Most Memorable Season?

[FrenchyLefebvre]

Hi
Not talkin' your team's most memorable season -- just one year producing the most "stick out" memories throughout baseball (even if your team struggled throughout most of it, like mine did) and you remember precisely where you were were when they happened?

Fans, how about 1983?

-Brett's Pine Tar Game(s) Royals & Yanks; Perry trying to hide the bat

-Dave Winfield accidentially killing seagull during BP in Toronto & getting hauled off to "Authorities" after the game.

-Fred Lynn's All Star Grand Slam, 1st ever vs. Lamaar Hoyt (sp?) @ Comisky Park's 50th anniversary; American League "finally" winning an All Star Game (first one since, like, the '60s in which Pete Rose didn't start).

-Righetti's No-No at Yankee Stadium on George's (both of them) birthday.

-There was a Rookie named Razor Shines

-Bench, Gaylord Perry & Yaz (first little leaguer eventual HOFer) retire.

-Bench's 2,000th hit off Steve Carlton on May 4th @ Philly (was there)

- Carlton winning # 300 in St Louis (his former team) on Friday, Sept 23rd (with "Mr T" Al Holland getting the save ).

- Billy being fired - & being replaced with Yogi!

-Ryan and Carlton passing Johnson's 3508 Ks in the same month, May (was there for Lefty's on the 20th).

-Willie & Mickey being suspended by Bowie Kuhn for making appearances at some Atlantic City Casino

Future HOFer striking out four times on a TOTAL of TWELVE pitches - only to win it with 2 outs in bottom of the 9th. Schmidt 5/28 vs Expos (was there). 4 times on 12 pitches?!

I don't know, there have been big years with big (& infamous) memories. But 1983 had it all throughout baseball.

[leecemark]

--How about 1980?
--The Royals finally beat the Yankees in the ALCS on their 4th try. Brett chases .400 along the way.
--The Phillies also finally win a pennant in their 4th trip to the NLCS and the World Series after a century of disapointment. Schmidt has an even better season than Brett.
--Seven 20 game winners, head lined by the immortal Steve Stone with 25.
--100 stolen bases by Rickey Henderson and over 90 by two others.

[Iron Jaw]

1964.

Races down to the wire in both leagues. In the National League it was a five team contest going into the last month. St. Louis, Philadelphia and Cincinnati were still alive when the final game of the season was played (Philadelphia appeared to have it won just two weeks earlier, but a ten game losing streak shattered the dream). After the last game was played, the Cardinals came out on top with a 93-69 record. The Phillies and Reds tied for second with 92-70 records. San Francisco and Milwaukee were not far behind (Giants, 3-games out and Braves 5-games out).

The American League was a three team race down the wire. New York, Baltimore and Chicago battled it out all season. The Orioles had a young team, but seemed to have the edge going into the September stretch. But the Yankees and their veteran club got hot that month and pushed ahead of the O's and ChiSox. In the end, the Yankees finished at 99-63, the White Sox at 98-64 and the Orioles at 97-65.

The World Series was a 7-game classic. The series featured a walk-off homerun by Mantle in Game 3, a grand slam homerun by Ken Boyer in Game 4 giving the Cardinals a 4-3 win, a 10th inning, 3-run homerun by McCarver in Game 5, a grand slam by Joe Pepitone in Game 6, and a gutsy performance by Bob Gibson in Game 7 that gave the Cardinals the World Championship (Brothers, Ken and Clete Boyer homered against each other in the finale).

Two third basemen won the MVP Awards - Ken Boyer and Brooks Robinson.
The Angels' Dean Chance won the MLB Cy Young Award (only one award then). Richie Allen and Tony Oliva were supurb Rookies of the Year.

Both pennant winning managers left their respective ballclubs after the World Series. Yogi Berra was fired by the Yankees, and Johnny Keane resigned from the Cardinals after a threat of losing his job when the Cardinals appeared to be dropping from the pennant race. Ironically, Keane signed on as manager of the Yankees for the 1965 season. Unfortunately, a change that came at the beginning of the Yankee collapse. By 1966, the Yankees would finish in 10th place, dead last in the AL. Mr. Keane died that year.