April 20, 1984 - Gator

Game #166 - Texas Rangers, 2 @ New York Yankees, 8

Ron Guidry was a dominant pitcher in his day, just a few injuries short of a Hall of Fame career.  1984 was not one of his better seasons, but Statis Pro Guidry hasn't gotten that message.  Despite having a "2-5" pitching rating, sub par in Statis Pro, he has been a ragin' Cajun.

Things didn't begin well for Guidry.  Buddy Bell hit an RBI sacrifice fly and Pete O'Brien added an RBI double to give Texas the early 2-0 lead.  But Charlie Hough gave it away in the bottom of the first.  With the bases loaded he walked three batters.  Steve Kemp, the hottest AL hitter not named Joe Morgan, added a solo homer later as the Yankees rolled.

Winning Pitcher - Ron Guidry
Losing Pitcher - Charlie Hough
Player of the Game - Guidry, 8IP, 6H's, 3K's, 2R's

April 20, 1984 - More Moore, Less Molitor

Game #165 - Seattle Mariners, 2 @ Milwaukee Brewers, 10

Question:  In the real 1984, how many home runs did Charlie Moore hit?

Answer:  Two.

Question:  In the Statis Pro 1984 season, how many home runs did Charlie Moore hit today?
Answer:  Two.

With a warm up jacket like that, I'm surprised he didn't hit 20.

The Brewers jumped all over Seattle starter Matt Young with a three run homer in the first from catcher Bill Krueger.  They added three more on a homer by Moore in the second.  Moore added another jack in the sixth to chase away Young for good, though the Mariner pitcher did have seven strikeouts on the day.

Winning Pitcher - Jamie Cocanower
Losing Pitcher - Matt Young
Player of the Game - Charlie Moore, 2-4, 2HR's, 4RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Paul Molitor, Robin Yount

Happy Trails - Paul Molitor

Today's game was also the last to feature future Hall of Famer member Paul Molitor.  If I'm not mistaken he had a gruesome elbow injury that caused him to miss most of the season.  How did 1984 Molitor compare to Statis Pro Molitor?

Real 1984:  3R's, 10H's, 1 2B, 6RBI's, 1SB, .239SLG, 2W's, 8K's, .217AVG
Statis Pro:   4R's, 13H's, 3 2B, 3RBI's, 0SB, .281SLG, 1W, 11K's, .228AVG

My Statis Pro Molitor had 11 more at-bats, I'm not sure how I got such a difference between the two over 13 games...

April 20, 1984 - I fought the Law...

Game #164 - Chicago White Sox, 11 @ Detroit Tigers, 4

...and Vance Law won!

I feel bad - I completed this game over a week ago but am only now getting around to posting.  This was the busiest week of the year for me professionally, not to mention one of my daughter's and my wife have a birthday last Sunday/this Sunday.  Priorities!

As a kid I was a minor fan of Vance Law.  Maybe it was the glasses, maybe it was the fact his dad played ball too - I've always dug MLB lineage.  He looks more like a junior high science teacher than professional athlete. 

Law's two run homer in the first capped off a quick 3-0 lead for the south side.  Detroit responded in their half of the inning when Chet Lemon doubled home Trammell and Kirk Gibson.  Chicago pulled ahead though, as they managed a whopping six home runs in the game.  Vance had a second one, as did his non-biological brother Rudy, Greg Walker, Ron Kittle, and Greg Luzinski.  Tom Seaver didn't have his best stuff but he did manage to strikeout six Tigers.  Lance Parrish was the lone bright spot for Detroit.  He clubbed two homers of his own.

Winning Pitcher - Tom Seaver
Losing Pitcher - Milt Wilcox
Player of the Game - Vance Law, 3-5, 2B, 2HR's, 3R's, 4RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tom Seaver

April 20, 1984 - Royal Pain

Game #163 - Kansas City Royals, 0 @ Cleveland Indians, 2

There are guys in this Statis Pro league I've started rooting for without any real reason why, and Bert Blyleven is one of them.  Maybe I joined his band wagon because of his delayed enshrinement into the Hall of Fame.  Maybe it was Chris Berman's classic "Bert Be Home Blyleven" nickname, I don't know.  But Bert had a heck of a game today.

Blyleven pitched a complete game shutout.  He limited KC to three hits (two by George Brett) and just one walk.  Meanwhile, his battery mate Chris Bando hit two solo homers to provide all the offense Cleveland needed.

It looks like the picture taken in this card was Cleveland's old Municipal Stadium.  I went to one game there, and it is by far the worst stadium I ever sat in.  The seats were so small and crowded your knees ran into the next row, not to mention they didn't even face towards the action.  What's your least favorite ballpark?

Winning Pitcher - Blyleven
Losing Pitcher - Bud Black
Player of the Game - Blyleven
Hall of Famers in the Game - George Brett, Bert Blyleven

April 20, 1984 - A Complete Major League Season

Game #162 - Oakland A's, 1 @ Boston Red Sox, 9

I just finished the 162nd game of season.  If I had stuck to one team and played their season only, it would have wrapped up.  That feels like an accomplishment.  Does that mean I'm 1/13th through with the season?

In any event, it wasn't much of a game for Oakland.  Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd was on the mound and didn't have his best stuff, but somehow he went eight innings and only gave up one run.  Tony Phillips managed to go 4 for 4, but the rest of the lineup only scrapped together three more hits.

The Boston offense was well balanced.  Every player recorded a hit, including three solo homers from Marty Barrett, Dwight Evans, and Tony Armas.  The four A's pitchers did induce eleven strikeouts but that was the only highlight for their game.

Winning Pitcher - Dennis Boyd
Losing Pitcher - Curt Young
Player of the Game - Boyd, 8IP, 1R, 5K's, picked off Rickey Henderson
Hall of Famers in the Game - Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan, Wade Boggs, Jim Rice