The 1971 World Series was a lot like the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals!
In both Series, the home team won the first six games, and then game 7 changed that.
In both Series, game 7 was decided by a single run / goal.
The Chicago Blackhawks roared into the finals, looking for their first Stanley Cup in 10 years. The surprising Montreal Canadians stood in their way, however.
And Chicago came out smoking. Firing 18 shots at Ken Dryden, the Hawks tested the Cornell grad. But the playoff sensation was equal to the task.
And in the second period, the Habs opened the scoring. Jacques Lemaire popped one in and it was 1-0. But Chicago was not about to be denied.
Bobby Hull tied the game in the third less than 8 minutes in. And it stayed that way for the rest of the period and the first overtime.
Finally, in the second OT, Chicago's Jimmy Pappin made a brillant move around the Habs D. There was still the Canadians' other D (as in Dryden) standing tall (6 '4) in net. But Jimmy beat him low on the left side. What an opening act!
Despite the loss, Dryden had been nothing short of sensational. Making 56 out of a possible 58 saves, he had single-handily kept the Habs in the game. Kenny was poised to give Chicago real fits.
But the Hawks seemed to have the answer to that problem. Montreal had 37 shots of their own. However, only Lemaire's got behind Tony Esposito, who had enjoyed some playoffs success this year in the pipes.
In game 2, Montreal took and early lead. And again the Hawks came back.
The Blackhawks trailed 2-1 after one and then tied it when Chico Maki scored. Leave it to Pappin to put the Hawks ahead for good. The surprise in this game came from Lou Angotti. Coming into this game, Lou had 1 goal. On this night he had 2 and picked up 2 helpers. Chicago won 5-3.
The Habs were not about to go away quietly. Back at home for game 3, the momentum shifted to the underdog Canadians' way.
The Habs, trailing 2-0, ended up with 40 shots to Chicago's 18. The early Chicago lead was erased in the second period as both the Mahovlich brothers scored. In the third, it was goals by Yvon Cournoyer and Frank Mahovlich that made it a 4-2 final.
Montreal wasted no time in taking a 3-1 lead after 1 in game 4. Then, the Roadrunner scored two goals to more than offset Dennis Hull's second period marker. Dryden finally got the better of Esposito in this game. Each team fired 32 shots on net. But Dryden had 32 saves and Esposito only 27.
The series shifted to Chicago for game 5, and the Habs peppered Esposito some more in this game. Firing 31 shots on him, the Hawks could only answer with 22 of their own. But Tony-0 could not be beaten on this night.
Worse for the Habs, Dennis Hull and Cliff Koroll scored to make it seem like a decisive win. Worse still for the Habs, there was friction.
Rookie coach Al MacNeil had benched the vertran Henri Richard. Richard fired back angrily after the game, calling MacNeil the "Most incompetent coach I've ever played for."
A failed penalty shot by Frank Mahovlich in game 6 had the Habs in a lot of trouble. Things looked even worse as the Habs trailed 3-2 after 2 periods. But in the third, Montreal woke up. Once again, the Mahovlich brothers did the trick (Peter notching his second of the game) and the Habs skated off still alive, 4-3.
Dryden was really great here, making 27 of 30 saves. Esposito wasn't as sharp as he had been, as he allowed 4 goals on 16 shots. So it was on to a winner-take-all game 7.
The Hawks looked like they were going to take it all on this day. Dennis Hull again seized the moment and scored with a shot that went in off Dryden's shoulder. That was the only goal of the 1st period. In the second period, it was the Hawk's Danny O'Shea who found his way to the front of the net. Then he put the puck behind Dryden.
Everything seemed to be going the Hawks' way in this game. A Bobby Hull slapper then beat Dryden. But it hit the crossbar. It was still 2-0, Chicago.
Then, Jacques Lemaire skated across center an launched a long shot at Tony Esposito. Somehow, Tony missed it. The lead was cut in half.
With less than 2 minutes to go in the second period, Eric Nesterenko shot the puck behind his own net, but Lemaire grabbed it and fired it over to Henri Richard. Henri beat Tony-0 with a shot from in close.
The great Henri had scored the winning goal in game 6 of the 1966 Stanley Cup finals. It was his first Cup winning goal. Here, he scored another. Taking a pass in off the left wing, Richard danced in an beat Tony-O as Esposito when down to take away the bottom of the cage.
There was still about 17 1/2 minutes to go, and it honestly looked like Chicago was going to tie it. Montreal took 2 penalties, but Chicago couldn't get it home.
Then, after a shot from the point, Jimmy Pappin looked poised for the equalizer as he had Dryden right where he wanted him. But Kenny got the pad over to stop him. Pappin had raised his stick to celebrate. Not so fast kiddo. That basically ended it. Later on, Pit Martin broke clear and looked like he might have an oppurtunity for a scoring chance. But he bobbled the puck. The underdog Canadians had stolen this one, 3-2. They had won a very unexpected Stanley Cup! And it was 7 pretty exciting games.
And they had done it on the road!
Over in baseball that fall, the Orioles were looking to make it two straight World Series wins. It was also Baltimore's third straight World Series appearance. Pittsburgh hadn't been there since 1960.
Baltimore took game 1 as Dave McNally tossed a fine 3-hitter. But the Orioles had to overcome an early 3-0 lead by the Pirates. Baltimore also took game 2, but Jim Palmer looked a little shaky. Yes, the final score was 11-3. But Jim walked 8 batters!
When the Series went over to Pittsburgh, it was the Pirates' Steve Blass time to shine. Tossing a 3-hitter of his own, Steve was nursing a tight 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 7th. That's where Pittsburgh broke it open.
Roberto Clemente got things started, reaching base on an error by Boog Powell at first. Then Willie Stargell walked. Bob Robertson blasted a 3-run home run. The Pirates could breath a little easier. But even with this win, they still trailed 2-1 in the Series.
Game 4 was the first World Series game to be played under the lights. And Paul Blair was first batter in the game. His single started a 3-run uprising that knocked Pirate starter Luke Walker out of the game. He had managed to retire only two batters. But the O's bats were about to go cold for a long time.
Bruce Kison came in and shutout Baltimore on just 1 hit in the next 6 1/3 innings. Then, Dave Giusti tossed 2 hitless innings. The Pirates score twice in the bottom of the frame, and single tallies in the 3rd and 7th gave Pittsburgh a 4-3 win and a tie in the Series.
In game 5, which was still in Pittsburgh (2-3-2), a forgotten member of the 1967 and '68 St. Louis Cardinals shined. Nelson Briles shutout Baltimore on a 2-hitter. The Pirates scored 4 off Dave McNally. Now it was 3-2 Pittsburgh in the Series.
The way things started in game 6, it was Baltimore who looked down and out. Pittsburgh lead 2-0 early and the Orioles looked like they'd need all the luck in the world to force a game 7. But the O's, at home, came alive.
In the bottom of the 6th, Don Buford greeted Pirates' starter Bob Moose with a long ball. The Orioles hadn't scored a run in the last 22 innings. And they needed more.
The next inning, light-hitting Mark Belanger singled to right with 1 out. Bob Johnson, now pitching for the Bucs, got Jim Palmer to fan. But Belanger stole second. With Dave Giusti of Pittsburgh back for another appearance, Buford walked. Davey Johnson's single tied the game.
Palmer finished the game with a flourish. 1-2-3 went the Pirates in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. But in the bottom of the 9th, Jimmy was gone for a pinch hitter. A Buford double put runners on 2nd and 3rd, but Baltimore couldn't cash 'em in!
Pat Dobson and Dave McNally made Baltimore a little nervous when they loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the 10th. But future Blue Jay Al Oliver flied out to end that!
With Bob Miller pitching the bottom of the 10th and one out, Frank Robinson drew a walk. Merv Rettenmund hit a single that moved Robinson to third. Winning run 90 feet away. But this can all be for not if it's a groundball.
The batter was Brooks Robinson. He sent a flyball to short center. Al Oliver made the catch. Robinson tagged...
...and beat the throw! Wow, what a win for Baltimore. Maybe the Orioles were lucky after all!
Game 7 was an excellent pitcher's duel between Baltimore's Mike Cuellar and Pittsburgh's Steve Blass. Could the O's pull this one out at home?
Cuellar, with that devastating screwball, looked unhittable in this game. The first 11 Pirate batters went down. But then with two outs in the top of the 4th, the heroic Roberto Clemente blasted a homerun to center. 1-0, Bucs!
Cuellar continued to mow 'em down. But in the 8th, Willie Stargell led off with a single. A double by Jose Pagan scored him. Cuellar got the next three Pirate batters out, but now Baltimore needed some offence.
Steve Blass, you see, was just too good on this day! That "1" on the scoreboard was looking like "100" the way Steve was pitching!
The first two men reached base in the bottom of the 8th. A sac bunt and a ground ball got the O's on the board. But Blass bore down and got Davey Johnson to ground out.
Cuellar had been removed for a pinch hitter, and the Pirates got two runners on base in the top of the 9th. Dave McNally then replaced Pat Dobson and got the dangerous Stargell to ground out and end the inning.
Blass got Boog Powell to ground out to start the last of the 9th. Frank Robinson popped out. When Rettenmund grounded out, the Pirates were World Series champions for the first time in 11 years.
And Pittsburgh had picked up their road win!
Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Retrosheet. Web. 13 Jan. 2014. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
In both Series, the home team won the first six games, and then game 7 changed that.
In both Series, game 7 was decided by a single run / goal.
The Chicago Blackhawks roared into the finals, looking for their first Stanley Cup in 10 years. The surprising Montreal Canadians stood in their way, however.
And Chicago came out smoking. Firing 18 shots at Ken Dryden, the Hawks tested the Cornell grad. But the playoff sensation was equal to the task.
And in the second period, the Habs opened the scoring. Jacques Lemaire popped one in and it was 1-0. But Chicago was not about to be denied.
Bobby Hull tied the game in the third less than 8 minutes in. And it stayed that way for the rest of the period and the first overtime.
Finally, in the second OT, Chicago's Jimmy Pappin made a brillant move around the Habs D. There was still the Canadians' other D (as in Dryden) standing tall (6 '4) in net. But Jimmy beat him low on the left side. What an opening act!
Despite the loss, Dryden had been nothing short of sensational. Making 56 out of a possible 58 saves, he had single-handily kept the Habs in the game. Kenny was poised to give Chicago real fits.
But the Hawks seemed to have the answer to that problem. Montreal had 37 shots of their own. However, only Lemaire's got behind Tony Esposito, who had enjoyed some playoffs success this year in the pipes.
In game 2, Montreal took and early lead. And again the Hawks came back.
The Blackhawks trailed 2-1 after one and then tied it when Chico Maki scored. Leave it to Pappin to put the Hawks ahead for good. The surprise in this game came from Lou Angotti. Coming into this game, Lou had 1 goal. On this night he had 2 and picked up 2 helpers. Chicago won 5-3.
The Habs were not about to go away quietly. Back at home for game 3, the momentum shifted to the underdog Canadians' way.
The Habs, trailing 2-0, ended up with 40 shots to Chicago's 18. The early Chicago lead was erased in the second period as both the Mahovlich brothers scored. In the third, it was goals by Yvon Cournoyer and Frank Mahovlich that made it a 4-2 final.
Montreal wasted no time in taking a 3-1 lead after 1 in game 4. Then, the Roadrunner scored two goals to more than offset Dennis Hull's second period marker. Dryden finally got the better of Esposito in this game. Each team fired 32 shots on net. But Dryden had 32 saves and Esposito only 27.
The series shifted to Chicago for game 5, and the Habs peppered Esposito some more in this game. Firing 31 shots on him, the Hawks could only answer with 22 of their own. But Tony-0 could not be beaten on this night.
Worse for the Habs, Dennis Hull and Cliff Koroll scored to make it seem like a decisive win. Worse still for the Habs, there was friction.
Rookie coach Al MacNeil had benched the vertran Henri Richard. Richard fired back angrily after the game, calling MacNeil the "Most incompetent coach I've ever played for."
A failed penalty shot by Frank Mahovlich in game 6 had the Habs in a lot of trouble. Things looked even worse as the Habs trailed 3-2 after 2 periods. But in the third, Montreal woke up. Once again, the Mahovlich brothers did the trick (Peter notching his second of the game) and the Habs skated off still alive, 4-3.
Dryden was really great here, making 27 of 30 saves. Esposito wasn't as sharp as he had been, as he allowed 4 goals on 16 shots. So it was on to a winner-take-all game 7.
The Hawks looked like they were going to take it all on this day. Dennis Hull again seized the moment and scored with a shot that went in off Dryden's shoulder. That was the only goal of the 1st period. In the second period, it was the Hawk's Danny O'Shea who found his way to the front of the net. Then he put the puck behind Dryden.
Everything seemed to be going the Hawks' way in this game. A Bobby Hull slapper then beat Dryden. But it hit the crossbar. It was still 2-0, Chicago.
Then, Jacques Lemaire skated across center an launched a long shot at Tony Esposito. Somehow, Tony missed it. The lead was cut in half.
With less than 2 minutes to go in the second period, Eric Nesterenko shot the puck behind his own net, but Lemaire grabbed it and fired it over to Henri Richard. Henri beat Tony-0 with a shot from in close.
The great Henri had scored the winning goal in game 6 of the 1966 Stanley Cup finals. It was his first Cup winning goal. Here, he scored another. Taking a pass in off the left wing, Richard danced in an beat Tony-O as Esposito when down to take away the bottom of the cage.
There was still about 17 1/2 minutes to go, and it honestly looked like Chicago was going to tie it. Montreal took 2 penalties, but Chicago couldn't get it home.
Then, after a shot from the point, Jimmy Pappin looked poised for the equalizer as he had Dryden right where he wanted him. But Kenny got the pad over to stop him. Pappin had raised his stick to celebrate. Not so fast kiddo. That basically ended it. Later on, Pit Martin broke clear and looked like he might have an oppurtunity for a scoring chance. But he bobbled the puck. The underdog Canadians had stolen this one, 3-2. They had won a very unexpected Stanley Cup! And it was 7 pretty exciting games.
And they had done it on the road!
Over in baseball that fall, the Orioles were looking to make it two straight World Series wins. It was also Baltimore's third straight World Series appearance. Pittsburgh hadn't been there since 1960.
Baltimore took game 1 as Dave McNally tossed a fine 3-hitter. But the Orioles had to overcome an early 3-0 lead by the Pirates. Baltimore also took game 2, but Jim Palmer looked a little shaky. Yes, the final score was 11-3. But Jim walked 8 batters!
When the Series went over to Pittsburgh, it was the Pirates' Steve Blass time to shine. Tossing a 3-hitter of his own, Steve was nursing a tight 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 7th. That's where Pittsburgh broke it open.
Roberto Clemente got things started, reaching base on an error by Boog Powell at first. Then Willie Stargell walked. Bob Robertson blasted a 3-run home run. The Pirates could breath a little easier. But even with this win, they still trailed 2-1 in the Series.
Game 4 was the first World Series game to be played under the lights. And Paul Blair was first batter in the game. His single started a 3-run uprising that knocked Pirate starter Luke Walker out of the game. He had managed to retire only two batters. But the O's bats were about to go cold for a long time.
Bruce Kison came in and shutout Baltimore on just 1 hit in the next 6 1/3 innings. Then, Dave Giusti tossed 2 hitless innings. The Pirates score twice in the bottom of the frame, and single tallies in the 3rd and 7th gave Pittsburgh a 4-3 win and a tie in the Series.
In game 5, which was still in Pittsburgh (2-3-2), a forgotten member of the 1967 and '68 St. Louis Cardinals shined. Nelson Briles shutout Baltimore on a 2-hitter. The Pirates scored 4 off Dave McNally. Now it was 3-2 Pittsburgh in the Series.
The way things started in game 6, it was Baltimore who looked down and out. Pittsburgh lead 2-0 early and the Orioles looked like they'd need all the luck in the world to force a game 7. But the O's, at home, came alive.
In the bottom of the 6th, Don Buford greeted Pirates' starter Bob Moose with a long ball. The Orioles hadn't scored a run in the last 22 innings. And they needed more.
The next inning, light-hitting Mark Belanger singled to right with 1 out. Bob Johnson, now pitching for the Bucs, got Jim Palmer to fan. But Belanger stole second. With Dave Giusti of Pittsburgh back for another appearance, Buford walked. Davey Johnson's single tied the game.
Palmer finished the game with a flourish. 1-2-3 went the Pirates in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. But in the bottom of the 9th, Jimmy was gone for a pinch hitter. A Buford double put runners on 2nd and 3rd, but Baltimore couldn't cash 'em in!
Pat Dobson and Dave McNally made Baltimore a little nervous when they loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the 10th. But future Blue Jay Al Oliver flied out to end that!
With Bob Miller pitching the bottom of the 10th and one out, Frank Robinson drew a walk. Merv Rettenmund hit a single that moved Robinson to third. Winning run 90 feet away. But this can all be for not if it's a groundball.
The batter was Brooks Robinson. He sent a flyball to short center. Al Oliver made the catch. Robinson tagged...
...and beat the throw! Wow, what a win for Baltimore. Maybe the Orioles were lucky after all!
Game 7 was an excellent pitcher's duel between Baltimore's Mike Cuellar and Pittsburgh's Steve Blass. Could the O's pull this one out at home?
Cuellar, with that devastating screwball, looked unhittable in this game. The first 11 Pirate batters went down. But then with two outs in the top of the 4th, the heroic Roberto Clemente blasted a homerun to center. 1-0, Bucs!
Cuellar continued to mow 'em down. But in the 8th, Willie Stargell led off with a single. A double by Jose Pagan scored him. Cuellar got the next three Pirate batters out, but now Baltimore needed some offence.
Steve Blass, you see, was just too good on this day! That "1" on the scoreboard was looking like "100" the way Steve was pitching!
The first two men reached base in the bottom of the 8th. A sac bunt and a ground ball got the O's on the board. But Blass bore down and got Davey Johnson to ground out.
Cuellar had been removed for a pinch hitter, and the Pirates got two runners on base in the top of the 9th. Dave McNally then replaced Pat Dobson and got the dangerous Stargell to ground out and end the inning.
Blass got Boog Powell to ground out to start the last of the 9th. Frank Robinson popped out. When Rettenmund grounded out, the Pirates were World Series champions for the first time in 11 years.
And Pittsburgh had picked up their road win!
References
Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Retrosheet. Web. 13 Jan. 2014. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
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