May 26, 1984 - Reds and Eds

Game #561 - Baltimore Orioles, 11 @ California Angels, 7

I know I have said it a hundred times on this blog, but Eddie Murray is my favorite player and the Baltimore Orioles are my favorite team.  I've been lucky in that Eddie has had some big moments this season, and this game might have been his biggest.

A barrage of offense on both sides had the Angels up 7-6 in the top of the eighth.  Don Aase, the best reliever on the California roster, came in to pitch when Curt Kaufman walked Wayne Gross and allowed an error to put two men on.  John Lowenstein pinch-hit for Gary Roenicke and promptly walked, loading the bases with no outs.  And then Aase walked Mike Young to tie the game!  That brought up Cal Ripken, but Aase fanned him for the first out.  Up stepped Eddie Clarence Murray.  The "fast action card" indicated it was a clutch-batting number!  The next number?  34 - square in the middle of Eddie's home run range - GRAND SLAM!!!  The O's hung on to win after that!!!

Winning Pitcher - Tippy Martinez
Losing Pitcher - Curt Kaufman
Save - Sammy Stewart
Player of the Game - Eddie Murray, 2-5, 2B, Grand Slam, 4RBI, R
Hall of Famers in the Game - Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew

Game #562 - Cincinnati Reds, 7 @ Chicago Cubs, 1

The Cubbies were riding a nice three-game win streak in their attempt to climb out of the NL East cellar, but Mario Soto gutted those efforts.  He went eight strong innings, only giving up one run on three hits while whiffing seven.  Lee Smith has been useless out of the pen this year, as he gave up another four runs in the top of the ninth.

Winning Pitcher - Mario Soto
Losing Pitcher - Rick Reuschel
Player of the Game - Soto
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ryne Sandberg

May 26, 1984 - Schedule Frustrations

Well, I'm a bit grumpy.  There is a certain amount of coordination required to replay an entire baseball season with a tabletop game.  When I started this endeavor I couldn't find the original schedule of intended games for 1984, only the actual results.  That means all games rescheduled in the real season are played on the same date here in Statis Pro fantasy land.

I've used Baseball-Reference's 1984 calendar since day one.  I liked it because you could look at the entire six months on one page, and then click on the day and month from that page for the games I needed to play.  It would open a box that would list the box scores, by league, for that date.

But for these two games, I made a sad discovery.  My bookmarked page no longer exists.  Instead, Baseball Referene has gone with this.  It's a generic search page where I now have to enter the date and season every time.  Worse than that, though, is that the games are no longer divided by league, it's sorted alphabetically by home team, left to right, top to bottom.  I know, I know, "first world problems."  The old style, though, made it easier for me to track which game to play next.  I'm sure this new search function services the rest of the Baseball Reference in a much better way than me, I just wish they could do both styles.  Oh well, on to the games...

Game #559 -  St. Louis Cardinals, 5 @ Atlanta Braves, 4

Lonnie Smith started the game with a single and a stolen base, allowing #3 hitter Willie McGee to single him home for the first run of the game.  That's all the offense either team could muster until the top of the sixth.  With Pascual Perez still on the mound for Atlanta, Ozzie Smith doubled, McGee tripled for his second RBI of the game, and then scored on a Ken Oberkfell double.  But in the bottom half of the inning the Braves came roaring back.  Dave LaPoint had two runners on base when Rafael Ramirez doubled to plate Glenn Hubbard.  Then Alex Trevino singled to bring home Dale Murphy and Ramirez.  Trevino eventually scored too on a Bob Watson single and all of a sudden the Braves went from down three to up one.

In the top of the eighth hard luck reliever Gene Garber took the mound for Atlanta.  But the Cardinals, aided by a Trevino throwing error when Lonnie Smith stole his second base of the game, ended up scoring two runs to swipe victory away from Atlanta.

Winning Pitcher - Neil Allen
Losing Pitcher - Gene Garber
Save - Bruce Sutter
Player of the Game - Willie McGee, 3-4, 3B, 2RBI, 2R's, SB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ozzie Smith, Bruce Sutter

Game #560 - Kansas City Royals, 2 @ Boston Red Sox, 11

This one wasn't pretty...especially with Boston hitting FIVE home runs!  The first came off the bat of Tony Armas...with the bases loaded...in the bottom of the first!  He added a three run shot in the fourth to give him a whopping seven RBI for the game!  Meanwhile, Darryl Motley became the sixth Royals' starter to get injured, crashing into the outfield wall and going on the DL for ten games.

Winning Pitcher - Al Nipper
Losing Pitcher - Mark Gubicza
Player of the Game - Armas, 4-5, 2HR (grand slam), 7RBI, 2R's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice

May 25, 1984 - Supreme Facial Hair

Game #557 - Los Angeles Dodgers, 6 @ New York Mets, 7

It's unusual for a team that hits four home runs in a game to lose, but that's just what L.A. managed to do.  Pedro Guerrero hit a two run bomb in the first, R.J. Reynolds a solo homer in the third, and two more solo shots by Dave Anderson and Greg Brock in the fifth.  The Brock homer was a first in this Statis Pro season - an INSIDE THE PARK home run!  Mookie Wilson crashed into the center field wall and hurt himself for five games while Brock scampered home for the unconventional run.

But by the ninth inning the game was tied, thanks in large part to Mr. George Foster.  He had his own two-run homer in the second, and RBI single in the third, and another RBI, this time a double that plated Darryl Strawberry, in the seventh.

So how did the Mets win in the bottom of the ninth inning?  It was the curse of Tom Niedenfuer once again!  Long time readers of this blog know that Niedenfuer's tendencies for clutch meltdowns are just as true in Statis Pro as they were in real life.  He walked Darryl Strawberry and Hubie Brooks to start the inning.  Foster grounded out but moved the runners up a base.  Niedenfuer intentionally walked Mike Fitzgerald to bring up Jose Oquendo with the bases loaded.  Oquendo laid down the SUICIDE SQUEEZE to score the winning run!

Winning Pitcher - Jesse Orosco
Losing Pitcher - Tom Niedenfuer
Player of the Game - George Foster, 3-5, HR, 2B, 4RBI, R, killer sideburns

Game #558 - San Diego Padres, 8 @ Philadelphia Phillies, 11

Padres starter Tim Lollar got himself into a jam early in the game.  In the bottom of the first he had the bases loaded with Ivan DeJesus up.  He smoked a line drive to the left field corner, where Carmelo Martinez injured himself trying to make the play.  The end result?  A bases clearing double.  San Diego had the game tied back up by the fourth inning, thanks in part to a two-run homer by Luis Salazar.  But the Phillies sent eleven batters to the plate in the fifth inning, scoring six runs.  Four of those came courtesy of an Ozzie Virgil GRAND SLAM, his second on the season.  That was enough to outlast the pesky San Diego offense on the day.

Winning Pitcher - Jerry Koosman
Losing Pitcher - Tim Lollar
Save - Larry Andersen
Player of the Game - Ozzie Virgil, 1-4, Grand Slam, 4RBI, HBP, killer beard
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Gwynn, Mike Schmidt

This was the last game on May 25 - the standings and stats are updated on the right side of the page.  There's a new poll too!

May 25, 1984 - One Is The Loneliest Number

Game #555 - Pittsburgh Pirates, 0 @ Houston Astros, 1

This game was scoreless after eight innings of play.  Twice the Astros sent a runner from second to home plate only to be thrown out by Doug Frobel, who was in the game because Johnny Ray and Marvelle Wynn collided in the first and had to leave with injuries.

But in the bottom of the ninth Don Robinson was working his second inning of relief.  Jose Cruz led off with a single.  He then stole second, but Tony Pena overthrew second base, letting Cruz scamper to third with no outs.  Jerry Mumphrey popped out to Denny Gonzalez but Enos Cabell walked.  That brought up Kevin Bass.  He hit a fly ball out to Lee Mazzilli, but it was deep enough to plate Cruz with the winning, and only, run.

Winning Pitcher - Bill Dawley
Losing Pitcher - Don Robinson
Player of the Game - Joe Niekro, 8IP, 4H's, 10K's

Game #556 - San Francisco Giants, 8 @ Montreal Expos, 1

This was a fun game because it was the first time, if I'm not mistaken, we've had a new Hall of Fame player added to this Statis Pro season.  That's right - Tim Raines is now in the Hall of Fame.  Congrats!  Next year's verteran's committee covers the 1970's and 80's, so maybe we'll have more additions to the club.

The Giants took control of this game right out of the gate.  Chili Davis led off with a solo homer, Jeffrey Leonard and Bob Brenly hit back to back doubles, Brad Wellman and Alex Sanchez had RBI singles, and after half an inning of play San Fran was up 4-0 on poor Steve Rogers.  The onslaught continued as Mark Davis pulled his E.R.A. out of the garbage disposal by pitching a complete game, with the only run scored unearned.

Winning Pitcher - Mark Davis
Losing Pitcher - Steve Rogers
Player of the Game - Chili Davis, 4-4, 2HR's, 2RBI, 3R's, BB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter

May 25, 1984 - Twos Lose

Game #553 - St. Louis Cardinals, 2 @ Atlanta Braves, 4

Juaquin Andujar and Len Barker took the mound in this battle of NL winning teams.  David Green started the scoring with a solo homer in the second, and the Cards padded their lead with another run in the third, this time on an RBI single by Ozzie Smith that scored Darrell Porter.

But in the bottom of the sixth Andujar was in trouble.  Three straight singles had the bases loaded for Dale Murphy.  He didn't hit a home run...but he did crush a triple to clear the bases!  Two batters later Rafael Ramirez singled home Murphy and the Braves remained the victors.

Winning Pitcher - Len Barker
Losing Pitcher - Juaquin Andujar
Save - Steve Bedrosian
Player of the Game - Dale Murphy, 3B, 3RBI, R
Hall of Famers in the Game - Ozzie Smith, Bruce Sutter

Game #554 - Cincinnati Reds, 2 @ Chicago Cubs, 5

The Cubs were coming off a sweep of a double header the day before, so they didn't know if anything was left in the tank.  But they got off to a 2-0 lead in the first when a two-out error by Dave Concepcion turned into a two-run homer by Leon "Bull" Durham.  Jody Davis added a solo shot in the second while Dick Ruthven pitched his best game of the year, going seven innings without yielding a run.

Winning Pitcher - Dick Ruthven
Losing Pitcher - Frank Pastore
Save - Tim Stoddard
Player of the Game - Ruthven, 7IP, 0R, 3K
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Perez, Ryne Sandberg

May 25, 1984 - 5, 4, 3...

Game #551 - Chicago White Sox, 4 @ Texas Rangers, 5

I'm not sure how closely you've been following the Rangers' plight on this blog, but they were the only team in the league not to be at double-digits in victories.

That is no longer so.

They were down 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Larry Parrish led off the inning with a solo homer.  Billy Sample singles, stole second, and then scampered home on a Curtis Wilkerson double.  With two outs Mickey Rivers recorded his fourth hit of the game, and his second double, to drive home Wilkerson.  That's all Frank Tanana would need to go the distance against the White Sox.  Despite a rough first four innings, he only allowed two base runners over the last five innings.

Winning Pitcher - Frank Tanana
Losing Pitcher - LaMarr Hoyt
Player of the Game - Mickey Rivers, 4-4, 2 2B's, RBI, R

This game also marked another mechanical pencil that bit the dust.  I think it was my third or fourth pencil I've gone through, but this one was special because I "bought" it at my daughter's "pen and pencil" shop she had set up in her bedroom about a year and a half ago.  #memories

Game #552 - Cleveland Indians, 3 @ Toronto Blue Jays, 0

With the Tigers losing earlier in the day Toronto had a chance to extend its lead in the AL East.  But Cleveland was riding a five game win streak and was within one victory of being back .500 on the season.

In the top of the first Jim Clancy got himself into trouble.  Brett Butler attempted a bunt single but reached safely on a Damaso Garcia error.  He went to third on a Julio Franco single but was out at home on a fielder's choice grounder by George Vukovich.  Andre Thornton singled, though, to load the bases.  Pat Tabler struck out but Mike Hargrove walked to bring in the first run!  After that, Tony Bernazard singled to plate two more...and those would be the only runs of the game!  Bert Blyleven struck out the first batter in the first six innings he pitched on his way to his second shutout of the season.

Winning Pitcher - Bert Blyleven
Losing Pitcher - Jim Clancey
Player of the Game - Blyeleven, CG SHO, 9K's, 5H's, BB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Bert Blyleven

May 25, 1984 - Blunders Haunt West Coast Trips

Game #549 - New York Yankees, 9 @ Oakland A's, 11

The Yankees had an early 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first when Dave Kingman stepped to the plate with Tony Phillips on first.  He hit the ball so hard and far they both scored.  And then Oakland milked four more runs in the third to make it 6-2.

Dave Winfield hit a solo bomb in the sixth to bring the  Yankees back within three, but errors by Roy Smalley and Bobby Meacham led to three more runs.  Even then, the A's were up 11-3 in the ninth but Larry Sorensen and Bill Caudill allowed six runs before Tom Burgmeier got the save.

Winning Pitcher - Mike Warren
Losing Pitcher - Ron Guidry
Save - Tom Burgmeier
Player of the Game - Tony Phillips, 2-4, 3R's, 2RBI, BB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson

Happy Trails...Lou Piniella

This was the last game for Lou Piniella in this Statis Pro season.  In the real 1984 season he retired in mid-June to become the first base coach for the team.  How did our Lou do?

Statis Pro - 11R, 32H, 8 2B, 3 3B, 2HR, 12RBI, .950OPS, .356AVG
Real 1984 - 8R, 26H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1HR, 6RBI, ..762OPS, ..302AVG

Statis Pro Piniella had quite a bit more luck with the stick than his real counterpart.  That being said...Piniella was still hitting well when he retired.  I think that's what they mean by a "professional hitter."  Brian Dayett will replace him on the roster.

Game #550 - Detroit Tigers, 5 @ Seattle Mariners, 6

The Tigers scored two in the top of the first thanks in part to a throwing error by pitcher Mike Moore.  Seattle got a run back when Moneyball hero Ken Phelps crunched a ball over the right field fence.  The Mariners got three more runs in the third because Chet Lemon grossly misplayed a ball in center, something quite out of the ordinary for the normally reliable fielder.  A Kirk Gibson blunder in the next inning allowed yet another run to cross the plate.

Fast forward to the bottom of the seventh.  The game was tied when Phil Bradley led off with a single and stole second base.  He moved to third on a sacrifice fly by Alvin Davis.  From there he scored when Lance Parrish allowed a passed ball.  That ended up being the winning run.

Winning Pitcher - Dave Geisel
Losing Pitcher - Aurelio Lopez
Save - Edwin Nunez
Player of the Game - Nunez, 2IP, 4K's, SV