Chris Chambliss played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (1971-1988) with three different teams, but it is his walk-off home run in game five of the 1976 American League Championship Series for which he’s remembered. I had the opportunity to interview Chambliss recently, as he was in town to be the keynote speaker at the Claremore Diamond Dinner.

Chambliss’ father was an ordained minister who became a chaplain in the Navy, stationed in California. While in high school in the San Diego area, he was drafted twice by the Cincinnati Reds, but turned down both offers because he wanted to pursue a college education. He played baseball and football at Oceanside Carlsbad Junior College (now MiraCosta College). Following his two years in junior college, he was again drafted by the Reds but turned down their offer because it was too low, and he was offered a scholarship to continue his schooling and baseball career at UCLA.

Prior to his senior year at UCLA, Chambliss made a decision that would unknowingly allow him to get to the majors quickly, as he was about to be drafted by the Cleveland Indians.

“The key to that was Cleveland being a young organization, they didn’t have a lot of veterans on the team,” he said. “If I had played with Cincinnati, I would have never made it to the big leagues as good as that team was at the time. The other key to me moving up so fast was I didn’t go my senior year at UCLA. I had a really good year in ’69 at the College World Series, the NBC Tournament in Wichita, and I was really, pretty hot stuff, so I made myself eligible for the January draft and was drafted No. 1 by Cleveland. That allowed me to go to Spring Training and they let me workout with the Triple-A club, I made the Triple-A club that year, so that’s why I moved up so fast.”

He spent only one season in the minors before breaking in with the Indians in 1971, and was named American League Rookie of the Year. Chambliss was traded to the Yankees in 1974, and at first, he wasn’t happy about the move.

“I was really unhappy because I had just got married and we were happy in Cleveland,” he said. “Things were going pretty well there, and I wasn’t too excited about the trade.”

He obviously couldn’t see what was ahead of him, as now he was going to be playing with one of baseball’s most storied franchises, and a dynasty team George Steinbrenner was building with the advent of free agency.

Then came the 1976 ALCS. The Yankees led the Royals, 3-1 in the series, and the score was tied 6-6 in the bottom of the ninth, when Chambliss came to the plate. On the first pitch, he blasted the ball over the right-centerfield fence and the New York crowd went crazy, storming the field and mobbing Chambliss. There were so many people on the field, Chambliss couldn’t even make the entire trip around the bases.

“It was pretty strange and people were everywhere,” he said. “I was afraid of getting trampled, so the first thing I did after I got around second base was I turned left to try to get to our dugout, which was on the first base side. I got into our clubhouse and of course everyone wanted to know if I touched home plate. So, the true story is, I put a jacket on and took a couple of cops with me, and the three of us went back out to home plate. When I got there, the plate was gone. I stepped on it anyway, and went back. That was the highlight of my career.”

Because of that incident, MLB came up with a rule referred to as the “Chris Chambliss Rule,” where the umpires can award any base they feel a player would have advanced to, if there is any mob or disruption on the field that causes him to not finish running the bases.

During the offseason in 1979, Chambliss was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, but one month later was traded again to the Atlanta Braves. He played seven seasons for the Braves and retired after the 1986 season.

Chambliss has six World Series rings to his credit; two as a player and four as a coach, all with the Yankees.

 “I was at the right place at the right time and was able to play with some very good players during the ‘70s, and later Joe Torre hired me to coach with the Yankees and what a team we were able to coach, they were great players, and they brought us championships,” Chambliss said.

He was named to the American League All-Star team in 1976, and was awarded a Gold Glove for his play at first base in 1978.

To listen to my complete interview with Chambliss, find the link on my Twitter feed @JeffBSports.