Iorg--the One Who’s a Series Hero--Signs With the Padres

SAN DIEGO —  One swing made this man famous:

Dane Iorg.

Tuesday, he became a San Diego Padre, signing a one-year, free-agent contract, but it seems as if it was just yesterday when . . .

The Kansas City Royals were trailing the St. Louis Cardinals three games to two in the World Series, and the Cards were only three outs from the title. The Royals’ Jorge Orta stepped up to lead off the bottom of the ninth and grounded a ball to first baseman Jack Clark, who flipped to pitcher Todd Worrell for the out.

But first base umpire Don Denkinger turned and said, “Safe!”

Iorg, minutes later, hit a bases-loaded single to force a seventh game.

And the Royals won it all.

. . . Denkinger’s life just hasn’t been the same since, what with death threats he has received.

And how about Iorg?

“Well, a lot of people say I’m responsible for winning the World Series,” he said Tuesday, although others credit Denkinger with turning around the Series. “So I’ve gone from a nonentity to where I can’t go to the malls in Kansas City without being mauled.

“In actuality, that one hit has meant more to my career than all the rest put together. Everywhere I go, if there’s a baseball fan there, they remember that hit. It helped me become a known commodity in baseball. I mean, everyone says that was the highlight of the World Series, and I get letters from all over the United States from people who remember it. They call me up and say what a great clutch hit it was.”

But Padre Manager Dick Williams remembers other Iorg hits.

“He’s always been tough on my clubs,” he said. “He’s fractured my clubs all over the National League.”

When Williams and Jack McKeon, the Padre general manager, talked about acquiring a left-handed pinch-hitter, Williams suggested Iorg. McKeon liked him, too. They decided to sign Iorg or St. Louis’ Steve Braun, and Iorg won out. The Padres did not release the amount of Iorg’s contract.

“When Dick was with Montreal, I did well against his staff,” Iorg said. “Looking back now, it was probably good for me to do that.”

Iorg is 35 years old, and he is coming off what he calls “a bad year” in Kansas City.

He played 64 games.

He hit .223.

“It wasn’t hard for me to leave Kansas City,” he said. “I knew it was inevitable. I don’t know how much they wanted me back because I never contacted them after the season. It was just in my best interest for me to leave. Just the way they used me. . . . I never knew what they thought of me. I was just a pinch-hitter there.”

He will just be a pinch-hitter here, too.

The Padres didn’t sign him for his defense. He can play the infield (mostly first base) or the outfield, but he’s mostly known for his offense.

He hit .291 in 501 National League games, mostly with St. Louis.

He’s a lifetime .280 hitter.

And he had that once-in-a-lifetime hit.