PRELIMINARY ROUND
Series #137
1934 Pittsburgh Pirates (74-76) vs 1972 Texas Rangers (54-100)
Still a very successful and established franchise by 1934, the Pittsburg Pirates were showing some age but still had some Hall of Famer players on their roster. The Waner brothers were still patrolling the outfield even as they were both around 30. Paul hit .362 with a .429 OBP and 90 RBI while scoring 122 runs to remain one of the best overall player sin the league. Little Poison Lloyd hit .283 with 27 doubles and 61 RBI making literally half the player his brother was. Freddie Lindstrom played in 97 games hitting .290 with 24 doubles and a.738 OPS but he shared time with Woody Jensen who also hit .290 and played against righties. Pie Traynor at 35 years old hit .309 with a .751 OPS but may have lost a step on defense and had no power with one home runs. Cookie Lavagetto was an interesting player at second base and only 21. He had a lot to learn hitting .220 with only a .295 OBP and a lack of real authority on his swings. Gus Suhr was a very good first baseman leading the team with 103 RBI and an .819 OPS with 36 doubles and 13 triples. Earl Grace hit .270 at catcher ant split time with Tom Padden who hit .322 in limited duty. The real story for the Bucs was their up and coming superstar shortstop who hit .333 with a .942 OPB. Arky Vaughan hat it all scoring 115 runs with 10 steals and 94 RBI, his potential was limitless and exciting. Tommy Thevenow had 121 hits off the bench and Wally Rottger had 106 atbats and 11 doubles. Larry French lost 18 games somehow with a 3.58 ERA and only 8 home runs allowed. French also struck out 103 to lead the team for a rotation that pitched to contact. Bill Swift made 25 starts and threw 212 innings with a 3.98 ERA and was average almost across the board. The rest of the rotation goes downhill from there, Ralph Birkofer had a FIP of 4.23 and walked almost as many as he struck out. Red Lucas made 22 starts with a 4.38 and showed some good control but like the rest of the staff tended to be hit hard. Heinie Meine at 38 years old rounded off the starters with a 4.32 ERA but was closer to 5 when the FIP was included. Burleigh Grimes at 40 years old made four starts but had nothing else to offer. Waite Hoyt at 34 was the jack of all trades for the club saving 5 games and starting in another 17. He had an impressive 2.93 ERA and will be an interesting tool in the upcoming series. Leon Chagnon and Hal Smith go from bad to worse in any relief help the club would need. The Pirates still have 6 Hall of Fame players on their roster, and if their pitching can give them anything, they will be tough to beat.
One hundred losses for Ted Williams in his final season as a field manager and the first season for the new club in Arlington. There was really nothing for Williams to do as he was dealing with a roster depleted of talent. The Ranger pitching staff was dominated by youth and they went with mainly 6 pitchers. Twenty tow year old Pete Broberg threw the most innings at 176 but only won 5 times with a 3.59 FIP. Broberg did strike out 6.8 batters per nine and did threw hard as did most of the staff. Dick Bosman was the elder statesman of the group going 8-10 with a 3.63 ERA and only one complete game. Rich Hand won the most game with 10 and a good 3.32 ERA but he some control issues walking 103 batters. Bill Gogglewski went 4-11 with an unlucky 4.24 ERA also chipping in two saves but only a 71 ERA+. Don Stanhouse at only 21 years old went 2-9 with a 3.78 ERA but was stuck in the mud with the rest of the group. Mike Paul also made 20 starts from the left side and was quite efficient with a 2.17 mark, we just may see Paul be the preferred choice in this series. Horacio Pina saved 15 games with a 3.20 and Paul Lindblad was a good option from the left side in relief sporting a 2.62 ERA and a rubber arm. The Ranger defense was very poor but Toby Harrah was a promising 23 year olkd at shortstop. Harrah hit .259 with 16 steals and 120 total bases while patrolling his position well. Larry Randle hit an embarrassing .193 at second base and was eventually benched for Larry Bittner who hit .259 with 99 hits and 18 doubles. Dave Nelson was the man at third but he hit only .226 and drove in 28 runs in 145 games. Ted Ford had 50 RBI in 129 games to go along with his team leading 14 home runs, telling you just how light hitting the lineup is. Joe Loyitto hit .224 with 23 runs and a 75 OPS+ not to mention less then good range in center. Tom Grieve hit a pitiful .204 in 64 games and was also replaced. Elliott Maddox had 20 steals and hit .252 making him a much better option in the outfield. Finally, at 35 years old Frank Howard was a shell of what he used to be. He slugged only .369 with 9 home runs in 95 games as his average sat at .244; the big guy could barely run anymore. Don Mincher was the fill in for Howard at first while names like Vic Davis and Dalton Jones have been long forgotten. A team average of .217 really had to make the great Williams sob, this did not represent what he was all about. The Rangers will really need to play over their heads to compete in this series.
Game 1 At Forbes Field
Clear 61
1972 Rangers..................2
1934 Pirates....................5
WP: W. Hoyt (1-0) LP: D. Bosman (0-1) S: R. Birkofer (1)
HR: T. Padden (1)
POG: Waite Hoyt
1934 Pirates lead series 1-0
Waite Hoyt pitched 8 strong innings allowing two earned runs on seven hits to put the Pirates up in the series. Gus Suhr had a two run double in the 3rd inning and Tom Padden had three hits including a long home run. The Pirates managed to work around three errors as almost 26,000 enjoyed the comfortable win by the home team.
Game 2 At Forbes Field
Partly cloudy 53
1972 Rangers..................4
1934 Pirates....................0
WP: M. Paul (1-0) LP: L. French (0-1)
HR: None
POG: Mike Paul
Series tied at 1
Mike Paul settled nerves and pitched a complete game shutout at Forbes Field throwing 131 pitches and allowing six hits while walking none. Larry Biitner and Elliott Maddox each had RBI doubles against loser Larry French. Series all even heading the Arlington.
Game 3 At Arlington Stadium
Cloudy 78
1934 Pirates........................3
1972 Rangers......................4
WP: B. Gogolewski (1-0) LP: B. Swift (0-1)
HR: C. Lavagetto (1)
POG: Bob Gogolewski
1972 Rangers lead series 2-1
Ted Williams can be proud of his teams efforts as they return home and win again to take a surprise lead in the series. In true dramatic, thirty five year old Frank Howard hit a walk off two run double in the bottom of the ninth with his team trailing by one and down to his last strike. The Bucs had taken the lead in the 9th when Cookie Lovagetto hit a solo home run to break the 2-2 tie. Pirate starter Bill Swift tried to close his own game but pinch hitter Joe Lovitto singled as did Elliott Maddox when Howard showed his old form and came through. It could really be a series turning game with the stunned Pirates looking to come back in game four.
Game 4 At Arlington Stadium
Clear 80
1934 Pirates......................12
1972 Rangers.....................4
WP: R. Lucas (1-0) LP: J. Shellenback (0-1)
HR: None
POG: Gus Suhr
Series tied at 2
Thirty hits and seven errors between the two teams in game four but in truth it was never really close, as the Pirates put 12 runs on the board to tie the series. Gus Surh went 4-6 with 2 RBI and pitcher Red Lucas went 2-3 with 4 RBI including a bases clearing double in the 2nd inning. A five run run 9th inning capped the big win as Toby Harrah made tow errors to allow all unearned runs.
Game 5 At Arlington Stadium
Clear 70
1934 Pirates.........................2
1972 Rangers.......................5
WP: D. Bosman (1-1) LP: W. Hoyt (1-1)
HR: A. Vaughan (1)
POG: Dick Bosman
1972 Rangers lead series 3-2
The Rangers made up for their poor play in game four and came out swinging against Waite Hoyt and the Pirates. Four first inning runs as Toby Harrah and Elliott Maddux each had RBI hits and catcher Dick Billings capped the inning with a two run double. From there Rangers starter Dick Bosman redeemed himself with a good outing and the win striking out five and allowing only one earned run going the full nine. Now the Rangers will have to win the series the hard way at Forbes Field with game six looming.
Game 6 At Forbes Field
Partly cloudy 50
1972 Rangers........................7
1934 Pirates..........................5
WP: M. Paul (2-0) LP: L. French (0-2)
HR: None
POG: Elliott Maddox
The Rangers did it again and stun the Pirates into elimination. Once again Larry French had no answers as he allowed 5 runs in the first 3 innings including a two run double from Ton Kubek. Mike Paul gets his second win of the series throwing a complete game once again showing great control with no walks. Elliott Maddox had three hits and Dave Nelson drove in two more. Great work by manager Ted Williams who gets the most out of this 100 loss club.
1972 Texas Rangers Win Series 4 Games To 2
Series MVP:
Mike Paul
(2-0, 2.00 ERA, 5 K, 0 BB, 0.94 WHIP, 18 IP, 2 CG)