‘95 Braves split with ‘71 Bucs

8/21 - Fulton County Stadium
Steve Blass (71-PIT) vs Greg Maddux (95-ATL)
Braves 8, Pirates 0
Greg Maddux showed just why he's know for having the best control on the planet.  Maddux had 5 strikeouts in this complete game performance, where he scattered 7 hits.  Blass got blasted.  8 runs over 7 innings is not going to get it done.  Javy Lopez went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored for the Braves.  Mark Lemke had 3 RBI's.

8/22 - Fulton County Stadium
Dock Ellis (71-PIT) vs Tom Glavine (95-ATL)
Pirates 7, Braves 4
Glavine had a shutout for the first 3 innings, then the "Lumber Company" hit him over the head with a 2 by 4 for four runs in the 4th.  Actually most of the runs came by way of the walk as the normally pin point accurate Glavine lost his control and walked 3 batters in the inning.  A 2 run homer by Willie Stargell in the 5th made it 6-2.  Atlanta was able to get 1 run back when Chipper Jones singled home Marquis Grissom with 2 outs.  Javy Lopez hit a shot to the wall that just barely missed being a grand slam.  Instead Clemente timed his jump perfectly to make a game saving/homer robbing catch.  Dave Giusti recorded his second save of the year by pitching a scoreless 9th.

8/22 - Three Rivers Stadium
John Smoltz (95-ATL) vs Nelson Briles (71-PIT
Braves 7, Pirates 5
  John Smoltz allowed just 1 run over 7 innings of work and left with a 7-1 lead only to see his bullpen begin to melt down and almost give the game away.  The Bucs erupted for 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th off of Jason Schmidt.  Thankfully McMichael was able to come on in the 9th and get 3 outs with 8 pitches to notch his second save of the season.  Both David Justice and Jeff Blauser had 3 hit and 2 RBI days to pace the Braves who posted 16 hits as a team to raise their team BA to .298.

8/22 - Three Rivers Stadium
Steve Avery (95-ATL) vs Bob Johnson (71-PIT
Pirates 2, Braves 1 (11 inn)
Avery and Johnson duked it out for 7 innings with Avery leaving on the short side of the ledger.  Atlanta tied the game up in the top of the 9th when Dave Giusti walked Ryan Klesko with the bases loaded to force in Mike Kelly.  The game went to extra innings and was decided by a walk off hit by a man who was in familiar territory, Bill Mazeroski.  Unlike his dramatic walk off homer to win the 1960 World Series, Maz had to settle for a walk off single that Pedro Borbon Jr. served up.  Nobody in the house complained, since the win enabled the Bucs to gain a series split.  Interesting stat:  The Braves could only muster up 1 run even though they had 12 hits.  Pittsburgh scored 2 on 6 hits.  Roberto Clemente had 2 of those 6 hits for the Bucs.

‘20 Tribe splits with ‘84 Tigers

Thursday  August 21 at Tiger Stadium 

The game started badly for Jack Morris and the Tigers as errors by Alan Trammell and Barbaro Garbey allowed Jack Graney and Steve O'Neill to reach base.  Those errors sandwiched a single by Tris Speaker and The Tribe had the bases loaded with one out.  Joe Sewell then doubled home two runs and the Tribe left the first leading 2-0.  In the bottom of the second, it was the Indians turn to play kick the ball.  Darrell Evans walked, Chet Lemon doubled and Kirk Gibson was safe on Doc Johnston's error, scoring Evans.  Tom Brookens grounded to second and Lemon came home to tie the game.  In the top of the third, Speaker singled and was forced at second by O'Neill.  Morris uncorked a wild pitch and Sewell then drove O'Neill home for his third rbi of the game. Morris finally got  his rage over his teammates errors in the first under control and that would be it for the Indians, but the Tigers had steam left in the tank.  Lance Parrish uncorked a three run homer (1) in the 5th and Trammell followed with his first dinger in the 6th.  Morris (1-0, 3.07) ran out gas in the 8th but Bill Scherrer came in to finish out the game and earn his first save.  Duster Mails took the loss (0-1, 5.63)  Tigers 7  Indians 3

Friday August 22, at Tiger Stadium

Tiger starter Dan Petry (0-1, 7.20) simply had no control, walking 6 in 4 innings and giving up 5 hits, including a 3 run homer to Elmer Smith (1) in the fifth after walking the first two Indians.   Meanwhile Stan Covelski (1-1, 3.50) scattered six hits and walked five while pitching a complete game.  The score could have been much worse as the Indins stranded 13 baserunners (seven by Graney alone).  Indians 5  Tigers 3

Saturday August 23 at League Park II. 

Jim Bagby, who won 31 in the Indians full season, needed little help in this game but got a bucketful.  The Indians went to town on three Tiger hurlers, driving Tiger starter Milt Wilcox (0-1, 3.48) from the mound after four and teeing off often and regularly on the Pussycat's bullpen.  7 Indians had a multiple hit game.  Elmer Smith hit his second homer of the season.  Graney, Larry Gardner and Len Nunnamaker each had two rbis.  The Tigers lone run came on a Rupert Jones' first homer of the season.  Bagby (2-0, 1.00) easily cruised to the victory.  Indians 11  Tigers 1

Sunday  August 24,  at League Park II. 

The Indians should have saved some of those runs from the previous day for this outing but even it might not have been enough.  Darrell Evans crushed a three run homer (3) in the second to cap a five run inning, and Tiger starter Juan Berenguer never looked back.  Rupert Jones drove home two more runs and Kirk Gibson, whose .111 batting average had him sitting for the first time this season, came on as a defensive replacement in the 6th and then showed his manager that he may have found his swing again by hitting a homer in the seventh (2).  Berenguer (2-0, 1.29) ran out of gas in the 9th and had to have relief help from Willie Hernandez to close out the shutout.  Tigers 8 Indians 0

--submitted by Tom “Crash” Davis--

The battle of NY: ‘54 Jints split with ‘55 Bums

8/21-8/22 - Polo Grounds
GAME 1 - '54 Giants 2, '55 Dodgers 0
On a gloomy day on the island of Manhattan the clouds opened up and caused a huge one hour rain delay in the second.  Inclement weather affects individuals differently.  Brooklyn's Carl Erskine, who has had shoulder issues for years was pulled from the lineup after only 1 inning of work, while New York's Johnny Antonelli got stronger and went 7 scoreless innings.  Prior to the rain the 'Jints got to "Oisk" for a solo run in the bottom of the first.  Don "Mandrake" Mueller singled with 1 out and Alvin Dark doubled him home with a shot that rolled to the horseshoe in centerfield.  Without the services of Oisk, Brooklyn was forced to dig deep into their arsenal of talent and tap 19 year old Bonus Baby Sanford Koufax.  Only 6 months earlier the young Brooklynite was playing College Basketball at Cincinnati.  Without much pitching experience the young flame thrower was thrown to the wolves and he did not disappoint.  In 6 innings of work he was a bit wild, but only gave up 1 run.  In an inning where the Giants could have broken things open Koufax found a way to survive.  After getting Antonelli to ground out to short he walked Monte Irvin and  allowed a double by Mueller.  Alvin Dark grounded to third for the second out, but on the play Irvin scored run number 2.  Mays was then given an intentional pass to create a force on every base and create the desired lefty/lefty matchup with Hank Thompson who weakly grounded out to second.  Marv Grissom came in from the pen for the final 2 innings and continued to shut the Dodgers down for the combined shutout with Antonelli.

GAME 2 - Dodgers 14, Giants 6
A 5 run fourth inning by the 'Brooks chased Ruben Gomez from the hill.  Don Newcombe threw 6 innings of shutout ball, but with a 10-0 lead he lost interest and began serving up balloons.  One of those balloons turned into a 9th inning grand slam by the Say Hey Kid, Willie Mays.  The outcome was never in doubt.  Brooklyn hit 5 homers on the day, which includes a 2 run shot by Newcombe himself.  Newk went 2 for 3 on the day.  Carl Furillo was 3 for 5 with 3 RBI.  Don Zimmer also had 3 RBI in this breakout offensive effort by Brooklyn.

8/23-8/24 - Ebbets Field
GAME 3 - Dodgers 12, Giants 3
Clean Cut Johnny Podres was the beneficiary the close shave the Dodger offense gave "the Barber, Sal Maglie.  The Dodger offense picked up right where it left off the previous night by scoring 6 runs in the first 2 innings.  Maglie barely limped through 6 innings.  A 4 run 6th inning hastened his departure.  Young Podres, on leave from the US Navy, baffled the Giant hitters and found numerous ways to get out of jams.  A huge hand from the capacity crowd at Ebbets Field greeted him as he left with 1 out in the 7th.  Podres' gave up only 1 run and fanned 5 for his second win of the season.  Brooklyn's hitting star was Gil Hodges.  The "quiet man" went 3 for 4 with a homer and 4 RBI.  One interesting note occurred in the top of the second.  Podres plunked Maglie with a fastball on the thigh as a response to Maglie brushing back Zimmer after Hodges 3 run homer in the 1st.  Young Podres looks to be a gamer, who will protect his hitters and not be intimidated by the likes of Maglie.

GAME 4 - Giants 8, Dodgers 4
After throwing only 29 pitches 3 days ago Carl Erskine was tapped to start the final game of the series.  Oisk entered the game to cheers from Dodger fans, but when he exited 5 innings laters he was treated to cat calls implying that he was "a bum" or a "loooos-ah".  The Giant offense finally arrived and decided to beat up on Erskine to the tune of 7 runs in 5 innings.  Brooklyn began to chip away at Jim Hearn's 7 run lead, so Hoyt Wilhelm was called upon for 2 innings to stem the tide.  Wilhelm's knuckler baffled the free  swinging Boys of Summer and Marv Grissom finished it out.  New York banged out 8 runs on 11 hits, but could not get a hit from All-Star Centerfielder Willie Mays.  After taking an 0-5 collar, Mays' average dropped to .233.  New York will need him to get hot if they hope to contend for the pennant. The Giants had 3 homers on the day, including a 2 run shot by starter Hearn that broke a scoreless tie in the 3rd.

‘73 A’s take 3 of 4 from ‘78 Bombers

8/21-8/22 - Oakland Coliseum
GAME 1 - '73-A's 4, '78-Yankees 1
Oakland struck first by scoring 2 runs in the 2nd and 1 in the third vs 1978 AL Cy Young Award winner Ron Guidry.  While not being as flashy as "Gator", Oakland's Kenny Holtzman still knows how to pitch and get it done as can be attested to how off stride he kept Yankee batters all day.  In the bottom of the 2nd Sal Bando led off with a single and 2 batters later Gene Tenace hit a 2 run homer to make it 2-0 Oakland.  With 2 out in the 3rd Billy North tripled to dead center and DH Deron Johnson doubled him home to give Holtzman a 3-0 lead.  New York had Holtzman on the ropes in the top of the 6th, but the crafty lefthander managed to bend, but not break.  After Thurman Munson led off with a double, lefties Chris Chambliss and Craig Nettles both struck out.  "Sweet" Lou Piniella singled to put runners on the corners and the elder statesman Roy White singled home the Captain (Munson).  With Mike Heath coming to the plate most expected a pinch hitter, but the young man was left to his own devices and he grounded back to the box to end the Yankee rally.  Oakland added an insurance run in the 8th when Johnson singled home catcher Ray Fosse.  Rollie Fingers worked a scoreless 9th to notch his 2nd save of the season.  Guidry went the distance, but allowed 4 runs, even though he fanned 9.

GAME 2 - A's 6, Yankees 4
For the second game in a row the fans were treated to a battle of 20 game winners.  1971 Cy Young Award winner, Vida Blue, would be representing the A's and the first ever Mexican to win over 20, Ed Figueroa, would be representing New York.  Oakland carried a tenuous 2-1 lead into the 7th when the Bombers tied it up.  Willie Randolph led off the inning with a triple to right and Munson hit a line smash through the box to score Willie.  With the game tied at 2 Figueroa was unable to harness his control.  Consecutive walks to Bando and Tenance to start the inning put the Yankee hurler in trouble.  A great fielding play by Figueroa on Angel Mangual's bunt attempt forced Bando at 3rd.  Ted Kubiak grounded out to second to move the runners up 90 feet with 2 out.  It now came down to 1 batter and 1 pitch.  The batter was Ray Fosse...a man who had so much potential until that fateful day when Pete Rose destroyed his shoulder with a blind side hit in the 1970 All-Star game.  Fosse had all the tools to be a great one, but now looks to be just an average backstop.  For this one moment he was able to show us why scouts labeled him a "can't miss" player.  Fosse took Figgy's 2-2 offering deep off the left field wall for a stand up double, which gave Oakland a 4-2 lead heading into the 8th.  Blue, who usually dominates lefties, was victimized by a triple by the normally slow footed Nettles to lead off the inning.  Nettles scored on a ground out by Roy White to cut the deficit to 1.  After Mickey Rivers tripled Rollie Fingers was summoned from the pen to put out the impending fire.  Fingers was wild, but was able to get out of a bases loaded jam by fanning the normally clutch Piniella.  Oakland supplied Fingers with 2 insurance runs in the home half of the 8th when Reggie Jackson singled home Billy North and Angel Mangual doubled home Reggie.  Fingers retired the Bombers in order in the 9th for his 3rd save of the campaign.

8/23-8/24 - Yankee Stadium
GAME 3 - A's 3, Yankees 1
A unique matchup saw a 27 year old Jim "Catfish" Hunter face a 32 year old version of himself.  The 27 year old Hunter was right smack dab in the middle of his prime.  The 32 year old version was just hanging on and trying to get by on guile.  For 4 innings that 32 year old version found a way to throw shutout ball and turn back the clock.  In the top of the 5th the A's got a solo shot from Gene Tenace to make it 1-0.  Oakland would add 2 more in the 7th when Deron Johnson would go deep into Monument Park to make it 3-0 Oakland.  All the while the 27 year old version of Hunter was tossing a no hitter until Roy White led off the 6th with a single.  White eventually broke the shutout up as well with a solo shot in the 8th immediately after Reggie just missed a homer into the short porch in right.  Both Hunters went the distance and struck out 6, but the 27 year old version prevailed by only yielding 3 hits and 1 solo run.

GAME 4 - Yankees 13, A's 3
After 2 1/2 scoreless innings to start the contest the Bombers finally broke out and scored.  After facing 3 consecutive 20 game winners (Holtzman/Blue/Hunter) the Yanks go to feast on Oakland's weak pitching link Blue Moon Odom.  Odom was tattooed for 12 runs in 5 1/3 innings of dreadful pitching.  New York's 4 runs in the 3rd was followed up by 4 more in the 5th and 5 in the 6th.  Dick Tidrow allowed only 1 run until the 9th when he basically just  grooved some pitches to make the game go faster. Tidrow fanned 7 A's to help the Bombers salvage 1 win in this 4 game set.  Every Yankee batter recorded at least 1 hit accept Bucky Dent who did reach base by walking twice.  Both Thurman Munson and Mickey Rivers had 3 hits, with the latter scoring 3 runs.  Willie Randolph and Reggie Jackson each had 3 RBI's and a homer in this cake walk.

Phightin’s take 3 of 4 from Phish

8/21-8/22 - Citizens Bank Park
GAME 1 - Marlins 2, Phillies 0
Brad Penny tamed the mighty Philly lineup for 7 innings by scattering 5 hits and fanning 4.  His control was impecable as he did not walk a batter.  Braden Looper pitched a scoreless 8th and Urgeth Urbina did the same in the 9th for the save.  Cole Hamels was the unlucky starter for the Phigtin's.  King Cole gave up only 2 runs in 7 innings of work, which on most nights would be more than enough to win with the offense that his team has.  On this night Penny and company were dominant.  Florida broke a scoreless tie with a solo run in the 5th thanks to a 2 out double by A Gonzalez that scored Pudge Rodriguez, who led off the inning with a single.  Juan Pierre was responsible for manufacturing the Marlins second run when he led off the 6th with a single and proceeded to steal both 2nd and 3rd before Miguel Cabrera hit a sac fly to deep left to score him.

GAME 2 - Phillies 4, Marlins 3
The Phightin's solved Dontrelle Willis early on by scoring 2 in the 2nd and 2 in the 5th.  Willis had control issues with 4 walks and 4 hits in less than 6 innings worth of work.  Like Ole Man River the ageless Jamie Moyer baffled the free swinging Marlin hitters for 6 2/3 innings.  The old man scattered 9 hits for only 2 runs before giving way to the young turks in the pen.  Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless 9th to notch his first save of the season.  Jayson Werth and Pat "the Bat" Burrell hit back to back 2 out solo shots off Willis in the 5th to break a 2-2 deadlock.  Florida played some small ball and manufactured a run to cut Philly's lead to 1 in the 8th.  Derek Lee was caught stealing second with 1 out and took away the big inning potential, which helped reliever Ryan Madson get out of a tough inning.  The run scored was charged to J.C. Romero, who finished out the 7th for Moyer and stayed on to start the 8th.

8/23-8/24 - Pro Player Stadium
GAME 3 - Phillies 12, Marlins 11
Kyle Kendrick and Josh Beckett served as fodder for their opposing offenses.  Neither starter was deserving of a win, which is fitting since neither starter was around for the decision.  Philly had a 8-2 lead going into the bottom of the 7th when Kendrick ran out of gas or more accurately was like gas on an open flame.  The Marlins scored 5 in that half of the inning cut the lead to 1.  The Phightin's struck back for 3 runs in the top of the 7th to go up by 4, which seemed like a safe lead with 6 outs to go.  Unfortunately the pen let Phils down as Seanez gave up 4 runs and had to be replaced by Durbin and then J.C. Romero who finally stopped the bleeding.  Heading into the top of the 9th the score was now tied at 11 and everyone in South Florida was either exhausted or long since gone from the ballpark.  Braden Looper started the inning and immediately served up a big double to pinch hitter Geoff Jenkins.  Cory Coste put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Jenkins to 3rd.   Pedro Feliz, who came on as a pinch hitter in the 8th was given an intentional pass in order to setup a double play possibility.  Curiously the same strategy was employed vs J-Roll, which now loaded the bases for the "Flyin' Hawaiian", Shane Victorino.  The Phightin's hard nosed centerfielder hit a slow roller to second that scored Jenkins as Castillo's only play was to first.  Brad Lidge came on and recorded his second save in as many nights to close out the victory.

GAME 4 - Phillies 11, Marlins 1
Once Philly's bats come alive they stay alive.  The first inning results looked more like a score for a Eagle/Dolphin game, not a Phillies/Marlins games.  Marlin starter Mark Redman couldn't even register an out and was gone after yielding 6 runs after facing 6 batters.  Carl Pavano gave up a run of his own, but did pitch 6 innings of decent ball.  All the while Brett Myers was cruising with zero pressure.  Philly tacked on a solo run in the 4th and 3 more insurance runs in the 5th off of Mordecai.  That 7 run 1st inning was a KOD franchise record for Philadelphia.  Ryan Howard had 7 RBI's after going 2 for 4 and 2 homers.  Howard had a grand slam in the 1st and a 3 run shot in the 8th as Philly scored 11 runs on 11 hits.

Standings after Week #1

NL                 
Cox                W   L   Pct     GB
46 St. Louis       3   1  .750     -
08 Philadelphia    3   1  .750     -
55 Brooklyn        3   1  .750     -
03 Florida         1   3  .250    2.0
54 New York (N)    1   3  .250    2.0
57 Milwaukee       1   3  .250    2.0

Alston             W   L   Pct     GB
76 Cincinnati      3   1  .750     -
71 Pittsburgh      3   1  .750     -
69 New York (N)    3   1  .750     -
67 St. Louis       1   3  .250    2.0
65 Los Angeles     1   3  .250    2.0
95 Atlanta         1   3  .250    2.0

AL                 
Torre              W   L   Pct     GB
98 New York (A)    4   0 1.000     -
84 Detroit         4   0 1.000     -
70 Baltimore       2   2  .500    2.0
20 Cleveland       2   2  .500    2.0
07 Boston          0   4  .000    4.0
93 Toronto         0   4  .000    4.0

Anderson           W   L   Pct     GB
02 Anaheim         3   1  .750     -
91 Minnesota       3   1  .750     -
85 Kansas City     2   2  .500    1.0
73 Oakland         2   2  .500    1.0
78 New York (A)    1   3  .250    2.0
05 Chicago (A)     1   3  .250    2.0

Wild Card Standings
NL              W   L   Pct    GB
71 Pittsburgh   3   1  .750     -
69 New York (   3   1  .750     -
08 Philadelph   3   1  .750     -
55 Brooklyn     3   1  .750     -
03 Florida      1   3  .250    2.0
54 New York (   1   3  .250    2.0
67 St. Louis    1   3  .250    2.0
57 Milwaukee    1   3  .250    2.0
65 Los Angele   1   3  .250    2.0
95 Atlanta      1   3  .250    2.0

AL              W   L   Pct    GB
84 Detroit      4   0 1.000     -
91 Minnesota    3   1  .750    1.0
70 Baltimore    2   2  .500    2.0
85 Kansas Cit   2   2  .500    2.0
73 Oakland      2   2  .500    2.0
20 Cleveland    2   2  .500    2.0
78 New York (   1   3  .250    3.0
05 Chicago (A   1   3  .250    3.0
07 Boston       0   4  .000    4.0

91-Twins take 3 from 78-Bombers

Game 1   91-Twins 2  78-NYY 0

Jack Morris combined with Rick Aguilera  to pitch a shutout.  By allowing only three hits and 4 walks the Yankees never could mount an attack.  Ron Guidry had a poor opening day allowing 11 hits and 5 walks in his 8.1 innings pitched.  Even so the Twins were only ahead 1-0 based on a Brian Harper RBI Single.  But Harper also got an insurance RBI in the ninth to lead the twins to a 2-0 win.

Game 2   91-Twins  9  78-NYY 1

Minnesota’s  Kevin Tapani turned in another outstanding pitching performance against the Yankees.  Allowing no hits through 5 innings and only 4 total.  Chili Davis led off the scoring in the third with a solo HR.  Then helped with the scoring in the fifth when 3 runs scored off of 4 singles.  In an effort to tire the Twins out the Yankees brought Ken Holtzman in for relief.  He successfully made the twins bat around once more in the ninth scoring another 5 runs.

Game 3  78-NYY 7   91-Twins 0

The Yankee bats finally came alive, scoring 4 in the fourth on a Reggie Jackson Grand Slam.  Munson and Randolph also added solo Hrs.  Meanwhile Catfish Hunter was pitching a needed gem of a game for the Yanks, allowing only 3 hits for a complete game shutout.

Game 4   91-Twins 2    78-NYY 1

This time it was Anderson that caused the Yankee bats to struggle.  The Yankees had 9 hits but could only score once.  The twins scored twice on 5 hits.  Kent Hrbek with the game winning RBI in the eighth.

--submitted by Joe Mach--