Here are a few lists and links to get you prepared for Game 1 of the World Series:

Starting with a Blast

• Chase Utley's 1st inning home run off Scott Kazmir in Game 1 of last year's World Series was the first 1st inning home run by a visiting player in Game 1 of the World Series since Frank and Brooks Robinson did it in 1966. Utley and the Robinsons are joined by Mickey Mantle (1956) and Roger Maris (1960) as the only players to accomplish this feat.
• Home players have been much more successful with a total of 12 1st inning game 1 home runs. However, this is a somewhat "recent" development. When the Robinsons hit their home runs in '66, visiting players had a 4 to 1 edge in this category.
• Teams that hit game 1 first inning home-runs were 12-4 in those games also won the whole series 12 times. In fact, the last 8 teams to hit a game 1 1st inning home run have gone on to win the World Series.

Multiple Home Runs

In World Series history, 8 players have hit 2 home runs in a game 1. Their teams have combined for a 5-3 record. In all other WS games, there have been 38 multiple home run games. Those teams went 35-3. (34-3 if you don't double count the game in which Ruth and Gehrig both did it.) Here are the players who went yard twice in a game 1:

  Cnt Player            Date          Series G Tm   Opp GmReslt PA AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions
+----+-----------------+-------------+------+-+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+
    1 Troy Glaus        2002-10-19    WS     1 ANA  SFG L  3-4   4  4  2  2  0  0  2   2  0   0  1   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 5th 3B

    2 Greg Vaughn       1998-10-17    WS     1 SDP @NYY L  6-9   4  4  3  2  0  0  2   3  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   1  0  0 3rd LF

    3 Andruw Jones      1996-10-20    WS     1 ATL @NYY W 12-1   4  4  3  3  0  0  2   5  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 7th LF

    4 Willie Aikens     1980-10-14    WS     1 KCR @PHI L  6-7   4  4  2  2  0  0  2   4  0   0  1   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 4th 1B

    5 Davey Lopes       1978-10-10    WS     1 LAD  NYY W 11-5   5  5  2  2  0  0  2   5  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 1st 2B

    6 Gene Tenace       1972-10-14    WS     1 OAK @CIN W  3-2   3  3  2  2  0  0  2   3  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 7th C

    7 Ted Kluszewski    1959-10-01    WS     1 CHW  LAD W 11-0   4  4  2  3  0  0  2   5  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 4th 1B

    8 Joe Collins       1955-09-28    WS     1 NYY  BRO W  6-5   4  3  3  2  0  0  2   3  1   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 5th 1B

1-0 in Game 1:

The first game of the World Series has been won 1-0 of five occasions. Three of them occurred in consecutive years (1948-1950).:

  Cnt Date          Series G Tm   Opp GmReslt  PA  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS LOB Batrs
+----+-------------+------+-+---+----+-------+---+---+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+-----+
    1 1986-10-18    WS     1 BOS @NYM W  1-0   36  31  1  5  0  0  0   0  5   2  8   0  0  0   1   1  0  0   8    12

    2 1950-10-04    WS     1 NYY @PHI W  1-0   37  31  1  5  1  0  0   1  4   1  0   0  2  0   1   0  0  0   9    11

    3 1949-10-05    WS     1 NYY  BRO W  1-0   29  29  1  5  2  0  1   1  0   0 11   0  0  0   0   0  0  0   4     9

    4 1948-10-06    WS     1 BSN  CLE W  1-0   29  24  1  2  0  0  0   1  3   1  2   0  2  0   0   0  1  0   4    11

    5 1918-09-05    WS     1 BOS @CHC W  1-0   33  28  1  5  0  0  0   1  3   1  6   0  2  0   0   0  0  1   5     9

Trivia: Winning Game 1 More Than Once

12 pitchers have won game 1 of the World Series more than once. If you would like to test yourself, I have created this Sporcle quiz. Otherwise, you can click here for the information.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 10:20 pm and is filed under Event Finders, Game Finders, Postseason. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.