April 20, 1984 - More Moore, Less Molitor

Game #165 - Seattle Mariners, 2 @ Milwaukee Brewers, 10

Question:  In the real 1984, how many home runs did Charlie Moore hit?

Answer:  Two.

Question:  In the Statis Pro 1984 season, how many home runs did Charlie Moore hit today?
Answer:  Two.

With a warm up jacket like that, I'm surprised he didn't hit 20.

The Brewers jumped all over Seattle starter Matt Young with a three run homer in the first from catcher Bill Krueger.  They added three more on a homer by Moore in the second.  Moore added another jack in the sixth to chase away Young for good, though the Mariner pitcher did have seven strikeouts on the day.

Winning Pitcher - Jamie Cocanower
Losing Pitcher - Matt Young
Player of the Game - Charlie Moore, 2-4, 2HR's, 4RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Paul Molitor, Robin Yount

Happy Trails - Paul Molitor

Today's game was also the last to feature future Hall of Famer member Paul Molitor.  If I'm not mistaken he had a gruesome elbow injury that caused him to miss most of the season.  How did 1984 Molitor compare to Statis Pro Molitor?

Real 1984:  3R's, 10H's, 1 2B, 6RBI's, 1SB, .239SLG, 2W's, 8K's, .217AVG
Statis Pro:   4R's, 13H's, 3 2B, 3RBI's, 0SB, .281SLG, 1W, 11K's, .228AVG

My Statis Pro Molitor had 11 more at-bats, I'm not sure how I got such a difference between the two over 13 games...

April 20, 1984 - I fought the Law...

Game #164 - Chicago White Sox, 11 @ Detroit Tigers, 4

...and Vance Law won!

I feel bad - I completed this game over a week ago but am only now getting around to posting.  This was the busiest week of the year for me professionally, not to mention one of my daughter's and my wife have a birthday last Sunday/this Sunday.  Priorities!

As a kid I was a minor fan of Vance Law.  Maybe it was the glasses, maybe it was the fact his dad played ball too - I've always dug MLB lineage.  He looks more like a junior high science teacher than professional athlete. 

Law's two run homer in the first capped off a quick 3-0 lead for the south side.  Detroit responded in their half of the inning when Chet Lemon doubled home Trammell and Kirk Gibson.  Chicago pulled ahead though, as they managed a whopping six home runs in the game.  Vance had a second one, as did his non-biological brother Rudy, Greg Walker, Ron Kittle, and Greg Luzinski.  Tom Seaver didn't have his best stuff but he did manage to strikeout six Tigers.  Lance Parrish was the lone bright spot for Detroit.  He clubbed two homers of his own.

Winning Pitcher - Tom Seaver
Losing Pitcher - Milt Wilcox
Player of the Game - Vance Law, 3-5, 2B, 2HR's, 3R's, 4RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tom Seaver

April 20, 1984 - Royal Pain

Game #163 - Kansas City Royals, 0 @ Cleveland Indians, 2

There are guys in this Statis Pro league I've started rooting for without any real reason why, and Bert Blyleven is one of them.  Maybe I joined his band wagon because of his delayed enshrinement into the Hall of Fame.  Maybe it was Chris Berman's classic "Bert Be Home Blyleven" nickname, I don't know.  But Bert had a heck of a game today.

Blyleven pitched a complete game shutout.  He limited KC to three hits (two by George Brett) and just one walk.  Meanwhile, his battery mate Chris Bando hit two solo homers to provide all the offense Cleveland needed.

It looks like the picture taken in this card was Cleveland's old Municipal Stadium.  I went to one game there, and it is by far the worst stadium I ever sat in.  The seats were so small and crowded your knees ran into the next row, not to mention they didn't even face towards the action.  What's your least favorite ballpark?

Winning Pitcher - Blyleven
Losing Pitcher - Bud Black
Player of the Game - Blyleven
Hall of Famers in the Game - George Brett, Bert Blyleven

April 20, 1984 - A Complete Major League Season

Game #162 - Oakland A's, 1 @ Boston Red Sox, 9

I just finished the 162nd game of season.  If I had stuck to one team and played their season only, it would have wrapped up.  That feels like an accomplishment.  Does that mean I'm 1/13th through with the season?

In any event, it wasn't much of a game for Oakland.  Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd was on the mound and didn't have his best stuff, but somehow he went eight innings and only gave up one run.  Tony Phillips managed to go 4 for 4, but the rest of the lineup only scrapped together three more hits.

The Boston offense was well balanced.  Every player recorded a hit, including three solo homers from Marty Barrett, Dwight Evans, and Tony Armas.  The four A's pitchers did induce eleven strikeouts but that was the only highlight for their game.

Winning Pitcher - Dennis Boyd
Losing Pitcher - Curt Young
Player of the Game - Boyd, 8IP, 1R, 5K's, picked off Rickey Henderson
Hall of Famers in the Game - Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan, Wade Boggs, Jim Rice

April 20, 1984 - Four Twenty

Game #161 - Minnesota Twins, 2 @ Baltimore Orioles, 8

I chose the title of this post to see how many potheads will boost the number of page views for my blog.  I saw the same thing happen when I stumbled into using "Friday the 13th."

Anyway, onto the game...  The Twins started things off the right way when Tom Brunansky hit a solo homer in the top of the second and DH Randy Bush doubled home Gary Gaetti to give them a 2-0 lead.  Gary Roenicke cut that in half with his own solo homer in the third. 

Things stayed quiet until the bottom of the sixth.  Mike Smithson had been cruising along but loaded the bases with two outs.  Floyd Rayford, one of my all-time favorite Orioles, punched a double to score Eddie Murray and Wayne Gross.  (Lowenstein was held up at third.  When Puckett, Brunansky, and Mickey Hatcher are all playing the outfield for Minnesota, they have three "T5" rated arms, which is the strongest arm rating in Statis Pro.  I don't think any other outfield in 1984 can boast that.) 

Smithson pitched through the seventh having only allowed the three runs, but it was enough for the loss.  Len Whitehouse got torched for five runs in 2/3of an inning in the eighth, putting the game out of reach. 

Winning Pitcher - Storm Davis
Losing Pitcher - Mike Smithson
Player of the Game - Floyd Rayford, 2-4, 2 doubles, 3RBI's, threw out Kirby Puckett trying to steal
Hall of Famers in the Game - Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray

April 19, 1984 - You're not just good, you're Gulden

Game #160 - Cincinnati Reds, 6 @ San Francisco Giants, 5

San Fran jumped all over Reds starter Joe Price in the bottom of the first.  Despite striking out the first two Giants batters, Bob Brenly connected on a two run homer to give the Bay Area a quick lead.  The Reds battled back in the fourth, led by a Wayne Krenchicki two run jack and a RBI double from Brad Gulden.  The Reds extended their lead to 5-2 when Krenchicki hit yet another two run dinger.  Krenchicki is on fire so far this Statis Pro season.

The Giants tied things up in the fifth, though, when Dusty Baker and Steve Nicoscia contributed three RBI's.  It stayed knotted 5-5 until the top of the fifth.  Brad Gulden cranked a solo home run to give the Reds the lead and eventually the ball game.

Winning Pitcher - Bob Owchinko
Losing Pitcher - Bob Lacey
Save - John Franco
Player of the Game - Gulden, 2-5, 2b, HR, 2RBI's

That's the last game for April 19 - I'll get the stats and standings updated this weekend!

April 19, 1984 - Biggest Inning of the Year

Game #159 - Montreal Expos, 12 @ New York Mets, 5

I finally got my scanner working again!  The last few posts I was copying off the internet, but Jim Wohlford represents a return to my collection...

The Mets jumped out to a 5-0 lead when Bryn Smith gave up RBI doubles to Keith Hernandez and George Foster in the first and a Mookie Wilson double in the third.  Miguel Dilone pinch hit for Smith in the sixth, and that's when the wheels fell off for Sid Fernandez and the Mets.  "El Sid" gave up a hit to Dilone and walked three straight Expos after that before finally getting lifted.  Brent Gaff came in for relief and got two quick outs with the bases loaded, but gave up another four hits and a walk.  That's when Jim Wohlford took Wes Gardner deep for a grand slam home run.  When all was said and done, the Expos scored ten runs in the inning, which I'm pretty sure is a record for this Statis Pro League.

Winning Pitcher - Bryn Smith
Losing Pitcher - Sid Fernandez
Player of the Game - Wohlford, 2-3, Grand Slam, 2R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Gary Carter, Andre Dawson