A Year When the Unlikely Became Reality

It was a baseball season in which the meek inherited the earth (Atlanta and Minnesota), the mighty were toppled (Cincinnati and Oakland), the Butler didn’t do it, another Nixon was forced to resign and Baltimore decided to tear down its stadium while Montreal had no say in the matter.

Before the memories of summer melt into a televised sea of shimmering tomahawks and Homer Simpson Hankies, a final look back . . .

Reason to Believe in the Existence of a Higher Being: Hours after Rickey Henderson broke Lou Brock’s career stolen base record and proclaimed himself to be “the greatest of all time,” Nolan Ryan pitched his seventh no-hitter, thus dropping Henderson to the bottom of sports sections across the country.

“Courageous” Was Used as an Adjective 1,376 Times This Baseball Season; Only Twice Was It Used Correctly: It is no show of bravery to rehab a knee or knock in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth--it’s a player’s job--and so it took Steve Palermo and Dave Dravecky to re-introduce us to the proper definition. Palermo, the highly respected umpire, was shot in the back while trying to break up a robbery attempt outside a Dallas restaurant. He might never umpire again. Dravecky’s pitching career ended long before the amputation of his left arm, but his grace and dignity throughout a life-shattering ordeal was the inspirational story of this and many years.

Comeback of the Year Within a Year: In barely five months, Jim Abbott went from O-4 and stand-by on the next LAX-to-Edmonton flight to 18-11, 2.89, and earnest Cy Young consideration. He won’t win the award--Roger Clemens or Scott Erickson will--but with a better bullpen (four blown victories) and better luck (a 1-0 loss and a nine-inning scoreless tie in September), he’d have been a lock.

Can You Tell Us Again What “MVP” Stands For, Cecil? In 1990, Cecil Fielder had one of the great power-hitting seasons of all time--51 home runs, 132 RBIs, .592 slugging percentage--but lost the American League Most Valuable Player award because his team finished 79-83 and Rickey Henderson’s went to the World Series. This year, Fielder hit 44 more home runs, drove in 133 more runs and kept no-hit, no-pitch Detroit in the AL East race deep into the summer--and who’s the favorite for MVP? Cal Ripken, whose team is 66-94 and would be in last place if not for Old Faithful, Cleveland.

Best Farm System--and Great VCRs, Too: With the feeder program the Tigers have developed in Japan, who needs Toledo? First, Detroit found Fielder in Japan, then a 20-game winner named Bill Gullickson. Keen observers of modern trends, the Angels went shopping in the Orient, too--and with that Midas touch of theirs, brought home Floyd Bannister.

That’s One Way to Look at It: With 80 victories, the Angels are laying claim to the “best-ever record by a last-place finisher.” Is there a spin doctor in the house?

As Bad as It Was, It Could Have Been Worse: Substitute Glenn Davis for Wally Joyner, as Richard Brown and Mike Port tried to do last winter, and Joyner takes his .301 average and 96 RBIs to Houston while Davis, Mr. Inside The Trainer’s Room, winds up on the Angels’ disabled list. The Astros couldn’t save the Dodgers, but they did the Angels a favor by dealing Davis to Baltimore.

But What About 1981? You have to wonder about a sport that spends most of the present basking in the past. The 50th anniversary of Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak. The 50th anniversary of Ted Williams’ .406 season. The 40th anniversary of Bobby Thomson’s home run. The 30th anniversary of Roger Maris’ 61st home run. And this weekend: The 50th anniversary of . . . Mickey Owen’s dropped third strike in the World Series. Note to Braves, Twins and Blue Jays: This month is the 20th anniversary of Pittsburgh’s first World Series triumph over Baltimore.

Cause and Effect: George Steinbrenner no longer runs the New York Yankees, and Stump Merrill lasts the whole season as manager of the Yankees.

Conclusive Proof of Life After Death: Bo Jackson, whose career was worse than dead according to the Kansas City Royals and the consensus of the medical world, signed with the only willing taker and hit three home runs for the Chicago White Sox in September.

O-High-O: That’s very high--and very wide--as in the baseball throws-via-tantrums made by Cleveland outfielder Albert Belle and Cincinnati pitcher Rob Dibble. Both throws hit fans in the stands, sending one to the hospital. Dibble also threw at a batter running from home to first base and fellow Redneck Norm Charlton threw at Mike Scioscia because he was upset at Scioscia for stealing the Reds’ pitching signals. Cincinnati and Cleveland combined for almost 200 losses in 1991. They got what they deserved.

Hairy’s OK, as Long as the Last Name Is Caray: The Yankees benched their captain and best player, Don Mattingly, until he agreed to get a haircut. At last, the solution in the Bronx. The Yankees don’t need more pitching, more hitting, more defense. They need more bare necks.

Cheaper by the Dozen: Remember when throwing a no-hitter used to mean something? Occasionally, they still do--Nolan Ryan, Dennis Martinez, Bret Saberhagen. But in 1991 they became common, both in frequency and classification--Tommy Greene, Wilson Alvarez, a cast of Baltimore Oriole thousands.

Hope for Houston and Montreal: The National League voted to expand to Denver and Miami in 1993.

And Buck Stopped Here: Promise the fans a better product, lie to the fans, fire the manager. It’s the major league way, and it happened in eight cities in 1991--Anaheim (Doug Rader), Baltimore (Frank Robinson), Chicago (Don Zimmer), Cleveland (John McNamara), Kansas City (John Wathan), Montreal (Buck Rodgers), New York (Bud Harrelson), Philadelphia (Nick Leyva). So far, only Rodgers has resurfaced, but the Mariners, Brewers and Yankees might soon be in the market--and they have a deep list of recyclables. That, too, is the major league way.

World Series Prediction: The only way this season can end--Atlanta vs. Minnesota. Followed in 1992 by Houston vs. Cleveland.