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 their first win with a stunning blowout of the Oilers.
Week 4 Scores
Miami 35, Green Bay 14
MIA: 3-1, GB: 1-3
-Miami Defense: 5 interceptions
Indianapolis 17, Detroit 14
IND: 2-2, DET: 2-2
-Jeff George: 207 yards passing
Dallas 24, Phoenix 7
DAL: 2-2, PHX: 0-4
-Troy Aikman: 220 yards passing
Kansas City 17, Seattle 7
KC: 2-2, SEA: 2-2
-Christian Okoye: 171 yards rushing
Chicago 42, N.Y. Jets 3
CHI: 2-2, NYJ: 1-3
-Ken O’Brien: 7% comp pct, 34 yards, 4 int
Buffalo 28, Tampa Bay 20
BUF: 4-0, TB: 0-4
-Jim Kelly: 196 yards passing
Pittsburgh 27, Philadelphia 10
PIT: 2-2, PHI: 3-1
-Bubby Brister: 213 yards passing
Cincinnati 21, Washington 14
CIN: 1-3, WAS: 2-2
-Earnest Byner: leaves injured
New England 35, Houston 17
NE: 1-3, HOU: 2-2
-Irving Fryar: 6 rec, 157 yards
N.Y. Giants 35, Cleveland 10
NYG: 3-1, CLE: 2-2
-Mark Ingram: 4 rec, 145 yards
Minnesota 24, New Orleans 16
MIN: 3-1, NO: 2-2
-Saints: 16 yards rushing
L.A. Raiders 27, Atlanta 20
RAI: 4-0, ATL: 0-4
-Bo Jackson: leaves injured
San Diego 23, Denver 14
SD: 3-1, DEN: 2-2
-Anthony Miller: 4 rec, 109 yards
San Francisco 35, L.A. Rams 21
SF: 2-2, RAM: 2-2
-Jerry Rice: 6 rec, 196 yards
Leaders thru Week 4
PASSING LEADERS
Rating
1. Phil Simms, 213.3
2. Dan Marino, 205.6
3. Randall Cunnigham, 196.8
Yards
1. Joe Montana, 1085
2. Bernie Kosar, 1037
3. Marino, 918
Touchdowns
1. Marino, 14
2t. Montana, 10
2t. Simms, 10
RECEIVING LEADERS
Receptions
1. Jerry Rice, 20
2t. Henry Ellard, 14
2t. Anthony Miller, 14
Yards
1. Rice, 560
2. Irving Fryar, 392
3. Ellard, 386
Touchdowns
1. Rice, 6
2t. Andre Rison, 5
2t. Mark Duper, 5
RUSHING LEADERS
Yards
1. Earnest Byner, 449
2. Christian Okoye, 360
3. Neal Anderson, 347
Touchdowns
1t. Tom Rathman, 5
1t. Anderson, 5
3. Many with 4
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Interceptions
1. Many with 4
Sacks
1. Lawrence Taylor, 10
2t. Michael Cofer, 7
2t. Simon Fletcher, 7
SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS
Field Goals: Jeff Jaeger, 6
Putning Avg: Mark Saxson, 53.1
Punt Return Avg: Terrance Mathis, 17.5
Kick Return Avg: Chris Warren, 24.0
Next Thursday and Friday will be what I consider the best two days of the year in sports. There is simply nothing more fun from a viewing standpoint than the 1st round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. 16 games both days with basketall all day long on CBS. You know you won't get through the day without seeing something exciting. I had originally scheduled both days off from work but someone in my department was let go last week and I do the work of two people as it is I might be going in Thursday so we don't fall behind. But for at least a day and a half I'll just be gorging myself on college basketball.
My favorite tournament by far was the 1998 tournament, simply because Stanford had ended a 56 year drought and reached the Final Four. After being a perennial doormat on the west coast for a number of years, Mike Montgomery had legitimized the program. After 1st round losses in 1989 and 1992, in 1995 Stanford picked up their first tournament win since the 1942 National Championship. Next year they'd nearly upset Marcus Camby and UMass in the 2nd round. In '97 they would end Tim Duncan's college career by beating Wake Forest in the 2nd round before losing in overtime to Keith Van Horn and Utah in the Sweet 16.
For the '97-98 season they would return with much of same team at the core but with one big loss in All-American point guard Brevin Knight. Junior Arthur Lee would take over the point with the rest of the line up being Kris Weems, Pete Sauer, Mark Madsen, and Tim Young. One of their last games of the regular season was a 32 point humiliation by Arizona. Although just their fourth loss of the season many doubted Stanford would last in the tournament. I can still remember after they were given a #3 seed, Digger Phelps whined about them getting such a high seed on ESPN's selection show and it was the only team he thought was seeded too high.
Some people's doubts seemed warranted after they had a surprisingly tough game from the College of Charleston in the first round. After that they though they would blow out Western Michigan in the 2nd round and then just beat the shit out of Purdue in the Sweet 16. Now the Purdue game wasn't a blow out but the Boilermakers were expected to out physical Stanford with well publicized inside duo of Brad Miller and Brian Cardinal. But led by Mark Madsen and freshman Jarron Collins they just punished the Purdue duo the entire game. Then came the regional final against upstart Rhode Island led by their backcourt of Cuttino Mobley and Tyson Wheeler. As the #8 seed they had upset #1 seed Kansas in the 2nd round and then eliminated the feel good team of the tournament Valparaiso. I fully expected Stanford to beat them but by the end of the game was just a wreck as URI controlled most of the game. Then came one of the great individual performances in the final minute of a game.
Mobely hit two free throws with 59.3 seconds left to put URI up 71-65. Arthur Lee then took over the game.
-Lee hits an off balance three pointer with 52 seconds left, 71-68 URI
-Stanford fouls with 49.8 seconds left, Mobely hits one out of two free throws, 72-68 URI
-Lee feeds Mark Madsen inside for two with 40.7 seconds left, 72-70 URI
-Stanford fouls with 38.8 seconds left, Preston Murphy hits two free throws, 74-70 URI
-Lee drives the length of court, scores and is fouled with 32 seconds left, hits the free throw (didn't miss the entire tournament), 74-73 URI
-Lee strips Mobely after the inbound, the ball gets knocked to Madsen, he dunks and is fouled with 26.2 seconds left, hits the free throw, 76-74 Stanford. I've watched that play on tape probably a few hundred times and I'll never get tired of it.
URI would unrravel after that, turning the ball over the next posession, then Tyson Wheeler would miss three free throws, Lee would hit two more free throws, a URI half court shot at the buzzer would end the score at 79-77 Stanford. Lee scored 10 points and had the key steal of the game in the final minute. Stanford advanced to play Kentucky in the Final Four. Everyone, and I mean everyone, pretty much was preparing for a Kentucky/North Carolina final as Stanford and Utah were after thoughts. The Cardinal would lose to Kentucky in a forgotten classic 86-85 in overtime. I think it gets forgotten as one of the great tournament games because it didn't have that dramatic finish or an upset that other great games get remembered for. It was just a incredibly well played game by both teams and Dean Smith after the game on CBS said it was the best game he'd ever seen. I remember not even being upset after they lost as they weren't expected to give Kentucky any sort of a challenge and they played so well that I couldn't be mad that they came up short. It's the one game where a favorite team of mine lost that I would still watch on tape years later.
1998 Tournament Results
March 12, 1998
East Region
#1 North Carolina 88, #16 Navy 52
#8 Charlotte 77, #9 Illinois-Chicago 59
#4 Michigan State 83, #13 Eastern Michigan 71
#5 Princeton 69, #12 UNLV 57
#14 Richmond 62, #3 South Carolina 61
#11 Washington 69, #6 Xavier 68
#2 Connecticut93, #15 Farleigh Dickenson 85
#7 Indiana 94, #10 Oklahoma 87 OT
West Region
#1 Arizona 99, #16 Nicholls State 60
#9 Illinois State 82, #8 Tennessee 81 OT
#4 Maryland 82, #13 Utah State 68
#5 Illinois 64, #12 South Alabama 51
#3 Utah 85, #14 San Francisco 68
#6 Arkansas 74, #11 Nebraska 65
#2 Cincinnati 65, #15 Northern Arizona 62
#10 West Virginia 82, #7 Temple 52
March 13, 1998
Midwest Region
#1 Kansas 110, #16 Prairie View 52
#8 Rhode Island 97, #9 Murray State 74
#13 Valparaiso 70, #4 Mississippi 69
#12 Florida State 96, #5 TCU 87
#3 Stanford 67, #14 Charleston 57
#11 Western Michigan 75, #6 Clemson 72
#2 Purdue 95, #15 Delaware 56
#10 Detroit 66, #7 St. John's 64
South Region
#1 Duke 99, #16 Radford 63
#8 Oklahoma State 74, #9 George Washington 59
#4 New Mexico 79, #13 Butler 62
#5 Syracuse 63, #12 Iona 61
#3 Michigan 80, #14 Davidson 61
#6 UCLA 65, #11 Miami 62
#2 Kentucky 82, #15 South Carolina State 67
#10 Saint Louis 51, #7 UMass 46
March 14, 1998
East Region
#1 North Carolina 93, #8 Charlotte 83 OT
#4 Michigan State 63, #5 Princeton 56
#11 Washington 87, #14 Richmond 66
#2 Connecticut 78, #7 Indiana 68
Midwest Region
#1 Arizona 82, #9 Illinois State 49
#4 Maryland 67, #5 Illinois 61
#3 Utah 75, #6 Arkansas 69
#10 West Virginia 75, #2 Cincinnati 74
March 15, 1998
Midwest Region
#8 Rhode Island 80, #1 Kansas 75
#13 Valparaiso 83, #12 Florida State 77 OT
#3 Stanford 83, #11 Western Michigan 65
#2 Purdue 80, #10 Detroit 65
South Region
#1 Duke 79, #8 Oklahoma State 73
#5 Syracuse 56, #4 New Mexico 46
#6 UCLA 85, #3 Michigan 82
#2 Kentucky 88, #10 Saint Louis 61
March 19, 1998
East Region
#1 North Carolina 73, #4 Michigan State 58
#2 Connecticut 75, #11 Washington 74
West Region
#1 Arizona 87, #4 Maryland 79
#3 Utah 65, #10 West Virginia 62
March 20, 1998
Midwest Region
#8 Rhode Island 74, #13 Valparaiso 68
#3 Stanford 67, #2 Purdue 59
South Region
#1 Duke 80, #5 Syracuse 67
#2 Kentucky 94, #6 UCLA 68
March 21, 1998
East Region
#1 North Carolina 75, #2 Connecticut 64
West Region
#3 Utah 76, #1 Arizona 51
March 22, 1998
Midwest Region
#3 Stanford 79, #8 Rhode Island 77
South Region
#2 Kentucky 86, #1 Duke 84
March 28, 1998
Final Four
Kentucky 86, Stanford 85 OT
Utah 65, North Carolina 59
National Championship
Kentucky 78, Utah 69
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 if the Warriors ever made a serious playof run that the Bay Area would go apeshit over it like nothing else and the crowds at The Oracle for those three games proved it. You have split fan bases in baseball and football, the Sharks have a nice hardcore base but hockey simply doesn't interest the moderate sports fan in the Bay Area, and pretty much only alumns get truly excited about Stanford and Cal sports. Hell the Warriors now even have bandwagon celebrity fans. It will be interesting to see if in the next round though as more bandwagon fans gobble up tickets if the crowds will be as insane as they were for the Dallas series. It's just crazy to think that if the Clippers don't lay an egg against the Kings at home on April 15th none of this might have happened.
Now of course the Mavericks became the 3rd #1 conference seed to lose in the first round to a #8 seed and only the 2nd overall #1 to lose in the first round since the NBA expanded the playoffs to 16 teams in 1984, joining the '94 Sonics. What's interesting it was only the 3rd time since '84 that the #1 overall didn't reach the conference the finals, the other being the '90 Lakers who were bounced by the Suns in the West semis that year. The Mavs are now part of trend where six of the last seven teams who had homecourt assured through out the playoffs has failed to make it to the NBA Finals. Before then 13 of the 17 overall #1's made it to the Finals, with 10 winning it all.
Now here is the random list with how each team who had homecourt assured through out the playoffs faired each year since 1984.
1984: Boston Celtics 62-20
-def. Lakers in NBA Finals 4-3
1985: Boston Celtics 63-19
-lost to Lakers in NBA Finals 4-2
1986: Boston Celtics 67-15
-def. Rockets in NBA Finals 4-2
1987: Los Angeles Lakers 65-17
-def. Celtics in NBA Finals 4-2
1988: Los Angeles Lakers 62-20
-def. Pistons in NBA Finals 4-3
1989: Detroit Pistons 63-19
-def. Lakers in NBA Finals 4-0
1990: Los Angeles Lakers 63-19
-lost to Suns in West Semis 4-1
1991: Portland Trail Blazers 63-19
-lost to Lakers in West Finals 4-2
1992: Chicago Bulls 67-15
-def. Blazers in NBA Finals 4-2
1993: Phoenix Suns 62-20
-lost to Bulls in NBA Finals 4-2
1994: Seattle Supersonics 63-19
-lost to Nuggets in First Round 3-2
1995: San Antonio Spurs 62-20
-lost to Rockets in West Finals 4-2
1996: Chicago Bulls 72-10
-def. Sonics in NBA Finals 4-2
1997: Chicago Bulls 69-13
-def. Jazz in NBA Finals 4-2
1998: Utah Jazz 62-20
-lost to Bulls in NBA Finals 4-2
1999: San Antonio Spurs 37-13
-def. Knicks in NBA Finals 4-1
2000: Los Angeles Lakers 67-15
-def. Pacers in NBA Finals 4-2
2001: San Antonio Spurs 58-24
-lost to Lakers in West Finals 4-0
2002: Sacramento Kings 61-21
-lost to Lakers in West Finals 4-3
2003: San Antonio Spurs 60-22
-def. Nets in NBA Finals 4-2
2004: Indiana Pacers 61-21
-lost to Pistons in East Finals 4-2
2005: Phoenix Suns 62-20
-lost to Spurs in West Finals 4-1
2006: Detroit Pistons 64-18
-lost to Heat in East Finals 4-2
2007: Dallas Mavericks 67-15
-lost to Warriors in First Round 4-2
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 simulate a TSB season and track it here on my blog.
Yes I'm officially out of ideas.
Anyways I'll just be doing the quick simulation of each game. I thought about sitting through computer vs. computer games but that would take too damn long and get boring. Besides the computer can play really fucking stupid, like ignoring the wide open receiver streaking 50 yards down the field and throwing to tight end underneath who is covered. Maybe when I get to the playoffs I'll do that and add some screen captures.
For Week 1 the big game was obviously the rematch of the 1990 NFC Championship between the Giants and 49ers. Giants blew a 21-0 lead here in the 4th but prevailed in overtime 24-21. The big news of the week though is an upset win over the Redskins, the Lions lost Barry Sanders to injury. Randall Cunnigham, or better known as QB Eagles, went off against the Packers with 348 yards passing and 5 touchdowns.
Week 1 Scores
Seattle 27, New Orleans 21
-John L Williams: 5 catches, 121 yards
L.A. Rams 24, Phoenix 21 OT
-Henry Ellard: 5 catches, 147 yards
Philadelphia 38, Green Bay 24
-Randall Cunningham: 348 yards passing
San Diego 21, Pittsburgh 20
-Anthony Miller: 6 catches, 106 yards
N.Y. Jets 31, Tampa Bay 28 OT
-Jets: 176 yards rushing
N.Y. Giants 24, San Francisco 21 OT
-Phil Simms: 154 yards passing
Indianapolis 19, New England 14
-Steve Grogan: 16% comp pct, 46 yards
Denver 38, Cincinnati 14
-Bobby Humphrey: 14 rushes, 116 yards
Buffalo 24, Miami 21
-Thurman Thomas: 191 total yards
L.A. Raiders 30, Houston 21
-Oilers: 12 yards rushing
Detroit 17, Redskins 14
-Barry Sanders: 106 yards rushing, leaves injured
Dallas 24, Cleveland 10
-Jay Novacek: 4 catches, 102 yards
Minnesota 30, Chicago 17
-Wade Wilson: 204 yards passing
Kansas City 38, Atlanta 0
-Falcons: 64 total yards, 3 first downs
Leaders thru Week 1
As I get later into the season I'll add expanded leaders. I've never quite figured out what the hell formula Tecmo used for passing rating on the game as it is obviously not the standard NFL version.
Passing Leaders
Rating: Randall Cunnigham 302.0
Yards: Cunningham 348
TD: Cunnigham 5
Receiving Leaders
Receptions: Art Monk; Anthony Miller, 6
Yards: Henry Ellard; Fred Barnett, 147
TD: Many with 2
Rushing Leaders
Yards: Bobby Humphrey, 116
TD: Many with 2
Defensive Leaders
INT: Many with 2
Sacks: Richard Dent; Lawrence Taylor; Al Baker, 3
Jumping the gun here a bit but things seem fairly clear to me. I am holding out hope the Rose Bowl has the good sense not to pick Notre Dame for a rematch against Michigan but I might be wrong on that. Obviously a lot things can change with the title games next week but at that point there will be no need for projections.
One thing I learned tonight, the rule where bowls can not take a 6-6 team over a 7-5 team to fill a conference bid also applies to at-large bids which means Washington State, Arizona, Kansas, and Pittsburgh are all likely staying home while the MAC and Sun Belt will pick up extra bids.
Poinsettia: TCU vs. Western Michigan
Las Vegas: BYU vs. Oregon
New Orleans: Troy vs. East Carolina
PapaJohns.com Bowl: Tulsa vs. South Florida
New Mexico: New Mexico vs. San Jose State
Armed Forces: Utah vs. Rice
Hawaii: Hawaii vs. UCLA
Motor City: Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee
Emerald: Arizona State vs. Florida State
Independence: Kansas State vs. Alabama
Texas: Rutgers vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday: California vs. Texas A&M
Music City: Kentucky vs. Maryland
Sun: Oregon State vs. West Virginia
Liberty: Houston vs. South Carolina
Champs Sports: Wake Forest vs. Purdue
Insight: Texas Tech vs. Minnesota
Car Care: Clemson vs. Navy
Alamo: Missouri vs. Iowa
Chick-fil-A: Virginia Tech vs. Georgia
MPC Computers: Nevada vs. Miami
Gator: Boston College vs. Texas
Outback: Penn State vs. Tennessee
Cotton: Nebraska vs. Auburn
Capital One: Wisconsin vs. Arkansas
Rose: Michigan vs. LSU
Fiesta: Oklahoma vs. Boise State
Orange: Georgia Tech vs. Louisville
Sugar: Florida vs. Notre Dame
International: Cincinnati vs. Northern Illinois
GMAC: Southern Miss vs. Ohio
BCS: Ohio State vs. USC
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
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 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
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
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
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
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 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
No College Football Wrap Up today as I was out of town yesterday and missed the majority of the games, not that any of my "insights" ever require watching the games. On to the next rankings...
2004 Top 3
1. Mark Loretta
2. Jeff Kent
3. Ray Durham
2005 Top 3
1. Brian Roberts
2. Jeff Kent
3. Chase Utley
2006 2nd Basemen Rankings
1. Chase Utley, Phillies
2. Ray Durham, Giants
3. Dan Uggla, Marlins
4. Robinson Cano, Yankees
5. Jeff Kent, Dodgers
6. Orlando Hudson, Diamondbacks
7. Tadahito Iguchi, White Sox
8. Josh Barfield, Padres
9. Brian Roberts, Orioles
10. Luis Castillo, Twins
11. Jose Valentin, Mets
12. Jose Lopez, Mariners
13. Brandon Phillips, Reds
14. Marcus Giles, Braves
15. Ian Kinsler, Rangers
16. Aaron Hill, Blue Jays
17. Mark Grudzielanek, Royals
18. Jamey Carroll, Rockies
19. Rickie Weeks, Brewers
20. Mark Loretta, Red Sox
21. Adam Kennedy, Angels
22. Jose Vidro, Nationals
23. Tony Graffanino, Royals/Brewers
24. Mark Ellis, A's
25. Placido Polanco, Tigers
26. Ronnie Belliard, Indians/Cardinals
27. Craig Biggio, Astros
28. Aaron Miles, Cardinals
29. Jorge Cantu, Devil Rays
30. Jose Castillo, Pirates
This week the Phillies traded Bobby Abreu for some magic beans and Chase Utley was the talk of baseball with his assault on Joe DiMaggio’s consecutive hitting streak record, so the Phillies are having the best week ever! Oh Utley’s streak ended last night…but hey at least they got rid of Lazy Abreu. You know what rhymes with Abreu? Poo. That’s the kind of hard hitting analysis that you can also get from the TWiB thread.
So with the Phillies in the news the past week I figured might as well make them the next WTG? feature and the subject will be the Fightins’ from 1995. The Phillies that year stormed out of the gate after the delayed start to the season, winning 23 of their first 31 games. After beating the Cardinals 5-3 on June 25th they were 37-18, the best record in the National League with a 4 ½ game lead over the Braves in the East. Two weeks later at the All-Star Break they would be 4 ½ games behind the Braves. The Phillies lost 17 out of 20 games after June 25th and by August 10th they were under .500 after capping an eight game losing streak. After hitting rock bottom less than a week later the Phillies showed signs of life going through a stretch where they won 10 of 12 games and grabbed the Wild Card lead. But it turned out to be one big tease to a young Al Keiper as the Phillies would lose 21 of their last 31 games, finishing six games under .500. Several injuries to key players and a punchless line-up that had a MLB worst 94 homeruns were too much for the Phillies to overcome.
C: Darren Daulton (.249/.359/.401, 12.8 VORP, 12 Win Shares) – Daulton tore knee ligaments in a game against the Dodgers on August 25th which was just about when the Phillies started their collapse after taking the Wild Card lead. That would be the last game he would ever play at catcher. He only played five games the following season and was traded to the Marlins midseason in 1997 where he would pick up a World Series before retiring. It was also in 1997 when Daulton began to fucking nuts.
1B: Gregg Jefferies (.306/.349/.448, 14.7 VORP, 10 Win Shares) – Jefferies spent the first half of the year in left field and then the second at first after Dave Hollins was traded to Boston. After two very good years in St. Louis it had appeared that he might start living up to the hype he received as a prospect for the Mets but it never happened with the Phillies. They traded him a waiver deal to the Angels in 1998 and then spent two seasons as a part time player with the Tigers.
2B: Mickey Morandini (.283/.350/.417, 21.2 VORP, 17 Win Shares) – Morandini was one of six Phillies to make the All-Star team based on their hot start that was fading by the break. After a down year in 1997 he was traded to the Cubs for Doug Glanville and would have a career year in 1998. Too bad for him it wasn’t a contract year so wasn’t in a position to cash in on it and fell off a cliff after that. He signed with the Expos before 2000 but never played a game with them as he was reacquired by the Phillies before the season started. He would be traded in a waiver deal to the Blue Jays. He’d be re-signed by the Jays after the season but did not make the club for 2001.
3B: Charlie Hayes (.276/.340/.406, 10.5 VORP, 13 Win Shares) – This was second go around with the Phillies for Hayes, which would be the first of three times he’d return to a team he used to play for. He signed with the Pirates after the season who would trade him at the waiver deadline to the Yankees where he lucked out and got to catch the final out of the World Series without doing anything else of note. Yankees traded him after 1997 to the Giants where he’d spend two seasons. Spent 2000 with the Brewers and then signed with the Astros who released him midseason in 2001.
SS: Kevin Stocker (.218/.304/.274, -7.4 VORP, 8 Win Shares) – Stocker pretty much pissed away all good feelings about him when he was an important midseason season call up for the Phillies during their 1993 championship season. Was traded after 1997 to the expansion Devil Rays for Mr. Poo which set the tone for the future the of the D-Rays franchise. They released him during the 2000 season and was picked up by the Angels to finish his career.
LF/RF: Jim Eisenreich (.316/.375/.464, 22.3 VORP, 13 Win Shares) – As a kid I was never an autograph seeker but one of the few autographs I ever got was Jim Eisenreich in 1992 when he was with the Royals and I’m not really sure why. The Phillies had nine different players make 20 or more starts in the outfield in ’95 with Eisenreich leading the way with 90 total starts, the majority in right. Signed with Marlins after 1996 where he picked up a World Series ring. Traded to the Dodgers midseason in 1998 in the monster Mike Piazza/Gary Sheffield deal but Eisenreich was washed up and it would be his last stop.
CF: Andy Van Slyke (.243/.333/.350, 2.4 VORP, 3 Win Shares) – Phillies stats only, acquired in June due to Lenny Dykstra’s injury problems. Van Slyke had hit the career wall the year before and it wasn’t getting any better this year which would be his last.
CF: Lenny Dykstra (.264/.353/.354, 2.9 VORP, 8 Win Shares) – Dykstra was pretty much crippled at this point by knee and back problems, he played in only 62 games. Many thought his career was finished at this point and they were almost right as he tried to gut it out the following year but only lasted 40 games although with decent numbers (.261/.387/.418). Missed all of 1997 and tried to make a comeback in ’98 but was injured again in Spring Training, then officially retiring.
RF: Mark Whiten (.269/.365/.481, 10.8 VORP, 9 Win Shares) – Phillies stats only, acquired for Dave Hollins from the Red Sox in July. Whiten only played in 60 games for the Phillies yet he tied for the team lead in homeruns with 11. The well traveled Whiten would be released during the following season then picked up by Atlanta who would trade him a couple of months later to Seattle. Spent 1997 with the Yankees and then had a second stint with the Indians for one full season and a couple of cameo appearances the following two years.
Rotation
Paul Quantrill (92 ERA+, 13.5 VORP, 7 Win Shares) – This was Quantrill’s only full year as a starting pitcher and it’s not hard to see why. Traded after the season to Toronto and was in their rotation at the start of the year but was removed from it by midseason. It’d be the following year he’d begin a nice run as one of the better middle relievers in the game. With the Jays thru 2001 before being traded to the Dodgers with Cesar Izturis. Signed with the Yankees after 2003 but unfortunately for them he started to suck at that point and gave up the game winning homerun to THE GREATEST CLUTCHIEST HITTER WHOEVER CLUTCHED WHO ISN’T DEREK JETER in Game 4 of the ALCS that year that sparked the Red Sox comeback. Yankees traded him midseason in 2005 to the Padres who would release him in August and was picked up by the Marlins to finish the season. Announced his retirement last March.
Tyler Green (81 ERA+, 5.2 VORP, 5 Win Shares) – The former much hyped first round pick, Green’s MLB future was already bleak at this point with major arm problems although he was, believe it or not, selected to the All-Star team. He went into the break with a 2.75 ERA but those arm problems popped up again soon after. Just a hunch Jim Fregosi having him throw three complete games in a span of five starts might not have helped his situation. Spent two more injury plagued years and then was out of the Majors.
Mike Mimbs (104 ERA+, 18.3 VORP, 8 Win Shares) – Mimbs was a 26 year old rookie who posted a decent ERA despite walking 75 batters in 136 2/3 innings pitched. Not surprisingly a man with that kind of command didn’t last long in the Majors, last appearing in 1997.
Curt Schilling (121 ERA+, 22.8 VORP, 8 Win Shares) – Schilling’s sock wasn’t bloody and wasn’t red yet but I’m sure he was just as annoying as he is today. Wait, wait Curt just IM’d me and he’s insisting typing his own profile as he wants to mention how great his 9/11 speech was, talk about steroids, and I’m sure throw in his opinion on the war in Lebanon because god damnit the world is waiting for Curt’s opinion on any every subject because he said so. Well not on my watch Schilling! Go verbally masturbate yourself some more on the SOSH boards.
Closer: Heathcliff Slocumb (149 ERA+, 15.2 VORP, 11 Win Shares) – This was Slocumb’s first year as a closer and hey he managed a good ERA despite a 1.51 WHIP. Traded to the Red Sox after the season and again got by on giving up tons of baserunners but not a lot of runs. In 1997 though all those baserunners finally started touching homeplate more often but he at this point he was a PVC~ so the bullpen starved Mariners traded prospects Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe for him in a deadline deal. Remember kids trading prospects for mediocre relievers never ends well. Signed with the Orioles in 1998 who released him a month into the season and was picked up by the Cardinals. Traded the Padres in another deadline deal in 2000 and they released him during the offseason.
This may or may not become a regular feature. Probably do entries on Sunday's about the previous day in college football until I run of out of mildly interesting things to say which will probably happen a week from now.
Game of the Day: Tennessee 35, California 18. Oh ya that hit the spot. As I said in the TWiCFB thread this was a game that could give Cal that signature non-conference win that can take a program to the next level. Now I wasn't going to put up with a year's worth Cal in the national title picture. I would have been happy with any Cal defeat here but Tennessee flat out embarrassed them on the national stage. Now if Minnesota can pull off the upset next week and kill Cal's chances at a BCS bowl two weeks into the season then I'll be able to ruly enjoy this season.
The WTF Score of the Day: Montana State 19, Colorado 10. Now listen Dan, you ain't in Boise no more. If you want to win Boulder your gonna have to recruit some rapists. You're gonna have to find that special prospect who will one day put a hit on his pregnent girlfriend to avoid paying child support. Also if you have a daughter, that's a plus as you can have the players run the train on her.
The You Could See That Coming Game of the Day: Richmond 13, Duke 0. Should we start a pool as to when Duke scores their first point of the year?
The I Thought This Was The Year Game of the Day: LSU 45, Louisiana-Lafayette 3. Aww there goes the Sun Belt's best hope at a BCS bowl. Damn and I really thought they had a chance.
Bad Idea of the Week: ESPN on ABC. A few weeks ago I saw an entry on Deadspin about ABC Sports being dead but I completely glossed over it and little did I know what this would wrought. ESPN has taken over ABC Sports. Every sporting event on ABC will now have the ESPN logo on it which as unveiled yesterday on the first Saturday of college football. This is really fucking stupid. Why would a network want to present themself as a basic cable station? ESPN may be universally recognized as the leader in sports but it's still cable. As bad as Fox's presentation is you at least know when your watching a Fox Sports presenation. You know when you're watching NBC Sports and you know when you're watching CBS Sports. Call me old fashion but a network sporting event has a bigger feel to it then anything on ESPN. I can understand from a way to limit expenses to just have ESPN produce the events but completely abandoning the ABC brand name is ridiculous. Why would they want the primetime feature game on ABC to look exactly like the third choice Big Ten game on ESPN2?
Wack Pac Wrap Up
USC 50, Arkansas 14. You know I actually that the Hogs would make this more interesting than the ESPN hype machine would want but the Trojans humiliated them again. You could argue this was worse than the 70-17 defeat at the Coliseum last year. They had all Summer to prepare for this game against a USC team with a ton of new players on offense and have them on their homefield to get some sort redemption for the previous year but they failed miserably.
UCLA 31, Utah 10. If you asked me what team that I thought might fall on their face this year in the Pac-10 I would have said UCLA but they surprised me yesterday. Utah isn't as a good as they were a few years ago but they aren't a pushover.
Arizona State 35, Northern Arizona 14. Of course as we know this was 14-14 going into the 3rd quarter before ASU woke up. Somewhere in Lincoln Sam Keller must have been laughing his ass for the first three quarters.
Oregon State 56, Eastern Washington 17. Considering how some BCS confernece teams struggled against I-AA teams yesterday I guess you have to give the Beavers for kicking the shit out of one of them.
Auburn 40, Washington State 14. Wazzu hung around for a short time but the inevitable happened. Is Auburn going to Pullman next year? Can anyone find Pullman?
Washington 36, San Jose State 29. The Huskies are a looong way from the days when they'd murder a team like the Spartans 70-7.
Arizona 16, BYU 13. Ya I bought into to the Willie Tuitama hype too but maybe U of A isn't getting back to a bowl game this year.
And the Stanford game I'll just pretend didn't happen.
The likely outcome of who will face Ohio State in the Fiest Bowl, part II is just depressing for me. Either we'll get a traditional Rose Bowl match-up, except not in the Rose Bowl, or we'll get the always lame rematch of a game already played. But now with only two weeks left in the season I can actually make an attempt to make my own projections that go beyond guessing. When it cames to the ACC though it will still be guess work as there is still way too much unresolved business in that conference. Also projecting the non-confernece winner besides Michigan to get into the BCS is tough but I'm picking West Virginia for now. For open bids the Big Ten won't be able to fill the Motor City Bowl and the ACC might not be able to fill the MPC Computers Bowl.
One thing I should point out in regards to the Gator Bowl that I wasn't aware of. Now in my previous bowl entries I brought up how they have the option now of passing on the Big East #2 selection (sending them to the Sun Bowl) and going with a Big XII team. What was not aware of that they have the option of taking the Big XII #2 pick one time in the next four years. So because of that I, and others, are projecting Oklahoma to get snatched up by the Gator Bowl. This would cost the Sooners $500k as the Gator pays out $2.5 million compared to Cotton Bowl which pays out $3 million. Are bowl politics fun?
Also the Birmingham Bowl has been named the PapaJohns.com Bowl. Why exactly did they need the .com part?
Poinsettia: TCU vs. Washington State
Las Vegas: BYU vs. Oregon
New Orleans: Middle Tennessee vs. East Carolina
PapaJohns.com Bowl: Tulsa vs. Pittsburgh
New Mexico: New Mexico vs. San Jose State
Armed Forces: Utah vs. Rice
Hawaii: Hawaii vs. UCLA
Motor City: Central Michigan vs. South Carolina
Emerald: Arizona vs. Florida State
Independence: Kansas State vs. Alabama
Texas: Cincinnati vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday: California vs. Texas A&M
Music City: Georgia vs. Clemson
Sun: Oregon State vs. Rutgers
Liberty: Houston vs. Kentucky
Champs Sports: Maryland vs. Purdue
Insight: Texas Tech vs. Minnesota
Car Care: Wake Forest vs. Navy
Alamo: Missouri vs. Iowa
Chick-fil-A: Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee
MPC Computers: Nevada vs. Kansas
Gator: Boston College vs. Oklahoma
Outback: Penn State vs. LSU
Cotton: Nebraska vs. Auburn
Capital One: Wisconsin vs. Arkansas
Rose: Michigan vs. West Virginia
Fiesta: Texas vs. Boise State
Orange: Georgia Tech vs. Louisville
Sugar: Florida vs. Notre Dame
International: South Florida vs. Northern Illinois
GMAC: Southern Miss vs. Ohio
BCS: Ohio State vs. USC
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
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
For my 100th entry I originally planned on doing a comprehensive list of the 100 Greatest Oakland A's players of all-time and wouldn't just be simply be a career list of Win Shares as that wouldn't really work. I never got Bored enough to start working on it though so maybe sometime in the offseason I'll get around to it. But I guess doing my awards for the 2006 season works as an 100th entry since I've been tracking the MVP award most of the year and I'm sure the three of you are on the edge of your seat as to what my final ballot looks like.
Before I get to the awards this week I'll start working on the Bored's 2006 MLB Player Rankings this week that will be BLOG EXCLUSIVE~ this year. You know the last two years how I posted them on the board to tell. No? Oh well, I'm still doing them.
Starting with the N.L. and no I won't be doing Manager of the Year which I've explained before why I don't care about the award. Instead of my normal, pointless talking before I post my "ballot" this time I'll post my picks for each award and then briefly explain my picks.
N.L. Cy Young
3. Chris Carpenter, Cardinals
144 ERA+, 4.28 K/BB, 1.07 WHIP, 67.2 VORP, 19 Win Shares
2. Roy Oswalt, Astros
150 ERA+, 4.37 K/BB, 1.17 WHIP, 71.8 VORP, 21 Win Shares
1.
153 ERA+, 3.56 K/BB, 1.13 WHIP, 68.6 VORP, 22 Win Shares
This was a really tight race but I felt Webb was just a cut above the rest over the course of the season. There isn't a bad choice here but it does appear Webb will end up winning the writer award. I gave Bronson Arroyo and Carlos Zambrano consideration for the 3rd spot as well. And no Trevor Hoffman should not win it as some lifetime achievement award just because no won in the N.L. won more than 16 games.
N.L. Rookie of the Year
3. Dan Uggla, Marlins
.282/.339/.480, 104 RC, .281 EQA, 40.0 VORP, 22 Win Shares
2. Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals
.287/.351/.471, 107 RC, .283 EQA, 27.9 VORP, 25 Win Shares
1.
.292/.353/.480, 108 RC, .290 EQA, 55.9 VORP, 25 Win Shares
About a month ago this was probably Uggla's award to lose and well, he lost it. Uggla completely faded at the end of the season while Ramirez only seemed to get stronger. I really hope the media took notice as it seemed like the award was being conceded to Uggla. You can look at Ramirez's basic numbers and know that he clearly had the better year.
N.L. Most Valuable Player
10. Garrett Atkins, Rockies
.329/.409/.556, 119 RC, .310 EQA, 61.5 VORP, 26 Win Shares
9. Alfonso Soriano, Nationals
.277/.351/.560, 121 RC, .300 EQA, 49.2 VORP, 30 Win Shares
8. Chase Utley, Phillies
.309/.379/.527, 122 RC, .298 EQA, 65.0 VORP, 28 Win Shares
7. Jose Reyes, Mets
.300/.354/.487, 124 RC, .289 EQA, 57.7 VORP, 29 Win Shares
6. David Wright, Mets
.311/.381/.531, 123 RC, .307 EQA, 53.3 VORP, 32 Win Shares
5. Lance Berkman, Astros
.315/.420/.621, 141 RC, .331 EQA, 71.2 VORP, 34 Win Shares
4. Miguel Cabrera, Marlins
.339/.431/.568, 141 RC, .333 EQA, 79.1 VORP, 34 Win Shares
3. Ryan Howard, Phillies
.313/.425/.659, 137 RC, .337 EQA, 81.3 VORP, 31 Win Shares
2. Carlos Beltran, Mets
.275/.388/.594, 125 RC, .320 EQA, 67.6 VORP, 38 Win Shares
1.
.331/.431/.671, 150 RC, .346 EQA, 86.6 VORP, 39 Win Shares
About a month ago I had Pujols and Beltran neck and neck but Pujols pulls away in September. After knocking the hype surrounding his chase for the "non-steroid" homerun record I give Howard the #3 slot and he wouldn't be as bad a pick as the potential A.L. winner could end up being. But it does seem the last week Pujols had regained favor in the media as the choice.
A.L. Cy Young
3. C.C. Sabathia, Indians
138 ERA+, 3.91 K/BB, 1.17 WHIP, 46.0 VORP, 14 Win Shares
2. Roy Halladay, Blue Jays
147 ERA+, 3.88 K/BB, 1.10 WHIP, 68.2 VORP, 21 Win Shares
1.
164 ERA+, 5.21 K/BB, 1.00 WHIP, 79.7 VORP, 25 Win Shares
The toughest ballot decision out there is by far 3rd place in the A.L. Cy Young race. Santana will win the award unanimously and Halladay should be the unanimous #2. I went with Sabathia due to his strong peripherals although VORP and Win Shares didn't particularly like him this year. By the time I get around to starting pitchers on my player rankings C.C. might not be ranked #3 among A.L. starters but I wanted to get this done tonight so I gave him the nod over Chien-ming Wang and John Lackey. You could even make strong arguments for injured rookies Liriano and Papelbon. Speaking of which...
A.L. Rookie of the Year
3. Justin Verlander, Tigers
122 ERA+, 2.07 K/BB, 1.33 WHIP, 47.0 VORP, 15 Win Shares
2. Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox
505 ERA+, 5.77 K/BB, 0.78 WHIP, 38.6 VORP, 18 Win Shares
1.
211 ERA+, 4.50 K/BB, 1.00 WHIP, 51.1 VORP, 16 Win Shares
Yes they both got hurt by the dominance of these two is too much to overlook and you could make arguments for both. I went with Verlander for 3rd giving him credit for being solid over the full season instead of another dominant pitcher with a small sample in Jered Weaver.
A.L. Most Valuable Player
10. Carlos Guillen, Tigers
.320/.400/.519, 106 RC, .310 EQA, 67.0 VORP, 26 Win Shares
9. Justin Morenau, Twins
.321/.375/.559, 120 RC, .308 EQA, 51.8 VORP, 27 Win Shares
8. Jim Thome, White Sox
.288/.416/.598, 123 RC, .328 EQA, 63.2 VORP, 26 Win Shares
7. Jermaine Dye, White Sox
.315/.385/.622, 119 RC, .320 EQA, 65.4 VORP, 26 Win Shares
6. Manny Ramirez, Red Sox
.321/.439/.619, 111 RC, .342 EQA, 65.3 VORP, 29 Win Shares
5. Travis Hafner, Indians
.308/.439/.659, 124 RC, .355 EQA, 80.4 VORP, 25 Win Shares
4. Johan Santana, Twins
3. David Oritz, Red Sox
.287/.413/.636, 126 RC, .334 EQA, 75.8 VORP, 29 Win Shares
2. Joe Mauer, Twins
.347/.429/.507, 104 RC, .321 EQA, 66.6 VORP, 31 Win Shares
1.
.344/.417/.483, 138 RC, .316 EQA, 79.2 VORP, 33 Win Shares
If you told me in my first MVP Watch that I'd be picking Jeter at the end of the year as my choice for MVP, and not even have a second thought about it, I would have laughed. I hate the media's infatuation with Jeter as much as anyone but the guy was king sized this year. Of course the media has now become infatuated with Justin Morneau for some ungodly reason. I don't see how anyone can look at the Twins and come away thinking Morneau is the MVP of that team. Anyone arguing Morneau for MVP of the league is out of their mind. Unrelated I should note that I slammed the David Oritz support when the media was ready to give him the award in early August but now with the Red Sox fade and his playing for himself comments he killed his chances. Now though I kinda like the guy and his tear down the stretch, meaningless or not, gives him the 3rd spot. He'd be a hell of a lot better choice than Morneau.
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
Washington 35, Phoenix 17
WAS: 2-1, PHX: 0-3
-Earnest Byner: 199 yards rushing
Miami 42, Detroit 10
MIA: 2-1, DET: 2-1
-Dan Marino: 330 yards passing
Buffalo 31, N.Y. Jets 14
BUF: 3-0, NYJ: 1-2
-Thurman Thomas: returns from injury, 113 yards rushing
L.A. Raiders 24, Indianapolis 21
RAI: 3-0, IND: 1-2
-Mervyn Fernandez: 4 rec, 119 yards
San Diego 24, Atlanta 23
SD: 2-1, ATL: 0-3
-Billy Joe Tolliver: 157 yards passing
Philadelphia 28, Dallas 6
PHI: 3-0, DAL: 1-2
-Randall Cunnigham: 152 yards passing
Denver 28, Seattle 17
DEN: 2-1, SEA: 2-1
-Mark Jackson: 4 rec, 114 yards
Houston 21, Kansas City 17
HOU: 2-1, KC: 1-2
-Lorenzo White: 149 yards rushing
Cleveland 34, Cincinnati 31 OT
CLE: 2-1, CIN: 0-3
-Bernie Kosar: 321 yards passing
N.Y. Giants 33, Chicago 27 OT
NYG: 2-1, CHI: 1-2
-Phil Simms: 211 yards passing
Minnesota 27, San Francisco 24 OT
MIN: 2-1, SF: 1-2
-Anthony Carter: 5 rec, 164 yards
Green Bay 21, Tampa Bay 17
GB: 1-2, TB: 0-3
-Don Majkowski: 239 yards passing
New Orleans 35, L.A. Rams 14
NO: 2-1, RAM: 2-1
-Steve Walsh: 250 yards passing
Pittsburgh 27, New England 24
PIT: 1-2, NE: 0-3
-Merril Hoge: 125 yards rushing
Leaders thru Week 3
Passing Leaders
Rating: Dan Marino, 230.6
Yards: Bernie Kosar, 840
TD: Marino, 11
Receiving Leaders
Rec: Jerry Rice, 14
Yards: Rice, 364
TD: Many with 4
Rushing Leaders
Yards: Earnest Byner, 398
TD: Many with 4
Defensive Leaders
INT: Joey Browner; Barney Bussey, 4
Sacks: Many with 6
Start out by giving kudos to the NFL Network for finally airing the original broadcasts of past Super Bowls, if only a small sample of them but it's a start. I can only hope that is a test run that leads to them airing classic games on a regular basis or at least start putting some of them on DVD like MLB and NBA are now doing. Super Bowl XIII is on tommorrow night and I think I might do a write up on that one.
As I've mentioned in the past my memories of sports begin in 1986. I've been told by my family I already had a big interest in sports before then but for whatever reason I can't remember anything before 1986 and my first sports memory is watching Super Bowl XX with my brother on my parent's bedroom television. We were rooting for the Patriots and not that I remember why, maybe because the Bears dominance had completley wiped out the 49ers dominance of the previous year. Obviously we ended up being dissapointed. Now for ranking the Super Bowls that I've seen, or remember seeing at least, there is no formula to this. It is purely subjective and incredibly biased.
#1 Super Bowl XXIII - 49ers 20, Bengals 16
See what I mean? Ya the first half was nothing special but unless the 49ers win another Super Bowl in a more exciting fashion it will never be trumped as my favorite Super Bowl ever. Still the only one to ever to be decided with a touchdown in the final minute and I hope it stays that way for a long time.
#2 Super Bowl XXXVIII - Patriots 32, Panthers 29
There was nothing to indicate that this would be a classic going into but we all know the NFL is fixed and the Patriots always have to win on a last second field goal or something. Anyways like the halftime show, the 4th quarter of this game was indeed the tits.
#3 Super Bowl XXXII - Broncos 31, Packers 24
Start to finish this might truly be the best Super Bowl ever although had a some what anti-climatic deciding touchdown. I always hated John Elway but I was actually rooting for the Broncos here as for some odd reason I started feelling sorry for the guy's playoff failures. That would change the next year.
#4 Super Bowl XXV - Giants 20, Bills 19
I'm looking forward to watching the re-broadcast of this game as I couldn't appreciate the game at the time. I wanted the entire Giants team dead, especially Leonard Marshall, for ending the 49ers run at a three-peat so I was just pissed when Norwood missed the winning field goal.
#5 Super Bowl XXXIV - Rams 23, Titans 16
Had the most exciting play ending to a Super Bowl ever but for most of the first three quarters this game was a dog but the Rams inability to put the ball in the endzone allowed the Titans to stay in it.
#6 Super Bowl XXXVI - Patriots 20, Rams 17
Big upset with a memorable finish but it took a defensive holding call on a 4th and goal that kept this a game instead of turning into a blowout.
#7 Super Bowl XXXIX - Patriots 24, Eagles 21
Biiiiiiiiiig drop off in quality after the top 6 and this game is put here by default as a late touchdown by the Eagles kind of made it interesting.
#8 Super Bowl XXX - Cowboys 27, Steelers 17
A game that was supposed to be a blowout and may have had a big upset if Neil O'Donnel doesn't groove two interceptions to Larry Brown. Seriously they shouldn't have even given out an MVP award for this one.
#9 Super Bowl XL - Steelers 21, Seahawks 10
Only this high for being competitive but this was an ugly game with terrible officiating.
#10 Super Bowl XXXI - Packers 35, Patriots 21
Three huge touchdowns by the Packers and the Patriots sort of hanging around made this game semi-entertaining but you never got the sense that an upset would happen.
#11 Super Bowl XXVII - Cowboys 30, Bills 13
Now we're getting to the blowouts and this is the top one only because of the Bills shocking halftime lead that was gone by the first minute of the second half.
#12 Super Bowl XXIV - 49ers 55, Broncos 10
BIAS~! Come on you'll never see a more perfect display of offense for four quarters again than what the 49ers did this day. History also forgets that the Broncos did have a very good defense. Ya probably is the worst one of all-time but my list.
#13 Super Bowl XXXVII - Buccaneers 48, Raiders 21
MORE BIAS~! The next best thing to the 49ers winning a Super Bowl is the Raiders losing a Super Bowl. Still one of the hilarious moments in sports history is the Raiders not thinking to change up their playbook at all against their former coach.
#14 Super Bowl XXI - Giants 39, Broncos 20
Well it was competitive for a half.
#15 Super Bowl XXII - Redskins 42, Broncos 10
Well it was competitive for a quarter. Watched the replay the other night and that second quarter of the Redskins is fun to watch.
#16 Super Bowl XX - Bears 46, Patriots 10
It's amazing I still watched sports after this debacle. Only ranked this high for the historic nature of the beating the Bears defense put on the Patriots.
#17 Super Bowl XXIX - 49ers 49, Chargers 26
Ya even my bias can't rate this high as this game was as much a forgone conclusion as you'll ever get and was over by the 3rd play of the game.
#18 Super Bowl XXVI - Redskins 37, Bills 24
The Redskins could have turned this into one of the historic blowouts by they called off the dogs after going up 24-0. The In Living Color special at halftime was much more entertaining than the game.
#19 Super Bowl XXXIII - Broncos 34, Falcons 19
Eww. John Ewlay suddenly now THE GREATEST QUARTERACK EVER according to the media after the game against the The Dirty Bird. Pass.
#20 Super Bowl XXVII - Cowboys 52, Bills 17
Didn't even watch the second half so I missed the Leon Lett play. Only doesn't come in last because I had a genuine rooting interest since there's never been a team in sports I hated more than this 90's Cowboys.
#21 Super Bowl XXXV - Ravens 34, Giants 7
Trent Dilfer. Kerry Collins. Super Bowl quarterbacks. Yikes. Never have I cared less about a Super Bowl going into it and it lived up to my expectations.
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
