‘84 Tigers take 3 of 4 from ‘70 O’s to clinch a post season slot.

Sunday September 21 at Tiger Stadium

The Tigers got off to a fast start when Alan Trammell hit his sixth homer of the season in the first inning.  They added another run in the 4th on Larry Herndon's leadoff homer (2).  Then they broke it open in the 6th.  Barbaro Garbey doubled with one out and Rusty Kuntz followed with a single.  Mike Cuellar intentionally walked Chet Lemon to face Kirk Gibson, mired in a season long slump.  But Gibby worked the left hander for a walk and a 3-0 lead.  Tom Brookens followed with a single to notch another run.  Lou Whitaker followed with a sacrifice fly and Trammell singled home two more to give Jack Morris a 7-0 lead.  But Morris is nothing if not generous and in the top of the 7th, he gave up a two run homer to Boog Powell (8) and a three run homer to Elrod Hendricks (5).  Once the game was close again, Morris (6-1, 3.47) settled down.  He need relief help from Willie Hernandez (7 saves, 0.00) in the 9th.  Cuellar took the loss (1-5, 5.88)  Tigers 7  Orioles 5

Monday September 22 at Tiger Stadium. 

Dan Petry started poorly, issuing 1st inning walks to Don Buford and Powell.  Merv Rettenmund then singled home Hendricks.   The Tigers tied it in the second when Lance Parrish doubled and was singled home by Lemon.  Dave Johnson homered in the 3rd to give the Orioles the lead 2-1.  But the Tigers came back.  Howard Johnson singled and stole second.  Whitaker walked and Trammell was safe on Mark Belanger's error.  Gibson then hit a sacrifice fly.  Then Petry and Jim Palmer both settled in and the game remained 2-2 until the 8th.  With two out and Johnson on 1st, courtesy of a single, Petry ran out of gas and was replaced by Aurelio Lopez.  Lopez has struggled all year and today was not the beginning of any reversal of fortune.  He gave up a single to Frank Robinson and then walked Rettenmund.  That was it for Senor Smoke.  Hernandez came on, but he could not stem the tide.  He walked pinchhitter Curt Motton to force in a run and then gave up a two run single to Brooks Robinson.  The Orioles carried their 5-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth.  After getting one out, Palmer gave up a single to HoJo.  That was it for Palmer as Pete Richert came in to face Whitaker.  Richert threw two wild pitches and then walked Sweet Lou. Pete struck out Trammell.  Rusty Kuntz came on to  pinchhit for Gibson and doubled home one run.  Parrish was intentionally walked, but the Richert could not find the strike zone against Darrell Evans who walked for the 28th time this season, forcing in a run.  That was it for Richert and Dick Hall came on to face Dave Bergman.  Bergie quickly singled to right, two runs scored and the Tigers had an improbably come from behind victory.  Hernandez was the winner (4-0, 0.00), Richer took the loss (3-2, 2.45)  Tigers 6  Orioles 5

Tuesday September 23 at Memorial Stadium. 

Dave McNally came into the game 1-5 with an era on the wrong side of 5.  His past hardly mattered as he shut out the Tigers through 8 innings, his only error being a 2 run homer to Parrish (5) in the 9th.  By then it didn't make any difference.  Milt Wilcox (2-3, 3.04) gave up 4 runs in the first which was all McNally needed.  Paul Blair was safe on first basemen Garbey's two base error.  Powell followed with a single, Frank Robby doubled, Johnson singled and Brooks drove in the final two with a double.  The O's added runs in the 7th on a Powell homer (9) and in the 8th on a Buford single.  McNally earned the win with a complete game.  (2-5, 5.16)  Orioles 6  Tigers 2

Wednesday September 24

Tiger manager Tom Davis, wanting to save Juan Bereguer for the final series against the Yankees, had a choice among three starters.  Glenn Abbott had pitched 2.1 innings al season, Roger Mason had not pitched at all and Dave Rozema had been shelled his last time out.  Crash Davis chose Abbott.  As his brother in law would say, "Wrong-o, dragon breath."  Back to back doubles by Whitaker and Trammell started the game off right for the Tigers off Tom Phoebus.  But the O's came back with two in the bottom of the first off Abbott.  Boog Powell hit his third homer of the series (10).  A walk to Frank Robby and singles by Johnson and Brooks and the Orioles held a 2-1 lead.  They got two more in the second.  Belanger singled and was bunted to second by Phoebus.  Buford was hit by a pitch and Paul Blair singled to load the bases.  Abbott managed to get Powell for the second out but Frank Robby singled home two runs.  That would be all for Abbott who was pinchhit for in he 3rd.  The Tigers cut the lead to 4-2 on a Bergman homer (2) in the 4th.  Roger Mason came on for Abbott and pitched two good innings but then got into trouble in the 5th. Johnson walked and Brooks was hit by a pitch.  With two out,  Belanger walked.  Oriole manager Mike Hopcroft knew a good situation when he saw it and sent Rettenmund up to pinchhit for Phoebus.  Rettenmund answered the call by doubling home two runs for a 6-2 lead.  The Tigers came back yet again.  In the 6th, Lance Parrish hit a two run homer (7).  After a single by Evans and a walk to Bergman, Lemon tripled them both home, then scored himself on a groundout by Herndon, giving the Tigers a 7-6 lead.  The Tigers picked up a single run in the 7th on another Parrish homer (8), his third of the series.  The O's got that run back on singles by Brooks and Hendricks and a groundout by Belanger to keep the contest at one run.  In the 8th, the Tigers increased their margin when Lemon doubled and Herndon singled him to third.  Dwight  Lowry pinchhit and surprised everyone in the stadium by dropping the perfect suicide squeeze.  Trammell singled home Herndon and the Tigers had a 10-7 lead.  The Os got another one back in the 8th on a walk to Buford, a passed ball, a groundout and a sacrifice fly by Powell.   Curt Motton had a one out pinchhit single in the 9th but pinchhitter Andy Etchebarren hit into a game ending double play.  Mason was the winner (1-0, 6.00) with Hernandez getting the save (8 saves, 0.00).  Dave Leonhard took the loss (0-1, 1 blown save, 27.00)  Tigers 10  Orioles 8 

--submitted by Tom “Crash” Davis--

Standings after Week #9 – 30 of 38 games

‘76 Reds take 2 of 3 from ‘03 Fish

9/17-9/18 - Riverfront Stadium
GAME 1 - Reds 11, Marlins 4
Josh Beckett (0-2, 4.97) didn't even make it out of the 2nd inning as the Big Red Machine put a hurt on him.  Beckett gave up 6 runs (5 earned) and only got 4 outs for his trouble.  Gary Nolan (2-4, 4.41) pitched to the level of his competition and easly went the distance for the win.  The only blemish against his record was a 4 run 4th inning that made the score 6-4 Cincy at the time.  The Reds backed Nolan up with 5 more insurance runs on a day when HOF'ers Joe Morgan and Tony Perez had identical 3 hit 4 RBI days.  Morgan hit 2 homers to run his season total to 4 and "Doggie" hit his 7th homer.

GAME 2 - Marlins 10, Reds 8
Fred Norman (5-1, 3.35) had his first rough outing of the season going 6 innings and giving up 5 runs.  With that said the Reds were only down by 2 until the Marlins seemingly blew the doors right off the cupboard with a 5 run outburst in the top of the 9th.  The Reds never gave up hope and returned the favor in the bottom of the frame, which forced the Marlins to bring in Ugeth Urbina to get the final out of the game in the form of Pete Rose popping out to shallow right.  4 of Florida's 5 runs came from a one swing when Miguel Cabrera hit a grand slam.  Cincy actually outhit the Fish by a count of 13-10, but runs, not hits win games.

9/19- Pro Player Stadium
GAME 3 - Reds 3, Marlins 2
In a battle of rookie hurlers, Pat Zachry (2-2, 2.98) bested Dontrelle Willis.  Willis actually got a no decision having gone 7 1/3 innings and allowing only 1 run and fanning 9.  Zach went 8 1/3 and gave up 2 and looked to be the loser in this pitcher's duel until Urbina gave up a 2 run homer to a struggling Johnny Bench with 1 out in the 9th.  Zach would get the first out in the 9th when Mike Lowell popped out to Griffey Sr. in right, but Gonzalez singled and that meant Rawly Eastwick would come on to get the fianl 2 outs.  Lenny Harris, pinch hitting for Urbina, popped out to Eastwick and Juan Pierre was thrown out by Rose on an ill advised bunt attempt for the final out of the game.

‘57 Braves sweep series from ‘65 Dodgers

9/17-9/18 - Dodger Stadium
GAME 1 - Braves 4, Dodgers 2
Koufax gives up only 4 hits.  Too bad 2 of them were homers by Hank Aaron (9) and Wes Covington (6).  LA's anemic offense could barely scratch out 2 runs.  Koufax fans 13 and still loses by 2.  Ron Fairly (.255) is the highest hitting regular in LA's lineup.  Bob Buhl goes 8 1/3 and give sup only 2 unearned runs before Don McMahon comes along to get the final 2 outs and his 2nd save.

GAME 2 - Braves 3, Dodgers 2
Claude Osteen and Lew Burdette left the game tied at 2 after 7.   Don McMahon and Gene Conley faired better in relief than Bob Miller (0-4, 6.30), so the Braves wound up winning thanks to a throwing error by Maury Wills on a Hank Aaron grounder that allowed the bases to be loaded with 2 outs.  Miller then uncorked a wild pitch and Red Schoendienst galloped home with the go ahead run.

9/19- County Stadium
GAME 3 - Braves 2, Dodgers 0
Warren Spahn, who spent year being victimized by the Brooklyn Dodgers was able to get an ounce of revenge today by styming the LA crew with a neat 5 hit shutout.  Johnny Podres, who used to win these games vs the Braves back in the borough of churches was once again the victim of zero run support.  Podres gave up 2 runs on solo shots by middle infielders Johnny Logan and Schoendienst, which provided all the offense Milwaukee would need.  LA's team BA fell to .222 as this team has officially compiled less hits than Bo Donaldson and the Haywoods.

‘78 Bombers take 2 of 3 from ‘98 counterparts, who now fall into a tie for first with ‘84-DET

9/17-9/19 Yankee Stadium
GAME 1 - 78-NYY 5, 98-NYY 0
All 3 games would be played in the "House that Ruth Built", so there would be no travel or lag time.  The disappointing 1978 Yanks (10-18) would exact some revenge against their 20 year in the future counterparts by taking the opener 5-0 on the heels of a 3 hit complete game shutout by the "Gator" Ron Guidry.  Louisiana Lightning fanned 9 and walked none as he went the distance.  The 1978 AL Cy Young award winner was completely dominant and moved his record to 3-4 (3.98).  His opponent David Cone went 7 and gave up 5 (4 earned).  1978 went up 1-0 when Reggie tripled with 1 out in the bottom of the 2nd and Roy White plated him with a grounder to short.  They would score 2 more the following inning when Lou Piniella would barely miss and opposite field homer and Fred "Chicken" Stanley would tag up and score.  Cone would bounce one in the dirt that Posada couldn't block, which allowed Mickey Rivers to come home easily to make it 3-0.  Chicken Stanley would singled home Reggie in the 7th and Graig Nettles would do the same to score Randolph in the 8th to give Gator more than enough runs to win easily.

GAME 2 - 78-NYY 9, 98-NYY 3
That '78 team really comes alive in the big moments.  Tenuously protecting a 4-3 lead the unleashed a 5 run shelling of Ramiro Mendoza to put the game out of reach and ensure "Figgy", Ed Figueroa (2-4, 5.17) the victory.  Sparky Lyle, who went from Cy Young to Sayonara this season...thanks to the acquisition of Goose Gossage finally got a chance to do some good for the team.  Lyle came on board in the 8th with his team leading by one and wound up getting the final 5 outs of the contest.  Mickey Rivers went 3 for 4 and had 4 RBI and Graig Nettles hit 2 homers and now has 10 on the season.  Nettles is hitting .324 and pacing the '78 Bombers in all offensive categories.

GAME 3 - 98-NYY 9, 78-NYY 6
The '98 squad was able to salvage a win in the series and avoid the sweep by battering the '78 team's most reliable starter, Dick Tidrow.  "Dirt" had his record drop to 4-2 and saw his ERA balloon to 3.74 after giving up 7 runs in 5 innings.  Andy Pettitte ran out of gas in the 6th inning, but did manage to get the win and boost his record to 5-0 (2.68).  A good sign for '98 fans was seeing Mendoza pitch a scoreless inning after his melt down the previous day.  Mariano Rivera was called upon to get the final 6 outs and get one of his rare 2 inning saves (his 9th) to lock down the victory.  At the time he entered the game the '98 crew was up 7-6.  2 big insurance runs in the 8th off of Ken Clay gave Mo a nice cushion to defend.  Tino Martinez went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI to pace the '98 offense.

‘70 O’s take 2 of 3 from ‘02 Halos to stay in AL Wild Card Race.

9/17-9/18 - Edison Field
GAME 1 - Orioles 4, Angels 3
The tension surrounding this series was so thick you could cut it with a chainsaw.  Both teams were fighting for the proverbial playoff lives.  Baltimore was trying to keep alive in a division where the top 2 teams are juggernauts and the team directly above them (Boston) was 2 games ahead for the final wild card slot.  Anaheim needed some wins to stay atop their division of "have nots".  Jim Palmer (6-1, 3.05) did what HOF aces do.  He pitched better than his opponent Jarrod Washburn (3-2, 3.71) and even overcame some poor fielding by Mark Belanger, who has uncharacteristically made 12 errors in 28 games.  Down 2-1 the O's scored 2 in the 4th and 5th respectively.  Boog Powell hit a huge 2 run homer in the 5th, which turned out to be the game breaker.  Eddie Watt threw a perfect 9th to notch his first save of the season.

GAME 2 - Angels 9, Orioles 8
The second 1 run game of the series featured an offensive explosion.  Once again Dave McNally (1-5, 5.72) blew a stinker, but this time his offense was able to keep him in it.  A 5 run 5th inning plus solo runs in the 6th and 7th gave Kevin Appier (2-2, 2.34) an insurmountable 9-1 lead.  All looked good until Anaheim's pen imploded and allowed 7 unanswered runs to be scored to make it 9-8.  Troy Percival had to come to the rescue and pitch a perfect 9th by fanning Merv Rettenmund and Paul Blair.  Percival recorded his 8th save.  Both teams combined for 6 homers with Davey Johnson hitting 2 in a losing cause.  David Ecksten went 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored for the Angels who recorded 15 hits.

9/19- Memorial Stadium
GAME 3 - Orioles 4, Angels 3 (10 inn)
What would this tension riddle series be like without another 1 run game ?  This time it took 10 innings to get a decision.  With the score tied at 3 Davey Johnson would come to the plate and send the Baltimore faithful home happy with a walk off homer off of Angel reliever Scott Shields.  Johnson would his his third homer of the series.  Pete Richert (3-1, 0.00), who pitched the 9th inning would win the game in relief of Tom Phoebus, who only gave up 2 earned runs over 7 innings of action.  Boog Powell would hit his 7th homer of the season while going 2 for 3 and increasing his season average to .331.

‘08 Phightin’s take 2 of 3 from ‘69 Amazin’s

9/17-9/18 - Shea Stadium
GAME 1 - Mets 5, Phillies 2
Cole Hamels allowed the Amazin's 4 runs in the bottom of the 3rd, which was too much for the highly touted Phightin offense to overcome considering how well Gary Gentry (2-3, 6.20) was pitching.  Buddy Harrelson led off the inning with a triple and scored on a suicide squeeze executed to perfection by Gentry.  It worked so well, Gentry wound up on 1st and scored on the next play when Tommy Agee slugged a 2 run shot over the 410 mark in dead center.  After Ed Charles popped out and Cleon Jones struck out 1969 World Series MVP, Donn Clendenon hit a solo shot just inside the orange foul poll to give New York a 4-1 lead.  Philly kept on Phightin and began to chip away at Gentry's lead slowly but surely.  A Ryan Howard tape measure shot that hit the big scoreboard in right center just above the Manufacturer's Hanover sign made it 4-2.  A sac fly by Coste in the 7th made it 4-3 as Ron Taylor was called on to save the game for Gentry.  New York scratched out an insurance run in the 8th when Clendenon singled and stole second then scored on a line drive to right center by Jerry Grote.  Taylor had an easy time of it in the 9th for his second save of the season.

GAME 2 - Phillies 6, Mets 2
Jerry Koosman (2-5, 1.93) continued to be the hard luck hurler of the year.  Game after game Kooz winds up being the victim of low run support or bad fielding and sometimes the combination of both.  His opposing number, Jamie Moyer(3-1, 2.78) continues to defy father time by going 6 innings and allowing only 1 earned run.  Ryan Madson pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief and Brad Lidge threw a spotless 9th in a non save situation.  The score was actually tied at 2 heading into the top of the 7th when Ed Charles blew a routine grounder to third and allowed Taguchi to get to second. J-Roll showed why he was the 2007 NL MVP by going yard and putting the Phightin's up by 2.  An error by Clendenon combined with a 2 run single by the "Flying Hawaiian", Shane Victorino put the Phils up by 4 to seal victory.

9/19- Citizens Bank Ballpark
GAME 3 - Phillies 6, Mets 5
Talk about your pitching mismatches.  Tom Seaver vs Joe Blanton.  Figure if the Mets can get 2, maybe 3 runs they are a lock.  The Mets do just that.  In fact the do even better.  Heading into the 7th Seaver has a 5-0 shutout going.  Money in the bank, right ?  Not when you're playing in "the bank"...Citizen's Bank Ballpark that is.  All looked good in Metland until that fateful bottom of the 7th where the Phightins, showed why they are one of the most mentally strong teams in this great game's history.  Most teams down 5-0 to the great Seaver would just pack it in or maybe go through the motions.  The Phightins just roll up their sleeves and get it done.  12 batters would come to the plate that inning.  An inning that just might have been the worst that Seaver ever had in his career.  Shame on his manager for hanging him out to dry like that.  Kudos to Matt Stairs, who came to the plate with runners on 1st and second and launched a majestic shot over the out of town scoreboard in right center for a 3 run pinch hit shot that made it 5-3.  A RBI double by Ryan Howard would follow 4 batters later and a 2 run single by Coste would put the Phigtins' ahead for good 6-5.  Lidge would walk 2 in the 9th, but Agee would get caught stealing second and Cleon Jones would strike out looking to end Philadelphia's improbable comeback win.