RetroSimba

Twelve years after the Cardinals and Royals opposed one another in the World Series, the teams were matched for the first time in the regular season. Two constants linked those events: Willie McGee played and tempers flared.

In the seven-game 1985 World Series, McGee fielded flawlessly in center field for the Cardinals and produced seven hits, including two doubles and a home run.

When the Cardinals and Royals met for the first time in the regular season, on Aug. 29, 1997, at Kansas City, McGee was the only player in either lineup who had participated in the 1985 World Series.

Playing as the designated hitter in 1997, McGee hit a three-run triple, breaking a 6-6 tie and carrying the Cardinals to victory.

The next night, Aug. 30, in the second game of the regular-season series, players and coaches brawled on the field after Cardinals pitcher Mark Petkovsek plunked Johnny Damon with a pitch. Petkovsek and Damon were ejected.

The skirmish brought back memories of Game 7 of the 1985 World Series when Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog and pitcher Joaquin Andujar were ejected for arguing with umpire Don Denkinger.

Oldie but goodie

Major League Baseball began interleague play in the regular season in 1997. The Cardinals and Royals had met in exhibition games and the World Series, but not in the regular season since Kansas City joined the American League as an expansion franchise in 1969.

A crowd of 36,006 filled Kauffman Stadium for the series opener.

The Royals led, 6-5, through seven innings.

In the eighth, with reliever Hector Carrasco pitching for the Royals, Tom Lampkin singled. After Phil Plantier flied out, Delino DeShields tripled, driving in Lampkin and tying the score.

Gregg Olson relieved and struck out Royce Clayton.

Mark McGwire was up next. The Royals opted to walk him intentionally and take their chances with Ray Lankford.

The strategy backfired. Lankford worked a walk, loading the bases.

That brought McGee to the plate. A switch-hitter, McGee batted from the left side against Olson. He got a curve and slashed it down the first-base line. All three runners scored, putting the Cardinals ahead, 9-6, and McGee raced to third with a triple.

“He’s better than ever,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of McGee, 38. “He just gets a little bit achier.”

Asked about the 1985 World Series, when the Royals won Game 6 after Denkinger’s botched call at first base and then routed the Cardinals in Game 7, McGee told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I’ll never forget it. I was heartbroken.”

Closer Dennis Eckersley yielded a run in the ninth, but the Cardinals held on to win the first regular-season showdown versus the Royals, 9-7. Boxscore

Frustration shows

The Royals quickly took control of Game 2 of the series. They led 6-1 after three. In the fourth, the Royals scored eight runs against Petkovsek, who had relieved starter Manny Aybar, and went ahead, 14-1. Jermaine Dye capped the outburst with a grand slam.

Petkovsek’s first pitch to the next batter, Damon, hit him on the right ankle. Damon charged the mound. Petkovsek threw one punch _ and it clipped his catcher, Tom Pagnozzi, who had chased after Damon. Both benches and bullpens emptied.

Coaches Dave Duncan of the Cardinals and Jamie Quirk of the Royals wrestled on the ground. “We were talking about pitching rotations,” Quirk quipped to the Post-Dispatch.

Royals pitcher Tim Belcher had his uniform jersey shredded. He blamed Cardinals counterpart Andy Benes, whom he called “Sasquatch.”

“His hands are like feet,” Belcher said.

Macho men

Petkvosek said he didn’t intend to hit Damon with a pitch and La Russa added, “I don’t know what Petkovsek was doing except trying to get the ball down.”

In the sixth inning, Belcher hit Plantier with a pitch. “The pitch got away from me,” Belcher said.

The Royals won, 16-5. Boxscore

Asked his thoughts on the action-packed start to the rivalry, Royals catcher Mike Macfarlane said,  “These are two of the funnest games I’ve ever played in.”

Previously: Cardinals were Royals’ first opponent in Kansas City