Rooker's Game 5 World Series gem lives on

When Jim Rooker's teammates heard he was chosen to pitch Game 5 of the 1979 World Series, they did what came naturally: They razzed Rooker like crazy.

"We said, 'Well, we might as well start packing our hunting gear," remembers then-rookie catcher Steve Nicosia.

Little did Nicosia know that Rooker, of all people, was the first one packed. Hey, the Pirates were down, 3-1, so why not get a head start on hunting season if they lost Game 5?

The game was played Oct. 14 at Three Rivers Stadium. The series has been commemorated all weekend with a team reunion at PNC Park.

"If we lost, (teammate Bruce) Kison and I were headed out to Colorado to go elk hunting with (ex-teammate) Rich Gossage," Rooker says. "Everybody, of course, was expecting me to lose."

Rooker was 37, nearing the end of his career. He hadn't started since Sept. 25, and his only appearance since then was a one-inning cameo in Game 1.

Manager Chuck Tanner chose the left-handed Rooker over Kison, a right-hander who had been battered in Game 1. The Orioles had scored 17 runs in the previous two games, including a 9-6 victory in Game 4, when they scored six eighth-inning runs to erase a 6-3 deficit.

Three of the Pirates' veteran leaders — first baseman Willie Stargell, right fielder Dave Parker and reliever Kent Tekulve — sat together in the clubhouse late into the night, discussing the team's predicament.

Stargell's take was that if they were going to lose, they were at least going to show everybody how the Pirates played the game.

When they got to the ballpark the next morning — it was a Sunday afternoon game — players were stunned to learn that Tanner's mother, Anna, had died. Nobody knew whether to approach their beloved manager, who decided he would stay with the club.

Tekulve chokes up when he remembers Tanner addressing the team.

Tanner's recollection: "I said, 'Well, we're in a little bit of trouble, because my mother said she'd see every game. But she just went upstairs to help us, so don't worry about a thing. We got 'em.' "

Bill Mazeroski, the Pirates' 1960 World Series hero, threw out the ceremonial first pitch in front of 50,920 fans. Rooker threw the game of his life, holding the Orioles to three hits and a run over five innings.

"He hadn't pitched much, so his arm was fresh," Nicosia says. "He pitched the best five innings of anyone for us that year. He stuck the bats right up Baltimore's rear end."

Rooker had determined he would set up Baltimore hitters with off-speed pitches, then surprise them with inside fastballs.

"I figured they thought I had a bad arm," he says.

That thought was confirmed years later by Ray Miller, who was the Orioles' pitching coach at the time but later worked for the Pirates when Rooker was a team broadcaster.

"Their scouting report said, 'Don't worry about him; he has a bad arm and will try to get you out with sinkers,' " Rooker says. "Well, one time I busted Eddie Murray's (butt) inside — I was throwing 91-92 mph — and he says, 'Sore arm, my (butt)!' "

Still, the Pirates trailed, 1-0, when Rooker left after 74 pitches. That's when their bats finally came alive in a 7-1 victory. Bert Blyleven pitched four shutout innings for the win, one that sent the Series back to Baltimore, where the Pirates made history.

Thirty years later, Rooker, 67, revels in the memory. He lives in Jacksonville, Fla., but still owns "Rook's East Side Saloon" in Ambridge and has authored three children's baseball books - "Matt the Bat," "Paul the Baseball," and "Kitt the Mitt."

His seven grandchildren inspired the books.

"My next one will be called 'Fletcher the Catcher,' " Rooker says. "They're all basically rhymes, 13 or 14 verses."

From the hill

A look at five other unlikely World Series starting pitching heroes:

1. Howard Ehmke, Philadelphia Athletics, 1929

Ehmke, 35, had started only eight games all season, but manager Connie Mack tabbed him to start Game 1 against the Chicago Cubs.

Mack's reasoning was that the right-handed Ehmke could confuse the Cubs' predominantly right-handed hitting lineup. He even allowed Ehmke to leave the team for the final week of the regular season so he could scout the Cubs.

Indeed, Ehmke kept the Cubs off balance in the opener. He pitched a complete game and struck out 13 in a 3-1 win that propelled the A's to a five-game victory over the Cubs. The 13 strikeouts stood as a World Series record until 1953. Ehmke's 7-2 record in the regular season was the lowest for a Game 1 starting pitcher until 2006.

2. Johnny Podres, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1955

Podres was an afterthought on a team that boasted Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine and Billy Loes in the starting rotation. Podres was just 9-10 in the regular season.

Yet, the Dodgers lost the first two games of the series to the favored New York Yankees when Newcombe and Loes couldn't get the job done. Podres was tabbed for Game 3 and responded with an 8-3 victory.

The win gave the Dodgers momentum, and they went on to force a seventh game. Podres again got the call, and he came through with a masterful 2-0 victory that provided the Dodgers with their only World Series championship in Brooklyn.

Podres' ERA for the series• 1.00

3. Don Larsen, New York Yankees, 1956

If anyone was considered an unlikely person to pitch the only perfect game in World Series history, it was Larsen.

Two years earlier, Larsen went 3-21 with the Baltimore Orioles. His career began to rebound after a trade to the Yankees and he was 11-5 with a 3.26 ERA during the '56 season. Still, he lasted only two innings in a Game 2 start and didn't expect to get the call in Game 5. Larsen maintains he wasn't aware of the start until he arrived at Yankee Stadium on the day of the game.

Larsen retired all 27 batters he faced in a 2-0 victory. During the masterpiece, Larsen threw 97 pitches and reached a three-ball count on just one batter — Pee Wee Reese in the first inning. The Yankees won the World Series in seven games, with another unlikely pitching hero, Johnny Kucks, throwing a complete-game shutout in the decisive game.

4. Chad Ogea, Cleveland Indians, 1997

Had the Indians prevailed over the Florida Marlins in the '97 World Series, Ogea's accomplishments would be more celebrated.

Ogea out-dueled Marlins' ace Kevin Brown in Game 2 and Game 6, getting the victory each time to pull the Indians even in the series. In the two games, Ogea allowed two runs in 11 2/3 innings. Ogea also delivered his first hit since high school, a two-run single off Brown in Game 6. He also became the first pitcher since Mickey Lolich in 1968 to get two wins and two hits in a World Series.

Not bad for a pitcher who lost two games in the American League Championship Series that year. Or went winless during June, July and August during an 8-9 season. Ogea's non-descript career concluded in 1999 with a 37-35 record and 4.88 ERA over six seasons.

5. Anthony Reyes, St. Louis Cardinals, 2006

The Cardinals needed seven games to upset the heavily favored New York Mets in the National League Championship Series, so manager Tony La Russa turned to his rested rookie, Reyes, for Game 1 against the Detroit Tigers. Armed with a 5-8 record in the regular season, Reyes was not a traditional Game 1 selection.

All Reyes did was give up two runs and four hits in eight-plus innings in a 7-2 victory. At one point, he retired 17 in a row, a World Series record for a rookie. Inspired by Reyes' performance, the Cardinals upset the Tigers in five games.

Reyes began the 2007 season with an 0-8 record and finished 2-14. Now with the Cleveland Indians, Reyes is 13-26 with a 5.12 ERA for his career.