in the 1985 World Series, as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Cardinals in seven games. The Series was known as the "I-70 Series," named after Interstate 70, the highway that connects St. Louis to Kansas City. In 1987, Cardinals manager Herzog moved McGee to 5th in the batting order. McGee responded well to the move and drove in a career-high 105 runs. Again, McGee was a key component to the Cardinals' success as they enjoyed another fine season finishing as Eastern Division champs. After defeating the San Francisco Giants in a heated NL Championship Series, Herzog's Cardinals found themselves in their third World Series contest of the 1980s; the Minnesota Twins defeated the Cardinals in the 1987 World Series in seven games. McGee himself made the last out of the seventh game of the series, grounding out to third base. 1990–1995 would mark the end of the "Whiteyball" era in St. Louis. Amidst poor overall team performance, Herzog surprisingly announced his retirement on July 6. In an effort to begin the team's re-building process, McGee was traded to the American League's Oakland Athletics on August 29 for 25-year-old outfielder Félix José and two minor-league players (third baseman Stan Royer and pitcher Daryl Green). McGee's brief stint with Oakland, managed by Tony La Russa, helped propel the team to the 1990 World Series. This would be McGee's fourth trip to the Fall Classic; the Athletics, however, were pounded in the Series as the Cincinnati Reds would sweep the defending world champions in four games. Despite being traded to the AL, McGee had already accumulated 542 plate appearances in the National League, enough for him to qualify for the NL batting crown. Los Angeles' Eddie Murray (.330 average), the New York Mets' Dave Magadan (.328) and others gave chase. However, because no batter was able to catch McGee's .335 NL batting mark, he won his second batting title. McGee's accomplishment marked an odd first in major league history, in which the batting champion for one league ended the season as a member of the other league. In 1990, George Brett of the Kansas City Royals led the American league with a .329 batting average. Because McGee's batting average over the entire season was only .324, neither league's batting champion led the Major Leagues in batting; that honor fell to Eddie Murray. On December 3, 1990, McGee signed a multi-year contract with