April 26, 1984 - White Sux

Game #231 - Chicago White Sox, 6 @ Cleveland Indians, 9

The White Sox had a funny inning in the fifth.  They hit for the cycle, in order of smallest hit to biggest.  With one out Julio Cruz singled.  Lead-off man Jerry Hairston then doubled to plate Cruz.  Vance Law grounded out but Harold Baines tripled to score Hairston.  Next up was Carlton Fisk, and he homered for two RBI's and completion of the cycle!  It gave Chicago the lead but they couldn't make it stick as Cleveland chased away starter Floyd Bannister in the seventh and reliever Ron Reed was gouged for two more runs in the eighth (unearned thanks to a Scott Fletcher error).

Winning Pitcher - Jamie Easterly
Losing Pitcher - Floyd Bannister
Save - Ernie Camacho
Player of the Game - Easterly, 3IP, no runs, good bit of relief after a shaky start from Blyleven.
Hall of Famers in the Game - Carlton Fisk, Bert Blyleven

April 26, 1984 - Mariners Fend Off Boston

Game #230 - Seattle Mariners, 6 vs. Boston Red Sox, 4

Every time Seattle scored first, the Red Sox tied things up.  It started in the fourth and fifth, when Seattle plated their first two runs.  But Dwight Evans and Tony Armas responded with RBI singles to knot it 2-2.  In the sixth Ken Phelps busted a solo homer but backup catcher Gary Allenson tied things up when he brought home Ed Jurak.

The score was eventually 4-4 in the top of the eighth when Seattle torched reliever Bob Stanley for two runs.  Edwin Nunez got out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the inning and put Boston to bed for good in the ninth.

Winning Pitcher - Matt Young
Losing Pitcher - Bob Stanley
Save - Edwin Nunez
Player of the Game - Jack Perconte, 2-4, 2 doubles, 2RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice

April 25, 1984 - Cardinals Keep Abusing Cubs

Game #229 - Chicago Cubs, 2 @ St. Louis Cardinals, 4

For the second game in a row, the Cardinals have Chicago's number.  It all started in the bottom of the first.  Ozzie Smith cranked a triple and Tom Herr managed to hit a sacrifice fly to score the Wizard. 

The Cubs tied the game in the top of the fourth, but Andy Van Slyke knocked in Willie McGee in the bottom half of the the same inning to keep St. Louis ahead.  George Hendrick added a two run homer in the sixth to put the Cardinals out front for good.

Chicago threatened in the top half of the ninth, when Bruce Sutter gave up his first run of the season.  He got out of a jam by getting Keith Moreland to ground into a double play and Jody Davis to strike out.

Winning Pitcher - Joaquin Andujar
Losing Pitcher - Scott Sanderson
Save - Bruce Sutter
Player of the Game - Andujar, 8IP, 1R, 3K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ryne Sandberg, Ozzie Smith

April 25, 1984 - Four Score

Game # 228 - San Francisco Giants, 2 @ San Diego Padres, 4

I tend to have a lot of big first innings in Statis Pro.  I'm not sure if that's a flaw in the game, a coincidence, or just a biased impression.  But the Padres fell right in line with the theory.  Alan Wiggins lead off the bottom of the first and singled and then ended up on second after stealing the base.  Tony Gwynn poked a single but Wiggins stopped at third.  Garvey struck out but Kevin McReynolds roped a double to plate Wiggins.  Giants pitcher Jeff Robinson walked Carmelo Martinez to load the bases with still only one out.  He then walked Graig Nettles for another run scored, struck out Gary Templeton, and once again scored another run for San Diego when he walked Terry Kennedy.  Padres pitcher Mark Thurmond squeaked an infield single for the fourth RBI of the inning.  That would be all the runs San Diego would need because Thurmond went eight innings of stellar pitching to earn his second player of the game honors of the season.

Winning Pitcher - Mark Thurmond
Losing Pitcher - Jeff Robinson
Save - Goose Gossage
Player of the Game - Thurmond, 8IP, 2R's, 4K's, 2-3, RBI
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Gwynn, Goose Gossage

April 25, 1984 - Remember Me?

Howdy friends!

I apologize for the many weeks of not posting.  Life has been crazy with work and family obligations, just one of those seasons of life.  Statis Pro games require a certain degree of solitude to play and that just hasn't happened for me recently.  I've got two games on ice from over a month ago, and even though they were both exciting, the details aren't fresh enough in my mind to give you a good summary.  I'll just stick to the final results - my apologies to Keith Hernandez an John Denny, who both deserve better.

I've also got a second blog that's worth a look:

http://1988topps.blogspot.com/

If you're a fan of over-produced late 1980's baseball cards it should be a good time for you.

Game #226 - New York Mets, 6 @ Montreal Expos, 5

Winning Pitcher - Sid Fernandez
Losing Pitcher - Bryn Smith
Save - Doug Sisk
Player of the Game - Keith Hernandez, 2-5, HR, 2B, 2R's, 3RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Gary Carter, Andre Dawson

Game #227- Pittsburgh Pirates, 0 @ Philadelphia Phillies, 1

Winning Pitcher - John Denny
Losing Pitcher - John Tudor
Player of the Game - Denny, CG SHO, 5H's, 3K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Mike Schmidt