August 29, 1977 – Yankees 5, Royals 3
- Sal Maiorana
- Aug 29, 2017
- 3 min read
NEW YORK – As Yogi Berra once said, it was déjà vu all over again for the Yankees and Royals at Yankees Stadium.
This one was far less significant than the last one, but Chris Chambliss again beat the Royals with a late-inning home run, this one delivering a victory in a game that was controversially postponed on July 25. Ten months earlier, Chambliss had struck one of the most dramatic home runs in Yankee history, a solo blast in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Royals and send the Yankees to the World Series for the first time since 1964.
The Yankees were down 3-2 and had two men on with two outs in the eighth when Royals manager Whitey Herzog changed pitchers, sending righty Doug Bird in for lefty Steve Mingori with Cliff Johnson due to bat. Billy Martin countered by sending up the lefty-swinging Chambliss, who was in an 0-for-10 slump and was originally being given a rest day by Martin. Until this situation arose.
“I knew Chambliss was going to hit,” Herzog admitted, “but Bird has been hot and I’m riding the hot horse.”
It was a by-the-book move that made perfect sense given Bird’s recent success and Chambliss’ slump, but it all went to hell when Chambliss hit a towering fly ball to right-center that just cleared the leaping attempt of Al Cowens to hand Kansas City just its second loss in the last 13 games.
“I was happy,” the mild-mannered Chambliss said. “That’s the ultimate thing you can do, pinch hitting a home run with guys on base and your team down a run. You can’t help but smile. I wasn’t thinking about the playoffs, I was just trying to get a hit. It was very high. Chances are it could’ve stayed in as well as it could’ve gone out.”
Because it went out, the Royals were in an even more miserable mood than when they arrived in New York City for this one-game visit. They did not believe the original game should have been postponed and their claim was that George Steinbrenner was behind it because at that time, the Yankees were going through a rough patch and could have benefited from a day off. They actually filed a protest with the league office, though it was denied. So, on their way from Baltimore to Kansas City, they had to come to New York on what was supposed to be a day off to make up this game.
General manager Gabe Paul issued a statement during the game, following the latest round of barbs from Herzog, that read: “I wish Whitey Herzog would stop popping off about things he doesn’t know anything about. The decision to postpone the game was made by me, and if there is any criticism it should be directed at me and not at George Steinbrenner, who is being criticized for a decision he did not make. Whitey can blast me all he wants, I don’t give a damn.”
Herzog still found a way to protest as he penciled four pitchers into his lineup. Paul Splitorff was the starting pitcher, Dennis Leonard was slotted as the DH, Andy Hassler was at first base, and Jim Colborn was in right field. None of the pitchers batted as they were lifted as their turns came up with Hal McRae taking over at DH, Cowens in right and John Mayberry at first.
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