After the shocking performance of the #16 seeds in the first round, no reason to expect that to change as they now get lesser competition in the 2nd Round. The '88 Pirates continue their Cinderella run by taking care of the '89 Cubs in five games to advance to the Sweet 16. In fact no series in the N.L. East Quarters went further than five games with the '88 Mets sweeping the '82 Cardinals thus knocking off the lone World Champion remaining in the region/division.
Stat lines I throw in are
After three #1's were bounced in the first round I guess it's not a surprise that the '88 Dodgers wouldn't last past the second round. What was a surprise was that all three Dodgers' teams that advanced were eliminated in this round including losing both match-ups to the hated Giants who unexpectedly become the first franchise with two teams into the Sweet 16. The '80 Astros cruised again as they needed just five games to beat the '83 Braves are now 8-1 so far.
Stats are for both rounds.
We've had a ton of upsets in the first two rounds but one World Champion has survived to make it to the Sweet 16 and that is the '83 Orioles who took care of the '89 Blue Jays in five games and are on paper the tournament favorite now. The '86 Red Sox lost the '80 Yankees and no ball through Bill Buckner's legs although he did go 3 for 46 in the tournament. The upstart '86 Indians pushed the '88 Red Sox to seven games but they could not join the '88 Pirates as a 16th seed into the next round alt
Finally after nine months I've completed the three World Series DVD boxsets that were released last year, concluding with maybe the two most forgotten games in World Series history.
1975 World Series Game 7 - Reds 4, Red Sox 3 (boxscore and play account)
-They have some cancer kid throw out the first pitch, or at least they say "represents kids with cancer" so I don't know if the kid actually had cancer or if it was just someone's kid from the Red Sox front office and they needed an
The '88 Pirates magical run that has captured the nation is finally over as they ran into buzzsaw in the '85 Cardinals. The series did have marathon 15 inning Game 1 that ended on a Jeff Robinson wild pitch to score Jack Clark from 3rd. The Expos may no longer exist but their 1980 team is still alive as they tossed aside the '88 Mets in five games. In the West the the the '80 Astros acutally had to sweat for once in this tournament after falling behind 2-1 to the '89 Giants but they won three st
So we're now down to just eight teams and no World Champions as the '80 Yankees smacked the '83 Orioles around in four games, outscoring the O's 37-15. The '87 Blue Jays blew the division title the last weekend of the 1987 season but they aren't blowing it here as they took care of the '88 Red Sox in five games. In the West both series ended in thrilling Game 6's. The '88 Twins eliminated the '86 Angels on a Kent Hrbek homerun in the top of the 10th off of Doug Corbett. Then in the most improbab
Eigh teams left, three from 1980 with the possibility of an all 1980 match-up in the N.L. side of the Final Four. Here's a recap of the National League region/division finals.
N.L. East Finals: (14) 1980 Montreal Expos vs. (4) 1985 St. Louis Cardinals
Game 1: Cardinals 8, Expos 4
Cardinals jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings and Darrell Porter went 3 for 4 with a homerun (6th out the tournament) and 4 rbi.
Game 2: Cardinals 6, Expos 1
Andy Van Slyke hit a three-
Final Four: National League Finals: 1980 Montreal Expos vs. 1980 Houston Astros
Game 1: Astros 4, Expos 3
Astros come from behind with a three-run 9th, capped by an Enos Cabell two-run double for the win.
Game 2: Expos 4, Astros 1
Astros tried another 9th inning miracle by loading the bases with one out but Joe Morgan grounded into a game ending double play.
Game 3: Expos 8, Astros 6
Astros chased Bill Gullickson out of the game in the 4th, building a 6-1 lead, but
Just a note, of course for the finals the DH is used in New York and the pitcher's hit in Montreal.
80's Tournament Finals: 1980 Montreal Expos vs. 1980 New York Yankees
Game 1: Expos 13, Yankees 3
Ellis Valentine homered twice off of Tommy John and went 4 for 5 on the day as the Expos bombed the Yankees in Game 1. Steve Rogers pitched a complete game in the win.
Game 2: Expos 8, Yankees 7
Goose Gossage blew the save as the Expos scored five in the 9th stealing both game
This past week has to be the most bizarre week I can remember in my sports lifetime. The Golden State Warriors upset of the Dallas Mavericks has made the Warriors the most talked about story by the national sports media, well until fat fuck Clemens signed with the Yankees today. Since I've been watching sports for the last 20+ years the only time the Warriors were ever the national conscious was when Latrell Sprewell choked P.J. Carlesimo almost 10 years ago. I have said in the past though that
Finally I have an excuse to update this dying blog as HardballTimes.com has release the first Win Shares of the year and I know you are all excited. Okay maybe not, but it least allows me to take my first look of the year at the MVP races in both leagues. Being that we're less than two months into the season you have to take most things so far with a grain of salt. Taking a look back at my first MVP Watch from last year only two players from each league were in my final fictional MVP ballot (Alb
Well Jose Reyes will not repeat Albert Pujols' feat last season of leading the race wire to wire, then losing the real MVP, but he's not far from the now much fatter top spot. To no surprise at all J.J Hardy's fast start has come crashing down to earth and he is no where to be seen this time around after competing for the top spot last time. Barry Bonds has also cooled off but his rate stats are still way too good to leave out of the Top 10. Russell Martin might be this year's Joe Mauer and I ca
The NBA Draft is this week so time for a NBA Draftback. Now I've done this twice before for past NBA Drafts (1989 and 1993) but I do them differently from the NFL and MLB ones as I rank the players from the draft by their career totals in the basketball version of Win Shares. As always I have no idea how reliable the basketball version is but it is interesting way to compare the careers of players from an individual draft class.
Like when I chose the 1987 MLB Draft this year I picked the 19
It's safe to say that the N.L. MVP race this year may end up being as wide open as the A.L. MVP race was most of last season. After never having a different #1 last season, I now place a 3rd different player at the top spot for this entry. I really didn't see it coming but the new #1 was the slam dunk choice this time around although I'm not sure if the media has noticed yet. For the rest of the list, Brad Penny rockets into the Top 5 and we'll see if he'll avoid a second straight, second half b
It's the All-Star Break so might as well give out some mideason awards. I honestly haven't paid much attention to the Cy Young or Rookie of the Year races this year and when I did I realized I made a mistake on my last MVP Watch.
National League Midseason Awards
Starting of course with the MVP, since my last MVP Watch was just 10 days there isn't going to be much change. But there was a major change on the N.L. side as after dropping out of the Top 10 last time in this short span Hanle
About four years out of Boredom I went on a binge of downloading roms to play old NES games. It was fun for a little while but playing on the keyboard got old fast. One of the games I downloaded of course was the favorite childhood video game of many men my age, Tecmo Super Bowl. A couple of weeks ago I finally had the itch again to play TSB but again playing on the keyboard just isn't nearly as fun as playing the original on the NES. So I decided for my next series of blog entires was to simula
Two weeks in, two injured star running backs. In 35-3 blowout win over the Steelers, the Bills last their superstar Thurman Thomas to injury. The Lions so far have survived without Barry Sanders getting off to a 2-0 start after nipping the Packers 14-13. The big game of the week was the Rams upsetting the defending Super Bowl champion Giants 23-20 in overtime, and the Rams are now 2-0.
Week 2 Results
Seattle 20, N.Y. Jets 14
SEA: 2-0, NJY: 1-1
-Tommy Kane: 4 rec, 131 yards
De
The Bills didn't miss Thurman Thomas for long as he was already back in the line up as they dispatched Jets in easy fashion 31-14. They are one of only three unbeatens left after only three weeks along with the Raiders and Eagles. The Vikings starting quarteback Wade Wilson was knocked out in the second half of their game against the 49ers but back up Rich Gannon led them to a 4th quarter comeback and overtime win, sending the Niners to a dissapointing 1-2 start.
Week 3 Scores
Washing
The massacre of star running backs continues into Week 4. The league's leading rusher Earnest Byner was injured in the Redskins' loss to the previously winless Bengles and Tecmo legend Bo Jackson was also hurt in the Raiders' win over the winless Falcons. Barry Sanders did return to action this week after missing two games and rushed for 179 yards but the Lions still lost to the Colts. In other action the Steelers knocked the Eagles from the ranks of the unbeaten and the lowly Patriots picked up
Without Bo Jackson the Raiders still remained undefeated after beating the surprisingly mediocre 49ers 21-14. The Bills also are still unscathed as they slaughtered the Bears 38-7. The Cardinals, Bucs, and Falcons all picked up their first wins of the season and now every team in the league has at least one win. The big performance of the week came from Mark Duper who scorched the Jets secondary for 217 yards receiving in the Dolphins' 31-21 win.
Week 5 Scores
L.A. Raiders 21, San Fra
Fairly unenventful week. Bo Jackson returned to the Raiders line-up and they remain undefeated after outlasting the surprising Chargers 28-23. The Bills continue to dominate as they blasted the struggling Chiefs 35-6. Bills are outscoring their opponents by an average of 20 points a game.
Week 6 Scores
Dallas 35, Green Bay 27
DAL: 3-3, GB: 1-5
-Jay Novacek: 5 rec, 118 yards
Pittsburgh 28, Indianapolis 7
PIT: 3-2, IND: 2-4
-Louis Lipps: 7 rec, 167 yards
Buffalo 35, Kan
For the first time in a while I actually felt like writing a real blog entry and doing one of my favorite, but time consuming, series of entries the "Where'd The Go?" series. This time around I picked a Brewers team since they are finally relevant again. While the Brewers do have the Cubs breathing down their necks in their attempt to break the franchise's 25 year postseason drought, they at least do appear to finally be on their way to their first winning season in 15 years so I will look back
Nearing the midway point of the season and the Bills and Raiders still can't be beat. Bills had a lackluster effort against the lowly Colts but still prevailed 31-23 while the Raiders beat the Seahawks 24-14 to now take a commanding three game lead in the AFC West. Even with their dominance the Bills aren't running away with their division as the Dolphins are right on their heels, improving to 6-1 after a 27-24 win over the Chiefs. Earnest Byner returned to action for the Redskins and nearly ret
And then there was one. The Raiders suffered their first loss of the season in the Battle of Los Angeles to the Rams 35-31. Rams now improve to a surprising 5-2 and maintain their one game lead on the 49ers in the NFC West. The Bills hit the halfway point and their bye week undefeated as they cruised to another win over the Bengals. The Vikings blew out the Patriots 37-10 and continue their large lead the NFC Central.
Week 8 Scores
Buffalo 31, Cincinnati 14
BUF: 8-0, CIN: 2-5
-Thur
Warren Moon is the star of the week as he scorched the Bengals for 450 yards passing, which is pretty damn high for a simmed game on Tecmo, and helped the Oilers take sole possesion of first place in the AFC Central. The Browns lost their share of the lead after getting murdered by the league's best defense, the Steelers 41-0. In the NFC Central, the Vikings avoided an embarrasing loss to the Cardinals and in the process took an almost insurmountable four game lead as the Bears continue to strug
