Judge Smails

October 10, 1976 Splittorff Sparkles, Royals Get Even, 7-3 “Pual Splittorff rode to the Royals’ rescue,” in Game Two of the 1976 American League playoffs. “With the stylish left-hander mowing down the New York Yankees in 5 2/3 innings of relief, Kansas City spurted from behind to slam out a 7-3 triumph at Royals Stadium to throw the series into a 1-1 deadlock.” “’Tonight we did the things we have to do to win games,’ said Whitey Herzog, the Royals’ manager. ‘But we still have to go out and hit. We’ve still got a tough job ahead of us.’” “Before tiring and turning over the ninth inning and last round-up to Steve Mingori, Splittorff handcuffed the Yanks on three singles – one of them an infield hit – and a double by Graig Nettles. He walked two batters and struck out one.” “Spilttorff, who bailed out starter Dennis Leonard with two runs home, one aboard and one out in the third, warmed up three times before receiving the call from Herzog.” “’That’s the way things worked out,’ Splittorff said. ‘Well I’m happy they did. The first time I got up to throw I was nervous. Each time I seemed more relaxed. I was O.K. when I finally went out there.’” Earlier in the season Splittorff “had spent six weeks on the disabled list with tendinitis in the middle finger on his pitching hand and then a couple of more in the Florida instructional league, trying to regain his effectiveness.” “Splittorff had three ineffective outings in September after being restored to the Royals’ roster. But he looked good in an intra-squad game last week and that was when Manager Herzog decided to put him in the bullpen for the playoffs.” “The Royals, who stole three bases and were aided by five New York errors, did their damage in bunches. They jumped starter Ed Figueroa for two runs in the first, knocked out the Puerto Rican right-hander with two more runs in the sixth and finished their run-making with three off reliever Dick Tidrow in the eighth.” “For the second straight game George Brett flashed the form that made him the league’s batting champion. He drove in Jim Wohlford with a sacrifice fly in the first. Then, in the sixth, he tripled over Mickey Rivers’ head in center field and rolled home on John Mayberry’s line single, the blow that preceded Tom Poquette’s tie-breaking double.” Brett’s hit was a “long fly ball to center field. Mickey Rivers slipped as he started after the ball, then turned the wrong way. When Rivers was through, the ball had fallen behind him and Brett was on third base with a leadoff triple.” Brett on his three-bagger: “’I knew that Rivers had a sore shoulder and doesn’t throw too well anyway. When I touched second base, he was just picking up the ball. There was no question in my mind to go for third especially with (John) Mayberry coming up.’” “Brett probably didn’t realize it, but Mayberry was bending under the burden of a 0-for-23 slump against the Yankees…” When given the lead in the sixth, “Splittorff hung on to it. He breezed through the Yankees in the seventh and eighth…” “’Everything went wrong,’ said Yankees Manager Billy Martin, trying to digest the epidemic of errors and bloopers that had beaten the Yankees.” “’I’m not going to say anything about the sloppy play,’” Martin told reporters. ‘If you want to use it, you can. I don’t pay attention to errors. My players are human and they make errors. I just worry about losing.’” Sid Bordman – Kansas City Times Associated Press