The Dodgers’ World Series “last out” baseballs
By: Mark Langill
Tags: MLB, Baseball, Dodgers, Last Out, World Series

Austin Barnes returns to Dodger Stadium with the last-out ball after the 2020 World Series. (Photo by Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

by Mark Langill

The Dodgers clinched their first World Series title in 32 years when reliever Julio Urías threw a called strike past Tampa Bay’s Willy Adames to save LA’s 3–1 victory in Game 6 of the Fall Classic on October 27 at Globe Life Field in Texas.

Before joining the celebration around the pitcher’s mound, catcher Austin Barnes tucked the final baseball into his back pocket for safe keeping and later an MLB Authentication hologram sticker was added.

(Photo by Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Of the seven “last out” baseballs” from the Brooklyn and Los Angeles World Series championships, the whereabouts of the first four — from 1955, 1959, 1963 and 1965 — are unknown.

“Nobody has asked about that last baseball from 1955 in more than 60 years,” said Gil Hodges Jr., the son of the former Brooklyn first baseman who also managed the 1969 New York Mets to a World Series title. “It wasn’t considered memorabilia. I never heard Dad talk about it. After he caught that final throw from Pee Wee Reese at shortstop, I think his first thought was running toward the pitcher’s mound and celebrating with Johnny Podres, who had just pitched a shutout at Yankee Stadium. Same thing with the Mets. I don’t think (left fielder) Cleon Jones saved the ball in 1969 on Davey Johnson’s flyout against the Orioles. Times were different back then.”

Two Dodgers who caught the final out — outfielder Wally Moon (1959) and catcher John Roseboro (1965) — wrote autobiographies about their respective careers. But neither player described being involved with the last out, thus leaving no clues about their Series-ending baseballs.

Former Dodger outfielder Kenny Landreaux didn’t start Game 6 of the 1981 World Series, but he was inserted into the lineup as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning for Pedro Guerrero, who switched from center to right field. Landreaux, a Southern California native acquired in a trade from the Minnesota Twins during Spring Training in 1981, had the distinction of catching the final fly ball hit by Bob Watson to cap the Dodgers’ 9–2 victory at Yankee Stadium.

Forty years later, Landreaux is still asked about the final baseball. “I’ve sold it — three times,” he jokes. “Actually, the ball is somewhere in my garage. We didn’t have the authenticated service back then. If there was a special milestone, we just wrote what happened on the baseball.”

Like Landreaux, the honor of the catching the final pitch in 1988 belonged to first-year Dodger Rick Dempsey, who at age 38 received a non-roster invitation to Spring Training after waiting for hours in the Dodger office lobby for a chance to speak with L.A. general manager Fred Claire about extending his career at least another season.

“This is what I’ll do,” Dempsey said. “I’ll hit a home run every 25 at-bats. We will take the pitching staff and we’ll turn it around. We’ll win the division, win the playoffs. We’ll get to the World Series. We’ll win the World Series. I’ll catch the last pitch and give you the ball.”

Dempsey, who hit seven home runs in 167 at-bats spanning 77 games, spent most of the 1988 season as a backup catcher and member of the team’s “Stunt Men,” the nickname for L.A.’s reserve players. But when Mike Scioscia suffered a knee injury while attempting to steal a base in Game 4, Dempsey took over behind the plate and started Game 5 at Oakland when Orel Hershiser pitched a complete-game 5–2 victory.