Baseball History Today: October 20th

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Red Sox wrapped up the American League title last night in defeating the Detroit Tigers 5-2. Their fortunes changed only one year ago…

The Red Sox elect to bring back its former pitching coach and Toronto manager John Farrell. Farrell had already served two season at the helm of the Blue Jays and was under contract for the 2013 season. He replaced Bobby Valentine who hadn’t exactly endeared himself to the Boston faithful.

2004 – Speaking of the Reds Sox, it was on October 2oth they completed the greatest comeback in baseball history. After dropping the first three games of the ALCS to the hated New York Yankees, they slowly dug themselves out of the hole to eventually forced a Game 7.

In Game 7, Johnny Damon cracked a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, to propel the Sawx to a 10-3 win and take the AL crown.

1990 – The Cincinnati Reds complete their “wire-to-wire” season in defeating the Oakland Athletics in Game 4 of the World Series. The result is viewed as one of the biggest upsets in MLB history.

A couple of youngsters made World Series history on this day…

2002 – With only two weeks of MLB experience, Los Angeles Angels reliever Francisco Rodriguez becomes the youngest pitcher to post a World Series win. KRod goes three innings and retires all nine batters he faces in an Angels 11-10 win against the Giants in Game 2.

1996 – Andruw Jones homers in the Atlanta Braves 12-1 rout of the New York Yankees. With his 2nd inning home run off Andy Pettitte, Jones is the youngest player to hit a World Series home run. Jones would hit another homer in the game’s 3rd inning off Pettitte.

Notable Birthdays:

Bob Sheppard (1910, d. 2010)
Mickey Mantle (1931)
Juan Marichal (1937)
Keith Hernandez (1953)