June 13, 1984 - Sluggers Gonna Slug

Game #781 - Cleveland Indians, 1 @ Oakland A's, 11

Cleveland scored the first run of the game, a sacrifice fly from George Vukovich that plated Brett Butler...and then allowed eleven to Oakland.

Ouch.

Dave Kingman hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first.  Bill Almon hit a solo bomb in the second.  Oakland scored three more in the third before Dwayne Murphy launched a grand slam in the fourth.

It was ugly for Cleveland.

Winning Pitcher - Steve McCatty
Losing Pitcher - Neal Heaton
Player of the Game - Dave Kingman, 2-3, HR, 3RBI, BB, 3R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Rickey Henderson

Game #782 - St. Louis Cardinals, 1 @ Philadelphia Phillies, 2

Bob Forsch was a good major league pitcher over his career but was awful in the real 1984 season.  He should be in Statis Pro, too, but for some reason he's been incredibly lucky so far.

That continued, to a degree, in this one too.

Juan Samuel was standing on third base with one out when John Denny grounded to Ozzie Smith.  Samuel broke to home and beat Smith's throw for the first score of the game.  Forsch got in and out of jams the rest of the way until the bottom of the seventh.  After allowing to straight hits in the seventh he got lifted in favor of Jeff Lahti.  Lahti was in a pickle, inheriting runners on first and third.  But he recorded back to back strikeouts against Gary Maddox and Greg Gross.  That brought up Mike Schmidt, and Schmidt roped a double to score Tim Corcoran and give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

In the top of the eighth Tito Landrum walked and later scored on an Ivan DeJesus fielding error.  But Al Holland got two innings of relief in to save the game for John Denny.

Winning Pitcher - John Denny
Losing Pitcher - Bob Forsch
Save - Al Holland
Player of the Game - Mike Schmidt, 1-3, 2B, RBI, BB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ozzie Smith, Mike Schmidt

Happy Trails...Mark Salas

1984 marked the brief rookie debut of Mark Salas, mostly known for his days as a backup catcher over eight years in the big leagues.  Salas was on the active roster for the Statis Pro Cardinals due to Darrell Porter's injury.  Let's see how he did:

The Real 1984:  .100AVG, .100OBP, .150SLG, .250OPS, 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R
Statis Pro 1984:  .273AVG, .280 OBP., .364 SLG, .644OPS, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 0 R

Salas only played in 14 games in the real 1984 and didn't make much of an impact, while his Statis Pro self got quite a bit luckier with the bat.  His wRAA in Statis Pro was still negative (-0.8), so he wasn't that much better.  It would have been fun to see Salas in a 1985 season replay, as he hit .300 and was the primary starter for the Minnesota Twins.

June 13, 1984 - Coming Down to the Last Inning

Game #779 - Baltimore Orioles, 2 @ Milwaukee Brewers, 6

This game started off as a nice pitcher's duel.  Storm Davis of the Orioles and Moose Haas of the Brewers were both in fine form.

The first damage of the game came in the bottom of the second.  Rick Manning hit a solo homer with two outs off Davis.  The Brewers struck again in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out, RBI single by Jim Gantner that plated Robin  Yount.

Davis settled down after that while Haas cruised into the top of the seventh.  With two outs and Gary Roenicke on third, Rich Dauer ripped a double for Baltimore's first run.  Then Al Bumbry singled home Dauer and the game was tied up!

It was still knotted at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth.  Storm Davis was still pitching when he loaded the bases off an error, single, and a walk.  That brought up Yount with the bases juiced.  HE WENT YARD.  GRAND SLAM WALK-OFF!!!

Winning Pitcher - Ray Searage
Losing Pitcher - Storm Davis
Player of the Game - Robin Yount, 2-5, GS, 4RBI, 2R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, Robin Yount

Game #780 - Pittsburgh Pirates, 5 @ New York Mets, 4

I thought this game would be another pitcher's duel with Doc Gooden and John Tudor on the mound, but that wasn't quite the case...

The Mets scored first in the bottom of the first when a Keith Hernandez sacrifice fly scored Mookie Wilson.  The Pirates gained the lead in the second, though, on RBI hits from Tudor (!) and Marvelle Wynne.

New York surged ahead in the bottom of the third.  George Foster and Ron Gardenhire hit back to back RBI singles to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.  Foster added another run with a solo homer in the fifth, his third hit of the day.

But in the top of the sixth Doc Gooden had a runner on first with two outs when Doug Frobel stepped up.  He promptly jacked a two-run homer to tie the game!  Gooden would strike out the last batter in the sixth, his tenth "K" of the game, before getting lifted for a pinch-hitter.

Fast forward to the top of the ninth.  Wes Gardner surrendered four straight hits after recording the first hit, including an RBI single by Lee Lacy.  That one run would be the difference as Cecilio Guante got three outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Winning Pitcher - Don Robinson
Losing Pitcher - Wes Gardner
Save - Cecilio Guante
Player of the Game - Don Robinson, 2.1 IP, 3K's, 0H's & 0R's

June 13, 1984 - Bailed Out

Game #777 - Cincinnati Reds, 3 @ Houston Astros, 6

Eddie Milner stood on third base with two outs in the top of the first when Dave Parker poked a ball into the outfield for the RBI and early 1-0 lead.  Houston went out front in the bottom of the third thanks to a two-run homer by Jose Cruz.

The Reds were still trailing by a run in the top of the fourth when Tom Lawless, playing second base for the injured Ron Oester, had runners on second and third.  He lined a single to plate two runs and, once again, give the Reds a lead.  But Terry Puhl tied it up again in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI to make it 3-3.

It stayed at that score until the bottom of the eighth.  The Astros combined for four doubles (Craig Reynolds, Mark Bailey, Phil Garner, and Bill Doran) for three runs off pitchers Ted Power and Bob Owchinko.  Bill Dawley closed things out in the top of the ninth and Houston secured the win.

Winning Pitcher - Frank DiPino
Losing Pitcher - Ted Power
Save - Bill Dawley
Player of the Game - Mark Bailey, 2-3, 2B, RBI, BB, 2R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Perez

Game #778 - San Francisco Giants, 5 @ Los Angeles Dodgers, 9

My dad was back in town for Christmas, and his beloved Dodgers were due to play again for the first time since he managed them over Thanksgiving, so he put his coach's hat on and channeled his inner Tommy Lasorda once more.

Things started off terribly for him.  My Giants had runners on second and third with two outs when my father elected to intentionally walk Scot Thompson in order to face Joel Youngblood.  Youngblood didn't take to that too kindly and jacked a GRAND SLAM off Alejandro Pena to put my dad in a bad mood while I started giggling.

In the top of the second Johnnie LeMaster led off with a single and stole second base.  Mike Scoiscia's throw went into the outfield and LeMaster scored on the error.  The Dodgers did pick up their first run in the bottom of the second thanks to an RBI from Ken Landreaux, my longtime nemesis when playing against my father.

The Giants were still up, 5-2, going into the bottom of the sixth.  The Dodger bats exploded, led in large part by pinch-hitter Bob Bailor's bases clearing double.  They scored four runs total to go up by a run.  In the bottom of the seventh two fielding errors by backup shortstop Joe Pittman led to three more runs and my Dad ended the day with a smile on his face.

Winning Pitcher - Alejandro Pena
Losing Pitcher - Bob Lacey
Save - Tom Niedenfuer
Player of the Game - Bob Bailor, 1-2, 2B, 3RBI, R

June 13, 1984 - New Hall of Famers

I know there was a lot of controversy over the recent selection of Harold Baines and Lee Smith to the Hall of Fame, but as the operator of a Statis Pro blog of the 1984 season, I love it.  I love seeing new players from this era of baseball go in.  I felt the same way when Morris and Trammell were selected.  Part of my excitement about it is how unexpected it is.  When I started this experience I thought, with the exception of Tim Raines, I wouldn't really see any new folks going in.  It's a lot more fun to know I have a Hall of Famer batting second for the White Sox, or that I'm calling a Hall of Famer into the game from the Wrigley bullpen. 

And so it was a lovely coincidence that the White Sox and Cubs were my next two games!

Game #775 - Chicago White Sox, 10 @ California Angels, 9 (17 innings!!!)

Here we have it...the longest game of the year.

It started off as a blowout.  The Angels scored four runs in the bottom of the first when Brian Downing and Rob Wilfong both hit two-run homers.  They added three more runs on a bomb from Reggie Jackson in the second. 

Mike Witt was cruising against the Sox until the top of the fifth.  He loaded the bases for Julio Cruz, and the slap hitter defied all expectations by blasting a grand slam!  Chicago scored two more runs in the top of the sixth, and suddenly, they were only down by a run.

Cruz was on base for the third time of the game in the eighth when HALL OF FAMER Harold Baines ripped a double to plate him for the tying run.  From there...the bullpens did battle.  Don Aase pitched 2.2 innings through the tenth.  Ron Reed and Juan Agosto of the Sox matched him. 

In the top of the 11th Bruce Kison took over for the Angels, and he was the last arm available.  Bert Roberge did the same for Chicago, though they still had other arms ready.  Kison looked like he blew the game in the top of the 12th.  Tom Paciorek singled and, two batters later, Jerry Hairston came in to pinch-hit.  He promptly jacked a two-run homer to give the Sox the lead!  BUT...in the bottom of the 12th, the Angels responded!  Mike Brown, playing his first game of the season with Gary Pettis on the DL, went big-fly to tie the game!!!  More free baseball!!!

Kison kept plowing away through the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th...  Roberge made it through the 14th before giving way to Jerry Don Gleaton.  In the top of the 17th, with two outs and in his seventh inning of work, Kison finally yielded again.  Carlton Fisk launched a solo homer to give the White Sox the lead again!  (The game going this long was kind of ironic because in the real 1984 Fisk set the MLB record for most innings caught in a game - 24!  That was seven more than this one!!!)

Still, the Angels wouldn't go down without a fight.  Doug DeCinces singled with one out, and moved to second when Gleaton walked Wilfong.  But Fred Lynn, pinch-hitting in the bottom of the 17th (I was trying to give him the day off), grounded out to end the game.  After 17 freakin' innings.

Winning Pitcher - Jerry Don Gleaton
Losing Pitcher - Bruce Kison
Player of the Game - Carlton Fisk, GW HR
Hall of Famers in the Game - Carlton Fisk, Harold Baines, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew

Game #776 - Montreal Expos, 1 @ Chicago Cubs, 10

This game was scoreless until the bottom of the second.  The bases were juiced when Gary Matthews launched an RBI double, and later scored on a Thad Bosely single.  That ultimately gave the Cubs a five-run lead.  Matthews added a three-run homer in the eighth to pad their lead, while HALL OF FAMER Lee Smith pitched a scoreless ninth to end the game.

Winning Pitcher - Steve Trout
Losing Pitcher - Bill Gullickson
Player of the Game - Gary Matthews, 2-5, 2B, HR, 4RBI, 2Rs, SB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tim Raines, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg

June 13, 1984 - Comeback to Me

Game #774 - New York Yankees, 10 @ Boston Red Sox, 9

The ol' Gotham vs. Beantown rivalry is alive and well.

Butch Wynegar drove in two runs in the top of the first to open the flood gates, but Boston erupted to take the lead in the bottom  half of the frame.  The first six Red Sox reached base, including a Bobby Meacham fielding error that plated two of the five runs they scored off Dennis Rasmussen.

In the top of the sixth the Yanks were down 7-2 when Wynegar hit a solo shot.  But again, the Red Sox had an answer in the bottom half of the inning when Tony Armas went yard, scoring himself and Dwight Evans.

Fast forward to the top of the eighth - Rich Gale was working his second inning of relief when he allowed the first five Yankees to reach base.  Gale got yanked (get it!?) for Bob Stanley "Hoover."  He certainly "sucked" - he allowed three more Yankees to score, making it a tie game at nine apiece!

In the top of the ninth Ken Griffey led off with a double and then moved to third on a passed ball by backup catcher Jeff Newman.  Wynegar flew out to shallow right, unable to advance Griffey.  Roy Smalley grounded out to third, keeping Griffey stranded with two outs.  That's when Andre Robertson stepped up, a late game sub at second base.  But he poked a single to plate Griffey!  Dave Righetti did allow two base runners in the bottom of the ninth but Boston couldn't bring them home.  It was quite the comeback for New York.

Winning Pitcher - Jay Howell
Losing Pitcher - Bob Stanley
Save - Dave Righetti
Player of the Game - Ken Griffey, 2-4, RBI, 2B, 2R's, BB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice

Anything You'd Like to See?

Hello everyone!

I've got the stats and standings updated through June 12.  But I also realized I blitzed right through the normal "Week in Review" post I do, so I apologize if you've been waiting for that on pins and needles.

Being midway through June means we're creeping closer to the All-Star game.  Ideally I'd love for readers to vote on who they'd like to see start, but Blogger got rid of the poll app a couple of years ago much to my displeasure.  I'll have to see if there's a workaround for that.

I've noticed the comments have been empty on most of the recent posts.  Please feel free to let me know if you have questions on how the season is progressing, etc.  As always, I'm happy to take suggestions or give you a shot at designing a lineup for your favorite team. 

Thanks for following along on this insane quest...

June 12, 1984 - Call an Ambulance!

Game #773 - Detroit Tigers, 10 @ Toronto Blue Jays, 7

You would think with Jack Morris and Dave Stieb on the mound we'd get a pitcher's duel but both starters got hammered.

Stieb lasted just five innings, giving up three homers (including an inside the park job - more on that later).  One of those taters was a grand slam from Alan Trammell.

Morris got two outs in the seventh before finally getting yanked in favor of Willie Hernandez.  It was enough for the win, though he allowed five runs.

The real story of the game was the "Z" injuries - there were three different incidents!

#1 - In the top of the second Rupert Jones lined out to Damaso Garcia, but Garcia injured his hand on the play and will be out for 4 games.

#2 - In the bottom of the third, Kirk Gibson and Jones banged into each other trying to catch a Willie Aikens liner.  Gibson will be out for five games while Jones was lucky to only be gone for 15 (he has an injury rating of 8, which means whatever random number you pull next.)

#3 - In the top of the fourth Chet Lemon hit a deep shot that caused Lloyd Moseby to crash into the wall and allowed Lemon to make it an insider the park home run!  That's just the second one of those in 773 games played, so it was pretty cool.

Winning Pitcher - Jack Morris
Losing Pitcher - Dave Stieb
Player of the Game - Alan Trammell, 2-5, 2B, GS, 6RBI, R
Hall of Famers in the Game - Alan Trammell, Jack Morris

June 12, 1984 - Give Me All The Homers!

Game #771 - Kansas City Royals, 6 @ Seattle Mariners, 4

This game started as a lefty vs. lefty match-up with Bud Black and Mark Langston pitching against each other.

The scoring started in the third inning.  Langston allowed two runners to reach and a Lynn Jones ground out pushed John Wathan across home plate.  In the bottom half of the inning Jim Presley reached third due in part to a Steve Balboni fielding error.  Presley then scored on a sacrifice fly from Phil Bradley.

Balboni made up for his fielding gaff in the fourth with a solo homer.  But the Mariners busted the scoring open by scoring three in the bottom of the inning.  Jim Presley roped a two-RBI double and then scored on a hit from Bob Kearney of all people.

The Royals chipped back when they scored a run in the fifth and eighth inning, making it all tied up in the top of the ninth.  Edwin Nunez gave up a single to Dane Iorg and up stepped Balboni.  And then Balboni hit the ball a very, very long distance.  And then he slowly trotted around the bases, having given the Royals a two-run lead.  Dan Quisenberry pitched two innings for the win and KC is now two games above .500!  The only bad news came via a collision between Onix Concepcion and Lynn Jones, you won't be seeing their names in the box scores anytime soon.

Winning Pitcher - Dan Quisenberry
Losing Pitcher - Edwin Nunez
Player of the Game - Steve Balboni - 2-5, 2HRs, 3RBI
Hall of Famers in the Game - George Brett

Game #772 - Minnesota Twins, 9 @ Texas Rangers, 0

Statis Pro is a funny game because weird things can happen.  For instance, Frank Viola was deemed "bad" at the start of the game, reducing his pitcher card to a 2-5 (which isn't good if you're unfamiliar with how Statis Pro works).  All he did moving forward was pitch a complete game shutout. 

And the Twins offense?  They hit homers.  Four of them.

#1 - Tom Brunansky in the top of the fifth with two men on.

#2 - Kent Hrbek immediately after Brunansky did.

#3 - Tim Laudner in the top of the sixth with one on.

#4 - Tim Teufel in the top of the eighth with a runner on too.

It wasn't a good day for the last place Rangers.

Winning Pitcher - Frank Viola
Losing Pitcher - Mike Mason
Player of the Game - Viola, CG SHO, 6K's, 7H's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Kirby Puckett

June 12, 1984 - Dramatic Homers for the Win

Game #769 - St. Louis Cardinals, 5 @ Philadelphia Phillies, 6 

The Phillies drew first blood in the bottom of the second when Ivan DeJesus tripled and later scored on a Marty Bystrom double.  Bystrom scampered across home on a rare Tom Herr fielding error and the Phils were up 2-0.

The Cardinals took the lead in the top of the third, though.  They plated three runs, including a two-run homer from Tom Nieto, who must be on 'roids the way he's hitting with Darrell Porter on the DL.  Joe Lefebvre, though, tied it up with a solo homer in the bottom half of the third.

Mike Schmidt made a terrible error in the fourth that allowed both Herr and Ozzie Smith to score, which gave the Cardinals a two-run advantage. 

The score stayed 5-3 into the bottom of the ninth.  Bruce Sutter was in his third inning of relief when John Wockenfuss poked a single.  Two batters later Schmidt drew a walk and Sutter was in trouble.  Up stepped Garry Maddox...WHO TOOK SUTTER DEEEEEP!  HOME RUN!!!!  A WALK-OFF HOMER!!!

Winning Pitcher - Larry Andersen
Losing Pitcher - Bruce Sutter
Player of the Game - Garry Maddox, 2-2, HR, 3RBI, Gatorade Bath
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ozzie Smith, Bruce Sutter, Mike Schmidt

Game #770 - Atlanta Braves, 4 @ San Diego Padres, 3 (10 innings)

Graig Nettles bombed Craig McMurtry in the bottom of the first to give the Padres a quick 3-0 lead after one inning of play.  But Dave Dravecky gave up two runs in the third on a Claudell Washington single and a sacrifice fly by Randy Johnson.  Johnson singled home Glenn  Hubbard in the fifth to tie the game up.

It stayed knotted through nine innings and that meant free baseball.  The Padres bullpen was depleted after going extra innings the night before so they were forced to bring in Luis DeLeon.  The first batter he faced, Claudell Washington, put a ball into the right field bleachers.  Terry Forster worked two innings of relief for the win and the Padres have now lost five in a row.

Winning Pitcher - Terry Forster
Losing Pitcher - Luis DeLeon
Player of the Game - Claudell Washington, 2-4, HR, 2RBI
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Gwynn

June 12, 1984 - Catch(er) of the Day

Game #767 - Pittsburgh Pirates, 5 @ New York Mets, 4

Johnny Ray smoked a one-out double off Sid Fernandez in the top of the first and scored two batters later thanks to a Tony Pena single.  The Mets answered back in the bottom of the first, though, thanks to a two-run homer by Keith Hernandez.

The Pirates tied it up in the second, though, when Dale Berra, a disaster at the plate this year for Pittsburgh, hit a rare solo homer.  It stayed 2-2 until the bottom of the fifth.  Hernandez walked with one out and then George Foster took Rick Rhoden over the left field wall to give the Metropolitans a two-run lead.

Pittsburgh wouldn't be denied, however.  Tony Pena hit a lead-off single in the sixth and later scored on a Rhoden double.  Rhoden hit seventh in the lineup thanks to a +.300 batting average in the real 1984. 

In the eighth Doug Sisk was working his second inning of relief when he imploded.  With one out he walked Pena and gave up a hit and run single to Bill Madlock, playing his first game since coming off the DL.  With Pena on third Marvelle Wynne hit a single off new pitcher Jesse Orosco.  Orosco gave up another hit, this time to Rhoden for what would be the winning RBI of the game.

Winning Pitcher - Rick Rhoden
Losing Pitcher - Doug Sisk
Save - Rod Scurry
Player of the Game - Tony Pena, 2-4, RBI, BB, 2Rs

Game #768 - Cleveland Indians, 9 @ Oakland A's, 4

This game was over as soon as it started.  Tim Conroy made his first start of the season and got SHELLED.  Chris Bando hit a two-run homer in the first, followed by a three-run homer from Joe Carter in the same inning.  Cleveland poured three more runs on from, you guessed it, another home run.  This time it was Andre Thornton going deep.

The A's did manage a four-run eighth inning to put a light scare in the Cleveland dugout but Tom Waddell finally shut the door on the hopes of Oakland.

Winning Pitcher - Rick Sutcliffe
Losing Pitcher - Tim Conroy
Player of the Game - Chris Bando, 2-3, HR, 2B, HR, 2BBs, 3Rs
Hall of Famers in the Game - Rickey Henderson