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12-10-2023, 01:34 PM
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#221 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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September 4-10, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 82 53 .607 - 556 447 Boston Red Sox 75 58 .564 6 493 406 Cleveland Indians 75 60 .556 7 575 489 Baltimore Orioles 73 63 .537 9½ 481 446 New York Yankees 59 77 .434 23½ 452 476 Milwaukee Brewers 54 82 .397 28½ 424 527 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 71 64 .526 - 448 485 Oakland Athletics 67 67 .500 3½ 466 504 Minnesota Twins 66 67 .496 4 513 500 Texas Rangers 66 69 .489 5 417 432 Chicago White Sox 64 71 .474 7 473 519 Kansas City Royals 56 77 .421 14 498 565 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Philadelphia Phillies 78 57 .578 - 564 510 Pittsburgh Pirates 76 58 .567 1½ 438 378 Chicago Cubs 75 61 .551 3½ 547 548 St. Louis Cardinals 69 67 .507 9½ 508 497 Montreal Expos 60 74 .448 17½ 479 526 New York Mets 59 74 .444 18 447 508 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 73 62 .541 - 494 469 Atlanta Braves 72 65 .526 2 527 505 San Diego Padres 66 68 .493 6½ 510 480 San Francisco Giants 65 72 .474 9 456 430 Los Angeles Dodgers 64 71 .474 9 421 478 Cincinnati Reds 54 82 .397 19½ 482 544 The Tigers are at least "good", literally the only team in baseball with a .600 record or better. They're also 5-5 for the month because, you know, the league (also they've had 5 games against teams who need the Ws more than they do in Baltimore and Cleveland - they went 2-3 against those two teams), but at least it's something! The Red Sox are coming on probably too little to late but they are playing well at 8-3 for the month. Cleveland's 7-4 so right in there too. I haven't seen any news announcements but the game no longer gives the O's any chance to win the East so maybe they're out now? Anyway the Tigers have a 94.5% chance to win and for once, I'd love to see that just go to 100% nice and easily. The West is... a giant mess. The A's and Twins are both on huge losing streaks - 5 for the A's, 7 for the Twins - and are pretty much giving the division to the Angels by default. Cal has no offensive game, even for this league, but the pitching is OK I guess so there's that at least. Really they strike me as a team that's defaulted into first place around a year or two ahead of time. They've got a lot of kids who look like they might be something in a couple years. Also of course the Rangers are inserting themelves into this race by being on a 5 game winning streak of their own and going 9-1 so far in September. They were thought to be contendery coming into the season so I guess it's not completely out of the question. They also opened the year 4-9 and then 17-24 through May 31. In the NL, hey, you do have the Phillies just barely beginning to emerge in front of the Pirates and Cubs. In fact, Philadelphia just engineered a 3 game sweep of Chicago that might just have knocked them out of the race (I mean, if Oakland and Minnesota are still in the West then I guess Chicago is). They also lost handily enough that they're getting outscored on the year. The Philles' 2 series next week are against the Mets and Expos so that'll either help wrap things up or it'll be the most maddening week in OOTP HISTORY. The Pirates have a fantastic pitching staff but the bats just go silent a lot and that's hard to reconcile. They just split a 4 game series against the somewhat frisky Expos (8-4 this month somehow), which itself wound up being kind of a saved series because they opened up by getting swept in a Friday double-header against that team. They host the Cubs next week in what might be an elimination series. In the NL West, it just... is what it is at this point, right? The Braves went just 3-3 this week when they needed to get it going against the Dodgers and Padres, and while that was also the Astros' record, they're 2 games up in the standings so they can be a little mediocre. Atlanta's going to get a bunch of days off next week - rainouts, I guess? - with 5 games against the Reds and Giants, so if they're ever going to make a move, it starts soon. ## Major Transactions September 4: The Brewers claim OF Sincere Littleton (.233, 12, 54 at AAA Wichita) off waivers from the Chicago Cubs. Hey, these things happen. There was a time when Littleton was a fairly sought after prospect but he's 29 now and didn't exactly hit in AAA this year. The Brewers are in deeeeesperate need of right-handed hitting corner outfielders though and that's what Littleton is. September 6: The A's purchase OF Zachery Hadley (.273, 2, 10) from the Padres for $2,000. Hadley isn't any great shakes but with David Mesa (.230, 4, 16) out pending diagnosis it just seems like a good idea to get help there and not have to rely on untested youth down the pennant stretch. September 8: The Rangers purchase minor league P Nick Escabar (12-9, 3.56 in AAA Syracuse) from the Yankees for $1,500. Escabar has had cups of coffee with the Pirates and Yankees in recent years and was OK in AAA, I guess, but he really doesn't fit into the Yankees' plans at all and wasn't even on the 40 man roster. Maybe he'll fit better into what the Rangers are trying to do, who knows? ## News September 4: Mark Spitz becomes the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games, swimming as part of Team USA in the 4x100 meter medley relay. He also sets new world records in all seven of the events - the other six being the 100 meter freestyle, the 200 meter freestyle, the 100 meter butterfly, the 200 meter butterfly, the 4x100 meter butterfly freestyle relay, and the 4x200 meter freestyle relay. These are all things. Separate things. September 4: Armed robbers steal 18 paintings including one by Rembrandt along with 38 pieces of jewelry and figurines from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, constituting the largest theft of private property in Canadian history. September 4: Bob Barker begins his run as host of "The Price Is Right". He will continue to do so until 2007. And that yodeler stays there the whole entire tiiiiime. September 4: Orioles P Hector Giron (2-3, 3.26), who to be fair had been in the O's rotation the previous 4 years, says he wants to go back to doing that again. Given that the team is 9 1/2 games out of first, I'm going to grant him his wish by expanding the rotation to 5 men. September 4: As you'd expect since it's Labor Day and this is before PITCHERS WERE BABIED, there are 20 games occurring today. Every team but 4 is playing a double-header and of course every team is playing. Let's be honest: this cycle ended because nobody was going to both games. September 4: Obviously I can't keep doing day-to-day stuff all month... OR CAN I??? but the AL West went all topsy-turvy today. The Twins swept their doubleheader against the White Sox, 4-3 in 10 innings and 6-2. They came back from a 3-1 deficit with a trio of solo HRs by Angelo Martinez (.248, 32, 85), Jeff Franks (.258, 10, 36), and Ernie Griffin (.210, 15, 40), and then got a nice game out of organizational soldier Cameron Murry (1-0, 3.38), who went 7 strong innings in his first major league start of 1972 (he did get in 11 in AAA as he was shifted back and forth between short relief and the rotation in Iowa) before handing it over to the bullpen. Those wins would have still kept them in 2nd had either the Angels or A's swept their series against one another but the Angels fiiiinally broke their 7 game losing streak with a 3-0 victory in Game 1. Andy Ring (13-10, 2.81) was wild today with 6 walks but the wildness also kept the A's off guard, as they could only get 3 hits off him the entire night. That was his 5th strikeout, whicy ties a career high for the 32 year old (he's reached that mark 4 times, actually - 34 lifetime shutouts which is lowkey the 4th highest total of all time). In Game 2 the Angels managed 3 runs again but this time the A's bats came back for a 6-3 win. Struggling 3B Chase Jones (.204, 11, 38) had himself a 2 run HR last year - he hit 31 last season - and the A's called on their "5th" starter Carlos Torres (4-7, 3.57) to get them through this one. So now the Twins at 66-60 are half a game up on the Angels and A's, who have identical 67-62 records. Minnesota wraps up their 3 game series against the White Sox (60-68) tomorrow; a win there puts them an actual game up. By the odds, Minnesota aaaaaalmost has a majority chance to win the division now with a 49.8% shot, with the two California teams with just under 25% apiece and the White Sox and Rangers (also 60-68) with tiny, tiny chances. Over the next week it looks like all 3 teams will be playing their other AL West mates, which means they ought to have an easier time of it. September 4: The Phillies can thank OF Alberto Juantorena (.313, 12, 29) for salvaging a split in today's doubleheader vs. the Pirates. After the Bucs won Game 1 easily with Philadelphia SP Manley Carter (3-5, 4.75) walking 11 batters over 5 2/3 innings (they won 8-2), the nightcap was a scoreless tie heading into the 9th. That's when the 21 year old leadoff man struck, hitting his 12th HR in just 166 ML at-bats. Juantorena's having one of those monstrous half-seasons the way George Foreman did last year (he hit .388). The split put the Cubs in a great position to tie the Phillies for the division lead but they could also only salvage a split with the lowly Mets. In Game 1 the Cubbies' Gordon "Sting" Summer (1-3, 3.79) yielded 5 runs in 6+ innings and delivered a 6-3 loss for his ballclub. That required Javy Obregon (13-5, 3.66), not exactly an ace but the best starter Chicago has, to work into the 7th before giving the ball up to Eddy Grant (0-0, 0.00 in 3 games since his call-up) and stopper Jesse Kelly (8-4, 2.50), who registered his 23rd save of the year to seal the deal. All this leaves us pretty much where we left off yesterday: Philadelphia in 1st with Pittsburgh and Chicago tied for 2nd, 1 game back. September 4: Meanwhile, the Astros and Braves were one of the few teams to not do a doubleheader today but they did play each other. Knuckleballer Colin Rose (10-9, 3.78) threw one of his best games of the season, styming Houston with just 4 hits allowed, as Atlanta emerged victorious in the Astrodome 4-1. Kevin Dwyer (.319, 15, 67) kept a lock on the NL batting title with a 4-5 game and Henry Riggs (.258, 12, 40) had 3 hits of his own, although the future Hall of Famer has yet to hit a HR this month. This game closes the gap between Hotlanta and cold Houston to just 1 game (I guess technically Houston's 5-5 over their last 10 whereas Atlanta's only 4-6 but the Stros have lost 2 straight so WHATEVER). September 5: Eight members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September break into the Olympic Village in Munich, kill two members of Israel's Olympic team, and take nine other hostage. The two dead people today are 32 year old Israeli weightlifter Yossef Romano and 33 year old wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg. Weinberg had attacked the hostage takers while they were being led back to the coaches' apartment, which ended in his death but allowed another Israeli Olympian to escape. This winds up being an incredibly heroic move, for reasons elucidated below. Once they are in the new apartment, Romano attacks one of the terrorists with a paring knife and even seizes his AK-47 before he is shot. He is tortured before he is killed, according to a report publicized in 2015. September 5: In a season that at one point looked so bright, the Brewers fell to 52-78 today with a 2-1 loss to the Red Sox, all but ensuring a losing season this year. With 26 games left to play they could theoretically (I almost put in "conceivably" but no, this is not conceivable) win out and finish .500. Once above .500, the Brewers have been 19-48 since July 1 and seem like they're getting worse and worse every month. September 5: CALL OUT THE PARADE PEOPLES because Richard "My freaking dad y'all" Craven (1-4, 3.12) just earned his first major league victory. The 24 year old Craven went 8 innings, walking an uncharacteristically high 4 batters (he is a control artist with a BB/9 of 1.8 on the season) but only yielding 5 hits to the Cardinals in the 6-1 win. "Weeeell, I guess it was a good outing," he said after the game. September 6: The Munich massacre ends in disaster, as the West German police attempt to free the hostages at Furstenfeldbruck airport, blow it, and instead Black September kills all nine of them. In the ensuing shootout, five terrorists and one policeman are also killed. The Olympics will resume after a brief interruption. September 6: Completely lost to history because of the Munich disaster, eight employees and tourists are killed in a mass shooting at the Fountain Valley Golf Club on the island of St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. Another eight people are wounded in the incident. Five people are eventually arrested for the crime, which appears to have been initially planned as a robbery until the ringleader Ishmael LaBeet insisted that they also make "a political statement" about "foreigners coming in to take our moeney and [leave] us with nothing". This mass shooting has the side effect of causing a steep decline in tourism to the island, from which the island's tourist industry will not recover from for decades. September 6: Rob Reiner (2-4, 4.06) was having a... kind of meh season but he'd recently been proving himself in the bullpen. Well, all that ended today as he was diagnosed with a torn elbow ligament which will keep him out of action until at least June of next year (at which point I'll surely use rehab time on him, so add another month). September 6: In more injury news, Dodgers 1B Justin Stone (.256, 30, 79) has a sprained thumb which, given that LA is way out of contention, will probably shut him down for the year. He's currently leading the NL in homeruns but man, it just seems like a bad idea to keep him in the lineup... on the other hand it's not like the Dodgers have anyone they are really interested in that spot... September 6: Mets OF John Everhart (.217, 3, 6) wants to start. His comeback this year has been fun and all - this is the guy who hit .152 with the Giants last year following several years where he was their cleanup guy - but dude, you're 37 and you just don't fit into the long-term plans. That said, if I'm being honest, neither does Ethan Keesee (.238, 4, 20), who, yes, is only 25 but he doesn't look like he has anything like a bat that you can put in the OF corners. So FINE, I will platoon-ish left field. September 6: Welp, he's at it again. Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.299, 58, 144) clobbered 4 more HRs and drove in 8 men in today's double-header against the Brewers to get him right there in range, shortened season or no, to break the all-time HR record. I should point out here that the Mistake on the Lake is a MASSIVE hitters' park this season and indeed Garcia has hit 36 of those ding-dongs at home. He's also 3 RBI away from tying his own AL record in that category and honestly, Justin Stone is the only guy ahead of him overall, with 154 RBIs in 1962 and, amazingly, 169 in '64. Cleveland has 25 games remaining; those are not out of reach, not by a longshot. This team does have a 4 game series coming up against the great pitching of the Red Sox this weekend. It's still in Cleveland Municipal though. September 6: Rangers SP Bernd Eichinger (2-2, 2.19) made some huge leaps this year, starting the season in AA and now getting the late August call-up. One thing he never got around to doing in AAA was throw a shutout but tonight he settled that score, against the 1st place Minnesota Twins at that. Eichinger struck out 3, walked 2, and surrendered just 3 hits to the slightly short-handed Twins, who sat out 2B / AL batting leader Daniel Gilmet (.328, 9, 46) to let him rest before the 5 games they play in the next 4 days. The loss and the Angels' win - an extra-inning 6-5 victory over the Royals - does move Minnesota to a game back but... I still don't trust these Angels one bit. September 7: The 4th time's the charm, right? Astros SP Tony Rivera (20-10, 2.48) was stuck on 19 wins since August 20 but finally, one no-decision and two losses later, the 29 year old left-hander tossed an 8-hit shutout against the lowly Giants to reach #20. Rivera didn't have his best stuff and was beset by a bit of wildness on top of that but fortunately for him he got to face off against the punchless San Francisco lineup today. "It's nice to get that out of the way," he said after the game. "I still feel like my best pitching is ahead of me." The shutout was Rivera's 7th of the year, which ties him for 6th most in MLB history; the record is only 9, held by Justin Kindberg in 1970. September 7: I wouldn't call him the most likely player to achieve this feat but today Padres OF Greg Cowan (.235, 10, 38) hit for the cycle in an 8-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds. He got things started with a double in the 2nd, got a single in the 4th, hit a solo HR off Reds starter and new debutant Willie Garcia (0-1, 9.00) in the 5th, collected a 2nd double in the 7th, and saved the hardest hit for last with a RBI triple in the 8th. That final hit wound up being a pretty big one, too, as it put his team up 8-3 and they just barely clung onto the W as the Reds erupted for 4 in the 9th. Cowan, a former member of that Reds team before the Pads acquired him in May of 1971, has only ever been a part-time player and this year is no different: he's got 238 at-bats, so basically half a season's work. Hey, the power is pretty OK, I have to admit. September 8: In retaliation for the killing of nine Israeli athletes, Israel bombed Palestinian strongholds in Syria and Lebanon. September 8: The British sitcom "Are You Being Served?" debuts on the BBC. It will run until 1985. September 8: Patrick McGlynn, the guitarist for the Bay City Rollers, is born today. Wasn't that a 70s band? September 8: The Philles and Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey (18-9, 2.92) get just about the worst news imaginable: Starkey, who left the game the other day complaining of a twinge in his elbow, will be laid up for the season with the ailment. I guess it's not literally the worst news because he should be recovered in time for spring training. Nevertheless, he was the ace of the Philadelphia staff and now that honor falls to... Marius Gaddi (10-13, 4.32), I guess? Gaddi hasn't exactly looked like an ace. September 8: An awful, awful double-header by the Twins rightfully puts them 3 games in back of the Angels now. California did their part by sweeping the White Sox 3-2 and 5-3; the latter game, they needed to score 3 runs in the 9th, which they did when the Chisox' defense suddenly collapsed for 2 errors and a passed ball. The Twins, well... they got outhit by the Royals 9-8 in game 1, and then just stopped scoring altogether in game 2, carrying a 0-0 game into the bottom of the 14th when Royals OF Edwin Manchego (.271, 23, 62) finally put everyone out of their misery with a solo HR to end it. Minnesota is now just 66-65 and I'd say they don't deserve to make the playoffs but then I can make that statement for the entire AL West. Needless to say, Oakland also lost, 2-0 to the Rangers. The Angels are now 2 1/2 games up on the A's in spite of the Pythagorean won-lost record of 62-71 (70-63 in real games), which the game is giving them a 64% chance to win the division now. The 64-69 Rangers still have a 2.3% shot. September 8: In the NL, the Pirates get their 4 game series vs the Expos started absolutely terribly, getting blown out 8-2 in the first game and then blowing a 2-0 lead to lose in the 9th, 3-2. Santos Arango (18-14, 2.47) was looking just fine in the latter one until he gave up a bases-clearing double to OF Arsene Wegner (.268, 1, 4). To top it off, the Phillies outlasted Chicago in a rare high-offense game, 10-7, to give them a 1 1/2 game lead in the NL East standings and a 55.5% chance to take home the division. September 8: The Phillies also get some good news today following that devastating loss of Richard Starkey: CF Bryant Tarala (.235, 12, 30), who's been out since the end of July with a lingering sprained ankle injury, is fully fit and ready to go. Brandon Anderson (.244, 8, 29) has been holding down the fort pretty well in his absence but he's not the Gold Glove quality fielder that Tarala is and you can never have too many outfielders. September 9: A link between Kentucky's Mammoth Cave and the adjacent Flint Ridge Cave System is discovered by explorers from the Cave Research Foundation, creating the longest cave passage way in the world, more than 144 miles from one end to the other. September 9: At the Munich Summer Olympics, the US basketball team, which is 64-0 in Olympic play dating back to the sport being added in 1936, loses 51-50 to the Soviet Union on a... very fishy shot at the buzzer by Alexander Belov. The US team was ahead 50-49 when time expired but officials just like decided to add 3 seconds to the game clock. 50 years later, it's still trash. September 9: The 3 American TV networks introduce their new Saturday morning cartoon lineup. Among the new series being shown is "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids". September 9: Charles DeBellevue becomes the last American flying ace, registering a 5th and 6th shootdown in the Vietnam War. September 9: The Twins' chances take another blow as they learned they'll be without SP Angelo Ramos (11-12, 4.01) for the remainder of the season. Ramos was pretty mediocre this year but 2 years ago the man went 20-2 for this team. The career 229 game winner could conceivably back in the extremely unlikely event that this team makes it all the way to the World Series but... that's a fairy tale. September 9: Mets P Ernesto Carrillo (8-13, 4.00) has had a rough season this year to say the least - the 28 year old is way, way above his career marks with 6.5 walks per 9 innings and if he is in no danger of setting the walks record, it's only because of the "fine" work of Tyler Crosswhite in the late 40s and early 50s (Crosswhite broke 200 walks in 1949 and 1951). Still, he's not called "Wild Thing" for no reason. That said, when he can keep the control under wraps enough, that wildness can also be impossible to hit, as was the case today when Carrillo shut out the Cardinals 4-0 on 6 hits and 5 walks. "I pitched good today," said Carrillo after the game. September 10: Emerson Fittipaldi, who sadly did not get included in this dynasty, wins the Italian Grand Prix and at the age of 25 becomes the youngest ever Formula One champion. September 10: Frank Shorter of the USA wins the marathon at the Olympic Games in Munich with a time of 2:12:19.8. September 10: The US uses its United Nations Security Council veto for only the second time since the UN was formed in 1945, striking down a General Assembly resolution that demanded a halt to Israel's reprisals against Palestinian guerillas in Syria and Lebanon. September 10: Orioles P Hector Giron (2-4, 4.53) was pushed to the bullpen this year and only recently was given the chance to start again - the 31 year old had previously been a mainstay in Baltimore's rotation for 3 1/2 years. He left his last start early and now as it turns out he's going to miss the season with an unidentified shoulder injury. He will probably be ready to go in time for next season but it's hard to say. After this past season, Giron really needs everything to line up and it's uncertain whether he'll be able to make that happen in Baltimore. September 10: A's 3B David Salinas (.208, 1, 15), who doesn't seem to understand how iffy his spot on this team is, is demanding to start. I guess I will say that he's hit .242 for his new club, which is not fantastic but is miles better than Chase Jones (.200, 11, 39). Salinas is a hardened veteran and this something like a pennant race so I will acquiesce to those demands. September 10: Mets' IF Danny Pellot (.262, 2, 19), on the other hand... he also wants to start but he's 37 and I just don't see a position for him. I'll likely cut him loose at the end of the year and let him try and find a place somewhere else. September 10: Indians' slugger Ernesto Garcia (.301, 60, 148) belted 2 HRs in the first game of a double-header against the Red Sox, a game Cleveland won 11-0. Boston came back to win the nightcap 8-3, with starter Michael Pesco (22-8, 2.47) holding Garcia to a single so in a situation where one of the two teams needs to get red-hot in order to have any shot at catching the Tigers, they couldn't, but man... Garcia broke his own personal RBI record and now, short season or no, I can't see him not beating 65 HRs. Where is Ford Frick? He has 21 games left to play, 10 of them at home, and 6 HRs to hit to break the record. September 10: Minnesota actually falls below .500 with a 4-3 loss to a bad Royals team. They have a 4 game series coming up next week vs. the A's which at this point looks like it might only be for the consolation prize. Minnesota is 3-9 for the month of September. Yeesh. For their part, the A's lost 5-3 in Texas, being mostly unable to get to Rangers farmhand DJ Marrone (1-0, 1.17), he of the lifetime 9-18, 4.08 major league record, putting them even at .500. The Angels won, at least! They now carry a 74% chance to win out, reverse Pythagoreon record or no. Also, speaking of the Rangers, they're 66-69 and therefore have a 6% chance to win of their own, almost as good odds as OOTP gives the A's. They've won 5 in a row to get themselves into this position. ## Teams in Review
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12-16-2023, 12:39 PM
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#222 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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September 11-16, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 86 55 .610 - 579 472 Boston Red Sox 78 61 .561 7 522 435 Cleveland Indians 79 64 .552 8 622 521 Baltimore Orioles 76 66 .535 10½ 512 465 New York Yankees 63 79 .444 23½ 476 501 Milwaukee Brewers 56 88 .389 31½ 440 567 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 74 67 .525 - 471 507 Oakland Athletics 72 69 .511 2 491 525 Minnesota Twins 70 70 .500 3½ 543 526 Texas Rangers 70 71 .496 4 440 447 Chicago White Sox 65 76 .461 9 481 548 Kansas City Royals 58 81 .417 15 520 583 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Philadelphia Phillies 82 59 .582 - 597 533 Pittsburgh Pirates 80 60 .571 1½ 468 396 Chicago Cubs 78 64 .549 4½ 577 575 St. Louis Cardinals 73 70 .510 10 526 518 Montreal Expos 62 79 .440 20 496 554 New York Mets 61 78 .439 20 471 543 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Atlanta Braves 76 66 .535 - 550 515 Houston Astros 75 66 .532 ½ 510 482 Los Angeles Dodgers 70 71 .496 5½ 450 490 San Diego Padres 67 72 .482 7½ 516 499 San Francisco Giants 66 76 .465 10 470 462 Cincinnati Reds 56 85 .397 19½ 493 557 The AL West if anything stretched out a little bit so that the A's are just baaaarely still there. California's "only" got a 69% chance to pull through because by runs scored and allowed they're not very good, but they do have that cushion and it's not like the teams behind them are exactly world-beaters. Oakland finally became the team to figure out the Rangers this month, winning their weekend series against them 2 games to 1 and dropping Texas to 13-3 on the month. They are by no means out of it but they're going to have to still get a lot of breaks. They'll play the Twins in a 2 game midweek series of their own, then they get to play the White Sox, who look like they've packed it in for the year. Speaking of playing teams who are packing it in, the Angels go against the Royals for 3 games before facing the Twins themselves next weekend, and the A's get the plumbest of plum schedules with a 2-gamer vs the Rangers and then 4 games against KC. The AL East is pretty much a done deal now, in spite of the efforts of the Red Sox, who outlasted Cleveland in their weekend series 2 games to 1. They do get to play the Tigers next weekend, which could conceivably matter if Detroit just, like, falls apart or something. The Tigers, it should be said, do have a gauntlet to run next week, with a series vs Cleveland before those Bosox. The oddsmakers still give them a 97% chance to win, which tells you the size of that lead, not to mention the fact that they're just plain the best team in baseball this year. The Red Sox might be 2nd best but at this point that seems like a booby prize. And finally... all right, the NL East is a race too, especially given that the Phillies will try to survive the final 2 1/2 weeks without their top starter in Richard Starkey (18-9, 2.92) and their relief ace Tom Grohs (6-4, 2.25, 20 Sv), both of whom are out for both the rest of the season and the postseason. Philadelphia does have kind of a cake walk of a schedule coming up, with a 3-gamer against the Cardinals, who threw in the towel last month when they traded away Casey Satterfield and Brian Wilcox in separate trades, and then the Mets. The Pirates are right behind them, thanks in part to a 4-2 record last week; every game is a toss-up with these guys though since they can't score runs. The Cubs have the exact opposite problem - every game has a chance of ending 9-8, especially in Wrigley - and it sure looks like the Pirates knocked them out last week with their 2-1 series win. On the other hand, the Cubs face nothing but Cardinals and Expos until their final series of the year against the Phillies. Let's take a penultimate look at the individual races... the Twins' Daniel Gilmet (.324, 9, 53) is still leading the AL in hitting but he's got 2 guys right on his heels: Royals OF Tony Danza (.322, 6, 43) and Cleveland OF Tommy Pron (.322, 13, 52). Pron is no newcomer to this list, having won the batting title in 1968 (.315, 13, 68) as part of a 4 year period between 1967 and 1970 when he hit over .300 every year. He slumped to .273 amidst Cleveland's woes but he's right back into it this year. Dropping off, at least for the time being, is Alvin Romero (.302, 4, 37), who's been in a slump all month long with a .228 batting average. HRs and RBIs are still cominated by Ernesto Garcia (.299, 61, 152), who's stuck on 61 HRs thanks to playing a couple series on the road. He's still 4 HRs away from tying the all-time recod that he himself tied last year. Behind him in both categories is White Sox 1B/OF Alice Cooper (.263, 44, 96), who hurt his back earlier today and so might miss some time. Here's hoping he crests the century mark in ribbies! Crusty veteran Angelo Martinez (.245, 32, 88) is 3rd in HRs and RBIs and indeed is the only other man in the AL with more than 30 ding-dongs. Alvin Romero is, slump or no, still well ahead of Kansas City's Dave Corona (.258, 12, 36) in steals, 44 to 37. Tony Danza's got 29. Romero also leads the league in doubles with a very low league-leading amount of 28 and is 2nd in runs with 96. The league leader? Ernesto Garcia with 106. I guess when you drive yourself in a lot... Danza's 14 triples lead the AL, speaking of those guys. Youthful Yankees outfielder Phil Hartman (.289, 10, 45) has somehow crept ahead of guys like Cooper and Martinez in bases on balls; I guess he's just not getting any good pitches to hit whatsoever. For pitching... Santos Rodriguez (14-9, 2.08) saw his ERA balloon over 2 with a 4-run, 6 inning outing on August 30 and has through a bunch of 6-8 inning, 2 runs allowed type outings that keep him just over that mark. It's still good enough to lead the AL. Jimmy Goddard (17-11, 2.27) and Marco Sanchez (10-10, 2.36), who by the way juuuust came back from injury to pitch a game this week - it was a no-decision - are behind him. Michael Pesco (22-8, 2.67) is just out of the top 5 in ERA but he's #1 in wins, followed by Cleveland's Jose Martinez (20-7, 2.43), playing his first full year in the majors, and Detroit's Edgar Moluina (19-10, 2.83). Molina's captured the lead in the K race over Pesco with 238 Ks to 219; Jose Martinez is 3rd. Lots of the same names! Minnesota's Chris Benavides (13-18, 3.14) continues to lead the league in losses, although there's a chance that Mllwaukee's Cris Olivares (8-17, 3.03) will "catch" him. Willis Chavez (5-3, 2.22) is still leading everyone in saves (27) as well as shutdowns (33). He is followed closely by Baltimore's long-time closer Montay Luiso (5-6, 2.53) in both categories (26 and 29). Detroit's Jim Marceau (5-7, 3.79) actually got a save on the 6th to keep him in 3rd in that category even though he's ceded closing duties to Alex Madrigal (1-1, 2.91, 6 Sv). Goddard by the way also leads in IP with 281.1 and quality starts with 30. Michael Pesco's ridden all his Ks to lead in OBA with .190 but also has the most walks in the AL with 117. Detroit's Juan Moreno (11-1, 2.59), who's been in and out of the rotation this year, leads everyone in winning percentage with a .917. THE NL BECKONS... Kevin Dwyer (.328, 16, 71) now holds a commanding lead in the NL batting race and in fact is the only guy with a +.300 average. Big George Foreman (.296, 15, 65) was right up there but he's hit just .204 in September including 2-19 this week to fall off the mark. The Cubs' Antonio Lopez (.294, 26, 65) has slugged his way into 3rd place. I remember Alonzo Huanosta (.280, 6, 61) of the Reds being on this list too but he's 9-63 in September and isn't even in the top 5 anymore. Justin Stone (.255, 30, 83) is battling a sprained thumb but still managed to get his 30th HR for the 11th time in his 12 year career (he missed most of the season in 1969). He's also #1 in the league, just ahead of the Reds' Jaden Weaver (.235, 29, 81), who's been held out of the lineup all week with a lingering injury of his own, and Mike Galeana (.206, 28. 80) and Jeremy Taylor (.243, 28, 82). Stone's also juuuust ahead of Taylor in the RBI race, with both of them passing Paul McCartney (.259, 26, 81), who is himself still right there with Weaver and Galeana - 3 RBIs separate the top 5. Elsewhere, Pedro Ortiz (.264, 2, 31) has been setting the plate for Weaver all season long and he's leading the league in steals with 35 of them. All the runs leaders are power guys, lead by Dwyer, so his 59 are nowhere near the top. The Cubs' Sean Gabel (.276, 1, 35) is the safest best to be the first guy to 30 doubles, with 29, although Foreman and Ortiz both have 28 of them. Atlanta's Chris Ward (.264, 9, 30), in spite of missing more than a month this year, leads the NL in triples (11) and is 2nd in steals (29). Right now the only other guy in double-digits in three-baggers is the Mets' Bill Heyen (.223, 3, 22), who's in the middle of an other wise excrutiating season. And hey, since I noted it in the AL, I'll note that wherever his power may have gone, the Cardinals' Lorenzo Martinez (.229, 21, 55) is still leading the league in walks and is a big, big part of why Mike Galeana, hitting behind him, has so many RBIs. Fernando Apolonio (16-10, 1.98) is just baaarely clinging to the fact that he's the only man in the major leagues with a sub-2 ERA and also the ERA lead itself, as Jeremy Battaglia (15-14, 2.02) is right there. Battaglia is also riding a 6 game win streak, which is a little bit because he's suddenly gotten more support (there was one cheap win in there) but mostly, he's just pitched really well, lowering his ERA from the time of his last loss on August 2 from 2.16 to 2.02. Mike Stuckey (10-13. 2.36), another hard-luck case, is 3rd. Astros ace Tony Rivera (20-12, 2.53) was the first NLer to reach 20 but after being locked on 19 for a bit he's now been locked on 20 through 2 more starts. He is 1-4 going back to August 25 although he does have a 2.32 ERA in September. Two Pirates men, Santos Arango (19-14, 2.51) and DJ Cheeves (19-8, 2.58) are ready to tie or pass him if they can get the needed run support. Roger Quintana (12-13, 2.64) of the Cardinals is yet another hard-luck guy but he does lead the league in Ks with 218. He's currently the only guy in the NL with more than 200 of them, in fact, although Arango (183) is reasonably close. And yeah, the Dodgers' Alec Cosby (6-4, 1.93) continues to keep LA's meager playoff hopes alive with a league-high 27 saves and 37 shutdowns. The Mets' Geoff Saus (8-4, 1.71) is making the most of a bad situation with 25 saves of his own along with 33 shutdowns (3rd), and Jesse Kelly (8-4, 2.79) has rebounded nicely from a rough 1971 with 24 saves and 35 shutdowns. Tony Rivera has 18 complete games to lead the league as well as 7 shutouts, which is tied with Battaglia. Apolonio somehow has the best OBA with a .201 (he's 3rd "best" in BABIP, which is probably why). Back to NY for a second, they don't call Ernesto Carrillo (8-14, 3.95) for nothing, although his control seems significantly worse this year. In spite of a relatively low 193 IPs he leads the league with 136 walks. He's 6th in the league in Ks with 171; no doubt he'd be a league-leader if he didn't get in his own way so much. The Dodgers' Carlos Figueroa (7-16, 3.34), speaking of guys getting in their own way, leads the league in losses. Maybe he's a hard-luck guy. ## Major Transactions September 12: The Brewers claim P Bubba Touchton (1-3, 4.55) off of waivers from the Red Sox. Touchton was really good last year (5-3, 2.67) but suffered some awful control this season. Was he playing hurt? Was he angry from getting shuttled between AAA and the majors? Did he pick up bad habits trying to start in AAA Louisville? Now Milwaukee will try to figure him out. September 16: The Yankees "purchase" minor league P Dave Bell (1-1, 5.84 at AAA Indianapolis) for $1,500. In real life this was a conditional deal where the Bell-equivalent was sent back to the Reds in March of '73. I'll probably forget about that so I'm attaching money here. It's been a lost season for the 26 year old Bell but he looked good enough last year that the Reds gave him a 2-start cup of coffee (he wasn't good - 0-1, 5.25) so hey, why not kick the tires? The Yankees can afford it. ## News September 11: Bay Area Rapid Transit begins operation on a 28 mile run between Oakland and Fremont, which will later expand to connect San Francisco and other points in the area. September 11: John Dean meets with IRS Commissioner Johnnie Walters and gives him a list of 490 individuals to investigate. Waters will consult with Treasury Secretary Schultz the next day, who will direct him to do nothing. See? It's all a big old nothingburger, guys. Nixon will get out of all of this scot free. September 11: Max Fleischer, the founder of Fleischer Studios and the man responsible for bringing such characters as Betty Boop and Popeye to the silver screen, dies today at 89. September 11: I feel like I might have forgotten to post these last week (or at least I didn't put up the image tags)... but HO HUM the AL Player of the Week was an Indian again. It was, you guessed it... OF Tommy Pron (.325, 12, 49). What? That's right, the man hitting in the 2 hole ahead of Ernesto Garcia (.301, 60, 148) had a fantastic week, hitting .571 (16-28) with 3 HRs and 8 runs scored, insinuating himself into the batting race in the process (he's currently in a virtual tie with Minnesota's Daniel Gilmet (.325. 4. 49)). Pron has won the PotW 4 times but this is his first since 1969. September 11: The NL PotW is a guy who just won it 2 weeks ago but, man, when you hit, you hit, right? 21 year old Phillies LF Alberto Juantorena (.339, 16, 35) was an absolute beast over the previous 7 days, with a 14-31 showing at the plate (.452 average) and *6* HRs. He only had 8 RBIs because he hits leadoff for the Phillies but man oh man I am changing that right this second. September 11: The Orioles may be out of playoff contention but don't tell that to P George Dapson (18-8, 3.02). Dapson held the punchless Brewers to 4 hits en route to a 3-0 shutout victory. "I just try to make 'em put it in play and I let my defense get the job done," said Dapson after the game. "That's why they pay me the big bucks. Or at least, that's why they will pay me the big bucks." This was Dapson's 3rd shutout, tying last year's career high. September 12: Almost 4 yeas after Nixon proposed it, the federal revenue sharing plan, which would transfer $5.3B of US government revenues to state and local governments, was approved by the Senate 64-20. It had passed the House, 275-122, on June 22. September 12: An attack on two British fishing trawlers by the Icelandic gunboat ICGB Aegir triggers the Second Cod War. Which, one, there was a First Cod War, and two, Icelanders called it "Landhelgisstríðin". September 12: Cleveland's had a tough time treading water but that's in large part because they've played 5 games in the last 3 days. They split a double-header in Milwaukee today after having won 2 of their last 3 against the 2nd place Red Sox. It was looking bleak for the Tribe after they dropped a close 2-1 loss when Dylan Hamilton (10-16, 3.93) couldn't quite keep up with Brewers' prospect and September call-up Ignazio Visco (1-4, 4.57). Then Cleveland's bats exploded in game 2 - weirdly, without Ernesto Garcia (.299, 61, 152) homering, although he did drive in a man and score a run - jumping out to a 6-1 lead, blowing that, and then winning 11-6. Boston did win their game against the Yankees, 7-4, thanks to a bases clearing triple by Mike Miller (.258, 15, 61) in the 7th, but the Tigers dropped their to the Orioles 4-2 so the East tightens up just a little bit with the Red Sox 6 games back, Cleveland 6 1/2, and the O's now having a ghost of a chance at 8 1/2 behind and only 16 to play. September 12: Hey, it's September and these are bad teams but the Royals' Rick Rodriguez (4-6, 2.82) pitched one heck of a game and it's going to be interesting to see this kid next year. The 25 year old, promoted to the big leagues out of desperation - he was just 5-6, 4.08 at AAA Omaha in the first half but needs must - has really excelled under the tutelage of pitching coach Nate Strek. Today he pitched his finest game in the majors yes, a 6-hit, 10-strikeout performance against the White Sox that earned him a 4-0 victory. Rodriguez had previously not been able to translate his success at striking guys out in the major league level so this was a good sign. September 12: Meanwhile in the West, Texas continues its improbable run with a 6-3 win over the Angels in 11. You could blame stopper Tanzan Kihara (7-5, 2.94) for this - he just didn't have his good stuff tonight and got tagged for 4 runs in the final inning - but can you really and truly blame him when once again, Cal can only score 2 runs in regulation? The win puts the Rangers to 2 games below .500 at 67-69, 4 games behind the Angels in the standings, and, amazingly, tied for 3rd with the Twins following their own home loss to the A's, 4-1. Minnesota is now just 4-11 for the month and 1-9 in their last 10, the lone win coming in the second game of a double-header when they scored 3 in the 8th off of a tired Oakland bullpen. September 12: Pittsburgh has itself a bad, bad day, as not only can they not get past the Cubs in Wrigley, who win the game 6-4 thanks to back-to-back HRs by Antonio Lopez (.294, 25, 62) and Jeremy Taylor (.241, 26, 77) in the 8th, but in the game they also lost their starting RF and #3 hitter Brian Jackson (.267, 9, 50) to an elbow injury. The good news is that he should only miss 2 weeks. The bad news is, the season only has about 3 weeks and change left. The Phillies fall to the Mets 3-2 in extras and so the Pirates at least don't lose ground for one day. September 12: It's been a lost season for the Dodgers, who are 66-71 on the year with 18 games to play - so they'd need to go 12-6 to finish above .500 - but there are a couple of nice signs for the future. Today I wanted to highlight stopper Alec Cosby (6-4, 2.02), who set a new career high today with his 24th save. That ties him with the Cubs' Jesse Kelly (8-4, 2.84) and the Mets' Geoff Saus (8-4, 1.76) for the NL lead. Cosby's allowed an opponents' BA of just .200. Last year he was a bit of a strikeout artist with 7.3 K/9 but he's decided to let his defense handle more opportunities this year and it's fallen to 5.1. Some may call that a warning flag but we call it a sign of maturity for the 27 year old. September 13: 54 North Korean members of its Red Cross delegation cross the border into South Korea and are welcomed by their counterparts at Panmunjon at 10am. This looked like a mass defection when I read it but no, it's "just" a visit, and I say "just" because this is the first time North Korean officials have gone into the South since the Korean War. September 13: More than 30 people, mostly schoolchildren, drown when a ferry across Malaysia's Kerian River capsize. Some children are able to swim to safety but most drown in 40 foot deep waters. September 13: The national airline of Mauritania, Air Mauritius, makes its first flight with a six seat Piper PA-31 Navajo airplane. This flight will fly ever Wednesday from Port Louis to Rodrigues and back again. Twenty-five years later, this airline will have four Airbus A340-300s, three Boeing 767s, two 747s, and 4 helicopters. September 13: Orioles' stopper Montay Luiso (5-6, 2.59, 26 Sv) has been pitching through a stiff back since the beginning of the month and, as often happens when you play guys through injuries like this, it's become a chronic one (the editor actually calls these "nagging" injuries). Since the injury isn't affecting his throwing (of course, any time you play a player injured, especially a pitcher, you risk injuring them more), I'll just go ahead and keep using him as the team's ace and stopper until they're completely eliminated from playoff contention. Luiso is an 8 time All-Star with 289 career saves to his name in a 14 year career that dates back to 1959. September 13: Astros' SS Alejandro Chairez (.211, 2, 9) is very unhappy (actually "angry") with his role on the team and wants to be traded to someone who will start him. Dude. You're 33 years old and frankly there's a much better chance you're just going to get cut on New Horizons Day than that you'll even make it to spring training in 1973. For now, I'm just going to ignore this since the season's almost over and I do kind of need his depth. September 13: White Sox SP Obe Olthof (10-12, 3.98) has had a tough couple seasons since winning 21 games as a 25 year old for the Yankees in 1970. Today he showed a glimpse of all that raw talent he's got as he held the Royals to a 2-hit shutout with a 1-0 squeaker. Olthof struck out 6 and walked just one tonight. His peripherals indicate to me that he should be better than this, although he has given up 22 HRs in 210.1 IP, which is high-ish for Comiskey. "Guysh, I threw the ball like the olliebollen today," the Amsterdam native said after the game, or at least we think that's what he said. September 13: The A's wrap up their 4 game series in Minnesota with a 6-4 win to take 3 of them. They were down 4-1 heading into the 7th and 4-3 into the 9th but clutch hits by 2B Israel Gaytan (.286, 5, 41) and C Josh Lewis (.268, 15, 65) spelled doom for Twins stopper Travis Livingston (7-5, 1.71, 20 Sv), who blew only his 4th save of the year. Notable in this game, Twins 3B Mike Brookes (.210, 12, 30) socked his 300th HR of his career. The win brings the A's a game closer to the Angels, 1 1/2 behind, because the Halos fell to the surging Rangers, 7-4, thanks to a 3-run blast in the 9th inning by 2B Geoffrey Rush (.333, 2, 7). "You might say I shined," he said following the game. Rush has been kind of a beast in his 12 major league games; he got the starting job only because the Rangers pulled the trigger on a white-flag trade in late August with the A's that sent their long-time starter Tyler Knight (.225, 4, 26) out there. Texas, 68-69, is 3 games behind the Angels with a 3-game series against these A's on the way this weekend. September 14: Pope Payl VI issues a motu proprio that rejects calls to have any formal ministerial role in the Roman Catholic Church. September 14: West Germany and Poland restore diplomatic relations more than 33 years after the outbreak of World War II. East Germany had been an ally and fellow member of the Soviet Bloc since Poland's establishment in 1949. September 14: The Peoples' Republic of China makes its first ever commitment to purchasing food from the USA, as Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz announces that the Eastern superpower had placed an order to buy 15 million bushels of US wheat. September 14: The TV show "The Waltons" begins its 10 year run on CBS. September 14: "That Championship Season", a play written by Jason Miller, makes its Broadway debut at the Booth Theater for the first of 700 performances. It will win the award for Best Screenplay in 1973. The author saw a revival of this play, featuring Jim Gaffigan, when he visited New York City a decade ago. September 14: Golfer Notah Begay III is born in Albuquerque, NM. September 14: The Rangers continue their unlikely push and reach .500 for the first time all season with 69 wins and 69 losses by beating the Angels 4-2 to sweep the series in Anaheim. Today's unsung hero was Robert McHugh (4-1, 2.22), who pitched poorly in St. Louis last September and spent most of 1972 in AAA. Since his call-up he's been outstanding and he took a shutout into the 9th tonight. When the Angels' Willie Vargas (.272, 8, 49) homered and chased him out, it almost looked like California was going to turn it around but nope, Doug Ellis (2-0, 1.22, 7 Sv) came in and closed the door. Cal has now lost 3 in a row and while the game still gives them the plurality of winning the division, it's only at 49% now. They're 71-67. The A's at 70-68 have a 24% chance, then the Rangers are at 19%, and somehow the Twins, should they be able to turn the ship around, still have a 6% shot. Even the White Sox still have a 0-6% so only the Royals are really and truly out of this race. September 14: There will not, at least, be a Cinderella story in the NL West; the Astros blew out the Padres today, 7-0, to complete a little 2-game series sweep against San Diego and put themselves a solid 8 games up. It's not that I'm against underdogs, it's just... in order for this particular underdog story to win out, both Houston and Atlanta have to implode and I'm not a huge fan of 85 win teams (in terms of a 162 game season; I think the Phillies/whoever emerges in the NL East might win around 85) playing in the league championship series very often. We're already going to get that in the AL West, so... Anyway though the Pads are even tied with the Dodgers now and are basically out of the race. It's down to the Astros at 75-63 (and a 72% chance) and the Braves at 74-65 (and a 28%). September 15: A federal grand jury indicts the five Watergate burglars along with E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy. On the same day, John Dean, the White House staff attorney, meets with President Nixon for the first time concerning the scandal. In the meeting they discuss the covering up of the White House role in the break-in. Dean will later testify about his memory of this conversation in 1973, unaware that all Oval Office conversations are recorded at the request of the President. All three of them are recorded discussing plans to take revenge on the President's enemies and this particular tape, I guess, doesn't mysteriously go missing. September 15: SOuth Vietnam's army retakes control of Quang Tri more than three months after the provincial capital had been captured by the Viet Cong. September 15: SAS Flight 130 is hijacked over Sweden by three members of the Croatian National Resistance after taking off from Gothenburg and headed to Stockholm. The four crew and 83 passengers are held hostage as the jet is diverted to Malmo. As a codition of release, seven Croatian terrorists imprisoned in Sweden are released and allowed to leave the country. September 15: Speaking of terrorism, at times brutally unfunny comedian Jimmy Carr is born today in Hounslow, London. September 15: It looks like Mets P Tom Owens' (4-1, 1.66) career is officially over, as he was diagnosed with a torn UCL today. He'd already announced he was retiring at the end of the season so there will be no comeback for the 40 year old. He finishes with a record of 155-127 with 20 saves and 21 shutouts, a number that includes the 2 that he threw this season during a 6-start stint in New York's rotation. I do not of course have access to his HOF Monitor/Standards numbers until he retires but at a glance he's at best in the Hall of Very Good, maybe in the Phillies' personal Hall. September 15: Atlanta's slim playoff hopes took a bit of a hit as surprise All-Star Jake Cari (8-4, 2.15) discovered he'll be out for the rest of the regular season with forearm tendinitis. Cari excelled in flipping between the 5th starter and long relief roles all season long, although excelled enough to really be an All Star level guy? Probably not. Hey, he'll always have that badge, at least. September 15: Down 7-0 at the halfway point, the Red Sox engineered maybe the greatest comeback I've personally ever witnessed in a game, scoring 1 in the 5th, 3 in the 6th, 3 in the 7th, and finally 2 in the 8th to win this game in Fenway Park, 9-7. "We've got the biggest balls of them all," said a jubilant CF Brian Johnson (.299, 0, 13), who went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored, a double, and the game-winning single off of Cleveland closer Jake Duckett (10-3, 2.73), after the game. He was quick to say that by "balls" he meant, like, galas and that kind of thing, but we are skeptical. September 15: The Inconvenient Truth had an inconvenient truth about him: Angels SP Al Gore (11-9, 3.19) hadn't won a game since July 17th. He did miss about 3 weeks of that time with injury but nevertheless he had 6 starts since then with 3 losses and 3 no-decisions. He took matters into his own hands at home against the White Sox today, though, going all the way and delivering clutch out after clutch out - granted that he kind of put himself into that mess by surrendering 10 hits, but still. "I'm gonna put this one into a lockbox," said Gore after the game. September 15: Meanwhile, the A's finally figure out how to stop the Rangers. Hint: their offense is bad. Remember when it looked like they were going to set a record for futility earlier this year? Well, they kind of figured that out but they are also prone to get stopped in their tracks by mediocre pitching sometimes. For example, 34 year old journeyman Carlos Torres (5-8, 3.43), who spent the first half of the season in AAA Iowa (10-5, 3.86) before joining the A's rotation. Torres, a groundballer and control artist, held the Rangers to 4 hits and 2 walks and struck out 5. Incredibly, this was his 3rd shutout of the season and 2nd in less than a month. The W allows Oakland to keep pace with the Angels, although the Halos do have an over-50% chance now (54.5%). September 15: Reds SP Steve Waiters (10-12, 2.59) has had a weird up-and-down year: he hasn't gotten the run support of years past to be sure, but after leading the league in quality starts with 31 in 1970 and 1971 he's got "only" 20 this year. Make that 21 because calling his performance today "quality" is if anything damning with faint praise. Waiters struck out a season high 10 batters and allowed just 4 hits and 2 walks in his 4-0 shutout of the Padres. Waiters does have 6 shutouts on the season - hence both the up and the down - and so teeeechnically, if everything breaks the right way, could break his personal record of 8 that he got in 1970 - of course, if he beats that, he'd tie the all-time record of 9. September 16: At least 103 people are killed in the collapse of the Colgante Bridge during the festival for Our Lady of Penafrancia near Naga City in the Philippines. At 4:30 in the afternoon the wooden bridge falls apart under the weight of spectators, plunging people and debris into the Bicol River. September 16: "Deep Throat" (later identified as Mark Felt) listens over the telephone to Bob Woodward's draft of a story on Watergate and confirms an anonymous tip that money from Maurice Stans had been used to finance the break-in. September 16: The Bob Newhart Show begins a 7 season run on CBS. Newhart plays a psychologist, giving him plenty of time to do his zany telephone monologue type stand-up work. The author has also gone by the apartment building in Chicago where Newhart's character was supposed to live during this series. It's still around and it's still pretty hoity-toity. September 16: The war of attrition continues as Phillies closer Tom Grohs (6-4, 2.25, 20 Sv) discovered today that he tore his rotator cuff in a game on the 12th and not only will miss the season but might not be back in time for the beginning of next year either. Veteran Omar Sanchez (4-0, 2.18, 4 Sv), who held the closer's, um, helmet in Philadelphia before Grohs took over, will take over the game-ending duties once more. September 16: Royals OF Dave Corona (.257, 12, 36) isn't recovering as quickly as has been hoped from shoulder inflammation. Given that I'd kept him out of the lineup to keep him from getting into the nagging-injury status, and given that the nature of the injury is that it's all to his arm, I'm going to push Tony Danza (.318, 6, 43) into right field and Corona, who is nicknamed "The Cookie Monster" for reasons I'm sure made sense at the time, will play in left at least until he's 100% but perhaps to the end of the year. Danza actually has an OK arm; he's stayed out of right field mainly due to his lack of range, which in turn is due to a poor first step rather than a lack of speed. September 16: This season hits a special new low when the Pirates' DJ Cheeves (19-9, 2.58) carries a no-hitter through regulation but can't win it during that time because he allows the tying run on a wild pitch in the 8th. Fortunately for him the Cardinals still generate absolutely nothing in the next 3 innings and in fact are still no-hit. Roger Quintana (12-13, 2.64) was arguably even better than Cheeves through 10, finishing the game with 10 strikeouts, but he fell apart in the 11th and handed the Bucs the 4-1 win. Surprisingly, at least to me, this is only the 2nd no-no of the year and the first since Billy Crystal did the deed in April. This was also, tainted as it was (I guess Cheeves never did give up a hit), the Pirates' first no-hitter in their history. September 16: Meanwhile in Philadelphia, Marius Gaddi (11-13, 4.08) has had a very rough time of it this year. Every now and then though he still shows signs of being that 27 game winner / Cy Young man from 1970 and today was one of those days. Gaddi struck out 10 Expos and threw a 6-hit shutout to give the Phillies an easy peasy lemon-squeezy 6-0 win. This keeps them at 1 1/2 games up on the Bucs and now, with a loss to the Mets, 5 1/2 ahead of the Cubs. Chicago is all but out of this race in terms of odds. September 17: North Vietnam releases three American POWs in the first such action since 1969. Another 539 POWs remain in captivity with more than 1,000 Americans listed as missing in action and unaccounted for. September 17: 1,000 soldiers of the self-proclaimed "Uganda People's Militia" invade the country from Tanzania. The Ugandan Army will repel this force after two weeks of fighting. September 17: The TV show M*A*S*H begins its 11 season run. Yes, there was a time when this show was not on television. Also, the actual Korean War it was set in? 3 years. September 17: The Tigers complete a 3-game sweep of the Brewers with a 3-2 win in Milwaukee County Stadium that just about puts the AL East on ice. Bruce Rubio (15-13, 3.45) went 7 strong innings and lefty Nate Khoury (2-3, 4.32) threw a rare 2-inning outing against the left-heavy Brewers lineup to take this one home for Detroit. Now 7 games ahead of the Red Sox with 15 left to play, they have a 97.7% chance of winning this division. Cleveland for their part kept themselves just baaaaaaaarely in it with a 3-2 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park; Dylan Hamilton (11-16, 3.84) outpitched former Clevelander Justin Kindberg (17-11, 2.70). September 17: The Angels, meanwhile, seem to be getting hot at the right time, or at least they're playing the right team at the right time. Andy Ring (15-10, 2.74) took down the White Sox 4-1 today, although it did take California until the 7th to figure out Jerry "The Mountain of Stone Mountain" Blackwell (6-7, 3.38). It was a 1-0 game until PH Sam Marks (.286, 0, 3) and Ring hit back to back RBI singles to put Cal into a lead that they did not relinquish. Texas narrowly avoided getting swept by the A's thanks to a 2-0 shutout win by the 23 year old West German national Berd Eichinger (3-2, 2.25) and the Twins also managed to win today so... hey it's Sunday so the standings and odds, I'll talk about above. ## Teams in Review Nah.
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12-21-2023, 12:46 PM
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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September 18-24, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 90 58 .608 - 601 498 Boston Red Sox 82 64 .562 7 546 459 Cleveland Indians 83 67 .553 8 652 546 Baltimore Orioles 77 70 .524 12½ 530 480 New York Yankees 66 82 .446 24 502 521 Milwaukee Brewers 58 90 .392 32 447 584 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 76 71 .517 - 489 529 Minnesota Twins 73 72 .503 2 562 543 Texas Rangers 73 73 .500 2½ 458 463 Oakland Athletics 73 74 .497 3 510 552 Chicago White Sox 66 80 .452 9½ 489 567 Kansas City Royals 65 81 .445 10½ 558 602 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Philadelphia Phillies 86 61 .585 - 620 550 Pittsburgh Pirates 86 61 .585 - 507 411 Chicago Cubs 80 67 .544 6 597 598 St. Louis Cardinals 76 73 .510 11 541 535 Montreal Expos 63 83 .432 22½ 509 578 New York Mets 63 83 .432 22½ 498 584 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 78 68 .534 - 532 499 Atlanta Braves 78 69 .531 ½ 578 545 Los Angeles Dodgers 74 73 .503 4½ 470 507 San Diego Padres 71 74 .490 6½ 548 524 San Francisco Giants 69 79 .466 10 490 483 Cincinnati Reds 57 90 .388 21½ 508 584 Code:
AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTING STATS Team R/G R G AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG OPS Cleveland Indians 4.3 652 150 5072 1317 179 28 155 466 716 84 .260 .323 .398 .720 Detroit Tigers 4.1 601 148 5039 1252 200 30 109 520 789 90 .248 .320 .365 .685 Minnesota Twins 3.9 562 145 4844 1153 154 39 138 528 823 88 .238 .316 .371 .688 Kansas City Royals 3.8 558 146 4880 1138 196 50 119 585 916 129 .233 .317 .367 .684 Boston Red Sox 3.7 546 146 4952 1231 239 43 94 417 748 52 .249 .310 .371 .681 Baltimore Orioles 3.6 530 147 4922 1193 208 34 79 488 836 76 .242 .313 .347 .659 Oakland Athletics 3.5 510 147 4978 1202 145 31 87 488 742 71 .241 .311 .335 .646 New York Yankees 3.4 502 148 4959 1164 189 22 87 504 826 26 .235 .307 .334 .641 California Angels 3.3 489 147 4856 1121 155 39 76 489 807 100 .231 .304 .326 .630 Chicago White Sox 3.3 489 146 4848 1101 149 29 103 455 874 71 .227 .294 .334 .628 Texas Rangers 3.1 458 146 4729 1058 149 33 68 456 891 60 .224 .294 .312 .607 Milwaukee Brewers 3.0 447 148 4856 1071 146 20 104 462 827 54 .221 .292 .323 .615 TOTALS 3.6 6344 1764 58935 14001 2109 398 1219 5858 9795 901 .238 .308 .349 .657 AVERAGE 529 147 4911 1167 176 33 102 488 816 75 LEAGUE PITCHING STATS Team R/G R G CG SHO SV ERA IP HA HRA BB K WHIP OAVG BABIP Boston Red Sox 3.1 459 146 46 21 27 2.91 1320.0 1043 88 506 893 1.17 .218 .249 Texas Rangers 3.2 463 146 43 22 23 3.01 1296.1 1093 85 441 741 1.18 .230 .255 Baltimore Orioles 3.3 480 147 29 18 31 3.06 1322.1 1120 74 466 783 1.20 .231 .260 Detroit Tigers 3.4 498 148 36 14 38 3.02 1368.2 1170 112 492 905 1.21 .232 .261 New York Yankees 3.5 521 148 43 15 21 3.30 1327.0 1189 103 450 769 1.24 .242 .265 California Angels 3.6 529 147 42 17 29 3.20 1334.1 1164 121 438 838 1.20 .235 .258 Minnesota Twins 3.7 543 145 26 10 26 3.39 1302.1 1183 94 467 765 1.27 .244 .270 Cleveland Indians 3.6 546 150 37 10 27 3.44 1338.1 1252 106 427 892 1.25 .249 .281 Oakland Athletics 3.8 552 147 25 7 33 3.53 1334.0 1145 114 577 926 1.29 .232 .263 Chicago White Sox 3.9 567 146 29 7 23 3.59 1315.0 1163 113 491 730 1.26 .238 .258 Milwaukee Brewers 3.9 584 148 34 9 21 3.82 1327.2 1239 99 555 773 1.35 .249 .276 Kansas City Royals 4.1 602 146 35 10 22 3.80 1324.2 1240 110 548 780 1.35 .249 .274 TOTALS 3.6 6344 1764 425 160 321 3.34 15910.2 14001 1219 5858 9795 1.25 .238 .264 AVERAGE 529 147 35 13 27 1326 1167 102 488 816 Code:
NATIONAL LEAGUE BATTING STATS Team R/G R G AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG OPS Philadelphia Phillies 4.2 620 147 4910 1207 186 39 145 581 867 87 .246 .327 .388 .715 Chicago Cubs 4.1 597 147 5144 1269 184 38 147 412 793 78 .247 .307 .383 .690 Atlanta Braves 3.9 578 147 5042 1233 174 42 133 471 807 69 .245 .310 .375 .685 San Diego Padres 3.8 548 145 4906 1197 166 34 116 434 808 79 .244 .307 .363 .670 St. Louis Cardinals 3.6 541 149 5092 1136 153 29 135 543 779 39 .223 .301 .344 .645 Houston Astros 3.6 532 146 4869 1154 185 27 85 520 796 66 .237 .312 .338 .651 Montreal Expos 3.5 509 146 4953 1110 167 33 116 487 874 53 .224 .297 .341 .638 Cincinnati Reds 3.5 508 147 4874 1153 188 23 85 493 739 67 .237 .309 .337 .645 Pittsburgh Pirates 3.4 507 147 4900 1128 174 25 77 561 884 37 .230 .311 .323 .634 New York Mets 3.4 498 146 4831 1115 154 39 89 433 776 78 .231 .298 .334 .632 San Francisco Giants 3.3 490 148 4958 1156 163 29 98 462 816 44 .233 .301 .337 .638 Los Angeles Dodgers 3.2 470 147 4944 1134 162 30 96 419 761 64 .229 .293 .333 .626 TOTALS 3.6 6398 1762 59423 13992 2056 388 1322 5816 9700 761 .235 .306 .350 .656 AVERAGE 533 147 4952 1166 171 32 110 485 808 63 LEAGUE PITCHING STATS Team R/G R G CG SHO SV ERA IP HA HRA BB K WHIP OAVG BABIP Pittsburgh Pirates 2.8 411 147 49 20 26 2.52 1352.2 1061 82 387 787 1.07 .216 .241 San Francisco Giants 3.3 483 148 44 15 25 3.02 1336.1 1148 79 465 735 1.21 .232 .257 Houston Astros 3.4 499 146 39 15 29 3.19 1327.2 1184 80 528 756 1.29 .238 .265 Los Angeles Dodgers 3.4 507 147 35 13 35 3.21 1339.0 1113 109 504 927 1.21 .226 .257 San Diego Padres 3.6 524 145 33 14 30 3.37 1316.0 1135 96 451 650 1.21 .234 .251 St. Louis Cardinals 3.6 535 149 31 12 32 3.10 1394.1 1178 111 452 946 1.17 .230 .260 Atlanta Braves 3.7 545 147 37 12 26 3.30 1349.0 1174 117 453 879 1.21 .234 .261 Philadelphia Phillies 3.7 550 147 33 19 32 3.49 1327.1 1205 90 471 797 1.26 .242 .270 Montreal Expos 4.0 578 146 18 6 27 3.70 1332.0 1171 125 575 773 1.31 .237 .257 Cincinnati Reds 4.0 584 147 31 16 19 3.86 1302.0 1191 132 467 837 1.27 .243 .267 New York Mets 4.0 584 146 21 10 29 3.77 1302.2 1119 135 527 778 1.26 .233 .251 Chicago Cubs 4.1 598 147 31 11 31 3.75 1361.2 1313 166 536 835 1.36 .257 .277 TOTALS 3.6 6398 1762 402 163 341 3.35 16040.2 13992 1322 5816 9700 1.23 .235 .259 AVERAGE 533 147 34 14 28 1337 1166 110 485 808 The Pirates are I guess the only real "elites" in any category. They are 0.02 runs away from the 1968 Giants and 1968 White Sox for the best ERA in MLB history (which, sure, if I played the dead ball era that would look different but I didn't so it doesn't). It's too bad (and veeery annoying) that they're tied down by an offense that's flat out below average at scoring runs. All of the contenders in the NL are topsy-turvy like that; the closest anyone comes to being above average in both offense and defense are the Astros, who are 6th and 3rd, respectively. The AL at least has the Tigers there who are straight up dominant; the Red Sox also achieve that mark (and too bad that Boston's not anywhere near the West Coast). Sadly - well, not sadly at all to the fans who have to watch those games - neither the Brewers nor the Rangers are anywhere close to breaking the all-time futility record set by the 1967 Senators. In fact, both teams have already scored more runs than Washington's 429 that year so I'm pretty sure that means that even if both of them were shut out for the rest of the season, we'd still remember the 2nd-run Senators for that. Finally, I feel I should note that BABIPs dropped from .284/.283 to .264/.259 this season; in addition to the DH rule coming in next year, I expect there will be some work done, um, lowering the mounds to fix that issue. At a glance, leaguewide ERAs are a liiitle lower than RL (the NL for example had a 3.45) although there were almost 10% fewer runs scored (3.9 IRL to 3.6). Still... if I were to gaze into a crystal ball at next year's National League, I would see averages climbing to .254/.322/.376 and ERAs rising from 3.45 to 3.66 off of a .280 BABIP (which, the actual NL BABIP for '72 was .259; I blame this one doing the recalc right before I upgraded versions last year). ## Major Transactions September 18: The White Sox claim minor league P Jordan Musquiz (4-6, 5.51 in AAA) off waivers from the Yankees. It's both easy to see why the Yankees cut him loose - that ERA, yikes! - and why the Sox decided to pick him up. Musquiz struck out 9.4 batters per 9 innings in Syracuse this year - 82 Ks in 78.1 IP. He has some severe control issues with 44 walks in that time, and for that matter the control led to a whooole lot of dingers - 12! - but I mean, when a guy has stuff like this and you're in the White Sox' place... why not? Also, he went to Yelm High School, which is the city where the "2,000" year old spirit living in side some woman's body named "Ramtha" (that's the name of the spirit, not the woman) resided in the 80s and 90s. September 21: The Cubs purchase minor league OF Elijah Wright (.243, 0, 21 at AAA Iowa) from the A's for $5,000. Wright is a former mid-level prospect and 3rd round pick who has been passed around a lot and at 26 looks like he might be at a crossroads. That lack of power is not inspiring. Still, he theoretically at least has a larger place in the Chicago (N) organization than he did with the A's, who just have a loooot of vets sitting in the outfield corners right now. ## News September 18: Former Japanese Prime Minister Zentaro Kosaka publicly apologizes on behalf of Japan for Japan's atrocities against China prior to and during World War II. This was done at a banquet in Beijing. If memory serves, to this day a similar apology has never been issued to Korea. September 18: The games are starting to spread out a bit now... phew! Only 4 scheduled today. September "18": So... I forgot about these on Monday but hey better late than never! Last year, Twins OF Jeff Franks (.276, 12, 43) hit .362 in 162 at-bats. He never quite reached those levels this year and also missed a month with a broken thumb but this past week... he looked mahvelous, to quote Rangers SP Billy Crystal. Franks went 14-29 (.483) with 3 HRs - all of them solo since he hits 2nd for this team, but still - and 7 runs scored. Franks won the AL Player of the Week for this, his 2nd such accolade (he also won one in August of last year). September 18: The NL Player of the Week is an old hand who's been suffering through a really bad season for his team. I guess you could say that 1b Joshua "Superman" Waltenbery (.250, 23, 75) is having an off year himself but it's hard to tell with all that he's been required to carry on this team. This week he hit "only" .292 (7-24) but 4 of his 7 hits went yard and he had 7 RBIs as well. Waltenbery, a 9 time All-Star, was snubbed this year. He did win PotW earlier in the season so I'll forgo creating a new card for him but man... September 19: A parcel bomb sent to the Israeli Embassy in London kills Ami Shachori, the agricultural attache, who was scheduled to return home after 4 years abroad. Another bomb arrives at the Israeli Embassy in Paris later in the day but it is disarmed. Both packages had been sent from Amsterdam. Other packages will be delivered tomorrow in New York and Montreal and defused. September 19: The real-life A's use 30 men in a game, which is still a major league record (and which, given the new rules about September roster expansion, will continue to stand until/unless they're ever changed). The game also breaks the record for most players used by both teams - 51. I don't use the expanded rosters that heavily so... this record shall not be broken in my save either. September 19: For one game at least, Indians' starter Robbie Coltrane (10-9, 3.40) completely shut down Detroit's vaunted attack, and in Clevelend Municipal Stadium at that, which has been playing like a bandbox this year. He scattered 5 hits and struck out 6 and RF Nelson Vargas (.287, 12, 51) added all the runs he needed with 2 HRs and 3 RBIs for a 4-0 win. Unfortunately the Indians need to basically win out, especially against these Tigers, and Detroit's bats came back to life against the other Robert in their rotation, Robert Rivera (11-9, 3.45). C Gianluigi Farinelli (.193, 5, 38) and the pitcher Juan Merino (12-1, 2.64 but also .250, 1, 6 after a 3-3 game) went yard against Rivera in the top of the 7th to break open a 3-3 tie and Alex Madrigal (1-1, 3.18) pitched one scary 9th inning - he gave up a HR to PH David Cardenas (.218, 2, 8), then walked the bases loaded with 1 out before getting the final two batters - for save #7. Detroit and Cleveland match up for the final time this season tomorrow. Even with a win... Detroit is currently 8 games up on the Tribe with 13 to play. September 19: Speaking of shutdowns, the Twins' Chris Benavides (14-18, 3.04) shut down the Rangers today, 5-0, to keep in the AL West race. Chad Daugharty (16-10, 2.52) was on the losing end but really the true losers are that Rangers lineup, who still can't be trusted to score consistently. Benavides, meanwhile, leads the AL in losses and has 35 of them in the past 2 seasons, and so is no stranger to a lack of support. 2B Daniel Gilment (.325, 9, 56) got him that support today with 2 triples - TYING AN AL RECORD!!!! - and 3 clutch RBIs. This was Minnesota's 4th straight win and they climb above .500 at 71-70 with the W. Meanwhile, in California, Ken Hansen (12-15, 2.73) had to pitch on a knife's edge all game because his team also can't score runs. He wound up getting just a little too fine in the 9th as he allowed a 2-run homerun to OF Dave Corona (.259, 13, 39) which lost him the game, 3-2. Also, SS Richard Simmons (.233, 10, 44) got hurt in this game and looks like he'll be hors de combat for the rest of the regular season. That's a huge blow because - ignore that average; this is 1972 - he was one of the best hitters on the team. And just to make things even more pennanty, the A's also won today, beating the packing-it-in White Sox 5-1 behind the excellent pitching of Lee "Batty" Barnard (14-12, 2.71) and a display of power, including C Josh Lewis's (.277, 17, 68) career-best 17th HR (to be fair, this is only his 2nd year in the majors; that said, he's never hit this many HRs at any level). The Angels now sit 1 game ahead of the A's. The Halos do get 2 more games vs. the Royals but then travel to Minnesota and Texas before closing out the season at home against the Twins and A's. If they do wind up being the team coming out of the West, they will have deserved it. September 19: The Astros opened up their little 2 game series at Atlanta well, coming back from a 4-1 deficit as they led stopper John Winn (4-7, 1.96, 18 Sv) into a rare meltdown. Coming in to relieve starter Colin Rose (11-10, 3.55) with the bases loaded, 2 out, and the score still 4-3 in favor of the Braves, Winn threw a wild pitch to tie it up, then gave up a 2-run single to PH Nate Ringstad (.242, 3, 15); the Astros went on to win it, 6-4. "Finally got out of my slump," said Ringstad after the game. Ringstad, normally a fun guy to be around, has grown a bit sullen in recent weeks. September 20: Floyd Patterson's comeback attempt comes to an end at the hands of Muhammed Ali as Ali wins on a TKO in the 7th (cuts). Patterson had previously been the heavyweight champ from 1956-59 and again from 61-62 (losing the belt the second time to Sonny Liston, who of course then handed it off to Ali). September 20: Richard Oakes, who'd led the occupation of Alcatraz from 1969 to 1971, is shot and killed during an argument with a caretaker at a YMCA camp in Annapolis, California. The homicide takes place six days after a confrontation between Oakes and the man over use of the property. September 20: UGH. I'd been sitting out Indians 3B Bobby Ramirez (.237, 12, 54) specifically to avoid getting him a nagging injury. The fact that backup / former starter Roberto Hernandez (.314, 2, 24) has been hitting the pants off the ball doesn't hurt. Ramirez won the batting title last year but saw his average drop more than 100 points in the Second Year of the Pitcher. He's still only going to be 25 going into next year so he'll probably get the job back but that's a decision for the 1973 Indians to make. For now, he's getting shut down (I mean, I'll use him as a pinch hitter but he is injured). September 20: Speaking of nagging injuries, Pirates RF Brian Jackson (.267, 9, 50) had his injury downgraded to "nagging" status and he is flat-out unable to play. So... probably he's done for the year. We'll see. I've been using Carlos Carerra (.250, 2, 8), the 26 year old former prospect who I guess I'd just had on the roster all season long but has barely played. That'll continue and make his season look normal-ish, I guess. September 20: In moves that can only be described as "AL West 1972", both the Angels and A's get shut out at home, and the Twins complete the 2 game series sweep over the Rangers to climb right back into this race. It was looking bad for Minnesota as they were down 4-3 in the 8th with the Rangers' #2 guy Billy Crystal (12-13, 2.82) on the mound. They got to him with a couple singles though to tie it and then clutch superstar Angelo Martinez (.249, 33, 91) drove home the game-winning run on a 2-out single. "I'm not a complicated man," said Martinez after the game. "I see the ball and I hit it." He also takes a loooot of pitches but we decided not to press him on the issue. The A's split their series with the White Sox in the loss and the Angels, who now have a 1 game lead on the A's and 1 1/2 on the Twins, have to win tomorrow to avoid getting swept by, of all teams, the Royals (who, let's be fair, seem to have a straight-up better lineup than the Halos do at this point). September 20: Braves closer John Winn (5-7, 1.94) blows his 2nd save in as many days but this time around the Braves rally against the Astros' setup man Adam Eastin (3-3, 3.10) to beat Houston 6-3 and move back up on top of the NL West. That splits the series and also concludes Atlanta's games this season with Houston; thanks to the strike they only played 14 times with the Stros winning 8. Leadoff man Chris Ward (.268, 9, 32) delivered the instrumental hit, a bases-clearing triple in the bottom of the 8th. That was his league-leading 12th triple of the year, a pretty nice total for a guy who's only played in 97 games this season. September 20: Meanwhile, in the East, the Pirates blow out the Mets 9-2 while the Phillies drop a 2-1 heartbreaker to the Cardinals to send the division into a tie; both Pennsylvania teams are now 83-60. Going forward, it's a virtual coinflip but the odds very slightly favor the Pirates since 8 of their final 12 games are at home (Philly plays 10 of their last 13 on the road - and yes, that means they'll wind up with a differing number of games played, which means no tie is possible). After falling to the Expos 6-4 tonight the Cubs are 4 1/2 back and virtually out of the race. September 21: Liam Gallagher of the band Oasis is born in Manchester, England. September 21: Also born today: SUPERSTAR QUARTERBACK Jon Kitna in Tacoma, Washington. September 21: Ben Kiwanuka, the Chief Justice of Uganda, is arrested in his courtroom on orders of President Idi Amin and is brutally tortured to death. September 21: Brewers 3B Pat Jones (.237, 2, 7) wants to play more. I can't blame him; he's been pretty solid in Milwaukee overall. Still, he's 35 and has no shot at starting this year. Likely he'll be traded but maybe he'll be in the DH mix next season. September 21: Cal's run-scoring issues continue today, as they get swept by the Royals with a 5-3 loss in 10 innings. They were up 3-2 through 7 1/2 but that just wasn't quite enough of a lead for SP Andy Ring (15-10, 2.76), who allowed a dinger to 1B Edwin Manchego (.262, 24, 68) to tie it. Then of course the Angels were unable to score at all and then 2B James Ellroy (.278, 5, 36) won it with an RBI triple off of Tanzan Kihara (7-7, 3.64). Part of me sees the Angels as a year too early but another part is, well... this is a choke job. September 21: In the NL East it seems to be coming down to who's red-hotter. The Pirates couldn't quite get the sweep today as Santos Arango (19-15, 2.77) couldn't make it out of the 6th against the Mets and then their hitting fell just short of a comeback in a 7-5 loss. Meanwhile the Phillies, now 14-7 for the month, got a rare shutout from Billy Ording (11-5, 3.57), who as a pitcher is mostly known for his hitting (.393, 4, 16 this year!) and won their own series in St. Louis with the 4-0 win. The Pirates face off against a frisky Expos team over the weekend while Philadelphia will face that same Mets team who just dropped 7 on one of the best pitchers in the league (who is also - this is Arango I'm talking of - 2nd in the NL in losses). September 22: Willy Brandy calls for a vote of confidence in his (West German) government. He expects to lose and to use the excuse to call for a new parliamentary election. September 22: Hexachlorophene, an anti-bacterial compound found in... all sorts of things, is banned by the FDA, who concludes that it causes brain damage in infants. They order immediate removal of all baby powder with more than 0.75% HCP and directs that all cleanswers with 3% concentration can only be sold by prescription. September 22: Alice Cooper (.263, 44, 96), who's been fighting a stiff back, just got that injury downgraded to nagging status, which will probably shut him down for the year. Soooo close to 100 RBIs. I've said this before but if Ernesto Garcia didn't exist he'd be a legit MVP candidate. September 22: The Red Sox get their 3-game series vs the Tigers off right, getting to spot starter Chris McGranahan (4-3, 3.48) for 5 in the first inning and then hanging on to win 6-4. This series is at Fenway - good for Boston! - but they pretty much need to sweep to have any shot at catching up in this race. As it stands, they're 5 games back with 11 to go (Detroit only has 10). September 22: Meanwhile in Cleveland... at this point I think the Yankees might just legit be a better team than Cleveland if you take Ernesto Garcia (.292, 61, 153) out of the picture. Young lefty John Carpenter (13-13, 3.26) did exactly that, striking him out 4 times and pitching a shutout through 8. Then his youth showed and he lost composure in the 9th but the Yanks were up soooo much it didn't matter: the Bronx Bombers won this one 11-5. New York is 12-8 for the month, 47-36 since July 1, and just look a long, long ways off from that hopeless team they looked like they were in May. September 22: The Twins open up their own 3 game series at the Met against the Angels with a 4-3 win. Mike Larsen (16-8, 2.94), the team's de facto top starter this year and a real control artist, pitched 7 strong innings and stopper Travis Livingston (8-5, 1.61) went the last 2 for his 22nd save. Angelo Martinez (.249, 34, 92) and CF Ronnie Hellstrom (.305, 9, 22) homered for the Twinkies, who are now in a virtual tie with Cal, pending the A's game. The A's lose 3-1 to the Royals - who frankly look pretty good themselves when the pitching holds up, which granted is a big "if" - and just like that, Minnesota is tied for the division lead. The odds now give them the best chance, though it's a plurality at 45%. That's what winning 6 straight gets you. And the Twins' next 8 games are against the Angels and A's - they are very much in control of their own destiny. September 23: Ferdinand Marcos, the President (for life) of the Philippines, announces martial law, using as an immediate pretext the attepted assassination of Juan Ponce Enrile yesterday. However, Marcos also reveals that the statement had been signed 2 days ago, a day before the attempt. September 23: A fire at the Oscar restaurant on the Greek island of Rhodes kills 3 people, most of them Scandinavian tourists. September 23: Julius Erving played his first professional basketball games for... the Atlanta Hawks? He plays an exhibition game against the ABA's Kentucky Colonels and then gets into one more exhibition before going back to the Virginia Squires of the ABA. September 23: In what is surely the top news of the day - sorry, fire victims - "Moo-la the Cow" is unveiled in Stephenville, Texas. September 23: A 15 year old boy in Waldport, Oregon is killed after being struck by lightning. He is carrying a box carrying 135 sticks of dynamite but the box itself doesn't explode. September 23: Karl Pilkington, British "personality" / personal lolcow of Ricky Gervais, is born today in Manchester, England. September 23: The Tigers deliver a DAGGER to the hopes of the Boston faithful today, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to win the 2nd game of the 3-game series against the Red Sox, 4-2. 3 of the Tigers' 4 runs came on solo shots by 2B Joey Ramone (.295, 11, 55), 3B Jose "Joker" Ayala (.262, 19, 67), and OF Danny Hohman (.258, 3, 37) and they were otherwise able to ride a good pitching outing by starter Jimmy Goddard (17-12, 2.31) and some clutch pitching to get out of their own james by Alex Madrigal (2-1, 2.92) and Jim Marceau (5-7, 3.70, 23 Sv). Detroit is now 6 up on Boston with 9 to play and have a 99% chance of winning the division. September 23: With the entire season on the line, Indians SP Robert Rivera (11-10, 3.28) was absolutely determined to go out with or on his shield today vs the Yankees. Unfortunately, the longtime San Francisco vet did the latter today, finally losing his control more than 14 innings and 200 pitches into this game as the Tribe dropped an absolute heartbreaker 2-1. Cleveland still had an opportunity to tie or win the game in the bottom of the 15th as reliever Will Wright (2-3, 3.98) allowed runners on first and third with just one out and superstar Ernesto Garcia (.291, 62, 154) at the plate. New York brought in left-hander Jim Kenner (2-3, 3.75), who struck out Garcia and then got a bit lucky as 3B Roberto Hernandez' (.304, 2, 25) line drive landed in the glove of charging CF Jeff Murphy (.211, 2, 13). The game doesn't realize it yet but this loss puts Cleveland at 8 1/2 games behind with 8 to play. They are officially out. All they look to be playing for now is to see if Ernesto Garcia can break the HR record; he hit one today that accounted for Cleveland's only run, which was his first since September 10. September 23: In the 2nd game of their series it was the Twins' turn for their bats to fall silent as Ken Hansen (13-15, 2.61) tossed his 5th shutout of the season for the 3-0 win. Because we are talking about the Angels it did take them 11 innings to finally figure out Minnesota starter Rich Whetzel (7-10, 3.72), but hey, you know, for one night at least they outscored someone, which is nice. CF Carlos Hernandez (.284, 9, 58), drove in the winning run with a double. He is clearly the best hitter on this team and might move down in the order next season. Meanwhile in Oakland the A's blow a 4-0 lead to the Royals, losing in 10 to the Royals on a Michael Kamen (.400, 1, 2) homerun in the 10th. Kamen had entered the game for Dave Corona (.261, 14, 42), who left the game with an as-yet unknown injury after sliding hard into 3rd base. This puts the Angels in 1st, the Twins a game back, and the A's 1 1/2 behind heading into Sunday's games. California, incidentally, even with today's victory, is 19-30 since August 1. Oh yeah, and also you can't quiiite count the Rangers out. They're 72-73 but only 2 1/2 games back and the Angels have to travel to Texas next week. September 23: I guess one good news about PARITY LEAGUE: we have got us some bona fide pennant races. The Pirates' #4 starter Danny Perez (14-9, 3.09) outdueled MY DAD Richard "My Dad" Craven (1-7, 3.98), leaving with a 4-1 lead in the 8th that good old Paz Lemus (8-4, 2.50) preserved for save number 23. With the Phillies losing to John RatzenBerger (11-12, 2.46) and the last-place Mets, that gives both Pitt and Philly with identical 85-61 records. We'll know a lot more by the evening of the 28th when these two teams finish a 3 game series against each other in Philadelphia (that series also figures to be Philadelphia's final games of the season at Veteran's Stadium unless, of course, they win the division). September 23: Cardinals SS Angelo Serrano (.113, 0, 5) has got Jon Timonem-esque stats this year in 97 at-bats. Thing is, he hit .213 in Oakland before he was traded off to St. Louis. So... how, then is that average so low? The 26 year old Serrano picked up his first National League hit today. It only took him 49 at-bats. I remember football player Shaq Thompson having a similar run in the minor leagues when he decided to try his hand at it for a little bit but there he at least struck out in something like 90% of his at-bats. Serrano "only" has 14 Ks in 54 St. Louis appearances (he grounded out in the at-bat after his hit but somehow managed to cadge 4 walks off of NL pitchers who didn't know any better). "Look," said Serrano to reporters after the game, a 4-3 loss to the Cubs. "I'm actually a great hitter. The balls are just lying to you all." September 23: Tony Rivera (22-12, 2.51) looks like he's broken out of his slump juuuuust in time. The Astros only gave him 1 run on just 4 hits in the Astrodome - kudos to Reds SP Bullet Bill Vanover (13-13, 3.45) but he was even better, throwing a 2-hit shutout for his NL-best 22nd victory. He also has 8 shutouts; with, in all probability, 2 more starts to go, he could tie the all-time record of 9... or even break it. The Braves lost a game in the exact opposite way, 12-9 to the Padres, and so now the Astros are back on top of the West. Both teams have 8 games to go and the odds say Houston's got about a 2 in 3 chance to win it. Neither team will be playing each other with both facing off against the dregs of the division (although one of those dregs looked pretty non-dreggy today). September 24: Twelve children and 11 adults are killed when an F-86 fighter aircraft crashes into a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor in Sacramento CA. There are roughly 100 people inside of the place, which is situated across the highway from an airport runway, at the time of the crash. September 24: Japan's Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka arrives in Beijing, where he is welcomed by China's Premier Zhou Enlai. September 24: Cubs OF Chance Cooper (.202, 10, 26) had a late start to his season thanks to a bottleneck in the outfield and now it's going to end early, as he learned he seprated his shoulder crashing into the wall at Busch Stadium yesterday to make a catch. He'll be ready well in time for spring training; in fact, in the highly unlikely chance the Cubs clinch a division title, he could potentially be back by the World Series. September 24: Boston's not mathematically eliminated from the East but Edgar Molina (20-11, 2.99) put them right on the brink as he took a no-hitter into the 9th, gave up a 3-run homerun to OF Bruce Springsteen (.301, 8, 51), and then bore down to retire the side for a 5-3 win. Molina's game threatened to blot out the incredible day rookie OF Tom Berenger (.318, 4, 18) had at the plate; the 23 year old tied the Tigers record with 3 doubles in this game and would have broken it if he'd only hit a ball from Red Sox starter Michael Pesco (23-9, 2.61) just a little less hard: it sailed over the Green Monster for a 2-run homerun. Boston is 7 up with 8 to play, so you know what that means. The Tigers actually have 2 days off after today so if the Sox can't get past the Brewers on Tuesday night, the Tigers players might be uncorking the champagne at home. September 24: Just when it looked like Cal's goose was cooked, they somehow managed to come back from a 5-2 deficit in the 9th off of Twins closer Travis Livingston (8-6, 2.16) for 5 runs to steal the rubber game of this three game series by a score of 7-5. 2B Mauricio Mendez (.228, 8, 28) and RF Jared Ferrell (.265, 5, 24) both socked homeruns in the inning, which Livingston had entered with an ERA of 1.61 and just 5 HRs allowed in 78 IP. Up-and-down stopper Tanzan Kihara (7-7, 3.59) pitched a scoreless 9th for his 17th save on the year. This win puts the Angels 2 games up on the Twins, although with the Halos' next series starting tomorrow against a desperate Rangers team, things are by no means put to bed. The A's, meanwhile, might just be out of it. They suffered a double-header and a series sweep at home against the Royals to push their current losing streak to 5 games and knock them below .500. First, they fell behind 4-1, put out all the stops to come back to tie it at 6 through 6 innings, then still lost on an inside-the-park homerun by CF Prince Charles (.258, 2, 7). Then they followed that gut-wrencher with a game where their stopper Willis Chavez (5-4, 2.83), completely exhausted from throwing nearly 50 pitches the night before, surrendered a grand slam homerun to 1B/OF Edwin Manchego (.266, 25, 72) in the 9th inning of a tie game and wound up losing 9-3. You can't count anyone out in this division but that loss not only puts the A's 3 games back, but now they're 1/2 a game behind the Rangers. The Royals have won 7 straight and are being just plain mean at this point. September 24: Everything keeps closing in in the NL East as both the Phillies and Pirates do their job tonight against subpar teams. The Phillies rebound from their loss last night with a 5-3, 11 inning win at Shea Stadium. It was looking like it was going to be an easy 3-0 win behind starter Marius Gaddi (11-14, 3.96) but he fell apart after an error by 2B Nate Rowe (.257, 14, 66) and even had to be replaced. Fortunately for everyone in Philadelphia, CF Bryant Tarala (.236, 14, 57), who came in to pinch-hit for starter Brandon Anderson (.241, 8, 31) on account of the Mets starting lefty Roy Holm (4-6, 3.49) tonight, hit a 2 run slam in the 11th to win it. Pittsburgh meanwhile was also fighting one of their patented low-scoring nail-biters when they erupted in the 8th inning for 5 runs off of Expos starter DJ Fletcher (9-15, 3.86) and then closer Erik Schnipke (4-6, 2.98) to turn a 2-0 game into a 7-0 laugher. DJ Cheeves (21-9, 2.50) picked up shutout number 7 on the year and is starting to make a really good case for the Cy. I think I mentioned this just yesterday but these two teams play each other next week in a 3-game showdown. Speaking of, the Cubs lost today in 16 innings (UGH) to the Cardinals, putting them 6 games back. The Phillies and Pirates have 9 and 8 games left, respectively, which I'm pretty sure, unless, like the Pirates and Phillies tie a game next week, means that they are mathematically eliminated. Wait... maaaaybe if the Phillies win 2 of 3 and then both them and the Pirates lose out the rest of the way? That would look like this: Philadelphia 88-68 Pittsburgh 86-69 Chicago 88-67 All right then! Chicago is just baaaaarely in this. All they have to do is win 2 in Montreal, sweep a Cardinals team that they just dropped 2 out of 3 from, sweep the Phillies in Philadelphia, and then otherwise just hope for an awful lot of help. September 24: And finally the NL West also keeps tightening up. The Braves, needing to get this one done tonight without their best pitcher, stopper John Winn (5-7, 2.00), who pitched in 4 of the previous 5 games, saw middle reliever Chuugo Takahashi (0-1, 4.05) blow a 6-5 lead in the 8th and then handed the ball to professional wild man Roberto Ortiz (10-10, 4.11), who went the final 4 innings to earn a 5-3 win in 12. Ortiz is reeeally wild and that's what got him knocked out of the rotation when George House (12-10, 3.10) returned from a torn hamstring that had kept him out for most of August and half of September; on the other hand, the man can hit the high 90s on the radar gun and maybe, just maybe he's better suited for the bullpen. The Astros benefitted from one of the rarest things in baseball, even in September: a gimme game. The Reds decided to kick the tires on Willie Garcia (0-3, 11.15), who... pitched a full season in Indianapolis this year (9-17, 4.33) which is the nicest thing I can say about that. All right, he did strike out 236 men in 205.2 AAA innings so there's that. Anyway, tonight he got knocked out of the box in the 4th and Houston romped to an easy 9-2 victory. Big George Foreman (.300, 15, 67) went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored to pull his average up to an even .300 (well, not teeechnically "even") and 3B Pete Little (.286, 6, 60) was a perfect 4 for 4. Both teams get a day off tomorrow; the Braves then to Cincinnati for a 2 game series whereas the Astros face the slightly tougher Giants for a mid-week 2-game series in the Astrodome. ## Teams in Review Nah.
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Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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September 25 - October 1 (PENNANT CHASE SZN)
## Standings / Recap / Comments
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LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 93 60 .608 - 627 519 Boston Red Sox 86 66 .566 6½ 574 480 Cleveland Indians 86 68 .558 7½ 666 553 Baltimore Orioles 80 72 .526 12½ 548 493 New York Yankees 66 86 .434 26½ 508 539 Milwaukee Brewers 60 93 .392 33 471 617 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 78 75 .510 - 501 544 Texas Rangers 77 75 .507 ½ 475 479 Oakland Athletics 77 76 .503 1 527 567 Minnesota Twins 75 76 .497 2 573 556 Chicago White Sox 68 83 .450 9 510 586 Kansas City Royals 68 84 .447 9½ 580 627 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Pittsburgh Pirates 91 62 .595 - 529 428 Philadelphia Phillies 87 66 .569 4 641 574 Chicago Cubs 83 69 .546 7½ 616 620 St. Louis Cardinals 77 77 .500 14½ 558 559 Montreal Expos 66 85 .437 24 528 592 New York Mets 66 85 .437 24 513 596 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Atlanta Braves 81 71 .533 - 602 564 Houston Astros 79 72 .523 1½ 546 527 Los Angeles Dodgers 79 74 .516 2½ 491 519 San Diego Padres 73 78 .483 7½ 568 541 San Francisco Giants 72 81 .471 9½ 515 506 Cincinnati Reds 59 93 .388 22 522 603 The Braves are also right on the cusp of winning their 3rd division title in 4 years - with 2 games left vs the Dodgers and with the Astros also only having 2 games left, their magic number sits at 1. If they win or if Houston loses on Tuesday, it's over. Complicating matters just a little bit is the fact that the Braves end their season at home vs the Dodgers, who just got eliminated tonight with a big Braves win. LA has been even hotter than Pittsburgh this month and it's easy to see them play the spoiler role here. Finally, there's the complete mess that is the AL West. OOTP gives the Angels a 63% chance to win since they are at the end of the day on top of the division, but with a Pythagorean record of 71-82 they were very, very much not a team anyone can count on. I feel kind of sorry for the kids on that club; if they'd just performed at their actual level of ability this year instead of having a +7 luck quotient, we'd be talking about them as a contender next year instead of a club that seems about to choke everything away. Cal is 12-17 since September began and 22-34 since August 1; even if they win at this point, they're backing in. Their final 2 games come against the A's, who just fell into 3rd and who are also not ending the season super well, with an identical 12-17 record this past month and an only slightly better 24-32 mark the last 2. If I had to choose someone right now it'd have to be the Rangers, who have also been outscored this year but a. only by 4 runs and b. they've reeeeeeeeeeeally come on here since looking like they might set new records in futility in April. They're still 11th in runs scores, having just recently climbed over the craptastic Brewers; think of them as a more extreme version of the Pirates. Their HR leader and #3 hitter is a guy they promoted in midseason in Philippe Toussaint (.269, 8, 37) and their RBI guy is C Andres Gamez (.280, 5, 43), who has had a good year but was a career backup in Atlanta before getting his shot. Still, Texas is easily the hottest team in the AL with a 20-7 record this month so you just plain can't count them out. They conclude their season on the road against a feisty Royals team - 20-9 this month! The Twins are... not in there anymore. Even if they sweep the White Sox to end their season they'd wind up with a record of 78-76, which, given that the Angels play the A's, cannot be better than one of those two teams. I'll eulogize them after the season ends but let's just say this: injuries or otherwise, you are not going to steal a division title by finishng the year 11-19. I'll recap the individual races when the season ends in 3 days. ## Major Transactions So... other than waiver transactions, the next one of these won't happen until the offseason... ## News September 25: Voters in Norway decide whether to approve their entry into the European Economic Community and... they say "nei" to it. Prime Minister Trygve Bratteli, whose... I'm not even going to try to type the Norwegian version but it's the Norwegian Labor Party... was decided over the issue of Common Market membership, will resign tomorrow. September 25: Argentinian poet Alejandra Pizarnik kills herself by ingesting an overdose of secobarbitol. The author has admittedly not heard of Pizarnik; he probably knows more poets than most on these boards but that is also probably not saying much. September 25: Royals OF RJ Dominguez (.251, 19, 77), the team's RBI leader who's been out since the end of August with a largely unknown elbow injury, has been officially shut down for the season. There were hopes he'd be able to come back for the final series but that ain't happening. September 25: A couple weeks ago I threw the curveball by noting that Tommy Pron (now .326, 14, 55) was the AL Player of the Week, well, finally I get to tell you that his Indians teammate... OF Nelson Vargas (.290, 14, 54) won that honor. Vargas went 13-30 (.433) with an Ernesto Garcia-esque 4 HRs, 7 runs, and 6 RBIs in his ultimately futile attempt to keep Cleveland in the AL East hunt. The game fooled me by creating a baseball card for Vargas thanks to his All-Star appearance; however, the 29 year old 2-time All-Star had actually never won PotW before. Well, congratulations, Nelson. You get to add this plaque to your den. September 25: The NL Player of the Week has taken a long road from bust to barely used backup to... well, best player in the league for a week. Padres OF Ray Herring (.295, 9, 36) scorched the league to the tune of 12 hits in 23 at-bats with 3 solo HRs. Herring, if you'll recall, was Cleveland's starting center fielder from 1966 to 1969 but was traded away amid defensive concerns, concerns which were only amplified after he was traded to the Cardinals in exchange for Carlos Hernandez (who also has his own wild story but this is not about him). The Cards cut bait on him and more or less threw him into a trade for pitcher Ernie Alvarez. That took him to the Pirates, who didn't know what to do with him so he played just 40 games with them until they shipped him off to San Diego last August. Even then, San Diego only stuck him in right field every day because they'd run out of options. Herring has always been able to hit, though, and he's at least adequate in the OF corners... September 25: Only 2 games scheduled today but one of them has importance for the AL West and the Angels... well, it didn't start well. Andy Ring (15-11, 2.95), their top starter and 1967 NL Cy Young Award winner, got knocked out of the box by a Texas Rangers lineup which is just not good in the 6th inning. California rallied in the 8th off of Kevin Freeman (9-14, 3.33) and former Yankees closer Kojiro Nakazawa (4-8, 4.33) but it fell short and they lost the opener of this 3-game series 7-5. September 26: North Vietnam drops demands that South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu be removed from the offie as a condition for ending the Vietnam War. This is a major breakthrough in peace negotiations but it will be kind of a moot point. September 26: Rebels cross from North Yemen to attack South Yemen. September 26: "Mr. Coffee", the first automatic drip coffee brewing machine for homes, is patented. It will go on sale as early as October 8. "As early"... can you imagine? To me, a home coffee maker is as much a staple of my kitchen appliances as my refrigerator. September 26: The first exhibition game of the World Hockey Association takes place in Quebec City between the New England Whalers and the Quebec Nordiques. If those names sound familiar, it's because both teams will eventually be admitted into the NHL (although both have since moved). September 26: Time Inc. introduces its personal finance magazine "Money". Like basically every single other magazine in existence it will stop being produced in paper form in the 2010s but unlike many it still maintains a web presence to this day. September 26: US Congressman and Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke is born today in El Paso. September 26: Game 2 of the series between California and Texas goes exactly the way you'd expect it to go: Rangers rookie Bernd Eichinger throws a shutout through 9 innings and strikes out 12 but loses the game because his own team can't score against Angels' starter Gary Bruno (11-13, 2.99) either. Eichinger finally runs out of gas in the 11th, allowing 3 runs on a bunch of singles and productive outs and the Halos even things up, 3-0. September 26: At this point in his career, Chicago right-hander Bill Lucas (16-10, 3.75) is mostly running on guile but today it was enough for him to lead the Cubbies to a 3-0 shutout of the Expos. Lucas scattered 6 hits in spite of only getting 2 strikeouts - one of them was the last batter of the game - and also surrendered 2 walks. "I know that if I just keep pushing, I'll keep going", said Lucas after the game. September 26: Game one of the pivotal three-game series between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia went down today. The Phillies were awful sore to be without the use of their regular stopper Tom Grohs (6-4, 2.55, 20 Sv), who tore his rotator cuff earlier this month and won't be back until some time during the season next year. Tonight they managed to come back from a 4-1 deficit in the 9th - off of the Pirates' own relief ace Paz Lemus (9-4, 2.53) no less - but then Groh's replacement Omar Sanchez (5-1, 2.27) gave up 3 runs in the 11th inning to give the Bucs the win and the lead in the series, 7-4. C Doug Connally (.225, 8, 52), who's been feeling the effects of the dead ball this year as much as anybody, delivered the game-winning single with runners on first and second. Pittsburgh's cleanup hitter LF Justin Lawson (.278, 19, 84) also added 2 HRs and 3 RBIs to keep the team in the game. The win means that Pittsburgh is now a game up in the standings, has a 72% chance to win, and by my calculations officially disquaifies the Cubs from the race. September 26: The NL West continues its pattern of daily churn: the Braves outlast the Reds 8-6 in Cincinnati while the Astros fall to the Giants at home 6-3. George House (13-10, 3.13) gave the Braves 7 good innings and then the bullpen nearly blew it... but they didn't. Dante Chairez (.229, 28, 68) socked a 3 run homerun in the 3rd off of Reds' starter Graham Panarello (8-9, 4.58) to insinuate himself into the leaderboards. In Houston, they needed their #2 starter Ernie Alvarez (13-8, 2.99) to do well and instead he got knocked out of the box in the 5th inning against a Giants team who has issues scoring runs. On the other side, Mike Stuckey (12-13, 2.33) only really made 2 mistakes all day - both HRs to George Foreman (.304, 17, 69) and wound up with his 12th complete game of the year. So the Braves are now 1/2 a game up on the Astros but who knows what tomorrow will bring? September 27: Canada bans the sale and use of firecrackers. LITERAL COMMUNISM September 27: In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, two teenaged girls go missing. Their remains will be found 7 months later and they will be known as the first known victims of serial killer Garard Schaefer. He had been dismissed from the Martin County, Florida Sheriff's Department earlier this year and is awaiting trial after a failed kidnapping on July 22 of two other teenaged girls. September 27: Gwynneth Paltrow, star of such classic movies as "View From The Top" (which, to be fair, she even called "View From The Crap" during her press interviews) and hawker of Goop, is born today in Los Angeles. September 27: Rory Storm, pioneering British rock vocalist and lead singer of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, takes a deadly dose of alcohol and sleeping pills and dies at 33. September 27: That champagne, it is soooo close to popping but it's left on ice in Detroit for one more day. The Tigers did their job against the Yankees, tagging SP Tracy Mosher (10-15, 3.65) for 6 runs in 6.1 innings off of 3 homeruns (Mosher is now 4th in the AL in HRs allowed; he "led" the league in that unhappy total last year with 29). but the Red Sox did not go away either, as they routed the Brewers at Fenway 7-1 behind a solid complete game from 2-time Cy Young Award winner Justin "Ironworker" Kindberg (18-12. 2.69). With 7 games left for both teams and the Tigers 6 1/2 games up, that looks like a magic number of 1 to me, boys. September 27: The previously reeling A's get two days off to right the ship and make the most of it; they completed a double-header sweep today against the Twins to put them over .500 and the Twins under. In Game 1, starter Vince Akright (14-15, 2.91) pitched well but faded in the 9th and when stopper Willis Chavez (6-4, 2.77, 27 Sv) blew the save to tie it, it was sure looking like Minnesota would win this eventually. But nope, a 10th inning rally capped by a single by 1B Alex Canales (.266, 6, 51) sent the fans who didn't stay for Game 2 home happy. And for those who did... A's SP Lee "Batty" Barnard (15-12, 2.66) mystified Twins bats with a very un-Barnardlike 11 Ks. He also faded a bit in the 9th with a HR to Twins SS Justin Ramey (.246, 10, 58) and so this time they turned the ball over to #2 bullpen guy and team rep Ben Lamar (6-1, 2.45) - the same Ben Lamar who was cut by the White Sox at the beginning of the year for being too pro-union - who slammed the door shut for his 5th save. Chris Benavides (14-19, 3.04) took the loss in that game by the way and now is in danger of becoming the 28th(!) 20 game loser in MLB history and the 1st since Phil Farr went 7-21, 3.95 for the expansion Expos. September 27: All of the above mostly means that neither the Twins nor the A's can gain ground on the Angels in spite of an extra-inning loss to the Rangers, 1-0. Ken Hansen (13-16, 2.55), had another game like he's had all year, which is to say he was nearly dominant but not quite dominant enough for his punchless teammates. He lost his control in the 9th with a couple of walks including the game-losing one with the bases loaded. For his part, Texas #1 man Chad "Dog" Daugharty (18-10, 2.37) went the full 10 for the shutout, which evens the series at 1 game apiece and pushes the Rangers into a tie for 2nd with Oakland, both 1 1/2 games back. The best news for the Angels is that they finish the year with 5 games at home. The less-great news is that they'll be playing the Twins (3 games) and then the A's (2 games) during that time. Right now the game's still giving the Angels an 80% chance to win, with both the A's and Rangers at about 10% apiece - the 10.8% for Texas, in fact, is their best chance I've seen for them all month. September 27: Just in case I didn't get the math right, the Cubs removed all doubt today by getting absolutely stomped by the Expos in Montreal, 9-0. Javy Obregon (16-7, 3.69) got chased in the 6th inning and Chicago simply could not solve Frank Evans (13-9, 2.81), who's turned into the ace of this young staff over the course of the season. The Cubs are 6 1/2 games out with 6 to play. The league-leading Pirates do have 7 left but in order to lose out, the Phillies would win twice, which would put them in with a better record. September 27: Anyway it doesn't even matter because the Pirates outdueled the Phillies 4-3 in 10 innings. Billy Ording (11-5, 3.58) did fine for Philadelphia for 7 innings but his Achilles heel is his lack of stamina and he just plain was out of gas, so they had to turn to... Steve Hollopeter (3-5, 5.12) because stopper Tom Grohs (6-4, 2.25, 20 Sv) is out for the season and his replacement Omar Sanchez (5-1, 2.24) was exhausted after having pitched in 3 of the last 5 games. He wound up coming in anyway after Hollopeter gave up a solo HR to 2B Tyler Webster (.258, 16, 52), who tied his career high with that. Paz Lemus (9-4, 2.50) didn't pitch a perfect 10th but it was perfect enough for his 24th save and Pittsburgh's 88th win of the year. The Pirates have the one final game against the Phillies tomorrow and then their final 5 are all at home against the Mets and Cardinals. It's not looking great for Philadelphia at this point, who are now 2 games behind and have a 12.6% chance. September 27: Meanwhile in the NL West both the Braves and Astros lost to bad teams to stay right where they were yesterday. The Reds' Amadou Toumani Toure (2-7, 4.63), the Malian native whose prime exports so far have been homeruns, threw a 4-hitter - yes, 1 of the 4 hits was a dinger - and outlasted the Braves 2-1. The Giants beat the Astros 8-5 in a game that wasn't really as close as the score looks: San Francisco starter Josh Matthews (15-12, 3.03) had a good, solid game going with an 8-1 lead and gave up a grand slam to Big George Foreman (.305, 18, 72). Matthews still settled down and got the last 2 outs for his 13th complete game of the year. September 27: All of this means, too, that the Dodgers keep their own slim playoff hopes alive. I haven't really included them as much because a. they've barely been in this race - in fact, they've only gotten this mention because they've won their last 6 and are 21-6 for the month of September(!!!!), and b., like the Cubs, A's, and Angels, they've spent a big chunk of the season being outscored. In fact, they are currently dead last in the NL in runs scored and have a 481 to 513 deficit in spite of a 3rd best runs scored mark. They're also 77-73 with a 4-1 win over the Padres tonight and 2 1/2 games behind the Braves. I want to say they aren't there but... when you've got a pitching staff as good as this one is and Justin Stone (.256, 32, 91) as your cleanup hitter, you always have a chance. September 28: Paul Henderson scores the winning goal past goalie Vladislav Tretiak and propels the Canadian men's hockey team to a 4-3-1 series win over the Soviet nationals in the 1972 Summit Series. Were they... playing a best of 8? First to 4 wins? I don't know and I'm too lazy to look it up. September 28: 66 years after the fact the US Secretary of the Army clears the records of the black soldiers involved in the Brownsville Affair, in which 167 members of the 25th US Regiment were dishonorably discharged after being accused of complicity in the shooting of two white men in Brownsville, Texas in 1906. Looking into the incident, there was a reported rape that sent the town into a bit of a frenzy and as a precaution the commanders of the regiment declared an early curfew for the soldiers that night. A bartender was killed and a police lieutenant was wounded in shootings that evening and in spite of clear evidence and testimony from the commanders that the regiment could not have participated in this, people wanted blood and eventually President Theodore Roosevelt ordered that 167 of the men in the regiment be discharged for... reasons? 14 of the men were later reinstated into the army, the other 153 barred from ever working in a military or civil service capacity again. Some of the men had been in the army for nearly 20 years and thus lost pensions as a result of this. There was a lot of protest and even Congressional action at the time - even in the 1900s this was outrageous - but eventually it died because, I guess, TR could do whatever he felt like doing. The incident was pretty much forgotten until historian John D. Weaver published a book on the subject, "The Brownsville Raid", which re-ignited interest in the case. President Nixon will eventually pardon all 166 men and award them honorable discharges (of course without back pay because this was never supposed to be anything more than a symbolic gesture). Eventually, in 1973, Congressman August F. Hawkins, who spearheaded this cause, and Senator Hubert Humphrey will gain congressional passage of a tax-free pension for the final surviving member of the Brownsville regiment, Dorsie Willis, who will receive $25,000. September 28: Justin Stone's (.256, 32, 91) sprained thumb has become a nagging injury because I haven't even given a thought to sitting him. He's been dealing with it since September 5th, which hasn't really hurt his batting so much - still .253 for the month - but has sapped a bunch of his power to the extent that he's only hit 4 HRs. He's still got the savvy and clutch to drive in 17 men in 25 games though and I mean he's still got as good of a shot as anyone at winning the NL MVP. September 28: A's RF Richard Berman (.276, 3, 40) hurt his knee yesterday and it turns out he biscuited his meniscus and will be out until spring training. This is a pretty big blow given that Berman was the team's 2nd leading hitter behind Josh Lewis (.285, 17, 70). Adam Groves (.213, 12, 39), who kind of hit his way out of a job this year, will take over down the stretch. September 28: Minnesota is imploding and the A's are reaping all the benefits. Tonight the A's used 34 year old journeyman Carlos Torres (5-9, 3.32), who scattered 8 hits and outpitched Twins vet Victor Ruiz (2-2, 4.17) in a 2-0 victory to sweep the 2-day, 3-game series. C Josh Lewis (.285, 18, 72), the 2-time All Star (in 2 seasons) and last year's Silver Slugger at catcher, scored all the runs the A's needed with his career-high 18th homerun. "This team's getting their chance, which is important to me," he said after the game. With California getting the day off, this pushes the A's to 1 game back and a 16% chance to win out. September 28: BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE!!! One of the division races has been decided and it took a little bit of a comeback to do so. The Tigers were losing to 23 year old John Carpenter (13-14, 3.27) 1-0 in the 7th when they finally got to the kid with an RBI single by Tom Berenger (.315, 4, 19) and then a bases-clearing double by Jose Ayala (.263, 20, 71), who was sitting tonight in favor of Joe Theismann (.316, 2, 8). Detroit got another 2 insurance runs in the 8th and won this one 5-1. For their part, the Red Sox did beat the Royals 4-1 in KC's weird little 1 game makeup jaunt to Boston to force Detroit to win to clinch. The Royals host Oakland in Kansas City tomorrow, just, you know, 1400 miles and a time zone away - good thing the game doesn't factor in jet lag! Septembe 28: The Pirates put a DAGGER into the hearts of the Phillies tonight as DJ Cheeves (22-9, 2.48) picks up his 13th complete game on the season and narrowly outthrows Marius Gaddi (11-15, 3.94) for a 3-2 win and a 3-game sweep at Veteran's Stadium. With 5 games left against the Mets and Cardinals, the Pirates now have a 98% chance to win the division. This team won 92 games in 1970 and took the division title, which was the first time they'd ever reached the postseason. Now, suddenly, they're looking like playoff vets. September 29: The First Secretary of the Georgian SSR and their de facto leader, Vasil Mzhavanadze, is removed from his job by the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee. He will continue to be in the Politburo, which I guess is best described as kind of the USSR equivalent of the US House of Representatives, with his successor in the state being none other than Eduard Sevardnadze, who will be later be best known as the nation's final Minister of Foreign Affairs before it dissolves in 1990. September 29: Japan normalizes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan). It'll be another six years before they formally end their existing state of war, which has been in place since World War II, with a peace treaty. September 29: Woodward and Bernstein release a story entitled "Mitchell Controlled Secret GOP Fund", which notes that, while US Attorney General, John Mitchell controlled a secret fund that was used to gather information about the Democrats according to sources involved in the Watergate investigation. Septamber 29: With the pennant race over, Michael Pesco (24-9, 2.53) continues to make a case for himself with a 6-hit shutout in what will probably be his 2nd to last start of the season. Pesco didn't have his usual devastating curveball but he more than made do tonight, registering his 15th complete game - now tied in that department with Texas' Chad Daugharty (18-10, 2.37) and Detroit's Edgar Molina (20-11, 2.99) and his 8th shutout, which also puts him into a tie for the AL lead with Daugharty. September 29: The A's overcome an early 2-0 deficit and get to the jet-lagged Royals late, winning 6-2 and making things that much harder for the Angels, who are matched up against the Twins this weekend. 1B/3B Alex Canales (.273, 10, 60) broke double digits in homeruns for the 2nd straight year and 5th time in his 7 year career and Rick Shelton (5-6, 4.43) made a case for being on the playoff roster should the A's overtake the Angels with a 7 inning, 2 run performance. September 29: However, all that happens there is they just keep up with the Angels today, as Cal wins on a 9th inning rally off of Rich Whetzel (7-11, 3.63) to send the Twins to their 6th straight loss with a 2-1 victory. The RBIs were tallied with a double by leadoff hitter 1B Willie Vargas (.280, 9, 60), who's hitting .306 this month as the Halos moved him from 3rd in the order to leadoff (he's 8-19 in the new lineup slot), and the game-winning single by 2B Mauricio Mendez (.228, 8, 29), hitting just .165 since returning from a fractured foot that kept him out most of August. Andy Ring (15-11, 2.89) was solid for 8+ innings but was a bit wild and threw a loooot of pitches so Tanzan Kihara (8-7, 3.50) was forced to bail him out of a jam in the 9th and so is the man credited for the W here. It's still a 1 game matchup but every day we move forward makes it more and more likely that the Angels win out. Now they have an 80.8% chance. The Twins don't show up on the list anymore; it looks to me like they're 4 games behind the Angels with 4 games left to play but even if Cal loses out, that would mean the A's win twice which would put them ahead. So, in a nutshell, I think the reverse champagne has popped for Minnesota. September 29: The Dodgers keep their pennant hopes alive and keep up their torrid pace with a 7-2 drumming of the last-place Reds. They managed to touch Cincinnati's #1 hurler Steve Waiters (10-13, 2.62) for 4 runs in 7 innings and then put the game away in the 9th with RBI doubles by PH Nick Sego (.231, 0, 2) and 2B Ben Toscano (.304, 0, 11). Mario Juarez (4-2, 2.91), the team's 5th starter, gave them 7 solid innings before turning it over to the bullen; Alec Cosby (7-5, 1.90) did earn his 29th save of the season by entering with 2 outs in the 8th when it was still a 4-2 game. September 29: And to kindly give them a shot, both the Astros and Braves lost AGAIN today. The Astros were never in their game, falling behind 5-0 in the bottom of the 1st and losing 8-3 behind the solid pitching of original Padre Rodrigo Aguilar (18-8, 3.55) and a banner game by 2B/OF Paul McCartney (.264, 30, 91), who homered and tripled with 4 RBIs. He's now 2nd in the league in ribbies. The Braves also fell behind early and never threatened, losing their game 6-1 to the Giants with all 6 of the San Francisco runs scored in innings 1 and 2. 2B Bob McAdoo (.310, 1, 18) went 4-5 in this one and raised his September average to .314. The Dodgers are suddenly just 1 1/2 games behind the Braves and are now on a 7 game winning streak. September 30: Malaysia-Singapore Airlines ceases operation but worry not, SE Asia flight fans! They'll split into Malaysia Airline System and Singapore Airlines tomorrow. September 30: In real-life baseball, Roberto Clemente collected his 3,000th and final hit. He will be killed in a plane crash during the offseason. September 30: Dr. Irving Selikoff of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine addresses the annual National Cancer Conference in Los Angeles and warns that there has been a huge rise in mesothelioma among men who had been exposed to asbestos during World War II. I remember the long-time principal of my middle school died of mesothelioma from asbestos in the school (which was if memory serves only pulled out of it a couple years before I attended in the 80s); of course, mesothelioma ads were all over the place on old peoples' TV in the 90s too. That we had a good idea about the issues in the early 70s is... pretty par for the course, I'd say. September 30: 40 year old Octavio Vargas (2-4, 3.90) of the Mets, who I swear was calling in quits, just demanded a trade... on September 30. Well, instead he'll get his retirement wishes a few days early because I'm cutting him loose. He hasn't even played since the 22nd and has been relegated mostly to long relief owing to the fact that his cut fastball is no longer fooling anyone (just 14 Ks in 67 IP). I guess if he's not retiring, maybe someone will invite him to spring training... September 30: Minnesota finally stops their big slide by, of all things, using a spot starter. Santiago Serrano (3-3, 3.25), forced into work due to the double-header the Twins played on Wednesday, throws 7 solid innings and the Twins are able to draw 5 walks off of finesse/control artist David Camacho (10-7, 3.40) to eke out a 3-2 win and even the series at 1 game apiece. This also gave Oakland and Texas a chance to move up and... one of them did, at least. Oakland fell to a frisky Royals team because their own spot man, 36 year old vet and mainstay of the bullpen Chris Wilson (9-9, 4.01) couldn't create a quality start, allowing 4 runs in 6 innings of work. On the other hand, Chris Regan (13-10, 3.42) continued to be an absolute gift of a waiver-wire pickup from Texas as he went all the way for the 7th time this year and 3rd (in 8 starts) with KC. Texas at least won, taking down the White Sox 6-2. Kevin Freeman (10-14, 3.27) has been stuck back into the rotation after spending a chunk of September in the bullpen and he demonstrated why he ought to be there all the time, as he got a complete game, 4-hit win. C Andres Gamez (.282, 5, 43) went 2-4 with 2 RBIs; he is clearly the best hitter on this team and if it wasn't for the presence of Josh Lewis in Oakland he'd be a Silver Slugger candidate. So yeah, stuff tightens up... the Angels with a whopping 78-74 record are still 1 game up on Oakland and 1 1/2 up on Texas. And, due to the lead and the simple fact that they're runnning out of time (the Angels conclude this series tomorrow and then only have a 2-gamer at home against the A's left) means they still have a 78% chance of being the sacrificial lamb to Detroit. September 39: Pirates lefty Santos Arango (20-15, 2.64) often doesn't get much to work with but often he just makes do anyway. Case in point: today's game, where he received just 2 runs. That was all he needed, as he gave up just 1 run on 3 hits (and an uncharacteristic 5 walks for a guy who is just baaarely out of the top 5 in BB/9 with 2.2). This also marks Arango's 2nd straight year with 20 wins and although I think there are just too many losses there to get him his 2nd Cy Young in 2 years, it's still something. The Phillies split a double-header with the Expos today... and I just buried the lede! The Phillies are 4 games back; the two teams have a combined 7 games left (Pit has 3, PHI has 4). BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNES AGAIN! The Pirates won 8 straight to get to this point and finish September with a 22-7 record. Talk about clutch! September 30: It seems like the Astros and Braves have zigged and zagged with each other for the last couple weeks: when one of them wins, the other one does as well, and vice versa. Today that did not happen. The Braves beat around Giants starter Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (12-12, 3.19) for 5 runs off of 3 homers in 7 innings and won 5-3. John Winn (5-7, 1.97), who hadn't pitched in a week prior to this one, earned his 19th save. The Astros meanwhile were flummoxed by another youngster, Steven Tyler (15-14, 3.55), who threw a 6-hit shutout - his 5th of the year and his 12th complete game - to give the Padres an easy 6-0 win. Paul McCartney (.266, 31, 93) homered as that NL MVP race is really starting to heat up. With the Dodgers also winning - Fernando Apolonio (19-10, 1.90) had to leave in the 7th with a sore back but still combined with 2 relievers for a 3-hit shutout of the Reds to win 1-0 - the Astros are now in a virtual tie with the Dodgers in 2nd place. The Braves are 1 1/2 games up so are clearly in the driver's seat with 3 games remaining (their last vs the Giants but then a 2-game series against the Dodgers). In fact, by my calculations, they have a magic number of 2 on both clubs - one more win combined with one loss and that eliminates the Astros or Dodgers. October 1: Publication of the first reports of the production of a recombinant DNA molecule marks the birth of modern molecular biology. October 1: Singapore Airlines, with 10 airplanes, and Malaysia Airlines are officially created. October 1: At about 1am local time an explosion aboard the USS Newport News off the coast of South Vietnam kills 19 sailors and injures another 10. October 1: Florida's new death penalty statute, the first to be passed in the US since the Supreme Court ruled that all existing capital punishment laws are unconstitutional, goes into effect. October 1: Oregon becomes the first state to require a deposit on all beverage containers, including cans. October 1: Louis Leakey, the Kenyan anthropologist, dies today. His wife will soon hereafter become the head of the Olduvai dig where both are employed and of course Mary will wind up being one of the major stars of the field of paleoanthropology. October 1: So... there was really no doubt at all who was going to be the NL Rookie of the Month. He might just be the Player of the Month, I haven't looked yet. Phillies LF Alberto Juantorena (.323, 20, 48) practically carried the team on his back this month, hitting .331 with 10 HRs and 26 RBIs in 28 games. It wound up not being enough since Philadelphia just got knocked out of the playoffs but man, you can't put all of that on a 21 year old, no way no how. Oops, cheating! You'll see him again soon... October 1: The AL Rookie of the Month is another guy who kept his team in the playoff hunt, albeit a completely different way. 23 year old German LHP Bernd Eichinger (4-3, 2.44) was a late August call-up by a Texas Rangers team that didn't think it was headed anywhere. Well, as of the morning of the 1st of October, they're still in the race thanks in no small part to Eichinger winning 4 out of 5 decisions in 6 starts, including 3 complete games and 2 shutouts. The peripherals don't jump out at you, although he has been above average with Ks (5.9/9 in September) and avoiding the long ball (just 2 in 49 September innings). Eichinger was named the #34 prospect in the league at the All-Star Break but, needless to say, this is his first major award. October 1: The NL Pitcher of the Month was the man, right when he needed to be. Pittsburgh's Jeremy Battaglia (16-14, 2.04) has been plagued by poor run support all season long and even had a losing record heading into September. Well, not anymore: Battaglia went 5-0, 2.02 on the month with 4 complete games in 7 starts. He's actually 9-1 since August 1, which yes, does mean that at one point this year he was 6-13, albeit with a 2.31 ERA. Battaglia still made the Summer Classic in spite of the wins and losses because the voters are f'ing NERDS I guess, and this is also the 3rd time he's won Pitcher of the Month, the last time coming for August of last year. Speaking of, he finished 3rd in Cy Young voting in 1971. October 1: Cleveland SP Jose Martinez (22-7, 2.36) is not technically a rookie since he threw 124.2 innings last year. Still, this is his first full season in the big leagues and he capped off a possible Cy Young worthy perfomance with a 5-0, 2.15 September. As everyone around him was going cold, Martinez ensured his team stayed in every game he pitched. His lone no-decision, he left the game while it was tied (5-5 through 7) vs the Red Sox; the Indians' vaunted stopper Jake Duckett (10-4, 2.94) gave up a run in the 8th to pick up a rare loss. Martinez made the All-Star Game this summer but otherwise this was his first real award. October 1: That's right, Alberto Juantorena did win the NL Batter of the Month as well. This kid's going to be amazing. He's hit 32 HRs between AAA Eugene and Philly this year. This is his first Batter of the Month (also Rookie of the Month) award, although he also won Player of the Week twice this year, including this month (for the week ending 9/10). On top of that, he came up too late for the All-Star Game but he did play in the Futures Game. October 1: I expected the AL Batter of the Month to be Ernesto Garcia (.288, 63, 157), but he hit only .257, albeit with 12 HRs and 26 RBIs in 28 games. Instead the award went to his teammate Tommy Pron (.324, 14, 55), who in any normal year would be an MVP candidate himself. Pron hit almost .400 - .396 - and was no slouch in the power department himself, with half of his HRs coming after September 1 and 14 of his RBIs. The 30 year old Pron, who led the league in average in 1968 (.315) and RBIs in 1969 (101) is no stranger to the hardware; this was his 3rd Batter of the Month. First since '68 though. As of this writing, he's even popped into 2nd place in the AL batting race, percentage points ahead of Daniel Gilmet (.323, 9, 60) and a fair chunk behind the almost equally hot Tony Danza (.333, 7, 47). October 1: Amazingly, in this Year of the Pitcher Part Deux, we have a new record-setter... on offense? You might have seen this coming. Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.292, 66, 161) had 3 homeruns off of a hapless Yankees pitching staff to set the new major league record. Number 66 came from a pitch thrown by left-hander Jim Kenner (2-3. 4.02), whom the Yanks brought in specifically because Garcia has issues, relatively speaking, against lefty pitching (although he hit .273 with 16 HRs in 143 at-bats so... not that much of an issue). 10 of his HRs have come against the Yanks, with 5 of them at Yankee Stadium. It's one of the few parks he hits as many out as he does at home (overall, 41 of the 66 HRs have come at home). "Now the world knows of my power," said the 28 year old Garcia following the game. October 1: The one pitching record we're going to see this year is Juan Merino's (13-1, 2.70) winning percentage. He pitched OK today - 2 runs on 3 hits over 7 innings of work - but the bullpen let him down; instead, it looks like he'll finish the season tied with Yankees' pitcher Frank Yanez, who went 13-1 in a 1960 season that was shortened by injury. Yanez incidentally finished his career at 198-126, 3.64, which probably puts him into the Hall of Very Good although looking at it, he was also the ace of a Yankees staff that won 4 World Series during his time there... with his support beginning to wane, I might need to implement the good old Veteran's Committee. Anyway, that was probably Merino's last start of the year, given that Detroit themselves only has 3 games left to play and I'll have to see what I can do to get the rotation set for the playoffs, so that record at least will be tied... October 1: The Angels get shut out by Mike Larsen (17-8, 2.85) and the Minnesota Twins and now the West is super tight once again. The A's lost too, to the Royals thanks to Edwin Manchego's (.274, 26, 76) 26th HR of the year and a solid game by Ed "The Mustache" Chavera (4-1, 3.47), who's proved to be much better this year than last. But the Rangers won 3-2 over the White Sox with a big rally in the 9th inning against the White Sox' starter Jerry "The Mountain of Stone Mountain" Blackwell (6-9, 3.21). Ramon Goyco (.271, 5, 23) delivered the final walk-off base hit... and welp, you'll have to read the standings recap above to get the rest of these infos. October 1: Tony Rivera (23-13, 2.57) shut out the Padres today and in doing so tied his own record for most IP in a season that he set last year with 328.2. That is... a weird total to settle on. That was also his 20th CG - nobody's completed more than 20 since 1955 - and his 9th shutout, which also ties the all-time mark set by Justin Kindberg in 1970. It's very unlikely but not, I guess, impossible that he'll play again this year in the regular season; the Astros have 2 games left against the Reds on the 3rd and 4th so theoretically Rivera could start the 2nd game on 2 days' rest... October 1: Atlanta for their part scored early and often on Giants' portsider Sam Williams (10-13, 3.64) and won 9-2. Henry Riggs had 2 HRs and 4 RBI, including a 3-run blast in the 7th that took any hope San Francisco had of coming back away. Felix Carranza (16-11, 3.15), the wins leader on an Atlanta team whose pitching staff is probably best known for its relievers, went all the way for this victory. That victory also, by the way, officially kicks the Dodgers out of the race and puts the Astros' chances on life support. BREAK OUT SOME BUT NOT ALL OF THE CHAMPAGNE ## Teams in Review Nah.
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Hall Of Famer
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October 2-4 IT'S OVA
## Standings / Recap / Comments
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LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 95 61 .609 - 639 528 Boston Red Sox 87 68 .561 7½ 583 492 Cleveland Indians 87 69 .558 8 679 563 Baltimore Orioles 81 73 .526 13 558 506 New York Yankees 69 86 .445 25½ 521 546 Milwaukee Brewers 60 96 .385 35 478 630 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 79 76 .510 - 505 549 Oakland Athletics 78 77 .503 1 532 571 Texas Rangers 77 77 .500 1½ 479 486 Minnesota Twins 76 78 .494 2½ 587 572 Chicago White Sox 70 84 .455 8½ 526 600 Kansas City Royals 70 84 .455 8½ 587 631 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Pittsburgh Pirates 93 62 .600 - 540 434 Philadelphia Phillies 89 67 .571 4½ 664 589 Chicago Cubs 84 71 .542 9 631 643 St. Louis Cardinals 77 79 .494 16½ 564 570 Montreal Expos 70 86 .449 23½ 541 603 New York Mets 67 89 .429 26½ 524 609 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Atlanta Braves 81 73 .526 - 609 575 Houston Astros 80 73 .523 ½ 554 530 Los Angeles Dodgers 81 74 .523 ½ 502 526 San Francisco Giants 74 81 .477 7½ 524 510 San Diego Padres 73 80 .477 7½ 572 550 Cincinnati Reds 60 94 .390 21 525 611 The AL West, all scrunched up as it was, came down to the final day. The Angels beat the A's, meaning we've had 3 division champs in the last 3 years, which is neat. What's not so neat is that the Angels were outscored by more than 40 runs and look like lambs to the slaughter against the Tigers, who probably would have won 100 if the season was the normal length. Well, they might have anyway; they'd have to have gone 5-1 in the 6 unplayed games. In any case, they made kind of a mockery of the AL East race at the end of it. They've got the 2nd best offense in the AL and one of the better defenses. You have to play out the games of course but they sure look like the pennant winners to me. The NL looks similarly unbalanced, although the Pirates didn't knock off the Phillies until the final week. There that 4 1/2 game cushion looks a lot bigger than it really was. Pittsburgh enters the postseason still not knowing when RF / #3 hitter Brian Jackson (.267, 9, 50) will be ready to play with his elbow injury. His replacement Carlos Carerra (.215, 2, 10) has, frankly, stunk. It may not matter so much as their opponent the Atlanta Braves aren't super great themselves. They've got a really nice offense but the pitching staff is kind of suspect. I mean, it definitely is outside of the top 3 starters and ace reliever John Winn (5-7, 1.95, 19 Sv) but now that I type that out, isn't that all you need? All right, that might be scarier than it looks. Speaking of the NL West, the standing look stupid close but they're a little misleading, as the Braves were up by a game and a half on both the Astros and Dodgers going into the final day, when they rested #3 starter George House (14-10, 3.16) in favor of Colin Rose (11-11, 3.56), who, to be perfectly fair to the knuckleballer, did a pretty solid job, losing at the Launching Pad 3-2 to ERA winner and possible Cy Young man Fernando Apolonia (20-10, 1.85). The individual races were WILD or something... Royals OF Tony Danza (.338, 7, 50) wrapped up a sure Rookie of the Year campaign with a .411 September and a 7-14 October to take home the batting title. It's going to be scary to see what this multitalented man, who also moonlights as a boxer and an actor, can do in the years to come. Cleveland's Tommy Pron (.326, 16, 58) snuck in at #2 with his own Batter of the Month quality September, which means that Twins 2B Dan Gilmet (.321, 9, 60), who practically led this race wire to wire, falls to 3rd. Homeruns and RBIs of course were an easy, easy win for Ernesto Garcia (.296, 68, 166), who set a new major league record for HRs and a new AL record for RBIs, missing the latter mark by only 3 (Justin Stone was an amazing .371, 58, 169 for the Cardinals in 1964). Given the depressed nature of offenses this year, I've definitely never seen a fictional player put up such a commanding performance. This was Ruth in 1920 or Bonds in 2001 levels (well, 9.2 WAR isn't quite up at those but it's a loooot). It's almost an insult to bring up the place and show guys but they were White Sox OF/1B Alice Cooper (.261, 44, 96), who was shut down in mid-September with back stiffness, and Twins 1B Angelo Martinez (.251, 36, 98), who did all that he could to keep the Twinkies in the AL West race. Alvin Romero (.296, 4, 41) was very average in August and September and so fell out of the batting race but he still won the steals award with 48, outrunning Danza's teammate Dave Corona (.262, 14, 47), who otherwise had a rough, injury-riddled season. He finished with 40 thefts. Danza incidentally was 3rd with 34 but also got caught 30 times; methinks his days of being in the steals race are probably over. The #2 guy in that category was Norm Hodge (.206, 2, 20) with 14; you can see that Danza spent a lot of his rookie season padding the statistics of opposing catchers. Phil Hartman (.278, 10, 50) led everyone in walks with an even 100. Jon Hernandez (.254, 13, 67) of the Orioles won the doubles race with 31, a really low total; to be fair to Hernandez he was in a semi-platoon role this year and finished with just 401 at-bats. Danza also led the league in triples with 17; Dan Gilmet was 2nd with a distant 12. And for runs scored, Ernesto Garcia proved that the easiest way to lead the league in that category is by driving yourself in; his 117 were way more than anyone else. In fact, the only other guy in either league with more than 100 was Alvin Romero with 103. Santos Rodriguez (16-10, 2.20) held on to win the ERA title in the AL, beating out Detroit's Jimmy Goddard (18-13, 2.34) and Cleveland's Jose Martinez (22-7, 2.36). Of those 3, I think only Martinez really figures into the Cy Young race but I haven't run my little algorithm so I could be wrong. Michael Pesco (24-10, 2.62) just missed getting 25 wins (see below); I'm guessing he'll win the Cy. Martinez was 2nd and Goddard's teammate Edgar Molina (21-11, 3.10) finished 3rd in spite of a high-ish ERA. Molina also led the league in Ks with 264, 19 more than Pesco (also see below), so he'll have some say in that. The A's Willis Chavez (7-4, 2.75) and the Orioles' Montay Luiso (5-6, 2.46) co-led the league with 27 saves. Chavez also had 33 shutdowns to Luiso's 29. It's preeeetty clear who the two reief aces of the league were. Pesco co-led the league in shutouts with Rangers' ace Chad Daugharty (18-10, 2.37); had the latter gotten, like, any run support this year, he'd be the Cy... and the Rangers would be the AL West champs. Pesco also led the league in walks with 134; the price you pay for power, I guess, although the #2 guy, young Orioles' RHP TJ Ziegler (12-10, 2.80) was only a little better than league average at striking guys out with 139 of them in 215 innings of work. Nobody lost 20 this year, which was nice, although it did take the Twins pulling Chris Benavides (14-19, 3.02) out of the rotation in the final week after Minnesota's fate had been decided. The other 19 game loser was 25 year old righty Cris Olivares (8-19, 3.46) of the Brew Crew, who mostly got there because Milwaukee was trash this year. In the NL, the Braves' Kevin Dwyer (.329, 18, 77) took over the batting race in, jeez, was it July? and never looked back. He's got a ton more power than any of the AL batting leaders. The #2 guy and the only other .300 hitter in the NL wound up being Astros CF Big George Foreman (.313, 19, 76), who followed up a 56 game debut in 1971 where he hit .380 with a .313 average. He has a career mark now of .331; believe it or not, this would not be the highest ever if he qualified, as Cubs 1B Jeff Archer (1952-1968) had a career .336 mark in 5,322 at-bats. I'm leaning towards VCing him, speaking of, but he won't even be voted on for the first time until this offseason. ANYWAY, the #3 guy, speaking of Cubs 1B, was Antonio Lopez (.290, 27, 68), which goes to show how far offense fell this year. With no big record-setting stud in the NL, the RBI and HR race was closely contested. That said, Cubs' SS/RF Jeremy Taylor (.246, 35, 100) won both for the 2nd time in his career (he went .277, 47, 140 in 1969 and won both crowns) thanks to 5 HRs and 13 RBIs in the final week and a half of the season. That was just enough to squeeze him in front of the Dodgers' Justin Stone (.257, 33, 95), who had the kind of year that reminds you that no, his best days are not all behind him at 33, and a 3-way tie with Cardinals' 3B Mike Galeana (.217, 32, 87), Padres 2B/OF Paul McCartney (.266, 32, 94), and Reds' RF Jaden Weaver (.234, 32, 88). Stone and McCartney finished 2nd and 3rd to Taylor in RBIs. The Reds' Pedro Ortiz (.258, 4, 37) was healthy all year but had only 6 steals from August 1 to the end of the season, which allowed the Braves' Chris Ward (.267, 11, 35) to sneak in and tie him with 35 of them. This was Ward's 2nd consecutive year leading the league in the category. George Foreman led ALL OF BASEBALL with a very-low-for-leading-everyone 33 doubles, and Ward also got himself some more black ink with a league-high 12 triples. Cardinals' 1B Lorenzo Martinez (.233, 24, 60) didn't play until May thanks to a sprained knee he suffered in spring training but still was one of 2 guys in the majors with 100+ walks; he led everyone with 106 of them. Pirates' SS Henry Villar (.236, 0, 26) followed instructions all season long and had a league-high 27 sacrifice hits; most of the other top guys were pitchers. Paul McCartney juuuuust missed the century mark in runs scored, finishing with a league-high 96. The Dodgers' Fernando Apolonio (20-10, 1.85) wound up not that close to the all-time ERA mark but he did win 20 and you have to put him up there for Cy Young considerations. The biggest obstacle he has is that the Dodgers use a 5 man rotation instead of the 4-man that most other contenders go with. The #2 man in ERA, Jeremy Battaglia (16-15, 2.10), for example, had 9 more starts this year (although in his case, run support issues will keep him from winning the award). Speaking of both 5-man rotations and poor run support, the Giants' Mike Stuckey (12-13, 2.37) finshed 3rd in the race. Tony Rivera (23-13, 2.57) did manage to lead the league in wins, although a 4-4 record to close out the season is not making a great case for him. He was used a *ton*, to be fair, leading everyone in complete games with 20. The Bucs' DJ Cheeves (22-9, 2.48), 2nd in wins and 5th in ERA, looks like a proper Cy guy to me; Apolonio and the Pirates' Santos Arango (20-15, 2.63) were the only other 20-game winners in the NL. Roger Quintana (13-14, 2.69) also had a somewhat unheralded year, leading the league in Ks with 231 and, unlike the other league's K leader, finishing with under 100 walks (84) in 271 innings of work. He was also the only man in the NL with 200 Ks; the next closest was Arango with 197. The Dodgers' Alex Cosby (7-5, 1.84) was a huge part of why LA made their massive, if ultimately futile stretch run, leading all of baseball with 32 saves and 40 shutdowns. Actually in the latter category he tied with the Cubs' Jesse Kelly (8-5, 2.76), who also finished with a 2nd-highest 28 saves. Tony Rivera, speaking of complete games, also led everyone with 9 shutouts, which ties the all-time record. He was veeeeery hot and cold this year. Ernesto Carrillo (9-15, 4.02) was shunted to the bullpen by the end of the year but still managed to lead everyone in walks with 145. Short relief does seem like a better role for him. Bullet Bill Vanover (13-15, 3.44) had 1.6 walks/9, the best number in the league; he stretched how far you can go without really striking anyone out. Oh right, and Dodgers' youngster Carlos Figueroa (8-18, 3.43) led the league in losses. He's still only 26 so he could definitely learn to win. The #2 guy is practically the Denny McLain of this league, Phillies SP Marius Gaddi (11-16, 3.95), who's ERA has climbed in each of the last 2 years after winning 27 in 1970. ## Major Transactions So... other than waiver transactions, the next one of these won't happen until the offseason... ## News October 2: Voters in Denmark approve the Treaty of Accession in a referendum with 63.5% of them voting in favor of joining the European Economic Community. One week earlier, as you'll recall (in fact, I specifically thought this had just happened), voters in Norway rejected their own version of this. October 2: An Aeroflot Il-18 airliner crashes at the Soviet resort town of Sochi, killing all 109 people on board. October 2: In a move that I'm sure was made to improve morale but which just looks like "hey mom, we get a free trip out of the orphan crushing machine", the Indian state of Rajastan launches the Antyodaya Programme, which will identify the five poorest families in each of the state's villages and provide government assistance for one year in the form of allotting land for cultivation, bank loans, assistance in finding employment, or a pension. Wikipedia has nothing else on this. October 2: Looks like Bob McAdoo (.309, 1, 20) one of two seven footers on the aptly-named San Francisco Giants, is going to miss the last couple of games with a sore elbow. I only bring this up because it means I will give the last 2 starts to maybe the last Class of 1948 new debutant, Andrew Lloyd Webber (.238, 0, 20 at AAA Phoenix). Webber was at one time a top 50 prospect and came over to SF in 1968 as a sweetener in a deal that also brought now-retired C Ian Singleton to the Grooviest City on Earth. He's fallen off a bit and was only a half-time guy in AAA this year. The scouts still think he's capable of hitting .290 though. I don't see him moving ahead of McAdoo, who is 3 years younger than Webber along with, you know, being better. Hey, it's October. October 2: The FINAL Players of the Week awards for 1972 are coming out... in the NL, it's down to 26 year old rookie OF Ronnie Yitzhaki (.273, 8, 28) who went 12 for 21 (.571) with 3 HRs, 4 RBIs, and 7 runs scored in an ultimately futile attempt to keep the Dodgers' playoff hopes alive. This is already Ronnie's 2nd PotW; he won it for the week ending July 30 of this year as well. October 2: The AL guy is a person I'm planning on looking at in the team write-ups later on... Brewers' 2B James Hong (.255, 8, 28), who got called up in the middle of Milwaukee's spectacular collapse this year. He is "19" - look, that's what he told us - and this past week wasn't just one of the "youngest" players in the league, he was one of the best, hitting 7-15 (.467) with 3 HRs and 6 RBIs. Seems like a light total to get this award but hey, someone had to win it. Hong made it to the Prospects Game in 1972 but otherwise this is the first baseball-related award he gets to put on his mantle. October 2: Tigers righty Edgar Molina (21-11, 3.10) made a final push at the strikeout title with 11 strikeouts over 8.1 innings tonight in a 3-1 win against the Red Sox. We're just playing for stats at this point and, in Detroit's case, to get properly rested for the ALCS, but for Molina the stats are enough. He was already 19 Ks up on Michael Pesco (24-9, 2.53) going into this contest so it would have required a record-breaking effort by "The Dozens" but this officially puts the lead completely out of reach. Also, because of the way OOTP uses/used pitchers his 264 is the 7th highest mark of all time (Francisco Galtan struck out 282 men in 1958 - he finished 19-8, 2.76, and won the Cy Young... looking at him, he's got a Dizzy Dean style career - 148-78, 2.89, but 3 Cys and 2 World Series Championships. He got 36.6% of the vote for the Hall this past year but I might have to Veterans Committee this guy if he falls off). October 2: The Cubs deny Philadelphia's attempt at becoming the 3rd 90 win team in the league by handing them loss number 67. They won 5-3. Gordon Summer (2-4, 4.24), who insists on being called "Sting", gave his team a good solid chance to win with 6 innings and 2 earned runs and 2B Juan Perez (.285, 25, 71) went 2 for 5 with a couple runs as Chicago played a personal stat-based spoiler role today. Marius Gaddi (11-16, 3.95) picked up the loss today; he at least won't lose 20 again and won't have an ERA over 4, so that's nice. October 2: HOO BOY we got a season-ending true Battle of the Crap between the Mets and Expos. I guess not "true" true since the Reds are worse than either of these teams but true to the NL East at least! Game One sees DJ Fletcher (10-15, 3.68) outduel Trevon Dean (5-11, 4.26) 1-0 (10) in a game that felt more like 2 bad offenses refusing to score than anything good being done by the pitchers. Paul Kahl (.247, 10, 42) finally put this game to rest with an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th. Game 2 was more of the same in spite of both teams starting Cincinnati Reds rejects - Josh Mullett (3-1, 3.25) for the Mets, Mike Johnston (1-0, 1.00) making his Expos debut. It was the Montreal guy who again won the "duel", 3-1, and it was once again Paul Kahl (.247, 11, 44) who engineered the big bop, this time a 2 run blast off of the blast-happy Mullett. October 3: The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty goes into effect following ratification by both the USA and the USSR. This treaty will stay in effect for the next thirty years, past the dissolution of the USSR. October 3: Lajon Witherspoon, the lead singer of the rock band Sevendust and one of the top 50 metal vocalists of all time according to Hit Parade magazine, is born today in Nashville, Tennessee. October 3: Indians 1B and sure-fire MVP Ernesto Garcia (.298, 68, 166) added 2 more dingers in his team's season-ending double-header vs the Orioles and finishes the year with 68 of them. 68! Now that's a record that will stand for a long, long time... unless Garcia breaks it next year, I mean. October 3: The Royals claim another victim, as a homerun by OF Edwin Manchego (.277, 27, 77) in the bottom of the 12th gives his team the W against the Texas Rangers. Texas had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the 8th but KC battled back thanks to a 2-run double by CF Tony Danza (.337, 7, 49), who also propelled himself into 1st place in the AL batting race with a 3-6 game tonight. As Texas' Achilles heel is still scoring runs, they were never able to answer, although they came close in the 9th with the bases loaded and 2 outs, only for their cleanup hitter Phil Stevens (.205, 6, 25) to strike out in the clutch. And that would have been a huuuuge win for the Rangers, too, because the A's also went into extras against the Angels and won 5-3. Willis Chavez (7-4, 2.78, 27 Sv) blew a save opportunity in the 9th but picked up the vultured victory when his teammates scored 2 in the 10th off of a Casey Satterfield (.261, 20, 65) single off of the Angels' own stopper Tanzan Kihara (8-8, 3.69), who picked up the loss. With that win, the A's and Angels are tied heading into the final game of the season with the Rangers 1/2 a game back. Which means... BREAK OUT A SMALL AMOUNT OF CHAMPAGNE, A'S AND ANGELS, BECAUSE THE RANGERS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED! October 3: In spite of the shortened season and some brutal anti-Canada scheduling, the Montreal Expos set a new team record for wins today when they knocked of the Mets twice in a double-header - the team's 2nd twinbill in 2 days. A homer by 1B Willie Morales (.240, 16, 57) was all starter Frank Evans (14-9, 2.73) needed in the first game as he scattered 7 hits en route to a 3-1 victory. Game 2 was a bit closer, as spot starter Patrick Simmons (1-1, 4.21), making his 5th appearance and 3rd start of the year (not counting any gigs he performed in with his "side band" the Doobie Brothers), had one of those "technically true" quality starts with 3 earned runs in 6.1 IP. Nevertheless, he also left with a 4-3 lead that the Expos only added to with Morales' 2nd homerun of the night in the 8th inning. Montreal's previous high in wins came last year when they went 68-93. The previous 2 sasons they lost well over 100 and looked like some of the worst teams of all time. As a team they still seem a long ways off from actual contention but, you know, baby steps. October 3: Reds OF Jaden Weaver (.236, 32, 88) has been unhappy with his new team ever since he was traded away from the Astros in the offseason. Even though the Reds made out like bandits on paper, it did pretty much nothing to the 1970 NL West champions' overall record; they're firmly rooted in the NL cellar and will have the #2 pick in the draft next season. Still, it was a rare bit of OOTP poetry today when Weaver became the man who knocked the Astros out of playoff contention. Down 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th, Weaver belted his 32nd HR of the season into the right field stands at Riverfront Stadium, giving starter Steve Waiters (11-13, 2.60) a lead he did not relinquish. The Braves, then, learned that they'd be able to BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE in the middle of their game, right about the time the Dodgers rallied for 5 runs in the top of the 4th and eventually chased starter Julio Sandoval (10-12, 3.26). The Braves, maybe resting on their laurels here, never did come back and LA wound up winning 8-5. It's kind of a fitting end to this race, as Atlanta has been 28-29 since August 1 and really and truly has backed into this division title: Houston was 24-30 during that same time and while the Dodgers were incredible in the last month, they had too large of a gap to make up. October 4: It's the final day of the regular season! October 4: The abbreviation "Ms." is used for the first in the Congressional Record in reference to New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug. The other eleven women in congress continue to be referred to as "Mrs". October 4: The BEGINNING of an era: the first ABC Afterschool Special is telecast. The anthology drama series, shown once a month on Wednesday afternoons, addresses contemporary issues and runs until 1997. The first episode if "Last of the Curlews", an animated special about a father and son who go hunting and debate whether or not to kill an Eskimo curlew, a small bird which was about to be extinct. The last reliable sighting of this bird will come in 1987; the final confirmed sighting already occurred in 1963. Hunting of the bird, by the way, has been outlawed since 1916 so dad was, um, not great here. October 4: Peter Bridges goes to jail to protect his source for a statement that the Newark Housing Authority had been offered a bribe. He wrote the story for the Newark Evening News, which is now defunct; however, some things are larger than any one paper. Bridges will be released from jail in three weeks after a grand jury refused to do the thing that grand juries are supposed to do all the time, which is to say indict him. My guess is that the Newark prosecutor's office saw a bad PR move when they saw it and basically told the jury to say no. October 4: The Tigers spoil Michael Pesco's (24-10, 2.62) effort to win 25 as they score 5 against him and eventually drive him out in the 7th inning of a 6-4 win. 2B Joey Ramone (.304, 13, 62) went 4-4 and stole the team batting title away from Alvin Romero (.296, 4, 41), who was up among the league leaders before a prolonged slump in August and September pulled him down. "After a game like this," said a jubilant Ramone, "I want to be sedated." October 4: Speaking of thwarting, the White Sox scored 6 in the top of the 1st inning off of Twins starter Rich Whetzel (7-12, 3.99) and then hung on to beat Minnesota 6-5. The win finished the Twins' season at 76-78, marking the first time since 1962 (79-83) that the franchise lost more games than it won (it was 80-80 last year so I guess let's not go crazy here). I'd say the dynasty is over but the AL West has nobody else ready to take up the mantle... October 4: The A's make the decision to use Vince Akright (14-16, 2.98) on 2 days rest against the Angels for all of the marbles... well, at least the right to get swept by Detroit. He's opposed by Ken Hansen (13-16, 2.55), a similar victim of poor run support this year. And actually, Akright does well; he's only able to go 5 innings but the bullpen comes in and adds a scoreless 6th through 8th... but Akright gave up 1 run in the first off of a Lou Morgenstern (.228, 11, 60) single and that's all that Hansen needed. He throws a 2-hit shutout, his 6th shutout of the season and 15th complete game, to drive the Angels into the playoffs, 1-0. It's the Angels' 4th best performance, even behind their expansion season when they finished 86-75, but this is their first postseason. BRING OUT THE SOMEWHAT FLAT CHAMPAGNE ## Teams in Review Nah.
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Hall Of Famer
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October 5-6 ALCS Game 1
California Angels (79-76) vs Detroit Tigers (95-61)
I don't really see the Angels as being able to do much here but hey, you never know! Catcher: Shaun Dennehy (.196, 2, 28) is a prototypical good-field, no-hit lunchpail guy behind the plate. His average fell 50 points from last season. [color="orange]Gianluigi Farinelli[/color] (.197, 7, 45) also had a really rough year but he's about equal to Dennehy as a defensive guy and has that history of being a .270 hitter. Also he has some power whereas Dennehy has none. Advantage: Tigers. First Base: [color="orange]Danny Villegas[/color] (.265, 12, 40) has 30 HR power when he's healthy. He wasn't healthy this year but he's fine right now. Willie Vargas (.277, 9, 61) has been kind of a disappointment in his 2 seasons in California; they expected him to be the potential batting champion he was in Chicago but instead he's just been a .280ish man. Still, that plus 30 steals is not bad. Still, Advantage Tigers. Second Base: Mauricio Mendez (.227, 8, 29) suffered through a really rough year thanks in no small part to injuries. He's still the best guy the Angels have got and one can hope he can be a .290 type guy that he was the previous 3 years with the club. [color="orange]Joey Ramone[/color] (.304, 13, 62) was an All-Star and hastened Villegas' move from 2nd to 1st (also that position should be less stressful on the oft-injured Villegas). He finished 4th in the AL in BA, 4th in doubles, 5th in slugging, and 10th in total bases. Advantage: Tigers. Third Base: The Angels are just kind of stuck with Travis Corley (.201, 3, 32) this year; he played his way out of a job but a lack of alternatives meant he played his way right back into it. [color="orange]Jose "Joker" Ayala[/color] (.260, 20, 74) led this team in RBIs and tied his 2nd highest HR mark of his career. He's not the greatest fielder in the world but I mean, you have to fall pretty far to be equal to Corley. Advantage: Tigers. Shortstop: It sounds like I'm ragging on these guys but Richard Simmons (.234, 10, 44) is... fine. He's got good pop for a shortstop, didn't hit super well this year, missed a lot of time with injuries, and can play a number of positions. He's only 24 and probably has multiple All-Star Games in his future (he made the Summer Classic this year). [color="orange]Rob Curran[/color] (.265, 5, 30) doesn't have that power or the versatility but is a touch better in the field, especially when it comes to range. Advantage: Tigers but this one's really close to being a push. Left Field: Lou Morgenstern (.228, 11, 60) came over from the Twins in the offseason. He was already going to be a bit out of place as the Angels' cleanup hitter but he really, really did not take to the role this year, like at all. His 11 HRs were his lowest since 1969, when he missed 50 games. [color="orange]Danny Hohman[/color] (.260, 5, 40) is a great story, having come back from a couple of injuries that left him playing in a grand total of 26 games between 1970 and 1971. Like a lot of nice stories, he's... okay, nothing super great. Advantage: Angels, I guess, because I feel like I need to give them an advantage somewhere, right?. Center Field: Carlos Hernandez (.281, 9, 61) got out of a big doghouse in Cleveland; as it turns out, he was a pretty nice guy in Cal. He played most of the year in the leadoff slot but switched to 3rd late in the season and wound up getting tied for the team lead in RBIs, albeit with a putridly low 61. [color="orange]Alvin Romero[/color] (.296, 4, 41) is the league's top leadoff hitter and one of two players in baseball to crest 100 runs scored. Advantage: Tigers. Right Field: Jared Ferrell (.237, 8, 34) emerged as the starter pretty late in the season after being traded from the Brewers for P Jordan Irons at the end of May. Ferrell hit 19 HRs in Milwaukee and arguably has the best power on this team. [color="orange]Frankie Faison[/color] (.323, 3, 24) got used as the starter in September after Danny Villegas had come back and Joey Ramone was no longer out of action himself. For a second baseman, he actually doesn't have that bad of range. He displaced Chris Contreras (.247, 3, 22), who the 1969 AL Rookie of the Year who was awwwwwwful this season. Advantage: Tigers, so long as it's Faison starting. Bench: The Halos traded for Sam Marks (.244, 1, 8) in exchange for minor league OF Andy Dulin in mid-August; I raise him because even though he finished the season hitting .192 for his new team, he's pretty much the only decent veteran pinch-hitting option off the bench. Backup catcher Tsui Hark (.327, 2, 8) has also filled in pretty well in that role but pretty much everyone else on the bench are kids who aren't ready yet. In addition to Contreras, the Tigers have a number of good players including [color="orange]Nikki Lauda[/color] (.280, 18, 65), who's basically as good a power hitter as anyone on California, only he lacks a position. Advantage: Tigers. Starting Pitching: Andy Ring (15-11, 2.91) leads a trio of guys who've basically carried this team as far as they've gotten. Ring's the power guy of the bunch, with 192 Ks, but Ken Hansen (14-16, 2.46) and Gary Bruno (11-14, 2.99) aren't exactly slouches themselves. [color="orange]Edgar Molina[/color] (21-11, 3.10) on the other hand might win the Cy Young, although ERA-wise he was only good, not great. The 2 and 3 guys posted identical 18-13 records: Jimmy Goddard (18-13, 2.34) has the best ERA on the staff because he doesn't allow homers whereas Bruce Rubio (18-13, 3.32) co-led the league in homers allowed with 30. Tigers Stadium matters a bit with that but not as much as you'd think. Advantage: Angels, I guess? Relief Pitching: Tanzan Kihara (8-8, 3.69, 18 Sv) got blown up a lot for a guy who pitches for a team who was so far above their Pythagorean record: 8 BSes in 27 opportunities and 11 meltdowns. The best "reliever" after him is probably #4 starter Al "The Inconvenient Truth" Gore (11-10, 3.23), who throws absolute gas but somehow didn't get strikeouts this year. [color="orange]Alex Madrigal[/color] (2-2, 3.49, 8 Sv) didn't play until July and still seems to be recovering his stuff. He was too wild and didn't miss enough bats to be lights-out, and yet he was still more or less the equal of Jim Marceau (5-7, 3.56, 25 Sv), who was up among the league leaders in saves when Madrigal returned but also blew 7 of them himself. Advantage: Tigers inasmuch as Kihara still blows up more than the Tigers' duo but it's close. News -------------------- October 5: In New York, the General Agreement on Participation is signed between Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates on one side and representatives from Exxon, Chevron, Texaco, and Mobil. October 5: The first exhibition between ABA and NBA franchises the New York Knicks and the New York Nets happens; the Knicks wallop the Nets 117-88 in New Haven, Connecticutt. October 5: Speaking of basketball, Grant Hill is born today. October 6: Six schoolgirls are kidnapped along with their teacher at Faraday, Victoria, Australia. A ransom of $1M is demanded; however, the children along with the teacher escape from an unguarded van the next day. The kidnappers were found and failed, although one of them will later escape to commit the same crime, essentially, in 1976. The teacher, Mary Gibbs, will be awarded a George Medal for bravery for her actions, which included bashing the door of the van open with the heavy leather boots she happened to be wearing at the time of the kidnapping. October 6: A train crash near Saltillo, Mexico kills 208 people and injures nearly 700. The train, which was carrying more than 1500 religious pilgrims, derailed near the bridge over the Moreno River. An engineere and four crewmen who survived are discovered to be intoxicated at the time of the derailment and will be charged with homicide. October 6: We open the postseason on a cold, clear Friday evening in Detroit: 41 degrees. 31,881 people are here to see the Tigers take on the Angels. The Angels are forced to use their #3 guy Gary Bruno (11-14, 2.99) due to taking until the very last game of the season to emerge over the Oakland Athletics. Bruno is a control artist who finished 5th in the league in lowest BB/9 with 2.2. However, he also doesn't strike people out much (only 4.1 K/9) and when he gets in trouble he'll often miss over the plate, which led to 21 homeruns allowed thie year (9th in the AL). He is opposed by Edgar Molina (21-11, 3.10), who led the league in Ks with 264 but also dingers with 30. He's very feast or famine, with 15 complete games and 6 shutouts but also 15 non-quality starts. Also, as a, um, administrative note, Angels RF Chris Tyree (.289, 2, 26) returns from a torn meniscus that had kept him out since the All-Star Break. Ideally you'd want to give the guy time to rehab but there are no minor leagues to rehab in and California needs him right away. Top 1st: Willie Vargas strikes out swinging to open up the proceedings. Chris Tyree grounds out weakly to short. Carlos Hernandez hits a line shot to left that Danny Hohman has to dive for to make the catch. 0-0. Bottom 1st: Alvin Romero hits a looper into right that Chris Tyree is just able to catch up to to make a shoestring catch. Did I mention that Tyree is a plus fielder out there? Rob Curran grounds out 4-3. Joey Ramone, who finished the year with 8 hits in 12 October at-bats, singles with 2 out. However, he pushes his luck, tries to steal 2nd, and is thrown out by Sean Dennehy. 0-0 Top 2nd: Lou Morgenstern grounds out to the Joker over at third base, 5-3. Mauricio Mendez, moved down in the order from 2nd to 5th today, flies out to short center field. Travis Corley gets the Angels' first base hit of the series, a single into right. Richard Simmons walks, making it a 1st and 2nd, 2 out situation for Sean Dennehy. Dennehy is hitting .218 with runners in scoring position and .243 (9-37) specifically with guys on 1st and 2nd. He walks to load the bases for the pitcher Gary Bruno. Bruno cracks one to center but gets underneath it and Molina escapes from a jam. 0-0. Bottom 2nd: Danny Villegas crushes one into the upper deck in left field for the first score of the game. 1-0! Frankie Faison grounds to 2nd. Jose Ayala strikes out swinging on a 2-2 sinker. Danny Hohman hits a single, Detroit's 2nd 2-out single of this game already. Gianluigi Farinelli makes it a 3-0 game as he belts one deep to center field. You can complain about the cozy confines of Tiger Stadium but both of those balls would have been out in any park. Molina pops it out into right, where 2B Mauricio Mendez makes the long run to go get it. 3-0, Tigers. Top 3rd: Vargas strikes out for the second time this game. Tyree pops to first. Hernandez flies out to left. 3-0, Tigers. Bottom 3rd: Alvin Romero hits a 3-1 pitch pretty hard but it's pretty near Lou Morgenstern in left; he chases after it for out #1. Curran grounds to 2nd. Joey Ramone gets jammed on an 0-2 pitch and grounds out to shortstop. 3-0, Tigers. Top 4th: Morgenstern flies to left. Mendez flies out to Romero in center. Corley also flies to center. 3-0, Tigers. Bottom 4th: Danny Villegas flies out to center. Boy, it's F8 day in Detroit. Faison breaks the streak by grounding out to 3rd baseman Travis Corley 5-3. Ayala laces a 2-out base hit to left field. Danny Hohman gets back on the fly out to CF side to end the inning. 3-0, Tigers. Top 5th: Richard Simmons chases after a changeup that missed the zone and whiffs. Dennehy just barely gets contact with a low-90s fastball and grounds out 3U. Gary Bruno is no match for Molina and strikes out on three pitches. It'll be neat to see the DH in this league next year. 3-0, Tigers. Bottom 5th: Farinelli grounds out 5-3. Molina grounds out weakly to 2nd. Alvin Romero tests Willie Vargas at 1st but he passes and takes the groundball to first base unassisted. 3-0, Tigers. Top 6th: The Angels are just now seeing Molina for the 3rd time through the order. After some early control issues he seems like he's locked things down. Willie Vargas grounds out 6-3. Tyree takes a 1-2 slider that indeed was in the zone for out number 2. Carlos Hernandez hits one to 2B Joey Ramone, who fields it and throws him out to end the 6th. 3-0, Tigers. Bottom 6th: Rob Curran flies out to LF. Joey Ramone drops his 2nd single of the night down in front of CF Carlos Hernandez. Hernandez is not exactly known for his defense, although he sure hits better than the old guy (that being multi-time Gold Glove Award winner Norm Hodge). Villegas drops a liner in front of RF Chris Tyree for another base hit; Ramone decides not to test Tyree's arm and so it's 1st and 2nd with 1 out for Frankie Faison. Gary Bruno gets a clutch strikeout here to keep it a 3-run game, pending, at least, whatever happens with the Joker. Ayala walks to load the bases. That's actually Bruno's first walk all game, although he also has only 2 Ks. Danny Hohman was only 2-8 this year with the bases loaded and this time around, he grounds out to shortstop. 3-0, Tigers. Top 7th: Lou Morgenstern is jammed with an 0-2 forkball and grounds out weakly to SS Rob Curran. The Angels are beginning to run out of time. Mendez flies to right. Molina picks up K #6 against Travis Corley to retire the side. 3-0, Tigers. Bottom 7th: Farinelli strikes out on a 3-2 changeup. Speaking of walks, that's also one of the few times a hitter has even gotten to 3 balls on him. That said, the pitcher also takes him to a 3-2 count before flying to center. Molina hit .105 this year so there wasn't exactly much to pitch around. Romero flies to left. 3-0, Tigers. Top 8th: Richard Simmons grounds to short. Sean Dennehy is just plain not a good hitter so he'll leave in favor of Jared Farrell. Farrell looked like he tried to tie it up all at once; not only can you not do that, it resulted in a 3-pitch strikeout. Now Gary Bruno is due up but even though he's only thrown 92 pitches, he looked like he was flagging last inning and the Angels need runs so in comes Sam Marks. Marks hits a little grounder that dies in front of Molina. Molina is not known for his fielding skills but he does pick this one up and toss it to first to end the inning. 3-0, Tigers. Bottom 8th: As they did several times in September, Bobby Copeland will take over behind the plate to keep Tsui Hark free to pinch-hit should the need arise. In to face lefty Rob Curran is David Camacho (10-7, 3.40). I didn't mention Camacho in the comparison because he didn't quite merit one. Camacho came over from the Mets in the offseason but missed a lot of time with shoulder tendinitis in August and September and never got back into the rotation. That said, he provides the team with a lefty specialist they were bereft of all season long. Curran actually had reverse splits against LHPs this year so he'll stay in. He grounds out to short. Joey Ramone eats lefties for breakfast - .341 this year with 17 extra-base hits in 123 at-bats. It should come as no surprise, then, that he belts a double to right center. That'll be all for Camacho. The new guy is the Inconvenient Truth himself, Al Gore. Gore throws a lot of pretty good pitches, which makes him maybe not the best choice for relief, but it is what it is. Joey Ramone gets caught stealing for the second time this game for out #2. He attempted 13 steals in the regular season and was successful on just 4 of them. That may prove costly, as Danny Villegas slaps a cut fastball up the middle for a base hit. Gore does something with his motion, the umpire calls a balk, and he asks the ump to refer to his lockbox, whatever that means. It's a moot point, though, as Faison flies to center. Top 9th: It's hang-on time for Edgar Molina and the Tigers! Willie Vargas grounds to 2nd, 4-3. Molina's still only thrown 106 pitches; arguably this might be a CG situation even in 2023. Tyree hits a chopper to short that he beats out for just the 2nd hit by the Angels all game long. Rob Curran has no choice but to take the sure out at first on a grounder to short. It's 2 out now with Tyree on at second base. Morgenstern drives him home and at least the Angels won't get shut out tonight! 3-1! Mauricio Mendez pops to short and the ballgame, she is OVA. The Angels really never even threatened outside of the early jam in the 1st and then the pair of hits in the 9th. Edgar Molina looked every bit the staff ace tonight and the Angels looked... like a team that might get swept.
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01-03-2024, 01:58 PM
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#227 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
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October 7 (1): ALCS Game 2
Atlanta Braves (81-73) vs Pittsburgh Pirates (93-62)
There's still a clear contender here but at least the Braves, like, outscored their opponents this year, so that's a thing. Catcher: Armando Flores (.235, 6, 47) came over from the Senators this offseason and didn't skip a beat, really. Well, he did lose a lot of gap power along with everyone else and he lost 55 points off of his average. Fine, he lost a lot. He's still a good, solid catcher. I was all ready to paint a picture off Doug Connally (.223, 9, 56) having an even worse year except that he hit .293 in September to put him basically on the same level, maybe even a bit better now due to recency, um, realism. Advantage: Pirates. First Base: Dante Chairez (.226, 28, 68) struggled against lefties all season long and his kind-of platoon mate "Cranklin" Martinez (.223, 7, 21) got hurt a lot and wasn't super effective when he was healthy (well... 7 HRs in 94 at-bats is nothing to sneeze at). The Pirates' first base situation is a complete mess; putatively it's a platoon between Dr. Jack Holman (.232, 4, 30) and Mike Jackson (.212, 2, 6) but I'm saying "screw it" to all of this and using organizational soldier Arturo Ganzalez (.286, 1, 6) in there. Of course, the real gaping hole here is Abilio Valdivia (.245, 1, 6), who was limited to 95 at-bats this year thanks to a fractured knee he suffered in June. Advantage: Braves. Second Base: Kevin Dwyer (.328, 18, 77) led the league in hitting and unlike a lot of hitting specialists, he's got a lot of pop in his bat. The Braves batted him 3rd this year and he made the most of it - trust me, 77 RBIs are pretty OK for this season. Tyler Webster (.254, 18, 57) also hit 3rd for his team but that was more out of necessity over the past month - that was RF Brian Jackson's job. He's obviously outclassed for the role and hit just .229 as a 3-hole man this year. Advantage: Braves. Third Base: Vicente Luna (.248, 15, 69) is a 6-time All-Star whose best years are behind him but he can still hit some HRs and his hands are enough to more or less make up for the lack of range you'd expect from a guy in his mid-30s. The Bucs have moved into a platoon situation between lefty youngster Hank Williams Jr. (.250, 6, 19) and Alex Flores (.215, 3, 30), who was initially was given the job but couldn't carry it with his bat. Advantage: Braves, but it's pretty close.0 Shortstop: The Braves like Bill Clinton (.229, 3, 24) enough that they traded their 1971 starter Jon Reid to the A's in June. Clinton has not exactly lived up to that promise; he's a better fielder than Reid but is probably better suited in a utility infielder role, and a .179 August deep-sixed any chances he might have had of being a regular contributor with the bat. Henry Villar (.236, 0, 26) took a step backwards with the stick himself - didn't we all this season? - but unlike Clinton he's a plus fielder, maybe not Gold Glove levels (although with the previous two winners no longer starting in the league, maybe?) but very good. Advantage: Pirates. Left Field: Chris Ward (.267, 11, 35) really held down the fort this year as the NL's premiere leadoff hitter; even missing 45 games with injuries he managed to lead the league in steals (35) for the 2nd straight year and added the triples crown to his black ink totals. Justin Lawson (.272, 19, 84) is the Pirates' cleanup man and led the club in average, homers, and RBIs. Three Rivers is a pitchers' park but not *that* much of one. Advantage: Pirates. Center Field: Michael Lee "Meatloaf" Aday (.281, 2, 32) is in a platoon with incumbent Josh Damon (.261, 13, 47). The skinny on Aday is that what he might lack in power compared with Damon, he makes up for in range in the field. Atlanta is filled to the brim with high power guys so it makes sense to sacrifice a little here. Granted that it made more sense when Meatloaf was hitting .300 as he was before a .204 September. Injuries have forced Pittsburgh to use Justin Hearl (.251, 1, 32) as their fulltime guy in center. Hearl was that guy last season but following a low-power. 261 year the Pirates tried using him in platoon situations with a number of guys. Hearl does cover a lot of ground, more than either Braves starter. Advantage: Braves, although it's close to being a push. Right Field: Henry Riggs (.263, 22, 59) missed a third of the season with a strained hamstring; at 37, this might be more of the norm for the league's all-time leader in homeruns. Still, he's been healthy for the last month and has been knocking the crap out of the ball (a .278 average in September, .333 in October, and 10 HRs since 9/1 including 3 in the last 3 days of the regular season). Whenever Brian Jackson (.267, 9, 50) gets back, he'll fill a huge hole in the Pirates' lineup but it's anyone's guess when that will happen. In the meantime, Carlos Carrera (.215, 2, 10) has been filling in; Carrera looks exactly like the converted centerfielder he is there: good glove, inadequate stick. Bench: The Braves will need to make a decision on Wolf Blitzer (.322, 7, 23) during the offseason; for now, he's the team's 4th outfielder and #1 pinch-hitter vs. lefties. Arguably he's a better overall player than Ward and (sacrilege incoming) Henry Riggs. In playoff terms, the Braves have got him, Cranklin, Josh Damon, and 6th OFer Jose Gomez (.217, 7, 20) who are all good enough to arguably start somewhere (maybe not Cranklin but the man is 37 and a longtime PH specialist). The Pirates' bench is pretty thin due to injury and inadequate play. I guess Dr. Jack is their main PH; they also have Luke Dunnahoe (.241, 2, 18) as a backup MI/pinch-hitter for pitchers and OF Frank Menner (.228, 2, 9), who walks a lot. Advantage: Braves, hugely. Starting Pitching: The Braves just have three pretty good guys, led by Felix Carranza (16-11, 3.15). Carranza would probably be the Pirates' #4 starter. The other guys expected to take the mound for them are Julio Sandoval (10-12, 3.26) and George House (14-10, 3.16), the latter of whom won 21 games in 1969 and 23 last year. The Pirates have got 3 of the best pitchers in the game in DJ Cheeves (22-9, 2.48), Santos Arango (20-15, 2.63), and hard-luck Jeremy Battaglia (16-15, 2.10), who finished 2nd in the league in ERA and 3rd in losses. Advantage: Massive one to the Pirates. Relief Pitching: John Winn (5-7, 1.95, 19 Sv) is one of the premier closers in the game but particularly after Mikhail Barishnikov (6-3, 3.76) tore his UCL and immediately decided to call it quits to focus on his ballet career, he's been asked to do it all himself. In the postseason at least he'll be helped out by Roberto Ortiz (10-10, 4.05), who was supposed to give the Braves the fireballing starting pitching ace when they acquired him from the A's but who was wild and mostly ineffective in the NL (5-7, 4.46) and knuckleballer Colin Rose (11-11, 3.56). Paz Lemus (9-4, 2.32, 25 Sv) *has* been asked to do it all himself and for quite a number of years. He's thrown more than 70 games in a season in each of the last 5 years and just missed leading the NL in that category for the 3rd consecutive year this season. The Bucs even have a decent supporting cast for him, including Brian Bruno (6-5, 2.61) and sidearmer Kent Tekulve (0-3, 2.91 and yes I did import him so shut up); they just rarely get used in "game" situation. Advantage: Pirates. All in all I think this paints a closer picture than it really is, although for the Pirates being without Jackson is a big miss. Nevertheless, pitching is what wins you playoff games and the Bucs have all of that. News -------------------- October 7: The NHL's two expansion teams, the New York Islanders and the Atlanta(!) Flames, play against each other to open the 1972-3 NHL season. Playing at the Nassau Coliseum the Flames win 3-2. The Islanders will go on to finish with the worst record in the league at 12-60-6 but 50 years on, they of course, are the team that's still playing in their home city. The Flames, incidentally, are named for General Sherman's sacking of Atlanta during the Civil War, which I'm sure at the time was meant as some big rebel thing but now strikes me as very appropriate. Anyway, they'll move to Calgary for the 1980 season, a city that has never ever seen fire. October 7: I'll need to split today up into 2 separate posts due to the whole "only 3 images per post" dealio. Anyway, we move to Game 2 of the ALCS. We're in Detroit again and tonight it is slightly warmer but still a cold October night at 46 degrees. Tonight it's partly cloudy. The Angels send out their #1 guy Andy Ring (15-11, 2.91), who's been pretty bad against Detroit this year (1-2, 5.24). Ring's big out pitch is his change of pace which I guess didn't fool the Tigers so much in the regular season. Detroit sends out Jimmy Goddard (18-13, 2.34), who led the league in starts (41) and innings pitched (311.2). He was also 5th in the AL in wins, 2nd in ERA, and 8th in strikeouts. Don't let the 184 Ks fool you; he's more of a control guy who, in spite of his home park, does not give up dingers. He was 2-0, 2.86 vs California this year. Top 1st: Willie Vargas hits a grounder in between short and third for a leadoff single. Tyree flies to left and LF Danny Hohman aaaalmost catches Vargas napping; the throw to first base is not in time to catch him before he tags up. Hernandez singles to right. Faison is right up with the ball and so Vargas is only able to advance to 2nd. Morgenstern flies out to right. Mendez pops out to short to end the little threat. 0-0. Bottom 1st: Romero flies out to center. Rob Curran also flies to center. Joey Ramone gets someone other than Carlos Hernandez to do all the work this inning; he flies to left. 0-0. Top 2nd: Corley strikes out swinging. Richard Simmons hits a smash to Joey Ramone at 2nd, which Ramone promptly drops. The scorer rules it E-4, although it could have just as easily been a hit. Anyway, there's a guy on base. Dennehy whiffs on a 1-2 change-up. Andy Ring flies out to right. 0-0. Bottom 2nd: Villegas strikes out swinging on a 2-2 slider. Frankie Faison gets his first hit of the series, a single the other way into left. Jose Ayala goes FULL JOKER BRAIN with a 2-run homerun to put the Tigers on top! Danny Hohman pops out to 3rd. Farinelli hits a hard grounder back through the box for a 2-out base hit. Jimmy Goddard strikes out, as a pitcher will do, to retire the side. 2-0 Tigers. Top 3rd: Vargas hits a slow chopper towards Jose Ayala at third that the Joker is just barely not able to reach in time; score it a base hit for Vargas, who's 2-2 in the game now. Chris Tyree bunts Vargas along to 2nd. Not sure I'm a fan of taking the bat out of his hands this early but hey, AI will AI. Goddard spins around to try and catch Vargas at 2nd base. Oops! He was already in the set position! That's a balk (that is a balk, right? I don't even know). Carlos Hernandez smashes a ball up the middle and just past the glove of Rob Curran for a single and an RBI. 2-1! Farinelli promptly throws Hernandez out at 2nd on an attempted steal. Morgenstern, now with the bases empty, draws a walk from Goddard, his first of the game. Mendez flies out to third. The inning's over but the Angels creep back, 2-1. Bottom 3rd: Alvin Romero hits a ball to first base that absolutely ties up Willie Vargas. You'd think that with his speed he'd have good range but nope, he has issues seeing the ball in the outfield and he's not any better at first. Somehow Romero beats his throw to the pitcher and the pesky Tigers leadoff man has his first base hit of the series. Curran bunts him into scoring position. Again, don't know about that decision but in fairness Curran had 11 sacrifice hits during the regular season. Joey Ramone hits one right at 2B Mauricio Mendez but he looks to Romero advancing towards third instead of the ball and muffs it for a costly error. Romero scoots back to 2nd but Ramone is now on at first base. Andy Ring gets a clutch strikeout of cleanup guy Danny Villegas, his 3rd K of the game already. Frankie Faison hits one fairly deep to right-center; it looks like it has a chance for a moment but Chris Tyree handles it just short of the warning track for out number 3. 2-1, Tigers. Top 4th: Travis Corley hits a solid base hit up the middle to lead things off. Richard Simmons tries to go the other way with an 0-1 fastball but gets under it a bit too much; LF Danny Hohman handles it in foul territory for the out. Corley tries to make something happen on the bases with a steal attempt but is tossed out by 10 feet by Gianluigi Farinelli. Dennehy grounds to short; it looks to me like that probably would have been a double play ball anyway. 2-1, Tigers. Bottom 4th: Ayala gets jammed by a change-up inside on his first pitch and grounds out weakly back to Andy Ring. Danny Hohman hits a single back up the middle. Farinelli lines one into right but Chris Tyree is right there for out number 2. Jimmy Goddard K's for the 2nd time in the game. 2-1, Tigers. Top 5th: Andy Ring makes contact with a 1-2 fastball but flies out to center. Vargas grounds out to shortstop, making an out for the first time all game. Tyree also goes down 6-3. 2-1, Tigers. Bottom 5th: Romero hits one towards short, where Richard Simmons is able to pull it in and make the out at first base in time. Rob Curran hits a roller towards first that Willie Vargas is able to handle easily for the unassisted putout. Ramone strikes out looking at that devastating change that Andy Ring is so well known for. 2-1, Tigers. Top 6th: I was a little worried by Goddard's lack of velocity going into things here but I looked it up and nope, he's just a soft tosser. His fastball is a mid-80s model at best. He uses it a couple times and then fools Carlos Hernandez on a change enough to get him to ground to short for the first out. Morgenstern flies out to center. Mauricio Mendez hits a liner into center for his first base hit of the series. He then steals and - unlike the previous 2 Angels attempts - is safe at 2nd! Travis Corley comes up, hitting just .174 with runners in scoring position on the year but 2-5 overall in this series. He hits one right back to Goddard on the mound, who tosses him out 1-3. 2-1, Tigers. Bottom 6th: Danny Villegas swings at the first pitch and grounds out to 3rd. Frankie Faison hits a hard liner the other way, down the left field line. Lou Morgenstern has to dig it out of the corner and by the time he does, Faison is able to charge into 2nd for a sliding double. The Joker hits a nice ball of his own in front of RF Chris Tyree for a single; however, Faison pushes his luck, attempts to go home, and is thrown out! It's still a 2-1 ballgame. And man oh man, Commissioner Burrell should have stuck at third because Danny Hohman drives a 3-2 changeup into the right field stands for his 1st HR of the postseason (and the Tigers' 4th already). It's a 4-1 ballgame! Farinelli flies to left to retire the side. 4-1, Tigers. Top 7th: Richard Simmons grounds out 4-3. I'll go ahead and leave Dennehy in for now - it's only the 7th, right? He goes down 3U. Andy Ring, on the other hand, is coming out; he's only at 95 pitches but he just gave up the longball last inning and it seems like it's time. Sam Marks works Jimmy Goddard to a 3-2 count and takes a 2 out walk. Vargas hits one that 2B Joey Ramone has to roam to the outfield grass to get; he's still able to just nip Vargas by a step. 4-1, Tigers. Bottom 7th: I wasn't super fond of the way David Camacho pitched yesterday so instead I'm going with middle reliever Luis Flores (2-4, 4.12) to relieve Ring. Flores had a rough year this year and, as you'd expect from a guy with his level of wildness this year (31 walks in 54.2 IP), he was very, very bad at handling inherited runners. Hopefully, working a clean inning, he'll be better. Incidentally, this man actually led the AL in ERA back in 1967 with a 1.83 mark, in case you were wondering why the 28 year old is on a playoff roster at all. Goddard's at 99 pitches himself but is cruising so he'll stay in; he grounds out to short. Romero grounds out to Vargas at first. Rob Curran works out a walk with 2 outs, but is quickly dispatched in a caught stealing. 4-1, Tigers. Top 8th: This is the 4th time through the lineup for Goddard; innings eater or no, it's time to handle him with kid gloves. Chris Tyree beats out a groundball to Jose Ayala for a base hit. The Angels had been sorely lacking his presence in the lineup this year. Carlos Hernandez hits a hard grounder that sure looked like a single to me, but SS Rob Curran not only handles it, he gets to it in time to turn a 6-4-3 DP. I think that's somehow the first double play of the entire series. Goddard oversaw 27 of them so he's no stranger to the old "pitcher's best friend". Morgenstern pops out to 2B Joey Ramone in foul territory. 4-1, Tigers. Bottom 8th: Flores will stay in because he did throw a clean 7th and it's a 3 run ballgame at this point. Romero grounds out to Willie Vargas at first base, who is getting in a lot of work today. Villegas pops out to second. Frankie Faison hits a liner into left for the 2-out base hit. Ayala flies to medium right field to retire the side. 4-1, Tigers. Top 9th: For the 2nd straight night, the Tigers will see if their starter can go all the way against the Halos. Mauricio Mendez leads it off; I'm tempted to pull him for a PH but he's a lifetime .278 hitter and who else do I have? He does work Goddard into a 3-2 count but then strikes out. That's only the 3rd K by Goddard tonight. Wow, make that 4 Ks, as Corley just watches a change go by him. I reeeeeally should have pinch-hit there. Oh well. Richard Simmons at least has the platoon advantage. He makes contact but it's not good contact, a lazy fly to right to end the game. 4-1! The Tigers take a 2 games to 0 lead and really, really look like they're going to clinch this in Anaheim.
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01-05-2024, 11:22 AM
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#228 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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October 7, 1972 (2) : NLCS Game 1
Playoff CITY PEOPLE GET HYPE
News -------------------- October 7: It's rainy but a pretty decent 62 degrees at Three Rivers today. 34,198 fans are in attendance tonight. What is up with attendance this year? I guess the fans want to eat hot chip and play Fortnite. The Braves choose to go with George House (14-10, 3.16), who wasn't quite the ace this year but has that on his resume. He was 1-1 vs Pitt in 1972. House pitched around 60 fewer innings than he did in 1971 because of a torn hamstring that kept him out for more than a month but when he did pitch he was as effective as ever. He did finish 10th in both fewest walks per 9 (2.3) and most Ks per 9 (6.1). The Bucs go with the obvious choice for Game 1, DJ Cheeves (22-9, 2.48), the craft vet who finished 2nd in the NL in wins, 5th in ERA, 8th in strikeouts (184), and 4th in innings pitched (290). Oh, and 1st in winning percentage (.710). He's as good a candidate as any for the Cy Young Award. Top 1st: Chris Ward fouls out to third. Clinton slaps a base hit into center. Dwyer lines out to shortstop. Riggs flies to left. 0-0. Bottom 1st: Hearl grounds out to short. Villar knocks a liner down the right field line and is in at 2nd base before Henry Riggs can make a throw. Webster hits one to the opposite field, which for him is left, for a base hit. Villar stops at 3rd but we've got runners on the corners with 1 out and cleanup man Justin Lawson at the plate. Lawson hit .270 with 8 HRs in 159 scoring-position at-bats. He flies out to center but it's deep enough to score Villar from 3rd base. 1-0, Pirates! George House catches Arturo Ganzalez looking to retire the side. 1-0, Pittsburgh. Top 2nd: Chairez hits a high fly to right center that Lawson gets under for out number 1. Vicente Luna grounds out to third. Aday, hitting a bit lower in the order than where he's accustomed, walks in a 3-2 curve by DJ Cheeves. He's erased on a caught stealing on the very next pitch. 1-0, Pittsburgh. Bottom 2nd: Carrera hits one of those deep flies to center that get behind bad fielders but Michael Lee Aday's got the range to catch up to it. Out number 1. Hank Williams Jr. fouls out to the first baseman. Doug Connally hits a weak grounder to short. 1-0, Pittsburgh. Top 3rd: Cheeves strikes out his first man of the game, Armando Flores, on a 1-2 change. George House, not the best hitter even for a pitcher (he hit .095 this year) gets a rare single to right but misjudges it and runs into an out at 2nd. Credit Carlos Carrera with the baserunner kill. Chris Ward hits a pop foul that 3B Hank Williams Jr. catches up to in time to end the inning. 1-0, Pirates. Bottom 3rd: Cheeves hits a textbook grounder to short, 6-3, one out. Justin Hearl hits a grounder right at 1B Dante Chairez, who takes it to the bag himself for out #2. Villar is robbed of hit number 2 as Bill Clinton makes a diving stop before the ball could get into center. 1-0, Pirates. Top 4th: Clinton follows up the web gem with... a routine grounder to 2nd. Kevin Dwyer shows off his batting-champion skills, going with a 1-1 fastball that nips the outside corner for a single into right field. DJ Cheeves misses on a 3-1 pitch to Riggs and we've got runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Dante Chairez slaps a grounder towards short; Henry Villar is up with it in time to get Riggs at 2nd but that's all as he breaks up the double play. Runners on the corners now, 2 out. Vicente Luna also hits one to Villar, which is not the wisest of decisions; the 6-3 groundout ends the inning. 1-0, Pirates. Bottom 4th: House strikes out Tyler Webster swinging; that's his 2nd K so far. He proceeds to get Justin Lawson swinging on a 2-2 cut fastball. Ganzales hits the first pitch he sees, a soft liner that seems headed to right-center, but 2B Kevin Dwyer leaps up and makes the catch for the final out of the inning. 1-0, Pirates. Top 5th: Michael Aday hits a screamer up the middle. Henry Villar is just able to grab onto it but can't make a play. Aday's on with a leadoff base hit. Armando Flores hits a soft fly into right field for out #1. George House lays down a good bunt that gets Meatloaf over to 2nd base. Chris Ward bangs a single back up the middle; the speedy Aday scores from 1st and we're all tied up! 1-1. Clinton hits a hard grounder to 2nd that ties up Tyler Webster; score that another base hit, the 2nd infield single of the inning. Dwyer strikes out on a 2-2 pitch, though, as DJ Cheeves wiggles out of this one. 1-1. Bottom 5th: Carrera flies out harmlessly to center field. Hank Williams Jr. draws a walk. The 23 year old son of the famous country singer loves to walk as much as he loves to ride - I mean, I assume he loves to ride. He had 42 walks against 164 major-league at-bats this year for an OBP of .401. Doug Connally hits a hot shot right at Vicente Luna at third that looks an awful lot like a 5-4-3 double play but Williams breaks it up in time. DJ Cheeves grounds out to short to end the inning but hey, they reset the lineup. Yes, when you speak of the Pirates, you must use deadball era terminology. 1-1. Top 6th: DJ Cheeves doesn't have his greatest stuff tonight and it shows here, as he hits RF Henry Riggs to lead off the inning. Riggs was not hit by a pitch at all during the regular season. Dante Chairez puts decent wood on his ball but gets under it and flies to right field. Luna also hits a fly to right, though his is a lot weaker. Michael Lee Aday's gotten on twice with a walk and a base hit, but this time around he's the victim of a swinging strikeout. 1-1. Bottom 6th: Justin Hearl works George House to a 3-2 count and then takes a cutter that is around six inches outside for ball four. That's House's 2nd walk. He's mostly stayed ahead of the count and is sitting on just 65 pitches so far. Henry Villar lays down a sacrifice hit that does the trick, moving Hearl into scoring position at the cost of the first out of the inning. Tyler Webster strikes out in a very clutch situation. Justin Lawson just does manage to make contact with a 2-2 cutter that might have missed low but he hits it over to Hank Williams Jr. at third, who throws him out to end the little threat. 1-1. Top 7th: Cheeves has given up 6 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings; it's easy to see why he's already up to 94 pitches. He'll pitch the 7th (unless he blows up of course) but who knows what'll happen after that. Armando Flores pops out to short. House hits another ball to right field that also lands; this time, he does get to 2nd base ahead of the throw for a double. This is George House's first multi-hit game all season and it could not have come at a better time. Ward flies out to left. Well... or maybe not. Wolf Blitzer comes in to pinch hit for Bill Clinton... and I just realized I had substitutions set to AI control. Oh well! I might have done this move anyway. Blitzer grounds out to 2nd to retire the side. 1-1. Bottom 7th: Pedro Almodovar (.191, 0, 6) was Clinton's backup for the 2nd half of the year; he'll replace the aspiring politician (sorry, no Epstein jokes!). Ganzales belts a double into the left-center gap on the first pitch of the 7th inning. Carrera grounds out to third base but Ganzales, who's a pretty fast guy for a first baseman, is able to run into third ahead of the third baseman. Hank Williams Jr. walks... intentionally as George House decides he'd rather face C Doug Connally. Except what is this? He won't face Connally after all, as Dr. Jack Holman is making an emergency call as a pinch-hitter. Holman fans ion a 2-2 cutter. I think you have to pull Cheeves here too, 1-1 game or no. The pickings are slim... it's middle infielder Luke Dunnahoe (.241, 2, 18), who at least should be able to out-hit pitchers. House catches him looking to retire the side. 1-1 and you have to feel like this was a huge, huge opportunity wasted. Top 8th: Miklos Nemeth (.198, 2, 13), a 24 year old rookie who looks like a career backup, takes over behind the plate. On the mound is, you guessed it (did you?), Paz Lemus (9-4, 2.32). Lemus finished 2nd in both games and games finished in the NL this season and is widely believed to be good. Dwyer flies to left to lead off. Riggs draws a walk, his 2nd walk and 3rd time on base overall. Chairez however erases him and ends the inning with a 3-6-3 double play. 1-1. Bottom 8th: Hearl flies to right. Villar grounds out 3U. Webster puts a bit of a charge into one but hits it to the deepest part of the park; CF Michael Lee Aday is able to run it down for out #3. 1-1. Top 9th: Luna strokes a leadoff base hit. One thing about these Braves: they really don't have a weak spot in their lineup. Aday follows it up with a shot into center that lands for another base hit. Lemus allowed just a .187 opponents' batting average, so this is a rare treat for Atlanta fans. Well, maybe not... Paz was 1-1, 5.87 vs the Braves in 4 appearances and 7.2 IP. Flores stays in and delivers a nice bunt towards third. It's no nice, in fact, that Hank Williams Jr. pulls 1B Arturo Ganzales off the bag with his throw. Everybody's safe on the costly, costly error, and at BEST for the Pirates we have a potential Nobletiger. As good as George House has been today, it's time to bring him out; Cranklin steps in in his place. All he has to do is hit it into the outfield... well, he does, but not deep enough to score Luna from 3rd. One down. Chris Ward hits a hard grounder to 2nd; Tyler Webster goes home with it for the out and Miklos Nemeth juuuuust misses making it a 4-2-3 inning-ending double play. We still have 2 outs and a highly clutch situation for Pedro Almodovar, who is not known as any kind of hitter. OK so I do have a guy on the bench who can technically play short so out he comes in favor of Josh Damon (.261, 13, 47). UGH. All he does is pop out to first base and the inning is over. Bottom 9th: That shortstop is Jeremy Currie, the 25th man on this roster who was purchased from the Padres in May but got into just 8 games for the major league club. He did get into a couple games at short with the Pads. The pitcher is the Braves' own stopper, John Winn (5-7, 1.95)... this one might never end. Lawson leads things off; with a career average of .250 vs the Braves ace, he's probably one of the best guys on the team at understanding him. He strikes out on 4 pitches. Ganzalez pops out to 3rd. Carrera whiffs... and we're into extra innings. 1-1. Top 10th: Lemus, still going strong into his 3rd inning, gets Kevin Dwyer to watch a low-80s fastball slip by him for strike 3. Riggs flies out to short center. Chairez flies to right. With Lemus due up in the bottom of the inning, that's probably the last we've seen of him today. 1-1. Bottom 10th: Hank Williams Jr. connects with a low, outside fastball and bloops it the other way, just over the head of 3B Vicente Luna into left for a leadoff hit. After pushing the count to 1-2 with a couple of attempted bunts, Miklos Nemeth strikes out swinging. Lemus is, in fact, pinch-hit for by Mike Jackson, who I bring in on account of he should be better than the .212 average he carried in the regular season. John Winn catches Hank Williams Jr. sleeping and picks him off! Jackson striks out looking to retire the side. 1-1. Top 11th: Now in to pitch for Pittsburgh is Brian Bruno, who was more or less the #2 guy out of the bullpen for Pitt this year. With all the starters able to go long innings and Lemus doing so much work besides, that still only meant he got into 35 games (5 starts) but hey. Bruno gets a lot of whiffs from a great change-up and a good slider and himself held hitters to a .213 average this year. Luna strikes out to leasd things off. Aday pops out to third base. With 2 outs and the pitcher due up, I'm just going to leave Flores in to hit. Well, he messes my plans up anyway and delivers a base hit into left field. That brings up John Winn... who I think I'll leve in. He's a career .238 hitter but more to the point, he's just about the only guy in the bullpen I really trust. He helps himself out with a base hit to right. Armando Flores motors all the way to third on the play. Can Chris Ward come through? He hit .301 in high-leverage situations and this is definitely one of those. NOPE. He strikes out to retire the side. Bottom 11th: As noted, John Winn's in for the long haul. He strikes out Justin Hearl for his 5th K of the game. Henry Villar makes contact with a ball and apparently Kevin Dwyer, fielding a slow grounder to 2nd, is so shocked by this that he throws wide of first for the 2-base error. Tyler Webster flies out to center but Villar is fast enough to tag up and get to 3rd on the play. It won't matter much if Lawson can't make contact. Ooooooor, John Winn will just throw a wild pitch. GAME OVER! 2-1, Pirates win! I was thinking going in that if the score stays low, Pittsburgh has the advantage. That said, the lower scoring the game is, the more one big play can make a huge difference. Like, today the game was all but decided by that BONER by Kevin Dwyer. Will he live it down? Tune in, bat-fans, and find out!
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01-05-2024, 12:46 PM
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#229 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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October 8, 1972: NLCS Game 2
Playoff CITY PEOPLE GET HYPE
News -------------------- October 8: At the Paris Peace Talks, North Vietnam's negotiator Le Duc Tho reach an agreement with the US' Henry Kissinger on ending the Vietnam War. As I'd reported earlier, North Vietnam retracts their demands for the President of South Vietnam to be ousted but the treaty calls for elections to be held within six months. North Vietnamese troops would remain in the South and the US would recognize the sovereignty of the North. Kissinger wanted to sign this accord officially on the 30th of this month but Thieu's objections will lead to a breakdown in the agreement. October 8: Prescott Bush, the father of future President (and Rangers 1B) George Bush dies at age 77. October 8: Let's take the NLCS to Game 2! Game 1 featured 3 runs over 11 innings so, you know, it can't possibly be as low-action. Felix Carranza (16-11, 3.15), the Braves' leader in victories and innings pitched, takes the mound tonight. He's a control guy rather than a "strike 'em out" guy and has really only been an effective starter for the last 2 years. He's facing Jeremy Battaglia (16-15, 2.10), the September NL Pitcher of the Month, finished 2nd in the NL in ERA for the 2nd straight year. He also led the league in quality starts (33) and WHIP (0.94). The skies cleared up today but the temperature sure dipped badly, down to 41 degrees. Top 1st: Chris Ward, who's just 2-13 vs Battaglia in his career, flies out to center. Clinton hits one into right for a base hit. Dwyer grounds to 2nd but gives old Slick Willy the means to advance into scoring position with 2 out. Riggs is a guy who does hit Battaglia well - .328 in his career with 4 HRs in 61 at-bats. This time around he only flies weakly into left. 0-0. Bottom 1st: Justin Hearl drops a base hit into left for a lead-off single. Villar lays down a bunt that adances Hearl to 2nd base. Webster singles riiight in front of Ward in left; in fact, it looks almost like he's going to make that catch and so as a result Villar can only move up 90 feet on the play. 1st and 3rd, 1 out. Lawson hits a slow-ish grounder to short; Clinton's only play is at second and that means that Hearl scores from first. The deadball strats pay off! 1-0, Pirates. Carranza throws one in the dirt that Flores can't track down. It's a wild pitch and Lawson moves into scoring position. Unfortunately, Ganzalez can only hit a soft liner towards Clinton that the shortstop catched for out #3. 1-0, Pirates. Top 2nd: Luna hits one that dies on the artificial turf right in front of the plate. Doug Connally scoops it up and throws him out. Chairez also hits a weak grounder, this one making it all the way to Battaglia, who gets the 1-3 out. The CF tonight is Josh Damon, owing to the fact that Battaglia is a lefty. He specifically is only 2-24 lifetime vs. Battaglia so this is more of a "principle of the thing" move. Damon grounds out to end the inning. 1-0, Pirates. Bottom 2nd: Carlos Carrera gets his first hit of the postseason with a base hit to right. Hank Williams Jr. gets all over a slider that's so low that it's practically in the dirt. I guess he likes those low ones. It goes into the RF stands at Three Rivers and suddenly it's a 3-0 ballgame! Connally strikes out. Battaglia flies to left. Justin Hearl gets on for the 2nd time in the game, this time via a 4-pitch walk. That's Carranza's first. Villar singles to right, allowing Hearl to get all the way to 3rd base. I'd start thinking about a replacement for Carranza, who's really struggling right now, but... who? Anyway, Webster goes down 4-3 to stop the rally in its tracks. 3-0, Pirates. Top 3rd: Battaglia strikes out Flores on an 0-2 curve that snaps so hard that the catcher Doug Connally can't handle it either. He still manages to get the slowpoke Flores out at first base, K2-3. Carranza is out 5-3. Chris Ward makes it a 1-2-3 inning by grounding out 3U. 3-0, Pirates. Bottom 3rd: Justin Lawson singles into right to put the heat right back on Carranza again. Ganzalez keeps it going by ripping the first pitch he sees into center for a base hit. We've got runners on 1st and 2nd with no out. Carrera grounds out to 2nd and Dwyer is able to convert it into the pitchers' best friend, a 4-6-3 double play. Lawson is still on at third base in case Hank Williams Jr. can deliver again. He strikes out on a 2-2 pitch that was outside the zone. 3-0, Pirates. Top 4th: Battaglia strikes out Clinton. Dwyer also Ks swinging on a 3-2 cut fastball. Riggs singles up the middle with 2 out. Luna strikes out so Battaglia more or less strikes out the side. 3-0, Pirates. Bottom 4th: Carranza strikes out Connally. Speaking of Ks, that's Carranza's 3rd now. Battaglia connects on a 1-0 split-fingered fastball. It's like a forkball, only faster. Battaglia, who hit .121 this year, was not fooled. Hearl hits one to Clinton at shortstop but Battaglia breaks up the double play attempt and the play stands as a 6-4 fielder's choice. Villar grounds back to the pitcher 1-3 to retire the side. 3-0, Pirates. Top 5th: Chairez swings but can't touch a 1-2 curve. That's Battaglia's bread and butter and it's also his 5th K of the game. Damon flies out to Justin Lawson in left. Flores hits a routine grounder to short and is gone 6-3. 3-0, Pirates. Bottom 5th: Webster hits a line drive a couple steps away from where Clinton is playing him at shortstop. He shifts over and catches it for out #1. Lawson flies to right. Ganzalez strokes a 2 out single to center. He's 2-3 in the game and 3-7 in the series now. Carrera strikes out looking at a 3-2 fastball to end it. 3-0, Pirates. Top 6th: I'm going to leave Carranza in since he's seemed to have settled down but the Braves are getting to a point where they need to start putting runs in the bank to avoid going down 2-0 in the series. Carranza grounds to 3rd. Ward hits a slow roller to 2nd but not so slow that Tyler Webster can't throw him out. 4-3, 2 outs. Clinton battles with Battaglia over 7 pitches but it ends with him swinging and missing at a cut fastball with the count full. 3-0, Pirates. Bottom 6th: Williams hasn't put a ball in play yet today (I mean, to the extent that a HR is not "put in play"); he continues the streak with a leadoff walk. Connally also takes Carranza to 3 balls but strikes out on a 3-2 heater that hits 90 on the gun (note: I am adjusting the actual gun readings down by a few MPH due to the poorer tech at the time). Battaglia bunts the ball back at Carranza, who makes an excellent play on it, throwing to 2nd to get Williams. There's no double play but it's still a man on 1st with 2 out situation. Hearl singles up the middle; that ball might have scored Williams Jr. Villar also singles and I guess at this point it's moot because Battaglia comes in from 2nd. Carranza's up to 99 pitches; not extraordinary for him but he's back to having issues. I'll leave him in to face Webster but will monitor this batter by batter. Webster flies to center to end the inning. 4-0, Pirates. Top 7th: This is, like, as much support as Battaglia ever got in the regular season. Dwyer flies out to center. Riggs puts the Braves on board the best way he knows how: a HR to center. 4-1! Luna singles into right. Chairez can't locate the 1-2 curve and swings and misses for out #2. Damon also Ks. That's 8 for Battaglia tonight. 4-1, Pirates. Bottom 7th: Carranza stays in because... why not I guess. He'll be lifted for a PH next inning. Lawson, 1-3 with an RBI tonight, hits a lazy fly into CF that Damon catches for the out. Ganzalez Ks. Carrera also Ks, almost certainly ending Carranza's day with 7 of them. 4-1, Pirates. Top 8th: Flores strikes out looking on 3 straight pitches. As you might have guessed, the culprit was that big breaking curve that Battaglia loves to throw. Pinch-hitting for Carranza is Cranklin himself. Should I have started Franklin Martinez at first? Perhaps; Dante Chairez is 0-3 with 2 Ks. Anyway, he's there now. He singles into right. Chris Ward singles into left and it's 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Make that 2nd and 3rd as Battaglia throws a very untimely wild pitch. He threw just 3 of those all season long. Now suddenly losing his control, Battaglia walks Clinton to load the bases. If you ask me, Kevin Dwyer really bailed Battaglia out by swinging at the first pitch. It's a grounder to 2nd - Tyler Webster throws home for the 4-2 putout. I guess it was right down the heart of the plate and Dwyer knows more about hitting than I do. Riggs hits a little flare that looks like it might have a chance to get between the outfield and the infield but Tyler Webster is able to race over and catch it on the fly. 4-1, Pirates and man, that seems like the big chance. Bottom 8th: With Winn toasted and the inning open I'm going to go in with Colin Rose (11-11, 3.56). NGL, I imported Phil Niekro, albeit a few years too late but also NGL he imported with too-low stuff compared with what the league is (both STF and Avoid Ks are closer to modern-day settings than 1972 settings) so I may have had to crank that up a couple times. At this point he's a solid guy, maybe not someone you bring in with runners on but it is after all the top of the inning. Rose made no relief appearances and 27 starts this year and was 0-2, 4.56 vs this team. Williams Ks to lead things off. That's one thing Rose doesn't do a ton of, still, is strike people out. Connally was completely owned by Carranza with 3 Ks in 3 tries but he launches a 3-2 knuckler into the stands to make it a 5-1 game! Battaglia stays in with the strong possibility of finishing this one. He grounds to first 3U. Hearl grounds out 6-3 but not before the Pirates tack on another insurance run to make it a 5-1 game. Top 9th: Luna leads it off and sneaks a 1-2 changeup back through the box. SS Henry Villar gets to it but not in time to avoid an infield single. Chairez hits a high pop up that comes down halfway down between third base and home plate. Hank Williams Jr. nabs it for the out. Josh Damon gets the 2nd infield single of the inning with a little roller that C Doug Connally has problems with. With an 0-6 lifetime record vs Battaglia, I'll pull C Armando Flores for Jose Gomez, who is 5-18 vs the Pirates lefty. He strikes out, giving Battaglia double-digit Ks. Down to their final out, I'll bring in Wolf Blitzer, going against the platoon but also using the best bat off the bench. Blitzer had all of 5 at-bats vs LHPs this year. He fouls out to Hank Williams Jr. and this one is over! The Pirates take a 2-0 lead heading over to Atlanta. This series figures to be a biiit closer than the Tigers-Angels one but who knows, it could still wind up a sweep when all things are said and done.
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01-05-2024, 02:52 PM
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#230 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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October 9, 1972: ALCS Game 3
Playoff CITY PEOPLE GET HYPE
News -------------------- October 9: Written by Gerome Ragni, the man behind the hit musical "Hair", the rock musical "Dude: The Highway Life" opens at the Broadway Theater. Dude was universally reviled by critics and closed after just 16 performances. Among other issues, the theater was gutted and recoverted, at a cost of $800K, to a circus-like arena in the center (i.e. a theater in the round) filled with fake dirt, ramps, trapezes, trap doors, bleachers, and a lot of mechanical and electronic equipment. Performers moved freely in between the round playing area ("Earth") and the audience, seated in flanking "balleys and foothills", with "mountains and mountain tops" and "tree tops and trees" (the mezzanine) above. Theater in the round is hard enough to pull off; it will not surprise the reader that this showing had big issues with acoustics, where the live band couldn't even hear half of itself (the orchestra was separated from the brass and woodwinds) and the audience, depending on where they were seated, couldn't hear one or both. The SADDEST of all news here is that it co-starred Nell Carter, who would later go on to play the maid in (and also sing the theme music for) the hit 70s/80s sitcom "Give Me A Break". The star was supposed to be 23 year old white actor Kevin Geer but he was replaced (quit? I'm guessing quit but it's not clear from the Wikipedia page) by an 11 year old black child named Ralph Carter, who himself went on to play an iconic role in a 70s/80s sitcom, playing the youngest child of Florida and James Evans in "Good Times". I'm sure Carter did everything he could with this bad boy but there are some mountains (or, if you're in the mezzanine, tree tops and/or trees) that are too high to climb at any age. October 9: Miriam Hopkins, an American actress best known for her role as a pickpocket in the 1932 romantic comedy "Trouble in Paradise", dies today at 66. Like a lot of actresses at the time, Hopkins' career essentially ended as she entered her mid-40s; however, she continued to perform off and on, with her last listed role coming in a B movie called "Savage Intruder", which isn't half as good of a name as the title given to its DVD release, "Hollywood Horror House". The original art is better, though. Decide for yourself! https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sav...ruder/pictures October 9: Oh crap! Pittsburgh RF Brian Jackson (.267, 9, 50) is healthy! He hadn't played since September 12 but now the Pirates don't have to use Carlos Carrera out there anymore. October 9: The Tigers/Angels series journeys to Anaheim, where California attempts to avoid a sweep. Detroit puts Bruce Rubio (18-13, 3.32) on the mount tonight. Rubio's clearly the "worst" starter for Detroit in this playoff series, which is to say he's still pretty good. He is a complete and utter "slop ball" pitcher but it seems to work for him. He does have a penchant for the longball with a league-high 30 HRA and without Edgar Molina's ability to make guys miss pitches entirely to make up for it. This still puts him as a roughly league-average guy and even that's maybe selling him short a little, as he did the same level of work in 1971 with a 3.03 ERA to show for it. He is opposed by Ken Hansen (14-16, 2.46). Don't let the record fool you; Hansen is a fine pitcher who co-led the AL in complete games in spite of only making 33 starts for an Angels team that preferred the "SoCal" 5-man rotation. He throws 3 pitches and can make people miss all of them, finishing 4th in the AL in WHIP with 1.07. It's partly cloudy and 55 degrees and... only 24,401 people have come out in support of the Halos today. What the heck, Cal fans. I know it's a Monday and all but you can't seriously have anything better to do... Top 1st: Alvin Romero, 6-15 lifetime against Hansen, leads off as he always does for Detroit. He grounds out to 2nd; infield grounders are always tense with Romero but Mauricio Mendez collects it and throws to first for the out. Curran hits one to left that carries a bit but is ultimately caught by Lou Morgenstern for out #2. Ramone swings and misses at a slider in the dirt that gets away from C Shaun Dennehy too but Dennehy is able to throw him out K2-3. 0-0. Bottom 1st: Vargas grounds out to 2nd. Tyree walks; he's not a big walk guy, with only 10 in 57 games, but hey, it's just looking at pitches, right? Is that even a skill? Carlos Hernandez hits a ball at SS Rob Curran that's not quite hard enough to prevent Tyree from barrelling into 2nd to break up the double play. Still, it's a 6-4 FC to get the 2nd out. Hernandez, the team's leadoff hitter for much of the season, steals 2nd to put a man into scoring position with 2 out. Morgenstern can't convert in the clutch, grounding out 6-3. 0-0. Top 2nd: Danny Villegas finds a ball that's a little too much out over the plate and blasts it down the right field line for a leadoff double. He's now hitting .444 (4-9) for the series. Faison grounds to short; Richard Simmons looks Villegas back to first and makes the throw in time for the 6-3 putout. The Joker, Jose Ayala continues his torrid ALCS with a single to left. Villegas decides to test Morgenstern and slides home in front of the throw! 1-0, Tigers and Ayala is now hitting .571 in the postseason. Danny Hohman fouls out to 3B Travis Corley just on the other side of the bag. Ayala steals 2nd with 2 out. He had a grand total of 2 in the regular season but the man is clearly in Joker Mode at the moment. Farinelli, though, flies to right to end the inning. 1-0, Detroit. Bottom 2nd: Mauricio Mendez draws a leadoff walk. I'm reminded of Levine's Law, named after "Cheers" writer/producer and later Mariners broadcaster Ken Levine: a leadoff walk will always come around to score unless it doesn't. Here at least it looks like it won't, as Travis Corley lays down an iffy bunt that Rubio picks up and throws to 2nd... not in time! Everyone is safe! SS Richard Simmons, hitless so far in the series, flies to short right, not nearly deep enough to let Mendez advance. Denny hits a hard grounder to 1B Danny Villegas and the rally is snuffed out by a 3-6-3 DP. Levine's Law works again! 1-0, Detroit. Top 3rd: Rubio grounds to 3rd. Romero doesn't give anyone a chance to make a play on him this time, as he drops one into left for a clean base hit. Rob Curran does NOT lay down a bunt because the Tigers are not a 1-run team. Instead, he gets a hold of the first pitch, a changeup high in the zone, and drives it down the right field line for a double. Romero, always a pest like this, charges home and scores! The throw is cut off to try to take out Curran, who's running into 3rd on the play, and that is not in time either! 2-0, Tigers, and they've got their 3rd run 90 feet away. With the infield pulled in, Joey Ramone hits a line shot just past SS Richard Simmons and into CF to score Curran. 3-0! Already, that might be more runs than the Angels are capable of scoring. Villegas slaps yet another base hit up the middle. It's like the 1940s all over again - hit parade! That was a thing, right? Anyway, this is the 6th hit allowed by Hansen and if I used the warmup rule I'd definitely have someone warming up right now. Frankie Faison hits one in that same general area but pulls it just a bit too much and what looked like hit #7 instead turns into a 4-6-3 inning ending double play. Still... 3-0, Tigers. Bottom 3rd: Hansen's labored to 50 pitches through 3 innings but no, it's not time to pull him. You simply do not do "bullpen games" in 1972. He strikes out. Vargas singles into center - the first hit Rubio's allowed tonight. Chris Tyree makes good contact with a 1-2 knuckling curve ball but hits it at Jose Ayala at third, who turns it into a 5-4 fielders' choice. Hernandez also hits it to 3rd with the same 5-4 result. 3-0, Tigers. Top 4th: The Joker grounds out 6-3. Danny Hohman singles into right. Speaking of guys having good series, Hohman is 4-8 including that 2-run HR from the 7th. Farinelli strikes out on what looked like a hit and run attempt but Shaun Dennehy can't get the ball out of his glove to make a throw on Hohman, who's now in at 2nd with 2 outs. Rubio's up though and he Ks to retire the side. 3-0, Tigers. Bottom 4th: Morgenstern hits one towards Rob Curran at SS that the 3rd year veteran handles easily for the 6-3 groundout. Mendez also hits one to Curran; he doesn't even have to work as hard to convert this one. Corley tries to change things up by hitting a grounder to the other side of the infield but the results are the same, a 4-3 putout. 3-0, Tigers. Top 5th: Romero flies to center. Curran, fresh off the RBI double that was his only hit of the series so far, grounds out 3-1. Joey Ramone slices a 2 out base hit into right. Danny Villegas goes down for the first time in the game, 5-3. 3-0, Tigers. Bottom 5th: Simmons is down 6-3. Shaun Dennehy singles into right. I'd totally pull Hansen for a PH now but I'm afraid the AI will just ask the replacement to bunt anyway so what the heck, he'll stay in. He bunts it back to the mound; Rubio's only play is to first base. Dennehy advances into scoring position. Vargas singles up the middle; as slow as Dennehy is, he's still fast enough to get home from 2nd and the Angels have a run! 3-1. Vargas steals 2nd, his 1st successful theft of the series. Still 2 outs, though, so Chris Tyree will need to come through in the clutch. He does, hitting a hard grounder down the 3rd base line. It gets past Ayala and he's on 2nd ahead of LF Danny Hohman's throw. An RBI double! 3-2. Carlos Hernandez flies to center but now the Angels only need the one run. 3-2, Tigers. Top 6th: Faison grounds out to 2nd. Has Ken Hansen settled down? The Joker strikes out looking, Hansen's 4th K of the game. Danny Hohman won't let this be a 1-2-3 inning; he singles into center and at that Carlos Hernandez has to cut the ball off in the gap to prevent it from going extra bases. Farinelli swings and misses at a mid-90s fastball... but starts complaining. It looks like Shaun Dennehy was a little too forward with his glove and the 31-year old Venezuelan tipped it with his bat. Score that a catcher's interference and give Farinelli first base! That still brings up Rubio, who's a decent hitter for a pitcher but "decent hitter" still means a .184 average this year. He hits one into center that looks like it has a little bit of life but Carlos Hernandez gets there and squeezes it for the final out. 3-2, Tigers. Bottom 6th: Morgenstern fouls out to first baseman Danny Villegas in front of the Angels dugout. He's 1-10 for the series. Mendez, 1-9 himself. manages to draw a walk on 4 pitches. That's the 3rd walk by Rubio but his first since the 2nd inning. Corley hits a base hit up the middle, advancing Mendez to 2nd. I am no fan of the Tigers' bullpen but even so I think it's time to make a change. Richard Simmons is a lefty but the Tigers aren't running a LOOGY so they'll go with the next best thing(?): Juan Merino (13-1, 2.70), who did *not*, in spite of my notes to the contrary, get enough decisions to qualify for winning percentage - had he done so, that 13-1 record would have tied for the best ever. He's got a devastating curveball that for some reason hasn't generated as many whiffs as you'd expect over the past couple years. Maybe in relief we'll see it again. Simmons singles to right field to load the bases! I guess the ball was picked up just a biiiit to quickly by Frankie Faison to make Mendez go home with it. I'm going to go ahead and yank Dennehy in favor of Tsui Hark (.327, 2, 8). Hark is young and not at all the fielder that Dennehy is but he ain't in right now for his glove. He hits a fly down the right field line that drifts foul but not far enough foul: Faison is there for it. Amazingly (to me anyway) Mendez won't test his arm. My memory of Mendez is that he's a guy who will sometimes get a little too aggressive on the basepaths. I think I'd still have preferred to see a baserunner kill there than putting the game into the hands of Sam Marks, who is in to pinch-hit for Hansen. That turns out to be the CORRECT way of thinking, as Marks flies out to left to retire the side and process the Nobletiger. 3-2, Tigers. Top 7th: Hark takes over behind the plate. His battery-mate is The Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore, making his 2nd appearance in the series already. Romero grounds to short. Curran slams one towards the left field line but Vargas happens to be right there. He picks it up and beats Curran to the bag for the 3U putout. Ramone grounds out 5-3. 3-2, Tigers. Bottom 7th: Merino deals with Willie Vargas, who's 2-3 with a run and an RBI tonight. He juuuust about makes that 3-4 but 2B Joey Ramone makes a fantastic diving stop on a liner headed towards right field. Chris Tyree strikes out swinging. Carlos Hernandez hits a line single back up the middle for the 2-out base hit. Morgenstern continues his slump, this time getting caught looking at an 0-2 splitter. 3-2, Tigers. Top 8th: I'll leave Gore in for the 2nd inning because look, it's 1972 and this is a thing you could do back then. Villegas walks. Welp. Maybe not. I'll leave him in to face Faison but another man on constitutes "trouble" in my mind. He gets Faison to stare at a 2-2 curve for the K and the first out. The Joker looks like he's going to have another multi-hit game but Lou Morgenstern makes a diving stop of his dying quail to left-center. Hey, at least Morgenstern is doing something... Hohman flies to center. Crisis averted. 3-2, Tigers. Bottom 8th: Merino did fine all in all but it's time to move in with the setup man Jim Marceau (5-7, 3.56, 25 Sv). Marceau was the #1 guy for most of the year but he was veeeery wild, with 41 walks and 13 HRs allowed in 83.1 IP. He'll pitch just this inning, since the Tigers have the 8-9-1 guys up in the top of the 9th. Mendez grounds out to 2nd. Travis Corley, surprisingly enough hitting 3-9 for the series, flies to center. That brings up Richard Simmons. In spite of his small stature and the fact that he's a shortstop, the outfield is shaded deep on him, which, as it turns out, was necessary because he belts one all the way to the center-field warning track before Alvin Romero catches up to it for the third out. 3-2, Tigers and the Halos are down to what could be their final 3 outs of 1972.\ Top 9th: Coming in for Gore is Tanzan Kihara (8-8, 3.69, 18 Sv). Like Marceau, Kihara is a bit too wild to be a great stopper but he's all the Angels have. I'll leave Farinelli and his defense in the game here. Speaking of defense... he hits a shot to Richard Simmons, which the shortstop picks up... and drops! Farinelli reaches on the error, the 2nd of the game for Cal. Coming in for the pitcher is Nikki Lauda, who carries a .280 average, 18 HRs and 65 RBIs in 354 at-bats, and a .377 on-base-percentage into this. He'll surely be starting when the league goes to the designated hitter next season. For now he hits one hard but into the vast center field at the Big A for the out. Romero flies to right. Don't you know the outfielder can catch the high ones??? Curran hits one into left that drops just in front of LF Lou Morgenstern. Farinelli runs like a catcher so he's only moving up 90 feet. Still, it's a clutch situation for Joey Ramone... make that Danny Villegas, as Kihara walks him after a 6-pitch battle. Villegas strikes out with the bases loaded. Hope that doesn't come back to bite them! 3-2, Tigers. Bottom 9th: Alex Madrigal (2-2, 3.49, 8 Sv) makes his first appearance of the postseason for the Tigers. He missed most of the year with shoulder inflammation and is still figuring things out. He also saved 46 games between 1970 and 1971 so you can see why the Tigers are still invested in him. He faces Tsui Hark, who grounds out to 2nd. Jared Ferrell will come in for Tanzan Kihara and to give the Angels the platoon advantage. I'd stuck him in as the starting RF for the previews but Chris Tyree came back just in time to push him to the bench. He hit .248 with 7 HRs and 32 RBIs vs RHP this year and is lifetime 1-1 with a dinger against Alex Madrigal. Wow. Make that 2-2 with 2 HRs. It's a tie game! 3-3. Willie Vargas grounds out to 2nd. Tyree's out 6-3, and we're going into extras! Top 10th: With 2 of the next 3 batters due up hitting lefty, I'll utilize David Camacho again. He gets behind Frankie Faison 2-0 but the youngster bails him out by connecting with ball 3 and popping out to shortstop. Ayala flies to center. Hohman flies to left. 3-3. Bottom 10th: Madrigal will stay in for another inning; assuming he gets out of this, he'll be the 2nd man up in the 11th. He's got to get the heart of the Angels order out first. Carlos Hernandez grounds out to 3rd. Lou Morgenstern walks. Mauricio Mendez hits a grounder right at SS Rob Curran and it's a 6-4-3 DP. Top 11th: Camacho was effective and eventually there are more lefties coming up so he'll stay in. I'd pinch-hit for Farinelli but he's kind of decent against lefties: .259, 3, 13 in 112 at-bats this year. It's a popup to 2nd. Pinch-hitting for Madrigal is young QB/3B Joe Theismann, who hit .316 in the regular season and .350 (14-40) vs. lefties. He's never faced Camacho. He flies to center. Romero also flies to center. 3-3. Bottom 11th: The Tigers are starting to run out of top-line bullpen guys... but how about former Indians closer Todd Theisen (8-6, 3.61, 4 Sv). He doesn't seem to have that same stuff he did back in 1969 when he led the league with 31 saves with the Tribe but he's a craft vet so there is that.Corley grounds to 2nd. Simmons, just 1-10 in the series himself, flies to center. Tsui Hark's gotten a lot of time in this game without a lot to show for it: he grounds out 6-3. 3-3. Top 12th: Curran busts the platoon difference and hits a base hit into center field. With Joey Ramone and his .341 BA vs lefties next up, I'll pull Camacho in favor of Luis Flores, who also appeared earlier in the series. Ramone, still a relative newcomer to the league, hasn't seen Flores yet in his career. He cracks a ball to third base; Corley picks it up and goes with a 5-4 fielder's choice. Villegas Ks. Faison delivers a 2 out hit up the middle that pushes Ramone all the way over to 3rd. It's clutch time for Jose Ayala. He can't come through this time around; he goes down 5-3. 3-3. Bottom 12th: The Angels turn to young phenom MI Kurt "Snake Plissken" Russell (.234, 0, 5) to pinch-hit for the pitcher. He'll be good eventually; right now he just needs to get on base. He singles up the middle to lead it off. Willie Vargas erases him with a 6-4-3 DP. Tyree flies out to retire the side. Top 13th: Long man Mark Seitz (1-0, 3.86, 2 Sv) comes in to pitch. He is the 2nd to last man off the bench for California; the Tigers haven't scored since the 2nd inning but Seitz will have to keep that up. Hohman flies to right. Chris Contreras (.247, 3, 22) is in to pinch-hit for Farinelli. He hits a classic Texas Leaguer into right for a base hit. That would being up Thiesen, but with a couple guys left in the Tigers' own bullpen I'll head to Tom Berenger (.299, 4, 19) to pinch-hit. He strikes out. Romero singles to right; Contreras gets all the way to third on the play. Will Curran get the run across? Well, he'll extend the inning for Joey Ramone as he draws a 3-2 walk. Joey Ramone hits a liner back up the middle that Seitz is just able to get a hand on for the "fly" out. 3-3. Bottom 13th: Jonathan House (.190, 1, 11) came over from Texas in midseason to shore up the catching. He's the backup and the new catcher. Taking over on the mound I'll choose the veteran savvy of Chris McGranahan (4-3, 3.45). McGranahan missed a lot of time this year and only got into 16 games (8 starts) but he kept up that pinpoint control that's been the hallmark of his 14 year career. Hernandez flies out. Morgenstern pops out to short. Mendez flies to center. 3-3. Top 14th: Danny Villegas delivers a leadoff single to left. Faison grounds out into a 6-4-3 double play. UGH. Ayala hits a 2 out base hit into left. It is annooooooooying how many of these Tigers hits - 16 tonight - have come with 2 out. Hohman keeps the 2 out rally going with a single to center; Ayala gets to 2nd. Jonathan House will have to hit; fortunately for him he does have the platoon advantage against Seitz. He hits a ball that looks like a hit but, here in the top of the 14th, with everyone tired, Richard Simmons still makes a diving stop and throws to 1st to retire the side. 3-3. Bottom 14th: Corley walks to lead it off for Cal. Simmons grounds to 2nd - this time it's not a DP though (thank god). Hark flies out to right. We're now officially at the end of the Angels' bullpen, as Minzengo Pinda (.222, 1, 11) comes in to pinch-hit for Seitz. He whiffs. 3-3. Top 15th: The new Angels' pitcher is Amir Sudler (2-1, 3.00), who got into 16 games in August and September and was pretty decent, I guess. McGranahan's replaced by Bill Wilson (.270, 3, 18); he was also the Tigers' 2nd to last man left. Wilson grounds to 3rd. Romero walks. He's a man who can make things happen on the basepaths. Immediately he steals 2nd on the first pitch; Tsui Hark can't even make a throw. Rob Curran gets the unintentional intentional walk to create a force at 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Joey Ramone singles! Morgenstern picks it up too quickly for Romero to go home but the Tigers have got their best chance in a while. It's a single back through the box by Danny Villegas! Romero scores! 4-3! Rob Curran comes barrelling in behind him but the throw from CF Carlos Hernandez is in time for the BRK. Still, we've got a break of the deadlock! Frankie Faison then hits a looper into right-center that gets past Carlos Hernandez as he chases it down. By the time he can get it back in, all the runners have scored and Faison is in at 2nd. 6-3! Ayala Ks to end the inning but things are looking griiiiiiiiim for the Angels. 6-3, Tigers. Bottom 15th: The Tigers guy tasked with the job of not getting blown up is 26 year old Alex Ruiz (2-0, 2.83, 1, Sv). Ruiz spent the first third of the season in the minors, where he was kind of awful (2-2, 5.81) but seemed to turn it up a notch when he got to the majors. He'll have to get through the top of the Angels order. Vargas grounds out to 2nd base. Tyree drops the first pitch he sees into right field for a base hit. Hernandez hits one to Joey Ramone at 2nd and, for the 4th time in this game, the Tigers pull off the double play, 4-6-3. That will end it. The Tigers win! Finally! I guess it was par for the course that we'd have at least one of these slogs in the playoffs. Oh well. All's well that ends well, right?
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01-07-2024, 12:19 PM
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
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October 10, 1972: NLCS Game 3
Playoff CITY PEOPLE GET HYPE
News -------------------- October 10: With the headline "FBI Finds Nixon Aides Sabotaged Democrats", the Washington Post carries the Woodward and Bernstein story that reveals that the Watergate break-in was not an isolated incident but part of a campaign by the White House. "The activities, according to information in FBI and Department of Justice files, were aimed at all the major Democratic presidential contenders", the reporters note, "and - since 1971 - represented a basic strategy of the Nixon effort". October 10: In EQUALLY weighty news, John Betjeman is appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. Don't get too sassy, Americans: we also have poet laureats. October 10: Kenneth Edgeworth, the Irish astronomer, dies today at 92. He is best known for proposing the existence of a disc of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune in 1930. I read "Irish astronomer" and think "ah yes, he must be famous for drinking a lot and then fighting the sky" but that's just my natural anti-Irish proclivities. October 10: We hit Game 3 of the NLCS as the Braves host the Pirates and attempt to avoid the rare double-sweep. We're in the South today so expect blue skies and 72 degree weather. Pittsburgh runs out Santos Arango (20-15, 2.63), who... man, that's a lot of decisions. It won't surprise you to know that he led the league in games started and innings pitched in 1972, doing all that work while posting an ERA only 12 points higher than his league-best 2.50 last year. Like seemingly every other pitcher this postseason, Arango's best pitches are offspeed stuff and he's been a bit of a finesse guy this year, although I should note that his K rate fell by 1 per 9 from the previous 2 years when it was up in the 6es. Atlanta goes with Julio Sandoval (10-12, 3.26), who is even more extreme as a finesse guy, with just 72 Ks in 199 innings (he also missed three weeks with an undisclosed elbow issue). Sandoval came over from the Mets in 1970; in 1969 he went 18-7, 2.60 for the World Champions. As I noted yesterday, I think, RF Brian Jackson is back for the Pirates. This is HUGE. Well, big. Top 1st: Hearl grounds out 5-3 to open things up. Villar lines a base hit right past Sandoval up the middle. Brian Jackson, making his first appearance at the plate since September 12, flies out to right. Justin Lawson knocks a grounder down the left field line. It goes all the way into the corner. Chris Ward does manage to dig it out and throw it in before Henry Villar can make a play for home. Tyler Webster works the count to 3-2 but then flies out to center. 0-0. Bottom 1st: Ward grounds to Ganzalez at first, who beats him to the bag for the first out. Clinton lines one back through the box; both #2 men have reached base tonight, and young William Jefferson is 4-7 for the series. Dwyer singles into right and Clinton beats Justin Lawson's throw to third. Runners on the corners, 1 out. Rigges strikes out swinging on a mean looking circle change. Luna grounds out 6-4 to end the inning. 0-0. Top 2nd: Ganzalez grounds out to short. Hank Williams Jr. strikes out looking after fouling off a couple fastballs on 1-2. Connally hits a hard grounder to 3rd that Vicente Luna looks like he picks up and handles but his throw to first base is in the dirt and 1B Dante Chairez has to take his foot off the bag to scoop it up. Connally reaches, then, on the 2-out error. Arango hits a weak roller to 1st that winds up being a 3-1 groundout. 0-0. Bottom 2nd: Chairez grounds out to short. Josh Damon singles up the middle. Even though Michael Lee Aday is the lefty half of the platoon, the Pirates are starting 2 out of 3 lefties so Damon will probably get the lion's share of at-bats. Armando Flores hits into a 6-4-3 double play. 0-0. Top 3rd: Hearl hits a grounder to Luna at third and this time the 36 year old's throw is on target and just in time to nip him by a step. Villar hits a grounder right at 1B Dante Chairez, out #2. Jackson hits a soft liner to shortstop that Bill Clinton catches to retire the side. 0-0. Bottom 3rd: Sandoval hit .132 this year and for the first at-bat he's not turning that around; he's out 6-3. Ward flies to left. Arango's a groundball guy - as is Sandoval, I should note - which is probably what you need at the Launching Pad. Clinton walks. Dwyer hits a looper into right that Brian Jackson does get underneath in time for the final out of the inning. 0-0. Top 4th: Lawson flies out to short center. Webster's down 4-3. Ganzalez makes it a 1-2-3 inning with the 6-3 forceout. 0-0. Bottom 4th: Riggs hits a high pop up into short right that Brian Jackson gets under in time for the out. Jackson was a Gold Glover last year and he's got a solid shot at repeating for 1972. Vicente Luna belts one off the wall in right center - Jackson had no chance at it - and steams into 2nd base with a 1 out double. Dante Chairez flies out to left and now it's up to Josh Damon to get a clutch base hit. He hit .289 with 6 HRs in 83 at-bats with RISP so he's got that capability. He strikes out on a 2-2 sinker. 0-0. Top 5th: Hank Williams Jr. grounds out 3U. Sandoval's been getting the job done since the first inning in spite of only gettng 1 K so far. That said, Connally walks on 4 pitches. Arango lays down a successful sacrifice that gets Connally to 2nd and is scored 1-3 in the books. Hearl hits a shot into the hole between SS and 3B. Clinton makes a diving stop but can't convert it into a throw but in making that stop he does manage to hold Connally at third. Runners on the corners and another clutch oppp for Henry Villar who, unlike Damon, isn't a fantastic clutch guy - just .243 with 0 HRs with RISP (granted, he had 0 HRs, period). What Villar does is hit an old-fashioned Baltimore Chop in the direction of the hole to left. Bill Clinton gets to it first but again it's too late to make a play. Doug Connally scores and the Pirates draw first blood! Brian Jackson follows it up with a solid base hit to right - no doubt about this one. Hearl scores from 2nd. 2-0! Vicente Luna fields a groundball by Justin Lawson and then takes it to the third base bag himself for the last out. 2-0, Pirates. Bottom 5th: So... Arango's got himself a lead but no lead is safe against the Braves, especially at Fulton County Stadium. Flores hits a towering fly to right center that Justin Hearl gets underneath for the first out. Sandoval strokes a nice single just past the outstretched arm of 1B Dante Chairez and into right field. Ward grounds it to Tyler Webster at 2nd but the pitcher gets in to break up the double play before SS Henry Villar can execute the throw. He then steals 2nd, his first steal of the postseason. Connally doesn't have a super great arm but still managed to throw out 44.5% of opposing baserunners with his street smarts. Clinton hits a chopper towards 2nd that has infield hit written all over it. Ward cruises into third and it's a runners on the corners, 2 out clutch situation for Kevin Dwyer... who, since I've done this the last couple times, hit .370 with 4 HRs in 108 RISP at-bats. So, you know... the batting champ, it turns out, is pretty good. He cracks one into center and it's a 2-1 game! Clinton gets around to third on the play. Now lifetime HR champion Henry Riggs comes to the plate, hitting .315 with 5 HRs in 83 RISP at-bats himself. He hits it into the air in spite of a worm-killing sinker by Arango but it dies by the time it gets into left; Lawson handles it for the final out. 2-1, Pirates. Top 6th: Webster hits a groundball that's got eyes of its own and that deposits itself into right field for a leadoff base hit. Ganzalez hits a shot right at 2B Kevin Dwyeer who INEXPLICABLY MAKES THE BUGS BUNNY THROW; it's an infield single and we've got a 1st and 2nd, nobody out situation for Hank Williams, Jr. Hank cracks one, again to 2nd base, but now we see the genius of the Bugs Bunny throw, as he converts it into a 4-6-3 double play. Connally is walked on purpose so that Julio Sandoval can face Santos Arango, who had just 8 hits in 104 at-bats in 1972. Even for a pitcher he's bad at hitting. He's a lifetime .214 hitter against Sandoval, which might be a high water mark. He grounds out to 3rd to retire the side. 2-1, Pirates. Bottom 6th: Luna follows up his double in the 4th with a single back up the middle. Justin Hearl tries to be a little too fancy with the pickup and it gets past him! Luna winds up on 2nd on what is scored a hit and an E-8. Chariez knocks a liner just past Tyler Webster at 2nd for another base hit; this time Hearl picks it up too quickly for Luna to attempt to go home. Still, that brings up Josh Damon with a chance ot tie with no outs; in fact, the Pirates' infield is drawn back, willing to trade the run for an out or two. Damon hits it to SS Henry Villar and he does take the easy out at 2nd base. Vicente Luna scores and we are all tied up! 2-2. Armando Flores, hitting .111 for the series, works it to a 3-2 count and then walks when Arango can't get the curve over the plate. Julio Sandoval's up to 95 pitches... I'm going to leave him in. He hits a nice bunt down the first base line; in spite of the Pirates running the wheel against it, Dante Chairez can only pick it up and throw it to 2B Tyler Webster covering 1st for the out. 2 down, runners on 2nd and 3rd with the leadoff hitter Chris Ward up. Ward hits one hard but into the dirt and right at Webster, now playing his normal spot at 2nd, who throws him out at 1st to stop the bleeding at 1 run. 2-2. Top 7th: Hearl grounds to short. Luna goes down 4-3. Jackson makes it 1-2-3 with a 6-3 groundout. 2-2. Bottom 7th: Arango strikes out Clinton on 3 pitches. That's his 3rd K of the night, although it's a backwards K since Clinton watched it go by. Dwyer chops one back to the mound and gets to first ahead of the throw by Arango. Infield hit! Riggs walks on 4 pitches and we've got 2 men aboard with 1 out. Just when you think Arango might be tiring - which he's not, he's got great stamina - he makes Vicente Luna look foolish on a strikeout. That curve... I'll pull Chairez, 1-12 for the series so far, in favor of Cranklin, who's 1-2 in the NLCS. Well, 1-3; he grounds out right to 1B Arturo Ganzales. 2-2. Top 8th: As expected, Franklin Martinez takes over at first base. Thanks in large part to injuries and then to the Braves deciding to just use Dante Chairez all the time, he only played in 13 games in the regular season at the position including 8 starts. Lawson lines a 1-0 split-fingered fastball into left field for a leadoff hit. Webster hits a comebacker to the mound that Julio Sandoval picks up, whirls to second, and completes a 1-6-3 double play. Sandoval is is not a man known for his finesse in the field; in fact, he turned just 1 DP as a pitcher in the regular season. Ganzalez hits a grounder between 1st and 2nd for a base hit. Hank Williams Jr. flies out to center. 2-2. Bottom 8th: Damon walks to lead things off of Santos Arango, who's been uncharacteristically wild the past 2 innings. He now has 4 walks in the game and is up to 117 pitches thrown. He's a man who prefers to finish what he starts, so for now I'll leave him in but I'm watching you, Santos! Armando Flores, speaking of leaving guys in, is hitting .111 for the series but this game is too close to turn to backup catchers. He watches a curveball dot the bottom of the strike zone for Arango's 5th K of the game. That brings up Sandoval, who... man, I hate to leave a runner but he's pitching well and this game feels like it could go 17 innings again so... he also stays. I mean, it was a sacrifice situation. That said, he hits it to 3rd and Hank Williams Jr. fires it to 2nd to get the lead runner and ruin the SH opportunity. Ward grounds out to 1st to retire the side. 2-2. Top 9th: Will we go to extra innings? It seems likely. Doug Connally leads it off. He drops one down the line into left that might have been a double if Connally wasn't a catcher, but he is and he's slow so it's a man on 1st to lead it off. Arango is next up. He is at 124 pitches and seems like he is starting to labor but... this is such an obvious sacrifice situation that I may as well leave the guy who can do nothing but lay down bunts in. It works out; Arango goes down 3-4 and Connally gets into 2nd. Which, speaking of, I think it's time to pull him for a pinch runner; Frank Menner hasn't played in the NLCS yet. He's got plus speed and he's their man. Sandoval meanwhile does look like he's close to coming out with 120 pitches but a bloop single and a bunt don't really tell me he's lost it. He strikes out Hearl; that's just his 2nd tonight. Villar grounds out to 2nd to retire the side. 2-2. Bottom 9th: Miklos Nemeth gets his 2nd taste of action in this series in taking over for Connally behind the plate. Arango, as noted, is still in. Clinton flies to right, one of the few times he hasn't gotten a hit this series (I mean, he's 5-10, which is good but not insane). Dwyer hits a liner to right that Brian Jackson dives for and catches for out #2. Whoa! You kind of don't want to see a guy fresh off of missing a month with an injury making plays like that but it is now-or-never time I guess. Riggs, hitting just .213 vs LHPs this year, goes against the platoon and drops a 2-out base hit into center. Arango's allowed 11 hits tonight so he hasn't exactly been unhittable. I mean, this is how groundball pitchers work though. Luna flies out and we are headed into OT. Top 10th: Sandoval walks Brian Jackson on 5 pitches and I think that's going to be it for him. I'd prefer to use John Winn, the new man, for multiple innings but the Braves' #6 hitter is up next inning and Winn is still kiiind of tired (not really; 79%) from throwing 38 pitches 3 days ago. He is a strikeout expert of course and that's exactly how he gets Justin Lawson, with a swinging K on 3 pitches. Webster, 2-14 lifetime against this guy, grounds to 2nd; Kevin Dwyer scoops it up and makes the play to 2nd but they've got no chance to double up Webster. Dr. Jack Holman has done NOTHING this year but it's time to bring him in for Ganzalez anyway. What do you know about that? He gets the base hit, with Webster advancing to 3rd. Hank Williams Jr. comes up; the youngster hasn't figured out clutch hitting yet and was just 9-41 with RISP and 2-9 in extra innings during the regular season. He does have the platoon advantage against Winn. He gets ahead of the pitcher 2-0. Winn pitches from the stretch. STATISTICS BE DAMNED. THAT BALL IS BELTED DEEP THE RIGHT CENTER FIELD! IT'S GOING BACK, IT'S GOING WAY BACK, IT IS GONE! FLY AWAY! A THREE RUN HOMERUN FOR HANK WILLIAMS JUNIOR! 5-2, Pirates! Nemeth flies to center field but the damages, she has been done. 5-2, Pirates. Bottom 10th: Jack Holman will take over at first base. If this was the regular season I'd probably push Arango but it is not the regular season and the Pirates have one of the all-time bullpen greats in Paz Lemus to wrap this up. Lemus has 152 career saves and was 25/31 in save situations this year. He has finished in the top 10 in saves - um, backfilling that since saves weren't an official stat until 1969 - every year since 1964. Cranklin steps in against him with the Braves neediing 3 runs to keep their season alive. He watches a 1-2 "fastball" - Lemus is a lot of things, but a fireballer is not one of them - go by him for out #1. Michael Lee Aday comes on in to pinch-hit for Josh Damon. Wooooow. He also strikes out but at least this time it's swinging. The Braves are down to their final out and will pull C Armando Flores in favor of the rookie Wolf Blitzer. Hey, it's not an ideal situation to bring a kid in but Blitzer did hit .322 while filling in for Henry Riggs this year. He gets the count to 3-2 and then makes contact... but no, it's just a grounder to second base. THE PIRATES ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! I am about DONE with extra-inning games for 1972 but at least this one was exciting and it didn't outstay its welcome. Next year BABIPs will be normal and I will find new things to complain about. Anyway, ON TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!
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01-08-2024, 12:26 PM
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#232 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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October 12, 1972: World Series Game 1!
Look, I've already broken down the teams for the LCS matchups. In a nutshell, Detroit's easily got the hitting edge but Pittsburgh's got all of the pitching, and the best news is, this is going to truly be a best-vs-best matchup this year; two sweeps means no 79 or 81 win teams playing to get slaughtered.
By the way, Danny Villegas won the ALCS MVP award for his 7-15 performance with a HR and 2 RBIs. It was a pretty low scoring series, given how good the Tigers are supposed to be offensively, but it was over too quickly for any of the starting pitching to go twice so it had to go to a hitter, I guess, and Villegas was as good as anybody (maybe I'd have gone with the JOKER Jose Ayala, who was 5-14 with 1 run and 3 RBIs and more to the point seemed to come through in the clutch a lot... but then again, so did Danny V). The NLCS MVP was the hero of Game 3, Hank Williams Jr., who wound up leading all hitters in either series with 5 RBIs, 3 of them on the last pitch he faced. He was "only" 3-10 and both Arturo Ganzalez and Henry Riggs had more hits than he did (both guys went 5-12) but the award makes sense anyway. So, a brief look into these teams' histories. This is Detroit's first ever taste of the playoffs. They are a lifetime .479 team and finished dead last in the AL 6 times in league history, which goes back to 1946. These guys have more or less been the weak sisters of the AL, at least before 1969. In '69 they finished 91-71, which was only good for 3rd place and 13 1/2 games behind the division champion Cleveland Indians. After slumping to 70-92 in '70, they rebounded to 92-70 last year, which unfortunately for them, best record in team history or no, was still 10 games behind what Boston did. 1972 saw now only the team's first division championship but the most wins in franchise history (95) and far and away the best record in terms of winning percentage. The Pirates don't quite have the history of being sad sacks in the 50s and 60s that the Tigers do, although they did bottom out at 54-100 in 1961, the year before the NL expanded. They've had a winning record each of the past 3 years, including a a postseason berth in 1970. That year they were swept by a young and seemingly up and coming Reds team; this year, they returned the favor to the Braves. The Pirates just baaaaaarely missed having the greatest pitching season of all time. They finished with a 2.51 team ERA; the White Sox in 1968 as well as the San Francisco Giants that same year each finished with 2.50 ERAs. That's crazy and this year was (slightly) higher scoring that '68 so in reality, adjusted for the era, this was the GOAT. I should say defense, since the Bucs also finished 1st in the NL in defensive efficiency (.752) and zone rating (+47.7). Both Henry Villar and Brian Jackson were over +10 in ZR (which yes, I know is not a 1972 stat but the point is, you would just notice those guys being awesome IRL). Speaking of which, I think I said that Doug Connally is not known for a great arm in the recap - well, maybe he should be. He's thrown out 40% or more guys in 5 of his 7 years in the majors and even threw out 52.2% in 1967. News -------------------- October 11: The case of Roe v Wade is argued before the US Supreme Court, after having first being argued the previous December in front of 7 judges. While the initial opinion by Justice Harry Blackmun had only found that the laws against abortion that were challenged in the case to be "unconstitutionally vague", the revised 1973 opinion will go further in declaring most restrictions against the right to choice to be unconstitutional. October 11: The World Hockey Association opens its first season in Ottawa as the Alberta Oilers defeat the Ottawa Nationals 7-4 before a crowd of 5,006 and a Canadian national television audience. Ron Anderson of the Oilers scores the first goal in WHA history. The other WHA game tonight features the Cleveland Crusaders vs the Quebec Nordiques; the Crusaders eke it out 2-0. October 11: Claudia Black, the Australian actress who played Aeryn Sun in "Farscape", is born in Sydney. October 12: A brawl on board the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk results in 46 people being injured. About 100 black and white sailors fight for hours with knives, forks, and cains before it's broken up by Marines. A report will be issued weeks later that blames the deal starting on a sailor asking for two sandwiches at the ship's mess hall but being given only one. Reading between the lines, it was almost certainly racially motivated but I guess the Navy was better at keeping the clamps down on this back then. Eventually, 25 men, only one of whom was white, will be charged with anything. 23 black sailors will be convicted on charges of assault or allowed to plead to lesser offenses, with charges dismissed against one African-American sailor and the lone white sailor charged being acquitted after a court-martial. October 12: Portugese troops invade Senegal in West Africa, believed to be housing the rebel group Accao Revolucionaria Armada, in an action condemned by the UN Security Council. October 12: OKAY so we're starting the World Series on a Thursday this year. Both of these teams... well, read above. Edgar Molina goes for the Tigers against DJ Cheeves: both #1s. We're opening at Three Rivers, where 51,732 fans are out to see their boys try to take home game 1. It's a cold one - 42 degrees - with the wind blowing out to center at 10mph. And given the fact that the other team is Detroit, we ain't getting any warmer. Top 1st: Alvin Romero draws a leadoff walk. Curran grounds to the first baseman Arturo Ganzalez, who gets it to 2nd for a 3-6 fielder's choice; it's way too slowly hit to be a double play. Ramone singles up the middle. We've got runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Danny Villegas singles to right; Curran beats the throw home and boom, it's a 1-0 game! Ahhhh jeeeez. DJ Cheeves is injured on the play. He'll come out. Danny Perez (15-8, 3.04) comes in to relieve him and be the team's kind-of starter now. Perez is a guy who tries to rely on his defense for the big outs. Even though only 49% of hits outs came on the ground this year, he is considered a groundball guy and did get 17 DPs turned behind him. His main pitch is a cut fastball that tops out at around 90. He actually has pretty decent stamina but only completed 4 of 25 games this year because the Pirates have Paz Lemus. Perez's first pitch is low and inside and Doug Connally has to do work to keep it in front of him. Bad sign! A better sign is that Frankie Faison hits a grounder at 2B Tyler Webster, who turns a 4-6-3 double play to retire the side. 1-0, Tigers. Bottom 1st: Hearl grounds out 6-3. Villar strikes out on 3 pitches. Brian Jackson laces a 2-out single to left. Lawson takes it to a full count and then strikes out looking. 1-0, Tigers. Top 2nd: Ayala grounds out to short. Danny Hohman hits one down the first base line but a little bit too softly; Arturo Ganzalez picks it and races to the bag to retire him. Farinelli flies into left to retire the side. 1-0, Tigers. Bottom 2nd: Webster pops it up straight in the air; C Gianluigi Farinelli catches it in foul territory. Ganzalez grounds out to 3rd. Williams Jr. hits a roller to 2nd that Joey Ramone picks up and throws to first for a 1-2-3 inning. 1-0, Tigers. Top 3rd: Edgar Molina strikes out looking at a 1-2 slider. Romero lines out to first base. Rob Curran drops a 2 out single up the middle, the first base hit against Danny Perez. Joey Ramone gets the 2-out rally going; he hits a ball into the ground that I guess hits a crease in the astroturf and completely dies before Danny Perez can get to it. Danny Villegas hits a smash to first base. Arturo Ganzalez makes a diving stop to keep it from going into right field but can't get up and complete the throw to Perez covering first in time. Two straight infield hits, and the bases are loaded. I guess to be fair (TO BE FAAAAAAAAAAAIR) to Ganzalez, that diving stop probably saved a run. And that's meaningful because Frankie Faison hits it right at 2B Tyler Webster in the next at-bat; the inning ends with a 4-3 putout. 1-0, Tigers. Bottom 3rd: Connally grounds out 4-3. Danny Perez strikes out. He's actually a decent hitter for a pitcher, which is to say he hit .250 this year (15-60) and has a lifetime .209 average. Justin Hearl hits a slow grounder towards shortstop; Rob Curran gets to it and throws him out by a step. 1-2-3 3rd, 1-0 Tigers. Top 4th: Ayala grounds out 5-3. Danny Hohman goes with a pitch several inches out of the zone and slaps it into left for a single. Farinelli is jammed on a 1-1 slider; he goes inside-out with it and flies out to right. Molina flies to right. 1-0, Tigers. Bottom 4th: Villar checks his swing on a 2-2 pitch but the ump rules that it's over the plate for strike 3 anyway. That's Molina's 4th strikeout today. Brian Jackson's got the only base hit off of him so far tonight. He hits a line drive to left but right in the vicinity of Danny Hohman, who only has to move a few steps to catch it for the out. Justin Lawson hits a fly into center that's also handled easily by Alvin Romero. Another 1-2-3 inning and it's still 1-0, Tigers. Top 5th: Romero flies to left; he's now hitting only .176 in the postseason. Rob Curran goes down swinging on an 0-2 cut fastball. Joey Ramone grounds to short to retire the side. 1-0, Tigers. Bottom 5th: Webster pops out into foul territory on the third base side; Jose Ayala is there to pull it down for out number 1. Ganzalez swings and misses at a low-90s fastball that is in the dirt. Was he trying to get to first that way? He just about does, except that Gianluigi Farinelli is able to track it down and throw him out K2-3. Hank Williams Jr. grounds out 3-1. Molina's retired the last 13 batters in a row. 1-0, Tigers. Top 6th: Villegas watches a knuckle curve dance over the strike zone. Score it a backwards K, Danny Perez's 3rd on the day. Faison gets a base hit up the middle. Ayala walks. That's the first base on balls for either side and it puts a runner into scoring position with less than 2 out. And this is why that's important... Danny Hohman rips one back up the middle and Frankie Faison slides in ahead of the throw home by Justin Hearl. It's a 2-0 ballgame! Jose Ayala is slow as molasses and so stays put at 2nd even on the throw. Farinelli takes abig old cut at a 2-2 cutter but finds air for out #2. Edgar Molina, who had nearly half of his lifetime 25 hits this season (11), steps up. He veeeery nearly gets one but Justin Hearl makes a diving catch for out #3. 2-0, Tigers. Bottom 6th: Molina's been on cruise control lately and is now facing the 8-9-1 guys. He walks Connally to break up his consecutive hitters retired streak; it's also his first walk of the game. Danny Perez has been great today in long relief with 5.2 innings with just a run allowed but it's time to bring in a pinch-hitter. Dr. Jack comes in because of the platoon and because of memories of him being able to hit, once upon a time. He connects with the first pitch and flies out to short left field. Molina strikes out Hearl on a 3-2 fastball that rises into the mid-90s. On a 0-2 pitch, Molina drops a forkball into the dirt. It gets past Farinelli and all the way to the backstop. Connally, slow as he might be, still gets to 2nd on the play. Molina recovers to strike out Henry Villar to retire the side. 2-0, Tigers. Top 7th: I'll go ahead and bring Brian Bruno into this for the 2nd time in the postseason. Lemus is available but there's no point in giving him 3 innings in a 2 score game. 2 innings? Maybe. Romero flies to right. Rob Curran hits a towering popup to the right side of the infield that Tyler Webster pulls down for the out. Joey Ramonse strikes out swinging to retire the side. 2-0, Tigers. Bottom 7th: Brian Jackson grounds out to Rob Curran at short. Lawson tries driving the outside slider the other way but flies to right. Webster flies out to Romero in center and it's yet another 1-2-3 inning for the Bucs. 2-0, Tigers. Top 8th: Bruno's staying in; with the 6-7-8 guys due up next inning I'll try to save Lemus for the 9th (or extras if there's a comeback). Danny Villegas flies to center. Bruno walks Frankie Faison on 4 straight pitches, none of them particularly close to the zone. Is he ready to go? Ayala's a righty so I'll leave him in. He induces the Joker to hit a pop foul next to the Pirates dugout that 1B Arturo Ganzalez handles easily for out #2. Now with Danny Hohman up, 2-3 game or no, I'll leave Bruno in to save the pen. He hits a soft liner to Tyler Webster to retire the side. 2-0, Tigers. Bottom 8th: Ganzalez slams a hard grounder right down the 3rd base line and into the corner for a leadoff double. That's the first truly hard-hit ball off of Molina all game. Hank Williams Jr. hits a pretty hard grounder himself but it's right at 1B Danny Villegas, who takes it to the bag himself. Ganzalez gets to 3rd base on the play. I'll leave Doug Connally in to hit here. The Tigers were prepared to trade the run for the out but they won't have to; Connally hits it to Ayala at 3rd and he's able to keep Ganzalez rooted on the bag as he throws the catcher out, 5-3. The only lefty hitter on the bench is the backup catcher Miklos Nemeth so instead I'll turn to Mike Jackson to make his 2nd appearance of the postseason. He hits a nice looking grounder on the left side of 2nd base... but Rob Curran makes the diving stop, gets up, and throws to first for out #3! 2-0, Tigers. Top 9th: Paz Lemus comes on in to try and keep this close. He's due to face the 8-9-1 hitters but pinch-hitting for Gianluigi Farinelli, who's hitting only .154 in the postseason, is young 1B Nikki Lauda. Lauda hits a solid line drive into right field for a base hit... and Brian Jackson has problems picking it up! The ball gets past him and Lauda steams into 2nd base. Call it rust and score it a single and an E-9. Molina has thrown only 90 pitches and wants to stay in for the shutout. He had 6 of those in the regular season. He executes a solid bunt down the third base line. Hank Williams Jr. snatches it up and throws to Tyler Webster covering 1st but Lauda is in at 3rd with 1 out and the leadoff man Alvin Romero due up. They walk Romero to set up the double play, which tells me that maybe the Pittsburgh AI hasn't scouted this team very well? Sure enough, Romero is off and running on the very first pitch; Doug Connally drops the pitch and can't even make a throw to stop him. Rob Curran hits a grounder to 2nd... Tyler Webster goes home with it! No play! Nikki Lauda is safe under the tag and it's a 3-0 game! Romero gets to 3rd and of course Curran himself is safe at first base. Joey Ramone pops out to 2nd base for the 2nd out of the inning. And Danny Villegas PUTS THE GAME AWAY WITH A HOME RUN TO LEFT! Man, I was just about to say, Paz Lemus wasn't even looking that bad this inning but that 1-2 curve just hung right where Villegas could hit it. 6-0, Tigers. Frankie Faison singles up the middle and I think I'm going to take Lemus out to save him for another day, one batter left or not. With a righty up, the new guy is sidearming specialist Kent Tekulve (0-3, 2.91). Yes, I imported him. It's my save, I can do what I want! I always enjoyed his game although as with not-Joe-Niekro I had to goose up his Stuff a little bit (and when I import the Quiz because I will absolutely be importing the Quiz I will need to do the same). He got into 23 games this year, pitched 34 innings, and held hitters to a still-decent .244 average in spite of only striking out 3.7/9. Tekulve keeps the ball down and is really good against righties with that almost-underhanded delivery of his. He gets the Joker to ground to 2nd for what should be the final out of the inning... buut Henry Villar commits the Pirates' 2nd error of the inning and both runners are safe. That brings up lefty Danny Hohman. Tekulve yielded a .270 average vs lefties but at this point it's a 6 run game so he'll get the final out. Hohman pops out to Tyler Webster for the final out but not before the Tigers break it open, 6-0. Bottom 9th: Jonathan House, a perfectly adequate fielder for a backstop, takes over for Farinelli. The Tigers used Trey Forgey for most of the season but Forgey hit like .165 (I can't check right now because he's not on the playoff roster) so even though House seems like he's forgotten how to hit since being pretty decent with Cleveland in '69 and '70, he's still their #2 man. Edgar Molina of course will try and finish this and ideally get his first-ever postseason shutout. Justin Hearl's not going to make it so easy for him; he hits a Texas Leaguer into left-center for a leadoff single. Villar hits it towards 2nd for a 6-4 forceout; Hearl breaks up the double play and stops it in its tracks. Brian Jackson, trying to atone for his fielding sins, hits a scorcher to 2nd that the normally sure-handed Joey Ramone can't handle. Score it a base hit; the Pirates have runners on 1st and 2nd now. Lawson singles into right. Henry Villar can't quite get home with it but that loads the bases with just one out. Can Molina get out of this mess? The short answer is NO BECAUSE TYLER WEBSTER JUST WENT YARD! THE GRAND SALAMI PUTS THE PIRATES BACK INTO THE GAME! 6-4! And with that, Molina leaves in favor of Alex Madrigal, now making his 2nd postseason appearance. Ganzalez hits a single and wow, all of the sudden Pittsburgh's gone from dead to having the tying run at the plate in the form of Hank Williams Jr. He flies to center. With 2 out... man, Doug Connally had a rough year but he hit .293 in September and has been a good hitter in the past. I think he's still the best hitter available so he'll stay in. He pops it up in front of the plate. Jonathan House is there to squeeze it, and the Tigers take one in Pittsburgh, 6-4. The Pirates' comeback falls short, which, I mean, it's surprising that they even got to 4 runs off of Molina. I guess TBF Molina's big Achilles heel is the longball - he's led the league in HRs allowed in 3 of the last 4 seasons, including 30 this year. Danny Villegas meanwhile continues his mad run with the POTG of Game 1. Oh right, and of course Cheeves leaving the game might be huge in this series; nothing against Clyde Jones and Danny Perez (the two guys who could start in his place) but Cheeves is the possible Cy Young winner.
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01-09-2024, 11:54 AM
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#233 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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October 13, 1972: World Series Game 2
News
-------------------- October 13: A Soviet Aeroflot jet crashes on landing, killing all 174 people on board. To this date it is the worst airline accident of all time (to be passed in 1973) and it remains the 2nd worst airline disaster on Russian soil as of 2024. October 13: A separate airline carrying 45 people, including the "Old Christians" rugby team, crashes with 45 on board. You may remember this one, as it's the flight where survivors were not found for 72 days and the sixteen who survived were at times forced to eat the ones who did not. October 13: There's no chance of making a good segue here but it turns out that DJ Cheeves was not badly hurt yesterday. He's got back spasms and should be ready to go for Game 4 (maybe even Game 3 given how little he threw). October 13: But you weren't here to read about airline crashes and cannibalism and back spasms, were you? WERE YOU!? WHY ARE YOU HERE TO READ ABOUT THAT YOU SICKO anyway Game 2 of the World Series pits Jimmy Goddard and Jeremy Battaglia, both of whom are 1-0, 1.00 in the postseason. I'm tempted to pull some guys out of the lineup vs the lefty Battaglia for Detroit... sure, why not. 23 year old rookie Tom Berenger (.299, 4, 19) will hit 7th and play in left in place of Danny Hohman. Bill Wilson is already going in place of Frankie Faison; I'd forgot I'd even set up a platoon there. Anyway, it's still cold (42 degrees), the wind is still blowing out to center so maybe more HRs, and Pittsburgh fans are still showing up in droves (51,798 in attendance). Top 1st: Romero beats the first pitch into the dirt; Connally throws him out 2-3 to open things up. Curran strikes out looking. Joey Ramone laces a 2 out single to left. Villegas flies to center to retire the side. 0-0. Bottom 1st: Hearl flies to right. Villar grounds out 6-3. Brian Jackson strikes out swinging. 0-0. Top 2nd: Ayala flies to center. Bill Wilson, making his first start of the postseason, flies to deeper center. Tom Berenger walks with 2 out. Farinelli swings futilely at a 2-2 cut fastball to end the inning. 0-0. Bottom 2nd: Goddaard whiffs the cleanup man Justin Lawson on a 1-2 change. Webster draws a 6-pitch walk. Ganzalez nails the first pitch he sees into center for the Pirates' first hit of the night. Webster advances to third. I have to say, starting Ganzalez for the postseason was controversial - he had just 63 at-bats and 14 starts in the regular season, mostly in September - but it has really paid off, as he's hitting .471 so far between the NLCS and the World Series. Hank Williams Jr. grounds to 1st but Ganzalez upends Rob Curran has he tries to make the throw and boom, the Pirates are the team who draw first blood tonight, 1-0! Williams gets the cheap RBI as Webster scores and is on first with 2 out. Connally pops out to Danny Villegas at first base but not before we see run number one tonight. 1-0, Pirates. Top 3rd: Jimmy Goddard hits a ball over to third that backs 3B Hank Williams Jr. up a step but he's able to throw the pitcher out easily. Romero grounds out to second. He's just 3-20 in the postseason so far. Curran strikes out. 1-0, Pirates. Bottom 3rd: Battaglia hits a can of corn to Bill Wilson in right. One down. Hearl chops one in between Jimmy Goddard and Danny Villegas on the first base side of the infield. Neither of them can get to it in time; it's an infield hit. Joey Ramone handles a hard-hit ground ball by Henry Villar and turns it into a 4-6-3 double play. 1-0, Pirates. Top 4th: Ramone grounds out to 2nd. Villegas hits it the farthest I've seen so far today: it's a fly-out to deep center. Ayala pops out to Tyler Webster near the first base bag for out #3. 1-0, Pirates. Bottom 4th: Brian Jackson flies to right. Lawson flies to center. Webster socks a grounder past Danny Villegas down the first base line. Wilson digs it out of the corner and Webster is in at 2nd standing with 2 out and new "Mister October" Arturo Ganzalez due up. What do you know about that, Ganzalez gets another base hit, scoring Webster from second base! 2-0, Pirates, and somehow that's Arturo's first ribbie of the postseason. Now up is Hank Williams Jr., who of course ended the NLCS with a 3-run HR. He flies out to left. 2-0, Pirates. Top 5th: Wilson grounds out 6-3. Berenger flies to right. Farinelli completes the 3 up, 3 down inning by grounding out to shortstop. 2-0, Pirates. Bottom 5th: Connally drills one right to 3B Jose Ayala, who throws him out. Battaglia grounds out to second. Hearl grounds out to 3rd. Goddard picks up his first 1-2-3 inning since the first. 2-0, Pirates. Top 6th: Goddard pops out to third. I'd thought very briefly about pulling him but no, he's pitching well. Romero flies to left. Rob Curran walks with 2 out. Joey Ramone watches a change go by him. It looked outside to us but Doug Connally does an excellent job making that look like a strike. 2-0, Pirates. Bottom 6th: Villar draws a leadoff walk, Jimmy Goddard's 2nd of the game. Brian Jackson singles the other way into right field. Villar only moves up 90 feet but it's still a 1st and 2nd, no out situation. Justin Lawson, only hitting .222 going into this at-bat, singles up the middle, scoring Villar! 3-0 Pirates and they are nickel and diming Goddard to death today. Goddard walks the bases loaded, sending Webster to first base after misses inside on a 3-1 fastball. Ganzalez keeps up the paaaain: another single to center, everyone moving up 90 feet. I do think it's time to bring out Goddard... Todd Thiesen (8-6, 3.61) gets the call; it's a little early and a little out of being a close game to bring in the closer or setup guy but Thiesen is no slouch himself. Hank Williams Jr. isn't ready to let the good times end; he hits *another* base hit into right that moves everyone up 90 feet. It's 5-0 now! Connally strikes out swinging, bringing up the pitcher Jeremy Battaglia. He's staying in for suuuure. Thiesen Ks him for 2 out. Justin Hearl strokes a single to right, Ganzalez scores from 2nd, and the Pirates have 7 runs! 7-0, and that's the most runs anyone's scored all October. Henry Villar walks to load the bases back up. Todd Thiesen so far has gotten both of his outs by K and otherwise has walked 1 and given up 2 hits. Anyone who scores from here on out, the runs are charged to him. Brian Jackson hits a little blooper right past Joey Ramone into center and sure enough, it's a 9-0 game now! At this point it's long relief time. Thiesen does get Lawson to strike out swinging to end the inning. 9-0, Pirates! Top 7th: Villegas flies to center. Ayala singles back through the box. The game has the crowd booing, haha. I don't think the crowd cares overly much at this point. Battaglia strikes out Bill Wilson swinging, the Pirates southpaw's 5th of the night. Tom Berenger walks with 2 out. Farinelli grounds out 4-3 to end the little two-out rally; he's now hitting just .125 in the postseason. 9-0, Pirates. Bottom 7th: I'll bring in Alex Ruiz (2-0, 2.83) to pitch the 7th and then get removed for a pinch-hitter next inning. He's one of the everyone who pitched in that Game 3 slog vs the Angels. I should mention, too, that he's a 26 year old rookie. He walks Tyler Webster on 4 pitches, none of which look terribly close to the zone. Ganzalez, 3-3 tonight, steps up and grounds one into the turf in front of home plate. Connally picks it up and gets the lead runner, 2-6. One out. That brings up Hank Williams Jr., who now also has a multi-hit game as he singles into right, advancing Ganzalez over to 3rd base in the process. I'm going to bring in Miklos Nemeth to hit and then take over for Doug Connally just to rest the starter, really. It also gives the Pirates the platoon advantage but, like, I don't really care about that at this point. Nemeth grounds to the first baseman just off the bag. Danny Villegas get the sure out and then tries to catch Williams Jr. at 2nd. That attempt fails and that means Ganzalez is in to score (maybe he'd have scored anyway? I'm not sure). 10-0, Pirates! Battaglia's chasing a shutout and is still only on 88 pitches so he'll stay in. OK, so he'll add to the hurt by singling Williams Jr. in with a base hit up the middle. 11-0! I have half a mind to pull Ruiz but I don't and Hearl flies out to center to end the inning. 11-0, Pirates, like what is happening? Top 8th: Pinch-hitting for the pitcher is Joe Theismann, who was one tough out as a rookie with a .316 average and a .393 OBP in 95 at-bats. He singles up the middle. It's only Jeremy Battaglia's 3rd base hit of the night but maybe the 8 year veteran got cold sitting on the bench so much the last 2 innings. Romero flies out to right. I feel like he's hitting like he normally does but balls are just not getting into spaces like usual. Curran flies out to fairly deep right. Joey Ramone knocks a 2 out single into center and we do have a man in scoring position for the Tigers for the 2nd straight inning. Obviously they need to score a lot more than 1 run. Danny Villegas swings at the first pitch he sees and gets way underneath it: it's a pop-out to short. 11-0, Pirates. Bottom 8th: In for Ruiz is swingman Chris McGranahan (4-3, 3.45). McGranahan missed 6 weeks this year with an elbow strain and so only played in 16 games (8 starts). He'd come over last year from Milwaukee to bolster the pitching staff for the 1971 pennant run. He's a control artist more than a strikeout guy. With his team down by 11, I expect he'll be even more "control" oriented than usual. Henry Villar gets to 2 balls before putting a 2-2 knuckle-curve into play for a 4-3 putout. I'll leave Brian Jackson in on account of he still needs to shake off the rust. He pops out to shortstop. I *will* bring in Frank Menner for Justin Lawson just so that the 29 year old can say that he once played in a World Series. Make that "I once got a base hit in a World Series"; Menner singles into left field. That brings up Tyler Webster, who is 1-1 with 3 runs scored thanks to 3 walks. He'll also come out in favor of MI Luke Dunnahoe, now making his 2nd postseason appearance. He grounds into an inning-ending 6-4 fielder's choice. 11-0, Pirates. Top 9th: Menner takes over in left and Dunnahoe at 2nd. As it's substitution o'clock, I'll also pull in Carlos Carrera into center to see his first postseason action since Brian Jackson came back. And hey, Alex Flores (.215, 3, 30) will go in for Hank Williams Jr. at third base. Flores started the season as the team's third baseman but then lost the job because... well, you can see the batting line. To round things out, I'll stick Arturo Martinez (.204, 0, 4), a September call-up who got the playoff nod because the team needed a solid backup in case something happened to Henry Villar, at SS. Battaglia will stay in... for now. No point in killing his arm at this point but then, not a lot of pitchers get to say they threw a World Series shutout. The Joker works Battaglia to a 3-2 count and then walks to lead off the inning. Bill Wilson hits a flare into right and, with the team up by 11 runs, Brian Jackson makes a diving catch to take a hit away. Like, okay man, you're a Gold Glover. We get it. Please don't hurt yourself in a blowout like this. Tom Berenger watches a changeup dive past him for strike 3. It looks out of the zone to me but the umps want to get home I guess. Gianluigi Farinelli is 2-16 in the postseason so I'll pinch-hit for him with Bob Irwin (.213, 1, 10). Irwin... is a right-handed hitter and that's about the best thing I can say about him. Battaglia strikes him out swinging and that'll do it! 11-0, wow! And all of that without a homerun! The way this season has gone, you practically have to hit DINGERS for a lopsided game like this. The only bad news for the Pirates is that this game only counts once. In fact, we'll pick it back up in 2 days. Can the Pirates ride the momentum of this win and steal back homefield advantage? Or will the Tigers recover and outslug the Bucs in the slugginest stadium in the AL (well OK that's Cleveland Municipal but it's #2)?
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01-09-2024, 03:44 PM
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#234 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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October 15, 1972 - World Series Game 3
News
-------------------- October 14: The TV show "Kung Fu", starring David Carradine, debuts on ABC. It will run for 3 seasons and really shake my confidence in the notion that the Brewers' 2B James Hong is a teenager (he plays a very much not-teenager in one of the episodes of this show). October 14: "Last Tango In Paris", starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider and one of the few forays into adults-only, non-porno film, premiers at the New York Film Festival. It carries the "X" rating but will still go on to be the 7th highest grossing film of 1973. October 14: This happened a couple days ago but what the heck, it's an off day so... the Denver Bears (Texas) won the Minor League World Series, beating the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit) in 6 games. 23 year old SS Dusty Hill, who rose through Pittsfield (.280, 3, 37) to put together a scorching final 11 games of the season with the Bears (.447, 1, 9) and followed that up with an 11-21 run in the playoffs to win MiLB WSMVP. And all that with a massive beard (IRL he's the bass player for a little band known as ZZ Top). Don't be surprised if he's in the big leagues next year. October 14: While I'm at it here... the Phoenix Giants (SF) beat the Eugene Emeralds (Philadelphia) to win the PCL Championship. Heartthrob/closer Don Johnson, another guy who spent most of the year in AA, won the PCLCS MVP with 7 innings of relief ball over 4 games including 2 saves and the clincher in Game 5. October 15: A cow is killed by a meteorite in Trujillo, Venezuela. To date this is the only verified instance of an animal dying in this manner. Slow news day? October 15: Jackie Robinson IRL makes his last public appearance, throwing out the first pitch in Game 2 (no Jackie Robinson in my save, sadly; then again, there isn't a color barrier either). He'll die of a heart attack 9 days alter. October 15: An-An, the famed giant panda at the Moscow Zoo, dies at 15. October 15: It looks like the Pirates will elect to keep their rotation secure and will use Santos Arango in Game 3 instead of DJ Cheeves even though the latter is reportedly ready to go. No point in blowing him up. He's facing Bruce Rubio, who himself is pretty well rested after getting pulled after only 79 pitches in Game 3 of the ALCS. Clear skies and... 47 degrees. Tigers fans, hope you brought your coats! Arango is a lefty but after the Friday the 13th drubbing I figured it's bad luck to use the right-handed Berenget in left again; I'll go with Danny Hohman again. Top 1st: Hearl flies to right. Villar flies to left. A flyball pitcher in Tigers stadium is not a great matchup but we've had this issue with Bruce Rubio all year (and last year) so it's nothing new. Jackson goes down 4-3. 0-0. Bottom 1st: Romero continues his slump, grounding out to 2B Tyler Webster. Curran grounds out 5-3. Joey Ramone belts a double into the left-center gap for a standup 2-out double. That's Ramone's 2nd double of the postseason. Villegas walks on 4 pitches. Arango strikes out Ayala to get out of the jam. 0-0. Top 2nd: Lawson drives it into left; the ball gets past Hohman and Lawson slides into second base with the leadoff double. That's also Lawson's 2nd double of the postseason and 3rd extra-base hit of his postseason career (he hit a solo HR in the 1970 NLCS vs the Braves); he also finished 8th in the NL with 27 2-base hits in 1972. Webster hits it into center but Romero is there for the out. Lawson is sloooow on the bases so there's no chance of him tagging up. Rubio loses a cutter in the dirt on a 1-0 pitch - it goes to the backstop and Lawson gets over to 3rd. Rubio finished 8th in the AL with 10 of them in the regular season so this does happen to him. Ganzalez can't quiiiite come through in the clutch this time, striking out on a 3-2 pitch. Hank Williams Jr. flies to Alvin Romero in CF and the Pirates strand a man on 3rd. Bottom 2nd: Wilson strikes out swinging. Hohman walks - that's already Arango's 2nd of the night and 6th in 10.1 postseason innings. He was 6th in the NL in BB/9 with 2.23 but I guess October is another matter. Farinelli grants Arango the pitcher's best friend, though, a 6-4-3 double play, and the inning's over. 0-0. Top 3rd: Connally grounds out 5-3. Arango strikes out swinging. Hearl grounds to short. 1-2-3 in the 3rd. 0-0. Bottom 3rd: Rubio hits one hard into left but it holds up just short of the warning track for the first out. Romero grounds back to the pitcher. Curran strikes out. 0-0. Top 4th: Villar pulls a ball into right for a leadoff single. Jackson pops out to first. Rubio gets himself a DP with a 6-4-3 job off the bat of Justin Lawson. 0-0. Bottom 4th: Joey Ramone hits one to right. It looks like a routine fly out... but it keeps carrying and carrying and IT IS GONE over the left field fence, 366 feet away! 1-0, Tigers, and that's Joey's first ding-dong in the playoffs! Villegas flies to center. Ayala grounds out 4-3. Bill Wilson gets his first base hit of the postseason, a single to right... and Brian Jackson muffs it for his 2nd error of the post-season. Wilson gets into 2nd on the play and Danny Hohman, hitting .444 (8-18) in the playoffs, has got a 2-out RBI opp. Unfortunately for him, he leaves Wilson stranded with a 6-3 force to retire the side. 1-0, Tigers. Top 5th: Tyler Webster Ks. Ganzalez whiffs too; that's 4 strikeouts now by Bruce. He's not really a big K guy but he did finish 9th in the AL with 174 of them because he threw 274 innings. Hank Williams grounds out 3-1. 1-0, Tigers. Bottom 5th: Farinelli strikes out. Rubio, a pretty OK hitter for a pitcher (.184, 0, 4 this season), strikes out too. Hey, hey, hey! Alvin Romero fiiiinally gets himself a hit, a solid single into center. Rob Curran follows it up with a hard shot up the middle that Henry Villar gets to... but he can't make the throw. Curran's safe on the infield single and Joey Ramone now can drive in some guys if he can get another base hit. He goes inside-out on the low curve and golfs it into right where Brian Jackson handles it easily. 1-0, Tigers. Top 6th: Doug Connally hits it into right. Bill Wilson cuts the ball off on a hop but the Pirates' catcher is on with a leadoff single. Santos Arango, who is not coming out just yet, lays down a successful bunt back to the mound; score it 1-3. Hearl strikes out swinging and now Henry Villar needs a clutch hit to tie it up. He hits one into left that floats a bit so that Danny Hohman has time to get under it to preserve the shutout. 1-0, Tigers. Bottom 6th: Villegas flies to center. Ayala grounds to short. The Joker has not done much recently and is now hitting a pedestrian .250 in the postseason. Bill Wilson flies to right to retire the side. 1-0, Tigers. Top 7th: Rubio is pitching well but man, aaaany mistake right now means it's a tie game or worse. Rubio hits a ball that takes a weird hop before 3B Jose Ayala can get to it; he's on with a leadoff single. Jackson has deceptive speed, including 10 steals in 15 attempts. Lawson watches a knuckle curve nick the lower part of the strike zone for a backwards K. Rubio misses one in the dirt for his 2nd wild pitch of the game. He recovers to strike out Tyler Webster. Ganzalez has been a thorn in the side of... everyone this postseason but with a 2 out clutch situation he just grounds out 6-3. 1-0, Tigers. Bottom 7th: Danny Hohman hits a little chopper just past Arango and towards Henry Villar at short. Villar's a good fielder and all but his arm is just not quiiiite up to being able to get Hohman in time. If there's any one thing keeping Villar from being a Gold Glove quality shortstop, it's that only-adequate arm. Hohman dives into 2nd on a 1-1 curve for the steal! Arango was very good at holding runners in the regular season, with 12 of the 19 guys who tried to run on him getting caught, but Hohman himself was 18 for 24 in the regular season and he proves the victor this time, too. Gianluigi Farinelli bunts him to 3rd, which I do noooot like because I'm not bringing out Bruce Rubio. He Ks, as you do. Romero hits it pretty well into right but it's too close to LF Justin Lawson, who squeezeas it for the out. 1-0, Tigers. Top 8th: Hank Williams Jr. slaps it to Joey Ramone at 2nd; the rookie bobbles the ball and the country singer reaches on the error. Doug Connally singles past Jose Ayala into left; unfortunately, he hits it maybe even too hard and Williams Jr. can't advance on the play. Arango lays down a perfect bunt and now the Pirates have the go-ahead run in scoring position with 1 out. It looks like Rubio might get Hearl... and he does, but Hearl gets enough wood on an 0-2 change to hit a fly into center. It's deep enough to score Hank Williams Jr. and we are tied! 1-1. Connally gets to 3rd on the throw home. Villar also singles up the middle and now Connally, too, has scored and just like that, the Pirates have taken the lead! 2-1! Make it 3 straight singles up the middle. Has Bruce Rubio last it the 4th time through the order? It's not like he's being hit hard... still, he walks Lawson to load the bases for Tyler Webster and I think I do need to make a chance before this gets out of hand. Alex Madrigal is their guy here. He's been iffy since coming back from injury but we'll see if he can get that final out. Webster does ground out 4-3 and that ends it. 2-1, Pirates. Bottom 8th: Arango is still just under 100 pitches but with Paz Lemus available, the Pirates will pull him at the first sign of weakness. Curran hits one towards the gap in right-center... and Justin Hearl makes a diving stop for out #1. The game calls that a 3-star play, which I think translates to a 50/50? Joey Ramone grounds out to 2nd. Danny Villegas hits one over the head of Hearl and to the wall for a 2 out double. That other web gem is looking especially gemmy now. Ayala still singles into right field to bring Villegas home and tie this one back up at 2! I'll leave Arango in to face this guy; with the 6-7-8 guys due up next inning, chances are that the Pirates will need the next reliever to either save the game or pitch multiple innings. He strikes out Wilson to retire the side. 2-2. Top 9th: Arturo Ganzalez has been totally cooled this game; he's 0-3 with 2 Ks. Make that 1-4 as he singles back through the box off of Madrigal. Williams Jr. hits into a 6-4-3 double play. I'll leave Connally and his hot bat in, although I'll probably pull Arango whether or not Connally reaches. Connally battles to a full count but flies to left. 2-2. Bottom 9th: Arango iiiis facing a lefty so I'll leave him in... but it's batter to batter now. Danny Hohman grounds out 3-1. Farinelli has that platoon advantage so he's staying in too; he makes Villar roam to the outfield grass to track the ball he hits down but meh arm or not, Villar still gets him in time for the out. Pinch-hitting for the pitcher now, with the last chance to keep this from going 28 innings, is Joe Theismann. Arango strikes him out - that's his 8th and almost certainly his final strikeout of the night. 2-2. Top 10th: Jim Marceau is on to replace Madrigal. Even given that Madrigal took over closer duties in the last third of the year, Marceau finished 3rd in the AL in saves in 1972. He knows how to pitch in clutch situations. In for Arango to lead off the inning is Dr. Jack Holman, who was 7-21 as a pinch-hitter in the regular season. He flies to center. Hearl strikes out swinging. Marceau had 72 Ks in 83.1 IP; suffice it to say, he has the stuff to miss bats. Villar grounds back to the pitcher. 2-2. Bottom 10th: Paz Lemus takes over. He gave up that HR in Game 1 after the 9th was extended so he's got a 7.71 ERA in the postseason. Romero hits one to short and Villar juuuuuust throws him out. Rob Curran hits a grounder that gets underneath the glove of 1B Arturo Ganzalez. Brian Jackson cuts it off before it can get to the corner but Curran is still in just ahead of the throw to 2nd for the one out double! Joey Ramone follows up by hitting an absolutely ugly ball towards short. It chops just too high for Villar to make the play at first. Rob Curran takes third on the infield single. Runners at the corners, 1 out, but IME the defense makes the successful play at home in this situation ALL THE TIME. Or... Danny Villegas strikes out in the clutch. 2 out. I mean, Paz Lemus is good at his job. The Joker pops out to Doug Connally in front of the plate and it's a big opportunity squandered. 2-2. Top 11th: Brian Jackson shows that not only Tigers get infield hits to lead it off. Justin Lawson whiffs on a 1-2 fastball that hits the mid-90s. Jackson tries for 2nd on a steal but Farinelli, who has a way better arm than the 27.7% caught rate would imply, throws him out at 2nd. Webster strikes out swinging. 2-2. Bottom 11th: Wilson, who I maybe should have removed for a pinch-hitter, flies to left. Hohman grounds out 6-3. Farinelli's hitting 2-19 for the series and I'm going to try Jonathan House for the platoon advantage. He walks with 2 out. Maaaan... I want to leave Marceau in but this is it. Chris Contreras pinch-hits; I still have Nikki Lauda available later for a possibly better opportunity. Contreras hits it to center - it looks like a possible base hit for a moment but it hangs up and is an easy putout. 2-2. Top 12th: Todd Thiesen just threw 2 days ago but he's still tabbed to come out here. This time Alvin Romero is the man to make the diving stop and rob Arturo Ganzalez of the base hit. Out #1. Hank Williams JR. hits one into the gap and, in what might be a bad break for the Pirates, the ball bounces over the right-center wall for a ground-rule double. Connally stays in and hits it hard to center. Romero gets back there in time but Williams Jr. tags up and gets to 3rd base. So... I'd love to give Paz 6 innings or whatever today but this is the Pirates' best chance in several innings. Frank Menner comes in. He hit only .228 in the regular season but did have a .330 OBP at least. Thiesen strikes him out to get out of the jam. 2-2. Bottom 12th: With 2 lefties due up, Miguel Urbina (1-0, 1.04) will make his first appearance of the postseason. Urbina got into 18 games and 17.1 innings as a LOOGY late in the year, striking out 16 guys in that time. Romero, slump or no, had reverse splits this year but he can't turn that into anything here: he grounds to third. Curran is 2-5 today but I'm still bringing in the platoon advantage in the form of Tom Berenger. He grounds out 3U. Ramone grounds out 3-1. 2-2. Top 13th: Matt Mullen was the Tigers' starting SS from 1967 until he lost the job to Rob Curran this year. He'll take over at the position. Thiesen strikes out Hearl looking. Villar grounds out and maaaaan we are getting into the doldrums out here. Lawson's down 1-3 for the 1-2-3. 2-2. Bottom 13th: Urbina stays in to face Danny Villegas. Villegas only got 40 at-bats vs lefties due to injuries but hit .350 with 3 HRs. If he gets on base, surely Urbina will leave... but what if Villegas HITS A GAME WINNING DINGER!?!?!?!? BELTED TO RIGHT FIELD THIS BALL GAME IS OOOOVA! Maybe I should have taken Urbina out but let's be fair: that guy was arguably the most effective Pirates pitcher over the last couple months. Anyway, the Pirates lose a great opportunity to take the Series lead and instead Detroit's got a chance to win it all in the Elm City (which I guess is even still the Elm City, as Dutch Elm Disease doesn't really hit until the mid-70s).
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01-11-2024, 12:08 PM
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#235 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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October 16: World Series Game 4
News
-------------------- October 16: A Cessna 310 carrying Congressman Hale Boggs of Louisiana, the Majority Leader of the US House of Representatives and former member of the Warren Commission, as well as Nick Begich of Alaska, Begich's aide Russ Brown, and pilot Don Jonz, takes off from the airport at Anchorage, Alaska, and is never seen again. A search is undertaken but is called off on November 27 with no sign of the wreckage or any of the people on the flight. October 16: Direct deposit via electronic funds transfer makes its debut at several California banks. October 16: At 10:30PM in Rome, two agents of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad shoot Wael Zwaiter eleven times as he returns to his apartment building. Zwaiter is believed to have been part of the Black September planning for the Munich Olympics disaster and is the first person killed in Mossad's assassinations campaign. October 16: The British soap opera "Emmerdale Farm", later just "Emmerdale", telecasts its first episode. October 16: Ralph Perk, the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, accidentally sets his hair on fire while using a welder's torch for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the 1972 American Society for Metals Convention. Just think: in a few short years they'll accidentally set the lake on fire. October 16: Leo G Carroll, the man who played Alexander Waverly on the TV show "The Man From UNCLE", dies at 85. October 16: DJ Cheeves is back and will try to even up this series against Detroit's own #1 man Edgar Molina. No other real lineup changes are going on here... well, Cheeves is a righty so that means Frankie Faison is back in RF for the Tigers. It's clear skies and a balmy 44 degrees today (note to Canadians: that was sarcasm; this is Fahrenheit, not Celsius). Top 1st: Hearl flies out to right field. Villar strikes out swinging. Jackson also strikes out swinging. 1-2-3 first, 0-0. Bottom 1st: Romero tries to change things up and bunt his way aboard, but Hank Williams Jr. is on it and throws him out by a step, 5-3. Curran grounds out 4-3. Joey Ramone shoots one into left field for a two-out base hit. Danny Villegas grounds out 6-3. 0-0. Top 2nd: Lawson pops out in foul territory to the first baseman Danny Villegas. Webster strikes out swinging, already the third K by Molina today. Ganzalez gets a hold of a 1-2 fastball and pokes it into centerfield for a base hit. Williams whiffs to retire the side. 0-0. Bottom 2nd: Faison singles up the middle to lead things off. The JOKER is called on to sacrifice Frankie to 2nd and he does successfully: score it 2-3. That brings up Danny Hohman with a prime RBI opportunity. He makes good on it with a single into right. Faison comes around to score and it's a 1-0 game! Farinelli pops out to 2nd base; he's now 2-20 in the playoffs. Edgar Molina does a little chicanery to extend the inning: with the count 0-2, he swings at a pitch that's way inside and reaches first base when Doug Connally can't chase it down in time. If only Alvin Romero wasn't in such a big slump... he grounds out 6-3 to retire the side. 1-0, Tigers. Top 3rd: Connally is the 5th victim tonight of Molina's heater. He's really got it popping. Cheeves makes it K number 6 - 2/3rds of the lineup the first time through! - as he strikes out Cheeves. Hearl singles up the middle with 2 out. Villar makes it 7 Ks. How do the Pirates even have 2 hits? 1-0, Tigers. Bottom 3rd: Curran pops out to Williams Jr. at third base. Ramone strikes out looking at a 2-2 changeup. Villegas grounds out 5-3. 1-0, Tigers. Top 4th: Jackson strikes a leadoff single up the middle. Man, talk about getting BABIPed to death. Speaking of which, one result that is not accounted for in BABIP is a homerun. Which is to say, Justin Lawson BELTS IT TO DEEP RIGHT CENTER FIELD FOR A 2 RUN HOMERUN! 2-1, Pirates! Webster strikes out; that's #8. And Molina makes it 9. JEEEEEZ. Hank Williams, Jr., amazingly, puts the ball into play but does not get a hit: he flies to right. 2-1, Pirates, which seems patently unfair. Bottom 4th: Faison hits a line drive that's a foot or two to the right of 2B Tyler Webster; he spears it for out number one. Villar goes down 6-3. Hohman hits a fliner towards 2nd and for the 2nd time in the inning Tyler Webster has to make a good play to catch a ball in the air. This time he leaps into the air to get it. Webster came up as a shortstop but switched with Villar to 2nd because of a relative lack of range. He's still pretty good though. 2-1, Pirates. Top 5th: Connally hits a foul ball to left that Danny Hohman makes a diving catch of for the out. Cheeves grounds out 4-3. Wow, two straight outs in play. Either the Pirates or Molina are slipping. Hearl walks, the first base on balls issued by either pitcher today. Henry Villar walks; he has yet to put a ball in play himself, having struck out in his first two at-bats. Jackson hits a ball towards the middle that SS Henry Villar catches up to practically on the outfield grass. It really doesn't look like he'll get to the second base bag in time but somehow he does for out #3. 2-1, Pirates. Bottom 5th: Farinelli walks to lead it off. Hey, if you can't get a hit... Molina, thanks to all the Ks, is already up to 87 pitches through 5 innings but ain't no way I'm taking him out. He tries to bunt the catcher up to 2nd but the ball goes right to the pitcher and Cheeves manages to get the lead runner instead. Romero hits a ball to left... that lands in front of Justin Lawson! Hey! A hit! Look, this sounds like damning with faint praise but Romero is one of my favorite players in this dynasty. His time on base is limited, though, as Rob Curran hits into a 4-6 fielder's choice. Romero's able to break up the double play and Molina coasts into 3rd for a 2-out RBI opportunity for Joey Ramone. Ramone stings one down the right field line, just past 1B Arturo Ganzalez, and Brian Jackson has to go all the way into the corner to dig it out. Ramone's too fast to let that happen! He slides in ahead of the throw to third base! A 2-out triple and, needless to say, both runners score! 3-2, Tigers, and the playoffs leader for the Tigers in RBIs, Danny Villegas, has got a chance to get #8. He unfortunately grounds to 2nd to retire the side but the Tigers have taken the rightful lead in this, 3-2. Top 6th: Lawson follows up his homerun with a foul popup right next to the Tigers' dugout. C Gianluigi Farinelli tracks it down for the out. Tyler Webster ties this game up with a shot to left field that lands in the stands! 3-3! I should remind the audience that Molina did, after all, lead the league in HRs allowed in 3 out of the last 4 years. Ganzalez grounds out 6-3. Williams strikes out looking, making it an even 10 through just 6 innings of play. I'd love to see what the postseason record is but... well, OOTP. I'll have to check after the game. 3-3. Bottom 6th: Faison flies out to left. Ayala grounds to 3rd. Danny Hohman hits a 2-out single up the middle, raising his postseason average to a scorching .440. Farinelli is NOT scorching anything but he does scorch out a walk to put a runner in scoring position for P Edgar Molina. He's already at 101 pitches and I am sorely tempted to pull him. On the other hand, he's still the best pitcher the Tigers have, so he'll stick around for now. Just to add insult to injury the OOTP gods throw in a wild pitch on an 0-2 count. Yep, he strikes out. 3-3. Top 7th: Connally grounds out 5-3. DJ Cheeves is up to 100 pitches himself but he's a man who wants to atone for having to leave in the 1st inning of Game 1 so he'll stay in too. He K's; that's 11 for Molina. Molina K's Hearl and that, ladies and gentlemen, has now tied the American League record for postseason strikeouts! 3-3. Bottom 7th: Alvin Romero has a multi-hit game!!! He singles into right. He's still hitting .188 for the postseason but hey, it's a start, and this time he's got second base open for potential thievery. The Tigers instead try to employ the bunt, have to stop when Rob Curran gets to 2 strikes, and then the result of the play is like a bunt anyway as he grounds to 2B Tyler Webster too slowly for him to go anywhere but first base with it. Hey, Romero's on at 2nd anyway. He was 2nd in the AL in runs scored to Cleveland 1B Ernesto Garcia, who put up insane numbers - like 14 times insane for 1972. Joey Ramone's up now; he's 2-3 with 2 RBIs off that triple in his last at-bat. Cheeves walks him to set up the double play but also to face Danny Villegas, who, injuries or no, is still the Tigers' most feared hitter. Cheeves gets him to hit into a 6-4-3 DP to stop the rally in its tracks. 3-3. Top 8th: Villar hits one out to center that looks like extra bases for sure... but Alvin Romero makes a diving catch for the first out. Jackson flies to left. Lawson hits an easy fly to center. 3-3. SOMEBODY'S GOT TO SCORE, MAN. Bottom 8th: Faison grounds out 3U. Ayala is O-fer tonight and he flies weakly into right. Hohman pops it up towards the mound - SS Henry Villar pulls it in, and we have one inning left to avoid extras. 3-3. Top 9th: Webster strikes out, which means that Molina is now the sole owner of the AL postseason strikeouts record (and maybe the MLB record too; I have no idea). Ganzalez makes it 14 Ks. It'd be terrible if he gets all these whiffs and loses but Molina can really only blame himself with the 2 HRs allowed. Williams walks with 2 out, bringing Doug Connally... or at least Connally's caddy, lefty-hitting Miklos Nemeth. He drives one into right that looks interesting off the bat but winds up being an easy out. 3-3. Bottom 9th: Nemeth takes over at catcher. Cheeves is tiring but he's been pretty effective and, hey, he barely pitched in Game 1. I'll still monitor him closely. The general idea is to trrrry and push him through 9 so he can be pinch-hit for in the top of the next inning. Gianluigi Farinelli leads it off for the Tigers... or rather, Nikki Lauda, pinch-hitting for him, does. Lauda flies to center. Edgar Molina's thrown 143 pitches but I just can't pull him... he strikes out looking for 2 out. Alvin Romero gets a 2-out single that pushes his postseason BA up over .200 (.212 now). He tries to steal 2nd but Miklos Nemeth throws him out to retire the side. 3-3 and we're going into extra innings! Again! Top 10th: Jonathan House takes over behind the plate for Farinelli. I kind of accidentally hit the space bar and so I guess DJ Cheeves is pitching into the 10th too; he flies to left. Hearl singles into right. The Pirates are full-on playing deadball era strats as Henry Villar bunts one back to the mound. Molina throws him out at first but that gives Brian Jackson, hitting .391 for the postseason, an RBI opp. Surprisingly, he only hit .240 with runners in scoring position this year. Anti-clutch? Welp, he strikes out here. That's 15 for Molina. 3-3. Bottom 10th: Curran strikes out. Like, the meter may show that Cheeves is out of gas but the results sure don't seem to back that up. Ramone hits one into right that Brian Jackson makes a diving catch on to save a hit. Villegas grounds to second. 3-3. Top 11th: Lawson singles to left to start things out. Do I pull Molina? Stubbornly, I say no. And my stubbornness is right because Tyler Webster hits into a 3-6-3 double play. Ganzalez hits a 2-out single into right-center. Williams Jr. follows it up with a base hit to right of his own. Molina is clearly on his last legs but with the backup catcher due up I can't bring myself to pull him just yet. Right. He flies to center. 3-3. Bottom 11th: Faison singles into left-center to lead things off. Could this be it? Ayala flies into right field. Yeah, Cheeves is still in there. Yeah, he's tired. Does it matter when he's still getting outs like this? Hohman hits a line shot down the left field line! Justin Lawson picks it up in the gap. Here comes Frankie Faison around to score! He's in at home! BALL GAME! 4-3. Hey, so the Tigers win their second straight overtime game. Some might say that I left the starters in too long. Some people are not thinking with their 1972 brains. Edgar Molina struck out 15 freaking guys and DJ Cheeves was effective right up to the point where he wasn't. Now the Tigers have that 3-1 lead, as close as the series has been otherwise, and might just end the season tomorrow.
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01-11-2024, 12:10 PM
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Hall Of Famer
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Right! So... that was the extra-inning playoff record, period, although it wound up only tying the all-time playoff record as Jeff Borden struck out 15 in a 9-inning World Series game in 1959.
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01-11-2024, 06:55 PM
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#237 | |
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Hall Of Famer
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October 17: World Series Game 5
News
-------------------- October 17: The American Supplemental Security Income program is approved by Congress, providing monthly Social Security benefits for disabled and aged persons who had not worked long enough to receive standard benefits from the Social Security Administration. The measure itself is a compromise, rejecting a proposal by President Nixon for a "Family Assistance Program" that would have paid a minimum monthly amount to all households... what? Am I reading that right? A (tiny) UBI? October 17: Park Chung Hee, the President of South Korea, declares martial law nationwide, dissolves the National Assembly, and suspends the Constitution. Emergency rule will be suspended on December 13 but martial law will continue in the country into the 1980s. October 17: Lars Korvald forms a minority coalition and becomes the Prime Minister of Norway even though his party only holds 39 of 155 seats in the unicameral parliament. PM Brattelli's party had 74 seats but he resigned on September 26 after Norwegian voters rejected is plan for entry into the Common Market. I'd love to see how this ends... but we're almost to the point of the year where I stop giving daily news updates so I will probably no. October 17: The Crown Prince of Serbia, George, dies. He was forced to renounce his rights to the throne in favori of his younger brother Alexander in 1921 and at this point in time Serbia is part of Yugoslavia, which is ruled by Tito. Still, he died I guess. October 17: Eminem is born in St. Joseph, Missouri. October 17: The Pirates face a must-win situation today in Detroit and their best pitcher for the past month and a half is on the mound to do it for them in the person of Jeremy Battaglia (2-0, 0.50 in the postseason). He's facing off against Jimmy Goddard, who himself had a complete game win against the Angels on the 7th but got blown up in Game 2 to the tune of 7 runs allowed in 5+ innings. You've got to be thinking that Goddard wants to even that score. It's still cold for baseball at 49 degrees but the fans, all 47,484 of them, are still out in force. Top 1st: Hearl walks to lead off Game 5. Goddard has walked 6 batters in 14 postseason innings so far; he's not quite got his normal control. Villar lays down a first inning bunt to get Hearl to second. It works but at what cost? Jackson flies to left. Lawson lines to left to end the inning and one has to wonder, what if the manager let Henry Villar hit? 0-0. Bottom 1st: Speaking of bunts, Alvin Romero tried to bunt his way aboard, missed the pitch for a strike, and hten after fouling off a couple of 0-2 pitches, struck out looking. Curran flies to left. Joey Ramone gets things started out right, at least for him, as he LAUNCHES it into the left field stands! Homerun! 1-0, Tigers, and that was only Jeremy Battaglia's 2nd run allowed all October! Villegas grounds out 6-3. 1-0, Tigers. Top 2nd: Webster flies to center. Ganzalez drops one into center field in front of Alvin Romero for a base hit. Williams Jr. flies out to center. I'd say Alvin Romero is getting a lot of work this inning but he hasn't had to move much from his spot. Doug Connally looks like he's going to put one into center but SS Rob Curran dives and gets to it before it can land or get into centerfield. Score it a L6 and that's the end of this frame. 1-0, Tigers. Bottom 2nd: Ayala flies to left. Bill WIlson was 1-10 going into the game and I was considering pulling him... but hey! He nails one down the right field line for a double! Danny Hohman strikes out with a great chance to pick up his 6th postseason RBI. Farinelli singles up the middle... Wilson's rounding third! He's going to attempt to score! The throw in from CF Justin Hearl is... in time to get Wilson at home! Inning over. 1-0, Tigers. Top 3rd: Battaglia grounds out to short. Hearl flies to left. Villar gets to actually swing the bat this time and he grounds to short. Remember in Strat where you'd look at the dice totals and think "hey, if I had let this guy swing instead of bunting him he'd have done X"? Maybe this was the game saying that Villar just would have grounded into a double play. 1-0, Tigers. Bottom 3rd: Goddard hits an easy grounder to short for 1 out. Alvin Romero singles to left. He's all the way up to .229 for the postseason. Rob Curran, who replaced him as the slumper at the top of the order, also knocks an opposite field single (to left); Romero chugs into 3rd and we've got a prime scoring opportunity with just one out. Joey Ramone tops a ball down the line at first base where it just kind of dies. Battaglis gets to it and throws to first but Ramone, who's got good speed, beats it out for a single! Romero flies in from 3rd and the Tigers have now gotten themselves a 2-0 lead! Battaglia hits Villegas. No way he wanted to hit the bases loaded; that just got away from him. The sacks are drunk for Jose Ayala, who was 5-17 with a grand salami in that situation in the regular season. He hits a ball hard but not hard enough - CF Justin Hearl chases it down in center for the out but it's hit deep enough for Rob Curran to tag up and score! It's a sac fly and boom, a 3-0 game! Bill Wilson singles, bringing in Ramone from second! 4-0! Where was this offense yesterday? Danny Hohman barely makes contact with a 1-strike changeup and hits it into the dirt in front of home plate. Doug Connally is on top of it to throw him out to retire the side. The Tigers have busted this one open though at 4-0. Top 4th: Jackson grounds out 5-3. Lawson singles into left field. Webster strikes out on three pitches, looking. He's gonna get a talking-to in the dugout for that. That's also Goddard's first strikeout this evening. Ganzalez ends the inning on a 6-4 forceout. 4-0, Tigers. Bottom 4th: Farinelli flies out to left. Battaglia Ks Goddard; that's his 3rd on the night and 20th of the postseason. He then misses on a 3-1 cut fastball and allows Alvin Romero to reach base. In fairness to Romero, he will take a pitch when it's given to him - he had 75 walks in the regular season and a .374 on-base percentage. He's at 4 and .308 against tougher postseason pitching. Up by 4, I guess, Alvin Romero doesn't get a jump - instead, Rob Curran hits a nubber in front of the pitcher. Battaglia is a decent enough fielder for a pitcher but he doesn't handle it in time; Curran's on with the infield single. Joey Ramone hits a fly out to right, the first time all day he hasn't gotten on base. 4-0, Tigers. Top 5th: Goddard issues a leadoff walk to Hank Williams Jr. Levine's Law seems to come into action... and it does! Connolly hits a ground ball right back to the pitcher, who initiates a 1-6-3 double play. A leadoff walk will always come around to score unless it doesn't. This time it doens't. Battaglia pops out to 2nd to retire the side. 4-0, Tigers. Bottom 5th: Villegas walks to lead it off. I hate to be sacrilegious after Battaglia looked so good for the Bucs in Game 2 but... does he just not have it today? Is it time to start thinking about pulling him? Ayala flies to center. Bill Wilson hits one OVER THE FENCE IN LEFT CENTER FOR A 2 RUN HOMERUN! THAR SHE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOES! Man. It feels like too little, too late, but I think it is time to pull Battaglia and see if we can keep this close and stage an unlikely comeback. Paz Lemus will come in; he's only at 87% rested status but he pitches a lot of multi-inning games so he'll be fine. Hohman gets to a full count against him and lines one down the right field line for a double. Not a nice way to greet one of the top relief aces in the game! Farinelli Ks. Goddard also Ks to retire the side, but not before the Tigers add to their lead. 6-0. Top 6th: Goddard will work against the 1-2-3 guys to start out the inning, which also means he's only faced 3 men above the legal minimum. Hearl was one of the guys who reached but this time around he puts some good wood on the ball only to have Danny Hohman chase it down in deep left-center for out #1. Villar grounds to 2nd. Brian Jackson grounds to short. 1-2-3 goes down 1-2-3. 6-0, Tigers. Bottom 6th: Romero singles up the middle. He's been really determined the past couple games. Curran flies out to center. Ramone gets hit in the foot by Paz Lemus to put guys on first and second. Come on, Paz! There's no need to get chippy out there just because you're losing! Villegas walks and the bases are loaded with just one out. Jose Ayala's up; he's been pretty much quiet since Game 1 of the ALCS and at this point he's batting just .219 in the postseason. He makes an out this time, too, but like his last time up (the time before last?) he hits a fly to deep center that brings in a run. 7-0, Tigers! Wilson grounds out 3 unassisted. 7-0, Tigers. Top 7th: Lawson flies to left. Jimmy Goddard is putting together a very efficient game, just 1 strikeout but he's got the entire defense playing for him. Webster gets hit by a pitch! The umpire looks at Goddard sternly and barks something at him. Was that retaliation? Ganzalez continues his torrid October with a base hit into right. Tyler Webster, smarting foot or no, legs it out to third base on the play. And Jimmy Goddard gets the good old pitcher's best friend on Hank Williams Jr., a 6-4-3 double play, to retire the side! 7-0 Tigers and the Pirates are down to their final 6 outs. Bottom 7th: Danny Hohman hits a soft liner right at 2B Tyler Webster. Farinelli strikes out. Lemus has gotten 3 Ks today, 2 of them against this man. Jimmy Goddard's got the shutout stuff so he'll stay in. If anyone's about to come out, it's Lemus, who looks out of gas. Gas or no gas, he's facing the pitcher and he gets the strikeout looking. 7-0, Tigers. Top 8th: Pinch-hitting for Connally is Miklos Nemeth. I have to say, priority #1 this offseason for the Pirates has to be: find a pinch-hitter. Well, find a 1st baseman maybe. Nemeth grounds out 4-3. Dr. Jack Holman's in for Paz Lemus, who held the Tigers to 1 run over 2.2 innings of work. He'd have preferred to have held them scoreless but the Pirates are down deep either way. Holman takes a wicked cut on a 2-2 fastball and misses for out #2. Justin Hearl hits a ball to center that doesn't have the life it looked like it had at first; Alvin Romero takes around 5 steps and squeezes it for out #3. 7-0, Tigers. Bottom 8th: Miklos Nemeth takes over behind the plate and with two lefties due up, LHP Miguel Urbina comes on in relief. He gave up the losing run in the 3-2 loss on the 15th. Romero flies to left. Rob Curran will stay in for now but he flies to left, too. Joey Ramone grounds to 3rd base. 7-0, Tigers. Top 9th: A little bit of defensive substitution: Rob Curran checks in at shortstop and Rob Curran moves down to third base to give the Tigers three plus-plus fielders in the infield... and Danny Villegas, a converted 2nd baseman, is no slouch himself. Henry Villar coaxes out a walk to lead it off. Jackson hits one into right center but Alvin Romero races over and takes it in for the first out. Justin Lawson hits it pretty well into center but here, too, Romero just has to run back a few steps to track it down. 2 outs and now the possible final batter of the season gets up there in the person of Tyler Webster. Webster's hitting just 6-31 (.194) for the postseason but he hit a solid .254 with 18 HRs and 57 RBIs in the regular season. The season will not end with him! He singles into right. Lawson holds up at 2nd with the score where it is and now it's up to Arturo Ganzalez to keep up his hot hitting (he's 15-33 in the playoffs). It will not happen! He grounds out to SS Matt Mullen, who throws to first, and THE TIGERS HAVE WON THE WORLD SERIES! THE TIGERS HAVE WON THE WORLD SERIES! What a way to end the year! For Detroit, at least. Joey Ramone went 11-23 (.478) with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs to win the World Series MVP honors. This was the first, like, actual trophy the 23 year old punk rocker has received, although a ROY is a possibility (actually... Tony Danza of the Royals won the batting title so probably not). Well, other than the All-Star trip he had. That's not a trophy, is it? Pundits will forever second-guess the move to keep Cheeves in the game in the 11th of Game 4 but really, when you lose in 5, you need more than just one bad break to go against you.
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01-12-2024, 12:43 AM
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#238 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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A note before the THRIFTLON REPORTS
So... I'm going to run these team reports a little bit differently this time around. Rather than have the big old data dump at the top (which I still might drop in; I do like the old data dumperino), I'm going to set something up that looks like a combination of the Scouting Reports data, the old Great American Baseball Stat Book reports, and a baseball card. For now I'm not including career totals but I could. Here's an example of what I have in place for hitters, using retired SS Ty Stover:
Code:
Yr Team Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 NYY 0.274 140 492 98 135 30 1 28 97 115 110 0 1971 NYY 0.204 108 332 36 68 14 1 11 31 71 75 0 1972 NYY 0.185 45 97 10 18 3 0 2 8 14 17 1 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 TAM A 0.257 129 439 59 113 21 5 5 51 95 76 2 1971 ASH AA 0.219 89 314 40 69 8 0 11 38 55 65 3 1971 TUC AAA 0.222 37 99 23 22 0 0 9 13 23 17 1 1972 IND AAA 0.306 112 323 42 99 15 1 18 64 45 57 0 1972 CIN MLB 0.214 9 14 1 3 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 Andy Ring RHP No. 27 RR, 6'1" 203 lbs. Born 1939-11-19 Code:
Yr Team W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H HR R ER BB SO 1970 LAD 3 8 0 5.48 17 17 1 111.2 134 14 77 68 47 77 1970 CAL 7 7 0 2.93 17 17 7 129.0 102 11 53 42 50 84 1971 CAL 18 10 0 2.72 32 32 10 240.2 191 19 83 73 97 172 1972 CAL 15 11 0 2.90 35 35 11 269.1 217 23 91 87 83 192 I'm also going to abandon my deal-io where I did teams in alphabetical order and instead I'll do them in reverse order in the standings, from division that lost to the WS loser to the WS loser division and so on. That means they'll go in this order: NL West NL East AL West AL East This should, frankly, help me out because it'll allow me to not do the stupid St. Louis Cardinals last. I feel like by the time I get to the Cards I'm like "LET'S START THE SEASON ALREADY" and that's unfair to them.
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01-12-2024, 12:45 AM
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#239 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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So... I'm going to run these team reports a little bit differently this time around. Rather than have the big old data dump at the top (which I still might drop in; I do like the old data dumperino), I'm going to set something up that looks like a combination of the Scouting Reports data, the old Great American Baseball Stat Book reports, and a baseball card. For now I'm not including career totals but I could. Here's an example of what I have in place for hitters, using retired SS Ty Stover:
Code:
Yr Team Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 NYY 0.274 140 492 98 135 30 1 28 97 115 110 0 1971 NYY 0.204 108 332 36 68 14 1 11 31 71 75 0 1972 NYY 0.185 45 97 10 18 3 0 2 8 14 17 1 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 TAM A 0.257 129 439 59 113 21 5 5 51 95 76 2 1971 ASH AA 0.219 89 314 40 69 8 0 11 38 55 65 3 1971 TUC AAA 0.222 37 99 23 22 0 0 9 13 23 17 1 1972 IND AAA 0.306 112 323 42 99 15 1 18 64 45 57 0 1972 CIN MLB 0.214 9 14 1 3 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 Andy Ring RHP No. 27 RR, 6'1" 203 lbs. Born 1939-11-19 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO 1970 LAD MLB 3 8 0 5.48 17 17 1 111.2 134 77 68 47 77 1970 CAL MLB 7 7 0 2.93 17 17 7 129.0 102 53 42 50 84 1971 CAL MLB 18 10 0 2.72 32 32 10 240.2 191 83 73 97 172 1972 CAL MLB 15 11 0 2.90 35 35 11 269.1 217 91 87 83 192 I'm also going to abandon my deal-io where I did teams in alphabetical order and instead I'll do them in reverse order in the standings, from division that lost to the WS loser to the WS loser division and so on. That means they'll go in this order: NL West NL East AL West AL East This should, frankly, help me out because it'll allow me to not do the stupid St. Louis Cardinals last. I feel like by the time I get to the Cards I'm like "LET'S START THE SEASON ALREADY" and that's unfair to them.
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01-12-2024, 01:02 PM
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#240 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,612
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1972 Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
60-94, 6th NL West, 21 GB 1972 Outlook: The Reds were really bad in '71 but they were also just a year removed from 98 wins and a pennant. With the addition of Jaden Weaver in a lopsided trade with the Astros, it really looked like this team could have bounced back. 1972 In Review: That did not happen. The Reds opened the season 2-11 and never really got things going. They fought back to 52-72 by the end of August - still last in the division but not really that bad - but then went 6-21 in September before winning 2 out of their final 3 games. Things were... they were not good. Even with the addition of Weaver the offense only managed to finish 4th from the bottom in runs scored (525) and the team as a whole only had 90 HRs (t-10th). Still, the offense was less of an issue than the D, which allowed 611 runs (2nd worst in the NL). Outside of Steve Waiters, who was only good good this year, not great, it seemed like practically nobody on that side of the ball could do anything. Oh yeah, and also the defense was bad. 1973 Outlook: Things can only improve, right? The memories of 1970 are just that - memories. It's time to regroup and rebuild. Pitching Steve Waiters LHP No. 19 LL, 6'4" 204 lbs. Born 1943-11-20 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO 1970 CIN MLB 25 6 0 2.47 37 37 15 298.1 234 85 82 80 267 1971 CIN MLB 21 12 0 2.74 38 38 12 294.2 261 101 90 83 200 1972 CIN MLB 11 13 0 2.59 31 31 13 242.2 192 73 70 74 164 There is just a liiiitle bit of concern around the Reds' front office that Waiters' stuff, which was absolutely outstanding in 1970, isn't quite what it used to be. His K/9 rate stayed at 6.1 this year after dipping from a 4th-highest 8.1 in 1970. That's still well above average though and hitters sure don't like working against him. He throws three pitches well, none of them much better than the others, and he gets a good deal of groundouts. Waiters' motion throws him off-balance a lot and he's not considered a good fielder. He's merely adequate with the bat, although he's an excellent bunter. Look for a comeback this year, perhaps all the way back to 20 wins. Bill Vanover RHP No. 24 SR, 6'0" 173 lbs. Born 1941-06-12 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO 1970 CIN MLB 10 8 0 3.35 31 26 5 196.0 192 87 73 27 111 1971 CIN MLB 13 14 0 3.77 32 32 6 231.1 250 110 97 48 94 1972 CIN MLB 13 15 0 3.44 32 32 10 238.0 221 98 91 41 107 Vanover is only a career .173 hitter - good for a pitcher but let's not go crazy here - but hit .278 with 6 RBIs this season. He outhit an awful lot of position players this year, in fact. Where Waiters above is pretty content with his role, the losing seems to have gotten to Vanover, who is reportedly not happy with the way things have been working out the past couple years. Vanover set career highs in complete games and wins (well, he tied that); this is probably as good as it gets for him. He's really not #2 starter material but that's not really his problem, is it? Joe Hagan RHP No. 2 RR, 5'11" 185 lbs. Born 1940-07-31 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO 1970 CIN MLB 20 12 0 4.25 36 36 8 249.1 235 122 118 98 214 1971 CIN MLB 9 17 0 3.85 35 33 7 249.2 252 123 107 79 155 1972 CIN MLB 8 13 0 4.48 30 26 3 182.2 170 93 91 76 144 Hagan's also a guy who really wants to win, which is normally a good thing but on an underachiever like Cincy it means he's not super happy with the way things are going. If he could just control those dingers, you can really see how the guy could be a star. Graham Panarello RHP No. 7 RR, 6'0" 200 lbs. Born 1944-10-31 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO 1970 IND AAA 6 4 0 3.12 15 15 2 98.0 75 39 34 39 108 1970 CIN MLB 5 3 0 3.14 13 8 3 68.2 65 25 24 26 57 1971 CIN MLB 1 5 1 3.82 34 6 2 75.1 69 32 32 39 47 1972 IND AAA 4 7 0 5.29 12 12 4 88.1 86 56 52 38 59 1972 CIN MLB 8 9 0 4.58 21 17 4 125.2 118 69 64 58 91 Amadou Toumani Touré RHP No. 20 RR, 6'3" 199 lbs. Born 1948-11-10 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO 1970 ASH AA 3 3 0 3.63 9 9 4 57.0 58 26 23 25 23 1971 TR AA 12 14 0 3.25 29 29 19 243.1 218 108 88 52 163 1972 IND AAA 5 8 0 3.97 19 19 1 115.1 121 59 51 19 100 1972 CIN MLB 2 7 0 4.62 11 11 1 70.0 64 39 36 18 47 Brian Yates RHP No. 30 SR, 6'2" 189 lbs. Born 1944-09-02 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO 1970 ASH AA 2 0 0 0.00 6 0 0 12.1 7 0 0 2 6 1970 IND AAA 5 2 6 2.84 40 0 0 66.1 51 23 21 39 65 1970 CIN MLB 0 0 0 8.10 1 0 0 3.1 4 3 3 1 3 1971 TR AA 2 0 1 1.66 13 0 0 21.2 17 5 4 8 18 1971 IND AAA 0 1 1 6.13 7 0 0 14.2 15 12 10 18 9 1971 CIN MLB 0 0 0 13.50 2 0 0 1.1 3 2 2 2 2 1972 CIN MLB 3 4 9 2.45 53 0 0 66.0 54 19 18 33 56 He may have come from out of nowhere but Yates' success seems sustainable. Pete Lynn RHP No. 8 RR, 6'1" 198 lbs. Born 1945-10-02 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO 1970 MIN MLB 10 9 18 3.32 60 0 0 94.2 83 42 35 40 93 1971 MIN MLB 6 9 19 3.31 69 0 0 100.1 93 49 37 29 92 1972 CIN MLB 6 11 11 2.95 55 4 1 94.1 90 32 31 31 80 Hector Fernandez RHP No. 37 LR, 6'2" 201 lbs. Born 1943-09-12 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO 1970 EUG AAA 1 1 0 5.51 2 2 1 16.1 21 12 10 5 8 1971 EUG AAA 11 7 0 2.71 23 23 14 188.2 184 61 57 35 95 1971 PHI MLB 0 0 0 7.02 4 1 0 16.2 22 13 13 7 14 1972 CIN MLB 1 4 0 3.84 36 7 0 82.0 79 36 35 27 44 Bastien Maurice LHP No. 41 RL, 6'2" 205 lbs. Born 1944-08-23 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO 1971 IND AAA 11 7 0 2.41 22 22 2 156.1 133 53 42 70 62 1971 CIN MLB 3 2 0 4.66 14 6 0 46.1 42 26 24 18 23 1972 CIN MLB 1 0 0 3.07 36 0 0 38.0 25 14 13 14 21 Infield Oliver Williams C No. 11 RR, 6'3" 214 lbs. Born 1943-12-25 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 CIN MLB 0.273 123 438 61 120 23 1 6 64 59 70 0 1971 CIN MLB 0.241 124 422 30 102 12 0 7 44 37 61 0 1972 CIN MLB 0.208 124 393 28 82 11 0 8 41 40 58 0 You can see the hard work and grittiness this guy brings to the table. He just... needs to not be awful. Slugging over .300 (he slugged .298) would be a start. Leron Lee C No. 18 LR, 6'0" 201 lbs. Born 1948-03-05 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1971 TR AA 0.226 67 230 16 52 6 0 3 23 19 48 0 1971 IND AAA 0.259 26 81 11 21 6 0 0 11 16 10 0 1972 IND AAA 0.285 95 319 36 91 10 0 10 43 33 73 0 1972 CIN MLB 0.216 15 37 3 8 1 0 0 1 6 4 0 Alonzo Rivera 1B No. 22 LL, 6'2" 201 lbs. Born 1948-01-21 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 IND AAA 0.426 24 89 25 38 7 1 4 20 15 2 1 1970 CIN MLB 0.292 58 65 12 19 3 2 3 14 13 6 0 1971 CIN MLB 0.403 21 62 7 25 6 0 3 6 3 5 0 1972 CIN MLB 0.302 108 387 46 117 24 1 7 52 31 28 0 Rivera, as befits a first baseman, has mediocre speed at best, but he doesn't try to do more on the basepaths than he's capable of at least. He has occasionally been used in left field but even as a first baseman his primary position is hitter. Rivera looks capable of being the Reds' #3 hitter for the next decade or more, and that's even if they get good again. Him and Jaden Weaver constitute a ferocious 1-2 punch - well, 3-4 punch if we're being technical about it. Pedro Ortiz 2B No. 21 RR, 5'11" 181 lbs. Born 1943-10-05 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 CIN MLB 0.306 154 656 98 201 26 12 6 56 69 39 26 1971 CIN MLB 0.265 148 622 77 165 31 6 6 43 68 79 28 1972 CIN MLB 0.257 146 594 64 153 31 6 4 37 62 46 35 Ortiz is a good enough fielder at 2nd to have won the Gold Glove the last 2 years and is a real contender for his third. He isn't blessed with a great arm - that's why he's a 2nd baseman - and he's sometimes slow getting the ball out on the pivot to first base, but few second basemen in the NL have his range: he finished 2nd only to San Diego's Paul McCartney in total chances and led all NL 2B in assists (473). The main question one has to ask about Ortiz is "why didn't he score more runs" but to be fair, the answer to that is mostly "because his team is bad". Look forward to even more hardware in '73 - a 7th All-Star Game, perhaps a 4th Gold Glove to (presumably) go with the 3rd he'll win this year. Bobby Kraljevic 3B No. 6 LR, 5'11" 198 lbs. Born 1943-06-18 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 CIN MLB 0.296 152 563 109 167 29 3 14 89 123 51 0 1971 CIN MLB 0.241 143 497 58 120 20 2 12 58 87 67 1 1972 CIN MLB 0.249 104 305 32 76 12 2 3 29 49 52 2 Otherwise he's got a gun for an arm - maybe the best arm in the NL, in fact - and last year he did seem to concentrate a lot more in the field. He committed only 2 errors all season for a FA of .990, a far cry from his 1970 performance of 33 errors and a .913. He'll take an extra base on a hit or get the occasional steal if the chance is presented to him. One possible answer here is to engage him even deeper in the platoon: last year he only had 47 at-bats against LHPs but hit just .149 against them, a sign that maybe even 50ish at-bats are too many. Maybe, too, the answer is to move him and his "too big for his britches" attitude along to someone else. Fidelio Guerrero 3B No. 27 LR, 5'9" 171 lbs. Born 1946-01-27 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 IND AAA 0.277 67 227 43 63 14 2 12 43 33 56 10 1970 CIN MLB 0.268 16 41 5 11 2 0 1 8 7 7 2 1971 CIN MLB 0.301 44 83 9 25 4 2 4 15 11 18 1 1972 CIN MLB 0.224 64 89 11 20 4 0 2 8 11 22 0 It's clear who Guerrero is and a starter ain't it. Dusty McCully SS No. 38 RR, 6'0" 189 lbs. Born 1946-06-07 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 OKC AAA 0.264 49 174 15 46 8 2 2 19 11 39 0 1970 STL MLB 0.213 53 183 11 39 10 1 3 19 11 44 0 1970 HOU MLB 0.000 2 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 1971 STL MLB 0.253 149 549 53 139 19 3 9 58 35 73 0 1972 CIN MLB 0.241 138 496 43 120 21 3 8 50 41 75 0 Defensively he does have a tendency to take plays off in the field and the statheads tell me he had a negative ZR last year. It's definitely true that Cincy as a whole had a pretty bad defense. He's got a good arm - if Bobby K wasn't around (and if that power turned out to be a permanent addition) I could see him moving to the hot corner. He is surprisingly slow on the bases for a middle infielder. All in all, this is a guy you can count on to put in the lineup every day and produce for you. McCully might never make an All-Star Game but there's a lot of room left to be a decent infielder in this league for the next 5 to 10 years. Mike Wendt SS/CF No. 25 RR, 6'1" 201 lbs. Born 1944-04-05 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 CIN MLB 0.263 154 576 102 152 18 12 15 71 47 136 31 1971 CIN MLB 0.235 143 471 44 111 14 6 10 54 26 83 17 1972 CIN MLB 0.201 42 124 11 25 3 2 3 12 10 27 5 If he could even hit .260 again, Wendt could possibly form a good 1-2 punch with Ortiz at the top of the lineup (this time, a real and actual 1-2 punch!). He'd have to stop swinging at so many pitches for that to happen and that seems unlikely. Incidentally, the 12 game trial in the outfield might presage his future: Wendt is pretty good range-wise and although he had zero assists out there, his outfield arm seems like an asset where his infield arm was holding him back. Outfield Alonzo Huanosta OF No. 29 RR, 6'2" 201 lbs. Born 1941-01-10 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 CLE MLB 0.345 139 585 87 202 37 2 20 92 37 52 3 1971 CLE MLB 0.260 141 591 80 154 27 4 13 57 46 70 2 1972 CIN MLB 0.275 142 537 69 148 27 0 6 63 45 62 11 Defensively, Huanosta's a corner outfielder. He doesn't have the best first step in the world but does have a decent arm - he only had 4 assists in left last year because of his reputation more than any lack of arm strength. He'll probably eventually move to 1B if not DH - assuming he can hit for the positions - but the man's only 31 and is far from the worst OF out there. All-Star Game or no, this has to be considered a make or break year for Huanosta. The Reds are paying him an awful lot of money, way too much to be an average player. Carlos Gomez 1B/LF No. 36 RL, 6'0" 200 lbs. Born 1942-01-30 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 SD MLB 0.247 146 484 67 120 19 1 22 63 66 109 0 1971 SD MLB 0.172 31 116 15 20 6 0 2 13 21 23 0 1971 CIN MLB 0.287 102 317 54 91 19 3 19 66 45 65 0 1972 CIN MLB 0.208 70 139 15 29 2 1 6 16 16 32 0 Gomez also seemed to be as affected by the distracctions in the clubhouse as anyone on this team. A change of scenery would probably be good for both sides. Dennis bin Naim CF No. 13 LL, 6'2" 200 lbs. Born 1947-02-14 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 ASH AA 0.260 129 491 67 128 12 3 7 31 46 87 23 1971 TR AA 0.263 59 220 28 58 3 5 6 22 35 26 9 1971 IND AAA 0.194 22 67 8 13 2 1 0 6 13 7 4 1971 CIN MLB 0.268 27 67 8 18 2 0 0 5 4 12 0 1972 IND AAA 0.265 32 132 18 35 5 1 1 14 10 17 8 1972 CIN MLB 0.212 79 268 30 57 6 4 1 11 32 38 5 It's hard to see what bin Naim brings to the team going forward. In 1972 he hit like a middle infielder and fielded like a slugger. The best news about him is that he's still only 25 years old but, to paraphrase made-up, pretend manager Casey Stengel, he looks like a guy who might be 30 in 5 years. Dan Issel OF No. 31 RR, 6'9" 232 lbs. Born 1948-10-26 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1971 TR AA 0.239 25 96 13 23 5 1 2 14 14 21 6 1971 IND AAA 0.237 102 374 50 89 17 4 10 55 42 58 23 1972 IND AAA 0.281 69 266 43 75 16 0 13 33 22 56 27 1972 CIN MLB 0.138 39 101 10 14 3 0 2 7 12 16 3 He has world-class speed - weird for a guy who's nearly 7 feet tall but I'm not judging - which hopefully over time will translate better into his range. Also, it has to be noted that this kid is still just 23 years of age. Assuming this was just a bad stretch of games, the future still looks bright for him. Jaden Weaver RF No. 3 LL, 6'2" 200 lbs. Born 1942-07-11 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1970 HOU MLB 0.256 149 558 99 143 33 2 48 132 80 122 1 1971 HOU MLB 0.303 131 501 77 152 27 2 37 104 52 85 1 1972 CIN MLB 0.234 132 495 73 116 20 1 32 88 54 90 1 All that said, he was still all over the leaderboards - 3rd in HRs, 4th in RBIs, 8th in total bases (234) and slugging percentage (.473), and 5th in extra-base hits - and realistically the Reds, even as bad as they were, should be building the team around him. The next six months will really indicate how serious this team is about doing so. Robert Hopkins OF No. 17 RR, 6'0" 198 lbs. Born 1945-07-26 Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1971 TR AA 0.302 29 86 12 26 3 0 2 8 12 12 0 1971 IND AAA 0.348 52 132 14 46 8 0 3 19 17 13 5 1971 CIN MLB 0.000 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1972 IND AAA 0.236 13 38 3 9 1 0 2 7 4 11 1 1972 CIN MLB 0.254 46 118 11 30 6 1 1 10 9 21 1
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