Unlikely World Series Heroes

SI Staff | Oct 24, 2006

Unlikely World Series Heroes

Johnny Podres

AP

Podres became a Brooklyn legend when he pitched the Dodgers to their first World Series title. Podres went 9-10 in the regular season before beating the crosstown Yankees in Game 3 and 7, the latter a 2-0 shutout at Yankee Stadium.

Bobby Richardson

John G. Zimmerman

A good-fielding second baseman who hit only .253 with 26 RBIs on a loaded Yankees team, Richardson hit .367 with two doubles, two triples, a grand slam and 12 RBIs in the Fall Classic. Richardson earned MVP honors, but the Pirates won the Series on Bill Mazeroski's home run in the ninth inning of Game 7.

Donn Clendenon

Getty Images

Clendenon platooned at first base and hit only .248 in the regular season. He didn't even play in the NLCS. But Clendenon hit solo home runs in Games 2 and 4 of the Series -- both 2-1 victories for the Mets -- and had a two-run shot when New York won the clincher 5-3. Clendenon hit .357 for the Series, scored four of the Mets' 15 runs, and had four of their 13 RBIs.

Gene Tenace

Walter Iooss Jr./SI

A part-time catcher, Tenace hit .225 with five homers and 32 RBIs during the regular season. In the World Series, he hit .348 with four of Oakland's five homers and drove in nine of his team's 16 runs. Tenace became a regular the following season and helped the A's repeat as champions in 1973 and 1974.

Brian Doyle

Major League Baseball

Doyle was a backup second baseman who hit .192 in 39 games. An injury to starter Willie Randolph forced Doyle into the lineup for the World Series against Los Angeles. Doyle responded by going 6-for-17, including his first career extra-base hit (a double) as the Yankees beat the Dodgers in six games.

Darrell Porter

AP

After batting .231 during the regular season, Porter came alive in October and earned both NLCS and World Series MVP honors. In the Series, Porter delivered a critical two-out, two-run double in Game 2, a two-run homer in Game 5 and a clutch RBI single in Game 7 as St. Louis defeated Milwaukee.

Mickey Hatcher

AP

Kirk Gibson and Orel Hershiser grabbed the headlines, but Hatcher hit .368 during the Series and sparked the Dodgers with first-inning homers in Game 1 and 5. Hatcher hit one homer in 191 at-bats during the regular season.

Pat Borders

John Iacono/SI

In a Series dominated by pitching, Borders caught every inning of all six games and went 9-for-20 with a home run and three RBIs while his teammates hit .210.

Craig Counsell

David Liam Kyle/SI

Counsell's sacrifice fly sent Game 7 into extra innings, and the Marlins won in the bottom of the 11th when Counsell reached on an error and scored on Edgar Renteria's two-out single.

Luis Sojo

V.J. Lovero/SI

Inserted for defense in the eighth inning of Game 5, Sojo delivered a two-out RBI single in the top of the ninth as the Yankees won their third straight World Series title by edging the Mets 4-2.