American League
Detroit Tigers (96-68) v Oakland A’s (94-68)
This looks an evenly-matched series between two scrappy sides the result of which, I feel, will all depend on how much residual heat there is left in the Tigers after that torrid final run.
The A’s, who play a form of “middle-ball” with plenty of SB to keep the defence on their toes and have a young rotation that looks set to keep them competitive for the next few seasons. How well those young guys handle the pressure here will be another telling factor.
A late blowout gives the visiting A’s a strong opening game win but the Tigers square it up with a 2-0 win the next day behind a dominant Mike Norris.
The series moves to the Bay Area and Game 3 is one of the wildest I can recall as the Tigers eventually win it 15-10 thanks mainly to a 7-spot in the 9th with Cecil Cooper leading the way with 4 hits and 4 ribbies, and they finish the job in starkly different fashion with a 1-0 win in Game 4 that sends them to the WS for the 12th time.
Bruce Bochte wins the MVP.
National League
Los Angeles Dodgers (111-51) v Chicago Cubs (86-77)
You have to feel for the Cubbies, finally making it into the playoffs after so many near misses only to run headlong into one of the most dominant teams in MLB history, the 111-game winning Dodgers.
That’s 25 more wins than the Chicagoans had this year and, while I hope they’ll at least give their long-suffering fans a good showing, this looks an epic mismatch in every regard.
The legend of Fernando Valuenzula grows exponentially as he takes a no-hitter 26 outs into the opening game before a two-out single in the 9th by Luis Aguayo almost starts a riot and the Dodgers fans in attendance have to make do with a 9K 1-hitter in a 2-0 win that also features a fine outing by Lefty Carlton.
The Cubs come out swinging the next game only to let the Dodgers crawl all the way back from 6-2 down to send it into spares. The visitors score one in the top 10th and this time hang on to put things back on level par heading to the Windy City.
Almost unbelievably, another Dodgers pitcher takes a no-no deep into Game 3 at Wrigley, with Jim Clancy not allowing a hit until the 8th in a game that stays scoreless until that man Luis Aguayo strikes again, doubling in the winning run walkoff-style off Tug McGraw in the 11th to put the Cubs a game away from arguably the biggest MLB upset ever.
Which they duly pull off, shocking the baseball world with a tough 11-5 win led by MVP Larry Hisle, who hits 400 with 2 homers and 6 RBI, earning the Cubs their first Fall Classic appearance since 1945.
