Oct. 14, 1977 – World Series Game 3: Yankees 5, Dodgers 3
- Sal Maiorana
- Oct 14, 2017
- 4 min read
LOS ANGELES – Billy Martin stood anxiously in the dugout watching Mike Torrez getting too cute in his approach to the Dodgers hitters, so he shuffled out to the mound to have a one-way conversation with his right-hander.
It was the bottom of the fifth inning, the Yankees were leading 5-3, but Torrez issued a one-out walk to Reggie Smith and fell behind Ron Cey, 3-and-0. Martin called time, and basically told Torrez to knock it off.
“He thought I was trying to be too fine,” Torrez recounted. “He said throw the damn ball. He was more pumped up himself because he wanted to get me pumped up.”
Torrez fired a next-pitch called strike, and then Cey swung at the next offering and flied out to left. Then, after Steve Garvey beat out an infield hit, Dusty Baker stepped into the box, the same Baker who had hit a game-tying three-run homer in the third inning. Martin was locked in place on the top step because he couldn’t visit the mound again, but it didn’t matter. Torrez wasted no time going after Baker, and he got him to bounce one to Graig Nettles who fed Willie Randolph at second for the forceout that quelled the Los Angeles rally.
From there it was smooth sailing for Torrez as he pitched a complete-game seven-hitter, striking out nine, as the Yankees took a two games to one lead in the series and guaranteed its return to New York.
Here is the full video of Game 3 at Dodger Stadium. And here are the key moments, with time stamps:
Top 1st: 4:15 - Munson's RBI double
6:15 - Jackson's RBI single
8:00 - Piniella's RBI single
Bot 3rd: 52:00 - Baker's 3-run HR
Top 4th: 58:20 - Rivers' RBI groundout
Top 5th: 1:10:40 - Chambliss RBI single
Bot 5th: 1:20:05 - Martin's visit to the mound
“You know your pitcher,” Martin said. “And you know what you have to do with each one of them. I know what I have to do when I talk to Mike. I told him to bring the ball and don’t give him a pitch to rip. If he walked him, fine, but don’t ease up.”
At the start, it looked like Torrez was in for an easy night. The Yankees, who had riled themselves up on the off day with a dizzying array of gabbing in the press - most of the verbiage coming from Martin and Reggie Jackson in their latest sparring match - shut their mouths and started swinging the bats. They attacked Dodgers starter Tommy John and raked four hits for three runs in the top of the first.
Mickey Rivers, hitless in the series, led off with a bloop double behind first base and he advanced to third on a groundout by Randolph. Thurman Munson followed with a double down the right-field line for the first run, and Jackson came through with a looping single to left to send home Munson for a 2-0 lead, Jackson taking second when Baker misplayed the ball in left field. Lou Piniella finished the onslaught with a single up the middle and Martin was the first man in the dugout to greet Jackson after he scored.
Torrez got himself into jams in each of the first two innings, though he was able to leave four runners stranded. He wasn’t as fortunate in the third. Smith and Garvey singled, and with two outs, Baker launched a long home run to left that instantly tied the score and sent Dodger Stadium into delirium.
Dusty Baker in the aftermath of his three-run homer off Mike Torrez.
If there was a point where the Yankees took charge in the series, it was right here. The place was electric and the Yankees were reeling, but rather than melt under the pressure, they had an immediate response. Nettles and Bucky Dent hit back-to-back singles to start the fourth, Torrez sacrificed them along, and Nettles scored what proved to be the winning run when Rivers grounded out to second.
Tommy Lasorda played his infield back in that situation, and given that it was the run that provided the winning margin, he was quizzed about the decision. “That early in the game, I have to believe my guys are going to score again off Torrez,” he said. “If I pull the infield in and he gets a hit, maybe a bigger inning gets going. But we didn’t score any more so my expectation was wrong.”
In the fifth, before the dramatic sequence between Martin’s mound visit and Baker’s ground out, the Yankees tacked on an insurance run when Jackson walked, and Piniella and Chambliss singled. Torrez allowed only one more baserunner the rest of the way, and he retired the final 11 Dodgers in order, sparing the use of Sparky Lyle.
“Mike Torrez pitched an outstanding game,” said Lasorda. “He had control of his breaking ball, his slider, and that was the difference. He got much better from about the sixth inning on. I didn’t think he could beat us, but I was wrong.”
Davey Lopes dives back to first before Chris Chambliss can lay the tag down on a pickoff attempt.
When it was over, Yankees general manager Gabe Paul was left to just shake his head at how this team managed to put all of its differences aside once it was time to start playing.
“This is just another chapter in the tumultuous life of the 1977 Yankees,” Paul said. “Controversial ballplayers are many times better ballplayers because they are not afraid of the consequences. Reckless players will play recklessly and not be afraid of what happens. I don’t mind controversial players. What I do mind is a miser who’s going to worry about what happens. We have fellows who don’t worry about what happens.”
What happened on this night was the Yankees won the pivotal third game, and now they had Ron Guidry lined up for Game 4, which was a nice position to be in.
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