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October 14, 1976
1976 ALCS | Game 5
The "Chris Chambliss Game" ends in a fan-frenzy! |
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YANKEE STADIUM, THE BRONX, NEW YORK -- In only their eighth year in the league, the Kansas City Royals were making the first playoff appearance in franchise history. To Yankees fans, meanwhile, it must have seemed like their team was making its first appearance as well. It had been 12 years since the Yanks last played in the postseason, by far the longest stretch since New York's first Pennant in 1921.
Starters: Dennis Leonard vs. Ed Figueroa
WP: Dick Tidrow LP: Mark Littell
HR: KC: George Brett (8th), John Mayberry (1st); NYY: Chris Chambliss (9th)
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The matchup was the first in what would become a classic rivalry, played out four more times over the next five seasons. In the inaugural battle, the teams alternated wins through the first four games, with the Royals forcing a five-game series on the strength of a gritty 7-4 win in Game 4.
The winner-take-all affair was set up for newly renovated Yankee Stadium, which was packed with nearly 57,000 screaming fans. Both teams scored two runs in the first, as the Yanks managed to chase Royals starter Dennis Leonard before he could even record an out. By the eighth inning, New York had a comfortable 6-3 lead -- that is, until a young George Brett, in just his third season, blasted a three-run homer off Grant Jackson to tie the score at six apiece.
Brett's homer set the stage for Chris Chambliss, who led off the bottom of the ninth. The Yankee first baseman, who would finish the series with a .524 average, was already 2-for-3 in the game with two RBIs. Reliever Mark Littell, who had allowed only one home run all season, was forced to watch his first pitch to Chambliss just make it over the wall in right-center field.
Chambliss didn't have time to finish rounding the bases before chaos erupted. Instead of getting mobbed by his teammates at home plate, Chambliss was forced to duck for cover from the joyous fans who overtook the field after this instant Yankee classic.
Copyright 1976 by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball
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| Game 1 - October 9, 1976 |
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Yankees |
4 |
12 |
0 |
| Royals |
1 |
5 |
2 |
| Game 2 - October 10, 1976 |
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Yankees |
3 |
12 |
5 |
| Royals |
7 |
9 |
0 |
| Game 3 - October 12, 1976 |
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Royals |
3 |
6 |
0 |
| Yankees |
5 |
9 |
0 |
| Game 4 - October 13, 1976 |
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Royals |
7 |
9 |
1 |
| Yankees |
4 |
11 |
0 |
| Game 5 - October 14, 1976 |
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Royals |
6 |
11 |
1 |
| Yankees |
7 |
11 |
1 |
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