WORLD SERIES FLASHBACKS
1919: In the worst scandal in major-league history, the Chicago White Sox, or Black Sox as they became known, are accused of taking money from gamblers as part of a game-fixing scheme. Cincinnati won the Series, but no Reds were implicated in the wrongdoing.
1932: Babe Ruth hits his much-discussed ``called shot'' home run into Wrigley Field's centerfield bleachers as the Yankees crush the Chicago Cubs in four straight games. Ruth never clearly gave his version of the incident, letting it grow as folklore despite many questions about the real meaning of his gesture.
1953: The Yankees, under manager Casey Stengel, win an unparalleled fifth straight championship.
1954: Centerfielder Willie Mays of the New York Giants makes his famous over-the-shoulder catch 460 feet from home plate in the Polo Grounds, robbing Cleveland's Vic Wertz of extra bases. The Giants went on to win Game 1 in 10 innings en route to a startling four-game sweep. The Indians entered the Series with a American League record 111 victories.
1956: The Yankees' Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in Series history, shutting down the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0 in a fifth game considered pivotal in the Yankees' seven-game triumph. Only two years earlier, Larsen had a miserable 3-21 record with the Baltimore Orioles.
1960: In the only World Series decided by a home run on the final at-bat, Pittsburgh's Bill Mazeroski deposits the second pitch over the left field wall in Forbes Field, giving the Pirates a dramatic victory over the Mantle-Maris New York Yankees.
1969: The New York Mets, who had never finished better than ninth during their previous seven seasons of existence, perform a baseball miracle, winning four straight games and the championship after an opening-game loss to the mighty Baltimore Orioles.
1975: In one of the most exciting Series games ever played, Boston catcher Carlton Fisk leads off the bottom of the 12th inning by ricocheting a game-winning solo homer off the left-field foul pole against Cincinnati, forcing a decisive, seventh game, won by the Reds.
1977: Yankee Reggie Jackson cements his reputation as ``Mr. October'' by slugging a record-tying three home runs in a single game - a display that caps New York's six-game triumph over the Dodgers.
1986: Needing just one out to secure Boston's first championship since 1918, the Red Sox squander a two-run lead entering the bottom of the 10th inning against the New York Mets. Mookie Wilson scores the game-winning run when a routine grounder skips through the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner.
