PRELIMINARY ROUND
Series #159
1980 Boston Red Sox (83-77) vs 1929 Chicago White Sox (59-93)
Still reeling from the Bucky Dent home run from a few years ago, the 1980 Red Sox were starting to lose some ground in the AL East and Don Zimmer, on the hot seat, would not survive the season after 83 wins. Pitching was the hiccup for the team as the 4.38 ERA wasn’t good enough. Mike Torrez threw the most innings but was also hit the hardest losing 16 games with a 5.08 ERA. Dennis Eckersley won 12 games with a 4.28 ERA in just under 200 innings but he allowed 25 home runs and was not consistent to really be a factor. Stan Renko started 23 games with a 4.19 mark and a 1.42 WHIP making adequate but also not a difference maker. John Tudor was quite good with a strong 3.02 ERA in 13 starts alowing only 4 home runs and throwing 5 complete games. Tudor could be a big part of this series with the White Sox. Chuck Rainey also started 13 games but struggled with a WHIP over 1.5 and 4.2 walks per nine. Bob Stanley took the hill for 17 starts and had a good 3.39 ERA but he became an important piece in the pen and was used primarily in set up. Tom Burgmeier had 24 saves with a 2.00 ERA and was a great option along with Stanley in close games. Dick Drago and Skip Lockwood made up some of the rest of the pen but the depth in pitching for the roster was not good. Twenty two year old leftys Bruce Hurst and Bob Ojeda also filled out the roster. The lineup could do damage on any given night and the big names were all still there Jim Rice hit 24 home runs and hit .294 with 86 RBI but the big slugger should have been better. Fred Lynn lead the team in WAR and hit .301 with an .862 OPS along with 32 doubles and 12 steals in 110 games. Dwight Evans rounded out a great outfield hitting .266 with 60 RBI and 37 doubles and his usual fine defensive play. At 38 years old Tony Perez was hanging on at first base. Perez had a fine year hitting 25 home runs and the only hitter with over 100 RBI. Dave Stepleton was at second for 106 games hitting .321 with 45 RBI and 33 doubles, he was a great contact hitter that fit into the order well. Glen Hoffman was only 21 years old with a .724 OPS at third. Hoffman hit 4 home runs and had 42 RBI while scoring only 37 runs. Rick Burlson was a good all-around player at short, he hit .278 with 12 steals and 51 RBI. The middle infield defense for the club wasn’t one of its strong points. At catcher, Carlton Fisk was disgruntled and looking for a new contract but he still hit .289 with a great .819 OPS for a catcher. He slammed 18 home runs and 25 doubles and Fisk was a true leader and gold glove player bringing Hall of Fame intangibles to the team. Speking of legends, the 40 year old Carl Yastrzemski was the primary DH and still brought his great swing with him. He finished with 100 hits and 15 home runs while holding a .275 average and a .350 OBP; some great die hard. A decent bench followed suit for the club as Butch Hobson, Jim Dwyer, and the well known Jerry Remy were used as needed; Remy hit .313. The Red Sox are a good team, but maybe just didn’t have the chemistry of a winner and that go get them ace that the great teams seem to always have.
In 1929, the north side of town was having another pennant winning season while on the southside, the 1929 White Sox lost 93 games and really have a tough task up against the 1980 Red Sox. The Sox had a number of issues, and hitting was at the forefront, especially slugging with any authority. The team hit 37 home runs and were lead by Carl Reynolds who managed 11 of them. Reynolds also hit an impressive .317 with an .821 OPS making him just about the most feared batter in the lineup. Alex Metzler was in center and hit .275 with 13 triples and 80 runs scored. Clarence Hoffman rounded out the group hitting .258 in 107 games with only 27 runs and a .669 OPS. Willie Kamm was at third hitting .268 with a 91 OPS+. Kamm had 33 doubles and managed to be second on the team in RBI with 63. Bill Cissell drove in 62 from short, he hit .280 with 25 steals and 83 runs. John Kerr was at second with a .258 mark and 108 hits. He had a low 67 OPS+ and is the definition of a light hitting infielder. Art Shires hit .312 and slugged .433 at first adding 7 triples and 20 doubles in 100 games. Moe Berg was the catcher hitting .287 but almost no extra base hits or ability behind slapping the ball. Bud Clancy hit .282 in 290 at bats and Johnny Watwood hit .302 in reserve duty making both pinch hitters of value. Doug Taitt and Bill Hnnefield rounded out the reserves both had issues hitting over .200. The pitching for the Sox was also of great concern with the glory days of Sox pitching long gone. Tommy Thomas lost 18 games in 31 starts and held a 3.19 ERA even as his FIP was 3.86. Ted Lyons also started in 31 games with a 4.10 ERA only striking out 57 men and in the end losing 20 games. Red Faber was 40 years old but went 234 innings going 13-13 with a 3.88 ERA. Faber still had some decent stuff holding a WHIP of 1.29. Ed Walsh went 6-11 with a high 5.65 ERA getting 20 starts but wasn’t the player you would want on the mound frequently. Grady Adkins started in 15 games but also had a 5.33 ERA and one could soon see a 4th starter in this series could be very tough to find. Hal McKain was the main reliever with a 3.65 ERA but like most everyone on the roster, he could play multiple roles including starting. Dan Dugan and Bob Welland were both lefty's but were hit hard in just over 60 innings each. It surely will be a difficult series for the Sox, but they will no doubt hope for lighting in a bottle in hopes of making a series of this.
Game 1 At Fenway Park
Clear 52
1929 White Sox..................3
1980 Red Sox.....................4
WP: D. Eckersley (1-0) LP: R. Faber (0-1) S: T. Burgmeier (1)
HR: J. Watwood (1)
POG: Dennis Eckersley
1980 Red Sox Lead Series 1-0
Dennis Eckersley allowed three hits over 8 innings striking out seven and holding a one run lead for most of it as Boston nips Chicago in game one. A three run 3rd inning speared by a Carl Yastzremski RBI double tied the game Rick Burlsen drove in the winning run in the fourth with hard hit double of his own.
Game 2 At Fenway Park
Partly Cloudy 55
1929 White Sox..............0
1980 Red Sox.................1
WP: J. Tudor (1-0) LP: T. Thomas (0-1)
HR: None
POG: John Tudor
1980 Red Sox Lead Series 2-0
Another classic pitching duel as both John Tudor and Tommy Thomas dealed at Fenway Park in game two. The game was scoreless all the way to the 6th when Fred Lynn came through with a 2 out RBI single to score Dave Staepleton, a throwing error by Johnny Watwood helped the Boston cause. Tudor took the lead and slammed the door allowing four hits and striking out five and he threw them right where Carlton Fisk wanted them. Two tight games but the Red Sox have complete control as the series switches to Chicago.
Game 3 At Comiskey Park
Partly cloudy 51
1980 Red Sox...................5
1929 White Sox................3
WP: S. Renko (1-0) LP: T. Lyons (0-1) S: T. Burgmeier (2)
HR: None
POG: Steve Renko
1980 Red Sox Lead Series 3-0
A late rally with three runs in the seventh inning carried the visiting Red Sox to their third win of the series. Rick Burleson and Dave Stapelton delivered back to back RBI hits with the latter finishing with three hits. Steve Renko threw six innings for the win allowing three earned runs and the Boston pen came through with Tom Burgmeier earning his second save with a perfect ninth. Survival mode now for the White Sox.
Game 4 At Comiskey Park
Clear 57
1980 Red Sox................6
1929 White Sox..............2
WP: M. Torrez (1-0) LP: E. Walsh (0-1)
HR: T. Perez 2 (2)
POG: Tony Perez
Mike Torrez threw a shutout through 7 innings and the moment the White Sox got back into the game, Tony Perez hit his second home run of the day reasserting the Boston lead and leading them to the series clinching sweep. Dave Stapelton had three more hits and hit .529 in the four games while Glenn Hoffman was even better going 4-4 in this one and 9 for 13 in the series. The series was much too easy for Boston who hit on all cylinders.
1980 Boston Red Sox Win Series 4 Games To 0
Series MVP:
John Tudor
(1 W, 9 IP, 1 Shutout, 5 K, 2 BB)