George Brett batting for the Kansas City Royals in Game 5 of the 1985 World Series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, on October 24, 1985 — forty-one years ago last night. The Royals trailed the Cardinals three games to one, and one more loss ended their season, before 53,634 fans. Kansas City struck in the first — Lonnie Smith and Willie Wilson singled, Brett's fly ball moved both runners up, and Frank White's groundout scored Smith — and after St. Louis tied it on back-to-back doubles by Tom Herr and Jack Clark, the Royals broke it open in the second: a Jim Sundberg double, a Buddy Biancalana single and Wilson's two-run triple chased starter Bob Forsch in a 6-1 win. Danny Jackson threw a complete-game five-hitter with five strikeouts, and in the seventh he struck out the side on nine pitches — the first immaculate inning in World Series history. The Cardinals walked Brett intentionally with the bases loaded in the fourth rather than pitch to him; in the seventh he crashed into the dugout chasing a foul pop, stayed in the game, and singled in the ninth. It capped his October: the ALCS MVP after batting .348 with three home runs against Toronto, including a 4-for-4, two-homer Game 3, he hit .370 in the World Series and went 4-for-5 in Game 7. Two nights after this game came Don Denkinger's call and Dane Iorg's single in Game 6, then an 11-0 rout in Game 7 behind Series MVP Bret Saberhagen — the Royals' first championship. Brett had already won the 1980 MVP award with a .390 average; he remains the only man to win batting titles in three decades (1976, 1980, 1990), finished with 3,154 hits and a .305 average, touched off the Pine Tar Game on July 24, 1983, and entered the Hall of Fame in 1999 on the first ballot, with 98.2 percent of the vote. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images) ⚾ Down three games to one in the ALCS and again in the World Series, Brett carried Kansas City back both times — is he the greatest clutch hitter of his generation? 👇️