1976 World Series

Top Row: Billie Jean King, co-owner of the Falcons, addresses the crowd; Sunbirds Pennington, Gamblin, Flint, Henderson and Iverson confer at the mound; Falcon Joyce Compton connects. Second Row: Falcon pitcher Sandy Fischer won the second and fourth games; Mary Flint loses the race to first; Willie Roze blocks a Sunbird's slide. Bottom Row: Carol Salsbury swings at a pitch; Joan Joyce steps into the batter's box; the Falcon team before the final game.

KNOWING THE WAY TO SAN JOSE

It was the way to cap off a super season. The Connecticut Falcons, who clinched the Eastern Division title back on August 22, 1976 made sure there were no more skeptics. First, the Falcons eliminated the Chicago Ravens in the Eastern Division Playoffs, by sweeping the Ravens in three straight games. The night of September 12^th was cause for double celebration … the Falcons were heading to the first W.P.S. World Series, and co-owner Jane Blalock had just won the L.P.G.A. Tournament in Dallas. And the party at the Sheraton Inn in Oaklawn, Illinois lasted until the wee hours of the morning. Now the Falcons had to wait one more day to learn that San Jose was to be their World Series opponents as their Western Division Playoff series with the Santa Ana Lionettes was delayed an extra day by rain.

1976 World Series Game #1 – Connecticut 3, San Jose 0

Falcon Field was the site as the San Jose Sunbirds and the Connecticut Falcons prepared to meet head-on in the culmination of the first season of Women’s Professional Softball, the 1976 W.P.S. World Series. Joan Joyce was the starting pitcher for the Falcons. She brought a 39-2 regular season record into the game, plus a win and a save in the Playoffs. Charlotte Graham, owner of a 23-11 mark for the season and a playoff win, was on the mound for San Jose. Both pitchers allowed an average of less than one run per game for the entire season.

Diane Kalliam, the gutsy Sunbird center fielder, led the game off with a single. But Falcon catcher Judy Martino cut her down in a stolen-base attempt. And Joyce put the next 17 San Jose batters down in order, until Kalliam again singled in the 7^th inning. But that was all that “J.J.” would allow that Friday night in September. Meanwhile, with Irene Shea and Willie Roze on base for the Falcons in the bottom of the 4^th, Joan Joyce helped her own cause by lining a two-run double into the left field corner. Kathy Krygier added another run in the 5^th inning, but the Falcons were all set as Joyce hurled a two-hit shutout and the Connecticut Falcons won the first W.P.S. World Series game 3-0.

1976 World Series Game #2 – Connecticut 4, San Jose 2

Saturday evening, September 18, was the date, and again it was Falcon Field, as World Series Game #2 was played between the Falcons and Sunbirds. Lefty Sandy Fischer, who had developed into the top lefthanded pitcher in the League, was slated to pitch against the Sunbird’s Ace, Bonnie Johnson. Although Sandy had won only 11 games during the regular season, she posted an earned run average of 1.01, with most of her runs being given up in her first four starts. Bonnie Johnson had a 25-8 record for the season, to go along with a tidy 0.80 earned run average.

Again it was the Falcons who drew first blood. In the last half of the first inning, Connecticut third baseman Irene Shea blasted her first World Series homer out of the park in right field. Snooki Mulder picked up what would turn out to be the game winning hit, when she singled home Judy Martino and Kathy Stillwell in the 4^th inning. Kathy Krygier doubled home Sharron Backus with the Falcons going ahead 4-0 in the bottom of the 6^th. But San Jose was not finished yet … in fact, they had just begun!

In the top of the 7^th, Sunbird D.H. Carol Salsbury singled and catcher Mary Lou Pennington singled. Both advanced on a groundout by left fielder Cyndi Lillock. Right fielder Marilynn Burnett hit a slow roller towards Irene Shea at third, and in her haste to make the play at first, the ball went awry and two runs scored. But Sandy Fischer buckled down, and retired eight of the next nine batters to give the Falcons a 4-2 win and a 2-0 game lead in the best-of-seven series.

1976 World Series Game #3 – Connecticut 2, San Jose 1

What was to be the final game of the year at Falcon Field turned out to be full of surprises. Joyce Compton, the league’s RBI leader and the Falcons’ star first baseman, was out with an injury, and Sue Tomko was installed at first base, a position she had never played before. Joan Joyce was on the mound for Connecticut, while Marilynn Burnett was hurling for San Jose.

The excitement began in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Marilynn Burnett was called for an illegal pitch. San Jose Manager Laura Malesh brought in Charlotte Graham to pitch, and moved Burnett to the outfield. The game was scoreless for four innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, Sharon Backus led off with a single. Kathy Stillwell followed with a single to left field, which was booted by San Jose’s Cyndi Lillock, putting Falcon runners on second and third. Sue Tomko was hit by a pitch, and with the bases loaded, Snooki Mulder lofted a long fly to centerfield … scoring Backus. Cyndi Lillock made up for the mistake by homering off Joyce in the 6^th inning, tying the score at 1-1. But Irene Shea scored the winning run in the eighth inning to put the Falcons ahead. Shea singled to open the frame, followed by infield hits by Joan Joyce and Willie Roze. Falcon D.H. Donna Terry hit a groundball to Sunbird Shortstop Mary Flint, who made an errant throw to the plate, allowing Shea to score what proved to be the winning run. The Falcons won game #3, 2-1, and left for the West Coast with a comfortable 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

1976 World Series Game #4 – Connecticut 3, San Jose 0

It was a homecoming of sorts for Kathy Neal, who played amateur ball in Santa Clara. But Kathy, who would have pitched in Game #4, was bothered by a knee injury that would lead to off-season surgery. So, when Game #4 began at San Jose Municipal Stadium, Sandy Fischer was on the mound for Connecticut, facing Bonnie Johnson of San Jose.

Although the Falcons mustered eight hits in the first nine innings, no one crossed the plate. The Sunbirds picked up six hits of their own, but also failed to bring in a run.

In the tenth inning, three runs crossed the plate for the Falcons, the big hit being a two-run single by Willie Roze. Fischer put the Sunbirds down in order in the bottom of the tenth, and the Connecticut Falcons won the 1976 W.P.S. World Series in four straight games, to become Connecticut’s first WORLD CHAMPIONS in any sport.

And just as she had been on hand for the first, historic pitch … back on May 28^th in Buffalo, Billie Jean King was on hand in San Jose to present the Championship Cup to the Connecticut Falcons, “her favorite softball team.”

To read news articles about the 1976 World Series, see below.