1985 World Series
From SoSH
Series Information
Kansas City Royals (91-71) vs. Saint Louis Cardinals (101-61)
The 1985 World Series matched up two teams from the state of Missouri and became known as the I-70 Series. The Kansas City Royals had not finished worse than second in any year since 1975, but they had never been able to win the big one. Finally in 1985, backed by Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen they seemed poised to do so. They beat out the California Angels in the AL West by one game to set up a match up with the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS. After falling behind 3 games to one the Royals stormed back to win the series in seven games and advanced to the World Series. In 1985 the Cardinals won 101 games, but still had to hold off a push by the NY Mets to win the NL East. After winning the division by 3 games, they played the Los Angeles Dodgers in the ALCS. The Cardinals beat the Dodgers in six games winning the last four games to advance.
The World Series went the full seven and was a closely matched affair. After the Royals victory in Game 7 many Cardinals fans were left with a sour taste in their mouth because of a blown call by Umpire Don Denkinger in Game 6. Either way the Royals finally had their World Series title.
- Managers: Dick Howser (Kansas City) and Whitey Herzog (St. Louis)
- Venues: Royals Stadium (Kansas City, MO) and Busch Stadium (St. Louis, MO)
- MVP: Bret Saberhagen
Box Scores
Game One: Saturday, October 19, 1985 at Royals Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| Kansas City Royals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| W: John Tudor (1-0) L: Danny Jackson (0-1) Sv: Todd Worrell (1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: KC – None STL – None | ||||||||||||
| Attendance: 41,650 | ||||||||||||
Game Two: Sunday, October 20, 1985 at Royals Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Kansas City Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Ken Dayley (1-0) L: Charlie Leibrandt (0-1) Sv: Jeff Lahti (1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: KC – None STL – None | ||||||||||||
| Attendance: 41,656 | ||||||||||||
Game Three: Tuesday, October 22, 1985 at Busch Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| W: Bret Saberhagen (1-0) L: Joaquin Andujar (0-1) Sv: None | ||||||||||||
| HR: KC – Frank White STL – None | ||||||||||||
| Attendance: 53,634 | ||||||||||||
Game Four: Wednesday, October 23, 1985 at Busch Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| W: John Tudor (2-0) L: Bud Black (0-1) Sv: None | ||||||||||||
| HR: KC – None STL – Tito Landrum (1), Willie McGee (1) | ||||||||||||
| Attendance: 53,634 | ||||||||||||
Game Five: Thursday, October 24, 1985 at Busch Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Royals | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| W: Danny Jackson (1-1) L: Bob Forsch (0-1) Sv: None | ||||||||||||
| HR: KC – None STL – None | ||||||||||||
| Attendance: 53,634 | ||||||||||||
Game Six: Saturday, October 26, 1985 at Royals Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Kansas City Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Dan Quisenberry (1-0) L: Todd Worrell (0-1) Sv: None | ||||||||||||
| HR: KC – None STL – None | ||||||||||||
| Attendance: 41,628 | ||||||||||||
Game Seven: Sunday, October 27, 1985 at Royals Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Kansas City Royals | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 11 | 14 | 0 |
| W: Bret Saberhagen (2-0) L: John Tudor (2-1) Sv: None | ||||||||||||
| HR: KC – Darryl Motley (1) STL – None | ||||||||||||
| Attendance: 41,658 | ||||||||||||
Trivia
- This was the second all Missouri World Series. The first occurred in 1944 between the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns
- Both stadiums in the Series had Astroturf playing surfaces.
- The Royals became just the sixth team in World Series history to come back and win facing a 3-1 series deficit.
- The Royals were one out away from losing the Series in Game 6.
- Umpire Don Denkinger made an incorrect call in Game 6 to keep the Royals hopes alive. Pinch hitter Jose Orta grounded one to first baseman Jack Clark. Clark underhanded to pitcher Todd Worrell who beat Orta to the base, but unfortunately for the Cardinals Denkinger saw otherwise and called Orta safe. The Royals were then able to win the game on a two run single later in the inning.
- World Series MVP Bret Saberhagen went 2-0 with a .50 ERA. Saberhagen pitched two complete games allowing only 11 hits in 18 innings and struck out 10. He allowed only one run in the Series
- Saberhagen pitched a complete game shutout in Game 7 just a day after his wife had given birth to their first child.
- The DH was not used in Game 7 despite the fact the game took place at Royals Stadium
External Links
- 1985 World Series Baseball-Reference.com
- 1985 World Series Box Scores and Play-by-play Retrosheet.org
- 1985 World Series Overview and Info Baseball-Almanac.com
- 1985 World Series Recap MLB.com
