Don Denkinger, whose ‘safe’ call paved way to a KC Royals World Series title, dies at 86

Don Denkinger spent 30 years as major-league umpire and worked four World Series among his 12 postseason appearances.

In the Kansas City area, he’s mostly remembered for one.

Denkinger, who died Friday in Waterloo, Iowa, at 86, was the first base umpire in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series. The St. Louis Cardinals, leading the “I-70 Series” three games to two, were looking to close it out. They led 1-0 when the Royals came to bat in the bottom of the ninth.

Leadoff hitter Jorge Orta’s grounder was fielded by first baseman Jack Clark, who shoveled the ball to pitcher Todd Worrell, who was covering the bag.

“Safe!” went the call by Denkinger, who was the only one who saw it that way. Replays showed Orta clearly was out, but replay to change or confirm calls did not arrive in Major League Baseball until 2008.

The play stood and the Royals’ two-run rally had started. It wouldn’t end until the Royals won Game 7 — with Denkinger serving as the home plate umpire — to claim their first world championship.

During the ensuing offseason, Denkinger received threats that were investigated by the FBI. But he umpired for 13 more years before retiring in 1998. He’d attend card shows, where he’d sign his name to photos of the call.

Even in St. Louis.

“I’m not tired of talking about it. I mean, it happened,” Denkinger said in 2014. “I just know that if the same thing happened now, they’d get it right on replay and it’d be over with.”

In 1985, Whitey Herzog, the Cardinals’ manager for the 1985 World Series, came to a Cardinals-Royals game at Kauffman Stadium. Naturally, he was asked about that pivotal moment.

But he went in a different direction when asked to explain the Cards’ downfall in that fall classic.

“We self-destructed after the call, but (13) runs in seven games ain’t going to win you many World Series,” Herzog told The Star in 2015. “I don’t want to harp on the call because it sounds like sour grapes.”