With Baseball-Reference.com now adding an extensive amateur draft database I thought for a quicky entry it might be mildly interesting to take a look back at who were the best picks for each round by the A's since the draft started in 1965. I originally thought of going through every round but settled on the first 20 rounds as you get later into the draft you have some rounds where they have zero players ever making it to the Majors.
1. Reggie Jackson, OF, Arizona State, 1966
Hard to go wrong with Reggie or Mark McGwire (1984). The year before taking Reggie #2 overall they had the #1 pick overall in the first ever draft taking Rick Monday. Other A's first round picks include Chet Lemon (1976), Walt Weiss (1988), Eric Chavez (1996), Mark Mulder (1998), Barry Zito (1999), and Nick Swisher (2002).
2. Jason Giambi, 3B, Long Beach State, 1992
Next best pick was Vida Blue in 1967. After those two you get Kevin Tapani (1986) and then drop to Mark Bellhorn (1995) and Mike Gallego (1981).
3. Mike Davis, OF, Hoover High School, 1979
Almost no success at all in this round for the A's as the only other player with an extended career in the Majors was Floyd Bannister in 1973 but he didn't sign.
4. Rickey Henderson, P, Technical High School, 1976
Yup RICKEY~ was a pitcher but obviously he went on to other things. Curt Young is the next best pick from this round but who cares when you have RICKEY~?
5. Mickey Tettleton, C, Oklahoma State, 1981
Tettleton did nothing for the A's but he's the easy pick here. Only middle reliever Dave Hamilton (1966) really contributed anything of signifcance for the A's form this round.
6. Sal Bando, 3B, Arizona State, 1965
The captain of the 70's championship teams is the pick here. They drafted Jim Sundberg (1969) and Alvin Davis (1981) in the 6th round but neither signed. Tim Hudson also drafted here in 1997.
7. Matt Keough, 3B, Corona del Mar High School, 1973
Slim pickings in the 7th, Keough became a pitcher for the A's with one good year in 1980. Todd Burns and Dan Johnson are the only other players to do anything with the A's.
8. Eric Byrnes, OF, UCLA, 1998
Glenn Abbott (1969) and Craig Paquette (1989) the only other "legit" Major Leaguers.
9. Terry Steinbach, 3B, Minnesota, 1983
A's regular catcher for a decade is an easy choice here. Another long time starter Wayne Gross was picked in 1973.
10. Lance Blankenship, 3B, California, 1986
Nothing of note here so I'll go with the only professional athlete I ever had a brief conversation with. Probably because I was one of about five people on line at a autograph signing appearance at a grocery store in 1990 but as a 12 year old kid it was pretty cool.
11. Greg Caderet, P, Grand Valley State, 1983
They drafted Eric Soderholm, third baseman with some pop who played with the Twins and White Sox, in 1967 but he didn't sign and Caderet is the only player from this round that had more than a cup of coffee in the Majors.
12. Chris Michalak, P, Notre Dame, 1993
Fewer than 200 innings in the Majors, and none with the A's, but there was literally no one better.
13. Rod Beck, P, Grant High School, 1986
A's traded him to the Giants for some nobody in a minor league deal in 1988.
14. Ron Coomer, 3B, Taft Junior College, 1987
Former "All-Star" was released by the A's in 1990. No A's 14th Round pick made it the Majors before him.
15. Jose Canseco, 3B, Carol City High School, 1982
Besides this piece of shit the A's also drafted defensive wizard Dwayne Murphy (1973) and fat power hitter Bob Horner (1975) although he didn't sign.
16. Doug Johns, P, Virginia, 1990
Only three 16th round picks made it the Majors and this is the best.
17. Rich Harden, P, Central Arizona College, 2000
Hall of Fame stuff but looks like the A.L. Mark Prior right about now. David Newhan (1995) the only other the Major Leaguer from this round.
18. Darren Lewis, OF, California, 1988
Just one of two 18th round picks from this franchise to make it the Majors but at least he did have an extended career and was a superb defensive center fielder.
19. Rick Lysander, P, Cal State-Los Angeles, 1974
See why I stopped at 20 rounds?
20. Gene Tenace, SS, Valley High School, 1965
Getting a guy who played 15 years in the Majors with .388 OBP is pretty good value here I'd say. Also picked Scott Brosius in 1987 in the 20th.
The Dodgers were the only team in the '80s to win two World Championships and there were the only N.L. West team to win a title so not surprisingly they lead the way here with six teams, although we saw having a lot of teams didn't really help the Mets in the N.L. East. Every other team here has two reps including the Reds who were the only team in the the N.L. West to not win a division title in the decade although their '81 team was robbed of one.
#1
1988 Los Angeles Dodgers (94-67, defeated Oakland 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 97 (9th)
ERA+: 113 (2nd)
DefEff: .708 (7th)
Best Player: Kirk Gibson
Best Pitcher: Orel Hershiser
#2
1981 Los Angeles Dodgers (63-47, defeated New York 4-2 in World Series)
OPS+: 106 (4th)
ERA+: 110 (2nd)
DefEff: .711 (5th)
Best Player: Dusty Baker
Best Pitcher: Fernando Valenzuela
#3
1989 San Francisco Giants (92-70, lost to Oakland 4-0 in World Series)
OPS+: 110 (1st)
ERA+: 103 (t-4th)
DefEff: .725 (1st)
Best Player: Will Clark/Kevin Mitchell
Best Pitcher: Scott Garrelts
#4
1984 San Diego Padres (92-70, lost to Detroit 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 98 (t-7th)
ERA+: 102 (6th)
DefEff: .721 (1st)
Best Player: Tony Gwynn
Best Pitcher: Goose Gossage
#5
1986 Houston Astros (96-66, lost to New York 4-2 in NLCS)
OPS+: 106 (2nd)
ERA+: 114 (t-1st)
DefEff: .720 (t-1st)
Best Player: Kevin Bass
Best Pitcher: Mike Scott
#6
1985 Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67, lost to St. Louis 4-2 in NLCS)
OPS+: 108 (t-1st)
ERA+: 116 (1st)
DefEff: .713 (t-4th)
Best Player: Pedro Guerrero
Best Pitcher: Orel Hershiser
#7
1980 Houston Astros (93-70, lost to Philadelphia 3-2 in NLCS)
OPS+: 105 (5th)
ERA+: 106 (3rd)
DefEff: .703 (t-4th)
Best Player: Cesar Cedeno
Best Pitcher: Vern Ruhle
#8
1983 Los Angeles Dodgers (91-71, lost to Philadelphia 3-1 in NLCS)
OPS+: 100 (t-9th)
ERA+: 116 (1st)
DefEff: .702 (6th)
Best Player: Pedro Guerrero
Best Pitcher: Bob Welch
#9
1987 San Francisco Giants (90-72, lost to St. Louis 4-3 in NLCS)
OPS+: 110 (2nd)
ERA+: 104 (4th)
DefEff: .698 (t-4th)
Best Player: Will Clark
Best Pitcher: Kelly Downs
#10
1982 Atlanta Braves (89-73, lost to St. Louis 3-0 in NLCS)
OPS+: 100 (6th)
ERA+: 98 (t-6th)
DefEff: .695 (t-7th)
Best Player: Dale Murphy
Best Pitcher: Gene Garber
#11
1981 Cincinnati Reds (66-42, best overall record in MLB)
OPS+: 111 (1st)
ERA+: 96 (9th)
DefEff: .717 (2nd)
Best Player: George Foster
Best Pitcher: Tom Seaver
#12
1980 Los Angeles Dodgers (92-71, lost one game playoff to Houston)
OPS+: 108 (1st)
ERA+: 107 (2nd)
DefEff: .715 (1st)
Best Player: Dusty Baker
Best Pitcher: Jerry Reuss
#13
1985 Cincinnati Reds (89-72, finished 5 ½ games behind Los Angeles)
OPS+: 100 (7th)
ERA+: 102 (5th)
DefEff: .713 (4th)
Best Player: Dave Parker
Best Pitcher: Tom Browning
#14
1989 San Diego Padres (89-73, finished 3 games behind San Francisco)
OPS+: 104 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 103 (t-4th)
DefEff: .707 (7th)
Best Player: Jack Clark
Best Pitcher: Mark Davis
#15
1983 Atlanta Braves (88-74, finished 3 games behind Los Angeles)
OPS+: 107 (t-1st)
ERA+: 106 (t-2nd)
DefEff: .698 (8th)
Best Player: Dale Murphy
Best Pitcher: Craig McMurtry
#16
1982 Los Angeles Dodgers (88-74, finished 1 game behind Atlanta)
OPS+: 108 (1st)
ERA+: 106 (3rd)
DefEff: .709 (3rd)
Best Player: Pedro Guerrero
Best Pitcher: Fernando Valenzuela
First Round Match-ups
'82 Dodgers vs. '88 Dodgers
'87 Giants vs. '83 Dodgers
'85 Reds vs. '84 Padres
'80 Dodgers vs. '86 Astros
'81 Reds vs. '85 Dodgers
'89 Padres vs. '89 Giants
'82 Braves vs. '80 Astros
'83 Braves vs. '81 Dodgers
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.
(9) 1987 San Francisco Giants def. (1) 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1
Game 1: Giants 4, Dodgers 0
Game 2: Dodgers 4, Giants 3
Game 3: Giants 6, Dodgers 5
Game 4: Giants 7, Dodgers 1
Game 5: Giants 9, Dodgers 3
Candy Maldonado: 14-40, 8 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI
Rick Reuschel: 3-0, 0.38 ERA (1 ER in 23 2/3 IP)
(13) 1985 Cincinnati Reds def. (12) 1980 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2
Game 1: Reds 5, Dodgers 2
Game 2: Dodgers 2, Reds 0
Game 3: Dodgers 5, Reds 3
Game 4: Reds 7, Dodgers 3
Game 5: Reds 9, Dodgers 5
Game 6: Reds 8, Dodgers 6
Dave Parker: 14-44, 3 HR, 9 RBI
Tom Browning: 4-0, 1.71 ERA
(3) 1989 San Francisco Giants def. (6) 1985 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3
Game 1: Dodgers 5, Giants 2
Game 2: Dodgers 4, Giants 2
Game 3: Giants 6, Dodgers 5
Game 4: Giants 2, Dodgers 0
Game 5: Giants 14, Dodgers 0
Game 6: Dodgers 10, Giants 4
Game 7: Giants 6, Dodgers 0
Robby Thompson: 17-50, 5 HR, 9 RBI
Don Robinson: 4-0, 1.55 ERA, 2 SHO
(7) 1980 Houston Astros def. (15) 1983 Atlanta Braves 4-1
Game 1: Astros 15, Braves 7
Game 2: Astros 5, Braves 3
Game 3: Braves 1, Astros 0
Game 4: Astros 3, Braves 1
Game 5: Astros 14, Braves 4
Joe Morgan: 14-38, 4 HR, 10 RBI
J.R. Richard: 2-0, 0.55 ERA
N.L. West Semi-Finals
(13) '85 Reds vs. (9) '87 Giants
(7) '80 Astros vs. (3) '89 Giants
Up Next: A.L. East Quarterfinals
The biggest shock of the tournament so far...a #1 seed advances! Unfortunately it had to be the '88 Dodgers. We had our first sweep of the tournament as the '80 Astros made easy work of the '82 Braves. The '89 Giants nearly blew a 3-0 series lead but pull it out in seven over the '89 Padres. Plenty of upsets as usual as the #12, #13, and #15 seeds all advanced.
(1) 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers def. (16) 1982 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3
Game 1: '88 Dodgers 4, '82 Dodgers 2
Game 2: '82 Dodgers 3, '88 Dodgers 0
Game 3: '88 Dodgers 7, '82 Dodgers 4
Game 4: '88 Dodgers 4, '82 Dodgers 1
Game 5: '82 Dodgers 4, '88 Dodgers 1
Game 6: '82 Dodgers 3, '88 Dodgers 1
Game 7: '88 Dodgers 10, '82 Dodgers 0
Orel Hershiser: 3-0, 1.13 ERA
(9) 1987 San Francisco Giants def. (8) 1983 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1
Game 1: Giants 5, Dodgers 0
Game 2: Giants 3, Dodgers 1
Game 3: Giants 9, Dodgers 1
Game 4: Dodgers 10, Giants 8 12 innings
Game 5: Giants 8, Dodgers 2
Candy Maldonado (SF): 9-21, 2 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI
(13) 1985 Cincinnati Reds def. (4) 1984 San Diego Padres 4-1
Game 1: Reds 6, Padres 3
Game 2: Reds 4, Padres 3 10 innings
Game 3: Padres 5, Reds 1
Game 4: Reds 3, Padres 1
Game 5: Reds 4, Padres 0
Tom Browning: 2-0, 1.20 ERA
(12) 1980 Los Angeles Dodgers def. (5) 1986 Houston Astros 4-2
Game 1: Astros 6, Dodgers 0
Game 2: Dodgers 7, Astros 1
Game 3: Astros 4, Dodgers 2
Game 4: Dodgers 3, Astros 2
Game 5: Dodgers 4, Astros 2
Game 6: Dodgers 11, Astros 3
Steve Garvey: 11-24, 3 2B
(6) 1985 Los Angeles Dodgers def. (11) 1981 Cincinnati Reds 4-1
Game 1: Dodgers 4, Reds 2
Game 2: Dodgers 5, Reds 4
Game 3: Dodgers 9, Reds 8 11 innings
Game 4: Reds 5, Dodgers 0
Game 5: Dodgers 9, Reds 0
Bill Madlock: 9-21, 5 RBI
(3) 1989 San Francisco Giants def. (14) 1989 San Diego Padres 4-3
Game 1: Giants 5, Padres 1
Game 2: Giants 3, Padres 0
Game 3: Giants 11, Padres 3
Game 4: Padres 7, Giants 2
Game 5: Padres 6, Giants 2
Game 6: Padres 5, Giants 2
Game 7: Giants 8, Padres 0
Rick Reuschel: One-hitter in Game 2
(7) 1980 Houston Astros def. (10) 1982 Atlanta Braves 4-0
Game 1: Astros 6, Braves 3
Game 2: Astros 3, Braves 2 16 innings
Game 3: Astros 12, Braves 6
Game 4: Astros 2, Braves 0
Joe Morgan: 3 HR, 5 RBI
(15) 1983 Atlanta Braves def. (2) 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3
Game 1: Dodgers 4, Braves 3
Game 2: Braves 8, Dodgers 7
Game 3: Braves 5, Dodgers 1
Game 4: Dodgers 6, Braves 5 10 innings
Game 5: Braves 3, Dodgers 0
Game 6: Dodgers 7, Braves 2
Game 7: Braves 6, Dodgers 1
Bruce Benedict: 15-25 (.625)
N.L. West Quarterfinal Match-ups
(9) '87 Giants vs. (1) '88 Dodgers
(13) '85 Reds vs. (12) '80 Dodgers
(6) '85 Dodgers vs. (3) '89 Giants
(15) '83 Braves vs. (7) '80 Astros
Up Next: A.L. East
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 straight to win the series. Unfortunately the Giants reign of terror is not quite over as the '87 Giants beat the '85 Reds in a seven game thriller in which five of the seven games were decided by one run.
Stat lines are for all three rounds.
N.L. East Semi-Finals
(4) 1985 St. Louis Cardinals def. (16) 1988 Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0
Game 1: Cardinals 1, Pirates 0 15 innings
Game 2: Cardinals 12, Pirates 3
Game 3: Cardinals 7, Pirates 1
Game 4: Cardinals 3, Pirates 2
Willie McGee: .368/.392/.559, 68 AB, 9 R, 25 H, 3 3B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 7 SB
John Tudor: 2-0, 1.05 ERA, 42 1/3 IP, 23 H, 5 ER, 10 BB, 30 SO
(14) 1980 Montreal Expos def. (7) 1988 New York Mets 4-1
Game 1: Expos 4, Mets 3
Game 2: Mets 7, Expos 2
Game 3: Expos 7, Mets 3
Game 4: Expos 7, Mets 4
Game 5: Expos 9, Mets 5
Andre Dawson: .387/.400/.710, 62 AB, 12 R, 24 H, 4 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 15 RBI
Rodney Scott: .412/.446/.549, 51 AB, 7 R, 21 H, 3 2B, 2 3B, 12 RBI, 8 SB
-Rodney Scott hit .224 in 1980, odds are this won't keep up.
N.L. West Semi-Finals
(9) 1987 San Francisco Giants def. (13) 1985 Cincinnati Reds 4-3
Game 1: Reds 4, Giants 3
Game 2: Reds 5, Giants 4
Game 3: Giants 6, Reds 4
Game 4: Giants 6, Reds 3
Game 5: Giants 5, Reds 4
Game 6: Reds 5, Giants 4
Game 7: Giants 1, Reds 0
Candy Maldonado: .338/.353/.554, 65 AB, 10 R, 22 H, 2 3B, 3 HR, 11 RBI
Rick Reuschel: 4-0, 0.96 ERA, 47 IP, 43 H, 5 ER, 10 BB, 27 SO
(7) 1980 Houston Astros def. (3) 1989 San Francisco Giants 4-2
Game 1: Astros 5, Giants 3 11 innings
Game 2: Giants 6, Astros 5
Game 3: Giants 2, Astros 1
Game 4: Astros 6, Giants 5
Game 5: Astros 10, Giants 1
Game 6: Astros 3, Giants 2
Joe Morgan: .410/.486/.869, 61 AB, 13 R, 25 H, 8 2B, 6 HR, 19 RBI
Vern Ruhle: 5-0, 2.91 ERA, 43 1/3 IP, 45 HR, 14 ER, 4 BB, 18 SO
N.L. East Finals
(14) '80 Expos vs. (4) '85 Cardinals
N.L. West Finals
(9) '87 Giants vs. (7) '80 Astros
Up Next: A.L. Sweet 16
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-run homer in the first and Danny Cox pitched a complete game.
Game 3: Expos 4, Cardinals 1
Bill Gullickson and Woodie Fryman combined to keep the Cardinals bats in check and snap their nine game tournament winning streak.
Game 4: Expos 1, Cardinals 0
Steve Rogers out duels John Tudor as the two staff aces surrender a combined seven hits. The lone run comes in the 2nd on an Ellis Valentine triple.
Game 5: Cardinals 5, Expos 2
Another strong outing by Cox (8 IP, 4 H, 2 ER) and another big game for Porter (4 for 4, HR, 4 RBI) help in handing the Expos their first home loss of the tournament.
Game 6: Expos 6, Cardinals 4
Rodney Scott hit a two out, bases loaded single off of Ricky Horton in the top of the 9th to break 4-4 tie and force a deciding Game 7.
Game 7: Expos 10, Cardinals 2
Expos hammer Tudor for 8 runs in 6 innings and Rogers strikes out 10 in a complete game victory as the 1980 Expos shock the world as a 14 seed to win the N.L. East Region to advance the 80's Final Four.
Expos win series 4 games to 3
N.L. East All-Region Team
C: Darrell Porter, '85 Cardinals
1B: Jack Clark, '85 Cardinals
2B: Tom Herr, '85 Cardinals
3B: Mike Schmidt, '83 Phillies
SS: Chris Speier, '80 Expos
LF: Barry Bonds, '88 Pirates
CF: Andre Dawson, '80 Expos
RF: Ellis Valentine, '80 Expos
SP: Steve Rogers, '80 Expos
RP: Woodie Fryman, '80 Expos
Region MVP: Andre Dawson - .368/.394/.655, 87 AB, 14 R, 32 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 18 RBI, 3 SB
N.L. West Finals: (9) 1987 San Francisco Giants vs. (7) 1980 Houston Astros
Game 1: Astros 6, Giants 4
A four run 3rd for the Astros off of Dave Dravecky does the damage here.
Game 2: Astros 10, Giants 2
Enos Cabell goes 3-5 with a homerun and Joe Niekro pitches a complete game as the Astros cruise to the 2-0 lead.
Game 3: Astros 7, Giants 5 16 innings
After the Giants blew 4-2 lead in the 9th, in the 12th Jose Cruz hit an rbi double to give the Astros a 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the inning Chili Davis would answer with a solo homerun to tie the game back up. Finally in the 16th the Astros ended it with two runs, the critical blow coming on a Cesar Cedeno triple.
Game 4: Astros 5, Giants 2
Eight strong innings from J.R. Richard wraps up the sweep for the Astros as they go an amazing 16-3 through the N.L. West region.
Astros win series 4 games to 0
N.L. West All-Region Team
C: Alan Ashby, '80 Astros
1B: Will Clark, '89 Giants
2B: Joe Morgan, '80 Astros
3B: Kevin Mitchell, '87 Giants
SS: Jose Uribe, '87 Giants
LF: Kevin Mitchell, '89 Giants
CF: Chili Davis, '87 Giants
RF: Dave Parker, '85 Reds
SP: Vern Ruhle, '80 Astros
RP: Ted Power, '85 Reds
Region MVP: Joe Morgan - .370/.453/.765, 81 AB, 17 R, 30 H, 9 2B, 7 HR, 24 RBI, 13 BB, 4 SB
Soooo, was there something in the water in 1980? I'm going to have to chalk this up to just a bizarre fluke but with the way the Astros dominated and the way the 1980 Yankees have dominated so far I am wondering about the 1980 Strat-O-Matic set.
Final Four: N.L. Finals
'80 Expos vs. '80 Astros
Up Next: A.L. Elite Eight
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 combined for the first two rounds as I couldn't get seperate stat lines for each round. Well I could have but I wasn't Bored enough to do so. I'll get more detailed with these once I get down to the regional/division finals.
(16) 1988 Pittsburgh Pirates def. (9) 1989 Chicago Cubs 4-1
Game 1: Pirates 5, Cubs 1
Game 2: Pirates 3, Cubs 1
Game 3: Cubs 2, Pirates 0
Game 4: Pirates 2, Cubs 0
Game 5: Pirates 8, Cubs 4
Bobby Bonilla: 14-38, 11 RBI
Doug Drabek: 3-0, 1.14 ERA
(4) 1985 St. Louis Cardinals def. (12) 1981 St. Louis Cardinals 4-1
Game 1: '85 Cardinals 8, '81 Cardinals 5
Game 2: '81 Cardinals 9, '85 Cardinals 5
Game 3: '85 Cardinals 3, '81 Cardinals 0 12 innings
Game 4: '85 Cardinals 5, '81 Cardinals 3 12 innings
Game 5: '85 Cardinals 7, '81 Cardinals 4
Willie McGee: 17-50, 2 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 6 SB
John Tudor: 2-0, 1.42 ERA
(14) 1980 Montreal Expos def. (6) 1983 Philadelphia Phillies 4-1
Game 1: Expos 9, Phillies 6
Game 2: Phillies 4, Expos 3 11 innings
Game 3: Expos 5, Phillies 4
Game 4: Expos 5, Phillies 2
Game 5: Expos 4, Phillies 2
Andre Dawson: 15-42, 4 HR, 11 RBI
Scott Sanderson: 3-0, 2.63 ERA
(7) 1988 New York Mets def. (2) 1982 St. Louis Cardinals 4-0
Game 1: Mets 7, Cardinals 3
Game 2: Mets 5, Cardinals 4 13 innings
Game 3: Mets 6, Cardinals 5
Game 4: Mets 7, Cardinals 5
Lenny Dykstra: 17-43, 2 HR, 10 RBI
David Cone: 3-0, 2.08 ERA
N.L. East Semi-Finals
(16) '88 Pirates vs. (4) '85 Cardinals
(14) '80 Expos vs. (7) '88 Mets
Up Next: A.L. West Quarterfinals
When you run simulations like this there will be bizarre results but I wasn't anticipating the '86 Mets getting bounced by the '88 Pirates but it happened and in only five games. Strat-O-Matic hates the Mets apparently as of their five teams only the '88 team survived. The '80 Phillies were also bounced as the '80 Expos got "revenge" for losing out by a game for the division title in 1980.
(16) 1988 Pittsburgh Pirates def. (1) 1986 New York Mets 4-1
Game 1: Mets 6, Pirates 5
Game 2: Pirates 6, Mets 1
Game 3: Pirates 4, Mets 3 11 innings
Game 4: Pirates 2, Mets 0
Game 5: Pirates 4, Mets 3
Bobby Bonilla: 9-20, 6 RBI
(9) 1989 Chicago Cubs def. (8) 1984 Chicago Cubs 4-2
Game 1: '84 Cubs 8, '89 Cubs 6
Game 2: '89 Cubs 9, '84 Cubs 3
Game 3: '89 Cubs 6, '84 Cubs 2
Game 4: '84 Cubs 6, '89 Cubs 2 10 innings
Game 5: '89 Cubs 9, '84 Cubs 5
Game 6: '89 Cubs 12, '84 Cubs 1
Andre Dawson: 9-24, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI
(4) 1985 St. Louis Cardinals def. (13) 1987 New York Mets 4-3
Game 1: Cardinals 3, Mets 2
Game 2: Mets 9, Cardinals 0
Game 3: Mets 4, Cardinals 3
Game 4: Cardinals 6, Mets 1
Game 5: Mets 2, Cardinals 1
Game 6: Cardinals 5, Mets 4
Game 7: Cardinals 5, Mets 3
Vince Coleman: 7 SB
(12) 1981 St. Louis Cardinals def. (5) 1987 St. Louis Cardinals 4-2
Game 1: '87 Cardinals 5, '81 Cardinals 4
Game 2: '81 Cardinals 9, '87 Cardinals 1
Game 3: '81 Cardinals 7, '87 Cardinals 4 10 innings
Game 4: '81 Cardinals 4, '87 Cardinals 0
Game 5: '87 Cardinals 3, '81 Cardinals 2 10 innings
Game 6: '81 Cardinals 7, '87 Cardinals 3
Darrell Porter: 3 HR, 11 RBI
(6) 1983 Philadelphia Phillies def. (11) 1985 New York Mets 4-3
Game 1: Mets 3, Phillies 2
Game 2: Phillies 6, Mets 5 13 innings
Game 3: Phillies 5, Mets 1
Game 4: Mets 2, Phillies 1
Game 5: Mets 4, Phillies 2
Game 6: Phillies 12, Mets 1
Game 7: Phillies 6, Mets 0
Mike Schmidt: 11-28, 7 HR, 13 RBI
(14) 1980 Montreal Expos def. (3) 1980 Philadelphia Phillies 4-1
Game 1: Phillies 4, Expos 3
Game 2: Expos 6, Phillies 4
Game 3: Expos 5, Phillies 2
Game 4: Expos 4, Phillies 2
Game 5: Expos 3, Phillies 1
Scott Sanderson: 2-0, 1.69 ERA
(7) 1988 New York Mets def. (10) 1981 Montreal Expos 4-2
Game 1: Mets 4, Expos 1
Game 2: Expos 5, Mets 3
Game 3: Expos 7, Mets 6 13 innings
Game 4: Mets 7, Expos 0
Game 5: Mets 7, Expos 6
Game 6: Mets 2, Expos 1
David Cone: 2-0, 0.53 ERA, 17 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 16 SO
(2) 1982 St. Louis Cardinals def. (15) 1984 New York Mets 4-2
Game 1: Cardinals 5, Mets 4
Game 2: Cardinals 4, Mets 3 10 innings
Game 3: Mets 5, Cardinals 4
Game 4: Cardinals 12, Mets 5
Game 5: Mets 8, Cardinals 5
Game 6: Cardinals 5, Mets 3 11 innings
George Hendrick: 10-28, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 6 RBI
N.L. East Division Quarterfinal Match-ups
(16) '88 Pirates vs. (9) '89 Cubs
(12) '81 Cardinals vs. (4) '85 Cardinals
(14) '80 Expos vs. (6) '83 Phillies
(7) '88 Mets vs. (2) '82 Cardinals
Up Next: A.L. West
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 the Expos score three in the 5th and four in the 6th to comeback for the win. Rodney Scott continues his shockingly good tournament going 4 for 5.
Game 4: Expos 3, Astros 1 12 innings
Chris Speier hits a walk off homerun off of Dave Smith in the 12th to move the Expos one win away from the finals.
Game 5: Expos 6, Astros 4
Montreal wraps up the N.L. title with another walk off homerun this time off the bat of Ellis Valentine. They are now a remarkable 14-1 at home in the tournament.
Expos win series 4 games to 1
Series Stars
Ellis Valentine: 9 for 24, 5 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI
Warren Cromartie: 9 for 20, 2 2B, 4 RBI
Woodie Fryman: 1-0, 3 G, 2 SV, 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER
Final Four: American League Finals: 1988 Minnesota Twins vs. 1980 New York Yankees
Game 1: Yankees 9, Twins 8
The Yankees pound Frank Viola for 7 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings and hold off a late Twins rally for the win.
Game 2: Twins 10, Yankees 6
Twins return the favor by smacking around Ron Guidry to even the series. Tom Herr was 3 for 5 with a homerun.
Game 3: Yankees 10, Twins 2
Yankees bang out 13 hits and score nine runs in the final three innings to take back the series lead. Bobby Brown went 4 for 5.
Game 4: Yankees 13, Twins 11
There is no pitching to be found in this series as the two teams combine for 33 hits. The game is highlighted by a six run 8th inning by the Bombers to erase an 11-7 Twins lead. Kent Hrbek goes 3 for 3 with 5 rbi in the loss.
Game 5: Yankees 4, Twins 3
Finally we get some good pitching in this series but it fittingly ends on offense as Eric Soderholm’s three-run homer in the 9th sends the Yankees to the finals to set up an all 1980 final.
Yankees win series 4 games to 1
Series Stars
Rick Cerone: 9 for 21, 4 2B, 4 RBI
Eric Soderholm: 6 for 14, 1 HR, 7 RBI
Goose Gossage: 3 SV
Final Four: Championship
'80 Expos vs. '80 Yankees
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 games in Yankee Stadium before heading back home where they are undefeated in the tournament. Andre Dawson sparked the rally with a two run homer and Larry Parrish eventually put them in front on an rbi double.
Game 3: Yankees 9, Expos 8
Yankees recovered from a five run 6th from the Expos to comeback to win and hand them their first defeat at Olympic Stadium. Yankees had built a 7-3 lead highlighted by a Bob Watson grand slam in the 2nd off Bill Gullickson before the Expos erased the deficit. Yankees tied it in the 7th and then Jim Spencer hit a pinch hit homerun in the 8th off Elias Sosa for the eventual winning run.
Game 4: Expos 8, Yankees 2
Expos once again rough up Tommy John and once again Steve Rogers goes the distance for the win. John didn’t get through the 2nd as the Expos scored six runs off him, the knockout blow coming on an Andre Dawson homerun.
Game 5: Expos 3, Yankees 2
Gary Carter is the hero as the tournament ends on a thriller. Yankees scored both their runs in the 4th on back-to-back homeruns by Rick Cerone and Graig Nettles off of Scott Sanderson. After the Expos scored a single run in the 6th, Carter tied the game up in 7th with homerun off of Ron Guidry. Then leading off in the 9th he launched one off of Goose Gossage, to cap a miserable series for him, into the leftfield stands for the championship.
The 1980 Montreal Expos are the Team of the ‘80s!?
Expos win the series 4 games to 1
All-Final Four Team
C: Rick Cerone, '80 Yankees
1B: Bob Watson, '80 Yankees
2B: Willie Randolph, '80 Yankees
3B: Larry Parrish, '80 Expos
SS: Bucky Dent, '80 Yankees
LF: Ron LeFlore, '80 Expos
CF: Andre Dawson, '80 Expos
RF: Ellis Valentine, '80 Expos
SP: Steve Rogers, '80 Expos
RP: Woodie Fryman, '80 Expos
Final Four MVP: Ellis Valentine, .383/.383/.809, 47 AB, 11 R, 18 H, 3 2B, 5 HR, 13 RBI
The A.L. West features three World Champions, two of them on paper being the two weakest World Series winners in that decade. The Royals lead the way with five teams as some may forget at one time they weren't a complete joke. The White Sox, Rangers, and Mariners have just one team a piece, Mariners being the only franchise in the 80's who failed to have a winning record with their '87 team leading the way with 78 wins. Can they shock the world and upset the '89 A's in the 1st Round?
#1
1989 Oakland Athletics (99-63, defeated San Francisco 4-0 in World Series)
OPS+: 104 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 118 (1st)
DefEff: .715 (1st)
Best Player: Rickey Henderson
Best Pitcher: Mike Moore
#2
1985 Kansas City Royals (91-71, defeated St. Louis 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 95 (t-12th)
ERA+: 119 (2nd)
DefEff: .701 (8th)
Best Player: George Brett
Best Pitcher: Brett Saberhagen
#3
1987 Minnesota Twins (85-77, defeated St. Louis 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 96 (10th)
ERA+: 100 (t-8th)
DefEff: .700 (t-6th)
Best Player: Kirby Puckett
Best Pitcher: Frank Viola
#4
1988 Oakland Athletics (104-58, lost to Los Angeles 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 109 (4th)
ERA+: 110 (t-2nd)
DefEff: .710 (4th)
Best Player: Jose Canseco
Best Pitcher: Dave Stewart
#5
1980 Kansas City Royals (97-65, lost to Philadelphia 4-2 in World Series)
OPS+: 107 (t-4th)
ERA+: 105 (5th)
DefEff: .707 (3rd)
Best Player: George Brett
Best Pitcher: Larry Gura
#6
1983 Chicago White Sox (99-63, lost to Baltimore 3-1 in ALCS)
OPS+: 100 (t-6th)
ERA+: 114 (2nd)
DefEff: .712 (2nd)
Best Player: Carlton Fisk
Best Pitcher: Richard Dotson
#7
1981 Oakland Athletics (64-45, lost to New York 3-0 in ALCS)
OPS+: 103 (9th)
ERA+: 105 (3rd)
DefEff: .732 (2nd)
Best Player: Rickey Henderson
Best Pitcher: Steve McCatty
#8
1982 California Angels (93-69, lost to Milwaukee 3-2 in ALCS)
OPS+: 114 (2nd)
ERA+: 107 (t-3rd)
DefEff: .712 (4th)
Best Player: Doug DiCinces
Best Pitcher: Geoff Zahn
#9
1986 California Angels (92-70, lost to Boston 4-3 in ALCS)
OPS+: 103 (t-6th)
ERA+: 107 (4th)
DefEff: .715 (3rd)
Best Player: Brian Downing
Best Pitcher: Mike Witt
#10
1984 Kansas City Royals (84-78, lost to Detroit 3-0 in ALCS)
OPS+: 97 (t-8th)
ERA+: 103 (6th)
DefEff: .711 (4th)
Best Player: Willie Wilson
Best Pitcher: Dan Quisenberry
#11
1989 Kansas City Royals (92-70, finished 7 games behind Oakland)
OPS+: 98 (t-8th)
ERA+: 109 (t-3rd)
DefEff: .692 (11th)
Best Player: Kevin Seitzer
Best Pitcher: Bret Saberhagen
#12
1988 Minnesota Twins (91-71, finished 13 games behind Oakland)
OPS+: 110 (t-2nd)
ERA+: 104 (t-4th)
DefEff: .699 (6th)
Best Player: Kirby Puckett
Best Pitcher: Frank Viola
#13
1982 Kansas City Royals (90-72, finished 3 games behind California)
OPS+: 109 (3rd)
ERA+: 100 (t-8th)
DefEff: .716 (3rd)
Best Player: George Brett
Best Pitcher: Dan Quisenberry
#14
1985 California Angels (90-72, finished 1 game behind Kansas City)
OPS+: 97 (8th)
ERA+: 105 (t-6th)
DefEff: .710 (t-4th)
Best Player: Brian Downing
Best Pitcher: Donnie Moore
#15
1981 Texas Rangers (57-48, second best overall record in A.L. West)
OPS+: 105 (t-5th)
ERA+: 102 (t-6th)
DefEff: .713 (t-5th)
Best Player: Buddy Bell
Best Pitcher: Doc Medich
#16
1987 Seattle Mariners (78-84, finished 7 games behind Minnesota)
OPS+: 97 (t-8th)
ERA+: 105 (5th)
DefEff: .694 (10th)
Best Player: Phil Bradley
Best Pitcher: Mark Langston
1st Round Match-ups
'87 Mariners vs. '89 A's
'86 Angels vs. '82 Angels
'82 Royals vs. '88 A's
'88 Twins vs. '80 Royals
'89 Royals vs. '83 White Sox
'85 Angels vs. '87 Twins
'84 Royals vs. '81 A's
'81 Rangers vs. '85 Royals
This division/region was completely blown to pieces in the 1st round but this round things almost went to form. The '86 Angels did what the '89 A's were supposed to do and that was sweep the '87 Mariners. The other three series all went at least six games with the one upset by the '83 White Sox as they eliminated the '87 Twins in seven games. Interesting thing about that series is every game was won by the road team, the complete opposite of the '87 World Series. That now leaves no World Series teams left in this division/region.
Again stat lines are for both rounds.
(9) 1986 California Angels def. (16) 1987 Seattle Mariners 4-0
Game 1: Angels 4, Mariners 3
Game 2: Angels 5, Mariners 0
Game 3: Angels 4, Mariners 1
Game 4: Angels 4, Mariners 0
Brian Downing: 11-37, 4 HR, 7 RBI
Don Sutton: 2-0, 1.40 ERA
(12) 1988 Minnesota Twins def. (13) 1982 Kansas City Royals 4-3
Game 1: Twins 3, Royals 0
Game 2: Royals 5, Twins 3
Game 3: Twins 11, Royals 1
Game 4: Twins 11, Royals 9 13 innings
Game 5: Royals 3, Twins 2 10 innings
Game 6: Royals 8, Twins 6
Game 7: Twins 8, Royals 2
Tim Laudner: 20-53, 3 HR, 12 RBI
Jeff Reardon: 1.93 ERA, 5 SV
(6) 1983 Chicago White Sox def. (3) 1987 Minnesota Twins 4-3
Game 1: White Sox 9, Twins 2
Game 2: White Sox 8, Twins 1
Game 3: Twins 9, White Sox 1
Game 4: Twins 12, White Sox 1
Game 5: Twins 5, White Sox 4
Game 6: White Sox 14, Twins 7
Game 7: White Sox 6, Twins 2
Rudy Law: 19-54, 14 R, 11 SB
Floyd Bannister: 3-1, 4 GS, 32 IP, 42 K
(10) 1984 Kansas City Royals def. (15) 1981 Texas Rangers 4-2
Game 1: Rangers 3, Royals 0
Game 2: Rangers 5, Royals 1 11 innings
Game 3: Royals 3, Rangers 0
Game 4: Royals 6, Rangers 1
Game 5: Royals 10, Rangers 4
Game 6: Royals 4, Rangers 3
Willie Wilson: 17-47, 7 R
Bud Black: 2-1, 1.30 ERA, 4 GS, 3 CG
A.L. West Semi-Finals
(12) '88 Twins vs. (9) '86 Angels
(10) '84 Royals vs. (6) '83 White Sox
Up Next: N.L. West Quarterfinals
The 1987 Seattle Mariners beat the 1989 Oakland A's. Yup, this tournament is a mess. In fact only two higher seeds advance in the 1st Round of this division/region. Thought about scrapping the whole idea but might as well see how bizarre this gets and see if every 16 seed advances. All three A's teams were bounced so definately can't be accused of fixing this.
(16) 1987 Seattle Mariners def. (1) 1989 Oakland Athletics 4-3
Game 1: Mariners 4, A's 3 15 innings
Game 2: A's 8, Mariners 3
Game 3: A's 4, Mariners 3 10 innings
Game 4: Mariners 6, A's 5 12 innings
Game 5: Mariners 4, A's 0
Game 6: A's 3, Mariners 1
Game 7: Mariners 7, A's 3
Phil Bradley: 14-32, 5 2B
(9) 1986 California Angels def. (8) 1982 California Angels 4-2
Game 1: '82 Angels 8, '86 Angels 0
Game 2: '86 Angels 6, '82 Angels 4
Game 3: '86 Angels 4, '82 Angels 3 10 innings
Game 4: '86 Angels 9, '82 Angels 5
Game 5: '82 Angels 5, '86 Angels 3 13 innings
Game 6: '86 Angels 4, '82 Angels 0
Brian Downing ('86): 4 HR, 7 RBI
(13) 1982 Kansas City Royals def. (4) 1988 Oakland Athletics 4-2
Game 1: A's 2, Royals 1 11 innings
Game 2: Royals 6, A's 1
Game 3: Royals 4, A's 3
Game 4: Royals 7, A's 2
Game 5: A's 5, Royals 1
Game 6: Royals 2, A's 1
Vida Blue: 2-0, 1.06 ERA
(12) 1988 Minnesota Twins def. (5) 1980 Kansas City Royals 4-3
Game 1: Royals 4, Twins 1
Game 2: Royals 3, Twins 2
Game 3: Twins 4, Royals 2
Game 4: Twins 6, Royals 3
Game 5: Royals 8, Twins 2
Game 6: Twins 6, Royals 4
Game 7: Twins 6, Royals 4
Tom Herr: 10-27, 3 SB
(6) 1983 Chicago White Sox def. (11) 1989 Kansas City Royals 4-2
Game 1: Royals 5, White Sox 1
Game 2: Royals 9, White Sox 4
Game 3: White Sox 5, Royals 1
Game 4: White Sox 2, Royals 0
Game 5: White Sox 4, Royals 2
Game 6: White Sox 5, Royals 3
Harold Baines: 11-26, 2 HR, 6 RBI
(3) 1987 Minnesota Twins def. (14) 1985 California Angels 4-1
Game 1: Angels 7, Twins 4
Game 2: Twins 7, Angels 5
Game 3: Twins 2, Angels 0
Game 4: Twins 2, Angels 0
Game 5: Twins 6, Angels 0
Tom Brunansky: 3 HR, 6 RBI
(10) 1984 Kansas City Royals def. (7) 1981 Oakland Athletics 4-1
Game 1: A's 1, Royals 0 10 innings
Game 2: Royals 3, A's 1
Game 3: Royals 2, A's 0
Game 4: Royals 5, A's 1
Game 5: Royals 4, A's 2
Royals' Team ERA: 0.99
(15) 1981 Texas Rangers def. (2) 1985 Kansas City Royals 4-2
Game 1: Royals 7, Rangers 6 10 innings
Game 2: Rangers 9, Royals 2
Game 3: Rangers 8, Royals 7
Game 4: Rangers 4, Royals 2
Game 5: Royals 7, Rangers 3
Game 6: Rangers 12, Royals 0
Mickey Rivers: 14-27, 7 RBI
A.L. West Quarterfinal Match-ups
(16) '87 Mariners vs. (9) '86 Angels
(13) '82 Royals vs. (12) '88 Twins
(6) '83 White Sox vs. (3) '87 Twins
(15) '81 Rangers vs. (10) '84 Royals
Up Next: N.L. West
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 improbable moment of the tournament, Jerry Dybzinski (3 homeruns in 909 career at bats) of the '83 White Sox hit a walkoff homerun against Dan Quisenberry in the 13th inning to eliminate the '84 Royals. With the elimination of the '83 Orioles, the '85 Cardinals are now the only World Series team to still be alive in the tournament.
Stats are for all three rounds.
A.L. West Semi-Finals
(12) 1988 Minnesota Twins def. (9) 1986 California Angels 4-2
Game 1: Angels 3, Twins 0
Game 2: Twins 5, Angels 2
Game 3: Angels 14, Twins 3
Game 4: Twins 9, Angels 4
Game 5: Twins 6, Angels 1
Game 6: Twins 5, Angels 2 10 innings
Gary Gaetti: .364/.395/.649, 77 AB, 15 R, 28 H, 2 3B, 5 HR, 19 RBI
Tom Herr: .333/.402/.469, 81 AB, 15 R, 27 H, 5 2B, 10 BB, 4 SB
(6) 1983 Chicago White Sox def. (10) 1984 Kansas City Royals 4-2
Game 1: White Sox 4, Royals 2
Game 2: Royals 6, White Sox 0
Game 3: White Sox 6, Royals 3
Game 4: White Sox 15, Royals 2
Game 5: Royals 4, White Sox 3 10 innings
Game 6: White Sox 5, Royals 4 13 innings
Rudy Law: .361/.411/.542, 83 AB, 20 R, 30 H, 5 2B, 5 3B, 11 RBI, 14 SB
Harold Baines: .363/.386/.550, 80 AB, 12 R, 29 H, 4 HR, 21 RBI
A.L. East Semi-Finals
(13) 1987 Toronto Blue Jays def. (9) 1988 Boston Red Sox 4-1
Game 1: Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 5
Game 2: Blue Jays 3, Red Sox 1
Game 3: Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 1
Game 4: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 5
Game 5: Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 4
Lloyd Moseby: .270/.353/.514, 74 AB, 14 R, 20 H, 5 HR, 15 RBI
Jimmy Key: 5-1, 2.73 ERA, 3 CG, 56 IP, 50 H, 17 ER, 12 BB, 32 SO
(6) 1980 New York Yankees def. (2) 1983 Baltimore Orioles 4-0
Game 1: Yankees 13, Orioles 10
Game 2: Yankees 10, Orioles 4
Game 3: Yankees 5, Orioles 1
Game 4: Yankees 9, Orioles 0
Reggie Jackson: .339/.413/.857, 56 AB, 15 R, 19 H, 9 HR, 14 RBI
Willie Randolph: .396/.500/.642, 53 AB, 15 R, 21 H, 6 2B, 12 RBI, 11 BB, 4 SB
A.L. West Finals
(12) '88 Twins vs. (6) '83 White Sox
A.L. East Finals
(13) '87 Blue Jays vs. (6) '80 Yankees
Up Next: N.L. Elite Eight
A.L. West Finals: (12) 1988 Minnesota Twins vs. (6) 1983 Chicago White Sox
Game 1: Twins 6, White Sox 5
Tim Laudner hit a grand slam in the 6th off LaMarr Hoyt. White Sox had the tying and winning runs on in the 9th but Jeff Reardon held them off.
Game 2: Twins 15, White Sox 4
Every Twins starter scored at least one run as they crushed Floyd Bannister and the White Sox bullpen. Dan Gladden led the way going 3 for 5 with a homerun.
Game 3: White Sox 3, Twins 2
Richard Dotson allowed just one earned run in 7 2/3 innings as the Sox steal a win back in the Metrodome.
Game 4: Twins 7, White Sox 5
Twins escaped to take a 3-1 series lead as the Sox nearly made a miraculous comeback from being down 7-0 in the 9th.
Game 5: Twins 5, White Sox 4 10 innings
Twins wrap up the series on a walk off….ground out. With John Moses on 3rd, Gladden hit a chopper to Scott Fletcher and he was unable to throw Moses out at the plate. Kirby Puckett was 3 for 4 with a homerun.
Twins win series 4 games to 1
A.L. West All-Region Team
C: Tim Laudner, '88 Twins
1B: Kent Hrbek, '88 Twins
2B: Tom Herr, '88 Twins
3B: Gary Gaetti, '88 Twins
SS: Dick Schofield, '86 Angels
LF: Dan Gladden, '88 Twins
CF: Rudy Law, '83 White Sox
RF: Harold Baines, '83 White Sox
SP: Frank Viola, '88 Twins
RP: Jeff Reardon, '88 Twins
Region MVP: Gary Gaetti, .365/.402/.667, 96 AB, 20 R, 35 H, 4 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 23 RBI
A.L. East Finals: (13) 1987 Toronto Blue Jays vs. (6) 1980 New York Yankees
Game 1: Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2
An Eric Sodherholm rbi single in the bottom of the 8th broke up a 2-2 tie.
Game 2: Blue Jays 3, Yankees 2
Lloyd Moseby hit a two out, rbi double in the top of the 9th for the winning run. Jim Clancy got the complete game victory.
Game 3: Blue Jays 6, Yankees 2
Jesse Barfield was 2 for 3 with a homerun and Dave Stieb allowed just one earned run on four hits in seven innings. The ’80 Yankees now trail in a series for the first time in the tournament.
Game 4: Blue Jays 3, Yankees 2 11 innings
Willie Randolph booted a groundball with two out in the 11th and then Ron Davis uncorked a wild pitch to score George Bell from third for the winning run.
Game 5: Yankees 7, Blue Jays 6 10 innings
Randolph drew a bases loaded walk from Jeff Musselman in the 10th to force in the eventual winning run and the keep the Yankees alive.
Game 6: Yankees 3, Blue Jays 1
Gaylord Perry and Goose Gossage hold the Jays to five hits to help force a Game 7.
Game 7: Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2
Davis pitched three scoreless innings in relief and Reggie Jackson hit his 12th homerun of the tournament as the Yankees complete the series comeback and now put three teams from 1980 into the Final Four.
Yankees win series 4 games to 3
A.L. East All-Region Team
C: Rick Cerone, '80 Yankees
1B: Don Mattingly, '85 Yankees
2B: Willie Randolph, '80 Yankees
3B: Graig Nettles, '80 Yankees
SS: Tony Fernandez, '87 Blue Jays
LF: George Bell, '87 Blue Jays
CF: Lloyd Moseby, '87 Blue Jays
RF: Reggie Jackson, '80 Yankees
SP: Tommy John, '80 Yankees
RP: Goose Gossage, '80 Yankees
Region MVP: Reggie Jackson, .350/.441/.825, 80 AB, 20 R, 28 H, 2 2B, 12 HR, 19 RBI, 13 BB
So there you have it, three teams from 1980 into the Final Four. The '80 Yankees aren't a huge shock as they won 103 games that year but laid an egg in the ALCS. Didn't see the other three teams getting in though.
Final Four: A.L. Finals
'88 Twins vs. '80 Yankees
Up Next: Final Four: League Finals
Now for the final region/division in the tournament, the A.L. East. The East features just two World Champions but is loaded with great teams who came up just short of winning their division. During the 80's seven of the nine normal pennant chases in the division were decided by three games or less. Of course given how this tournament has gone the '86 Indians will probably win the region as they get in as the only Indians team of the decade to have a winning record.
#1
1984 Detroit Tigers (104-58, defeated San Diego 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 114 (1st)
ERA+: 112 (1st)
DefEff: .713 (3rd)
Best Player: Alan Trammell
Best Pitcher: Willie Hernandez
#2
1983 Baltimore Orioles (98-64, defeated Philadelphia 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 111 (2nd)
ERA+: 108 (3rd)
DefEff: .705 (5th)
Best Player: Cal Ripken
Best Pitcher: Scott McGregor
#3
1986 Boston Red Sox (95-66, lost to New York 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 107 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 106 (5th)
DefEff: .686 (12th)
Best Player: Wade Boggs
Best Pitcher: Roger Clemens
#4
1982 Milwaukee Brewers (95-67, lost to St. Louis 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 121 (1st)
ERA+: 95 (11th)
DefEff: .702 (9th)
Best Player: Robin Yount
Best Pitcher: Pete Vukovich
#5
1981 New York Yankees (59-48, lost to Los Angeles 4-2 in World Series)
OPS+: 107 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 124 (1st)
DefEff: .721 (3rd)
Best Player: Dave Winfield
Best Pitcher: Goose Gossage
#6
1980 New York Yankees (103-59, lost to Kansas City 3-0 in ALCS)
OPS+: 112 (1st)
ERA+: 109 (t-2nd)
DefEff: .699 (t-6th)
Best Player: Reggie Jackson
Best Pitcher: Tommy John
#7
1985 Toronto Blue Jays (99-62, lost to Kansas City 4-3 in ALCS)
OPS+: 104 (t-4th)
ERA+: 128 (1st)
DefEff: .724 (1st)
Best Player: Jesse Barfield
Best Pitcher: Dave Stieb
#8
1987 Detroit Tigers (98-64, lost to Minnesota 4-1 in ALCS)
OPS+: 114 (1st)
ERA+: 106 (4th)
DefEff: .705 (3rd)
Best Player: Alan Trammell
Best Pitcher: Jack Morris
#9
1988 Boston Red Sox (89-73, lost to Oakland 4-0 in ALCS)
OPS+: 114 (1st)
ERA+: 104 (t-4th)
DefEff: .693 (t-12th)
Best Player: Wade Boggs
Best Pitcher: Roger Clemens
#10
1989 Toronto Blue Jays (89-73, lost to Oakland 4-1 in ALCS)
OPS+: 105 (2nd)
ERA+: 105 (5th)
DefEff: .704 (t-5th)
Best Player: Fred McGriff
Best Pitcher: Tom Henke
#11
1980 Baltimore Orioles (100-62, finished 3 games behind New York)
OPS+: 107 (t-4th)
ERA+: 109 (t-2nd)
DefEFf: .709 (2nd)
Best Player: Al Bumbry
Best Pitcher: Steve Stone
#12
1985 New York Yankees (97-64, finished 2 games behind Toronto)
OPS+: 112 (1st)
ERA+: 109 (3rd)
DefEff: .710 (t-4th)
Best Player: Rickey Henderson
Best Pitcher: Ron Guidry
#13
1987 Toronto Blue Jays (96-66, finished 2 games behind Detroit)
OPS+: 104 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 121 (1st)
DefEff: .712 (2nd)
Best Player: George Bell
Best Pitcher: Jimmy Key
#14
1982 Baltimore Orioles (94-68, finished 1 game behind Milwaukee)
OPS+: 108 (4th)
ERA+: 101 (7th)
DefEff: .719 (2nd)
Best Player: Eddie Murray
Best Pitcher: Jim Palmer
#15
1981 Milwaukee Brewers (62-47, lost to New York 3-2 in ALDS)
OPS+: 107 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 88 (14th)
DefEff: .705 (10th)
Best Player: Cecil Cooper
Best Pitcher: Rollie Fingers
#16
1986 Cleveland Indians (84-78, finished 11 ½ games behind Boston)
OPS+: 109 (2nd)
ERA+: 90 (t-12th)
DefEff: .695 (10th)
Best Player: Joe Carter
Best Pitcher: Tom Candiotti
A.L. East 1st Round Match-ups
'86 Indians vs. '84 Tigers
'88 Red Sox vs. '87 Tigers
'87 Blue Jays vs. '82 Brewers
'85 Yankees vs. '81 Yankees
'80 Orioles vs. '80 Yankees
'82 Orioles vs. '86 Red Sox
'89 Blue Jays vs. '85 Blue Jays
'81 Brewers vs. '83 Orioles
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 although there was one milestone in the series as Ken Schrom (!) pitched a shocking no-hitter in Game 2. Here's the boxscore:
BOXSCORE: 1986 Cleveland Indians At 1988 Boston Red Sox
Indians AB R H RBI AVG Red Sox AB R H RBI AVG
T.Bernazard 2B 5 2 3 1 .351 W.Boggs 3B 3 0 0 0 .360
B.Butler CF 4 0 0 1 .303 M.Barrett 2B 4 0 0 0 .290
J.Franco SS 5 1 3 2 .382 D.Evans RF 3 0 0 0 .143
J.Carter LF 4 0 0 0 .424 M.Greenwell LF 3 0 0 0 .360
A.Thornton DH 5 1 2 0 .281 E.Burks CF 3 0 0 0 .240
M.Hall RF 5 0 2 1 .226 T.Benzinger 1B 2 0 0 0 .250
P.Tabler 1B 3 1 1 1 .214 J.Rice DH 3 0 0 0 .250
B.Jacoby 3B 3 1 1 0 .379 J.Reed SS 2 0 0 0 .250
C.Bando C 4 0 1 0 .200 R.Gedman C 3 0 0 0 .136
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 38 6 13 6 Totals 26 0 0 0
Indians......... 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 6 13 0
Red Sox......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0
Indians (5-3) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
K.Schrom WIN(2-1) 9 0 0 0 3 1 0 5.30
Totals 9 0 0 0 3 1 0
Red Sox (5-2) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
M.Boddicker LOSS(1-1) 7 9 5 5 3 5 0 3.94
D.Lamp 2 4 1 1 0 0 0 6.75
Totals 9 13 6 6 3 5 0
T- 2:50
LEFT ON BASE- Indians: 9 Red Sox: 2
DOUBLE PLAYS- Indians: 1 Red Sox: 1
DOUBLES- J.Franco(3rd), A.Thornton(1st)
STOLEN BASES- T.Bernazard(1st)
SACRIFICE HITS- P.Tabler
WALKS- B.Butler, J.Carter, B.Jacoby, W.Boggs, T.Benzinger, J.Reed
STRIKE OUTS- J.Franco, J.Carter, A.Thornton, P.Tabler, C.Bando, D.Evans
GIDP- J.Franco, J.Rice
BALKS- D.Lamp
Again stat lines are for both rounds.
(9) 1988 Boston Red Sox def. (16) 1986 Cleveland Indians 4-3
Game 1: Red Sox 8, Indians 1
Game 2: Indians 6, Red Sox 0
Game 3: Red Sox 3, Indians 2
Game 4: Indians 5, Red Sox 1
Game 5: Red Sox 2, Indians 1
Game 6: Indians 5, Red Sox 4
Game 7: Red Sox 5, Indians 1
Mike Greenwell: 15-42, 10 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI
Bruce Hurst: 2-0, 0.82 ERA
(13) 1987 Toronto Blue Jays def. (12) 1985 New York Yankees 4-2
Game 1: Yankees 7, Blue Jays 5
Game 2: Blue Jays 6, Yankees 2
Game 3: Blue Jays 6, Yankees 2
Game 4: Yankees 9, Blue Jays 4
Game 5: Blue Jays 7, Yankees 6 12 innings
Game 6: Blue Jays 5, Yankees 2
Lloyd Moseby: 15-53, 11 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI
Jimmy Key: 4-1, 2.57 ERA, 3 CG
(6) 1980 New York Yankees def. (3) 1986 Boston Red Sox 4-2
Game 1: Yankees 2, Red Sox 1
Game 2: Red Sox 2, Yankees 1
Game 3: Yankees 9, Red Sox 0
Game 4: Red Sox 2, Yankees 0
Game 5: Yankees 2, Red Sox 0
Game 6: Yankees 4, Red Sox 1
Willie Randolph: 15-35, 8 R, 4 2B, 2 3B, 8 RBI
Tommy John: 3-1, 1.17 ERA
(2) 1983 Baltimore Orioles def. (10) 1989 Toronto Blue Jays 4-1
Game 1: Blue Jays 5, Orioles 2
Game 2: Orioles 4, Blue Jays 1
Game 3: Orioles 9, Blue Jays 6 11 innings
Game 4: Orioles 3, Blue Jays 1
Game 5: Orioles 6, Blue Jays 5 11 innings
Eddie Murray: 13-45, 9 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI
Storm Davis: 2-1, 2.23 ERA, 34 SO, 2 BB
A.L. East Semi-Finals
(13) '87 Blue Jays vs. (9) '88 Red Sox
(6) '80 Yankees vs. (2) '83 Orioles
Up Next: National League Sweet 16
Hey if the '87 Mariners can beat the '89 A's, why not the '86 Indians beating the '84 Tigers? Well it happened thus meaning the '88 Dodgers were the only #1 seed to get out of the first round and they had to go to seven games to do so. The top half of the bracket in this region/division has been blown wide open as every lower seed won while on the bottom half three of the four higher seeds advanced. We had our second sweep as the '80 Yankees dusted off the '80 Orioles including an 18-0 thrashing to close the series.
(16) 1986 Cleveland Indians def. (1) 1984 Detroit Tigers 4-2
Game 1: Indians 4, Tigers 1
Game 2: Tigers 9, Indians 3
Game 3: Indians 2, Tigers 1
Game 4: Tigers 7, Indians 2
Game 5: Indians 11, Tigers 7
Game 6: Indians 4, Tigers 1
Joe Carter: 12-25, 4 2B, 7 RBI
(9) 1988 Boston Red Sox def. (8) 1987 Detroit Tigers 4-1
Game 1: Red Sox 4, Tigers 2
Game 2: Red Sox 10, Tigers 2
Game 3: Red Sox 4, Tigers 0
Game 4: Tigers 10, Red Sox 2
Game 5: Red Sox 10, Tigers 5
Mike Greenwell: 7-19, 3 HR, 6 RBI
(13) 1987 Toronto Blue Jays def. (4) 1982 Milwaukee Brewers 4-3
Game 1: Blue Jays 4, Brewers 3
Game 2: Brewers 1, Blue Jays 0
Game 3: Blue Jays 8, Brewers 5
Game 4: Brewers 4, Blue Jays 1
Game 5: Blue Jays 4, Brewers 3
Game 6: Brewers 11, Blue Jays 3
Game 7: Blue Jays 4, Brewers 3
Tom Henke: 3 Saves
(12) 1985 New York Yankees def. (5) 1981 New York Yankees 4-1
Game 1: '85 Yankees 14, '81 Yankees 12
Game 2: '81 Yankees 8, '85 Yankees 2
Game 3: '85 Yankees 10, '81 Yankees 4
Game 4: '85 Yankees 5, '81 Yankees 4 14 innings
Game 5: '85 Yankees 4, '81 Yankees 0
Don Mattingly: 9-26, 3 HR, 13 RBI
(6) 1980 New York Yankees def. (6) 1980 Baltimore Orioles 4-0
Game 1: Yankees 3, Orioles 2
Game 2: Yankees 5, Orioles 4
Game 3: Yankees 9, Orioles 5
Game 4: Yankees 18, Orioles 0
Graig Nettles: 6-16, 3 HR, 7 RBI
(3) 1986 Boston Red Sox def. (14) 1982 Baltimore Orioles 4-1
Game 1: Red Sox 3, Orioles 2
Game 2: Orioles 4, Red Sox 0
Game 3: Red Sox 6, Orioles 1
Game 4: Red Sox 6, Orioles 3
Game 5: Red Sox 3, Orioles 2
Jim Rice: 9-19, 3 2B
(10) 1989 Toronto Blue Jays def. (7) 1985 Toronto Blue Jays 4-2
Game 1: '89 Blue Jays 6, '85 Blue Jays 5 10 innings
Game 2: '89 Blue Jays 5, '85 Blue Jays 4
Game 3: '85 Blue Jays 5, '89 Blue Jays 4 12 innings
Game 4: '89 Blue Jays 4, '85 Blue Jays 3
Game 5: '85 Blue Jays 6, '89 Blue Jays 4
Game 6: '89 Blue Jays 3, '85 Blue Jays 2 10 innings
Nelson Liriano: 8-21, 4 2B
(2) 1983 Baltimore Orioles def. (15) 1981 Milwaukee Brewers 4-3
Game 1: Orioles 4, Brewers 1
Game 2: Brewers 3, Orioles 2 14 innings
Game 3: Orioles 3, Brewers 0
Game 4: Brewers 5, Orioles 1
Game 5: Orioles 5, Brewers 4
Game 6: Brewers 4, Orioles 1
Game 7: Orioles 2, Brewers 1 11 innings
Storm Davis: 2 CG, 1 SHO, 14 K, 0 BB
A.L. East Quarterfinals Match-ups
(16) '86 Indians vs. (9) '88 Red Sox
(13) '87 Blue Jays vs. (12) '85 Yankees
(6) '80 Yankees vs. (3) '86 Red Sox
(10) '89 Blue Jays vs. (2) '83 Orioles
Up Next: N.L. East Quarterfinals
Since I'm on a bit of a 1986 trip right now I figured I'd take a look back at what was going on this week in 1986 in the world of sports with the help of PaperofRecord.com using their Sporting News archive which I did once before with 1994.
February 17, 1986
Cover Story: Baseball's Worst Ballpark. Gale-force winds gust through Candlestick Park by day and frigid temperatures set in by night. One Giants official calls it the weather "the worst in baseball in June, July, and August." Fans don't like it any better than players. They're staying away in droves. That's why in baseball is in jeopardy in San Francisco.
-Now just a hunch coming off a 100 loss season wasn't helping attendance either but Candlestick Park really was the worst place to watch a baseball game and the Giants came close to moving to St. Petersburg in 1993, and damn that would have been great (for me). The best part of the article was an insert about a Canadian firm was coming up with a "revolutionary idea" of doming already built stadiums with an air-filled balloon type structure. Now that would have been quite the eyesore.
Down and Up at Michigan
-In the college basketball section there were two articles regarding Michigan State's Scott Skiles and Michigan's Roy Tarpley. One of the articles talks about a player having off the court troubles with a marijuana possession and dui conviction. If you guessed that player was Tarpley, you'd be wrong. Apparently Tarpley's off the court problems weren't public knowledge at this point as he would later be banned from the NBA for multiple drug violations.
-There's a little notes section about the old Continental Basketball Association where it notes Albany head coach Phil Jackson has been suspended for two games for "physically confronting" a referee. Wonder what happened to that guy?
-In the NBA notes section the Lakers had beaten the Rockets 14 straight games in Houston. The Rockets would stun the defending champs in the Western Conference Finals in five games later that year.
-Brief article about rising 20 year old, rising star Mario Lemieux although it more focuses on Wayne Gretzky and whether Lemieux would reach the level of Gretzky. There's a little blurb about how if the Penguins hadn't drafted Lemieux the franchise would have left Pittsburgh.
-In the NHL notes section there's a proposed change to the All-Star Game format that would match-up the NHL All-Stars against a touring Soviet national team in a two game series. Other ideas are the Stanley Cup champs vs. All-Stars or Americans vs. Canadians.
-A proposed new stadium deal in New York for the Jets that would be built by Donald Trump had fallen through.
-Brief commentary about the fallout after the Super Bowl about the drug problems of several members of the New England Patriots. In some team meeting after the Super Bowl the Patriots agreed to drug testing which didn't sit well with union head Gene Upshaw (yes that idiot was already running things back then) and he had this fantastic quote:
-Cincinnati Reds had offered Rollie Fingers an non-roster invite to Spring Training on the condition that he shave his mustache. He would end up refusing.
-Phillies pitcher Dave Stewart was very close to signing a deal with the Yomiuri Giants but it fell through. Phillies would release him three months later.
-There's a few mentions in various parts of the MLB team notes sections talking about team sponsored drug testing but of course the main concern back then was cocaine not steroids.
OMG two entries in one day, I'm out of control! This year I decided to track the number of games that each team had televised by MLB's three television partners. The final week's schedule was finalized today so figured I'd actually post the final "standings" for the year. I thought it'd be better to post it on the blog rather than the TWiB form because we don't need another debate of the overexposure of two certain teams from the Northeast and God knows I've instigated a few of those debates.
Note there was only one team in MLB that did not have a single game televised by ESPN, FOX, or TBS. Try to guess before scrolling down to find out who. Really shouldn't surprise anyone.
ESPN (76 Games)
17 Games: Cubs, Red Sox
15: Yankees
11: Phillies
10: Dodgers, Mets
9: Rays
7: Angels, Brewers
6: Cardinals, Tigers, White Sox
5: Twins
4: Astros, Braves, Indians
2: Athletics, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rangers
1: Giants, Nationals, Orioles, Rockies
FOX (66 Games)
10: Phillies
9: Red Sox, Tigers, Yankees
8: Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers
7: Angels, Cubs, Mets
6: Diamondbacks, Twins, White Sox
5: Brewers, Indians
3: Mariners, Padres, Rays, Reds, Rockies
2: Orioles, Royals
1: Athletics, Marlins, Nationals
TBS (26 Games)
8: Red Sox
5: White Sox, Yankees
4: Phillies
3: Blue Jays, Cardinals, Cubs, Marlins
2: Angels, Braves, Dodgers, Mets
1: Athletics, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Indians, Mariners, Orioles, Rays, Reds, Tigers, Twins
Totals
34: Red Sox
29: Yankees
27: Cubs
25: Phillies
20: Dodgers
19: Mets
17: Cardinals, White Sox
16: Angels, Tigers
14: Braves, Twins
13: Brewers, Rays
10: Indians
9: Diamondbacks
5: Blue Jays, Padres
4: Astros, Athletics, Mariners, Marlins, Orioles, Reds, Rockies
2: Nationals, Rangers, Royals
1: Giants
0: Pirates
Next week (I think) the 2008 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot will be released. Last year I did individual entries on each player on the ballot and I plan on doing the same thing this year for the first ballot players. Of course there is no point in redoing the holdovers from last year's ballot, and I'm much too lazy to update them, so here's links to each entry listed in order of the percentage of the vote they received last year. None of my opinions have changed as I would still vote Mark McGwire, Bert Blyleven, and Alan Trammell.
1. Goose Gossage 71.2% (9th year on ballot)
2. Jim Rice 63.5% (14th)
3. Andre Dawson 56.7% (7th)
4. Bert Blyleven 47.7% (11th)
5. Lee Smith 39.8% (6th)
6. Jack Morris 37.1% (9th)
7. Mark McGiwre 23.5% (2nd)
8. Tommy John 22.9% (14th)
9. Dave Concepcion 13.6% (15th and final year)
10. Alan Trammell 13.4% (7th)
11. Dave Parker 11.4% (12th)
12. Don Mattingly 9.9% (8th)
13. Dale Murphy 9.2% (10th)
14. Harold Baines 5.3% (2nd)
ACC
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Orange, Chick-Fil-A, Gator, Champs Sports, Music City, Meineke Car Care, Emerald, Humanitarian, EagleBank
Locks: Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
Bowl Eligible: Wake Forest
Bubble Teams: Clemson, N.C. State, Virginia
We finally had a team be eliminated for bowl consideration this week, that being Duke. N.C. State stayed alive with a stunning blowout win over North Carolina and they finish with a home game against Miami on Saturday. I misspoke last week I said the winner of the Clemson/Virginia game would become bowl eligible. Clemson actually needed two wins since they've played two I-AA teams this year and you can only count one of those games towards bowl eligibility. Their last game will be at home against South Carolina. Wake Forest could be in trouble if they don't beat Vanderbilt this week to pick up win #7 and if there ends up being more eligible teams than bids for this conference, they likely will have to go hunting for an at large bid which could be tough with a 6-6 record.
Notre Dame
Bowl Tie-ins: Cotton, Gator, Sun
Wow, don't think anyone anticipated them losing to Syracuse. This puts the USC game as almost a must win for the Irish or they could be staying home for bowl season. You can forget about the Gator Bowl if they finish 6-6 but the Sun Bowl would still be possible. Remember they are considered a Big East team when it comes to bowl selections and the rule is bowls must invite 7+ win teams over 6 win teams if there are not enough available slots in a conference. The Big East has six bids and currently four teams with 7+ wins. If Rutgers and South Florida pickup win #7 that would fill of the Big East slots and Notre Dame would have no where to go except hope for an at large bid although the same 7+ win rule applies for at large bids as well.
Big East
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS, Gator/Sun, Meineke Car Care, International, Papajohns.com, St. Petersburg
Locks: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, West Virginia
Bowl Eligible: Rutgers, South Florida
Bubble Teams: Louisville
So with Notre Dame's bowl hopes in doubt, the Big East might get to keep all six of their bids. Very big game for USF against UConn tonight to get that all important win #7 because the following week they are at West Virginia. Louisville's season will be on the line in two weeks at Rutgers.
Big Ten
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Rose (two bids?), Capital One, Outback, Alamo, Champs Sports, Insight, Motor City
Locks: Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin
I was a bit presumptuous last week in stating that if Ohio State won they were on their way to a BCS bowl and the reason is because of what is happening in the Pac-10. Oregon State is one win away from getting the Rose Bowl bid which would put USC into the at large pool and the Fiesta Bowl would likely jump all over them. That would send Ohio State off to the Capital One Bowl. It then remains to be seen if the Motor City Bowl will be an open bid or not.
Big XII
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Fiesta (two bids), Cotton, Holiday, Gator/Sun, Alamo, Insight, Independence, Texas
Locks: Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech
Bubble Teams: Colorado
There are no changes in this conference. Again Colorado must beat Nebraska on Friday to keep their season going or then the Independence Bowl becomes an open bid.
Conference USA
Bowl Tie-ins: Liberty, GMAC, Texas, Armed Forces, New Orleans, St. Petersburg
Locks: East Carolina, Houston, Rice, Tulsa
Bubble Teams: Memphis, Southern Miss, UTEP
Marshall was eliminated yesterday with a loss to Rice. Of the three bubble teams, UTEP has the longest odds as they finish the season at East Carolina. Memphis and Southern Miss play conference bottom feeders Tulane and SMU respectively.
MAC
Bowl Tie-ins: Motor City, GMAC, International
Locks: Ball State
Bowl Eligible: Buffalo, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan
Bubble Teams: Akron, Bowling Green
I can now safely call Ball State a lock after they beat CMU on Wednesday thus eliminating any chance that they will have to rely on an at large bid. CMU and WMU may have to sweat a little because Buffalo will be attractive to the International Bowl.
Mountain West
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS, Las Vegas, Poinsettia, Armed Forces, New Mexico
Locks: Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, TCU, Utah
Utah is on their way to the BCS now so the conference will get five bids. I was probably the only one watching UNLV last night blow their chance at their first bowl bid in eight years as they were stunned by lowly San Diego State and their season is now over. UNLV's loss ends up being Colorado State's gain as they became bowl eligible with a win over Wyoming.
Pac-10
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Rose (two bids?), Holiday, Sun, Emerald, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Poinsettia
Locks: Arizona, California, Oregon, Oregon State, USC
Bubble Teams: Arizona State, UCLA
As covered in the Big Ten section, Oregon State is a win away from going to the Rose Bowl and likely giving the conference two BCS bids assuming that USC beats Notre Dame and UCLA. Stanford broke my heart yesterday with a listless performance against Cal and has been eliminated. The conference now will have no more than six eligible teams at the most with the ASU/UCLA elimination game this week. The winner of that game will still need another win the following week in their rivalry game to become bowl eligible. Poinsettia Bowl is now a WAC bid.
SEC
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Sugar (two bids), Capital One, Cotton, Outback, Chick-Fil-A, Music City, Liberty, Independence, Papajohns.com
Locks: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
Bubble Teams: Auburn
Arkansas was eliminated yesterday with a loss to Mississippi State. Auburn will have to shock the world against Alabama this week to become bowl eligible or the Independence Bowl becomes an open bid.
Sun Belt
Bowl Tie-in: New Orleans, PapaJohns.com?
Locks: Troy
Bowl Eligible: None
Bubble Teams: Arkansas State, FIU, Florida Atlantic, UL Lafayette, Middle Tennessee
Troy crushed ULL yesterday but they haven't officially won the conference yet. I think that Arkansas State can still win the conference by tiebreak if they win this week against a horrific North Texas team and then upset Troy in two weeks. But even if that scenario plays out, Troy is a lock for a bowl bid because the PapaJohns.com would then become a Sun Belt bid since the SEC will not fill it and the conference had a contingency bid. I'm still not 100% sure if the Sun Belt needs a 7+ win team to be pick up that bid officially though so if the Arkansas State scenario doesn't play out, there wouldn't be another 7+ win team in the conference.
WAC
Bowl Tie-ins: Humanitarian, Hawaii, New Mexico, Poinsettia
Locks: Boise State
Bowl Eligible: Fresno State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, San Jose State
Boise State can still get a BCS at large invite but you can forget about them getting invited over Ohio State and now possibly USC. The conference did officially pickup the Poinsettia Bowl with Stanford's elimination in the Pac-10. The rest of the conference is still a mess but I think it's safe to assume at 6-6 that San Jose State will definitely not be getting a bid.
Aww the Congressional Bowl sold it's naming rights and is now the EagleBank Bowl. I'm shocked the St. Petersburg Bowl still hasn't sold theirs as that always seemed like a generic placeholder bowl name.
ACC
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Orange, Chick-Fil-A, Gator, Champs Sports, Music City, Meineke Car Care, Emerald, Humanitarian, EagleBank
Locks: Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina
Bowl Eligible: Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Bubble Teams: Clemson, Duke, N.C. State, Virginia
Everyone is technically still alive but highly unlikely Duke or N.C. State win their last two games. The winner of the Clemson/Virginia game this week will become bowl eligible while the loser will have to pull of an upset in a rivalry game the following week.
Notre Dame
Bowl Tie-ins: Cotton, Gator, Sun
Irish barely avoid disaster at the end of the Navy game to become bowl eligible. Should lock up a bid with an easy win against Syracuse this week which will have them on their way to the Gator or Sun Bowl. Upset USC the following week and they will end up in the Cotton Bowl.
Big East
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS, Gator/Sun, Meineke Car Care, International, Papajohns.com, St. Petersburg
Locks: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Pittsburgh
Bowl Eligible: South Florida, West Virginia
Bubble Teams: Louisville, Rutgers
As covered last week the Big East will lose a bid to Notre Dame if they finish 7-5 leaving the conference with five bids. Rutgers crushed a reeling USF team and can become bowl eligible with a win over Army this week which is quite the surprise considering how bad they played the first half of the year. With that in mind, there will be at least one team in this conference needing to find an open bid if they want to go bowling so it is very important to get seven wins.
Big Ten
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Rose (two bids?), Capital One, Outback, Alamo, Champs Sports, Insight, Motor City
Locks: Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State
Bowl Eligible: Wisconsin
Bubble Teams: Illinois
The Big Ten's season is over after this week and if Penn State and Ohio State win, they are both on their way to BCS bowls. Illinois needs to win at Northwestern this week or otherwise the Motor City Bowl will become an open bid.
Big XII
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Fiesta (two bids), Cotton, Holiday, Gator/Sun, Alamo, Insight, Independence, Texas
Locks: Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech
Bubble Teams: Colorado
There is no scenario where this conference doesn't put two teams in the BCS so you can put them down for nine bids which also locks Kansas up for a bid even they still sit on six wins. With Kansas State and Texas A&M being eliminated from bowl consideration, the Texas Bowl is now an open bid and if Colorado doesn't win at Nebraska in two weeks then the Independence Bowl will also be an open bid.
Conference USA
Bowl Tie-ins: Liberty, GMAC, Texas, Armed Forces, New Orleans, St. Petersburg
Locks: Rice, Tulsa
Bowl Eligible: East Carolina, Houston
Bubble Teams: Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss, UTEP
Only change was Houston became bowl eligible with a drubbing of Tulsa. Southern Miss scored a big win over East Carolina and now only has to beat an awful SMU team to become bowl eligible.
MAC
Bowl Tie-ins: Motor City, GMAC, International
Locks: None
Bowl Eligible: Ball State, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Western Michigan
Bubble Teams: Akron, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois
The odds of Ball State getting into the BCS are now zilch as they were passed by BYU in the BCS standings. See last week's entry as to why there is a really small chance Ball State could not go bowling but it gets slimmer and slimmer with the the growing number of open bids there will be.
Mountain West
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS?, Las Vegas, Poinsettia, Armed Forces, New Mexico
Locks: Air Force, BYU, TCU, Utah
Bubble Teams: Colorado State, UNLV
There's a story out there that I don't think has received any attention yet and that is if BYU beats Utah this week, they and not Boise State could end up with the Fiesta Bowl invite. There's nothing in the BCS rules that requires the highest ranked non-BCS conference team to be taken, if there is another eligible non-BCS team who can be chosen. Boise getting passed over for a one loss non-BCS team could be a nice shitstorm. UNLV should become bowl eligible with a win over San Diego State this week while Colorado State will play at Wyoming with a chance to become bowl eligible as well. Popular belief is that the New Mexico Bowl would invite the Rebels over CSU.
Pac-10
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Rose (two bids?), Holiday, Sun, Emerald, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Poinsettia
Locks: Arizona, California, Oregon, Oregon State, USC
Bubble Teams: Arizona State, Stanford, UCLA
No changes this week as every favorite won. Stanford's season is on the line in the Big Game on Saturday and they will win. They just have to. ASU and UCLA are both idle before their elimination game in two weeks. Still seems likely that at least the Poinsettia Bowl will be an open bid which would go to a WAC team.
SEC
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Sugar (two bids), Capital One, Cotton, Outback, Chick-Fil-A, Music City, Liberty, Independence, Papajohns.com
Locks: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
Bubble Teams: Arkansas, Auburn
Since the conference is pretty much assured to BCS bids at this point which pushes the conference to ten bids, every eligible team is now a lock including Vanderbilt will be going to their first bowl in 26 years. Both Arkansas and Auburn are longshots to become bowl eligible which would leave the Independence and the Papajohns.com Bowl as open bids. I'm sure the Independence Bowl is just giddy over the possibility of instead of having an SEC/Big XII match-up they may end up with a MAC/Sun Belt showdown.
Sun Belt
Bowl Tie-in: New Orleans
Locks: None
Bowl Eligible: Troy
Bubble Teams: Arkansas State, FIU, Florida Atlantic, UL Lafayette, Middle Tennessee
The winner of the ULL/Troy game this week all but clinches the conference title and the New Orleans Bowl bid. Because of contingency bids and other open bids this sad sack of conference could conceivably end up sending four teams to bowls when all is said and done.
WAC
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS?, Humanitarian, Hawaii, New Mexico
Locks: Boise State
Bowl Eligible: Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, San Jose State
Bubble Teams: Hawaii
As I already covered, Boise State's odds of landing a BCS bid could even longer than you think. Fresno, LA Tech, and Nevada all became bowl eligible this week but there is still way too many things that can happen to figure out who is going where and who is staying home. Again the Poinsettia Bowl will likely be added as a 4th bid for the conference, assuming the Pac-10 doesn't fill.
Did this the last couple of years so might as well keep doing. This is just a conference-by-conference breakdown (plus Notre Dame) of where everyone stands when it comes to making bowl games.
I know last year you were all thinkg, "Hey they just aren't enough bowl games and I was outraged that 6-6 South Carolina didn't go to a bowl game last year." My friends, the NCAA and ESPN have listened to you and they added two more bowl games (Congressional and St. Petersburg Bowls) bringing the total number of bowl games to 34. That increases the odds even further this year that if you are 6-6 and play in a BCS conference, you will probably find a bowl bid some where. But for the sake of taking into account all possible scenarios I'm not going to consider all six win teams as locks just yet to make bowl games except in certain conferences which I'll get to.
Note Navy has already accepted a bid to the Congressional Bowl.
ACC
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Orange, Chick-Fil-A, Gator, Champs Sports, Music City, Meineke Car Care, Emerald, Humanitarian, Congressional
Locks: Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina
Bowl Eligible: Boston College, Maryland, Miami, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Bubble Teams: Clemson, Duke, N.C. State, Virginia
As usual the ACC is just one big entertaining, clusterfuck. Technically it is possible that all 12 teams will become bowl eligible as there just isn't a whole lot of difference in talent from 1 to 12 but the odds of that are very, very slim. The most important game among the bubble teams will be two weeks from now when Virginia hosts Clemson. Duke and N.C. State are both longshots.
Notre Dame
Bowl Tie-ins: Cotton, Gator, Sun
I'm going to mention the Irish before the Big East since what happens to them directly effects the Big East bids. With their loss last night the Irish's were officially eliminated from BCS consideration but if they run the table they could still get into the Cotton Bowl (note this would take away a bid from the SEC) although they'd have to win at USC to do so. 7-5 is more realistic but that also means beating Navy this week which isn't a given and if they do end up 7-5 they probably get an invite to the Gator Bowl or at worst the Sun Bowl, which if either happens the Big East loses a bid. At 6-6 it then gets a bit dicey for them as they then would need to rely on an open bid and hope they don't get gobbled up by 7-5 teams who don't have a bid. By rule any bowl that has a bid that couldn't be filled by one of their conference affiliations, they must invite an available 7+ win team over a 6 win team. If this happens and Notre Dame gets shutout of a bowl at 6-6, expect that rule to change.
Big East
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS, Gator/Sun, Meineke Car Care, International, Papajohns.com, St. Petersburg
Locks: Cincinnati, Pittsburgh
Bowl Eligible: Connecticut, South Florida, West Virginia
Bubble Teams: Louisville, Rutgers
Now that I've covered Notre Dame, it's very likely the Big East will have only five available bids instead of six so 7+ wins might be a must in this conference to go bowling. If everything goes to form, the Louisville/Rutgers game on 12/4 will be an elimination game for bowl eligibility. The Cardinals do have Cincinnati and West Virginia at home before then and its not out of the question they could spring an upset in one of those games.
Big Ten
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Rose (two bids?), Capital One, Outback, Alamo, Champs Sports, Insight, Motor City
Locks: Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State
Bowl Eligible: Iowa
Bubble Teams: Illinois, Wisconsin
As long as Ohio State avoids an upset in their final two games against Illinois and Michigan, they will give the conference a second team in a BCS bowl. Wisconsin has some bizarre scheduling this year as they finish the year against I-AA Cal Poly so you can put them down for win #6 there, if they don't do it this week against Minnesota. Illinois has much longer odds as they finish at home against Ohio State and then at Northwestern.
Big XII
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Fiesta (two bids?), Cotton, Holiday, Gator/Sun, Alamo, Insight, Independence, Texas
Locks: Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech
Bowl Eligible: Kansas, Nebraska
Bubble Teams: Colorado, Kansas State, Texas A&M
Unless something truly shocking happens, this conference will send two teams into the BCS. That also means that it doesn't look they'll fill the Texas Bowl bid and possibly not the Independence Bowl bid either. Kansas State has the easier road of the three bubble teams as they have Nebraska and Iowa State at home but a loss in either eliminates them.
Conference USA
Bowl Tie-ins: Liberty, GMAC, Texas, Armed Forces, New Orleans, St. Petersburg
Locks: Rice, Tulsa
Bowl Eligible: East Carolina
Bubble Teams: Houston, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss, UTEP
Outside chance that the conference won't fill the illustrious St. Petersburg Bowl bid as Marshall, Southern Miss, and UTEP all need two wins and they will all need to spring an upset to do so. Memphis is a near lock with only home dates against UCF and Tulane remaining.
MAC
Bowl Tie-ins: Motor City, GMAC, International
Locks: None
Bowl Eligible: BCS?, Ball State, Central Michigan, Western Michigan
Bubble Teams: Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Northern Illinois, Temple
The MAC is kind of a poor man's Big XII this year because the three best teams in the conference all play in the same division, that being the West divison. Now you probably are wondering how the hell can I say Ball State isn't a lock? Yes they are undefeated and it is not impossible that they could sneak into the BCS if both Utah and Boise State lose. But the problem is, is that they still have to play CMU and WMU. If they were to lose both games and then say the East division champ were to upset the West division champ in the MAC title game then Ball State could find themselves without a MAC affiliated bowl game to go to, if both CMU and WMU were invited over them. The odds are strongly against this and they likely find an open bid somewhere but again have to take into account all possible scenarios, however unlikely. This is also why CMU and WMU are not locks either in case there is a huge upset in the title game.
Mountain West
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS?, Las Vegas, Poinsettia, Armed Forces, New Mexico
Locks: Air Force, BYU, TCU, Utah
Bubble Teams: Colorado State, UNLV, Wyoming
As we all know, Utah will be going to a BCS Bowl (likely the Fiesta) if they finish undefeated which would give the conference five bids. UNLV and Wyoming will play an elimination game this week. The Rebels will be in great shape if they win as they finish the season against lowly San Diego State. Since all three bubble teams are 4-6, it is possible that the New Mexico Bowl will become an open bid if Utah does end up in the BCS.
Pac-10
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Rose (two bids?), Holiday, Sun, Emerald, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Poinsettia
Locks: Arizona, California, Oregon, Oregon State, USC
Bubble Teams: Arizona State, Stanford, UCLA
The reason why all eligible teams are already locks in this conference is because UCLA and ASU play an elimination game on 11/28 thus there can be no more than seven eligible teams for the conference. There is an outside shot at the Pac-10 getting two teams in the BCS because if Oregon State wins out, they win the conference by tiebreak over USC and get the Rose Bowl bid. The odds are against this because the Beavers still have Cal, Arizona, and Oregon left to play but it's certainly not impossible. Also, STANFORD~ will beat Cal to become bowl eligible...or at least they better win.
SEC
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Sugar (two bids?), Capital One, Cotton, Outback, Chick-Fil-A, Music City, Liberty, Independence, Papajohns.com
Locks: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina
Bowl Eligible: Kentucky, LSU
Bubble Teams: Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt
Just like the Big XII, it would be a shocker if the SEC doesn't send two teams into the BCS so you can put them down for ten bids. Now they might not fill them all as Mississippi State for one will need pull off the upset of the year at Alabama this week just to stay alive and Auburn will have to upset Georgia or Alabama to become bowl eligible. Mississippi should pick up win #6 against UL Monroe this week.
Sun Belt
Bowl Tie-in: New Orleans
Locks: None
Bowl Eligible: Troy
Bubble Teams: Arkansas State, FIU, Florida Atlantic, UL Lafayette, Middle Tennessee
Barring something unforeseen, the conference title should come down to the ULL/Troy game on 11/22. The conference this year does now have contingency bids with the Congressional Bowl, Papajohns.com Bowl and the Independence Bowl where if those bids are not filled by the primary conference, a Sun Belt team will be taken although I think they have to be 7-5 or better but I could be wrong about that.
WAC
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS, Humanitarian, Hawaii, New Mexico
Locks: Boise State
Bowl Eligible: San Jose State
Bubble Teams: Fresno State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State
Boise State will be huge BYU fans on 11/22 as they need Utah to lose that game to get into the BCS, otherwise they play another glorified home game against a 6-6 ACC team in the Humanitarian Bowl. Now the conference does have a contingency bid with the Poinsettia Bowl if the Pac-10 doesn't fill it and popular speculation is that they will invite the Broncos to play BYU. Not sure that is much of a consolation prize though. The rest of this conference is a complete mess and I'm not even going to attempt to figure out how it will shakeout.
