May 18, 1984 - Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Hey, I hope you all are having a great long weekend.  My dad is retired Air Force, so I always get an extra sense of appreciation on Memorial Day.  My family and I are moving houses in the next couple of weeks, so I should be packing instead of Statis Pro-ing, but what's better than three free days of simulated ballgames?

Game #479 - Atlanta Braves, 4 @ Pittsburgh Pirates, 1

It was a scoreless game leading into the top of the second when Brad Komminsk ripped a solo blast to give Atlanta the early lead.  Dale Murphy added an RBI single in the third and a Claudell Washington fielder's choice plated Bob Watson in the fourth.  Washington added another solo homer in the sixth and the Braves were triumphant over the Pirates.

Winning Pitcher - Pascual Perez
Losing Pitcher - John Tudor
Save - Steve Bedrosian
Player of the Game - Perez, 7IP, ER, 6H's, 5K's

Game #480 - New York Mets, 9 @ San Diego Padres, 15

Well the Padres offense must have been offended by my recent comments on this site regarding their performance, because they opened up a can of whup-@$$ on the Mets.  Ron Darling gave up three runs in the bottom of the first when six of the first seven batters singled, including a two-RBI hit by Terry Kennedy.  Kennedy plated two more in the fifth, which had the Padres up 5-3 going into the top of the fourth.  But that's when the Mets staged their own comeback.  They tied things up on RBI shots by Keith Hernandez and Hubie Brooks.  Unfortunately for New York, reliever Brent Gaff imploded to the tune of six runs in the bottom half of the inning and the Padres never looked back.

Winning Pitcher - Tim Lollar
Losing Pitcher - Brent Gaff
Player of the Game - Terry Kennedy, 4-4, 2B, 6RBI's, R
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Gwynn, Goose Gossage

May 18, 1984 - Shutouts

Game #477 - Houston Astros, 4 @ Chicago Cubs, 0

Bill Doran went absolutely nuts in this game.  In the real 1984 he only hit four homers, but he had two two-run jacks against the hapless Cubs, bringing his Statis Pro total to three with still three-quarters of the season to play.  Nolan Ryan cruised through seven innings of work while striking out five and the Cubs lost their TENTH game in a row.  Woof.

Winning Pitcher - Nolan Ryan
Losing Pitcher - Chuck Rainey
Player of the Game - Bill Doran, 2-5, 2HR's, 4RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Nolan Ryan, Ryne Sandberg

Game #478 - Montreal Expos, 0 @ Los Angeles Dodgers, 3

The bases were loaded in a tie game in the bottom of the fifth when Expos starter Steve Rogers plunked Orel Hershiser to score the first run of the game.  That was all they'd actually need as Hershiser went the distance for a shutout, thanks in large part to Mike Marshall throwing out Tim Raines at home plate in the top of the ninth.

Winning Pitcher - Orel Hershiser
Losing Pitcher - Steve Rogers
Player of the Game - Hershiser, CG SHO, 8K's, only 4H's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Gary Carter, Andre Dawson

May 18, 1984 - AL East Continues to Dominate

Game #475 - California Angels, 1 @ New York Yankees, 3

The first place Angels traveled to the Bronx in hopes of furthering their lead over the rest of the AL West.  But New York was ready to defend the house that Ruth built.  In the bottom of the second Butch Wynegar doubled and was brought home by a Roy Smalley single.  Smalley moved to second when outfielder Juan Beniquez bobbled the ball.  That allowed a Tim Foli hit to score Smalley too.  Don Baylor added a RBI double in the third to extend the Yankees lead to 3-0.  Rob Picciolo countered with a solo homer in the top of the seventh, but that was all the offense California could muster because Ron Guidry was filthy.  He pitched into the seventh and struck out eight on his way to another victory on the season.  Jay Howell and Dave Righetti were strong in closing the game out.

Winning Pitcher - Ron Guidry
Losing Pitcher - Ron Romanick
Save - Dave Righetti
Player of the Game - Gator
Hall of Famers in the Game - Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew, Dave Winfield

Game #476 - Chicago White Sox, 6 @ Toronto Blue Jays, 8

This was a fun one!

Doyle Alexander was pitching for Toronto, and he's been the leading candidate for Cy Young since the season started.  Britt Burns had the ball for Chicago, and let's be honest, he's no Doyle Alexander.  Cliff Johnson hit an RBI single in the third to plate Damaso Garcia, who has been hitting everything lately.  He added an RBI in the next inning and all of a sudden Toronto was up 3-0.

By the sixth inning it was 5-0, thanks in part to a Jorge Bell blast.  In the top of the eighth, though, the White Sox had enough.  Three straight hits, including an RBI double by Jerry Hairston, chased Alexander out of the game.  With two on reliever Roy Lee Jackson walked Greg Luzinski to load the bases for Greg Walker.  And that's when Walker went to the deli and ordered a GRAND SALAMI!!!  Game tied, 5-5!!!  The next batter was Ron Kittle.  KITTLE PARKED ONE TOO!!!  Chicago was in the lead, 6-5!

In the bottom of the inning Chicago brought in Juan Agosto, a fine lefty reliever.  But Agosto walked Damaso Garcia and the Lloyd Moseby tripled him home!  Game tied!!!  Jorge Bell was up after that, and the White Sox called in Ron Reed.  It didn't matter, because Toronto rang their Bell for a second time in the game - TWO RUN HOMER!!!  Ron Musselman retired the side in the top of the ninth for the save, though the Blue Jays lost Alfredo Griffin for a second time this season, as he went on the DL for fourteen games.  It looks like Griffin won't be able to play in as many games in Statis Pro as he did in the real 1984.

Winning Pitcher - Jim Acker
Losing Pitcher - Juan Agosto
Save - Ron Musselman
Player of the Game - Jorge Bell, 2-5, 2HR's, 3RBI's

May 18, 1984 - Five Up, Five Down

Game #473 - Cleveland Indians, 0 @ Milwaukee Brewers, 5

Don Sutton, he of beautifully permed hair, had the Cleveland batters curled into fits.  (Did I really just type that?  Yes.  Yes I did.)  He tossed a complete game shutout, spreading five hits and a walk, over nine innings.  He also added five strikeouts.  Meanwhile, the Brew Crew knocked Neal Heaton around for five runs.  Robin Yount was 2-4 with two runs scored while Bill Schroeder was 3-3 with three RBI's and a double.

Winning Pitcher - Don Sutton
Losing Pitcher - Neal Heaton
Player of the Game - Sutton
Hall of Famers in the Game - Robin Yount, Don Sutton

Game #474 - Boston Red Sox, 5 @ Minnesota Twins, 6

The Boston Red Sox put up the first two runs of the game when Mike Easler tagged John Butcher with a two run bomb.  Tom Brunansky countered in the bottom half of the first with an RBI double that plated Tim Teufel.  It stayed 2-1 until the third inning, that's when Minnesota scored three, including an RBI double from Mickey Hatcher.

In the top of the fifth Easler again came to the rescue, this time roping a triple that scored Dwight Evans.  Easler then crossed home on a Jim Rice single.  That meant the score was tied at four, but in the top of the sixth Jackie Gutierrez squeezed home Tony Armas.  With Boston now in the lead, Mickey Hatcher once again came to the rescue.  Brunansky had walked, and the Hatcher pulled a "clutch hitting" FAC and doubled him home.  That knotted it back up.

It was still tied until the bottom of the eighth.  Jim Eisenreich singled for the third time and then stole second base.  Randy Bush came in as a pinch hitter and grounded a ball to Gutierrez, but a wild throw led to his second error of the game (and 15th of the season!) and Eisenreich became the winning run!

Winning Pitcher - Ron Davis
Losing Pitcher - Mark Clear
Save - Mike Walters
Player of the Game - Mickey Hatcher, 2-3, 2 2B's, 2RBI's, intentional walk
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Dennis Eckersley, Kirby Puckett

May 18, 1984 - The Real 1984 AL Division Winners Win

Game #471 - Oakland A's, 1 @ Detroit Tigers, 6

Oakland actually scored first in this game, when Mike Davis went big fly out of the nine hole to open the game up for the A's.  Unfortunately for Oakland, that would be all that they managed.  Chet Lemon had a solo homer in the sixth and Kirk Gibson plated three with one of his own in the seventh.

Winning Pitcher - Juan Berenguer
Losing Pitcher - Steve McCatty
Player of the Game - Aurelio Lopez, 2IP, 2k's

Game #472 - Texas Rangers, 3 @ Kansas City Royals, 4

Kansas City didn't hesitate to take the lead, plating two in the first when Jorge Orta singled home Pat Sheridan and Steve Balboni scored Daryl Motley with a sacrifice fly.  They added another run in the fourth when Willie Wilson singled home Frank White.  But the Rangers came storming back in the fifth.  Gary Ward crushed a three-run bomb off Bud Black and suddenly it was a tie game again.  It remained knotted at 3-3 when Onix Concepcion, playing for the first time off the disabled list that he'd been on since the second game of the season, poked a single with the bases loaded to record the eventual game-winning RBI.

Winning Pitcher - Bud Black
Losing Pitcher - Dickie Noles
Save - Dan Quisenberry
Player of the Game - Onix Concepcion

Friend Requests - San Diego Padres Analysis pt. 2

Joey asked for an update on the San Diego Padres, as he's replaying their 1984 season right now.  I think he's doing much better than I am.  Since we looked at the team last summer I've played five more games with them, bringing their record to a still uninspired 14-23.  My primary issue with their performance continues to be their offense.  They can't seem to click at the same time.  Tony Gwynn is his typical excellent self and Graig Nettles is still playing above his 1984 talent level, while Steve Garvey might be the worst starter in the National League for my Statis Pro season.

The offense:

C     Terry Kennedy      1HR, 9RBI   .252/.291/.319/.611
1B    Steve Garvey        3HR, 15RBI  .211/.253/.296/.549
2B    Alan Wiggins        3HR, 25SB   .305/.354/.437/.791
3B    Graig Nettles        6HR, 18RBI   .280/.370/.505/.876
SS    Gary Templeton    0HR, 7RBI    .252/.307/.276/.583
LF    Camelo Martinez   4HR, 22RBI  .267/.351/.450/.802
CF   Kevin McReynolds  3HR, 15RBI .295/.316/.425/.740
RF    Tony Gwynn           2HR, 16RBI  .365/.405/.455/.860

The pitching;

Ed Whitson            3-5   3.95   22k
Eric Show              1-5   6.75   28k
Mark Thurmond     4-2   4.17   14k
Andy Hawkins        1-4   5.31   31k
Tim Lollar               2-2   4.14   37k

Goose Gossage       1-2   3.47   2sv
Craig Lefferts          0-0   0.51    5sv
Dave Dravecky       0-1   3.32    12k

The pitching has been unlucky, so they have to rebound at some point.  And Garvey can't be any worse, or Terry Kennedy for that matter.  I continue to wait for the turnaround!  Joey also asked if I'm using the Avalon printed team cards or another source.  My game came with the 1985 season, but I noticed that those teams were missing the sporadic cup of coffee player here and there, so I went with a third party I found online.

If you're reading this blog and want to know more about your favorite team or submit a lineup, just let me know in the comments!