INFAMOUS FORMER SERIES UMPIRE DENKINGER DIES AT 86
Don Denkinger, a major league umpire for three decades whose blown call in the 1985 World Series overshadowed a career of excellence, died Friday. He was 86.
Denkinger died at Cedar Valley Hospice in Waterloo, Iowa, Denise Hanson, one of his three daughters, said.
Denkinger joined the American League staff in 1969. He worked four World Series over three decades in the big leagues but was remembered most for a call he didn’t get right.
St. Louis had a 3-2 Series lead over Kansas City and was ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 6, three outs from the title, when pinch-hitter Jorge Orta led off with a slow bouncer to the right side. First baseman Jack Clark ranged to field the ball and flipped a sidearm toss to reliever Todd Worrell covering the bag.
Denkinger signaled safe but replays showed Worrell caught the throw on the base ahead of the runner. After Steve Balboni’s single, a bunt, a passed ball and an intentional walk, pinch-hitter Dane Iorg looped a two-run single into right field for a 2-1 walk-off win that forced Game 7. The Royals won 11-0 the following night for the championship.
“Nobody wants to have the call that I did in the World Series,” Denkinger told The Associated Press in 2014. “But I did. And now it’s part of history.”
Major League Baseball did not adopt video review for most calls until 2014.
“I’m not tired of talking about it. I mean, it happened,” Denkinger said. “I just know that if the same thing happened now, they’d get it right on replay and it’d be over with.”
The day after the blown call, he relaxed by attending the first half of the NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium, then walked across the parking lot to work the plate for Game 7.
Denkinger received threatening notes in the offseason, and the FBI investigated. But he persevered and resumed a career of excellence.
Notable
Astros star Jose Altuve is moving a step closer to returning from a broken right thumb. The news on Michael Brantley wasn’t as encouraging. While Altuve was set to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sugar Land on Friday, manager Dusty Baker said Brantley will be shut down “for a while” because of inflammation in his surgically repaired right shoulder. Altuve, the eight-time All-Star and 2017 AL MVP, broke his thumb when he was hit by a pitch playing for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. He had surgery March 22.
• Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring before the team’s game against Minnesota.
• Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela will miss at least two months with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament. Senzatela, however, avoided the same fate as fellow starter Germán Márquez, who had seasonending Tommy John surgery on Friday.
• Mets right-hander Max Scherzer (neck spasms) is expected to start Sunday or Monday against the Nationals after throwing a bullpen session Friday.
• Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen was placed on the 60-day injured list with a right flexor strain, one day after tossing seven scoreless innings in a win over the Yankees. Rasmussen is hopeful he can avoid a third Tommy John surgery. He is 4-2 with a 2.62 ERA in eight starts this season, helping the Rays roll to the best record in baseball.