The New York Yankees and Ira Riklis

As told to Ira Riklis, another New York Yankees fan:

And so on to the 1977 World Series the Yanks went, with Jackson, Thurmon Munson, Bucky Dent (who would famously figure in the 1978 season), Mickey Rivers, Willie Randolph, Chris Chambliss, and many others, lead by Billy Martin, the legendary former second baseman turned manager. The opponents were the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

This was the first World Series to which I had paid much attention. Living in New Caanan, Conn., I felt more a part of New York City than any of the other places I had lived. My first visit to Yankee Stadium, though, was still four years off.

The Yanks entered Game 6 leading the series 3-2. The night was October 18, 1977 and 56,407 fans filled Yankee Stadium hoping to see the Yanks close out the series for the first time since 1962. Jackson homered in the fourth, then again in the fifth, both on the first pitch. Many before him had hit two home runs in a single World Series Game, but only the immortal Babe Ruth had ever hit three in a game.

Until that night. Jackson — this time in the eighth inning, off Charlie Hough — connected on the first pitch and drove the ball deep into the blackened bleachers in right center field. The Yanks won the game 8-4, the series 4-2 and a diehard fan for life. A fan at least as enthusiastic — maybe more — as Ira Riklis.

How I first saw the New York Yankees (which is Ira Riklis‘ favorite baseball team):

It was 1980. I was 14 years old and living in a rural town in New York State. I had been introduced to baseball, and the New York Yankees, by my grandfather, Arthur. He had played and coached baseball in the tiny village of Solvay, New York throughout his young years. We used to attend Syracuse Chiefs games when the team was in the Yank’s farm system (no longer, however).

My parents, not interested in virtually any sporting event, were, nonetheless, willing to bring me to Yankee Stadium because I was so passionate about the team. Seeing a workplace posting for a bus trip to see the Yankees, my father suggested that the family go — it was the first time for each of us, my mother, father, and me.

In the three years leading up to my visit, it had been a great time to be a Yankee fan. The Yanks had been in the 1976 World Series, losing to the Cincinnati Reds, 4-0. Then came the magical season of 1977, when the Yankees returned to the World Series for a showdown against the Los Angeles Dodgers. This was the series that included Game 6, on October 18, when baseball, Reggie Jackson, and the New York Yankees became permanently seared into my being — my sports soul. Jackson, who had been acquired from Baltimore for the then-outlandish sum of $3 million, was coming off a season in the middle of the New York sports tumult. ”This team, it all flows from me. I’m the straw that stirs the drink,” he had been reported as saying.

Ira Riklis and I will continue this story in a subsequent post.