Game #142 - New York Yankees, 7 @ Cleveland Indians, 0Like Rob Neyer and other baseball nerds, I'm a big fan of knuckle ball pitchers. I was bummed to see Tim Wakefield retire this year, even though he played on the dreaded Red Sox. So these Statis Pro games are a little more fun for me when there's a knuckler on the mound like Phil Niekro.
Steve Farr of the Indians was the opposing pitcher, and through five innings he was tossing a great game. In 1984 Statis Pro Farr has a "2-5" pitcher's rating, which is the worst you can have. That he'd only allowed one run (an RBI single to Steve Kemp) was pretty outstanding. His fortunes changed in the sixth, though. Back to back walks of Willie Randolph and Ken Griffey and back to back singles from Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly ended his day abruptly. Reliever Tom Waddell couldn't prevent his inherited runners from scoring and before you knew it, the Yankees were out front 6-0.
Phil Niekro, meanwhile, had his knuckler dancing. George Vukovich was the only Indian who wasn't fazed by it, going 2 for 2 with a couple of walks. Niekro went the distance for a shutout. Kemp was 4-5 with three RBI's.
Winning Pitcher - Phil Niekro
Losing Pitcher - Steve Far
Player of the Game - Niekro, CG SHO, 7K's, 7H's, 3BB's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Dave Winfield, Phil Niekro
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