Game #3
 

Top 1
Astacio gets ahead of Johnson and he flies out to CF
Anderson lines a ball past Gaetti at 3rd for a single
Biggio lines a single to CF and the Cubs have runners at 1st and 2nd.
Astacio comes back and K's Leyritz on 3 pitches
Ron Gant lines a double into the gap, and is thrown out trying to go to 3rd. Cubs get 2

Bottom 1
Rickey immediately singles to CF
Piazza dribbles one in front of the catcher who throws out Henderson at 2B
Jon Valentin grounds into a 5-4-3 double play

0-2 Cubs

Top 2
Mark Grace grounds out before a Dave Valle single to CF
Silvestri strikes out and Maddux pops up to shallow center

Bottom 2
Cory Snyder draws a 4 pitch walk and Devon White flies out to deep LF.
Bill Bean crushes a line drive, but right at Leyritz
Gaetti strikes out to end the inning.

0-2 Cubs

Top 3
Astacio walks Johnson before a Anderson double drives him in
Biggio's fly to right doesn't move Anderson up, but Leyritz' deep fly to right does.
This time Gant strikes out

Bottom 3
Astacio grounds out to second.
Fletcher tries to ground out to short, but Silvestri doesn't cooperate, booting the ball
Rickey works a seven pitch walk to bring up Piazza
A passed ball moves the runners up to 3rd and 2nd but Piazza K's and Valentin flies out.

0-3 Cubs

Top 4
Grace grounds out and Valle doubles down the RF line
Silvestri and Maddux K
Unfortunately, the double means Johnson will lead off the next inning instead of Maddux. Increasing the Cubs' likelihood of scoring

Bottom 4
Snyder works a full count, but K's.
Devo grounds out and Bean singles into left.
With Gaetti up with 2 out and the pitcher on deck, we'll try and steal 2nd to get into scoring position, or get thrown out and have Gaetti up to leadoff.
The first pitch misses and Bean starts to go, but retreats.
We call off the steal and Gaetti takes another ball
With a 2-0 count we put the steal back on.
Bean goes...and is thrown out.

0-3 Cubs

Top 5
Johnson lines out, one fleet CFer to another
Anderson pops up.
Biggio walks and steals second.
Astacio K's Leyritz

Bottom 5
Gaetti K's
Chris Donnels comes in to hit for Astacio. And strikeso out
Fletcher hits an infield single.
With Rickey up with 2-outs, we give Fletcher the green light, and he steals on a 0-1 pitch that Henderson swings through.
Maddux throws 4 straight balls and 2 are on for Piazza
Maddux hits Piazza and the bases are loaded for Valentin.
He lines a ball into RF that gets into the corner. Fletcher scores, Rickey scores, Piazza scores and Valentin ends up at 3rd with a triple
Cory Snyder dunks a ball into RF and the Dodgers are up 4-3
Devo flies to CF to end a productive inning

4-3 Dodgers

Top 6
With the lead and Gant, Grace and Valle due up, we bring in John Gott. Our pitcher spot is due up 3rd next inning so this is likely a 1 inning stint. We hope Gott can get these 3, then we'll go to Mercker to face the bottom of the Cubs' order and then the lefties at the top. Then we'll have Beck and Wetteland to finish it off.

Gant pops up to Fletcher
Grace flies out to Bean
Valle ground to Gaetti

Bottom 6
Bean grounds past a diving Biggio for a single
Gaetti grounds to 3rd, but hits it weakly enough that Gant's only play is at first. Bean is at second.
With Gott up we need a pinch hitter.
We'd like Darren Fletcher to hit, but don't want to use our 2nd catcher.
Mike Huff's patience isn't ideal here
We'd like to save Hollins and Ashely for left-handed pitchers. But it's unlikely we'll have to chances to pinch hit against a lefty. So, Hollins is a possibility. As is Offerman.
Offerman has use as a pinch runner, so we send up Dave Hollins
Hollins flies out to CF. Bean stays at second.
We'd like to hit for Fletcher, but with the lead, we need his glove in the game.
Fletcher grounds to second.

4-3 Dodgers

Top 7
Kent Mercker in to pitch
Silvestri grounds to first
Gary Varsho comes in to pinch hit. He grounds to Fletcher
Mercker goes full to Johnson, but he grounds out to first.

Bottom 7
Jeff Parrett in to pitch
Full count to Rickey, who grounds hard to third and Gant can't make the play.
Parrett throws over to first. Rickey's back
Piazza grounds to second, to short, to first – double play.
Valentin singles sharply in to right.
Snyder flies out to left.

4-3 Dodgers

Top 8
Mercker gets Anderson to ground to first.
John Wetteland comes in to face the Cubs' right-handed middle of the order.
Biggio pops up to RF
Jim Leyritz OBLITERATES a ball to CF for a home run.
Ron Gant singles to left
And Mark Grace squibs a ball that Piazza makes the play on for the third out.

Bottom 8
Mike Fetters relieves
Devo walks on 7 pitches
Fetters doesn't hold runners well. He throws over to first.
We call for a hit and run. White goes, Bean lines the ball towards right. Biggio makes the play and White is doubled off.
Gaetti doubles to the right field line.
Offerman comes in to hit for Wetteland and ground to frist.

SCORE: 4-4

Top 9
Rod Beck relieves
Valle grounds out
Silvestri strikes out
Scott Brosius grounds out

Bottom 9
Fletcher K's
Rickey draws his 3rd walk of the game, and is on base for the 5th time today.
Bobby Witt relieves Fetters
We call for Piazza to take a pitch – it's a strike
Rickey goes, and is caught.
Piazza lines a ball into left field...its...foul
Piazza lines a ball into right field...it's a single
Valentin singles to CF. Piazza holds at second.
We wonder if we should run for Piazza. We don't.
Snyder walks to load the bases
The 1-1 pitch is grounded up the middle. Biggio dives and...the Dodgers celebrate!

Final Score: 5-4 Dodgers

OCTOBER 11th
 

Game #4 Cubs at Dodgers

Today's starting pitchers are Frank Castillo (R) (5-7, 123 ERA+, 99 FIP-) and Orel Hershiser (R) (15-11, 112 ERA+, 82 FIP-)

We've got a chance to finish the series off today.

Castillo has average stuff, slightly worse than average movement, and better than average control. His vs L/vs R splits were .828/.502 but that seems excessive based on his over the top arm slot and pitch mix.

We'll go with what has become our standard lineup vs right-handers this post season. We think about giving Hollins a start at 1B, but go with Bean who has been hot and who improves our defense.

Game #4
 

Top 1
Hershiser starts the game off with a K
Anderson ground back to the mound
Biggio grounds sharply to Gaetti

Bottom 1
Rickey draws a 7 pitch walk. Castillo is average at holding runners, so we could send Rickey. The first 2 pitches miss, we give Rickey the green light. The third pitch misses as well and Rickey steals second.
Piazza flies out to left.
Valentin strikes out looking
Snyder draws a walk on a 3-2 pitch
Devon White smashes a 3-run homer to left field.
Bill Bean follows with a shallow popup to center.

3-0 Dodgers

Top 2
Leyritz K's
Gant grounds to SS
Grace taps back to Hershiswer

Bottom 2
Gary Gaetti grounds to Gant
Hershiser grounds to Biggio
Fletcher lines a single to RF. With 2 outs, we'll give him a green light to get into scoring position. He swipes second and the count is 2-0 to Rickey
Rickey walks
Piazza grounds out to SS

3-0 Dodgers

Top 3
Orel K's the side

Bottom 3
Valentin pops to CF
Snyder and Devo K

3-0 Dodgers

Top 4
Johnson lines out hard to White in CF
Anderson lines a pitch of his shoetops into left field for a single then steals second.
Orel sits Biggio down with a K
Leyritz lines an RBI single to left.
Ron Gant draws a walk to put two on for Mark Grace
Grace rockets a ground ball to Gaetti who stops it, but can't throw him out.
Bases loaded for Dave Valle.
We go out to talk to Orel. He says he's got plenty in the tank.
Dave Valle lines a 2-run single to left
Hershiser walks Silvestri and Castillo stays in to hit. And hit he does, a line drive that Bean corrals on the run

Bottom 4
Castillo, perhaps angry that Bean caught his line drive, hits bean to leadoff.
Bean is erased in a 5-4-3 double play
Hershsier walks and Fletcher flies out to CF

SCORE 3-3

Top 5
Johnson ground to SS
Anderson doubles down the LF line
Biggio flies out to RF
Leyritz pops up

Bottom 5
Rickey pops out in fout territory
Piazza lines out to RF
Valentin flies out to RF

SCORE 3-3

Top 6
Ron Gant is called out on strikes
Grace lines a single back up the middle. A wild pitch moves him to second.
Hershiser walks Valle
The Cubs try a double steal, Piazza throws to second and nails Valle. Runner at 3rd with 2 outs.
Hershiser strands him with a K of silvestri.

Bottom 6
Snyder K's
Devo pops up
And Bean K's

SCORE 3-3

Top 7
Turner Ward comes in to hit for Castillo, who only surrenders 2 hits in 6 innings and survived what threatened to turn in to a route.
We counter with left-hander Tony Fossas.
Ward pops up to Bean
Johnson taps back to Fossas
Anderson grounds slowly up the middle, and Valentin makes the play to end the inning.

Bottom 7
Jeff Parrett is the new pitcher for the Cubs
Gaetti strikes out.
Chris Donnels comes in to hit for Fossas. He lines a single to right and Offerman comes in to run.
The Cubs play the infield back so we signal for a bunt.
The pitch is taken low for a ball and the Cubs bring the corners in
With the count 2-2 the Cubs put their defense back at normal depth.
We call for a run and hit. Offerman goes and...Fletcher hits a line drive down the left field line. Offerman scores and Fletcher jogs into second.
Lee Gutterman comes in to face Henderson.
Henderson pops up to second.
Piazza K's to end the inning

4-3 Dodgers

Top 8
John Wetteland is on to face the middle of the Cubs' order
Biggio pops the first pitch into shallow right for Bean
Leyritz grounds to second
Gant lines a shot up the middle that Fletcher makes a play like I've never seen in my life for the out.

Bottom 8
Valentin pops out
Snyder singles past both a diving Gant and Silvestri. We contemplate a pinch runner, but prefer to keep Snyder's hot bat in the lineup.
Devo works a full count, but ground into a double play.
3 outs away.

4-3 Dodgers

Top 9
Rod Beck is in
Grace grounds to Valentin – 1 out
Dave Valle K's – 2 out
Dave Silvestri draws a walk
Scott Brosius hits for Gutterman
Brosius hits a flyball to center that seems to take forever to come down into White's glove. But it does eventually and the Dodgers have won the NLCS.

Final Score: 4-3 Dodgers

OCTOBER 11th
 

AL Game #3 – Kansas City at Toronto

Twenty nine hits and ten walks in this game. Toronto puts it to John Smiley and the Royals. Pat Hentgen has his own troubles allowing 8 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings, but it's enough as six run fifth inning does in the Royals.

The Blue Jays have a 2-1 lead in the series





Meanwhile, the Mets and Wade Boggs came to an agreement on a 3-year $12 million deal. Boggs was going to be our #1 free agent target this off season. Gaetti had a very good year for us, but we were looking to add left-handed hitters to our lineup, and Boggs is one of the best.

With a few days off until our next game, we make some inquiries into some other players who might fill a need.

OCTOBER 12th
 

AL Game #4 – Kansas City at Toronto

Toronto takes a 3-1 series lead.

Mike Moore has a strong outing going 7 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks. Greg Gagne matched that hit total and drove in 2 late runs vs Michael Jackson to extend the Jays' lead in the game. Ken Caminiti and Mark Whitten had fourth inning singles that turned the Royals' one run lead into a one run defecit.

OCTOBER 13th
 

AL Game #5 – Kansas City at Toronto

Kansas City hasn't found their regular season offense, but Brett Saberhagen's 7 inning outing was remeinsicent of how he pitched during the season. He allows just 4 hits, 2 walks and 1 run while striking out 6. Jose Rijo was almost as good in 6 innings giving up 6 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs with 5 K's. Lenny Dykstra's 5th inning 2 run homerun was the big blow.

Toronto sill leads the series 3 games to 2.



Randy Myers re-ups with the Mets for 2 years and $4.4 million. The veteran had 35 saves, 160 ERA+ and 68 FIP- in 67.2 innings.

OCTOBER 15th
 

AL Game #6 – Toronto at Kansas City

Kevin Appier pitches a gem. Seven innings, 4 hits, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts. But 2 unearned runs had Toronto in the lead. But a Tony Phillips two-run double keyed a 5 run rally off of Todd Stottlemyer in the bottom of the 7th and the Royals came back for a 7-3 win.

The series will go to a seventh game.

OCTOBER 16th
 

AL Game #7 – Toronto at Kansas City

No smiles for KC as Toronto scores six first-inning runs of John Smiley. Three straight singles to open the game, then 3 more with a double mixed in to end the inning. John Olerud finishes 5 for 6. Bob Walk gets an asthetically pleasing 3.3 inning save. The Blue Jays dispatach the favored Royals 13-5 in game #7.

OCTOBER 17th
 

Decisions to make for the World Series roster.

On the pitching side, Toronto has a more balanced (and powerful) lineup than the Cubs did. The Jays were 2nd in Runs, 3rd in Average, 3rd in OBP, and 2nd in OPS and wOBA.

They've got 4 switch-hitters, 2 left-handed hitters and 3 right-handed hitters in their regular lineup. Lefties Olerud and McGriff do hit 3-4.

They had a .806 OPS vs right-handed pitchers and .778 vs lefties, so, not a huge difference.

We'll stay with our same pitching staff

SP: Mark Langston, Tim Belcher, Orel Hershiser and either Pedro Astacio or Ramon Martinez
RRP: Jim Gott, John Wetteland, Rod Beck, Pedro Martinez and either Ramon Martinez or Pedro Astacio
LRP: Kent Mercker, Tony Fossas



The Jays only have one left-handed pitcher who pitched significant innings for them this year – former Dodger Jesse Orosco.

We also have a DH spot to think about. We had enough trouble finding hitters for RF and 1B.

We make one change. We add Carlos Hernandez to the roster. With the Blue Jays' nearly entirely right-handed pitching staff we want to have the left-handed hitting Darren Fletcher available to pinch hit. So, we bring a 3rd catcher.

So, who do we drop?
We need Chris Donnels' left-handed bat
We need Jose Offerman as a pinch runner and infielder
Bill Bean, a left-handed hitter, will start in RF
That leaves Mike Huff or Billy Ashley

Ashley is the better hitter vs left-handed pitching, Huff better vs right-handers. The Jays have more right-handers so, it should be Huff, right? Easy choice. Well, no.

Who would we pinch hit for late in games? Maybe Scott Fletcher?
But definitely Bill Bean if they bring in Orosco to face him. Ashley has the potential to do damage there. But, Huff is the more complete player in case of an injury to an OFer. Huff is a better base runner, thus, pinch runner.

We go with Ashley

C: Mike Piazza, Darren Fletcher, Carlos Hernandez
IF: Dave Hollins, Scott Fletcher, Gary Gaetti, Jon Valentin, Chris Donnels, Jose Offerman
OF: Rickey Henderson, Devon White, Cory Snyder, Bill Bean, Billy Ashley

OCTOBER 18th
 

WORLD SERIES Game #1 Dodgers at Blue Jays

Today's starting pitchers are Mark Langston (L) (15-7, 248 ERA+, 68 FIP-) and Jose Rijo (R) (21-8, 142 ERA+, 67 FIP-)

Rijo is a very good pitcher. This is going to be a tough match up for us. He doesn't hold runners on (5/8) well, and Slaught doesn't throw well (5/8, 35%). We'll try to take advantage.

He had a 6.41 K/BB ratio vs right-handed batters but just a 2.75 vs left-handed batters. We consider using Darren Fletcher at catcher, and Piazza at first, but don't want to lose Piazza's glove. Instead we put Fletcher at DH. Dave Hollins was the other choice. Hollins' splits were (.589/.814) and Fletcher's were (.812/.737). Fletcher will face the right-handed starter, and we hope to lure the Jays into bringing in Orosco to face Bean and Fletcher so we can counter with Ashley and Hollins.

World series game 1
 

Top 1
The first pitch of the game is a called strike on the inside corner
Rickey works the count full, and Slaught throws him out on a tapper in front of the plate.
Piazza strikes out swining
Valentin singles up the middle
The count goes full to Snyder and he K's on a pitch way inside.

Bottom 1
Otis Nixon grounds hard to Gaetti, but playing in the ball is too hot for him to handle and he's got no play.
Franco walks on four pitches
Olerud back Rickey up with a fly ball, and some aggressive baserunning by Nixon gets him to third.
Langston falls behind 3-1 and McGriff grounds back to the mound. Langston gets one out at SS but Fletcher doesn't get much on the throw and McGriff beats out the double play attempt.
Caminiti pops up to Snyder in foul ground.

SCORE: 0-0

Top 2
Devo grounds to second on the second pitch
Bean grounds to first on the first pitch
Fletcher works the count full, and takes a called strike 3

Bottom 2
Slaught strokes the first pitch into right for a single
Whiten pops up to Fletcher in shallow right
Greg Gagne walks
Cora grounds into a 6-4-3 double pla

SCORE: 0-0

Top 3
Gaetti works a full count and hammers a ball into the left-field corner for a leadoff double.
Fletcher grounds out to second, and Gaetti moves to third.
On an 0-1 pitch the ball gets away from Slaught and Gaetti scores the first run of the World Series
Rickey works the count and ground to SS on a 3-2 pitch
Piazza pops up

Bottom 3
Nixon grounds up the middle, but Fletcher ranges over and makes the play
Franco hits a much easier ball to Fletcher
Olerud becomes Langston's 3rd walk in as many innings
But McGriff flies out harmlessly to Bean

Dodgers 1-0

Top 4
Valentin grounds out to his counterpart
Snyder and White strike out

Bottom 4
Caminiti leads off with a double to RF
Slaught pops up to shallow LF
Whiten becomes Langston's first strike out
Greg Gagne singles to CF to tie the game
Cora grounds out. But the game is tied

SCORE: 1-1

Top 5
Bean flies into the RCF gap
Fletcher nubs one off the end of the bat that Caminiti takes care of
Gaetti hits one harder to Caminiti that he also takes care of

Bottom 5
Langston strikes out the side – Nixon, Franco and Olerud

SCORE: 1-1

Top 6
Scott Fletcher draws Rijo's first walk of the game.
Rickey singles into left field.
Piazza hits a line drive, but right at Joey Cora at second. One out.
On a 1-1 pitch, Fletcher swipes 3rd and Rickey follows.
Valentin singles over a drawn in infield and Franco's throw gets away from Slaught. Rickey scores as well and Valentin goes to second.
Snyder strikes out for the third time
Devo grounds to second, but Cora's throw is late.
Bill Bean doubles over Caminiti's head. White races around and scores.
That's it for Rijo. Randy St. Claire is on to face Fletcher – K.

Bottom 6
Langston continues to struggle with control, and issues his 4th walk in five innings. This one to McGriff.
He jumps ahead of Caminiti 0-2 and gets him to fly to LF.
Slaught slugs a line drive to CF, but White speeds in to make the play.
Mark Whiten whiffs.

Dodgers 5-1

Top 7
Gaetti pops up and Gagne waves Caminiti off for out number 1
Fletcher pops to shallow center, but Nixon is there
Rickey grounds out to SS

Bottom 7
Langston goes full to Gagne, but gets him to ground out to Fletcher
Cora singles to LF on a 1-2 pitch
Nixon grounds softly to Gaetti, who makes a great play on it. Fletcher has a strong throw to first, but Nixon beats it.
Nixon tries to steal second, but Piazza guns him down.

Dodgers 5-1

Top 8
Piazza flies out to center
Valentin singles to center
That's it for St. Claire. Jose Lima comes in.
Snyder gets in the hole 1-2 but inside outs a pitch into right center. Valentin speeds to third.
Devon White lines a ball past Cora. Dodgers add another
Bean grounds to second and it looks like a sure double play, but no throw to first is made.
Darren Fletcher lines a ball into the LCF gap. He doesn't stop running until slides in safely to third.
Gaetti flies out to CF to end the inning.

Bottom 8
Franco starts off with Langston's 5th walk of the game.
But Olerud hits into an easy 5-4-3 double play.
Langston goes full count to McGriff who skies a ball into LF, but Henderson makes the play just in front of the warning track.

Dodgers 8-1

Top 9
Scott Fletcher leads off with a single past a diving Olerud
Lima is called for a balk and Fletcher is on second.
Rickey, patient as ever, works the count full and singles to center. Fletcher holds at third.
Piazza uncorks a ball that looks like it'll get over the right field wall, but it dies on the track. Whiten uncorks a stupendous throw that nearly gets the tagging up Fletcher.
Robert Taylor replaces Lima
Valentin greets him with a single to LF
We bring in Hollins to get a low-leverage plate appearance before he has to take a high-leverage one. Taylor blows him away.
Devo hits a line drive, but right at Whiten

Bottom 9
Langston is finished after 116 pitches. Jim Gott comes in. Hollins remains at 1B. Ashley comes in to play left, Offerman to play second and Hernandez to catch.
Caminiti K's
As does Don Slaught
And Mark Whitten

FINAL SCORE: 9-1 Dodgers

OCTOBER 19th
 

WORLD SERIES Game #2 Dodgers at Blue Jays

Today's starting pitchers are Tim Belcher (R) (15-8, 149 ERA+, 79 FIP-) and Mike Moore (R) (16-9, 114 ERA+, 99 FIP-)

Mike Moore has below average stuff, average movement and average control.
He had misleadingly even splits (.725 OPS against vs lefties and .723 vs righties). But, lefties had a .356 OBP against him (.312 for righties) and a .81 K/BB ratio (2.19 vs right).

We toy with the idea starting Hollins at DH since Moore doesn't miss many bats, but decide to keep Fletcher there.


NOTE: Forgot to screen cap the lineup

World series game 2
 

Top 1
Rickey works the count full. Then lines a homerun over the left field wall.
Piazza, not as patient, lines a 1-0 pitch into right for a single
Valentin tries to be patient, but Moore pounds the zone. Valentin flies to deep center, but Nixon hauls it in on the warning track.
Snyder flies out to CF on a 1-0 pitch
And Devo grounds out to second on the first pitch he sees.
Patience is a virtue, but we'll take jumping out to a 1-0 lead.

Bottom 1
Nixon K's on 3 pitches
Franco lines a single between Gaetti and Valentin
Olerud grounds into a 4-6-3 double play

Dodgers 1-0

Top 2
Bean grounds out to short
Darren Fletcher lines a ball just over the right field wall
Gaetti flies out to Nixon in right center
Fletcher singles to right.
Moore and Slaught are both average at holding runners, so with 2 out we will try and get Fletcher into scoring position for Rickey
Rickey takes a ball, then a strike. Fletcher goes on the 1-1 pitch, it's inside but the throw gets him.

Bottom 2
McGriff grounds to Fletcher
Slaught sends White on a long run, but he makes the play.
The OF is shifted to left for Caminiti but he lines a ball into right. Bean gets a great jump and makes an incredible diving play.

Dodgers 2-0

Top 3
Rickey, having seen 9 of Moore's pitches already, singles to CF on an 0-1 pitch
Piazza K's on a 2-2 pitch, but Rickey swipes second.
Valentin grounds to SS and Rickey advances to 3rd
Snyder singles through Joey Cora to drive in Rickey.
Devo lines a ball off the CF wall, but Snyder has to hold at 3rd.
Bean hits it down the LF line, but Franco is able to make the play

Bottom 3
Whitten squibs a ball down the 3B line and Gaetti can't make the play.
Gagne strikes out.
Cora draws a walk then Gagne and Cora pull off a double steal.
Nixon flies to RF. Bean unlashes a laser and Gagne is out at home easily.

Dodgers 3-0

Top 4
Darren Fletcher flies out to left center
Gaetti draws a walk
We think about a hit and run with Fletcher, but don't call for it. He walks on 4 pitches.
Rickey flies out to LF
Piazza flies out to deeper LF

Bottom 4
Franco grounds out to Fletcher
Olerud draws a walk
McGriff grounds up the middle. Fletcher over, to short, back to first. 4-6-3

Dodgers 3-0

Top 5
Valentin works a full count walk
Snyder smokes a ball to Caminiti who starts the double play.
Devon White lines a single to right
Bean flies out to right center

Bottom 5
Belcher walks Slaught on 4 pitches
Caminiti lines a ball into the right center field gap. Slaught, running like a catcher, holds at third.
Hittin' Mark Whitten singles them in
Gagne misses two bunts but then singles to right. Whiten goes to third.
Cora lines a ball over Rickey's head, but he's able to make the catch. Whitten scores.
Nixon grounds to Fletcher, but beats the relay throw.
Belcher tries to pick him off, but throws the ball away.
We go talk with him to try to settle him down.
Franco doubles down the right field line
He walks Olerud
McGriff grounds to second to, finally, end the inning.

Blue Jays 4-3

Top 6
Fletcher grounds to second
Gaetti grounds a ball past Caminiti
Fletcher pops up
A wild pitch moves Gaetti into scoring position
Rickey lines the ball hard, but right at Nixon

Bottom 6
Ramon Martinez in to pitch
Slaught singles past a diving Gaetti
Caminiti misses a bunt, then Martinez throws three straight balls to walk him
Whitten grounds to Gaetti. But Fletcher is uncharicteristically unsmooth and we don't turn the double play.
Gagne grounds to Fletcher and this time we are smooth. 4-6-3

Blue Jays 4-3

Top 7
Piazza hits one deep, but not deep enough, to left.
Valentin and Snyder both work full counts, but Valentin pops out to shallow center and Snyder K's.

Bottom 7
Cora grounds up the middle. Valentin dives and makes the play
Valentin makes an easier play on Nixon's ground ball
Franco flies out to Bean

Blue Jays 4-3

Top 8
Mike Moore gets a ton of handshakes for his 7 innings of work. Xavier Hernandez on to pitch
Devo K's
Bean walks.
Fletcher grouns into a double play.

Bottom 8
Tony Fossas is in to face the Jays' lefties
Olerud K's
McGriff walks.
John Wetteland relieves Fossas
Slaught K's and Olerud is thrown out by...a few steps.

Blue Jays 4-3

Top 9
We don't like the Hernandez vs Gaetti matchup and bring in Donnels
Donnels looks at strike 3
Scott Fletcher grounds out on a 3-1 pitch
Rickey works a full count and
flies out to LF.

FINAL SCORE: 4-3 Blue Jays

We lose our first game of the 1993 post season.
It's minimal consolation that we turned 5 double plays in the game.

OCTOBER 21st
 

WORLD SERIES Game #3 Blue Jays at Dodgers

Today's starting pitchers are Todd Stottlemyre (R) (18-10, 106 ERA+, 93 FIP-) and Orel Hershiser (R) (15-11, 112 ERA+, 82 FIP-)


Back home for game 3.

No DH, so Darren Fletcher not being in the lineup is our only change. The Jays are impacted more by having to sit Olerud, though he looms large as a pinch hitter.

World series game 3
 

Top 1
Nixon flies out to Henderson on the LF line.
Caminiti K's
Franco grounds out to Snyder.

Bottom 1
Henderson grounds out to Caminiti
Piazza lines out to Nixon
Valentin grounds out. A 7 pitch inning for Stottlemyre – not our recipie for success.

Score: 0-0

Top 2
McGriff grounds out to his counterpart
Whitten singles to CF
Slaught, with Whitten running, grounds to first. Whitten ends up on second
Gagne singles to CF to score Whitten
Sojo grounds into a fielder's choice 6-4

Bottom 2
Cory Snyder pops up to right
White grounds to SS
Bean doubles down the RF line.
Gaetti grounds to third

1-0 Blue Jays

Top 3
Stottlemyre takes 5 pitches and K's
Nixon singles past Snyder and Piazza guns him down trying to steal second
Caminiti grounds to Valentin

Bottom 3
Hershiser pops up to third
Fletcher pops up to right
Rickey grounds out to second

1-0 Blue Jays

Top 4
Franco K's
McGriff singles past a diving Fletcher
Whitten pops up to Gaetti in foul ground
Slaught doubles down the left field line and McGriff scores
Gagne strikes out to end the inning

Bottom 4
Piazza leads off with a ground ball single to left
On a 3-2 pitch, on a ball at eye level, Valentin grounds into a double play.
Snyder whiffs

2-0 Blue Jays

Top 5
Hershiser walks Luis Sojo and has to be removed from the game due to a pain in his abdomen.
With Orel's spot up 4th next inning, we decide to bring in Jim Gott. Hoping 1) he'll pitch a shut out inning and 2) we can pinch hit for him next inning.
Stottlemyre misses on 2 of 3 bunt attempts, but the third one moves Sojo to second.
Nixon drills a ball off the right centerfield wall. Nixon stops at second. Then tries to steal third, but Piazza guns him down for the second time.
Caminiti strikes out

Bottom 5
Devon White draws a leadoff walk. Stottlemyre doesn't hold runners on well, so White has a green light.
Bean loops a ball into short right, but Sojo gets back to make the out
Stottlemyre throws to first multiple times.
White steals successfully on a 3-1 pitch that's a called strike
Gaetti lines out to third.
We have to send a hitter up – either Donnels or Fletcher. Donnels walks more. We go with Fletcher. Who pops up to left.

3-0 Blue Jays

Top 6
Pedro Martinez on to pitch
He walks Franco, who steals second
McGriff K's
Whitten grounds out up the middle. Franco moves to third.
Slaught grounds back to Martinez

Bottom 6
Fletcher pops up to right
Rickey draws a walk and is a threat to steal
On a 1-1 pitch Rickey goes, it's a pitch out, and he's out.
Piazza singles to right
Valentin singles to center
Snyder hits it deep to left, but not deep enough

3-0 Blue Jays

Top 7
Gagne draws a walk
Soto tries to bunt, and with faster than cat like reflexes, Pedro leaps off the mound and makes the catch in the air.
Gagne steals second, and Stottlemyre, the pitcher, laces a double down the line
Nixon strikes out
Caminiti dunks a ball into left center, Stottlemyre scores
Caminiti steals second
Franco strikes out

Bottom 7
White leads off with a single
Bean grounds hard, but right at Sojo. 6-4-Bean beats it out.
Gaetti K's
Donnels in to pinch hit
3-2, Donnels lines to left, but Franco is there

5-0 Blue Jays

Top 8
Kent Mercker in to pitch
He K's McGriff
Whitten singles to right
Slaught flies out to Bean
Gagne grounds hard to Gaetti. End of inning

Bottom 8
Fletcher hits a ball about 5 feet. Slaught throws him out at first
Rickey grounds weakly to third
Piazza singles to right
Valentin singles to left
Snyder...pops up to right field

5-0 Blue Jays

Top 9
Beck reliever Mercker
Sojo grounds out
Stottlemyre stays in the game and K's
Nixon grounds out to second

Bottom 9 – last chance
Devon White sees 5 pitches that are out of the zone and pops up foul for the first out.
Bean doesn't swing, and draws a walk
Gaetti flies out to right
Jose Offerman pinch hits for Beck. He walks
With Stottlemyre struggling with control, we take out Fletcher who doesn't walk much and bring in Hollins, who has a better eye.
A 2-1 pitch is grounded to second and that's the game

FINAL SCORE: 5-0 Blue Jays



NOTE: Hershiser is diagnosed with an abdominal strain. It's going to take a few days before he'll be back to 100%.

OCTOBER 22nd
 

The first question, is what to do about Hershiser. He strained an abdominal muscle in the last game.

Now we are down in the series and doubley short on pitching. First, the bullpen is a little worn due to Hershiser's short outing. Second, we don't know if Hershiser will be able to make his next start should we get that far.

If he stays up, he won't pitch again until a possible game seven. If he goes to the IL, Ramon will start game seven and we'll have an extra fresh arm in the pen.

We elect to keep Hershiser on the roster for now.




WORLD SERIES Game #4 Blue Jays at Dodgers

Today's starting pitchers are Pat Hentgen (R) (12-10, 110 ERA+, 89 FIP-) and Pedro Astacio (R) (11-10, 156 ERA+, 81 FIP-)

Hentgen is another right-handed pitcher and we go with our same lineup. Just hoping for better results than we got the last 2 games.

World series game 4
 

Top 1
Astacio starts out with a K of Nixon
Then Caminiti grounds to Valentin
Franco singles up the middle
As does McGriff
Whiten grounds up the middle. Valentin corrals it and takes it to second himself.

Bottom 1
Rickey leads off by dropping a single in front of Franco in left.
Hentgen is better than average at holding runners
Piazza is hit by a pitch.
With the infield back, Valentin fouls off a bunt. Then doubles off the CF wall. Henderson scores and Piazza stops at 3rd.
Snyder hits it down the RF line and...it lands inches foul. Then he strikes out.
Devo strikes out as well
Bean grounds out to second.
What could have been a big inning...wasn't

Dodgers 1-0

Top 2
Slaught leads off with a single to left
Gagne grouns into a 5-4-3 double play.
Sojo looks at strike 3

Bottom 2
Gaetti K's
Astacio grounds back to Hentgen
Fletcher grounds out to third

Dodgers 1-0

Top 3
Hentgen grounds back to Astacio
Nixon singles over a leaping Fletcher and immediately steals second
Caminiti flies out to Henderson
Nixon moves up to third
Franco homers to left.
McGriff pops out to short.

Bottom 3
Rickey grounds to first
Piazza grounds to second
Valentin doesn't ground to third, but pops out to center

2-1 Blue Jays

Top 4
Whiten draws a walk
Slaught sacrifices him to second
Whiten steals third
Gagne taps back to Astacio
On an 0-2 pitch Astacio balks Whiten home, then Sojo strikes out

Bottom 4
Snyder walks
Devo lines out to Nixon in center
Snyder takes second on Hentgen's pickoff error
Bean K's
Gaetti singles into left center and Snyder scoroes
Astacio strikes out

3-2 Blue Jays

Top 5
Hentgen pops up to Valentin
Nixon grounds out to Valentin
Caminiti pops to shallow center and Devo makes the diving grab

Bottom 5
Fletcher singles to left
Rickey works a full count and grounds into a double play
Piazza strikes out

3-2 Blue Jays

Top 6
Franco lines a ball though Snyder at first
McGriff flies out to Devo in center
Whiten singles past Fletcher and Franco races to third
Slaught grounds to second, Fletcher goes to Valentin at second...and that's all. Whiten scores
Gagne grounds out to Gaetti

Bottom 6
Valentin flies to right
Snyder flies to left
Devon White homers just over Mark Whiten's
Bean lines back up the middle, but Gagne makes the play.

4-3 Blue Jays

Top 7
Sojo grounds out to Valentin
Surprisingly, Joey Cora hits for Hentgen and flies out to Bean in shallow right
Nixon tries to bunt but pops it up and Gaetti races in to make the play.

Bottom 7
Willie Blair comes in to pitch
Gaetti grounds it over the third base bag into the corner and stops at second with a double.
Blair limits walks, so we choose Fletcher over Donnels as a pinch hitter.
He lines a shot into left. Gaetti rounds third, but holds up.
Jose Offerman pinch runs for Fletcher.
Toronto brings the infield in to try to cut off the run at the plate
Fletcher K's on a check swing on a ball pretty down the middle
Rickey grounds to first. McGriff checks Gaetti and steps on first. Offerman goes to second.
Piazza singles in front of a diving Whitten. Gaetti and Offerman score.
Valentin walks
Snyder K's to end the inning

Dodgers 5-4

Top 8
Caminiti is much better vs lefties, so Jim Gott is on the mound.
Caminiti grounds to Fletcher
Franco rips the first pitch he sees into left center for a double
Fossas is on to face McGriff. He gets the K.
Whiten flies down the left field line and Rickey is there to make the catch.

Bottom 8
Devo grounds to first, but it's off McGriff's glove.
The Jays bring in Orosco to face Bean. We counter with Billy Ashley
Ashley flies to right center
White goes on a 1-2 pitch. Gaetti lifts it down the left field line and it falls just foul. After a ball, White goes again. Gaetti swings and grounds back to Orosco who throws to first for the out.
Dave Hollins hits for Fossas against Orosco. He hammers a ball to deep center, Nixon goes back, back, and makes the catch on the warning track.

Dodgers 5-4

Top 9
Wetteland replaces Hollins. Ashley stays in for Bean
John Olerud hits for Slaught. He singles to right
Former Dodger, Jim Eisenrich, hits for Gagne and singles up the middle. Olerud stops at second.
Sojo misses on two bunts and strikes out.
Carlos Delgado hits for Orosco. Pops up behind second where Valentin makes the grab.
Nixon grounds sharply up the middle (my heart jumps in my throat). Fletcher over, gloves, throws, out.

FINAL SCORE: 5-4 Dodgers

OCTOBER 23rd
 

WORLD SERIES Game #5 Blue Jays at Dodgers

Today's starting pitchers are Jose Rijo (R) (21-8, 142 ERA+, 67 FIP-) and Mark Langston (L) (15-7, 248 ERA+, 68 FIP-)

Same matchup as in game 1. We go with the same lineup – minus Fletcher.

World series game 5
 

Top 1
Langston stars off the game with a K of Nixon
Caminiti grounds a difficult ball to Gaetti, and he's charged with an error.
Franco K's
McGriff singles up the middle
As does Whitten – to score Caminiti. McGriff tries for third but White throws him out.

Bottom 1
Rickey pops up to second base
Piazza K's
Valentin sends a ball to deep right center, but Nixon tracks it down

1-0 Blue Jays

Top 2
Slaught taps back to Langston
Gagne K's
Cora pops up to left

Bottom 2
Snyder K's
Devo K's
Bean grounds to SS

1-0 Blue Jays

Top 3
Rio shoots a ball past Fletcher into right
Nixon walks
Langston goes 3-0 to Caminiti who pops up to Fletcher
Franco flies out down the right field line
McGriff grounds hard up the middle, Fletcher ranges to cut it off, and throws McGriff out at first.

Bottom 3
Gaetti K's. The ball gets away from Slaught, but Gaetti is thrown out at first
Langston K's
Fletcher grounds to second, and Cora can't make the play.
With Rijo average at holding runners and 2 out, we'll see if Fletcher can steal a base
On a 2-1 pitch, Fletcher has the green light, and Rickey fouls a ball off.
On the 2-2 pitch, Fletcher goes and is safe.
Rickey pops out to RF

1-0 Blue Jays

Top 4
Whitten K's
Slaught flies out to White in right center
Gagne lines a two-out double down the left field line
Cora taps back to Langston, who can't make the play.
Rijo drops a single in front of Henderson
Nixon grounds out to Gaetti

Bottom 4
Piazza singles past Caminiti at third
Valentin follows with a walk
Snyder singles up the middle to load the bases
Devo checks his swing on a ball right down the middle – K
Bean grounds to third, Caminiti dives to make the stop. He pops up and throws high to second. Everybody safe.
Gaetti works a full count and hits a towering fly to center. Valentin tags...safe. Snyder tags and goes to thrid.
Langston K's to end the inning

SCORE: 2-2

Top 5
Caminiti scorches a ball right at Valentin, who can't make the play
Franco grounds back to Langston, who throws to second, Fletcher can't make the relay.
McGriff singles to center1
Whitten grounds to Snyder who gloves, steps on first, fires to second...OUT. Double play!

Bottom 5
Fletcher lifts a ball to shallow center.
Rickey shoots one down the right field line. Whitten hussles over to hold him to a single.
Piazza grounds up the middle. Rijo chases it down and throws Ricke out at second.
Valentin grounds to Caminiti who throws Piazza out at second.

SCORE: 2-2

Top 6
Slaught grounds to first
Gagne grounds to third
Cora hammers a pitch to center but White tracks it down

Bottom 6
Snyder looks at a called strike 3
Devo pops up to center
Bean walks
With Gaetti up and the pitcher up next, we'll try and swipe second.
On a 2-0 pitch Bean goes, and Slaught throws him out.

SCORE: 2-2

Top 7
Rio taps back to the mound on the first pitch
Nixon singles to left on Langston's 96th pitch of the game
We call a pitch out. Nixon goes. Piazza throws down and the ball gets away into CF. Nixon to third
Caminiti lines a ball to center field, White gets back to make the play, but Nixon scores.
Franco K's

Bottom 7
Gaetti leads off with a single to center.
Darren Fletcher hits for Langston and grounds into a 4-6-3 double play
Scott Fletcher hits a ball about 10 feet in front of the plate, and Slaught throws him out.

3-2 Blue Jays

Top 8
Kent Mercker in to pitch
McGriff singles to right
Whitten singles to left center
Rod Beck comes in
Slaught grounds up the middle, Valentin grabs, tosses to Fletcher, who fires to first. Double play.
Gagne grounds to second.

Bottom 8
Xavier Hernandez comes in for McGriff, Carlos DelGado comes in to play first and hit ninth.
Rickey works a full count and pops out to shallow center
Piazza singles over a leaping Cora
Valentin pops out to center
Cory Snyder strikes out

3-2 Blue Jays

Top 9
Beck strikes out Cora with a wicked splitter
Delgado strikesout on a slider
Nixon strikes out on a splitter

Bottom 9
White pops up to shallow left, Gagne back to make the play.
Bill Bean smashes a ball to deep left center, back, back...gone!
Gaetti pops up to center field
Dave Hollins pinch hits for Beck
He swings at a pitch around his shoetops and dunks it into right center
Jose Offerman pinch runs
On 0-1 he goes, Fletcher takes a ball, throw down...safe
Fletcher grounds up the middle...Gagne over...gloves and makes the play. To extras

SCORE: 3-3

Top 10
Olerud in to hit, so Fossas in to pitch
We have to decide if we'd rather have Offerman, 8th in the order, at second or Fletcher, 9th in the order, at second. We go with defense.
Fossas walks Olerud
Then Franco
Eisenrich is announced as the hitter.
We go to the mound to try and calm Fossas down.
Fossas goes full to Olerud and gets him to pop up.
Whitten is a bit worse vs lefties, so we let Fossas face him. Whitten hits a soft liner up the middle, Valentin can't make the play. Bases loaded.
Ramon Martinez on to pitch
Slaught singles through the draw in infield – two runs score
Martinez throws a wild pitch. Runners advance to second and third
Gagne grounds to third, another run scores
Cora flies out to center

Bottom 10
Jesse Orosco on to pitch
Rickey walks
Piazza lines into right center for a double. Rickey doesn't risk it and holds up at third.
Valentin rips a double down the left field line. Rickey and Piazza score.
Bob Walk in to pitch.
Cory Snyder lines a ball to right, Delgado snares it on the fly. Valentin is caught off second for a double play.
Devon White bloops a ball to shallow left. Franco charges, dives...game over

FINAL SCORE: 6-5 Blue Jays

OCTOBER 25th
 

WORLD SERIES Game #6 Dodgers at Blue Jays

Today's starting pitchers are Tim Belcher (R) (15-8, 149 ERA+, 79 FIP-) and Mike Moore (R) (16-9, 114 ERA+, 99 FIP-)

What could be our last lineup of the year. We flip-flop Bean and Fletcher in the lineup to move Bean's speed down in front of the lesser hitters.

World series game 6
 

Top 1
Rickey leads off with a 5 pitch walk
Rickey goes on a 1-2 pitch, Piazza swings and drives a ball to right. But Whitten makes the play on the warning track.
Valentin flies out to center
With Cory Snyder up, Moore throws over to first 5 straight times, then pitches out. On a 1-1 pitch Rickey steals. Snyder lines out to right.

Bottom 1
Nixon lines to Henderson on Belcher's first pitch
Franco grounds to second on Belcher's second pitch
Olerud doubles down the right field line on the third pitch
McGriff grounds to Snyder on the fourth pitch

SCORE: 0-0

Top 2
White flies out to Franco in left
Fletcher flies out to Nixon in center
Bean grounds out to Olerud at first

Bottom 2
Slaught singles to right
Caminiti looks at strike 3
Whitten singles to right
Belcher throws a wild pitch, Slaught scores and Whiten goes to second
Gagne grounds to second, Whitten advances
Cora singles up the middle, Whitten scores
Nixon flies out to right

2-0 Blue Jays

Top 3
Gaetti grounds to thrid
Fletcher singles past Olerud
Rickey singles to center, Fletcher hustles to third.
Three consecutive throws to first.
Piazza grounds hard up the middle, Cora stops it, but has no play. Fletcher scores on the play.
Valentin grounds a ball to Cora's left. He dives, throws...safe at first. Bases loaded.
Snyder walks
White singles into left. Rickey scores, Valentin rounds third and scores.
Darren Fletcher grounds into a double play. Inning over

Bottom 3
Franco strikes out
Olerud lines out to Valentin
McGriff lines a ball into left center for a double
Slaught grounds out to his counterpart.

Dodgers 4-2

Top 4
Bill Bean is hit by a pitch
Gaetti takes 2 balls, then a strike.
Bean steals second on a called strike
Gaetti flies out to center. Bean doesn't advance
Fletcher hits a comebacker to Morgan and beats the throw to first. Runners at the corners
Rickey lines a ball past a leaping Olerud. Fletcher ends up on third.
That's it for Morgan. Bob Walk is on to pitch
The 2-2 pitch to Piazza misses outside, and Rickey steals second.
Piazza grounds to first. Runners stay put.
Valentin lines hard to right. Whitten doesn't move a step and makes the grab

Bottom 4
Caminiti grounds to Gaetti
Whitten flies out to Bean
Gagne grounds out to Fletcher

Dodgers 5-2

Top 5
Cory Snyder hammers a ball down the right field line that careens off the wall. He slides in with a double
With the defense playing back, White tries to bunt, but comes up empty. Caminiti comes in at third. Walk gets ahead 0-2 then walks White on 4 straight
Fletcher lines a ball over Caminiti's head. Bases loaded.
Blue Jays bring the infield in
Bill Bean pops up on the infield
Gaetti K's.
Fletcher singles to center. Two runs score. Nixon air mails the throw home and the Fletchers are at second and third.
Rickey walks. Bases loaded for Piazza who works a full count and dribbles back to Walk.

Bottom 5
Cora grounds to Snyder, who boots it.
Nixon singles to left
Franco K's
Olerud looks at a called strike 3 down the middle
McGriff flies out to shallow center

Dodgers 7-2

Top 6
Valentin K's
Snyder grounds out to SS
With the defense back, White fouls off a bunt. Infield in. He bloops a ball towards first, that Olerud can't get a hold on. Base hit.
Jose Lima in to face Fletcher
He greets him with single to center on the first pitch
Bill Bean tries to do the same, but Cora is over to get it...but Bean beats the throw. White scores.
Gaetti grounds out to third

Bottom 6
Slaught grounds to Snyder
Caminiti grounds back to Belcher
Whiten flies out to Bean

Dodgers 8-2

Top 7
We instruct our hitters to be more patient trying to wear out the bullpen as much as possible for (a possible game) tomorrow.
Fletcher grounds out
Rickey grounds out to Cora
Piazza lines to right, but Whitten makes a diving grab

Bottom 7
Gagne grounds to Valentin
Cora singles to right
Nixon grounds to Gaetti, who throws to second for one...and Nixon is too fast.
Franco flies out to Bean

Dodgers 8-2

Top 8
Valentin lines out to Franco
Snyder lines a single to center
Devo lines out to center
Fletcher flies out to center

Bottom 8
Olerud lines out to left
McGriff lines a ball over Bean's head, and over the RF fence
Slaught singles into right
Caminiti flies out to White in shallow center
Whitten flies out to White in deep center

Dodgers 8-3

Top 9
Bean pops up
Gaetti flies out to center
Fletcher grounds hard to Gagne, who doesn't have a throw.
Rickey flies out to center.

Bottom 9
Gagne grounds out to Snyder
Cora grounds out to Gaetti
Nixon grounds to Fletcher

FINAL SCORE: 8-3 Dodgers

One more game.

OCTOBER 26th
 

WORLD SERIES Game #7 Dodgers at Blue Jays

One game for the championship.

Our first decision is who is going to start. Orel still isn't over his abdominal strain, but he says he can go. Thanks to Belcher's complete game, we've got a pretty rested bullpen. Ramon is also available to start, as is his brother, Pedro. We're also giving some thought to starting a left-handed reliever to get us through McGriff and Olerud for the first time. No matter what we decide, we'll be aggressive with our bullpen use. There's no tomorrow.

Stottlemyre shut us out in game 3. We'll send the same lineup out to face him, plus Fletcher at DH, and hope for a better performance.



Today's starting pitchers are Kent Mercker (L) (7-5, 193 ERA+, 58 FIP-) and Todd Stottlemyre (R) (18-10, 106 ERA+, 93 FIP-)

World series game 7
 

Top 1
Rickey leads off with a walk. Stottlemyer is well below average at holding runners, so Rickey has a green light.
Piazza flies out to right
Valentin takes strike 1. Rickey goes, pitch out-out.
Valentin singles up the middle
Snyder K's

Bottom 1
Nixon grounds to SS. And Valentin's throw gets him by a step
Franco walks on 4 pitches.
Olerud singles to right, Franco races to third.
McGriff hits a ground ball right at Fletcher, who goes to Valentin for one. Valentin has trouble with the transfer and McGriff beats it out. Franco scores on the play
Caminiti walks
Slaught grounds out to Gaetti

1-0 Blue Jays

Top 2
Devo a deep fly to right. That's Good!. Home run
Fletcher grounds out to Caminiti
Bean flies out to right
Gaetti strikes out

Bottom 2
Mercker stays in to face Whiten who struggles a bit vs lefties and gets him to fly to right.
Hershiser relieves Mercker
Gagne grounds to Valentin whose throw is low and Snyder can't handle it.
Cora strikes out
Nixon grounds to Fletcher who doesn't risk a throw and takes it to second himself.

SCORE: 1-1

Top 3
Fletcher singles to right.
Rickey hammers a ball down the line that lands just foul. Then strikes out.
Fletcher goes on a 1-0 pitch. Piazza singles up the middle, and Fletcher continues to third.
Valentin pops up on the first pitch.
Snyder flies out to center

Bottom 3
Franco lines out to Henderson
Olerud grounds to Snyder who kicks it.
McGriff lines a ball into deep right center. Bean races over...leaps...makes the grab
Caminiti strikes out

SCORE: 1-1

Top 4
Devo strikes out
As does Darren Fletcher
Bean lines a shot past Caminiti at third
Gaetti flies out to center field

Bottom 4
Slaught grounds out to short stop
Whitten flies out to center
Gagne pops up on the infield, Fletcher races in to make the grab before the ball finds the ground

SCORE: 1-1

Top 5
Fletcher grounds out to short
Rickey grounds out to short
Piazza lines a base hit into right
Valentin nubs a ball to the right side. Cora races in, but can't make the play
Snyder hammers a ball down the right field line. Whitten over, leaps, makes the catch

Bottom 5
Cora grounds to Fletcher
As does Nixon
Nixon rips a ball over Bean's head. He has some trouble getting it, and Franco is on third.
Tony Fossas relieves Hershiser.
Olerud grounds to Snyder

SCORE: 1-1

Top 6
Devo hits a Human Rocket back up the middle for a single
On a 1-1 pitch, White goes. Fletcher swings though, and White is safe.
Fletcher flies to right, but not deep enough to advance White.
Bean gets plunked
Gaetti flies to left center, but Franco is there.
Fletcher gets up in the count 2-0, grounds a ball hard up the middle, but Gagne is there.

Bottom 6
McGriff grounds to third
Jim Gott in to face Caminiti who flies to center
Slaught strikes out

SCORE: 1-1

Top 7
Rickey flies out to center
Piazza singles to left
Valentin pops up behind first
Snyder flies out to right on a 3-1 pitch

Bottom 7
Whitten drills a ball to right for a leadoff double
Gagne singles and Whitten scores
Cora lines to center, but White makes an outstanding catch
Nixon grounds up the middle, Fletcher over, flips to Valentin, who doesn't have a throw.
Rod Beck in to face Franco
Strikes him out

2-1 Blue Jays

Top 8
That's it for Stottlemyre. Xavier Hernandez on. He threw 35 pitches in game 5, so we'll try to work the count against him.
Devo rips a ball down the left field line, but it's just foul. He works the count full and singles to left.
Fletcher drills a ball to the right center field gap. Nixon races, dives, makes the catch. White tags up and goes to second.
Bean strikes out
Chris Donnels pinch hits for Gaetti...grounds to second.

Bottom 8
Donnels stays in at third
Beck walks Olerud
Then falls behind McGriff 2-0, but gets him to fly out to left.
Caminiti strikes out
Slaught doubles past Donnels, but Olerud stays at third.
Beck falls behind Whitten, but gets him to fly to Rickey

2-1 Blue Jays

Top 9
Fletcher pops up to first
Rickey works a full count and draws a walk
Hernandez is out after 28 pitches.
Left-hander Jesse Orosco in
Piazza lines hard to center, but Nixon is there.
After a pitch out and a few throws to first, Rickey swipes second. Valentin ahead in the count 2-1
Drives a ball down the right field line...just foul. 2-2
Valentin fouls off another
Then strikes out.

End of season
 

REVIEW OF GOALS
Upgrade Right field – We weren't too concerned about meeting this goal, but we thought that moving Bonilla there would take care of it. Unfortunately, Bonilla had, by far, his worst season.

Increase Attendance – Similarly, we didn't take too many steps specifically towards this goal. But going from 82 wins to winning the division did the trick

Make the Playoffs – This is the goal we were striving for. And we squeaked it out by a game.

Build a Dynasty – We've won our division 4 out of 5 years. Gone to the World Series 3 out of 5 years and won two of them. High expectations.


NEXT YEAR'S GOALS
Upgrade at First Base – Hollins was the primary first baseman last year playing 857 of 1454.2 innings (59%). He had just an 84 wRC+ and -2 WAR. Chris Donnels was second in first base innings. He had a 79 wRC+ and .2 WAR. Bobby Bonilla was third. He had a 100 wRC+ and 1.5 WAR (mostly played RF). We definitely want better production from first next season. Whether that's from Hollins or Bonilla returning to normal or counting on someone new, time will tell.

Sign Orel Hershiser to an Extension – We have a team option on Orel for next year. The manager wants something longer. In an ideal world, Hershiser would stay and stay productive.

Acquire a Power Hitter – We were fifth in the NL in home runs, and fifth in extra base hits. We were ninth in wOBA and Runs Scored. We were eighth in slugging, tenth in on base percentage and eleventh in batting average. Power wasn't the problem with the offense. Getting on base was.

Reach the Playoffs – That's the plan

Build a Dynasty – We feel like the last 5 years have been pretty good. We'll try and make the next 5 even better.


BUDGET
After we made ownership $30,983,461 this year, they gave us an additional $1,000,000 over what we expected to have to work with.

Off season
 

LHP Mark Langston ($2,080,000) – Langston might be the Cy Young winner (more likely second). His one year in LA was excellent. He'll be 33 next season, and will want a lot of money coming off this season. We have 4 solid starters behind him and Pedro Martinez as our #1 prospect.

3B Gary Gaetti ($735,000) – Gaetti had a resurgent year last year. We'll be hoping he's rewarded with a Gold Glove award. We struggled against right-handed pitching last year, and Gaetti was part of that (.648 OPS). Switch hitters Dave Hollins' and Bobby Bonilla's struggles were another part of it. We'll have some decisions to make about 1B, 3B and RF.

RF Cory Snyder ($306,000) – Snyder was a savior after we acquired him in July. His 132 wRC+ as a Dodger helped offset Bonilla's and Hollins' seasons. That performance was well above his established level, though.

2B Scott Fletcher ($1,700,000) – Like Snyder, a July pickup whose performance went a long way towards our division title.


RSP Ramon Martinez ($1,375,000) – Ramon will be in his second year of arbitration. He won a Cy Young in 1991, was injured in 1992 and came back solid this year. We expect him and his brother to pitch important innings for the Dodgers next year

LRP Kent Mercker ($116,800) – Mercker was a mid-season acquisition who pitched well for us down the stretch. He's a solid left-handed reliever in his first year of arbitration

LRP Tony Fossas ($260,000) – Fossas was excellent in his first year in LA. He's in his final year of arbitration.

IF Chris Donnels ($190,000) – Donnels had a down year after being selected by the Rockies in the expansion draft then being traded to LA. He's a fringe starter or solid back up. This is his second year of arbitration

OF Mike Huff ($140,000) – Huff has been a solid backup outfielder for us for the last 5 seasons. Putting up 2.2 WAR in 439 plate appearances. He's got a good eye, solid defense and runs well. He's in his second year of arbitration

OF Bill Bean ($140,000) – Bean is, in many ways, the left-handed version of Huff. A competent player who might be able to start for some teams, but who's been a productive bench player in LA (1.3 WAR in 406 PA's). It's also his second year of arbitration

OF Rick Parker (180,000) – Parker was a post-deadline pick up for us. He didn't play much in LA. He's solid defensively and has good speed. He's been about replacment level in about 850 plate appearances.


RSP Orel Hershiser ($2,400,000/$3,000,000/$600,000) – Hershiser is one of the faces of the Dodgers with 45.5 WAR in 10+ seasons in LA. He's a fan favorite and coming off an excellent year. It would take something unexpected for Hershiser not to be in LA next year. He is 35 and had a significant injury 3 years ago.

OF/1B Bobby Bonilla ($2,250,000/$2,250,000/$250,000) – Bonilla has had 4 very productive years in LA, and, then, last year. He also won the MVP award in 1990. Last year's performance was quite unexpected. It may have been related to the injury that sidelined him for the end of the season. The possibility of him bouncing back is worth more than a measely $2,000,000

RRP Jim Gott ($830,000/$830,000/$300,000) – Gott has been an underated performer the last few seasons. But, his perforance has declined as noted by his FIP- (75 to 81 to 90). But $800,000 isn't much to see if he's got one more good year in him.


LF Rickey Henderson (Year 2 of a 5-year $20,000,000 contract) – Rickey had a down year (3.4 WAR) compared to what we've come to expect, but a year plenty of players would be happy with. We don't regret the contract we've signed him to.

CF Devon White (Year 2 of a 5-year $19,925,000 contract) – White was superb last year with his 3rd consecutive 6 WAR season. At 30, he'll slow down on defense eventually, but he hasn't shown signs yet.

SP Tim Belcher (Year 3 of a 3-year $5,720,000 contract) – Belcher is in the last year of his deal that helped us avoid arbitration with him and gave us one more year of control. A late bloomer, he's already 32. He'd get a hefty contract as a free agent after putting up nothing but 5 WAR seasons since becoming a regular.


C Mike Piazza – A 118 wRC+ and plus defense might not make people forget icon Mike Scioscia, but it certainly helps ease the blow of his retirement.

C Darren Fletcher – Fletcher's first year in the bigs was a success. He actually outhit Piazza with a 121 wRC+ in limited time. Fletcher might be good enough to start for some other teams.

C Carlos Hernandez – Hernandez spent a season and a half in LA, before being bumped by Piazza and then Fletcher. He's a solid back up and probably deserves better than AAA.

1B/3B Dave Hollins – Hollins struggled last year. We expected him to be a big hitter in the middle of the lineup and he put up an 84 wRC+ after 127 and 172 the years before. We'll have to figure out what happened.

2B Jose Offerman – Jose had a mixed year in his first year as an MLB starter. He showed flashes on offense and his .345 OBP would be fine if he had driven the ball at all. His .059 ISO limited his total offensive production. He was also great on the bases, but had defensive issues. We remain optimistic.

SS Jon Valentin – Valentin came a bit out of nowhere last year to be one of the best players on the team. We though we were getting a solid defensive SS whose offense would make him a solid player. What we got was a gold glove candidate with a 128 wRC+.

IF Mike Benjamin – the defensive whiz couldn't quite hold onto a roster spot all season. There was an injury and he didn't show the offense we needed when we wanted some extra help at second. We still think he's a good player and hope he can win a spot on the team.

IF Clay Bellinger – A utility infielder, doesn't excel defensively, but is solid around the infield. He hits...like a back up middle infielder.

IF Eddie Pye – Last year's opening day short stop when Valentin was on the IL. He mashed for the few weeks he was up, but couldn't maintain that performance in AAA. He's good, not great, defensively, and has a more developed bat than either Bellinger of Benjamin.

OF JT Bruett – He was a backup in LA for most of the season until we needed Snyder's bat instead of JT's glove. He'll have a chance to win a backup spot this year.

OF Billy Ashley – Made the playoff roster after spending most of the season in AAA. Had a 237 wRC+ in the playoffs. His power is tantalizing.

OF Raul Mondesi – Added to the 40-man to avoid the Rule V draft last year. He put up a 124 wRC+ 3.7 WAR season in AAA last year. He hits, for average and power, runs, has the range to play center and the arm for right. An exciting player.

RSP Pedro Astacio – Astacio was a pleasant surprise. Filling in when Ryan went down with injury, he fit right into the rotation even earning some post season starts.

RSP Pedro Martinez – Our top prospect, he made his MLB debut in September and pitched in both post season series. Can we find room for him in the rotation?

RSP Dave Nied – Nied was supposed to be a big part of the pitching staff this year. An injury and poor performance derailed that. He's still a talented pitcher and we'll look for opportunities for him.

LSP John O'Donoghue – Impressed in spring and then at AAA. But missed time with multiple injuries.

LSP Angel Miranda – Miranda has a good arm, and is on the cusp of being a major league pitcher. On a less talented, less deep, team, he might already be.

RRP Rod Beck – Beck has 150 innings of 64 FIP- in 2+ seasons. He's a key member of the bullpen.

RRP John Wetteland – After failing to grab a rotation spot, Wetteland has remade himself as a flame throwing reliever and has a 70ish FIP- the last 2 years in that role.

RRP Darren Holmes – Holmes was up and down between the Dodgers and AAA last year. He's another one that on another team would probably be assured a spot on the roster.

RRP Mike Christopher – Christopher also bounced between MLB and AAA last year. At 29, that's likely the role he's destined for

LRP Jim Poole – Poole is the left-handed version of Christopher. Maybe good enough, maybe not.

LRP Mike Munoz – Munoz rounds out the list of relievers who are on the fringe of the major league roster.


Nolan Ryan – Ryan's final season in the majors didn't go the way anyone wanted. Just 3 games, though he was 1-1 with a 2.16 ERA (96 FIP-) before his arm finally gave out.


That's a full 40-Man Roster
Obviously, we'll have some work to do, and some of these players won't be here when the season starts.

OF Willie Ansley – Great eye, Strong defense, Good base runner. A good player
C/IF/OF Steve Bieser – Athletic. Plays strong defense all over the diamond. Good speed.
1B Brian Traxler – Left-handed hitter that many would describe as professional.
OF Scott Bullett – Speedy outfielder
IF/OF Mike Bush – Right-handed slugger
LP Mike Mimbs – Left-handed starter who had a 93 FIP- in AAA last year. Solid all around without a standout skill.
LP Mark Mimbs – Left-handed reliever, better stuff than his twin brother, less control.

IF Jose Munoz – bounced between AA and AAA the last 2 seasons. Average glove, below average bat. Leader in the clubhouse.

SP Jim Neidlinger – Has 178 MLB innings over the previous 4 seasons, but wasn't needed last year. His 1990 performance filling in for an injured Hershiser will be remembered.

P Dennis Springer – The knucklerballer pitched in September in 1992. But didn't have a good year in Albuquerque this year.

Offseason 2 - contract talk
 

We pick up the options on all three players

Bonilla – He's been too good to just let go. We keep him for one more season, and hope he'll return to form.

Jim Gott – As mentioned before. He's slowing down, but $800,000 isn't too much to see if he has one more good year in him

Orel Hershiser – We have some discussions about a longer term deal. But, settle on the option. At least for now. With Belcher a free agent after the season, Ramon a free agent after next season. Young pitchers like the two Pedros hoping to establish themselves in the rotation. Locking up Hershiser in his late thirties isn't something that we're going to rush into. But, that doesn't mean we've cut off discussion with him either.


With the arbitration eligible players
We'd prefer to avoid arbitration and work out some deals.
We think we're pretty close with everyone except Ramon Martinez, Tony Fossas and Mike Huff.

With a Cy Young under his belt, and a solid season coming back from injury, Martinez is looking for a long term deal. We'd like to see another healthy year before we sign up long term.

Tony Fossas (along with Kent Mercker) solidfied a position that has been a bit problematic for us (left-handed relief). We remain optimistic that we'll work something out.

Huff was been a very productive backup. Not sure if a long-term deal for a backup is the direction that we want to go.

Offseason
 

The Dodgers trade SP Pedro Astacio to Detroit for 3B Scott Cooper. Looking to improve our performance against right-handed pitcher we deal for Scott Cooper. Cooper is a left-handed hitting third baseman that we expect to take over for Gaetti. The 26 year old Cooper hit .331/.137/105 last year. His +2 defense helped him to a 3.4 WAR in his first full season in the majors.

We paid a high price in Pedro Astacio who's coming off a fantastic rookie season. He went 11-10 with a 151 ERA+ and 81 ERA- in 189.2 innings worth 4.4 WAR.

The Dodgers also pick up minor league outfielder Dave Roberts. Roberts hasn't played yet in his minor league career but speed and base stealing ability is his calling card. Beyond that, he has a decent eye and his known for his work ethic, intelligence and leadership in the clubhouse.



NOTE: Dave Roberts was (partially) randomly selected. The orginal deal (Astacio for Cooper) felt too light for me. I used the random decision maker to select prospects numbered between: 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25, and 26-30. The random number was 11-15. I looked over those 5 players and decided I'd be most interested in lower minors OFers (that was Roberts or Juan Encarnacion). I was also interested in C Ron Maurer. I put the three in the random decision maker, and it chose Dave Roberts.



The Dodgers also announced the signing of right-handed Korean pitcher Chan-Ho Park (박찬호).

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chan_Ho_Park




We signed agreements with 3 of our arbitration eligible players.
Bill Bean - $150,080
Chris Donnels - $204,080
Kent Mercker - $690,000



Dennis Martinez re-signs with the Astros for 2 years and $6.7 million. Martinez came back from an injured 1992 in which he only appeared in 4 games to put up a 18-8 130 ERA+, 84 FIP-, 5.1 WAR season last year.

NOVEMBER 5th 1993
 

GREAT GLOVE AWARDS

American League
SP Jamie Moyer – Minnesota
C Terry Steinbach - Oakland
1B Don Mattingly - Cleveland
2B Robby Thompson – Baltimore
3B Robin Ventura – Chicago
SS Ozzie Smith – Texas
LF Steve Finley – New York
CF Otix Nixon – Toronto
RF Deion Sanders – New York

National League
SP Jimmy Key – New York
1B Sid Bream – San Diego
2B Steve Sax – New York
3B Gary Gaetti – Los Angeles
SS Alan Trammell – St. Louis
LF Luis Gonzalez – Houston
CF Devon White – Los Angeles
RF David Justice – Atlanta


NOTE: Gary Gaetti's card didn't include his photo for some reason :(

NOVEMBER 6th 1993
 

RELIEVER OF THE YEAR AWARDS

The AL and NL Reliever of the Year Awards were announced today. Congratulations to John Wetteland who won (and the voters who realize the ridiculousness of the save statistic, apparently).



In other reliver news. We agreed with Tony Fossas on a one-year $1,315,000 deal – avoiding arbitration.

NOVEMBER 7th 1993
 

PLATINUM STICK AWARDS

American League

C Chris Hoiles – Baltimore
1B Frank Thomas - Chicago
2B Tony Phillips – Kansas City
3B Gary Sheffield – Milwaukee
SS Travis Fryman – Detroit
LF Albert Belle – Cleveland
CF Ken Griffey Jr – Seattle
RF Tim Salmon – California
DH Kevin Mitchell – Kansas City

National League

P Tom Browning – San Diego
C Russ McGinnis – Pittsburgh
1B Greg Jefferies – New York
2B Delino DeShields – Montreal
3B Wade Boggs – New York
SS Alan Trammell – St. Louis
LF Barry Bonds – Pittsburgh
CF Ray Lankford – St. Louis
RF Larry Walker – Montreal

NOVEMBER 8th 1993
 

NOVEMBER 9th 1993
 

MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARDS

American League: John Wathan – Kansas City
National League: C. Beisbol – Los Angeles

I wasn't prepared for this. A lot of credit goes to the GM, oh, hey, that's me too, for putting together a great team. Bench coach Joe Ferguson was more valuable than I could ever say. The rest of the coaching staff, Ron Peranoski, Reggie Smith, trainer Adam Deen. It was a group of great individuals.

NOVEMBER 10th 1993
 

NOVEMBER 11th 1993
 

OFFSEASON Nov 12 – Nov 20
 

Henke to stay in California

Tom Henke agreed to a 2-year $3.8 million contract with the Angels. He's coming off another strong season in which he recoreded 10 saves, and 1.1 WAR in 53 games and 58 innings.


Arbitration

Not able to come to agreements with either SP Ramon Martinez or OF Mike Huff we let the arbitrators decide.

The arbitratiors decide with us and award Mike Huff, $210,000 not the $292,000 he was asking

The arbitrators rule against us in Martinez' case. He gets an even $2,000,000 not the $192,000 we offered.


Free Agency

Free agency arrives and we don't re-sign any of our eligible players
SP Mark Langston, 3B Gary Gaetti, OF/1B Cory Snyder, IF Scott Fletcher and OF Rick Parker all become free agents.

Here are some of the top Free Agents for 1994

Offseason - budget
 

We currently have about $5.7 million available in our budget to add players for 1994 and about $12-$14 million for the next few years.

The players the immediately jump out to us are
1B Fred McGriff – the left-handed first baseman just helped beat us in the World Series, so, if you can't beat then, acquire them? Hollins was bad last season, we want to get better from the left side. Ownership wants us to improve first base and acquire a power hitter. It's a perfect fit, no?

C Mickey Tettleton – similar to McGriff. We thought about signing him two years ago when he signed with the Mets. He's a switch hitter who has massive power and draws a ton of walks. But, he's coming off a poor season of his own.

1B Paul Molitor – not left-handed, but a fantastic hitter.

C Mike Stanley – also right-handed, he's played first, but doesn't look very good there.


There are some fantastic pitchers available: Mark Langston, Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine...
But, part of the reason we didn't re-sign Langston is that we've got Belcher and Hershiser coming up on free agency after the season and we don't want to lock ourselves into too many long term deals with starting pitchers. We might be more interested in making a trade for a starter or signing someone to a shorter term contract than we figure those guys will be asking for.

That said, Glavine is just 27, so a longer term deal with him might be enough to get us to alter our plans



Beyond that, with left-handed hitting Scott Cooper taking over for Gaetti at third base, we're not sure if we want the left-handed Donnels as the backup corner infielder or if we'd rather find a right-handed hitter. Also, we still love Mike Benjamin's defense but we're not sure he'll hit enough and with Offerman's struggles last year, we might want to shore up the backup SS/2B as well.


We have had some very preliminary trade discussions regarding some starters.

Last season the Reds offered us Jack Armstrong. He finished with 199 innings in 31 starts, a 114 ERA+ and 104 FIP-. He's got about $1 million left on his contract that expires after this season.
Also former Dodger Dave Stewart. 220 innings in 37 starts. 112 ERA-, 96 FIP-. Stewart has 1 year and $1.7 million left.
Another former Dodger Mike Morgan. 116 innings in 20 starts. 99 ERA+, 88 FIP- with Toronto. Morgan has 2 years and $4.4 million remaining.
Zane Smith – 162 innings, 26 starts, 82 ERA+, 107 FIP-. Zane has $2.7 million and a player option for $2.7 million for next season.


The Expos are thought to be listening on Cecil Fielder who hit 43 home runs with a 132 wRC+ last season. He's got 2 years and about $2.5 million on his deal.