April 8, 1984 - Rain, Raining RBI's, Drought

Game #63 - Pittsburgh Pirates, 1 @ Los Angeles Dodgers, 0
This game had hardly any offense to speak of thanks to the pitching efforts of Jose DeLeon and Orel Hershiser. The score was 0-0 when Tony Pena led off the top of the fifth with a single. He advanced to second on a Bill Madlock ground out and scored thanks to a Dale Berra single. In the top of the sixth, with Marvell Wynne on second and Lee Lacy at bat, the game was rained out due to a "z" play. Since five innings were in the books, the Pirates escaped with a 1-0 win.

Winning Pitcher - Jose DeLeon
Losing Pitcher - Orel Hershiser
Player of the Game - DeLeon, CG SHO, 6K's, 2H's

Game #64 - Chicago Cubs, 12 @ San Diego Padres, 7
This game turned from pitching gem to slug fest like a flip of a switch. Alan Wiggins had a lead off homer in the bottom of the first off of Chuck Rainey to give the Padres a 1-0 lead, and Graig Nettles added another solo homer to make it 2-0 after two. That was all the runs scored through the first six innings as Andy Hawkins was throwing like a bird of prey (pun!). But Hawkins got into trouble in the top of the seventh. With runners on second and third with one out, the Padres intentionally walked Ron Cey to set up the double play, or at least a force out at home. Catcher Jody Davis was at bat for the Cubbies and made San Diego pay - grand slam home run! Suddenly the Cubs had their first lead of the game, 4-2. They added five more runs the next inning, no thanks to Padres reliever Greg Booker. Three of those runs came off another Jody Davis homer! He had seven RBI's in the game. Ryne Sandberg hit yet another home run in the ninth, giving the Cubs a 12-2 lead, but the Padres refused to retire. They scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth, including a second home run from Nettles, but ultimately came up short.

Winning Pitcher - Rich Bordi
Losing Pitcher - Greg Booker
Player of the Game - Jody Davis, 2-4, 2HR's, 7RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ryne Sandberg, Tony Gwynn

Game #65 - St. Louis Cardinals, 10 @ San Francisco Giants, 3
San Fran continues their winless streak to start the season, they just can't get anything done. The Cardinals put up eight runs in the second inning, going through 12 batters in the process and chasing away starter Mark Davis before he could even complete two innings. Every starter in the Cardinals lineup, including pitcher Kurt Kepshire, scored a run.

Winning Pitcher - Kurt Kepshire
Losing Pitcher - Mark Davis
Player of the Game - Kephsire, 7IP, 2R's, 4K's, 3H's, 1-3 w/ a 2B and an RBI
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ozzie Smith

***That concludes April 8! I've updated the standings and stat leaders on the right hand side of the page. I've added batting average, OBP, Slugging, OPS, and even WHIP.

April 8, 1984 - Thon, But Not Forgotten

Game #62 - New York Mets, 1 @ Houston Astros, 11

Today's match up featured veteran knuckle-baller Joe Niekro against the young "El Sid" Fernandez of the Mets. As things turned out, the old timer showed the whipper-snapper a thing or two.

The Mets actually scored first in the top of the eleventh. Jose Oquendo was on third base with Mookie Wilson up. He hit a grounder to third and Oquendo took off for home. 3B Phil Garner got the throw home in time to tag out Oquendo, but Mookie made it to first. He then stole second and catcher Mark Bailey air mailed his throw into the outfield which allowed Wilson to score. It turned out to be the only run for the Mets. Kevin Bass stroked a two run double in the fourth to give the Astros the 2-1 lead, and it was all downhill after that. Houston put up seven runs in the sixth, including a three run homer from 1B Enos Cabell. Niekro finished the game himself, scattering four hits and four walks.

Winning Pitcher - Joe Niekro

Losing Pitcher - Sid Fernandez

Player of the Game - Niekro, CG win, 3K's, 0ER's

Happy Trails - Dickie Thon

It was during this game in the real 1984 that SS Dickie Thon was horribly beaned in the head. Ironically enough, he was hit by a pitch in this Statis Pro game too. The ball wrecked his vision in one eye and it took him years to recover. To his credit, he did make it back to the big leagues, and even became a starter again, though he was never as good as he had been.

Baseball is full of "what if" stories, and I always wondered what would have happened had Thon not been beaned. Ozzie Smith is regarded now as the best NL shortstop of the 1980's, but I think it could have been Thon had he not been injured. In 1982, playing every day for the first time, he had really started to put things together. In 1983, he was the hands-down best SS in the NL. 1984 was his age 26 year, meaning he was just entering his peak years of productivity. What if...

Real 1984: 3R's, 6H's, 1 Triple, .471 SLG, .353 AVG

Statis Pro: 3R's, 7H's, 3 Triples, .542 SLG, .292 AVG

Thon is done for this Statis Pro season. On the bright side, if you're a Craig Reynolds fan, you're going to see his name a lot more on this blog...

April 8, 1984 - NL Arms Race

Game #60 - Montreal Expos, 1 @ Atlanta Braves, 6
The NL Canadians are still winless on the season. Starter David Palmer got bounced around the first three innings before he was finally pulled. He gave up two runs on a Dale Murphy RBI and a Chris Chambliss hit in the first, a Claudell Washington triple in the second, and a three run homer to Glen Hubbard of all people in the third. Expos reliever Dan Schatzeder, though, shut down the Braves after that.

On the flip side Braves pitcher Len Barker was nasty. He held the Expos to four hits through the first eight innings, with the only run he gave up coming in the top of the ninth when Gary Carter went deep. It was a nice redemption for Carter who, on a strange "z" play earlier in the game, had hit a single to right but was thrown out at first by Dale Murphy when he rounded into the field of play instead of towards the stands.

Winning Pitcher - Len Barker
Losing Pitcher - David Palmer
Player of the Game - Barker, CG, 4K's, 1R, 7H's, 0BB's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Pete Rose, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson

Game #61 - Philadelphia Phillies, 0 @ Cincinnati Reds, 2
This game was a real nail biter. Phillies starter Shane Rawley and Reds starter Jay Tibbs were hanging goose eggs on the scoreboard through the first seven innings of play. Tibbs even struck out the side in the third inning.

In the top of the eighth SS Ivan DeJesus reached on an error by Tibbs. C Bo Diaz bunted him over to second, and the Phillies lifted Rawley for pinch hitter Greg Gross, who dribbled an infield hit to put runners on the corners. But Tibbs got 2B Juan Samuel to ground out to short to end the threat.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Phillies brought in their ace reliever, Larry "there was much more to my career than the Jeff Bagwell trade" Andersen. But Dave Parker led off with a double and moved to third on a Dan Driessen ground out. Andersen struck out 2B Ron Oester to make it two outs with Parker still on third. The Reds used pinch hitter Wayne Krenchicki to face Andersen. He ripped a line drive right back to Andersen but Andersen couldn't handle the tough shot. Parker scampered home to break the tie, 1-0 Reds. The scorekeeper gave Andersen the tough error. Then Andersen walked light hitting C Dann Bilardello. Tim Foley pinched hit for Tibbs next, and poked a single to score Krenchicki (these Reds last names are making my spell check explode). Andersen finally escaped after a Gary Redus fly out, but the damage was done. John Franco retired the Phillies in order in the top of the ninth. The victory went to the red legs.

Winning Pitcher - Jay Tibbs
Losing Pitcher - Larry Andersen
Save - John Franco
Player of the Game - Tibbs, 8IP, 0R's, 6K's, 3H's, 0BB's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Mike Schmidt, Tony Perez

April 8, 1984 - Duel of the Knucklers

Game #59 - New York Yankees, 15 @ Texas Rangers, 2

Today's game is the kind of quirky surprise that makes replaying a season with Statis Pro fun: dueling knuckle ball pitchers! The visiting Yankees had Phil Niekro on the mound, while the Rangers countered with Charlie Hough. I wish I can say I was organized enough to make this match up intentional, but alas, fortune favors the nerds!

As it turns out, this wasn't much of a game for Charlie Hough. His knuckle must have been flat, because he gave up eight runs and didn't make it out of the fifth inning. That's two rough starts in a row for Hough. Maybe once the temperatures warm up in May and June his knuckle ball will start jumping? Bobby Meachem, who only had two home runs in the real 1984, took Hough deep for a three run bomb, and Mattingly added a solo shot in the fourth.

Niekro, however, pitched pretty well. He scattered ten hits and three walks over nine innings for the complete game victory. It was already 8-0 before Curtis Wilkerson batted in Wayne Tolleson for the first Rangers run.

There was a funny "z" play in the game too. Rick Cerone, who came in for Butch Wynegar during the blow out, reached base on a Dickie Noles error. But when the "z" card came up, Cerone was caught too far off first and was tagged out in a run down. That might have been the only thing to put a smile on the fictional Texas fans' faces.

Winning Pitcher - Phil Niekro
Losing Pitcher - Charlie Hough
Player of the Game - Don Mattingly, 5-6, 1HR, 4RBI's, 2R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Dave Winfield, Phil Niekro

April 8, 1984 - One Run Victories

Game #57 - Boston Red Sox, 6 @ Oakland A's, 5
The Red Sox started the game with three consecutive doubles, courtesy of Dwight Evans, Wade Boggs, and Jim Rice. I've struggled with the batting order for Boston because they have seven guys who could all be batting third or fourth. I thought I'd lead off with Dewey this time around. Boggs hit another double in the top of the second to bring the Red Sox lead to 4-0. Bruce Hurst pitched out of a lot of jams, only giving up two runs in 6 1/3 innings as the A's left the bases loaded twice without scoring a run. Once Bob Stanley came in, though, the A's made their move. In the bottom of the eighth Tony Phillips knocked in pinch hitter Joe Morgan and Dwayne Murphy followed with a hit of his own. Rickey Henderson scored but Jim Rice threw out Phillips to save a crucial run. In the bottom of the ninth Davey Lopes, who had come in as a pinch runner for Dave Kingman a couple of innings before, hit a lead off solo homer to bring the A's within one of tying. But the A's stranded a runner at first and lost, 6-5.

Winning Pitcher - Bruce Hurst
Losing Pitcher - Keith Atherton (who only gave up one run in 4+ innings of relief work - unfair!)
Save - Charlie Mitchell
Player of the Game - Boggs, 2-3, 2 2b's, 3RBI's, 1R (first player to win POG twice on the season)
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan

Game #58 - Milwaukee Brewers, 1 @ Seattle Mariners, 2
Total pitcher's duel in this one. The Mariners scored a run off Brewer pitcher Bob McClure in the bottom of the second when Spike Owen brought home OF Dave Henderson. Dave Henderson, or "Hendu" as I remember him from his time with the A's, added a solo homer in the fourth to make it 2-0, but that was all the damage McClure allowed in seven and a third. The Brewers didn't score off Salome Barojas until the top of the ninth. With two outs Ben Oglivie walked and Jim Gantner hit a double to cut the lead to one. Barojas got the hook and Edwin Nunez coaxed a pop out from Ted Simmons to end the game.

Winning Pitcher - Salome Barojas
Losing Pitcher - Bob McClure
Save - Edwin Nunez
Player of the Game - Dave Henderson, 2-4, HR, 2B, 2R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Paul Molitor, Robin Yount

April 8, 1984 - Lemon Parade, Bando Played On, Dempsey Ejected

Game #54 - Detroit Tigers, 6 @ Chicago White Sox, 4

This was an exciting, back-and-forth game for D-town and the Southside. The Tigers scratched first when Chet Lemon hit a three run jack in the top of the first to give Detroit the early lead. But the White Sox scored single runs in the second, third, and fourth inning to tie things up thanks to a Ron Kittle solo shot, RBI single from Julio "won't you take me on a sea" Cruz (sorry if my Chris Berman reference just made you throw up in your mouth a little) and a Tom Paciorek RBI double. The Tigers retaliated by hitting a two run homer, this time thanks to Lance Parrish, who was DH-ing for the game. But Harold Baines kept Chicago's hopes alive (wasn't that a TV show?) when he produced his own solo home run. With Detroit leading 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh, SS Scott Fletcher walked and went to second on a sacrifice from Cruz. Rudy Law slapped a single to center field and Fletcher raced for home. He met a "sour" fate, though, because Chet Lemon gunned him down to prevent the tie. Lou Whitaker added yet another homer for the Tigers to leave the final score at 6-4.

Winning Pitcher - Dave Rozema (despite giving up 4 runs in 5IP)

Losing Pitcher - Richard Dotson

Save - Willie Hernandez

Player of the Game - Chet Lemon - 2-5, HR, 3RBI's, OF Assist

Hall of Famers in the Game - Carlton Fisk

Game #55 - Cleveland Indians, 10 @ Kansas City Royals, 3

Royals starting pitcher Paul Splittorff gave up 14 hits in 5 and 2/3 innings, which is definitely the most base knocks a pitcher has given up in a single outing this year. Joe Carter added his fourth homer of the year and C Chris Bando served up a grand salami in the top of the ninth to punctuate KC's humiliation. Royals catcher Don Slaught did manage to throw out two Indians trying to steal second, though it didn't change the final outcome much.

Winning Pitcher - Steve Comer

Losing Pitcher - Paul Splittorff

Player of the Game - Chris Bando, 3-5, Grand Slam

Hall of Famers in the Game - George Brett

Game #56 - Baltimore Orioles, 13 @ Minnesota Twins, 7

Early in the game it looked like the Twinkies would finally get their first win of the season and the O's their first loss. Minnesota scored two runs off Scott McGregor in the bottom of the first. But the O's brutalized pitcher Al Williams in the third inning, as Gary Roenicke hit a three run bomb and Eddie Murray (*swoon*) added a two run homer too. It got worse for the Twins in the sixth. Baltimore added another seven runs. Murray had a two RBI double and 3B Wayne Gross put a ball in the cheap seats to chase off reliever Ron Davis, who surrendered four runs in only a third of an inning.

Things got goofy in the bottom of the sixth. With a 12-2 lead, I drew a "z" card. If you're new to the blog, a "z" card indicates something out of the ordinary is about to happen. In this case, Baltimore catcher Rick Dempsey disagreed with the way the home plate umpire was calling balls and strikes, and was promptly ejected! Rick must be quite the competitor - with a ten run lead he's still protecting his pitcher out there. The Twins had a fun rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring five runs, but it wasn't nearly enough.

Winning Pitcher - Scott McGregor

Losing Pitcher - Al Williams

Player of the Game - Eddie Murray, 2-5, HR, 2B, 4RBI's, 2R's

Hall of Famers in the Game - Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray

Detroit, Cleveland, and Baltimore have continued their torrid start to the season. Who will fade first?

April 8, 1984 - Tip of the Cap

Game #53 - Toronto Blue Jays, 1 @ California Angels, 3

The undefeated Blue Jays were hoping to stay perfect on the season, but they had their work cut out for them facing Ken Forsch. To complicate matters, they had Jim Gott on the mound. In Statis Pro, pitchers are given a "pitching rating" that ranges from 2-5 (the worst) to 2-9 (the best). Gott is a 2-5 for 1984.

The game turned out to be a pitcher's duel. Both Gott and Forsch had blanked their opposing hitters through the first five innings. But in the bottom of the sixth the halos finally put runs on the board. After a Fred Lynn single Doug DeCinces hit a four bagger to give them the 2-0 lead, and C Jerry Narron added an RBI double to score 2B Rob Wilfong.

Forsch still had the Blue Jays scoreless heading into the top of the ninth. Damaso Garcia, however, got a rally started with a single. He moved to second on a ground out by Lloyd Moseby, and to third on a single from George Bell. With runners on the corners I went to the bullpen and called in Don Aase to save the game. Willie Upshaw hit a towering, warning track fly out to right field, but was credited with a sacrifice when Garcia scored to cut the lead to two runs. Aase got Rance Mulliniks to pop out to Rod Carew to end the game.

Winning Pitcher - Ken Forsch
Losing Pitcher - Jim Gott
Save - Don Aase
Player of the Game - Forsch, 8 1/3IP, 5K's, 7H's, 1R
Hall of Famers in the Game - Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson
Happy Trails - time for a new segment! This will be the last we see of Ken Forsch in this Statis Pro season. He only pitched two games in the real 1984 before dislocating his shoulder and missing the rest of the season. He would actually miss all of 1985 too due to elbow spurs and his career would officially end in early 1986 after some unsuccessful appearances. So how did Statis Pro Ken Forsch compare to the real Ken Forsch? Let's look:

Real 1984: 16.1 IP, 1-1, 10K's, 3BB's, 1CG, 2.20ERA
Statis Pro: 17.1 IP, 2-0, 14K's, 2BB's, 1CG, 1.56ERA

It's too bad Forsch got injured, he looked like he was going to have a monster year. Instead, his career basically ended. I'll be putting Bruce Kison into the Angels rotation to fill his spot, but I don't think he'll fill Forsch's shoes.