May 2, 1984 - 300

I've never actually seen this movie, but I have played 300 games of the 1984 season.

Game #299 - Cleveland Indians, 1 @ Baltimore Orioles, 5

Cleveland scored first in the top of the first when Andre Thornton singled home Brett Butler.  It was a rough start for Mike Boddicker, but he would settle down.  In the bottom of the second Rick Dempsey plated Eddie Murray, and Ken Singleton followed with a sacrifice fly to score Floyd Rayford.  The O's picked up another two in the third when Cal Ripken homered and scored Gary Roenicke. 

Winning Pitcher - Mike Boddicker
Losing Pitcher - Neal Heaton
Player of the Game - Boddicker, CG, 1R, 4K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray

Game #300 - Oakland A's, 4 @ California Angels, 5

Now this was a game fit for a major milestone!

The scoring in this game started in the bottom of the first.  Brian Downing, who is swinging one of the hottest bats in the league right now, pulled a "clutch hitting" card to rope a triple that pushed Rod Carew and Bobby Grich across the plate.  Oakland answered back in the top of third, when with two outs, Tony Phillips doubled home Jim Essian to cut the lead in half.

In the bottom of the fourth the Angels got one back as Rod Carew singled in Gary Pettis.  But Oakland scored a run in the fifth and sixth to tie things up.  In the bottom of the seventh Bobby Grich led off with a solo homer to once again give California the lead.  But Dwayne Murphy responded with his own solo shot in the eighth to yet again tie the game. 

Don Aase retired the side in the top of the ninth to bring the Oakland defense back on the field.  Bill Caudill, their best reliever, was on the mound.  With two outs Reggie Jackson drew a walk, his third of the game.  Jerry Narron pinch hit for Bob Boone, and on a risky hit and run play, moved Jackson to third with a single.  That brought up light-hitting Rob Picciolo.  All he did was bloop one into the outfield for a walk off win on the three-hundredth game of Statis Pro!!!

Winning Pitcher - Don Aase
Losing Pitcher - Bill Caudill
Player of the Game - Rob Picciolo, walk-off RBI single
Hall of Famers in the Game - Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson

May 1, 1984 - May One Is Done

Game #297 - St. Louis Cardinals, 8 @ Pittsburgh Pirates, 1

You have to believe me - this was actually an extremely close game!  The Pirates scored first in the bottom of the first when Jim Morrison singled home lead off man Marvell Wynne.  Spot starter Ralph Citarella calmed down after that and went seven innings while striking out 10 Pirates and only surrendering three hits.  Jose DeLeon of Pittsburgh was equal to the task, also going seven innings and yielding but one run.

With the game tied up in the top of the ninth, Kent Tekulve came in for the black and yellow.  Statis Pro had made him "hot" for this game, meaning by a lucky turn of the "fast action card" his pitching range was stronger than normal.  This didn't end up meaning a thing, as he gave up five hits, two walks, and a total of seven runs in 2/3 of an inning's work.  It was some of the best luck I've ever seen for a 2-9 rated pitcher (that's nearly unhittable in Statis Pro). 

Winning Pitcher - Dave Rucker
Losing Pitcher - Kent Tekulve
Player of the Game - I'm going with Citarella, who was quite dominant despite getting the no-decision.
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ozzie Smith

Game #298 - Los Angeles Dodgers, 4 @ San Francisco Giants, 2

A Joel Youngblood error in the top of the third led to a run for the Dodgers.  Youngblood has an "E10" rating in the field, which is the worst you can have.  It's almost as if he's wearing the glove on the wrong hand.  He has a decent stick, though, especially for the Giants, so he has to stay in the lineup.  Bob Brenly tied things up with a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth, and later in that same inning Johnnie LeMaster doubled home Youngblood to give San Fran the lead.

The Dodgers took the lead for good, though, in the fifth, thanks to an outfield collision between Chili Davis and Manny Trillo.  Davis will miss 11 games, but Trillo will be gone for 30 games.  That means I won't play a game with Trillo for a few years, which is weird to think about.  That also leaves the Giants with four of their opening day starters on the DL (Jeff Leonard and Al Oliver too).  No wonder they're dead last in the NL West.

Winning Pitcher - Fernando Valenzuela
Losing Pitcher - Atlee Hammaker
Save - Tom Niedenfuer
Player of the Game - Fernadomania, 8IP, 6K's, 2R's

Happy Trails - Atlee Hammaker

This game was the last for Hammaker, an All-Star caliber pitcher who was off to a great start in 1984 before, I'm assuming, suffering an injury to shelve him for the year.  Let's compare performances:

Real 1984:  6G's, 33IP, 2.18ERA, 24K's, 1.24WHIP
StatisPro 84:  6G's, 49.2IP, 1.63ERA, 30K's, 0.95WHIP

The big disparity is the innings pitched.  Absolute purists could accuse me of violating Statis Pro tenants by allowing his innings totals to exceed his actual.  For my own sanity in doing this, though, I'm merely going by games played and trying my best to approximate the innings.  Hammaker was giving Gooden a run for his money for the best pitcher in the NL, it's sad to see him go and absolutely devastating for the Giants, who are left with a bunch of 2-5 rated starters.

May 1, 1984 - NL East Battles, Part Deux

Game #295 - Chicago Cubs, 10 @ New York Mets, 1

This was kind of funny:  the Cubs hit for the cycle with their first four hitters of the game.  Bob Dernier doubled, Ryne Sandberg singled him home, Gary Matthews crushed a two-run homer, and then Leon Durham legged out a triple!  The Cubs scored three in the first and added runs throughout to suppress the Mets.  New York also suffered an injury to Hubie Brooks, who will be out for the next four games.

Winning Pitcher - Scott Sanderson
Losing Pitcher - Bruce Berenyi
Player of the Game - Sandberg, 4-5, 2 2B's, 2RBI's, 3R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ryne Sandberg

Game #296 - Montreal Expos, 3 @ Philadelphia Phillies, 2 (10 innings)

The Phillies put two runs on the board over seven innings against Bryn Smith, who didn't have his best stuff but escaped a few jams.  Andre Dawson singled to bring home Tim Raines in the sixth to cut the lead in half.  Terry Francona batted in pinch-hitter Mike Stenhouse in the eighth to tie things up.  With one out in the top of the tenth, Tim Raines doubled off reliever Al Holland.  Raines then attempted to steal third, but Mike Schmidt failed to make the catch from catcher John Wockenfuss' throw and Raines scampered home on the error.  Greg Harris got a 1-2-3 bottom of the tenth to give Montreal a come-from-behind victory in ten innings.

Winning Pitcher - Andy McGaffigan
Losing Pitcher - Al Holland
Save - Greg Harris
Player of the Game - Raines, 3-4, 2 2B's, 2R's, SB, BB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Mike Schmidt

May 1, 1984 - NL East Battles

Game #293 - San Diego Padres, 5 @ Atlanta Braves, 6

Atlanta had a 6-0 lead over the Padres after seven innings.  But in the top of the eight, San Diego started to fight back.  Graig Nettles launched a three run bomb off starter Pascual Perez to cut the deficit in half.  In the top of the ninth, the Padres loaded the bases after scoring two runs of Gene Garber.  Terry Forster dug in against Graig Nettles, and Nettles lined a ball to right field like a laser.  But Dale Murphy made an amazing catch and caught Kevin McReynolds too far off the base to end the game for Atlanta.

Winning Pitcher - Pascual Perez
Losing Pitcher - Goose Gossage
Save - Terry Forster
Player of the Game - Forster, saved a one run lead with the bases loaded and only one out.
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Gwynn, Goose Gossage

Game #294 - Houston Astros, 12 @ Cincinnatti Reds, 2

This game was U-G-L-Y.  Houston totaled 17 hits as they peppered the Reds for twelve runs.  Phil Garner and Jose Cruz each had four hits, and Jerry Mumphrey had a crazy total of five base on balls.  Joe Niekro silenced Atlanta over seven innings, only giving up four hits and striking out seven.

Winning Pitcher - Joe Niekro
Losing Pitcher - Joe Price
Player of the Game - Phil Garner, 4-5, 2 triples, 2RBI's, 2R's, BB

May 1, 1984 - A Blue Jay Beating

Game #291 - Texas Rangers, 0 @ Toronto Blue Jays, 2

The two "T" teams of the American League decided to play two games.  That worked out better for Toronto than Texas.

In game one Dickie Noles took the hill and made it to the seventh inning while scattering seven hits and five walks.  He only gave up two runs, and reliever Odell Jones struck out three Jays to keep up the strong effort.  But Luis Leal was even better against the injury ravaged Rangers.  Gary Ward and Curtis Wilkerson were serving their last two games of injury, and Pete O'Brien is back on the DL too.  That impacted the Rangers' bats, as they only managed six hits against Leal.

Winning Pitcher - Luis Leal
Losing Pitcher - Dickie Noles
Player of the Game - Leal, CG SHO, 2K's

Game #292 - Texas Rangers, 7 @ Toronto Blue Jays, 8

The Texas bats woke up for game two, but so did Toronto's.  Cup of coffee player Kelly Gruber, on the active roster because of an Alfredo Griffin injury, went 1-16 in the real 1984, but that hit was a homer.  Gruber has defied the odds and totaled three taters in limited action, including two in this game.

Toronto had a 7-6 lead in the seventh when Larry Parrish hit a solo shot to tie the game.  It remained at that score heading into the bottom of the ninth.  Rangers closer Dave Schmidt toed the rubber.  Lloyd Moseby poked a single for his first hit in the double header.  He promptly stole second base.  With Moseby in scoring position, George Jorge Bell roped a double to score the walk-off hit.  In seven games Schmidt has four saves and three losses.  It's all or nothing with that guy.

Winning Pitcher - Roy Lee Jackson
Losing Pitcher - Dave Schmidt
Player of the Game - Bell, 4-5, HR, 2B, SB, 2RBI's, walk-off winner

May 1, 1984 - So Much Powder Blue

Game #289 - Kansas City Royals, 12 @ Milwaukee Brewers, 2

This game was pretty close until the Royals unloaded for eight runs in the eighth and ninth innings.  Relievers Rick Waits, Pete Ladd, and Jack Lazorko got crushed.  Six different Royals (Willie Wilson, Pat Sheridan, George Brett, Jorge Orta, Frank White, and Dane Iorg) had multiple hits. 

Winning Pitcher - Bud Black
Losing Pitcher - Don Sutton
Player of the Game - Black, CG, W, 7K's, ER
Hall of Famers in the Game - George Brett, Robin Yount, Don Sutton

Game #290 - Minnesota Twins, 3 @ Seattle Mariners, 5

The Mariners jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Dave Henderson's home run plated himself as well as Orlando Mercado, who reached on a Lenny Faedo error.  But Gary Gaetti hit a solo shot in the fourth and Tim Teufel knocked in two in the sixth to give the Twins the lead.  But Dave Hendrson wasn't done for the day.  With two runners on, he launched his second homer of the game and tallied all five RBI's for the Seattle victory!

Winning Pitcher - Mike Stanton
Losing Pitcher - Frank Viola
Save - Ed Nunez
Player of the Game - Hendu, 2-4, 2HR's, 5RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Kirby Puckett

May 1, 1984 - Catchers FTW

Game #287 - New York Yankees, 6 @ Chicago White Sox, 3

The Pale Hose jumped to the early lead in the bottom of the first with a solo shot by Tom Paciorek, a triple by Harold Baines, and an RBI single from Vance Law.  The Yankees responded with a big second inning when they sent eight batters to the plate and scored three runs.

The game was tied 3-3 in the top of the seventh when Rick Cerone poked one over the fence to take the lead.  He added another RBI in the eighth to preserve the victory.

Winning Pitcher - Ron Guidry
Losing Pitcher - Floyd Bannister
Save - Dave Righetti
Player of the Game - Rick Cerone, 2-4, HR, 2RBI's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Dave Winfield

Game #288  - Boston Red Sox, 6 @ Detroit Tigers, 8 (11 innings)

Easily one of the most exciting games of the year.  Things started off all Boston.  Rich Gedman (another heroic catcher) launched a solo home run in the second.  He followed it with a three run jack in the third, and Boston was up 5-0.  Dwight Evans doubled home Rick Miller to pad the lead in the sixth, 6-0.

Oil Can Boyd was cruising through six innings of work before finally giving up two runs in the seventh.  He couldn't finish the inning but did end up with eight strikeouts for the day. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Detroit tied things up.  John Henry Johnson gave up three straight hits before a Jackie Gutierrez error had plated two runs.  Johnson was lifted for Charlie Mitchell, but Mitchell committed an error himself to close the Red Sox lead to just one run.  Lou Whitaker hit a sacrifice fly to score Darrell Evans and miraculously it was a tie game again.

Willie Hernandez pitched the ninth, tenth and eleventh innings, allowing only one runner on a Marty Barrett single.  In the bottom of the eleventh Bob Stanley took the hill for Boston.  He coaxed a pop up from Alan Trammell, but Kirk Gibson roped a double.  With Gibby on second, Lance Parrish dug into the batter's box and - BLAM! - knocked it out of the park!!!  Walk-off homer!!!  Tigers come back from a six-nothing deficit to win!!!

Winning Pitcher - Willie Hernandez
Losing Pitcher - Bob Stanley
Player of the Game - Lance Parrish, 2-6, walk-off homer
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice