‘84 Tigers sweep ‘07 Bosox in ALDS

Thursday October 2 at Tiger Stadium

Tim Wakefield would oppose Jack Morris in the opener of this best of five series.  Lance Parrish opened the second with a single.  With one out, he was doubled home by Dave Bergman.  After another out, Rupert Jones singled home Bergman.  Dustin Pedroia led off the 4th with a single.  With one out, David Ortiz singled, then Manny Ramirez was safe when Howard Johnson dropped a pop up behind third.  In his youth, Morris would often show his disgust with errors made by his teammates by staring them down.  As he has "mellowed" he has turned these emotions inside.  Perhaps it would have been better to stare HoJo down as he could not find the plate with Kevin Youkilis and walked him to force in a run.  But J.D.Drew hit a shot at Bergman who turned a nice 3-6-3 double play.  The Tigers gave Morris an additional cushion in the sixth.  with two outs, Parrish singled, followed by a single by Kirk Gibson.  Bergman tripled them both home and scored when Mike Lowell misplayed a Chet Lemon ground ball.  That was it, as Morris' (8-1, 2.76) went the distance, scattered four hits and allowed just the one run.  Wakefield took the loss (5-2, 3.62).  Tigers 5  Red Sox 1

Friday October 3 at Tiger Stadium

Josh Beckett would face Dan Petry.  The Tigers struck first when, in the second inning, Gibson doubled and was singled home by Bergman.  They added a run in the third when Tom Brookens led off with a double and scored on Darrell Evans' two out single.  That would be the last run Beckett allowed as he thereafter shut the Tigers down going the distance.  Petry though was just as good.  Until the 7th.  Ortiz led off with a double.  Walks to Ramirez and Youkilis loaded the bases and Drew drove home Ortiz with a sacrifice fly.  Then Petry settled down and got Jason Varitek to strike out and Coco Crisp to fly out.  But it was clear Petry had lost his good stuff as he allowed a lead off single to Julio Lugo and another single to Pedroia.  When he walked Mike Lowell to load the bases with no outs, that was all.  Lefty Bill Scherrer came in to face David Ortiz and struck him out.  With right handed hitting Manny Ramirez coming up, Scherrer gave way to Doug Bair.  Bair got Ramirez to hit into an around the horn double play to end the threat.  Willie Hernandez came in in the ninth to close out the game. (10 saves 0.28)  Petry was the winner (3-3, 3.58).  Beckett deserved better in taking the loss (3-6, 3.28)  Tigers 2 Red Sox 1

Sunday October 4 at Fenway Park

Milt Wilcox would go against Daisuke Matsuzaka.  Lugo led off the bottom of the first with a double.  After Wilcox got the next two batters, Tiger Manager Tom Davis ordered an intentional pass of Ortiz.  It was the percentage play as Ortiz had led the league in homers and the next hitter, Manny Ramirez had yet to get a hit in this series.  Wilcox did not like the idea and glared into the dugout.  Wilcox was right as Ramirez lined a double off the right field wall to score both runners.  The Tigers got one back in the second when Matsuzaka walked Gibson and Bergman and Larry Herndon singled home Gibson with two outs.  The Red sox came right back in the third.  Walks to Ortiz and Youkilis bracketed a double by Ramirez to load the bases   Drew singled home two and sent Youkilis to third.  He scored when Wilcox bobbled a soft ground ball by Varitek.  In the fifth, Wilcox struck out Ramirez but then issued three straight walks to Youkilis, Drew and Varitek.  Aurelio Lopez came in and gave up a single to Crisp but was saved from giving up a second run when Larry Herndon's throw from left cut down Drew at the plate  The Tigers breathed a sigh of relief that they were only down 6-1 after 5.  In the sixth Matsuzaka once again issued back to back walks to Gibson and Bergman.  After getting Lemon, he then walked Herndon and Brookens to force in a run.  Lou Whitaker singled home two more and the lead  was cut to 6-4.  In the 7th, Lopez gave up a lead off homer to Drew (5), the only homer of the series.  After giving up a single to Varitek and walking Crisp, Lopez gave way to Doug Bair.  Bair got Lugo to line back to him and then Pedroia to hit a sharp ground ball to him which turned into an inning ending double play.  Kyle Snyder came in to start the 7th and got himself out of a self inflicted bases loaded situation when Henrdon lined to him.  He was not so lucky in the 8th.  He hit Brookens to lead off the inning, then walked Whitaker.  Alan Trammell 's single to score Brookens chased Snyder.  Hideki Okajima got Evans to fly out but Whitaker scored on the out.  He then struck out Parrish and Gibson to leave the Red sox up one. It stayed that way as Bair retired the Red Sox in the 8th.  For the 9th, Red Sox Manager Eric Stouber went to his ace closer Jonathon Papelbon who had allowed only one run in 13.2 innings and had saved 9 games with no blown saves.   But Papelbon opened the inning giving Bergman his third walk of the game.  He then hit Chet Lemon in the ribs and walked  Herndon.  Tom Brookens dropped a perfect suicide squeeze and the throw to the plate by Lowell was not in time.  Then Papelbon struck out Whitaker and when Trammell flied to left, Ramirez gunned down Lemon at the plate to end the inning in a 7-7 tie.  Bair threw a perfect 9th.  Manny Delcarmen came on in the 10th and though he walked Gibson, the Tigers couldn't score.  Bair walked Lugo but he was out trying to steal and the teams went into the 11th.  With two out, Brookens doubled and Whitaker singled and the Tigers went up one.  Willie Hernandez came on to pitch a perfect 11th and end the sweep.  (11 saves, 0.26)  Bair got the win ( 3-1, 2.73).  DelCarmen took the loss (0-2, 3.24)  Tigers 8  Red Sox 7 

--submitted by Tom “Crash” Davis--

‘46 Redbirds sweep ‘67 version in 3 straight

The match-up of the two Cardinal teams in the Division Series did not live up to the hype, as the 1946 team swept the '67 club right out of the post season.

Bob Gibson gave up two runs in the first inning of game one, but settled down as his mates tallied five over the next six innings, giving the '67 club a 5-2 lead heading into the 7th behind Gibby.

Normally this would be a game Gibson would bring home, but this was not the Bob Gibson we saw in the regular year. Gibby walked the lead off man in the seventh, pinch hitter Terry Moore, surrendered a single to Schoendienst, then got an out before "The Man" doubled in a run, and an out later Dick Sisler hit a clutch two run double to tie it. Enos Slaughter hit s three run homer in the ninth for the '46 club to stun the home crowd and take the opener 8-6.

The '46 club played clutch baseball throughout the series, winning game two 4-3 and then taking the finale 5-1. All of the games were well played, but the '46 team consistently came up with the big hit on offense, and big out on defense.

9/2-9/3 – Sportsman Park  |  9/5-Busch Memorial

GAME 1 - 46-STL 8, 67-STL 6
GAME 2 - 46-STL 4, 67-STL 3 
Tied at 3 the '46 squad scored a solo run in the 6th off of '67 starter Steve Carlton, who was victimized by none other than Stan "the Man" Musial.  As he's done all season swingman Murry Dickson came on board to toss 3 scoreless innings to protect his team's 1 run lead and give them a 2-0 series edge as they head cross-town for game 3.

GAME 3 - 46-STL 5, 67-STL 1

Red Munger would go 7 strong shutout innings, but that would not be enough as the usually stoic Dickson blew a save opportunity when Lou Brock tripled and Julian Javier brought him in with a sac fly to tie the game a 1-1.  That solo run gave new life to the '67 crew, but that was not going to last for long as Nelson Briles, in relief of Hughes, gave it all back and then some.  The gritty '46 crew exploded for 4 big runs in the bottom of the 8th.  Three vs Briles and the fourth vs Hal Woodeshick.  After Marty Marion singled and Dickson doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd Briles got Schoendienst (his future manager) and Kurowski to strike out.  Rather than risk pitching to Musial, who at this point was 3 for 3 with a homer, Briles intentionally walked Musial to pitch to Enos "Country" Slaughter.  On paper walking Musial was the right move.  No way you let "the Man" beat you.  Unfortunately plan "B" was to face Slaughter, who only had 130 RBI's in 1946, not to mention one of the most hardened competitive streaks in the game.  Slaughter did not take too kindly to the situation and crushed Briles first offering off the wall in right center for a bases clearing triple.  Dick Sisler's RBI single was the punctuation mark on the big inning that turned out to be the final nail in the coffin of the '67 team's season.

--submitted by BikeMike--

Final Regular Season Stat Leaders

NL Batting Leaders

NL Pitching Leaders

AL Batting Leaders

AL Pitching Leaders

KOD10 Final Regular Season Standings

NL Play In Game: ‘67 Redbirds gain post season with 6-2 win over ‘76 Reds.

The 1967 St. Louis Cardinals scored early, and often enough to take the 1976 Cincinnati Reds out of the post season picture, earning a 6-2 victory in the Alston Division play in game.

After Ray Washburn set the Reds down in order in the top of the first, the Cardinals loaded the bases off of Jack Billingham on an error, and two singles. Veteran Roger Maris stepped to the plate and crushed a Billingham change up to the wall in right, clearing the bases. Maris just missed a grand-slam.

There would be no further scoring until the fifth, as Washburn was  pitching brilliantly, facing only 18 batters through five innings of work. In the bottom of the fifth, with Pedro Borbon now on the hill for Cincinnati, one out singles by Julian Javier and Curt Flood brought Orlando Cepeda to the plate. Cepeda also singled, scoring Javier and sending Flood to third. Maris then hit a sharp grounder to Joe Morgan at second, but in his haste to start a double play, Morgan booted the ball allowing Flood to score. But no further damage was done.

The Cardinals added one more in the seventh, as Washburn continued to cruise. It was 6-0 Cardinals going into the ninth, as Washburn was still out there going for the shutout. But he tired in the ninth, giving up a lead off single to George Foster, then a ringing double off the bat of Tony Perez sent Washburn to the showers, the capacity crowd giving him a standing ovation as he walked off the field.

Ron Willis took over, allowing the two runners to score on an infield ground out and a single, but nothing further.

Cincinnati manager Steve Tate had wished his club was a year younger, while Cardinal manager Bike Mike is savoring his first post season appearance since way back in KOD2 (I think).

--submitted by Bike Mike - El Birdos--

‘84 Tigers take 3 of 4 from ‘98 Bombers to clinch best record in baseball.

Friday September 26 at Yankee Stadium. 

That Jack Morris is not in the Hall of Fame is a travesty.  No pitcher came up bigger in big games than did "The Cat" during the 80s and early 90s and even in action that is how it goes.  The Tigers and Yankees were tied with identical 25-9 records but the Tigers needed to take three of four in this series as the Yankees held the tie breaker.  Tough to score when you only get one hit and one hit was Morris allowed the Yankees as he threw a complete game shutout.  Lou Whitaker led off the game with his 6th homer of the season off starter and loser Ramiro Mendoza (3-2, 3.86).  The remaining Tiger runs scored on a ground out and two sacrifice flies but it was all Morris needed as he extended his record to 7-1 with a 3.00 era.  Tigers 4  Yankees 0

Saturday September 27 at Yankee Stadium

Lou Whitaker liked leading off game one of the series with a homerun so much, he did it again in game 2. (7).  Juan Bereguer started for the Tigers against David Cone.  Berenguer came into the game with an era under 2, but the Yankees got to him in the first when Tim Raines walked, went to third on David Jeter's double and scored on a ground out.  The Tigers took the lead in the second when Dave Bergman led off with a single and scored on Chet Lemon's double.  Then the Tigers tallied 5 more in the fifth on a couple of sacrifice flies and a three run Lemon homer (3).  Whitaker added another homer in the 6th and Lemon had a two run shot in the 7th as the Tigers cruised in this one.  Berenguer pitched 6 innings for the win (5-1, 2.03).  Cone was the loser (4-4, 3.69)  Tigers 10  Yankees 2

Sunday September 28 at Tiger Stadium

The Yankees had to win this game or the last game of the series would be meaningless.  Manager Ross Gottleib sent lefty David Wells out to do the job, and he did it masterfully.  Dan Petry tried to match him but to no avail.  The Tigers opened the scoring in the 3rd when Alan Trammell hit his 7th homer.  The Yankees came back in the 6th.  Paul O'Neill opened the inning with a single and scored on Tino Martinez' double.  After getting the next hitter, Petry gave up a two run homer to Scott Brosius (4) who had been mired in a season long slump.  The Yankees added another run in the 8th when Chad Curtis singled home Martinez.  Wells scattered 7 hits over 7.1 innings to earn the win (7-1, 3.18).  Petry took the loss (3-3, 3.88)  Yankees 4  Tigers 2

Monday September 29 at Tiger Stadium

It all came down to this last game, The winner would win the division and have home field advantage throughout the playoffs and World Series, the loser would get the first wild card.  Orlando Hernandez would face Milt Wilcox.  The Tigers again scored first in the opening inning when Alan Trammell singled, went to second on Darrell Evans' ground out and scored on a Lance Parrish single.   They added a run in the third when Evans led off with a walk, went to second on a passed ball and scored on Kirk Gibson's single.  In the fifth, Trammell opened the inning with a walk (walks killed the Yankees in this game as they issued 8 through out the game), stole second and scored on a Parrish single.  The Yankees got one back in the 7th as Brosius walked, pinchhitter Homer Bush singled and pinchhitter Tim Raines followed with another single to load the bases.  A walk to Jeter forced in a run, but then reliever Doug Bair got Chuck Knoblauch to ground back to him for a force at the plate and struck out the always dangerous Bernie Williams with the sacks full.  Willie Hernandez came on to face the Yankees in the 8th.  In 20 appearances covering 30.1 innings, he had not allowed a run.  The Yanks ended that streak in the 8th as O'Neill led off with a single.  Willie got the next two Yanks, but a Brosius single and another single by late inning replacement Rickey Ledee made the score 3-2.  (A case of history repeating itself as Willie's only blown save during his MVP, Cy Young season of '84 came against the Yankees in the second to last game of the season.)  The Tigers though added three runs of their own in the bottom of the 8th.  Lemon led off with a double, then three straight walks forced in a run.  Two groundouts produced two more runs and Willie took a 6-2 lead into the ninth.  A walk marred an otherwise perfect two strikeout inning and the Tigers won the division crown on the last day of the season.Orlando Hernandez took the loss (2-3, 3.30).  Wilcox was the winner (3-3, 2.86), Hernandez earned the save (9 saves, 0.28)  Tigers 6  Yankees 2

--submitted by Tom”Crash” Davis--

‘76 Reds rally to take 3 of 4 from ‘71 Bucs to force a 1 game playoff with the ‘67 Cards in STL

9/26-9/27 - Three Rivers Stadium
GAME 1 - Reds 11, Pirates 3
The Bucs came into the series needing a sweep to have any chance at winning the division.  The Reds, in their heart of hearts knew they would need a minimum of 3 wins to keep pace with the surging Cardinals.  The Big Red Machine vs the Lumber Company.  You don't find a more classic battle of NL teams from the 1970's known for their offense.  During that great decade both teams would win two World Championships.  They would face each other 4 times in the LCS during that incredible stretch.  To say that this series finale was more than just a rivalry would be an understatement.  With no score in the game the Big Red Machine posted 3 big runs off of Pirate starter Bob Johnson (1-2, 4.91) in the top of the 4th as Johnny Bench had a huge 2 run double.  A Richie Hebner leadoff homer in the bottom of the 5th off of Jack Billingham (4-2, 3.27) cut Cincy's lead to 2.  After Joe Morgan narrowly missed a homer to lead off the 6th George Foster did not miss and recorded his 11th of the season to make it 4-1.  Cincy would score another run in the inning as Cesar Geronimo would single home Dan Driessen.  Cincy would score 4 more in the 7th to put the game away and end Pittsburgh's post season hopes.  All this win would do is help the Reds keep pace with the Cards, who already defeated the Dodgers.

GAME 2 - Pirates 8, Reds 7
Playing the role of spoiler the Bucs scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 11th to defeat the Reds and put them on the brink of elimination thanks to the Cards beating the Dodgers earlier in the day.  Cincy scored a solo run in the top of the 11th and looked to have won the game, but Pedro Borbon could not hold the lead that Dan Driessen's RBI double afforded him.  Gene Clines’ pinch hit RBI triple tied it in the bottom of the frame and banjo hitting Jackie Hernandez' pinch single would win it.

9/28-9/29 - Riverfront Stadium
GAME 3 - Reds 6, Pirates 4
Down 4-1 and heading into the bottom of the 7th the Reds looked up at the scoreboard to see that St. Louis had just defeated the Cardinals 2-1 in extra innings.  With time running short on their season the Reds knew they needed to do something big and do it fast.  The challenge they faced was young Bruce Kison was busy tossing a dandy.  Their glimmer of hope occurred the previous inning when Joe Morgan singled home Ken Griffey to finally put the Reds on the board.  Down 4-1 the Reds would enter into the magical 7th inning needing 3 runs to tie, instead Cincy would post 5 to take the lead.  Driessen would lead off with a clean single and Johnny Bench, who had been suffering through a .231 campaign, would show his greatness by hitting a clutch 2 run homer to cut Kison's lead to 1.  Geronimo and Concepcion would follow with walks as the 21 year old Kison was about to crack.  Santo Alcala, who would pitch almost 3 scoreless innings in relief of the terrible Don Gullet (4 runs in 6 innings) would bat for himself and bunt the runners up into scoring position.  Pete Rose was then given an intentional pass to load the bases and Dock Ellis would be summoned from the pen to save Kison's lead.  Ellis, who is know as a counter culture starter surely did not expect to be used in relief.  From the outset he was shaky and back to back singles by Ken Griffey and Joe Morgan put the Reds up for good.  A bullet throw from Roberto Clemente in right field gunned down one runner at the plate and a great peg by Manny Sanguillen would catch Griffey stealing to record the final 2 outs of the inning.  Alcala would pitch until the 9th when the Bucs would have runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out.  Manny Sarmiento would trot in from the pen to challenge Richie Hebner and notch the final out of the game.  Fans' in the Queen City were breathing a collective sigh of relief as the Reds authored a classic comeback to stay alive in the race.

GAME 4 - Reds 6, Pirates 2
Having gotten the good news that the Dodgers played spoiler and just defeated the Cards, Cincy knew that this game was huge.  A win here would force a 1 game play in game for the division crown.  Pat Zachry would find the ball in his shoe and some shaving cream on his stool.  Cincy would be pinning their pennant hopes on the right arm of this fearsome rookie.  The Reds would break the ice in the bottom of the 2nd when George Foster scored on a ground out by Doug Flynn to short.  Cincy would make it 2-0 in the 5th when Griffey would single home Ed Armbrister.  The Reds looked well on their way to winning when Mother Nature threw a huge wrench into the works.  In the blink of an eye a cloudy / overcast day turned into a soggy deluge.  For almost an hour the heavens opened up in a huge downpour.  Finally when it all cleared and the Zamboni machine squeegeed off the Polyturf the Pirates found themselves with some help.  While their bats couldn't solve the Pat Zachry mystery, mother nature could.  Zach was gone after 6 scoreless innings and Fred Norman was tasked to replace him.   Norman was greeted rudely by Richie Hebner gapper that turned into a stand up triple.  Bob Robertson, who eats lefties alive, launched a line shot homer down the left field line to tie it a 2.  You could have heard a pin drop in Riverfront at this point.  With one swing of the bat the Bucs undid all the good work Zachry had done.  Would the Reds have any resolve left to comeback once more and keep their post season chances alive ?  In a matter of one word, the answer would be YES.  The Big Red Machine would victimize Buc reliever Frank Brosseau for 4 runs.  Red reliever Rawly Eastwick  would hit for himself and single to lead off the inning.  Griffey and Concepcion would follow with singles of their own to load the bases.  Eastwick would score on Joe Morgan's ground out to give the Reds a 3-2 lead with one out.  Foster would be given an intentional pass to load them up and put a force everywhere.  Tony Perez would work out a walk to make it 4-2 and pinch hitter Pete Rose would line a single to right center to make it 6-2 and ensure Cincy's date with destiny in St. Louis tomorrow.