ll see a commercial telling you how to place a bet. And then I saw the commercial about getting help for your gambling problem; it was only a matter of time. Yes, Pete bet on baseball, but it was FOR his team NOT against; I think there is a difference there, although as you go down a few layers, it’s still not good. Regardless, if it was up to me, he’d be in the HOF yesterday. I remember when he got that hit; it was a big deal, off none other than Eric Show. I still remember when he hit Andre Dawson in the face that jagoff. Yeah, the biggest thing about Pete was that he always hustled; he played the game hard. He was also a winner. Now, you can find him in Vegas throughout the year signing autographs. It’ll take his death for him to get into the HOF unfortunately…
As far as the teams that were winning that year, it was Toronto and Kansas City in the ALCS, while the Dodgers and Cardinals faced off in the NLCS. It was about this age where I really liked a lot of players from different teams. I had started collecting baseball cards, learning about all of them. My brother and I would then begin to imitate each of those guys in our backyard wiffle ball game duels; loved that shit. How could you not love the outfield of Barfield, Moseby, and Bell in Toronto? And one of the all time greats in George Brett? Shit, I even liked some of the Cardinals back then; I loved their speed combo of Willie McGee and Vince Coleman. What a bunch of dumb asses the Cardinals are though, rolling up the tarp on Coleman’s leg, knocking him out of the NLCS. They still won though. I do remember Ozzie Smith’s HR in Game 6 and Jack Clark’s in Game 7. Unfortunately, that meant they were back in the Fall Classic. They would face off against their intra-state rivals who came back from a 3-1 deficit in the ALCS to beat the Blue Jays.
Yes, the Royals would finally get their first World Series title, coming back from another 3-1 deficit to defeat the Cardinals… yeah! The Royals would cash in on their lucky 7th appearance in the postseason that decade; they would finally win the big one, capping off a decade of sustained success. They would not return until 29 years later when they lost to the Giants in the Series, following it up though the next year in 2015 beating the Mets; I was glad when they won that year too. Yeah, never really had anything against the Royals. I would toe the wiffle ball mound as Brett Saberhagen and Dan Quisenberry too. More than anything though, glad that Brett finally got his. A career postseason .337 hitter in 43 games with 10 HRs and 23 RBIs. Brett was one of those guys that played his entire career with one team, finally getting rewarded in 85. Good for him, and good for the Royals beating those Birds. Up next is 1986… whoa what a year that would be.
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