How much do you know about the 1985 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals? Probably not much, unless you’ve heard about “the call,” an infamous umpire decision that helped trigger a Cardinals meltdown for the remainder of the series.
To find out why this World Series remains so significant, host Milo Denison is joined by author Marshall Garvey to discuss his book, Interstate ’85: The Royals, the Cardinals, and the Show-Me World Series.
Interstate '85: The Royals, The Cardinals, and the Show-Me World Series
by Marshall Garvey
For 40 years now, the 1985 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals has been largely overlooked, save for the enduring notoriety of umpire Don Denkinger’s infamous missed call in Game 6 that helped galvanize a walk-off Royals victory that forced a Game 7, in which the Royals won in a blowout. Seizing upon the imagery of the famed Interstate Highway 70 that connects Kansas City and St. Louis, Interstate ’85 goes beyond “The Call” and recasts the 1985 Series as a unique and deeply compelling chapter in baseball history.
In this blend of baseball and cultural history, Garvey defines the “I-70 Showdown Series” not only by the literal highway that links the two teams’ home cities but the individual and collective roads travelled by the players and others who took part in the event, both before the Series began and well after the last cheers faded.
Jude Cole’s “Back to School,” the jaunty pop-rock number from Rodney Dangerfield’s 1986 comedy, is one of those perfectly-timed little pieces of 80s sonic wallpaper.