“YOU BALKAN TO ME?” and “YOU NEVER SEE THE BULLET”

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742. MEXICO VS BULGARIA

WORLD CUP

ROUND OF 16

JULY 5, 1994

GIANTS STADIUM

QUALITY OF PLAY—7.15

DRAMA—8.19

STAR POWER—7.52

CONTEMPORARY IMPORT—7.55

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE—6.75

LOCAL IMPACT—7.17

TOTAL: 44.33

“YOU BALKAN TO ME?”

On July the Fourth, 1994, USA Soccer fans thought their nation earned itself a slice of respect by playing Brazil tough in the World Cup held in the States. The round of 16 match was not the lopsided affair many predicted, with the Americans losing just 1-0 despite being down to ten men for most of the match. It was a high water mark for men’s football in this country, one that sadly remains right near the top in our World Cup history.

It’s sad that American soccer fans have never had that dream run into the semifinals (or higher) that many, far smaller nations have had. Indeed, at that very ’94 Cup, a tiny Balkan nation known, if at all, for having oil and gas pipelines that serve the rest of Europe running across its frontiers, seized the imagination of the football world.

I speak of Bulgaria, of course, the Armenia of Moldovas. It’s one of those nation-states jammed in around Turkey and Greece, where men with elaborate mustaches have fought countless, endless wars over centuries, to little historic effect (there was once a war fought between Bulgaria and Greece because a soldier chased his dog over the border and was shot). As little of a global presence as Bulgaria has, you can say the same about its footballing imprint—there hasn’t been any of note.

Except for one brief, glorious summer in the Great 48, when Bulgaria was talked about with the Germans and the Italians and the other football bluebloods. It helped that they had an ace in the hole—namely, Hristo Stoichkov, at the time one of the world’s great players. He was runner-up in 1992 as FIFA Player of the Year to Marco van Basten, and would be again in 1994 (this time to Romario). After starring for the top team in Bulgaria, CSKA Sofia, for many years, Stoichkov was snagged by Barcelona in 1990, where he was part of a highly successful squad coached by the immortal Johann Cruyff. So unlike many of the minnows in the 24-team World Cup field, Bulgaria had a player who could create some magic on his own, and it might just be enough to see them through some games.

Still, the Bulgars barely even qualified—it took a last-gasp injury time goal against France to even get to the US. Once the Mundial got underway, Bulgaria were annihilated by the Nigerians in their first group game. So it was up to Stoichkov to rescue his country in the second game, against arch-rival and neighbor Greece. He scored in the fifth minute, again just after halftime, and Bulgaria was back in the tournament. They then defeated Argentina 2-0 despite playing with ten men for the last half hour to qualify for the Round of 16. Of course, Stoichkov opened the scoring in that game, too.

The vagaries of the bracket brought the Bulgars to Giants Stadium for their first knockout match, held the day after the US-Brazil game, on Tuesday afternoon, July 5, 1994. Their opponent was a tough one—Mexico. Los Tricolores were not that great a club, although they had a decent assemblage. But they were sure to have a massive home field advantage in East Rutherford, and indeed, of the 71,034 that filled the stadium, probably 70,000 were wearing sombreros.

The Mexican fans filled the stadium with a tremendous din that was hushed almost immediately. Stoichkov, of course, was the man who silenced them. Just six minutes in, Hristo made a sudden burst, took a nice lead pass from Ivaylo Iordanov, and smashed in a left-footed goal from about 12 yards out. 1-0, Bulgaria, and you could hear a piñata drop in Giants Stadium.

But the noise returned when Mexico tied it in the 18th minute, thanks to some dubious refereeing from Syrian whistleman Jamal al-Sharif. He awarded a penalty to Mexico after some innocuous contact in the box between Luis Alves and Bulgar defender Emil Kremenliev. In this day and age, VAR would have wiped away the call, but in 1994, the ref’s word was law, and the penalty stood. Alberto Garcia Aspe blasted home the penalty to tie the game.

The deck seemed stacked against the Bulgars, and despite the fact they had the best player on the field in Stoichkov, the team decided to pull inward and not let any more damage take place. Coach Dmitar Penev admitted afterward that “after regulation time ended 1-1, it was our intention to draw the game and go to penalty kicks.” Frankly, the Bulgars had been playing for penalties since halftime, if not earlier.

It didn’t help that both teams lost a player to accumulated yellow cards. Kremenliev saw his afternoon go from bad to worse by getting ejected in the 50th minute, but then Luis Garcia joined him on the sideline eight minutes later. At ten a side, with the summer sun beating down and little hope for a decisive goal, the action slowed to a crawl.

After 90 minutes of regulation time and 30 more of extra time, the exhausted players were more than ready for penalty kicks. At this point all attention turned to the men in net. Certainly of the two keepers Mexico’s Jorge Campos was the more storied. He was a historically unique player, with a nervy penchant for leaving his area and playing almost as a sweeper-keeper, or coming up and taking the occasional free kick for his team, or joining the attack on corners, before racing back down the pitch. He was just 5’6”, extremely short for a world-class keeper, but made up for it with exceptional leaping ability and aggression, not to mention his striking, nean-heavy attire, which is why he was sometimes mockingly called “The Toucan.”

By contrast, Borislav Mihaylov, the Bulgar keeper, was far less known, playing as he did for seldom seen French side Mulhouse. Steady if unspectacular, he was wearing the captain’s armband for a reason, but as the teams moved to one end for kicks, it was presumed the flamboyant Campos had the advantage.

But Mexico tossed that away right off the bat, when Alberto Garcia skied his penalty over the net. Campos bailed out the Tris, saving Krasimir Balakov’s weak effort, but then Mexico missed again. At last, Boncho Genchev scored for Bulgaria.

When Mihaylov made a spectacular stop on Jorge Rodriguez, Mexico was in deep trouble. Daniel Borimov beat Campos and the Bulgars were just one make or miss away. Claudio Suarez kept Mexico alive by scoring, but Yordan Lechkov won it for Bulgaria, slotting home a shot into the left corner. They didn’t even need to use Stoichkov, waiting in the wings to take the fifth kick. Bulgaria’s patience and cynicism had paid off—they won, officially 1-1 (3-1) and advanced to the quarterfinals.

The tiny but enthusiastic press corps covering the Bulgars went bananas. In the press box the writers leapt up and down and hugged each other with unbridled joy. Meanwhile, a TV interviewer began his chat with Mihaylov by kissing him fervently on both cheeks.

Hey, there’s nothing like winning a late stage World Cup match. Maybe one day we will find that out…

AFTERMATH:

Bulgaria went on to shock Germany in the quarterfinals and advance to the semis, where at last they fell to Italy. The stunning run to the final four is still celebrated in Bulgaria’s corner of the Balkans—it remains by far the national team’s most impressive skein of football.

Stoichkov scored six goals at USA ‘94 and won the Golden Boot. His 1994 campaign for club and country is in the upper echelon of all-time great seasons by any player.

Meanwhile, Mihaylov has become Mr. Bulgarian Football, serving as the President of the national football union for nearly two decades.

WHAT THEY SAID:

“We were not playing for penalty kicks. The performance of the Bulgarian team is the performance you see in the game—they couldn’t score a second goal, so they played for penalty kicks.”

—Jorge Campos

FURTHER READING:

USA ’94: The World Cup That Changed The Game by Matthew Evans

VIDEO:

741. NEW YORK GIANTS VS PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS

WORLD SERIES

GAME THREE

OCTOBER 9, 1913

POLO GROUNDS

QUALITY OF PLAY—5.18

DRAMA—5.58

STAR POWER—6.67

CONTEMPORARY IMPORT—9.25

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE—8.37

LOCAL IMPACT—9.27

TOTAL: 44.34

“YOU NEVER SEE THE BULLET”

In the first two decades of the Twentieth Century, the biggest brand in sports was, by far, New York Giants baseball. Since the pugnacious John “Muggsy” McGraw took over as manager in 1903, the Giants were baseball to a great many fans, and they made NYC—and their home park, the Polo Grounds, the capital of the game. Crucial to their popularity—and success—was the immortal “Big Six,” pitcher Christy Mathewson, baseball’s top hurler and gate attraction in the pre-WWI years.

The original M&M boys, Muggsy and Matty, ensured the Giants were always in the thick of the N.L. pennant chase, and they won five flags between 1903 and 1913. That last group of Gothamites, the ‘13 Giants, were a powerful bunch who cruised to the Series by 12.5 games. The lineup was deep and balanced, including catcher Jack “Chief” Meyers, second sacker Larry Doyle, and shortstop Art Fletcher. Outfielder Fred Snodgrass recovered from the key dropped fly that cost the team in the 1912 Series to have another good season.

Most importantly, the Giants had good pitching beyond Matty. Rube Marquard was a solid lefty who led the NL in wins in 1912 and remained highly effective in 1913 (he is among the more dubious members of the Hall of Fame, however). And the G-men had recently added a third excellent starter—Jeff Tesreau. Tesreau’s first name was actually Charles—he was called “Jeff” due to his resemblance to the great heavyweight boxer Jim Jeffries. Damon Runyon hung the nickname “The Great Bear Hunter of the Ozarks” on Tesreau, even though a) the pitcher wasn’t from the Ozarks and b) he had never hunted bear.

Ah well—it’s a cool moniker regardless.

The main thing Tesreau picked up when he got to the Giants in 1912 was a nasty spitball. Uncle Robbie, Wilbert Robinson, McGraw’s key assistant before becoming the Brooklyn manager, had taken Tesreau under his wing at spring training the last couple of years, and now the pitcher was ready to break out. He pitched the second game of the season, and though he lost, the Times was impressed:

“Tesreau has curves which bend like barrel hoops and speed like lightning. He’s just the kind of a strong man McGraw has been looking for.”

ERA was a new stat in 1912, and Tesreau was the first pitcher to officially lead the league in it, posting a 1.96 mark to go with his 17-7 record. He pitched three times in that year’s immortal World Series versus Boston, winning once. In 1913 the league wasn’t quite as fooled by the wet stuff, but the Giants were better behind Tesreau. He went 22-13 with a 2.17 ERA for the Gothams as they cruised to a third straight pennant.

Tesreau’s emergence was especially important late in the year, as the Giants were beat up physically, with several starters out or limping. It was even more important from a psychological standpoint—the Mcgrawmen had lost the last two Series, and their opponent in 1913 was a rematch from the 1911 Classic, the A.L. entry from Philadelphia, the Athletics. In ‘11 the A’s had clubbed Giants starters not named Matthewson to win in six games, shredding a journeyman named Red Ames in the clincher. This time it was thought McGraw had the arms to match up with the stellar A’s pitching staff, which had five guys who won 14 or more games (despite missing ace Jack Coombs all season), including legends Chief Bender and Eddie Plank.

The A’s, managed by another hardball legend, Connie Mack, were best known for the “Hundred-Thousand Dollar Infield” of Stuffy McInnes at first, Columbia University grad Eddie Collins at second, Jack Barry (not the future crooked game show host of “Twenty-One”) at short, and (soon to be a Yankee) Frank “Home Run” Baker at third. Yes, that was their combined salary, $100k—things have changed just a bit in the century and change since.

Game One in New York saw Rube Marquard get the start over Matthewson, and the Giants paid the price. Rube was roughed up for five runs in five innings as the A’s won 6-4. Tesreau came in to pitch the last two frames, and many onlookers thought he should have been the man to get the ball from the start.

Big Six restored order down in the City of Brotherly Love. Matty was a Pennsylvanian, from an incredibly Rust Belt town called Factoryville, and had graduated from Bucknell, so he took Keystone State games more seriously than most. In Game Two he threw ten shutout innings, and when his team failed to touch Plank over nine themselves, the college boy said ‘enough’ and smacked in the game’s first run in the tenth, part of a rally that saw the Giants score thrice and win 3-0 to even the Series.

So the two teams rode the rails back to Grand Central Station, and then uptown to Harlem. Game Three was held back at the Polo Grounds, or Brush Stadium, as the odd fan of Giants owner John T. Brush called it, on an overcast and gloomy Thursday afternoon, October 9, 1913. $3 grandstand seats were going for $25 a pop, box seats for $35, and “speculators did a good business,” according to the New York Sun.

This time, Tesreau got the starting nod from his cantankerous manager. In opposition, Mack sent out his kid sensation, 20-year old Bullet Joe Bush, a future Yankee from Brainerd, Minnesota. He got his nickname from throwing rocks at squirrels hard enough to kill the creatures, and as you might expect, he could throw a mean fastball. But he had never been on such a stage, against such an opponent, before. Few expected the rawboned youth to pitch much. Mack likely was planning on a pre-WWI version of the modern ‘bullpen game,’ using two or three or four men from his deep staff to ham and egg it through nine innings.

But Bush surprised everyone. He put two men on with one out in the first, but got George Burns (not that one) to line into a double play, and then set down nine of the next ten men without incident. Bush was pitching with a nice cushion. The A’s had gotten to Tesreau in the top of the first, while the fans were still finding their way, either inside or along along Coogan’s Bluff, the hill that allowed good views of the action below. Three hits, a double steal, and an error unstrung Tesreau. “What is this?” asked a loyal rooter in the crowd. “Are they going to knock the tar out of our Jeff?” Yes, as it happens. Philly put three on the board right away—so much for that added pitching McGraw had been boasting about.

It got worse. The A’s put two more up in the second, and were cruising along at 5-0. The usually ebullient, raucous Grounds were silent as the grave. Eddie Collins tripled in a run and came in to score on a Baker hit in the 7th, making it 7-1, at last ending Tesreau’s day. He exited to a pronounced grumbling from the same fans who had been calling for him to start 48 hours earlier.

The beat-up Giants surely missed their usual catcher, Chief Meyers, most on this day, for he usually handled Tesreau and could calm the “Ozark Ajax” when he went astray. In contrast, Philly’s backstop was another kid (and yet another future Yankee), Wally Schang. Just 23, like Bullet Joe he too was in his first postseason contest, but you wouldn’t know it. “This infant battery worked wonders,” thought the Times. “The enthusiasm of youth was in their work. After a time they forgot the rabid gathering which surrounded them, forgot they were playing a game that meant gold and glory. They just settled down to nice, normal ball playing, and it was too much for the Giants.”

Bush went the distance. He allowed just five hits and two runs, one of them unearned. “With increasing confidence,” wrote The New York Sun, “Bush mixed in a wide curve with speed that made the Giants open their eyes.” He also made a “rattling play” in the field, leaping to stop Burns’ “torrid crack” and start a double play. McGraw hurled his program into the crowd after that one.

The final score was 8-2, A’s. They now led the Series 2-1, having won twice on New York’s home field. Any momentum from Matty’s brilliant Game Two performance was squandered, thanks to Bullet Joe, the David who defeated Goliath. It wasn’t too late for McGraw and Matty to turn it around, but it was getting close.

AFTERMATH:

The A’s built a 6-0 lead in Game Four and held on to win 6-5, and Plank then beat Matthewson in New York to win the Series and hand McGraw’s Giants a third consecutive World Series defeat. Maybe the punctilious Muggsy was right to blow off the Fall Classic back in Ought-Four? Philly won the A.L. pennant again in 1914 but lost to the Boston Braves. The Giants would lose the Series once again in 1917 before at last winning two in a row in 1921-22.

Bullet Joe Bush’s cool nerves at such a young age on the biggest stage made him a national hero for a spell, and earned him plenty of idolators. One group of fans bought the lad a touring sedan for him to drive back to Minnesota. Alas, on the day before Joe turned 21, he struck and killed a local Brainerd man, Louis Miller, who stepped in front of his new car. The death was ruled accidental, and Bush was allowed to return to baseball. But he only won one more World Series start in 17 years, even though he came to the Yankees just after Babe Ruth did. He remains the only pitcher to drop five straight decisions in the Series.

As for Tesreau, after baseball he ballooned to nearly 300 pounds; in a related development, he died of a sudden stroke while fishing at age 56 in the college town of Hanover, New Hampshire.

WHAT THEY SAID:

“When the ball left Bush’s hand it was of regulation size. As it sped past the Giants batsmen it was reduced to the size of a quinine pill.”

—The New York Times (unbylined)

FURTHER READING:

Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball by Norman Macht

VIDEO: