The 1970 World Series matched the American League champion Baltimore Orioles against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds, with the Orioles winning in five games.

In this series Emmett Ashford became the first African American to umpire in the Fall Classic. It also featured the first World Series games to be played on artificial turf, as Games 1 and 2 took place at Cincinnati's brand-new Riverfront Stadium.

This was the last World Series in which all games were played in the afternoon. The Jackson 5 performed the "Star Spangled Banner," which almost became an embarrassment when the group realized shortly before their performance that they weren't familiar with the lyrics. The Jackson brothers were able to quickly prepare themselves in transit to the stadium and performed the song adequately.

[edit] Background

The Baltimore Orioles won the American League East division by fifteen games over the New York Yankees then defeated the Minnesota Twins, three games to none, in the American League Championship Series. The Cincinnati Reds won the National League West division by 14 ½ games over the Los Angeles Dodgers then defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, three games to none, in the National League Championship Series.

[edit] Summary

AL Baltimore Orioles (4) vs. NL Cincinnati Reds (1)

[edit] Matchups

[edit] Game 1

Saturday, October 10, 1970 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio

WP: Jim Palmer (1–0)  LP: Gary Nolan (0–1)  SV: Pete Richert (1)  
HRs:  BAL – Boog Powell (1), Elrod Hendricks (1), Brooks Robinson (1)  CIN – Lee May (1)

Game 1 of was the first Fall Classic game played on artificial turf. The Jackson 5 sang "The National Anthem". Prior to the, a reporter asked Brooks Robinson if he thought he would be able to play defense on the artificial grass. Robinson replied, "I'm a Major League third baseman. If you want to go play in a parking lot, I'm supposed to stop the ball."^{[citation needed]}

The Reds got off to a fast start, taking a 3–0 lead off Jim Palmer on a first-inning RBI single by Johnny Bench and a third-inning two-run homer by Lee May. The Orioles' offense answered with a two-run homer by Boog Powell in the fourth off Reds' starter Gary Nolan. Elrod Hendricks tied it with a solo homer in the fifth, and Brooks Robinson hit the game-winning homer in the seventh. Prior to his game-winning blast in the sixth inning, Brooks Robinson made a spectacular backhanded grab of a hard grounder hit down the third base line by Lee May and spun to throw him out. It was one of several spectacular plays the Gold Glove third baseman would make in the series.

On a controversial play in the sixth, the Reds had Bernie Carbo on third and Tommy Helms on first when Ty Cline, batting for Woodward, hit a high chopper in front of the plate. Plate umpire Ken Burkhart positioned himself in front of the plate to call the ball fair or foul as Carbo sped home. O's catcher Hendricks fielded the ball and turned to tag Carbo with Burkhart blocking the way. Hendricks tagged the sliding Carbo with his glove hand while holding the ball in his other hand; all the while, Burkhart was knocked to the ground and had his back turned to what was going on. When Burkhart turned around and saw Carbo well out of the baseline and not near the plate and that Hendricks had the ball in his hand, he signaled Carbo out without asking for help from the other umpires. Carbo and Reds' manager Sparky Anderson vehemently argued the call, but to no avail and the Reds would pose no further scoring threats the rest of the game. As Anderson continued to argue from the dugout, Nolan batted for himself and flied out to end the inning. Nolan yielded Robinson's homer in the following inning and was then removed for Carroll. Palmer allowed no more hits in the sixth and seventh innings. Pete Richert pitched the ninth for the save.

[edit] Game 2

Sunday, October 11, 1970 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio

WP: Tom Phoebus (1–0)  LP: Milt Wilcox (0–1)  SV: Dick Hall (1)  
HRs:  BAL – Boog Powell (2)  CIN – Bobby Tolan (1), Johnny Bench (1)

Again, another fast start by the Reds fell by the wayside. The Reds scored three in the first on a two-run double by Lee May, who went to third when Oriole center fielder Paul Blair bobbled the ball. Hal McRae squeeze-bunted May home for the third run. They pushed the lead to 4–0 on a homer by Bobby Tolan in the third.

The Orioles began their comeback innocently enough on a Boog Powell solo homer in the fourth. In the fifth, the floodgates opened. With one out, Reds' starter Jim McGlothlin gave up successive singles to pinch-hitter Chico Salmon and Don Buford. Paul Blair singled home Salmon, chasing McGlothlin and bringing in Milt Wilcox. Wilcox gave up RBI singles to Powell and Brooks Robinson and the crushing blow, a two-run double to Elrod Hendricks.

The Reds would get back one run in the sixth on a Johnny Bench home run, but that was it.

[edit] Game 3

Tuesday, October 13, 1970 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland

WP: Dave McNally (1–0)  LP: Tony Cloninger (0–1)  
HRs:  BAL – Frank Robinson (1), Don Buford (1), Dave McNally (1)

Left-hander Dave McNally had a banner day, pitching a complete game, scattering nine hits. McNally's most significant contribution was with the bat, however. He connected for a grand slam in the sixth inning off reliever Wayne Granger to break the game wide open. (As a sidenote, Granger had entered the game in that inning in relief of Tony Cloninger—the only pitcher, to date, to hit two grand slams in one game.) Dave McNally, not especially known as a hitter, became the first pitcher to hit a World Series grand slam home run. The Reds were now down 3–0 in games and in big trouble.

It was in this game that Brooks Robinson would stake his claim as one of the best fielding third sackers of all time. After Pete Rose and Bobby Tolan led the game off with consecutive hits, Robinson made a sensational, leaping grab of Tony Pérez's hopper, stepped on third and fired to first for a perfect double play. In the second inning, Robinson snagged a slow grounder hit by Tommy Helms and threw out the sprinting second baseman. And, in the sixth, Robinson made a diving catch of a line drive hit by Johnny Bench.

[edit] Game 4

Wednesday, October 14, 1970 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland

WP: Clay Carroll (1–0)  LP: Eddie Watt (0–1)  
HRs:  CIN – Pete Rose (1), Lee May (2)  BAL – Brooks Robinson (2)

The Reds staved off a Series defeat in this game thanks to clutch hitting by Lee May and stellar relief pitching by rookie Don Gullett and veteran Clay Carroll.

With a 2–1 lead in the third, Reds' starter Gary Nolan gave up two-out RBI singles to Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson. Gullett relieved Nolan and surrendered another RBI single to Elrod Hendricks. The Reds crept back in the fifth on a solo homer by Pete Rose.

Gullett gave up an unearned run in the sixth when Hendricks singled Brooks Robinson to third and Robinson scored when Rose's attempted throw from right field sailed past Tony Pérez at third.

In the eighth, Perez walked and Johnny Bench singled. Lee May then slammed a three-run homer off Orioles' reliever Eddie Watt to put the Reds ahead. Carroll, who had come in in the seventh, made the lead stand up. Gullett and Carroll pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up four hits and one unearned run, allowing the Reds to claw back on May's heroics. The Reds' victory snapped Baltimore's 17-game winning streak, which included the last 11 regular season games and a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins in the playoffs.

[edit] Game 5

Thursday, October 15, 1970 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland

WP: Mike Cuellar (1–0)  LP: Jim Merritt (0–1)  
HRs:  BAL – Frank Robinson (2), Merv Rettenmund (1)

Seemingly re-energized from their Game 4 win, the Reds rocked Mike Cuellar for three runs in the first on an RBI single by Johnny Bench and a two-run double by Hal McRae. That would be it for the Reds as Cuellar settled down and allowed no more runs and only two hits the rest of the way in a complete-game win.

Frank Robinson hit a two-run homer, Merv Rettenmund had a homer and two RBIs, and Davey Johnson had two RBIs to pace the Oriole hitters as they completed the rout.

Brooks Robinson won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award hitting .429, (which broke the record for total bases with seventeen (17)), tied the record for most hits in one (1) game with four (4), and tied teammate Paul Blair for most hits in a five-game Series with nine (9). Total Baseball described Brooks Robinson's fielding with, "other-worldly defense at third (which) gave Reds right-handed hitters nightmares through the Series." Upon hearing that Brooks Robinson had won the MVP award and a new car from Toyota, Reds' catcher Johnny Bench said, "If we had known he wanted a car that badly, we'd all have chipped in and bought him one."

mlb.com coverage of Game 5

[edit] Composite box

1970 World Series (4–1): Baltimore Orioles (A.L.) over Cincinnati Reds (N.L.)

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 330–334)
• Reichler, Joseph, ed. (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.), p. 2182. MacMillian Publishing. ISBN 0-02-579010-2.
• Forman, Sean L.. "1970 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information.. http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1970_WS.shtml. Retrieved 2007-12-09. 

[edit] External links

• 1970 World Series History at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1970 World Series at Baseball Almanac
• 1970 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
• The 1970 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) at Retrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1970 at The SportingNews
• That Black and Orange Magic at SI.com
• Reds History at redshistory.com
• The 1970 Baltimore Orioles at baseballlibrary.com
• The 1970 Cincinnati Reds at baseballlibrary.com