KOD 9 Award Winners

Special thanks to all of those who participated in the balloting.  The voting was exceptionally close.  For the first time in our league history we had a tie for one of the Awards.  Randy Johnson and Gary Bell will share the AL Cy Young Award.  I believe the only time that has happened was in 1969, when Mike Cuellar and Denny McLain shared the AL Cy Young Award.  Another first was Gary Sheffield's unanimous choice for NL MVP.  Sheff's Triple Crown season, another KOD first, made him a lock for the award.

1. NL MVP - Gary Sheffield 1992 San Diego Padres
2. AL MVP - Rocky Colavito 1958 Cleveland Indians
3. World Series MVP - Warren Spahn 1951 Boston Braves
4. AL Cy Young - Randy Johnson 1993 Seattle Mariners / Gary Bell 1958 Cleveland Indians
5. NL Cy Young - Don Drysdale 1964 Los Angeles Dodgers
6. FIREMAN - Bruce Sutter 1979 Chicago Cubs

Congrats to Terry Priest & the 1951 Boston Braves: KOD 9 Champions

Special Congrats to Terry Priest, who has just won his 1st King of Diamonds World Championship.  Terry has managed the Brave franchise since KOD6.  In his 4th season as a KOD manager, Terry took the 1951 Braves to the summit with a classic game 7 win over Dan Holm’s 1974 Chicago White Sox.

As if this is a shock to anyone who has been following the KOD9 World Series…Warren Spahn was named Series MVP.  In KOD’s first ever 7 game World Series, Spahn recorded 3 win (Games 1, 4 and 7) to defeat the Chisox and bring the Brave franchise it’s first KOD championship.  Spahn went 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings worth of work.  Not only did Spahn win 3 and shut the door on the Chisox in game 7, but all 3 of his wins were complete games !  The great lefty carried his team to victory !

World Series GAME 7 – Braves 7, White Sox 2

BSN - Spahn (11-3, 2.97) vs CHW - B.Johnson (5-4, 3.62)

The two most magical words in World Series competition, "Game Seven".  Those words conjure up memories of Johnny Podres shutting out the Yankees to win Brooklyn's only championship, or Mazeroski's walk off homer again Ralph Terry of the Yankees.  It's those golden memories of game 7's that draw us baseball fans to the ballpark or the small screen in order to see which of our cardboard heroes will prevail.  This game 7 had a simple recipe.  The Chisox, who were coming off a 19-2 drubbing needed to start fast and hold the Braves under 2 runs.  That task would be put firmly in the hands of young Bart Johnson.  The Braves were playing their "trump card", which came in the form of one Warren Spahn.  Spahn had dominated the Chisox for victories in games 1 and 4.  If the Braves could score more than 2 runs there was an excellent chance they would be brining the KOD flag back to Beantown.

Popular opinion sided with the Braves, since they had the pitching matchup.  In game 6 the Chisox had the pitching matchup, but it did not play out according to plan.  Game 7 would pay according to plan.  After a scoreless opening stanza the Braves jumped all over Johnson in the top of the second and scored 3 huge runs.  Sid Gordon fanned to lead off the inning but 3 consecutive singles by Bob Elliott, Willard Marshall and Earl Torgeson accounted for the 1st run of the game.  Back to back wild pitches and a single by Roy Hartsfield accounted for the next 2 runs.  Boston was on their way, so was Bart Johnson.  Boston was on their way to a parade down Beacon Street.  Johnson was on his way to a shower.  Kuckleballer Wilbur Wood, who pitched so well in game 5, was brought in to stem the tide and get the final out of the inning.  It remained 3-0 until the 4th when Harsfield knocked in another big run by singling home Earl Torgeson from second. 

Boston would make it 5-0 when Sid Gordon singled home Sam Jethroe in the 7th.  The Chisox finally got to Spahn in the bottom of the 7th, but it was too little and most certainly 2 late.  After getting the first two batters out on bunts back to Elliott at third Spahn walked the next 2 (Dent & Santo).  With the runners moving switch hitter Ken Henderson lined a 2 run double to right to make it 5-2 and give some hope to the fans on 35th street.  Unfortunately for the fans at Comiskey the Braves would get back both of those runs in the top of the 8th when Sibbi Sisti tripled  with 2 out and scored on another Hartsfield single.  By this time Wood was gone and Cy Acosta was toeing the rubber.  Sam Jethroe singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd and Bob Addis singled to center to score Hartsfield and make it 7-2.  Spahn, who threw 122 pitches on the day, was back in his comfort zone with a 5 run lead.  The Pale Hose managed 1 base runner over the final 2 innings (a walk to Carlos May), as Warren Spahn closed out the series and was unanimously elected it's MVP.

Braves win series 4-3

World Series GAME 6 – Braves 19, White Sox 2

9/25-9/26 -  GAMES 6-7 @ Comiskey Park
BSN - Nichols (6-2, 3.08) vs CHW - Kaat (7-8, 3.18)
The Chisox and their fans entered this contest confident, and why shouldn't they have ?  With 20 game winner Jim Kaat on the hill vs journeyman Chet Nichols the cards seemed to be heavily in favor of the Southsiders.  During this KOD season Kaat's record stood at an even 7-7 going into game 6.  Kaat would have won 3 or 4 more if he had gotten decent run support.  Today he would need the Chicago Bears, not the White Sox' offense as the South Siders gave up a ghastly 19 runs in a hugely disappointing blow out loss.  Kaat himself yielded 5 runs in the 2nd inning and never lived to see the 3rd.  Bill Moran was brought on in relief and when he gave up 4 in the 4th Chicago's skipper, Dan Holm, made the decision to leave him in to  take one for the team, so his bullpen would not be depleted for the decisive game 7 that was now looming.  In a game where Boston posted 19 runs on 21 hits it's hard to find just one hitting star.  Every Brave starter had at least 1 hit.  Bob Elliot would have to be the standout, as he went 4 for 5 with 6 RBI and 2 home runs.  Chicago's lone scoring chance came off the bat of aged veteran Ron Santo, who hit a 2 run shot in the 7th to break up Nichols shutout.  With the series now tied at 3 apiece the advantage firmly swings to the side of the Braves who will be sending Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, who already has wins in games 1 an 4, to the hill.

Series tied at 3

World Series GAME 5 – White Sox 4, Braves 1

CHW - Wood (9-6, 3.71) vs BSN - Surkont (5-5, 3.14)
With the series knotted at 2 apiece, a game 5 victory would put the winner up 3 games to 2 with the series heading back to the Southside of Chicago.  That put a little "added pressure" on Brave starter Max Surkont.  WIth the game scoreless entering the the 5th the tension really began to mount.  Who would crack first ?  Who wanted it more ?  Answer:  Boston would crack first and from what our eyes tell us, the Chisox wanted it more.  The inning sure started harmless with pitcher Wilbur Wood and lead off man Pat Kelly both grounding out weakly to Sibi Sisti at short for the 1st two outs.  As easy as it was for Surkont to get those 2 outs, the all important 3rd out would prove  much harder to notch.  Sharp worked out a walk and Jorge "I hit righties good" Orta singled to put runners on 1st an second.  Dick Allen came up and turned on a 2-1 offering that just cleared the asteroid belt en route to Jupiter.  With that mighty clout the Chisox tooka 3-0 lead.  It would not end there as Ken Henderson singled and stole second, then scored on a Bill Melton single.  That would be all the runs the Chisox would need or get.  The Braves would make some hay in the 8th, but manage only 1 run when Sid Gordon singled home Sisti.  Wilbur Wood would go the distance and fan 6 to put the Chisox on the brink of the KOD Championship with the series heading back to the "Windy city".

Chicago leads series 3-2

World Series GAME 4 – Braves 4, White Sox 1

CHW - Kaat (7-7, 2.85) vs BSN - Spahn (10-3, 3.04)
After 2 scoreless innings the Chisox scored an unearned run off of Warren Spahn, who looked to be in big trouble. with runners on 1st and and 2nd and 1 out Dick Allen hit a hot smash to short that Sisti booted to load the bases.  Buddy Bradford, who starts occasionally vs tough lefties, put some good lumber on Spahn's 2-0 offering and hit one deep to left that Sid Gordon caught at the base off the wall.  Brian Downing trotted home with the first run of the game, but Spahn was ecstatic that it wasn't a game changing grand slam.  That would be Chicago's best chance to get to Spahn, who rises to the occasion in these big games.  Knowing his team needed a win to tie the series and avoid going down 3 games to 1 Spahn did exactly what he had to do.  He limited the  damage to 1 run and waited for his offense to come to life.  It took until the 5th inning for Boston to finally solve the riddle called Jim Kaat.  The crafty lefty, who some thought left his best years in Minnesota, has pitched well all year despite limited to no run support.  Today would be no different as his mates were relying on him to make 1 run stick.  Kaat's good, but he's no miracle worker.  Back to back RBI singles by Sisti and Cooper gave the Braves a 2-1 lead.  Kaat gave up 2 more in the 6th when Earl Torgeson pulled one just inside the foul poll.  Spahn  set the side down in order in the 7th and worked out of some moderate trouble in the 8th, before fanning Orta and Bill Stein to close out the game in the 9th and tie the series.

Series tied 2-2

World Series: GAME 3 - White Sox 3, Braves 0

GAMES 3-5 - Comiskey Park
CHW - B.Johnson (5-3, 3.33) vs BSN - Bickford (3-4, 3.96)
The series moved back east to Braves Field in Boston.  The mid 60's weather made it a perfect day for fall baseball.  Chicago opened the scoring in the top of the first when Vern Bickford served up a gopher ball to Jorge Orta, who never gets out vs righ handed pitching.  All the while Chisox starter Bart Johnson did his best Houdini impression by escaping trouble in all of his 5 innings of work.  Johnson was able to fan 5 Braves, which undoubtedly helped him escape damage.  Gossage was brought on in the 6th to replace Johnson after Chicago added 2 more runs to pad their lead to 3-0.  Lefty hitting catcher, Ed Herrmann, who was Chicago's most unsung heroes delivered another huge  RBI hit to score Dick Allen.  After Bill Melton walked, Bucky Dent executed the perfect squeeze play to score Ken Henderson.  On that play Herrmann slid into 3rd and looked to twist his ankle.  The trainers came out and sprayed him up with some ethyl chloride, which helped numb the pain and keep the star backstop in the game.  The Braves didn't put up much of a fight as Terry Forster came on for the final 2 innings to grab the save.  The win put the Chisox up 2-1 in the series, but they paid a huge price as post game X-rays showed that Herrmann broke his ankle and would be gone for the rest of the series.

White Sox take a 2-1 series lead

World Series GAME 2 – White Sox 9, Braves 8

BSN - Nichols (5-2, 3.21) vs CHW - Bahnsen (5-5, 6.40)
On paper the matchup clearly favored the Braves.  Unfortunately for Boston these games are played on the field (ok...a computer).  With the game scoreless the Chisox scored 3 runs in both the 3rd and 4th innings to take a "safe" lead.  In the 3rd they played some small ball and got RBI hits from Bill Melton, Buddy Bradford and Ken Henderson.  A costly throwing error by Bob Elliott in left also helped the Chisox score.  The 4th inning was pretty much a carbon copy of the 3rd.  This big hit in the inning was a 2 run double by Dick Allen.  Buddy Bradford plated Allen when Brave shortstop Sibbi Sisti booted a sinking liner and allowed it to trickle into the outfield.  The top of the 6th saw the Braves halve the score by posting 3 runs of their own.  Sid Gordon launched 2 run double in almost the exact spot Dick Allen's two bagger landed.  The power of "3's" seemed to rule the day as the Chisox got back 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th when Melton singled home Dent.  Pat Kelley was called upon to pinch hit for Bradford and he singled home Melton.  A passed ball allowed Kelly to score 2 batters later for the 3rd run of the frame, which gave Chicago it's second 6 run lead of the game.  With 3 outs to go Skip Pitlock headed back out for his 3rd inning in relief of Bahnsen who went 5 2/3 with 3 runs allowed.  To this point Pitlock had not allowed a run or a hit.  He walked cleanup man Bob Elliott and was immediately sent to the showers in favor of Moran, who got the first batter he faced (Bob Addis) to ground back to the box for out #1.  Earl Torgeson followed with a run scoring double that almost cleared the fence in right center.  Sibbi Sisti grounded to short for the second out and the game looked all but over.  Roy Hartsfield had a seeing eye single up the middle  to score Torgeson to make it 9-5 with 2 outs.  Sam Jethroe singled to right and Willard Marshall put a big scare into the faithful fan of 35th street.  Marshall hit a mammoth shout to dead center, that on most days either hits the wall on one hop or is caught.  Today that ball caught the jetstream and wound up landing safely in the batter's eye for a 3 run shot to make it a 1 run ballgame.  The only sound you could hear on the Southside at this point was the whistle of wind swirling in the outfield.  Walker Cooper was the  next batter and he singled right up the middle off a 101 mph fastball thrown by young reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage.  Gossage might have still been shell shocked after he served up Marshall's 3 run shot.  Gossage can bring the gas, but he needs to learn to locate his pitches better if he's going to make it in this game.  With 2 outs an a runner on first Gossage now had to get cleanup hitter Sid Gordon out.  Gossage was able to get the ball in on Gordon's hands with more than enough velocity to saw the lumber in half.  The ball rolled back to the box and Gossage easily tossed it to first for the final out of the game.  This was a must win for Chicago and it went from being a laugher to almost a choker in 1 inning.

Series tied at 1-1

World Series GAME 1 – Braves 10, White Sox 3

GAMES 1-2 - Comiskey Park
BSN - Spahn (9-3, 3.26) vs CHW - Wood (8-6, 3.94)
The series opener featured a battle of tough lefties.  Boston went with HOF'er Warren Spahn and the Chisox tapped All-Star Wilbur Wood.  Spahn struggled in the first and gave the Chisox a quick 1-0 lead when Bucky Dent led off with a triple and scored on a Jerry Hairston single. After 3 innings Wood allowed only 1 hit and fanned 5.  Things were looking good for the Southsiders until the Braves batted around and scored 7 runs in the top of the 4th. A couple of RBI hits by Ebba St. Claire and Earl Torgeson set the stage for Sam  Jethroe's 3 run homer, which pretty much put it away for the visitors.  Spahn took his 6 run lead and went aggressively after the hitters.  He did give up solo runs in the 4th and the 5th, but he was smart enough not to play around. The Braves added 3 more solo runs off of reliever Tatum, who replaced Wood with 2 outs in the 4th.  Game time temperature was a nippy 53ø and the wind was blowing 10 mph from left to right.  Brave catcher Walker Cooper had a perfect day at the plate (4-4 with 3 runs scored).

KOD9 World Series Preview

1951 Boston Braves (29-22) – Mgr Terry Priest

vs

1974 Chicago White Sox (29-22)  - Mgr Dan Holm

GAME 7 - White Sox 6, Indians 1

For all the hype that these magical game 7's receive this one never once approached expectations.  After 4 innings the Chisox had a nice 4 run lead.  They posted 2 quick runs in the top of the 1st, when Jorge Orta hit a 2 run shot.  Orta struck again with an RBI single in the 2nd and Bill Melton hit his 3rd long ball of the series in the 3rd.  Bill Keller put his trust in Mudcat Grant and for that trust he got no reward.  Meanwhile Jim Kaat was going about his business posting goose eggs inning after inning.  in the top of the 6th the Pale Hose put it away when Carlos May singled home Pat Kelly, who led off the inning with a triple.  After a wild pitch by Grant, Ed Herrmann, who has been Chicago's MVP, singled home May to make it 6-0.  If you were watching at home you could have turned off your TV sets at this point and not missed a thing.    Cleveland broke the shutout and the hearts of their fans in the bottom of the 9th as the Chisox celebrated the AL pennant on the Indians' home turf.  Congrats to Chisox manager Dan Holm, who won his first pennant after 7 seasons piloting Chicago.  Up next he will get to face Terry Priest and his 1951 Boston Braves for the World Championship.

White Sox win series 4 games to 3

GAME 6 - Indians 5, White Sox 3

GAME 6-7 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Cal McLish rebounded to the form that made him a Cy Young candidate during the regular season.  Bart Johnson also rebounded.  His unfortunately for Chicago fans was a rebound back to mediocrity.  McLish scattered 8 hits by only allowing 2 runs over 8 innings of work.  Johnson was tagged for 5 runs in 6 innings.  The game was actually scoreless until Cleveland scored a run in the bottom of the 4th when Bobby Avilla singled home Larry Doby.  The bottom of the 5th would be Johnson's complete undoing as the Indians put up a 3 spot and never looked back.  The big guns, Minoso and Doby had RBI singles in that frame.  Will Harrell hit a solo shot in the 6th to make it 5-0.  Chicago finally got on the board in the 7th when Tony Muser hit a pinch hit homer to lead off the inning.  They also got another on a Buddy Bradford sac fly after pinch hitters Jerry Hairston and Ron Santo singled.  Bradford, the Chisox 3rd pinch hitter in a row had the opportunity to bring his team within one if he could have had another 4 feet on his sac fly.  Dick Allen grounded out weaky to short to end it as the series headed to a decisive game 7.

Series tied at 3-3

GAME 5 - White Sox 9, Indians 3

With the series knotted at 2 the stage was now set for the all important pivotal 5th game.  Both teams decided to go with starters who were not exactly on the top of their game of late.  Cleveland's Herb Score, who has been trying to return from injury, just didn't have it.  Score spotted the Chisox 4 runs in the first, and never got out of the opening frame.  Stan Bahnsen, who has been less than average all season allowed only solo runs in the 1st, 3rd and 7th innings.  By avoiding the "big innings" that victimized him all season, Bahnsen was able to keep his team in the game and protect the lead his offense supplied him with.  cy Acosta came on board for the final 2 and 1/3 innings to throw shutout ball and lock down the win.  Cleveland actually out hit the Pale Hose (11 to 9), but couldn't not get the big hit when it counted.  Colavito went 3 for 3 in the losing effort as Chicago took a 3-2 series advantage into game 6.

Chisox take a 3-2 series lead

GAME 4 - White Sox 5, Indians 3

Oh, the baseball purists were ticked off at this one.  How in the heck can a LCS playoff game be stopped due to rain and awarded to the team that was ahead ?  Why did the league allow it to start in the first place with the weather threatening as bad as it was.  In fact it was already raining before the first pitch was thrown.  Throw into the mix the Windy City's swirling winds and this was more football than baseball weather, and since the Browns weren't playing the Bears, the game should never have even started.  With all that said the game was official and 5 full innings of play were recorded.  Both pitchers seemed to fight the weather from the get go.  Don Mossi, who gave up 5 runs in almost 5 innings worth of work seemed to have the most trouble, although Wilbur Wood, who gave up 3 runs wasn't exactly enjoying it either.  Mossi's pitch count was  at 110 when the game was called.  After Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first the Chisox scored 3 in the bottom of the 2nd.  A bases clearing double by Jorge Orta accounted for all 3 runs.  A two run homer by Mickey Vernon tied it up for the Tribe, but an RBI single by Melton in the 4th and a run scored by Buddy Bradford on a fielder's choice in the 5th gave the Chisox their 2 run margin for victory in the abbreviated post season game.

Series tied at 2-2

GAME 3 - Indians 5, White Sox 1

GAME 3-5 - Comiskey Park
Unheralded Don Ferrarese (7 IP / 1 R) bested 20 game winner Jim Kaat (8 IP / 5 R) as the Tribe took a 2 games to 1 lead in the series.  Chicago wasted a 3 for 4 day from Dick Allen thanks to the fact that his mates could not come up with a timely hit.  Ken Henderson, who has been slumping for most of the season, took the Golden Sombrero.  Hoyt Wilhem pitched the final 2 innings to get the save.  Cleveland was up 3-1 when they scored two huge runs in the 9th.  Bobby Avila made a return from the bench and went 3 for 4.  All in total the Tribe banged out 12 hits.

Tribe takes a 2 games to 1 lead in series

ALCS GAME 2 - White Sox 4, Indians 0

ALCS: '58 Indians (1) vs '74 White Sox (2)
GAMES 1-2 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium

Bart Johnson picked the right time to have the game of his life.  Chicago's bushy haired starter went the distance and tossed an economical 3 hitter that required only 88 pitches.  The final score (4-0) is not indicative of the pitcher's duel that went on for the first 6 innings when neither team scored.  The Pale Hose broke the ice in the 7th when Jorge Orta led off with a double off of Cleveland starter Mudcat Grant.  Dick Allen stepped up to the plate and took a Grant changeup and sent it into orbit somewhere inside of the asteroid belt.  One thing is for certain, Allen doesn't get cheated on his swings and when he connects the ball will return with burn marks from re-entry.  The Southsiders would add 2 more insurance runs in the 9th when Ken Henderson hit a 2 run shot of his own.  On a sad note Roger Maris was injured going back on Ed Herrmann's fly ball in the second.  Maris, who was playing center at the time pulled up lame after he tried to avoid crashing into "the Rock" at the last second.  Larry Doby was summoned off the bench to replace the young star with the flat top.

ALCS GAME 1 - Indians 8, White Sox 5

ALCS: '58 Indians (1) vs '74 White Sox (2)
GAMES 1-2 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium
 In fitting fashion the top 2 seeds in the AL were set to face off for the pennant and the rights to face the '51 Braves in the World Series.  Both teams tapped their respective aces (Wilbur Wood - CHW & Cal McLish - CLE) for the opener.  After a scoreless inning and a half the top seeded Tribe broke the ice with a solo run in the 2nd with a Minnie Minoso solo homer.  This would be the opening salvo for Minoso who had a banner day on the big stage.  The Cuban born star would go 4 for 4 on the day with 2 doubles, a homer and a 2 run single.  To call him "el muchaco" would be an understatement.  The Indians would do extensive damage to Wood's cause in the bottom of the 3rd when they touched him for 3 big runs to make it 4-0.  Young Roger Maris hit a solo shot to lead off the inning and after Pete Ward  singled "The Rock", Rocky Colavito hit a tape measure 2 run shot.  To their credit the Chisox didn't pack it in.  Solo runs in 3 consecutive innings cut the Tribe's lead to 1.  Bill Melton hit a solo shot in the 5th, Ken Henderson walked with the bases loaded in the 6th and Jorge Orta singled home Bucky Dent in the 7th to account for those runs.  The bottom of the 7th would see the Tribe answer back with 3 runs of their own to go back up by 4 again.  Pete Ward and Minnie Minoso had RBI singles.  Minoso knocked in 2 with his hump backed liner to center.  The  Chisox still weren't going to surrender and made it interesting in the 8th by posting 2 runs and cutting the deficit to 2 on the back of Bill Melton's second homer of the day.  Minoso's final hit of his 4 for 4 day was an RBI single in the bottom of the 8th.  It would give the Tribe the 3 run margin that they would finish with.  Hoyt Wilhelm came on for the final 5 outs to nail down the save.  The Chisox used 5 guys out of the pen in hopes of slowing down Cleveland's offense.

NLCS GAME 7: Braves 6, Expos 2 – 1951 Boston Braves win NL Pennant !

NLCS - '83 Expos (2) vs '51 Braves (4)
GAMES 6-7 - Olympic Stadium

Game 7...Oh, the finality of it all (quote to John Madden).  There is a lot of pressure on both the players and the managers when your whole season lies in the balance of the outcome of 1 game.  Boston manager Terry Priest decided to choose Max Surkont as his game 7 starter.  Montreal's Marc Weiss went with Bryn Smith.  To cut to the chase, Terry made the better choice.  Surkont rewarded Terry with a complete game victory and only 2 unearned runs allowed.  Those runs came late in the game (8th inning) when Tim Raines hit a 2 run homer.  Up until that point Surkont was dominant and economical (105 pitches).  Smith on the other hand blew the proverbial "stinker".  By the end of the 3rd inning he was gone.  After giving up 4 runs on 7 hits Smith's day and his team's season were for all intents and purposes gone.

Boston scored 3 big runs in the top of the second when Bob Elliott led off with a double and Earl Torgeson doubled him home.  After Sibby Sisty fanned Roy Harstfield singled home Torgeson.  Surkont flew out to right and with 2 outs Sam Jethroe came through again with a clutch RBI single.  The Braves added another run the following inning when Sisti singled home Walker Cooper with 2 out.  That would be all for Smith, who clearly had nothing in his arsenal.  Ray Burris would come on for the Expos and give up another solo run in the 4th when Cooper doubled home Willard Marshall.  That would be all the runs that the Braves would score off of Burris during his 5 stellar innings of relief work.  After the game his manager was quoted as saying, "Why didn't I start the big man ???  I wish I had a crystal ball to see into the future...unfortunately I don't and my gut said that Smith could do the job.  Obviously I was wrong."  The word "wrong" would be an understatement.  That one choice changed the course of the Expos' season.

Boston scored another insurance run in the top of the 9th off of Bob James.  Surkont had more than enough cushion by this point and was able to retire the first 2 batters he faced in the bottom of the 9th before Al Oliver singled to right.  Tim Wallach was up next and he grounded Surkont's 2-2 offering to Buddy Kerr at short.  Kerr, who came in to the game in the 8th as a defensive replacement, did not boot another ball like he did the previous inning.  Instead, he fielded it cleanly and tossed it to Torgeson at first for the final out as the Braves clinched manager Terry Priest’s first NL Pennant.  Boston will now sit tight and wait to see the results of the ALCS.

Braves win series 4-3