PRELIMINARY ROUND
Series #66
2003 Oakland Athletics (96-66) vs 1979 Cincinnati Reds (90-71)
A mouth watering draw for the next series and the 96 win Billy Beane lead Athletics will be the slight favorites over an aging Big Red Machine. The A's played a style of baseball that revolutionized the game and the way it is even looked at. Players like Eric Chavez brought an excellent glove and put team first before individual goals as the star third baseman drove in 101 runs with 39 doubles, Miguel Tejada drove in 106 with 98 runs scored while the Scott Hattenberg experiment at first base worked out just fine with a .342 OBP and only 53 strikeouts. A surprising DH in Erubiel Durazo walked 100 times with a .374 OBP and catcher Ramon Hernandez drove in 78 runs while scoring 70. The numbers may seem unspectacular, but as a unit the A's filled the bases with runners and put the ball in play. Jermain Dye and Eric Burns were two more players that learned to adapt and contribute within the system. The top three arms in the rotation almost built a cult like following at the Bay; Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, and Tim Hudson all had outstanding seasons, long hair, and fine breaking stuff. They combined for 45 wins and in a seven game series could really put the lights out with Ted Lily likely the fourth arm for some depth. In addition the A's had the arms in the pen; Keith Foulke had an excellent run saving 43 games with a 2.08 ERA and all the confidence in the world. Chad Bradford and his unique delivery was just another of the many pieces Ken Macha had at his disposal. Even without really winning anything, this A's team is a excellent run within an era of Oakland baseball that made baseball history.
Pete Rose and Sparky Anderson were gone, but there was still much fuel in the old Red machine to bring home a division crown and win 90 games. Dave Concepcion had one of his best all around seasons hitting .281 with 84 driven in and even adding 15 home runs. Joe Morgan was slowing down at 35 hitting only .250 but still had an OBP the A's would be proud of at .374. The corner outfielders George Foster and Ken Griffey were both mashing the ball in 79 each hitting over .300 with Foster adding 30 home runs. Dan Driessen had a nice power stroke while Ray Knight hit .318 and 38 doubles to his name. The anchor remained behind the plate where Johnny Bench was still getting it done leading the club in WAR. Bench had a, .824 OPS with 8- RBI and his still very dependable arm on defense, Even more so, no one called a bette game then did Bench. The ace was the one and only Tom Seaver who won 16 games with 5 shutouts and all the determination at 34 years old, no one knew hitters better then him. The good pitching caught on as Mike LaCoss went 14-8 and veterans Fred Norman and Bill Bonham showed good command and kept their ERA's under 4. Tom Hume and Dour Bair both had saves in the teens and were nice pieces to a good Reds pen that also had a 21 year old Frank Pastore, One would think we are in store for a good series, also i believe if one would look at these two clubs closely, they would see quite a few similarities.
Game 1 At Oakland Coliseum
Clear skies 59
1979 Reds...........................4
2003 Athletics....................6
WP: T. Hudson (1-0) LP: T. Seaver (0-1) S: K. Foulke (1)
HR: C. Geronimo (1), R. Hernandez (1)
POG: Bill Bonham
2003 Athletics lead series 1-0
A six run third inning for Oakland was enough to take game one as Tim Hudson settled in after a tough start. Ramon Hernandez had the bog blow with a three run home run off of Tom Seaver who wouldnt survive the inning. Hudson went 8 innings scattering 10 hits before Keith Foulke closed the game in the 9th. A good start for Oakland who defeat the Reds behind their ace.
Game 2 at Oakland Coliseum
Partly cloudy 59
1979 Reds..............8
2003 Athletics.......2
WP: F. Norman (1-0) LP: M. Mulder (0-1)
HR: D. Conception (1)
POG: Champ Summers
Series tied at 1
The Reds even the series behind Champ Summers who goes 4-5 and scored 4 times while Dave Conception has the big blow hitting a three run home run off of loser Mark Mulder. Fred Norman goes the distance and gets the win striking out four on 8 hits. Dave Collins went 3-5 and Ken Griffey had 2 RBI in the 14 hit effort for Cincy. The series now heads east to Riverfront.
Game 3 At Riverfront Stadium
Rain 56 (21 minute delay)
2003 Athletics.....................2
1979 Reds..........................9
WP: T. Hume (1-0) LP: B. Zito (0-1)
HR: G. Foster (1)
POG: Tom Hume
1979 Reds lead series 2-1
A George Foster home run off Barry Zito gave the Reds a lead in the 5th inning and they would never look back in this one scoring 6 more times in the 7th to defeat Oakland on a rain soaked night. Cincy had 17 hits with three players having three of them including Champ Summers and Johnny Bench who are both hitting over .500 for the series. The A's big three arms have underwhelmed so far.
Game 4 At Riverfront Stadium
Partly cloudy 50
2003 Athletics...................5
1979 Reds........................3
WP: T. Lilly (1-0) LP: P. Moskau (0-1) S: K. Foulke (2)
HR: C. Summers (1)
POG: Ted Lilly
Series tied at 2
Ted Lilly worked 8 innings without allowing an earned run while striking out three to put the A's in a prime position to tie the series. Terrence Long had a two RBI hit while Eric Chavez and Miguel Tejada helped build a comfortable lead in the 9th inning before the Reds finally got to the tired starter. With three runs in the ninth, Keith Foulke saved his second game and now make this series a best of three and has become the close fight we expected.
Game 5 At Riverfront Stadium
Partly cloudy 48
2003 Athletics.................5
1979 Reds......................6
WP: T. Seaver (1-1) LP: T. Hudson (1-1) S: D. Bair (1)
HR: R. Hernandez (2), J. Bench (1)
POG: Tom Seaver
1979 Reds lead series 3-2
Ken Griffey went 3-4 and Johnny Bench had 2 RBI with his first home run of the series as the 79 Reds held off the Athletics to take the crucial lead in this series. Cincy built a 5-1 lead behind Tom Seaver who struck out six but could not close it out running into trouble in the 9th, where Doug Bair secured the win.
Game 6 At Oakland Coliseum
Partly cloudy 51
1979 Reds..................13
2003 Athletics..............9
WP: M. LaCoss (1-0) LP: C. Bradford (0-1)
HR: E. Chavez (1), J. Morgan (1)
POG: Joe Morgan
A wild game in Oakland where the host A's scored 5 times in the bottom of the 7th before the Reds scored 6 times in the 8th and held on the close out the series. Ken Griffey had a two run double and Dave Collins and 2 run hit as the Reds would finish with 20 hits and Chad Bradford took the blunt of the blows in the fateful inning. Joe Morgan had 3 RBI and 3 runs scored while Mike LaCoss gets the win.
1979 Cincinnati Reds Win Series 4-2
Series MVP:
Johnny Bench
(.462, .500 OBP, 6 R, 1 HR, 1.077 OPS)