1965 Yankees, 1969 Royals, 1962 Mets

[JerryShoe]

I compared the apples of Strat-O-Matic and the oranges of OOTP in other posts and in one of them suggested an OOTP project of leading the Yankees to the postseason following the 1964 pennant as early (or earlier) than had happened. I’m going to do that and also try to match the fastest reserve clause expansion teams to do so, since free agency made being a playoff team easier (3 years by the Rockies, 5 years to a title by the Marlins). This would be the 1969 Kansas City Royals and the 1962 New York Mets.

The Yankees have the easiest road, with 12 seasons to accomplish this, 8 of them having playoff entries rather than just league titles. The Royals did this in 8, all 8 being in the playoff era and the Mets had the hardest way to go, 8 seasons with only the last one in with divisional play.

I will play with historical injuries, 15-man reserve squad, no financials, rookies start with their original team (how could I not draft George Brett, who should at least start out as a Royal). Trade AI is 4 25s/neutral. I will play my teams as much as possible with the “knowledge” I would have then. For instance, even though I know now that Roger Maris will have a down year in 1965, I didn’t know that “then” and will play him until this is evident. To ensure this to some degree, anyone who I don’t play at least 50% of his actual playing time I must release at the end of the season. This way I can’t park someone I know will have a poor year on the reserve list for a season so I can enjoy his rebound year.

Also, during that time the term “free agent” meant “flotsam”, with 3 notable exceptions that may require “Commissioner Intervention”:
Ken “Hawk” Harrelson signing with the Red Sox in August, 1967.
Jim “Catfish” Hunter signing with the Yankees for the 1975 season.
Andy “Not an Animal” Messersmith signing with the Braves in 1976.
The first 2 occurred because their team’s owner, Charles O. Finley, used a mule as a mascot but was more of an ass himself.

If Harrelson is a Kansas City Athletic on August 25, 1967 he will be fired by Finley and sign with the Red Sox. This would have a regular season effect on only the Yankees, making it easier to slip ahead of Oakland in 1968 when Harrelson had a great year but harder to challenge the Red Sox while in 1969, Harrelson’s last notable year, the Sox would be a divisional rival.

If Hunter is an Oakland “A” at the end of the 1974, he would have his contract violated by Finley and sign with the Yankees. This would have an obvious regular season effect on the Yankees as Hunter would have great 1975 and a decent 1976, but also help the Royals with him moved out of their rival’s rotation

Messersmith signs with the Braves no matter what. He had a pretty good 1976 and so this signing would only hurt the Yankees and Royals if he happened to be on their 1975 squads but would help each if he was an AL pitcher, particularly the Royals since he starts each scenario as an Angel in the West and may well stayed with them.

I’ll post what happens season by season, starting with the 1965 Yanks.

[JerryShoe]

1965 Yankees

The Plan
Having written a book (that was not good enough for publication) about the 1964 season, I did enough research on the Yankees to have a few ideas. Mickey Mantle should be moved from CF, but that era Yankee Stadium LF was Death Valley and there would be no reason (at that time) to move Roger Maris from RF. Keep in mind that I am only using what I "know" in 1965, and that is a 30-year old Maris coming off a 127 OPS+ year. So the only place to move Mantle is 1B, 2 years ahead of schedule. For now, Tommy Tresh moves to CF where he played a lot in '63-'64, but part of the plan is looking for a good glove in CF and moving Tresh back to LF where Joe Pepitone (who I will look to move, since a lot of his value is as a good glove 1B) or phenom Roger Repoz will play for now.
Another part what I learned from the research is that Tony Kubek should not be counted on as the regular SS. But I do have a replacement (as with Repoz and Maris, what I "knew" then) in good field-no hit Phil Linz.
The rest of the infield is set with Bobby Richardson and Clete Boyer at second and third, and although Elston Howard had a .313 year in '64, he did catch 146 games and is now 36, so I will rest him a bit by platooning with Johnny Blanchard. Another player to keep an eye on is Whitey Ford, 36 and injured for most of the World Series but with his 170 ERA+ leads a strong young staff of Jim Bouton (39 wins in last 2 years), Al Downing (leading 217 K's) and rookie sensation Mel Stottlemyre. Pedro Ramos, Hal Renniff, Pete Mikkelson and Steve Hamilton from a reliable bullpen.

What Happened to the Plan
Looking to trade for a CF, the White Sox turned down offers for Ken Berry (although they later shopped him to me for a lesser return) but was able to secure Mickey Stanley from the Tigers. This cost me Linz, so I moved Tresh to SS (where he played before and since). This worked out for the TIgers since this meant installing Don Demeter as their full-time CF where he won the batting title as Detroit won the pennant.
Next to see if I could get any takers for Pepitone, the Athletics offered Bert Campaneris for Pepi and...Tresh!! So now I have SS, LF and CF solved. Tresh went on to win the MVP in KC so I did miss his leading WAR and Pepi's power (19 HRs). The Pirates wanted Bobby Richardson during season (not sure why, they had a better clone of his in Bill Mazoroski) and others for Manny Mota.

The Results
I did a little bit better than CBS and Johnny Keane, actually sharing a fifth-pace finish (and so technically in the first division) and a .500 record with the actual AL champ Twins, rather that 6th and 77-85. For those who may not know, in the pre-playoff era the top half of the standings were considered the first division and eligible for World Series shares.
Here is the team (not much "bomb" in the Bronx Bombers):
SS Campaneris leading 89 SB's (14 CS) and 16 3Bs, 92 RS (5th)
2B Richardson, Horace Clarke and Pedro Gonzalez
CF Stanley .272
1B Mantle leading .394 OB, 106 BBs (3rd), 19 HRs
RF Maris (when not injured) and Woodie Held (in-season trade)
C Blanchard and Howard platoon 20 combined HRs
3B Boyer 18 HRs
LF Repoz

RF-LF Hector Lopez, RF Mota and LF-CF rookie Roy White saw some playing time.

S1 Stottleymyre leading 12 CGs, 254 IP (3rd), 2.76 ERA
S2 Bouton 2.98 ERA
S3 Ford 35 GS (tie for 2nd), 4.6 WAR (5th)
S4 Downing 224 K's (5th), 8.8 K's/9 (3rd)
RP Mikkelson 2.22 ERA
RP Hamilton 3.01 ERA

On deck, the 1966 Yankees.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by JerryShoe

Having written a book (that was not good enough for publication) about the 1964 season

What happened to it? Unless you are still trying to get it pub'd, you should post it somewhere so we can enjoy it!

[JerryShoe]

Basically I was told both that there was no market for season histories and that 1964 was covered with David Halberstam's "October 1964", although mine was of all baseball (not just Yanks and Cards) with 1964 events (Beatles, World's Fair, Viet Nam) as a backdrop. Thanks for your interest (and I think a collections your posts should be published!), but my attempts waned after 2014, its 50th anniversary. Maybe I'll post it sometime, though.

[Pelican]

Did you cover the collapse of the ‘64 Phillies? Some of us still regard that September with dread, even more than fifty years on. They were a great team, grappling to overcome the Giants and then the Reds down the stretch. Then, St. Louis came out of nowhere and backed into a pennant. Some day I will replay 1964; but meanwhile have started with the Phillies back in 1960, when they prematurely got rid of Richie Ashburn, Curt Simmons, Robin Roberts, Don Cardwell and made a lot of bad personnel choices.

[JerryShoe]

Yes, it was covered, including Jim Bunning's Father's Day perfect game, Chico Ruiz' steal of home, Frank Thomas' injury that coincided with she slide and even that they won their last 2 games to make it close. I did the '64 season in Strat a few times, too.

[RMc]

I'm in the middle of reading a baseball book about 1962 ("1962: Baseball and America in the Time of JFK" by David Krell). Not bad, but the language is a little flowery.

[JerryShoe]

I just saw this now, thanks, I'll look for it next time I'm on Amazon to order books.

[JerryShoe]

1966 Yankees

The Plan
The team needed more punch and the only place to add it was in the corner outfield, between hoping for a healed Maris in right and trading for a leftfielder. In checking those available in LF, none were any better than one already here, Mota. So, trading was replaced by trust that Repoz (who can clout), Mota or White will come through with some homers or Mota or White hit for average and/or show enough speed to offset any power shortage. The infield is set with Boyer, Campaneris, Clarke and Mantle. Looking to rest an aging Howard, catching will be a Howard/Jake Gibbs platoon. The pitching staff is strong in both the rotation (Ford, Stottlemyre, Downing and Bouton) and relief (Hamilton and Mikkelson). Along with Howard, Ford and Mantle will also need senior citizen care.

What Happened to the Plan
Mota took the LF spot because he did much more than expected, a leading .337 and 199 hits, but the big story was Mantle’s resurgence (leading 40 homers, .414 OB and .956 OPS). He was a (distant) second to MVP AL Kaline. I read recently that Mantle wished he hadn’t resisted the move to first base for so long, since 1967 was the first season in a long time that his legs were pain-free, or words to that effect. It annoys me that I saw this so recently (a matter of weeks) and can’t find it now. An exact quote would be nice to drop in here since maybe OOTP knows something as he did SO much better than his real-life 23 homers and .434 SA while still in center. Elsewhere in the lineup, Campaneris again led with 80 steals and 14 triples. 1965 free agent Jerry Grote took over the righty half of the catching platoon before totally taking over the receiving after Gibbs was lost for the season in August. On the mound, Ford was injured for much of the season and Bouton pitched his way out of the rotation and were replaced by Steve Blass (another ’65 free agent signing) and mid-season pickup Jim Perry (for Repoz). The bullpen led by Hamilton and Hal Reniff was strengthened by yet another ’65 free agent, Joe Hoerner.

The Results
An improvement over Dan Topping/Houk and Keane/Houk [note: error in the 1965 recap, management team was actually Houk and Keane] with a second-place finish and 88-74 record (4 off the pace) that looked better than what it was. Unlike the 1965 edition that spent a day here and there in first until falling to .500 and fifth, this year’s team, although always respectable, was never in contention. While the Yanks chopped games off their deficit and climbed up in the standings, the World Series winning Indians had enough of a cushion to outlast them. Since the Oriole AI never traded for Frank Robinson, his .322/41/101 triple crown figures stayed in Cincinnati and the actual World Series champion Baltimore tied for third. In the senior circuit, San Francisco edged actual winner Los Angeles by 3 games and here history and OOTPstory diverge too much to recap from now on.

SS Campaneris: also 190 H (2nd), 105 RS (2nd), 37 2Bs (3rd) and .284
2B Clarke: .274
LF Mota: also .391 OB (4th)
1B Mantle: also .542 SA (2nd), 119 BB (2nd) and .282, 91 RBI
RF Maris: 23 HRs
CF Stanley: 9 3Bs (4th) and .307
C Grote/Gibbs: .285/.295
3B Boyer: 12 HRs

OFs White and rookie Steve Whitaker (.267) saw some playing time.

S1 Blass: 2.51 (3rd)
S2 Downing: 2.86, 15-7
S3 Perry: 3 ShO (2nd) and 2.88 with the Yanks
S4 Peterson: 3.03, 16-8
S5 Stottlemyre: 3.67
RP Reniff: 2.47, 12 SVs
RP Hoerner: 2.47
RP Hamilton 1.97

On deck, the 1967 Yankees.

[JerryShoe]

Mantle's Quote About First Base

Found it, from 1968 edition of Street and Smith's Baseball Yearbook in an article about switching to first base, ripe with remarks like "when you can't do anything else, you can always play first base" and Eddie Mathews; comment about moving across the diamond from third "If at first you don't succeed, you may not succeed at all" ...

Mantle initially "viewed his transformation with trepidation" and believed "it's easier for me to play center field than any place else". He changed his mind a year later, saying "Moving to first base was a big help to me, I'm quite sure I'll be able to play at least two more years..."

He missed 36 games playing first in his final 2 years, after missing 250 in the previous 5 seasons.

[JerryShoe]

1967 Yankees

The Plan
With Mota settled in left, his lack of power should be offset elsewhere, most likely right field or third base. Maris has a recent injury history with good power/low average and Boyer brings a great glove with some punch but an anemic average. Another annoyance is at second, where Clarke has an average glove along with a low .332 OB and awful running numbers (5 SB/10 CS) for a top-of the order player (in fact, in September he was moved down to seventh or eighth and Grote moved into the #2 hole). Whitaker showed some promise in right but the idea was to look for trade alternatives. But even before I could “pick up the phone” it rang with an offer from Detroit, Jim Northrup for Whitaker and Ford. I know Ford has only a month and change left in his career but I would pretend I didn’t and being in the 60’s Yankee management mindset wouldn’t trade an icon anyway. I substituted Bouton, Larry Sherry and some prospects and this was accepted. There is now an evenly balanced outfield, with 2 right-handed hitters, 2 left-handed hitters and a switch-hitter. Maris is now strictly a right fielder and White doesn’t have the arm for right, but the other 3 can man all 3 picket posts. With 2 rookie catchers in camp, there is now a glut in the receiving corps. I dangled Dick Dietz (midseason pickup when Gibbs was hurt) and was offered third baseman Sal Bando by Baltimore. He may not be good for a few years so will have to play him enough to keep him until he does. I made this deal before I saw that I had to trade Howard, since he didn’t play enough in ’66 to be allowed to keep him (my self-imposed “use him or lose him” penalty) so I had to shop an icon anyway. This done, Philly offered second baseman Cookie Rojas. Done. Catching will be the Grote/Gibbs platoon and I’m very happy with the pitching staff of a Downing-Blass-Perry-Peterson-Stottlemyre rotation backed by relievers Hamilton, Reniff and Hoerner.

What Happened to the Plan
In and out of first place through midseason, power being a still-glaring weakness (43 homers, 2nd worst at the time) and seeing Frank Howard on the trading block I dealt for him when the race looked like this:

Balt 44-31 -
Minn 45-32 -
Bos 43-36 1
NY 43-36 1

After adding Earl Wilson as a workhorse starter, there looked to be no place to go but up.

The Results
If I could fire myself, I almost should. Yes, the OOTP Yanks with an 83-79 record good for fifth place did better than the Burke-CBS and Houk version (72-90 and ninth), but after the Howard trade the team went straight down. With Howard added to the lineup, Northrup would either move Stanley (great glove/bad bat) or Mota (the inverse) to the bench and it seemed to upset the chemistry. Howard ending up leading the league with 37 HRs and Mantle turned in another super year, with leading .432 OB and 130 BBs for third in the MVP vote (Yastrzemski won, as in his real-life triple crown year). Disastrous Campaneris was again a speedster (67 steals, good for 2nd) but hit so badly he ended the year at the bottom of the order. The catching platoon of Grote/Gibbs was a debacle. Among 7 starters used, only Peterson and Downing stood out and Wilson went 1-9 for the Yanks. Womack, Hoerner and Mikkelson did well in relief. In news tied to reality, Boston was .002 in front when Tony Conigliaro went down and Harrelson, still with KC, did replace him. The Sox finished third, 5 games behind the Orioles. Hunter is also still an Athletic so is on track to be a ’75 free agent signing.

RF Mota .368 in 418 PAs
2B Clarke .274, 26 SBs
1B Mantle also 27 HRs (5th), .492 SA (2nd), .923 OPS (3rd)
LF Howard also 106 RBI (2nd, 22/56 in NY), .491 SA (3rd)
CF Northrup .240/10/64
3B Boyer 14 HRs
C Grote/Gibbs .194/.232
SS Campaneris .210 with .277 OB

Maris hit .251 with 5 HRs in part-time play, Stanley was relegated to being CF defensive replacement as a result of his .199 BA and White added .257 to the bench mix.

S1 Peterson: 2.30 (3rd), 4 Shutouts (4th)
S2 Downing 2.89, 204 K’s
S3 Perry: 2.54 in 149 IP
S4 Stottlemyre: 3.72
S5 Blass, Wilson and Thad Tillotson
RP Hoerner 2.27
RP Womack 1.92
RP Mikkelson 2.90

On deck, the 1968 Yankees.

[JerryShoe]

1968 Yankees

The Plan
Held and Rojas were traded due to low usage, receiving professional utility infielder Dick Schofield in return. I looked for a catcher but nothing worthwhile was out there, so will make do with another year of a Grote/Gibbs platoon. Addressing the roster and lineup, I decided not to let the outfield work itself out, since it didn’t in 1967, and gave left and center to the excellent gloves of White and Stanley and right to the potent bat of Howard. Mantle and Howard will bat 3-4 and supply the power. Mota won’t have enough PAs to take a full-time outfield spot but he and Northrup can be a platoon of substitutes or take any OF slot if White and Stanley are again found wanting or Mantle shows his age and Howard must move to first. Maris will support in his final year. The keystone combo and top of the order will be Campy and Clarke, and Campy must come back to prior levels. Rookie Sal Bando (traded for Dietz in ‘66-‘67 offseason) may take third from Boyer with some batting average to make up for Boyer’s glove, their power expected to be about the same. The rotation would be the same, but for rookie Stan Bahnsen added to it and Perry (low IP) and Blass (high ERA) going to the bullpen, with the remaining cast members Hoerner, Womack and Mikkelsen already strong and maybe Hamilton will rebound.

What Happened to the Plan
Clarke ran well (17 steals) but still didn’t hit (.214), so got moved down to eighth in the order, then was replaced by Schofield until Rojas returned in a July trade, who then lost the job to Schofield in September. Grote and Gibbs returned to ’66 form and Grote returned to the #2 slot vs. lefties, while White enjoyed a decent year and led off vs. southpaws. Northrup took over for Stanley by the end of the year. Bando did win the hot corner spot and hit fifth until May when he and Mantle, who was hitting .200 but with power, switched slots in the order. Later in the year, Mantle got up to only the .230s but his OB hit .400 and they returned to their original lineup slots. Downing was injured in May, not returning until August, and Blass’ 2.30 ERA in 16 relief innings showed enough to take his place. Bahnsen starred but the rest of the rotation turned in only workmanlike work. The bullpen was strong once again, especially after a May trade for Hoyt Wilhelm.

The Results
Success! A pennant in the fourth season, well ahead of schedule. This had less to do with my baseball wisdom and more to the lack of same from the AI GMs. For the ’69 Royal and ’62 Met projects, I’ll make trading harder and peruse the forums for advice on better trade AI (I used 4 25s). Anyway, this team moved past Baltimore and Detroit in June and kept them both at bay for the rest of the year, ending with a 95-67 record. Mantle’s leading 126 BBs meant a .400 OB (2nd). Howard came in 2nd in the power categories, HRs (36) and RBI (116). Campaneris again led in the speed sections (77 steals and 12 triples) but moved down in the order vs. LHs. Bahnsen became the staff ace with a 14-9 mark and 2.73 ERA, but the rest of the rotation turned in only workmanlike work. Hoerner led the relief corps, aided by Diego Segui, Wilhelm and Womack. Hamilton and Perry both disappointed.

SS-LF Campaneris also 92 RS (4th) White .370 OB, .762 OPS, 98 BB (5th)
LF- C White Grote .282, .362 OB
1B Mantle also 21 HRs
LF Howard also .487 SA (4th), 15 SF (1st)
3B Bando 11 3Bs (5th), .711 OPS
CF Stanley 10 HRs
C -SS Campaneris Gibbs .269
2B Clarke, Rojas (.250 overall) and Schofield (.221)

Maris and Mota barely played and barely hit. Stanley again ended up a CF late-innng defensive replacement, with Northrup (.708 OPS) going to RF and Howard to 1B. Clark was just a pinch-runner by the end of the year.

S1 Bahnsen:
S2 Blass 3 ShO (5th)
S3 Wilson 15-7
S4 Stottlemyre: 3.27
S5 Peterson: 3.47
RP Hoerner 0.87
RP Segui 1.97
RP Wilhelm 2.06
RP Womack 3.00

In ending with this season, I didn’t participate in the 1969 expansion draft and figure out a protected list. I wouldn’t have had to worry about Mantle, who OOTP would retire (in real life he didn’t announce it until the spring so he could lend his name to the player action going on at the time; Kansas City and Seattle had to be talked out of selecting him) or Bobby Murcer being on the military list. For the heck of it, here’s my 15:

Catchers Grote
Infielders Bando Campaneris Howard
Outfielders Northrup Piniella Stanley White
Pitchers Bahnsen Blass Hoerner Perry
Peterson Stottlemyre Wilhelm


I’m sure one of Clarke, Downing, Gibbs or Segui would have been taken in the first round and I would have protected the other three; if none of them were, I would have kept Clarke exposed.

On deck, the 1968 postseason.

[JerryShoe]

1968 “Playoffs”

1968 was the last pure pennant race. The only playoff series was the World Series with the only interleague games that counted. The way to the postseason was being the best of 10: no 4-team divisions, no wild card and definitely no play-in games
My opponents were the Pittsburgh Pirates (98-64), winners of the National League by 3 games in a 5-team fight. The lineup was mostly historically correct with Donn Clendenon (16 HRs), Bill Mazeroski (.263), Gene Alley, Roberto Clemente (.280, 20 HRs) and Willie Stargell (28 HRs) and no big names took the other places. The pitching featured Bob Moose (who OOTP blessed with a 1.10 ERA, well below his actual 2.74) , Bob Veale (1.96) with Luis Tiant (1.82) added to the mix. For some reason, relief ace Wilbur Wood (1.70, 26 Saves) was left off the postseason roster.
The Series opened at Pittsburgh and the home team started Bob Moose. He and Bahnsen had a pitcher’s duel going until the bottom of the 5th when the Pirates broke up the scoreless tie. With Adolfo Phillips, Pittsburgh elected to remove Moose so Freddie Patek could pinch-sacrifice Phillips to second, a questionable move since Moose had the Yankees handcuffed and he could have done the same thing himself. After a Bando error, Clemente was singled in the game’s first run but the rally ended when Howard threw Alley out at third. Southpaw Woody Fryman came in so when Gibb’s spot in the order came up in the 7th, Grote pinch-walked for him to load the bases. One out later Mota did what he hadn’t done much of this year: come through as a pinch-hitter, for Bahnsen, clearing the bases and giving NY a 3-1 lead. Hoerner and Wilhelm sealed the victory with 2 innings of relief each, with Stargell’s solo shot in the 8th making things interesting.
Pittsburgh evened things up in a thrilling game where my 2 relief aces, Hoerner and Wilhelm, were out of character in combining for a blown save and loss. Tiant and Wilson were locked in another pitcher’s duel in the opening frames. Campaneris scored in the 1st on groundout. Alley was once again thrown out on the basepaths, this time at home by White, to kill a threat in the bottom half. Clemente hit a tying solo shot in the 4h and things stayed quiet until the Pirate 7th when they scored twice on only a walk and 2 singles. The Yankees went ahead in the following frame with a 3-run rally after Mike McCormick, Pitt’s fourth hurler in the 8th, got 2 quick outs.
The go-ahead tally scored when Dock Ellis forced in a run when he walked Schofield, but the Yankees left the bases load and it cost them. After Wilson got the opening out, lefty Hoerner came in to face lefty Stargell but this strategy backfired when his homer tied it up. Campaneris was then stranded on third base after landing there with no one out (walk, steal and throwing error on it) with the big guns coming up, but said guns were silent. Finally, in the bottom of the 10th, Wilhelm faced what was going to be his last hitter, Pete Ward, with 2 away. Ward hit all of .204 but with 24 homers, and he was his last batter, but not in the way planned. He cleared the right-field wall to tie the Series.
Back in the Bronx, Game #3 was the third straight 1-run game (and third straight time Alley was thrown out on the base paths). Pittsburgh opened the scoring in the opening inning with 3 singles off of former Buc Steve Blass, an inning where Alley once again ran his team out of more runs. The Yankees started strong with White and Grote reaching base with the 3-4-5 punch coming up, but Mantle and Howard struck out and Bando grounded weakly to second. The Pirates added to their lead in the 4th when Phillips doubled in Jim Pagliaroni. The Yankees threatened in the home half with men on second and third with no outs, but could only come up with 1 run on a groundout. Bando soloed in the 6th to knot things and the game when into extra-inning for the second time in a row. My bullpen blew the game again with yet another of my relief aces, Segui, surrendering 4 hits and a hit batter in the 10th and was lucky to have given up only 1 run, but that was all Pittsburgh needed to go ahead 2 games to 1. Clemente had 3 hits and figured in the scoring of the first and last Pitt runs.
Finally, a blowout, and fortunately in my favor. It didn’t look that way to start when Clemente continued his hot hitting with a homer in the 1st off Bahnsen. The “Bombers” barely touched Moose in the 3rd with a sac fly and wild pitch leading to 2 runs and the lead. Single runs were scored in the 2 innings on but a single hit. Schofield’s double scoring Gibbs and a frame later White walked, stole second, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a balk. The Yanks had a 4-1 lead in the weakest of ways. The game opened up in the 6th when Bahnsen came up with the bases loaded and 1 down. Bahnsen was pitching well, the bullpen hadn’t been so far, and the only lefty bat on the bench belonged to Maris, who didn’t have a good finale this year (Clarke can’t possibly be counted on and is on the roster as a pinch-runner only). Taking a chance against the odds, Maris, like Mota in the opener, came thought in a big way…a grand slam! True to form, Segui gave up a run so I turned it over to an used starter, Stottlemyre, to close out the 8-2 win to tie the Series.
The Bronx finale was another slugfest, but I was on the receiving end this time. After throwing a perfect 2 innings, Wilson was touched for 2 runs on 2 sac flies by the bottom of the lineup sparked by Phillips’ legs (a steal and a score). They really opened things in the next frame with 4 runs after 2 out, culminating with Phillip’s power (a 3-run homer). I was trying to nurse Wilson through this, mainly because his bat was better than a lot of my bench, so I stayed with him too long. Not that it mattered, El Tiano was magnifico and the first run was all he needed in a 7-0 romp. Now I need a sweep in Pitt.
I got halfway to the sweep with a 9-3 thumping of the Pirates. I made all the wrong decisions early when I didn’t run White after he led off the game with single and Grote grounded into a DP, and did run him when he walked his next time up but weak-armed Pagliaroni nabbed him. Meanwhile, Stargell hit a 3-run homer off Blass in the 1st and the Yankees trailed right off. They knocked 2 runs off the lead in the 4th when Blass was lifted and Mota kept a rally going with another pinch-hit. The game was broken open in the 7th when the visitors scored 5 runs after 2 men were out, aided by another of my questionable moves that had Clarke replacing Schofield earlier in the game, depriving the team of a better glove and a potential pinch-runner all at once. It worked out though, as his single plated go-ahead and insurance runs, and later came around to score. He added another ribby in the 9th to cap the scoring. Hoerner earned a 3-inning save.
Brad K and Luckymann might like how this turned out: the Pirates as World Champions. Things looked good for Bahnsen to win Series MVP after pitching to a 2-0 and 0.75 ERA so far and staked to a 1st inning lead, but he gave it all back and more on a Stargell grand slam in the home half. NY clawed back with single runs in the 4th and 6th which was countered by 2 Buc runs in the 8th. The Yankees comeback try in the final frame fell short and Pittsburgh ruled with a 6-4 triumph. Tiant (1-0, 1.17, 1 save) had a hand (or arm) in 3 of the 4 wins and took MVP honors.

Next up, the 1969-76 Kansas City Royals (but in its own thread).

[luckymann]

Thanks Jerry, although it is only BK who's the Bucs fan - despite the focus in my big save, I'm actually an A's supporter (who you might run into when you hit the swinging 70s), Sisyphean task that it is for the moment. Why didn't I feature them instead of the Bucs? Good question. I know there's an answer, I just can't remember what it is. I do plan to do one with them at the centre after they move to Oakland when I'm done with the Bucs one.

[JerryShoe]

As long as you're having fun with it (and the others, I follow your Bill Buckner scenario also). I may do short projects with the rest of baseball after I finish the Royals and 1962-69 Mets, and the A's would be from 1961 to the '71 division title, but I want to do a few Negro League things. Healthy New Year to you!

[luckymann]

Originally Posted by JerryShoe

As long as you're having fun with it (and the others, I follow your Bill Buckner scenario also). I may do short projects with the rest of baseball after I finish the Royals and 1962-69 Mets, and the A's would be from 1961 to the '71 division title, but I want to do a few Negro League things. Healthy New Year to you!

If you need any input on the NeL one down the track, feel free to hit me up bud; I have done - and continue to do - extensive work in this area. Just DM me your email address and we can go from there. If not, no problems - I eagerly await what you come up with all the same.

G