If anything, the end of the 1977 MLB regular season is even more jam-packed with twists and turns than the dramatic final act of a year prior. Hard to believe that’s even possible.
An early challenge for the stretch run arrives in the shape of an ankle injury that will see Al Oliver spend the minimum stint on the IL. Fortunately Jangles Robinson is ready to return but this means we have to rush him straight back rather than rehab him.
On the field, our struggle for consistency persists. No idea what has happened to Jerry Reuss but he has been dreadful the past couple seasons and is having another ordinary campaign here.
Four straight losses at Cincy are followed by three wins at home against the Cubs and 3 more out of 4 against the Mets including a crazy 5-4 17-inning jobby that Kurt Bevacqua wins walkoff with his first tater of the season.
We lose another clump of games without it doing us too much damage but Scoop Olivers return from the IL is nevertheless a timely one indeed, returning us to full strength for the first time in a while. Kurt Bevacqua, who’ll be walking at season’s end, makes way and heads to AAA.
Sadly, it doesn’t stop the rot as we eventually lose six straight before finally getting a win.
Still, no strong moves elsewhere mean we remain very much in contention.
It is at this time that we pick up unloved OF Dave Kingman on a minors deal, then promote him to become our second Cutlass Club member, leaving just one spot now open. We then sign him to a super cheap 4/360 deal so we’ll have him and his 48 IRL HR in the mix for ’79. While he’s ineligible for this year’s playoffs should we get there, this is still a big get for us moving forward. He’s out of options, so Wayne Nordhagen has to make way for him although he’ll be a handy depth guy whenever injury strikes.
We are tied with the Phils (and the Mets) when they come to town in early September for a 3-game series. We take two from three but there’s a whole lot more left in this race with 20 games to go. Sadly, we’ll have to do it without Lee Lacy, who is knocked out of action for the remainder with a back injury. We’ll miss him greatly. Kurt Bevacqua comes back in his place.
We’ve snuck 3 in front of both when we head to Philly for our final two games of the season against the Phils. We win both of them to put ourselves in the box seat—five ahead with 16 to play.
With 10 to go we’ve chipped our MN into single-figures and grabbed a handy 4-game break from the Phils, with the Mets – against whom we still have five games remaining to be played – just behind them.
We drop the first of these as Jon Matlack outpitches Candy, who is in the middle of the first slump of his career, but earn a split as Bruce Kison beats ex-Bucco Jim Bibby for his 13th win of the season.
Next we have three at the Cubs, who have been busy and moved into third place just 4 back after sweeping the Phillies. Six of our final nine games are against them, so suddenly they look our biggest threat.
We’ll be without RP Dave Tomlin for the remainder due to a shoulder strain he suffers falling off his bike. Not that he’s been great or anything but it’s a distraction we don’t need. Dave Hamilton makes his first appearance for the year with us.
The lads flex their muscles with a 12-1 win in the opener behind Ron Guidry, who also chimes in with 4 of our 22 hits and 2 ribbies, but then the Cubs beat us in each of the next two to sit three behind with six to play.
Bibby exacts some revenge with a 7-3 win in the first game of the Mets series but we end their run in dramatic fashion as Guidry and Seaver duke it out and Dave Kingman wins it walkoff with an RBI single for a 2-1 squeaker.
The Cubs lose as well and are eliminated, leaving just the Phils to be overcome.
And Kingman comes through with the decisive hit again the next day, a run-scoring double that holds up in another 2-1 win to get us into the postseason again.
We end up at 88-74, four clear of the Phils.
No doubt the hitters did most of the heavy lifting for us this year. Between Kingman’s late-season impact and Ron Guidry, who wins the September pitching prize, I think we can be pleased with our recruiting this year.
Just a solid showing across the board, with George Hendrick's starmaking turn particularly satisfying.
John Candelaria was 14-4 at one point and his late-season slide is a real concern for us. Another stellar season leading the BP from Rich Gossage.
The Reds look to have taken charge in the NL West but then stumble and let the Astros back into the race, with the Dodgers also making a late charge to enter into calculations and the Padres not without some hope in a stirring finish indeed.
Same goes with the White Sox over in the AL West, which is again proving a tight affair with the Rangers and Royals in hot pursuit.
Even the Tigers have stopped to a crawl and all three contests go down to the wire.
The White Sox pull away again in the penultimate week and are the first to lock down a playoff berth, while the Tigers also finish strongly to clinch with a handful of games to play.
With us by now having also clinched, that leaves just the NL West still under dispute. After the Reds are dropped, it comes down to the Astros and Dodgers in a winner-take-all series that Houston prevails in to lock down just their second playoffs appearance.
That was an absolute beauty.
Batting titles for our own Scoop Oliver and Jim Rice, who misses the AL Triple Crown by just 6 RBI. His 46 homers are easily the most this season, while Cecil Cooper records the 5th-highest RBI total in MLB history with 154 - just 7 shy of Turkey Stearnes' all-time mark. Lou Brock becomes the first MLBer to steal 1000 bases in his career, while Bill North swipes 100 exactly this season.
Mark Fidrych leads both leagues with 25 Wins, Ed Halicki has the low ERA this season with 2.29, Nolan Ryan is again the King of K with 301 and Jim Kern has the most saves with 38.
Final Top 20s and Leaders
Monthly Award Winners
August
American League
- Batter – Lee May (Mariners): 337 / 12 HR / 30 RBI
- Pitcher – Frandy Moffitt (Brewers): 4-1 / 1.14 / 3 SV / 16 K / 23.2 IP
- Rookie – Matt Keough (Indians): 4-1 / 2.86 / 40 K / 50.1 IP
National League
- Batter – Jeff Burroughs (Expos): 349 / 8 HR / 25 RBI
- Pitcher – Mark Fidrych (Astros): 5-2 / 1.36 / 36 K / 59.2 IP
- Rookie – Ken Landreaux (Phillies): 366 / 5 HR / 24 RBI
September
American League
- Batter – Mitchell Page (Blue Jays): 364 / 6 HR / 18 RBI
- Pitcher – Jim Palmer (Orioles): 5-1 / 1.75 / 33 K / 51.1 IP
- Rookie – Mitchell Page
National League
- Batter – Jack Clark (Giants): 375 / 6 HR / 23 RBI
- Pitcher – Ron Guidry (Pirates): 4-1 / 1.39 / 43 K / 45.1 IP
- Rookie – Ed Whitson (Expos): 2-0 / 1.96 / 33 K / 46 IP
Milestones and Observations of Note
- 2500 Hits: Willie McCovey, who finishes the season on 605 career HR
- 2000 Hits: Rusty Staub, Tony Perez, Rod Carew
- Steven Whitehead, who never made the bigs IRL, is having fun in this timeline with more 27 HR for the season – including 3 in one game against Philly – playing for the Braves.
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