PRELIMINARY ROUND
Series #158
1922 St. Louis Browns (93-61) vs 1968 Minnesota Twins (79-83)
Before the Cardinals took over the city, St. Louis had two teams and in the early years it was the Browns who had the city's attention. The 1922 team won 93 games and were led by one of the biggest stars in all the game, first baseman George Sisler Sisler hit an amazing .420 with 246 hits, 51 steals, 18 triples, and a 1.06 OPS. It was one of the most special batting seasons any player has had. Sisler struck out 14 times all season. The offense had a few other stars especially in the outfield where Jack Tobin hit .331 with 13 home runs and 207 hits while scoring 122 runs and Baby Doll Jacobson hit .317 with 102 RBI and 16 triples. Ken Williams stole 37 bases but was caught 20 times still managing to score 128 runs and hit .317 with 39 home runs and 155 RBI. Hank Severeid was the catcher who also swung a great bat hitting .321 with 78 RBI and 32 doubles to his name. At 22 Marty McManus was the second baseman hitting .312 with 109 RBI and an .817 OPS. Wally Gerber was the short stop scoring 81 runs while hitting a pedestrian .267. At third base was Frank Ellerbe who hit just .246 in 91 games, I guess someone in the lineup eventually had to make an out. Eddie Foster at 35 years old hit .306 off the bench while Chick Shorten and Pat Collins were the other reserve names that had over 100 plate appearances. This offense was a legendary one, and numbers wise could compete with just about anyone in history. Urban Shocker was the ace for the pitching staff and at 31 years old he won 24 games with a strong 2.97 ERA. Shocker threw 348 innings and was even used in relief when his team needed him. Elam Vanglider went 19-13 with a 3.42 ERA with 3 shutouts and only 48 walks in 245 innings. The remainder of the starts were split up evenly between three arms. Dixie Davis went 11-6 with a 4.08 ERA but a 4.78 FIP and Ray Kolp had a nice 14-4 record with a 3.93 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Rasty Wright started in 16 games with a 2.92 ERA but a 4.30 WHIP proving that he had quite a bit of luck in 1922. At 21 years old Hub Pruett had 7 saves and threw for 119 innings while striking out a healthy 70 batters. Bill Bayne and Dave Danforth were the other most used options if the need ever did arise. With Shocker leading the rotation and the lineup as good as it is, the Browns will be fascinating to watch going forward in this competition.
Pitching dominated the game of baseball in 1968 and the Twins seemed to feel this pain more than most as generating runs became a real problem. Just three years removed from a pennant, the Twinkies lost 83 games and seemed to be heading in the wrong direction. At 32 years old, big slugger Harmon Killebrew should bot have slowed down as much as he did, hitting .210 in 100 games with just 17 home runs and 13 double plays hit into. Star Tony Oliva who surely was the best hitter on the team hit just .289 with 68 RBI and 18 home runs. The .289 mark did lead the team that hit .237 as a team. Ted Ugleander played centerfield hitting a decent .283 with 21 doubles and adding 16 steals. Bob Allison at 33 years old was past his best hitting .247 with 22 home runs and 52 RBI, he showed flashes but struck out 98 times and had lost speed in his swing. Cesar Tovar played 157 games at third hitting .272 with 35 steals and 31 doubles. Tovar also had a good glove and was a vital piece to any success to team had. John Roseboro was the catcher who hit just .216 but was one of the best defensive game callers around and more than made up for his weak bat. Jackie Hernandez was the short stop who hit just .218 with an OPS+ of 30 and was completely overmatched in the field of play. Finally, at 22 years old, second baseman Rod Carew who showed some real promise and drilled line drives at will. Carew hit .273 with 27 doubles, a .312 OBP, and added 12 steals. Rich Reese played in 126 games at first hitting .259 with 15 doubles and Frank Quillici hit .245 with 229 atbats and a 91 OPS+. Ron Clark and Rich Rollins struggled to fine room to play as their skills justified bench spots. Twenty three year old Graig Nettles was also on the roster. As was the case with most teams, the rotation had a good year. Dean Chance went 16-16 with a 2.53 ERA and 234 strikeouts with a very impressive 0.98 WHIP. Chance will be fun to watch against the talented St. Louis hitters. Jim Merritt won only 12 games in 34 starts but had a 2.75 FIP with a 1.08 WHIP and just 52 walks. Jim Kaat also had excellent control and spun a 2.94 ERA with only 16 home runs allowed. Dave Boswell threw in 190 innings with a 3.32 ERA and 142 strikeouts. Jim Perry was very good as a spot 5th starter sporting a 2.27 ERA and a 139 ERA+ with a WHIP of exactly 1.00 In 18 starts. Al Worthington was the main option in a tight game saving 18 games with a 2,71 ERA in 54 appearances. Ron Parranoski was the most often used relief man with a 3,10 ERA and six saves of his own. Bob Miller and Jim Roland were the other options out of the pen, the club 2.89 team ERA was indicative of the game in 1968. In the end it is a fascinating matchup between these two teams, the Browns are the favorites but the clash of very different eras on the field make the results very unpredictable.
Game 1 At Sportsmans Park
Clear 71
1968 Twins.................1
1922 Browns..............4 (11 inn)
WP: U. Shocker (1-0) LP: D. Chance
HR: K. Williams (1)
POG: Urban Shocker
1922 Browns Lead Series 1-0
Ken Williams hit a three run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to end a very good pitchers duel and put the Browns up in the series. Dean Chance and Urban Shocker both went the distance and were locked in a 1-1 tie before the home side broke through. Shocker struck out five and walked none while Chance did a great job with the St. Louis lineup also striking out five on 156 pitches. An 11 inning game lasted under 3 hours.
Game 2 At Sportsmans Park
Partly cloudy 66
1968 Twins.....................2
1922 Browns..................3
WP: D. Danforth (1-0) LP: J. Merritt (0-1)
HR: M. McManus (1), C. Tovar (1)
POG: Dave Danforth
1922 Browns Lead Series 2-0
Marty McManus hit a two run home run to tie the game in the 4th and pinch hitter Pat Collins doubled off the wall in the 8th to drive in the winning run and lead the Browns to a 2 game lead. Dave Danforth allowed two early runs but settled in striking out six and allowing six hits to defeat Jim Merritt who pitched well but could not hold the lead late. For the second game, the Browns were better when it mattered most and head to Minneapolis in control.
Game 3 At Metropolitan Stadium
Cloudy 60
1922 Browns....................7
1968 Twins.......................1
WP: R. Kolp (1-0) LP: J. Kaat (0-1)
HR: G. Sisler (1), K. Williams (2)
POG: Ray Kolp
1922 Browns Lead Series 3-0
The St. Louis pitching continued to dominate as the series moved to Minnesota. Ray Kolp threw another complete game allowing one run on 8 hits. George Sisler and Baby Doll Jacobson both had three hits and Ken Williams went deep again. The Browns look to sweep the Twins in what has been a frustrating series for Twins hitters.
Game 4 At Metropolitan Stadium
Rain 57 Delay 41 minutes
1922 Browns...................5
1968 Twins......................3
WP: H. Pruett (1-0) LP: A. Worthington (0-1) S: B. Bayne (1)
HR: K. Williams (3)
POG: Elam Vanglider
A 1-1 tie was broken up in the bottom of the 8th when the Twins plated two runs John Roseboro and Rich Rollins looked like they had given the Twins their first win. Al Worthington came on to close the 9th but the nightmare followed as Ken Williams lead the inning off with a home run and the Browns would score 4 with George Sisler driving in the go ahead run with an RBI single. Clean sweep for St. Louis.
1922 St. Louis Browns Win Series 4 Games To 0
Series MVP:
Ken Williams
(.294, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 5 R, 1 SB, 1 3B. 1.000 SLG)