April 28, 1984 - L,L Cool Jay

Game #255 - Cleveland Indians, 7 @ Detroit Tigers, 8

This game was embarrassing for me, because I made two errors as the "manager," one for each team.

The first mistake came after Broderick Perkins laced a pinch-hit single in the seventh.  He's not a good runner, and he was going to have to be replaced by the speedier Junior Noboa anyway because he had substituted for starting second baseman Mike Fischlin.  Two batters later, Julio Franco roped a single and Perkins tried to score from second.  Kirk Gibson came up throwing and nailed Perkins.  Noboa would have been safe.  It killed the Indians' rally after they had tied the game in the seventh.

The second mistake came in the top of the ninth.  I had left Howard Johnson, an "E7" rated fielder (that's terrible), at third base instead of getting a replacement glove.  Sure enough, HoJo booted a grounder allowing the Indians to tie the game again.  In the bottom of the ninth, though, Lou Whitaker plated the game winning run on a single to win the game.

Winning Pitcher - Willie Hernandez
Losing Pitcher - Mike Jeffcoat
Player of the Game - Lou Whitaker, 3-5, R, 3RBI's, BB

Game #256 - Toronto Blue Jays, 13 @ Kansas City Royals, 3

The Blue Jays keep nipping at the heals of the Tigers for the best record in Statis Pro.  This game was never close.  Larry Gura never made it out of the second inning and ten different Blue Jays scored a run.  Jim Clancy made an unusually strong start, going eight innings and scattering eight hits and two walks.

Winning Pitcher - Jim Clancy
Losing Pitcher - Larry Gura
Player of the Game - Lloyd Moseby, 2-4, 2HR's, 3RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - George Brett

April 28, 1984 - Left of the Dial

A good two games for left handed pitchers!

Game #253 - Seattle Mariners, 2 @ California Angels, 10

Mark Langston got straight jacked in this game.  He couldn't escape the second inning and gave up six runs in the process.  That included Brian Downing's league leading two-run homer.  Meanwhile, Geoff Zahn scattered six hits to handcuff the Seattle offense.

Winning Pitcher - Geoff Zahn
Losing Pitcher - Mark Langston
Player of the Game - Zahn, 8IP, 6H's, 2R's, 2K's


Game #254 - Boston Red Sox, 3 @ Chicago White Sox, 2

This game was pretty ugly, as the Red Sox grounded into four double plays and the White Sox hit into two of their own.  Tony Armas started the scoring when his solo homer went over the wall in the second inning.  A Carlton Fisk passed ball from Richard Dotson set up two more Boston runs in the sixth.  Fisk made up for the gaff in the bottom of the eighth, knocking a home run that plated two.  But Charlie Mitchell shut down the Southside in the bottom of the ninth, including a strikeout of Ron Kittle to end the game.  It's the fifth loss in a row for Chicago.

Winning Pitcher - Bruce Hurst
Losing Pitcher - Richard Dotson
Save - Charlie Mitchell
Player of the Game - Hurst, 8IP, 7H's, 2R's, 6K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk

April 28, 1984 - Ranger Danger

 Game #252 - Texas Rangers, 4 @ Baltimore Orioles, 1

I've mentioned before that the 1985 Topps set was my first as a kid, and that pouring over the backs of these cards is one of the reasons I fell in love with the 1984 season.  Ten year old me and present day me would have both bet all the money in our wallets (surprisingly, still a small amount all these years later) that Jeff Kunkel would never get player of the game status in this recreation.  I thought he was the weakest player included in the set!

Oh to be proven wrong!

The Rangers tagged Bill Swaggerty for three runs in the second inning, one of those RBI's coming from Jeff Kunkel.  Kunkel would score an insurance run in the ninth too.  He even stole a base in the fourth inning!  Danny Darwin scattered seven hits over seven innings, thanks in part to three double plays the Orioles hit into.

Winning Pitcher - Danny Darwin
Losing Pitcher - Bill Swaggerty
Save - Dave Schmidt
Player of the Game - Jeff Kunkel, 3-4, 2R's, RBI, SB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray