2062 ABL PLAYOFFS
The Indians were in the playoffs for the first time in over 30 years after a 95-67 season that saw them top the CL North by five games. They scored the second-most runs in the CL along the way, doing so mostly with smallball, getting on base a lot and stealing the third-most bags in the CL. They had hit 100 home runs, but that was lower half of the league. While the bullpen and defense were in the top 3 in the league, but the rotation had had its struggles and had posted only a 4.00 ERA for the year. Overall they ranked fifth in runs allowed. Matt Kilday had batted .346 with 45 extra-base hits and 48 stolen bases – but he was not available for the postseason due to a strained hamstring. Also out were SP Antonio Pichardo and reliever Roberto Ponce de Leon. What remained of the lineup struggled to bat above .260, with Danny Starwalt (.240, 23 HR, 99 RBI) leading the team in home runs and RBI ahead of Chris Lovins (.257, 17 HR, 78 RBI).
Facing them in the CLCS were the 93-69 Thunder, that had won the division by four games and had been the last team to clinch their division this season. The Thunder were hitting for average, but also lacked power and were bottoms in stolen bases, and overall plated only the seventh-most runs in the CL. On the other side of the roster, they had led the CL in both starters’ and relievers’ ERA, and had conceded only the second-fewest runs in the league. Nobody on the Thunder had driven in more than 65 runs – but they had six batters with between 59 and 65 RBI in their lineup, five of whom also hit for double-digit home runs (some barely). Nick Nye (.358, 13 HR, 59 RBI) drove in 49 runs in just 57 games after being acquired from the Raccoons mid-season. The rest of the lineup was all decent batting averages. The only injuries were SP Ernesto Rios and outfielder Bobby Fish. The Thunder were entering with an all right-handed rotation for the playoffs, led by Aaron Harris (17-9, 2.65 ERA) and Jerry Washington (16-7, 2.36 ERA), but had four left-handers in the bullpen.
The Blue Sox had won the FL East by six games with an 89-73 record. They had hit the most home runs in the Federal League and had scored the second-most runs, while allowing the third-fewest runs, but that came at the price of a highly volatile bullpen behind a sturdy rotation. Speed and defense were not necessarily qualities on this team. The lineup sported no fewer than four batters with 23+ home runs: Austin Gordon (.334, 37 HR, 110 RBI), Tony Roman (.246, 29 HR, 82 RBI), David Johnson (.278, 26 HR, 96 RBI), and Kris DiPrimio (.286, 23 HR, 67 RBI) who made for a most formidable middle of the order. The rest of the lineup was not putting up much power, but they were certainly getting on bases enough. The only weak spot offensively was perhaps the left side of the infield, which combined for just seven home runs on the year.
The Blue Sox’ biggest misfortune was that they had to square up against the stomping Stars, who had smashed the FL West with a 115-47 record, taking the crown by a mindboggling 28 games. They had led the FL in every major category, with the exception of home runs, where they were not that far behind. With Ray Walker (17-7, 1.95 ERA) and Alex Quevedo (19-3, 2.50 ERA), the Stars had some of the finest starters, and the bullpen was quite strong as well, with just one long man posting an ERA over 4.50; there were three players with 110+ RBI in the lineup, including Tommy Pritchard (.351, 13 HR, 149 RBI), Chad Pritchett (.290, 24 HR, 110 RBI), and Jason Bothe (.292, 14 HR, 112 RBI). But there were also four regulars that had gotten injured heading into the playoffs and were missing, including Ian Peters (12-7, 3.78 ERA), Roberto Almanza (.308, 1 HR, 59 RBI), Jose Cantu (.283, 2 HR, 17 RBI), and – first and foremost – Tyler Wharton (.373, 36 HR, 131 RBI), who had put together a season for the ages before a balking shoulder had culled him from the roster in late September.
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Among the playoff teams, the Thunder were in their 23rd postseason, while the Blue Sox took part for the 17th time, the Stars for the 14th time, and the Indians for the 7th time.
The Indians and Thunder had met in the CLCS twice, in 1980 and 1981. Both teams had won one of those series. Meanwhile the Blue Sox and Stars had faced each other five times in the FLCS – but none of those instances had come within even the last 50 years: 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 2005; the Stars won the 1983 and 1988 editions, while the Blue Sox won the other three.
The Indians had one World Series title, having won in 1981. The Thunder had three titles (1994, 2000, 2053). The Stars had hoisted the trophy four times (1983, 1988, 2006, 2048). The Blue Sox led all participants with six championships: 1986, 1987, 2037, 2039, 2057, and 2058;
Previous World Series matchups between these four teams occurred in 1987 (when the Blue Sox beat the Indians) and 2006 (the Stars beat the Indians).
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2062 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
OCT @ IND … 0-2 … (Indians lead 1-0) … IND Chris Lovins 2-4, 2 RBI; IND Mike DeWitt 6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K, W (1-0);
NAS @ DAL … 0-10 … (Stars lead 1-0) … DAL Tommy Pritchard 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; DAL Chad Pritchett 2-2, 3 BB, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Jin Imamura 3-5, 2B, RBI; DAL Jason Bothe 2-5, RBI; DAL Andy Chairez 2-5, 2 RBI;
OCT @ IND … 2-9 … (Indians lead 2-0) … IND Danny Starwalt 2-4, 2B, 4 RBI; IND Eric Cirelli 2-4, 2 RBI;
The Indians put up a 9-spot in the sixth inning to erase an early Thunder lead and storm away.
NAS @ DAL … 11-4 … (series tied 1-1) … NAS Fernando Aracena 2-5, BB, RBI; NAS Kris DiPrimio 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; NAS Austin Gordon 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; NAS David Johnson 3-5, RBI; NAS Jon Alade (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; DAL Ricardo Vargas 2-5, 2B, RBI;
The Blue Sox fight through an injury to starter Jose Rivera in the fourth inning and a rain delay beat up on the Stars’ Ray “Crabman” Walker (0-1, 8.10 ERA) and the pen in the late innings.
IND @ OCT … 4-7 … (Indians lead 2-1) … OCT Omar Lira 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; OCT Ian Stone 3-4, BB, 2B; OCT Nick Nye 2-3, BB, HR, 4 RBI;
DAL @ NAS … 1-5 … (Blue Sox lead 2-1) … NAS Austin Gordon 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; NAS Ken McDonald 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (1-0) and 2-3, RBI;
IND @ OCT … 9-0 … (Indians lead 3-1) … IND Mike Weber 3-4, BB, RBI; IND Trent Brassfield 2-3, BB; IND Danny Starwalt 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; IND Steve Thompson 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; IND Justin DeRose 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, W (1-0);
The Stars score first in Game of the FLCS, but Gordon hits a grand slam off Keith Trail (0-1, 7.20 ERA) in the third inning to set the points for a series lead for the underdog.
DAL @ NAS … 2-3 … (Blue Sox lead 3-1) … DAL Jin Imamura 1-4, HR, 2 RBI; NAS Kris DiPrimio 3-4, 2 2B; NAS Tony Lira 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);
IND @ OCT … 1-2 … (Indians lead 3-2) … OCT Aaron Harris 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (1-1);
DAL @ NAS … 9-8 (10) … (Blue Sox lead 3-2) … DAL Andy Yocum 3-4, 2B; DAL Tommy Pritchard 4-6, 3B, 3 RBI; DAL Jason Bothe 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; NAS Kris DiPrimio 3-4, BB, RBI; NAS Austin Gordon 2-5, 2 2B, RBI; NAS Tony Roman 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI;
Nashville’s Jimmy Dingman (0-1, 3.00 ERA) balks in the winning run for Dallas in the tenth inning. 21-year-old Andy Yocum suffered a pretty bad concussion in the late stages of this game, and would be out for the season.
OCT @ IND … 2-3 … (Indians win 4-2) … IND Alex Gomez 1-3, BB, 2 RBI; IND Ramon Carreno 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (2-0) and 2-3;
Ramon Carreno (2-0, 2.40 ERA) wins his second game of the series while also hitting two singles as the Indians scratch out just enough of offense to win the pennant.
NAS @ DAL … 5-3 … (Blue Sox win 4-2) … NAS Austin Gordon 3-5, 2B; NAS Tony Roman 2-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI; NAS David Johnson 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Roberto Almanza 2-3, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; DAL Andy Chairez 3-4, 2B;
Almanza (.292, 0 HR, 3 RBI), who missed most games of the series with an injury, comes off the bench too late to turn the series around as the 115-win Stars are eliminated in a stunner. David Johnson (.292, 0 HR, 3 RBI) doubles home the winning runs in the eighth inning to break a 3-3 tie.
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2062 WORLD SERIES
The Indians had clinched home field advantage for the World Series by virtue of the Blue Sox knocking off the Stars. Indy had not suffered any additional injuries in the CLCS, and the pitching had for the most part controlled the Thunder rather well. They were not concerned about the Blue Sox per se… except for the fact that the Blue Sox had just knocked off the Stars.
There were also no lasting injuries for the Blue Sox, even though third baseman Kevin Schwarz had left Game 6 of the FLCS early with a balking hamstring, but he remained available for the World Series. Both teams had very balanced lineups, only one lefty starter, and a lefty closer. The Indians had in the regular season scored a few runs more and conceded a few runs less than the Blue Sox, but overall they were pretty even on the raw runs numbers. The Sox hoped the ball would fly against the Indians’ rather average rotation, though…
This was a rematch of the 1987 World Series, in which the Blue Sox had been victorious.
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NAS @ IND … 1-2 … (Indians lead 1-0) … IND Mike Weber 4-4; IND Danny Starwalt 1-4, 2 RBI;
NAS @ IND … 4-6 … (Indians lead 2-0) … NAS Tony Roman 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; IND Mike Weber 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; IND Danny Starwalt 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 3 RBI; IND Alex Gomez 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; IND Eric Cirelli 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI;
IND @ NAS … 4-0 … (Indians lead 3-0) … IND Kevin Abel 2-5, 3B, RBI; IND Steve Thompson 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; IND Ramon Carreno 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W (3-0) and 1-3;
IND @ NAS … 2-10 … (Indians lead 3-1) … NAS Paul Labonte 2-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; NAS Mark McCarty 2-2, BB, 2 2B, 3 RBI;
The Sox put up five runs before the Indians even get a hit, then cruise to a series-extending win.
IND @ NAS … 5-4 … (Indians win 4-1) … IND Chris Lovins 4-4, 2 RBI; NAS Paul Labonte 2-4, 2 RBI;
This time, despite just seven hits in the game, of which Chris Lovins has more than half, the Indians score five early runs that aren’t answered until it is late in the game. Mike DeWitt (3-1, 0.70 ERA) does not allow a hit at all in six-plus innings, but allows four walks and a run before being removed. The Indians break up the no-hitter and a couple of relievers, but eventually run into Cody Kleidon (0-0, 1.80 ERA, 5 SV), who nails down the save for the Indians’ first championship in 81 years.
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2062 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Indianapolis Indians
(2nd title)