June 15, 1984 - Shutty

We've got ourselves three straight games of shutouts to end the day!  Somewhat unusual...

Game #809 - New York Mets, 9 @ St. Louis Cardinals, 0

Ron Darling had the Cardinals on lock-down for the entire game.  St. Louis only managed to put more than one runner on base at a time twice in nine frames, and both times Darling escaped the jam.

Kurt Kepshire, meanwhile, had his worst game of the year.  A surprise top performer this season, he only completed four innings before being chased off in the top of the fifth.  Mookie Wilson was a big nemesis on the day, falling short of the cycle without a double but with a two-run homer and a triple to pair with a single and walk.  Darryl Strawberry added two doubles himself as every non-pitching Mets starter recorded at least one hit.

Winning Pitcher - Ron Darling
Losing Pitcher - Kurt Kepshire
Player of the Game - Darling, CG SHO, 6H's, BB, 4K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ozzie Smith

Game #810 - Boston Red Sox, 0 @ Toronto Blue Jays, 13

There were four - FOUR - bean balls in this affair.  I know one of you faithful readers pointed out a way to simulate a benches clearing brawl a couple of years back, I need to go and find that.  Could be fun to spice it up.

Cliff Johnson had himself a day.  He homered in the bottom of the first to give Toronto the only lead they'd need on the day.  Then he singled home a run the third to make it 3-0.  He made it to the plate twice in the sixth, walking the first time and then clearing loaded bases with a double in his second at-bat.  He was a triple shy of the cycle.  Scroll to the bottom of this entry to see a hilarious video I saw a few years back and have been waiting patiently to include if/when Johnson was ever Player of the Game again.

Jim Clancy was worth of praise two.  He tossed the shutout and only gave up four hits and walk to go along with his five K's.

Winning Pitcher - Jim Clancy
Losing Pitcher - Bob Ojeda
Player of the Game - Cliff Johnson, 3-4, 2B, HR, 3R's, 6RBI, BB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice


This was the last game for June 15th - the stats on the sidebars have been updated!

June 15, 1984 - Craziest Game of the Year? Plus Tanana too..

Game #807 - San Francisco Giants, 13 @ San Diego Padres, 14 (10 innings!)

We've got a front runner for the craziest game of the year, so I'm going to do an inning by inning recap:

1st - Al Oliver doubled home Jack Clark in the top of the first but a pair of two run homers by Carmelo Martinez and Graig Nettles gave the Padres a 4-1 lead

2nd - no scoring.

3rd - Chris Brown singled home Jeff Leonard, cutting the lead to 4-2.

4th - A Nettles fielding error allows Manny Trillo to score, now it's just a one run lead for the Padres, 4-3.

5th - A Jack Clark solo homer and back to back doubles by Oliver and Brown give the Giants a sudden 6-4 lead!

6th - RBI singles by Tony Gwynn and Martinez knot the game back up!  6-6.

7th - Solid reliever Greg Booker gives up an unexpected three runs in the top of the inning, but Frank Williams gives up four in the bottom of the frame and the Padres are back out in front, 10-9.

8th - Bob Brenly solo homers off Goose Gossage to tie the game, but Nettles responds with his own tater to keep San Diego out front, 11-10.

9th - Gossage implodes in the top of the ninth, including surrendering four straight singles at one point, giving the Giants a two-run lead with their ace reliever, Gary Lavelle, on the mound for the save.  But Kevin McReynolds records his lone hit of the day, a two-run bomb, to tie the game and force things into extra innings!

10th - The Padres last available reliever, Jose DeLeon, strikes out the side in the top of the 10th.  Scott Garrelts loads the bases before giving up the game-winning single to Bobby Brown - walk-off win for the Padres!!!

Winning Pitcher - Jose Deleon
Losing Pitcher - Scott Garrelts
Player of the Game - Bobby Brown, 2-2, R, GWRBI
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Gwynn, Goose Gossage

Game #808 - Texas Rangers, 9 @ Seattle Mariners, 0

The Mariners laid a big ol' egg in this one.  Frank Tanana went the distance for a shutout, and only faced three batters over the minimum thanks to five double plays by his defense.  Only two Mariners made it as far as second base on the day.

Meanwhile, the Rangers offense was paced by Wayne Tolleson, who recorded two triples and three runs.  Buddy Bell and George Wright each chipped in with three RBI.

Winning Pitcher - Frank Tanana
Losing Pitcher - Matt Young
Player of the Game - Tanana, CG SHO, 4K's, 3H's, 4BB's

June 15, 1984 - Summer Break

Friends...my goodness, it's been too long.  I apologize.  I must confess, though, the posts will be a lot more erratic moving forward.  This summer I started an Ed.D. program and now my free time is spent reading journal articles and swearing about APA formatting.  I squeezed a couple of games in recently, so here we go...

Game #805 - Baltimore Orioles, 4 @ New York Yankees, 5

I was so pumped to play my first game in a couple of months with my beloved O's, but just like the 2019 rivalry, things didn't go well for Baltimore...

They did tag the first three runs of the game on Phil Niekro in the top of the second, though.  Rick Dempsey had an RBI fielder's choice and then Al Bumbry and Mike Young each had run-scoring base knocks.  Butch Wynegar homered in the bottom of the inning to reduce the lead to two.

Dennis Martinez had a fielding error in the third that eventually allowed Oscar Gamble to score.  But it was the fifth inning when the offense poured in three more runs.  Dave Winfield, newly off the injured list, batted home Ken Griffey and then Don Mattingly moved Winfield to third on a double.  A batter later Wynegar came up big again with a two-run single.  Jay Howell and Dave Righetti combined for 2 and 2/3 innings of relief to secure the win.

Winning Pitcher - Phil Niekro
Losing Pitcher - Dennis Martinez
Save - Dave Righetti
Player of the Game - Butch Wynegar, 2-4, HR, 3RBI, R
Hall of Famers in the Game - Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, Dave Winfield, Phil Niekro

Game # 806 - Chicago White Sox, 5 @ Oakland A's, 8

Neither starter looked good in this one.  Curt Young started the game by allowing a double to Jerry Hairston and then a two-run tater to Harold Baines before even recording an out.  But Oakland put up a five-spot in the third, led by a Davey Lopes double and a solo homer off the bat of Dave Kingman.

Back to back doubles from Baines and Carlton Fisk tied the game in the top of the fourth, but Fisk got thrown out at home by Lopes to prevent the South Side from taking the lead.

The game was still knotted 5-5 when ace reliever Ron Reed walked two batters before facing Dwayne Murphy.  Sure enough, Murphy launched one deep into the night to give Oakland a three-run lead.  Bill Caudill was flawless in two innings of relief to save the game for the A's.

Winning Pitcher - Chris Codiroli
Losing Pitcher - Ron Reed
Save - Bill Caudill
Player of the Game - Caudill, 2IP, 2K's, 0R's, 0H's, 0BB's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Harold Baines, Carlton Fisk, Rickey Henderson