April 17, 1984 - One Run and Done

Game #138 - Montreal Expos, 1 @ New York Mets, 6
Bill Gullickson of the Expos had a tough time with the Mets lineup in this game.  He gave up three runs in the third inning on RBI singles from Wally Backman and Darryl Strawberry.  New York tagged him for two more runs in the fifth when catcher Mike Fitzgerald knocked in Keith Hernandez and Strawberry.

Meanwhile, Ron Darling was quite comfortable.  He didn't give up a hit until the fourth inning and only surrendered five on the day.  Unfortunately for him, the fifth hit was a home run by Gary Carter in the top of the ninth, ruining the shutout.

Winning Pitcher - Ron Darling
Losing Pitcher - Bill Gullickson
Player of the Game - Darling, 8 1/3IP, 5H's, 4BB's, 3K's, 1R
Hall of Famers in the Game - Gary Carter, Andre Dawson

Game #139 - Philadelphia Phillies, 3 @ Pittsburgh Pirates, 1
Steve Carlton had rough luck his first two outings of the year and wasn't facing an easy task with Rick Rhoden taking the mound for Pittsburgh.  But Carlton gave Philly seven solid innings, only surrendering one run on an RBI double to Johnny Ray.  Rhoden pitched eight innings but gave up three runs in the fourth inning.  Greg Gross hit an RBI double and three batters later Juan Samuel parked his fifth home run of the year in the left field bleachers.

Winning Pitcher - Steve Carlton
Losing Pitcher - Rick Rhoden
Save - Larry Andersen
Player of the Game - Carlton, 7IP, 10H's, 3BB's, 1R
Hall of Famers in the Game - Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton

Game #140 - San Diego Padres, 2 @ San Francisco Giants, 1
This was another pitcher's battle as Eddie Whitson of the Padres and Bill Laskey of the Giants were both throwing strong.  Graig Nettles batted home Steve Garvey in the third, but the Giants tied it up in the same inning when Jack Clark scored Chili Davis with a single.

It stayed tied until the seventh.  With two outs Tony Gwynn recorded his third hit of the day.  He moved to second on a Bob Brenly passed ball.  Garvey then punched a single to plate Gwynn and give San Diego the winning run.

Winning Pitcher - Eddie Whitson
Losing Pitcher - Bill Laskey
Save - Greg Harris
Player of the Game - Whitson, 8IP, 6H's, 3BB's, 1R
Hall of Famers in the Game - Tony Gwynn

April 17, 1984 - Nieden-FURY

Game #137 - Los Angeles Dodgers, 2 @ Houston Astros, 3

I mentioned in an earlier post that my dad, who introduced me to Statis Pro and is a Brooklyn-born, life-long fan of the Dodgers, has an irrational disgust for Tom Niedenfuer.  His father (my grandfather) used to claim that every time he saw Ralph Branca pitch, something bad happened for the Dodgers - like the shot heard 'round the world.  My dad believes Niedenfuer was his Branca, the Dodgers always suffered misery when my dad watched him pitch.  I can remember as a kid my dad would leave the room if the Dodgers were on TV because he didn't want to jinx their chance at winning.

Anyway, my dad happened to come into town as I was finishing this game up.  It was a tied game, 2-2, heading into the bottom of the ninth after pitchers Bob Welch and Mike LaCoss each performed well for their respective teams.  I announced to my dad that I was bringing in Niedenfuer.  He immediately told me not to.  I told him he was ridiculous, that Niedenfuer was their closer and the best Statis Pro rated pitcher available in the pen.  Here's what happened next:

• He gives up a lead off single to Bill Doran.  However, he picks Doran off of first for the first out.
• He gives up a single to Terry Puhl.
• He gives up a single to Jose Cruz, Puhl moves to second.
• He bobbles a simple grounder from Enos Cabell, loading the bases with still just one out.
• He walks Jerry Mumphrey for the game ending, winning run.

I asked my dad if he wanted to manage a team for the next game, but he was so mad at me for bringing in Niedenfuer and Niedenfuer losing the game he refused to play with me. 

Winning Pitcher - Bill Dawley
Losing Pitcher - Tom Niedenfuer
Player of the Game - Jose Cruz, 5-5, HR

April 17, 1984 - Davis and Doyle

Game #135 - Oakland A's, 10 @ Seattle Mariners, 1

Mike Moore of the Seattle Mariners just couldn't quiet the Oakland bats this game.  He gave up six runs through five innings, and relievers Paul Mirabella and Dave Beard let the A's score four more.

Joe Morgan continued his torrid start by going 2-4 with a double, homer, and two walks.  He's hitting over .500 on the season and his OBP is over .600!
Mike Davis was clutch with the bat too.  He went 3-5 with a double and a homer too.  Starter Bill Krueger pitched a complete game, scattering seven hits and four walks for the victory.

Winning Pitcher - Bill Krueger
Losing Pitcher - Mike Moore
Player of the Game - Mike Davis
Hall of Famers in the Game - Joe Morgan

Game #136 - Baltimore Orioles, 3 @ Toronto Blue Jays, 4

This was a tightly contested match versus two of the best teams in the AL East right now.  Mike Young hit a triple in the first inning for the Orioles and Eddie Murray drove him home with a single.  (Mike Young and Lloyd Moseby were tied for the league lead in triples starting this game, and both hit one to remain tied)  The Blue Jays answered back in the bottom half of the inning when Willie Upshaw blasted a three run homer off of Mike Boddicker. 

The O's chipped back at the Blue Jays when Murray knocked in two more Oriole base runners in the third, but a Rich Dauer error in the bottom half of the inning led to Damaso Garcia scoring the go-ahead run to give Toronto a 4-3 lead.  Doyle Alexander settle down after that and pitched the complete game victory - his third complete game of the year (one coming in a rain shortened outing).

Winning Pitcher - Doyle Alexander
Losing Pitcher - Mike Boddicker
Player of the Game - Alexander, CG, 6H's, 11K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray

April 17, 1984 - Teuf Enough

Game #134 - California Angels, 3 @ Minnesota Twins, 7

I had a hard time picking today's title.  I considered "The Teufel Shuffle," maybe because of my fondness for The Goonies.  I thought about "Do the Teufel" in a weak attempt to sound like "Do the Hustle."  But I settled with Teuf Enough.  I hope Tim Teufel wins a few more Player of the Game honors this year, he has a fun last name.

It was a scoreless game in the bottom of the second when Tommy John walked John Castino, bringing up Tim Teufel.  Teufel had a small injury at the start of this Statis Pro season and hadn't hit much since, but he got a hold of a pitch and crushed a two run homer.  John then hit Gary Gaetti with a pitch and Dave Engle doubled him home for the third run of the inning.  Engle eventually scored too on a Kirby Puckett single.

The Angels bats were mostly silent against Twins starter Al Williams.  He had a shutout going until the top of the seventh when Reggie Jackson finally hit his first home run of the season.  The Angels never caught up, though, and the Twins have their second win of the season.

Winning Pitcher - Al Williams
Losing Pitcher - Tommy John
Player of the Game - Teufel, 2-3, HR, 3RBI's, 1BB
Hall of Famers in the Game - Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Kirby Puckett


 

April 17, 1984 - Hall of Fame Hurlers

Game #132 - Texas Rangers, 2 @ Boston Red Sox, 11

In the real 1984 Dennis Eckersley struggled in his third of a season with Boston, prior to his trade to Chicago, but you sure couldn't tell with this game.

The Rangers did strike first when Pete O'Brien hit a fly out far enough from home plate for Gary Ward to score from third on the tag.  It stayed 1-0 in favor of the Rangers until Frank Tanana ran into issues in the third.  Two Red Sox had already scored when Tony Armas sent one flying over the Green Monster for two more.  Just like that Boston was up 4-1.  It got even uglier in the sixth when Boston plated seven more runs. 

Meanwhile Eckersley cruised into the ninth having only given up four hits.  Gary Ward reached on a Wade Boggs error and moved to third on a Buddy Bell single.  Pete O'Brien hit into a double play to score Ward but Eck eventually struck out Bobby Jones to win the game.

Winning Pitcher - Dennis Eckersley
Losing Pitcher - Frank Tanana
Player of the Game - Eck, CG, 1ER, 6H's, 7K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Dennis Eckersley

Game #133 - Chicago White Sox, 2 @ Milwaukee Brewers, 5

Don Sutton toed the rubber for Milwaukee but was treated unkindly by Ron Kittle in the second inning.  Having walked Greg Luzinski he gave up a two run homer to Kittle.  Funny enough, he struck out the other three batters in the same inning (Greg Walker, Vance Law, Marc Hill). 

The Brew Crew started chipping back in support of their permed, Hall of Fame starting pitcher.  Roy Howell hit an RBI single to score Doug Loman in the third.  A Vance Law error in the fourth gave Milwaukee a 3-2 lead and the Brewers added two more before it was all said and done.

Winning Pitcher - Don Sutton
Losing Pitcher - Richard Dotson
Save - Rollie Fingers
Player of the Game - Sutton, 8IP, 4H's, 8K's
Hall of Famers in the Game - Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Don Sutton, Rollie Fingers

***It was a nice change of pace to have two HOF pitchers perform so well in back to back games!

April 16, 1984 - Win this one for the Knepper!

Game #131 - Los Angeles Dodgers, 1 @ Houston Astros, 7

Three starts into the Statis Pro season its easy to see how Bob Knepper earned his All Star card.  He's 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.  Besides Dwight Gooden, there isn't a better pitcher in the National League right now.

He had a slightly rocky start against the Dodgers.  He walked Steve Sax to start the game.  Sax moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Dave Anderson.  Pedro Guerrero then singled him home for the lone LA run in the game.

The Astros first scored in the third inning.  Fernando Valenzuela gave up a single to Phil Garner before Jose Cruz stepped to the plate.  Cruz hit his second homer of the year to give Houston the 2-1 lead.  Valenzuela got into more trouble in the fourth before finally getting yanked after giving up five more runs to Houston. 

Winning Pitcher - Bob Knepper
Losing Pitcher - Fernando Valenzuela
Player of the Game - Knepper, 8IP, 10H's, 3K's, 1R.  This is Knepper's third POG honor, the most in Statis Pro right now.

April 16, 1984 - User Error

Game #130 - Oakland A's, 8 @ Seattle Mariners, 11

I screwed up.  The "first" time I completed this game I noticed something as I was tallying the hitting statistics.  There was only one out in the Mariners' half of the second inning.  I had moved on to the top of third with runners on first and third.  I can neither confirm nor deny the cause of distraction was my flipping between the Tigers game on Fox Sports Detroit and the Cubs game on WGN.  So I started the game over from the point I had left off the first time, and thankfully, the same basic outcome still occurred.

Rickey Henderson led off the game in the first with a home run, his first on the year.  This ranks right up there with Don Baylor's first beaning as things I was excited to experience in the Statis Pro season.  Al Cowens had an RBI double in the bottom of the first.  He's been ice cold this season so its nice to see him with a big hit.  The Mariners exploded on A's pitcher Ray Burris in the second when they plated six runs.  Alvin Davis hit his second double of the game in that inning, making him the Statis Pro leader in both leagues for that category.

Mark Langston couldn't get out of the fourth inning as he was predetermined to have "terrible" stuff when he started the game.  Ed Vande Berg let up three more runs to make it a slim 9-7 Mariners lead.  But Bob Stoddard came in for Seattle and pitched a near flawless three innings for the win.  His only mistake was to Dave Kingman, who parked a solo homer to score the A's last run of the day.

Winning Pitcher - Bob Stoddard
Losing Pitcher - Keith Atherton
Save - Mike Stanton
Player of the Game - Stoddard.  I'm developing a crush on these long relievers who save me bullpen moves.
Hall of Famers in the Game - Rickey Henderson