We start the stretch drive positively by winning 7 of 9 and, more importantly, making a little bit of headway on the Cubs’ lead to at least keep them honest.
We lose Bob Walk to a hamstring tear for a few weeks and call up Mike Maddux.
We eventually get Andy Van Slyke back and Gary Redus makes way.
A poor stretch after this slows our momentum and, while we continue to play OK, we are rapidly running out of games. We enter September on a 5-game roll and at 77-55 but that leaves us still 8 back with just 30 to play.
We keep on winning but so do the Cubs until we knock them off twice in succession before they snip our win string at 11.
It is at this point we lose John Tudor for 5 weeks to a RC strain and Zane Smith makes his long-awaited MLB debut. It is a poor one.
In the end, we never legitimately challenge and are eliminated with too much time to spare for a club that goes on to win 93 games, including 13 of 18 against the new division champs.
Sometimes you get away with lower win totals and sometimes higher numbers don’t get it done—that’s baseball for you.
The Cubs’ 104 wins are a new franchise record and the first time the club has recorded 100 or more in a season. So they deserve their victory.
We lock down Jim Gott for the foreseeable future via a 6/2050 extension.
Limited drama elsewhere once again.
The A’s lead from wire to wire and are the first to clinch, while the Reds do it easily and book their spot the day after the Cubbies.
Only the AL East is tightly-contested, with the Brewers three in front of the Red Sox entering a series between the two to close out the regular season.
Boston stays alive with a 9-4 win in the opener but the Brew Crew – under Manager Bill Mazeroski – nail down their first playoff appearance the next day with a 10-6 victory.
That leaves just the Mariners and Rangers without a playoff appearance to their name.
Final Leaders and Top 20s
Batting crowns to Mike Greenwell and Tony Gwynn.
Bic Mac's 41 HR emulate his Bash Brother's a year ago and he's the only player with 40+, while also leading the MLB with 139 RBI.
Vince Coleman repeats as top base-stealer with 114. Rickey's 103 put him at 1001 for his career and he now needs just 16 to knock Lou Brock out of top spot.
Rocket once again misses out on the Triple Crown, although not quite as narrowly as a year ago. He and Jack McDowell are the league's only 20-game winners this season and Roger's 263 K are easily the most.
John Dopson of the Giants sets this season's low ERA at 2.43, while our Senor Pena leads all pitchers with 45 Saves.
Oil Can Boyd (19-2) sets a new seasonal Win% of .905.
Monthly Award Winners
August
American League
Batter – Kevin McReynolds (Mariners): 375 / 10 HR / 22 RBI
Pitcher – Roger Clemens (Red Sox): 6-0 / 1.75 / 40 K / 51.1 IP
Rookie – Tim Belcher (A’s): 3-1 / 2.78 / 22 K / 35.2 IP
National League
Batter – Ellis Burks (Pirates): 424 / 8 HR / 19 RBI
Pitcher – Bob Ojeda (Phillies): 5-0 / 0.79 / 26 K / 45.1 IP
Rookie – Ellis Burks
September
American League
Batter – Eddie Murray (Orioles): 381 / 7 HR / 26 RBI
Pitcher – JR Richard (Royals): 4-0 / 1.57 / 34 K / 40 IP
Rookie – Bryan Harvey (Red Sox): 2-2 / 3.00 / 10 SV / 11 K / 15 IP
National League
Batter – Dale Murphy (Braves): 314 / 7 HR / 22 RBI
Pitcher – John Smiley (Cubs): 6-0 / 2.42 / 31 K / 44.2 IP
Rookie – Jack McDowell (Dodgers): 4-0 / 2.45 / 35 K / 44 IP
Milestones and Observations of Note
2000 Hits: Fred Lynn, Dwight Evans
Giants 1B Will Clark misses 5 weeks with a lat strain, while Boston loses SP Dennis Leonard for the remainder to an RC tear.
A concussion ends Yankee Don Mattingly’s season early, as does elbow inflammation for Doc Gooden and Rick Rhoden gets an early holiday for some elbow surgery as well.