Ohhhhhhh what a finish! Okay not really as all races were decided before the last day of the season. But we did have a surprise as the '03 Tigers, losers of 119 games, will not advance to the postseason as they were beat out by the '88 Orioles for the Loser Card. All the division races went to those who have been "leading" most of the year. Here are your A.L. playoff match-ups.
'88 Orioles vs. '79 A's
'79 Blue Jays vs. '82 Twins
And let's recognize those who were the best of the Loser League on the A.L. side.
C: Jeff Newman, '79 A's
1B: Eddie Murray, '88 Orioles
2B: Bobby Grich, '80 Angels
3B: Carney Lansford, '80 Angels
SS: Cal Ripken, '88 Orioles
LF: Albert Belle, '91 Indians
CF: Roberto Kelly, '90 Yankees
RF: Emil Brown, '05 Royals
SP: Roger Clemens, '92 Red Sox
RP: Mark Clear, '80 Angels
FINAL STANDINGS/LEADERS
TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN
1990 NYA 93 69 R.Carew LAA .339 E.Murray BAA 40 A.Belle CLA 124
1992 BOA 87 75 E.Brown KCA .337 A.Belle CLA 38 E.Brown KCA 116
2002 TBA 84 78 T.Long KCA .334 K.Maas NYA 36 E.Murray BAA 114
1988 BAA 74 88 R.Kelly NYA .334 K.Hrbek MNA 35 C.Baerga CLA 112
1979 TOA 59 103 K.Hrbek MNA .332 C.Ripken BAA 32 OTHERS TIED W 105
1989 CHA 86 76 WINS SAVES ERA
1991 CLA 82 80 R.Clemens BOA 19 T.Niedenf BAA 36 R.Clemens BOA 2.13
2005 KCA 81 81 F.Tanana LAA 16 E.Yan TBA 29 C.Hough TEA 2.18
2003 DEA 75 87 C.Hough TEA 15 B.Thigpen CHA 28 F.Viola BOA 2.76
1982 MNA 69 93 G.Swindel CLA 15 G.Harris TEA 27 D.Aase LAA 2.89
OTHERS TIED W 14 M.Macdoug KCA 24 F.Bannist SEA 2.95
1980 LAA 100 62
1985 TEA 83 79 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS
1980 SEA 76 86 K.Witt DEA 12 A.Sanchez DEA 65 R.Clemens BOA 226
1979 OAA 69 93 D.Slaught TEA 9 R.Kelly NYA 63 T.Underwo TOA 201
E.Murray BAA 8 A.Cole CLA 50 F.Bannist SEA 187
M.Lewis CLA 8 O.Guillen CHA 41 D.Darwin BOA 170
OTHERS TIED W 7 OTHERS TIED W 38 G.Swindel CLA 169
The '81 Cubs reversed the curse of the goat! Most of the season it was the '91 Astros and '85 Pirates fighting over the bottom of the N.L. Central but the Cubs blew past them with a clutch September record of 4-21 and ending the season on a 13 game losing streak! Truly remarkable. No surprises in the other races as the '98 Marlins did eventually pass up the '88 Braves for the league's worst record but as expected the Loser Card comes out of the East. Here are your N.L. playoff match-ups.
'88 Braves vs. '81 Padres
'98 Marlins vs. '81 Cubs
Here's the All-NL Loser League team.
C: Craig Biggio, '91 Astros
1B: Eddie Murray, '93 Mets
2B: Jeff Kent, '93 Mets
3B: Scott Rolen, '00 Phillies
SS: Jay Bell, '98 Diamondbacks
LF: Bernard Gilkey, '95 Cardinals
CF: Ray Lankford, '95 Cardinals
RF: Bobby Bonilla, '93 Mets
SP: Mike Krukow, '85 Giants
RF: Gregg Olson, '98 Diamondbacks
FINAL STANDINGS/LEADERS
TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN
1993 NYN 94 68 A.Galarra CON .379 R.Lankfor SLN 39 S.Rolen PHN 134
2008 WAN 90 72 J.Mabry SLN .359 B.Bonilla NYN 38 R.Lankfor SLN 123
2000 PHN 88 74 C.Biggio HON .336 E.Murray NYN 33 D.Bichett CON 110
1988 ATN 66 96 B.Gilkey SLN .325 S.Rolen PHN 33 E.Karros LAN 108
1998 FLN 63 99 C.Guzman WAN .325 E.Karros LAN 31 OTHERS TIED W 104
1995 SLN 99 63 WINS SAVES ERA
1982 CIN 89 73 M.Krukow SFN 21 M.Dejean MLN 45 M.Krukow SFN 2.07
2002 MLN 85 77 G.Rusch MLN 18 G.Olson ARN 42 R.Reusche PIN 2.48
1991 HON 75 87 M.Soto CIN 17 T.Henke SLN 41 D.Gooden NYN 2.48
1985 PIN 72 90 R.Reusche PIN 17 S.Garrelt SFN 33 R.Person PHN 2.64
1981 CHN 67 95 OTHERS TIED W 16 D.Holmes CON 31 O.Daal ARN 2.75
1985 SFN 96 66 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS
1992 LAN 88 74 D.James ATN 14 B.Butler LAN 61 M.Soto CIN 278
1998 ARN 85 77 B.Jordan SLN 11 V.Coleman NYN 58 D.Gooden NYN 200
1993 CON 81 81 OTHERS TIED W 9 S.Finley HON 56 B.Sheets MLN 200
1981 SDN 74 88 E.Young MLN 55 P.Harnisc HON 198
E.Young CON 51 B.Berenyi CIN 194
It's playoff time for the Loser League and remember it will be loser advances. There's only one Losertober!
1979 Oakland A's def. 1988 Baltimore Orioles 3 games to 0
Game 1: A'S 24, Orioles 4
Game 2: A'S 11, Orioles 3
Game 3: A's 7, ORIOLES 3
That Game 1 score is not a misprint as this series reminds you why Baltimore lost 21 games to start the 1988 season. Baltimore's team ERA for the series was 14.40 as the A's hit .374 as a team. No word yet if Cal Ripken will request to pull himself out of the line up for the next series.
1979 Toronto Blue Jays def. 1982 Minnesota Twins 3 games to 1
Game 1: TWINS 6, Blue Jays 1
Game 2: Blue Jays 3, TWINS 0
Game 3: BLUE JAYS 7, Twins 6
Game 4: BLUE JAYS 5, Twins 4
Do you believe in miracles, eh? The '79 Blue Jays were the only team to top 100 losses in the Loser League and were the runaway favorite to take the title entering the postseason but they shock the world but beating the '82 Twins. The Jays mounted a five run 8th inning comeback in the deciding Game 4 to send the Twins to the Loser Championship Series and many of their players to suicide.
1998 Florida Marlins def. 1981 Chicago Cubs 3 games to 2
Game 1: Marlins 4, CUBS 1
Game 2: CUBS 10, Marlins 6
Game 3: MARLINS 5, Cubs 4 12 innings
Game 4: Cubs 5, MARLINS 1
Game 5: Marlins 6, CUBS 4
Cubs' fans this might be your year! No team was happier that two months of the 1981 season was wiped out by a player's strike than the Cubs and it almost seems cruel to make them keep playing. I don't know if Bartman stole a foul ball from Steve Henderson in the deciding game.
1981 San Diego Padres def. 1988 Atlanta Braves 3 games to 2
Game 1: Braves 4, PADRES 2
Game 2: Braves 6, PADRES 4 11 innings
Game 3: Padres 8, BRAVES 3
Game 4: Padres 4, BRAVES 2
Game 5: PADRES 9, Braves 8 18 innings
Go Braves! After dropping two at home the Padres make a remarkable comeback and in Game 5 defeated the Braves in an 18 inning classic or really 6 hours and 26 minutes of torture if you had watch these two teams play. The game ended on an Ozzie Smith RBI single off rookie Tom Glavine who was forced into the game as a pinch hitter and remained in the game to pitch after the Braves bench and bullpen had been used up. Here's the boxscore:
BOXSCORE: 1988 Atlanta Braves At 1981 San Diego Padres 10/6/2008
Braves AB R H RBI AVG Padres AB R H RBI AVG
R.Gant 3B 7 1 2 1 .480 O.Smith SS 9 2 3 1 .278
D.James LF 9 2 3 2 .304 R.Jones CF 6 0 1 1 .167
G.Perry 1B 7 0 1 1 .167 J.Curtis P 0 0 0 0 ----
D.Murphy RF 7 1 1 2 .238 N-S.Swisher PH 1 0 0 0 .000
O.Virgil C 9 2 4 1 .348 S.Mura P 0 0 0 0 .000
A.Thomas SS 8 1 2 0 .120 P-D.Gwosdz PH 1 0 1 01.000
M.Lemke 2B 3 0 1 0 .357 C.Welsh P 0 0 0 0 .500
A-J.Blauser PH 1 0 1 1 .286 G.Richards LF 9 2 3 0 .261
B-L.Smith PR 0 1 0 0 .250 T.Kennedy C 8 1 4 2 .346
E-J.Royster 2B 5 0 1 0 .200 B.Perkins 1B 6 0 1 1 .125
T.Blocker CF 7 0 1 0 .222 K-J.Moreno 1B 2 1 1 0 .500
R.Mahler P 3 0 0 0 .000 J.Lefebvre RF 7 2 2 0 .188
C-P.Runge PH 0 0 0 0 ---- L.Salazar 3B 7 0 3 2 .476
D-A.Hall PH 0 0 0 0 .167 J.Bonilla 2B 5 0 2 1 .500
G.Jimenez P 0 0 0 0 ---- M-T.Flannery PH,2B 2 0 0 0 .200
F-B.Benedict PH 1 0 0 0 .000 J.Eichelberger P 3 0 0 0 .000
J.Alvarez P 0 0 0 0 ---- D.Boone P 0 0 0 0 ----
H-T.Simmons PH 1 0 0 0 .500 J.Urrea P 1 0 0 0 .000
C.Puleo P 0 0 0 0 ---- T.Lollar P 0 0 0 0 ----
P.Assenmacher P 0 0 0 0 ---- G-B.Evans PH 1 0 1 0 .385
L-J.Acker PH,P 1 0 1 01.000 J.Littlefield P 0 0 0 0 ----
B.Sutter P 0 0 0 0 ---- G.Lucas P 0 0 0 0 ----
O-T.Glavine PH,P 1 0 0 0 .000 I-R.Bass PH 0 0 0 0 .000
J-D.Edwards PH,CF 3 1 2 1 .308
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 70 8 18 8 Totals 71 9 24 9
A-Pinch Hit For Lemke In 8th Inning
B-Pinch Ran For Blauser In 8th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Mahler In 8th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Runge In 8th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Smith In 8th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Jimenez In 9th Inning
G-Pinch Hit For Lollar In 11th Inning
H-Pinch Hit For Alvarez In 12th Inning
I-Pinch Hit For Lucas In 13th Inning
J-Pinch Hit For Bass In 13th Inning
K-Subbed Defensively (1B) For Perkins In 15th Inning
L-Pinch Hit For Assenmacher In 15th Inning
M-Pinch Hit For Bonilla In 15th Inning
N-Pinch Hit For Curtis In 15th Inning
O-Pinch Hit For Sutter In 17th Inning
P-Pinch Hit For Mura In 17th Inning
INJURY: Broderick Perkins INJURED (for 0 more games) in 14th inning
Braves.......... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 - 8 18 1
Padres.......... 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 - 9 24 2
Braves (2-3) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
R.Mahler 7 12 5 4 0 3 0 109 3.75
G.Jimenez 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 24 5.68
J.Alvarez 3 1 0 0 2 3 0 48 4.00
C.Puleo 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 20 5.40
P.Assenmache 1 2/3 1 0 0 2 2 0 38 0.00
J.Acker 0 2/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 0.00
B.Sutter 1 1/3 3 1 1 2 2 0 31 3.00
T.Glavine LOSS(0-1) 1 2/3 5 3 3 1 0 0 39 5.40
Totals 17 2/3 24 9 8 8 10 0
Padres (3-2) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
J.Eichelberg 7 7 4 4 3 4 1 134 3.75
D.Boone HOLD(2nd) 0 1/3 1 1 1 0 1 0 8 3.86
J.Urrea BS(1st) 1 1/3 2 0 0 2 0 0 30 0.00
T.Lollar 2 1/3 1 0 0 0 3 0 34 0.00
J.Littlefiel 0 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 7.36
G.Lucas 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 3 0 20 0.00
J.Curtis 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 25 2.45
S.Mura 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 33 4.91
C.Welsh WIN(1-0) 1 3 2 2 0 0 1 21 6.43
Totals 18 18 8 8 5 12 3
ATTENDANCE- 24,996 DATE- Monday, October 6th 2008 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
T- 6:26
LEFT ON BASE- Braves:17 Padres:19
DOUBLE PLAYS- Braves: 0 Padres: 1
ERRORS- R.Mahler, O.Smith, L.Salazar
DOUBLES- O.Virgil(2nd), O.Smith(1st), R.Jones(3rd), T.Kennedy(3rd),
J.Moreno(1st), J.Bonilla(3rd)
TRIPLES- D.Edwards(1st)
HOME RUNS- D.James(1st), D.Murphy(1st), O.Virgil(1st)
STOLEN BASES- R.Gant-2(5th), D.James(2nd), G.Richards(1st), L.Salazar(1st),
D.Edwards(1st)
CAUGHT STEALING- G.Richards, J.Bonilla
SACRIFICE HITS- R.Gant, L.Salazar
SACRIFICE FLIES- R.Gant, D.Murphy, T.Kennedy, L.Salazar
WALKS- G.Perry-2, D.Murphy, A.Thomas, T.Blocker, O.Smith, R.Jones, B.Perkins,
J.Lefebvre-2, J.Bonilla, T.Flannery, D.Edwards
HIT BY PITCH- A.Hall
STRIKE OUTS- R.Gant-2, D.James, G.Perry, D.Murphy-2, O.Virgil-3, A.Thomas,
T.Blocker, R.Mahler, O.Smith, R.Jones, G.Richards, T.Kennedy,
J.Moreno, J.Lefebvre, L.Salazar, J.Eichelberger-2, D.Edwards
GIDP- T.Blocker
1982 Minnesota Twins def. 1988 Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 2
Game 1: Twins 6, ORIOLES 4 10 innings
Game 2: Twins 3, ORIOLES 2
Game 3: TWINS 7, Orioles 1
Game 4: Orioles 7, TWINS 5
Game 5: Orioles 6, TWINS 2
Game 6: Twins 7, ORIOLES 2
After dropping their first six games of the postseason the '88 Orioles made a spirited comeback but all it meant was that they forced their fans to see another home game. Eddie Murray may be in the Hall of Fame but he takes Least Valuable Player honors in this series he scrapes together only 2 hits in 25 at bats.
1981 Chicago Cubs def. 1988 Atlanta Braves 4 games to 2
Game 1: BRAVES 7, Cubs 4
Game 2: Cubs 7, BRAVES 4
Game 3: Braves 5, CUBS 3 12 innings
Game 4: CUBS 2, Braves 1 10 innings
Game 5: CUBS 4, Braves 3
Game 6: Cubs 3, BRAVES 0
The Cubs once again can't even win the big one as they eliminate themselves from the Loser League setting an all 1988 match-up to crown the worst team of my lifetime. After hitting .480 against the Padres in the previous round, Ron Gant takes the LVP by hitting .115 and committing three errors which reminds you why he was moved to the outfield.
Oh ya I still need to complete this. The Loser League goes out with a whimper which should have been expected.
1988 Atlanta Braves def. 1988 Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 0
Game 1: Braves 5, ORIOLES 3
Game 2: Braves 11, ORIOLES 1
Game 3: BRAVES 5, Orioles 4
Game 4: BRAVES 5, Orioles 4 10 innings
The series ended on a Gerald Perry RBI single off of Tom Neidenfuer (man never count on this guy in the postseason) to complete the sweep and crown the 1988 Baltimore Orioles as the Worst Team of My Lifetime. Congratulations guys!
