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
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
Finally after nine months I've completed the three World Series DVD boxsets that were released last year, concluding with maybe the two most forgotten games in World Series history.
1975 World Series Game 7 - Reds 4, Red Sox 3 (boxscore and play account)
-They have some cancer kid throw out the first pitch, or at least they say "represents kids with cancer" so I don't know if the kid actually had cancer or if it was just someone's kid from the Red Sox front office and they needed an excuse to let him throw the first pitch. If he actually did have cancer all I could think of was that was pretty fucked up to make the cancer kid wait until a possible Game 7 to throw the first pitch.
-Some guy named Ned Martin calls the first half of the game and he was a longtime announcer for the Red Sox but I've never heard of him. He seemed like a bit of a homer or at least more so than Dick Stockton or Marty Brennaman.
-Don Gullet had zero control in this one, walking in two runs with the bases loaded in the 3rd.
-Bill Lee shockingly almost comes up with a huge bases loaded hit with two outs in the 5th as he crushed one to center, catching the slick fielding Cesar Geronimo a bit off guard as he was obvioulsy playing shallow but recovers to get the final out and prevent the Red Sox from potentially blowing the game open.
-Lee made a fatal mistake in the 6th against Tony Perez. Lee would occasionally throw a slow moving, eephus type, curveball. In Perez's first at bat Lee would freeze him for a called strike with this pitch. It was the only time in the game he'd throw this pitch yet he throws it a second time to Perez in the 6th, who of course seeing it once had the timing down and launched it over the Green Monster to cut the Sox lead to one.
-It's amazing that a Game 7 that was decided in the 9th inning would be completely forgotten but because of Game 6 that's what happened. Joe Morgan hit a little bloop, similar to Luis Gonzalez's hit in Game 7 of 2001, off of Jim Burton to score Pete Rose with the winning run. Rose led off the inning with a walk, Geronimo sacraficed him to 2nd, pinch hitter Dan Driessen grounded one to the right side to advance Rose to 3rd, and then came Morgan's winning hit. I think it is this sequence that created the "manufacturing runs" monster that Joe Morgan is today.
-Nothing too interesting in the extras on this disk with no additional, original game clips like the other two sets. Only thing of note would be Carlton Fisk's postgame interview after Game 6 but not sure why they didn't just tack it on to the Game 6 disk. Here's a list of the extras:
1. Championship Rally
2. Pre-Game Introductions of the Reds (before Game 3)
3. Pre-Game 1: Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski
4. Pre-Game 3: Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk
5. Pre-Game 7: Sparky Anderson, Darrell Johnson
6. Postgame 6: Carlton Fisk
7. Johnny Bench: The Big Red Machine
8. Pete Rose: Game 6
9. Pete Rose: Thrill of Game 7
10. Carlton Fisk: Homerun in Game 6
11. Carlton Fisk: Red Sox Beat Reds 3 Game to 4
12. Luis Tiant: Fisk's Homerun
13. Fred Lynn: Fisk's Homerun
14. Fred Lynn: Impact on Major League Baseball
15. Marty Brenneman: Game 6 the Best Ever
16. Joe Morgan: Game 6
17. Tony Perez: Reds Dominance
18. Tony Perez: Unmatchable World Series
19. Tony Perez: Game 7 Comeback
20. Tony Perez: Great Cincinnati Fans
21. Tony Perez: The Big Red Machine
1986 World Series Game 7 - Mets 8, Red Sox 5 (boxscore and play account)
-Game was delayed by rain for one day which appeared to be a big break for the Red Sox as it allowed them to bring back Bruce Hurst and skip over Oil Can Boyd.
-First time on the set the vid quality was some what poor for the first two innings but it is fine after that.
-Bill Buckner gets a loud ovation when he comes up for his first at bat. Now that's just mean.
-This was the postseason for homeruns off of outfielder's mits as Darryl Strawberry becomes the 3rd when a Rich Gedman shot in the 2nd goes off of his mit although it would have been a great catch by Strawberry if he had come up with it. Ron Darling hadn't allowed an earned run in his first two starts but was roughed up here as the Gedman homerun came right after a Dwight Evans homer.
-Back in Game 5 Gedman had seen six pitches from Sid Fernandez and swung and miss at all six. Here in the 5th inning against Fernandez again he swings and misses at his first and then takes strike three.
-Vin Scully mentions that Bruce Hurst had been named World Series MVP before the Mets miracle comeback in Game 6. This was kind of surprising to me as I figured Dave Henderson or Marty Barrett would gave won it although it would have been hard to argue with Hurst. It was just about after this conversation about Hurst that things come unraveled for him and the Red Sox in the 6th.
-Calvin Schiraldi was the real goat of this series as he follows up his awful performance in Game 6 with another one here. He pitches the 7th giving up a lead off homerun to Ray Knight to give the Mets the lead, a single to Lenny Dykstra, a wild pitch on a pitch out, which then would allow Dykstra to score on a hit by Rafael Santana.
-Red Sox stormed back in the 8th with two runs and had the tying run on 2nd with none out but Jesse Orosco, who was only about 51 at this time, saved the day to get the Mets out of the inning. Orosco would then have an rbi single in the bottom of the inning.
-Some idiot threw a smoke bomb on the field with two out in the 9th, delaying the final out for several minutes.
-All the extras were on a seperate bonus disk that I went over back in June.
That's it. Again it is good to see MLB actually doing something better than the NFL for once by releasing these sets. Although the two selections that have been announced so far for release this year (1987 & 1977) have been dissapointing choices, I'll definitely still be picking them up. Next up I'll try to start watching the Notre Dame set I picked up a couple of months ago but not sure yet how many writes up I'll do for that one, if any.
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
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
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
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
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
As many of you know the TSM Fantasy Baseball Draft is currently going on. I personally don't really even like playing fantasy baseball that much as I never want to be on those people rooting for players on the team who's playing against their favorite team. Because of this I never play for money as I have enough things to worry about than if Brett Myers gets 10 strikeouts and smacks his wife three times so I can win my game that week. This is the 4th year of the league with it being the 2nd year of the current incarnation run by MJ Styles. The first two years of the league were run by Lightning Flik and in those two years I had one of the best teams in the league, reaching the championship game both years although losing the title both years. I had Albert Pujols and Bobby Abreu both seasons and all was right with the world. But when Lightning Flik left the board, I think at least, the league was rebooted and all keepers were gone. No biggie but when I drew the 17th pick in the draft order I knew there'd be no Pujols left for me and I proceeded to draft one of the worst teams in the league, finshing 15th out of 20 and not even qualifying for the consolation bracket.
Here's a recap of my terrible draft from last year. Feel free to point and laugh.
1. Carl Crawford - (Final Yahoo Ranking: 20th, 89 R, 183 H, 18 HR, 77 RBI, 58 SB, .348 OBP)
This is another reason why I don't really like fantasy baseball is that because of stolen bases a player like Crawford is a superstar in fantasy baseball. He's a good player no doubt but no one would ever think of Crawford as one of the elite players in baseball.
2. Rich Harden - (Final Ranking: 379th, 46.2 IP, 4 W, 0 SV, 46 K, 0 HLD, 4.24 ERA, 1.22 WHIP)
I didn't follow Rule #1 of fantasy sports: Don't draft players from your favorite team. Harden certainly has the talent of a pitcher to be drafted this high and I gambled on him finally having an injury free year and lost badly. I did end up keeping him as I had hardly any players worth keeping but we were required to keep four so maybe Harden will finally pitch 200 innings this year. And maybe the Royals will win the World Series.
3. Chad Tracy - (Final Ranking: 175th, 91 R, 168 H, 20 HR, 80 RBI, 5 SB, .343 OBP)
Ugh. I had a hard on for Tracy going into last season as I was convinced he'd have a breakout year and plus he also had eligiblity at three positions. Had a decent year but no where near a 3rd round pick.
4. Brett Myers - (Final Ranking: 73rd, 198 IP, 12 W, 0 SV, 189 K, 0 H, 3.91 ERA, 1.30 WHIP)
This was one of my few solid picks as based on the Yahoo rankings he ended up being worth exactly a 4th round pick thus I ended up having to keep him almost by default.
5. Bobby Crosby (Final Ranking: 613th, 42 R, 82 H, 9 HR, 40 RBI, 8 SB, .298 OBP)
I forgot one of my own rules here: If ESPN "experts" are really high on a player assume he'll be terrible. Now I didn't think Crosby was going to emerge as an MVP candidate like some did but I definately thought he'd continue to improve. Not only was he hurt, he was also terrible when he was in the line up.
6. Derrick Turnbow (Final Ranking: 428th, 56.1 IP, 4 W, 24 SV, 69 K, 4 HLD, 6.87 ERA, 1.69 WHIP)
Maybe I should just stop this entry because this is getting embarrasing. I should have listened to those who thought Turnbow's excellent 2005 season was a fluke and boy were they right. This pick pretty much killed me in the saves category all year as I never found a decent closer.
7. Brian Giles (Final Ranking: 216th, 87 R, 159 H, 14 HR, 83 RBI, 9 SB, .374 OBP)
Because of the park he plays in Giles isn't a very attractive player in fantasy baseball but he had an outstanding 2005 season so I was happy when he fell to me but his OBP dropped 49 points in 2006. I actually have drafted him again this year hoping he'll have a bounce back year but I'm probably going to be wrong on that as he just turned 36 last month.
8. Placido Polanco (Final Ranking: 430th, 58 R, 136 H, 4 HR, 52 RBI, 1 SB, .329 OBP)
This seemed like a good pick at that time as Polanco had emerged as one of the better second basemen in baseball the previous couple of years but he had a terrible year offensively in 2006.
9. Michael Barrett (Final Ranking: 317th, 54 R, 115 H, 16 HR, 53 RBI, 0 SB, .368 OBP)
Barrett was having a good year for a catcher, and became one of my favorite players for punching A.J. Pierzynski, but he missed the last month of the season due to injury.
10. Nick Johnson (Final Ranking: 120th, 100 R,145 H, 23 HR, 77 RBI, 10 SB, .428 OBP)
The best pick I made in the draft and even it came back to haunt me. He of course suffered an ugly broken leg injury with about a week left in the season and is likely going to start this year on the DL but because my team was so terrible I decided to keep him in spite of this.
11. Brad Radke (162.1 IP, 12 W, 0 SV, 83 K, 0 HLD, 4.32 ERA, 1.41 WHIP)
Because he retired I don't know what his final Yahoo ranking was but it couldn't have been very good as Brad went out at the right time.
12. Scott Linebrink (Final Ranking: 235th, 75.2 IP, 7 W, 2 SV, 68 K, 36 HLD, 3.57 ERA, 1.22 WHIP)
One thing I really dislike about this league is the inclusion of the completlely irrelevent Hold statistic being included. I let Linebrink go at some point because I think I was desperate to fill the other numerous holes on my team due to injuries that I abandoned Holds.
13. Carlos Silva (Final Ranking: 375th, 180.1 IP, 11 W, 0 SV, 70 K, 2 HLD, 5.94 ERA, 1.54 WHIP)
Another terrible pick. Silva had made a living off never striking out anybody but never walked anybody either but the never striking out part bit him in the ass finally last year and I didn't wait too long before releasing him.
14. Dan Johnosn (Final Ranking: 693rd, 30 R, 67 H, 9 HR, 37 RBI, 0 SB, .323 OBP)
Yet again not following Rule #1 but even I wasn't as high on Johnson as some A's fans but I figured this was a low risk pick here and boy was I wrong.
15. Brian Anderson (Final Ranking: 664th, 46 R, 82 H, 8 HR, 33 RBI, 4 SB, .290 OBP)
Gambled on a rookie here and once again was wrong as Anderson was not ready yet to hit MLB pitching.
16. Dave Roberts (Final Ranking: 146th, 80 R, 146 H, 2 HR, 44 RBI, 49 SB, .360 OBP)
Hey a decent pick, imagine that.
17. Luis A. Gonzalez (7 R, 36 H, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 1 SB, .269 OBP)
Picked purely because he was eligible at a ton of positions and had been halfway decent offensivley but was just awful in 2006. Don't know his ranking because he's now in Japan.
18. Jason LaRue (Final Ranking: 762nd, 22 R, 37 H, 8 HR, 21 RBI, 1 SB, .317 OBP)
Seemed like a decent choice as my back up catcher but not even close.
19. Jeff Franics (Final Ranking: 285th, 199 IP, 13 W, 0 SV, 117 K, 0 HLD, 4.16 ERA, 1.29 WHIP)
Pretty good pick here as him and Myers were the only pitchers I could rely on all year.
20. Todd Coffey (Final Ranking: 285th, 78 IP, 6 W, 8 SV, 60 K, 15 HLD, 3.58 ERA, 1.44 WHIP)
I was hoping Coffey would emerge as the Reds primary closer but never happened.
Because I had so little to work with going into this year I already hate the look of my team this year so far. I'm counting on Ryan Zimmerman emerging as a superstar this year but given how things went last year I'll assume he'll do a good Bobby Crosby 2006 impression.
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
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 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
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
Hey it's the one year anniversary of my blog...um, yay? I've been putting off several ideas such as a list of the Top 100 players of my "baseball lifetime" (1986-present) and also the Top 50 Oakland A's of all-time, shrunk from 100 since realizing that the list would be populated with guys who played two years or less with them. So I figured I'd do my biggest staple of my blog over the past year and that was the Award Redos. I originally was going to do the 1991 A.L. MVP but then rememebered, I already did it. But in that entry after I gave Frank Thomas both the 1991 and 1992 awards I wondered if the Big Hurt should have won four straight MVPs? So now to find out if his first real MVP should have been his 3rd overall.
There was zero controversy for the 1993 A.L. MVP as Thomas won it unanimously. Typically when a player wins an MVP unanimously he probably was at the very least a deserving winner and certainly it was no exception here. Although he didn't lead the league in any major category he was in the Top 10 in Average, Runs, OBP, SLG, Homeruns, RBI, Walks, and Total Bases while helping the White Sox to their first division crown in 10 years. Since there was no real race there was no other players considered serious contenders. The defending champion Blue Jays were loaded with stars with Paul Molitor and John Olerud finished 2nd and 3rd in the voting repsectively while Robert Alomar finished 6th. Homerun champ Juan Gonzalez and Ken Griffey Jr., who had his first big homerun year with 45, rounded out the Top 5.
Actual Results
1) Frank Thomas 2) Paul Molitor 3) John Olerud 4) Juan Gonzalez 5) Ken Griffey Jr 6) Roberto Alomar 7) Albert Belle 8) Rafael Palmeiro 9) Jack McDowell 10) Carlos Baerga 11) Jimmy Key 12) Joe Carter 13t) Jimmy Key 13t) Jeff Montgomery 15) Kenny Lofton 16t) Chris Hoiles 16t) Tony Phillips 18) Mo Vaughn 19t) Don Mattingly 19t) Cal Ripken 21) Alex Fernandez 22t) Greg Gagne 22t) Duane Ward 24t) Kevin Appier 24t) Cecil Fielder 24t) Randy Johnson
#10
.289/.432/.474, 101 RC, 147 OPS+, .343 EQA, 56.7 VORP, 25 Win Shares
#9
.310/.416/.585, 100 RC, 163 OPS+, .340 EQA, 60.4 VORP, 26 Win Shares
#8
178 ERA+, 2.30 K/BB, 1.11 WHIP, 82.7 VORP, 27 Win Shares
#7
.332/.402/.509, 131 RC, 142 OPS+, .325 EQA, 69.9 VORP, 29 Win Shares
#6
.326/.408/.492, 118 RC, 140 OPS+, .323 EQA, 75.3 VORP, 30 Win Shares
#5
.295/.371/.554, 123 RC, 150 OPS+, .327 EQA, 59.2 VORP, 31 Win Shares
#4
.310/.368/.632, 120 RC, 169 OPS+, .339 EQA, 67.8 VORP, 31 Win Shares
#3
.309/.408/.617, 146 RC, 172 OPS+, .343 EQA, 86.4 VORP, 29 Win Shares
#2
.317/.426/.607, 144 RC, 177 OPS+, .356 EQA, 79.0 VORP, 32 Win Shares
#1
.363/.473/.599, 156 RC, 185 OPS+, .372 EQA, 92.2 VORP, 37 Win Shares
THAT'S WHAT YOU GET YOUR TRAITOR!!!
Olerud had flirted with .400 for a little while as he was hitting .402 on August 1st but he tailed off after that and with the Blue Jays being loaded he couldn't garner a first place vote. He was better than Thomas across the board and was the easy pick here for me. If he could kept his chase for .400 a little longer he might have given Thomas a run for the MVP but maybe the writers thought he looked too much like a retarded kid running out to the field with his helmet on.
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
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
1979 World Series Game 6 - Pirates 4, Orioles 0 (boxscore and play account)
-This game was played on a Tuesday just two days after the Colts played a game and the football yard marks a very visible. Once again it's a very good thing that multi-purpose stadiums are almost gone.
-Howard Cosell spends time early in the game whining about some unamed Baltimore columnist whining about ABC's habbit of showing the players wives on a regular basis, which it did get completely out of hand in a few of the games. Maybe not quite as annoying as FOX cutting to close ups of fans between almost every pitch in the playoffs now.
-In every game they've played brief interview clips of players with Cosell and there's a kind of interesting one here of Rick Dempsey talking shit about Bill Madlock.
-Several promos done for ABC's college football line up that Saturday, featuring USC/Notre Dame and Texas/Arkansas. #4 USC would crush #9 Notre Dame 42-23 and #10 Arkansas would upset #2 Texas 17-14.
-In case you only thought today's announcers had hard ons for scrappy, short, white middle infielders like David Eckstein, Cosell and Keith Jackson constantly fawn over Phil Garner here. Cosell constantly calls him "The Little Pepper Pot" which as far as I can tell never caught as a nickname for Garner but "Scrap Iron" did. Garner did have a great series though and through this game was probably the favorite for the series MVP before Stargell's huge Game 7.
-The scoreless tie is broken in the 7th inning when with Omar Moreno on first and going on the pitch, Tim Foli chops one up the middle. Kiko Garcia makes a terrible decision by waiting right at the bag at second for the ball to get to him instead of cutting it off to get the easy out out first, thinking he can get a double play which would have been impossible with Moreno going on the pitch. The ball ends up going through Garcia's legs and Rich Dauer backing him up can't get Foli at first. It's scored a hit. Dave Parker then follows with a hard hit ball at Dauer but he misjudges the ball of the bat and commits to far to his left and can't recover to get in front it thus allowing it to get through for a base hit. There was a lot of bad fielding in this series although some of it had to do with the terrible shape of the Memorial Stadium turf.
-Relief aces/closers were overused during this era but it was kind of cool to see Kent Tekulve come in here and shutdown the Orioles for three straight innings.
1979 World Series Game 7 - Pirates 4, Orioles 1 (boxscore and play account)
-Jimmy Carter was at the game. Ya I know you care.
-Coming into this game the road team had won 12 of the last 15 Game 7's in the World Series. The Pirates win here is the last time this has happened as the home team is 8-0 since.
-Cosell thinks advancing the runner should be an official stat. Hey he was light years ahead of Buster Olney for coming up with completely meaningless statistics.
-By far the most tense, exciting moment of the series comes in the bottom of the 8th. Trailing 2-1, the Orioles 2nd & 3rd with two out and Chuck Tanner had Tekulve intentionally walk Ken Singleton to load the bases to pitch to Eddie Murray who was 0 for his last 20. Murray hit one hard to right and Parker would stumble going back for the ball and for the briefest of moments it looks like it would go over his head but he recovers to make the catch. That would have ranked up their with the Buckner play if Parker had fallen down and potentially cost the Pirates the series.
-The top of the 9th lasts forever as at one point Earl Weaver makes four straight pitching changes as the Pirates had a staggered left/right line-up. It backfires as Mike Flanangan gives up an RBI single to Omar Moreno, Doug Stanhouse gives up a single to Tim Foli, Tippy Martinez plunks Dave Parker to load the bases, and on his first pitch Dennis Martinez hits Bill Robinson on the hand to force in the Pirates' final run.
-When Flanangan makes his rare relief apperance it is mentioned that his wife had an emergency apedectomy that morning. Cosell takes this time to take about how hot she is. One of the few times in the series Cosell made me smile.
-Tekulve pitches a pefect 9th and even though it was in the visiting park the fans still run on the field. Steve Nicosia is seen beating down who I'm assuming was an upset Baltimore fan with his catcher's mask in the melee.
Bonus Clips
-Nothing terribly interesting here except they have the original footage of the final three outs of the Pirates sweep of the Reds in the NLCS.
-They include all of ABC's postgame coverage in the clips and President Carter was involved in the trophy presentation. Chuck Tanner is as giddy as a school girl to be talking to him while it appeared to me that Willie Stargell wasn't sure who he was.
Here's just a list of the extras.
1. Bruce Kison: Origin of "We Are Family"
2. Bill Robinson: "The Family"
3. Don Robinson: Characters on the Pirates
4. Tim Foli: Pirates Had Roles
5. Dave Parker's Outfield Assist, 1979 All-Star Game (just a TWiB recap)
6. NLCS Clincher: Last Inning and Celebration (original footage)
7. Don Robinson: Rookie in the World Series
8. Willie Stargell: Compares 1971 and 1979 Pirates
9. Willie Stargell: Pirates Put Aside Differences
10. Tim Foli: On Willie Stargell
11. Willie Stargell: Chuck Tanner Fights Through Tragedy
12. Tom Boswell: Willie Stargell, Pirates Leader
13. Bill Robinson: Stargell's Homerun
14. Earl Weaver: Dissapointment of 1979
15. Last Out and Celebration
16. World Series Trophy Presentation
17. World Series MVP Trophy Presentation to Willie Stargell
18. Bill Robinson: City of Champions and Closeness of Club
19. Pirates Championship Rally
I needed content and I wanted to do something related to the very competitive decade of the 1980's for baseball so I've decied to run a 64 team tournament between the top teams of the 1980's. Ya 64 is way too many but I'm Bored. I'll be using the computer version of Strat-O-Matic Baseball to run the tournament. I'll be simulating the games and the only thing I'll determine before the games is who the starting pitcher will be for each game. It will just be like the NCAA College Basketball tournament where I'll have four regions, or four divisions if you will, with teams seeded from 1 to 16 with each match-up being determined by a best-of-seven series.
Now for deciding how to do the seedings and who gets in I went the simple rout. First teams who won the World Series will be seeded highest, then teams who lost in the World Series, then teams who lost in the LCS, then the top 2nd place teams by record, and finally an "automatic berth" for the best team of the decade for a franchise who didn't have a team fit into the other categories so every franchise will have a representitive.
Starting with the N.L. East which features three World Champions including the team who had the best record in the decade, the '86 Mets. The Mets have the most teams in the region with five, followed by the Cardinals with four. The Pirates are the only team with just one rep as the '88 team was their best of the decade. Here's just a quick rundown of all the teams and the first round match-ups.
#1
1986 New York Mets (108-54, defeated Boston 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 116 (1st)
ERA+: 114 (t-1st)
DefEff: .709 (4th)
Best Player: Keith Hernandez
Best Pitcher: Bob Ojeda
#2
1982 St. Louis Cardinals (92-70, defeated Milwaukee 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 103 (5th)
ERA+: 108 (2nd)
DefEff: .710 (2nd)
Best Player: Lonnie Smith
Best Pitcher: Joaquin Andujar
#3
1980 Philadelphia Phillies (91-71, defeated Kansas City 4-2 in World Series)
OPS+: 102 (6th)
ERA+: 110 (1st)
DefEff: .701 (4th)
Best Player: Mike Schmidt
Best Pitcher: Steve Carlton
#4
1985 St. Louis Cardinals (101-61, lost to Kansas City 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 108 (t-1st)
ERA+: 113 (2nd)
DefEff: .718 (1st)
Best Player: Willie McGee
Best Pitcher: John Tudor
#5
1987 St. Louis Cardinals (95-67, lost to Minnesota 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 94 (10th)
ERA+: 106 (3rd)
DefEff: .696 (t-6th)
Best Player: Jack Clark/Ozzie Smith
Best Pitcher: Todd Worrell
#6
1983 Philadelphia Phillies (90-72, lost to Baltimore 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 102 (t-5th)
ERA+: 106 (t-2nd)
DefEff: .685 (12th)
Best Player: Mike Schmidt
Best Pitcher: John Denny
#7
1988 New York Mets (100-62, lost to Los Angeles 4-3 in NLCS)
OPS+: 117 (1st)
ERA+: 110 (3rd)
DefEff: .707 (t-8th)
Best Player: Darryl Strawberry
Best Pitcher: David Cone
#8
1984 Chicago Cubs (96-65, lost to San Diego 3-2 in NLCS)
OPS+: 105 (4th)
ERA+: 104 (4th)
DefEff: .690 (10th)
Best Player: Ryne Sandberg
Best Pitcher: Rick Sutcliffe
#9
1989 Chicago Cubs (93-69, lost to San Francisco 4-1 in NLCS)
OPS+: 104 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 110 (2nd)
DefEff: .708 (6th)
Best Player: Ryne Sandberg
Best Pitcher: Greg Maddux
#10
1981 Montreal Expos (60-48, lost to Los Angeles 3-2 in NLCS)
OPS+: 99 (8th)
ERA+: 106 (3rd)
DeffEff: .715 (t-3rd)
Best Player: Andre Dawson
Best Pitcher: Bill Gullickson
#11
1985 New York Mets (98-64, finished 3 games behind St. Louis)
OPS+: 105 (4th)
ERA+: 111 (3rd)
DefEff: .716 (2nd)
Best Player: Gary Carter
Best Pitcher: Dwight Gooden
#12
1981 St. Louis Cardinals (59-43, best overall record in N.L. East)
OPS+: 108 (3rd)
ERA+: 98 (t-8th)
DefEff: .715 (t-3rd)
Best Player: Keith Hernandez
Best Pitcher: Bruce Sutter
#13
1987 New York Mets (92-70, finished 3 games behind St. Louis)
OPS+: 116 (1st)
ERA+: 99 (9th)
DefEff: .696 (t-6th)
Best Player: Darryl Strawberry
Best Pitcher: Dwight Gooden
#14
1980 Montreal Expos (90-72, finished 1 game behind Philadelphia)
OPS+: 106 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 103 (4th)
DefEff: .698 (9th)
Best Player: Andre Dawson
Best Pitcher: Steve Rogers
#15
1984 New York Mets (90-72, finished 6 ½ games behind Chicago)
OPS+: 101 (5th)
ERA+: 98 (9th)
DefEff: .694 (9th)
Best Player: Keith Hernandez
Best Pitcher: Dwight Gooden
#16
1988 Pittsburgh Pirates (85-75, finished 15 games behind New York)
OPS+: 107 (3rd)
ERA+: 99 (7th)
DefEff: .715 (4th)
Best Player: Andy Van Slyke
Best Pitcher: Doug Drabek
1st Round Match-ups
'88 Pirates vs. '86 Mets
'89 Cubs vs. '84 Cubs
'87 Mets vs. '85 Cardinals
'81 Cardinals vs. '87 Cardinals
'85 Mets vs. '83 Phillies
'80 Expos vs. '80 Phillies
'81 Expos vs. '88 Mets
'84 Mets vs. '82 Cardinals
I'll complete the 1st round match-ups for this region/division, posting the results in the next entry, and then move on to the next region/division. Not sure how long I'll take to finish each round.
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.
I was trying to figure something out to relate to the NFL Playoffs for a blog entry. I originally thought about looking back at random playoff games from the past that may have been forgotten but doing research on the internet for football is a hell of lot harder than baseball. But as I was watching the divisional playoffs and the Bears were on the ropes against the Seahawks I was wondering when was the last time both #1 seeds lost in the divisional playoffs? The Bears of course won but the AFC #1 seeded Chargers lost but I did find out the last time it happened was the 1979 playoffs when the Cowboys and, you guessed it, the Chargers both lost as #1 seeds in the divisonal round.
So for a random, useless fact list I figured I'd take a look at how each #1 seed has faired in the playoffs. Now I only look at the playoffs since 1978 when the Wild Card round was added as the NFL has the same basic playoff structure (except for the '82 strike year) since then with the only major change being when they expanded the field from 10 to 12 teams in 1990. Good news for the Bears this Sunday is that only four times since '78 have both #1's seeds not reached the Super Bowl, the last being 1997 (Chiefs/49ers). On the flip side both #1 seeds haven't advanced to the Super Bowl since 1993 (Bills/Cowboys), which incidently enough was the last season before the salary cap. Not sure if that is a coincidence or not.
1978
AFC: Steelers
-Won Super Bowl
NFC: Rams
-Lost NFC Championship
1979
AFC: Chargers
-Lost Divisional playoff
NFC: Cowboys
-Lost Divisional playoff
1980
AFC: Chargers
-Lost AFC Championship
NFC: Falcons
-Lost Divisional playoff
1981
AFC: Bengals
-Lost Super Bowl
NFC: 49ers
-Won Super Bowl
1982
AFC: Raiders
-Lost in Second Round
NFC: Redskins
-Won Super Bowl
1983
AFC: Raiders
-Won Super Bowl
NFC: Redskins
-Lost Super Bowl
1984
AFC: Dolphins
-Lost Super Bowl
NFC: 49ers
-Won Super Bowl
1985
AFC: Raiders
-Lost Divisional playoff
NFC: Bears
-Won Super Bowl
1986
AFC: Browns
-Lost AFC Championship
NFC: Giants
-Won Super Bowl
1987
AFC: Broncos
-Lost Super Bowl
NFC: 49ers
-Lost Divisional playoffs
1988
AFC: Bengals
-Lost Super Bowl
NFC: Bears
-Lost NFC Championship
1989
AFC: Broncos
-Lost Super Bowl
NFC: 49ers
-Won Super Bowl
1990
AFC: Bills
-Lost Super Bowl
NFC: 49ers
-Lost NFC Championship
1991
AFC: Bills
-Lost Super Bowl
NFC: Redskins
-Won Super Bowl
1992
AFC: Steelers
-Lost Divisional playoff
NFC: 49ers
-Lost NFC Championship
1993
AFC: Bills
-Lost Super Bowl
NFC: Cowboys
-Won Super Bowl
1994
AFC: Steelers
-Lost AFC Championship
NFC: 49ers
-Won Super Bowl
1995
AFC: Chiefs
-Lost Divisional playoff
NFC: Cowboys
-Won Super Bowl
1996
AFC: Broncos
-Lost Divisional playoff
NFC: Packers
-Won Super Bowl
1997
AFC: Chiefs
-Lost Divisional playoff
NFC: 49ers
-Lost NFC Championship
1998
AFC: Broncos
-Won Super Bowl
NFC: Vikings
-Lost NFC Championship
1999
AFC: Jaguars
-Lost AFC Championship
NFC: Rams
-Won Super Bowl
2000
AFC: Titans
-Lost Divisional playoff
NFC: Giants
-Lost Super Bowl
2001
AFC: Steelers
-Lost AFC Championship
NFC: Rams
-Lost Super Bowl
2002
AFC: Raiders
-Lost Super Bowl
NFC: Eagles
-Lost NFC Championship
2003
AFC: Patriots
-Won Super Bowl
NFC: Eagles
-Lost NFC Championship
2004
AFC: Steelers
-Lost AFC Championship
NFC: Eagles
-Lost Super Bowl
2005
AFC: Colts
-Lost Divisional playoff
NFC: Seahawks
-Lost Super Bowl
2006
AFC: Chargers
-Lost Divisional playoff
NFC: Bears
-???
Now that the college football season is over I finally had a Saturday morning to sit down and watch Game 6 of the 1975 World Series in one sitting and now eventually will be able to finish off all three World Series box sets. For the remaining games I'll do an entry for Game 6 & 7 of the '79 Series and then an entry for both Game 7's of the '75 & '86 Series.
On a side note while I was doing my post-Christmas shopping with some gift cards I received I found another box set of classic games at Best Buy that was put out by A&E Home Video, who did the World Series sets, but this one was not baseball related. I bought College Football's Greatest Games: University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish Collector's Edition. Ya I'm not proud of myself but it was on sale and I haven't seen a set like this before for college football before so I had to pick it up. Not all of the games are true classics as a few are blowouts that were important to Notre Dame but no one else but there a couple of games on the set I think I'll do future write ups for. Anyways moving on to Game 6...
1975 World Series Game 6 - Red Sox 7, Reds 6 12 innings (boxscore and play account)
-This game was delayed three days due to rain which allowed the Red Sox to start Luis Tiant who had been dominate in Games 1 & 4. They flash a graphic at the beginning of the game of Tiant's previous five starts at Fenway: 5-0, 45 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 20 H, 8 BB, 33 SO, 0.20 ERA. Red Sox had to feel confident after Fred Lynn spotted Tiant a 3-0 lead with a homerun in the first.
-The video quality has been spotty for this and the 1979 set but is very good for this game which is no surprise as I'm sure over the years people have made sure to keep the original footage of this game in good condition.
-Red Sox have a couple opportunities to blow this game open with bases loaded in the 3rd inning and 2nd & 3rd with one out in 4th inning but fail to score.
-Tiant shows his first signs of vulnerability in the series in the 5th when he walks light hitting Ed Armbrister, who was pinch hitting for the pitcher, which will help lead to the Reds first runs of the game. In this innings is the famous play when Lynn slams into the wall trying to catch a Ken Griffey flyball and appears to have been seriously hurt but stays in the game. Griffey ended up with a two-run triple.
-The game starts to reach it's classic level in the bottom of the 8th with the Reds up 6-3 and four outs away from the championship, when with two on Bernie Carbo hits his second pinch hit homerun of the series to tie it up off Reds' relief ace Rawly Eastwick.
-Red Sox nearly win it in the 9th as they loaded the bases with no one out but on a shallow flyball to left hit by Lynn, Don Zimmer sends Denny Doyle from 3rd and he is gunned down by George Foster at the plate for the double play.
-Some almost controversy in the top of the 11th as Pete Rose fakes his way into a HBP. Carlton Fisk argues but to no avail and replays show the pitch did not hit Rose. This would be erased when Dwight Evans makes a sensational catch to potentially rob Joe Morgan of a homerun (might have hit the wall if he doesn't get it) and doubles Griffey off of first to end the inning.
-Of course we know what happens in the 12th. It is still bizarre watching games like this and seeing fans among Fisks' teammates as they mob him at homeplate as we were still several years away from when MLB started to crackdown on fans running on to the field.
-This was one quite the hearbreaker for the Reds for blowing the three run lead in the 8th, Evans robbing Morgan in the 11th, and the Fisk walk off this could have been a crippling defeat for a franchise that hadn't won the World Series since 1940 and suffered a tough World Series loss three years earlier against the A's. But as we know it didn't turn out so bad for them.
Wrapping up the 2007 Hall of Fame Ballot with the two slam dunks on the ballot and barring a major upset the only two who will be elected on Tuesday. Since there is no real suspense in whether or not these two will be elected I figured I'd just group them together. Sure one could argue than one or the other was overrated in their own right and there will of course be those who will leave them off their ballot just to make sure no one ever gets 100% of the vote. But no one can make a legitimate argument that either is not deserving of being a member of the Hall of Fame. Obviously they are easy "yes" votes from me.
Tony Gwynn - Rightfielder
San Diego Padres 1982-2001
Awards
1984 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1986 NL Gold Glove - OF
1986 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1987 NL Gold Glove - OF
1987 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1989 NL Gold Glove - OF
1989 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1990 NL Gold Glove - OF
1991 NL Gold Glove - OF
1994 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1995 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1997 NL Silver Slugger - OF
All-Star Selections: 15 (1984-1987, 1989-1999)
League Leader
1984: Batting Average, Hits
1986: Hits, Runs
1987: Batting Average, Hits
1988: Batting Average
1989: Batting Average, Hits
1994: Batting Average, Hits, OBP
1995: Batting Average, Hits
1996: Batting Average
1997: Batting Average, Hits
Career Ranks
AVG: 20th
Games: 61st
Hits: 18th
Runs: 84th
2B: 22nd
TB: 50th
RC: 41st
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 57 (18) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 155 (78) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 53.9 (57) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 277.5 (13) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 9 (Zack Wheat, Rod Carew, Paul Waner, Wade Boggs, Sam Rice, Roberto Clemente, Heinie Manush, George Silser, Sam Crawford)
Other Similar Batters: Vada Pinson
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1982: 7/1.8
1983: 10/3.0
1984: 35/10.2
1985: 20/7.3
1986: 29/10.8
1987: 29/12.1
1988: 23/6.6
1989: 30/9.3
1990: 17/6.4
1991: 22/6.7
1992: 18/5.3
1993: 18/6.1
1994: 17/10.0
1995: 23/8.1
1996: 17/4.6
1997: 39/7.9
1998: 19/3.8
1999: 18/3.0
2000: 3/0.6
2001: 4/0.8
Career Win Shares: 398
Career WARP3: 124.3
Cal Ripken - Shortstop
Baltimore Orioles 1981-2001
Awards
1982 AL Rookie of the Year
1983 AL MVP
1983 AL Silver Slugger - SS
1984 AL Silver Slugger - SS
1985 AL Silver Slugger - SS
1986 AL Silver Slugger - SS
1989 AL Silver Slugger - SS
1991 AL MVP
1991 ML Sporting News Player of the Year
1991 AL Gold Glove - SS
1991 AL Silver Slugger - SS
1992 AL Gold Glove - SS
1993 AL Silver Slugger - SS
1994 AL Silver Slugger - SS
All-Star Selections: 19 (1983-2001)
League Leader
1983: Hits, Runs, Doubles, Runs Created
1991: Total Bases
Career Ranks
Games: 8th
Hits: 14th
Runs: 31st
2B: 13th
HR: 37th
RBI: 20th
BB: 61st
TB: 13th
RC: 30th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 19 (112) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 116 (171) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 58.3 (33) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 236.0 (25) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 7 (Dave Winfield, Robin Yount, Al Kaline, Eddie Murray, Carl Yastrzemski, George Brett, Tony Perez)
Other Similar Batters: Craig Biggio, Harold Baines, Andre Dawson
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1981: 0/-0.6
1982: 23/8.2
1983: 35/13.9
1984: 37/15.0
1985: 25/10.9
1986: 28/12.5
1987: 20/7.2
1988: 25/9.7
1989: 26/10.1
1990: 20/9.4
1991: 34/17.0
1992: 21/6.8
1993: 17/5.9
1994: 18/7.7
1995: 16/7.5
1996: 22/7.0
1997: 18/5.0
1998: 13/4.6
1999: 12/4.2
2000: 8/3.8
2001: 9/3.4
Career Win Shares: 427
Career WARP3: 169.1
Mark McGwire - First Baseman
Oakland Athletics 1986-1997
St. Louis Cardinals 1997-2001
Awards
1987 AL Rookie of the Year
1990 AL Gold Glove - 1B
1992 AL Silver Slugger - 1B
1996 AL Silver Slugger - 1B
1998 NL Silver Slugger - 1B
All-Star Selections: 12 (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
League Leader
1987: Homeruns, Slugging %, HR/AB
1989: HR/AB
1990: Walks
1992: Slugging %, HR/AB, OPS+
1995: HR/AB
1996: Homeruns, OBP, Slugging %, HR/AB, OPS, OPS+
1998: Homeruns, Walks, OBP, Slugging %, HR/AB, Runs Created, OPS, OPS+
1999: Homeruns, RBI, HR/AB, OPS+
Career Ranks
HR: 7th
RBI: 60th
BB: 34th
OBP: 78th
SLG: 10th
HR/AB: 1st
RC: 82nd
OPS: 13th
OPS+: 11th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 36 (41) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 110 (189) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 42.0 (126) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 169.5 (60) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 2 (Harmon Killewbrew, Willie McCovey)
Other Similar Batters: Jim Thome, Jose Canseco, Carlos Delgado, Manny Ramirez, Juan Gonzalez, Norm Cash, Jason Giambi, Dave Kingman
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1986: 1/-0.1
1987: 30/8.9
1988: 28/7.6
1989: 21/7.0
1990: 27/10.0
1991: 18/6.1
1992: 29/10.1
1993: 6/2.5
1994: 6/2.5
1995: 23/7.8
1996: 29/9.8
1997: 25/9.4
1998: 41/11.6
1999: 30/8.6
2000: 20/6.0
2001: 8/1.5
Career Win Shares: 342
Career WARP3: 109.5
Would he get my vote?
Yes. I thought about doing a very long rant about the entire issue regarding if McGwire should go into the HOF or not but we all know that when the results are announced Tuesday he will not have been elected so this issue is going to last for at least one more year so I'm not going to waste my time for now. What I will say when it comes to considering a player for the HOF who has either been proven to have used steroids or have likely used steroids I feel that if a player is a true borderline candidate that use of steroids can tip the scales against a player as being a deserving HOF. Mark McGwire is not a borderline candidate. 7th all-time in homeruns, 10th all-time in Slugging, 11th all-time OPS+, a .394 career OBP, and he averaged 50 homeruns for every 162 games played. Whether or not he will ever get in, it is too early to tell. The projection seems to be he'll get only 25-30% of the vote on this first ballot and this percentage should increase substantially next year as several voters are using an arbitrary one-year boycott for likely steroid users. What is revealed or not revealed in the following years about his use of steroids and the use of others during his playing days will determine if he ever gets in. No one should feel sorry for McGwire if he never gets in but I think it'd be a real shame if he didn't.
Andre Dawson - Outfielder
Montreal Expos 1976-1986
Chicago Cubs 1987-1992
Boston Red Sox 1993-1994
Florida Marlins 1995-1996
6th year on the ballot
Past HOF Voting Results
2002: 45.34%
2003: 50.00%
2004: 50.00%
2005: 52.32%
2006: 60.96%
Awards
1977 NL Rookie of the Year
1980 NL Gold Glove - OF
1980 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1981 NL Gold Glove - OF
1981 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1982 NL Gold Glove - OF
1983 NL Gold Glove - OF
1983 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1984 NL Gold Glove - OF
1985 NL Gold Glove - OF
1987 NL MVP
1987 NL Gold Glove - OF
1987 NL Silver Slugger - OF
1988 NL Gold Glove - OF
All-Star Selections: 8 (1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991)
League Leader
1983: Hits, Total Bases
1987: Homeruns, RBI, Total Bases
Career Ranks
Games: 32nd
Hits: 45th
Runs: 85th
HR: 35th
RBI: 29th
2B: 42nd
TB: 24th
RC: 64th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 11 (204) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 164 (68) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 43.7 (115) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 118.0 (118) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 5 (Billy Williams, Tony Perez, Al Kaline, Ernie Banks, Dave Winfield)
Other Similar Batters: Dave Parker, Harold Baines, Dwight Evans, Vada Pinson, Fred McGriff
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1976: 1/0.4
1977: 18/5.8
1978: 21/6.0
1979: 24/5.6
1980: 29/9.1
1981: 25/10.7
1982: 26/9.1
1983: 28/8.0
1984: 12/4.9
1985: 16/4.0
1986: 16/4.8
1987: 20/7.2
1988: 19/7.9
1989: 13/4.8
1990: 22/6.4
1991: 20/5.4
1992: 16/6.4
1993: 7/2.1
1994: 1/0.7
1995: 4/0.2
1996: 2/0.0
Career Win Shares: 340
Career WARP3: 109.5
Would he get my vote?
No. Maybe I'm just too tough on outfielders as I've gone through about five of them on this ballot that I was just underwhelmed enough by them that I can't give them a vote. Dawson is the one I did the most waffling on due to defensive brilliance early in his career although his last three or four Gold Gloves were purely reputation awards. Part of the argument for him seems to be that if he hadn't his knees destroyed by the awful Olympic Stadium turf he would have reached several major career milestones which I wouldn't necessarily disagree with. But injuries and the enviroment you play in are part of the game so I can't really justify giving Dawson a bonus for what he might have done had he played on grass his whole career. I'm just not completely blown away by his peak and unimpressed by his career after age 28. Has received solid support though and if he ever does get in hopefully the HOF does the right thing and has him wear an Expos cap.
Bert Blyleven - Starting Pitcher
Minnesota Twins 1970-1976, 1985-1988
Texas Rangers 1976-1977
Pittsburgh Pirates 1978-1980
Cleveland Indians 1981-1985
California Angels 1989-1992
10th year on the ballot
Past HOF Voting Results
1998: 17.55%
1999: 14.08%
2000: 17.43%
2001: 23.50%
2002: 26.27%
2003: 29.23%
2004: 35.38%
2005: 40.89%
2006: 53.30%
Awards
None
All-Star Selections: 2 (1973, 1985)
League Leader
1971: K/BB
1973: Shutouts, K/BB, ERA+
1977: WHIP
1985: Innings, Strikeouts, Complete Games, Shutouts
1986: Innings, K/BB
1989: Shutouts
Career Ranks
Wins: 26th
IP: 13th
K: 5th
CG: 91st
SHO: 9th
K/BB: 44th
K/9: 99th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Pitching - 16 (129) (Average HOFer ≈ 40)
Gray Ink: Pitching - 239 (24) (Average HOFer ≈ 185)
HOF Standards: Pitching - 50.0 (36) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Pitching - 120.5 (68) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Pitchers in HOF: 8 (Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, Fergie Jenkins, Robin Roberts, Tom Seaver, Early Wynn, Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton)
Other Similar Pitchers: Tommy John, Jim Kaat
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1970: 10/3.7
1971: 20/8.4
1972: 19/7.4
1973: 29/12.3
1974: 23/10.0
1975: 21/8.7
1976: 20/9.3
1977: 21/8.2
1978: 16/6.2
1979: 13/3.8
1980: 9/2.9
1981: 14/8.2
1982: 1/0.2
1983: 10/4.3
1984: 20/9.2
1985: 23/9.9
1986: 18/7.9
1987: 18/7.5
1988: 4/2.2
1989: 22/7.9
1990: 3/1.3
1992: 5/2.5
Career Win Shares: 339
Career WARP3: 142.0
Would he get my vote?
Yes. Blyleven's plight to get into the HOF has been well documented by now. Many voters in the past have immediately written him off because he never won a Cy Young and because he had only two All-Star selections. Of course a player's total number of All-Star selections can be taken with a grain of salt since they are based mostly on what a player did the first three months of the season and with pitcher selections they are heavily influenced by their win/loss record. Blyleven for his career was 150-140 with a 3.47 ERA in the first half of the season but 137-110 with a 3.12 ERA in the second half, so he did his best pitching after the ASB. Another reason why Blyleven has been ignored in the past as well is as you see didn't lead his league in many categories. But for his career he was in the Top 10 ERA ten times, Wins six times, WHIP 11 times, Strikeouts 15 times, Complete Games 12 times, and Shutouts ten times. Nevermind of course he's in the Top 10 all-time in both strikeouts and shutouts. In addition of the eight HOF comps he has only Tom Seaver had a better career ERA+. Many writers are slowly coming around and long time holdouts are now voting for him. He certainly won't get in this year as no backloggers have a chance but within the next five years it appears he will get in.
