KOD9 - Best .500 Team Ever

KOD 9 Award Winners

2010-05-17T11:26:00.001-07:00

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.

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

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

2010-05-15T15:04:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-15T14:39:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-15T13:51:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-15T13:33:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-12T21:50:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-12T21:39:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-12T19:49:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-12T19:25:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-07T12:53:00.001-07:00

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

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

GAME 7 - White Sox 6, Indians 1

2010-05-07T12:37:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-07T12:33:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-07T12:29:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-07T12:26:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-07T12:17:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-07T12:04:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-07T11:57:00.001-07:00

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 !

2010-05-05T19:29:00.001-07:00

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

NLCS GAME 6: Expos 5, Braves 0

2010-05-05T18:14:00.001-07:00

NLCS - '83 Expos (2) vs '51 Braves (4)
GAMES 6-7 - Olympic Stadium
With their backs up against the wall the Expos once again called on their ace, Steve Rogers to deliver. Rogers not only delivered, he flat out dominated the Braves in this complete game 4 hit shutout. Rogers, who's only bad post season outing was game 3 of the LCS, clearly put his team on his shoulders and took them along for the ride. His 105 pitches in 9 innings shows how economical this outing truly was. The Expos gave Rogers a run to work with in the bottom of the second when they scored an unearned run off of Brave starter Vern Bickford. Warren Cromartie singled then wound up on second when Doug Flynn swung thru a hit an run attempt. Catcher Walker Cooper airmailed the ball into center and "Crow" wound up standing on 3rd. He later scored when Bickford made an error on Flynn's grounder back to the box. The Expos added two more runs to their lead when Tim Wallach hit a 2 run homer in the 4th. Their 4th run came on a Andre Dawson solo shot in the 5th. Dawson knocked in the 5th and final run of the da when he singled home Bryan Little in the 7th. Rogers allowed 2 hits in the top of the 9th, but he was able to get Bob Elliot to ground out weakly to Wallach at third to end it and force a decisive game 7.

Series tied at 3-3

NLCS GAME 5: Braves 6, Expos 5

2010-05-05T17:53:00.001-07:00

NLCS - '83 Expos (2) vs '51 Braves (4)
GAMES 3-5 - Braves Field
The winner of the pivotal game 5 typically goes on to win the series. Both teams knew that the loser would be forced to win 2 games in a row to head on to the World Series. Game 5 saw a rematch of game 1 starters. Charlie Lea (MON) and the great Warren Spahn (BSN) were set to go. Neither starter was very impressive in the opening inning. Montreal jumper all over Spahn and scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st. In fact Spahn didn't register an out until he faced the #6 hitter Jim Wohlford, who flew out to center for a sac fly that scored Gary Carter for the 3rd run of the inning. Both Carter and Andre Dawson had RBI singles prior to Wohlford's sac fly. Montreal's confidence didn't last long. Sam Jethroe led off for the Braves and tripled off the center field wall. Earl Torgeson walked to put runners on the corners for Walker Cooper who singled home Jethroe to make it 3-1. After Sid Gordon walked Bob Elliot flew out to right to score Torgeson on the sac fly. Lea was able to wiggle out of danger, but the score was 3-2. A Gary Carter double in the top of the second scored the speedy Raines from first, but the Braves answered right back with a solo run in the bottom of the frame to make it 4-3 Expos. Lea and Spahn finally settled down and began pitching well. Lea lost the strike zone in the 6th and served up two quick singles to Elliott and Willard Marshall respectively. A wild pitch allowed both runners to move up into scoring position and Sibby Sisti delivered a two run double that put the Braves up 5-4, which is how it would stay until the top of 9th. Raines led off with a single then stole second after Manny Trillo lined out. In a classic battle of HOF'ers Andre Dawson bested Warren Spahn with a clean single to center to score Raines to tie the game at 5. Dan Schatzeder, who pitched a scoreless 8th inning in relief of Lea returned for the 9th to face switch hitter Sam Jethroe. On Schatzeder's firs pitch Jethroe hit a warning track shot that would have fallen short on most nights. This night however the 5mph wind blowing out from left to right carried the ball just over the fence for a game winning walk off homer. Phil Paine, who pitched to 1 batter in the 9th for the Braves was the unlikely winner as the series heads back to Montreal with the Braves up 3 games to 2.

Braves lead the series 3-2

NLCS GAME 4: Expos 5, Braves 4

2010-05-05T15:56:00.001-07:00

NLCS - '83 Expos (2) vs '51 Braves (4)
GAMES 3-5 - Braves Field
Expo starter Bill Gullickson was in a generous mood. After 4 innings of play he had allowed the Braves 4 runs, which quite possibly could have been more. Back to back to back doubles in the 1st by Sam Jethroe, Willard Marshall and Walker Cooper to start the game yielded 2 runs. Gullickson was able to get 3 outs in a row without any further damage. In the 4th he gave up a 2 run homer to Earl Torgeson. With the score 4-1 the Expos began to chip away at Brave starter Max Surkont. A solo run in the 5th made it 4-2 and 2 runs in the 7th tied the game up. Doug Flynn led off with a single, but got forced at second by pinch hitter Terry Francona. Raines singled and Bryan Little walked to load the bases with 1 out. Al Oliver blooped a single to center to score Francona and Andre Dawson tied it with a bomb to center that Jethroe caught against the fence. Raines literally strolled home without fear of being pegged out. Dan Schatzeder replaced Gullickson in the 7th and logged a scoreless inning of work. In the 8th the Expos scored the go ahead run when pinch hitter Mike Vail singled home Tim Wallach. Jeff Reardon was summoned from the pen to get 6 outs and save the ball game. Unlike the modern era closer, Reardon was well acquainted with pitching multiple innings for a save. Reardon faced 7 batters and got 6 outs as the Expos evened up the series and made it now a best 2 of 3. Both teams posted double digit hits. Montreal had 5 runs on 12 hits, while the Braves had 4 runs on 10 hits.

Series tied at 2-2

NLCS GAME 3: Braves 5, Expos 4

2010-05-05T15:41:00.001-07:00

NLCS - '83 Expos (2) vs '51 Braves (4)
GAMES 3-5 - Braves Field
On paper the pitching match-up heavily favored the Expos, who were sending LDS hero Steve Rogers out to the mound. Rogers, for all of you who remember, had 15 consecutive scoreless innings thrown in the LDS vs the Giants. He was not about to have any such luck this game vs the Braves as Boston scored a solo run right off the bat in the bottom of the 1st when Sam Jethroe led off with a homer. The Braves would add to their lead with 3 more runs in the bottom of the 5th. After giving up 5 runs and 10 hits in 5 innings worth of work Rogers was sent to the showers. Montreal had a tough hill to climb, but they weren't quitting just yet. The offense finally got in gear and the 'Spos matched the 3 runs that Boston scored the half inning before to again make it a 1 run game. "The Hawk", Andre Dawson doubled home Tim Raines. Gary Carter, who reached on a fielder's choice, scored on a routine ground out by Al Oliver. Tim Wallach singled Dawson home and the Expos were now right back in it. Boston scored a solo run in the 6th and the Expos countered in the top of the 7th when Carter singled home Raines, who had tripled with 1 out. Boston starter Chet Nichols was gone after posting a "so called" quality start. After 6 IP and 3 runs allowed the Braves went to the pen. Dave Cole was responsible for the 7th & 8th innings and allowed a the solo run that put the 'Spos one down. George Estock was brought on in the 9th to close it out. Montreal went quietly in the 9th and the Braves took a 2-1 series lead with 2 more games left at home.

NLCS GAME 2: Expos 10, Braves 3

2010-05-05T15:15:00.001-07:00

NLCS - '83 Expos (2) vs '51 Braves (4)
GAMES 1-2 - Olympic Stadium
The Expos called upon Bryn Smith to right the ship. Montreal could not afford to go down 0-2 at home in the series. After the Expos posted a solo run in the 1st the Braves had Smith on the ropes when they scored 3 in the top of the 2nd. Earl Torgeson doubled home two and Sibbi Sisti launched a sac fly to center to score Torgeson. Smith was in trouble but through good fortune he was able to get the 8th place hitter Roy Hartsfield and Brave pitcher Vern Bickford out to end the inning. Little did the Braves know that those three runs would be the only runs that they would score on the day. Apparently Smith found his mojo and blanked the Braves over the final 7 frames. With the damage already done, Smith still needed his offense to bail him out. The bottom of the 4th was just one of those innings a pitcher who needs run support relishes. In that inning the Expos sent 13 batters to the plate. 8 of those 13 returned home safely. All of Montreal's 7 hits were singles. Some crafty base running coupled with bad pitching by Bickford and poor fielding led to the onslaught. Both Tim Raines and Andre Dawson had 3 hit days. Tim Wallach was he only expo starter without a hit or RBI. Montreal banged out 10 runs on 14 hits to even the series.

Series tied at 1-1

NLCS GAME 1: Braves 9, Expos 3

2010-05-05T15:00:00.001-07:00

NLCS - '83 Expos (2) vs '51 Braves (4)
GAMES 1-2 - Olympic Stadium
The hangover from their 5 game LDS was still apparent as the 'Spos spotted the Braves 4 runs in the first inning and never looked back. Charlie Lea rebounded from that dreadful opening frame and gave up only 1 more run through the next 6 1/3 innings of work. Unfortunately for Montreal you can not spot a HOF'er like Warren Spahn a 4 run lead. Spahn was mortal on this day, but thanks to his offensive support he didn't need to be anything more. Boston's big guns were responsible for the 4 run lead. Sid Gordon had a 2 run double and Bob Elliott followed that up with a 2 run homer. Montreal got a solo run in the 4th and 2 in the 7th to cut the Braves lead to 4-3. Tim Wallach had and RBI double and Al Oliver scored on a Jim Wohlford ground out. The Expos looked back in it, but Earl Torgeson hit a two run blast off of Ray Burris in the 8th to make it 6-3. The floodgates opened up in the 9th when Bob Elliott hit his 2nd homer of the game and Boston plated 3. Spahn went the distance as the Braves took the series opener.

Braves lead series 1-0

Braves upset Redlegs in 4

2010-05-04T21:17:00.001-07:00

NLDS: '58 CIN (1) vs '51 BSN (4)
GAME 1 - Crosley Field
Braves 8, Reds 4
Neither Warren Spahn, nor Joe Nuxhall were on their "A" game in the opener, but Spahnie seemed to gut it out and make the big pitch when needed. Nuxie was gone before the 6th was complete having surrendered 7 runs (6 earned). Spahn went the distance allowing 4. With the score 5-2 the Braves scored 3 big runs in the top of the six. Those runs would be very valuable since the Reds answered back with 2 of their own in the 7th. Sid Gordon went 2 for 4 with 4 RBI's, a homer and a double to pace the Braves.

GAME 2 - Crosley Field
Reds 5, Braves 0
Bob Purkey, who struggled all season, picked the best time of the season to be dominant. Purkey tossed himself a neat 4 hit shutout as Cincy tied the series up a 1 game each. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 4th when the Reds struck it big with 4 runs off Brave starter Vern Bickford. Banjo hitting shortstop Roy McMillan slugged a two bagger that scored Jerry Lynch and Frank Robinson. Johnny Temple and Gus Bell followed that up with RBI singles of their own. Temple had another RBI single in the 8th to give Purkey an insurance run he would not need.

GAME 3 - Braves Field
Braves 2, Reds 1
Cy Young candidate Don Newcombe hooked up in classic pitcher's duel with Chet Nichols. For the first time all year Newcombe would come out on the short side of the stick as Cincy's offense could not get in gear. It all looked so hopeful for the Redlegs as they drew first blood with a run in the top of the 1st when Nichols uncorked a wild pitch and Roy McMillan raced home. Cincy had a chance for a big inning, but Pete Whisenant fanned with runners in scoring position to end it. Big Newk was nursing his lead until the bottom of the 4th when the Braves scored 2 to take the lead. Back to back doubles by Earl Torgeson and Walker Cooper tied the game. A single by Sid Gordan put runners on the corner and a medium fly to right by Bob Elliott put the Braves ahead 2-1. That would be it on the scoring front as Newk and Nichols began baffling hitters. Cincy got a 2 out single by McMillan in the top of the 9th, but Jerry Lynch popped out to shallow left to end it and give the Braves a 2-1 edge in the series.

GAME 4 - Braves Field
Braves 5, Reds 3
"The Kitten", Harvey Haddix, was far from "Purr-fect" on this fateful day for the #1 seeded Redlegs. Boston jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the home half of the second when Bob Elliott hit a 2 run homer. Cincy tied it up in the 3rd when Haddix led off with a double and scored on a throwing error by his opposing number (Max Sukont). "Mighty Max" bobbled Vada Pinson’s bouncer that went back through the box. Instead of eating the ball Surkont made a wild throw over Torgeson's head as Haddix came around to score. Jerry Lynch doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. A big inning looked to be in the making, but the Reds just couldn't string some hits together. They did however score the tying run on a fielder's choice off of Frank Robinson's bat. Both teams exchanged solo runs in the 5th. Cincy got theirs off the bat of Frank Robby and Boston got theirs from an RBI double by Sam Jethroe. The Braves took the lead for good in the 6th when Willard Marshall doubled home Torgeson with 2 out. This would prove out to be a huge clutch hit. Sid Gordon would hit a solo shot in the 8th to provide the Boston pen with a much needed insurance run. Dave Cole would pitch a scoreless 8th for the Braves in relief of Sukont and George Estock would do the same to notch the save in the 9th and close out the series.

SERIES NOTES: The underdog Boston Braves defeated the dominant #1 seed Cincinnati Reds in a series that looked much like a mismatch on paper. Boston manager Terry Priest said in his post game interview, "Cincy dominated the NL this season, but they had a lot of trouble with the Braves all season. Some teams just don't match up well with others." For the record the Braves were 5-1 against the Reds in the regular season and 3-1 in the post season for a combined 8-2 dominance of the Redlegs who posted an incredible 25-9 record vs the rest of the National League. Boston will now head across the border to face the #2 seed Montreal Expos who barely beat the SF Giants in the NLDS.

Mr Rogers Neighborhood…Expos outlast Jints on ace hurlers’ shoulders

2010-05-04T16:57:00.001-07:00

NLDS: ‘83 MON (1) vs ‘75 SF (4)
GAME 1 - Olympic Stadium
Expos 4, Giants 0
Steve Rogers (9 IP / 0 R) outdueled Jim Barr (7 IP / 2 R) in this series opener. Montreal scored solo runs in the first and second and could have scored more if Barr wasn't such a clutch performer. With runners on 1st and 3rd Barr fanned Tim "Eli" Wallach to end the first. In the second he got Al "Scoops" Oliver to hit into a inning ending DP with the bases loaded. Montreal gave Rogers 2 insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th when "the Hawk", Andre Dawson led off with a walk and stole second as Wallach got caught looking for the second out of the inning. Warren Cromartie picked up his teammate by singling home Dawson to make it 3-0. Doug Flynn then executed the perfect hit and run as Cromartie scored from 1st to make it 4-0. Rogers was never really in any trouble as in this 3 hit complete game shutout.

GAME 2 - Olympic Stadium
Expos 4, Giants 1
Lefty Pete Falcone did his best to battle Montreal's strong righty lineup. When he left the game after 7 innings of work he was however on the short side of a 2-1 score. Dave Heaverlo came on in the 8th and was tasked with not allowing a run. Unfortunately for the 'Jints Heaverlo got in trouble right off the bat. Manny Trillo walked and went to third on Al Oliver's single to right. A wild pitch allowed both runners to move into scoring position. Wallach, who has been struggling at the plate lately, popped out to shallow right. The ball was not hit deep enough for Trillo to advance. "The Kid", Gary Carter, lined a clean single to center to score both runs and give Expo hurler Charlie Lea more than enough runs to work with. Lea allowed a 1 out single to Derrell Thomas, but got Bobby Murcer to hit into a game ending DP to put the Expos up 2 games to none in this best of 5.

GAME 3 - Candlestick Park
Giants 4, Expos 3
In this most win elimination game Ed Halicki dominated Expo hitters until his tank hit empty in the 9th. San Fran was nursing a 1 run lead until the 7th when the got 3 big runs off of Expo starter Bill Gullickson thanks to back to back homers by Chris Speier and Steve Ontiveros. The Giants would need every one of those insurance runs as the Expos scared the heck out of them with 3 runs of their own in the 9th. After Tim Raines doubled home Cromartie with 1 out pinch hitter Mike Vail singled home Raines and pinch hitter Bobby Ramos. "The Stick" was so quiet at this point you could hear a pin drop. Manager Ron Leone went to the pen and got the coveted lefty/lefty matchup and reliever Gary Lavelle got Al Oliver to hit into a game ending DP. The win kept the Giants alive for at least one more night.

GAME 4 - Candlestick Park
Giants 8, Expos 5
Trying to stave off elimination the Giants not only had to battle the #1 seed Expos, but they had to fight against two very powerful females: Mother Nature & Lady Lucky. Mother nature supplies 48 minute rain delay that effective ended "The Count" John Montefusco's day after 5 innings and 109 pitches. "The Count's line score might not have been all that impressive, but his ability to get out of jams and only allow 2 runs was key to keeping his team in it. His opposing number, Bryn Smith, had an identical linescore and so the game was tied at 2 when the rains set in. Montreal returned from the rain with some vim and vigor, but Lady Luck seemed to be their best ally as Montefusco's replacement Rob Dressler threw 8 pitches then slipped on the soggy mound and injured his knee. Dressler left the game immediately to seek medical attention and Mike Caldwell came on board to allow two runs on a Tim Wallach double. Dan Schatzeder came on board to face San Fran's tough lefty lineup. On paper the lefty/lefty matchups would seem to favor the Expos. This was not the case as the 'Jints scored 3 runs in both the 6th and 7th innings to put the game away and force a deciding game 5 in Montreal. Schatzeder took the loss and Caldwell somehow notched the win. The Giants got big homers from Ed Goodson and Dave Rader.

GAME 5 - Olympic Stadium
Expos 8, Giants 2
The deciding game 5 was to be a repeat of the series opener matchup. Jim Barr would be on the hill for the Giants and game 1 winner, Steve Rogers , would be representing the Expos. Barr cracked first when he gave up 2 runs to the 'Spos in the bottom of the 2nd. Al Oliver hit a line shot that Barr snagged, only to throw it away. Tim Wallach walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Warren Cromartie "took one for the team" to load the bases. Doug Flynn grounded hard to third baseman Steve Ontiveros, who was playing in. Ontiveros hurried his throw and it sailed a bit on catcher Dave Rader. That was just enough to allow Oliver to score the first run of the game. Manager Leone came out of the dugout to argue, but it was to no avail as the umpires were not about to reverse the call. Rogers fanned on 3 pitches for the first out and Tim Raines grounded to second for out #2, but in the process Wallach scored easily to make it 2-0 Expos. It would stay that way until the top of the 7th when the Giants finally solved Rogers' mastery over them. After 15 consecutive scoreless innings vs the Giants, Rogers finally allowed some runs. San Fran scored twice to tie the game up at 2. Garry "Sarge" Matthews, Willie Montanez and Chris Speier led off the inning with 3 consecutive singles. Steve Ontiveros walked to force in the Giants first run of the game. It was now one of those times in a ball game where a pitcher needs to make a big pitch. Rogers did just that by getting slow footed catcher Dave Rader to hit into a tailor made 4-6-3 DP. On the play Montanez scored the tying run, but Rogers was able to limit the damage and not allow San Fran to take the lead. Pinch hitter Greg Adams flew out to center to end the inning as San Fran blew a great opportunity to take the lead and possibly knock Rogers out of the box. With the tension mounting on both benches Giants reliever Dave Heaverlo was the first to show an adverse affect. The inning began harmlessly. Chris Speier led off and grounded weakly to short. Speier had to enter the game in the 6th when Al Oliver jammed his thumb and had to leave the game. Tim Wallach blooped a single to right, but the next batter (Warren Cromartie) flew out to Bobby Murcer for the 2nd out of the inning. That's when things got a little strange. Mike Caldwell came on board for the lefty/lefty matchup and proceeded to walk Terry Francona, who battled back from a 1-2 count. Montreal countered with pinch hitter Mike Vail, which hastened Caldwell's exit in favor of righty Charlie Williams who bounced a 2-1 pitch in the dirt that Rader could not block. That put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Vail took ball 4 to load the bases. With a 1-1 count on Tim Raines and the runners moving "the Rock" hit a one hopper to second that went right under Derrell Thomas' glove to score Wallach and give Montreal a 3-2 lead. That error was San Fran's 3rd on the day. Randy Moffitt was brought on to relieve Williams. Bryan Little worked the count to 3-2 when he lined a single to right to score both Francona and Vail to make it 5-2. Gary Carter was up next and he hit a soft liner to right to score Raines and move Little to third. Moffitt uncorked another wild pitch to make it 7-2 with Andre Dawson at the plate. Moffitt jammed "the Hawk" who flared one into left that Matthews let hit the heel of his glove for San Fran's 4th error of the day. That gave the Expos 6 runs, all with 2 outs and a commanding 8-2 lead going into the top of the 9th. Bob James came on board to finish it out for Rogers and fanned Matthews and Montanez before getting Speier to fly out to right to end the game and the series. The Expos dodged a huge bullet and almost blew this series after going up 2 games to 0.

Montreal will host the well rested '51 Boston Braves in the LCS.

Special Note: Chris Speier had the unenviable task of playing on both teams during this series. For the Giants he was an All-Star shortstop. For the Expos he was a platoon playing middle infielder.

Pale Hose eliminate A’s in 4

2010-05-04T13:13:00.001-07:00

ALDS: ‘74 CHW (2) vs ‘68 Oak (3)
GAME 1 - Comiskey Park
A's 9, White Sox 6 (15 inn)
The Battle of the "Jim's" saw both starters battle it out for 8 innings with Kaat clinging to a 1 run lead over Hunter. In the top of the 9th A's catcher Jim Pagliaroni singled to right and went to second when Pat Kelly booted the ball. Bert Campaneris and Dick Green walked to load the bases and Danny Cater hit a slow dribbler to short and beat out the relay to first to avoid the double play and tie the game. Chicago did nothing in the home half of the 9th and we headed to extra innings. Oakland scored 2 in the top of the 10th and it looked about over as Cy Acosta and Skip Pitlock combined with faulty defense to allow Oakland to take the lead. Diego Segui came on to close it out and did what he's done all year...blow the save. After allowing a clean single to Dick Allen Segui served up a gopher ball to Ken Henderson who hit it deep into the night to tie it. A similar scenario happened in the 11th when Oakland scored a run on a Rick Monday single only to see Segui give it back in the bottom of the inning on a Pat Kelly double. There was no further scoring until the top of the 15th when Oakland scored 3. Danny Cater singled home Campaneris who led off the inning with a double. Mike Hershberger supplied the final blow with a 2 out doubled to score Reggie Jackson and Sal Bando. Jack Aker, who had already pitched 2 scoreless innings was tasked with getting 3 outs for the win. He was able to get 2 quick outs, but then gave up a single to Jorge Orta and a walk to Dick Allen to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Ken Henderson. Aker was tired and the Oakland pen was empty, so Blue Moon Odom was forced to come in to get the final out, which he did. Henderson grounded weakly to second and the A's took a 1-0 series lead in the 15 inning / 6 hour marathon playoff game.

GAME 2 - Comiskey Park
White Sox 4, A's 3
Thanks to the 15 inning marathon in game 1 Oakland was forced to go with journeyman reliever Lew Krausse as their game 2 starter. Wilbur Wood toed the hill for the Pale Hose, who spotted Oakland a 2-0 lead in the 4th, when Rick Monday doubled home Jackson and Bando. Jorge Orta led off the bottom of the 4th with a homer to cut Oakland's lead in half. Krausse was doing fine until the fateful 6th, when Ken Henderson struck again with a big homer. This time the Chisox centerfielder launched a 1 out 3 run shot that scored Orta and Allen and gave Chicago a 4-2 lead. Krausse was done for the day and lefty Paul Lindblad came on in relief. Oakland made it real interesting when Jim Pagliaroni homered to lead off the 7th. With the score 4-3 the onus was on Wood. Oakland loaded the bases with 2 outs in the 8th and had Wood on the ropes with Pagliaroni up once more. Wood floated a knuckler that jammed "Pags" who just missed the sweet spot and took the ball on a ride to the warning track where it died in Carlos May's glove. A collective sigh of relief was let loose by the capacity crowd in the old ballpark on 35th street. Wood had no such trouble in the 9th as he set the A's down in order and evened the series up a 1 game apiece.

GAME 3 - Oakland Coliseum
White Sox 4, Oakland 2
Bart Johnson threw 8 innings of shutout ball until the bottom of the 9th, when he began to tire. Oakland started the inning with 3 consecutive hits. Rick Monday Doubled home Reggie Jackson and Sal Bando scored easily on a weak grounder to short by Floyd Robinson. Johnson by this point was pitching on fumes, but managed to gut it out and get the final two outs to end the game and give the South Siders a 2-1 series edge. Chicago broke the ice in the 4th when Dick Allen hit a 2 run homer that cleared the centerfield scoreboard They scored again in the 6th when Bill Melton hit a clutch 2 out single off of Blue Moon Odom, who inexplicably decided to pitch to the slugging 3rd baseman and not take his luck at the pitcher (Johnson) who was on deck.

GAME 4 - Oakland Coliseum
White Sox 4, A's 0
Oakland starter Jim Nash gave up 4 runs over the first 3 innings to put his team firmly behind the 8 ball. Chicago posted a 3 spot in the top of the first to take the life out of the Bay area crowd that came to cheer on the Green and Gold in hopes of them evening the series. After Pat Kelly led off with a single Jorge Orta came through once again with a double off the right field wall to make it 1-0. With 2 outs Bill Melton came through for the second day in a row with a 2 run single. Jim Kaat was baffling the free swinging Oakland hitters and was more than thankful to see Orta hit a solo shot in the 3rd. Jim Nash was done after 5 innings and Ed Sprague came on and threw 3 shutout innings in hopes that his offense would come to life. Sadly for the home town fans, that offense went from life support to flatline. Kaat tossed a 5 hit complete game shutout to clinch the series for the Pale Hose.

The White Sox will head to Cleveland to face the '58 Indians in the ALCS.

Tribe Scalps M’s in 4 to advance to LCS

2010-05-04T10:10:00.001-07:00

ALDS: ‘58 CLE (1) vs ‘93 SEA (4)
GAME 1 - Cle Municipal Stadium
Indians 10, Mariners 0
Coming off their fantastic "Play in" game victory over Anaheim the M's arrived flatter than a pancake. To their credit they held it together until Cleveland struck for 3 in the bottom of the 5th. Cal McLish was cruising and scattered 6 hits in a complete game victory. Larry Doby was the hitting star with 2 homers and 5 RBI on a 3 for 4 day. Minnie Minoso added a solo shot of his own.

GAME 2 - Cle Municipal Stadium
Mariners 3, Indians 1
Seattle evened the series as Erik Hanson outdueled Mudcat Grant. With the score tied at 1, Seattle posted 2 runs in the top of the 8th when Tino Martinez singled home Litton and Ken Griffey Jr. scored on a Dave Valle sac fly to Minoso in left. Norm Charlton came on to blow the Tribe away in the bottom of the 9th to record the save. Rocky Colavito and Larry Doby fanned for the 1st and 3rd outs of the inning.

GAME 3 - Kingdome
Indians 6, Mariners 2
Randy Johnson picked the wrong time to not have his stuff. Johnson couldn't survive the 8th inning and left the game with 6 runs allowed (4 earned). His opposing number, the unheralded Don Ferrarese, was rock solid going 8 and giving up only 2. After the M's scored 2 in the bottom of the 6th cut Cleveland's lead in half Ferrarese did not allow another run. The Indians scored 2 insurance runs in the 8th to seal the deal. Larry Doby hit 2 run shot in the 4th. Both teams had 8 hits, but Cleveland made theirs count for more runs.

GAME 4 - Kingdome
Indians 11, Mariners 3
Cleveland scored early and often off of Dave Fleming, who gave up 10 runs (6 earned) in less than 5 innings of work. Minnie Minoso was 3 for 5 with 3 RBI/Runs and a homer. Gary "Ding Dong" Bell won again and hasn't lost all season as the Indians closed out this series in style. Ken Griffey Jr. fanned 3 times and avoided a 4th with a solo shot in Seattle's 3 run 8th inning. After the game the home town fans saluted their team for their valiant effort to just get to the post season. Lost in the shuffle was the 5 RBI day by Indian catcher Dick Brown.

The 1958 Cleveland Indians advance to the LCS to play the 1974 Chisox.

M’s hold off Halos to win Wild Card Play in Game

2010-05-03T07:23:00.001-07:00

The play-in game at Anaheim was slugfest from the start. Seattle scored five runs in the first two innings, chasing Anaheim started Bottenfield from the game. The Angels countered with a six-run fifth to take a 6-5 lead and get rid of Seattle's Starter, Bosio. The bullpens took it from there, and played very variably. Seattle got two runs in the seventh to take an 8-6 lead,. Mo Vaughn homered in the eight to trim the lead to one, but Seattle scored again in the ninth and Norm Charlton pitched a near-perfect inning to save the game. The Mariners advance to the wild card round with a 9-7 win. Aryault earned his first win of the year from the M's, while Hasegawa fell to 1-5 with the loss.

--submitted by Michael Hopcroft--

NL All-Stars

2010-05-01T15:53:00.001-07:00

AL All-Star Team

2010-05-01T15:51:00.001-07:00

NL Leaders

2010-05-01T15:47:00.001-07:00

AL League Leaders

2010-05-01T15:44:00.001-07:00

KOD9 Final Reg Season Standings (minus play in game)

2010-05-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

Tigers take 2 of 3 and knock Bosox out of Wild Card race

2010-05-01T14:06:00.001-07:00

9/27 – 9/29 – Tiger Stadium

GAME 1 – Red Sox 8, Tigers 3 - Ellis Kinder left due to injury after 1 2/3 innings of work. That didn’t stop the Bosox hitters from destroying Tiger starter Foytack (4-2, 4.14) who gave up 7 in almost 7 innings of work. Dick Gernert was the hitting star as he went 2 for 5 with 4 RBI and his 3rd homer of the season. Ray Boone went 3 for 3 with 2 RBI for Motown in a losing cause. The loss eliminated Detroit from Wild Card consideration.

GAME 2 – Tigers 11, Red Sox 0 – Billy Hoeft (2-4, 4.54) saved his best outing of the season for his last. In his KOD swan song Hoeft fanned 10 Bosox and scattered 5 hits to record the complete game shutout. Charlie Maxwell went 4 for 5 for the Tigers who banged out 17 hits. Ray Boone also had a great day at the plate going 3 for 4.

GAME 3 – Tigers 15, Red Sox 1 – Needing a win to force a play in game for the Wild Card the Bosox blew a stinker by allowing 11 runs in the 1st inning. Boston needed 3 pitchers during that frame just to escape. Jim Bunning (4-5, 2.60), who struggled to get run support all season, had more than enough to cruise to victory. Detroit sent 16 batters to the plate in the 1st. Al Kaline had the big blow of the inning with a 3 run shot to cap off the landslide. Kaline had 7 RBI on the day, which included his 2nd 3 run homer in the 5th.

Dodgers sweep Friars: Sheff wins NL Triple Crown !

2010-05-01T13:43:00.001-07:00

SD bit the big one here.....lost all 3.
Sheff did OK in Game 1 - but was not really a factor in Game 2 or Game 3. In Game 3, Drysdale pitched another complete game shutout to lower his ERA to 1.08 and earn a 6-3 record - he faced only 29 batters, giving up 2 hits and 0 walks.
He should be considered for the NL CY Young.

Gary Sheffield held on to win the NL Triple Crown. The first such accolade ever in KOD. Sheff’s final #’s are:

BA: .352 – 14 points higher than Tony Gwynn

HR: 14 – 2 more than Barry Bonds (12)

RBI: 40 – 9 more than Bonds (31)

Don Drysdale surely made a case for he Cy Young award. His nearest competitors are: Don Newcombe (6-0, 1.80, 16 k’s) and Tom Seaver (7-3, 1.93, 76 k’s). Voting should be awfully close.

--submitted by George Bseraini--

Jints sweep Redlegs gain WC birth !

2010-05-01T08:55:00.001-07:00

Their hopes of a postseason berth in the KOD playoffs hanging by a thread, the 1975 San Francisco Giants had a tall order awaiting them in their final season series

against the first place 1958 Cincinnati Reds. And even after completing a three-game sweep against the division champions, the Giants still can only wait to see

if a 22-18 record will be good enough to secure a wild card berth in next week's playoffs. (written prior to PIT/NYM series)

9/27 – 9/29 – Candlestick Park

GAME 1 – Giants 6, Reds 3

The Reds opened with a bang. Frank Robinson's two-run homer in the first and Ed Bailey's solo job an inning later and it's 3-0 before the first polish dog is consumed. Even worse for the offensively-challenged Giants, Reds starter Bob Purkey looks like he's throwing darts on this day. San Franciso's Chris Speier reached Pukey for a solo HR and the Giants scratched and clawed for a run in the fourth to make it 3-2. But it looked as though three runs would easily be enough to handle the meager Giants -- until the eighth. Pinch hitter Glenn Adams awoke San Francisco's slumbering offense with a pinch-hit opposite field home to start the inning. While it wasn't loaded with Bobby Thompson-like charm, Adams shot was at least heard loud and clear by the SF hitters. Von Joshua's double, Gary Matthew's RBI single and Gary Thomasson's base hit chased Purkey. Speier greeted reliever Hal Jeffcoat with a two-run single to complete the improbable comeback rally. The Reds loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth before SF reliever Gary Lavelle preserved the win by retiring Smokey Burgess on a grounder to second. That gave Giants starter Pete Falcone (8 IP, 3H, 3R) his fourth win against two losses. After vaulting to an early lead, the Reds managed just one more hit before staging their ninth-inning threat. Purkey (7 2/3IP, 8H, 6ER) saw his record fall to 2-5 for the season.

GAME 2 – Giants 7, Reds 3

Once again, the Reds bolted out of the starting gates, tagging SF pitcher Ed Halicki for three runs and six hits in just two innings. Singles by Jerry Lynch, Frank Robinson and George Crowe plated a first-inning tally for Cincy. Then in the second, Johnny Temple delivered an RBI double and Gus Bell made it 3-0 with a run-producing single. But Halicki held the Reds scoreless the rest of the way before departing with one aboard and two outs
in the eighth. That gave San Francisco's offense the grace period it needed to get back into the game. Reds starter Harvey Haddix blanked SF until the fourth, when the Giants loaded the bases with no outs on a single, double and walk. Garry Matthews then smoked a two-run single to right. The Giants added two more runs on a fielder's choice and Marc Hill's RBI single to take a 4-3 lead.
The Giants finally sent Haddix to the showers with a three-run uprising in the seventh. Singles by Derrell Thomas and Bobby Murcer set the table for Matthews, who ripped an RBI single and Hill capped the rally a two-run single. Halicki finally ran out of gas in the eighth after allowing a one-out double to George Crowe. Gary Lavelle hurled 1 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball to preserve the win despite tight-roping his way through a bases-loaded scare in the ninth. Halicki's 143-pitch effort netted the 6-foot-8 right-hander his second win of the season against three losses despite a respectable 2.36 ERA. Haddix surrendered 12 hits, seven earned runs and four walks in one of his worst outings of the season. The southpaw entered with a 6-2 record and his 2.52 ERA was among the KOD's best.

GAME 3 – Giants 3, Reds 2 (12 innings)

Needing a win "big time" the Giants handed the ball to their prime time pitcher, ace John Montefusco. The Reds countered with left-hander Alex Kellner (1-0, 2.89 ERA), who had made just one previous start this season. The two pitchers battled in a duel for nearly 10 innings. In what became a series trademark, Cincinnati again scored first. Vada Pinson's sacrifice fly ball Jerry Lynch's RBI single staked Kellner to an early 2-0 lead. In the fourth, SF broke through against Kellner. Bruce Miller cracked an RBI single to make it 2-1. An inning later, the Giants tied the game on Von Joshua's leadoff double, a single by Derrell Thomas and Chris Speier's surprise bunt. After each team squandered late-inning threats, San Francisco finally won it in the 12th. Dave Rader's leadoff double, an error and Thomas' sacrifice fly put an end to nearly 3 1/2 hours of bone-chilling baseball that probably
meant more to the Giants than the playoff-destined Reds. Montefusco went nine innings, allowing nine hits and two earned runs. Kellner was just as superb, going 9 1/3 and allowing nine hits and two runs. Jerry Lynch was a major menace to SF hurlers, going 5-for-5 ( all singles) to finish the season with a .346 average.

--submitted by Ron Leone--

P.S. – With the Pirates taking only 2 of 3 from the Mets, the Giants clinched the 2nd Wild Card slot in the NL.

Pirates take 2 of 3…look toward SF vs Cincy series for post season hopes.

2010-05-01T08:32:00.001-07:00

Game 1 - The Mets run through 6 pitchers who combine to beat Pittsburgh 4-2. Del Unser starred with 3 hits and 2 runs. Ed Kranepool delivered a 2-run single in the 1st, and Joe Torre matched him in the 3rd. Rick Reuschel went the distance for Pittsburgh, settling down for the final 5 frames.

Pit 2 8 2
NY 4 8 1
W - Parker (1-0), L - Reuschel (4-3), S - Apodaca (5)
HR - none

Game 2 - The Mets took a 3-0 lead in the first on Kranepool's RBI single and Joe Torre's 2-run double. Pittsburgh scored a run in the 2nd, then added 3 more in the 3rd to go up 4-3. The Pirates chipped away at Seaver in the inning, using three singles, an error, and a walk. The Mets kept the heat on Doug Drabek, and chased him in the 6th, but they didn't score. Bottom of the 7th, errors on consecutive plays put two on, none out for the Mets. A bunt and Rusty Staub's sac fly tied the game at 4. John Smiley escaped with no further damage. Top of the 9th, a tired Skip Lockwood replaced Seaver and walked the first two batters he faced. Rick Baldwin replaced him, and walked the next two, forcing in a run. Now with a 5-4 lead, the Pirates bullpen finally came through as Don Robinson got Rusty Staub for the final out.

Pit 5 5 2
NY 4 6 3
W - Smiley (2-3), L - Seaver (7-3), S - D. Robinson (4)
HR - none

Game 3 - Dorn Taylor makes his only appearance of the season a memorable one as he blanks the Mets through 6 innings and takes a 2-0 lead into the 7th. The Pirates runs come off Darnell Coles' 2-run HR in the 1st inning. Jerry Koosman settled in after that, trading zeroes with Taylor. Bottom of the 7th, the Mets got to Taylor. With 2 outs, Mike Phillips walked. Jerry Grote reached on an error. Then PH John Milner walked to load the bases for Felix Millan. Millan doubled off Brett Gideon, 2 runs scored, and the game was tied at 2-2. Hipolito Pena came on to get Del Unser to end the inning. Top of the 8th, the Mets brought in Nino Espinosa. Back-to-back doubles by Bream and Van Slyke gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead. In the 9th, Barry Bonds hit a 3-run HR off Espinosa to close out the scoring at 6-2.

Pit 6 11 3
NY 2 5 2
W - Pena (1-1), L - Espinosa (0-1), S - D. Robinson (5)
HR - Coles (1), Bonds (12)

The Cubs, who were in the hunt for a wild card spot, need a miracle, as they lost 2 out of 3 to the Cardinals.

2010-04-30T21:50:00.001-07:00

Game 1 Cubs 6 Cardinals 4
Dennis Lamp took the ball for Chicago in game 1, while Vinegar Bend Mizell started for St. Louis. Lamp started the 1st by giving up 3 singles in the inning, allowing a run for a quick Cardinal lead. Chicago would follow with a barrage. Ivan DeJesus would lead off with a ground out. Ted Sizemore would stroke one up the middle. Buckner would foul one back to the catcher. With 2 down, Dave Kingman would hammer one into the seats in left.Bobby Murcer would reach on an error. Back to back doubles by Onteveros and Martin and a single by Barry Foote would put 5 runs on the board for Chicago. 2 Cardinal runs in the 5th would cut the lead to 5-3. Both teams would trade runs in the 8th with Chicago's run coming on Dave Kingman's second homer of the game. Bruce Sutter who came in the 9th would give up a walk to Don Blasingame. Balsingame would then be gunned down by Foote trying to steal 2nd. Sutter would retire the next two batters and the Cubs had game 1.

Game 2 Cubs 3 Cardinal 6
Chicago would start off game 2 in fine fashion as they would score 2 runs in the 1st and add one in the 2nd. Dave Kingman would hit his 3rd HR in the first. With Mike Krukow pitching a 2 hit shutout through the 5th, things were looking good. Krukow had command, but he fell apart in the 6th. The 6th would feature a load bases clearing double by pinch hitter Rocky Nelson and the Cards would score 4 in the inning to take the lead. Two more Cardinal runs in the 7th would do the Cubs in, as St. Louis pitching would shut the Cubs down the rest of the way.

Game 3 Cubs 4 Cardinals 6 12 innings
Needing game 3, the Cubs started their ace, as if Chicago had an ace, but he's as close to an ace as Chicago has, Rick Reuschel Rick got through the 1st and then surrendered 3 runs in the 2nd. Only giving up one hit in the 2nd while walking 3 and throwing a wild pitch, it just seemed like Chicago and Reuschel were doomed. The Cubs would surprise and score 3 of their own on the bottom half of the 3rd, capped by a safety squeeze by Reuschel scoring Dillard. It would stay tied until the 7th when a Ivan DeJesus single would again score a Steve Dillard. In the 8th the Cubs would put the game and season in Bruce Sutter’s hand. Sutter would get the Cubs through 8th unscathed. IN the 9th, Sutter got Wally Moon to ground one to Dillard at 2nd. One out and the Cubs needed 2 more, but Rip Repulski would slap a Sutter splitter to right. Grady Hatton, pinch hitting would rip one down the left field that rattled around while Hatton slid into 3rd with a triple scoring Repulski, tying the game. With Sutter out of steam after the 10th the Cubs would be forced to bring in "Big Dick" Tidrow and Tidrow would promptly give up a walk and 2 hits as St. Louis scored 2 run sin the top of the 12th. IN the bottom of the 12th the Cubs would be down to their final out when Bill Buckner stroked one to right center for a hit. Dave Kingman would come up as the tying run. With the season on the line, Kingamn would slap one to Ken Boyer at 3rd who tossed to 2nd for the force and the game was over.
A great series, but Chicago needs some help if they're to make the playoffs, but in typical Cubs fashion, they'll probably have to wait till next year.

--submitted by Jim Walden--

Yanks take 2 of 3 from Tribe, fall short of post season

2010-04-30T13:09:00.001-07:00

The Tribe had best record in the AL locked up, so all they were concerned with was staying healthy. The Bombers needed to sweep and then hope for some miracles along the way. Neither scenario played out for them.

9/27 – 9/30 – Cleveland Municipal Stadium

GAME 1 – Indians 4, Yankees 3

Stan Bahnsen (2-5, 4.82) and the Yanks were nursing a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the 7th when the 1st place Tribe scored two to take the lead. Young Roger Maris cranked a 2 run homer to score hurler Hal Woodeshick, who was on 1st due to a botched bunt attempt. It all worked out fine for the Tribe as Hoy Wilhelm came on to get the final 5 outs without yielding a hit. Maris had 3 RBI’s on the day. Bobby Murcer went 2 for 5 for the Bombers and increased his season average to .342. Woodeshick (1-2, 3.68) got his first win of the season. Maris’ homer was his 4th of the year.

GAME 2 – Yankees 1, Indians 0

Steve Kline (6-1, 3.50) battled Ray Narleski (3-3, 4.31) in this classic pitcher’s duel in the cavernous “Mistake by the Lake”. New York scored the lone run of the day in the top of the 2nd when Roy White led off with a single and Ron Blomberg walked. Danny Cater followed that up with a single, but White was held up at third to load the bases rather than test Maris’ rifle arm in center. Horace Clarke, infamously associated with the Yankee “Declinesty” of the late 60’s / early 70’s hit a tailor made double play grounder to Chico Carrasquel at short. Carrasquel flipped it to Bobby Avila at second, who pivoted perfectly to nail Clarke at first. White scored easily as Kline was able to make that run hold up for his 6th victory of the campaign.

GAME 3 – Yankees 18, Indians 4

In order to set their rotation for the post season Cleveland started the oft-injured Herb Score (2-3, 7.40). Score had zero velocity on his fastball and no break on his curveball as the Bombers unleashed 14 runs off of him in 3 innings. Veteran Bob Lemon was summoned from the pen to eat, so innings, but could only eat up 1 2/3. Both teams were in a rush to get this one over with. Mel Stottlemyre (6-3, 3.35) pitched well enough to win in this complete game effort. Bobby Murcer and Felipe Alou had 5 hit games. Murcer had 4 RBI and Roy White had 5 RBI. Murcer finished the season with a .356 average as he carried the Bombers offense all season. Both Murcer (8th) and White (5th) hit homers in the contest.

Chisox clinch AL West, Angels stay alive in WC hunt

2010-04-30T07:43:00.001-07:00

9/27 – 9/30 – Comiskey Park

GAME 1 – White Sox 13, Angels 4

Wilber Wood (6-4, 3.28) used the wind in Chicago to his advantage as he floated a ton of knucklers past Angel hitters. The Chi-sox exploded for 13 runs, which includes two 5 run innings off the Halos. Brian Downing, went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI’s including his 2nd homer of the season. Ken Henderson also had 3 RBI. The win clinched the AL West title for the South Siders and their manager Dan Holm.

GAME 2 – Angels 6, White Sox 5

Jared Washburn was cruising through the first 5 innings and left the game with a 4 run lead and only 1 hit allowed. Shigetoshi Hasegawa got shelled by the Chisox in the bottom of the 8th to make it a 1 run ball game. Troy Percival came on in the 9th for his first 3 up 3 down inning of the season to notch his 6th save. Anaheim stayed alive in the Wild Card race and the Pale Hose showed lots of late life in a game that was meaningless to them. Bill Melton came alive for the White Sox with a 3 for 4 day, which is a great sign since he’s been hovering around the Mendoza line all season. Darin Erstad went 3 for 5 and increased his hitting streak to 24 consecutive games.

GAME 3 – Angels 11, White Sox 0

Nothing special to report in this one. The score pretty much tells the story. Stan Bahnsen (3-5, 6.95) was the sacrificial lamb for the Chisox who were trying to setup their rotation for the post season. Scott Schoeneweis (3-3, 2.52) finally got some run support as he cruised to a 2 hitter over 6 2/3 inning of work. The big story, was Darin Erstad ending the season with a 25 game hit streak, which is a KOD record. Erstad finished the season with a .347 average. The Angels will now have to sit around and wait and see the results of the Red Sox/Tigers series, which will tell them if they are going to have a play in game or if they will be going home for the winter.

‘Spos take 2 of 3 from Braves in meaningless series

2010-04-28T22:40:00.001-07:00

Both teams had their playoff slots secured. Montreal already clinched the NL East and Boston had the 1st Wild Card slot. Both are scheduled to face each other in the opening round, so neither manager was going to show his hand or play his fatigued regulars.

GAME 1 – Braves 5, Expos 2

Steve Rogers had a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the 9th when all “heck” broke loose. After scoring 2 in the top of the 9th via a Gary Carter 2 run homer Montreal looked to put it away with their ace on the hill. Bob Elliott led off the 9th for the Braves with a smash off the left field wall that resulted in a stand up double. The next two batter weakly made out and all looked good for Rogers, who was inexplicably told by his manager to walk Roy Hartsfield intentionally. Pinch Hitter Ebba St. Claire singled home the tying run and put runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out. Sam Jethroe stepped up to the plate and proceeded to hit a bomb that might have salted the clouds as it cleared the fence for a walk off 3 run shot.

GAME 2 – Expos 7, Braves 6

Scott Sanderson (2-2, 5.66) left the game with a 4-3 lead. The Expo offense was able to “tack on” 3 more runs to make it 7-3. All looked good, so scrub starter Chris Welsh was inserted to pitch the 9th. Welsh couldn’t get an out and this laugher turned into a close one. Jeff Reardon was forced to warm up quickly. He wasn’t quite ready to enter the game and it showed as he yielded two hit, which allowed the Braves to move within 1 run. Ebba St. Claire singled crisply to center with 2 outs. Bob Addis, who previously had an RBI pinch hit single was sent home. Testing Andre Dawson’s arm is not usually a good thing to do, but with 2 outs you have to take chances. The Hawk threw a pea to Carter who easily tagged out Addis to end the game and give Reardon a somewhat “tainted” save.

GAME 3 – Expos 8, Braves 7

Bill Gullickson (4-4, 3.20) had a 5 run lead, but began running out of gas in the 8th. Boston chipped away at him and made it so close that Reardon again had to come in to save the day. Once again Reardon allowed an inherited runner to score before bearing down and notching his 9th save of the campaign. Most of Montreal’s hitting came from some unlikely sources. Late season call ups Razor Shines (2-5) and Brad Mills (2-4, RBI) had outstanding days. Sid Gordon hit his 6th homer for the Braves in a losing cause. Max Surkont went 4 innings for the Braves and was removed due to fatigue in favor of Dan Donovan, who gave up 5 runs in an inning of work. Tim Raines increased his single season KOD stolen base record to 29. While attempting to steal his 30th late in the game he was nailed by a whisker on a Ebba St. Claire bullet throw. Dawson, who was yesterday’s defensive star, turned on the offense today going 2 for 3 with 3 RBI’s. After a slow start he finished the season at .296.

M’s take 2 of 3 from Jays…finish season at even .500

2010-04-28T09:52:00.001-07:00

The Mariners, desperate for a sweep to stay in the Wild Card race, only managed two wins over the hapless Blue Jays. All three games are pitching duels and two go into extra innings. Randy Johnson pitched the season finale and got a complete-game shutout. --submitted by Michael Hopcroft--

GAME 1 – Blue Jays 4, Mariners 3 (13 inn)

This 13 inning marathon just might have been the undoing of Seattle’s chances to secure a wild card slot. The M’s showed great resolve by scoring 2 in the bottom of the 9th to tie it up. Josh Towers was brilliant for Toronto, as he took a shutout into the 9th. Seattle trotted out 6 different pitchers in hopes of holding the Jays down. Batista was given a 2 run lead to protect (thanks to a Frank Catalanotto 2 run homer) in the bottom of the 13 and immediately got in trouble when Jay Buhner singled to lead off the inning and Tino Martinez doubled. Brett Boone hit a deep shot to the warning track to score Buhner, but Valle flew out to left to end the game and quite possibly the playoff hopes of the Emerald city.

GAME 2 – Mariners 2, Blue Jays 1 (10 inn)

The second consecutive extra inning contest went in favor of the M’s. Kudos to Fleming for going toe to toe with the great Roy Halladay. Both hurlers were gone by the 7th and neither figured into the decision. The M’s won it in the bottom of the 10th when Ken Griffey Jr. led off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball thrown by Toronto reliever Speier. Mike Blowers followed that up by lining a single to center to score Junior.

GAME 3 – Mariners 1, Blue Jays 0

With no score heading into the 9th it looked like there would be extra innings for a 3rd consecutive day. The Big Unit, Randy Johnson (5-2, 1.19), was completely dominant fanning 8, walking 1 and allowing only 4 hits. Ted Lilly was in and out of trouble, but still managed to throw 5+ scoreless frames. Chacin came on in the middle of the 5th and was fine until the 9th, when Litton walked with 1 out. Edgar Martinez, the human hitting machine, followed that up with a double off the wall to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Omar Vizquel was given and intentional pass to load the bases and increase the chances of an inning ending double play or at least a force at every base. Ken Griffey Jr. stepped up and grounded to Orlando Hudson at second. Hudson double clutched then tossed the ball to McDonald at short who jumped out of the way of the hard sliding Vizquel, which caused the throw to first to bounce in the dirt. Shea Hillenbrand dug the ball out, but the split second that it took him to do so allowed Junior to cross first successfully with Litton scoring easy. The bottom of the 9th was a breeze for the Big Unit as he fanned Reed Johnson and got Vernon Wells and Hillenbrand to pop up weakly.

A’s take 2 of 3 from Twinkies to save fading playoff hopes

2010-04-26T18:19:00.001-07:00

9/27 – 9/29 | Oakland Coliseum

GAME 1 – A’s 7, Twins 3

The Twins jumped out and scored 3 quick runs off of John “Blue Moon” Odom in the first, but Odom righted his ship and shut Minnesota out the rest of the way. While Odom was righting his ship the stagnant Oakland offense resurrected itself. A solo run in the bottom of the 4th came off the bat of Reggie Jackson’s bat. With the score 3-1 the A’s unloaded on Twin starter Mike Smithson with 4 huge runs in the bottom of the 6th and never looked back. Campy Campaneris bunted his way on with 1 out when Twin catcher Dave Engle booted the ball. John Donaldson struck out looking for the second out of the inning. Camp stole 2nd then scored on a Danny Cater single to make it 3-2 Minny. Smithson tried pitching around Reggie, who shortened his swing and served one into center. Sal Bando doubled off the left field wall to score Cater and tie the game at 3. Rick Monday followed suit with a 2 run double of his own to put the A’s up by 2. Oakland added 2 solo insurance runs in the 7th and 8th to win by 4.

GAME 2 – A’s 4, Twins 1

Minnesota scored first with a solo run in the second off of A’s starter Jim Nash (6-3, 3.03). That unearned run would be the only run the Twins would post. In the bottom of the 4th Sal Bando doubled home John Donaldson. Rick Monday followed that up with a run scoring ground out to second. Two innings later Oakland scored 2 more off of Twin starter John Butcher (3-4, 3.78), when Reggie hit his 11th homer of the season. Danny Cater was on second with a lead off double when Reggie hit his tape measure clout. Minnesota never threatened Nash, who won his 6th straight decision after dropping his first 3 to start the season.

GAME 3 – Twins 2, A’s 0

Oakland had the option to start Catfish Hunter on 3 days rest or go with Chuck Dobson (5-3, 3.27). Dobson was the logical choice because, in the event the A’s need a play in game for the Wild Card or the division having Hunter on the hill would be a no-brainer. As it turned out it wouldn’t have mattered if Cy Young himself was on the hill, because the A’s were unable to score off of Twin starter Frank Viola (3-3, 2.68) and reliever Pete Filson. Due to a hour plus rain delay in the second inning, both starters were destined to not make it through the 5th. Kudos to both pens for being stout ! Minnesota scored solo runs in the 2nd and the 4th and that’s all they needed. In the second Dobson uncorked a wild pitch which moved both runners (Mickey Hatcher and Tim Teufel) up a base. Houston Jimenez followed that with an RBI single for run #1. In the fourth Jimenez, who normally is not known for his hitting prowess, singled home Tom Brunansky to give the Twin hurlers all they needed on the final day of the season.

Redlegs sweep Bucs, wrap up NL West

2010-04-25T12:18:00.001-07:00

GAME 1 – Crosley - Reds 3, Pirates 1

“The Kitten, Harvey Haddix (6-2, 2.54) continued his mastery over the NL with complete game 1 run effort. His counterpart, Doug Drabek was just as good for 6 1/3 innings before he tired and was replaced with John Smiley, who blew PIT’s 1 run lead. Jerry Lynch went 3 for 4 for the Reds who scored 3 runs over the final 2 frames to win it.

GAME 2 – Reds 14, Pirates 1

Don Newcombe (6-0, 1.80) continued his renaissance and domination over the NL with his 6 victory of the season. Newk left with 1 out in the 9th and the outcome already well in hand. Cincy banged out 14 runs on 17 hits. Frank Robinson had 6 RBI’s and Don Hoak had 4 hits. With no score in the game the Reds posted 4 runs in the bottom of the 3rd off of Palacios (0-1, 13.50), then posted another 5 the following inning vs Easley.

GAME 3 – 3 Rivers – Reds 3, Pirates 2

After getting blown out the night before the Bucs put up a gallant fight before going down to defeat at the hands of the NL leading Reds. Joe Nuxhall (5-1, 2.72) allowed only 1 earned run in 8 innings of work. Schmidt threw a perfect 9th for the save. Brian Fisher gave up all 3 of Cincy’s runs in 7 2/3 innings of work. With the score tied at 1 Cincy took the lead in the 4th when Frank Robinson scored on a Pete Whisenant sac fly to Barry Bonds in left. Cincy added a much needed insurance run in the top of the 8th when Robinson tripled home Roy McMillian with 2 outs. This would loom large when Jose Lind would triple home John Cangelosi with nobody out in the bottom of the frame. Nuxie did his best pitching by bearing down and not allowing Lind to score the tying run. Bobby Bonilla hit a hot smash to 1st and Lind was nailed by George Crowe’s peg to Smoky Burgess at the plate to erase the threat. Crowe also hit his 2nd homer of the season in the second.

The win moved Cincy to 26-11 and clinched the NL West Flag for them as well as the NL East Flag for Montreal by eliminating the Pirates from contention. Pittsburgh still has a shot at the 2nd Wild Card slot. As of press time they are tied with SF.

Ch-OAK-land ! A’s drop 2 of 3 to Chisox as promising season is now on the brink.

2010-04-25T10:57:00.001-07:00

Nobody has been hotter in the AL West than the Chisox over the course of the past 10-15 games. Conversely the Ch-Oakland A’s have gone into a deep swoon remincient of the 1964 Phils or 2007 Mets. The A’s hoped to recapture lighting in a bottle in this 3 game set at home vs the Chisox.

GAME 1 – White Sox 5, A’s 4

Chuck Dobson had a 3 run lead and a good shot of winning the AL Cy Young until the Chisox unloaded for 4 runs off of him. Dobson (5-2, 3.22) lost not only the game, but his chance for the coveted post season award all in one fateful inning. It all started with Carlos May reaching first on a ball booted by John Donaldson at second. Jorge Orta rocketed a double off the wall to put runners on 2nd and third. Dick Allen showed extensive discipline at the plate working out a walk to load the bases. Up came Ed Herrmann, who to this point has been the South Side’s MVP. Herrmann worked the count to 2-1 and got a perfect hitters pitch, which he hit deep into the California night for a grand slam. One pitch and boom the fate of the game turned. Chicago trotted out an endless precession of relivers to stymie the A’s. After Bart Johnson faltered early Goose Gossage threw 2 innings of middle relief to get the win. Terry “Big Tub of Goo” Forster closed it out with two near perfect innings of relief to garner his 7th save. Herrmann’s homer was his 10th of the season.

GAME 2 – White Sox 7, A’s 1

The Chisox renamed Catfish Hunter, Catf-ood Hunter as they southsider’s basically ate him alive. Hunter was in and out of trouble fighting a lack of location as well as a lack of velocity (only 1 strike out over 7 innings). Hunter yielded 12 hits and 5 runs over that stretch. With that said he was only down 3-1 going into the 7th where the Chisox scored 3 and put the game out of reach. Jim Kaat (5-5, 3.16) evened up his record with 7 innings of 4 hit/1 run ball. Cy Acosta came on board for the final 2 innings. The offense again relied on Ed Herrmann, who was 3 for 5 and hit his 11th homer of the season. This one man has decided to take his team’s fortunes and carry them squarely on his able shoulders.

GAME 3 – A’s 6, White Sox 2

Desperate times call for desperate measures. With their season now firmly on the brink the A’s went unconventional ad decided to start middle reliever Paul Lindblad (1,0, 2.70). The rationale behind the decision was to get a lefty out there and neutralize Ed Herrmann, who has flat out been murdering right handed pitching. At first Lindblad gave no evidence that the decision to start him was an intelligent one. Chicago jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st. Dick Allen hit a tape measure 2 run shot to score Bucky Dent who led off with a single. At this point you could hear a pin drop in the Oakland Coliseum. Some life came back into the cavernous building when Reggie Jackson crushed a leadoff homer in the bottom of the 2nd to make it 2-1. For the next 2 and half innings Lindblad and Chicago starter Stan Bahnsen (3-5, 6.41) were posting goose eggs on the scoreboard. Then in the bottom of the 5th the A’s put their season back on life support by posting 4 huge runs by knocking Bahnsen out of the box. It all started out innocent enough with Jim Pagliaroni walking with 1 out and Lindblad striking out for the second out. Bahnsen looked poised to get out of the inning real easy, but Campy Campaneris singled and moved to second on an error by Jerry Hairston in left. That put runners on 2nd and 3rd instead of 1st and second. John Donaldson lined a single to right to score both runners, which gave Oakland a 3-2 lead. Danny Cater followed that up with a single of his own and Reggie was walked intentionally to load the bases. That set the stage for Sal Bando who lined a single right through the originator to plate Donaldson and Cater and give Oakland a 5-2 lead. After getting 2 outs to start the 5th Lindblad’s day was over thanks to a 24 minute rain delay. The spot starting lefty had done his job. Ed Sprague got the final out of in the 6th as he battled Bill Melton in a classic mano y mano 9 pitch at bat that culminated in a soft fly to Mike Hershberger in left. Lew Krausse came on board to record the rare 3 scoreless inning save and keep Oakland somewhat alive.

G-men take 2 of 3 from SD…Shef still leads triple crown.

2010-04-25T09:59:00.001-07:00

Expos take 2 of 3 from STL

2010-04-24T08:54:00.001-07:00

9/23 – 9/25 - Stade Olympique, Montreal QC

GAME 1 – Cardinals 4, Expos 2

Tom Poholsky (5-1, 3.61) won this “battle of the aces” over Steve Rogers (5-3, 2.92). As usual Rogers could not get run support from his offense. The game was scoreless until the top of the 7th when Cardinal catcher Hal Smith led off with a two bagger, advanced to 2nd on a Bobby Del Greco bunt and scored on a wild pitch that Gary Carter could not block in the dirt. The following inning the Cards posted a 3 spot to put the game out of reach. The resurgent Stan Musial and Ken Boyer led off with singles. Wally Moon walked on 4 pitches to load the bases. Two batters later Hal Smith doubled off the wall in left center to score Stash and Boyer. A wild pitch with 2 outs allowed Moon to score. The Expo offense came to life in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs. File that in the “too little, too late” column for futility.

GAME 2 – Expos 6, Cardinals 2

Bill Gullickson (3-4, 2.86) went the distance by striking out 5 and walking only 1. St. Louis managed to score solo runs in both the 7th and 9th innings and by then the Expos had a commanding lead. Montreal picked up right where they left off the previous day by scoring 2 runs in the home half of the 1st. Tim “Eli” Wallach doubled home Bryan Little and Andre Dawson with 2 out. Dawson hit a solo shot to lead off the 4th and Wallach did the same to lead off the 6th. Cardinal starter Murry Dickson went 6 and gave up 4. Jackie Collum gave up 2 runs in the 8th to give the ‘Spos a 5 run lead at the time. St. Louis wasted 3 for 4 effort by Musial, who has been building up his average, but seems to be lacking in power. Dawson’s homer was his 9th on the season.

GAME 3 – Expos 5, Cardinals 4

Gutty performances by Charlie Lea (4-2, 2.12) and Herm Wehmeier let to one wild and fantastic finish. St. Louis jumped all over Lea in the top of the 1st to the tune of 3 runs. Lea was on the ropes and was perilously close to hitting the shower early. A Tim Wallach error put leadoff hitter Don “don’t call me Wade” Blasingame on 1st. No harm was done when “Blaze” was caught stealing by a perfect Gary Carter throw to Doug Flynn. With 2 outs Stan “the Man” Musial doubled off the right field fence. Ken Boyer followed that up with a two bagger of his own to make it 1-0 with 2 out. Wally Moon hit one of his fabled “moonshots” the opposite way to left for a roundtripper that made it 3-0 Cards. Lea settled down to get Rip Repulski to fly out to shallow center. That out kept Lea in the game as Dan Schatzeder was warming fast in the pen. St. Louis’s 3-0 lead was not a long lasting one. Montreal scored 2 in the bottom of the 2nd when Wallach led off with his 4th homer of the season and Lea helped his own cause with a two out RBI single to plate Bryan Little. “Mr. Scoops”, Al Oliver hit his 5th homer of the season to tie the game in the 3rd at 3 apiece. Both teams exchanged solo runs in the 4th and that’s how it stood until the 9th. With the score knotted a 4 all Larry Jackson was called on to hold down the heart of the Expo order and force extra frames. After getting Chris Speier to ground out to short Jackson booted a dribbler by Al Oliver that had more English on it than a Rolling Stones album. Dawson followed with a clean single to left to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Wallach then added a single of his own that was probably deep enough to score Oliver, but instead the veteran wisely held up since there was only 1 out. Warren Cromartie came up and delivered Montreal’s 3rd single in a row as “Scoops” walked home wit the winning run. The Expos, who entered the series with a 2 game divisional lead improved their record to 23-14. They will now sit back and see how the 2nd place Pirates fare vs the league leading Cincinnati Reds.

Toronto Takes 2 of 3 from NY

2010-04-22T19:56:00.001-07:00

Game 1 Yanks 11 Blue Jays 3

NY keeps its slim playoff hopes alive with a barrage of hits scoring 11 runs. Toronto starter Pete Walker was knocked out after 1 inning. Six other Toronto pitchers were also unsuccessful slowing down the Yankee attack. All but one Yankee starter had hits, and Jake Gibbs giving Thurman Munson a days rest hit a three homer for his first of the year. Meanwhile Steve Kline picked up an easy win spreading out 8 Toronto base hits.

Game 2 Blue Jays 9 Yanks 3

Blue Jays behind left hander Ted Lilly easily defeat the Bombers. Lefties seem to be silencing the Yankee bats and this was no different, as they could only gather three hits. Meanwhile the Toronto bats were teeing off on Mel Stottlemyer who has been faltering during the stretch run.

Game 3 Blue Jays 6 Yanks 2

Another Lefty and another loss for the Yanks. Gustavo Chacin pitching for Toronto spreads out 4 hits, only allowing 2 runs. At the same time all the Toronto batters were feasting on Yankee pitching. The best being Frank Catalanotto who had 6 hits in 11 AB with 2 homeruns for the series.

--submitted by Joe Mach--

Pirates win 3, stay in playoff race

2010-04-19T05:59:00.001-07:00

Sep 19 - Pirate bats boom loud and often with an 18-hit attack in a 12-2 win. Bobby Bonilla goes 5 for 5 with a pair of HR and 4 RBI. Every Pirate starter had at least 1 hit. Bob Walk went 8.1 for the win.
Pit 12-18-0
StL 2-9-0
W - Walk (4-1), L - Wehmeier (0-3). HR - Bonilla 2 (4, 5)

Sep 20 - Pirates take a 2-0 lead in the first on doubles by John Cangelosi and Bobby Bonilla. After a pair of walks, Bobby Bonds' sac fly accounted for the 2nd run. In the 4th, each club added a run to make it 3-1, and then Wally Moon's solo HR in the 7th cut the lead to 3-2. Still 3-2, Pittsburgh scored twice off Collum when a double, a walk, an error, and Johnny Ray's PH single made it a 5-2 game.
Pit 5-7-0
StL 2-5-1
W - Bielecki (2-0), L - Mizell (2-4), S - D. Robinson (3). HR - Moon (2)

Sep 21 - Another disappointing performance for the Redbird pitchers as Pittsburgh puts up 15 hits and wins 11-3. How bad was it? Rafael Belliard hit a home run. In his career he hit 2 in 2524 AB. Andy Van Slyke also hit one for the Bucs. Red Schoendienst went 3 for 3 in a losing cause.
Pit 11-15-0
StL 3-9-2
W - Fisher (2-3), L - Schmidt (1-4). HR - Belliard (1), Van Slyke (7)

--submitted by Jesse Elicker--

Cubbies take 2 of 3 from ‘Spos

2010-04-17T11:13:00.001-07:00

Chicago flew into Montreal for a 3 game set with the division leading Expos, and while the Cubs had a slim chance at the division title, they knew they had to take at least 2 out 3, to keep their hopes alive. While a sweep was preferable, the Cubs did what they came to do, the took 2 from the Expos.
Game 1 - Chicago 3 Montreal 2
With Dennis Lamp on the mound for Chicago, things did not start well for the Cubs. Tim Raines to lead off the game and promptly stole 2nd and 3rd. An Al Oliver walk followed by a sac fly by Andre Dawson and then a Gary Caryer double and the Expos were up 2-0. The Cubs battled back and scored a run in the top of the 4th as Barry Foote doubled home Steve Ontiveros. In the top of the 5th, Chicago would score 2 more as Steve Rogers could not find the plate, walking 3 in the inning, with 2 Cubs singles sandwiched between walks, the Cubs got the lead and held on for a 3-2 win.

Game 2 Chicago 4 Montreal 1
Montreal outhit Chicago 10 to 9 in the game, but Chicago put more runs on the board as they took game 2. Lynn McGl;othen notched his 3rd win of the year as he went 8 and a third. Bruce Sutter gathered his 7th save on the year. The Cubs scored 2 runs to start the game. Ivan DeJesus slapped a single to right and scored as Bill Buckner hit a gapper to right center. Being the speed demon he is, Billy B. raced all the way around to third for his 4th triple of the year. A towering Dave Kingman blast that just missed being out, scored Buckner. Montreal could not get any run support for Lea as McGlothen continually pitched his way out of jam after jam. The Expos left 10 men on base as they fell 4-1 to Chicago.

Game 3 Chicago 1 Montreal 5
Chicago was looking to sweep, but it was not to be as Bryn Smith pitched a marvelous 4 hitter for Montreal. In this game, as in the last for Montreal, Chicago never seriously threatened the plate. Carter, Raines, Ramos, Wallach all hit doubles off of Mike Krukow, who took his 4th loss for Chicago as Chicago pitching allowed 11 hits. Backup catcher Bobby Ramos’ double was the big blow that broke the game open as he pinch it for Doug Flynn

The Cubs gained a game on the division leaders, but time may be running out for a division title, but they kept their hopes alive for a wildcard spot.
--submitted by Jim Walden--

Yanks take 2 From Red Sox

2010-04-13T11:34:00.001-07:00

The series had the look of two sub .500 teams that are just going through the motions.

Game 1 NY 6 Boston 5

Typical Mel Stottlemyer outing lately, pitches well except for 1 inning. Boston scored four runs in third when Stottlemyre, again, could not get the third out allowing four runs. Boston held the 4-0 lead until Mickey McDermott allowed 3 in the seventh. George Kell scores another run for the Sox on a squeeze play to take a 5-3 lead. Roy White then ties the game back up in the eighth with a 2 run homer. In the ninth with Ralph Brickner pitching for the Red Sox the Yanks score the winning run on a wild pitch.

Game 2 Boston 6 NY 4

After six it is 2-2 with neither team really showing that much at the plate. But Sammy White makes Peterson pay in the seventh with his first homerun of the year, a three run shot. That was enough for the Sox to hang on for the win, although it was getting interesting in the ninth as the Yanks were trying for a late game rally.

Game 3 NY 7 Boston 0

This game was about as bad as it could get for Boston. No hitting, followed up later in the game by no pitching and no fielding. By the end of the game they had 5 errors, and when not making errors the pitchers were walking batters. The Yankees on the other hand got an unexpected great performance out of Stan Bahnsen. Pitching a 2 hit complete game shutout for his second win of the year.

--submitted by Joe Mach--

Cincy sweeps Dodgers for 20th win and sole possession of the NL West top spot.

2010-04-11T21:09:00.001-07:00

9/15 – 9/17 – Dodger Stadium

GAME 1 – Reds 6, Dodgers 5

Ron Perranoski blew a 1 run lead in the 8th, then gave up the go ahead run in the 9th when Johnny Temple singled home Don Hoak. LA looked dead and buried until Derrell Griffith singled home Maury Wills with 2 out. Off to extra innings they went where unlikely heroes are discovered. Said heroe turned out to be Reds relief pitcher Alex Kellner, who singled home Don Hoak with 2 outs. Kellner pitched 4 scoreless innings in relief and ended the game in grand style by striking out 2 in the bottom of the 13th.

GAME 2 – Reds 5, Dodgers 2

The amazing resurrection of one Don Newcombe’s ( 5-0, 1.94) career continued. Exiled by the Dodgers to the Queen city Newcombe once again repaid his former team by tossing a complete game and only allowing 2 runs. In contrast, LA’s Phil Ortega (0-5, 5.56) was gone before the 7th inning ended. By that point Ortega had already yielded 4 runs and tried his manager’s patience beyond tolerance. Cincy beat up Ortega for 3 runs in the top of the 2nd + 2 m0re solo runs. Newcombe also wielded a big stick going 1 for 3 with a 2 run homer. He has an incredible .438 average on the season. Every Red starter, except Alex Grammas had a hit. LA had only 4 hits. Both of LA’s runs came in the form of a 2 run homer by centerfielder Willie Davis.

GAME 3 – Reds 7, Dodgers 1

LA scored first off of Harvey Haddix (5-2, 2.80), then didn’t score at all the rest of the way. Haddix returned to the win column and was 1 out away from a complete game. Jerry Lynch hit his 8th homer on the season for Cincy as he leads the team in most offensive categories as Frank Robinson continues to struggle. Cincy’s pitching and timely hitting have carried them to a comfortable lead in the NL West with 9 games to go.

‘56 Redbirds take 2 of 3 from ‘75 Jints

2010-04-10T21:13:00.001-07:00

9/15 – 9/16 – Candlestick Park

GAME 1 – Cardinals 5, Giants 2

Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell was tightly protecting a 1 run lead when his offense posted 2 huge insurance runs off of Giant reliever Gary Lavelle in the top of the 9th. PH Red Schoendienst and shortstop Alvin Dark both singled home back to back runs to seal the deal. Larry Jackson came on to close the game out, but got into trouble in the bottom of the ninth when he allowed 1 out singles to Miller and Dave Rader. Thanks to the two insurance runs from the top of the inning Jackson had a neat 3 run margin, which allowed him to pitch aggressively and get the final 2 outs for the his 6th save of the season. Ed Halicki (1-2, 2.39) took the loss after a decent 7 inning / 3 run effort.

GAME 2 – Giants 7, Cardinals 3

Bobby Murcer hit two homers to boost his season total to 7 as the former Yankee star knocked in 4 runs and scored 3 of his own. A four run 5th inning broke a 2-2 stalemate as the Giants handed reliever Dave Heaverlo his 3rd win of the season. Starter Mike Caldwell mysteriously left the game after 4 2/3 innings work and 2 runs allowed. Tom Poholsky (4-1, 3.91) took his first loss of the season for the Redbirds. Stan Musial showed some signs of breaking out of his slump with a 2 for 4, 2 RBI day.

9/17 – Sportsman’s Park

GAME 3 – Cardinals 2, Giants 1

“The Count”, John Montefusco (3-3, 3,80) and Murry Dickson (3-2, 3.40) were locked in a good ole’ fashioned pitcher’s duel until the 6th when “The Count” was tossed from the game for debating balls and strikes with umpire Lee Wyer. Gary Lavelle recreated his faux pas from game 1 and yielded an insurance run in the 6th when backup catcher Bill Sarni lifted a long fly ball to left to allow Musial to tag and score. Dickson began tiring and after getting 1 out in the 9th gave way to Lindy McDaniel who got the final two outs and his 3rd save of the season.

‘05 Jays play spoiler by taking 2 of 3 from ‘57 Tigers

2010-04-10T19:04:00.001-07:00

GAME 1 – Tiger Stadium – TOR 9, DET 1

Roy “Doc” Halladay (4-2, 1.15) finally got some run support as the floodgates opened for Toronto in a 7 run 6th. Up until that point “Doc” was back in familiar territory, nursing a 1 run lead. Duke Maas (2-2, 2.96) was going pitch for pitch with Halladay until he was ambushed in the 6th. Eric Hinske (4-5, 2RBI, 2R) was the hitting star as he increased his season average to .364. Hinske also had 18 putouts at first on what turned out to be a busy day on both sides of the ledger.

GAME 2 – DET 5, TOR 4

The top of the 9th saw the Blue Jays rally back from a 2 run deficit to tie the game at 4. Tiger reliever Harry Byrd (2-2, 3.74) started the inning off on the wrong foot by walking Toronto catcher Greg Zaun. Pinch hitter Reed Johnson singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Aaron Hill sliced a single to right to score Russ Adams, who pinch ran for Zaun. Frank Catalanotto had a great 8 pitch AB that culminated in a long sac fly out to Charlie Maxwell in left to score Johnson with the tying run. Fame is fleeting and so is success. Just like that Toronto’s effort was for naught as HOF’er Al Kaline hit an upper deck homer with one out in the botoom of the 9th off of Jason Frasor to win the game in walk off fashion.

GAME 3 – TOR 11, DET 8

Detroit had a huge 6 run fourth inning off Jays’ starter Pete Walker to take a 6-4 lead. Unfortunately for them their starter Billy Hoeft was equally as inept as Walker, who could also lay some blame on his porous defense. Toronto made 3 huge errors, but all was not lost. By the middle of the 7th the Jays actually had a 2 run lead, but Detroit rallied for solo runs in both the 7th and 8th innings to tie it and force extra frames. Toronto left no doubt in the top of the 10th when they posted 3 big runs off of Tiger reliever Frank Larry (2-4, 7.67). The deciding blow was a 2 RBI double by Alex Rios that scored Hinske and Vernon Wells. Frasor came on to notch the save in the bottom of the 10th and got 2 quick outs before PH Johnny Groth singled to center. Catcher Frank House hit a hot smash off of Orlando Hudson’s glove at 2nd to reach on an error. This brought the tying run to the plate in the name of Frank Bolling. Bolling batted Frasor to a full count before flying out to Wells in center to end the marathon.

‘87 Bucs take 2 of 3 from ‘79 Cubbies

2010-04-10T18:36:00.001-07:00

Cubs and Pirates fighting to remain in the conversation regarding the post-season.

Game 1 - Bob Walk held the Cubs to 1 hit over 7 innings and Sid Bream belted a 2-run double in the 3rd to lead the Buccos to a 5-0 win in the opener. Lynn McGlothen struggled, allowing 12 hits in his 6.1 innings of work. Chicago finished with just 1 hit, a Ted Sizemore single in the 2nd inning.

Chic 0 1 1
Pit 5 12 1
W - Walk (3-1), L - McGlothen (2-2)
HR - none

Game 2 - Pirates take a 3-2 lead after 3, but Chicago gets to Brian Fisher in the 5th. Ted Sizemore led off with a single, then a pair of walks loaded the bases for Bill Buckner. Buck singled in a pair to put Chicago up 4-3. Jerry Martin followed with a single, 5-3 Chicago. A walk forced Fisher from the game, and Steve Ontiveros singled off Hipolito Pena to make it a 6-3 game. In the 7th, Pena walked a pair, setting up Mike Vail's PH single to extend the lead to 7-3. How important was that run! In the bottom of the 8th, Willie Hernandez and Bruce Sutter almost gave the lead back. A single and three consecutive walks made it a 7-4 game. A DP grounder made it 7-5, and Junior Ortiz' PH single off Sutter made it 7-6. Sutter got Andy Van Slyke to ground out to send the game to the 9th, Cubs up 7-6. In the 9th, the Pirates got a 2-out runner, but that was it. Cubs win, 7-6.

Chic 7 10 4
Pit 6 11 0
W - Krukow (2-3), L - Fisher (1-3), S - Sutter (5)
HR - Van Slyke (6)

Game 3 - Doug Drabek was tough, allowing just 4 hits and 2 runs in 8 innings as the Pirates took the rubber game 5-2. Drabek held a 3-0 lead after 4 innings and carried that into the 7th. Then with 2 outs and 1 on, Dave Kingman doubled in a run and Steve Ontiveros singled in Kingman. Bottom of the 8th, the Bucs added 2 insurance runs. Sid Bream led off with a triple. A walk to Johnny Ray brought Bruce Sutter in, but he walked the next two batters to force in a run. A ground out added another run, and the Pirates led 5-2. In the 9th John Smiley allowed a lead off single and nothing else.

Chic 2 5 0
Pit 5 7 2
W - Drabek (2-2), L - R. Reuschel (2-5), S - Smiley (2)
HR - none

The Pirates improve to 16-15, while the Cubs drop to 15-16.

--submitted by Jesse Elicker--

http://distantreplay.org/MLB/KOD9/

‘92-Padres sweep ‘52 Braves

2010-04-10T18:24:00.001-07:00

Game 1 – Braves Field – Boston, MA

San Diego edged 3-2. The Padres score 2 runs in the ninth inning. Randy Myers comes in to make matters interesting in the 9th, but holds on for his first save of the season. Tony Fernandez drives the tying and winning runs. Winning pitcher was Tim Scott (1-0). Triple Crown Watch...Sheffield 1 for 3 with no homeruns or RBI.

92 San Diego      IP H R ER W K   Ct    ERA
Deshaies         6.0 5 2 2 3 3 107   4.13
Scott, T W(1-0) 2.0 1 0 0 0 0   32   0.00
Myers, R S(1)   1.0 2 0 0 0 2   19   7.15

51 Boston (N) IP H R ER W K Ct ERA
Surkont L(2-3) 9.0 10 3 2 3 0 112 3.40

Game 2

Frank Seminara pitched a strong game as he went 6 innings and surrendered only one run on three hits. Tony Fernandez went 2 for 4 and drove in 2 runs. Randy Myers came on in the ninth, and despite serving up a homerun to Gordon, nailed down his second save in as many games. Triple Crown Watch: Sheffield went 0-3 Padres win...5-3

92 San Diego     IP H R ER W K   Ct    ERA
Seminara W(1-1) 6.0 3 1 1 3 2 105   2.97
Andersen H(2) 2.0 1 1 1 0 2   33   1.93
Myers, R S(2) 1.0 1 1 1 1 0   25   7.30

51 Boston (N)    IP H R ER W K   Ct    ERA
Sain, J L(0-5) 8.0 9 4 4 1 3 124   4.58
Donovan        1.0 1 1 1 1 0   20   4.50

Game 3

San Diego got homeruns from Gary Sheffield (14) and Santiago (6) to down the Braves as San Diego swept the 3 game series. Bruce Hurst had a strong performance on his way to his 4th victory of the season. Hurst went 8 innings surrendering 2 runs on 5 strikeouts. Triple Crown Watch: Sheffield went 1 for 2 with a homerun and 2 RBI's....Padres win 6-2. Shef’s season totals with 12 games left to play are: .377-14-36.

92 San Diego     IP H R ER W K   Ct    ERA
Hurst W(4-2)    8.0 10 2 2 1 5 125   3.47
Hernandez      1.0 1 0 0 0 0    9   2.08

51 Boston (N)    IP H R ER W K   Ct    ERA
Cole L(1-3)     5.0 2 5 5 8 1 123   9.64
Estock         1.0 1 0 0 0 0   16   2.19
Paine          3.0 3 1 1 1 2   54   5.87

--submitted by Joey Scigliano--

http://distantreplay.org/MLB/KOD9/

Amazin’s take 2 of 3 from ‘Spos at Shea

2010-04-09T22:10:00.001-07:00

9/15 - 9/17 - Shea Stadium
GAME 1 - Mets 4, Expos 2
Once again Kooz just can't get a break. He fans 9 Expos in 7 innings of work, but he leaves the game on the short side of the ledger thanks to a some faulty defense. Still he gives up only 2 runs (1 earned) and he's behind the 8 ball until "Trusty" Rusty came to the rescue with a 3 run shot in the bottom of the 8th. After Jerry Grote singled and Dave Kingman doubled, Rusty Staub launched one off the big scoreboard in right center denting the Manufacturers Hanover sign. Skip Lockwood (2-1, 1.17) got the win in relief and Bob Apodaca notched his 3rd save. In a losing effort Tim Raines stole 3 bases to increase his league leading amount to 25.

GAME 2 - Expos 8, Mets 6
Montreal staked Ray Burris (2-1, 1.84) to a 6-2 lead. Randy Lerch got generous in relief and almost surrendered the lead back to the Mets who found their longball stroke. Staub hit his 2nd homer in two days along with Dave Kingman who drilled his 9th. The Rock, Tim Raines can clobber the ball as well as he can pilfer bases. Raines hit his 3rd of the season as did Warren Cromartie. After Lerch surrendered 3 runs to the Mets in the bottom of the 9th, Jeff Reardon was summoned to put out the fire. Reardon got the final 2 outs and saved his league leading 7th game of the season. Montreal and New York combined to bang out 26 hits in this offensive contest.

GAME 3 - Mets 6, Expos 1
For a long time it looked like Tom Seaver (6-2, 1.75) would have to be perfect, since his Amazin's just couldn't seem to post any runs. Then in the 5th inning New York broke the scoreless stalemate when Seaver himself reached first on an error by Expo shortstop Bryan Little. Bill Gullickson (2-4, 3.02), bounced one in the dirt as Seaver moved easily into scoring position. Two batters later the ever so cluth "Le Grande Orange" (aka..Rusty Staub) lined a single into right to score Seaver and make it 1-0. It would stay that way until the Mets added 2 insurance runs in the 7th thanks to another Expo error...this one by the shorehanded "Mr. Scoops", Al Oliver. Staub again delivered when he doubled off the 396 sign in the right center power alley. Del Unser singled 2 batters later to score Staub and make it 3-1. New York would post 3 more in the 8th to make this a laugher and give Seaver some much deserved breathing room. Staub was 4 for 4 on the day with 4 RBI's. Seaver was 2 for 4 with 2 runs and 1 RBI, which was overshadowed by his "Seaver-like" complete game, 1 run effort. For Montreal, Gullickson came on board in the 2nd with 2 out when Scott Sanderson left the game with elbow problems. All 3 runs allowed by Gullickson were unearned. Chris Welsh allowed New York's 3 runs in the 9th to make this game look like a blowout.

Halos sweep Twinkies: move into tie for 2nd

2010-04-09T12:20:00.001-07:00

9/15 - 9/17 - Metrodome
GAME 1 - Angels 6, Twins 4 (10 inn)
Minnesota rallied to score 3 runs in the 7th off of Shigetoshi Hasegawa, who wasted Ramon Oritz' awesome 2 hit 6 inning performance. The old Angels would have crumbled and surrendered. This group has showed deep resolve as of late and this road game sure tested it. In the top of the 10th Darin Erstad led off with a single off of Len Whitehouse. He was bunted over to 2nd and scored when Garrett Anderson singled him home. A walk, a wild pitch and a sac fly by Troy Glaus plated an insurance run, which was more than enough for close Troy Percival to protect for the win and his 3rd save of the season. Mo Vaughn who has spent most of the season languishing in mediocrity went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI and his 5th homer of the season.

GAME 2 - Angels 7, Twins 3
Anaheim spotted the hometown Twins 2 runs in the bottom of the first, then went on an offensive tear that was capped off with a 4 run 3rd inning. Mike Smithson (2-2, 3.98) had his worst outing of the year (7 runs in 8+ innings) as the Twins have now hit a huge slide at the worst time. Adam Kennedy had 4 of the Angels 12 hits. Tim Salmon hit his 3rd homer of the season. Lost in the shuffle was the 5 shutout relief innings tossed by Lou Pote, who allowed 4 hits, but no runs in relief of Brian Cooper, who was ineffective in 4 innings of work.

GAME 3 - Angels 6, Twins 3
Once again the Angels manager Douglas Zaner was doing his best "Dr. Hook" impersonation, when he was quick to pull Seth Etherton who posted the same exact numbers as Brian Cooper did (4 IP / 3 R) in game #2. Alan "the accountant" Levine (3-1, 4.73) threw 4 scoreless innings of relief, then gave way to Percival who pitched a scoreless 9th to notch his 4th save. The Twins were nursing a 1 run lead until the 8th when the Halos unloaded on starter John Butcher (3-3, 4.35). By the time Ron Davis was brought in from the pen the damage (4 runs) was done. Garrett Anderson and Mo Vaughn both hit 2 run dingers in that fateful inning. Kent Hrbek hit his 10th homer of the season for the Twins and raised his average to .395 as he hopes to keep pace with Colavito for the triple crown.

The Tribe sweeps Bosox

2010-04-08T18:30:00.001-07:00

After a 5 game skid Bill Keller's Tribe has completely righted the ship by winning 6 in a row and becoming the first KOD9 team to reach the 20 win plateau. After sweeping the Blue Jays to get back in the race the Bosox returned home and blew a stinker by getting swept and virtually ending their chances of catching Cleveland

9/15 - Fenway - GAME 1 - CLE 8, BOS 5
Time 3:43, 75ø, 5mph In from CF
Rocky Colavito continued his onslaught on AL pitching by going 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored to increase his average to .409. Hank Narleski (3-2, 4.94) had a true quality start going 8 and yielding 3. Sid Hudson (2-5, 4.36) couldn't escape the 5th inning for Boston, who entered this series on such and emotional high after sweeping Toronto thanks to Ted Williams' weekend pass to Fenway.

9/16 - Fenway - Game 2 - CLE 7, BOS 6 (10 inn)
Time 4:03, 73ø, Light Rain, 10mph Right to Left
Boston showed some fight by tying it up in the bottom of the 8th when Billy Goodman singled home Hoot Evers. Cleveland countered by bringing knuckleball king Hoyt Wilhelm on board to shut down the Bosox. Cleveland took the lead in the top of the 10th when Minnie Minoso and Vic Wertz walked on consecutive at bats and Russ Nixon singled Wertz home. Nixon carried the offensive load for the Tribe who were without the services of Colavito. Nixon was 4 for 5 with a homer and 4RBI's.

9/17 - Fenway - Game 3 - CLE 5, BOS 3
Time 3:39, 70ø, Light Rain, 10mph Left to Right
Herbie Score got a rare start and had himself a shutout going until Boston scored 3 in the bottom of the 8th to make the game look close. Don Ferrarese came on in the 8th to get the final 4 outs to close out the sweep. Dizzy Trout (0-2, 6.35) looked like he was auditioning for a spot on the '62 Mets staff by giving up 11 hits and 5 runs in 8 sorrowful innings of work. Trout's 6.35 ERA keeps rising. Colavito missed his second consecutive game, but Nixon (3-4, 2RBI) again picked up the slack. Score himself was 2 for 3 and a young rookie to watch, Roger Maris played flawlessly in right and went 2 for 5 in the lead off spot. Everything is coming up roses for the Tribe.

M’s take 2 of 3 from A’s: Knock Oak out of 1st

2010-04-08T17:32:00.001-07:00

Oakland won the opener to break their 3 game slide, then proceeded to drop the next two and lose their grip on 1st. The M's inched back closer to the pennant race by taking 2 of 3

9/15 - Kingdome - GAME 1 - A's 3, M's 2
Eric Hanson and the M's were dominating Oakland's disappearing offense and held a 2-1 lead going into the top of the 8th when Jeff Nelson took the hill and surrendered 2 to give the A's and Jim Nash (4-3, 3.58) a 3-2 lead. Oakland was the beneficiary of some sloppy fielding by Seattle's Mike Blowers at 3rd and two walks by Nelson. Sal Bando had an RBI single and Rick Monday hit a sac fly. Nash, who started out 0-3, has won his last 3 starts and seems to have reversed his fortunes, while sadly the team has reversed theirs as well (negatively).

9/16 - Kingdome - Game 2 - M's 8, A's 4
Chuck Dobson (5-1, 3.06) got lit up like a Christmas tree in his first bad outing of the season. Jim Converse was in and out of trouble but went 5 innings and only yielded 2. Jay Buhner was the hero going 2 for 4 with 5 RBI and a homer. Reggie Jackson went 3 for 4, but could only drive in 1 run. The A's were up 4-3, when Nash imploded in the bottom of the 8th as the M's broke out and posted a 5 spot. Rich Amaral's renaissance continued as he went 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored.

9/16 - Kingdome - Game 3 - M's 8, A's 2
Oakland struck first with 2 runs in the 2nd off Chris Bosio, but that was all they would score. Bosio (4-1, 2.53), settled down and fanned 5 and gave up only 2 runs in 7 and 1/3 stellar innings of work. Ken Griffey Jr. went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored plus 2 walks. Oakland spot starter Lew Krausse (2-1, 5.46) showed zero signs of life in a pitiful 7 run (6 earned) / 7 inning performance. Jack Aker came on in the 9th to pitch more batting practice. Ted Power went the final 1 2/3 scoreless innings for Seattle, which inched to 1 game below .500. Oakland's poor performance combined with Chicago's sweep of New York ensured that the A's would lose their spot atop of the division.

Chisox sweep Bombers, gain 1st in AL West

2010-04-08T17:04:00.001-07:00

Chicago sweeps the Yanks in the three game series. That leaves them 1 game ahead of Oakland, who lost 2 of 3 at Seattle. For the Yankees realistically it is over. They can be no better than 4 behind multiple teams in the wild card race.

Game 1 CHI 6 NYY 2

What was a 2-2 tie was broke open in the bottom of the fifth when Chicago scored 4 runs. The way they did it though was bad omen for the Yanks for the rest of the series. Ken Henderson, Dick Allen, and Jorge Orta with back to back to back homeruns. That was more than enough for Jim Kaat to hang on for a complete game win, giving him a 4-4 record and 3.34 ERA.

Game 2 CHI 15 NYY 7

Chicago proved its dominance early and often in this game. By the end of the third inning they were leading 12 - 0 on eight base hits. Another three homeruns in this game for Chicago for 6 on the series so far. Obviously the Yanks could use some batters like White Sox have, maybe just a Bucky Dent (.326) replacing Gene Michael (.154) would help. Pitching was not too noteworthy, other than Jorge Orta picking up a win for pitching 1/3 of an inning when Chicago was already leading 12-0.

Game 3 CHI 10 NYY 4

Game 3 was the Ed Herrmann show for the White Sox. Herrmann hit homeruns in his first three at bats, helping Chicago cruise to an easy 10-4 victory. For the series the White sox hitting decimated the Yankee pitching to the tune of 9 Hrs, 31 runs, 42 hits and 13 walks.

--submitted by Joe Mach--

Week #9 TWIB Notes

2010-04-04T11:46:00.001-07:00

9/12

Rocky Colavito 2 hr's vs Oak

9/13

Dick Allen 2 hr's vs MIN - 5 RBI
Rusty Staub 2 hr's vs STL
Billy Hoeft shuts out NYY 5-0
Billy Harrell 5 hits (5-6) Clev vs Oak

9/14

Andre Dawson 2 HR's - 5 RBI
Tommy Davis 2 HR's - 7 RBI
3 Anaheim pitchers shut out SEA 1-0 (Bottenfield/Pote/Percival)

Amazin’s take 2 of 3 in St. Louis

2010-04-03T22:34:00.001-07:00

9/12 – 9/14 – Sportsman Park GAME 1 – Mets 3, Cardinals 1
“The Franchise”, Tom Seaver (5-2, 1.85) didn’t have his best stuff and had to work out of numerous jams, but Seaver is still Seaver and he finds a way to get it done. When a big pitch needs to be made he just flat out finds a way to do it. The Met gave Seaver 3 runs and on most days that’s enough for him to win. Today was one of those days and the Cards just felt like they were on an uphill climb. They got a solo run off of Seaver in the first, but that was it. Rule of thumb, you’ve got to get the great ones early or you’re not going to get them. Everything about today followed the rules. All of NY’s runs came via the long ball. Dave Kingman (.160) hasn’t even come close to the Mendoza line finally broke out and hit a 2 run shot in the 1st. He can’t be counted on to hit for average or make contact most of the time, but Kong still has the ability to go deep. Wayne Garrett hit his second of the season in the top of the 2nd. All goose eggs the rest of the way spelt victory for the Amazin’s.

GAME 2 – Mets 10, Cardinals 3
The long ball did the Redbirds in today. Homers by Ron “Grandma” Hodges, Kingman, Del Unser, John Milner and Rusty Staub (2) were the undoing for Willard Schmidt and company. Randy Tate (1-2, 3.27) finally got his first win on the season…a season where he has pitched surprisingly well, but just hasn’t had the offensive support. Kingman’s 3 for 5 help boost his average to .180, which is a far cry from the low 100’s where he had been hovering at all season.

GAME 3 – Cardinals 9, Mets 7
New York’s Jon Matlack battled his control and Cardinal hitters all day. At one point it looked like he was going to gut it out and get the win, but the Cards surprised their fans and their skipper (Bike Mike) and rallied a comeback that knocked Matlack out of the box and the Mets out of the game. After the Mets scored 3 in the top of the th they had a 7-4 lead, but Matlack couldn’t hold it. Hank Webb replaced him and his defense betrayed him to the tune of 2 unearned runs in the bottom of the 8th. Web was his own worst enemy walking people and bouncing more balls in the dirt than a kiddie soccer team. The top of the Cardinal lineup (Dark, Brandt & Musial) were a combined 7-11 with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. Stan "The Man" Musial was 2 for 2 and walked 3 times, no small feat when facing a hard throwing lefty like Matlack. Staub and Bobby Del Greco hit homers in this one. Del Unser was 4-5 in a losing effort. Lindy McDaniel was horrible in his start giving up 7 runs in just under 7 innings of work, but his offense came to life and saved his bacon and made him a footnote as opposed to the goat

Bosox Back in Pennant Race with sweep of Jays as Williams makes triumphant return to Fenway

2010-04-03T21:24:00.001-07:00

9/12 – 9/14 – Fenway Park

3:26 - 73ø, - 10mph Right to Left
GAME 1 - Red Sox 3, Blue Jays 2 (10 inn)

Mel Parnell was tossing good ole’ country hardball for 7 innings until Aaron Hill led off the 7th with a line shot double off Green Monstah, to break up the no hitter. Parnell still had the shutout going until the 9th when Hill struck again…this time with a 2 run homer over the fabled wall. Parnell was dazed, but he was not shaken. He was able to get it back in gear and fan 3 of the next 4 batters he faced, including the heart of the Blue Jay lineup (Vernon Wells & Alex Rios) in the top of the 1oth. In the bottom of the inning Dom DiMaggio led off with a single but was forced at second when Don Gernert was incapable of executing the sacrifice bunt. A pair of wild pitches by Jose Batista put Gernert on 3rd with one out. That facilitated intentional passes to both Evers and Vollmer to create a force at all bases and a possible inning ending DP. Jason Frasor was brought on board to face George Kell and promptly walked him and forced in the winning run to give Parnell (3-2, 2.45) the much deserved win.

3:15, 78ø, 15mph Out to LF
GAME 2 - Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3

Dick Brodowski (2-0, 1.80) followed up where Parnell left off and gave Red Sox nation second great pitching performance in a row. Brodowski went the distance and gave up only 2 runs in the top of the 5th. On a day when Faye Throneberry went 3 for 4 and had a homer with 2 RBI’s that wasn’t the biggest story. Neither was Dom DiMaggio’s resurgence (3 for 5). The real story was the return of one Theodore Samuel Williams. On military leave from the Marine Corps, Williams was activated just before game time in the hopes that he could possibly get a key pinch hit at bat. With the Sox up 3-2 and in desperate need of a insurance run all eyes in Fenway turned to the bat rack in the home dugout. The crowd noise changed drastically when they saw a tall familiar looking fellow wearing the red # 9 looking for lumber. Once he emerged from the dugout a huge roar from the crowd began to envelope Fenway. By the time he reached the batters box that roar morphed into a 5 minute standing ovation. Only days before this man was shooting down North Korean MIG’s and now he was going to have to shoot down a 90 mile per hour fastball. Blue Jay reliever Jose Batista was completely intimidated and walked Williams on 4 straight pitches to force in Faye Throneberry. The noise at this point matched that of any World Series clinching game. Yes Red Sox nation, there is life in Boston !

3:29, 71ø, Light Rain
GAME 3 - Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3

How could the Sahx top the emotion of yesterday’s game ? How could they top the heroic Ted Williams weekend return to Fenway ? It seems impossible to think it was possible. Only Hollywood could make it possible ! Well the Blue Jays were up 3-1 going into the bottom of the 7th. Josh Towers was cruising for the Jays, but he’s a 6 inning pitcher and so for the 3rd straight day Jose Batista (0-2, 4.67) was brought in from the pen to hold down Boston. For the 3rd straight day Batista was kerosene on a fire. Walks and wild pitches are the recipe for Batista’s failure and he followed the recipe to a T. Dom DiMaggio hit a sac fly to tie the game up at 3. Faye Throneberry walked to lead off the 8th and stole second with one out. Fred Hartfield hit a pinch hit single to put runners at the corners and Vern Stephens was given an intentional pass as he pinch hit for the pitcher. With back up catcher Del Wilber due up the crowd began to stir. That same momentum that began to build yesterday started again as ole #9 strolled to the on deck circle. That momentum turned into an ovation even greater than the day before. With 1 out and the bases loaded is it fair to expect this man to deliver again ? Could one reasonably expect him to be able to do the hardest thing in all of professional sports: hit a baseball coming in a 90+mph ? Mere mortals can not be expected to do such things, but God’s are relied upon to deliver miracles. T.S. Williams is one of the baseball God’s. Lefty Scott Schoeneweis delivered a 1-1 slider, the hardest pitch for a lefty, to this baseball immortal and with one quick crack of the bat the ball wound up a frozen rope into right field to score Throneberry with the go ahead run. The sound was deafening, and the emotional outpouring was genuine, but the great man standing on 1st base would not doff his cap. God’s do not salute those that revere them. Boston’s win moved them back to .500 and back into the AL East race. Unfortunately for them they will not have #9 back on the bench as his weekend pass calls for his return to the Marine Corps.

Chisox take 2 of 3 from Twinkies as both teams are tied for 2nd in AL West and 1 GB Oakland

2010-04-03T14:57:00.001-07:00

9/12 – 9/14 @ Comiskey Park

GAME 1 – White Sox 5, Twins 3

Wilbur Wood had that magical knuckleball dancing and the normally lax Southside offense came to life as the Chisox won 5-3. Wood (5-3, 3.o8) went the distance and gave up 3 to the Twins who put their trust in Pete Filson in relief, who could not keep it close. Wood made just 2 real mistakes on the day. One wound up being a 2 run shot by Gary Gaetti and a solo shot Tim Teufel. Buddy Bradford knocked in 2 and went 2 for 3 for the Southsiders.

GAME 2 – White Sox 7, Twins 1

Stan Bahnsen (2-3, 6.83) finally displayed pitching brilliance with 8 innings of 1 run work before yielding to Goose Gossage in the 9th. Alvin Williams (0-1, 6.00) gave up 5 (4 earned) in 6 as the Twins blew a great opportunity to gain ground on the slumping A’s. Dick Allen’s bat came to life in this day of resurrection for the Chisox. Allen, hitting just .222, went 2 for 3 with 2 tape measure shots and 5 RBI’s. Tony Muser went 3 for 4 batting in the 8th hole for Chicago. Kent Hrbek took the collar (0-4) as his chances of contending for the triple crown fade fast.

GAME 3 – Twins 9, White Sox 3

The stopper, Frank Viola was on the mound for the Twins with one mission: Get this ship righted. Minnesota needed this game to keep pace with the A’s and to prevent the Chisox from leapfrogging them in the standings. Solo runs in the 1st and the 3rd off of Chicago starter Bart Johnson were just what the doctor ordered for the Twins, but Viola hit a huge pot hole when he gave up 3 in the bottom of the 5th to give Chicago a 3-2 lead. Dick Allen’s 7th homer of the season was the first blow off of Viola, which was followed up a bit later by Brian Downing’s first of the season…a 2 run shot. The Twins battled back to scratch out a solo run in the top of the 6th, when Tom Brunansky singled home Tim Teufel with 2 outs. It would stay that way throughout regulation, so, this getaway day game went to extra innings. The Twins wasted no time in the top of the 10th when John Castino led off the inning with a pinch hit single. Meier followed up with a pinch hit single of his own. Contact hitter Kirby Puckett forgot how to make contact and fanned on 3 pitches for out #1. Kent Hrbek got his MVP campaign back on track with a 3 run homer off of reliever Terry “Big Tub of Goo” Forster. By that point the wind was now taken out of Chicago’s sails. Minny managed 3 more runs that inning to turn this one into an extra inning laugher, which helped them salvage a tie with Chicago in the AL West standings.

Mike Cuellar: May 8, 1937 – April 2, 2010

2010-04-03T14:26:00.001-07:00

I was saddened to read today that Mike Cuellar just passed away. For those of you who aren’t familiar with his body of work, Cuellar was a struggling Cuban born junk ball pitcher, when he joined the Orioles in 1968. Kind of like today’s Jamie Moyer, Cuellar needed a good combination of time to learn his craft and the right place to practice it before he could reach the status of elite hurler.

Once Cuellar joined the Orioles the team had the final piece to the puzzle to go on it’s magic run of 3 pennants in 3 straight years. While it’s true that Cuellar was overshadowed by fellow 20 game winners Jim Palmer and Dave McNally, his contributions to Baltimore can never be overlooked. In his first season with the O’s he shared the AL Cy Young award with Detroit’s Denny McLain. He was a 4 time All-Star and a 4 time 20 game winner.

Many will remember that he outdueled Tom Seaver in game 1 of the 1969 World Series, which turned out to be the only game the O’s would win in that Fall Classic. One year later he would be on the hill when the O’s closed out the Reds to win their second World Championship in 5 years.

On a personal note Cuellar was All-World for me in KOD1. That team will be my all time favorite. They were 30-6 and they lost only 3 more in the post season en-route to winning the first ever KOD Championship. Cuellar was one of the keys. He was 5-0 on the season and game in and game out he was matched up against the opposition’s #1 starter. He had no easy games, but he made it easy to send him out there every 4th day. He was 1-0 in the World Series and won #5 in a series that was tied at 2. Cuellar was clutch as he kept hitters off stride. We will miss him on planet earth, but he will live on forever in KOD and every season replay that is played. Mike Cuellar: RIP

Resurgent Angels sweep M’s

2010-04-03T13:47:00.001-07:00

9/12 - Edison Field - 3:43, 81ø - 5mph Out to CF
GAME 1 – Angels 10, Mariners 5

A 6 run 7th inning broke up a game that was tied at 4 each. Seattle wasted a 3 for 5 game from Griffey Jr. Rich DeLucia blew the lead and was charged with 7 runs in 2 innings of awful work. Troy Glaus finally hit his 2nd homer of the season and Garrett Anderson went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored.

9/13 - 3:43, 85ø - 20mph R to L
GAME 1 – Angels 7, Mariners 5

The resurgent Angels were up 5-4 going into the bottom of the 7th when they exploded for 3 big runs to take a commanding lead. Respective starters, Scott Schoeneweis and Fleming both gave up 4 runs in around 5 innings worth of work. Not exactly what you’d call a “quality start”. Alan Levine came on board in the 6th for the Angels and tossed 3 perfect innings to get the win. Brett Boone went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI in a losing effort. Glaus hit his 3rd homer and went 2-3 with 3 RBI’s in what Anaheim fans can only hope is the start of his resurgence. One concern for the Angels in this big win would be the fact that closer Troy Percival couldn’t shut the door and had to be replace by Holtz, who actually wound up with the save.

9/14 - 2:56, 87ø – Lt Rain - 5mph L to R
GAME 1 – Angels 10, Mariners 5

After too score-fests the fans in Orange County were treated to a good old fashioned pitcher’s duel. Randy Johnson, who has been battling to stay healthy, was outstanding. Johnson (3-1, 0.96) gave up 1 run, fanned 9 and walked NONE in a complete game effort. Johnson’s only problem on the day was his offense. It didn’t exist. A combination of 3 Angel pitchers (Bottenfield, Pote and Percival) gave up only 5 hits and didn’t allow run. That spelled doom for the Big Unit, who even if he was perfect still wouldn’t have gotten a win. The lone run of the game came in the Angels half of the 6th. Mo Vaughn, who’s stock has plummeted so much so that he’s hitting 9th, led off the inning with a double off the right field wall. Darin Erstad singled sharply to the right to advance big Mo to 3rd. Two batters later Garrett Anderson lifted a fly ball to center that carried Griffey back to the warning track. The ball was hit so deep even the hefty Vaughn was able to walk home. Troy Percival gave up a leadoff hit to Jay Buhner to lead off the 9th and with 1 out gave up a clean single to Mike Blowers. After his ineffective performance the previous game everyone in the house was nervous. Those nerves were calmed when Percival got Brett Boone to ground into a tailor made 6-4-3 game ending DP.

Hawk Soars More: Expos take 2 of 3 from Bucs

2010-04-02T12:26:00.001-07:00

9/12 - 9/14 - Three Rivers Stadium
GAME 1 - Pirates 2, Expos 1
2:39, 75ø, Light Rain, 10mph Right to Left
Being groomed to become the ace of one's staff has it's ups and it's downs. Today would be considered a "up" for Doug Drabek (1-2, 3.38) who allowed only 4 hits over 7 2/3 innings of work. The big bonus was the fact that the normally porous Pirate Pen held on to save the day for Drabek. Montreal's Bill Gullickson had a fine day himself, but wound up on the short end of the ledger during this pitcher's duel. Gullickson's undoing, if you can describe 2 runs as an undoing, was the home half of the 3rd. After Drabek flew out ot center Andy Van Slyke doubled off the right center fence. Skinny Barry Bonds singled to put runners on the corners and Bobby Bonilla cranked one off the rightfield fence to score them both. Montreal would threaten in the second and the 8th when they loaded the bases, but reliever John Smiley was able to get Al "Scoops" Oliver to fly out weakly to the area he once patrolled in center. Montreal was finally able to crack the scoreboard with a 2 out pinch hit single by Warren Cromartie that scored Gary Carter, who got a rare start at 1st base today. Mike Vail came on to pinch hit for Doug Flynn and he too singled. Manny Trillo, who barely has warning tack power, took Pirate reliever Jim Gott deep to center, but Andy Van Slyke was able to harness the ball for the final out.

GAME 2 - Expos 2, Pirates 1
2:28, 77ø, 10mph In from CF
Turnabout is fair play, or at least that's how the expression seems to go. In any case it was the Expos turn to win a 2-1 nail biter. Charlie Lea (3-1, 1.31) and Rick Reuschel (4-2, 3.65) hooked up in a second consecutive pitcher's duel between these two divisional rivals. The Pirates scored in the first to take the lead off Lea when Van Slyke led off with a single and then scored on a long Bobby Bonilla single as the Pirates expertly executed the hit and run. The score would remain 1-0 for the home team until the top of the 4th when Andre Dawson led off with a opposite field parachute single. Al Oliver, who was batting cleanup for the first time all season, stepped up and delivered the type of blow a #4 hitter is expected to deliver. "Mr. Scoops" launched one out of Three Rivers in a hurry to make it 2-0 and exact some sort of revenge against the team that traded him 6 years earlier. That would be all of the offense the Expos could muster on the day. Lea was cruising until the 8th when pinch hitter Jose Lind led off with a double. Van Slyke popped to second and Lea was now done for the day. Bob James would come on board to fan Bonds for out number 2. A wild pitch allowed Lind to move to third where a single by Bonilla would easily score him. Bobby Bo ripped the ball to second, but was easily thrown out at first to end the threat. Pittsburgh made 2 quick outs in the 9th and everything looked like it was going to be easy until the normally surehanded Doug Flynn, who came on as a defensive replacement to start the inning, booted a 2 hopper by R.J. Reynolds. With righty John Cangelosi stepping to the plate the Expos went to the pen and replaced lefty Dan Schatzeder with closer Jeff Reardon. Before even throwing his first pitch, Reardon noticed that Reynolds was leaning toward second but not paying attention. Reardon side-armed the ball to Carter at first who slapped the tag on a dazed R.J. for the final out of the game. A bizarre ending for sure. Reardon earned his 6th save without the benefit of even throwing a pitch.

GAME 3 - Expos 8, Pirates 6
3:41, 72ø, Threatening, 10mph In from LF
After two straight pitcher's duels the fans were bound to be treated to a slugfest. If you look at the final score that's the impression one would get. First impressions can be wrong and in this case that is exactly how it played out. In fact ace starters Steve Rogers (Montreal) and Mike Dunne (Pittsburgh) locked horns in a (guess what ?) 2-1 pitcher's duel over the first 6 innings. Montreal tied it with a solo run in the 7th when Dunn lost his control and walked everyone in site. Dunne was gone after recording only 1 out in the inning, but Montreal was incapable of breaking through to score more. That was until the top of the 8th when Mr. Scoops, Al Oliver, led off with a walk and Andre “the Hawk” Dawson pummeled the ball deep into the upper deck in left field to make it 4-2 as Pirate reliever Jeff Robinson could only hang his head in despair. By the 8th inning Rogers was gone for Montreal and Dan Schatzeder came back to try his luck for a second consecutive day. "Schatzie" gave up a lead off double to Sid Bream, who wound up one homer short of the cycle. With the score 4-3 Pittsburgh was reduced to playing mix and match out of the bullpen in the hopes of maintaining the status quo and getting to the home half of the 9th down by just one. That plan was not going to succeed, because the Bucs own one of the most porous pens in the biz. John Smiley started the inning and walked pinch hitter Jim Wohlford. Jeff Reardon was the next hitter. Popular thought said to pinch hit for the bearded closer, but knowing the lack of depth in the Expo pen reason said that Reardon was going to have to stay in this contest and close it out. Smiley wasn't smiling too much after he walked Reardon on 5 pitches, which setup a run scoring double by Tim Raines. Smilley then fanned Warren Cromartie and got Oliver to ground out easily to first with the infield drawn in. It looked like the Bucs were going to escape without further damage and still have a fighting chance in the bottom of the inning. That was until Brett Gideon came on board for the righty/righty matchup and served up a tape measure gopher ball to "the Hawk" for his second bomb in as man at bats. With the score now 8-4 Expos Reardon took the mound in the bottom of the 9th expecting a cakewalk. As what happens so many times when a closer is in a non save situation, Jeff Reardon lost his focus and almost lost this game. Van Slyke harmlessly singled to center, then scored when Bonds narrowly missed a homer and tripled off the right center field wall. Bobby Bo struck out, but Sid Bream repeated to a "T" what Bonds did and recorded a run scoring triple of his own to cut the Expo lead to 2. By this point Ray Burris and James were both warming up like sprinters in the pen. Pinch hitter Jose Lind walked to put the winning run at the plate in the form of Junior Ortiz who popped up to Carter behind the plate. Reardon finally regained his composure and equilibrium and fanned R.J. Reynolds for the final out of the game. Poor R.J. ! He had the inglorious luck of making the final out in both Pittsburgh losses. By virtue of taking 2 of 3 in the series the Expos increased their NL East lead over the Bucs to 5 with 12 left to play.

Braves take 2 of 3 from Redlegs: move to within 1 game of NL West lead

2010-04-02T07:30:00.001-07:00

9/12 - 3:06, – 75ø - 10mph Out to LCF
GAME 1 - Crosley Field - Braves 10, Reds 3

Harvey Haddix came down to earth with a loud crash. In 7 innings of work “Mr. Imperfect” gave up 8 runs as the Braves made Cincy took notice that they are gunning for the NL West crown. Boston blew the doors open on this one with a 6 run 4th inning. Bob Elliot hit his 5th homer of the season and went 2 for 4 with 4 RBI to raise his average to .351. Chet Nichols (2-1, 3.52) went the distance for the Braves and gave up all 3 runs that he allowed in the 5th. Frank Robinson went 1 for 4 and has been slumping of late. His season average is .243. Rumor has it he’s looking like an “old 23”.

9/13 - 2:17, – 80ø - 5mph Out to LCF
GAME 2 – Crosley Field - Braves 4, Reds 2

Bob Purkey’s (1-4, 4.89) troubles continue. While the Reds have been near or at the top of the NL West all season, Purkey has been putrid. Today’s outing, which featured a complete game 4 run effort, could be classified as a quality start and a step in the right direction. Well almost…Purkey and pals know they have to put forward a better effort when facing their key rival for the divisional crown. This was a big loss. The Braves put them in a tie for the NL West lead with the Reds. Vern Bickford went the distance for Beantown and gave up only 1 earned run in 9 innings of work. Purkey’s undoing was the 4 run 3rd inning he allowed the Bostonians. Three of those runs came off the bat of one Sid Gordon who hit a blast over the Crosley Field score board. On a happy note for the Redlegs Frank Robby went 3 for 2 with an RBI as his average rose to .255.

9/14 - 2:34, – 74ø - 10mph Out to CF
GAME 1 – Crosley Field - Reds 2, Braves 1

Joe Nuxhall (3-1, 3.29) had the unenviable task of trying to stave off a sweep at the hands of the Braves and do it against quite possibly the best lefty of all time, Warren Spahn. To do this Nuxhall would have to be near perfect, and to his credit he absolutely was. Sans the solo run scored in the 4th off a Sid G0rdan sac fly, Nux-ie was near flawless. He had to be, because Spahnie put forth a fantastic effort himself as he went the distance and posted goose eggs in every inning except the 6th, where the Reds did their damage and scored both of their runs. Walt Dropo and Pete Whisenant led off with singles. Both runs actually scored on ground out (one by Ed Bailey and the other by Nux-ie himself). Spahn was not going to make it easy on the Reds who had their backs up against the wall needing this win to regain 1st. Nuxhall started the 9th, but quickly yielded a line shot single to pinch hitter Bob Elliott. That would be the end of the tiring southpaw’s day. Righty Williard Schmidt would come on board and get 3 easy outs to end the game and notch his 3rd save of the campaign. The only dark cloud on the day for the Redlegs was the fact that Frank Robby fell back into his season long malaise and took the collar (0-4 with 2 k’s) to see his average all to .245. The Reds need him to start murdering the ball if they hope to hang on to the NL West Crown.

Yanks take 2 of 3 from Tigers

2010-03-31T05:47:00.001-07:00

Yanks try to stay alive in wild card chase as Cleveland takes a three game lead in the East with 12 games remaining.

Game 1 - Yanks 6 Tigers 4

Steve Kline holds on for a complete game win, spreading out 9 hits and not allowing any big scoring innings from Detroit. This while the Yankee offence put together enough runs to win, with the help of Tiger reliever Harry Byrd who blew his second save of the year.

Game 2 - Tigers 5 Yanks 0

The Yankees are almost identical to Detroit as far as a bullpen is concerned - they have none. Game five was a pitching duel between the starters. Mel Stottlemyre finally broke down in the eighth and gave up 5 runs desperately trying to get that final out of the inning. Meanwhile Billy Hoeft pitched an excellent complete game shutout for Detroit, for his only win of the year.

Game 3 - Yanks 6 Tigers 4

For Detroit Jim Bunning pitches 5 innings, allowing only 1 run. The relievers for Detroit spot the Yankees another 5 runs though, giving the Yanks a 6 -0 lead. Fritz Peterson sailed along for 6 innings not allowing any runs. With him nearing his pith count and not wanting a similar occurrence of game 2, of staying with the starter too long, the Yankee manager calls on the bullpen. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Four runs later and four reliever later, with the tying runs on base in the ninth, Roger Hambright finally puts an end to the Tigers comeback attempt.

--submitted by Joe Mach--

Tribe sweeps A’s, end 6 game skid

2010-03-30T11:48:00.001-07:00

9/12 - Oakland Coliseum - 3:57 - 71ø
GAME 1 - Indians 10, A's 2

The final score is quite deceptive. It implies that this was a big time blow out that the Indians dominated, when in reality the outcome was totally in doubt until the top of the 9th when Cleveland exploded for 8 runs to put it away. Before Oakland's tragic 9th, the game was actually tied at 2. Oakland jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st off of Cleveland starter Gary "Ding Dong" Bell (4-0, 1.96). Bell gave up a 2 run shot to Reggie Jackson, then closed the door as he went the distance. Oakland starter Lew Krausse gave up a solo shot to Rocky Colavito in the 3rd to make it 2-1. In the top of the 7th the Indians tied it when Vic Power led off with a double and Pete Ward wasted no time by singling him in to tie the game and hasten Krausse's exit. Diego Segui was able to record the next 2 outs to end Cleveland's threat until the fateful 9th. The Tribe sent 12 batters to the plate in the 9th and victimized Ed Sprague for 5 runs and call-up Rolland Fingers for the final 3. Colavito had a typical "Rocky day". He went 3 for 6, with 2 homers and 3 strikeouts to raise his average to .402.

9/13 - Oakland Colis. - 4:04 - 78ø - 5mph in LF
GAME 2 - Indians 12, A's 1
Oakland made 3 huge errors that cost John "Blue Moon" Odom any chance to be competitive in this game. Odom lost interest and the Indians jumped all over him for 6 runs in 5 innings. Only 1 of those 6 was earned. Relievers Jack Aker and Warren Bogle were ineffective at best yielding 3 runs each in just 2 innings of work. All 3 errors were committed by the normally sure handed Athletic infield. John Donaldson, Sal Bando and Campy Campaneris were the culprits. Cal McLish yielded only 1 unearned run, but he can't be too critical of the culprit, Rocky Colavito. "The Rock" also went 3 for 6 with 2 doubles and 4 runs scored, so his offensive value far outweighed his defensive liability. McLish got back to his winning ways by improving his record to 5-2 and lowering his ERA to 1.96. Herbie Score came on in the 8th to finish it out and fanned 2 and allowed no one to score. Will Harrell was 5 for 6 with 3 RBI's but seemed to be overshadowed by "the Rock".

9/14 - Cleveland Municipal - 2:50 - 74ø - 15mph R to L
GAME 3 - Indians 3, A's 2
The series shifted 2,600 miles, but the change in venue did not change the A's fortune. Interestingly this game featured a battle of the fish: Mudcat vs Catfish. Jim "Mudcat" Grant picked right up where Cal McLish left off and virtually shutdown the A's to close out the series sweep. Oakland took a 1-0 lead on a Danny Cater 2 out homer in the first and Jim "Catfish" Hunter attempted to nurse it. Hunter is real good, but not good enough to nurse 1 run leads every time out. Back to back homers by Colavito and Minnie Minoso in the 6th gave Grant a 2-1 lead. A two out triple by Russ Nixon to score Colavito in the 8th gave Grant (3-2, 2.45) the insurance run he would covet, but not need. After the game Hunter (4-4, 2.13) told reporters that he's trying to take the lack of run support in stride. The future star said all the right things, but you could see this tightrope act that he's being asked to perform is wearing thin on him. His manager would not comment on the 3 game sweep, but did remind the press that Minnesota was also in the process of getting swept so no ground should be lost.

Colavito Watch: The Rock went 7 for 15 with 3 HR’s and 5 RBI’s in as he edges closer to Triple Crown contention in the AL. Rock’s BA now stands at .406 with 10 HR’s. He is now 2 RBI behind NY’s Bobby Murcer with NY slated to play 3.

SD takes 2 of 3 from Cubbies: Sheff goes 4 for 12 with 4 RBI and 1 HR in series

2010-03-29T22:31:00.001-07:00

Game 1 - at Jack Murphy Std.

Bill Buckner and Dave Kingman connect for homeruns as the Cubbies win the opener 7-1. Dennis Lamp threw 6 strong innings of scoreless ball. Dick Tidrow pitched the final 1.2 innings for his first save. Bruce Hurst gets the loss. Gary Sheffield went 1 for 4 with no RBI on Homeruns.

Game 2 - at Jack Murphy Std.

The Padres got back on track with a 10-2 drubbing. San Diego hit 3 homeruns in the slugfest. Darrin Jackson (#6), Fred McGriff (#5), and Benito Santiago (#5) reached the seats to help Andy Benes to even his record at 2-2. Benes went 7 innings scattering 6 hits and 2 runs and striking out 7 Cub hitters. Gary Sheffield went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's.

Game 3 - at Wrigley Field,

Gary Sheffield smashed his 13th homerun of the year, a 2 run bomb in the 6th to help seal the win. The real story of the game was Padre curve ball specialist, Greg Harris. The Padre right hander pitched a perfect game through 6 innings but gave up a single in the 7th inning to Sizemore. Harris pitched a complete game 2 hitter as the Padres won the game 4-1.
Gary Sheffield went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI and a homerun.

--submitted by Joey Scigliano--

Triple Crown Shef !!!

2010-03-28T11:39:00.001-07:00

While his team is 7 games below .500 and 5 games out of a Wild Card spot Gary Sheffield has not quit. He hasn’t quit on his team, nor has he quit on his season. The enigmatic one has just gone about his business of punishing NL pitchers to the tune of a .391 batting average with 12 homers and 30 RBI.

Shef is hitting 45 points higher than his nearest competitor (Ron Fairly .346) for the NL batting crown. With 15 games left in the season he seems a virtual lock to take that leg of the triple crown.

With 30 RBI in 25 games and a 7 RBI lead over Barry Bonds, Shef looks to be in control there as well. Where he is in for the fight of his life is for the Home Run title. Bonds is breathing down his throat with 11 homers, just one behind San Diego’s triple threat.

Can he do it ? Can he be KOD’s first ever Triple Crown Winner ?

Only time and the next 15 games will tell !!!

Twins and Sahx battle to a draw

2010-03-28T11:08:00.001-07:00

9/8 - Metrodome, Time 3:36
GAME 1 - Twins 6, Red Sox 5
The fans at the homer dome were treated to a battle of respective lefty aces (Mel Parnell & Frank Viola). By the time all the dust and astroturf cleared neither was around to stake claim to a decision. The Sahx were us 3-2 going into the bottom of the 8th. Parnell was still on the hill, but it became apparent that he was tiring fast. A hard ground ball was booted by Vern Stephens at short to put Mickey Hatcher on 1st. Ron Washington bounced a seeing eye hit in the hole between 1st and 2nd. Randy Bush's slow roller to second was fielded by Billy Goodman, who got the easy out, but runners were now on the corners with 1 out. Parnell was able to reach back for one more high hard one as he struck out Tom Brunansky for the 2nd out of the inning. Al Benton came on board for the righty/righty matchup vs Brown, who bounced one off of Goodman's glove to score Hatcher. Goodman was charged with an error. Benton walked the next batter to give the Twins a 4-3 lead, before Kirby Puckett fouled out to the catcher Sammy White to end the inning. Ron Davis was on the hill to close it out for the Twins and just to make things interesting right off the bat he walked Johnny Lipon on 6 pitches. The Moose, Walt Dropo crushed a double off the left field fence to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Jimmy Piersall then grounded to Jimenez at short. The throw went home and Lipon was barely safe to tie the game. Piersall wound up on 1st as part of the fielder's choice. Dom DiMaggio followed that one up with a grounder to short as well that Jimenez muffed to allow Dropo to score and give the Sahx a 5-4 lead. With the bases loaded and 1 out Ted Lepcio hit a hard smash to Jimenez who rifled one to Laudner at the plate and back to Hrbek at first for the rare 6-2-3 DP to end the inning. This would be huge, because Kent Hrbek lead off the bottom of the 9th with a game tying 418 foot homer to straight away center vs Bill Wright, who is known to be a lefty specialist. Nothing special about that gopher ball. Wright stayed in and proceeded to walk Hatcher on 4 straight pitchers. Wright sawed off Ron Washington's bat, but it didn't matter to anyone...least of all Washington, because the ball wound up dropping into center just over Lepcio's head to put runners at the corners with nobody out. With 1 out and runners on the corners the stage was set for Brunansky to be there hero. Bruno was not about to let the opportunity pass, as he lifted a long fly to DiMaggio in center to score Hatcher easily and give the victory to the hometown Twins.

9/9 - Metrodome, Time 3:19
GAME 2 - Red Sox 4, Twins 3
For the second day in a row these two teams hooked up in another 1 run drama fest. This time the Twins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first off of Mickey McDermott (1-1, 7.31), who throws hard (8k's), but also throws straight as an arrow. Ken Schrom was posting goose eggs until the fateful 7th inning when the Bosox touched him for 3. There was no reason for the "homerdome" fans to worry after Hoot Evers led off the inning and struck out. Even Vern Stephens' solo homers posed no concern, since the Twins still had a 2-1 lead and Schrom looked to be as strong as an ox, but things turned when backstop Sammy White doubled off the hefty bag. Johnny Lipon pulled one through the whole to put runners on the corners with 1 out. Dick Gernert was up next and he lined a bullet into center to score White and tie the game. Lipon held wisely at second as Puckett was poised to gun him down at 3rd. Faye Throneberry ripped a single to right to load the bases. Lipon held at 3rd because the ball was hit too hard and he didn't want to challenge Bruno's arm in right. The "Little Professor" Dom DiMaggio hit a routine grounder to third. Instead of trying to cut down the runner (Lipon) at the plate Gaetti chose to go for the DP. Throneberry was out easily at 2nd, but DiMaggio, who seems to be on his last legs...legged this one out and beat it by a hair to extend the inning and put the Bosox up 3-2. The top of the 8th would see Boston add a much needed insurance run, when Billy Goodman led off with a walk and was bunted over to second by Hoot Evers. With 2 out Sammy White his his second consecutive two bagger and Goodman easily walked home to make it 4-2. Randy Bush led off the bottom of the 8th with a solo shot off of reliever Ellis Kinder to again make it a 1 run game. Brunansky was up next and he fanned for the 3rd time in the game. Gaetti singled, but was stranded on first. Lysander, in relief of Schrom was able to get Boston out easily in the top of the 9th, and so Kinder was now tasked with getting 3 outs and saving the game for McDermott. Nothing these days comes easily for Boston and the bottom of the 9th would be no exception. After Puckett hit a lazy fly ball to DiMaggio in center it looked like it just might be easy for Kinder, but the dangerous Hrbek came to the plate and Kinder tried to pick the corners and eventually walked him on a 3-1 curveball that was nowhere near the plate. Mickey Hatcher lined an opposite field hit to move Hrbek up 90 feet and into scoring position. On the air at NESN "Rem-Dog" said, "Kind'ah needs to get his head out of his rear and get this next guy". A simple statement, but not an easy thing to do. Kinder battled Tim Teufel, who just got under the ball and hit an elevator in silo. Bill Goodman camped under it at second and caught it just as the infield fly rule was invoked. Now with 2 down up stepped Randy Bush who was completely fooled by Kinder's 1-1 offering, but managed to top it down to 3rd. Stephens had no play on it and the bases were loaded with 2 out. The fans in the dome were so loud even ear plugs couldn't help. It all came down to a matchup of power. Kinder vs Bruno. Kinder quickly had Bruno in the hole at 0-2 and tried to slip a changeup by the big right fielder. Kinder's executed his plan to perfection as Bruno was looking fastball and swung years ahead of the 0-2 offering to end the game and record the "Golden Sombrero".

9/10 - Fenway Park, Time 3:14,68ø (Double-Header)
GAME 3 - Twins 6, Red Sox 2
Boston lead 2-1 going into the top of the 7th when the Twins exploded for 4 runs. Minnesota's rock star with the lumber, Kent Hrbek, started it all out with a clean single. Bruno walked and Teufel singled. Brown pinch hit for Engle and put the inning in peril when he grounded into a routine 6-4-3 DP. Hrbek scored to tie the game, but it looked like Sid Hudson and the Sahx were going to get away without further damage. That was until Hudson needed a GPS to find home plate and walked both Jimenz and Castino to load the bases. The diminutive one, Kirby Puckett, came to the plate and scored all three with a bases clearing triple. A solo run in the 8th provide more insurances as the Twins spoiled Boston's homecoming. Mike Smithson (2-1, 3.3) got the win and Tim Lysander pitched 2 perfect innings in relief. Bobby Castillo closed out the 9th in a non-save situation.

GAME 4 - Red Sox 5, Twins 4 (12 inn)
No better way to close out this action packed series than with a 12 inning game that also featured a 1 hour rain delay in the middle of the 2nd inning. The Twins posted a solo run in the first when Puckett reached first on an error by Johnny Pesky at 3rd. Pesky, who has been fighting injury and ineffectiveness all season returned to the lineup for the first time since early August and looked rusty at the hot corner on Puckett's smash. A balk by starter Dizzy Trout allowed Puckett to move up to third where he scored easily on a single by Gary Gaetti. After the rain cleared the Bosox took a 3-1 lead with a big 4th inning. Dom DiMaggio led off with a walk and scored when Clyde Vollmer doubled off the Green Monstah. DiMaggio was able to race home all the way from first as Twins late season call-up Andre David had trouble handling the carom. Vern Stephens singled home Vollmer and went to second on an ill-advised throw to the plate. Backup catcher Del Wilber doubled off the Monstah to score Stephens easily. In the top of the 6th the Twins scored when pinch hitter John Castino singled home Tim Teufel, who led off the inning with a walk. That made the score 3-2. By this point both teams were really depleting their bullpens. Nothing hurts a pen more than a hitter friendly ballpark coupled with a 1 hour rain delay during the second game of a doubleheader. By the top of the 7th Boston was on their 4th pitcher Al Benton, who served up a leadoff double to Bruno and was sent immediately to the showers in favor of the lefty/lefty matchup of Wight vs Hrbek. Once again Hrbek proved to be the master of this matchup and again hit a homer off of Wight like he did in game 1. Ellis Kinder was summoned once again from the pen with a simple set of instructions from his manager "NO MORE F-in RUNS". Kinder was up for the task and easily got the Bosox out of the inning without further damage. Minnesota was faring better with pitching by this point. John Butcher was able to stretch his effectiveness to 5 full innings. Larry Pashnick relieved Butcher and seemed fine until the bottom of the 8th when he issued a 1 out walk to Vollmer and then balked him over to second. Vern Stephens, who has struggled this season without Ted Williams hitting in front of him, launched a bullet into the gap in left center for a game tying double. The game would stay tied and force the cold and soggy fans to stay for extra frames.

In fact, most were already in the Cask’n Flagon watching the game on the tube and enjoying an adult beverage. By the time the 12th inning came along Ellis Kinder (2-1, 2.19) had thrown almost 6 innings in relief and allowed just 1 hit and had 6 strikeouts. Pete Filson, who recorded the final out of the 11th was on board to start up the bottom of the 12th for the Twins. Kinder, who was going to either win or lose this thing, led off the inning and struck out. With nobody else left in the pen this was his game. Billy Goodman walked and Dick Gernert doubled to put runners on second and third with 1 down. DiMaggio was given and intentional pass to load the bases and hopefully allow the Twins the chance to get an inning ending double play or at least a force at the plate. Hoot Evers came to the plate and before you knew it was sitting on a 3-0 count. Given the take sign Evers did just that and Filson threw one right down Broadway for a call strike and a 3-1 count. The pressure was squarely on Filson's shoulders to deliver 2 more strikes as it looked like Evers was not going to move the bat. Filson missed high on his next offering and Goodman trotted home for the game winning run on a walk off walk to Evers.

Cubbies and Braves split

2010-03-28T10:20:00.001-07:00

Game 1 – Cubs 6, Braves 5

Lynn McGlothen wins his 2nd of the year, as he scatters 9 hits, and the Cubs take game 1 in Boston by the score of 6-5. McGlothen helped his cause as he went 3 for 4 from the plate, scoring a run and knocking one in. Bruce Sutter notches his 4th save. Bill Buckner led the Cubs by going 4 for 6 as he knocked in 2.

The game see-sawed back and forth with Boston scoring a run in the bottom of the 1st. Chicago would counter with a run in both the 2nd and 3rd and 4th. Boston would tie in the 5th on an Earl Torgeson HR. The Cubs would regain the lead in the 6th as McGlothen would single and Billy Buck would drive him in, but the lead wouldn't last long as Boston plated 2 in the bottom of the 7th. Chicago came right back and scored 2 in the 8th, assisted by 2 Boston errors. They would commit 4 errors on the day. Bruce Sutter would come on in the 9th and shut down Boston 1-2-3 and the Cubs would get the win.

Game 2 - Braves 5, Cubs 1

It was all Boston in game 2 at Braves Field. Bob Elliott would lead the way for Boston going, 3 for 4, while Earl Torgeson would drive in would drive in 3 capped by a 2 run shot to center in the 4th. Vern Bickford would pick up the win for Boston.

Game 3 – Cubs 5, Braves 1

The series moved to Chicago for a doubleheader. Game 3 was the reverse of game 2 as Johnny Sain would take his 4th loss on the year. Dave Kingman would hit a 2 run shot in the Cubs first, his 6tg on the year, and that would prove to be all the Cubs would need. Rick Reuschel would pick up the win, as he only gave up 4 hits over 7 innings. Sutter would pitch the last 2 innings and the Cubs would take it 5-1.

Game 4 – Braves 10, Cubs 8

The 2nd game of the doubleheader would be a wild one as neither team wanted to get the other team out. Boston got behind early as the Cubs scored 3 in the 1st as 5 Cubs' singles would plate 3 Cubs. Boston would then to proceed to pound the Cubs in the 2nd, as they scored 7. Chicago would get 2 back in their half of the 2nd, but Boston would score another in the 3rd. Boston would hang on for the 10-8 win. Warren Spahn would get the win, his 5th and Mike Krukow took his 3rd loss. Dave Kingman would add his 7th HR of the year in the loss.

--submitted by Jim Walden--

Halos and Jays split

2010-03-27T14:47:00.001-07:00

9/8 – Edison Int. Field, Time 3:15, 88ø

GAME 1 – Angels 5, Blue Jays 0

Scott Schoenewis was so good, he pitched for both teams in this contest. The version that plays for Anaheim was much better going 7 inning, not allowing a run and only allowing 3 hits. Even more incredible is the fact that Anaheim’s Schoeneweis (2-2, 1.97) seems to normally not get any run support from a team with a ton of long ball hitters. This game looked to be the same as he only had 2 over the first 7, until the Halos exploded for 3 in the bottom of the 7th. Even more frustrated must be Pete Walker (2-2, 1.98), who needs to be Koufax or Seaver every time out to win. Mo Vaughn hit his 6th homer of the season for Anaheim in the bottom of the 6th to make it 2-0 at the time. Brandon League of Toronto was tossed in the 7th for arguing balls and strikes and saying the magic 4 letter word.

9/9 - Edison Int. Field, Time 3:29, 83ø

GAME 2 – Angels 8, Blue Jays 0

Kent Bottenfield (2-2, 3.08) didn’t have to do much other than switch on cruise control in this laugher. Anaheim had a 4-o lead over an ineffective Dave Bush (7 runs in 6.2 IP). Tim Salmon finally hit his first homer of this frustrating season where Anaheim’s power has been almost non-existent. Salmon’s homer was his only hit in 4 plate appearances as he was walked in the other 3. Scott Spiezio, who replaced Vaughn late in the game for defense, had 2 RBI in his one trip to the batter’s box. Brandon League returned to action after being tossed the night before and did not have any incidents.

9/10 - Rogers Ctr, Time 3:35, Double Header
GAME 3 – Blue Jays 5, Angels 4 (11 inn)

Ramon Ortiz had a 3-0 lead after 3 innings, but could not protect it as the desperate Blue Jays wanted to show their home town fans that they had not abandoned the season. Gregg Zaun hit a solo shot in the 5th to get the Jays on the board. In the 6th Toronto took the lead by posting 3 big runs. Alex Rios doubled home Orlando Hudson for the first run. Eric Hinske doubled home Rios for the next run and advanced to third when Tim Salmon’s throw overshot the cutoff man. That allowed Hinske to score on a sac fly by Catalanotto to make it 4-3 Jays. Salmon atoned for his sins by slamming a solo shot to lead off the 8th. That round tripper tied the game, which eventually went into extra innings. Eric Hinske’s walkoff homer to lead off the 11th ended it and set the tone for the Jays to possibly sweep the doubleheader and even the 4 game set.

GAME 4 – Blue Jays 3, Angels 1

Jays manager Justin Ryan was quoted as saying, “Roy Halladay (3-2, 1.18) has pitched good enough to be 5-0. This team just doesn’t hit for him”. While that may true on most days the Jays actually hit just enough to allow “Doc” to win his 3rd of the season and sweep the doubleheader. Toronto drew first blood when Vernon Wells led off the bottom of the 2nd with a solo shot off of Angel starter Jarred Washburn. That would be the only run that Washburn would yield on the day. In fact there would be no further scoring until Anaheim tied it in the top of the 8th with a 2 out RBI single by Orlando Palmeiro that scored Kevin Stocker who was on 2nd by way of a 2 out double. At this point Halladay figured he was going to get at best another no decision or possibly an undeserved loss. His teammates rewarded him with 2 run in the bottom of the frame thanks to a 2 run homer by Frank Catalanotto. That was all that the great “Doc” Holladay would need as the Halos went down in order in the 9th.

M’s Sweep Sliding Tribe

2010-03-27T12:49:00.001-07:00

Manager Bill Keller said after the game, “The Tribe is in trouble”. What an understatement. Just 2 weeks ago they were the darlings of the KOD world. Now they seem to be in free fall and after this series they are barely clinging to a 2 game lead in the AL East over the Yanks. Seattle, on the other hand, swept their way in to resurrecting their season. At 13-12 they are in the thick of the Wild Card race and only 3 behind Oakland in the division.

9/8 – 9/10 – Kingdome

GAME 1 – Mariners 4, Indians 2

Erik Hanson (2-2, 3.67) had a shutout going for 7 innings, then yielded 2 runs that made the score look closer than the game was. Seattle chipped away at Cleveland starter Hal Woodeshick (0-2, 3.86) with solo runs in the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 6th. Leadoff hitter Rich Amaral went 3 for 5 and inched his way close to the Mendoza line (.198). 4 different M’s had RBI’s. Seattle refused to pitch to Colavito, who walked twice and fanned once chasing anything to hit. Steve Ontiveros came on and bailed out Hanson in the 9th for his first save of the season.

GAME 2 – Mariners 3, Indians 0

Cal McLish (4-2, 2.25) couldn’t be blamed for this one. Giving up 3 runs in a complete game effort and not even having a chance to win means your offense completely went south on you. Seattle jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and with the way the Tribe has been hitting of late you could have turned your TV sets off right then and there. After Rich Amaral received a leadoff walk he then stole second and moved to third on Omar Vizquel’s ground out. Junior Griffey was pitched around and walked. “How can you trade” Jay Buhner was riled up and he singled home Amaral. Tino Martinez singled to load the bases and Mike Blowers lifted a sac fly to deep center to score Griffey. Blowers helped add an insurance run in the 6th, when he again singled home Griffey. All the while Dave Fleming (2-2, 2.63) was cruising. After yielding only 3 hits and no runs he was lifted due to fatigue in favor of Jeff Nelson who closed it out for his 4th save.

9/11 – CLE Municipal Stadium – Double Header

GAME 3 – Mariners 3, Indians 0

The “Big Unit”, Randy Johnson (3-0, 0.92) was dominant. He fanned 8 and allowed only 1 hit over 5+ innings until he tweaked his shoulder and had to come out. This is the 3rd time this season that he has had to exit a game early due to injury. Manager Hopcroft was impressed by Johnson’s performance, but upset by his lack of durability. Jim “Mudcat” Grant (2-2, 2.74) was going toe to toe with the “Big Unit” until Seattle broke through with 2 in the 5th. The anemic Tribe bats could not score on both Bob Ayrault and Norm Charlton (5th save) and for the second straight game they were shut out 3-0. Rich Amaral has come back to life in the lead off spot for the M’s. Going 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and raising his avg t0 .222. Colavito took the collar (0-4) and saw his average drop under .400. Tino Matinez had 2 RBI.

GAME 4 – Mariners 7, Indians 1

The non-existent Tribe Offense succeeded in making Chris Bosio (3-1, (2.55) look like a Cy Young candidate. In this contest the M’s broke out and didn’t even allow Cleveland the chance to think there was any hope. Ken Griffey Jr. went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI and hit his 6th homer of the season. Tino had his 3rd homer in a 2-4 effort. Rocky Colavito did go 2-3 and raised his average just under .400 with a .396 posting. Veteran Bob Lemon saw some action in garbage time and tossed 2 scoreless innings despite walking 3.