Four games played since the last update, and a little bit of clarity (but not much!)
AL Classic: The Yankees only took 1 of 4, losing a series to Detroit, their only win coming on a vultured win by Johnny Murphy. After scoring 9 in the first game, the Yanks bats went cold, amounting to only 7 runs in the next 3 games, including a 4-hit shutout by Texas' Bert Blyleven. Mike Hargrove did his future employers a big favor, with his homer accounting for all the scoring in a 1-0 beauty. But could Baltimore take advantage? Not really. The Os split their 4 games, and head into their final series in Detroit 1 game back, while New York hosts Washington. Baltimore has been slightly better than .500 against the Tigers, the Yankees slightly under .500 against the Nationals... New York would host a 1-game playoff if it comes to it. Boston won 2 of 3 against the Browns but were eliminated anyway.
AL Modern: Texas preceded their win against the Yankees by taking a series from Cleveland. Doc Ellis shut down the Indian's bats with a surprising shutout one day, while the Rangers bats pounded Cleveland the next day. Could Seattle take advantage? No. The Mariners played three extra inning games against usually-hapless Oakland, leading each in the 8th only to suffer three blown saves. They lost the first two, games that will haunt fans in the Emerald City if the Ms fall just short. Seattle pulled out the third game, though it took 19 innings to do so. Cleveland hosts Toronto and Seattle visits Texas to finish their season. The Indians have had trouble with the Blue Jays, while the Mariners have hand led the Rangers well this year. Seattle would host a hypothetical playoff. Other than Cleveland and Seattle, no AL Modern team will finish above .500.
NL East: Brooklyn helped their cause immensely by taking 2 of 3 from first-place Pittsburgh. MVP candidate Dolph Camilli was basically AWOL, going 1-12 in the games, but Pete Reiser made up for it by going 6-12 with 3 extra base hits. Ginger Beaumont poured it on for the Pirates, going 11-18, including 5-5 in a heartbreaking extra-inning loss to the Dodgers. The Pirates split their four games, salvaging a make-up against the Mets (featuring a comeback that sent Roger McDowell to a somewhat astonishing 16th loss) after the series loss to Brooklyn. Atlanta took 2 of 3 from Philadelphia, doing it with hitting (a 17-10 slugfest) and pitching (the next day's 2-1 win). Andres Gallaraga did his best to keep Atlanta in it, going 6-9 in the three games. Meanwhile, the Beaneaters are all but eliminated after leaving choosing to score 14 runs in their one win and only 4 in the other three games (all losses). Boston visits Pittsburgh, needing to sweep and then win a to-be-scheduled makeup against the mighty Cubs. Brooklyn is 1.5 back, and is off to Montreal (against whom they've played terribly) to finish the season, while the Mets look to knock Atlanta out. At this point, I believe all results up to and including a four-way tie are still possible. Venues for any playoff games will be (randomly) decided after things clear up a bit.
NL West: Chicago and Milwaukee end this update where they started it-- with the Cubs holding a slim 0.5 game lead. Both teams split their games, Chicago taking 2 of 3 from St. Louis, Milwaukee losing 2 of 3 to Houston before coming back and beating the Cubs in a makeup game. Milwaukee fans might note with some concern the fact they've only scored 4 runs in 4 games, but they can take some solace that their pitching has let them gain the split, stars including Bob Buhl's 11 inning shutout and Spahn's shutout of Chicago to win his 20th (and 7th in a row). The Cubs pitching has been excellent, allowing 6 runs in 4 games, but they too have been scoring little, save an 11 run outburst in game 1. Of more concern is an injury to manager and 1st baseman Frank Chance that likely puts him out for the remaining games, at the Reds. The Braves host Los Angeles. Milwaukee would host any playoff game. The pennant race overshadowed two great pitching performances in games by lesser teams: Doug Rau and Mike Marshall teamed up to pitch a 1-hitter against Cincinnati, and the Padres' Josh Hamilton struck out 11 in a complete game shutout against San Francisco.
Next update after the next three game series, before any last-day makeups.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Time to panic on the North Side?
It's taken another month, but the end of the season is a bit closer. The most secure leads of recent times are much smaller, and the reverse is also true. There are 7-8 games left for most teams.
AL Classic: Baltimore treaded water, taking 2 of 3 from St. Louis while the Yankees took 2 of 3 from the Philadelphia Athletics. The Orioles lost a good opportunity to make up ground when Dick Hall blew a save in the 9th and the Browns took the game in the 11th. The Yanks, meanwhile, used some late heroics and took advantage of hot hitting from Joe DiMaggio (4-8, 2 HR, 7 RBI in the two wins) to lower their magic number to 6. Washington swept the Red Sox, effectively knocking them out of the race (and putting the Nats in plausible striking distance of Detroit for 4th place). The Yankees lead by 2, tied for the largest division lead, and will host Detroit. Baltimore heads to Philadelphia.
AL Modern: The Indians and Mariners slouched toward the finish. Seattle caught Cleveland after they beat Kansas City (coupled with an Oakland win), but the Royals swept a big double header, Jeff Nelson blowing the save in the 8th of the nightcap. In the end, the Indians' lead remains 1 game with 6 to play. The battle for third place between Texas, Minnesota, and California continues in the leaders' rear-view mirror. The Mariners head down I-5 to Oakland, the Rangers come next to the Jake.
NL East: Brooklyn edged closer to the top, moving into second place after sweeping the fading Beaneaters. Boston's vaunted offense was shut out twice in the three game set, including a heartbreaking 1-0 finale. The Dodgers have won 5 straight. Pittsburgh took two of three from the Mets and have lowered their magic number to 6. Atlanta dropped two of three to the New York Giants. Heading into the final two series, the Pirates lead Brooklyn by 2 games, with Boston at 2.5 back and Atlanta 3 back. This sets up a critical series as Pittsburgh visits Ebbets field. The Beaneaters and Braves will try to take advantage against the Giants and Phillies, respectively.
NL West: Chicago has led for the lion's share of the season and has had a large lead for months (of game time, to say nothing of real time). The Cubs wake this morning with their lead a slender 0.5 games, 1 game in the all-important loss column. This is most immediately a result of a disastrous sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers (who outscored the Cubbies 22-4 in the three games) while the rolling Milwaukee Braves easily handled San Francisco. Milwaukee has the easier schedule going forward, facing the anemic Astros next before facing the 3rd place Dodgers (who would be in 1st place in the NL East, but that's another story). Chicago takes on the resurgent St. Louis Cardinals. There is also a make-up game between Chicago and Milwaukee after this next series, which is looming ever-larger.
AL Classic: Baltimore treaded water, taking 2 of 3 from St. Louis while the Yankees took 2 of 3 from the Philadelphia Athletics. The Orioles lost a good opportunity to make up ground when Dick Hall blew a save in the 9th and the Browns took the game in the 11th. The Yanks, meanwhile, used some late heroics and took advantage of hot hitting from Joe DiMaggio (4-8, 2 HR, 7 RBI in the two wins) to lower their magic number to 6. Washington swept the Red Sox, effectively knocking them out of the race (and putting the Nats in plausible striking distance of Detroit for 4th place). The Yankees lead by 2, tied for the largest division lead, and will host Detroit. Baltimore heads to Philadelphia.
AL Modern: The Indians and Mariners slouched toward the finish. Seattle caught Cleveland after they beat Kansas City (coupled with an Oakland win), but the Royals swept a big double header, Jeff Nelson blowing the save in the 8th of the nightcap. In the end, the Indians' lead remains 1 game with 6 to play. The battle for third place between Texas, Minnesota, and California continues in the leaders' rear-view mirror. The Mariners head down I-5 to Oakland, the Rangers come next to the Jake.
NL East: Brooklyn edged closer to the top, moving into second place after sweeping the fading Beaneaters. Boston's vaunted offense was shut out twice in the three game set, including a heartbreaking 1-0 finale. The Dodgers have won 5 straight. Pittsburgh took two of three from the Mets and have lowered their magic number to 6. Atlanta dropped two of three to the New York Giants. Heading into the final two series, the Pirates lead Brooklyn by 2 games, with Boston at 2.5 back and Atlanta 3 back. This sets up a critical series as Pittsburgh visits Ebbets field. The Beaneaters and Braves will try to take advantage against the Giants and Phillies, respectively.
NL West: Chicago has led for the lion's share of the season and has had a large lead for months (of game time, to say nothing of real time). The Cubs wake this morning with their lead a slender 0.5 games, 1 game in the all-important loss column. This is most immediately a result of a disastrous sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers (who outscored the Cubbies 22-4 in the three games) while the rolling Milwaukee Braves easily handled San Francisco. Milwaukee has the easier schedule going forward, facing the anemic Astros next before facing the 3rd place Dodgers (who would be in 1st place in the NL East, but that's another story). Chicago takes on the resurgent St. Louis Cardinals. There is also a make-up game between Chicago and Milwaukee after this next series, which is looming ever-larger.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Catch and Release
A long, long month. So, we've only creeped forward a few more games. But they were important ones...
AL Classic: The Yankees ran into a heap of trouble via their nemeses, the 1922 St. Louis Browns. The Browns had had their number all year, and New York was faltering a bit heading into this 5 game set. The Brownies took the first three games in commanding fashion, pounding out 24 runs and 34 hits, by which time Baltimore's two wins against the Red Sox put them in a tie for first. The Yanks got revenge in the final two games against St. Louis (including a 16-1 thrashing), and the Red Sox salvaged the series finale. Adding in Minnesota's victory over the Orioles in a makeup, the Yankees are up by 2, with 10 to play. The Yanks travel to Philadelphia, Baltimore tries their luck in St. Louis, and Boston hosts Washington for the next round of games.
AL Modern: The leaders had a rough series: Seattle dropped 2 of 3 in extra innings to Minnesota, Cleveland lost two 1-run games to the Royals, and then dropped another one to Washington for good measure. The end result finds the Indians with a one-game lead over the Mariners with 9 to play.
NL East: Boston split, but the Pirates took 3 of 4 to take a slender half-game lead. Atlanta is 2 back, Brooklyn three back. With between 9 and 12 games to play for the leaders, it's still quite up in the air. The Braves would seem to have the easiest schedule with the Giants, Phillies, and Mets, but they've played badly against the two latter teams. Boston hosts Brooklyn next in a series that will likely determine the fate of at least one of those teams. Pittsburgh hosts the Mets before traveling to Ebbets Field
NL West: The Cubs grind their way forward, magic number now at 8. They maintain a healthy 3.5 game lead with ~10 to play. Meanwhile, Milwaukee has the second-best record in all the Cloverland Leagues and is going to sit home for the postseason barring a miracle finish. The Curse of Bud Selig? One can only hope. My Cardinals managed to win one of three, which is pretty good for them lately.
AL Classic: The Yankees ran into a heap of trouble via their nemeses, the 1922 St. Louis Browns. The Browns had had their number all year, and New York was faltering a bit heading into this 5 game set. The Brownies took the first three games in commanding fashion, pounding out 24 runs and 34 hits, by which time Baltimore's two wins against the Red Sox put them in a tie for first. The Yanks got revenge in the final two games against St. Louis (including a 16-1 thrashing), and the Red Sox salvaged the series finale. Adding in Minnesota's victory over the Orioles in a makeup, the Yankees are up by 2, with 10 to play. The Yanks travel to Philadelphia, Baltimore tries their luck in St. Louis, and Boston hosts Washington for the next round of games.
AL Modern: The leaders had a rough series: Seattle dropped 2 of 3 in extra innings to Minnesota, Cleveland lost two 1-run games to the Royals, and then dropped another one to Washington for good measure. The end result finds the Indians with a one-game lead over the Mariners with 9 to play.
NL East: Boston split, but the Pirates took 3 of 4 to take a slender half-game lead. Atlanta is 2 back, Brooklyn three back. With between 9 and 12 games to play for the leaders, it's still quite up in the air. The Braves would seem to have the easiest schedule with the Giants, Phillies, and Mets, but they've played badly against the two latter teams. Boston hosts Brooklyn next in a series that will likely determine the fate of at least one of those teams. Pittsburgh hosts the Mets before traveling to Ebbets Field
NL West: The Cubs grind their way forward, magic number now at 8. They maintain a healthy 3.5 game lead with ~10 to play. Meanwhile, Milwaukee has the second-best record in all the Cloverland Leagues and is going to sit home for the postseason barring a miracle finish. The Curse of Bud Selig? One can only hope. My Cardinals managed to win one of three, which is pretty good for them lately.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Creeping along...
A set of big series! Not that it should have taken a month, of course.
AL Classic: Baltimore took 2 of 3 from the Yankees (including a 1-0 thriller decided on a Don Buford HR) to keep it a race-- they're now 2.5 back with ~14 games to play. Boston failed to make up any ground, dropping a series to Detroit. They're 3.5 back and need to make a move soon. There's something of a battle for 5th place/.5oo between Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Washington. I'd put a single quatloo on the Athletics, but no more. The Yanks head to Sportsman's Park where the Browns hope to play spoilers, with a pretty good chance of doing just that-- they've won 7 of 9 against the mighty Yankees this year. Baltimore and Boston, meanwhile, face each other at Fenway to see who gets to try and take advantage.
AL Modern: Seattle kept the pressure on the Indians by taking 2 of 3 and closing the gap to 1.5 games with ~12 to play. Interestingly, the Mariners have played much better in-division than cross-division (.628 vs. .500), while the Indians have nearly the reverse split-- .523 against the AL Modern division but .667 against the likes of the Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox... With only in-division games the rest of the way, could that swing things toward the Mariners? Cleveland heads to Kansas City, the Mariners are off to Bloomington, MN.
NL East: The Beaneaters are making the best of the reset and have crept out to a 1.5 game lead by sweeping the Mets, even getting a shutout from Ted Lewis. The Pirates are hanging tough, but dropped a game at the Polo Grounds. Atlanta dropped a game further behind Boston as well, and Brooklyn dropped their series to Philadelphia, likely dooming their hopes. The Phillies travel to Exposition Park in Pittsburgh next, while Boston hosts Atlanta and Brooklyn looks from some help from the now last-place Mets.
NL West: The Cubs first-place lead is still larger than any other teams, but in the past 10 games it's been whittled down by Milwaukee from 7 games to 3. Chicago had been hoping to use the last couple of weeks to get their pitching rotation ready for the postseason, but a race seems to have broken out instead. Meanwhile, the Cards swept the Reds! A happy day for manager Rivkin. St. Louis becomes involved in the pennant race for the first time in months as they host the surging Braves, while Chicago hosts the not surging San Diego Padres.
AL Classic: Baltimore took 2 of 3 from the Yankees (including a 1-0 thriller decided on a Don Buford HR) to keep it a race-- they're now 2.5 back with ~14 games to play. Boston failed to make up any ground, dropping a series to Detroit. They're 3.5 back and need to make a move soon. There's something of a battle for 5th place/.5oo between Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Washington. I'd put a single quatloo on the Athletics, but no more. The Yanks head to Sportsman's Park where the Browns hope to play spoilers, with a pretty good chance of doing just that-- they've won 7 of 9 against the mighty Yankees this year. Baltimore and Boston, meanwhile, face each other at Fenway to see who gets to try and take advantage.
AL Modern: Seattle kept the pressure on the Indians by taking 2 of 3 and closing the gap to 1.5 games with ~12 to play. Interestingly, the Mariners have played much better in-division than cross-division (.628 vs. .500), while the Indians have nearly the reverse split-- .523 against the AL Modern division but .667 against the likes of the Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox... With only in-division games the rest of the way, could that swing things toward the Mariners? Cleveland heads to Kansas City, the Mariners are off to Bloomington, MN.
NL East: The Beaneaters are making the best of the reset and have crept out to a 1.5 game lead by sweeping the Mets, even getting a shutout from Ted Lewis. The Pirates are hanging tough, but dropped a game at the Polo Grounds. Atlanta dropped a game further behind Boston as well, and Brooklyn dropped their series to Philadelphia, likely dooming their hopes. The Phillies travel to Exposition Park in Pittsburgh next, while Boston hosts Atlanta and Brooklyn looks from some help from the now last-place Mets.
NL West: The Cubs first-place lead is still larger than any other teams, but in the past 10 games it's been whittled down by Milwaukee from 7 games to 3. Chicago had been hoping to use the last couple of weeks to get their pitching rotation ready for the postseason, but a race seems to have broken out instead. Meanwhile, the Cards swept the Reds! A happy day for manager Rivkin. St. Louis becomes involved in the pennant race for the first time in months as they host the surging Braves, while Chicago hosts the not surging San Diego Padres.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Back underway: NL games
Given the AL scoreboard both was unreadable _and_ made other things unreadable, I'll pass on an NL scoreboard image and just put it here:
Pirates-Braves: Atlanta took two of three from Pittsburgh, improving their own chances as well as those of all around them, despite making an astonishing 12 errors in the three-game series, 7 in the 13-inning game 2 alone. Sam Leever went the distance for the Pirates in that game, getting the win. Atlanta pitchers pitched well, and if the offense had scored anything in regulation in game 2, they would have swept. The Braves followed up the Pirates series by shutting out the suddenly hapless Cardinals. Pittsburgh travels to the Polo Grounds next, Atlanta remains at home to host Montreal.
Beaneaters-Expos: Boston leapfrogged Pittsburgh into a slim 1st place lead, taking two of three from Montreal. Jack Stivetts was a standout, going 9-10 at the bat and winning his start on the mound. Hugh Duffy was 6-13 with 6 RBI, Jimmy Collins 8-13. All the offense was necessary, as in typical Beaneaters fashion, the pitching was knocked around. Even Kid Nichols got bombed in his start, with only the lack of possible relief pitchers keeping him in the game. The Beaneaters hope to lengthen their lead against the Mets in their next series.
Bklyn Dodgers-NY Giants: The classic rivalry convened for the final time this season, Brooklyn with their eyes on the division lead they held for much of the season, New York hoping to play spoiler. The Dodgers came closest to their goal, taking 3 of 4 from the Giants, including both ends of a doubleheader. Pete Reiser was hot and cold for the Bums, 4-5 in the first game but with only one hit the rest of the way. Dolph Camilli was more steady, burnishing his case for NL MVP, easily leading the league in batting and tying for the league lead in RBI. Christy Mathewson won his 21st to prevent a sweep. Brooklyn followed up this series with a win in a make-up game at Shea. Next up for the Dodgers is hosting Philadelphia.
Mets-Phillies: After a bad start for Philadelphia, they came back to take the last two at Shea. New York erupted for 12 runs, HoJo hitting two homers and El Sid striking out 9 in 7 innings to hand Schilling the loss in a 12-3 game. The Metropolitans would have been well-advised to spread those runs out, however, as they only scored 2 runs the rest of the way, including a 15-inning scoreless stretch against Philadelphia and Brooklyn. The immortal Bob Rivera pitched a 2-hit shutout, striking out 9 Mets and improving his record to, um, 8-12.
Recap:
Cubs-Milwaukee Braves: Chicago still has the best record in the Cloverland Leagues, but they no longer have the largest lead. Milwaukee made the best of their chances by sweeping both games of a rain-shortened series. Johnny Logan was 4-4 in the first game, but Hank Aaron's 41st home run was the big blow as the Braves cruised 8-1. Aaron struck again in game 2, driving in Andy Pafko in the 8th, the deciding run in a 2-1 squeaker. The Cubs couldn't get their bats going, scoring only 2 runs en route to their 7th loss in 10 games. The Braves have won 5 straight and have closed the gap with Chicago from 8 games to 3.
Los Angeles Dodgers-Cardinals: St. Louis' woes continued, as they dropped two of three to the Dodgers and a make-up game to Atlanta. Davey Lopes bedeviled the Cards, going 4-8 in the first two games before sitting out the finale. Mort Cooper pitched a shutout to give St. Louis their only win in the last 10 games. San Francisco comes to LA next, while the Reds visit Sportsman's Park.
Reds-Padres: San Diego scored 4 runs in every game, Cincinnati averaged over 9 runs a game but settled for 2 wins. Pete Rose was 7-14 with 6 runs, Joe Morgan had a monster game in the opener. But Fernando Valenzuela, Bryce Florie, and Trevor Hoffman kept the Big Red Machine in check and John Flaherty drove in 4 to salvage a win for the boys in brown.
San Francisco Giants-Astros: Barry Bonds' heroics, including his league-leading 46th and 47th home runs, couldn't win this series over Houston, the NL's doormats. Jose Lima pitched a beautiful complete game, and a good start by Randy Johnson, spoiled by Billy Wagner's blown save, was redeemed by a walk-off Moises Alou home run in the 15th inning of the third game. In between, critical errors by Brad Ausmus and Richard Hidalgo doomed Scott Elarton's bid to defeat Billy Swift. The Astros head home to welcome the Cubs, who own Houston this year.
- NL East
- Boston Beaneaters 76 67 -
- Pittsburgh Pirates 76 68 .5
- Brooklyn Dodgers 76 71 2
- Atlanta Braves 76 71 2
- New York Giants 68 77 9
- Philadelphia Phillies 67 79 10.5
- Montreal Expos 66 80 11.5
- New York Mets 63 83 14.5
Pirates-Braves: Atlanta took two of three from Pittsburgh, improving their own chances as well as those of all around them, despite making an astonishing 12 errors in the three-game series, 7 in the 13-inning game 2 alone. Sam Leever went the distance for the Pirates in that game, getting the win. Atlanta pitchers pitched well, and if the offense had scored anything in regulation in game 2, they would have swept. The Braves followed up the Pirates series by shutting out the suddenly hapless Cardinals. Pittsburgh travels to the Polo Grounds next, Atlanta remains at home to host Montreal.
Beaneaters-Expos: Boston leapfrogged Pittsburgh into a slim 1st place lead, taking two of three from Montreal. Jack Stivetts was a standout, going 9-10 at the bat and winning his start on the mound. Hugh Duffy was 6-13 with 6 RBI, Jimmy Collins 8-13. All the offense was necessary, as in typical Beaneaters fashion, the pitching was knocked around. Even Kid Nichols got bombed in his start, with only the lack of possible relief pitchers keeping him in the game. The Beaneaters hope to lengthen their lead against the Mets in their next series.
Bklyn Dodgers-NY Giants: The classic rivalry convened for the final time this season, Brooklyn with their eyes on the division lead they held for much of the season, New York hoping to play spoiler. The Dodgers came closest to their goal, taking 3 of 4 from the Giants, including both ends of a doubleheader. Pete Reiser was hot and cold for the Bums, 4-5 in the first game but with only one hit the rest of the way. Dolph Camilli was more steady, burnishing his case for NL MVP, easily leading the league in batting and tying for the league lead in RBI. Christy Mathewson won his 21st to prevent a sweep. Brooklyn followed up this series with a win in a make-up game at Shea. Next up for the Dodgers is hosting Philadelphia.
Mets-Phillies: After a bad start for Philadelphia, they came back to take the last two at Shea. New York erupted for 12 runs, HoJo hitting two homers and El Sid striking out 9 in 7 innings to hand Schilling the loss in a 12-3 game. The Metropolitans would have been well-advised to spread those runs out, however, as they only scored 2 runs the rest of the way, including a 15-inning scoreless stretch against Philadelphia and Brooklyn. The immortal Bob Rivera pitched a 2-hit shutout, striking out 9 Mets and improving his record to, um, 8-12.
- NL West
- Chicago Cubs 89 56 -
- Milwaukee Braves 86 59 3
- Los Angeles Dodgers 78 68 11.5
- Cincinnati Reds 77 70 13
- San Francisco Giants 76 71 14
- St. Louis Cardinals 73 73 16.5
- San Diego Padres 61 86 29
- Houston Astros 59 88 31
Recap:
Cubs-Milwaukee Braves: Chicago still has the best record in the Cloverland Leagues, but they no longer have the largest lead. Milwaukee made the best of their chances by sweeping both games of a rain-shortened series. Johnny Logan was 4-4 in the first game, but Hank Aaron's 41st home run was the big blow as the Braves cruised 8-1. Aaron struck again in game 2, driving in Andy Pafko in the 8th, the deciding run in a 2-1 squeaker. The Cubs couldn't get their bats going, scoring only 2 runs en route to their 7th loss in 10 games. The Braves have won 5 straight and have closed the gap with Chicago from 8 games to 3.
Los Angeles Dodgers-Cardinals: St. Louis' woes continued, as they dropped two of three to the Dodgers and a make-up game to Atlanta. Davey Lopes bedeviled the Cards, going 4-8 in the first two games before sitting out the finale. Mort Cooper pitched a shutout to give St. Louis their only win in the last 10 games. San Francisco comes to LA next, while the Reds visit Sportsman's Park.
Reds-Padres: San Diego scored 4 runs in every game, Cincinnati averaged over 9 runs a game but settled for 2 wins. Pete Rose was 7-14 with 6 runs, Joe Morgan had a monster game in the opener. But Fernando Valenzuela, Bryce Florie, and Trevor Hoffman kept the Big Red Machine in check and John Flaherty drove in 4 to salvage a win for the boys in brown.
San Francisco Giants-Astros: Barry Bonds' heroics, including his league-leading 46th and 47th home runs, couldn't win this series over Houston, the NL's doormats. Jose Lima pitched a beautiful complete game, and a good start by Randy Johnson, spoiled by Billy Wagner's blown save, was redeemed by a walk-off Moises Alou home run in the 15th inning of the third game. In between, critical errors by Brad Ausmus and Richard Hidalgo doomed Scott Elarton's bid to defeat Billy Swift. The Astros head home to welcome the Cubs, who own Houston this year.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Back underway: AL games
Yankees-Red Sox: The Yanks took 2 of 3 from Boston, losing the last game played pre-crash but winning the next two. They managed to bury Joe Wood early in game 2, knocking him out after 4 innings. Joe Gordon had a good series, 5-13 with 2 HR and 4 RBI. Tris Speaker was even better, 6-12 in a losing cause. The Yankees followed this up with a shutout loss to Washington, but have a comfortable cushion as they head to Baltimore for a big series with the Birds. Boston visits Detroit.
Orioles-White Sox: Chicago dealt Baltimore's hopes a major blow, sweeping them at Memorial Stadium. The Sox' pitchers stifled the O's offense, which hasn't been helped by the loss of Frank Robinson and Merv Rettenmund to injury. The Orioles managed only 3 runs in the three games, not good even ignoring the White Sox' dead-ball offense scratching out 18... Joe Jackson was 5-12 for Chicago. Baltimore hosts the Yankees in a series they really must win (or better, sweep) to stay in the hunt. Chicago hosts the Browns.
Phil. Athletics-Tigers: Philadelphia effectively eliminated Detroit with a sweep. The Tigers did themselves no favors with 5 errors in game 1, though the 8 earned runs the A's scored were more than enough to compensate for the 1 run George Earnshaw allowed. Game 3 was shortened by rain in the 9th. Mickey Cochrane had a monster series, 9-13 with 6 RBI. Philadelphia travels to the District to take on the Nationals next.
Browns-Nationals: A see-saw series, as the Browns erupted for 19 runs in game 2, but Washington took the rest of the games. George Sisler was 7-10 with 6 RBI in the first two games before resting in game 3. His league-leading average is now .428, roughly 50 points ahead of his closest pursuer (Philadelphia's Al Simmons at .369). Washington also took their schedules make-up vs. the Yankees, Dutch Reuther cooling the New Yorker's bats with a shutout and evening his record at 11-11. Walter Johnson's win in game 3 was his 17th, leading the Nats.
Indians-Twins: Cleveland, dealt a setback by the computer crash, took two of three from Minnesota, and was only a blown Eric Plunk save from sweeping the Twinkies. Kenny Lofton was en fuego, 7-9 with 2 doubles, a triple, and a HR in two games. The aftormentioned blown save, on a bases-loaded Cardenas triple, salvaged a game for Minnesota where Jim Kaat struggled with his his control for 1 1/3 innings, walking 3 and eventually being ejected after hitting his second batsman. The Twins managed .500 for this period by beating Texas 2-1 in a makeup game, Tiant pitching brilliantly but Perranoski getting the win in relief. Cleveland travels to Seattle for a big series, Minnesota travels to Texas for more Ranger fun.
Mariners-Angels: Seattle is trying to make the best of their new lease on life, sweeping California 8-2, 7-1, 5-2. Carlos Guillen, of all people, paced Seattle with a 5-6 in the first two games before sitting out the third. Kaz Sasaki notched his 29th save in the finale, his 21st in a row. The Angels did not have much to celebrate. They go on to Kansas City.
Rangers-Oakland A's: Oakland's hitting woes continued, as they were restricted to 7 runs in the three games, 4 of them in one "eruption". Still, they managed to net a win out of it, 2-1 in the first game. There were no real performances of note. Oakland goes on to Toronto.
Blue Jays-Royals: Speaking of Toronto... The Blue Jays and Royals played a taut, exciting series with basically no importance to any of the races in any way. Still, good baseball is good baseball. All three games were 1-run affairs, with the first two going extra innings. Charlie Liebrandt pitched a 10-inning shutout in game 1, winning on an RBI single by George Brett. Toronto got revenge the next day, with Jim Clancy striking out 11 in 10 innings before giving way to Mark Eichhorn, who got the win in relief on a Jesse Barfield sacrifice fly in the 12th.
Kansas City took the third game, but succumbed to St. Louis in a makeup game the next day.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Clichéd Return...
(Frank Selee wakes up. He is startled to find himself laying on the sidewalk in Boston. Two bystanders look on with concern.)
FS: Oh, I must have taken a tumble.
Bystander 1: Indeed-- tripped on the uneven pavement. We thought you might be hurt, and with the big games coming up...
FS: Oh, I shouldn't discourage you, but our odds are slim, as far behind Pittsburgh as we are, with less than two weeks to play.
(The bystanders look at each other, confused.)
Bystander 2: Sir?
B1: Perhaps we should find a medic?
FS: I assure you, I'm fine.
B2: But the Beaneaters are in fine shape, just a half-game back, with roughly three weeks to go.
(FS is dismayed)
FS: We're not three and a half back? And the Yankees-- they're still atop the AL Classic Division? Cleveland has not yet buried everyone else in their division?
(B1 and B2 are back to looking concerned...)
B1: No sir, yes sir, and, um, no sir.
B2: Respectively.
(FS brushes himself off and stands up.)
FS: Then there's work to be done and a championship to be defended! See you at the game!
FS: Oh, I must have taken a tumble.
Bystander 1: Indeed-- tripped on the uneven pavement. We thought you might be hurt, and with the big games coming up...
FS: Oh, I shouldn't discourage you, but our odds are slim, as far behind Pittsburgh as we are, with less than two weeks to play.
(The bystanders look at each other, confused.)
Bystander 2: Sir?
B1: Perhaps we should find a medic?
FS: I assure you, I'm fine.
B2: But the Beaneaters are in fine shape, just a half-game back, with roughly three weeks to go.
(FS is dismayed)
FS: We're not three and a half back? And the Yankees-- they're still atop the AL Classic Division? Cleveland has not yet buried everyone else in their division?
(B1 and B2 are back to looking concerned...)
B1: No sir, yes sir, and, um, no sir.
B2: Respectively.
(FS brushes himself off and stands up.)
FS: Then there's work to be done and a championship to be defended! See you at the game!
Monday, January 08, 2007
Do-over
Got the ol' computer back, lost the increment of the season I'd done on it. I think it amounts to ~20 games. :P
I think I'm going to start again from where I last backed it up and pretend this never happened. I believe the big winners turn out to be, embarrassingly, three of the teams I manage-- the Yankees get a big lead restored (which they frittered away last time), the Mariners get another crack at the Indians, and the Beaneaters come back to neck-and-neck with the Pirates. If something turns out differently from the way it was headed, I've got some thinking to do. But that's a problem for a later time...
I think I'm going to start again from where I last backed it up and pretend this never happened. I believe the big winners turn out to be, embarrassingly, three of the teams I manage-- the Yankees get a big lead restored (which they frittered away last time), the Mariners get another crack at the Indians, and the Beaneaters come back to neck-and-neck with the Pirates. If something turns out differently from the way it was headed, I've got some thinking to do. But that's a problem for a later time...
Saturday, December 16, 2006
The inevitable computer problem
Right. I just posted some old results. My beloved laptop had a bit of a catastrophic problem, and I'm awaiting its return. Hopefully I can carry on unscathed...
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
AL Action- Classic Division
Entering this series, the Yankees seemed to have retaken control of the AL Classic division, while Cleveland had all but clinched the AL Modern division. To the action!
Yankees-Browns: St. Louis began action in 6th place, but with an inexplicable advantage over New York through the season. That continued, to the Yanks dismay, as the Browns took 3 of 4, including two in extra innings. Ken Williams went 8-20 in the series, Eddie Foster adding an 8-17 performance. The Browns won big (11-6), small (2-1 in 10) and in between (5-4 in 12). While New York was still in first place at series' end, they lost a big chance to put Baltimore and Boston away...
Orioles-Red Sox: ...because they were playing one another. Boston and Baltimore split the first two games before Buck O'Brien captured his 22nd win for the Sox, tied for the league lead. Baltimore did get Boog Powell and Frank Robinson back from injury for this series, though they lost Paul Blair in the second game. Blair is likely out for the season, though could possibly return for the playoffs.
Nationals-Tigers: The hits kept falling in during this series. Four different Washington players had three-hit days, while five Detroiters pulled off the stunt (including a four-hit, five RBI day by Pete Fox). The Tigers erupted for 17 runs in the course of salvaging the final game, and remain mathematically in contention, 6 games back in fourth place.
White Sox- Phil. Athletics: The series started promisingly for Philadelphia, as George Earnshaw (19-16) pitched a one-hit shutout in a game sloppily played by Chicago (with four errors). The Pale Hose came back to sweep the remaining games, however, foiling Lefty Grove's bid for his 23rd win by scoring two in the 9th, then erupting for four in the first inning the next day to win in less-dramatic fashion. Buck Weaver was 6-12 in the three games, including the only hit off of Earnshaw.
Yankees-Browns: St. Louis began action in 6th place, but with an inexplicable advantage over New York through the season. That continued, to the Yanks dismay, as the Browns took 3 of 4, including two in extra innings. Ken Williams went 8-20 in the series, Eddie Foster adding an 8-17 performance. The Browns won big (11-6), small (2-1 in 10) and in between (5-4 in 12). While New York was still in first place at series' end, they lost a big chance to put Baltimore and Boston away...
Orioles-Red Sox: ...because they were playing one another. Boston and Baltimore split the first two games before Buck O'Brien captured his 22nd win for the Sox, tied for the league lead. Baltimore did get Boog Powell and Frank Robinson back from injury for this series, though they lost Paul Blair in the second game. Blair is likely out for the season, though could possibly return for the playoffs.
Nationals-Tigers: The hits kept falling in during this series. Four different Washington players had three-hit days, while five Detroiters pulled off the stunt (including a four-hit, five RBI day by Pete Fox). The Tigers erupted for 17 runs in the course of salvaging the final game, and remain mathematically in contention, 6 games back in fourth place.
White Sox- Phil. Athletics: The series started promisingly for Philadelphia, as George Earnshaw (19-16) pitched a one-hit shutout in a game sloppily played by Chicago (with four errors). The Pale Hose came back to sweep the remaining games, however, foiling Lefty Grove's bid for his 23rd win by scoring two in the 9th, then erupting for four in the first inning the next day to win in less-dramatic fashion. Buck Weaver was 6-12 in the three games, including the only hit off of Earnshaw.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Edging closer to the postseason: the NL
Pittsburgh-New York Giants: The Pirates put some room between themselves and their pursuers by taking two from the Giants. Ginger Beaumont was 5-9 with 4 RBI in the two games, and is second in the league in batting at .342. They head home to Exposition Park to host Philadelphia. The Giants remain at the Polo Grounds for a visit by Montreal.
Boston-New York Mets: Things did not go well for the reigning champs. A big third inning highlighted by a 3-run home run by Keith Hernandez led to an early exit for Boston ace Nichols in game 1, and El Sid struck out 11 in 6 1/3 before giving way to Sisk and McDowell. George Foster and Wally Backman each had 3 hits, including a homer by Foster. In the second game, it was Kevin Mitchell who single-handedly doomed the Beaneaters, driving in all 6 runs on a double, triple, and homer. Backman added two more hits. The Beaneaters cling to their hopes for unseating Pittsburgh, returning home to meet Atlanta. The Mets travel to Brooklyn.
Atlanta-Montreal: A Tuesday rainout led to a Wednesday doubleheader, swept by the Expos. Two home runs by Andres Gallaraga were for naught, though he now sits in third place in the league in that category. Jeff Fassero pitched masterfully for the 'spos in the nightcap, combining with John Wetteland for a three-hit shutout. Maddux was the hard luck loser in the 1-0 final, lowering his ERA to 1.93 and only giving up an unearned run (thanks to Chipper Jones)... Atlanta is now 4.5 back, with 11 to play.
Brooklyn-Philadelphia: The Dodgers and Phillies split their two games. hit two home runs in the first game, helping Curt Schilling get a complete game victory (he's now 9-11) and dropping Brooklyn under .500. They came back in game 2, but still find themselves mired in 4th place. Dolph Camilli leads the NL in batting average, slugging and on-base percentage, making him the odds-on favorite for the MVP, despite Brooklyn's standing.
Chicago-Houston: The Cubs took two from the last-place Astros, Ed Reulbach going the distance in an 11-inning game to win game 1, Pfiester striking out 14 to win game 2. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't much to cheer for as a Houston fan, though Craig Biggio did hit a 3-run home run and David Bell did have a 4-4 day...
Milwaukee-San Diego: The Braves took two, despite playing very sloppily. Danny O'Connell made 2 errors and his teammates added 3 more before all was said and done. But it was Rickey Henderson's dropped fly ball that doomed the Padres in game 1, wasting a 3-5 day by Wally Joyner (including a home run). Bob Buhl shut the Pads down in game 2, with Del Rice's homer providing all the offense he'd need.
Los Angeles-San Francisco: The two ancient rivals split their two games, the Giants scoring 1 run in each, but winning 1-0 in game 1. John Burkett pitched masterfully, making Don Sutton the hard luck loser. Game 2 saw Steve Garvey's three run home run iced the game for the Dodgers after Bill Russell singled home Steve Yeager in the 7th.
St. Louis-Cincinnati: The Cards eked out a split, as their poor play carried on. The Reds took advantage of 6 walks in the first game and Ken Griffey banged out three hits in game 1, while it took brilliant pitching by Johnny Beazley and a homer by Stan Musial to sneak to a 2-1 victory in game 2. The Cardinals are hoping to return to .500 against the Milwaukee Braves, while the Reds hope to catch Los Angeles and move into third place as they host San Francisco.
Boston-New York Mets: Things did not go well for the reigning champs. A big third inning highlighted by a 3-run home run by Keith Hernandez led to an early exit for Boston ace Nichols in game 1, and El Sid struck out 11 in 6 1/3 before giving way to Sisk and McDowell. George Foster and Wally Backman each had 3 hits, including a homer by Foster. In the second game, it was Kevin Mitchell who single-handedly doomed the Beaneaters, driving in all 6 runs on a double, triple, and homer. Backman added two more hits. The Beaneaters cling to their hopes for unseating Pittsburgh, returning home to meet Atlanta. The Mets travel to Brooklyn.
Atlanta-Montreal: A Tuesday rainout led to a Wednesday doubleheader, swept by the Expos. Two home runs by Andres Gallaraga were for naught, though he now sits in third place in the league in that category. Jeff Fassero pitched masterfully for the 'spos in the nightcap, combining with John Wetteland for a three-hit shutout. Maddux was the hard luck loser in the 1-0 final, lowering his ERA to 1.93 and only giving up an unearned run (thanks to Chipper Jones)... Atlanta is now 4.5 back, with 11 to play.
Brooklyn-Philadelphia: The Dodgers and Phillies split their two games. hit two home runs in the first game, helping Curt Schilling get a complete game victory (he's now 9-11) and dropping Brooklyn under .500. They came back in game 2, but still find themselves mired in 4th place. Dolph Camilli leads the NL in batting average, slugging and on-base percentage, making him the odds-on favorite for the MVP, despite Brooklyn's standing.
Chicago-Houston: The Cubs took two from the last-place Astros, Ed Reulbach going the distance in an 11-inning game to win game 1, Pfiester striking out 14 to win game 2. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't much to cheer for as a Houston fan, though Craig Biggio did hit a 3-run home run and David Bell did have a 4-4 day...
Milwaukee-San Diego: The Braves took two, despite playing very sloppily. Danny O'Connell made 2 errors and his teammates added 3 more before all was said and done. But it was Rickey Henderson's dropped fly ball that doomed the Padres in game 1, wasting a 3-5 day by Wally Joyner (including a home run). Bob Buhl shut the Pads down in game 2, with Del Rice's homer providing all the offense he'd need.
Los Angeles-San Francisco: The two ancient rivals split their two games, the Giants scoring 1 run in each, but winning 1-0 in game 1. John Burkett pitched masterfully, making Don Sutton the hard luck loser. Game 2 saw Steve Garvey's three run home run iced the game for the Dodgers after Bill Russell singled home Steve Yeager in the 7th.
St. Louis-Cincinnati: The Cards eked out a split, as their poor play carried on. The Reds took advantage of 6 walks in the first game and Ken Griffey banged out three hits in game 1, while it took brilliant pitching by Johnny Beazley and a homer by Stan Musial to sneak to a 2-1 victory in game 2. The Cardinals are hoping to return to .500 against the Milwaukee Braves, while the Reds hope to catch Los Angeles and move into third place as they host San Francisco.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Edging closer to the postseason: the AL
Rather than cover every game, I figure updating after every series makes more sense. So here's the situation as it stands:
Yankees-Orioles: Split the last two games, Ruffing winning for the Yankees powered by home runs by Rolfe and Selkirk, Palmer striking out 9 in preventing the sweep. The Yankees ended the series up 1.5 games over the Birds.
Red Sox-Tigers: Also split their last two (a pattern we'll see often). Speaker was 4-6, but a rain-shortened game gave Gorsica a 5-inning complete game win (in which he drove in both of Detroit's runs)... Boston 2.5 back, Detroit theoretically still alive at 6.5 back (but a long, long shot at this point).
White Sox-Browns: Hey, another split! Chicago's bats come alive for a rare double-digit outburst in game 1, with Ed Cicotte the beneficiary. A homer by Ken Williams and a couple of hits from George Sisler (and 4 from Marty McManus) give game 2 to St. Louis.
Philadelphia Athletics-Nationals: Hey, not a split! Philly's pitchers shut down the potent Washington offense, Lefty Grove shutting them out and Rube Walberg limiting them to 1 run in the second game. Foxx homered twice, Simmons ended the series at .379.
Mariners-Indians: Seattle managed to split their last two games with Cleveland, but that left them 5.5 behind with only 12 games left. Nagy shut down the Mariners for 7 innings, while the Indians crushed Jamie Moyer in game 1, Joel Piniero shut Cleveland out, but again--- too little, too late? Cleveland's magic number is 8, and the Mariners are the only team in the division with a mathematical shot at the title other than the Indians.
Twins-Rangers: Minnesota took two from Texas, a well-pitched game preceding a slugfest. Kaat and Zepp got the winse for the Twins, while the Rangers wasted a big day from Toby Harrah (4-5, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI)...
Angels-Royals: The Royals scored 11 runs in two games against California, and were never close. The Angels, unfortunately for Kansas City, scored 26 runs in the same two games... Reggie Jackson crushed Royals pitching to the tune of a 7-10 performance with 4 runs and 5 RBI, 3 doubles and a home run. Bobby Grich was only 2-10, but drove in 6 thanks to two homers. Fred Lynn drove in 5. The Royals also lost Willie Wilson to injury in the process.
Blue Jays-Oakland A's: Oakland were the anti-Angels, not only scoring zero runs in two games, but only managing 4 hits in the process. Things started poorly for Toronto as they lost Dave Steib before the first pitch was thrown, but Mark Eichhorn pitched amazingly in "relief" with 7 scoreless innings before giving way to two perfect innings by Tom Henke. Jimmy Key went the distance the next day. Frustratingly for the A's, their pitchers did very well, only allowing 5 runs and 10 hits in the two games, themselves. Toronto shut them out in the preceding game, too...
Yankees-Orioles: Split the last two games, Ruffing winning for the Yankees powered by home runs by Rolfe and Selkirk, Palmer striking out 9 in preventing the sweep. The Yankees ended the series up 1.5 games over the Birds.
Red Sox-Tigers: Also split their last two (a pattern we'll see often). Speaker was 4-6, but a rain-shortened game gave Gorsica a 5-inning complete game win (in which he drove in both of Detroit's runs)... Boston 2.5 back, Detroit theoretically still alive at 6.5 back (but a long, long shot at this point).
White Sox-Browns: Hey, another split! Chicago's bats come alive for a rare double-digit outburst in game 1, with Ed Cicotte the beneficiary. A homer by Ken Williams and a couple of hits from George Sisler (and 4 from Marty McManus) give game 2 to St. Louis.
Philadelphia Athletics-Nationals: Hey, not a split! Philly's pitchers shut down the potent Washington offense, Lefty Grove shutting them out and Rube Walberg limiting them to 1 run in the second game. Foxx homered twice, Simmons ended the series at .379.
Mariners-Indians: Seattle managed to split their last two games with Cleveland, but that left them 5.5 behind with only 12 games left. Nagy shut down the Mariners for 7 innings, while the Indians crushed Jamie Moyer in game 1, Joel Piniero shut Cleveland out, but again--- too little, too late? Cleveland's magic number is 8, and the Mariners are the only team in the division with a mathematical shot at the title other than the Indians.
Twins-Rangers: Minnesota took two from Texas, a well-pitched game preceding a slugfest. Kaat and Zepp got the winse for the Twins, while the Rangers wasted a big day from Toby Harrah (4-5, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI)...
Angels-Royals: The Royals scored 11 runs in two games against California, and were never close. The Angels, unfortunately for Kansas City, scored 26 runs in the same two games... Reggie Jackson crushed Royals pitching to the tune of a 7-10 performance with 4 runs and 5 RBI, 3 doubles and a home run. Bobby Grich was only 2-10, but drove in 6 thanks to two homers. Fred Lynn drove in 5. The Royals also lost Willie Wilson to injury in the process.
Blue Jays-Oakland A's: Oakland were the anti-Angels, not only scoring zero runs in two games, but only managing 4 hits in the process. Things started poorly for Toronto as they lost Dave Steib before the first pitch was thrown, but Mark Eichhorn pitched amazingly in "relief" with 7 scoreless innings before giving way to two perfect innings by Tom Henke. Jimmy Key went the distance the next day. Frustratingly for the A's, their pitchers did very well, only allowing 5 runs and 10 hits in the two games, themselves. Toronto shut them out in the preceding game, too...
Saturday, October 28, 2006
NL Games
The day began with the 1902 Pirates leading the NL East by 1.5 games, while the 1906 Cubs continued their steady journey to the NL West title. The 1897 Beaneaters, managed by Your Humble Blogger, trekked to Queens to open a three-game set with the Mets at Shea. The 1942 Cardinals, with the same manager, are playing host to the 1976 Reds and hoping to stem something of a free-fall which began a week or so earlier...
Beaneaters 2, Mets 0: The Beaneaters have the 2nd-worst ERA in the Cloverland Leagues, at 4.03 in a league whose average ERA is 3.38. However, Ted Lewis (16-19) managed to put together a 3-hit shutout, drive in Bobby Lowe and the only run he'd need, and simultaneously avoid his 20th loss of the year. Ron Darling (13-13) was the hard-luck loser, victimized by two Boston runs in the 5th on the aforementioned hits by Lowe and Lewis, another single by Fred Tenney, a sacrifice bunt and a judicious groundout. Tenney and Lowe each added additional hits as well. The Mets "attack" wasn't much, as Darryl Strawberry and Kevin Mitchell each doubled but not in the same inning. With the win and a Pirates loss, the Beaneaters closed to 0.5 game behind Pittsburgh.
New York Giants 4, Pirates 3 (10 innings): Meanwhile, over in Manhattan, Christy Mathewson (21-10) overcame two unearned runs to come up with a complete game, extra-inning victory. Pittsburgh struck first, taking advantage of an error by catcher Roger Bresnahan and scoring twice on a single by Fred Clarke. An injury to Pirates workhorse Jack Chesbro required a tired Ed Poole to come on in relief, however, and sloppy defense by Pittsburgh led to the Giants tying the game at 3-3 in the 6th. The Giants won in the 10, as Mike Donlin doubled off of Ed Doheny (11-11), and after two intentional walks and a sacrifice bunt, Bobby Gilbert singled Donlin home.
Phillies 9, Brooklyn Dodgers 3: Philadelphia led early and never looked back. Paced by Darren Daulton's 28th home run and 7 shutout innings by Brian Rivera (8-12), Brooklyn's postseason chances dimmed further. Cookie Lavagetto had three hits for the Dodgers, and Ducky Medwick homered for them as well.
Expos 19, Atlanta Braves 5: What can you say about a 19-5 game? Tom Glavine (17-8) gave up 4 runs in the 1st inning before additional runs in the 4th and 5th knocked him out of the box, and an eight-run 6th did not help Paul Byrd's ERA. The 'spos offense was keyed by home runs by Will Cordero (who had 5 RBI on the day before being pulled for a pinch hitter late in the game), Darrin Fletcher (3-5) and Mike Lansing (4 RBI before another mercy pinch hitter) also homered for Montreal. Things were so bad for Atlanta that the pinch hitters inserted to rest the Montreal regulars went 3-5 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI...
Astros 2, Cubs 1 (12 innings): The worst team in the NL took on the best, and came out on top. Baseball, what a game! :) Three Finger Brown (16-9) went the distance for Chicago, striking out 8. A parade of Houston pitchers held the Cubs down after the 3rd inning. Jeff Bagwell scored the winning run as Brad Ausmus' squeeze play caught the Cubs infield flat-footed. Craig Biggio's double was the key blow in the inning for Houston. Mike Magnante got the win, raising his record to 2-1.
Milwaukee Braves 4, Padres 2: Del Crandall's 11th home run led Gene Conley and the Braves (12-5) to victory over Bob Tewksbury (9-18) and San Diego. Conley allowed two unearned runs thanks to a dropped fly ball by Hank Aaron, but scattered five hits otherwise. Don McMahon closed out the game for his 14th save.
Reds 3, Cardinals 2: Another frustrating loss for St. Louis, their 4th in a row and 9th in the last ten. Santo Alcala (5-13) pitched 7 effective innings before Rawly Eastwick and Will McEnany finished off the Cards. Joe Morgan scored twice for Cincinnati. Murry Dickson (7-7) pitched well, but as has often been the case of late, not quite well enough...
Los Angeles Dodgers 5, San Francisco Giants 4: Andy Messersmith (12-14) struck out 10 en route to a complete game victory for the Dodgers. Matt Jackson (5-4) took the loss for San Francisco, as a single by Davey Lopes off of a clean-handed Kenny Rogers drove in the winning run in the 7th. Barry Bonds drove in 2 runs, tying him for 5th in the league with 109. Ron Cey was 3-3 for LA with two doubles.
Beaneaters 2, Mets 0: The Beaneaters have the 2nd-worst ERA in the Cloverland Leagues, at 4.03 in a league whose average ERA is 3.38. However, Ted Lewis (16-19) managed to put together a 3-hit shutout, drive in Bobby Lowe and the only run he'd need, and simultaneously avoid his 20th loss of the year. Ron Darling (13-13) was the hard-luck loser, victimized by two Boston runs in the 5th on the aforementioned hits by Lowe and Lewis, another single by Fred Tenney, a sacrifice bunt and a judicious groundout. Tenney and Lowe each added additional hits as well. The Mets "attack" wasn't much, as Darryl Strawberry and Kevin Mitchell each doubled but not in the same inning. With the win and a Pirates loss, the Beaneaters closed to 0.5 game behind Pittsburgh.
New York Giants 4, Pirates 3 (10 innings): Meanwhile, over in Manhattan, Christy Mathewson (21-10) overcame two unearned runs to come up with a complete game, extra-inning victory. Pittsburgh struck first, taking advantage of an error by catcher Roger Bresnahan and scoring twice on a single by Fred Clarke. An injury to Pirates workhorse Jack Chesbro required a tired Ed Poole to come on in relief, however, and sloppy defense by Pittsburgh led to the Giants tying the game at 3-3 in the 6th. The Giants won in the 10, as Mike Donlin doubled off of Ed Doheny (11-11), and after two intentional walks and a sacrifice bunt, Bobby Gilbert singled Donlin home.
Phillies 9, Brooklyn Dodgers 3: Philadelphia led early and never looked back. Paced by Darren Daulton's 28th home run and 7 shutout innings by Brian Rivera (8-12), Brooklyn's postseason chances dimmed further. Cookie Lavagetto had three hits for the Dodgers, and Ducky Medwick homered for them as well.
Expos 19, Atlanta Braves 5: What can you say about a 19-5 game? Tom Glavine (17-8) gave up 4 runs in the 1st inning before additional runs in the 4th and 5th knocked him out of the box, and an eight-run 6th did not help Paul Byrd's ERA. The 'spos offense was keyed by home runs by Will Cordero (who had 5 RBI on the day before being pulled for a pinch hitter late in the game), Darrin Fletcher (3-5) and Mike Lansing (4 RBI before another mercy pinch hitter) also homered for Montreal. Things were so bad for Atlanta that the pinch hitters inserted to rest the Montreal regulars went 3-5 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI...
Astros 2, Cubs 1 (12 innings): The worst team in the NL took on the best, and came out on top. Baseball, what a game! :) Three Finger Brown (16-9) went the distance for Chicago, striking out 8. A parade of Houston pitchers held the Cubs down after the 3rd inning. Jeff Bagwell scored the winning run as Brad Ausmus' squeeze play caught the Cubs infield flat-footed. Craig Biggio's double was the key blow in the inning for Houston. Mike Magnante got the win, raising his record to 2-1.
Milwaukee Braves 4, Padres 2: Del Crandall's 11th home run led Gene Conley and the Braves (12-5) to victory over Bob Tewksbury (9-18) and San Diego. Conley allowed two unearned runs thanks to a dropped fly ball by Hank Aaron, but scattered five hits otherwise. Don McMahon closed out the game for his 14th save.
Reds 3, Cardinals 2: Another frustrating loss for St. Louis, their 4th in a row and 9th in the last ten. Santo Alcala (5-13) pitched 7 effective innings before Rawly Eastwick and Will McEnany finished off the Cards. Joe Morgan scored twice for Cincinnati. Murry Dickson (7-7) pitched well, but as has often been the case of late, not quite well enough...
Los Angeles Dodgers 5, San Francisco Giants 4: Andy Messersmith (12-14) struck out 10 en route to a complete game victory for the Dodgers. Matt Jackson (5-4) took the loss for San Francisco, as a single by Davey Lopes off of a clean-handed Kenny Rogers drove in the winning run in the 7th. Barry Bonds drove in 2 runs, tying him for 5th in the league with 109. Ron Cey was 3-3 for LA with two doubles.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Today's AL action
At the start of the day, the Yankees were clinging to a 0.5-game lead as they arrived in Baltimore to play the second-place Orioles, and Seattle was 4.5 games back as they began a big three-game set hosting first-place Cleveland.
Yankees 4, Orioles 3: Joe Gordon started off the Yankees right, hitting his 25th home run (leading the Yanks) in the 2nd inning, though Dave McNally escaped further damage by inducing an inning-ending grounder by Charlie "King Kong" Keller with the bases loaded. Gordon continued his hot hitting in the 3rd, driving in Bill Dickey before Babe Dahlgren drove Gordon and DiMaggio in with a triple. New York then hoped to wait out Baltimore. The Orioles scored in the 6th on a single by Davey Johnson, and added another on an 8th inning home run by Don Buford when with two out and men on first and third, manager Rivkin made the call to the bullpen for Johnny "Fireman" Murphy. Murphy's had an awful year, much worse than in real life, so this was not a clear call... (There's a digression into whether teams should be managed as they really were or whether hindsight should be used, but that's for another time). A single by Merv Rettenmund off of Murphy shaved the score to 4-3, but Murphy had a relatively easy 9th for his 9th save. Steve Sundra, starter for the Yankees, improved his record to 10-1, McNally fell to 15-15. Gordon finished the day with 3 hits. The Yankees got some much-needed breathing room.
Indians 8, Mariners 1: For my other AL team, though, it's looking like the pennant race may be over. Seattle was down 4-0 by the time they batted in the 5th, and in the end Freddy Garcia (13-9) gave up home runs to Paul Sorrento and Manny Ramirez and John Olerud made a critical error that led to two unearned runs. Meanwhile Dennis Martinez (15-9) cruised through seven scoreless innings. Reliever Paul Assenmacher gave up a home run to Edgar Martinez, but it was way too late for the M's. Ryan Franklin giving up hits to all three Indians he faced didn't help. In the end, Cleveland's lead in the division swelled to 5.5 games and their magic number dropped to 10, the lowest in the Cloverland Leagues. Seattle's put up a good run, but Cleveland is just too good this season. Barring a miracle finish, they'll be headed to the playoffs.
In other action:
Tigers 7, Red Sox 1: A four-run 7th, keyed by Dick Bartell's bases-clearing double, powered Detroit to victory. Bobo Newsom (14-16) held Boston to one run in a complete game victory, while Smokey Joe Wood (20-14) was victimized by three unearned runs. McCosky, Higgins, and Sullivan (as well as Bartell) all had two-hit days for the Tigers. Bartell and Boston's Tris Speaker had two doubles. Boston fell to 3.5 games behind New York.
White Sox 5, Browns 2: Swede Risberg and Buck Weaver had three-hit days for Chicago, which took an early 5-0 lead against Elam Vangilder (10-17) and held on to win. In return, Vangilder, along with Jack Tobin, had three-hit days against White Sox pitcher Lefty Williams, who evened his record at 18-18 and is second in the league in innings pitched. Much of Chicago's damage was done by Risberg, who had a double and triple among his hits. George Sisler went 2-5, dropping his average to .425. Happy Felsch was injured when hit by a pitch, and is expected to be out at least two days.
Nationals 10, Athletics 1: A perfect 4-4 day by Sam Rice helped Washington overwhelm Philadelphia. A five-run first inning gave Stan Coveleski (16-12) all he needed and more, but the Nats continued to pour it on. Muddy Ruel added three hits, Everett Scott drove in three runs. George Earnshaw (18-16) lasted six innings before giving way to George Quinn to finish. With the Browns loss, the Athletics' hold on 5th place remains 0.5 game.
Twins 13, Rangers 2: A six-run first knocked John Poloni (0-1) out of the box after only 1/3 of an inning, and three relievers gave up seven more runs over the rst of the game. Minnesota knocked four home runs, by Cesar Tovar, Harmon Killebrew, Brant Alyea, and George Mitterwald. Mitterwald added three more hits, driving in four and scoring three times. Jim Perry (15-18) cruised for seven innings, with relievers Pete Hamm and Stever Barber finishing out the game. Toby Harrah had a home run in a losing cause, with Mike Hargrove adding three hits for Texas.
Angels 9, Royals 2: I was complaining about the last set of games being pitching duels? The top third of California's lineup hit .500, scoring 4 runs and driving in 7, four by Fred Lynn. Bob Boone added two hits and two runs. Mike Witt (9-10) pitched effectively, giving up only one extra-bae hit. Bud Black (8-13)? Not so effective. But Larry Gura's relief was more problematic, giving up three runs in the 9th before himself being relieved by Mike LaCoss.
Blue Jays 3, A's 0: Oakland's hitting woes continue. Hitting just .220 as a team, and scoring just 3.2 runs per game (a full run lower thant the league average), Oakland could only manage four hits against Toronto starter Jim Clancy (9-12). Toronto also managed only four hits against Bob Welch (6-16), but made them count, with home runs by Lloyd Moseby and Willie Upshaw, the latter a two-run shot. Both pitchers went the distance. Oakland has the worst record in the Cloverland Leagues.
Yankees 4, Orioles 3: Joe Gordon started off the Yankees right, hitting his 25th home run (leading the Yanks) in the 2nd inning, though Dave McNally escaped further damage by inducing an inning-ending grounder by Charlie "King Kong" Keller with the bases loaded. Gordon continued his hot hitting in the 3rd, driving in Bill Dickey before Babe Dahlgren drove Gordon and DiMaggio in with a triple. New York then hoped to wait out Baltimore. The Orioles scored in the 6th on a single by Davey Johnson, and added another on an 8th inning home run by Don Buford when with two out and men on first and third, manager Rivkin made the call to the bullpen for Johnny "Fireman" Murphy. Murphy's had an awful year, much worse than in real life, so this was not a clear call... (There's a digression into whether teams should be managed as they really were or whether hindsight should be used, but that's for another time). A single by Merv Rettenmund off of Murphy shaved the score to 4-3, but Murphy had a relatively easy 9th for his 9th save. Steve Sundra, starter for the Yankees, improved his record to 10-1, McNally fell to 15-15. Gordon finished the day with 3 hits. The Yankees got some much-needed breathing room.
Indians 8, Mariners 1: For my other AL team, though, it's looking like the pennant race may be over. Seattle was down 4-0 by the time they batted in the 5th, and in the end Freddy Garcia (13-9) gave up home runs to Paul Sorrento and Manny Ramirez and John Olerud made a critical error that led to two unearned runs. Meanwhile Dennis Martinez (15-9) cruised through seven scoreless innings. Reliever Paul Assenmacher gave up a home run to Edgar Martinez, but it was way too late for the M's. Ryan Franklin giving up hits to all three Indians he faced didn't help. In the end, Cleveland's lead in the division swelled to 5.5 games and their magic number dropped to 10, the lowest in the Cloverland Leagues. Seattle's put up a good run, but Cleveland is just too good this season. Barring a miracle finish, they'll be headed to the playoffs.
In other action:
Tigers 7, Red Sox 1: A four-run 7th, keyed by Dick Bartell's bases-clearing double, powered Detroit to victory. Bobo Newsom (14-16) held Boston to one run in a complete game victory, while Smokey Joe Wood (20-14) was victimized by three unearned runs. McCosky, Higgins, and Sullivan (as well as Bartell) all had two-hit days for the Tigers. Bartell and Boston's Tris Speaker had two doubles. Boston fell to 3.5 games behind New York.
White Sox 5, Browns 2: Swede Risberg and Buck Weaver had three-hit days for Chicago, which took an early 5-0 lead against Elam Vangilder (10-17) and held on to win. In return, Vangilder, along with Jack Tobin, had three-hit days against White Sox pitcher Lefty Williams, who evened his record at 18-18 and is second in the league in innings pitched. Much of Chicago's damage was done by Risberg, who had a double and triple among his hits. George Sisler went 2-5, dropping his average to .425. Happy Felsch was injured when hit by a pitch, and is expected to be out at least two days.
Nationals 10, Athletics 1: A perfect 4-4 day by Sam Rice helped Washington overwhelm Philadelphia. A five-run first inning gave Stan Coveleski (16-12) all he needed and more, but the Nats continued to pour it on. Muddy Ruel added three hits, Everett Scott drove in three runs. George Earnshaw (18-16) lasted six innings before giving way to George Quinn to finish. With the Browns loss, the Athletics' hold on 5th place remains 0.5 game.
Twins 13, Rangers 2: A six-run first knocked John Poloni (0-1) out of the box after only 1/3 of an inning, and three relievers gave up seven more runs over the rst of the game. Minnesota knocked four home runs, by Cesar Tovar, Harmon Killebrew, Brant Alyea, and George Mitterwald. Mitterwald added three more hits, driving in four and scoring three times. Jim Perry (15-18) cruised for seven innings, with relievers Pete Hamm and Stever Barber finishing out the game. Toby Harrah had a home run in a losing cause, with Mike Hargrove adding three hits for Texas.
Angels 9, Royals 2: I was complaining about the last set of games being pitching duels? The top third of California's lineup hit .500, scoring 4 runs and driving in 7, four by Fred Lynn. Bob Boone added two hits and two runs. Mike Witt (9-10) pitched effectively, giving up only one extra-bae hit. Bud Black (8-13)? Not so effective. But Larry Gura's relief was more problematic, giving up three runs in the 9th before himself being relieved by Mike LaCoss.
Blue Jays 3, A's 0: Oakland's hitting woes continue. Hitting just .220 as a team, and scoring just 3.2 runs per game (a full run lower thant the league average), Oakland could only manage four hits against Toronto starter Jim Clancy (9-12). Toronto also managed only four hits against Bob Welch (6-16), but made them count, with home runs by Lloyd Moseby and Willie Upshaw, the latter a two-run shot. Both pitchers went the distance. Oakland has the worst record in the Cloverland Leagues.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Actual action from actual fake games
Yankees 5, Nationals 3: Lefty Gomez went the distance as the Yanks opened up a little breathing room over idle Baltimore. Joe DiMaggio got three hits to raise his average to .332, but errors by Peckinpaugh and Bluege did Washington in (and more than offset Bluege's 2nd home run of the year. Dutch Ruether took the hard luck loss, falling to 10-12 on the year. Gomez is 13-9.
Browns 3, Royals 1: Dixie Davis shut down Kansas City on 5 hits, including a home run by Darryl Motley. Danny Jackson pitched well, but not well enough. George Sisler was 1-2 for St. Louis, raising his average to .425.
Rangers 3, Twins 2: In another low-scoring affair, Gaylord Perry went the distance to run his record to 14-12. Willie Horton homered for Texas. Luis Tiant lost for Minnesota, and is now 3-8. Tony Oliva drove in both Minnesota runs.
Blue Jays 3, Angels 1: Yes, another pitchers duel. Jimmy Key continued to make his case for AL Cy Young, going 7 2/3 innings and combining with Tom Henke on a two-hitter, losing the shutout on a 7th inning home run by Doug DeCinces Key's ERA was lowered to 2.31 and record improved to 16-10. Henke's 33rd save tied him for first in the AL with Jose Mesa. Fred McGriff homered and scored twice for Toronto, Lloyd Moseby added two hits of his own.
Braves 3 Cardinals 0: St. Louis continues its recent slump, losing its third in a row and 9th out of 10. Kevin Millwood (10-11) went the distance for Atlanta, striking out 8. Andres Gallaraga provided all the offense Millwood needed with a first-inning three-run home run, his 33rd, tying him for third in the NL. Lanier (7-10) walked 5 in 6 innings, not helping his cause.
Mets 8, Brooklyn Dodgers 4: At last, not a pitchers duel! Powered by two-run home runs by Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson, the Mets handily defeated their cross-town rivals. Dwight Gooden (11-8) pitched well enough to get the win, with Doug Sisk picking up his second save. Home runs by Brooklyn's Lew Riggs and Pete Reiser were not enough to help Freddie Fitzsimmons (2-8), who was injured at the start of the 5th and looks to be out for the rest of the season. Ineffective relief by Mace Brown and Hugh Casey doomed the Dodgers.
Browns 3, Royals 1: Dixie Davis shut down Kansas City on 5 hits, including a home run by Darryl Motley. Danny Jackson pitched well, but not well enough. George Sisler was 1-2 for St. Louis, raising his average to .425.
Rangers 3, Twins 2: In another low-scoring affair, Gaylord Perry went the distance to run his record to 14-12. Willie Horton homered for Texas. Luis Tiant lost for Minnesota, and is now 3-8. Tony Oliva drove in both Minnesota runs.
Blue Jays 3, Angels 1: Yes, another pitchers duel. Jimmy Key continued to make his case for AL Cy Young, going 7 2/3 innings and combining with Tom Henke on a two-hitter, losing the shutout on a 7th inning home run by Doug DeCinces Key's ERA was lowered to 2.31 and record improved to 16-10. Henke's 33rd save tied him for first in the AL with Jose Mesa. Fred McGriff homered and scored twice for Toronto, Lloyd Moseby added two hits of his own.
Braves 3 Cardinals 0: St. Louis continues its recent slump, losing its third in a row and 9th out of 10. Kevin Millwood (10-11) went the distance for Atlanta, striking out 8. Andres Gallaraga provided all the offense Millwood needed with a first-inning three-run home run, his 33rd, tying him for third in the NL. Lanier (7-10) walked 5 in 6 innings, not helping his cause.
Mets 8, Brooklyn Dodgers 4: At last, not a pitchers duel! Powered by two-run home runs by Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson, the Mets handily defeated their cross-town rivals. Dwight Gooden (11-8) pitched well enough to get the win, with Doug Sisk picking up his second save. Home runs by Brooklyn's Lew Riggs and Pete Reiser were not enough to help Freddie Fitzsimmons (2-8), who was injured at the start of the 5th and looks to be out for the rest of the season. Ineffective relief by Mace Brown and Hugh Casey doomed the Dodgers.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
And, at the last, the NL West
The last division is the NL West. The Cubs are running away with it this year, not entirely surprisingly. It's also tended to be pretty pitching dominated. The Astros and Padres are getting crushed, perhaps not surprisingly given how many games a year they're playing against these other teams...
1906 Cubs: They hold the record for most wins in a 154-game season (116), now shared with the 2001 Mariners, who required 162. First in a three-year stretch of pennant winners for Chicago, they featured players fabled in story and song, or maybe doggerel is more apt. Naturally, being the Cubs, they lost the Series while heavily favored (though they won it the next two years).
1957 Braves: Richie Cunningham's favorite team, and why not? Milwaukee featured three Hall of Famers: Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, and Hammerin' Hank Aaron. They defeated the Yankees in 7 games, the high point of their time in Milwaukee, though they did also play in the Series in 1958.
1942 Cardinals: Winners in an exciting pennant race over Brooklyn, and then winners of the World Series over the Yankees, this team is also often considered among the best in history. Just ask Stan Musial. Don't ask him about how that 2004 team worked out, though. I'm managing these guys, who are hanging around .500, and not hitting well at all...
1974 Dodgers: Not the Sandy Koufax/Don Drysdale teams, not the Fernandomania team, not even the stupidly overhyped Kirk Gibson team. But this team does share the record for most wins by an LA Dodger team, and won the pennant (though losing to Oakland in the World Series) and was the first of the dreaded Garvey/Lopes/Russell/Cey pennant winners that dominated the NL in my youth.
1998 Astros: 1998 was a great year for great teams. This Astros team set the Houston record for wins in a season, helped along by the late-season addition of Randy Johnson, plus great seasons by Bagwell, Biggio, and Moises Alou. Just don't shake Moises' hand to congratulate him. Unfortunately for them, they lost in the NLCS to San Diego. They also seem to be getting killed in the Cloverland Leagues this year...
1996 Padres: I was a bit surprised to see this team as the best San Diego could offer, but who am I to argue? Ken Caminti won a steroid-fueled MVP award, Tony Gwynn was Tony Gwynn, and Trevor Hoffman saved 42 games. Oh, and I guess Fernando is represented after all. And Ricky Henderson's there too. Yay.
1976 Reds: The Big Red Machine. Swept the NLCS, swept the Yankees in the World Series.
1993 Giants: Another great team that fell just short. They led the NL West most of 1993 before a late charge by the Braves left them just short in the last pennant race before the Wild Card made such things quaint memories. Still, they share the record for most wins by a San Francisco team, and Barry Bonds won the MVP with a season that puts him in MVP contention even when playing against the all-time greats...
1906 Cubs: They hold the record for most wins in a 154-game season (116), now shared with the 2001 Mariners, who required 162. First in a three-year stretch of pennant winners for Chicago, they featured players fabled in story and song, or maybe doggerel is more apt. Naturally, being the Cubs, they lost the Series while heavily favored (though they won it the next two years).
1957 Braves: Richie Cunningham's favorite team, and why not? Milwaukee featured three Hall of Famers: Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, and Hammerin' Hank Aaron. They defeated the Yankees in 7 games, the high point of their time in Milwaukee, though they did also play in the Series in 1958.
1942 Cardinals: Winners in an exciting pennant race over Brooklyn, and then winners of the World Series over the Yankees, this team is also often considered among the best in history. Just ask Stan Musial. Don't ask him about how that 2004 team worked out, though. I'm managing these guys, who are hanging around .500, and not hitting well at all...
1974 Dodgers: Not the Sandy Koufax/Don Drysdale teams, not the Fernandomania team, not even the stupidly overhyped Kirk Gibson team. But this team does share the record for most wins by an LA Dodger team, and won the pennant (though losing to Oakland in the World Series) and was the first of the dreaded Garvey/Lopes/Russell/Cey pennant winners that dominated the NL in my youth.
1998 Astros: 1998 was a great year for great teams. This Astros team set the Houston record for wins in a season, helped along by the late-season addition of Randy Johnson, plus great seasons by Bagwell, Biggio, and Moises Alou. Just don't shake Moises' hand to congratulate him. Unfortunately for them, they lost in the NLCS to San Diego. They also seem to be getting killed in the Cloverland Leagues this year...
1996 Padres: I was a bit surprised to see this team as the best San Diego could offer, but who am I to argue? Ken Caminti won a steroid-fueled MVP award, Tony Gwynn was Tony Gwynn, and Trevor Hoffman saved 42 games. Oh, and I guess Fernando is represented after all. And Ricky Henderson's there too. Yay.
1976 Reds: The Big Red Machine. Swept the NLCS, swept the Yankees in the World Series.
1993 Giants: Another great team that fell just short. They led the NL West most of 1993 before a late charge by the Braves left them just short in the last pennant race before the Wild Card made such things quaint memories. Still, they share the record for most wins by a San Francisco team, and Barry Bonds won the MVP with a season that puts him in MVP contention even when playing against the all-time greats...
Sunday, October 08, 2006
The NL East
Wow. The Yankees. Wow. The tiniest possible consolation is that Bonderman was on my fantasy team, so I like him.
I suppose that means the '39 team can now officially take up more of my attention than the just-as-historical 2006 version.
On to the NL East. The leagues were split into divisions starting last season, and both last and this season the NL East has been the closest and craziest.
1897 Beaneaters: Perhaps the greatest team of the 19th century, with four Hall of Famers, not including manager Frank Selee. Tremendous hitters, and got the best of archrivals Batimore more often than not.
1902 Pirates: Dominated the National League, setting a record for winning percentage still unmatched (if I remember right). Led by Honus Wagner, the team went on to win the pennant the following year and play in the first World Series.
1986 Mets: One of only two teams in the eight-team division to be World Series winners, and my brother's favorite team. My uncle referred to their bullpen as "Roger McDoubtful", "Jesse Fiasco" and "Doug Risk". But it's hard to argue with 108 wins and two classic postseason series.
1941 Dodgers: Originally the 1953 team was in the league, but by a mechanism to be later explained, the 1941 team came to the fore. another famous post-season error turned the tide in Game 4 leading to a Yankees victory in their first meeting in October. The Dodgers won 100 games in 1941, and won even more the following year in a second-place effort...
1905 Giants: Winners of the 1904 NL pennant, New York refused to play Boston in the World Series, which led Boston to claim their second consecutive title by default. The Giants won 105 games, following up their 1904 pennant with another in 1905, paced by Christy Mathewson and Iron Man McGinnity. Amazingly, the Giants did not allow an earned run during the five games, only giving up three unearned runs. Obviously, they won.
1993 Phillies: While all of the interest in the National League was focused on the Giants/Braves duel in the West, the Phils were the surprise winners in the East. They defeated the Braves in the NLCS, but lost to Toronto in the World Series on a famous home run.
1998 Braves: A team-record 106 wins led them to an easy NL East title. After crushing the Cubs in the NLDS, the Padres defeated them for the pennant and the right to be crushed, in turn, by the Yankees. Though Greg Maddux was probably their best pitcher, Tom Glavine won the Cy Young Award for them that year.
1994 Expos: They were the best team in baseball when the strike hit in 1994. They're the reason Atlanta really can't claim to have won 14 (or however many) consecutive divisional titles. They had a young Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, Moises Alou, Marquise Grissom, John Wettleand and Cliff Floyd. And many people who've done simulations think they would have won the World Series.
I suppose that means the '39 team can now officially take up more of my attention than the just-as-historical 2006 version.
On to the NL East. The leagues were split into divisions starting last season, and both last and this season the NL East has been the closest and craziest.
1897 Beaneaters: Perhaps the greatest team of the 19th century, with four Hall of Famers, not including manager Frank Selee. Tremendous hitters, and got the best of archrivals Batimore more often than not.
1902 Pirates: Dominated the National League, setting a record for winning percentage still unmatched (if I remember right). Led by Honus Wagner, the team went on to win the pennant the following year and play in the first World Series.
1986 Mets: One of only two teams in the eight-team division to be World Series winners, and my brother's favorite team. My uncle referred to their bullpen as "Roger McDoubtful", "Jesse Fiasco" and "Doug Risk". But it's hard to argue with 108 wins and two classic postseason series.
1941 Dodgers: Originally the 1953 team was in the league, but by a mechanism to be later explained, the 1941 team came to the fore. another famous post-season error turned the tide in Game 4 leading to a Yankees victory in their first meeting in October. The Dodgers won 100 games in 1941, and won even more the following year in a second-place effort...
1905 Giants: Winners of the 1904 NL pennant, New York refused to play Boston in the World Series, which led Boston to claim their second consecutive title by default. The Giants won 105 games, following up their 1904 pennant with another in 1905, paced by Christy Mathewson and Iron Man McGinnity. Amazingly, the Giants did not allow an earned run during the five games, only giving up three unearned runs. Obviously, they won.
1993 Phillies: While all of the interest in the National League was focused on the Giants/Braves duel in the West, the Phils were the surprise winners in the East. They defeated the Braves in the NLCS, but lost to Toronto in the World Series on a famous home run.
1998 Braves: A team-record 106 wins led them to an easy NL East title. After crushing the Cubs in the NLDS, the Padres defeated them for the pennant and the right to be crushed, in turn, by the Yankees. Though Greg Maddux was probably their best pitcher, Tom Glavine won the Cy Young Award for them that year.
1994 Expos: They were the best team in baseball when the strike hit in 1994. They're the reason Atlanta really can't claim to have won 14 (or however many) consecutive divisional titles. They had a young Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, Moises Alou, Marquise Grissom, John Wettleand and Cliff Floyd. And many people who've done simulations think they would have won the World Series.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
AL Modern Division
We're back with the never-ending description of the teams!
The AL Classic division basically has all the DH teams. It's easier to group them together this way for gameplay purposes. Unfortunately, there are only 7 teams that used the DH, so after a coin flip the 1970 Minnesota Twins was selected to join them. Good thing, too, because the other choice, the 1970 Orioles would probably be running away with the division otherwise...
1995 Cleveland Indians: Great underrated team, who won 100 games in a strike-shortened year. Unfortunately for them, they provided the Atlanta Braves with their only World Series win of their 14-year run of success.
2001 Seattle Mariners: Hold the record for most wins in a season by an American League team with 116. Stopped by the Yankees in the ALCS that year, despite the presence of Edgar Martinez and Rookie of the Year (and MVP) Ichiro!
1970 Minnesota Twins: One of the all-time great bullpens, and a representative of the Minnesota teams that dominated the first years of the AL West (plus a young Rod Carew and Luis Tiant). Unfortunately, they ran into Baltimore in the playoffs and did not make the World Series.
1987 Toronto Blue Jays: Victims of one of the major collapses of recent times, losing their last 7 games to finish 2 behind Detroit. Still, the computer players should be able to shake that off.
1985 Kansas City Royals: The team that finally broke through and won the World Series with George Bretty, Willie Wilson, and the gang. I managed them last season, which was excruciating.
1982 California Angels: Winners of the American League West, they lost in the playoffs to the Brewers (a unique achievement!) after taking a 2-0 lead in a 5-game series. They'd signed a large number of all-stars to get there, including Doug DeCinces, Fred Lynn, Rod Carew, and this guy.
1990 Oakland A's: The Athletics cruised to the pennant, winning 103 games and crushing the Red Sox in the playoffs. The World Series was another story, though. Called the Bash Brothers in real life, they can't seem to hit in the Cloverland Leagues and have performed surprisingly poorly the last two seasons.
1977 Texas Rangers: Second place behind one of those Royals teams that didn't make it to the World Series, winners of 94 games. Bert Blyleven and Gaylord Perry are probably the most famous players on the team, though they did include at least two managers (Mike Hargrove and Jim Fregosi) a pefect game pitcher (Len Barker) and a guy named Bump.
The AL Classic division basically has all the DH teams. It's easier to group them together this way for gameplay purposes. Unfortunately, there are only 7 teams that used the DH, so after a coin flip the 1970 Minnesota Twins was selected to join them. Good thing, too, because the other choice, the 1970 Orioles would probably be running away with the division otherwise...
1995 Cleveland Indians: Great underrated team, who won 100 games in a strike-shortened year. Unfortunately for them, they provided the Atlanta Braves with their only World Series win of their 14-year run of success.
2001 Seattle Mariners: Hold the record for most wins in a season by an American League team with 116. Stopped by the Yankees in the ALCS that year, despite the presence of Edgar Martinez and Rookie of the Year (and MVP) Ichiro!
1970 Minnesota Twins: One of the all-time great bullpens, and a representative of the Minnesota teams that dominated the first years of the AL West (plus a young Rod Carew and Luis Tiant). Unfortunately, they ran into Baltimore in the playoffs and did not make the World Series.
1987 Toronto Blue Jays: Victims of one of the major collapses of recent times, losing their last 7 games to finish 2 behind Detroit. Still, the computer players should be able to shake that off.
1985 Kansas City Royals: The team that finally broke through and won the World Series with George Bretty, Willie Wilson, and the gang. I managed them last season, which was excruciating.
1982 California Angels: Winners of the American League West, they lost in the playoffs to the Brewers (a unique achievement!) after taking a 2-0 lead in a 5-game series. They'd signed a large number of all-stars to get there, including Doug DeCinces, Fred Lynn, Rod Carew, and this guy.
1990 Oakland A's: The Athletics cruised to the pennant, winning 103 games and crushing the Red Sox in the playoffs. The World Series was another story, though. Called the Bash Brothers in real life, they can't seem to hit in the Cloverland Leagues and have performed surprisingly poorly the last two seasons.
1977 Texas Rangers: Second place behind one of those Royals teams that didn't make it to the World Series, winners of 94 games. Bert Blyleven and Gaylord Perry are probably the most famous players on the team, though they did include at least two managers (Mike Hargrove and Jim Fregosi) a pefect game pitcher (Len Barker) and a guy named Bump.
Who's playing (AL)?
I'm glad you asked.
No, really, I am.
The AL Classic division consists of:
1939 New York Yankees: perhaps the greatest team of the greatest Yankees dynasty, 1939 saw Lou Gehrig's last game, but also saw Joe DiMaggio win the MVP award and lead the team to their 4th straight World Series victory.
1970 Baltimore Orioles: Another World Series winner, these Orioles avenged the previous years' loss to the Mets, winning 108 games, sweeping the Twins in the playoffs, and crushing Cincinnati in the series. All this while using one of the least intimidating sets of logos/mascots in sports.
1912 Boston Red Sox: My vote for best Red Sox team in history, winners of the World Series over New York thanks in part to the most famous error in World Series history before karmic payback gave a different New York team a victory over the Sox via the current most famous error... Led by Tris Speaker and Joe Wood.
1940 Detroit Tigers: When the Yankees weren't winning pennants in the 30s and 40s, the Tigers took up the slack. From 1934-1945, New York or Detroit led the league every year but one. This team lost the World Series in 7 to the Reds , despite the heroics of MVP Hank Greenberg.
1922 St. Louis Browns: The who? The team that became the Orioles spent 50+ years in mostly-obscurity in St. Louis. They were the one team that broke the Yankees/Tigers pennant stranglehold I mentioned, ironically enough it was their only pennant in St. Louis. I've always had a soft spot for this team. The 1922 version nearly knocked off Babe Ruth and the Yankees, but fell just short .
1930 Philadephia Athletics: Another World Series winner, the last one the Athletics had in Philly. Part of the dynasty that felled the Murderer's Row Yankees, the A's have some supporters for being the best team in history .
1925 Washington Nationals: The year after they won the only World Series in DC history, the Nats won even more games. Unfortunately, they lost the series in hair-tearing fashion. And yes, they were officially the Nationals, even though they were in the American League and everyone called them the Senators. That's as opposed to the team officially called the Senators, and the current Nationals.
1919 Chicago White Sox: You may have heard of this team.
And once again, this is really pretty long. I'll continue in my next post...
No, really, I am.
The AL Classic division consists of:
1939 New York Yankees: perhaps the greatest team of the greatest Yankees dynasty, 1939 saw Lou Gehrig's last game, but also saw Joe DiMaggio win the MVP award and lead the team to their 4th straight World Series victory.
1970 Baltimore Orioles: Another World Series winner, these Orioles avenged the previous years' loss to the Mets, winning 108 games, sweeping the Twins in the playoffs, and crushing Cincinnati in the series. All this while using one of the least intimidating sets of logos/mascots in sports.
1912 Boston Red Sox: My vote for best Red Sox team in history, winners of the World Series over New York thanks in part to the most famous error in World Series history before karmic payback gave a different New York team a victory over the Sox via the current most famous error... Led by Tris Speaker and Joe Wood.
1940 Detroit Tigers: When the Yankees weren't winning pennants in the 30s and 40s, the Tigers took up the slack. From 1934-1945, New York or Detroit led the league every year but one. This team lost the World Series in 7 to the Reds , despite the heroics of MVP Hank Greenberg.
1922 St. Louis Browns: The who? The team that became the Orioles spent 50+ years in mostly-obscurity in St. Louis. They were the one team that broke the Yankees/Tigers pennant stranglehold I mentioned, ironically enough it was their only pennant in St. Louis. I've always had a soft spot for this team. The 1922 version nearly knocked off Babe Ruth and the Yankees, but fell just short .
1930 Philadephia Athletics: Another World Series winner, the last one the Athletics had in Philly. Part of the dynasty that felled the Murderer's Row Yankees, the A's have some supporters for being the best team in history .
1925 Washington Nationals: The year after they won the only World Series in DC history, the Nats won even more games. Unfortunately, they lost the series in hair-tearing fashion. And yes, they were officially the Nationals, even though they were in the American League and everyone called them the Senators. That's as opposed to the team officially called the Senators, and the current Nationals.
1919 Chicago White Sox: You may have heard of this team.
And once again, this is really pretty long. I'll continue in my next post...
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Setting the scene
I've been playing APBA's Baseball for Windows for several years, using various combinations of the best teams of all time in the "Cloverland Leagues". I use one team per franchise, where the St. Louis Browns and Baltimore Orioles count as different franchises, for instance. I'm near completion of my third season, and figured I'd put up a blog rather than send email to various potentially interested parties. I hope to keep this blog going through the end of the regular season and through the CL playoffs and World Series, and hopefully through some other game projects and beyond to CL season 4...
There are basically two and a half weeks left in the 162-game regular season. There are two leagues (American and National), divided into two divisions each. The NL has Eastern and Western divisions. The AL has "Classic" and "Modern" divisions, with the Modern division using DH in their home games. The 1970 Twins are caught on the wrong side of the divide, but all the other AL teams use the DH or not as they historically did (or didn't). The majority of teams are managed by computer managers, but I've taken on four teams as my own: the 1939 Yankees, 2001 Mariners, 1897 Beaneaters, and 1942 Cardinals.
The Yankees were running away with the AL Classic division, but hit a serious snag of late and have just been caught by the 1970 Orioles (with the 1912 Red Sox close behind). The 1995 Indians have maintained a healthy lead in the AL Modern division, with the Mariners hanging around behind. In the NL, the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers led much of the year, before a tailspin put them behind the Beaneaters and the currently-leading 1902 Pirates in a wild Eastern Division. In the NL West, it's been all 1906 Cubs, all year.
In an attempt to get this up and going, I'll stop here and include the current standings. Sorry about the small size on the standings, but clicking on them gives you a bigger version. Further core dumps will follow...
There are basically two and a half weeks left in the 162-game regular season. There are two leagues (American and National), divided into two divisions each. The NL has Eastern and Western divisions. The AL has "Classic" and "Modern" divisions, with the Modern division using DH in their home games. The 1970 Twins are caught on the wrong side of the divide, but all the other AL teams use the DH or not as they historically did (or didn't). The majority of teams are managed by computer managers, but I've taken on four teams as my own: the 1939 Yankees, 2001 Mariners, 1897 Beaneaters, and 1942 Cardinals.
The Yankees were running away with the AL Classic division, but hit a serious snag of late and have just been caught by the 1970 Orioles (with the 1912 Red Sox close behind). The 1995 Indians have maintained a healthy lead in the AL Modern division, with the Mariners hanging around behind. In the NL, the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers led much of the year, before a tailspin put them behind the Beaneaters and the currently-leading 1902 Pirates in a wild Eastern Division. In the NL West, it's been all 1906 Cubs, all year.
In an attempt to get this up and going, I'll stop here and include the current standings. Sorry about the small size on the standings, but clicking on them gives you a bigger version. Further core dumps will follow...
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