1977 World Series Game 6

The YES Network has Game 6 of the 1977 World Series on right now. The Yankees lead the Fall Classic three games to two heading into the game.

As always, it's easy to say how much the game has changed.

Yes, pitchers work faster.

Yes, batters step up to the plate without adjusting myriad equipment (Mike Hargrove aside, and he's not involved in this game).

Yes, umpires call the strike zone and are very much in control.

But it's more.

In a game that featured four Dodgers pitchers, it still only takes 2:18 to play it.

The Yankees trailed 2-0 before even stepping to the plate, again, leading three games to two. Yet that doesn't stop Billy Martin from having Dick Tidrow up in the Bombers' bullpen.

Tidrow, in fact, would be up three times in the early going.

He also would not appear in the game.

Mike Torrez went the distance for New York, allowing nine hits and four runs (two earned). That -- literally -- would not happen today.

The game was carried on ABC TV, at a time in which the alphabet network and NBC alternated. This would go from 1976 to 1989.

NBC used Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek as their primary team in the late 70s, while ABC used Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell. However, Al Michaels jumped into the ABC booth if Keith was needed for college football. (as in 1979).

On NBC, from 1952-1976, a local announcer would be used either as the primary team (such as Mel Allen and Red Barber, representing the Yankees and Dodgers) or a local "voice" would call some of the home action with Curt Gowdy, who was NBC's lead.

I'm getting off the path here.

For 1977, the locals moved into serving as pregame hosts, and in the case of Bill White, the locker room interviewer after Game 6.

In the booth, Jackson and Seaver were joined by Tom Seaver, by that point a member of the Cincinnati Reds. Still, it had to pain the fans across town to see the pitcher Mets fans referred to as "The Franchise" regaling in the exploits of the hated Yankees (He'd repeat in in 1978 on NBC -- another Yankees triumph).

Cosell is often lauded as being such a pioneer. Controversial, bombastic, and so on, I can only sum him up this way: He. Would. Have. Driven. Me. Nuts.

And he did as a kid. He had an incredible habit of stepping on the play-by-play.

Take Reggie Jackson's home run in the fourth:

Keith Jackson: Long drive, right field.

Cosell: (Says something. I'm honestly not sure what)

KJ: It is...

Cosell: GOOD BYE.

KJ: Gone.

This is just one example of how Cosell tended to overrun a booth -- any booth.

Seaver, while very good, is also guilty, but that's the risk you take by throwing a then-active player in the booth.

But I can't let Keith off the hook either. Look, I love Keith Jackson, especially on college football, where "Oh Nelly!" was as much a part of my youth as anyone.

Yet I never felt Keith loved baseball, and I thought I remembered him saying that. It always seemed like he viewed it as a job, as opposed to college football or even the NFL (he also did basketball).

Or maybe he was miserable working with Howard Cosell.

Cosell, for his part, had stated in recent years that baseball was dull, thus not pleasing MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn.

Still, the broadcast is much less cluttered. There are no reaction shots of George Steinbrenner or any member of the O'Malley family (owners of the Dodgers). A few familiar faces show up, including Lillian Carter, the mother of President Jimmy Carter, who was then the Commander-in-Chief.

There are minimal graphics, save for the gold score board that occasionally appears, or the individual player stats.

Obviously, nothing is in hi-def.

While it's not the work of the brilliant director Harry Coyle on NBC, it's still a solid Roone Arledge-led broadcast. The camerawork includes a helicopter shot overhead the magnificent edifice in The Bronx. This was also the series in which Cosell and Jackson discussed a large abandoned apartment fire, however Cosell never said, "The Bronx is Burning."

In the ballpark, there is no walkup music, other than the great Eddie Layton tickling the ivories on the organ. Legendary Bob Sheppard intones on the public address system in the style that used from 1951 until 2007.

In the interest of full disclosure, I recognize this post is quite similar to the thoughts of David Schoenfield on ESPN, who did a piece after watching the 1978 World Series and the '78 American League Eastern Division playoff game. (Hat tip to Marc Ducret for posting)

Torrez is allowed to go the distance, even though he gets in trouble in the ninth.

Complete bedlam broke out after Torrez snagged Lee Lacy's pop up bunt for the last out at 10:43 p.m.. But before that, idiocy comes in the stands, as fans begin to pop firecrackers and try to get on the field. It's not New York's best moment, but the excitement of the first Yankees title in 15 years is palatable.

Picture taken off my TV. I love creeping Dan Shaughnessy in the background.

After the game, the insanity continues in the clubhouse, as White conducts the interviews. The thing I love is that it's not staged.

In fact, White pushes a guy out of the way at one point.

On a personal note, it was the first time the Yankees won a championship in my lifetime. I was allowed to stay up late to watch it (I turned nine that November), and had to stay quiet when they won because my father was already in bed (he had to get up early every morning).

It was the first time I knew that euphoria.

I'll never forget it.