May 15, 1984 - Five Alive

Anybody else drink this garbage when they were a kid?

Game #449 - New York Mets, 5 @ San Francisco Giants, 0

New York flew from one coast to the other to play in this one, and showed no effects of jet lag.  The scored two in the top of the first on a Keith Hernandez RBI single and a run scoring when Darryl Strawberry hit into his first of two double plays.  In the seventh inning George Foster had two ducks on the pond with two outs when he took relief pitcher Bill Lacey yard for the three run jack.  Meanwhile, "El Sid" Fernandez went the distance, spreading nine hits across the game while whiffing eleven Giants.

Winning Pitcher - Sid Fernandez
Losing Pitcher - Mike Krukow
Player of the Game - Fernandez, CG SHO, 11K's

Game #450 - Atlanta Braves, 4 @ St. Louis Cardinals, 5

That's right - game number four hundred and fifty.  Another milestone reached!  And wouldn't you know it, it was a very exciting game...

Ozzie Smith squeezed home Andy Van Slyke in the bottom of the second to score the first run of the game. St. Louis added two more in the third on an RBI double by Van Slyke followed by a Tom Herr single.  The Braves finally got on the board in the top of the fifth when Juaquin Andujar let loose a wild pitch that plated Rafael Ramirez.

The Cards still had a 3-1 lead in the top of the seventh with Andujar cruising.  But Glenn Hubbard ripped a double to lead things off.  Trevino moved Hubbard to third when he poked a single.  Pinch-hitter Albert Hall replaced Rick Camp and had an RBI hit to score Hubbard!  Andujar got lifted for Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter, but Sutter surrendered an RBI single to Gerald Perry that tied the game.  Randy Johnson (not the pitcher, the obscure backup third sacker for the '84 Braves) then squeezed home Hall to give Atlanta the lead, 4-3!

Fast forward to the bottom of the ninth with the same score.  Atlanta brought in their ace closer, Steve Bedrosian, to finish off St. Louis.  With one out Darrell Porter singled, though.  Tito Landrum stepped in to hit for Sutter...and smoked a game-tying triple!  The next batter was Lonnie Smith, and Bedrosian beaned him!  Now there were runners on the corners with only one out and Ken Oberkfell at the dish.  I channeled my inner Whitey Herzog and ordered the hit and run...and Oberkfell singled home Landrum for the walk-off win!!!

Winning Pitcher - Bruce Sutter
Losing Pitcher - Steve Bedrosian
Player of the Game - Tito Landrum, pinch-hitting a game tying triple and later scoring the game winning run
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ozzie Smith, Bruce Sutter

May 15, 1984 - East Coast Storming

I hope all you loyal readers on the east coast are bundled up and ready for the snow -  hang in there!

Game #447 - Houston Astros, 3 @ Pittsburgh Pirates, 5

Enos Cabell was a one-man wrecking machine for Houston in this one.  He ripped a triple for two RBI's in the first and added an RBI double in the seventh.  In fact, he was only a home run short of the cycle, that elusive hitting feat which still hasn't happened in this Statis Pro season.

Cabell aside, the Pirates had their own ammo.  They were sparked by a Phil Garner error in the fourth which allowed them to send ten batters to the plate and to chase away starter Joe Niekro.  The previously hot Astros have run into a nemesis dressed in the yellow and black...

Winning Pitcher - Larry McWilliams
Losing Pitcher - Joe Niekro
Save - Kent Tekulve
Player of the Game - Doug Frobel, 3-4, 2R's, RBI

Game #448 - Montreal Expos, 7 @ San Diego Padres, 3

For the life of me I can't figure out how the real 1984 Padres made it to the World Series.  Their Statis Pro team has played TERRIBLY.  It was more of the same in this one.  The Expos already had a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth when Andre Dawson stepped up with the bases chalked.  He went big fly for the grand slam off Andy Hawkins!  Montreal continues their steady climb up the standings in the NL East...

Winning Pitcher - Bill Gullickson
Losing Pitcher - Andy Hawkins
Player of the Game - Andre Dawson, 3-5, grand slam, 4RBI's, 2b
Hall of Famers in the Game - Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Tony Gwynn

May 15, 1984 - Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, blog readers and Statis Pro players.  I actually got these two games in on January 1st, making it a fun way to ring in the next 365 days...

Game #445 - Chicago Cubs, 0 @Cincinnati Reds, 8

This game was a blowout by the sixth inning, but in the midst of the carnage Mario Soto was the runaway star of the game, turning in one of the most impressive games of the Statis Pro season.  His complete game shutout paired well with his day at the plate.  Soto went 2-3 with a double and three RBI's!

Winning Pitcher - Mario Soto
Losing Pitcher - Rick Reuschel
Player of the Game - Soto, CG SHO, 10K's, 2-3, 2B, 3RBI's, 2R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ryne Sandberg

Game #446 - Philadelphia Phillies, 9 @ Los Angeles Dodgers, 7 (10 innings)

This game was a real back-and-forth battle!  It started with LA scoring two in the bottom of the first off Jerry Koosman.  Dave Anderson and Pedro Guerrero hit back to back RBI singles to score the runners from second base.  In the top of the second Juan Samuel hit a solo homer, followed by a two run bomb from Mike Schmidt in the third and a three run jack courtesy of Ozzie Virgil in the fourth!

The Dodgers kept chipping back, though, including a pinch hit home run by German Rivera in the seventh and a game tying sacrifice fly by Steve Sax (scoring Bob Bailor) to tie things up in the eighth.  For the top of the ninth I had Tommy Lasorda trot out the infamous Tom Niedenfuer to pitch to the Phillies.  Loyal blog readers will remember my father's unflappable distrust of the Dodger closer, though he kept Philadelphia from scoring that inning.  But, in the top of the tenth, the combustible version of Niedenfuer took the mound! After back to back singles from Joe Lefebvre and Ivan DeJesus, Niedenfuer struck out Len Matuszek and Von Hayes.  But Garry Maddox pulled a "clutch hitting" card and nailed a bases clearing double to give the Phillies a permanent lead!

Winning Pitcher - Larry Andersen
Losing Pitcher - Tom Niedenfuer
Save - Al Holland
Player of the Game - Garry Maddox, game-winning double, 2RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Mike Schmidt