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webrian · 04-20-2016, 02:59 AM

BRACKET C FINALS
Tale of the Tape

Old-time finalist: 1927 New York Yankees
* 110-44
* Won World Series vs. Pirates, 4 games to 0
* Scored 6.3 runs per game, allowed 3.9 runs per game
* Tournament record: 7-3 (3-2 vs. 1934 Cardinals, 4-1 vs. 1954 Giants)
* Tournament margin: 27 Yankees — 4.0 runs per game, Opps. 3.7 runs per game (+0.3)

Modern-time finalist: 1978 New York Yankees
* 100-63
* Won World Series vs. Dodgers, 4 games to 2
* Scored 4.5 runs per game, allowed 3.6 runs per game
* Tournament record: 7-1 (3-0 vs. 1985 Royals, 4-1 vs. 2004 Red Sox)
* Tournament margin: 78 Yankees — 5.4 runs per game, Opps. 2.6 runs per game (+2.8)

(1) 1927 Yankees vs. (1) 1978 Yankees (Best of 7)

GAME ONE (at 27 NYY) — 27 Yankees 4, 1978 Yankees 3: It figures to be an exhilarating series and it began with an exhilarating game. 27 Yanks 1B Lou Gehrig broke a 3-3 tie with a solo home run in the bottom of the 6th inning against 78 Yanks starter Ron Guidry (lefty vs lefty). The Bronx Zoo took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Mickey Rivers got to second on a throwing error and later scored on Graig Nettles’ sac fly. But Murderers’ Row came back with a 2-run single by Bob Meusel in the bottom of the first. The Bronx Zoo re-took the lead in the top of the 5th on an RBI triple (down the RF line) by SS Bucky Dent, who then scored on a kicked ground ball. The 27 Yanks tied it again in the bottom of the 5th when SP Waite Hoyt singled and eventually scored on SS Mark Koenig’s sac fly. After Gehrig’s 439-foot solo blast gave 27 Yanks a 4-3 lead, Hoyt and RP Bob Shawkey retired 9 of the next ten 78 Yankee batters to preserve it.

GAME TWO (at 27 NYY) — 27 Yankees 7, 78 Yankees 2: This wasn’t close at all. Murderers’ Row led 7-0 after 3 innings and George Pipgras cruised from there, striking out 11 and walking three in a complete-game victory. 27 Yanks 3B Joe Dugan went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and 2 RBIs. LF Bob Muesel and CF Earle Combs had a pair of hits each for the 27-ers. 78 Yanks RF Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts. Ouch. The Babe also went 0-for-4 but he never struck out.

GAME THREE (at 78 NYY) — 27 Yankees 6, 78 Yankees 5 (10 innings): The most action-packed, most dramatic, most ICONIC game of this series was this one. Some flashpoints:
* Top 1st inning: Lou Gehrig swats a 2-run homer off 78 Yanks’ SP Catfish Hunter (2-0, 27 Yanks)
* Top 3rd inning: Babe Ruth crushes a 410-foot 2-run homer to deep RF, his first of series (4-0, 27 Yanks)
* Bottom 8th inning: 78 Yanks’ Reggie Jackson belts a 2-run homer (393 ft) to RF, tying the game, 5-5.
* Top 10th inning: Facing Goose Gossage, Gehrig cracks his second homer of the game, a 354-ft jack to RF. (6-5, 27 Yanks)
The 1978 Yankees did all they could to not fall into this 3-0 hole. They used 6 different pitchers, they fought back from a 4-0 deficit to tie it on a dramatic Reggie Jackson HR. Lou Piniella went 3-for-3 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. But it’s hard to beat the 27 Yankees when Lou Gehrig is awake and on fire and especially when Babe Ruth gets in on the act.

GAME FOUR (at 78 NYY) — 27 Yankees 3, 78 Yankees 1: The unkindest cut of all.
1978 SP Ron Guidry had a NO-HITTER going until he surrendered a 2-out single to Earle Combs in the top of the 8th inning. The Bronx Zoo was protecting a 1-0 lead (and fighting for survival) since the bottom of the 5th, when Chris Chambliss scored on a Bucky Dent sac fly off Waite Hoyt. The hit by Combs in the 8th came on Guidry’s 129th pitch of the game, so nervous manager Bob Lemon used the hook right then. Ed Figueroa got the last out of the 8th and Goose Gossage came on for the 9th to try and nail down the save.
Nope.
Babe Ruth walked to lead off the ninth and Gehrig flew out to left. Then Gossage walked Bob Meusel on 4 straight pitches and fell behind 2B Tony Lazzeri 3 balls to 1 strike. Gossage’s fifth pitch to Lazzeri ended up in the left-field seats while the 27 Yankees congregated and whooped it up at home plate. They suddenly led 3-1.
In the bottom of the ninth, Roy White led off with a single and Reggie Jackson drew a walk. But then RP Bob Shawkey settled down. He got Lou Piniella to ground out. He struck out Graig Nettles. He induced Thurman Munson into a can-of-corn fly ball to CF for the final out.

The 1927 Yankees win this series, 4 games to 0. After a shaky opening series against the 1934 Cardinals, the Murderers’ Row Yankees got their legs under them and clicked off 8 consecutive victories to win Bracket C and ascend to the Ultimate Eight. I wondered if the OOTP17 version of them would be true and, even if it was, if this iconic team would live up to the mystique. In fact, they’re even better than I thought.
I hoped that the 1978 Yankees (a very strong team in its own right) would give Murderers’ Row a tough series. I believed they would. I thought the myriad of lefty-righty combos the Bronx Zoo could put together might give the 1927 Yankee pitchers the same trouble they gave the 85 Royals and 04 Red Sox, not to mention the real-life teams they beat. In hoping for the 78 Yanks, I came to appeciate the constant pressure the 27 Yankees put on their opponents. Even the less-famous hitters (Joe Dugan, Mark Koenig, Pat Collins) are tough, scrappy outs who will kill you with a single here, a double there or a timely RBI triple when there’s two outs and a pitcher dares himself the luxury of a moment’s relief. Bob Meusel and Tony Lazzeri aren’t as flashy as Ruth and Gehrig, but they possess even more of a killer instinct — and they come to hit right after a pitcher has either gotten past or walked Ruth and or Gehrig.
And their pitching and defense, of course, are solid. Not air-tight, but always good enough to keep these Yankees in the game, which is all they need with this lineup.

Waite Hoyt gets Series MVP honors for going 2-0 and beating 1978 Yanks’ ace Ron Guidry both times. Hoyt allowed just 4 hits in 16 innings pitched and had a 0.56 ERA for the series. He went 4-2 in the bracket overall, including 1-1 with a 0.00 ERA in the series against the 1954 Giants.

Hoyt out-dueled Ron Guidry twice in this series. That'll make a good rain-delay story wherever Hoyt's at now.

Reggie Jackson’s pre-series boast that he’d out-homer Babe Ruth came out to a draw. Jackson was 2-for-13 in the series with 1 HR. Ruth was 1-for-13 in the series, but his hit was a home run. Lou Gehrig, though, was 4-for-16 with 3 homers and 5 RBIs and Earle Combs was 7-for-15 to lead all hitters in the series. Nobody for the 1978 Yankees had more than 2 RBIs in the series.

The 1927 Yankees came in as top seeds. They left on top by sweeping the other No. 1 seed in the bracket. Will we see an equally dominant performance from any other team in the five brackets ahead?

"We won Bracket C, Lou! We won some random person's OOTP17 Bracket C! They'll never take this away from us!"

"I'm the luckiest man on the face of the — Hey, Gidge, you're hugging me a little too hard ... "

COMING NEXT: Bracket D

* Is the Big Red Machine — the 1976 version — good enough to assume its place in the Ultimate Eight?

* Will Duke Snider and Jackie Robinson work their magic and get the 1953 Dodgers through the Old-timers bracket — or will another pitching-rich team of destiny, the 1969 Miracle Mets this time, steal the thunder?

* Can Kirby Puckett and the 1991 Minnesota Twins find their magic again in this tournament?

04-20-2016, 02:59 AM	#19
webrian Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 264	BRACKET C FINALS Tale of the Tape Old-time finalist: 1927 New York Yankees * 110-44 * Won World Series vs. Pirates, 4 games to 0 * Scored 6.3 runs per game, allowed 3.9 runs per game * Tournament record: 7-3 (3-2 vs. 1934 Cardinals, 4-1 vs. 1954 Giants) * Tournament margin: 27 Yankees — 4.0 runs per game, Opps. 3.7 runs per game (+0.3) Modern-time finalist: 1978 New York Yankees * 100-63 * Won World Series vs. Dodgers, 4 games to 2 * Scored 4.5 runs per game, allowed 3.6 runs per game * Tournament record: 7-1 (3-0 vs. 1985 Royals, 4-1 vs. 2004 Red Sox) * Tournament margin: 78 Yankees — 5.4 runs per game, Opps. 2.6 runs per game (+2.8) (1) 1927 Yankees vs. (1) 1978 Yankees (Best of 7) GAME ONE (at 27 NYY) — 27 Yankees 4, 1978 Yankees 3: It figures to be an exhilarating series and it began with an exhilarating game. 27 Yanks 1B Lou Gehrig broke a 3-3 tie with a solo home run in the bottom of the 6th inning against 78 Yanks starter Ron Guidry (lefty vs lefty). The Bronx Zoo took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Mickey Rivers got to second on a throwing error and later scored on Graig Nettles’ sac fly. But Murderers’ Row came back with a 2-run single by Bob Meusel in the bottom of the first. The Bronx Zoo re-took the lead in the top of the 5th on an RBI triple (down the RF line) by SS Bucky Dent, who then scored on a kicked ground ball. The 27 Yanks tied it again in the bottom of the 5th when SP Waite Hoyt singled and eventually scored on SS Mark Koenig’s sac fly. After Gehrig’s 439-foot solo blast gave 27 Yanks a 4-3 lead, Hoyt and RP Bob Shawkey retired 9 of the next ten 78 Yankee batters to preserve it. GAME TWO (at 27 NYY) — 27 Yankees 7, 78 Yankees 2: This wasn’t close at all. Murderers’ Row led 7-0 after 3 innings and George Pipgras cruised from there, striking out 11 and walking three in a complete-game victory. 27 Yanks 3B Joe Dugan went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and 2 RBIs. LF Bob Muesel and CF Earle Combs had a pair of hits each for the 27-ers. 78 Yanks RF Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts. Ouch. The Babe also went 0-for-4 but he never struck out. GAME THREE (at 78 NYY) — 27 Yankees 6, 78 Yankees 5 (10 innings): The most action-packed, most dramatic, most ICONIC game of this series was this one. Some flashpoints: * Top 1st inning: Lou Gehrig swats a 2-run homer off 78 Yanks’ SP Catfish Hunter (2-0, 27 Yanks) * Top 3rd inning: Babe Ruth crushes a 410-foot 2-run homer to deep RF, his first of series (4-0, 27 Yanks) * Bottom 8th inning: 78 Yanks’ Reggie Jackson belts a 2-run homer (393 ft) to RF, tying the game, 5-5. * Top 10th inning: Facing Goose Gossage, Gehrig cracks his second homer of the game, a 354-ft jack to RF. (6-5, 27 Yanks) The 1978 Yankees did all they could to not fall into this 3-0 hole. They used 6 different pitchers, they fought back from a 4-0 deficit to tie it on a dramatic Reggie Jackson HR. Lou Piniella went 3-for-3 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. But it’s hard to beat the 27 Yankees when Lou Gehrig is awake and on fire and especially when Babe Ruth gets in on the act. GAME FOUR (at 78 NYY) — 27 Yankees 3, 78 Yankees 1: The unkindest cut of all. 1978 SP Ron Guidry had a NO-HITTER going until he surrendered a 2-out single to Earle Combs in the top of the 8th inning. The Bronx Zoo was protecting a 1-0 lead (and fighting for survival) since the bottom of the 5th, when Chris Chambliss scored on a Bucky Dent sac fly off Waite Hoyt. The hit by Combs in the 8th came on Guidry’s 129th pitch of the game, so nervous manager Bob Lemon used the hook right then. Ed Figueroa got the last out of the 8th and Goose Gossage came on for the 9th to try and nail down the save. Nope. Babe Ruth walked to lead off the ninth and Gehrig flew out to left. Then Gossage walked Bob Meusel on 4 straight pitches and fell behind 2B Tony Lazzeri 3 balls to 1 strike. Gossage’s fifth pitch to Lazzeri ended up in the left-field seats while the 27 Yankees congregated and whooped it up at home plate. They suddenly led 3-1. In the bottom of the ninth, Roy White led off with a single and Reggie Jackson drew a walk. But then RP Bob Shawkey settled down. He got Lou Piniella to ground out. He struck out Graig Nettles. He induced Thurman Munson into a can-of-corn fly ball to CF for the final out. The 1927 Yankees win this series, 4 games to 0. After a shaky opening series against the 1934 Cardinals, the Murderers’ Row Yankees got their legs under them and clicked off 8 consecutive victories to win Bracket C and ascend to the Ultimate Eight. I wondered if the OOTP17 version of them would be true and, even if it was, if this iconic team would live up to the mystique. In fact, they’re even better than I thought. I hoped that the 1978 Yankees (a very strong team in its own right) would give Murderers’ Row a tough series. I believed they would. I thought the myriad of lefty-righty combos the Bronx Zoo could put together might give the 1927 Yankee pitchers the same trouble they gave the 85 Royals and 04 Red Sox, not to mention the real-life teams they beat. In hoping for the 78 Yanks, I came to appeciate the constant pressure the 27 Yankees put on their opponents. Even the less-famous hitters (Joe Dugan, Mark Koenig, Pat Collins) are tough, scrappy outs who will kill you with a single here, a double there or a timely RBI triple when there’s two outs and a pitcher dares himself the luxury of a moment’s relief. Bob Meusel and Tony Lazzeri aren’t as flashy as Ruth and Gehrig, but they possess even more of a killer instinct — and they come to hit right after a pitcher has either gotten past or walked Ruth and or Gehrig. And their pitching and defense, of course, are solid. Not air-tight, but always good enough to keep these Yankees in the game, which is all they need with this lineup. Waite Hoyt gets Series MVP honors for going 2-0 and beating 1978 Yanks’ ace Ron Guidry both times. Hoyt allowed just 4 hits in 16 innings pitched and had a 0.56 ERA for the series. He went 4-2 in the bracket overall, including 1-1 with a 0.00 ERA in the series against the 1954 Giants. Hoyt out-dueled Ron Guidry twice in this series. That'll make a good rain-delay story wherever Hoyt's at now. Reggie Jackson’s pre-series boast that he’d out-homer Babe Ruth came out to a draw. Jackson was 2-for-13 in the series with 1 HR. Ruth was 1-for-13 in the series, but his hit was a home run. Lou Gehrig, though, was 4-for-16 with 3 homers and 5 RBIs and Earle Combs was 7-for-15 to lead all hitters in the series. Nobody for the 1978 Yankees had more than 2 RBIs in the series. The 1927 Yankees came in as top seeds. They left on top by sweeping the other No. 1 seed in the bracket. Will we see an equally dominant performance from any other team in the five brackets ahead? "We won Bracket C, Lou! We won some random person's OOTP17 Bracket C! They'll never take this away from us!" "I'm the luckiest man on the face of the — Hey, Gidge, you're hugging me a little too hard ... " COMING NEXT: Bracket D * Is the Big Red Machine — the 1976 version — good enough to assume its place in the Ultimate Eight? * Will Duke Snider and Jackie Robinson work their magic and get the 1953 Dodgers through the Old-timers bracket — or will another pitching-rich team of destiny, the 1969 Miracle Mets this time, steal the thunder? * Can Kirby Puckett and the 1991 Minnesota Twins find their magic again in this tournament? Last edited by webrian; 04-20-2016 at 03:01 AM.