PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Congrats go out to the following players and their teams for some great individual performances in Week 2.
Focus on the American League this week …
AL EAST
Keeping your opponents from scoring and coming up with big hits has been the recipe for success for the Jack Street Hustlers (12-2) early in the season. The Hustlers duplicated their first week success by this time victimizing the Indiana Indians besting them in six of seven games. The Hustlers lead the American League with a team ERA of 2.66 and are tops in hitting the long ball with 27 dingers in just 14 games.
American League Pitcher of the Week
Fergie Jenkins – KC A’s
2 wins
1.69 ERA
16 innings
7 hits allowed
14 strikeouts
National League Pitcher of the Week
Satchel Paige – Fantomz Force
2 wins
1.06 ERA
17 innings
12 hits allowed
14 strikeouts
American League Hitter of the Week
John Mayberry – Chicago Nine
.480 average (12/25)
3 doubles,
4 home runs
9 RBI’s
7 runs
National League Hitter of the Week
Mel Ott – Climax Cougars
.517 average (15/29)
3 doubles, 2 home runs
5 RBI’s
9 runs
5 walks
Focus on the American League this week …
AL EAST – Keeping your opponents from scoring and coming up with big hits has been the recipe for success for the Jack Street Hustlers (12-2) early in the season. The Hustlers duplicated their first week’s success by this time victimizing the Indiana Indians besting them in six of seven games. The Hustlers lead the American League with a team ERA of 2.66 and are tops in hitting the long ball with 27 dingers in just 14 games. Much of the banging has come off the bat of Mark McGwire with everyone’s favorite Bubba smacking out seven homers already to lead the AL. Teammate Larry Hisle has also been chipping in with a seven-game hitting streak. On the mound, the Hustlers are led by Tom Glavine (3-0, 1.17 ERA) and Jeff Brantley who leads the AL’s cadre of guys who couldn’t make it as starting pitchers with four saves in four tries.
The 2nd place Lewisberry Country Blumpkins (ugh) have cruised to a 10-4 record after following the example of the Hustlers and duplicating their first series results, but this time going 5-2 against the Chicago Nine. Lewisberry (can’t bring myself to use their nickname) currently leads the AL with a .301 team batting average due in no small part to Freddie Freeman who is tops in the league with a .429 average. Nice. Freeman and Company have been getting lots of support from other LCB hitters – Mookie Betts just saw his 11-game hit streak end, David Ortiz has been on base for the past 11 games and Bernie Williams’ 17 RBIs ranks 2nd in the league. Zach Britton is tied for the league lead with 4 saves and has allowed just one baserunner in 6.2 innings of relief.
The Middle Channel Sturgeon and Las Vegas Pirates each share 7-7 records to sit in 3rd place in the division. The Pirates went 3-4 versus the Kansas City A’s while the Sturgeon has a lot of trouble with the Boston Braves who rebounded nicely after a rough first week to go 5-2 against the A’s in the follow-up.
In Vegas, it’s all about power. Twenty home runs hit in 14 games by the Pirates have kept them in virtually every contest. Norm Cash is 9th in the league with a .340 batting average and pitcher Howie Camnitz is 3-1 tied for the league lead in wins.
The Sturgeon have been anything but bottom feeders so far this season thanks to its strong pitching staff which has posted a 2.94 ERA (3rd) and led the AL in the least hits (93) and home runs (9) allowed through two weeks. Much of that is due to modern-day ace Max Scherzer who is 3-1 and leads the league with a 0.58 ERA, innings pitched (31), and is 2nd in strikeouts with 24. At the plate, some clown named Ty Cobb has been doing what he does and has hit .377 (3rd) but leads the league with 23 hits.
The Braves (6-8) have had some standout offensive performances by key players like Eddie Mathews whose 18 RBIs lead the league and Dom DiMaggio who has a 9 game hit streak and 10-game on-base streak alive, but things peter off quickly for them. Once you get past those two guys the offense sputters like a 1974 Ford Pinto. The team’s .209 batting average ranks 15th out of the 16 teams in the AL and poor pitcher Billy O’Dell has been given all of zero runs of support in over 19 innings he has pitched.
The A’s edged out the Pirates 4-3 with key contributors Fergie (Funky Junky) Jenkins getting two wins to improve to 3-0 on the year and steady hitting by Bill White (.365 average, 4th) and Bobby Bonds (.364 average, 5th).
The Chicago Nine have stumbled to a 5-9 start, but you can’t blame their juggernaut offense which has been led by batting behemoth John Mayberry. All Mayberry has done so far is bat .423 (2nd), has been on base 12 straight games, leads the league in slugging at .885, on-base percentage .531, runs scored 14, is 3rd in RBIs with 16 and second in hits (22) and home runs (6). He also already has 9 multi-hit games. Chipping in nicely is Mike Trout and his .360 Average which is 6th in the AL. Unfortunately, some of that has been eroded by JD Martinez (whom I have to mention
cuz I can’t stand him) who has already hit into a league-leading 5 double plays. Everything the Nine’s hitters have done, the pitchers have done their best to undo. The Nine are the league’s basement in team ERA at 6.15 ERA with 21 homers allowed and more walks (57) than strikeouts (50). Reliever Jeff Nelson has two blown saves but not to be outdone, Joe Beggs has a nifty 33.2 baserunners allowed/9 innings out of the pen. Even a slight improvement in pitching may be enough for this team’s bats to carry them to the top.
The Indiana Indians have stumbled out of the gate at 3-11 thanks to a combination of a so far low-octane offense (the league’s worst batting average of .208 and only five home runs) and mediocre pitching (5.24 team ERA with 25 homers allowed). Of course, playing their first two series against 2 of the 3 top teams in the AL East will do that. The only place to go is up.
AL WEST
The AL West is shaping up to be the most competitive division in the league in the early going with a logjam of three teams at the top – Cincinnati Knights, Menomonee Minutemen and the Purry Cowpokes all tied at 9-5.
Purry is the upstart in this group having jumped a spot in the standings at the expense of the KC Blues who were beaten in six of seven games in Week 2. With the Cowpokes, it’s all about speed and mound presence. Rickey Henderson and Brady Anderson are tops in steals with six and five respectively while starting pitcher Steve Carlton is on a 20-win pace with a 3-1 record and Ted (Double Duty) Radcliffe has a minuscule 0.63 ERA which is 2nd lowest among starters in the AL. No surprise that the team has the 2nd lowest ERA in the league at 2.88.
The Knights (or Keee Niggits in Pythonese) went 5-2 versus the New Westminster Salmonbellies largely on the strength of their pitching staff which boasts a team 2.95 ERA (4th in the AL). Johan Santana has been a beast on the mound for Cincy going 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA (3rd best) and three complete games. Sal Bando is helping out with the stick, hitting safely in the team’s last nine games.
The Minutemen (the subject of one of Cheers’ Cliff Claven’s best lines ever describing them not as soldiers but as men all standing less than 4-1/2 feet tall) boast the league’s second highest batting average of .281 which swelled last week at the expense of the Fort Worth Cats which they beat in five of seven games. Jim Scott leads Menomonees mound dogs with a 3-1 record and uber clutch hitters Chipper Jones (15 RBIs) and Paul Goldschmidt (14 RBIs) rank 4th and 5th in the league in driving in runners.
Madison East and Fort Worth are settled in nicely sharing the middle of the division standings at 7-7. Madison edged Wrigleyville 4-3 this past week which allowed them to catch the Cats.
For the Purgolders, they’re league leaders in streaking. Todd Helton has been on base in every game so far this season to lead the league while starting pitcher Hooks Wiltse has gone 15 straight innings without allowing a run to lead in that category. Just for the heck of it, starter Guy Bush has done his part to help the team win games by throwing a 1.48 ERA (5th overall).
The Cats are led by Wee Willi Keeler and his .341 batting average (7th) and surging Tommy (Pee Wee) Butts (LOL) who is “riding” a 9-game hit streak. Slugger Lee May has already smacked six dingers (2nd) and is one of the guys responsible for the Cats pitchers enjoying some of the best run support in the league. Justin Verlander, for example, is atop the league with a sweet 9.9 runs per game of support from his offense. Nice!
The Salmonbellies don’t have much of an upriver swim to catch the teams ahead of them as they are close behind at 6-8 after their 2-5 series against Cincinnati. Outfielder Fred Clarke saw his 11 game hit streak end this week (awwww) and has been a key contributor to the 9.6 runs per game support that starting pitcher Sam Leever has been seeing. On a down note, starters Dwight Gooden and Dutch Leonard have been lit up like Christmas trees in their handful of starts and lead the league in the frequency of home runs allowed.
The Wrigleyville Whales have floundered a bit at the plate so far with a .223 team batting average (13th) but are a team laden with talent that just needs to wake up. Nothing has been wrong with Bob Welch’s pitching so far as the former Eagles guitarist has a lustrous 1.50 ERA (5th) so far this season. You would think the low batting average meant few runs scored, but not in the case of Carl Mays who has been the beneficiary of 8.8 runs per game.
The KC Blues (4-10) are victims of a couple of key pieces of the puzzle just having yet found their rhythm. Second baseman Ray Durham is hitless in his last eight games and shortstop Alex Rodriguez has yet to have a baseball find its way to the bleachers off his bat. Despite the lack of positive results as yet, the Blues have had good results from Rico Carty and Jacob deGrom. The outfielder has a slick .341 batting average (7th) while deGrom already has two complete games to his credit.
| Fire Lake Segers @ San Tan Valley Moonrakers | |
| Series Preview: | Division rivals face off. Seems like an even match up, based on one series. |
| Game #1: | Fire Lake broke open a close game when Johnny Bench ( 3 for 5) clubbed a grand slam off Scott Garrelts ( 6 runs in 2 innings). Denny McLain gets his 2nd win. Tony Perez smacked 4 hits, including a double, and 3 RBI. Fire Lake wins 9-5. |
| Game #2: | San Tan Valley gets a two-run triple from “Bullet” Bob Elliot and ekes out a 3-2 win. Ed Walsh gets his 1st win but injures his arm and will be out for 18 days. Jessie Barnes his 1st save. David Cone falls to 0-2. |
| Game #3: | Hal Trotsky, Merv Rettenmund, and Mike Piazza all homer for San Tan Valley off Ron Guidry (0-3). Virgil Trucks goes all the way for the win. |
| Game #4: | Earl Averill’s 2 run triple is the game-winner in a 3-2 Moonraker victory. A well-pitched game on both sides as each team could only muster 4 hits. Mike Morris is the tough-luck loser. Watty Clark wins it and Barnes saves his 2nd. |
| Game #5: | Another San Tan Valley mound injury, this time Bump Hadley who will miss 6 games. Fire Lake gets homers from Jose Cardenal and Scott Rolen, and another 4 hit game from Perez. They blow a 3-1 lead, however. Trotsky triples and homers, Piazza goes yard again. Barnes saves his 3rd, 6-5. |
| Game #6: | Rolen doubles in 2 and Bucky Walters homers in a 4-2 Fire Lake win. Piazza homers again for the Moonrakers. |
| Game #7: | David Cone is cruising with a 4-0 lead in the 8th when the roof collapses. Ken Keltner pinch hits a two-run homer to halve the lead. After an Oscar Charleston single, Gary LaVelle relieves Cone. Earl Averill hits a triple and then Trotsky and Elliot hit back to back homers. Just like that, San Tan snatches a 5-4 win. |
| Series Summary: | San Tan gets 5 of 7 from Fire Lake. Barnes saved 4 of the 5 wins. Piazza hits 3 homers. So does Trotsky. Perez goes 8-11 for Fire Lake. |
| Boston Braves @ Middle Channel Sturgeon | |
| Series Preview: | Evenly matched Boston takes a boat to the lake to take on Middle Channel |
| Series Summary: | Boston takes the first 5. The Sturgeon survive the final 2 for a Boston 5-2 series win. Great series! Boston has a great defense. I’m out of town or I would have had a game by game write up. Cheers |
| Cincinnati Knights @ New Westminster Salmonbellies | |
| Series Preview: | Cincinnati Knights come to town to take on the New Westminster Salmonbellies. The Bellies start the season with a promotion day to help with attendance. Today only, a piece of smoked salmon for all paying customers freshly smoked from the Fraser River flowing through the south of the city. Jeff Tesreau 1 – 0 will open for the Bellies in the first home game against Mike Scott 0 – 1 for the Knights. |
| Game #1: | Things got started in the first for the Bellies as Scott walked the leadoff batter, Ron Hunt. After moving to second on a ground out Carlos Beltran came to the plate and pounded a 2 run HR to get the game started. In the third Hunt got it started again reaching on a dropped ball by Viox. Chick Stahl then hits a single scooting through the infield and Hunt moves to third. Fred Clarke then comes to the plate and doubles over Goodman’s head scoring Hunt and Clarke giving New West a commanding 4 – 0 lead. Top of the 4th up comes Ted Williams with one gone and avoids the intentional walk with a HR deep to right making the score 4 – 1. Bottom of the 4th, an injury from an inside pitch at little Harry Lord of the Bellies, knocking him down for a few games.Top of the 5th and time for Tesreau to get even with inside pitching going on. The first batter he faces, Ival Goodman, a curveball to the head which curves to the middle of the plate for a long HR. Bando singles, Reggie Smith doubles and runners at 2nd and 3rd. Jeff Tesreau is looking peaked. With one out, Viox makes up for an earlier error with a dying quail to bring in Bando. First and third, and a double off the wall from Joe Sewell and we have a tie game. Up comes Ted Williams. IW and Freehan and Jason Giambi pop out and fly out to leave the game at 4 – 4.Everything is quiet to the top 9th when Viox, cement hands rips a double off of Ted Abernathy. Now Sewell again rips the ball to CF and here comes the play at the plate Viox coming into little Johnny Bassler with his elbow up to little Johnnys’ face, and scores. Johnny is going to be hurt for a few games. Bottom of the ninth and Wickman on for his 2nd inning. Gets the first out but Campanella walks and steals second. Up comes Martin Dihigo, fresh from the Negro leagues and he bangs a ball to Ted Williams replacement, Monte Irvin right into his glove, whoops it falls out, first and third. E-9. Junior Gilliam comes to the plate and takes a strike with both runners going. Campanella is run down and tagged out. The manager feels he was tripped. Gilliam pops up the game is over. Cincinnati 5 New Westminster 4 WP: Bob Wickman 2 – 0 LP: Ted Abernathy 0 – 1HR: Cincinnati: Williams and Goodman New Westminster: Beltran |
| Game #2: | Cincinnati Kershaw 0 – 1 vs Gooden 0 – 1
Everything is quiet to the top of the 4th when up comes Sal Bando who walks against Gooden. Next batter Reggie Smith hits 2 run HR giving the Knights a 2 – 0 lead. In the 7th Dihigo hits a single and Beltran comes up and has a H & R single putting runners at 1st and 3rd. Dihigo is then picked off of third. Beltran steals 2b. Jack Clark comes to the plate and hits a slow ball through the middle scoring Beltran making the score 2 – 1. Bottom ninth. Ron Kline pitching for the Knights and Dihigo reaches on a single. Beltran grounds into a FC. Beltran is able to get to 2nd on a Campanella FC which brings up Jack Clark again and he lines a single into left scoring Beltran to tie the game. Casey Janssen comes on and stops the bleeding. Top of the 10th and Abernathy comes on for the Bellies and promptly gives up a HR to Joe Sewell for a 3 – 2 lead. Bottom of the 10th and Janssen finishes off the game for the Knights with a victory. Salmonbellies were CS – 5 times in the game leading to their demise. |
| Game #3: | Cincinnati: Dazzy Vance 1 – 1 New Westminster: Scott Williamson 0 – 0
All is quiet to the 6th inning. Bozo Concepcion hits a two-bagger and hitters later Fred Clarke hits run-scoring double to take a 1 – 0 lead. The game stays at 1 – 0 to the top of the ninth with Bill Caudill pitching for the Bellies looking for a save. In inning 8 Caudill had got out of a bases-loaded jam with Ted Williams up with 2 out and he hit can of corn to right. So, he promptly gives up a double to Bill Freehan, K’s Giambi, and intentionally walks the power-hitting Ival Goodman to pitch to the low average hitting Sal Bando. You will never guess what happens. Yes folks it is 3 – 1 now, game over. Bellies go down 1 – 2 – 3 in the bottom of the 10th. WP: Vance 2 – 1 LP: Caudill 0 – 1 |
| Game #4: | Cincinnati: Johan Santana 2 – 0 New Westminster: Sam Leever 2 – 0
Things get going in the top of the 3rd with a tweener by Reggie Smith as he walks into 2nd base with a double. Fred Lynn then bangs a single to right moving Smith to 3rd. Jim Viox then singles to left scoring Smith with Lynn crawling into 2nd. Up comes Sewell who bangs a double to right scoring Lynn and keeping Viox at 3rd. Well, look who is up with 1b open. Not a chance for Williams to do any damage. With Viox not being a gazelle at third. Top of the 4th and Reggie Smith knocks one out of the yard. Things are quiet to the bottom of the 5th. Knights up 3 – 0. Jack Clark manages to knock one out for the Bellies to make it 3- 1 for the Knights. Bottom of the 6th Fred Lynn makes it 4 – 1 off Leever with a smash over the fence to right. Top of the 9th and Joe Nathan who had come on in the 8th gives up a single to Sewell and is ready to face Williams. Sewell steals 2nd and Ted is able to move him to 3rd. Now the ball is hit along the ground to Willie Mays in left and being only a 3 outfielder bobbles the ball for an error as Sewell scores and Freehan moves to 2nd. That is the end of Nathans’ night. That brings in Claude Hendrix. This should be easy, Goodman, bang triple, score 6 – 1. Johan Santana trying for a complete game. |
| Game #5: | Cincinnati: Reb Russell 0 – 1 New Westminster: Dutch H. Leonard 1 – 1
Top of the 2nd the Knights gets things started with a bases-empty homer from Monte Irvin. Pitchers are settled in until the top of the 4th when the Knights Chick Hafey pounds one over the LF wall off of the Dutchman from Birmingham, OH. We move to the bottom of the 5th with one out and Willie Mays rips a single off a one bouncer off of Irvins’ chest. Jim Wynn comes to the plate and rips one to Hafey in left and Mays runs through the stop sign and is thrown out at home with Wynn hitting a double. Concepcion comes to the plate a knocks a single into right scoring little Jimmy. Bozo tries to steal 2nd but is thrown out. We move to the bottom of the 6th with the Knights ahead 2 – 1. Reb’s looking a little peeked, could be a flu, as Ron Hunt lines a single to left. Dihigo comes up with a controlled single through the hole at second sending Hunt to 3rd. Felipe Alou stands in waiting for his pitch and hits long, high fly towards Ted Williams. He can’t see it. It goes over his head as Alou has hit a 2 rbi triple. Fred Clarke now lines one to Williams scoring Alou. Beltran now hits it way out of here scoring 2 more runs. That is the end of the night for Russell. Jeff Reardon comes in and gets the Bellies with ease to end the long 6th inning. At the top of the 9th the Dutchman’s arm starts to fall off. Irvin starts off with a double. Smith bangs it next and Irvin runs through the red light and makes it home. The old Dutchman was not born yesterday. He throws over to Dihigo at 3b on an appeal saying that Irvin missed the bag. Irvin is out. Goodbye RBI, goodbye bonus, what a mess. Up steps Bando and the Dutchman, all of a sudden isn’t smiling anymore. He just served up a 2 run dinger to Mr. Bando. 6 – 4 Bellies. One more batter can’t hurt. Garvey grounds out to first. Just one more, Lobert is huge but there is no way he can hurt except he bangs a triple. In comes a 13.50 era to get the save. Joe Sewell whacks one to left and Mays gets a late start and dives and falls hard on the track. It doesn’t look good but he caught the ball. Game over. |
| Game #6: | Cincinnati: Mike Scott 0 – 0 New Westminster: Jeff Tesreau 1 – 0
Pitchers go out for out in this game until the top of the 5th as the Knights jump into the lead once again. Viox loops a single to right with one out. Terrible Ted comes to the plate again and sneaks out a walk. Tesreau throws a wild pitch moving the runners up. Freehan now with runners at 2nd and 3rd decides to hit a pop over second scoring both of the runners. Giambi grounds out with the score 2 – 0, to end the inning. We move to the bottom of the 6th with Chick Stahl at the plate. He sniggles a single past Bando. Now the Bellies need a pinch-runner. Gilliam moves into DH. Could be a mental error moving in a 9 – 2b to DH. Up comes Joe Kuehl, who was riding the pine for the past 5 games, and the ball explodes off of his bat tieing the score at 2. Up comes the Cuban from the Negro leagues, Dihigo who walks. Beltran now bangs a single to Williams Beltran decides to run on the arm and makes it to third. Willie Mays then knocks a little bloop and Beltran runs on to 3rd. On what looks like a double steal, and they catch Beltran off of the bag and Mays goes to 2nd. Buck MillerIV has seen enough. Jeff Reardon comes in and gets Clarke to ground out as well as Bassler to end the inning up 3 – 2 Knights bats are silent for the rest of the game and that is the final score in a Tesreau complete-game victory. |
| Game #7: | Cincinnati: Kershaw 0 – 1 New Westminster: Gooden 0 – 2
This game was over from the opening pitch. Gooden gave up 3 HR’s to 3 of the first 4 batters. New Westminster scored a couple of runs in the 8th against a 1 pitcher named Reardon. |
| Series Summary: | Cincinnati takes the series 5 – 2 and deservedly so. The next series could be different because Viox shouldn’t be around to cause havoc. |
| Climax Cougars @ Pigtown Bombers | |
| Series Preview: | Climax comes into town after a strong 5-2 opening series to take on the struggling Pigtown squad who have started the season 1-6. |
| Game #1: | Spud Chandler (0-1) took the mound for Climax against Johnny Taylor (1-0) for Pigtown. Both pitchers started out strong. Pigtown’s Ernie Lombardi led off the 3rd inning with a solo Home Run to give the Bombers an early lead. It would end up being the only hit of the game for Pigtown. Inning after inning, Chandler set Pigtown’s batters down 1-2-3. In the top of the 5th, a costly error by Jackie Robinson led to 3 unearned runs for Climax, including a Home Run from Sam Crawford. Climax continued to pound Pigtown’s bullpen for another 5 runs in the late innings to win the game 8-1. Chandler ended up going 8 strong innings and giving up just the one hit and one run, with 6 Ks and only 1 BB. Tough luck loser, Taylor went 6 IP, giving up 4 hits and 3 unearned runs. Pigtown had more errors (2) than hits (1). FINAL SCORE: CMC 8 – PIG 1 |
| Game #2: | Cannonball Redding (0-0) started for Climax opposite Roy Halladay (0-0) for the Bombers. Climax jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the 2nd by way of a George Grantham double and a Josh Gibson RBI single. Pigtown came back in the bottom of the 3rd. After a walk and an error by Climax, Hank Greenberg smacked a 3-run Home Run to give Pigtown a 3-1 lead. Much the same as Game 1, Pigtown could not hold the lead and its bullpen was destroyed giving up 9 runs in the final 4 frames to lose the game 10-4. Mel Ott was outstanding for Climax, going 4-4 with a double and 2 HRs (along with 3 runs and 4 RBIs). Cannonball Redding pitched a complete game 3 hitter (only 1 earned run) to get the win. The good news is that Pigtown actually had more hits (3) than errors (1), but could not win the game. FINAL SCORE: CMC 10 -PIG 4. |
| Game #3: | Game 3 featured Van Lingle Mungo (0-0) vs Joe McGinnity (0-2). Little used catcher, Duke Sims hit a huge 3-run Home Run in the bottom of the 4th to give Pigtown a 4-1 lead. McGinnity and the bullpen made that lead hold up and Pigtown gets its first home win, 4-3. McGinnity goes 6.2 IP, allowing 7 hits (4 doubles and a triple), but only 3 runs. Harlond Clift goes 3-4 with a double for Climax. FINAL SCORE: PIG 4: CMC 3. |
| Game #4: | Climax sends out Rube Waddell (1-0) vs Pigtown’s Jim “Slot Machine” Abbott (0-1). Climax jumps out to an early 3-0 lead in the 1st on consecutive RBI hits from Ott, Leonard and Crawford. Climax continued to pound out hits (14 in all), but only scored a total of 5 runs. It was enough to hold off Pigtown’s late charge and win the game 5-4. Waddell went the distance, giving up only 5 hits (2 doubles and 2 triples) and 3 earned runs. Clift had another 3 hit game. FINAL SCORE: CMC 5 – PIG 4. |
| Game #5: | Smokey Joe Wood (2-0) took the hill for Climax against Luis Tiant (0-1) for the Bombers. Tiant had a masterful complete-game shutout, giving up only 2 hits (both to Mel Ott). Pigtown’s offense finally came alive and scratched out 11 hits and scored 7 runs. Jim Edmunds led the efforts for the home team, going 2-4 with a double, HR and 3 RBIs. FINAL SCORE: PIG 7 – CMC 0. |
| Game #6: | In a re-match of Game 1, Spud Chandler (1-1) took on Johnny Taylor (1-1). Once again, Chandler dominated the game with his pitching and put in an early claim for Pitcher of the Week honors. Chandler pitched a complete game 3-hitter, giving up only 2 runs. Mel Ott and Joey “Bats” Bautista paced the visitors with 2 hits and 1 RBI each and Climax won the game 4-2. Pigtown did not get more hits (3) than errors (3) and it is tough to win games when this happens, FINAL SCORE CMC 4 – PIG 2. |
| Game #7: | The final game of the series featured Cannonball Redding (1-0) facing Pigtown ace, Joe McGinnity (1-2). The starting pitchers both pitched well, but would not factor into the decision. Redding went 7.2 IP, giving up 8 hits and 3 runs, while McGinnity went 7 IP and gave up 7 hits and 3 runs. We needed extra innings to complete the finale. In the 13th inning, Climax went ahead for good and won the game 7-5. Jose Bautista (2-4 with HR) and Chief Meyers (4-6) were the stars for Climax, while Manny Ramirez (5-5, HR and 2B) and Hank Greenberg (2-6, HR and 2B) paced the Bombers. FINAL SCORE: CMC 7 – PIG 5. |
| Series Summary: | Climax wins series 5-2. Stars of the series are as follows:
Spud Chandler 2-0, 17 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER On the not so hot list, Elmer Flick is chasing Chris Davis’ record. He has started the season 0-30 with one walk. Mike Schmidt is 10-47 with o HRs and 1 RBI. |
| Kansas City Blues @ Purry Cowpokes | |
| Series Preview: | |
| Game #1: | Jose Canseco put the visitors on the board with a 3 run homer in the 2nd but those were the only runs KC would get as Purry’s starter Jake Weimer settled down. Willie McCovey homered and Chase Utley drove in 2 to lead the Cowpokes. Final score PUR 4 KC 3 |
| Game #2: | Purry jumped out to a 5-0 lead after 4 innings. McCovey leads the way with a 2-run double and a sac fly. Rickey Henderson got 2 hits, a walk, 3 stolen bases, and 3 runs scored. Final score PUR 5 KC 1 |
| Game #3: | Willie “el Diablo” Wells hit a 2-run homer and Tris Speaker added a 2-run triple for the home team. Rico Carty homered for KC. Final score PUR 6 KC 2 |
| Game #4: | Hank Sauer went 4-5 with 2 doubles, 2 homers (including a grand slam), and 7 rbi’s to lead the Cowpokes. Glenn Davis added a 2 run shot for the home team. Dewey Creacy homered for KC. Final score PUR 12 KC 2 |
| Game #5: | El Diablo hit a 2-run blast in the 2nd to give Purry a 2-0 lead. The Blues responded with 3 in the 3rd on Boog Powell’s 3-run blast. Purry busted it open by scoring 7 runs in the 4th. The big blow was Luke Easter’s 3-run shot. Final score PUR 9 KC 6 |
| Game #6: | The 1 game that I forgot to save the scripts for. KC scored single runs in the 1st, 2nd, and 5th innings. El Diablo homered again for the Cowpokes. Purry added single runs in the 6th and 7th to tie the score at 3-3. KC scored in the top of the 10th when ARod singled and Sam Merdes scored from 2nd base. Purry went down quietly in the 10th. Final score KC 4 Pur 3 (10) |
| Game #7: | El Diablo homered for the 3rd game in a row, Chase Utley added a 2-run blast, and Graig Nettles added a solo shot as Purry won this one handily. Final score PUR 8 KC 1 |
| Series Summary: | Purry takes 6 of 7 from Blues as Sam just couldn’t catch any brakes. El Diablo Wells had quite the series. 7-23 (.304), triple, 4 hrs, 7 runs, 10 rbi’s, 21 total bases, 4 bb. Willie McCovey 5-15 (.333), 3 doubles, triple, hr, 5 runs, 6 rbi’s, 13 TB, 4 bb. Hank Sauer 5-9 (.556), 2 doubles, 2 hrs, 2 runs, 7 rbi’s, 13 tb. The best pitching performance of the series goes to Ted Radcliffe. 7.1 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 k. That makes his record 2-0 and his era after 2 games at 0.63 |
| Coastline Bobcats @ Virginia Caviliers | |
| Series Preview: | Crosstown rivals Coastline and Virginia hook up in Virginia’s season opener. Due to Covid-19, there were no fans in the stadium except for two scroungy dogs that tagged along with the Coastline locker room manager and the National Anthem was a piped-in old recording of a group of Virginia boys calling themselves the Dave Matthews Band. Coastline was coming off a 6-1 opening series win and Virginia a 4-3 series win. |
| Game #1: | CLB 5-2
The opener featured a matchup of Bill Swift for Coastline and Lefty Gomez for Virginia. It had the makings of a good pitchers duel. And for the most part, it sort of did. Coastline struck first in the 2nd when Matt Williams drilled a Lefty Gomez fastball into the lefty field bleachers for a 1-0 lead. Then Lefty added to score in the 3rd when he didn’t feel right and walked in a run to make it 2-0 Coastline. Lefty being lefty, he righted himself for the next 5 innings and held Coastline scoreless. Meanwhile, in the 5th, Virginia’s Lance Parrish lofted a Bill Swift not so swift fastball over the outstretched arm of Hack Wilson and it just cleared the wall in left as Wilson looked at his empty glove. Two innings later, Albert Pujols would have brought the fans to their feet if they were there to witness it when he caught a hanging breaking pitch and … “The pitch … that’s rocked to deep left-center … it is high … and long … and gone!…PUJOLS ’18 with a monster shot … Albert ties the game!” But it just was not in the cards for the Cavaliers this day. With a 2-2 tie in the 9th, Coastline put runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. A DP would end the inning. Geoff Jenkins, who was called on to pinch-hit, had other ideas and he hit the ball soooo hard it bounced off the CF wall before CF’erSteve Finley could even turn around. Roger Bresnahan and Matt Williams scored easily and Jenkins smiled while he stood on third where he ended up on the throw home. Jenkins later scored on a SF and Virginia had no answers as they went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th. |
| Game #2: | VIR 3-2
Another good match-up with Dave Stieb for Coastline and Ed Reulbach for Virginia. And once again Coastline struck first AND once again it was Matt Williams AND once again it was a home run that put Coastline ahead 1-0,…Williams 2nd of the year. But in the bottom of the 5th, Virginia’s Albert Pujols hit “a long one … into left field … WILSON ’28 looks up … adios! … good-bye!…arrivederci! … Albert has tied it up” which was then followed by “PARRISH ’89 swings … and mashes it … it might go all the way… WILSON ’28 is at the warning track … but he’d need a ladder to get to this one…a four-bagger for PARRISH ’89 … back-to-back homers for the CAVALIERS!” 2-1 Virginia,…which sounds good to the home team,…until,…that guy again, yeah, Matt Williams. With a runner on 2nd he powers one into CF driving in the tying run and, speedster that he is (he’s an 8, go figure) he ends up with a triple. Fortunately for Virginia, he is stranded at 3rd when Reulbach whiffs Bucket Foot Simmons on 3 straight pitches. Virginia got the winning run courtesy of Kevin McReynolds when he deposited a Santiago Casilla pitch in the upper deck for a 3-2 Virginia lead that Keith Foulke preserved with his 4th save of the year. |
| Game #3: | VIR 3-1
An unexpected win for Virginia as Juan Guzman outpitched Kevin Brown. Guzman went 8 innings allowing only 2 hits, singles by Ripken and Gehrig. Ripken’s double in the 9th off Foulke, one of 3 hits off Foulke in the inning, produced the only Coastline run. And even though Coastline outhit Virginia 5-4, three of the Virginia hits sailed over the outfield walls off the bats of Frank Robinson, Al Rosen, and Harry Heilmann. And last I checked, wins were based on runs scored not hits. Thankfully. |
| Game #4: | CLB 2-0
Chuck Finley is supposed to be a #4 starter for Coastline. Don’t tell the Cavaliers that. He pitched like the ace! 9 innings complete game, no runs on 2 hits with 2 BB and 5 K’s. He had Virginia tied up in knots and they never recovered. Beals Becker gave Finley all the runs he would need when he launched a 3rd inning, opposite-field 2-run homer that kissed the foul pole in LF. McReynolds argued with the umps that it was foul but he was overruled and the homer stood. And it stood for 6 more innings and was the difference in the ballgame,…thanks to the unhittable pitching of Chuck Finley. |
| Game #5: | VIR 7-3
Bill- not so- Swift started his second game of the series and this time he came up against two-way player, and today’s starting pitcher, Leon Day. Swift ran into trouble quickly. Al Rosen’s RBI double in the 1st followed by Kevin McReynolds RBI single put the Cavaliers up 2-0. Cal Ripken’s RBI double in the 3rd brought the Bobcats within 1. But the Cavaliers had Wheaties for snack food in the dugout rather than sunflower seeds and they grabbed handfuls of it in the bottom half of the 3rd. With a cheek full of Wheaties, Allan Trammell calmly stood in the box and then unloaded on the ball and sent it into the upper deck in right. Two outs later, with McReynolds on first, Andruw Jones swallowed the last of his Wheaties and promptly crushed a 2-run homer to left. Suddenly it was VIR 5 and CLB 1. Frank Robinson added another long ball, this time against Mike Marshall, in the 7th and Frankie Frisch added a RBI single in the 8th. Coastline did add 2 more runs in the 8th on back-to-back homers by Hack Wilson and Elston Howard but it was not enough as the Virginia pen closed the door on the ‘Cats. |
| Game #6: | CLB 3-1
Dave Stieb and Bruce Sutter proved to be too much for the Virginia batters. They just couldn’t put anything together against them. Stieb held the Cavaliers to 3 hits over 7 innings while walking none, And Sutter finished up the last 2 innings allowing 1 hit and no walks for his 6th save of the year. Home Runs from Cal Ripken and that guy Matt Williams (again!) accounted for all 3 of the Bobcats’ runs. |
| Game #7: | CLB 5-3
The Frank Robinson game. This should have been a good game,…and it was for 7 innings. And then Frank Robinson,…well,…Kevin Brown and Ed Reulbach matched up in game 7 with the series tied at 3 all. Brown was stingy and dealing goose eggs for the first 5 innings, He looked unbeatable. Reulbach,… not quite as good. In the 3rd, Reulbach faced that guy, Matt Williams, and Williams torched him for his 4th home run of the season,…all 4 in this series. Then in the 6th poor fundamentals got in the way of “How to keep runners from scoring,…”J. GORDON ’39 facing E. REULBACH ’09, T 6th, 2 Outs, 2nd and 3rd, Ahead 1-0…The delivery … swung on … strike three! … it gets away from PARRISH ’89 … he scrambles |
| Series Summary: | Good series (using Team Viewer). Close games for the most part as the pitching was good. Chuck Finley’s 2-hit shutout stands out for Coastline and Juan Guzman’s 8 innings of 2-hit ball were the bright spot for Virginia. In the hitting department, Matt Williams’ 9-24 (.375) showing with 4 long balls and 7 RBI was tops on the team. Virginia’s Albert Pujols led the team with 5 (that’s right,…5!) hits and 2 home runs. Yes, I know. That’s sad! In the end, Coastline took the series 4-3. But it was a moral victory for Virginia. Why? I don’t know. It just sounds good. |
| Indiana Indians @ Jack Street Hustlers | |
| Series Preview: | Indiana comes into Jack Street for the inaugural home series for the Hustlers. |
| Game #1: | I 5/12/1 J 8/12/2WP -Glavine 2-0 LP – Wood 0-2 Sv – None HR – I – Carter (1), Mantle (1) J – Hornsby (2), McGwire (4), Scioscia (1), Kent (1)Hustlers take a 8-2 lead in the 6th with a 5 run inning. Indians push across 3 in the 9th before Brantley comes in and shuts the door. Joe Carter falls a triple short of the cycle for Indiana. |
| Game #2: | I 5/10/0 J 4/6/0WP – Drysdale 2-0 LP – Siebert 1-1 Sv – Broxton 1 HR – I – None J – Hornsby (3), Meusel (2)4-4 tie going to the top of the 8th. Mantle leads off with a triple and scores on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop by Teixeira. |
| Game #3: | 11 innings I 4/8/0 J 5/9/1WP – Brantley 1-0 LP – Casey 1-1 Sv – None HR – I – None J – Medwick 2 (3), Palmeiro (1)3-3 tie going to the 9th. T9 – Franco reaches base with two outs on a fielder’s choice, steals 2nd and scores on a Wallach double. In the bottom half, pinch hitter Rafael Palmeiro hits a 2 out homer to tie things up and send the game to extra frames. In the bottom of the 11th, Dave Justice works a one out walk followed by another walk to Jeff Kent. Edgar Martinez drives home DJ with a single to send the home fans happily out the door. |
| Game #4: | I 5/9/0 J 6/11/0WP – Neshek 2-0 LP – Casey 1-2 Sv – None HR – I – Teixeira (1) J – Medwick (4), McGwire (5)Indiana scores 4 in the first, but Jack Street chips away scoring 2 in both the 8th to make the score 5-4 and then in the 9th, Edgar Martinez raps a 1 out single in front of Ducky Medwick’s walk off 4th homer of the season. |
| Game #5: | I 3/6/1 J 12/12/0WP – Haren 1-0 LP – Wood 0-3 Sv – None HR – I – None J – Martinez 3 (4), McGwire 2 (7), Kent (2)Indiana jumps out to a 2-0 lead in the first, but Hustlers roar back with 5 in the bottom half and chase Kerry “Kid K” Wood after 2/3 of an inning. McGwire falls a triple short (surprise, surprise) of a cycle and Edgar hits 3 solo shots in the victory. |
| Game #6: | I 1/3/0 J 3/7/1WP – Glavine 3-0 LP – Drysdale 2-1 Sv – Brantley 4 HR – NoneGlavine pitches a good one going 8 innings and giving up 2 hits, a run, 4 walks and 4 Ks. |
| Game #7: | I 5/9/0 J 6/8/2WP – Young 1-0 LP – Broxton 0-1 Sv – None HR – I – Mantle (2) J – NoneIndians looked like they were going to pick up their second win of the series, as they took a 5-1 lead to the bottom of the 9th. 3 Indiana pitchers could only muster 1 out in the inning. Paul Shuey walks McGwire and gets Meusel to pop out. Hisle singles McGwire to second chasing Shuey. Ted Simmons greets Broxton with a 2 run triple. David Justice pops a pinch-hit single over the shortstops head to score Simmons and cut the lead to 5-4. PH Palmeiro draws a walk chasing Broxton and bringing in Hugh Casey. Martinez draws a walk loading the bases. Rogers Hornsby singles to the shortstop and tying the game. Ducky Medwick draws a walk-off walk to end it. |
| Series Summary: | Jack Street takes 6 of 7, but Indiana deserved a better fate. |
| Kansas City A’s @ Las Vegas Pirates | |
| Series Preview: | As always, Las Vegas is the perfect host. The Kansas City A’s with both great hitting & pitching came to Vegas with a great plan. I underestimated this team & was shown why I shouldn’t. |
| Game #1: | Fergie Jenkins pitched an excellent 8 innings. Accompanied by excellent hitting & 12 team hits, not to mention Bobby Bonds 2 HR’s, The A’s had their way with Dean Chance & finished with 5 people with 2 or more hits, they easily cruised to the victory, with the help of 3 Pirate errors & 11 walks. The A’s scored in every inning until the 8th Final A’s 9 Pirates 2 |
| Game #2: | Fortunately, the Pirates didn’t get frustrated with the first game & started fresh. Camnitz came through with a 4 hit, 9 K’s CG performance. Along with great pitching came great power from 4 Pirates. Biggio started the power surge followed by 2 run blasts by Mike Epstein & Prince Fielder in back to back innings & completed by a solo shot from Joe DiMaggio. This is where the Pirates got revenge on game 1 & finished with a Pirate victory. Final Pirates 9 A’s 1 |
| Game #3: | This game continued the Pirate pitching dominance when Warren Spahn pitched into the 9th before Rivera came in for the save. Here Bibb Falk, who hit his way into the lineup, & Bill Madlock were the hitting stars. Madlock drove in 3, & the clutch hitting of Falk, who drove in the lead run. Spahn held the A’s to 5 hits & Rivera finished the game unscathed. Final Pirates 4 A’s 1 |
| Game #4: | This was a close game. It started with the A’s breaking out to a 3rd inning 3-0 lead, highlighted by Cecil Cooper’s 2 run HR in the 2nd inning. The Pirates crept back into a 3-3 tie, lowlighted by Aaron’s 2 run error. Eddie Cicotte pitched a strong game with giving up 3 runs, but none earned. In the 9th, Buford drove in Aparicio with the game-winner with Babe Adams rectifying his bad game earlier in the series with a great 9th inning & picked up the save. Final A’s 4 Pirates 3 |
| Game #5: | The Pirates started little-used Jake Arrieta. He wasn’t ready, & got bombed before the game & during the game. He went 3 innings, & the took his sobering shower, giving up 9 runs, 7 earned & 11 hits including a 5 for 5 effort by hammerin Hank Aaron, making up for his error in the last game. He led the HR barrage, accompanied by Fryman, Bonds, & Doerr. The only downside in this was the injuries to Doerr & Boyer. On a light note here, Soprano chose to make Babe Adams the 2nd baseman & uncharacteristically made the final out. Don Aase was also rattled in his 6 innings of mop-up, by giving up 5 runs while rendering 3 HRs. Final 14 Pirates 2 |
| Game #6: | In this game, the A’s took their 3rd straight by using Fergie Jenkins for his 2nd great game, He went 8 innings, allowing Adams to get his 2nd save. Camnitz went the distance for the Pirates, who gave up a run in each of the 1st 3 innings, then shut the door. The only hits by the Pirates were 2 by Biggio, one which was a solo HR in the 1st, & 2 by Cecil Fielder. Jenkins finished with 8 innings & only giving up those 4 hits while striking out 7. Final A’s 3 Pirates 1 |
| Game #7: | This is the type game most fans enjoy, a close game. Both starting pitchers P. Niekro & W. Spahn pitched into the 8th. The scoring didn’t start until Prince Fielder had an RBI double in the 3rd. In the 6th, behind Reggie Jackson’s RBI 2B & Aaron’s 2 run HR, the A’s went ahead 3-1. Then with the unlikely power of Bill Madlock’s 2 solo HR’s the Pirates got back into the game & tied the score at 4 in the 8th. at that point, the Pirates squeaked out 1 last run to finish with a Fuentes victory & a Jesse Crain perfect 9th save. Final Pirates 5 A’s 4 |
| Series Summary: | This whole series was marred by 4 players going on the DL. Three by the A’s, & 1 (extended) by the Pirates. The games themselves proved to be quite exciting & most games competitive. Even the blowouts were entertaining. Jenkins & Cicotte proved to be dominant pitchers for the A’s as did Camnitz, & Spahn for the Pirates. The A’s base stealing proved to be my Achilles heel. I look forward to more games versus this great A’s. |
| Fort Worth Cats @ Menomonee Minutemen | |
| Series Preview: | In week 2 of the young LEG season, The 5-2 Fort Worth Cats the leader of the AL West travel to Wisconsin to face off against the 4-3 Menomonee Minutemen the #2 offense on this young season. Now they say they are here to play baseball, but all us Wisconsinites know they are here for the beer, I guess we will have to wait till the end of the series to know that answer. |
| Game #1: | Katt vs John The Minutemen take a 2-0 lead in the 3rd, but that does not last long as the Cats tie it up in the 5th with 2 unearned runs as Seybold forgets how to play baseball. In the 6th and 7th the Minutemen would put the game away with a Bonds triple and homers by Seybold and Posey would then give MEN the game 1 win. Final Score: FWC 2 MEN 10 |
| Game #2: | Root vs. Scott The Cats get out of the gate on a high note as Singleton drove in Greer to give FWC the early 1-0 lead. The game would stay that way until MEN tied the game up in the 5th as Root gives up a solo jack to Adcock. Root would remain in the game to start the 6th but would only get one more out before MEN added three more runs via timely hitting from Appling, Jones, Posey, and Griffey Sr. MEN would add one more run in the 7th via HR from Goldschmidt. Scott went the distance in this game for his 3rd victory, giving up only 1. Final Score: FWC 1 MEN 5 |
| Game #3: | Williams vs. Hoyt In the first inning, Altuve doubles, and Bonds drives him in giving MEN the early 1-0 lead. FWC would tie it up in the 2nd as May takes Hoyt yard. In the bottom of the 2nd, the wheels would fall off for Williams as the MEN hit parade began and did not stop until 4 runs drove in then Stammen came in to relieve Williams and shut down the scoring. Stammen would not be able to hold them down as MEN scored 2 off Stammen in the 3rd. FWC although would try their best to get back in the game scoring single runs in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th but Rojas and Jansen would shut the Cats down in the last 3. Final Score: FWC 4 MEN 7 |
| Game #4: | Verlander vs. Hudson In-game 4 FWC finally let the bats loose, scoring seven runs in the first two frames via the small ball. Six of these runs were off Hudson as he only went one and 2/3rds giving up two doubles and a walk. MEN would not let FWC get too far away as they did their best to catch up. Their best was two runs in the 2nd as Posey and Griffey Sr. had RBI singles. The in the 3rd Jones hits a grand slam off Verlander to now make the score 7-6 in favor of the Cats. In the 6th, the Cats would score two more runs via a small ball, and in the 7th, Seybold would hit a solo shot to keep the score close at 9-7 Cats. At the top of the 9th, FWC would add an insurance run giving their closer Kimbrel a chance at a save. However, MEN had a different idea, and in turn, they hit two 2-run HRs off Kimbrel. The first came from Goldschmidt, and the walk-off came from Jones. Final Score: FWC 10 MEN 11 |
| Game #5: | Maddux vs. John The Tides finally turn for FWC. The third starts the scoring for both teams as they both score one, FWC’s Singleton hits an RBI double giving their team the lead, yet MEN tied it up with an RBI single from Griffey Sr. after an Altuve double. In the 4th, FWC would add another run taking the 2-1 lead, then add another 2 in the 6th and never looked back. MEN would score one more run on a Bonds HR off Maddux in the 7th. Player of the game was Maddux as he went the distance, only giving up three hits, two runs, 1 ER, 2B, HR while striking out two and walking 1. Final Score FWC 5 MEN 2 |
| Game #6: | Kaat vs. Scott FWC would open the scoring in the three via a Hernandez double that scored 2. FWC would add another run in the 6th as Hernandez doubles in another run. MENsvonly run was in the 7th when Posey drove in Bonds. Jim Katt goes the distance in this game, giving up 1 ER on six hits, two doubles, and four walks. Final Score FWC 3 MEN 1 |
| Game #7: | Root vs. Rommel Rommel jumps in for a spot start for Hoyt as he was not ready to pitch, and boy was Rommel ready. Rommel does not disappoint the Minutemen fan base as he throws a two-hit shutout. MEN only score one run in the 4th when Posey hits a triple and scored Goldschmidt. FWC’s pitcher also threw a complete game giving up one earned on four hits a triple seven strikeouts and seven walks one being intentional |
| Series Summary: | Great series played by both teams even though MEN walks away with a 5-2 series win. |
| Madison East Puregolders @ Wrigleyville Whales | |
| Series Preview: | |
| Game #1: | Buehrle v Welch…Both teams had 8-hits but Whales had 5 go for extra bases, plus Buehrle walked 9th place hitter George Davis twice, with him scoring both times in Wrigleyville’s 8-2 opening day victory! Bottom 3 in Whales lineup were 3-10, 2-BB, 3B, 6-Runs with 3-RBI. Welch hurled 8-innings of 2-run, 6-hit ball to improve to 2-0, 1.06-ERA.
Madison’s Carlos Gonzalez & Jose Reyes went 3-4. Buehrle allowed all 8-runs, 7-earned, and fell to 0-2, 5.63-ERA. FINAL Whales 8 Purgolders 2 |
| Game #2: | Doc Ellis v Carl Mays. Doc was holding Whales to only 2-runs on 5-hits when Yaz beat out an infield hit to lead off the 8th. Roger McDowell relieved and immediately gave up a 2-Run-HR by Carlton Fisk to put Wrigleyville up 4-3. Horner walked, O’Doul singled to RF and Musial singled to LF to load the bases! Ernie Banks hit into a F.C. with Horner’s run making it 5-3 and Lazzeri drilled a 2-Run-2B to deep CF to plate 2 more runs, as Wrigleyville would score 5-runs in the inning and win it 7-4.
Purgolders & Whales had 10-hits but Wrigleyville’s were spread over 8-different batters. Reyes & Helton combined for a 6-7 game for the Purgolders with Reyes adding 2-2B’s and his 1st home-run of the season! Carl Mays allowed 4-runs on 9-hits & 2-walks over 8-IP and improved his record to 2-0, 5.40-ERA. FINAL Whales 7 Purgolders 4 |
| Game #3: | Nehf v Quinn…Nehf allowed HR’s to Horner (1), Lollar (1), and Lazzeri (2) as Whales built 7-5 lead going into the 9th. But, Madison took advantage of a weak pen and scored 3-runs for an 8-7 win!
McMichael was on the mound for Wrigleyville and Albert Belle dropped in a 1B. Bay followed with a double to score Belle. McMichael was replaced by Burke and he K’d Bull Durham for out # 1. Pie Traynor singled in Bay to tie game @ 7-7. Reyes made it 1st and 3rd with a H/R 1B up the middle. Carlos Gonzalez hit a SF and Pie outran Yaz’s throw to give Purgolders an 8-7 lead! In Whales 9th and Urbina in relief, Ritchey drew a walk. Ray Chapman would pinch run for Ritchey. Red Smith sacrificed him to 2nd. Irish Meusel singled to RF and Chapman was held @ 3rd. Yaz walked to load the bases with 1-out. O’Doul pinch hit and grounded to Alomar, who “bobbled it” but still managed to get force play @ home! Lazzeri was Whales’ last hope and Urbina fanned him to preserve the 8-7 come from behind win! Madison out hit Wrigleyville 15-11 but the Whales coaxed 7-walks to the Purgolders 2 with both teams stranding 10. Madison had 6-players with @ least 2-hits and Shoeless Joe was the only starter without a hit. Durham led their attack, going 3-5, 2B, 3B with 2-RBI. FINAL Purgolders 8 Whales 7 |
| Game #4: | Wiltse v Koufax. Hooks (2-1, 4.12) owned the Whales, as he tossed a CG, 6-0 Shut-Out! Sandy (0-3, 6.87) allowed 6-runs on only 3-hits but walked 7 and gave up a GRAND SLAM to Durham in the 9th. Irish Meusel was 3-4 for Wrigleyville.
FINAL Purgolders 6 Whales 0 |
| Game #5: | G.Bush v Ruether. Jason Bay slugged a 2-Run-HR (1) in 9th to give Purgolders a 2-1 win! Bush gave up 1-run on 9-hits and 2-BB and improved his record to 2-1, 1.48-ERA! Ruether allowed only 4-hits and walked 3 but his record fell to 0-2, 3.24-ERA.
FINAL Purgolders 2 Whales 1 |
| Game #6: | Buehrle v Welch. George Davis hit a 2-out, Walk-Off Home-Run off of Burgmeier in the 10th to give the Whales a dramatic 4-3 victory! McMichael blew the save and picked up a “W”. Buehrle was a magic man, as he gave up 9-walks and 6-hits over 9-IP but only 3-runs! Welch allowed 3-runs, 2-earned over 7-IP allowing 8-hits and 4-walks.
FINAL Whales 4 Purgolders 3 |
| Game #7: | Doc Ellis v Carl Mays. Madison had a 6-1 lead after 5-innings and coasted to a 7-3 win and won series 4-3. Ellis (1-0, 3.18) hurled CG, 5-hitter, walking 5 and striking out 9-Whales. Mays was lit up for 6-runs on 7-hits in 4.1-IP. Ray Chapman slugged a 2-run-HR in trying to help the man whose pitch killed him on August 17, 1920 but Doc was too much on this day.
Reyes drove in 3-runs, going 2-3, HR (2) and Alomar was 3-4, 2-2B. FINAL Purgolders 7 Whales 3 |
| Series Summary: | Madison 4-3 @ Wrigleyville. |
| Clockwork Heroes @ Hollywood Zombies | |
| Series Summary: | Hollywood drops 4 of 7 to Clockwork. |
| Wainwright Wranglers @ Iowa Giants | |
| Series Preview: | The Wainwright Wanglers come to Knoxville Iowa to take on the Giants. Both teams started the series with the same record of Five and Four. This series will mark the first time Iowa native (should be noted greatest baseball player born in Iowa Bob Feller ) the Giant’s first pick in the draft gets to play a professional ball game in his home state. Feller is from Van Meter Iowa just 53 miles from his home town. |
| Game #1: | Wranglers 2-6-0 WP Willis 2-0 Giants 0-3-0 LP B Feller Vic Willis complete game 3 hit shutout. Wranglers score both their runs in the fifth of off Feller. The runs were scored on a Tony Fernandez single and a triple by Tony Gwynn.Final Wranglers 2-0 over Giants |
| Game #2: | Wranglers 3-6-2 LP D White 2-1 Giants 4-10-0 WP Hawkins 1-0 Great close game, Darren Daulton two-run shot in first gives Wranglers lead but Giants come back with two in the bottom of the second we go to the 6 and each team gets one run and then in the bottom of ninth Giants score a run and give Latroy Hawkins the win. |
| Game #3: | Wranglers 6-13-1 LP Rucker 0-2 Giants 12-13-0 WP Lemon 1-0Wranglers knock out Dizzy Dean after two innings giving up four runs. Giants come back and four 5 in the bottom of the second to take the lead. Bob Lemon comes in relief and goes four and a third innings just giving up one run and provides the offense with a homer and a single and 2 rbi’s. Carl Furillo 2-4 homer 5 rbi’s. Nap Rucker roughed up 8 his 10 runs 8 er. |
| Game #4: | Wranglers 3-7-1 LP L Grove Giants 6-5-1 WP T Bonham 3-0 SV Goosage 2Tiny Bonham another great start 5 innings 1 hit for seasons 17 innings 7 hits no runs. Rudy York goes 2-3 two homers four rbi’s one being a three-run shot in the first inning. Vic Power also homer |
| Game #5: | Wranglers 1-5-1 LP Willis 2-2 Giants 6-8-0 WP B Feller 1-2Bob Feller finally gets first win going 8 2/3 giving up only one run. Bryce Harper hits his first home run and Joe Morgan gives 1-4 with two rbi’s |
| Game #6: | Wranglers 2-8-0 LP D White 2-2 Giants 5-9-1 WP M Lanier 2-0 SV Goosage 3Vic Power three-run homer in first put the Giants on the board and they keep the lead for their fifth straight win. Max Lanier throws the first five innings 3 his 1 unearned run. |
| Game #7: | Wranglers 3-7-1 WP Rucker 1-2 SV Ward 2 Giants 2-10-1 LP Reynolds 1-1Wranglers score 3 in the second Grace triple and George Brett 2 rbi double and Nap Rucker goes 8 2/3 10 hits but only 1 er. |
| Series Summary: | The series was a lot of fun score does not really express how close the games really were. I was really apprehensive about the series seeing the line up such great hitters in especially George Brett Tony Gwynn and Kirby Puckett was not sure my pitching could stop them. Tony Fernandez 7-20 Vic Power 10-27 2 homers 5 rbi’s Tiny Bonham for season 17 innings 7 hits no runs. |
| Detroit DeLoreans @ West Michigan Retrogrades | |
| Series Preview: | Detroit and West Michigan both hope to get on track after subpar opening weeks. |
| Game #1: | West Michigan gets their second win of the season 5-3. Heavy Johnson led off the game with a home run. Schumaker got the win while Sallee took the loss. Bob Stanley earned the save. |
| Game #2: | Detroit won the game before West Michigan came to bat when Sam Rice hit a bases-loaded triple, scoring 3 unearned runs. Heavy Johnson once again led off the game with a homer. Schocker took the loss and Vaugh got the win. |
| Game #3: | West Michigan bounced back with a 5-1 victory led by a brilliantly pitched game by Foster, who had a no-hitter through 5 1/3 |
| Game #4: | Detroit tied the series with a 6-1 victory. Lajoie, who had an excellent series, led the way starting with an RBI single in the 2nd. Davis was tagged with the loss while Williams earned the victory. |
| Game #5: | Sallee pitched a masterful 7-0 shutout for Detroit, powered by hitting from Herman, Rendon, and Collins. |
| Game #6: | More of the same for Detroit, this time Vaughn pitched the 7-0 shutout. |
| Game #7: | After 26 scoreless innings, West Michigan scored in the first on their way to an 11-4 victory. |
| Series Summary: | Detroit takes the series 4 games to 3. Both teams will be looking for more consistency next week. |
| Chicago Nine @ Lewisbury Country Blumpkins | |
| Series Preview: | The Chicago Nine (3-4) traveled to North Lewisberry to face the Country Blumpkins (5-2), who were looking to remedy their power outage. |
| Game #1: | Sabathia vs Morris Blumpkins score 3 in the 4th to erase a 2-0 deficit as Gil Hodges hits a solo HR. Thompson’s solo Hr in the 5th ties it back up at 3. LCB scores 3 in the 6th highlighted by Bernie Williams’ 2RBI 2B. Country Blumpkins 6 Nine 3 |
| Game #2: | Hernandez vs Cooper Trout hits a solo shot for Nine in the 4th. Betts scores on a DP to tie it up in the 5th. Both teams traded runs in the 8th. Bottom 10, Betts drives home Surhoff with an RBI 1B for the walk-off win. Country Blumpkins 3 Nine 2 10inn |
| Game #3: | Clemens vs Ruth In what shoulda been a great pitcher’s duel, Clemens shits the bed in the 1st serving up a 3run meatball to David Ortiz as the Blumpkins cruise to the victory. Country Blumpkins 7 Nine 3 |
| Game #4: | Richards vs Hershiser Orel was coming off an injury and gives up a game-tying 2run HR to Brooks Robinson in the 2nd. Then the LCB bats came alive. 1 in the 2nd. 2 in the 3rd. 4 in the 4th. 3 in the 5th. 2 in the 6th. 1 in the 7th. Bernie, Ortiz, Surhoff, and Freeman all hit HRs for the homers. Mayberry added a solo HR for Nine. Country Blumpkins 15 Nine 3 |
| Game #5: | Pennock vs Langston Another wild one as LCB goes up 14-5 after 8 and hangs on to win. Nellie Cruz hits a GS and a solo HR and Freddie adds another solo for the Blumpkins. For Nine, Mayberry & Griffey hit solo HRs and JD Martinez hits a GS in the 9th to make it close. Country Blumpkins 14 Nine 10 |
| Game #6: | Sabathia vs Morris A slow, methodical beatdown was the MO for Nine’s first win of the series. They scored in 6 innings and got HRs from Mayberry and JD. Nine 11 Country Blumpkins 2 |
| Game #7: | Hernandez vs Cooper Nine jumps out to a 5-0 lead after 2 innings on the strength of 3 RBIs from Mayberry (including a 2run HR). Ortiz brings Blumpkins back with a 3run Blast in the 6th but too little too late. Nine 6 Country Blumpkins 4. |
| Series Summary: | Country Blumpkins win series 5-2 and may have finally got their offense clicking. As in real life, all pitchers suck. Lots of hitting on both sides. Mayberry homered in 4 straight games for Nine. |
| 3Hoboken Zephyrs @ Motown Yankees | |
| Series Preview: | 39 years after facing off in the inaugural (and only) Paxtang, PA APBA World Series, with Motown taking the title 4-2, and after 25 preseason tuneups, these teams that went with a pitching heavy draft strategy were ready to play some counting games. Hoboken was actually a little more anxious as they held Motown to a measly sub-.200 batting average in taking the Grapefruit League season series 15-10. Hoboken enters this matchup after dominating their first home series of the season against Hollywood, 6-1, against a Motown team that struggled to score runs in their opening series loss against Clockwork. |
| Game #1: | Hoboken’s Tom Seaver, 1-1, toed the rubber for a game 1 matchup with Motown’s Dave Brown, who took 2 brutal losses to the brilliant Christy Mathewson in the opening series. After each team scored single 1st inning runs, Hoboken took what looked like an insurmountable lead with a 3 spot in the 4th, aided by a 2 run error by normally sure-handed Frank White. Seaver was strong through the 3rd, but Motown showed some uncharacteristic power, going deep 3 times (Walker, Olerud, Westrum) for 6 runs in the 4th and 5th. Brown righted the ship, cruising into the 9th before tiring following a rain delay. Uehara got the final 2 outs to end the game with Motown taking the opener, 7-4. |
| Game #2: | In another much-anticipated pitching matchup, Hoboken’s Red Faber prepared to square off against Motown’s Carl Hubbell and his 1.65 ERA. Hoboken again jumped out to an early lead, scoring 2 in the 1st on the first of Jim Bottomley’s two-baggers and a following single by OF Jeff Heath. Faber was strong early but gave up 3 in the 3rd, highlighted by Stan Hack’s 1st of 2 doubles. Pitching then took over, if only to set up wild extra innings. Leading by 1 with 2 out and the tying run on 2nd, Motown decided it was Hubbell’s game to lose, and regretted it instantly. Spence tied the game with a run-scoring double and was plated on the next pitch by sweet-swinging Tommy Henrich. Hoboken substituted for a defensive stand, but couldn’t prevent the tying run from scoring when Elmer Valo hit a leadoff single and was replaced on the basepaths by the speedy Richie Ashburn. Ashburn promptly stole 2nd, when everyone in the stadium knew he was running and was knocked in by consecutive successful bunts. The score remained tied until the bottom of the 11th. Biz Mackey led off with a two-bagger and was replaced on the bases by the speedy Ghost Marcell. Heiney Groh PH and promptly sac bunted the Ghost to 3rd, and Hoboken intentionally walked the surprisingly effective hitter Mingori to set up the double play. After getting Lofton on an easy fly ball, Torriente came through with the game-winning single to make Uehara Motown’s 1st 2 game-winner. Motown survives in extra innings, 5-4. |
| Game #3: | Hoboken ace Noodles Hahn looks to right the ship and ends the 2 games losing streak against Adam Wainwright. After one, and 2 1st inning errors, Hahn staked the Yanks to an early 5 run deficit, highlighted by C Wes Westrum’s 3R HR. But like every other lead in this series, Motown’s advantage was gone by the end of the 4th, as Hoboken came all the way back to tie it at 5, benefitting from Dahlen’s 3R blow in the top of the 2nd. Wainwright was degraded but toughed out the next 2 innings to get Motown to its strong bullpen. Motown scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 6th, with Mingori closing it down giving up only a single over the final 3 frames. Motown survives again, 6-5. |
| Game #4: | Started early Friday morning – Motown getting up early had a bad vibe……and he was right. Bottomley led the way with 3 hits, Hoboken touched up Addie Joss for 4 runs through 3, and Jeff Weaver scattered 6 hits and 2 runs across a complete-game gem to run his record to 3-0. The 1.23 RA puts him in square contention for the Cy Young. Motown’s blatantly poor decisions regarding his pitching staff would haunt him for the remainder of the series. Hoboken wins their 1st game of the series, 4-2. |
| Game #5: | Tom Seaver started his 2nd game of the series, looking to rebound from his disastrous opening series start. He replicated Weaver’s previous start, scattering 6 hits and 2 runs for back-to-back complete-game victories for Hoboken. With Bottomley a little tired from running around the bases in Game 4, Henrich took over and led the way to victory with 2 hits and 3 RBI’s, all of the 2 out, clutch variety. Plating 5 runs by the end of the 3rd, Motown simply did not have the will to provide much of a challenge. Brown gave up 5 in 5, losing his 3rd decision to go with 1 win. Hoboken takes game 5, 5-2. |
| Game #6: | Having starters last only 5 innings in each of the previous 2 games, Motown’s pitching staff was worn out, leading to pitching by committee in Game 6. Following Dahlen’s 2 run 2nd inning blast, Hoboken tacked on 3 more runs and cruised to a 5-1 victory, evening the series at 3 games apiece. Red Faber was marvelous, allowing only 2 hits and a single earned run across 8 innings to up his record to 2-1, with Adam Wainwright taking the L and dropping his record to 1-2. |
| Game #7: | Following a defeat in Game 3, his only L on the season, Noodles Hahn was out for vengeance – and he got it. A complete game, 3 hit shutout. For his part, Addie Joss recovered nicely, allowing only 4 hits and 2 runs over 8, but a Bottomley walk, followed by back to back 2 out doubles in the 4th, was enough to propel Hoboken to the series win. |
| Series Summary: | It was the 2003 ALCS all over again for the Yanks, taking the first 3 but losing the final 4 games in miserable fashion. After scoring 18 runs in games 1-3, Hoboken’s pitching was dominant, holding Motown to a total of 5 runs through the final 4, running Hoboken’s record to 6-4 with Motown heading into their 3rd series at 6-8. |
| Fantomz Force @ Nags Head Surf Sox | |
| Series Preview: | Surf Sox are ready to host their first-ever LEG series at Shibe Park by the Sea, on a remote Outer Banks Beach, with a sultry summer breeze and wild horses as the only spectators this weekend.
Division Rivals, the Fantomz Force, make their first visit to the OBX. Winners of 3 straight and 6 of their first 7, the Force look to be a formidable opponent for the Sox. A team relying heavily on stars from the 70s and 80s, Nag’s head opened with a pair of road wins in week 1 and look for better results at home. |
| Game #1: | Stan Coveleski (0-1 5.14) vs. Cole Hamels (1-0 0.00)
Sox break on top first in the bottom of the third on back to back doubles by Ryne Sandberg and Von Hayes. With a 1-0 lead Hamels goes out to pitch the 4th. He retires Joe Judge, but needs to come out after that with shoulder soreness. He is replaced by Dave Giusti. Sox strike again in the bottom of the 5th. Jeter doubles with one out. Mike Marshall pinch hits for Giusti and grounds out moving Jeter to 3rd. Sandberg then cracks his 2nd double of the game scoring Jeter. Hayes singles to right to score Sandberg. 3-0 Nags Head after 5. The Force get on the board in the 6th following 3 straight singles by Judge, Donaldson, and Wagner, but McGraw gets Coveleski to strikeout to end the threat. Nags Head gets the run back in the bottom of the 7th – Larry Bowa pinch hits for Norm Charlton. Bowa walks, steals second, and comes around on Sandberg’s 3rd hit of the day. 4-1 NH after 7. Street and Cordero pitch scoreless 8th and 9th innings to preserve the first Sox home victory. Honus Wagner led the visitors going 3 for 4. Coveleski went the distance, scattering 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out 5. Sandberg and Hayes had 5 of the 6 Sox hits. Nags Head uses 5 relievers to hold on following the Hamels injury. Cole will miss a week. |
| Game #2: | Satchel Paige (2-0 2.08) vs. Nolan Ryan (0-1 0.00)
Paige and Ryan exchange zeros through 4 1/2. Sox rally in the bottom of the 5th when a Jimmie Foxx double plates Juan Samuel for a 1-0 Sox lead. Nolan Ryan scatters 3 hits and 6 walks through 8, nursing the 1-0 lead and extending his no-run streak to 14 innings to start the season. But Joe Judge, leading off the visitor 9th, clubs a solo home run to even the score and end the scoreless streak. Then the wheels fall off – Micky Cochrane clubs a pinch-hit single, Ron Santo draws a one-out walk. Ryan retires the pinch hitter Wiley before George Stone delivers a 2 run triple to send Ryan to the showers. Huston Street replaces Ryan and gets Andrews to fly out, scoring Stone with Fantomz’s 4th run and Larry Doby follows with a solo blast and the Force takes game 2 5-1. Trying to rest the bullpen, the Sox manager let Ryan in a little too long and may have cost the Sox a W. FANTOMZ 5 7 0 |
| Game #3: | Gaylord Perry (1-0 5.25) vs. Jim Palmer (0-0 7.20) Game is scoreless until the top of the 4th. Gil McDougald walks for the 2nd time in the game. He steals 2nd and scores on a Judge 2 out single. 1-0 Fantomz. Top 6 – Doc Wiley doubles with 1 out. Palmer retires Doby but Lankford smokes a single to left scoring Wiley to up the visitor lead to 2-0. Bottom 7 – Jimmie Foxx leads off with a solo home run to cut the Force lead in half. Bottom 8 – Pinch hitter Dave Kingman socks a 2 out solo home run to tie the game for the Sox. Top 9 – Giusti replaces Palmer. Doby leads of with a single. Lankford hits into a fielder’s choice, ending up on 1st. John Stone pinch hits. Lankford steals 2nd and moves to 3rd as Gary Carter’s throw gets by Jeter and rolls into centerfield and he scores 3 pitches later on a Giusti wild pitch. Fantomz takes a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the 9th where Perry sets the Sox down in order for the Force victory. FANTOMZ 3 4 0 Nags Head 2 3 1 WP – Perry (2-0) LP – Giusti (0-1) |
| Game #4: | Carl Weilman (1-0 2.77) vs. Mike Mussina (0-2 4.15) Top 2 – Famtomz opens the scoring – Lankford and McDougald walk. Lankford scores on a Judge RBI single. McDougald scores on a Donaldson ground out giving the Force a 2-0 lead. Bottom 2 – Giancarlo Stanton scores on a Jeter RBI single to narrow the Fantomz lead to 2-1. Bottom 3 – Dawson leads off with a walk. Jimmie Foxx follows with a single. Stanton then clubs a bases-clearing double to put the Sox in front. Kingman singles in Stanton for the 4-2 NH lead. Bottom 6 – Dawson 2 runs double scores, Jeter and Sandberg, to up the Sox lead to 6-2. Top 8- A Doc Wiley solo HR makes the score 6-3 Nags Head. Francisco Cordero comes in and saves it for Mussina’s first victory. Doby led the Force with 2 hits, including a double. Dawson and Stanton each had a pair of hits and a pair of RBIs for Nags Head. FANTOMZ 3 4 0 Nags Head 6 9 0 WP – Mussina (1-2) LP – Weilman (1-1) S – Cordero (3) Joe Judge (Fantomz) – injured and will miss 1 game. |
| Game #5: | Stan Coveleski (0-2 4.80) vs. Joaquin Andujar (0-2 15.26) Bottom 1 – Singles by Von Hayes and Jimmie Foxx set up Andre Dawson’s RBI single to put the Sox up early. A Winfield walk loads the bases, but Coveleski gets Tim McCarver to fly out to Larry Doby to end the inning. 1-0 Nags Head Top 4 – Larry Doby slugs a leadoff home run to tie things up. Bottom 6 – Andre Dawson leads of with a double, moves to 3rd on a Winfield ground out, and scores on a McCarver SAC fly. Sox lead 2-1 Top 8 – Mickey Cochrane’s pinch-hit leadoff double greets Dan Quisenberry to start the inning. Lankford draws a walk to put Force runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs. Quisenberry then settles down to retire Wiley, Doby, and Stone to hold the lead. Bottom 8 – Foxx and Dawson single. Winfield singles to score Foxx, McCarver singles scoring Dawon, and chasing Cishek. Jason Fraser replaces Cishek. Bowa greets him with an RBI single to score Winfield. Sox up 5-1. Top 9 – With a 4 run lead, Heathcliff Slocumb is brought in to get some innings. He retires Lopez to start the inning, but a Mike Andrews single and Honus Wagner RBI triple brings Huston Street in relief of Slocumb. Street’s 2nd pitch gets by McCarver, Wagner scores, and the Sox lead is down to 5-3. Street gets Santo to pop out and pinch hitter Choo to fly out to end it. Street saves the victory for Andujar, who nearly doubles his innings pitched for the season and lowers his ERA nearly 7 runs, from 15.26 to 8.59. FANTOMZ 3 6 0 Nags Head 5 13 1 WP – Andujar (1-2) LP – Coveleski (0-3) S – Street (1) |
| Game #6: | Satchel Paige (3-0 1.71) vs. Tug McGraw (0-0 13.50) Tug McGraw is forced into a start due to the injury to Cole Hamels. Top 1 – Fantomz greets Tugger rudely in the 1st – John Stone singles to start the game and he comes around to score, one out later, on a Larry Doby RBI double. 1-0 Force Top 2 – McGraw walks the bases loaded to start the inning. He gets Paige to ground into a double play, to score Joe Judge. McGraw then gets Stone to ground out to minimize the damage. 2-0 Force Bottom 2 – Giancarlo Stanton leads off with a single, moves to 2nd and 3rd on a pair of Paige wild pitches. Stanton scores on Howard Johnson’s RBI double cutting Fantomz’s lead to 2-1 Top 3 – Fantomz gets the run back in the 3rd. Doby walks, steals 2nd and scores on Honus Wagner’s RBI single, Force up 3-1 Top 4 – Stone draws the 5th McGraw walk of the game, and scores on Mike Andrews’ 2 out double – Fantomz 4-1 Bottom 5 – Derek Jeter leads off the home 5th with a triple. Mike Marshall is called upon to pinch-hit for McGraw. Marshall promptly lines into a double play killing any hopes for a Sox rally. Top 7 – Doby RBI single scores Andrews. 5-1 Force Satchel Paige goes the distance, scattering 6 hits while striking out 9 and walking none to win his 4th to start the season FANTOMZ 5 6 0 Nags Head 1 6 1 WP – Paige (4-0) LP – McGraw (0-1) |
| Game #7: | With the series knotted at 3 games apiece, for the series win – Gaylord Perry (2-0 3.86) vs. Nolan Ryan (0-1 2.51) Top 2 – A pair of walks and a single load the bases for the Force with 2 outs. Ryan gets a called strike 3 on Doc Wiley to get out of the jam. Wiley doesn’t agree with the Ump and gets tossed for excessive arguing. Bottom 4 – Dawson doubles with 1 out. Kingman draws a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd, but Perry forces HoJo to ground into a twin killing inning-ending DP. It’s all zeros through 4 Pitchers duel continues as Perry and Ryan match outs through 8. Bottom 9 – Ryne Sandberg leads off with a walk and steals second. Scrap Iron Jones decides to walk Von Hayes to pitch to Jimmie Foxx, who slams a single into center to plate Sandberg to win the game and series for Nags Head. Nolan Ryan has his second strong start of the series, winning this one, going the distance allowing only a Gaylord Perry single. Perry was the hard-luck loser, scattering 4 hits and 4 walks. FANTOMZ 0 1 0 Nags Head 1 4 0 WP – Ryan (1-1) LP – Perry (2-1) |
| Series Summary: | Great series that could have gone either way. Strong pitching on both sides, as both teams only manage 20 runs over the course of the 7 games. Fantomz’s Satchel Paige is a perfect 4-0 to start the season, and only a Gaylord Perry single prevented Nolan Ryan from recording the LEG’s 1st no-hitter. |