Tag: Tony Phillips Page 3 of 5

We’ll be going day by day here as the playoff series evolve.

#Birmingham Black Barons v Detroit Wolverines, Game I

Series preview here.

With Alejandro Peña not fully rested, Birmingham turns to ERA champ Andy Pettitte in Game 1 with Detroit countering with Hal Newhouser in a lefty v lefty matchup.

A walk, a sacrifice bunt, an infield hit, and a long 3-run homer: just like that, Detroit took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first as a Hank Greenberg longball scored Tony Phillips and Ty Cobb. Birmingham would scratch a run back in the 3rd on an RBI single by Frank McCormick, another in the 4th on an RBI double from Cupid Childs, and another in the 5th to tie the game, this one an RBI single from Hank Aaron.

Greenberg gave the Wolverines the lead again in the bottom of the 5th with a single scoring Bob Bailey, but Birmingham would tie it up in the top of the 7th as McCormick brought home Bob Nieman.

It would stay that way until the top of the 9th, when Detroit left John Hiller in one batter too long, and Pie Traynor–much maligned after a hot start earlier in the year–took him deep with Al Schweitzer on base, putting the Black Barons up, 6-4.

Juan Rincón was called in to close it out, but couldn’t, eventually surrendering a 2 out, bases loaded single to Bill Carrigan to tie the game. Rincón walked Al Kaline to load the bases again, and was relieved by Steve Bedrosian … who promptly walked Chili Davis, forcing in the winning run.

McCormick and Nieman had 3 hits each for Birmingham, while Bob Bailey had 3 for the Wolverines.

This one could hurt: with neither Pettitte or Newhouser really pitching as expected, the Black Barons had done well to come back to tie the game, and then Traynor’s shot in the 9th seemed to have the victory stolen. Instead, Detroit takes the first game in an improbable fashion.

BBB 6 (Rincón 0-1, 1 B Sv) @ DET 7 (Anderson 1-0; Bradford 1 B Sv)
HRs: BBB – Traynor (1); DET – Greenberg (1).
Box Score

#Chicago American Giants v Portland Sea Dogs, Game 1

Series preview here.

Game one is a matchup of each team’s ace, which also reveals the gap in pitching between the sides. For Chicago, Tricky Nichols takes the mound with a record of 15-9 and a 4.14 ERA. Nichols has been good all year, clearly a top of rotation type starter. But Portland gets to run out The Big Train, with Walter Johnson ending the season 14-5 with a 3.50 ERA in a season punctuated by a few spells of absolute dominance.

Gil Hodges launched an offering from Nichols into the stands in the bottom of the 3rd for a 1-0 Portland lead, and Gavvy Cravath doubled it later in the inning with an RBI single. Hodges would do it again in the 4th, sending his 2nd home of the game over the wall for a 3-0 lead.

On the other side, Johnson had faced 9 batters through 3 innings (an HBP and a caught stealing were in there, so not a perfect 3 innings). Eddie Collins walked to leadoff the third, but he was caught leaning the wrong way on a snap throw by Portland catcher Joe Mauer. Dick Allen finally notched Chicago’s first hit of the game, a single in the top of the 5th.

Nichols was left in one batter too long, and again it was Hodges, whose third homerun of the day put Portland up, 6-0. Hodges, who finished with 5 RBIs, didn’t get a chance to hit a 4th, as Portland cruised to the win. This performance makes Hodges the first player in WBL history to hit 3 homeruns in a game on 2 separate occasions.

Cravath had 3 hits for the Sea Dogs. Johnson finished with 7 scoreless, allowing only 3 hits.

CAG 0 (Nichols 0-1) @ POR 7 (Johnson 1-0)
HRs: CAG – none; POR – Hodges 3 (3).
Box Score

#New York Gothams v Cleveland Spiders, Game 1

Series preview here.

The WBL’s only 2 17 game winners are matched in the opening game of the series (New York’s Christy Mathewson and Cleveland’s Pat Malone), with the only real question being how Cleveland would work wunderkind Tris Speaker into its lineup (Speaker was called up when Johnny Callison hit the DL, Callison is back now). Today, it’s Kenny Lofton as the odd man out, with Speaker starting in centerfield–essentially the Spiders deciding to keep MPV candidate Ron Blomberg, John Ellis, and Jake Stahl all in the lineup.

In the top of the 3rd, New York’s Jimmy Sheckard singled and stole second, and then scored on a 2-out singly by Buster Posey. Willie Mays plated Posey with a double, and the Gothams took a 2-0 lead.

It took until the fifth inning for the Spiders to get their first hit: a single from Ellis, who was left stranded at second. Cleveland had some more base runners–Matty hit 2 batters in the 6th and gave up a walk in the 7th–but no further hits through 7 innings.

With Mathewson on 109 pitches, New York had him on a short leash in the 9th. He got the first 2 outs easily, but a Jake Stahl single brought in the Gothams’ dominant closer, Brian Wilson, to face Chuck Knoblauch. An easy pop fly to right later, and the Gothams were up, 1-0 in the series.

Mays had 2 hits, but the real story was Matthewson, who allowed 2 hits through 8 2/3, striking out 8 and walking 2.

NYG 2 (Mathewson 1-0; Wilson 1 Sv) @ CLE 0 (Malone 0-1)
HRs: None.
Box Score

#Wandering House of David v Baltimore Black Sox, Game 1

Series preview here.

Some may have been surprised that Baltimore turned to Bill Byrd instead of Dennis Martínez for game one, but Byrd has been on fire lately and certainly deserves the recognition as the Black Sox’s best. The House of David’s choice was more obvious, with Jack Taylor–despite a bit of a late season fade–being their clear ace.

A Frank Robinson double plated Bobby Wallace in the bottom of the first for an early 1-0 lead for Baltimore. Manny Machado made it 3-0 with a 2 run shot in the second.

Taylor settled down, but in the bottom of the fifth, gave up 2 singles before plonking Robinson, loading the bases with 1 out. But Taylor emerged unscathed, with the score still 3-0. The problem for the House of David was that Byrd was pitching excellently, allowing only a single hit through his 5 innings of work.

Jim Edmonds led off the 8th with the House of David’s second hit, a double to centerfield. A Richie Hebner single chased Byrd in favor of Gregg Olson, who emerged from the inning unscathed.

Kerry Wood‘s playoff debut was much rougher, as he gave up a wind aided grand slam to Ken Singleton, pushing the Black Sox ahead, 7-0.

And so we have our third shutout of the opening day of the playoffs–and the second that finished 7-0. Wallace had 3 hits, but the star was Byrd, striking out 4 and yielding only 3 hits in just over 7 innings.

HOD 0 (Taylor 0-1) @ BAL 7 (Byrd 1-0; Olson 1 Sv)
HRs: HOD – none; BAL – Machado (1), Singleton (1).
Box Score

TWIWBL 48.1: Playoff Previews – Birmingham Black Barons @ Detroit Wolverines

By mknn

On September 7, 2023

In 2000 Playoffs, Series Previews, TWIWBL

Detroit had the second best record in baseball, so they get a matchup with the #7 seed, the Cinderalla story Birmingham Black Barons.

#Detroit Wolverines

The Wolverines are significantly better than they were when the year started, as the conversion of Gene Conley (12-6, 3.28) into a full time starter and the acquisition of Charlie Root (10-6, 3.53 overall and 5-1, 2.62 with Detroit) has moved their starting from passable to dominant, led by Hal Newhouser (8-4, 3.06) and Hank Aguirre (9-10, 4.34) and possibly leaving Johnny Marcum (11-4, 4.40) out of the playoff rotation.

Chad Bradford and Buddy Napier have been fantastic out of the bullpen, getting the ball to Mike Henneman, who has been … um … yeah. Henneman ended the season tied for the league lead in saves with 38. But also with an ERA of 4.60 and 6 blown saves. So the Wolverines will still turn to him, but they’ll also still hold their breath occasionally.

The other addition of note for the Wolverines is young Al Kaline, who has just over 100 ABs under his belt. In that span, he’s slashing 301/374/573, and forcing his way into an already crowded OF.

Detroit is led by Ty Cobb (352/391/557 and 52 SBs) and Hank Greenberg (317/374/595 and a team leading 31 HR and 113 RBI). But there’s really not a weak spot here: Bob Bailey, Oscar Gamble, and Tony Phillips all have OPS over .800, and their weakest hitter–SS George Davis–compensates with spectacular glovework.

The final playoff spot fell to a choice between the fielding prowess of Jimmy Collins and the hot start to Olmedo Sáenz‘ career. Sáenz is slashing 292/378/415 over his first 20 games, and in the end the Wolverines thought that overcame Collins’ glove (Collins only managed a 225/266/360 slash line over 300 PAs).

#Birmingham Black Barons

Just … wow. From out of the race and clear sellers at the trade deadline to a one-game playoff for the division title.

Birmingham’s strength is its pitching, with 2 clear #1 starters in Alejandro Peña (12-9, 3.79) and Andy Pettitte (15-5, 3.20, and 6-1, 2.54 with Birmingham). Vic Willis (4-6, 3.57) will get the 3rd start, and beyond that the Black Barons will have to figure it out. The options are strong, there’s just not a lot to differentiate Scott Baker, Greg Maddux, Larry Benton and Sam Streeter.

Juan Rincón was moved into the closer’s role in late May, and has been solid with 26 saves and an ERA just over 3.00, and Harley Young‘s return from injury helps out the duo of Bruce Chen and Steve Bedrosian in the later innings.

Offensively, there is a sense of smoke and mirrors here. Hank Aaron led the team in HR and RBI (28 and 93, respectively) and Curtis Granderson carried them for some of the middle months, but both cooled off dramatically towards the end, with their OPS’ dipping below .800. Eddie Mathews (243/335/490) and Bob Nieman (296/368/475) picked up the slack, but its still a bit patchwork.

Newcomers Cupid Childs and Jim Pagliaroni have settled down the 2B and C positions, and Adrián González has provided some much-needed power, slugging over 200 points higher than he did with Chicago.

So far, enough people have been hot at different times–SS Herman Long, 1B Frank McCormick, Nieman–to keep scoring runs. But it’s precarious.

#Prediction

Detroit in 5. The fairy tale ends unless Aaron suddenly remembers to roll his wrists.

TWIWBL 45.1: Series XXXVII Notes – Bill James Division

By mknn

On August 18, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Detroit Wolverines

Gene Conley just keeps rolling: in what might be his last start before the playoffs, Conley improved to 12-6 with a complete game 4 hit shutout of Birmingham. Tony Phillips and Bob Bailey went deep back-to-back in the 6th inning to break up a shutout to fuel the victory.

#New York Gothams

IF Brian Dozier and P Sad Sam Jones were recalled from AAA.

Four hits and 3 RBIs from Pinky Higgins led the way as the Gothams triumphed over Kansas City, 8-6. Benny Kauff added 3 hits and Eugenio Suárez drove in 2 as Don Sutton improved to 4-4 and Brian Wilson picked up his 29th save. With the win, New York clinched a playoff spot, although their seeding is still up for grabs.

#Wandering House of David

2 homeruns from George Stone led the House of David over Houston, 5-2. Bob Rush threw almost 6 scoreless, improving his record to 15-6 and Bruce Sutter picked up his 25th save.

Series XXXV Featured Matchup: Cleveland Spiders @ Detroit Wolverines

By mknn

On July 24, 2023

In Featured Series, Game Recaps

Series preview here.

#Game 1: Bill Steen @ Johnny Marcum

Bill Steen improved to 11-3 on the year with nearly 8 shutout innings as Cleveland rolled to a 9-2 victory.

Cleveland took the lead with 5 runs in the top of the 2nd, led by unexpected sources: 2 RBI’s from Louis Santop and 3 from Sammy Strang. They chased Detroit’s starter, Johnny Marcum, from the game in the top of the 4th with consecutive hits from Lance Berkman, Arky Vaughan, and Jim Gantner. At that point, it was 8-0, and a Tris Speaker pinch-hit homerun made it 9-0 after 8.

Detroit scored twice in the bottom of the 9th, but the game was long decided. Tony Phillips had 3 hits for Detroit in the loss.

CLE 9 (Steen 11-3) @ DET 2 (Marcum 11-4)
HRs: CLE – Speaker (2); DET – none.
Box Score

#Game 2: Pat Malone @ Gene Conley

Game 2 had a shot at being a decent pitching duel between Cleveland’s Pat Malone and Detroit’s Gene Conley.

Cleveland had an early lead as Lance Berkman scored on a Sammy Strang sacrifice fly. And that was it … Detroit loaded the bases in the bottom of the 6th, but Malone escaped without any damage, leaving the score at 1-0.

Both Conley and Malone were pretty much toast at this point, but both bullpens were able to preserve the score, despite some traffic on the bases.

That lasted until the 8th, when John Hiller uncorked a wild pitch with the bases loaded to make it 2-0. The Spiders added another in the 9th, allowing them to send their closer, Terry Adams, out for the bottom of the 9th with a 3-0 lead.

Adams was perfect, and the Spiders had a combined 5-hit shutout between Malone, Chuck Porter, Cory Gearrin, and Adams.

CLE 3 (Malone 15-8; Adams 34 Sv; Porter 13 H; Gearrin 12 H) @ DET 0 (Conley 11-6)
HRs: None.
Box Score

#Game 3: Mel Harder @ Charlie Root

Detroit turns to Charlie Root–3-1 with a 2.29 ERA since his mid-season acquisition from San Francisco–in their attempt to turn the series around. He’ll be opposed by Mel Harder, 5-2 on the year for Cleveland.

Detroit led early, with Bob Bailey tripling and scoring on a single from Al Kaline in the 2nd and Oscar Gamble singling home Hank Greenberg in the 4th.

Root was strong, allowing only 3 hits through 6 innings, but a Louis Santop triple (his league leading 14th) to lead off Cleveland’s 7th and got the Wolverine’s bullpen up and busy. Chuck Knoblauch singled home Santop, closing the score to 2-1 and chasing Root in favor of Justin Verlander … who promptly gave up a dinger to Lance Berkman, putting the Spiders in front, 3-2.

After an Al Kaline single chased Harder, the Spiders turned to Ron Reed, brought in for exactly these kind of situations. It hasn’t gone as planned. Reed, an all-star with Philadelphia, is 0-4 with an ERA near 7 with the Spiders. Here, he walked Jenkins and gave up a single to Robby Thompson to load the bases. Bill Carrigan pinch-hit and delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the game once more, but Reed escaped without further damage.

Evan Longoria gave the Spiders the lead again in the top of the 9th with an RBI single. Terry Adams came in for Cleveland to close out the game. Jenkins greeted Adams with a double, and his pinch-runner, Jimmy Collins, scored on a sacrifice fly from George Davis.

That sent us to extra innings, tied at 4.

In the bottom of the 11th, Kaline greeted Yordano Ventura with a leadoff single, and Chili Davis followed with a double. An intentional pass to Thompson loaded the bases, and a single from George Davis won the game for Detroit.

CLE 4 (Ventura 0-2; Reed 2 B Sv; Adams 7 B Sv) @ DET 5 (Henneman 2-6; Verlander 1 B Sv) [11 Innings]
HRs: CLE – Berkman (9); DET – none.
Box Score

#Game 4: Cy Young @ Hal Newhouser

After the extra inning heroics in game 3, the Wolverines would turn to Hal Newhouser to try to even up the series.

Newhouser and Cy Young were both solid through 5, with Cleveland leading 1-0 behind an RBI single from Jim Gantner. That lasted until the bottom of the 7th when Al Kaline scored on a wild pitch from Young, tying the game. At this point, Newhouser was gassed, bringing in John Hiller from Detroit’s bullpen, who surrendered the lead on an RBI double to Jake Stahl with 2 outs.

With Detroit’s closer, Terry Adams, unavailable after 2 innings yesterday, the Wolverines sent Young back out for the bottom of the 9th, clinging to the 2-1 lead. It worked: 3-up / 3-down and the Spiders both took the game and the series.

CLE 2 (Young 11-9) @ DET 1 (Hiller 3-4)
HRs: None.
Box Score

The two teams finished the series with identical 78-64 records, with both teams looking likely for the playoffs.

Series XXXV Preview: Cleveland Spiders @ Detroit Wolverines

By mknn

On July 18, 2023

In Featured Series, Series Previews

We roll into Series XXXV with its two teams barely making the playoffs. So, this could be a big one.

We saw the Cleveland Spiders–currently 1 game behind the New York Black Yankees in the Effa Manley Division–in Series VII, XIX, XXVIII, and XXX. The Detroit Wolverines, featured in Series IV, XXI, and XXVII, are tied with the New York Gothams for first place in the Bill James Division.

#Cleveland Spiders

Cleveland’s offense revolves around the odds-on favorite to finish runner-up in the MPV race, Ron Blomberg. Blomberg is slashing 339/410/655 with 36 2B, 40 HR, 111 RBI, and 101 R, all of which lead the team’s regulars (late season call-up Tris Speaker is slashing 386/426/523 in just under 50 PA’s, and is clearly arguing for more playing time–to the point where he is seeing time at the corner OF positions).

But there is more here than Blomberg. John Ellis and Jake Stahl each have over 20 HRs, over 70 RBI’s, and OPS’ in the .800’s. Add to that excellent production from 2B (Chuck Knoblauch) and C (Louis Santop) and, as importantly, no real weak links, and it’s a strong offense, top to bottom.

4 starters have double-digit wins, led by Pat Malone (14-8, 4.06). Bill Steen (10-3) has the best ERA in that group, but arguably Stan Coveleski (13-5, 3.93) has been better. The rotation is rounded out by Cy Young (10-9, 4.64), whose analytics are better than his raw numbers. Terry Adams has been excellent at closer (33 saves, 2.84), and the combination of Chuck Porter and Cory Gearrin have been great getting him the ball.

Some midseason acquisitions have been question marks: OF/1B Lance Berkman is still hitting far better with the Spiders than he did in Houston, but has hit a cold streak after an incredible start to his time in Cleveland. Reliever Ron Reed was an all-star with Philadelphia; he’s 0-4 with an ERA around 6.50 with Cleveland while SS Arky Vaughan, obtained from Homestead to cement the SS position, has hit so poorly that the team continues to experiment with other options.

#Detroit Wolverines

Detroit has two elite players on offense: Ty Cobb is slashing 348/391/557 with 20 HR and 45 SB and Hank Greenberg is at 317/376/589 with 27 HR and 102 RBI. Oscar Gamble has 26 HR and 3 other players are in double digits (Chili Davis has 18, Geoff Jenkins 13, and Ernie Lombardi 10, 4 coming since his mid-season acquisition from Indianapolis).

That’s enough for a solid offense. To become elite, Detroit needs 38 year old Tony Phillips–just back from injury–to pick up where he left off, getting on base and generally being a pest at the leadoff spot. Additionally, while both Al Kaline (302/362/667) and Olmedo Sáenz (350/395/525) are likely to revert to form at some point, the longer they can impersonate superstars, the better for the Wolverines.

After some juggling, Detroit’s rotation seems to be coming into shape at the right time. Hal Newhouser has a 3.06 ERA, and has an outside chance at accumulating enough innings to qualify for the ERA lead and Johnny Marcum is 11-3 with a sub 4.00 ERA. Add to them Gene Conley, whose first 28 appearances were from the bullpen but has been fantastic throughout (11-5, 3.63), and Charlie Root, 3-1 with a 2.29 ERA since being acquired at the all-star break.

None of the starters go very deep in games, which makes the performance of Chad Bradford, Buddy Napier, and Justin Verlander in the middle innings quite important to their success. Mike Henneman leads the league in saves with 35, but has been touched for an ERA just under 5.00.

TWIWBL 42.2: Series XXXIV Notes – Bill James Division

By mknn

On July 12, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Detroit Wolverines

Charlie Root improved to 3-1 with an ERA in the low 2.00’s after being acquired by the Wolverines with just over 8 innings of 3-hit, 1-run work on the mound. Mike Henneman got the final 2 outs for his 35th save of the season in the 4-1 victory over Los Angeles, and Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, and Ed Bailey each went deep.

Kaline is quickly arguing for more and more playing time as the 20 year old is slashing 308/368/677 over his first 20 games.

Tony Phillips was welcomed back from the DL, with Jody Gerut‘s cup of coffee in the WBL ending after 2 at-bats (and with a .500 average).

#Los Angeles Angels

Brett Anderson‘s return pushes Nolan Ryan out of the Angels’ rotation. OF Spud Johnson was waived.

#Memphis Red Sox

Stubby Overmire struggled with control, but still threw over 6 innings of shoutout ball, combining with Lance Broadway (his WBL debut), Heath Bell, and Jonathan Papelbon on a 4-hit shutout defeat of Philadelphia. A solo homerun by Billy Bryan and a 2-run single from Reggie Smith helped the Red Sox to the 4-0 victory.

#New York Gothams

4 RBI’s and 3 hits from Joe Adcock led the Gothams to a 10-2 win over the House of David. Buster Posey scored 3 times and Juan Marichal improved his record to 11-8.

The Gothams had 14 hits but only scored 5 runs in a loss to the House of David. The red-hot Pete Runnels had 4 hits and Willie Mays had 3, including his 23rd homer of the season in the 11-5 defeat.

#Wandering House of David

Bruce Sutter made it interesting, but he held on to pick up his 22nd save in a 3-2 win over the Gothams. Jack Taylor improved to 15-9, allowing 1 run in 7+ innings. Ernie Banks had 2 hits, including a 503 foot bomb for his 24th homerun of the season.

The House of David used 3 homeruns from their stars–Elrod Hendricks‘ 34th, Ernie Banks‘ 25th, and Pete Brownings’s 24th of the season–in an 11-5 victory over the Gothams. Browning and Ryne Sandberg had 3 hits and Browning drove in 4 in support of CC Sabathia, who improved to 12-11 on the year.

Series XXXII Best Games

By mknn

On May 22, 2023

In Featured Games

This series we have a few more well-pitched games than usual, a contest between 2 imploding bullpens, and a few walk-offs.

Indianapolis ABCs @ New York Gothams, Game 2

The ABC’s were held scoreless by the Gothams for 14 innings, with Christy Mathewson combining with 3 relievers on a 10-hit shutout in Game 1 and Gaylord Perry holding Indianapolis scoreless through 5 innings in Game 2.

The ABC’s starter, Willie Mitchell, gave up 4 runs in the 1st, including a 2 run homerun by Willie Mays, but he settled down well from there. Indianapolis finally scored in the top of the 6th on a 3 run shot from Jake Stenzel. Another New York run made it 5-3 heading into the 9th when Dave Henderson and Edd Roush delivered RBI hits to tie the game.

But Indianapolis’ Francisco Cordero couldn’t hold on, surrendering a double to the red hot Pete Runnels and a walk-off single to Buster Posey.

IND 5 (Cordero 0-2) @ NYG 6 (Nen 3-4, 2 B Sv; Gregg 1 H)
HRs: IND – Stenzel (10); NYG – Mays (21).
Box Score

Detroit Wolverines @ New York Black Yankees, Game 2

This is a key series, as the Black Yankees try to make a late season pennant charge.

New York’s bullpen collapsing is old news; Detroit’s imploding is not.

Both starters–New York’s Waite Hoyt and Detroit’s Hal Newhouser–did well enough. But the Black Yankees’ Dick Tidrow gave up RBI knocks to Hank Greenberg and Chili Davis in the 7th, putting the Wolverines up, 4-2. But Chad Bradford gave it right back as Tom Herr drove in 2 to tie the game.

The 8th inning was more of the same: Goose Gossage gave up an RBI to Ty Cobb to send Detroit in front, but Mickey Lolich and Matt Anderson gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the frame, the first on a solo shot from Mike Schmidt, the second on an RBI double from Manny Sanguillén.

And then we hit the one, and perhaps the most important, bright spot in the Black Yankees’ bullpen: recent acquisition Aroldis Chapman has been essentially lights out, and here, despite putting the tying run on base, he closed out the game for a victory for the Black Yankees.

Detroit lost Tony Phillips for a few days, and were forced to put him on the DL to keep some infield flexibility with Jimmy Collins being recalled from AAA.

DET 5 (Anderson 1-3; Bradford 1 B Sv) @ NYY 6 (Citarella 4-6; Chapman 6 Sv)
HRs: DET – none; NYY – Schmidt (19).
Box Score

Brooklyn Royal Giants @ Homestead Grays, Game 2 & 3

These two games followed similar arcs. Both featured a great 7 innings by Homestead’s starter (Francisco Liriano in the first game, Bob Friend in the second). In the first game, powered by a Josh Gibson homerun, the Grays took a 5-1 lead into the 9th inning; in the second, backed by a grand slam from Chief Wilson, the Grays led 6-1 heading into the 9th.

But, oh those 9th innings.

In game 1, Brooklyn torched Josh Lindblom for a 2-run double from Beals Becker and a 3-run homer from Matt Holliday (the first of his WBL career) to take a 6-5 lead. Homestead responded in this one, with Rick Reichardt sending a walkoff shot into the stands with Andy Van Slyke on base for the Grays to pull out a victory.

The second game was far weirder.

Carlos Zambrano got 2 quick outs to start the 9th and then … Holliday reached on an error by Homestead’s SS, Frank Taveras. Frank Isbell walked and Zambrano plunked Ray Dandridge to load the bases, bringing in Cliff Lee. Lee walked Becker to force in a run, then hit Duke Snider to force in another. Lee was replaced by Michael Jackson, who threw grease on the fire the old fashioned way, by giving up a bases-clearing double to Ron Cey. All told, and all with 2 outs, the Royal Giants scored 5 times on 1 hit, 3 walks, 2 HBPs, and an error.

Becker would single in the winning run in the top of the 10th.

Willie Stargell had 5 hits across the 2 games.

BRK 6 (Clark 3-4, 7 B Sv) @ HOM 7 (Jackson 3-2; Lindblom 5 B Sv)
HRs: BRK – Holliday (1); HOM – Gibson (7), Reichardt (24).
Box Score

BRK 7 (Gagne 5-5; Hildenberger 2 Sv) @ HOM 6 (Jackson 3-3, 3 B Sv) [10 Innings]
HRs: BRK – none; HOM – Wilson (9), Reichardt (25).
Box Score

Houston Colt 45’s @ Memphis Red Sox, Game 4

Memphis’ Dean Chance had a great start, allowing 1 run in just under 7 innings. But it was nothing like Toad Ramsey‘s effort for Houston. Ramsey had his knuckleball dancing, carrying a 2-hit shutout into the 9th inning, but Memphis managed to touch him for a game-tying run when Ted Williams doubled home Reggie Smith with 2 outs.

Ramsey allowed the 1 run on 3 hits through 9 innings, but wasn’t part of the decision. Four hits in the 11th gave Houston a 4-1 lead, and Tug McGraw–who is still sporting an ERA of 0.00 in his WBL career–closed it out. Craig Biggio had 3 hits and Jeff Bagwell and Tony Gwynn 2 each for Houston.

HOU 4 (Qualls 1-1) @ MEM 1 (Farrell 2-4) [11 Innings]
HRs: none.
Box Score

Series XXXI Best Games

By mknn

On May 2, 2023

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

This time, we have two see-saw games and two series that deserve a little focus.

Let’s do the one-offs first.

#Homestead Grays @ Ottawa Mounties, Game 1

This one got wild. Ottawa took the lead on Larry Walker‘s 18th homerun of the year, a 2-run shot in the bottom of the first. Hits from Davey Johnson and Roberto Clemente got a run back for Homestead, but Ottawa scored 2 on a single from Roberto Alomar to increase their lead to 4-1. Homestead’s Rick Reichardt sent a pitch from Clayton Richard into the stands to tie the game in the top of the 3rd, so, we’re back to all square at 4-4.

The game continued to swing back and forth: a sacrifice fly from Johnson offset a solo shot from Roy Sievers, but an RBI double from Andy Van Slyke put Homestead back on top momentarily: a 2-run double from Sievers and a single from Bernie Allen gave Ottawa a 2-run lead, 8-6.

And then the 9th. Ted Bowsfield started the inning for Ottawa, walking Mike Epstein and giving up a single to Van Slyke. Bowsfield grabbed his elbow after the hit, and the Mounties brought in their closer, Ryan Dempster. Dempster retired 2 and walked one, loading the bases with Johnson at the plate. He singled to right, driving in 2. Perhaps more importantly for Ottawa, their star RF, Walker, was forced out of the game after the throw. But, the game was tied.

Tied, that is, until a single from Rusty Staub scored Carlos Beltrán to give the Mounties a walk off victory.

Nobody pitched particularly well, but Ottawa’s Monk Dubiel and Dempster did manage to escape without being scored on.

Both Bowsfield and Walker were sent to the DL after the game, with Chris Leroux and Sam Thompson being recalled from AAA.

HOM 8 (Ownbey 1-3; Brown 1 B Sv) @ OTT 9 (Dempster 4-1, 2 B Sv; Bowsfield 7 H)
HRs: HOM – Reichardt (21); OTT – Walker (18), Sievers (7).
Box Score

#San Francisco Sea Lions @ Detroit Wolverines, Game 2

This one had everything except good pitching (Mickey Lolich‘s 2 innings of clean relief for Detroit notwithstanding).

San Francisco kicked off the game with a bang: a leadoff homerun from Rickey Henderson, a 2 run shot from Reggie Jackson, and an RBI groundout from Phil Garner made it 4-0 Sea Lions before Diego Seguí threw his first pitch.

But the Bailey Boys got to him the following inning: Ed Bailey launched a 3 run shot and Bob Bailey added an RBI groundout to score Sparky Adams, who had doubled, tying the game at 4. Momentarily: Garner went deep and another run scored on a Sal Bando single, putting San Francisco back on top, 7-4. A solo shot from Hank Greenberg clawed one back, but a 2-run single from San Francisco’s Pedro Guerrero made it 9-5 heading into the 6th, when Detroit chased Seguí and hammered his replacement, James Shields, who only lasted 4 batters. Al Kaline singled home one run and Tony Phillips brought in another with a double. By the time it was all done, San Francisco’s lead was slashed to a single run, 9-8. Kaline would put the Wolverines in front with a 3-run shot in the 7th, and a Bob Bailey triple scored Phillips, who was hit by a pitch. Suddenly, Detroit was up, 12-9.

Their closer (and the WBL leader in saves), Mike Henneman, struggled in the 9th, facing 8 batters and giving up 2 runs (one on a solo shot by Jimmie Foxx, the other on a single by Guerrero). But he got Jack Clark to ground out with 2 batters on to preserve the victory.

SFS 11 (LaRoche 1-1, 1 B Sv; Hadley 2 H) @ DET 13 (Bradford 2-0)
HRs: SFS – Jackson (25), Henderson (6), Foxx (2); DET – E. Bailey (6), Greenberg 2 (24), Kaline (5).
Box Score

#Memphis Red Sox @ Miami Cuban Giants, Games 1 & 3

This series is a battle of basement teams, but that doesn’t keep the games from being entertaining.

The Red Sox scored 4 runs early with the RBIs coming on a sacrifice fly, a fielder’s choice, a bases-loaded walk, and an error by Miami’s shortstop, Robin Yount. Miami took a more conventional route back: a walk and 4 singles scored 3 runs in the 4th. But they followed Memphis’ lead to tie the game, as a sacrifice fly from José Cardenal plated Ryan Braun. The Cuban Giants then took the lead on a solo shot from their best player, José Canseco.

Wade Boggs finally brought home a conventional run for Memphis in the 8th with a single, but the Red Sox immediately reverted to form, with a bases-loaded walk and another sacrifice fly giving them a 7-5 lead. Three perfect relief innings from Turk Farrell, Heath Bell, and Jonathan Papelbon, closed the game out.

Ted Williams and Bill White finished the game with 3 hits each for Memphis; Cookie Rojas had 3 for Miami.

MEM 7 (Farrell 2-3; Papelbon 11 Sv; Bell 5 H; Callahan 4 B Sv) @ MCG 5 (Consuegra 0-4)
HRs: MEM – none; MCG – Canseco (30).
Box Score

In Game 3, Memphis was up 6-0, and then 8-5, powered by a grandslam from David Justice and 2 homers from Billy Bryan. It wasn’t enough: Minnie Miñoso broke out of his funk with 3 hits and 3 RBIs and Cookie Rojas, Gary Sheffield, and Chris Hoiles each drove in 2. As importantly for Miami, Eustaquio Pedroso, Sandy Consuegra, Ricky Nolasco, and Braden Looper combined for 4 innings of 1-hit relief of an ineffective Ramón Martínez.

MEM 8 (Callahan 5-10) @ MCG 11 (Pedroso 7-6; Looper 3 Sv; Consuegra 2 H; Nolasco 2 H)
HRs: none.
Box Score

New York Black Yankees @ Houston Colt 45’s, Games 2 and 4

In Game 2, Houston had a 6-3 lead heading to the 9th inning. The Colt 45’s got 2-run shots from Jim O’Rourke and Tony Gwynn and a solo dinger from Jorge Posada to take the lead.

The problem was their closer, Billy Wagner, was tired, leaving them turning to Brad Lidge, who had been solid since his recall, but here reverted to his old form: an RBI groundout from Tom Herr and a 3-run shot from Don Mattingly put the Black Yankees up 7-6.

Andrés Galarraga singled home a run in the bottom of the 9th, sending us to extra innings. Mattingly and Eric Davis homered in the 10th to put New York up 11-7, which seemed safe until you remembered the fragility of the Black Yankees’ bullpen. Here, Ralph Citarella and Rheal Cormier gave up RBI’s to Jim Wynn and Craig Biggio, but Cormier fanned Galarraga with the tying run on third base to close it out.

NYY 11 (Chapman 1-0, 1 B Sv; Cormier 1 Sv) @ HOU 10 (Kern 0-2; Chamberlain 1 H; McGraw 7 H; Lidge 4 B Sv) [10 Innings]
HRs: Mattingly 2 (26), Davis (31); HOU – O’Rourke (6), Gwynn (8), Posada (7).
Box Score

Game 4 of the series was a similar story: a Houston comeback that just fell short. Mattingly had 3 hits and 3 RBIs and Mike Schmidt hit his 17th homerun for the Black Yankees, who also got 3 brilliant innings from Goose Gossage. They did have to withstand a horrible outing from the heretofore solid Dick Tidrow, who surrendered 4 hits (2 to pinch hitters Jim O’Rourke and Harry Stovey) and 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning.

Andrés Galarraga had 4 hits and Casey Stengel and Jorge Posada had 3 each for Houston. Tug McGraw closed the game for the Colt 45’s, and has yet to surrender a run in his first 10 innings at the WBL level.

NYY 8 (Gossage 5-4; Chapman 5 Sv; Citarella 10 H) @ HOU 7 (Strasburg 7-7)
HRs: NYY – Schmidt (17); HOU – Stengel (9), Biggio (7).
Box Score

Series XXIX Best Games

By mknn

On March 29, 2023

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

Detroit‘s trip to Brooklyn and Kansas City‘s visit to Indianapolis each provided 3 games worth recapping.

We’ll take a look at the Wolverines matchup with the Royal Giants first.

#Detroit Wolverines @ Brooklyn Royal Giants

Detroit’s Charlie Root and Brooklyn’s Frank Knauss hooked up in a pitcher’s duel. Ty Cobb‘s 17th homerun of the year–a 3 run shot–gave the Wolverines a 3-1 lead in the top of the 8th, but John Briggs sent one over the fence to tie it in the bottom of the frame. Bill Carrigan doubled in Hank Greenberg in the top of the 10th, and Detroit turned to the league leader in saves, Mike Henneman, to close it out. Ron Cey greeted Henneman with a double, but was thrown out, inexplicably trying to stretch the hit into a triple. That ended the threat, and Henneman ended the game.

DET 4 (Hiller 3-1, 2 B Sv; Henneman 31 Sv) @ BRK 3 (Von Ohlen 5-2) [10 Innings]
HRs: DET – Cobb (17); BRK – Becker (18), Briggs (4).
Box Score

Detroit won game 2, taking the lead on a 3-run homer from Oscar Gamble in the top of the first and never looking back. That put the Wolverines up 2-0 in the series, setting the stage for game 3.

Gene Conley continues to be a rare find for Detroit, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) and 3 hits in 7 innings. But the usually reliable Wolverines bullpen wasn’t able to hold a lead, giving up 4 runs in the final 3 innings with Duke Farrell doubling in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th.

John Hiller blew his second save of the series, falling to 3-2 on the season, with the victory going to Trevor Hildenberger who pitched a scoreless final 2 innings.

DET 3 (Hiller 3-2; 3 B Sv) @ BRK 4 (Hildenberger 4-1)
HRs: DET – Greenberg (22); BRK – Briggs (5).
Box Score

Whoops he did it again … Just like in Series XXV, Beals Becker ended a game with a walk-off grandslam. Again it was the Detroit bullpen that collapsed, this time–shockingly–it was Mike Henneman who gave up a walk and 3 hits (including Becker’s blast) to the 4 batters he faced.

Tony Phillips–who has sparkled since his return from injury–had 4 hits for Detroit, and Frank Isbell went 3-for-3 for Brooklyn.

DET 5 (Henneman 1-5, 4 B Sv; Lolich 3 H; Anderson 6 H) @ BRK 7 (Dreifort 1-3)
HRs: DET – Bailey (17), Kaline (2), Phillips (7); BRK – Farrell (6), Snider (27), Becker (21).
Box Score

#Kansas City Monarchs @ Indianapolis ABC’s

Indianapolis won all four games against Kansas City. A bases-clearing double by Joe Morgan was the key hit in game 1. The other 3 games were all close contests.

In the 2nd game, Kansas City out hit the ABC’s 17-7, but 4 RBIs (3 on his 25th homerun of the year) by Johnny Bench keyed an 8-6 Indianapolis victory. Ted Simmons had 4 hits for the Monarchs and Ducky Medwick 3, but Kansas City left 11 runners on base.

KCM 6 (Blong 3-2, 1 B Sv) @ IND 8 (Murphy 2-4; Dibble 24 Sv; Carroll 8 H)
HRs: KCM – Pujols (18), Medwick (12); IND – Votto (5), Bench (25).
Box Score

Game 3 saw Kansas City’s Trevor Rosenthal and Frank DiPino implode as the ABC’s scored 6 runs in the 7th, coming back from a 7-2 deficit. The ABC’s Dolf Luque logged only 2 innings, but Johnny Cueto had his best appearance in a while, allowing a single run in 5 strong innings of relief work.

KCM 7 (DiPino 1-5) @ IND 8 (Cueto 8-6; Carroll 2 Sv; James 5 H)
HRs: KCM – Medwick (13); IND – none.
Box Score

It took 12 innings for Indianapolis to secure the sweep in a see-saw game. The ABC’s were wasteful throughout, leaving 19–nineteen–runners on base in the contest. Joey Votto and Jake Stenzel had 4 hits each, with Votto driving in 3. Kansas City’s Boog Powell tied the game in the top of the 9th with his 14th homerun of the season.

Both bullpens were exhausted, so an unexpectedly strong performance from Octavio Dotel was desperately needed by Indianapolis.

KCM 8 (Rosenthal 5-2; Kimbrel 4 B Sv; Russell 1 B Sv) – IND 9 (Dotel 1-1; James 6 H; Murphy 2 B Sv) [12 Innings]
HRs: KCM – Powell (14); IND – Stenzel (8).
Box Score

TWIWBL 36.1: Series XXVIII Notes – Bill James Division

By mknn

On March 16, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Detroit Wolverines

The Wolverines welcome Charlie Root and Chad Bradford to their staff, but perhaps the return of Tony Phillips is even more important for Detroit’s push down the stretch. Mickey Lolich and Si Johnson were sent to AAA, although both pitched decently. Robby Thompson was sent down on Phillips’ return.

Mike Henneman was the first in the league to notch 30 saves, reaching the milestone in a 7-6 victory over Houston. Sparky Adams and Ed Bailey each had 2 doubles in the contest.

An injury to Buddy Napier forced Detroit to put the effective reliever on the DL for 10 days, recalling Jason Schmidt.

#Los Angeles Angels

Pud Galvin and Harry Howell moved into the Angels’ rotation.

#Memphis Red Sox

Jim Paglioroni‘s departure cleared the way for young Kurt Suzuki‘s promotion to Memphis, where he’ll platoon with Billy Bryan behind the plate. Nixey Callahan was returned to AAA to make room for Turk Farrell‘s return from a rehab assignment.

#New York Gothams

Vean Gregg and Steve Howe lengthen the Gothams’ bullpen, and Rube Waddell replaces Don Sutton in the rotation. But the real changes have occurred offensively. 38 year old Joe Adcock is pounding the ball, and will become the full-time DH. Pete Runnels and Will Clark step right into the lineup. Overall, New York is worse off defensively, but may generate more consistent offense. A lot depends on whether Adcock and fan favorite Wes Westrum can continue their levels of production. George Van Haltren will lose playing time coming to the Gothams to serve as a reserve OFer, but he is now in the midst of a pennant race instead of languishing in Ottawa, so there’s that.

Christy Mathewson, helped by a perfect 1.2 IP of relief from Mike Norris, improved to 12-6 on the season in an 8-4 victory over their crosstown rivals. Norris picked up his 4th save, and Jimmy Sheckard, Johnny Callison, and Willie Mays each went deep for the Gothams.

#Wandering House of David

Tweak, tweak, tweak.

Bunny Downs can’t hit any worse than Craig Reynolds and Jung Ho Kang have, and by adding him to the roster, the House of David could also promote veteran Joe Harris as a bat off the bench.

Jack Taylor twirled a 3-hit, complete game shutout as the House of David beat Brooklyn 6-0. Elrod Hendricks went deep twice and drove in 5 in support of Taylor, who improved to 11-8 on the season while lowering his ERA to 3.15, good for tops in the WBL.