Revisiting my childhood baseball days (1980 Cubs) - PureSim 2007 1.86

[hoopsguy]

I've been obsessing over PureSim for the past couple of weeks since downloading it. I ran a mini-dynasty for fourteen seasons using the bare bones settings that came with the game. That one just crashed, but I'm hooked on the historical replay even if I thought the game was a long way from perfect.

Anyway, I'm going to reboot with the new 1.82 version that became available today. I'll also download some of the additional content that is available.

Hopefully those following along will get some sense of enjoyment about reading how their favorite baseball players turn out in this universe. I'm certainly willing to take feedback from others who have played this game a little more than I have on how to enhance the experience (mods, house rules, etc).

I'll be updating this post along the way to reflect the major happenings in this MLB universe.


1980
World Series: St. Louis over Detroit, 4-2
Division Winners: Detroit, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cincinnati
MVPs: Dale Murphy (Atl), Willie Wilson (KC)
Cy Youngs: Mario Soto (Cin), Jerry Koosman (Min)
Highest Paid: Mike Norris (Oak) 9.05 million

1981
World Series: Detroit over St. Louis 4-0
Division Winners: Detroit, Oakland, St. Louis, Houston
MVPs: Dave Winfield (SD), Tony Armas (Oak)
ROYs: Mike Witt (Chi), Andre Thornton (KC)
Cy Youngs: Mike Witt (Chi), Matt Keough (Oak)
Highest Paid: Mike Norris (NYY) $20,752,578

1982
World Series: Chicago Cubs over Detroit Tigers 4-1
Division Winners: Detroit, California, Chicago, San Diego
MVPs: Jack Clark (SF), Cal Ripken (Tex)
ROYs: Dave Dravecky (Phi), Tony Gywnn (Tex)
Cy Youngs: Bill Gullickson (Chi), Jack Morris (Det)
Highest Paid: Steve Rogers (Cal) $20,002,502

1983
World Series: Chicago Cubs over Oakland A's 4-3
Division Winners: Toronto, Oakland, Chicago, Cincinnati
MVPs: Jesse Barfield (Chi), Darryl Strawberry (Mil)
ROYs: Nick Esasky (LA), Darryl Strawberry (Mil)
Cy Youngs: Scott Sanderson (Mon), Chris Welsh (Bal)
Highest Paid: Doug Decinces (Sea) $17,596,656

1984
World Series: Detroit Tigers over Chicago Cubs 4-1
Division Winners: Detroit, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers
MVPs: Alvin Davis (LA), Darryl Strawberry (Mil)
ROYs: Alvin Davis (LA), Franklin Stubbs (Det)
Cy Youngs: Dwight Gooden (StL), Mark Gubicza (Tor)
Highest Paid: Doug Decinces (NYY) $17,596,656

1985
World Series: Chicago Cubs over Detroit Tigers 4-2
Division Winners: Detroit, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati
MVPs: Kent Hrbek (Mon), Darryl Strawberry (Mil)
ROYs: Oddibe McDowell (Cin), Dan Pasqua (Min)
Cy Youngs: Matt Young (Hou), Dave Stieb (Tor)
Highest Paid: Vida Blue (Atl) $20,125,000

1986
World Series: Texas Rangers over Chicago Cubs 4-2
Division Winners: Boston, Texas, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco
MVPs: Pete Incaviglia (Tex), Juan Samuel (Chi)
ROYs: Pete Incaviglia (Tex), Wally Joyner (StL)
Cy Youngs: Teddy Higuera (Tex), Mike Witt (Chi)
Highest Paid: 12 hitters, 4 pitchers $17,020,000

[hoopsguy]

I'll be starting in the year 1980 and using the following mods:
1.) 1980 MLB Template
2.) WrightWing Historical Facepack
3.) Was planning to add the CrashDavis add-ins, but this is already included with 1.81 so I don't need to do this. Nice.

Salaries will be set to 5% of current, which I think is fairly close given top salary of around 1 million then compared to 25 million now. If this turns out to royally screw stuff up I'll change this around pretty quickly.

I'll be playing the Chicago Cubs. I do not think that 1980 was a particularly good period for the club, so I'm expecting to make radical changes very quickly. I learned in my earlier 14 seasons that I'm not particularly loyal to players based on their "real life" performance. Sometimes to my detriment ...

[hoopsguy]

Unexpected Error 3265 upon first viewing my roster. Hmm, this may end up being a very short dynasty :)

[hoopsguy]

OK, I'm guessing the error came up because I copied over the WrightWing photos while the app was open. It does not come up again upon a restart.

Here are your 1980 Chicago Cubs:
Rotation: Reuschel, Krukow, Lamp, McGlothlen, Martz
Relief: Caudill, Tidrow, Capilla, W. Hernandez, L. Smith, Sutter (CL)
Lineup: Dejesus, Vail, Kingman, Martin, Foote, Buckner, Randle, Kelleher
Bench: Bittner, Dillard, Johnson, O'Berry, Ontiveros, Thompson

I'll use first names of players that stick around for awhile and actually do something :) I was 8 when this team was taking the field and I'm guessing I recall about 2/3 of the players.

[hoopsguy]

Couple of initial thoughts looking at the franchise:
1.) The finances show $101,566,106 available. Salaries for veteran players are all over one million. Hmm, this does not seem right for 1980 or for my 5% model. I'll see how this looks compared to other franchises, but this is not what I had bargained for when picking 5%.
2.) I've only got ten players in the minors, all in Triple A, and I'm not excited about a single one of them.
3.) Randy Martz is a terrible 5th starter. And he is our property for the next four seasons. If he is still on my team next year there is a problem.
4.) Overall, too many bad players with multi-year deals.

[hoopsguy]

I'm going to be simulating all of the games. This is a general manager simulation, not a manager simulation. I'll be looking to report on the state of our franchise as well as the league as a whole. So recaps will be provided week-by-week, with the exception of opening day and playoff games. Something tells me I will not be worrying about the latter for a little while ...

[hoopsguy]

The PSPN power rankings (weekly HTML newsletter) shows the Cubs at #14 in the preseason power rankings. The top five are listed below:
#1 Pittsburgh
#2 Los Angeles
#3 Detroit
#4 Houston
#5 Montreal

Cardinals are #13, White Sox are #18.

There is also a published list of "Most Feared Hitters". Usually these predictions are not worth a whole heck of a lot, but here are the five names and projected stats.
George Brett (KC) .372 BA 26 HR
Cecil Cooper (Mil) .347 BA 22 HR
Mike Schmidty (Phi) .243 BA 36 HR
Reggie Jackson (NYY) .293 BA 37 HR
Mike Easler (Pitt) .330 BA 25 HR

Easler seems like the name that is not like the others, at least in my mind.

Payrolls are listed as well. The top spenders are the Dodgers at $96,284,690 and the Twins are the cheapskates of the bunch at $64,198,145. The Cubs are near the bottom, ahead of only six teams, with a $72,498,894 payroll.

[hoopsguy]

In the ML opener, Mario Soto of the Reds throws a shutout in a 1-0 victory against the Braves. Phil Niekro was the opposing pitcher.

The Cubs head to New York for the opener and pick up a 4-3 win in ten innings. Dave Kingman hits his first of (presumed) many homers on the year and Bill Caudill picks up the win with 1 2/3 innings of work. The reason he was pitching in the 9th is that Bruce Sutter blew a 3-1 lead and Rick Reuschel's win. Kingman, CF Jerry Martin, and 3B Len Randle each had two hits on the day. RF Mike Vail was 0-5 with a pair of strikeouts.

[hoopsguy]

Remainder of Week 1:
The next five games all involve shutouts. Chicago is 2-3 in those games, all on the road against NY (split the two games) and Pitt (1-1). Rick Reuschel gets one of the wins, giving him a pair of really strong outings to start the season.

Dan Driesen of the Reds is off to a torrid start, hitting .458 with 3 homers and 7 RBIs. I can't see him being a guy that I'm talking about at the end of the year. However, George Brett is a name that will likely come up a few more times. Mr. Brett is killing the ball early, to the tune of .478 with 3 homers and 6 RBIs.

[hoopsguy]

Week 2:
Mike Krukow wins the opener at Wrigley. 6-1 final. Krukow had a pair of hits, went the distance, and struck out 7.

A quick check of the standings has Chicago at 4-3, 3rd in the division and 1.5 games back of the Montreal Expos. Montreal and Cincinnati (7-2) are off to the fastest starts while Boston (1-7) and San Francisco (1-8) are digging themselves early holes.

The Cubs go on to sweep the Mets in Wrigley. But Randy Martz destroys that momentum in an 8-0 home loss to the Cardinals. The boys in blue pick up a win the next day to move to 7-4 after two weeks.

[hoopsguy]

PSPN reports that SS Ivan Dejesus is among the coldest hitters in the league, hitting .087 with 2 RBIs over the first two weeks. He could be finding himself headed out of town soon on the same bus as Randy Martz if he does not start giving me an average above the Mendoza line.

The Cubs end up taking two of three from St. Louis and welcome Pittsburgh to town. Another 2 out of 3 on the good side. One of the wins featured a walk-off three run bomb by Steve Ontiveros. Nice home stand to start the year. That moves us to 9-5 before heading to St. Louis. Good old Randy Martz and his 9.28 ERA will be taking the bump in the opener of that series.

Martz does fall to 0-3 in a 4-2 loss. Kingman hits his 4th homer of the year but it is not enough. We split the next two, getting terrific outings from both Reuschel and Krukow, but not much offense.

Tom Seaver throws a no-hitter for the Reds at Candlestick. As noted earlier, the Reds and Giants are teams headed in opposite directions early on.

Up and coming hitters, per PSPN: Kansas City's Jaime Quirk and Pittsburgh's Steve Nicosia. Both are hitting over .400 for their minor league teams.

[hoopsguy]

A trip to Cincinnati does not go well. Before the games started, it was billed as a match-up of division leaders (Cubs were up 0.5 games). But the final verdict was men against boys as the Reds swept Chicago in three straight.

Back home, we bounce back with a split against the Padres. But we now trail Pittsburgh by 3.5 games. Apparently the Pirates play pretty well against everyone besides the Cubs.

Remember back in Week 1 where I reported on a couple of guys hitting .450? Well, the Cardinal's Keith Hernandez is hitting .451 on May 7th. Johnny Bench and our own Dave Kingman lead the bigs with 7 homers apiece.

The Yankees are having some issues with injuries early on. Bobby Murcer was sidelined for 3 weeks with a hamstring injury and now Bob Watson has a groin that will keep him out of the lineup for 5 1/2 weeks.

[hoopsguy]

Randy Martz is gone. He picked up a home loss to the lowly Giants and fell to 0-6 at Los Angeles. Enough is enough, time to send this guy to the glue factory. The rest of our pitchers don't deserve to watch this guy take the bump every fifth day.

We ship him off to Philadelphia, getting Bob Boone in return. Boone adds about 1 million in salary, but both guys have contracts that expire at the end of 1980. Boone is good enough to start over most of the guys on our team, but maybe not Barry Foote who is the catcher. Foote is one of the few guys hitting over .250 on this team.

The move sends backup C Mike O'Berry (who?) down to the minors. He has a three year deal, but it is for less than a million per year so I'm not going to worry too much about it. Maybe he'll accidentally develop into some kind of a player (age 26, development 64/100) but I won't count on it.

The FA market is bone dry, which means we'll need to make another deal to have a 5th starter that we can trot out there. Hmm, it may be time to start re-making this team for the future. We're only three games out of the lead but this team does not have October baseball in its future.

Bruce Sutter goes to Baltimore in exchange for 25 year old Dennis "El Presidente" Martinez. Both players have hefty (4.5 million) contracts so that is a wash. But we improve our starting rotation and slide Lee Smith into the closer role. We have decent middle relief arms, so now we just need our hitters to give us a little more and maybe we can make something out of this year.

In actual baseball games (prior to the trades), we won the rubber game at home against San Diego and followed it up with 2 of 3 against San Francisco. But the Dodgers win a pair of one run games against us in Chez Ravine and we end up on the wrong end of a "2 out of 3" split.

[hoopsguy]

The team responds well to the deals in the following week. Smith picks up saves in his first four attempts and the Cubs win games on the West Coast against a winning Padres team and a hapless Giants team.

Martinez was a 1-0 winning in his Chicago debut. Somehow, I doubt that Martz would have won a game like that ... ever. Six innings of one hit ball; what a boost.

Minnesota's Ken Landreaux sees a sixteen game hitting streak come to an end against the White Sox.

The Cubs come home and win the first two against the Dodgers to move to 20-17, including a 5-1 mark since shaking up the roster.

[hoopsguy]

Naturally, Chicago loses the finale against the Dodgers. Starter Dennis Lamp falls to 2-4 despite a 2.54 ERA. Montreal, the division leader, is the next team to visit Wrigley. The Cubs win the opener but lose Jerry Martin (and his .221 average) for a month with a "moderate foot injury". Now, that average may sound like it sucks - and it does - but Martin batted in the middle of the order for this bunch. But it creates an opportunity for Scot Thompson, who has a hint of potential.

Reuschel completes the sweep against the Expos. This represents his 9th straight quality start, among the best in the league. Krukow also has 9 straight.

The sweep of Montreal puts the Cubs back atop the division, by a half game over Pittsburgh and Montreal, with a 23-18 mark. A split of games against the Phillies leaves our franchise five over .500 after two months of play.

[hoopsguy]

A look around the league:
- The Reds are now 34-13 and have a 9.5 game lead on the Braves. Detroit and Texas are the division leaders in the American League, by 4.5 and 2.5 games, respectively.
- Boston has the top two hitters, by batting average, in the game. Yaz is hitting .354 and Fred Lynn is right behind at .343. Jim Rice is tied for the AL lead (with Reggie Jackson) with 10 homers. But the Red Sox are 7.5 games behind Detroit, suggesting that they need a few arms.

Cubs notes:
- Kingman is 2nd in the majors in homes with 13, one back of Bench.
- Reuschel and Krukow are 4th and 8th in ERA.
- The Cubs have scored the fewest runs (125) of any team in the majors.
- The Cubs have allowed the fewest runs (105) of any team in the majors. Hmm, the standings show 132 runs. I'm guessing the discrepancy is tied to that bum that went 0-6 before we traded him.
- Smith has 7 saves since taking over the job, but has seen his ERA go up from 4.00 to 4.67. Guess the one blown save was a doozy.

[hoopsguy]

The Cubbies lose the finale against the Phillies. Losing 2 of 3 at home to that team, currently 10 under .500, is not good for business. On the road, Reuschel picks up wins at Montreal and Philadelphia, but the rest of the boys can't match his efforts. We split a four game set against the Expos but lose two of three again to Philadelphia.

The Cardinals rattled off seven wins in a row, which is good enough to take over sole possession of the division lead. Hernandez and Ted Simmons are both hitting above .300 but the key to their success seems to be a starting rotation with 4 pitchers that are getting the job done: Bob Forsch (5-4, 2.37 ERA), Pete Vukovich (5-4, 3.46), John Fulgam (6-2, 1.90), and Silvio Martinez (5-2, 2.60).

[hoopsguy]

Houston is the next stop. Kingman hits his 15th in the opener but that solo shot is the only run in a 3-1 loss. Krukow just does not get any run support. J.R. Richard is the opposing pitcher in the following game - that is not going to be a win very often and we slide to 0-2 in Houston. Lynn McGlothlen salvages the finale to put us at 4-6 on this road trip.

Around the league, Al Woods of Toronto is having an All-Star quality first half. He is hitting .363 with 6 homers and 27 RBIs. We'll see if he makes the team when it is announced in two weeks.

[hoopsguy]

The Cubs are not able to find any traction back in the friendly confines. Sure, we take two of three from Atlanta but then Houston comes into town and smacks us around in a two game set.

PSPN once again highlights Rick Reuschel as one of the hottest pitchers in baseball. He doesn't get many strikeouts, but 6-2 with a 1.57 ERA are results that speak for themselves. He should be an All-Star, with Kingman possibly joining him depending on just how many Reds get put on that roster.

Rod Beck was famous for once saying "you can't pull fat". Well, Reuschel just proved him wrong as he heads to the DL for a month with a moderate hamstring injury. Stop trying to beat out the bunt, dude. We need you on the bump every fifth day.

This will be a tough one for us to overcome. I've allowed myself to consider this team being in the postseason due to the lack of a runaway team in our division but we could fade quickly in this two month stretch.

[hoopsguy]

Andy Rincon, a 21 year old right hander, is signed for three years at the league minimum. He is going to be the short-term answer for Reuschel although he is in no way a replacement. But I do want to start putting some warm bodies down in Iowa so that we don't have to go sifting through the free agent garbage with every injury.

Reshuffling the rotation shows that Martinez has moved up ahead of McGlothlen for the role of 3rd starter (4th when Reuschel is healthy). This is good, because Dennis is one of the assets I'm planning to build around while McGlothlen most likely is not.

I guess the good news coming out of the Reuschel injury is that we actually beat the mighty Reds that day. Rick went out without retiring a batter, but the bullpen was awesome on that day and the offense picked up two runs in the 8th to get a 2-1 win. Hopefully this is something that we can point to over the next month.

The guys come out inspired, going to Atlanta and winning three in a row. Two of them were shutouts, with Lamp and McGlothlen picking up the victories. That puts us at 34-30, but we find ourselves 2.5 back and in 4th place. Apparently Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Montreal have all decided that now is a good time to get hot.

The win streak hits four as we pick up a 3-2 victory in Rincon's first start. Dick Tidrow is the winning pitcher, moving to 4-1 with a 2.57 ERA. He has been stellar out of the pen this year. The 25th includes a double-header against the Mets, with us winning the opener but dropping the night cap (in 13 innings) to end our five game win streak. Looking at the boxscore I'm displeased with how our bullpen was used. Lee Smith picked up the loss after 5 innings of work. Considering our closer has an endurance of 3/100 this just should not ever happen. You could argue that he should not have allowed the run in the 9th to force extra innings, but that manage must be one bitter old man to leave him out there for that long as punishment.

[hoopsguy]

Jerry Martin is back from his earlier injury and we send Scot Thompson back down to Iowa to develop a bit further.

We finish off the four game set with the Mets by picking up another win, moving to 37-31 as we welcome St. Louis to town. The Cards are now 39-29, so this is a big series by June standards. The bad news is that we have the back of our rotation lined up to face them to start this four game series.

Game #1 - McGlothlen is good in the opener, Martin gets back in the swing with a homer, and Smith picks up his 15 save of the year in a 3-2 win where we overcame 3 errors.

Game #2 - Rincon doesn't have a chance against Fulham. 7-3 loss.

Game #3 - Ugh. Mike Krukow joins Reuschel on the disabled list. In the words of Dave Wannestadt, "he's got a knee". Well, only one functional one for the next 5 1/2 weeks. Krukow at least lasts to the second inning but once again the bullpen performs admirably under duress as we pick up a second win against the Cards. Martin had two hits and two RBIs in this one, moving his average up to .250.

Game #4 - we sign Al Olmsted to a one year deal to replace Krukow for a few weeks. Then lose a very disappointing game, 10-9. Martinez did not give a good effort in this one. We score 9 runs in a game about once a month and just have to win when that happens, particularly with one of our front-line starters on the mound. Against the division leader.

[hoopsguy]

New York is the destination and I'm not feeling good about a series where I'm starting Rincon and Olmsted. But Rincon does the job again in a 2-1 win at Shea. It turns out this was only a two game series so we sweep the Mets.

But Olmsted leaves in the 2nd with a minor toe injury in Pittsburgh and I'm left wondering what the heck is going on with the injury bug? We take a pair of 2-1 games in a July 4th doubleheader to move to 42-35. Lamp and Martinez pick up wins and Smith moves to 20 saves on the year. Bert Blyleven and Jim Bibby shut us out back to back to close out a five game series that brings us to the All Star break. I'm expecting to see Bibby pitch in that game.


Around the league, Texas Rangers starter Fergie Jenkins is on the DL for a month with a knee injury that sounds similar to the one sustained by Krukow.

The Yankees shipped Reggie Jackson to Cleveland in exchange for Gary Gray. Who? I can only guess that the Yankees wanted to get a little younger. Gary has some pop in his bat, but does not look like much of a prospect. Just bizarre that the Yankees would ship "Mr October" off for the equivalent of a bag of balls.

Jim Norris of Texas had a 17 game hitting streak, the longest of the majors this year. He looks like a spot starter for the Rangers, as he only has 109 at bats on the season. Given that the guy is hitting .358 with 21 RBIs in that limited playing time I would think they have to consider putting him in the lineup a bit more regularly.

[hoopsguy]

Standings at the break:
St Louis 45-35
Pittsburgh 45-36 0.5
Chicago 42-37 2.5
Montreal 41-39 4.0
Philadelphia 33-45 11.0
New York 30-51 15.5

Detroit leads the AL East with a 48-32 mark, despite losing 8 straight games. They still hold a 5.5 game lead over the Yankees. Toronto, who has won five straight to get to 40-41, is 8.5 behind the pace.

Kansas City is atop a tightly packed AL West race with a 44-37 record. Seattle is a half game back, followed by the Angels (2 back), Oakland (2.5), Texas (4) and Minnesota (4.5).

Cincinnati still has the best record in baseball at 52-29 but is only 3.5 ahead of the streaking Dodgers. San Francisco has recovered from their woeful start to approach .500 but the rest of this division is getting trampled, trailing the Reds by 15+ games.

[hoopsguy]

AL All Stars (listed in order of votes received):
Starters:
3B George Brett (KC) - .289 BA, 14 HR, 41 RBI, 10 SB. Brett is on DL for 3 weeks dealing with a knee injury.
LF Carl Yastrzemski (Bos) - .313/13/40. Bringing it at 41 years of age.
RF Leon Roberts (Sea) - .306/11/43
CF Clint Hurdle (KC) - .290/8/41
1B Bruce Bochte (Sea) - .302/9/38
2B Bump Wills (Tex) - .325/1/32. 29 steals are added bonus.
C Bo Diaz (Cle) - .252/9/32
SS Alan Trammell (Det) - .270/1/31. Just 22, he looks like he will develop into a really good player (96/100 potential).
Reserves:
RF Reggie Jackson (Cle) - .264/21/55. Why did NY deal him again? He is only 34 years old, so not like he is Yaz or something ...
LF Al Woods (Tor) - .318/7/37
LF Kirk Gibson (Det) - .325/3/35. Another young player, only 23 years of age. Not as much potential as Trammell (63/100).
3B Wayne Gross (Oak) - .278/14/49. Wow, he is killing the ball for a guy who does not have off-the-charts power (67/100).
1B Jason Thompson (Cal) - .275/12/34
1B Otto Velez (Tor) - .279/10/32
3B Toby Harrah (Cle) - .274/7/33
Pitchers:
Jerry Koosman (Min) - 11-4 2.15 ERA, 80:42 K/BB, 5 CG, .229 BAA, 1.17 WHIP.
Floyd Bannister (Sea) - 10-4 1.91 ERA, 93:35 K/BB, 4 CG, 1 SO, .202 BAA, 0.98 WHIP
Steve McCatty (Oak) - 11-5 2.75 ERA, 71:44 K/BB, 4 CG, .246 BAA, 1.26 WHIP
Mike Norris (Oak) - 10-9 3.00 ERA, 91:61 K/BB, 10 CG, 1 SO, .210 BAA, 1.18 WHIP (making 9 million per year!)
Aurelio Lopez (Det) - 1-1 1.55 ERA, 28 saves, 2 blown, 23:8 K/BB, .224 BAA, 1.10 WHIP
Dave LaRoche (Cal) - 4-1 1.18 ERA, 1 save, 0 blown, 30:11 K/BB, .166 BAA, 0.79 WHIP
Dennis Leonard (KC) - 10-6 3.00 ERA, 67:38 K/BB, 6 CG, 2 SO, .239 BAA, 1.20 WHIP
Dewey Robinson (CWS) - 3-1 1.01 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown, 26:10 K/BB, .231 BAA, 1.15 WHIP
John Montague (Cal) - 4-1 1.17 ERA, 2 saves, 1 blown, 15:9 K/BB, .225 BAA, 1.07 WHIP
Dave Tobik (Det) - 3-0 1.46 ERA, 1 save, 0 blown, 22:15 K/BB, .180 BAA, 0.94 WHIP

[hoopsguy]

NL All Stars (listed in order of votes received):
Starters:
CF Dale Murphy (Atl) - .295/22/52. 38 steals as well. Also looks like a Gold Glove contender. Just 24 years of age, if he continues to develop (64/100) he will be an All-Decade type performer.
LF George Foster (Cin) - .308/13/42
1B Willy Stargell (Pit) - .303/13/40. NL version of Yaz.
3B Bob Horner (Atl) - .274/20/36. Another young (23) power hitter in Atlanta.
CF Reggie Smith (LA) - .294/11/35. Pretty much a perfect defensive player (99 range, 99 arm, 94 hands).
C Johnny Bench (Cin) - .245/17/34
2B Manny Trillo (Phi) - .303/2/26
SS Dave Concepcion (Cin) - .268/3/31
Reserves:
LF George Hendrick (StL) - .309/10/26
LF Pedro Guerrero (LA) - .278/14/36
1B Keith Hernandez (StL) - .316/5/34
CF Andre Dawson (Mon) - .288/10/49. Plus 28 steals.
3B Darrell Evans (SF) - .290/7/28
3B Ray Knight (Cin) - .276/9/41
1B Dan Driessen (CIN) - .263/11/39. I doubted him in first week, but he has put up solid (if not sure-fire All Star) numbers.
Pitchers:
John Fulgam (StL) - 9-3 1.44 ERA, 44:39 K/BB, 0 CG, .188 BAA, 1.01 WHIP. Hard to believe that a pitcher dominating like this does not have one complete game. 60/100 Endurance rating. I don't think this is a guy who is going to emerge as a consistent performer at this level. 24 years of age, but only 22/100 potential.
Don Sutton (LA) - 10-3 2.29 ERA, 80:20 K/BB, 1 CG, .229 BAA, 1.03 WHIP.
Tom Hume (Cin) - 0-3 4.14 ERA, 33 saves, 5 blown. 17:13 K/BB, .241 BAA, 1.30 WHIP.
Bob Knepper (SF) - 8-4 1.51 ERA, 60:22 K/BB, 1 CG, 1 SO, .220 BAA, 1.01 WHIP. Good looking 26 year old who still has some development left (68/100), he will sustain performance better than Fulgam.
Jim Bibby (Pit) - 10-4 2.85 ERA, 71:39 K/BB, 1 CG, .239 BAA, 1.20 WHIP.
Tom Seaver (Cin) - 8-3 1.87 ERA, 76:39 K/BB, 1 CG, 1 SO, .206 BAA, 1.05 WHIP. Plus the no-hitter.
J.R. Richard (Hou) - 4-5 1.91 ERA, 72:41 K/BB, .176 BAA, 1.10 WHIP. Somehow listed as a reliever for Houston? 14 starts, but 6 other appearances? What the heck is going on in Houston?
Dave Smith (Hou) - 2-3 1.55 ERA, 22:11 K/BB, .219 BAA, 1.08 WHIP.
Steve Howe (LA) - 5-2 1.67 ERA, 1 blown save, 24:8 K/BB, .208 BAA, 0.95 WHIP.
Tom Griffen (SF) - 2-1 1.81 ERA, 1 save, 2 blown, 36:21 K/BB, .210 BAA, 1.21 WHIP.

[hoopsguy]

OK, a couple of thoughts coming out of the All-Star break:
1.) No All-Stars for the Cubs. Reuschel was denied by injury, although he would have needed to keep picking up wins because that is a good group of starters to beat out.

Kingman's BA is down to .234 so hard to get too angry about him not being there. He is 4th in the majors with homers at 18, but 42 RBI's is nothing special. He needs to hit more and have more men on base in the second half.

2.) All Star snubs:
- Mario Soto (Cin) 8-0, 1.52 ERA, 3 CG, 1 SO, 81:27 K/BB, .162 BAA, 0.85 WHIP. He should have been the starter for the NL. Not being on the team is a joke. Of course, there were already 7 Reds on the team so hard for their fans to be too outraged with the process.
- Scott Sanderson (Mon) 7-3, 1.79 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SO, 78:28 K/BB, .199 BAA, 0.96 WHIP. Just a lot of good starters in the NL, but he should have been there.

[hoopsguy]

Statistical Leaders - Batting:
BA:
.325 Bump Wills (Tex) and Kirk Gibson (Det)
.262 Mike Vail (Chi) - #67 overall
HR:
22 Dale Murphy (Atl)
18 Dave Kingman (Chi) - #4 overall
RBI:
55 Reggie Jackson (Cle)
42 Dave Kingman - tied #10 overall
Runs:
56 Willie Wilson (KC)
30 Dave Kingman - tied #86 overall
Hits:
105 Chet Lemon (CWS)
74 Mike Vail - tied #67 overall
Stolen Bases:
58 Willie Wilson (KC) - 19 steals lead over #2
12 Ivan DeJesus - tied #30 overall
On Base Percentage:
.393 Kirk Gibson (Det)
.305 Mike Vail - tied #102 overall
On Base + Slugging:
.917 George Brett (KC)
.757 Dave Kingman - tied 39 overall


This is the reason that there has not been more discussion about our hitters.

[hoopsguy]

Statistical Leaders - Pitching:
ERA:
1.40 Dave Goltz (LA)
1.67 Rick Reuschel - 5th
Wins:
11 Steve McCatty (Oak), Jerry Koosman (Min)
6 Rick Reuschel - tied 52nd
Saves:
33 Tom Hume (Cin)
20 Smith - tied 16th
Innings Pitched:
159 Mike Norris (Oak)
110.1 Dennis Lamp - 68th
Complete Games:
10 Mike Norris (Oak), Larry Gura (KC)
1 multiple Cubs pitchers
Shutouts:
2 multiple pitchers
1 Lynn McGlothlen - tied 6th
Strikeouts:
107 Steve Carlton (Phi)
65 Lynn McGlothlen - tied 41st
Walks:
63 Jim Palmer (Bal), Jim Clancy (Tor)
36 Lynn McGlothlen, Dennis Lamp - tied 56th
Run Support:
85 Ron Guidry (NYY)
44 Dennis Lamp - tied 57th

[Izulde]

Just curious, where do you have Boone at? You said he was good enough to start over most guys on your team, but then didn't say where you put him :)

[hoopsguy]

Oh, Boone is a catcher and the AI put him in front of Barry Foote. I've let this play out for now without doing a position change for either one of them. But this is probably something that I should explore if I'm going to keep them both around beyond this year.

Foote - 28 years old, signed for 3 years at 2,293,604 per season.
Boone - 33 years old, signed for 1 year at $2,001,175 per season.

So if I'm giong to explore a position change then it should be Boone. As it turns out Boone would be pretty solid in RF (Vail is current starter). He could also be a serviceable corner infielder, where we list Buckner (1B) and Len Randle. Randle is terrible, and only inked through this year, so I'll move him to the bench and start Boone at 3B the rest of the way.

Thanks for asking the question!

[hoopsguy]

The All-Star break is usually the time that I start looking at contracts. I'll also use this as an opportunity to identify needs for both the trade deadline and for next years FA class.

We have a ton of cash to play with, nearly 90 million. So signing our own is not going to be an issue. In fact, I'm likely to go looking for teams trying to shed payroll at the trade deadline and see if I can upgrade our talent that way.

25 man roster:
Larry Bittner - hitting .361 off our bench, he is a serviceable utility player but not a core guy at all. Especially since he is 35 and likely to get worse fast. He is signed through this season at about 2 million. No extension forthcoming.

Bob Boone - talked about in post above. The fact that he can play a bunch of positions mean that I might keep him around if his salary demands are not outrageous. In fact, they are really tame. A 2-4 year extension will come for less than 900K per season.

Bill Buckner - I expected more than the .241 we have gotten from him up to this point. He is signed for three years and, at 31, a guy that I don't think is part of the long-term solution here. Consider him trade bait later this month if anyone wants a no-power, modest glove defender at 1B.

Doug Capilla - mediocre reliever that is probably being asked to take the ball a little too much relative to who he is. He is signed for two years at almost 2.5 million. I don't see him as a long-term guy either.

Bill Caudill - #2 reliever, 24 year old that is still developing (52/100) so I'm probably going to try and keep him around. He is inked for 3 more years at 3.7 million so not something I have to worry about yet.

Ivan DeJesus - well, he plays good D and can run a little. But a five year deal is a little much for a guy hitting .195. I would be just fine with this guy as a backup and his rate of 1.6 million means that I can keep him in that capacity. But we definitely need an upgrade at SS over him. That is near the top of my wish list right now.

Steve Dillard - fringe roster player under contract for 1 million over three years. I would love to get him out of the organization, or at least banish him to the minors next year. After that, I'm hoping we have enough depth in the organization that the 10 minor league spots can't be wasted on someone like him.

Barry Foote - I would like him to develop into a little better hitter, but at age 28 that probably is not happening. Still, unless I'm getting an elite catcher I could do worse than this guy for the next three years at 2.2 million per.

Ken Henderson - defensive outfielder, no other value. We'll wave goodbye at the end of the year and never think of him again.

Willie Hernandez - 26 year old reliever who is good now and could become great (73 potential). He is signed for three years and I think we'll look at resigning him when the time comes.

Cliff Johnson - if Buckner is going to suck I should get this guy at bats this year. He has 79 power, 61 contact, and 68 eye. But at the age of 33 I think I'll probably dangle him to see if I can get parts for the future instead.

Mick Kelleher - Terrible starting 2B, he is signed through next year at 1.6 million a season. I want him gone yesterday. Our middle infield is really poor. On top of being a lousy hitter he has limited range in the field, no speed, and a pop gun arm.

Dave Kingman - at 32 years of age, he probably is what he is. But I'm hoping that is a .250 hitter instead of a .220 hitter. He is a free agent after this season. He isn't looking to break the bank, so we'll resign him for another four seasons at a little less than 2.5 million per. That is a bargain if he can hit .250. And it is a manageable contract if he needs to get dumped as our talent gets better. Kingman has other ideas, only signing on for three more years at 2.675 million. I can live with that as well.

Mike Krukow - a guy that has shown me that he belongs in the rotation. He is signed for four seasons at a little over 4 million per year. If we draft well we might not want to resign him at the end of that time. He is 28 years old now, which means he could be an effective 4th/5th starter for us when we are good. As opposed to competing for a playoff spot with a bunk roster like we are doing this year.

Dennis Lamp - I'm OK with him as a spot starter, but not playing the kind of role he has this year. He is 28 and making 4.5 million this year in the final year of his deal. He, like Boone, is willing to take a much lesser deal for some long-term security. I could get him for 2 years and 2.2 million. I'll come back to this after seeing the rest of the team.

Jerry Martin - 31 years of age, solid backup but marginal starter for an outfielder. I'll worry about him next year when his contract is up.

Dennis Martinez - 25 year old making 4.5 million. We need him to grow up some more, as we think he could develop somewhere between where Krukow and Reuschel are right now. That is a guy that we would extend when this contract is up. Otherwise, I'm hoping to develop a stable of arms that push him for playing time and reasonable salary demands.

Lynn McGlothlen - 30 year old making 4 million per season. He has been an under-appreciated asset on this team. But I'm going to let him go in pursuit of better players in the off-season. However, since we are in contention right now I'm probably going to ride him out and not get any compensation when he leaves. The free agency model here is not sophisticated enough to include things like compensatory picks for losing free agents.

Al Olmsted - roster filler, going to be cut before the end of the month when we get Reuschel back.

Steve Ontiveros - 4 years an 1 million per. I feel like he is robbing us blind. Should be in the minors this year, out of the organization next year but realistically we'll be one year behind that timetable.

Len Randle - he won't be here next year. We left him starting a month longer than he should have been at 3B.

Rick "Big Daddy" Reuschel - his contract, for 5 million, is up at the end of the year. I'll resign him for as many years as I can since he is not looking for a higher base salary. Well, upon further review I just go out three more years at 4.1 million per. Still, he will be a Cub longer than most of this riff-raff. Yes, I'm calling my gutsy, over-achieving squad riff-raff.

George Riley - has no business being on a big league roster. Signed for 3 years at 800K per, we'll have better options next season.

Andy Rincon - will look good in his Iowa Cubs uniform in the next very near future.

Lee Smith - signed for 3 million a year through 1981. He is a 23 year old power pitcher who is still developing. A keeper. I extend him two more years at the same number now.

Dick "Dirt" Tidrow - 33 year old who has done good work as our #1 reliever. I want him for another couple of years but realize that he will be heading to the glue factory sometime in the near future. He realizes it too, and is thrilled when we extend him three more years at 1.2 million apiece.

Mike Vail - four years at 2.1 million for a 5th outfielder, in my mind.


OK, so that brings me back to Boone and Lamp. I'll go ahead and take the cheap two year options on each. Boone pushes for a third year and I give it to him. It won't be hard moving (or dumping) an 800K player if it gets down to it.

[hoopsguy]

I take a look at Houston to see what is going on with J.R. Richard in the bullpen. Perhaps they are looking to get younger or shed salary? Alas, there is no one on our roster that they would trade straight-up for J.R. They would take Reuschel + McGlothen for him. Maybe later this month if we fall out of contention ... Richard is a flat stud and I would love to put him in a Cubs uniform for 4-7 years.

Steve Carlton beats the Cubs in Philadelphia to start the second half. Honestly, him vs Al Olmsted - we should have just forfeited. But Jerry Martin connects off Tug McGraw in the 9th the following night to steal a win. He has homers in back-to-back games and had 4 RBIs in this 6-5 win.

Next up is a double-header at Montreal. We are 1.5 games in front of the Expos right now (2.5 back of the Cards) so this is a pretty big series. We pick up a split, with McGlothlen beating Scott Sanderson in the second game. Rincon picks up a 3-2 decision in the 3rd game of the series, an unexpected bonus.

It doesn't get an easier upon arriving in Wrigley, as the 51-34 Dodgers await us. ERA leader Dave Glotz vs Olmsted ... seriously, Reuschel is one day away from coming off the DL and we have to trot this clown out again against a top opponent? Olmsted acquits himself well in his final outing, but we still lose 3-1.

Big Daddy wins 5-0 in his return and there is much joy in the bleachers. Kingman hits his 20th homer of the year and the club looks like it just might be able to hang with St. Louis and Pittsburgh down the stretch.

Rod Carew has suffered a major shoulder injury and is probably out the rest of the year. Meanwhile, there seems to be a rise is 2+ month injuries around the league as a host of marginal players are showing up on the 60 day disabled list.

[hoopsguy]

The Cubs lose the following day (7/17) to Don Sutton and the Dodgers, then fall 1-0 at home to the Padres, despite only allowing two hits. Dennis Martinez was the tough luck loser. The Padres give us another one run loss on the way out of town 8-7. Four Cubs homered in that loss. Puke.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals have moved to 54-37. They have just been on fire over the last two months. At 6.5 games back we have to win this week or else start making moves for next year. I'm not going to go chasing two good teams when being 5+ games back when I have a chance to build something at the trade deadline - like picking up J.R. Richard, for example.

The team gets the message, taking it to the San Francisco Giants on back-to-back day games. The second win is over All-Star Bob Knepper. Kingman hits his 22nd homer. But the Cards keep winning; they own a nine game winning streak now.

Dennis Martinez falls in the finale against the Giants. We just can't sweep teams ... period. We are now 7.5 back of the Cards and 2 back of the Pirates with a week to go until the trade deadline.

[hoopsguy]

Off to Los Angeles, where Dave Glotz beats us for the second time in a week. We get Krukow back, giving us a competitive starting five for the stretch run. But the Cards and Pirates win again and it is time to wave the white flag on 1980. We had zero realistic hope at the start of the year, so winning this year has been fun. But we just are not good enough as currently constructed and might as well start ramping up for 1981 when there is talent to be claimed.

Houston - still interested in trading J.R. Richard? Well, they are looking to get younger and are looking for starting pitching. Lets see if I can somehow keep Reuschel while acquiring Richard. Yep, Krukow + McGlothlen gets the job done. Hmm, wonder if I can sneak in a scabby starter back so I don't have to dredge someone off the waiver wire? Nope, I'll take my heist as currently constructed and be on my way.

J.R. Richard, by the numbers:
Age: 30
Salary: 6.7 million for two years
Stuff: 98
Velocity: 100
Control: 72
Endurance: 57
Hold Runners: 60
Potential: 1 (finished product)

4-6 1.96 ERA, 78:46 K/BB, .190 BAA, 1.15 WHIP. He is slotted as our #1 starter ahead of Reuschel. Rincon stays in the rotation instead of being sent down to the minors. We'll see if this can actually help for this year but it is big for next season and beyond.

One last note - Richard is going to be expensive to resign. He is asking for 13-15 million right now. I'll wait until next year to do that contract.

[hoopsguy]

We lose the following day, with Don Sutton once again picking on the back of our rotation. On a somewhat amusing note, the White Sox are inquiring about Andy Rincon. Really? Give me something with a pulse and he is yours. But they can't even meet that minimal standard.

Los Angeles sweeps us, taking a 5-4 decision in Richard's Cub debut. Richard got a no decision when the offense scored three runs late, but we lost in 10. The game-by-game reporting will go by the wayside from here on out as I work to get through the regular season.

[hoopsguy]

The Cubs losing streak falls to 7 games while the Cards extend their winning streak to 14. Wow, we hit the double digit deficit quickly. I guess the clubhouse was not happy with the deal.

The Angels come calling for Steve Dillard and are willing to offer a bunch of elderly or bad players for him. Including the gimpy Rod Carew. I'm not looking to trade garbage for garbage. So we'll stick with our original plan of minimizing his role over the next couple of seasons.

Milwaukee and Texas pull a pretty big deal:
Milwaukee gets Bump Wills, who is hitting .310 with 31 steals.
Texas gets Paul Molitor, who has just as much speed and a ton of upside.

Montreal loses Gary Carter for 6 1/2 week with an undisclosed (but serious) leg injury. Seems like they have a hockey mentality when it comes to disclosing injuries.

[hoopsguy]

Our losing streak ends at 8. The Cards winning streak ends at 17. They have put the Pirates back 9 games and are now contending with the Reds for the best record in baseball and home field in the playoffs.

PSPN shows the top 15 paid pitchers and position players. It is interesting to me to learn that the #15 pitcher (Bob Knepper) is making a little more than the top paid position player (George Brett). Both of those guys are around 6.8 million per year. The top paid player in the game is Mike Norris of Oakland, who is pulling in just over 9 million. That is a lot of scratch for 1980.

8/9 - Dennis Martinez falls to 2-8, despite a 3.14 ERA. I tell him that this will never happen to him again in his Chicago Cub career, however long that goes. We will find some hitters in the offseason.

A quick look at Bruce Sutter, who we traded earlier in the year, shows him with 20 saves on the year. That is fewer that his replacement, Lee Smith. I guess Baltimore just is not giving him all that many opportunities.

[hoopsguy]

8/14 - "I'm Keith Hernandez!" leads all of baseball with a .329 average, 18 points ahead of Kirk Gibson and 20 points ahead of his teammate George Hendrick.

Atlanta LF Gary "Sarge" Matthews will miss three weeks with a hamstring pull. Can't be too careful when you have speed like that guy ...

Kansas City 1B Willie Aikens has a broken finger and will miss a month. That is a big injury in a tight AL West race.

I noted Yankee injuries earlier in the year; well, they have not stopped. C Rick Cerone broke his leg and is out for the year. Ditto Lou Pinella, who dislocted his elbow in a nasty home plate collision. But I don't think this matters, as the Tigers have a 9.5 game lead in that division.

[hoopsguy]

8/16 Richard shuts out the Cardinals in Busch stadium. We had lost the two previous days but that is not important for purposes of this journal. Mike Vail hit a pinch-hit grand slam, his 6th homer on the year.

8/19 The Cubs score 20 runs at Atlanta. Two homers each for Kingman (29 on year) and Boone.

Kirk Gibson sees his 19 game hitting streak coming to an end. This is the first time that the hitting streak mark has been in what I would consider good hands this season.

PSPN shows that Kingman is currently 6th in baseball in slugging percentage at .497. Bob Horner tops the list at .530. Kingman is up to .253 with 29 homers and 67 RBIs. When he goes home at night he prays for a leadoff man that is not named Ivan DeJesus.

[hoopsguy]

Dave Rozema of Detroit has the most serious injury that I've seen - severe hip injury, out 6 months. Ouch.

Gary Gray, the man traded for Reggie Jackson, is hitting .315 with 2 homers and 15 RBIs for the Yankees. I wonder if he was sent to the minors or has just been rotting on their bench? Either way, hard to fathom that guy for Reggie. I'm still struggling to understand that one.

8/22 - Kingman with another two-homer game against the Braves.

8/24 - we sweep the Astros in Houston. That is a bad team, but we did have our #1 - #3 starters pitching. Kingman moves to 32 homers on the year. That is tops in the league, two ahead of Horner.

Another injury in KC, as Amos Otis goes on the 15 day disabled list. My scouts keep telling me "Ken Phelps, Ken Phelps" and I can see why as he earns Player of the Week honors for the Royals. He looks like a Kingman-lite (.236 20 HR 58 RBI) right now but at 26 years of age could grow into something more.

The Cubbies close out August with another couple of wins against the Astros. Richard has looked great all month, and the team is 3 above .500 again. If it wasn't for that pesky 8 game losing streak we could be ... well, we could be 8 games back instead of 12 games back of the Cards.

Bob Boone sustains a rib injury and will miss two weeks. Huh, we take him out from behind the plate and then he gets a rib injury? Go figure.

[hoopsguy]

I said before that Richard had been good in August. Well, PSPN reports that he now leads the league in ERA with a mark of 1.57. He is also 4th in WHIP at 1.02. He is neck-and-neck with Mario Soto, among others, in both categories.

Smart money right now for the MVP awards would go on the following guys:
NL - Dale Murphy .283 36 homers, 77 RBIs, 53 SB. The voters seem to love the guys who blend speed/power and he is the best in the game right now by that measure.

AL - Kirk Gibson .325 10 homers, 67 RBIs. Pretty soft power numbers, but has a great shot at batting title, plays for a first place club, and is the best of the bunch in a league that doesn't really have a five tool standout this year.

Somewhat interesting note - although Kingman has the lions share of Cubs homers on the year, the longest one by a Cub was by Jerry Martin. He trucked one 452' on 6/27.

Mike Schmidt, who is hitting .246 has eeked out an 18 game hitting streak.

[hoopsguy]

The early September schedule is brutal, with a home series against Cincinnati and a road series in St. Louis. We split the six games, helping push the Reds a half game behind the Dodgers in the NL West.

Other races:
AL East - the Yankees have battled through injuries and dumb management to cut into the Tiger lead. Detroit is up 4 games, with an 84-54 record that is by far the best in the American League.

AL West - Kansas City, at 80-59, is up a half game on Oakland. Everyone else has fallen back to the pack.

NL East - Cards are up 11 on the Cubs, with the Pirates and Expos right around the same level as Chicago.

[hoopsguy]

9/10 - D. Martinez is now 2-11 with a 3.02 ERA after losing 1-0 in Montreal. This is a bad, long-running joke.

Schmidt's hitting streak ends at 19, leaving him tied with Gibson for the best mark.

Oakland has three starters - Rick Langford (14), Mike Norris (11), and Matt Keough (10) with double digit complete games. Steve McCatty has 8 as well. Guess they aren't buying the whole pitch count argument out west.

Ivan DeJesus - 24 stolen bases, caught 15 times. He is so on the bench next year.

John Tudor of the Red Sox is out for the rest of the year with a hip injury.

9/18 - Dale Murphy is the first to 40 homers and is likely the only guy getting there. Kingman is 2nd with 33 homers.

[hoopsguy]

9/20 - Mick Kelleher suffers a serious knee injury that will end his season and, hopefully, his Cubs career. He performed above his skill level this year, hitting .275 with 6 homers and 34 RBIs in 389 at bats. That is about 300 more at bats than he would get on a championship quality team.

Mike Schmidt hit 3 homers in that game, but the Cubs won 8-5 in 12 innings by virtue of a 3 run walk-off job by Cliff Johnson.

One more injury for the Yankees - Ron Guidry is having pains in his elbow and is shut down for the year.

It is a race to finish above .500 down the stretch. A late three game losing streak puts us right at even, but we never dip below. Big Daddy is on the hill in the finale looking to put us at 82-80 but it does not go our way. A 5-1 loss leaves the 1980 Cubs as an 81-81 team. Thirteen back of the Cardinals, tied for 3rd place with Montreal.

[hoopsguy]

The Reds and Dodgers finished the season tied at 96-66, which is the best mark in all of baseball. But one of these teams will be staying home from the post season.

The pitching matchup is Seaver (15-8, 2.12 ERA) vs Jerry Reuss (14-10 2.94) in Los Angeles. But Seaver is a late scratch and Mike LaCoss (12-3 3.09 ERA) is the replacement and he is terrific. The Reds scratch out a run in the 8th to break the tie and add an insurance run in the 9th to earn a 3-1 victory and a date with St. Louis. Tom Hume nails down his 55th save of the year.

Detroit won the AL East with a 95-67 mark, two games better than the Yankees. Hmm, wonder if Reggie would have been worth those two games? In the West, Kansas City edged out Oakland by a game with a 96-66 mark. KC closed the season out with 5 straight wins; both teams were 8-2 over their final 10. It looks like that was a really terrific race.

St. Louis was the only team to run away and hide, as they won the division by 8 games over Pittsburgh.

[hoopsguy]

Statistical Leaders - Batting:
BA:
AL Champ - Al Woods (Tor) .315
NL Champ - George Foster (Cin) .318
Top Cub - Mike Vail .278 (28th)

HR:
AL Champ - Reggie Jackson (Cle) 33
NL Champ Dale Murphy (Atl) 40
Top Cub - Dave Kingman 34 (5th)

RBI:
AL Champ - Reggie Jackson (Cle) 93
NL Champ - Mike Schmidt (Phi) 110
Top Cub - Dave Kingman 91 (7th)

Runs:
AL Champ - Willie Wilson (KC) 113
NL Champ - Dale Murphy (Atl) 101
Top Cub - Dave Kingman 61 (tied 69th)

Hits:
AL Champ - Willie Wilson (KC) 197
NL Champ - Keith Hernandez (StL) 185
Top Cub - Bill Buckner 147 (tied 52nd)

Stolen Bases:
AL Champ - Willie Wilson (KC) 97
NL Champ - Omar Moreno (Pit) 75
Top Cub - Ivan DeJesus 26 (35th)

On Base Percentage:
AL Champ - Richie Zisk (Tex) .379
NL Champ - George Foster (Cin) .361
Top Cub - Mike Vail .318 (tied 80th)

On Base + Slugging:
AL Champ - George Brett (KC) .884
NL Champ - George Foster (Cin) .935
Top Cub - Dave Kingman .777 (25th)

[hoopsguy]

Statistical Leaders - Pitching:
ERA:
AL Champ - Tom Underwood (NYY) 1.83
NL Champ - J.R. Richard (Chi) 1.63

Wins:
AL Champ - Dennis Leonard (KC) 22
NL Champ - Don Sutton (LA) 17
Top Cub - Dennis Lamp 12 (tied 44th)

Saves:
AL Champ - Aurelio Lopez (Det) 52
NL Champ - Tom Hume (Cin) 55
Top Cub - Lee Smith 34 (tied 21st)

Innings Pitched:
AL Champ - Mike Norris (Oak) 300.1
NL Champ - John Candelaria (Pit) 255.2
Top Cub - Dennis Lamp 209.1 (tied 69th)

Complete Games:
AL Champ - Rick Langford (Oak), Britt Burns (CHW) 17
NL Champ - John Candelaria (Pit) 6
Top Cub - Rick Reuschel, Dennis Martinez, Dennis Lamp 1 (tied 69th)

Shutouts:
AL Champ - Britt Burns (CHW), Scott McGregor (Bal), Dennis Leonard (KC) 4
NL Champ - John Candelaria 4
Top Cub - Rick Reuschel 1 (tied 21st)

Strikeouts:
AL Champ - Len Barker (Cle) 202
NL Champ - Steve Carlton (Phi) 214
Top Cub - J.R. Richard 160 (11th)

Walks:
AL "Champ" - Jim Clancy (Tor) 112
NL "Champ" - Pat Zachry (NYM) 87
Top Cub - J.R. Richard 64 (tied 62nd)

Run Support:
AL Champ - Dennis Leonard (KC) 165
NL Champ - Don Sutton (LA) 118
Top Cub - Dennis Lamp 103 (tied 33)

[hoopsguy]

Both playoff series begin at the park of the team with fewer wins - maybe I do not understand the mechanic to calculate the home field advantage?

October 12th:
Jack Morris throws a four hit shutout, final score 6-0.
Bob Forsch outduels Mario Soto 1-0. Keith Hernandez hit a solo shot for the only score.

October 13th:
Detroit overcomes 22 game winner Dennis Leonard in a hard-fought 3-2 win. Champ Summers hit a three run homer in the 8th to stun the Royals.
The Cardinals survived a Johnny Bench grand slam and some shaky pitching by Pete Vukovich by scoring a bunch in an 8-5 victory.
Both the Tigers and Cards are up 2-0 in their series.

October 15th:
Paul Splittorff was dealing in a make or break game for the Royals at Kaufmann Stadium. He held the Tigers to just two hits while Darrell Porter supplied the offense. Porter's three run homer in the 8th sucked all the tension out of the building. 2-1 Tigers series lead.
All star starter John Fulgam wasn't able to deliver win #3 of the series for the Cardinals. Bench hit a two run homer in the first and the Reds clawed their way to two more runs in a 4-3 win driven by 3 2/3 innings of flawless work by the bullpen. 2-1 Cardinals series lead.

October 16th:
Lance Parrish hit a two run homer in a deciding four run sixth inning as the Tigers advanced to the World Series with a 4-2 win.
The Cardinals shook off an early 2-0 deficit, putting up three runs in the top of the 8th to win 4-2 and set up a meeting with the Tigers. Gary Templeton had a pair of hits and a steal, while maintaining his .500 average for the series.

[hoopsguy]

World Series - the Tigers have home field advantage.

Game #1 - St. Louis goes on the road, beats Jack Morris, and earns a 3-2 win in 10 innings. The Cards put runners on all game before breaking through with a pair of runs in the top of the 8th to tie the score. Morris left after nine and the Cards immediately scored on reliever Dave Tobik.

Game #2 - John Wockenfuss, who hit into a double play in the bottom of the 10th in Game One, went 3-3 with a home run and three RBI's in a 5-4 Detroit win. The Cards led 4-2 in the top of the 7th, with a man on 3rd and no outs when Leon Durham flied out to LF Dave Stegman. Stegman, 312' from home plate, threw out Ted Simmons attempting to tag up. In the bottom of the inning the Tigers scored three to take the lead on a two run homer by Wockenfuss. Tobik, the loser in Game One, pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win.

Game #3 - John Fulgam pitched eight strong innings to get the win, delighting the Cardinal fans that packed Busch Stadium. The Cards scored four runs in the bottom of the 6th to help erase an early 2-0 deficit. Ted Simmons had two hits and two RBIs.

Game #4 - In a "where the heck did that come from" moment, Silvio Martinez threw eight shutout innings to help the Cardinals assume a 3-1 series lead. The Cards got an RBI triple from Leon Durham, who later scored on a sacrifice fly, in the bottom of the 6th.

Game #5 - The Cardinals failed to close out the series at home, falling 10-4 to a spirited Tigers team. Lance Parrish, Champ Summers, and Alan Trammell each homered against Cards starter Bob Forsch. George Hendrick knocked in all four of the Cardinal runs.

Game #6 - Pete Vukovich and the Cards earn a 5-2 road win and take home the hardware. Keith Hernandez has three hits, three RBIs, and finishes the playoffs hitting .372. Closer George Frazier got saves in all seven Cardinal playoff wins. Cubs fans everywhere are displeased.

[hoopsguy]

AL Cy Young + RPOY (same since this is first year of league) - Jerry Koosman (Min) 21-8 2.03 ERA
AL MVP + ROY (same since this is first year of league) - Willy Wilson (KC) .293 4 HR 66 RBIs

AL Gold Glove Winners:
P Len Barker (Cle)
C Jim Sundberg (Tex)
1B Cecil Cooper (Mil)
2B Rob Wilfong (Min)
3B John Castino (Min)
SS Bucky Dent (NYY)
LF Hal McRae (KC)
CF Dwayne Murphy (Oak)
RF Sixto Lezcano (Mil)

AL Silver Sluggers:
C Jim Sundberg (Tex)
1B Dave Revering (Oak)
2B Bobby Grich (Cal)
3B Wayne Gross (Oak)
SS Roy Smalley (Min)
LF Joe Charboneau (Cle)
CF Al Oliver (Tex)
RF Reggie Jackson (Cle)
DH Kirk Gibson (Det)

[hoopsguy]

NL Cy Young + RPOY (same since this is first year of league) - Mario Soto (Cin) 15-3 1.66 ERA
NL MVP + ROY (same since this is first year of league) - Dale Murphy (Atl) .277 40 HR 88 RBI

NL Gold Glove Winners:
P Joe Niekro (Hou)
C None awarded?
1B Dan Driessen (Cin)
2B Manny Trillo (Phi)
3B Hubie Brooks (NYM)
SS Bill Russell (LA)
LF George Foster (Cin)
CF Omar Moreno (Pit)
RF Claudell Washington (NYM)

NL Pure Slugger Winners:
C Johnny Bench (Cin)
1B Keith Hernandez (StL)
2B Manny Trillo (Phi)
3B Mike Schmidt (Phi)
SS Dave Concepcion (Cin)
LF George Foster (Cin)
CF Andre Dawson (Mon)
RF Dave Winfield (SD)

[hoopsguy]

Team Stats for 1980:
Offense: 508 Runs Scored (23rd)
Defense: 561 Runs Allowed (9th)
Total Salaries: $56,596,430
Available Finances: $117,468,570
Approval Rating: 75/100

Notes:
The 2nd leading RBI man on the team, behind Kingman's 91, is Mike Vail with 46. That is just terrible and has got to change.

We could also use speed and defense. Basically, we can use everything although I feel decent about the top of the rotation and the relief staff for next year.

The draft comes before free agency. If there are major league ready run producers, at any position, we will take them. Ideally, we can identify middle infielders that can fill this role but we won't be too picky.

Free agency - we'll be looking for at least one impact player here, but the goal is to build this team through the draft. I do not want to spend all 100+ million this off-season because I want to have flexibility for years to come. But I will pay huge for a vet for one year if I think we have the other pieces in place to go after the Cardinals' hardware.

[hoopsguy]

Offseason:
GM Score = 1/100. Hmm, not very rewarding as I felt like I did a decent job with what I was handed this year.

Noteworthy Retirements:
Willy McCovey (SF)
Gaylor Perry (Tex) - went 15-6 last year at age 43

Attractive Draft Prospects (wish list for #17):
1B Andre Thornton appears to be represented by Scott Boras, as he is asking for over 5 million per year. The next highest demand by a position player is 850K.

1B Kent Hrbek looks really attractive to us. 21 years old, 95 potential, and skills that would probably have him starting for us next year.

SP Mike Witt is the best looking pitcher to us, although RP Larry Andersen is asking for more money. Dude (Andersen, that is), you are a reliever!

SP Luis DeLeon looks major league ready right now. Ditto Dave Stewart.

There are a host of relievers that we would be happy to take in the 2nd round, if our favorites are flying off the board. That is probably the deepest area in an otherwise shallow draft class.

[hoopsguy]

1st Round:
#1 Baltimore takes Kent Hrbek, dashing our hopes and dreams right away.
#2 San Francisco takes RP Antonio Fitch, who was not even on our draft board. He looks like complete min-sal garbage.
#3 New York Mets take George Bell, who has a ton of potential but needs to work on his batting eye.
#4 Chicago White Sox follow the San Francisco model, taking no-name Richard Stromberg.
#5 Cleveland apparently does not want to win either. RP Stephen Epperson should not make a 35 man roster.
#6 Atlanta continues the "pick the worst guy possible" trend, demonstrating that the draft logic = total fail.
#7 California RP James Jackson is the 5th of 7 picks that does not have a single attribute among Stuff, Control, Velocity, Endurance, and Potential above 10 (out of 100).
#8 Texas, who seems like they want to win baseball games, is elated to select Cal Ripken. Great value at a price tag of $389,968 for the next three years.
#9 Houston selects hot garbage, aka Edward Harrington.
#10 San Diego selects Eric Duhon, who may be worse at baseball than Edward Harrington.
#11 Seattle selects LF Tom Brunansky, who has 100 potential and 67 power. We'll likely see his name again in the future.
#12 Toronto picks 3B Mike Marshall. Too much money (887K) relative to his skill level, but he at least will play in the majors.
#13 Philadelphia picks P Joseph Schutte, who will not make fans forget Steve Carlton. Or Dickie Noles. But Schutte may be working as an usher for the Phillies in another three years.
#14 Minnesota picks Alan Carpenter, whose baseball experience includes singing the national anthem before a game last spring.
#15 Boston adds Chili Davis, an honest-to-goodness prospect. 21 year old does everything OK right now, but has 89 potential that says he will get better quickly.
#16 Montreal picks a player-to-be-named later.
#17 Chicago - the Cub fan in me wants to pick Ryne Sandberg here, a SS who has 75 potential and decent ratings, but there are better players and prospects out there. Just maybe not in the middle infield where we need help. In the end, I'm intrigued by the potential of Jesse Barfield. Barfield is a 22 year old RF who hits for power (69), has potential (67), is serviceable in other areas and could grow into a Gold Glover. He is our first building block, although I may end up kicking myself for passing on SP Mike Witt. Barfield is inked for 5 years at $421,266 per year.
#18 - Milwaukee takes Brook Jacoby, a very high potential 3B.
#19 Pittsburgh gives their pick away, taking some loser.
#20 New York follow suit, although this loser has 18 potential. So he has marginal potential to graduate from loser to overachiever AA grinder.
#21 St. Louis picks Robert Thomas, who someday may be a lead singer but will never be a ballplayer.
#22 Detroit takes Ryne Sandberg. Chicago beat writers are upset that he was not our pick earlier. They certainly have gained ground on the Cardinals today.
#23 Oakland picks a pitcher who won't ever help relieve the burden on the current starters.
#24 Kansas City invests in the future. A future that involves losing.
#25 Los Angeles takes Darryl Motley, a guy who looks like a worse version of Barfield. I'm guessing they wish we had taken Sandberg ...
#26 Cincinnati takes C Jody Davis, a guy that I had hoped might fall to the second round.

Chicago picks:
Round 2: Don't think too hard. Take Mike Witt. 21 year old right hander, lowest rating right now is 67 Velocity. 57 Potential is low, meaning he likely won't grow beyond #2 starter. Price tag is a little high at $1,468,664 for 4 years, but we have 100 million to spend. Done.
Round 3: Mel Hall is ours for $581,188 per year for four years. High potential outfielder (81), this 21 year old already is above 50 in the major hitting categories. Great value, in our minds.
Round 4: Bud Black, a 24 year old left hander, looks like a guy who can be a 10+ year major league player. The hitters left at this point are wretched, so we'll be looking at free agency to try and shore up some of those holes. Three years at $291,896, with an expectation that we'll pay a lot more when this contract is up.
Round 5: Lefty reliever Jesse Orosco is one of those relievers that I had mentioned being a 2nd round option. We'll gladly snap him up here. 3 years at $560,479. Expensive compared to some of our other players, but he should be on the big league roster as well.

Other notes:
- Baltimore added Gary Gaetti to Kent Hrbek, setting up their version of the real-life Twins. Seattle, Toronto, Milwaukee, and Detroit added value players in the 2nd round as well, moving themselves among the draft "winners".
- the White Sox, Indians, Astros, Padres, Twins, Expos, Pirates, Yankees, and Cardinals added another terrible player in the 2nd round. These teams had better hope that they do better in free agency.
- the picking got much, much better by the 3rd round. But the damage was done, to some extent, by that time.
- we dominated this draft in terms of depth. We'll see who the breakout players are from this class, but no one should be able to touch what we did today in terms of overall impact.

[hoopsguy]

I'll pick up with Free Agency tomorrow, but here is a sneak peek at what is out there.

SS Dave Concepcion would be an upgrade, but not all that big an upgrade. I'm not willing to pay a ton to bring him in. Certainly not his initial 5 million asking price.

SS Gary Templeton is a big upgrade. The 25 year old still has 86 potential. He'll steal 70 bases and should grow into a good contact hitter with Gold Glove potential. I want him badly. His initial asking price is around 3 million but I'll pay much more than that to win him.

LF Jim Rice (28) is asking for 13.5 million. If his price comes way down I would love to add a guy like him to the mix. But if he has suitors at that price tag then I'll probably let our young guys compete for starting jobs next year.

2B Kent Oberkfell could be an option. Good contact hitter, some speed, decent glove. He is asking for 1.15 million.

SP Bill Gullickson, a 22 year old phenom, is the #1 guy to add if I want to go after a title next year. Him, Richard, and Reuschel would be just a filthy 1-2-3. He is seeking 8.6 million dollars. Floyd Bannister and Mike Norris are also good young pitchers on the market, but both are asking for 13+ million. I'll take the younger, better guy who is asking for less money if I can pull it off.

[hoopsguy]

Actually, I'm a little worried about the game crapping out if I dump it during FA so I'll push ahead with this now.

There are sixteen stages of FA.
Stage 1:
I put out initial offers for Gullickson, Templeton, and Oberkfell. All are 3-4 years and 10-20% more than they are asking for, with hopes of picking up an early signing or two. No such luck.
- Dave Righetti (undrafted FA with some potential) to Dodgers for 4 years/308K
- Al Woods leaves Toronto for Baltimore, 2 years/5.17 million
- Andy McGaffigan (undrafted FA MR with real talent) to Boston for 5 years/1.1 million
- Tom Neidenfuer (undrafted FA MR with real talent) to Kansas City for 3 years/850K
- Larry Andersen (undrafted FA MR with real talent) to Chicago White Sox for 4 years/1.65 million
- Sixto Lescano leaves Milwaukee for San Francisco. 4 years/4.66 million

Stage 2:
We are told that we lead for all three guys we offered. So far no offer for Rice.
- Gary Templeton signs on to be our shortstop. 4 years/3.87 million
- San Francisco signs Otto Velez away from Toronto. 1 year/6.4 million
- Los Angeles signs Dave Concepcion, taking away their rival's SS. 3 years/7.8 million in a signing that they will regret if they have any money shortage whatsoever
- Los Angeles signs our very own Cliff Johnson, who platooned with Buckner in the 2nd half, for 1 year/15.5 million!!!! I guess it is just one year, but really?
- Kansas City signs Tom Paciorek, formerly of Seattle, for 1 year/7.7 million. He was a productive player last season but is long in the tooth.

Stage 3:
We still lead on both of our targets.
- Ken Oberkfell signs up, leaving a hole for the Cardinals to fill, for 3 years/1.3 million
- Bill Gullickson will win a bunch of games for us. 3 years/9.9 million
- California adds Mike Hargrove for 1 year/1.8 million

Stage 4:
Rice still does not have any offers. He is really the last guy that I'm looking at grabbing, but only if the price is right. I think we have improved a ton from the end of the year already and I'm eager to see how the pieces fit together. If Rice lowers his asking price below 9 million I'll take a shot
- I can't find any Stage 4 signings when searching through the list. The interface for this is very clunky, as all the signings seem to merge together.

Stage 5:
No new news. Ben Ogilve is looking like an attractive option to Rice, however. He is 32 years old, with a lot of power and defensive skills. And he only wants 3.7 million per year. I'll tender him an offer and see where it goes.
- Ogilve signs for 2 years/3.95 million. That brings our roster up to 35 players, which is the max. Hopefully the parts all fit together reasonably well.
- Further review of the interface seems to show that it caps on a certain number of players. So I won't be able to include any other updates. I'll try to catch player movement in the in-season write-ups next year or see if there is some other summary screen that provides a good recap of the free agency period.

I skip the remaining ten stages of free agency.

[hoopsguy]

The 1981 season-opening report shows some of the FA moves.
- 32 year old Steve Rodgers left Montreal to go to California. All it took to get him was 5 years at 20 million per. Rodgers was 12-10 last year with a 3.38 ERA
- The Yankees signed Mike Norris to a one year, 20.7 million dollar deal
- Similar arrangement for the Rangers with Floyd Honeycutt. One year, 20.5 million
- The Cardinals add Jim Bibby from Pittsburgh for 1 year and 4 million. Bibby is 37 and heading downhill, but he probably helps them for this year.
- The Cardinals also pick up Chet Lemon from the White Sox. 2 years, 14 million for each year is a lot of money to pay.


We are projected as the #9 overall team in the power rankings. The only team in the division listed ahead of us is Houston, who checks in at #3. I find this pretty laughable at first blush. Los Angeles is the #1 team, followed by Baltimore. St. Louis is listed at #14.

Most feared hitters, and projected stats:
Mike Schmidt (Phi) - .288 BA 42 homers
Bobby Grich (Cal) - .291 30
Eddie Murray (Bal) - .280 30
Richie Zisk (Tex) - .299 24
George Brett (KC) - .353 15
Johnny Bench (Cin) - .293 25
Bob Horner (Atl) - .268 32
George Foster (Cin) - .277 27

[Qwikshot]

I'm reading, I was wondering if Sandberg was still on the Phillies till I read your draft.

[hoopsguy]

I'll naturally be keeping an eye on guys that played a role for the Cubs in real life. Beyond that, I'm happy to provide updates on anyone else that is of interest for those reading along.

[hoopsguy]

1981 is shaping up to be a much better year for the team so I'll give the guys a bit more press before starting the season.

Starting Lineup:
We had all kinds of issues last year, from top to bottom. I'm amazed that we were only 23rd out of 26 teams in scoring runs. I expect better things this year and feel good that we have some future help on the way.

1. Gary Templeton (SS) - he brings an element of speed that we did not have last season, as he accumulated 40 steals in 44 attempts. But a .302 OBP has to improve; his potential suggests it will. I like the speed and defensive range while hoping that I will grow to love his offensive game over the lifetime of his contract. But right now he is better than DeJesus is every way except drawing walks.

2. Bill Buckner (1B) - Buckner ended up last year as a .257 hitter and we think there is modest room for improvement even though he is 32. His ratings are up a bit from last season although his batting eye is still subpar. This is not a long-term fit; I'll move him by mid-year if necessary.

3.) Dave Kingman (LF) - we hope Kingman will be better by virtue of having better players around him. At 33 his skills have not eroded just yet, but he isn't going to suddenly turn into a .280 hitter either. We are expecting 100 RBI's from him this year; he should definitely do this if he bumps his batting average up 10 points.

4.) Ben Ogilve (RF) - his power is down from last year (when he hit .260/23/71) but hopefully he can still be a presence in the middle of the lineup. Potential decline is why he only got a two year deal. If he is not going to give us 75 RBI's then there is a good chance he will be replaced by the end of the year.

5. Jerry Martin (CF) - I'm modestly surprised that he is still in the lineup, as I hoped our younger players would be ready to push him aside. Hall isn't that far away but Barfield still has work to do if he wants to displace this vet. I doubt we renew his expiring deal; if Ogilve is working out we might move him midseason.

6. Barry Foote (C) - he only hit .206 last year. If he is not heading towards a quick bounce back season then he should start looking over his shoulder. I'm going to be a lot more aggressive this season trying to put the Cubs into the playoffs than I was last year when I knew deep down that we were not close to good enough.

7. Bob Boone (3B) - he only hit .210, so whatever I said about Foote applies equally to Boone. I see him as a bench player for the next two years after this one, but really hope that he can stick as a starter this season.

8. Ken Oberkfell (2B) - hit .292 last season for the Cards and looks like exactly the same guy today. That isn't 100% positive with a 25 year old, but it looks like he maxed out early. He is hitting 2nd in the lineup against right-handers.

The same eight guys are in the starting lineup against righties.

Bench:
Ivan DeJesus (SS) - another .200 hitter last year, we really set back baseball offensively. But he works for me (for now) as a utility player who can provide very good defense at SS/2B/3B and play anything but catcher.

Steve Dillard (3B) - I do not want him on my team next year. 3B has moved to the top of my "replace" list for 1982.

Mick Kelleher (2B) - dude hit .275 last year and had modest off-season improvement at age 34. But he still sucks and won't be offered back when his contract expires at the end of the year.

Steve Ontiveros (3B) - I can live with him on my bench, but he would be better suited to AAA Iowa as an emergency call-up in case of injuries.

Mike Vail (RF/CF) - this is a solid backup outfielder, probably our #1 pinch hitter. If we have injuries I could live with him getting playing time but I hope that our prospects (Barfield and Hall) would be able to beat him out.

All in all, I think we are maybe a middle of the pack offensive team this year. We should have more guys on base than last year and now have two RBI guys (Kingman + Ogilve) in the lineup. But to move up to a good offensive team we are going to need one more off-season or some major mid-season moves.

[hoopsguy]

Pitching Staff:
#1 Bill Gullickson - 22 year old with 80+ across all three pitching categories as well as potential. Still, I'm mildly surprised to see him as #1 starter considering he went 10-16 last year.

#2 Rick Reuschel - 32 year old is still same effective control pitcher he was last year. Does not have the pure stuff of Gullickson or Richard.

#3 Mike Witt - wow, I expected the rookie to make the starting rotation but not to be this high.

#4 J.R. Richard - both his velocity and stuff are down 10 points from last year. Which means he still is an overpowering pitcher but I don't foresee sub-2.00 ERA's this year.

#5 Dennis Martinez - no noticeable improvement from last year, but I'll take a 3.00 ERA from my fifth starter and expect that we give him some more wins this year.

Relievers:
CL Lee Smith - lost some velocity as well, but control is improved. Still, wanted to see some more growth from our 24 year old closer.

#1 Dennis Lamp - will be the long man for this team after leading 1980 Cubs in wins. It is a good sign for our future that Martinez passed him on the depth chart.

#2 Jesse Orosco - again, a good sign to see a younger player supplanting some still talented vets.

#3 Dick Tidrow - velocity is down from last year. Hmm, maybe it is time for me to talk with our pitching coach about this trend.

#4 Bill Caudill - on paper, looks better than Tidrow. But that was not the case on the field last year when Caudill was good but Tidrow was better. Great #4 reliever, imho.

#5 Doug Capilla - I'm happy to see him de-emphasized. I do not plan on bringing him back when his contract expires at the end of the year.

#6 Willie Hernandez - hmm, I think he is clearly better than Capilla and expect this 27 year old to keep getting better. Without a doubt the best #6 reliever in baseball, with potential closer stuff. He should have a bigger role.

[hoopsguy]

Minors:
Mel Hall
Jesse Barfield
Bud Black

These guys should all make it to the big leagues by September at the latest. Rincon and Scot Thompson are both serviceable major league guys, if needed. This is night-and-day better than the Iowa team last year. We will be far better equipped to handle injuries than we were a year ago.

[hoopsguy]

The 1981 season starts with Philadelphia visiting Cincinnati. Two Cy Young winners - the aging Steve Carlton and current holder Mario Soto - will take the bump. Score one for the old men as the Phillies pick up a 3-2 victory.

The Cubs have the 8th highest payroll in baseball at $78,778,605. Both the Dodgers and Yankees are over the 100 million mark. St. Louis, Houston, and Cincinnati are in the 85 million range.

The Cubs start the season off hosting the Mets. Bill Gullickson wins in his first start as a Cub, allowing two runs in 7 2/3 innings as part of an 8-2 win. Ken Oberkfell was 3-4 in his debut with a pair of doubles and three runs scored. Barry Foote had a grand slam.

The bats fall asleep for Reuschel in the second game, but the Cubs pound out 17 hits (no homers) in Mike Witt's big league debut, an 8-1 victory to give us a series win to start the year.

Off to Montreal, where despite an off day before the start of the series, we can't muster any offense in the opener. Richard is on the wrong end of a 7-0 shutout. Martinez only gets one run the next night (what else is new) and Gullickson loses 1-0 to his old team to send us to 2-4.

[hoopsguy]

Highest Paid Hitters in the Game:
Cliff Johnson (LA) - 15,494,870 (what the heck?)
Bobby Grich (Cal) - 14,260,000
Chet Lemon (StL) - 14,163,032
Eddie Murray (Bal) - 13,707,489 (first name that belongs here)
George Brett (KC) - 13,475,700
The next highest hitter salary is below 10 million. No Cubs appear in the top 20.

[RealDeal]

You said Houston was in your division? My memory was that the Astros were in the NL West and the Cubs in the NL East.

[hoopsguy]

RealDeal, you are correct. I'm getting my current baseball stuff mixed up with this league every once in awhile as I'm putting this together. Had the same issue with Milwaukee earlier, and they were in a completely separate league back in 1980.

[hoopsguy]

Next up is a trip to Philadelphia, who is off to a 5-1 start. Needless to say, I do not want a repeat of the Montreal trip. Nino Espinoza and Ed Glynn combine to hold us to one hit. 3-0 loss. Ugh, this is getting ridiculous.

Next day, we get a run but Witt loses 2-1. This is just insane. The series ends with a 2-0 loss and J.R. Richard heading to the DL with a biceps injury that will have him out for a month. Bud Black is heading up to the majors and it is time to start making some moves before the season is lost in the first month.

[hoopsguy]

Jim Rice never did sign with anyone, as he held out for big dollars. He will come on for a one year deal at just over ten million, with multi-year deals lowering the price tag. Three years, 9.5 million. Nothing like throwing money at a problem.

Ben Ogilve is fighting through a minor hamstring injury, so he is sent to the DL for now. We'll settle the roster spots when he gets back.

[hoopsguy]

The losing streak hits seven in St. Louis but Gullickson finally breaks it with a win against Fulgam. Dave Kingman hits his first homer of the year, in game 11, in the 7-3 win. But the bats fail again in the third game of the set, as we lose yet another 1-0 game. We've now been shut out six times in twelve games.

The brutal nine game road trip ends with a 2-7 mark. The Phillies hold a 7.5 game lead on us when they come to Chicago on April 24th.

Game #1 - Mike Witt outduels Steve Carlton in a 4-1 win. Kingman hits his 2nd homer of the year, which gives him the team lead.

Game #2 - A Barry Foote double breaks a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 8th. Lee Smith picks up a save and we are closing the gap. It would be great to sweep the Phillies and pay them back in kind for the beating they gave us two weeks ago.

Game #3 - No such luck, as both Dennis Lamp and Jesse Orosco surrender three runs apiece to the Phillies. I am not sure our team is capable of winning a game where they need to score 7 runs.

[hoopsguy]

Gullickson moves to 3-1 with a 10-0 shutout win at home against the Cardinals. He now has three of our six wins. Jerry Martin was 3-5 on the day with a pair of runs and RBIs. Although the team hitting has been putrid this year, there are some guys who are pulling their weight.
- Martin .289
- Oberkfell .295
- Buckner .271
However, Martin only has four RBI's, a total that Gullickson has matched in his starts alone.

Here are the standings at the end of April:
Philadelphia 13-5
St. Louis 11-5
Montreal 11-7
New York 6-11
Chicago 6-11
Pittsburgh 5-12

So we have our work cut out for us. The Phillies and Cardinals have the two best winning percentages in all of baseball.

[hoopsguy]

Early stats of note:
- Philadelphia C Keith Moreland is hitting .442, has an on-base percentage of .500, but somehow has only 3 RBIs.
- The league leader in RBI's is Minnesota SS Roy Smalley, with 17.
- George Foster, who was white hot in the 2nd half last year, slugged .690 in April.
- our 6-11 team has three of the top 18 ERAs in the majors. Gullickson is 8th (1.20), Lamp is 13th (1.45), and Witt is 18th (1.80)
- Philadelphia's Kevin Saucier has 10 saves already and looks like he is headed toward Tom Hume numbers from last year.
- our anemic offense has provided 20 runs for Gullickson, which is good for 6th in the majors. 10 of them were in one game, and he has had the benefit of an extra start compared to some guys, but this is still an odd stat. By comparison, the Cubs have only scored 31 runs for the other starters.
- Gary Templeton has been a complete bust so far, hitting .171 in the leadoff spot and has already booted four balls in the field. He has one steal and has been caught three times. I would think about giving some time to DeJesus, but he is batting .143.

[hoopsguy]

May 1st - Jim Rice hits his first homer as a Cub in a 4-2 (10 inning) loss at home to the Braves. The Braves turned six double plays in that game. Templeton was 0-3, dropping to .164.

The club bounces back to take the next two from the Braves before welcoming Houston to town. Gullickson extends the winning streak to three games with a victory and Ben Ogilve is eligible to come off the disabled list. We're up to 9-12 at this point, having closed the division gap to 5.5 games. Are things finally starting to look up?

So I've now got three slugging outfielders in Ogilve, Rice, and Kingman. But none of them really look like CFs and the guy playing there now (Martin) is hitting .323. So I'm going to see if there is a market to move Ogilve for a third baseman, catcher, or prospect. I could see moving either him or Kingman. The answer, for both players, is that there is no market. Hmm. Looks like we'll slide Rice to CF, as he seems like he could make the transition. And we'll see if this middle of the order can generate some numbers.

[hoopsguy]

5/5 - Ogilve homers in his first day back, but we fall to Houston 5-3. Reuschel has not won a game yet this year and, along with Templeton, has been the most disappointing player on the team where there are quite a few candidates for that honor.

5/6 - Witt outduels Nolan Ryan to move to 3-1 on the season. Witt gave up 2 hits over 8 innings and Ogilve drove in 2 runs in the 8th to help the rookie earn his win. Lee Smith worked a scoreless 9th to get his 4th save and preserve his 0.00 ERA.

5/7 - Dennis Martinez keeps the Astros bats cold, allowing no runs through 7 innings as the Cubs complete a successful homestand (8-3). Still 6.5 back of the 17-6 Cardinals, who have taken over the lead with a 5 game win streak.

Off to Hotlanta - after winning 2-1 in the opener the Cubs score 15 runs in Gullickson's next start. Good thing, as we gave up 9 that day. 19 hits on the day, but only Mike Vail left the "Launching Pad" known as Fulton County Stadium. Reuschel helps us complete a road sweep, while extending our winning streak to five games, as we are up to 14-13 and just 3.5 games back.

[hoopsguy]

Back to .500 on 5/12, courtesy of the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront. Meanwhile, Jim Bibby of the Cardinals throws a one-hitter at the Astrodome to move to 6-0 on the year. We'll see him in the All Star game. Hopefully at least one player this year will be joining him there.

Martinez moves to 3-1 with a 2-1 win at Cincinnati. So far this year he seems to be winning one run games instead of giving them away. Foote hits his 4th homer of the year, taking the team lead. Templeton is stuck at .161.

We lose the third game of that set, getting shut out. Well, it had been awhile since that happened. I guess.

In injury news, Philadelphia's Mike Schmidt is out for 7 weeks after sustaining serious damage to his thigh. That is a game changer.

[hoopsguy]

The news is better in Houston, as Bill Gullickson moves to 6-1 with a 1.57 ERA. Eight innings, 2 runs, 9 K's. Jim Rice socks a three run shot to power us to a 3-2 win. Lee Smith adds his 9th save and keeps the ERA locked and loaded at 0.00.

Big Daddy outduels Nolan Ryan 2-1. Ryan is now 3-3 with an ERA below 1.00. Ben Ogilve has both RBI's, including his 2nd homer.

Witt completes the sweep as we move to 18-15. Road sweeps - this was just not happening last year. It really feels like we have been clicking since grabbing Jim Rice. But even after a 7-2 road trip we remain 3.5 behind the Cardinals.

Ogilve is now hitting .391 and has been a force since coming off the DL. Gullickson has a 45:8 K/BB ratio. Although no one has more than 15 RBI's (Foote) we do have seven players in double figures. If we could just get Templeton to stop sucking so very, very, very hard ...

[hoopsguy]

Back home to Wrigley to welcome the Reds, who handed us our only two losses on the recent trip. We beat them in back-to-back games and learn that J.R. Richard is ready to come off the disabled list. Gary Templeton was a combined 5-8 with 3 runs in those two wins. Up to .188 with a bullet!

We sweep the Reds, in a matchup between Tom Seaver and Gullickson. 2-1 final, with the bullpen giving us 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Foote ended it with a line shot to the left field bleachers.

Montreal is next up, and we have not forgotten the beating they gave us back in April. Reushcel wins the opener and we have enjoy a laugher in the 2nd game. Rice, Kingman, Foote, and Mike Witt (dude rakes!) all leave the yard in the 11-6 win to bring our win streak to 8.

It comes to an end with an 8-0 shutout where J.R. Richard gets blown up. He is now 0-3 and I'm getting a little concerned about him. We are not on the hook long term with him, but I had been planning on a big year from him.

[hoopsguy]

Another win for Gullickson, who has been spectacular. He outduels John Candelaria, who was among the best in the league last season, in a 3-2 victory. Two more RBI's for Foote, and save #13 for Smith. Smith's ERA is still even with Blutarsky's GPA.

Reuschel has been on fire since I called him out earlier this month. He moves to 4-3 on the year, with four straight wins, after beating the Pirates 3-1 and giving us yet another series win at home. Jim Rice knocked in all three runs with a pair of homers. Perfect 9th for Smith.

Boston's Dwight Evans is out two months with a hip injury. Oakland saw one of their starters break down as Steve McCatty will miss 6 1/2 weeks with elbow pain.

The Phillies have struggled without Schmidt, but don't blame Greg Luzinski. He has 13 homers and 36 RBI's on the year, with both of those marks leading the National League.

[hoopsguy]

One more win against the Pirates brings the homestand to a close. 5-2, up to 26-17 on the year, and trailing St. Louis by 2 games.

Looking at division races, there has not been much separation just yet. We have the 2nd best record in baseball, which tells you that there are a lot of teams right around .500.

AL East - Baltimore has a 1/2 game lead over Boston. The Tigers, losers of three in a row, sit one game over .500 and two off the lead.

AL West - Oakland is 27-21 and enjoys a one game lead over Texas. Minnesota sits 1.5 back and the Royals are 2 behind.

NL West - San Diego, at 25-20, is a 1/2 game ahead of LA and Cincinnati. The much-hyped Astros are 20-25 at this point.

Our pitchers have allowed 128 runs, the fewest in the bigs (two better than the Cards). The offensive output of 154 runs is nothing to be proud of, but we are ahead of six other teams.

[hoopsguy]

J.R. Richard picks up his first win of the year in New York. Getting six runs in the first two innings always helps, and we rolled to a 6-3 victory. Gullickson also wins in New York, giving us 2 of 3 for the series. Eight more shutout innings and another scoreless 9th for Smith (16 saves).

That brings us to June 1, and we are 28-16. One game back of St. Louis, 2.5 in front of Montreal. Wow, a 22-5 month! That is, without a doubt, the best baseball that we have played under my watch.

Kingman is up to .252 with 5 homers and 24 RBI's. Those are hardly monster numbers, but he has been a steady presence over the last month. Ogilve is at .330/3/13 - not the power numbers I expected, but he did miss some time. Rice is .266/6/18. The 3-5 slots in our lineup are no joke.

We do have four starters that have yet to hit a home run - Templeton, Buckner, Boone, and Oberkfell. Buckner is the only one of them above .250. So we still have too many easy outs in our lineup.

Our starters, excluding Richard, have all pitched well over the last month. Five of the seven relievers, including Smith, have ERA's below 3 and none of them give me an 'oh crap' feeling when they go in the game. Gullickson has been a legitimate stopper. There is just a ton to like about our pitching staff. Heck, Dennis Lamp has been a really good swing starter when called upon.

In the minors, we see Barfield and Hall both have 19 RBIs and have nearly identical batting averages (.275, .281). Bud Black is biding his time, but his service in the majors was just messy (15 ERA) so we certainly are not going to rush him.

[hoopsguy]

Welcome to June. Reuschel throws 7 2/3 shutout innings and Rice hits his 6th homer in a 7-0 victory at Three Rivers over the Pirates. Rice had four hits and four RBI's on the day, bringing his average up to .288 in a hurry. Gary Templeton went 1-5 to raise his average to .181.

The Pirates are shut down quietly again the next night by Mike Witt. 2-0 final, with Buckner hitting his first homer of the year.

Man, three straight games with no runs for the Pirates! J.R. Richard over Bert Blyleven. The Pirates are now 19-28, despite Blyleven's 5-2 mark. Buckner went 4-5 with a pair of doubles and 3 RBIs. 24 RBI's out of the 2 hole is pretty solid. So is a 5-1 road trip.

[hoopsguy]

We come home to face the Dodgers on 6/5 and learn that we are now in 1st place, one half game ahead of St. Louis and four up on Montreal.

After Martinez wins the opener, we are disappointed when a Gullickson start does not end up in a victory. A showdown with Fernando Valenzuela goes to the bullpens and the Cubs score three late to force extra innings. But Jesse Orosco has a poor 10th inning and our winning streak ends at five games. Dave Kingman homered in each of the games against LA.

The next day features another extra inning loss to the Dodgers, this one in 15 innings. Templeton has been hitless in each of the extra inning games and is now hitting .173. I'm pretty sure any other manager would have done something about this by now. We'll see what options are available at the trade deadline.

While thinking about our shortstop woes, this seems like a good time to check up on Ryne Sandberg. He has made the big league club in Detroit despite a lackluster showing in AAA. So far, in limited action, he has batted .283 with a pair of RBIs and 3 steals in 3 attempts.

The Cardinals swept the Padres at Busch and are back atop the division by 1.5 games.

[hoopsguy]

A woeful San Francisco team looks like just the tonic to cure our extra inning woes. Bob Knepper, an All-Star last year, is 0-6 this season. Make that 0-7 after losing 3-2 to Mike Witt and company. Smith moved to 18/18 on saves and Buckner hit his 2nd homer of the year. Otto Velez, their FA 1B pickup, hit his 13th homer of the year and has 36 RBIs.

Matt Keough of Oakland is the first to win 10 games this year. Witt and Gullickson are two among a large group trailing him with 8 victories.

After a loss in the middle game of the series, Martinez throws a gem, shutting out the Giants 4-0. A review of the box score shows that Foote has joined Templeton below the Mendoza line. Foote gets clutch hits, but not many of them.

The Cardinal lead remains 1.5 games as they run their home winning streak to 6 with a sweep of the Dodgers.

[hoopsguy]

Another Cubs shutout, although it took multiple pitchers to blank the Padres at Wrigley. Gullickson gets his 9th win and Ogilve hit a homer while driving in three. But we cannot muster much of anything against Randy Jones. Jones, who was injured earlier in the year, moved to 3-0 with a 4-1 victory. His ERA is a tiny 0.87. Foote's BA is down to .186 and it is time to start looking at options at catcher, where I might be able to put out some different players (unlike SS).

The finale against the Padres is a tense pitches duel that we win in 12 innings by a 1-0 score. Ken Oberkfell, who has bumped his average up to .259, drove in the winning run. The Padres only mustered one hit over the 12 innings. Mike Witt pitched eight no hit innings before being pulled for a pinch hitter in the 9th. He had only thrown 84 pitches. Tough, tough no decision.

[hoopsguy]

Off to LA to see if we can avoid extra inning games with them. Mission accomplished as we take two straight. One guy who has really fallen off for them is Dave Goltz, who is 0-6 with a 4.64 ERA after leading the league in ERA for most of last season before waking up in September and remembering that he is Dave Goltz. Steve Ontiveros, who is now in the starting lineup at 3B in a move to push Foote to the bench, added a bases-clearing double in the second win.

Gullickson is not able to keep our short winning streak alive, taking his 2nd loss of the year in a 4-2 loss to the Giants and Vida Blue. Jack Clark slugged a grand slam in the 5th inning that was the difference in this one.

The next day the wind was swirling out at Candlestick. Mike Vail (!) and Dave Kingman each hit two homers and we got 22 hits in a 13-8 win. Bob Knepper continues to hate 1981, as he falls to 0-9. Vail had 7 RBIs, which is certainly a career high. Even Templeton got two hits in this one, elevating his average to .185.

A series at San Diego ends in a Cubs sweep. A very successful west coast swing, as we put together a 6-1 mark and move the overall record to 42-23. The Cardinals are one game back but Montreal has fallen eight off the pace and this looks like a two team race.

A look around at other divisions shows that the Houston Astros have caught fire, winning nine of their last ten and pushing their record up to 40-27. Holy crap, they are on a 20-2 run! That is good enough to put them 0.5 games in front of Cincinnati in another division that is more or less down to two teams.

In the AL East Baltimore and Detroit are tied atop the division, both teams 10 over .500. The Milwaukee Brewers have won six in a row but still trail by 5.5 games.

The AL West has KC 3 games up on a trio of teams with a 37-28 mark. The White Sox, at 25-39, have the worst record in the American League.

The Dodgers, whose season has slipped away from them, will be without their 3B for the next two months. Ron Cey has a broken hand.

The Yankees and Mariners make a deal, with Bucky Dent heading west and Jim Anderson heading east. The Yankees would seem to be coming out ahead on this swap of shortstops, getting younger and trading Dent while he is battling a leg injury (10 days). But I must be missing something, as that front office never does anything right.

The Phillies are a mess. Keith Moreland is hitting .361 with 4 homers and 15 RBIs at catcher, but was just sent down to the minors in order to activate Ozzie Virgil. In better news for them, Mike Schmidt is about a week away from returning.

Pat Putnam of the Rangers is putting up impressive power numbers, with 13 homers and 37 RBIs.

[hoopsguy]

We host the Phillies next and Gullickson picks up his 10th win, beating Steve Carlton. But Reuschel goes down with a minor injury the following night and we see our five game losing streak come to an end. He'll go onto the 15 day disabled list. And we lose the third game of the series as well. Hmm, maybe the return of Ozzie Virgil has inspired these guys? Jim Rice had his ten game hitting streak snapped in the last loss.

Here are the top two in the AL in total bases:
#1 George Brett (KC) - 143
#2 Mitchell Page (Oak) - 135

Mitchell Page? Who? That was my reaction as well. He is a 30 year old LF who is hitting .290 with 15 homers and 54 (!) RBIs. That is just 12 RBI's less than he had in 436 at bats last season.

George Bell of the Mets looks like the early leader for NL Rookie of the Year. He is hitting .291 with 12 homers and 31 RBIs. He also has 12 steals. The 22 year old has a ton of potential, which should ensure that he meets or exceeds these numbers for the next 10-15 years.

Reggie Jackson is out for 2.5 months with a very major thigh injury. No further details are forthcoming. Joe Charboneau will miss about half of that time with a leg injury. Tough times in Cleveland, as that is a lot of offense to lose at one time.

[hoopsguy]

Steve Ontiveros had a homer and 3 RBI's in a 4-3 win at Montreal. Smith picked up his 20th save and still is allergic to earned runs. I certainly hope he is voted an All-Star this year. The next night features a come-from-behind win against our former pitcher Al Olmsted, who is in Expos bullpen. #21 for Smith. We finish off the sweep with a 5-3 win where Gullickson wins his 11th, Smith saves his 22nd, and Gary Templeton leaves the yard for the first time as a Cub. Up to .198!

Reuschel, who refused to be placed on the DL, pitches through some pain and gets his 7th win of the year in New York. Dennis Lamp has a dreadful outing in the second game of the series and we lose 4-2. Templeton goes 1-4 to bring his average up to .200. He stays there for exactly one day, as we lose 2-1 in 11 the next day, wasting 10 K's by Richard. The Mets stick us with one more loss, 4-2, on getaway day. I hope that the bats wake up for the home series against St. Louis. We trail them by 1.5 games at this point with the All-Star break looming.

[hoopsguy]

Gary Gray wants me to take back all the mean things I said about him last year. Dude is hitting .265 with 18 homers and 50 RBIs in the middle of the Yankees batting order. Reggie who?

Giants 1B Otto Velez had a pair of two homer games last week and now has 19 homers and 49 RBIs on the year. That man is earning his new contract.

Upon further review, the All Star break is still ten days out. We have a five game series with St. Louis right now that is getting a lot of national coverage since our clubs have the two best records in baseball. The national media is all over the Cardinals, given that they are the defending champs and are playing good ball while we have lost three straight.

Bill Gullickson quiets some of that talk with a strong performance in the opener. The 3-1 win included Rice's 9th homer of the year and Smith running his mark to 23 straight.

For the second straight year we have a 4th of July double-header. The Cards take the opener thanks to 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief by their pen in a 5-2 win. Mike Witt wins his 10th game in the nightcap, defeating John Fulgam. Fulgam, at 4-4, will not be an All Star this year. #24 for Smith.

The fourth game is, on paper, the best pitching matchup yet with Vukovich vs Richard. But Richard lays an egg and the Cards win 9-1. Kingman had a solo shot for our only run. We get to face Bibby in the finale that will decide who takes the series, but St. Louis will definitely be departing in first place.

And they will be in first by 2.5 games as Bibby outduels Martinez in a 2-1 ballgame. Not a lot of hitters stats in this series; it felt an awful lot like playoff baseball with tight games and a lot of action for middle relievers due to the close ball games forcing managers to be creative with their roster.

[hoopsguy]

The All Stars have been announced:

AL Starters (in order of votes):
3B George Brett (KC) - .321, 12 homers, 51 RBI
LF Mitchell Page (Oak) - .286/16/59
2B Dave Stapleton (Bos) - .297/9/35
1B Ron Jackson (Min) - .307/10/36
RF Oscar Gamble (NY) - .273/13/42
SS Alan Trammell (Det) - .333/4/39. This is the first guy on the roster, besides Brett, who has the look of a consistent All Star.
C Lance Parrish (Det) - .250/5/31

AL Reserves
LF Richie Zisk (Tex) - .290/12/35
1B Rusty Staub (Tex) - .315/7/34
1B Pat Putnam (Tex) - .289/15/45. Three straight Ranger selections, look like they are putting up runs.
LF Kirk Gibson (Det) - .280/13/44. Not a ton of potential left (51), but this 24 year old is already a very good player
SS Robin Yount (Mil) - .293/8/27 Should be swapping All Star starts with Trammell for years if they both stay put with current teams
CF Fred Lynn (Bos) - .277/8/27
2B Rich Dauer (Bal) - .305/5/24

AL Pitchers
Starter Matt Keough (Oak) 13-3 2.71 ERA, 7 CG, 1 SO, 80:51 K/BB, .206 BAA, 1.12 WHIP
Starter Dennis Leonard (KC) - 11-3 2.50 ERA, 6 CG, 78:30 K/BB, .239 BAA, 1.14 WHIP
Closer Doug Corbett (Min) - 0-0 0.64 ERA, 28 saves, 1 blown, 18:11 K/BB, .175 BAA, 1.02 WHIP
Starter Geoff Zahn (Min) - 11-2 2.66 ERA, 4 CG, 55:27 K/BB, .217 BAA, 1.03 WHIP
Starter Mike Flanagan (Bal) - 11-5 2.62 ERA, 5 CG, 1 SO, 81:27 K/BB, .262 BAA, 1.24 WHIP
Starter Mike Norris (Oak) - 10-7 2.60 ERA, 14 CG, 2 SO, 73/56 K/BB, .221 BAA, 1.21 WHIP
Reliever Dave Tobik (Det) - 4-3 1.74 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown, 30:20 K/BB, .202 BAA, 1.09 WHIP
Reliever John Verhoeven (Min) - 5-1 1.66 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown, 23:8 K/BB, .240 BAA, 1.11 WHIP
Reliever Jerry Garvin (Tor) - 4-1 1.63 ERA, 2 saves, 1 blown, 22:21 K/BB, .232 BAA, 1.40 WHIP
Reliever Sammy Stewart (Tor) - 6-3 1.80 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown, 31:25 K/BB, .192 BAA, 1.18 WHIP

Norris just will not leave games. 17 starts, 14 complete games??? And I hope that Jerry Garvin enjoys his All Star appearance because I'll be stunned if he is ever back.

[hoopsguy]

NL Starters (in order of votes):
LF Greg Luzinski (Phi) .310/18/53
3B Bob Horner (Atl) .285/17/43 - repeat pick
RF Dave Winfield (SD) .298/15/45
1B Dan Driessen (Cin) .286/13/37 - determined to show me up for questioning his ability
CF Jim Rice (Chi) .275/9/31 - his arrival keyed our resurgence
C Ted Simmons (StL) .278/9/36
2B Ron Oester (Cin) .286/6/24 w/17 steals

NL Reserves
RF Leon Durham (StL) .306/7/50 - has emerged as best player on Cardinals, 24 year old looks like a future superstar
LF George Hendricks (StL) .293/10/52 - 2nd year as All-Star reserve
1B Otto Velez (SF) .263/19/50 - reserve All-Star for both leagues now
LF George Foster (Cin) .264/13/46 - 2nd straight appearance
1B Chris Chambliss (Atl) .306/6/40
C Larry Parrish (Mon) .272/11/37
3B Hubie Brooks (NY) .304/0/30 - 25 year old with lots of room for growth

NL Pitchers
Starter Bill Gullickson (Chi) 12-2 1.85 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SO, 84:19 K/BB, .236 BAA, 1.09 WHIP
Starter Mike Witt (Chi) 10-3 2.47 ERA 58:31 K/BB, .211 BAA, 1.07 WHIP - good money bet for Rookie Pitcher of Year
Starter Bert Blyleven (Pit) 8-2 2.18 ERA, 1 CG, 102:36 K/BB, .181 BAA, 0.96 WHIP
Starter Nolan Ryan (Hou) 7-5 1.69 ERA, 1 CG, 87:43 K/BB, .174 BAA, 1.02 WHIP
Closer George Frazier (StL) 0-1 2.15 ERA, 28 saves, 2 blown, 23:9 K/BB, .248 BAA, 1.30 WHIP
Starter Steve Carlton (Phi) 10-5 3.09 ERA, 83:33 K/BB, .247 BAA, 1.25 WHIP
Reliever (?) Mario Soto (Cin) 7-4 2.08 ERA, 3 CG, 3 SO, 99:30 K/BB, .197 BAA, 0.98 WHIP
Reliever Dennis Lamp (Chi) 0-4 2.22 ERA, 4 saves, 36:27 K/BB, .262 BAA, 1.33 WHIP
Bob Shirley (SD) 6-5 2.76 ERA, 1 CG, 58:24 K/BB, .215 BAA, 1.04 WHIP
Bryn Smith (Mon) 2-0 2.06 ERA, 34:12 K/BB, .225 BAA, 1.15 WHIP

It is an absolute joke that Lee Smith is not on the team. Dennis Lamp really has no business being there, even if he has been a fine member of our rotation as a long reliever/spot starter.

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Hitting:
BA:
AL - .333 Alan Trammell (Det)
NL - .310 Greg Luzinski (Phi)
Top Cub - .283 Bill Buckner (tied 36th)

HR:
AL - 18 Gary Gray (NYY)
NL - 19 Otto Velez (SF)
Top Cub - 11 Dave Kingman (tied 20th)

RBI:
AL - 59 Mitchell Page (Oak)
NL - 53 Greg Luzinski (Phi)
Top Cub - 26 Dave Kingman (tied 25th)

Runs:
AL - 53 Kirk Gibson (Det)
NL - 49 Omar Moreno (Pit)
Top Cub - 32 Jim Rice + Dave Kingman (tied 62nd)

Hits:
AL - 102 Alan Trammell (Det)
NL - 92 Dave Winfield (SD)
Top Cub - 78 Bill Buckner (tied 33rd)

Stolen Bases:
AL - 35 Rickey Henderson (Oak)
NL - 42 Mookie Wilson (NY)
Top Cub - 17 Gary Templeton (tied 31st)

On Base %:
AL - .388 Alan Trammell (Det)
NL - .379 Greg Luzinski (Phi)
Top Cub - .353 Jim Rice (tied 24th)

OPS:
AL - .904 George Brett (KC)
NL - .990 Greg Luzinski (Phi)
Top Cub - .814 Jim Rice (tied 20th)

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Pitching:
ERA:
AL - 2.15 Ron Guidry (NYY)
NL - 1.69 Nolas Ryan (Hou)
Top Cub - 1.85 Bill Gullickson (3rd)

Wins:
AL - 13 Matt Keough (Oak)
NL - 12 Jim Bibby (StL) and Bill Gullickson (Chi)
Top Cub - Gullickson (tied 2nd)

Saves:
AL - 28 Doug Corbett (Min)
NL - 28 George Frazier (StL)
Top Cub - 24 Lee Smith (tied 6th)

Innings Pitched:
AL - 150 Rick Langford (Oak)
NL - 124 Vida Blue (SF)
Top Cub - 111.2 Bill Gullickson (46th)

Complete Games:
AL - 14 Mike Norris (NYY)
NL - 3 Mario Soto (Cin)
Top Cub - 1 (multiple players)

Shutouts:
AL - 2 (multiple players)
NL - 3 Mario Soto (Cin)
Top Cub - 1 Bill Gullickson and Dennis Martinez (tied 5th)

Strikeouts:
AL - 115 Len Barker (Cle)
NL - 102 Bert Blyleven (Pit)
Top Cub - 84 Bill Gullickson (tied 10th)

Walks:
AL - 56 Mike Norris (NYY)
NL - 68 Eric Show (Pit)
Top Cub - 31 Mike Witt (tied 83rd)

Run Support:
AL - 96 Matt Keough (Oak)
NL - 63 Ken Forsch (Hou)
Top Cub - 61 Mike Witt (22nd)

[hoopsguy]

The Yankees are once again making deals, this time with the cross-town Mets.
Yankees get: Claudell Washington (.255/6/41)
Mets get: Joe Lefebvre (.291/10/33)

Washington is a great fielder. At 27, he already has one Gold Glove in his possession and should add to that collection. He won't ever be a .300 hitter, but you throw in a little speed and this is a guy that is a definite contributor for a good team.

Lefebvre is a younger player (25) with a little more potential. He is putting up big numbers this year but I'm not sure if he will sustain these for his career. I'll cal this deal a push, with the Mets taking on more risk.

So I'm wondering what in the world happened to last year NL MVP, Dale Murphy? Well, he is putting up decent numbers (.279/12/28 with 20 steals) but the power numbers just have not matched what he delivered last year. At the age of 25 he is far from a finished product. I won't call 1980 a career year, but for now his production this year is more in line with what I would expect from this type of player.

[hoopsguy]

Lee Smith does not take his All-Star snub well. First game back, he gives up a 1-0 lead in the 9th at Montreal. Solo shot by Chris Spier, then another by PH Andre Dawson. 2-1 loss. Ouch. That felt like Kevin Gregg.

The loss streak hits 4 before Witt bails us out with a 2-1 win. Wake up, bats! Hopefully we pack them when heading over to Pittsburgh. Nope, 6-0 shutout at the hands of Don Robinson. He has been tough all year, sporting a 1.69 ERA. But this has got to stop or St. Louis is going to build too big a lead. They are not losing much at all, and are now six games on top.

Another day, another shutout loss. Is this April all over again? Martinez throws six shutout innings, then watches Jesse Orosco wet the bed, giving up three in the 7th without retiring a batter. The next day brings a double-header with our #1/#2 starters. Four combined runs = split. I'm disgusted with our hitters. The Cards have won 8 straight and we are now 7 games back. It is going to be really, really uphill to make the playoffs, even with the 2nd best record in baseball.

[hoopsguy]

We're back home on 7/16 to face the Braves and get better results - a 6-0 shutout win featuring a homer and 4 RBIs from Jim Rice. Witt picked up his 11th win in the process. Still, only six hits - not sure we have broken out just yet.

We do the following day, in a wild 9-8 win. JR Richard gave back a 6-1 lead, but the top of the order caused Atlanta problems all day. Ken Oberkfell went 4-5 with a homer, 3 runs and 3 RBIs. Bill Buckner had a pair of hits, including a homer, and 4 RBIs. Ogilve and Boone hit solo shots, and we survived four Atlanta homers.

The sweep is complete thanks to an 8-6 win. Gary Templeton has a pair of hits (.199) and SIX RBI's to key the victory. Smith adds his 27th save.

Houston comes to town, scheduled to send All Star Nolan Ryan to the bump. Instead, old friend Lynn McGlothlen gets the start. We are pleased with that turn of events and celebrate with an 8-1 win. In fairness, it was the Astros "relief" that was the problem, surrendering 6 runs over the last three innings. Mike Vail and Rice each had a homer with 3 RBIs and Gullickson fanned 11.

The win streak hits six, with Reuschel providing a 1-0 victory. Nice homestand. The deficit is back to five games. Time to see if we can do better on the road.

[hoopsguy]

We get the win streak up to seven before losing another Richard start. This one was not his fault, as it was a 2-1 defeat in 11 innings. In fact, J.R. only surrendered one hit in 6 innings of work. Toss in a 1-0 loss the next day - in a serious hitters park - and I'm once again hating our lineup. It is trade deadline time, so maybe it is time to actually do something about it.

The problem is that we have not collected many assets just yet. I would love to move Kingman, but his value is as low now as it was months ago. Barry Foote actually will bring back more so that is who I'm exploring now. Interesting, but still not team-changing? Maybe J.R. Richard, who is in his walk year and not pitching all that well?

Hmm, now we are getting into interesting territory. Robin Yount looks like one heck of an upgrade from my favorite whipping boy. Sold - time for our All Star Dennis Lamp to move back to the rotation. Yount is signed for four years at 5 million per, which is about half of what of what he was looking for last year. I haven't checked with extending our guys just yet, but should do that soon. For now, welcome to the newest Cub!

[hoopsguy]

I'm not ready to stop just yet, as I now have three SS on the roster. Templeton or DeJesus have to go and I'm not taking no for an answer. DeJesus actually has more value on the market, so he'll be the one getting moved.

The Cardinals are willing to trade 14-2 Jim Bibby straight up for him - that is too broken for me to even consider. I want to beat the Cardinals, but that is just a ridiculous trade. Seriously, for Ivan DeJesus??? I have some kind of moral compass; that just cannot be permitted even if the game engine is more than happy to do the deal.

I can deal him for Von Hayes of San Francisco, however. That was the best young talent that I could locate. We're starting to load up on outfielders in the minors, but DeJesus had no role so this lines up as a very good deal for us.

Bud Black will be making his way back to the bigs, taking a mop-up role while he figures out how to deal with major league hitters.

[hoopsguy]

Gullickson makes the Robin Yount debut a success, although he probably does not feel that way after going 0-4. Still, a 2-0 road win against Cincinnati is very welcome at the moment.

Witt keeps the scoreless streak going, with a 3-0 win over Tom Seaver and the Reds. Bob Boone hit a two run shot, Rice hit his 14th homer, and Yount at least got on base (walk).

Yount busted out, to the tune of two homers, in his 3rd game. 6-1 win and a road sweep. Now that is what we have been looking for over the past month. Gary Templeton added a pinch-hit triple, bringing his average up to .202.

[hoopsguy]

On to Houston, where Martinez beats down All Star Nolan Ryan 7-0. Kingman and Yount both go deep. Lamp wins his first post-trade start, bringing the winning streak to 5.

The Giants call, wanting to acquire Robin Yount. Beat it - I have no interest in reacquiring DeJesus or anything else that they have to offer.

Toronto wants Jim Rice but only lists a pair of minor league players as straight-up options. Clearly we are not going to make a deal.

Back to baseball, and the first loss of the Robin Yount era. 2-0, Gullickson gets a hard luck loss.

In other trading news, the Mets and Rangers swing a deal.
NY get Buddy Bell (.295/6/32)
Rangers get Hubie Brooks (.301/0/38)

Bell is a very good player now, but Brooks is five years younger and will be even better than he is now. The Mets are not going anywhere this season, so I'm not sure why they are dealing their best young players to take on more money and a similar length contract (3 years).

Harold Baines of the White Sox has his second 10+ game hitting streak of the year (13).

Injury update - Lance Parrish of the Tigers is out for 3 weeks with a thigh injury. Guess there have been a rash of them this year.

[hoopsguy]

7/31 - last chance to swing a deal. We are four back of the Cardinals. At this point I'm willing to take my best shot with the team I have right now. We'll have a bunch of games left with the Cardinals and I honestly think we have a better team than them at this point.

The team elects not to reward my faith, falling 3-1 to the Reds in 17 innings. 1 run in 17 innings. They brought in Soto to pitch the 15th and 16th - what the heck is going on in Cincinnati???

After Reuschel's 11th win we are on the wrong end of a 1-0 loss in 13 innings to close out the Cincinnati series. Argh, are we ever going to win an extra inning game? We remain 4 back of the Cards, but we aren't going to catch them if we cannot start putting runs on the board a little more consistently.

[hoopsguy]

Ugh - lost a long post.

We head to Philly, winning two out of three with Gullickson and Witt posting victories. That is the good news. The bad news is that we head to St. Louis with the back of our rotation set to go against the top of their rotation.

We manage to win one of three in St. Louis. In Game #1 Keith Hernandez had 5 RBIs to beat us. The second game featured Martinez throwing an 84 pitch shutout to beat Bibby, but the final game of the series was a heartbreaker. Dennis Lamp hit a three run homer, left the game up 3-1, only to see Willy Hernandez give up 3 in the bottom of the 8th and we lose 4-3 to fall five back in the division race.

Steve Ontiveros had back-to-back three hit games and has been doing a nice job at 3rd base over the past couple of months. He is doing this while playing through a nagging hamstring injury.

The middle of our batting order has really struggled over the past month. We need them to get out of their combined funk if we are going to catch the Cardinals.

[hoopsguy]

A quick look at the other division races:

AL East - Detroit, with a 63-47 record, is up by a half game on Baltimore. Milwaukee is probably too far back (6.5 games) to catch two teams at this point.

AL West - Oakland reeled in Kansas City in the last week and now enjoys a three game lead with a 66-47 mark. Minnesota is 3.5 back, while everyone else is at least 12 behind.

NL West - Houston has won four straight and begun to separate from the mediocre pack. The Astros are now 62-47. Very disappointing season for LA, who has the highest payroll in the game. The Reds, who were so dominant at the start of last year, are one game under .500.

[hoopsguy]

We come home to host the Mets and find ourselves in tough pitchers duels. Bud Black surrenders two runs in the 8th in the opener, paving the way to a 4-2 Mets win. We can't solve Rick Matula in the second game, but do better against their bullpen, scoring three late to get a 3-2 victory. Ben Ogilve contributed a two run homer in that game. He connects again the following night while Reuschel and the pen shut out the Mets 4-0. And in the final game we score two in the 9th off their closer, Neil Allen. That is the first time we've done that in a long time, maybe all year.

I had mentioned that our middle of the order is not producing in the second half. Here are a couple of sluggers that are getting the job done lately:
1.) Dave Parker (Pit) - now at .278/19/77, he has taken the NL lead in RBIs and already passed his power numbers from 1980. 13 homers and 42 RBIs since July 1st.
2.) Gorman Thomas (Mil) - .245/23/72, but was just put on the 15 day DL with an elbow injury. On June 1st he only had 5 homers and 15 RBIs.

Hopefully one of our power guys can catch fire like this. Right now we're still waiting for someone to eclipse 50 RBIs. Rice and Kingman lead with 49 and we have 5 players in the 40-49 range.

Andre Dawson of Montreal is riding a 21 game hitting streak, which is the best that we've seen since the start of this dynasty.

[hoopsguy]

Ben Ogilve hits two more homers, bringing his total to 14, against the Pirates on 8/14. That sets up a Gullickson/Blyleven matchup but it is a dud, at least from a Cub perspective. The starters combined for 9 2/3 innings and we got smoked 8-2. Worst outing of the year for Gullickson, who gave up all the runs. The wind is blowing out on the 16th, as 7 balls leave the yard. We score one more run, picking up an 11-10 win in 10 innings. Foote, Vail, and Kingman homered in the win.

The bullpen gives up 5 in the first game of a series against the Dodgers, wasting a homer and 4 RBIs by Kingman. Martinez posts his 10th win of the season in game #2, 3-1 final. Templeton homers in the finale, boosting his average to .211, to back Dennis Lamp in a 3-0 victory.

San Francisco is next to come to town. So far we have not gained any ground on St. Louis on this homestand. We obviously need to keep stringing together wins. Mission accomplished on the 21st, as Kingman and Ogilve both put balls over the fence to back Gullickson in his 16th win of the year. Otto Velez hit his 24th of the year for the Giants in the loss. Kingman hit a two run walk-off homer in the 10th the next day; 3-1 final. Witt allowed one hit over seven innings, only to see Orosco blow his lead. We sweep the Giants, once again riding terrific pitching, with a 2-1 win. Those two came in the 9th off their closer Al Holland.

Steve McCatty of Oakland throws the first no-hitter of the dynasty on 8/22.

We host San Diego next. A quick peek at the standings shows that we are only three back now.

[hoopsguy]

Martinez is on fire right now, earning a 1-0 victory over the Padres. I wish the game tracked stuff like scoreless inning streaks, but I know Martinez is at least at 17 after tacking on 8 more today. His ERA is down to 2.29.

Another one run win the next day, this time by a 4-3 margin. These types of games are allowing Smith to rack up saves, as he now has 39. But the hitting remains a concern.

The win streak ends at 7 with a 3-0 loss. Gullickson has not been getting many runs lately; hopefully it does not derail his shot at 20 wins. Dave Winfield slugged his 26th homer for the Padres in this game. That ends the homestand. 12-4 is awfully good and we made up two games in that time (down to 3 now). But we'll need to win a bunch of games on the road from here on out. We'll also have five remaining games with the Cards, but based on 5-8 record against them so far that might not be a good thing.

[hoopsguy]

We are off to Los Angeles, to play a team desperate for victories. They are 6.5 back of the Astros and need to string together lots of wins in order to justify that bloated payroll. Mike Witt is having none of it, throwing a three hit shutout. Kingman hit his 18th to help support the outing.

A quick look at the boxscore shows that our best batting average belong to Ken Oberkfell. No surprise there, I guess, but the number is .268. Just about everyone is in the .240 - .265 range. Hmm, what is it going to take to find someone that can bat .280?

The answer - more than we saw on 8/28. 2-1 loss, with a total of four hits. Former Cub Cliff Johnson is splitting time at 1B with Steve Garvey and their aggregate numbers are something like .305/20/70. But 15 million for Johnson still blows my mind, even for one year.

Martinez gives up a run in the first, then four more in the fifth. The first run was enough, as we are shut out 6-0. Fernando Valenzuela struck out 10 over 8 innings. And we drop our 3rd straight in LA when Dennis Lamp struggles. 5-3, wasting a two run homer from Jim Rice.

Off to San Diego. Gullickson once again gets zero run support and the Padres win 4-0. Starting to sound like a broken record. That brings us to September. We'll start the month on a four game losing streak and a 4.5 game deficit. But we can no longer complain about being left out of the playoffs with the 2nd best record in baseball since two teams in the AL have now passed us.

[hoopsguy]

AL East - Detroit is at 80-51 and up five games on Baltimore, despite the O's winning eight straight ballgames.

AL West - Oakland has rattled off seven straight to move to 80-52 and pretty much lock up the division. KC is 8.5 back and the Twins are 9.5 behind.

NL West - Houston, at 75-55, is six up on the Dodgers. Both teams have won four straight.

Remember Greg Luzinksi? At the All Star Break he was a triple crown threat. But at this point he has been passed by Dave Winfield in the MVP discussions. Here are their numbers:
Winfield: .304/27/73
Luzinski: .277/22/67

Guys like Andre Dawson, Bob Horner, and maybe even Leon Durham have passed Luzinski at this point. Oh, Dawson's hitting streak ended at 21 games - forgot to note that earlier.

Since it is September it is time to look at making some call-ups. Here are our young OF numbers:
Barfield .253/20/73
Hall .273/13/51
Hayes .267/6/19 (limited time)

All three of them will get the call. I don't anticipate much playing time but maybe this can help with development. I want at least one of these guys starting next year for us so they should consider this a casting call for that part.

Also, now seems like as good a time as any to go about the business of contract discussions.
- Doug Capilla, currently slotted as our #5 reliever, is up. He is 29 and making 2.9 million this year. I'm not wild about his stuff, but his asking price is not that high. 2.4 million for one year, and the price goes below 2 million for more years. We'll hold off on him and see what else is on the table.
- Mick Kelleher, a 34 year old utility player making 1.6 million can consider himself gone. In fairness, he has produced at a level about his smallish talent this year. He belongs on a big league roster (maybe), just not ours.
- Jerry Martin, a 32 year old CF/RF has played all over for us this year as a 4th outfielder. He is making 2.5 milion. I'm certainly not looking to clog our outfield with more 30+ guys when I have three young players come up. Bon voyage, Jerry.

Those are the only guys whose contracts are up this year. So I'm going to let Capilla go as well in order to potentially make room for other younger arms. That was much tamer than I expected.

[hoopsguy]

Another month, another shutout loss. 2-0 to the Padres this time. I would not be surprised if the starting pitchers are drawing up papers to sue the offense for negligence. Winfield hit his 28th homer, one of only three Padre hits on the day.

The losing streak is snapped by Rick Reuschel, who pitches seven strong innings in a 4-2 win. Winfield was 3-4 and drove in both Padre runs. I'm glad to be done with him for the year.

A day after picking up his 40th save, Lee Smith collects his third loss. 3-2 final. We are now down 5.5 games and the fat lady is warming up. That feeling is magnified the next day when the bullpen gives up five runs in the 7th/8th to surrender another lead. 6-3 final.

Guess how many runs the offense scored for Gullickson? If you guessed zero, for the 3rd straight start, then you would be correct. They treat Mike Witt better the following day, backing him with 3 homers. Kingman (19), Ogilve (16), and Foote (9) did the damage. That was our 81st win of the year, tying our mark from last year. We visit St. Louis next, once again with the back of our rotation getting the call.

[hoopsguy]

The good news is that we are only 4.5 back of the Cardinals, as badly as we are playing.

Game #1 - Leon Durham's two run homer in the 4th is all the offense that is needed. 2-1 loss.

Game #2 - Dennis Martinez gives us seven scoreless innings and the offense puts up three insurance runs in the 9th to pick up a 4-0 victory. Yount hit a homer and had three hits.

Game #3 - Dennis Lamp came through with another huge outing and the bullpen did not screw him this time. Jim Rice hit a two run homer in the 6th and that was all the offense for either team.

So, we are 3.5 back with 20 to play. It sounds doable, particularly if the Cards keep playing the way they have the last two weeks.

The Astros have lost four in a row and their lead over the Dodgers has shrunk to 3 games.

Earlier this year I had mentioned the quick start for New York Mets OF George Bell. He has sustained that pace all year. .291/23/65 with 23 steals. I would call him a lock for Rookie of the Year.

Yankees All-Star Oscar Gamble is out for the rest of the year.

[hoopsguy]

Bill Gullickson is begging for some runs this start against his former team (Montreal). He gets three but it is not enough. 4-3 loss in our first game back at the friendly confines. We left the bases loaded in the 9th in a failed attempt to rally from a 4-0 deficit.

The offense is shut out for 7 innings the next day before rallying for three runs off Ted Power to get a much needed win. Smith made it interesting in the 9th, filling the bags full of Expos, before closing the door on a 3-1 win.

The sluggers come to play on the final day of this series. Reuschel is the beneficiary of four homers - two from Yount, one each by Rice and Ogilve. 7-4 win.

Pittsburgh comes calling next. Bert Blyleven drills us in the opener, holding us to four hits and no runs. It seems like we get the top of their rotation (Blyleven and Robinson) every time, which is aggrevating because the back part stinks. Speaking of Robinson, we can't score off him either. 4-0 loss and we are now 2-3 on our homestand and five back of the Cards. Looking very gloomy right now ...

[hoopsguy]

Gullickson just isn't worth a damn right now. He is now 16-9 after starting the year 14-2. That includes a 7-4 loss at Montreal. The offense gave him a 3-0 lead but he could not make it hold up. I'm calling "game" on the season.

We win one of the next two games. Reuschel picks up his 15th win of the year, giving us three starters with 15 wins. I guess that is nice to have, but I'm not in a celebratory mood after watching this team for the last month.

We head home for two games against the Cards, trailing them by five games. As usual, they are getting the back part of our rotation. But Dennis Martinez relishes the challenge and the hitters back him up big-time in a 11-2 laugher. Rice hit his 21st homer of the season. Every starter but Ogilve got a hit in this one.

September 22nd - the day that the season died. 6-5 loss to the Cards in a game that we just could not stop their offense. They had 15 hits and their bullpen completely stymied us over the last three innings. 5 games back, 12 to play.

8/23 - Gullickson snaps his personal five game losing streak and both Mel Hall and Jesse Barfield hit the first homers of their career in a 6-1 win over the Mets at Wrigley.

PSPN reports that Ken Oberkfell is 2nd in all of baseball in getting caught stealing. 15 steals, caught 14 times. Hmm, that does not sound like a particularly good ratio.

In better news, Mike Witt is tied with Nolan Ryan for the best WHIP. So we've got that going for us.

The only division race that is still a contest is the NL West, where the Dodgers remain four back of Houston.

[hoopsguy]

9/24 - both Detroit and Oakland clinch their divisions. Houston and St. Louis each have a magic number of 7.

9/27 - the Cubs win their 5th straight game, sweeping the Phillies at Wrigley. The deficit has been cut to 2 games with 7 to play. It looks like I'm going to need to start reporting game-by-game again. The Dodgers are still 3 back of Houston.

[hoopsguy]

9/28 - off to Pittsburgh, with Gullickson vs Candelaria as the pitching matchup. The Cardinals are hosting the Expos. Both Montreal and Pitt have identical 77-78 records.

The 2nd hitter for the Pirates, Tony Pena, has a 16 pitch at-bat against Gullickson. He fouled off ten straight pitches before lacing a double down the left field line. Bill Madlock followed with a single, Pena holding at 3rd as Madlock got gunned down at 2nd base. Big break there.

Bottom of the 8th - Richie Zisk took a ball for a ride, 406 feet to center. But that is not enough to clear the fence at Three Rivers. When the heck did the Rangers deal Richie Zisk to Pitt? Apparently at the trade deadline (7/29) for Alan Wiggins. How does PSPN not report a deal like that? Zisk is a monster! But I digress.

The game is scoreless through nine innings.

Top of 11 - Ben Ogilve leads off with a double, moves to third on a single by Jesse Barfield, and scores on a weak grounder to 1st by Ken Oberkfell.

Bottom of 11 - Smith comes in, gives up a leadoff double to Pena, his 4th hit (and 3rd double) of the day. But Smith gets a groundout and two K's to leave Pena on 2nd.

Exciting ballgame. Too bad the Cards won 6-3 and kept the margin at two games.

[hoopsguy]

9/29 - All-Star pitchers collide, with Mike Witt facing Bert Blyleven.

Witt nearly works his way out of a jam in the 2nd inning, but gives up a run scoring single to Blyleven (!!!) and Omar Moreno follows with a double to bring home a 2nd run.

Blyleven is perfect for the first three innings but Templeton leads off the 4th with a bunt hit, steals 2nd, and scores on a double by Mel Hall. But he is stranded there as Blyleven mows down Rice and Barfield before retiring Hayes on a flyout. I'm wondering about a lineup that includes all three rookie outfielders for an important game like this???

That was it for the scoring in this game. Rice doubled with two outs in the 9th but was stranded when Jerry Martin flew out to end the game.

The Cards won 6-4, taking a 3 game lead with 5 to play.

[hoopsguy]

9/30 - we are in New York and St. Louis travels to Philadelphia. Well, at least they are going to have to win road games to keep the pressure on us.

1st - Templeton again looks to bunt for a hit and reaches first on an error by Bob Brenly. He steals 2nd (31 of 39 on the year) and comes home on a Von Hayes single. We again are going with the three rookie lineup. Where are Ben Ogilve and Dave Kingman? Have they disappointed the manage so profusely that he really thinks these callow youths are our best shot this year?

6th - Buckner walks, advances to 2nd on a ground out, steals 3rd (Hall also stole 3rd earlier in game) and scores on a sac fly by Mick Kelleher. That is some serious run manufacturing.

Reuschel is out after 6 very strong innings.

9th - Smith gives up three straight singles with one out. The runners advanced to 2nd/3rd on an attempt at the plate. Score now 2-1. But Smith worked out of a 3-0 count to get a backwards K and a line out to first to end the game.

The Cards won 8-1. They just do not seem to require the same level of drama that we do to win games. Magic number is two with four to play.

[hoopsguy]

October 1st -

1st - Mookie Wilson singles, steals 2nd, and scores on a Buddy Bell single. 1-0 Mets.

2nd - double by Hayes, single by Foote, and Ontiveros knocks in Hayes with a single. Kelleher (what kind of lineups are we playing? where is Robin Yount?) knocks in Foote with a single and Martinez brings home a 3rd run on fielders choice for the first out of the inning. Unfortunately, we don't get any more.

3rd - Mookie goes yard. 3-2.

4th - Martinez gives up a hit to starting pitcher Rick Matula to tie the game. God I hate baseball sometimes.

6th - Von Hayes is thrown out at the plate trying to score on a shallow single to left.

6th - Doug Flynn makes the final out of the inning on a 16 pitch at bat, pushing Martinez up to 105 pitches on the evening.

7th - Doug Capilla is in, walks two men and gives up two hits. 5-3 Mets.

Cards win again to clinch at least a share of the division title.

[hoopsguy]

We end the season in Philadelphia, losing the first game 6-3. We win the final game of the season to finish with a 95-67 record, which is four games behind St. Louis.

AL East - Detroit goes 101-61 to finish 8 in front of Baltimore.
AL West - Oakland matches Detroit's mark; this is 11 better than KC.
NL West - Houston finishes 91-71, 7 ahead of the Dodgers.

Detroit and Houston host the first round series.

10/9
Oakland @ Detroit - Jack Morris may have been 13-13 in the regular season, but he is the emotional leader of this team and he showed why on this evening. The A's only got two hits and one run. Stan Papi had a pair of RBIs for the Tigers before giving way to Ryne Sandberg (.270/2/45 w/18 steals in 346 at bats) as a defensive replacement. 5-1 Tigers win.

St Louis @ Houston - 17 innings, 16 of them scoreless. This one will be remembered in both cities for decades. Pete Vukovich and Ken Forsch were the starters but they were long gone by the time that Brian Giles hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Denny Walling with the only run. You would think that both bullpens would be in trouble, but in fact each time only used four pitchers.

10/10
Oakland @ Detroit - Matt Keough gave up a pair of early runs and it could have been a lot worse if not for sparkling defensive work by his outfield. Oakland battled back to tie it at 2 in the top of the 5th on a Jim Essian homer but Lance Parrish untied it with a two run homer that was the difference in this game. 2-0 Tigers lead.

St Louis @ Houston - Bibby vs Ryan was the matchup that most expected in Game #1. This one started off as a pitchers duel but St. Louis blew open a 1-1 game with four runs in the top of the 7th. Three straight hits to start the inning chased Ryan from the mound and reliever Gordie Pladson walked two men with the bases loaded to make things worse. 5-1 final, series tied 1-1.

10/12
Detroit @ Oakland - It was an angry Oakland team that took the field backing Steve McCatty. And while he did not have his no-hit stuff, it was still plenty good when the offense supplies twelve runs. 1B Dave Revering hit a grand slam and everyone besides Rickey Henderson contributed a hit. Final score: 12-1. Series at 2-1, Tigers.

Houston @ St Louis - Silvio Martinez did not have his best day on the mound, but it was among the worst for Mike Krukow. The Astros rallied back from an early 5-0 hole to tie it before Krukow gave up four more earned runs in the bottom of the 5th. Martinez did a lot of the damage, contributing four RBIs. 9-5 final, 2-1 Cardinals lead.

10/13
Detroit @ Oakland - what a ride this game was. The Tigers posted three runs in the top of the first, thanks to one swing of the bat from Kirk Gibson. But the A's rallied to take a 5-4 lead with a pair of runs in both the 5th and 6th innings. It stayed that way until the top of the 9th, when the A's sent their closer, Jeff Jones, in to finish off the game. Stan Papi walked and the Tigers collected back-to-back singles from Sandberg and Alan Trammell to load the bases with no outs. Tom Brookens flew out to Tony Armas, who then gunned down Papi at the plate! But Rick Peters stroked a single, bringing in both Sandberg and Trammell to make it a 6-5 game.

Detroit closer Andy Hassler was called upon to send his team to the World Series for the second straight season. He walked Rob Picciolo, who was promptly replaced by pinch-runner John Shelby. Shelby stole second on what appears to have been a blown call. Jim Essian hit a sinking liner to left that was speared by Steve Kemp to save a run. Hassler struck out Henderson, bringing up Dwayne Murphy as the last Oakland hope. Murphy worked a 3-0 count and swang at a belt high fastball, stroking it past Tom Brookens for a game tying single. Hassler struck out likely AL MVP Mitchell Page to send the game to extra innings.

Bottom of the 11th - Mickey Klutts (.212/1/13) singles and advances to 3rd on two out hit by Rickey Henderson. Dwayne Murphy once again has ice water running through his veins, knocking a 2-1 pitch past Trammell to bring home the winning run. 7-6 final, we are heading back to Detroit for an elimination game!

Houston @ St. Louis - Houston had them. It was 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 8th. Joaquin Andujar had only allowed one hit over six scoreless innings. The worthless Gordie Pladson had given up a run, but the Astros were still in control thanks in part to three hits from Cesar Cedeno. But then Dave Smith happened. Walk to Durham, another one to Hendricks. Keith "motherf'ing" Hernandez hits a triple to cut the margin to 4-3. Chet Lemon walks. Smith gets his one out on the evening, retiring Mike Ramsey. Then Dave Chalk doubles in Hernandez. 4-4. Out goes Smith, who will never need to buy another drink in this town. New pitcher Lynn McGlothlen induces a grounder to short with the infield in but Lemon beats the throw. Tom Herr hits a sac fly to bring in the 6th run. The Cards win 6-4 to advance to the World Series. Six runs on five hits. I want to throw up.

10/14
Detroit @ Oakland - was there any doubt that Jack Morris would win this game? Well, there might have been after two innings when the score was 2-0 A's. Or after seven when the score was 5-3 A's. But Oakland left starter Rick Langford in to start the 8th after throwing 107 pitches in the first seven innings. Lynn Jones worked Langford for 14 more pitches before grounding out, but Langford was done at that point. With two outs, and no one on, here is what transpired:
- Parrish single
- Kemp to first on error by Langford
- Gibson single, bases now loaded. Langford is at 131 pitches at this point.
- Hebner single, Parrish scores, 5-4 A's
- Cowens doubles, Kemp and Gibson score, 6-5 Tigers
- Papi intentionally walked
- Trammell ground out
Langford was then lifted to start the 9th. Huh? Managers have been fired for less. Tigers advance to the World Series, with all of Chicago hoping that they can extract some revenge for 1980.

[hoopsguy]

1981 World Series - St. Louis Cardinals vs Detroit Tigers

10/19
Morris is back on the hill again, facing Pete Vukovich. And Morris is dealing, going eight strong innings while only allowing three hits. Vukovich went the distance, but it was only eight innings as the Cards lost 2-1. Lance Parrish hit a solo shot in the top of the first and Lynn Jones knocked in the go-ahead run in the 6th. Andy Hassler is relieved that he no longer has to face Dwayne Murphy; he pitched a perfect 9th. Tigers lead the series 1-0.

10/20
The good news for the Cardinals is that Jim Bibby held the Tigers to one run. The bad news is that run, scored in the bottom of the 9th, stood up. The Cardinals could only muster four hits against the tandem of Dave Rozema and Dan Petry. Kirk Gibson doubled to lead off the 9th and advanced to third on Mike Heath's one out single. Bibby was pulled at that point, after throwing 119 pitches. John Urrea was the new pitcher and he did get Stan Papi to fly out to George Hendrick. Hendrick is a very good fielder but only has a so-so arm. It was not enough to get Gibson. Tigers lead the series 2-0.

10/22
Another low scoring game, and this one went extras. Both sides posted zeroes on the scoreboard through five, but the Cardinals drew first blood in the sixth when Leon Durham tripled home Jay Johnstone. The Tigers got that run back in the 8th, once again rallying with two outs and none on. Parrish doubled and scored on a single by Steve Kemp. Kemp had a great at-bat, battling back from 0-2 to foul off four straight pitches before delivering his base hit. In the top of the 11th Al Cowens blasted a homer to dead center off John Littlefield. Durham made a tremendous catch in shallow right to keep more runs off the board that inning. But the Cardinals went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning and find themselves trailing 3-0 in the series.

10/23
Sweep. The Cardinals offense just could not get anything going against a highly motivated Tigers team. This time it was Milt Wilcox stifling their sluggers. Wilcox and the pen held St. Louis to just three hits on the night while the Tigers did just enough to win. 2-1 was the final.

[hoopsguy]

AL Cy Young - Matt Keough (Oak) 27-5 2.27 ERA, 13 CG, 3 SO, 149:98 K/BB, .190 BAA, 1.05 WHIP
AL MVP - Tony Armas (Oak) .289/30/89 with 19 steals
AL Rookie of the Year - Andre Thornton (KC) - .269/23/77
AL Rooke Pitcher of the Year - Chris Welsh (Bal) - 8-8 3.28 ERA, 4 CG, 1 SO, 86:76 K/BB, .246 BAA, 1.32 WHIP

AL Gold Glove Winners:
P Larry Christenson (Cle)
C Jim Essian (Oak)
1B Bruce Bochte (Sea)
2B Frank White (KC)
3B Dave Edler (Sea)
SS Rob Picciolo (Oak)
LF Gary Ward (Min)
CF Lloyd Moseby (Tor)
RF Bobby Clark (Cal)

AL Silver Sluggers:
C John Stearns (CHW) .176/7/54 - how in the world does this happen?
1B Willy Aikens (KC) .280/21/81
2B Bobby Grich (Cal) .279/26/98 - repeat winner
3B Wayne Gross (Oak) .293/23/87 - repeat winner
SS Roy Smalley (Min) .237/21/74 - repeat winner
LF Gary Gray (NYY) .261/24/81
CF Gorman Thomas (Mil) .247/27/80
RF Harold Baines (CHW) .289/28/91
DH Mitchell Paige (Oak) .295/30/110

Notes - ROTY Andre Thornton was a 3rd round pick by KC, despite being the most talented hitter in the draft. Teams were scared off by his high salary demands. He signed a one year deal and is now a free agent.

Chris Welsh of Baltimore was not drafted in five rounds of the amateur draft. He is not a dominator right now, but is a 26 year old with reasonable potential and is under contract for three more years. He looks pretty similar to Bud Black, who we added in the 4th round last year for about 50% of the money being earned by Welsh.

There were no repeat Gold Glove winners.

[hoopsguy]

NL Cy Young - Mike Witt (Chi) 17-6 2.18 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SO, 122:60 K/BB, .205 BAA, 1.02 WHIP
NL MVP - Dave Winfield (SD) .306/39/100
NL Rookie of the Year - Mike Witt (Chi)
NL Rooke Pitcher of the Year - George Bell (NY) .278/27/74 w/23 steals

NL Gold Glove Winners:
P Vern Ruhle (Hou)
C Gary Carter (Mon)
1B Dan Driessen (Cin) - repeat winner
2B Manny Trillo (Phi) - repeat winner
3B Bill Madlock (Pit)
SS Ozzie Smith (SD)
LF George Hendricks (StL)
CF Dale Murphy (Atl)
RF Leon Durham (StL)

NL Pure Slugger Winners:
C Gary Carter (Mon) - .201/17/66
1B Chris Chambliss (Atl) - .308/23/83
2B Glenn Hubbard (Atl) - .249/12/68
3B Bob Horner (Atl) - .289/34/87
SS Rafael Ramirez (Atl) - .252/9/55
LF Pedro Guerrero (LA) - .277/28/87
CF Andre Dawson (Mon) - .315/18/81 w/58 steals. Repeat winner
RF Dave Winfield (SD) - repeat winner

The Atlanta infield swept the Silver Slugger awards. I'm guessing that will not happen again anytime real soon.

[hoopsguy]

Team Stats for 1980:
Offense: 587 Runs Scored - 19th (+79 Runs, +4 Rank)
Defense: 463 Runs Allowed - 1st (-98 Runs, -8 Rank)
Total Salaries: $77,421,139 - 1st (+20.8 million)
Available Finances: some stupid amount
Approval Rating: 1/100 - last? (-74 from previous year)

Notes:
A lot more balance than last year, but no standouts for BA, HR, or RBIs. We are going to be seeing a complete overturn of our outfield by 1983 at the latest.

I'm not expecting to add as aggressively this off-season as we did last year because there are not as many putrid spots to fill. But Tidrow is 34, Reuschel is 32, and Lamp/Buckner/Boone are not good enough to be starters for this team. So there will be some turnover.

I would love to add a lefty corner infielder that will be in the lineup for the next 5+ years. That would help balance us out a bit. Yount and Rice are both right-handed hitters and those are the only guys I'm looking at as likely to be on the roster come 1983. Hall and Hayes, currently back in the minors, are both left handed hitters as well.

The state of catching and middle infield play is really putrid in this era; just look at the Silver Slugger awards for proof. Being able to find a guy who can be a consistent contributor at those positions would be a real edge for a couple of seasons at least.

We need to find ways to beat the Cardinals. In Leon Durham they have a young player that is better than any of our hitters. George Hendrick is a stud as well. And that damn Keith Hernandez represents a large talent gap compared to our corner infielders. Obviously four games is not a huge deficit to make up and I think we absolutely should do it next season.

[Radii]

Thoroughly enjoying this, especially as a Cubs fan who became a fan in the early 80s!

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Hitting:
BA:
AL - .307 Dave Stapleton (Bos)
NL - .323 Leon Durham (StL)
Top Cub - .270 Robin Yount (tied 43rd)

HR:
AL - 30 Tony Armas (Oak), Mitchell Page (Oak)
NL - 39 Dave Winfield (SD)
Top Cub - 22 Jim Rice (23rd)

RBI:
AL - 110 Mitchell Page (Oak)
NL - 100 Dave Winfield (SD)
Top Cub - 77 Dave Kingman (tied 23rd)

Runs:
AL - 99 Rickey Henderson (Oak)
NL - 104 Dave Winfield (SD)
Top Cub - 87 Robin Yount (tied 11th)

Hits:
AL - 186 Eddie Murray (Bal)
NL - 180 Dave Winfield (SD)
Top Cub - 145 Robin Yount (48th)

Stolen Bases:
AL - 85 Rickey Henderson (Oak)
NL - 92 Mookie Wilson (NY)
Top Cub - 44 Robin Yount (20th)

On Base %:
AL - .376 Al Cowens (Det)
NL - .385 Leon Durham (StL)
Top Cub - .343 Ben Ogilve (tied 31st)

OPS:
AL - .886 Mitchell Page (Oak)
NL - .933 Dave Winfield (SD)
Top Cub - .795 Ben Ogilve (25th)

[hoopsguy]

Thoroughly enjoying this, especially as a Cubs fan who became a fan in the early 80s!

Thanks. I'm absolutely loving playing this era as well. Hopefully we'll see the World Series streak come to an end at 74 years :popcorn:

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Pitching:
ERA:
AL - 2.23 Ron Guidry (NYY)
NL - 1.97 Mario Soto (Cin)
Top Cub - 2.18 Mike Witt (4th)

Wins:
AL - 27 Matt Keough (Oak) - monster season, don't expect to see this topped anytime soon
NL - 17 Ken Forsch (Hou) and 3 Cubs (Gullickson, Witt, Reuschel)
Top Cub - see above

Saves:
AL - 52 Andy Hassler (Det)
NL - 54 George Frazier (StL)
Top Cub - 24 Lee Smith (tied 6th) - tied with Bruce Sutter

Innings Pitched:
AL - 293.1 Mike Norris (NYY) - repeat winner
NL - 248 Scott Sanderson (Mon)
Top Cub - 224.1 Bill Gullickson (43rd)

Complete Games:
AL - 22 Mike Norris (NYY)
NL - 4 Mario Soto (Cin), John Candelaria (Pit) - Candelaria repeat winner
Top Cub - 2 Dennis Martinez, Mike Witt (tied 45th)

Shutouts:
AL - 4 Mike Norris (NYY), Rick Langford (Oak)
NL - 3 Mario Soto (Cin)
Top Cub - 2 Dennis Martinez (tied 6th)

Strikeouts:
AL - 210 Len Barker (Cle)
NL - 206 Nolan Ryan (Hou)
Top Cub - 166 Bill Gullickson (10th)

Walks:
AL - 113 Tim Lollar (NYY)
NL - 109 Eric Show (Pit)
Top Cub - 70 Dennis Martinez (tied 51st)

Run Support:
AL - 180 Matt Keough (Oak) - easier to win 27 games this way, next closest was 147
NL - 109 Ken Forsch (Hou)
Top Cub - 104 Mike Witt (tied 32nd)

[hoopsguy]

Offseason:
GM Score = 51/100. Much more fair than last season. I'm pretty satisfied with our win total on the year and roster improvement year-to-year but recognize that this is still a fairly flawed club.

Records - I'll start listing this next year. There are still too many changing year-to-year for this to be interesting.

Noteworthy Retirements:
Willy Stargell
Luis Tiant
Joe Morgan - hate acknowledging him
Tony Perez

Attractive Draft Prospects (wish list for #23):
After last year I feel like just about anything is possible in terms of players falling to us.

Hitters - our desire for a power hitting corner infielder is not going to be met. 1B Wade Boggs could supply us with some much needed average, but not pop. Don Mattingly is listed as LF/CF. He and Glenn Wilson look like the top guys. 1B Greg Walker looks like he could be a fit if the CPU drafting improves from last season. Pete O'Brien looks like a very cost-effective option. Maybe Howard Johnson could contribute early, but his potential is not that high.

Pitchers - Frank Viola looks like a clear cut above the others to me. Mike Morgan is another intriguing name. Oil Can Boyd could be a really nice 2nd round pick.

[hoopsguy]

Placeholder to review last seasons top picks (can't get to them when in new draft):
#1 - Kent Hrbek (Bal) - .244/19/76, decent rookie campaign overlooked by monster season from Bell. Will likely become a very complete hitter, over/under is 3.5 All Star games.
#3 - George Bell (NY) - .278/27/74 ROY, surprised he hit this well with a 30 eye. But 98 potential says that he is going to keep getting better.
#8 - Cal Ripken (Tex) - .247/16/67, surprising power now and 100 potential says that he will be a consistent force at the plate. No range or speed.
#11 - Tom Brunansky (Sea) - .221/14/35, looks like he is going to be a monster at the plate. Only 22 years old heading into 1982.
#15 - Chili Davis (Bos) - .266/14/57, not quite as prolific as Bell right now but 100 potential says he has a ton of room for growth.
#18 - Brook Jacoby (Mil) - .274/10/47, numbers are a bit better than I would expect right now but 100 potential says that the sky is the limit.
#22 - Ryne Sandbery (Det) - already a world champion, but not likely to be the same kind of producers as guys at top of this draft. 90 potential says that it is too soon to close the book on him just yet.
#25 - Darryl Motley (LA) - .224/10/45, has the look of a AAA player right now. Still young (22) with some potential (62) but probably not going to be anything better than average MLB guy.
#26 - Jody Davis (Cin) - .245/5/26, should be a good contributor at a position with few of them.
#27 - Gary Gaetti (Bal) - .249/5/24, looks like a guy who is going to put balls over the fence but needs work on his plate approach. Good in field, still has 90 potential.

[hoopsguy]

1st Round:
#1 Philadelphia selects Adam Jamieson. Must be the taste?
#2 Seattle picks Wade Boggs, continuing a tradition they established last year of making sane picks.
#3 Boston grabs Glenn Wilson. Very good pick.
#4 Cleveland - Jason Brown, a name that is forgotten as soon as it is announced. Unless you are talking about local sports radio, who will lampoon this for the next decade.
#5 San Francisco - Don Mattingly. Curses, the best hitters are now gone.
#6 White Sox - CF George Wright, who is actually a pretty good pick. Potential to become a do-everything player.
#7 Texas - CF Tony Gwynn. All in all, better drafting early on this year.
#8 San Diego - CF Willie McGee. Something is cosmically off, as they were supposed to get Gwynn and not E.T.
#9 Atlanta - took a pitcher, which is good. But not this guy. Fernando Garcia will be working at the DMV in two years.
#10 Milwaukee - Greg Walker. Darn, that was supposed to be our "safety valve"
#11 California - Tyson Sale (P). What we have just witnessed is the most insanely idiotic pick.
#12 Cincinnati - Michael Bonner. Another worthless pitching prospect.
#13 New York Mets - RF Kevin Bass. It looks like the CPU hitter logic is just fine. It is the pitchers that are a mess. Note to self - if you see a hitter you like, take him. The pitchers will fall.
#14 Minnesota - William Hodge. Maybe this will be a "local boy is terrible and booed" story
#15 New York Yankees - LF Pete O'Brien. Again, my safety picks are flying off the board.
#16 Montreal - P Maxwell Young. My division rivals are not good.
#17 Pittsburgh - 3B Howard Johnson. Well, this division rival did better.
#18 Los Angeles - 1B Greg Brock just might be really good. But probably not.
#19 Toronto - 2B Bill Doran could be a good BA/SB type infielder.
#20 Kansas City - RF Ron Kittle. I've got enough of this type of player, so I do not lament him coming off the board.
#21 Houston - Armando Pitts. Mr. Pitts, rise above your name!
#22 Baltimore - Tony Phillips. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt based on last year.
#23 Chicago - the hitters left at this point stink. So I'm going to grab a bunch of pitchers this draft and look to make deals and FA pickups to solidify the lineup. It is probably too much to ask of Frank Viola to match what Witt did last year (you know, win the Cy Young as a rookie) but I think he is going to be terrific. So he gets a 5 year deal for nearly 1.65 million per season.
#24 St. Louis - LF Mike Young. Backup OF talent now, just not much potential.
#25 Detroit - Jeremy Boland. Terrible. Next.
#26 Oakland - Larry Simone = Jeremy Boland, but with a wimpier last name.

2nd round - SP Mike Morgan gets 4 years @ 950K per
3rd round - C Don Slaught is the only position player that I would have taken in the 2nd round. Mainly due to scarcity at the position. 4 years @ 180K a season.
4th round - Ed Vande Berg is a 24 year old lefty reliever with big league stuff and a high ceiling. We're going to have some turnover in our pen soon and I want him to help fill it. 3 years @ 675K.
5th round - Oil Can Boyd. Just because I want to draft him. In all seriousness, there are better pitchers out there right now if I'm looking strictly to stack the deck for our team. 3 years @ 255K.

Round #2
San Diego takes Gary Redus, who was the one position player left that was mildly intriguing. The Dodgers grab 24 year old SS Julio Franco - remember when he was young? Me either. Detroit snags Gary Pettis with the last pick of the 2nd round, which is great value for a hitter in that spot.

Rounds 3-5
San Diego - Buddy Biancalana can fly. 100 speed. Other than that, he sucks. This is the last player really worth mentioning. The computer cannot draft pitchers, which means they get snapped us as FAs afterwards. The hitters are not deep enough in this draft to be interesting by this point. They lack potential and usually only have one + category.

[hoopsguy]

The draft puts us at 36 players, one above the maximum allowed. So I probably need to move 3-4 players to free up space for free agents. Good bye Carlos Lezscano, Jim Tracy, and Steve Dillard.

On a lark, I project my rotation right now with Viola at the big league level. #5 starter, ahead of Lamp. He may pass others when spring training is done. The computer also has Mel Hall ahead of Dave Kingman.

One last note - Gary Templeton hit .210 last year.

[hoopsguy]

Looking at the FA market, here are a few of the more interesting names that are looking for bids:
- Cliff Johnson: Buckner's former platoon buddy is back on the market and looking for 13 million after a .293/9/32 season.
- Gorman Thomas: .247/27/80 last year for this 32 CF. San Francisco has submitted an early bid.
- Steve Garvey: .303/14/49, but at age 34 how much is left in his tank?
- Jeffrey Leonard: 27 year old OF coming off .279/15/46 season. Normally don't see guys this young with talent on FA market. Cards are submitting a bid for him.
- George Hendrick: ah, this explains why the Cards would be looking at other OFs.
- Steve Carlton: at 38, pretty long in the tooth. But probably still a front of the rotation guy for next year.
- Mike Norris: this premier innings-eater will be looking for big money from another team next season.
- Floyd Bannister: this years version of Gullickson. Well, he is five years older but still a stud FA and only 27.
- Bob Forsch: Astros should try to resign him, even if his fastball cannot break a pane of glass.
- Jeff Reardon: best closer on market, still young (27).
- Jim Bibby: at 38 you can't figure he will have a sub-2.00 ERA again, can you?
- Cecilio Guante: 22 year old that was not taken in last draft, will be a 15 year starter in the league. Could be had for a million per year or so.

We are going to go after reliever Tom Henke, a 25 year old right hander who is major league ready. I'm guessing he'll take 1 million per year or so. Boston is already bidding on him. We'll put in a 3 year/1 million offer.

Another guy who is getting an offer is C Mike Scoscia. He is 24 years old, good behind the plate, and looks better with a bat than most of the guys playing the position. I think he'll take about 1.3 million to land. We'll offer four years at that price tag.

If we land those two that would bring us to 35 players.

[hoopsguy]

Here are a few of the early signings. I'll look to add more as they come up.

Stage 1:
- Henke wants to take a 5 year, 1,075,556 offer from the Red Sox. We pop our counter-offer up 75K beyond that to see if we can convince him to join our rotation. But no dice, he is headed to Boston.
- KC signs Bob Knepper for 5 years @ 8.4 per season. He has talent, but he was terrible last year. Something like 4-17 terrible.
- Cleveland signs Tommy Boggs for 5 years @ 2.85 a year. That is huge value, in my opinion. Especially compared to the Knepper signing.
- St. Louis gets Leonard for 2 years @ 7.7 apiece. Probably a good signing for them. I'm kind of intrigued about bringing in Hendricks for a one year deal to play against his old team if the market will allow that to happen.
- The Reds get Guante at 3 years for about 1 million a year. Good signing, he could be the successor to Mario Soto.
- Seattle signs Mike Scott for 2 years at 1.4 apiece. Another promising young pitcher.
- Toronto inks Rudy Law, the hitter with the most potential (86) on the market, for 2 years at nearly 3 million per year. I just was not in the market for more young outfielders.
- St. Louis picks up our former reliever Doug Capilla. Four years at 2.1 a year. That is too long a contract, but he now has the chance to haunt us.
- California adds 1B Mike Ivie for 3 years/8 million per year. That was too much money for too little talent.

Time to change targets for bullpen help. Bob James is a polished 24 year old right hander. Not as much potential, but he is pretty good right now and way undervalued based on his asking price. I would be very pleased to lock him up at 5/450K, which is considerably more than he is seeking. Baltimore is the leader for his services at the moment and he seems to like their 3 year/312K offer more.

The White Sox have offered Scoscia 2 years @ 1.66. We counter with 3/1.7.

James wants to take a Rangers offer for 4 years @ 464K. How about 5/500?

Stage 2:
- Scoscia signs with us, James has not put pen to paper just yet.
- The Phillies add Dave Dravecky for 3/2.1. Another very promising starter that went undrafted. Oh, and Gorman Thomas jumps on board for a one year, 10.5 million dollar contract. Finally, Jerry Martin will be calling Philadelphia home for the next three years. 3.7 per season.
- The Yankees add 37 year old Jim Palmer for 2 years at a cool 6 million apiece.
- Houston brings Bumps Wills aboard for 4 years/4.2 million.

Stage 3:
- White Sox put Pudge Fisk behind the plate with a one year, 5.2 million dollar deal.

Stage 4:
- Atlanta brings Steve Garvey on board for a one year, 8.4 million dollar deal that seems to spell the end of Silver Slugger Chris Chambliss in Atlanta.

Bob James accepts our offer at the end of Stage 6.

[hoopsguy]

More FA news: Baltimore signed Mike Norris for one year, $19,613,664. That is a pay cut for him, but a huge step for Baltimore in catching up to the defending champion Tigers.

Looking at our rotation, we'll be lining up Gullickson, Witt, Reuschel, Martinez, and Viola. Smith will close and the other relievers will be Lamp, Orosco, Caudill, Vande Berg, and Hernandez. I'm still waffling on whether or not to carry 12 pitchers and keep Black up here. Tidrow and James are heading down to the minors to act as reinforcements or (Tidrow) potential trade bait.

The lineup still needs some work. We have three catchers right now, which is one too many. I've decided that Foote is the man to go and it is time to see if we can find something at 3B for him. Cleveland's Toby Harrah is a definite upgrade, but we are taking on another 4.5 million in salary for a 34 year old in his walk year. Fine. Done. We are "all in" this year in terms of making deals to get a title now that we've begun building an organization with some young talent.

Mike Vail has significantly more trade value than Kingman, which is odd to me because Kingman has one high-level skill (power) while Vail is a mediocre jack-of-all-trades. We swap him for Mike Hargrove, aka "The Human Rain Delay', of the Yankees to bring in some 1B competition. Hargrove is another older (33) player in the last year of his deal but we don't flinch.

Final cuts, subject to Spring training changes - Hayes, Black.

Lineup vsL - Oberkfell, Yount, Rice, Harrah, Ogilve, Buckner, Boone, Barfield
Lineup vsR - Oberkfell, Yount, Ogilve, Rice, Hall, Harrah, Buckner, Scioscia

[hoopsguy]

PSPN thinks that this is our year, as they list us #1 in the Pre-Season Power Rankings. Detroit, LA, and KC are the next three teams and thus the forecasted division winners. The Cardinals are #25 of 26???? Huh? Pittsburgh at #6 is supposed to be our toughest competitor.

The most feared hitters, and projected numbers, are:
- Eddie Murray (Bal): .285/30
- Cecil Cooper (Mil): .308/26
- Dave Winfield (SD): .274/34
- Reggie Jackson (Cle): .261/36
- Mike Schmidt (Phi): .265/34
- Bob Horner (Atl): .274/34
- Doug DeCinces (Bal): .280/27

Payroll #'s - four teams are over 100 million, led by LA at $113,994,113. Detroit is tops in the AL at $104,955,119, just two million more than Baltimore. The Angels are the 4th member of the century club. Chicago is 8th at $86,038,765, one spot behind the Cardinals.


Spring training - Viola improved enough to take the 3rd spot in the rotation. Ed Vande Berg also improved big-time, moving to the top of the bullpen ahead of Lamp. Smith has really improved his control, which should make him a very scary proposition for our opponents who did not hit him much last year.

[hoopsguy]

We open the season in Cincinnati, in what looks to be a great pitching matchup: Gullickson vs Soto. And the game bears this out, as we squeak out a 1-0 victory. Toby Harrah gets two hits, including an RBI single in the 4th, to lead the offense. Gullickson (6), Vande Berg (2), and Smith (1) shut down the Reds on three hits. Gullickson was pulled after throwing only 56 pitches.

Mike Witt goes eight strong and Bill Buckner knocks in a pair in a 3-2 victory that completes a two game road sweep in Cincinnati.

The home opener is on April 9th, as the 0-2 Mets come to town. Frank Viola makes his big league debut and it is one that he would rather forget. So would the offense, who only garnered one hit (thank you, Jim Rice)in the 6-0 loss. Lee Mazzili had a homer and 4 RBIs for the Mets, who scored all of their runs off our rookie starter.

The bats find their stride the next day, putting up 10 runs for a stunned Dennis Martinez. All ten runs came in the 4th inning. No homers, but Harrah went 4-5 with 3 RBIs.

But the offense was shut out again on 4/11, meaning that we had not scored in 34 of the last 35 innings. Hopefully we can start stringing some hits together because this lineup is too good for that kind of performance. We split those four games but that lack of production is a bad joke.

Gullickson closes out the Mets series with another flawless performance, throwing seven scoreless innings. Robin Yount had three hits in the win, bringing his average up to .240.

Time for the first Cardinals series of the year. Both teams are 4-2 heading into the showdown.

[hoopsguy]

4/13 - The Cards continue to have success at Wrigley, putting together four runs in the final four frames to win 4-1. Both Leon Durham and Jeffrey Leonard had two hits and one RBI. We had ten hits but were not clutch at all.

4/14 - nice game by Viola to get his first win, 3-2 final. Ben Ogilve had his second straight 3 hit game in the victory.

4/15 - another 3-2 game, this one in 12 innings. Smith gave up a 2-1 lead in the 9th to blow a win for Martinez but Jesse Orosco threw two perfect innings of relief to get the win. Ken Oberkfell drove in the winning run and Jesse Barfield hit a homer along the way.

Taking 2 out of 3 from the Cards is nice, but it is also what we are supposed to do at home. We've gotten good starting pitching all year, but the hitting just has to come around at some point because it is not realistic to expect 3-2 wins every time out.

[hoopsguy]

News: Nolan Ryan (Houston) has suffered a serious knee injury and is not due back until June.

On the Cubs beat, the extra inning game against the Cards means that it is a quick turnaround to Pittsburgh the following evening. But a good pitching staff trumps small matters like that, as we move the road record to 3-0 with a 5-1 victory over the Pirates. The offense came alive in the top of the 8th, putting up four runs to give Dennis Lamp a win. Mel Hall had a pair of hits, two RBIs and a steal in the victory.

In other news, the Phillies had started off 8-0 before losing in St. Louis 2-0. We've seen them start off fast before ... not going to make much of this just yet, as I'm pretty sure that our #1 competitor is the NL representative in the World Series the last two seasons.

Back to Pittsburgh - Gullickson and his 0.00 ERA line up against Cub-killer Bert Blyleven. Something has to give and it is Gullickson + our hitters. 3-1 loss, with Blyleven holding us to one hit over six innings. The skid hits two the following night in a tough 5-4 defeat with the bullpen surrendering four runs in the final two innings. Ouch. Barfield had three hits to bring his batting average up to .300. His platoon with Hall is one of the better things going for our offense.

In news that should not be all that surprising, Gary Templeton is batting .182.

Around the league, Boston's Fred Lynn is killing everything in site to the tune of .520/6/16. Dare I say, en fuego.

[hoopsguy]

Off to New York, where the Mets are punchless against a motivated Viola. 9-0 shutout, with most of the offense coming late. Hall had four hits and four RBIs. Yount had two hits and three steals. But the offense is silent the following evening against the immortal Pete Falcone as the Mets triumph 3-0.

That wraps up a short roadtrip, leaving us with a 2-3 mark. We were not playing teams that I fear all that much based on last year, so this certainly is not a positive. The offense remains very much a work in progress. Our 8-6 mark leaves us tied with the Cardinals, one game back of the Phillies.

[hoopsguy]

After three starts Rick Reuschel (our #5 starter!) has an ERA of 0.89 and an 0-1 record. That is because he got a no decision in a 2-1 win at home against the pesky Pirates. Lamp picked up his 2nd vulture win on the year when the Hall doubled in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th. Gullickson won the rematch with Blyleven, throwing a two hit shutout. The staff has surrendered zero runs in three of his four starts. Jim Rice was 4-4 in the victory.

The batting averages of the starting lineup are not horrific, by any means.

Oberkfell - .239
Yount - .257
Ogilvie - .283
Rice - .297
Hall - .310
Harrah - .196
Buckner - .326
Scioscia - .226

Not great, but not morbid. What is morbid is the lack of power. Not a single one of these guys has a home run. Jesse Barfield has hit the only two homers by Cubs on the season. That is beyond belief.

Back to the games - Witt throttles the Pittsburgh hitters, giving us our second straight complete game, in a 5-1 win. He had three hits and three RBIs and I'm thinking about playing him in the field on his off days.

[hoopsguy]

Top five paid pitchers for 1982:
1. Steve Rogers (California) - 20,002,502
2. Mike "Hired Gun" Norris (Baltimore) - 19,613,664
3 (tie). Bert Blyleven (Pittsburgh) - 14,720,000
3 (tie). J.R. Richard (Milwaukee) - 14,720,000
3 (tie). Nolan Ryan (Houston) - 14,720,000
Gullickson, at 9,878,879, is 16th on this list.

Rogers, in his 2nd year for California, is coming off a 16-14 season with a 3.09 ERA. All of his totals were improvements from the previous year with Montreal. He is a solid pitcher, but at 33 with four more years of that deal he is a terrible investment.

The schedule has not shown much diversity earlier and the trend continues with our next series - the Reds come to town. Jim Rice celebrates by hitting our 3rd overall homer of the month off Mario Soto as we run away and hide in a 9-6 win. Lost in the victory was a 2nd horrid outing on the year by Willie Hernandez, whose ERA hovers at 16.20 right now. Stop it, dude.

Two more homers the next day (that is 5 over three weeks if you are scoring at home), with Yount and Harrah getting on the board. Our team has almost caught up to Fred Lynn. The 8-1 win was a result of 7 runs in the 8th inning.

Atlanta hosts the Cubbies and keeps Reuschel winless, delivering us a 5-4 defeat and snapping our four game winning streak. Chris Chambliss socked a three run homer in the 7th to send the fans home happy. Gary Templeton is at .125, which is low even by his standards.

But the bats strike back the following night, putting two over the wall at Fulton County. Rice and Harrah add their 2nd homers on the year and both players plus Hall eclipse the 10 RBI mark. Slowly but surely we are starting to hit.

Rice does it again the following night, paving the way to a 4-2 win. Rice was responsible for three of the RBIs and Witt once again helped himself with a sac fly. Dale Murphy supplied all the Braves runs with a two run jack.

The fourth game had Atlanta rolling out 4-0 Doyle Alexander to face our rookie starter. Alexander left 5-0 and we had a split with the Braves: 8-2 loss.

At 15-8 we held a one game lead over the Phillies and a 2.5 game margin on the Cardinals. Those same Cardinals will be hosting the Cubs next.

[hoopsguy]

So, who had a good May? Well, the Cubs have the best record in the bigs right now so it would appear that the correct answer is "no one".

AL East - The Yankees are 14-9 and one game ahead of Baltimore. Detroit is one of three other teams that are 1.5 behind the Evil Empire.

AL West - Oakland is in first with a 15-10 mark, just .5 ahead of Kansas City and 1 up on Texas.

NL West - Three way tie at the top, with San Diego, San Francisco, and Houston each three games over .500.

[hoopsguy]

Von Hayes is destroying AAA Iowa, putting up .379/7/15 with an OPS around 1.100. We'll have to see about getting him up to the big club at some point ...

FA signee Bob James was not happy about being sent down to AAA but he got beat out in spring training. He has responded well, with a 0.00 ERA in 16.2 innings and a 17/4 K:BB ratio.

Mike Morgan also looks like a guy who could/should be pitching on a major league roster, as he has a 2.95 ERA through one month of minor league ball. This is the kind of depth I had envisioned for our organization. It should be fun having these kind of guys to shop around the deadline, or to displace established starters who are a little too demanding with their salary requests.

Off to the Gateway City to play our rivals. We forgot the lumber in the opener, allowing John Martin to dominate us for the second time this year in a commanding 4-0 victory. The winless Big Daddy is next in line, and he is still winless but the Cubs have evened up the series thanks to a 3-1 victory. Rice hit a two run homer in the top of the 8th to break the tie and making a winner out of Dennis "Vulture" Lamp. Durham homered in the loss for the Cardinals.

The third game features a pitching mismatch: Gullickson vs Bob Sykes and his 8.00 ERA. So what happens? Well, we score our runs and allow Gullickson to be less than perfect in a 7-4 win. Mike Hargrove had three hits to move his average up to .350. In exciting news, Templeton went 2-5 and is hitting .227! Wow, where did this come from?

In all seriousness, it came from a lack of at-bats. His average had plummeted from .286 to .125 after an 0-9 stretch and jumped back up .100 points with a 3-6 showing over the last two games.

So far we've won both series against the Cards. Things are looking good in Chicago for the time being.

[hoopsguy]

Want to know what kills a feel-good buzz faster than anything in baseball? How about your closer pissing a game away in the 9th? Smith did exactly that to open up a series against the Astros at Wrigley. A 2-1 lead quickly morphed into a 4-2 loss, much to the chagrin of Mike Witt and about 30,000 fans in attendance (the real-life Cubs would have killed for those numbers in 1982).

The Astros maintain their mojo the next afternoon, with pitcher Vern Ruehle clubbing a two run homer to back his own cause in a 5-3 win. And it is a clean sweep when the Astros push a run across in the 10th to beat us 4-3. Cesar Cedeno hit three hits in the win for Houston. So much for "things looking good". Hopefully I've learned my lesson.

[hoopsguy]

The losing streak, at home (!), hits four in an 8-0 pasting at the hands of the 12-18 Atlanta Braves. Bob Horner went yard for the 8th time on the year. When would the losing stop? Not the next day, as we were shut out again. 2-0 this time in 12 innings, wasting 11 K's by Gullickson. Disgusting. 0-5 homestand = loss of all good vibes.

The streak ends at 5, as Mike Witt enjoyed 10 runs. Or, to be precise, more runs than we scored during the homestand. Harrah and Hargrove each had three RBIs in delivering some payback to the Astros. It is at this point that I notice that the Mets have won 8 in a row, moving into a tie for first in the division at 19-15.

Frank Viola makes sure our winning streak stops at one, giving us another uneven outing with 5 earned runs in as many innings. His ERA is now 5.23, which is in line with what I see for several members of our bullpen:
Vande Berg: 5.93
Orosco: 4.22
Hernandez: 8.59
James (recent call-up): 6.75

Only Lamp is excelling in the pen, with a 1.61 ERA. Caudill is at 3.18, which is a clear #2 with this bunch.

Remember Mike Krukow? Well, our hitters must not as they were absolutely baffled in a 5-0 loss to sink us down to 18-16. And we lose 3 of 4 in the series when the finale goes Houston's way by a 5-4 margin. If this continues it will be time to shuffle the deck chairs ...

[hoopsguy]

Rickey Henderson is going bananas on the base paths so far this year, posting 38 steals. That total is 15 better than Oakland teammate Dwayne Murphy. We feel like we've got a faster team on the bases than years past, with our top duo being Yount (14 - tied for 16th best) and Hall (13 - T18th). Obviously Oakland is on another completely different level.

One guy who is having a "wait, WHO is posting those numbers?" type year is Seattle CF Juan Beniquez. This 32 year old has been among the most productive players in baseball all year, posting .318/8/22.

The first game in LA is a baseball fans delight, with stud pitchers Gullickson and Fernando Valenzuela colliding. Each goes seven innings and gives up one run, leaving it up to the bullpens to decide. It goes 11 and LA blinks, when Toby Harrah empties the bases with a double to send this one to a 4-1 final.

The next day features Witt vs. 0-5 Burt Hooten. Automatic win? Not with us, but Witt refuses to lose this one and he makes the only run of the game stand up.

I have low expectations for Viola against Bob Welch, but we end up with our second 1-0 win in a row. It is lucky and good to win when you only get two hits, but that was the formula on this day. A Hargrove sacrifice accounted for the scoring. We swept a series where we only scored 6 runs, 3 in extra innings. That is hard to do and I don't think it is a formula for success.

Two guys that are giving us very little right now are Ken Oberkfell and Mike Scioscia. I don't think anyone is swinging a great bat at the moment but we need these guys to get their averages up from .205 and .200, respectively.

[hoopsguy]

The road show continues in San Francisco, where the bats are out in force to bail out Dennis Martinez. El Presidente surrendered an early 3-0 lead, falling behind 9-3 after 7 before the boys rallied with 4 in the 8th, 2 in the 9th, and 3 more in the 10th! Ogilve put two balls over the wall, including the deciding blow in the 10th. And check out this box score for Harrah: 4-4, 4 runs, 4 RBI, 2 walks.

Lamp has pitched 19 2/3 scoreless innings for us, bringing his ERA down to 1.24. That guy has been awesome, just lights out.

The good vibes come to an end with Reuschel falling to 0-5 on the year. This is kind of sad, in part because he did not deserve the losses early in the year and because he has been such a good member of the team up to this point. But he is struggling right now and we have arms in the organization that will take his spot (soon) if this continues much longer. 4-2 final on this day, with the Giants getting all of their runs in the bottom of the 6th. Rick has given up too many big innings this year.

We sweep a double-header with our two aces on the mound to finish 3-1 in San Francisco. 5-2 and 6-2 wins, with homers for Rice, Harrah, and Hall. Scioscia has responded to the criticism in LA, raising his average to .247.

This monster road trip continues in San Diego, where we see Lamp move to 5-0 on a day where the offense posted 21 hits in pasting the Padres 13-3. Viola threw 87 pitches in three innings (only giving up one run), which allowed Lamp to vulture the win with 3 2/3 scoreless innings. His streak is now at 25 1/3 innings. Go, dude, go. Scioscia, Boone, Hall, and Rice homered. Dave Kingman got his first RBI of the year.

Boone does it again the following day to drive in the only run in a showdown between Martinez and Bob Shirley. What a contrast compared to the slugfest the day before.

Big Daddy gets pounded to close out the road trip. 0-6 with a 4.15 ERA for a first place team is just not getting the job done. I never figured he would be the first guy heading out of town this year but this game is full of surprises.

Maybe I could package him with Templeton, who is hitting .171. Time to fire up the trade generator.

[hoopsguy]

A look around the league at things that have caught my eye:
1.) Mike "Hired Gun" Norris is 2-8 for the Orioles with an ERA of 5.00. At 27 years of age, he should be in his prime. I'm guessing this is just a bad stretch for him, rather than the kind of career slide that I'm seeing with Reuschel.
2.) Boston's Dwight Evans has kept up his white-hot start, posting numbers that should make him an All-Star lock: .288/13/30.
3.) There have been almost no serious injuries this season.

OK, back to Reuschel. He is 33 years of age, still has top-end control, but average stuff and velocity. In other words, the same guy he has been the past two years but with more mileage and an increasing likelihood of falling off the map. And his performance over the last month has been garbage. He is signed for this year and next at 4.1 million per year. If I'm going to move him I want to fee like I've got candidates to replace him as well as some control over the contracts coming up behind him. I do not want to be extending all of the following pitchers to huge money in the same year behind him, if that makes sense.

1. Gullickson (23) - 2 years, 9.9 million. I'm going to have to break the bank to keep him, but I'll almost certainly do it if he stays this productive.
2. Witt (22) - 3 years, 1.5 million. Awesome start to his career, has look of a 10+ year Cub.
3. Viola (22) - 5 years, 1.6 million. Not enjoying same success as Witt did in rookie season but that is incredibly high bar. This guy is also a part of the long-term plan.
4. Martinez (27) - 1 year, 4.5 million. This guy is interesting because he is a good pitcher but not as successful as the first three and because his contract is up now. He is asking for reasonable money on the extension, basically the same amount he is making now. Which probably seals Reuschel's fate.
5. Lamp (30) - there is no way I'm moving him out of his current role, but since he could start I'll list him here. His contract is up this year as well. He is making 2.2 million this year and is looking to double his salary. Hmm, that is pricey for a long reliever but I'm caught up in the buzz of what he is doing this year. If he sustains this I'll reward him with a 2-3 year deal later this season. If not, I'll see how the rest of the pen is doing at growing into roles and factor that into the decision.
6. Morgan (23) - 4 years at 950K, he would be displacing Reuschel by next year if we just let nature take its course.
7. Black (25) - 2 years @ 300K. I just have not seen the development yet. He may never crack our rotation, which would leave him as a long reliever, trade bait, or just shuffling off at the end of his contract.
8. Boyd (23) - 3 years @ 250K. Not ready yet, maybe next year for long relief role as best case scenario?

[hoopsguy]

The Twins make an interesting offer for Reuschel - their closer, Doug Corbett. Looking at his makeup, I think he would be a really nice setup man for us but would not displace Smith. Corbett is under contract for two years at 4.5 million, so it is a wash on salaries. If Mike Morgan is ready to give us what Reuschel has (0-6? I'm sure he can at least do that) then this move would definitely strengthen our bullpen without costing us anything now. I've talked myself into it.

I'm also at 26 men on the roster right now, with Von Hayes begging for a call-up so it is time to take a hard look at the depth charts + contract situations and see if I find a move that makes sense.

Walk Year:
1B Buckner (33) - 3 million for a platoon guy, want 7+ million. Bill, it is time for you to fly.
RP Caudill (26) - 3.7 million, I want him around long-term even though he has been mediocre this year
1B Hargrove (33) - 1.6 million for a platoon guy, with reasonable contract demands going forward. Hello, Mr "on the Cubs roster in 1983"
3B Harrah (34) - 6.7 million, but bringing it for us this year
RP Hernandez (28) - I like him, but other teams love him and I think I may test that market. 3.7 million salary.
SP Lamp (30) - covered previously
SP Martinez (27) - see above
LF/RF Ogilvie (33) - not quite the power I expected to see, lots of young OFs, he is almost certainly gone

So it is Buckner and Ogilvie that are the guys that make the most sense to move, unless I get offered a truckload for Hernandez.

[hoopsguy]

May as well find out what Hernandez would attract before deciding on which of the other guys to move.

Baltimore offers 3B Gary Gaetti, who is raw but has a lot of upside at 24. This is the kind of deal I will end up regretting if I do not make it, but I expect that it would not be a home run if I did pull the trigger. Another player they are willing to offer is Mike Norris but I'm not looking to take on that type of salary.

But Seattle's offer of Wade Boggs is too good to pass up. The 24 year old first baseman is not going to be a power hitter, but he is going to make contact relentlessly (100/100 already) and has a ton of upside (100/100 potential) still to untap. He is hitting .301/5/19 this year and is under contract for the next 4 years at 1.2 million per season. Plus he is pretty good defensively. I'm guessing they want Hernandez to close; he is certainly a better option than Salome Barojas.

Done - I still have 26 players in the bigs and we are now top-heavy on hitters so I'll have one more move to make. It will certainly involve the no-longer-needed Buckner.

[hoopsguy]

Buckner heads to Milwaukee for Enrique Romo, a very solid 35 year old reliever in the last year of his deal. So that should help out our bullpen some more in the short term. We are actually taking on salary, as Romo is making 5.5 million this season. I'm not all that worried about signing him for next year - we'll find ourselves arms for the bullpen in the draft or off-season, if need be.

I can't justify sending down Barfield to promote Hayes. Point of fact, Barfield is more talented and is right-handed, which works in a platoon with Hall. Hayes is a lefty and would not work as well. But we do extend Hayes' deal, giving him 3 more years at about 1.2 million per season.

So, as the end of May is approaching here are the standings in each of the divisions:

AL East - The Tigers have assumed their usual position of looking down on the division. Their 27-17 mark is the best in baseball and puts them 2.5 in front of the Blue Jays. The Yankees and Baltimore are both still in this with records above .500.

AL West - Oakland, at 27-19, finds themselves one in front of California and two in front of KC.

NL East - The Cubs are on top with a 26-19 mark, but the last-place team is only 4.5 games back.

NL West - Houston, despite losing 3 straight, has a 4 game lead over the Padres. The Astros are the only team with a winning record in the division.

[hoopsguy]

Los Angeles pays us back for our handiwork in their ballpark with a 3-1 win where Valenzuela outdueled Gullickson. Yount was caught stealing twice in this game. Bah. But Witt gets us back in the win column with seven shutout innings in a 5-0 win. Boggs had a pair of hits and 3 RBIs in his first start as a Cub. LA takes the third in a good pitchers duel, 2-1 final.

We jump out to a 5-2 lead in the opener of the Padres series, watch San Diego tie it in the 9th (Smith not in, nursing a minor injury?) but earn the win on a Rice triple in the bottom of the inning. Mike Morgan's first start ends up like Viola's earlier this year - a loss. Lamp extended his scoreless streak to 32 1/3 innings in the 5-3 loss. Harrah and Yount each had solo shots. Gullickson closed out the series with a win, finally getting his 6th on the year in a 7-2 triumph. Both Rice and Dave Winfield hit their 8th homers of the year in this game.

On the year, Jim Rice has out-performed last season's MVP:
Rice: .271/8/31
Winfield: .264/8/30

[hoopsguy]

Toby Harrah is starting to show up on some of the "best hitter" lists, and with good reason. He is unlikely to start in the All-Star game with Bob Horner and Mike Schmidt around, but his numbers are very strong. .315/7/27 with a .911 OPS. That OPS is 9th in the majors.

One of the more productive players in baseball that is not widely known is California Angels 1B Jason Thompson. He was an All-Star in 1980 and led the league in walks last season. This year he is hitting .301/9/29. The 28 year old is a force in the American League.

Yount has a 13 game hitting streak going, 2nd best currently behind Houston's Terry Puhl (14).

Ryne Sandberg is coming along in Detroit. He still does not grade out as an A+ prospect, but he is getting the job done at SS for the World Series champs with a .288 average, 1 homer, 24 RBIs, and 22 steals.

Dickie Thon of the Angels is out for a month with a MCL strain.

[hoopsguy]

Mike Witt laid an egg against the Giants, who were starting a guy with an ERA of 30! We lose at home 9-3. Even more depressing is the realization that Lamp's scoreless streak is over, thanks to Jack Clark cranking one out onto Waveland for his 10th homer of the season. Clark had 5 RBIs on the day.

Martinez put up goose eggs for 8 straight innings and Corbett finished off an 8-0 shutout on getaway day to give us a 3-3 home stand. Rice went 3-3 and Barfield hit a pinch 3 run homer.

Otto Velez is having a horrid year for the Giants: .186/4/14. With numbers like that, he is not going to get the big off-season payday that I'm sure his agent had promised him.

Scioscia has just kept on hitting since I called him out last month and is up to .303. Oberkfell is at .253, so he has also responded.

Next up is a big (well, for June anyway) series with the Phillies at Veteran's Stadium. We have a one game edge on them in the division race. They have a lineup full of guys that just mash - Schmidt, Luzinski, Thomas.

[hoopsguy]

Nothing like starting a big series with a rookie pitcher making his 2nd big league start. Unless, of course, it is having the hitters take the day off. Their rookie, Dave Dravecky (#2 starter?) dominated ours (Morgan) in a 5-0 decision. Luzinsky hit a homer, only his 4th on the season, to help cement the win.

Gullickson played the stopper role to perfection the next night, making an early run stand up en route to a 2-0 win. He dominated the middle of their order, holding their big three to a combined 1-12 with 4 Ks. And Witt gave us the series with a 5-1 triumph in the finale. Boggs opened the game up with a two run pinch-hit single in the 7th, making the score 4-1.

I had mentioned earlier a guy who was not going to get his payday (Velez) but one guy that is just killing in the final year of a contract is Bobby Grichb of the Angels. He is a lock to make his first All Star team and is positioned to pick up his 3rd straight Silver Slugger. .338/9/27 are off-the-charts numbers for a middle infielder in this era, although guys like Cal Ripken (.278/15/41) are beginning to change those long-held perceptions.

Yount's hitting streak is up to 19, just two off of the mark held by Kirk Gibson.

[hoopsguy]

Off to Montreal, where Yount gets his 20th game in the books with three hits, one of them over the wall. But the biggest hit was a 9th inning homer by Ogilvie to give us an 8-7 victory.

#21? Nope, 0-3 with 2 walks in a 5-3 win. Oh well, it still stands as a franchise best. Boggs, Ogilvie, Rice, and Harrah each had two hits in the win.

Morgan picks up his first win in style, with a 1-0 decision that gives us a sweep of the Expos and moves our record to 36-24 on the year. I'll take it, given that our #5 starters are 1-8 on the season.

[hoopsguy]

The Phillies come calling, now trailing us by three games. Gullickson moves to 8-2 on the year and closes in on another All Star berth with a 3-2 victory. Mike Hargrove, who is still getting starts against lefties, went 2-4 to move his average to .327 on the year. Boggs hit a pinch homer; the guy has been a lethal weapon when called on in that role. The note on the Boggs homer, 404 feet to center, was "that would have been a fly out in most parks". Small comfort to the Phillies, as that homer scored the tying and winning runs.

Romo picks up his first win as a Cub, extending our streak to 7, in a 6-5 victory. The Phillies had 18 hits in the loss, cuffing around Witt but Corbett backed him up with 3 1/3 scoreless innings to allow us to make up an early 4-0 hole. Boggs had three hits, three RBIs, and scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. Gorman Thomas hit his 11th homer on the year in the loss.

The streak ends at seven, with another non-quality start from Viola. Thomas went nuts with two homers and five RBIs in a 6-4 Phillies win. Three more hits for Boggs, who has moved his average up to .315.

Montreal comes to Chicago in a dangerous spot, trailing by 7.5 games and behind several teams. If they were swept here it just might be time to start thinking about next year. Boggs and Barfield both had two hits, with the latter putting the ball over the wall in the opener. 5-3 victory. Rice hit his 10th the next day to back Mike Morgan in a 7-2 triumph. And Gullickson slammed the door with an 11-0 win. Warm up the bus, Expos fans! Four hits for Boggs, who is just stupid hot right now.

[hoopsguy]

So why is Detroit the class of the American League? Well, it seems like they have a bunch of guys who put up numbers. Guys like 1B John Wockenfuss who is hitting .310/11/36 this season. The guy was a platoon player last year who put up some power numbers, but he has exploded this year. The Tigers re-upped him last season for two years at 8.7 million so they must have known what they had. Now the rest of the American League is finding out.

The Cardinals have fallen apart. They are 30-36 now after losing five straight and are in last in the division. I guess PSPN knew what they were talking about when they forecasted their demise. Hernandez and Durham are still putting up numbers on offense, but the pitching staff is not getting the job done.

Pete Vukovich is the only pitcher worth a damn. John Fulgam is who we thought he was and the rest of that starting rotation is garbage. Jim Bibby is unsigned right now; you have to figure he could still help them but negotiations must have gone very sour at the end of last year.

Off to Pittsburgh, where the Pirates have found some consistency. They are 34-31, seven back in the standings but have played better ball over the last month and a half. Even when they struggled they had guys who gave us fits. But Viola worked out of jams all night and we win 3-2 in the opener. It is another one run win the following night, 2-1 in 13 innings. It seems like our bullpen has picked it up a notch with the new additions. Jesse Orosco posted three scoreless innings for the win and Templeton had three hits, including a double in the 13th. The win streak hits seven as
Morgan picks up his 3rd straight win. Again, a roster move that seems to have paid off as we are now getting wins from our 5th starter.

So that is two straight division rivals that we have demoralized in midseason. The division lead is at 8, so it might be time to start moving through the games with a little less detail until they mean something.

[hoopsguy]

The win streak ends at 10 as the Cardinals win the final game of a four game set at Wrigley.

Mike Norris has moved his record up to 6-8 for the Orioles. Looks like he is getting it together again.

I had mentioned Mike Krukow dominating us earlier in the year. Apparently we are not the only ones. He is 6-1 with a 1.71 ERA for the Giants with quality starts in 13 of his 15 outings. To put that in perspective, that matches the numbers posted by Gullickson and Witt. Vukovich of the Cards leads the majors in that category with 15/17 quality starts.

Fred Lynn is still killing the ball. .363/17/42. Dwight Evans is at .333/21/60. How they are not winning more games (34-40) is beyond me. Must be the pitching staff?

But for pure batting average, no one is hitting like San Francisco's Willie McGee. That guy is hitting .423!!!!

[hoopsguy]

The Cubbies crush Bert Blyleven 11-1, which is notable because he previously had the lowest Batting Average Allowed in the majors and because he usually owns us.

As we head into July, here is a look at the division races.

AL East - The Tigers had a five game losing streak and Baltimore capitalized by cutting the margin to three games. Everyone else is at least eight games back.

AL West - The Angels have claimed the top spot with a 44-33 mark, but KC, Oakland, and Minnesota are all within two games.

NL East - Philadelphia is 9 back, which is improvement as they were 11 back just two days ago.

NL West - The Padres have claimed the top spot by a half game over Houston with a 42-35 mark. LA and the Reds are 4.5 and 5 games back, respectively.

[hoopsguy]

July does not start off well for the boys in blue. That loss to the Pirates sparked a four game losing streak where the bats just went silent. I guess guys got a little too comfortable with the lead and were not motivated to make a push for their All Star appearances. But we snapped out of it with a 5-4 win at St. Louis on the 4th of July to salvage a game in that series.

Jesse Barfield has rewarded me for not sending him down, as he is up to 8 homers and 20 RBIs in spot duty. The batting average is now at .251. Ben Ogilvie has to know that his days are numbered ...

Huh - the Mets traded George Bell to the Brewers for Bill Castro. This trade makes no sense at all. The Mets gave up a young stud for a 29 year old #6 reliever who is, at best, a bad imitation of Rick Reuschel. I guess good for us to have a premier player out of the division but that is not good for the game.

[hoopsguy]

The All Stars have been announced:

AL Starters (in order of votes):
CF Fred Lynn (Bos) - .351/18/44 w/18 steals. Repeat All-Star, already set or matched highs for homers and steals.
RF Dwight Evans (Bos) - .327/22/62
SS Cal Ripken (Tex) - .293/22/61. First All-Star game for 2nd year player
LF Joe Charboneau (Cle) - .308/14/40. 27 year old FA to be playing for bad baseball team.
1B Cecil Cooper (Mil) - .293/17/52. FA to be likely to match/exceed 14 million he is currently paid.
3B Mike Marshall (Tor) - .261/10/40, 2nd year player is not elite prospect like Ripken but still has lots of room for growth (84 potential).
2B Dave Stapleon (Bos) - .281/11/41. Repeat All Star.
C Rich Gedman (Bos) - .287/8/34. Fourth All Star starter from losing team.


AL Reserves
1B Jason Thompson (Cal) - .292/14/45. Also an All-Star reserve in 1980.
1B John Wockenfuss (Det) - .303/13/38.
RF Harold Baines (CHW) - .289/7/35. Same situation as Charboneau, but he is younger (23) more elite prospect.
CF Ken Landreaux (Min) - .286/7/42 w/35 steals.
CF Juan Beniquez (Sea) - .272/10/30
SS Roy Smalley (Min) - .291/12/56. Very competitive position in AL right now.
3B Wayne Gross (Oak) - .295/7/41. Also an All Star reserve in 1980.


AL Pitchers
Closer Mark Clear (Cal) - 0-1 3.20 ERA, 25 saves, 1 blown, 25:10 K/BB ratio, .234 BAA, 1.26 WHIP
Starter Jack Morris (Det) - 12-3 1.96 ERA, 5 CG, 1 SO, 75:47 K/BB, .190 BAA, 1.03 WHIP
Starter Steve Rogers (Cal) - 10-7 2.42 ERA, 5 CG, 112:46 K/BB, .233 BAA, 1.19 WHIP
Starter Dave Stieb (Tor) - 10-7 2.52 ERA, 8 CG, 91:40 K/BB, .224 BAA, 1.10 WHIP
Starter Mike Flanagan (Bal) - 11-4 2.56 ERA, 2 CG, 47:28 K/BB, .235 BAA, 1.14 WHIP. Repeat All-Star, in last year of contract.
Starter Albert Williams (Min) - 10-1 2.59 ERA, 58:43 K/BB, .242 BAA, 1.26 WHIP. Great success but secondary numbers do not quite line up with wins and ERA.
Reliever Luis DeLeon (KC) - 7-2 1.33 ERA, 2 saves, 1 blown, 6 holds, 28:8 K/BB, .200 BAA, 0.91 WHIP. Very nice looking young player (24), second year in big leagues.
Reliever Dave Tobik (Det) - 8-3 2.14 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown, 3 holds, 27:18 K/BB, .213 BAA, 1.12 WHIP
Reliever Larry Pashnick (Min) - 7-4 2.21 ERA, 1 save, 5 blown, 5 holds, 15:20 K/BB, .193 BAA, 1.05 WHIP. Enjoy your time here, Larry. I doubt you are ever back.
Reliever Ron Davis (NYY) - 6-2 2.16 ERA, 2 saves, 1 blown, 3 holds, 39:11 K/BB, .181 BAA, 0.91 WHIP


Rickey Henderson, hitting .317 with 63/67 steals, not being on this team is a traveshamockery. He should be starting ahead of Charboneau in LF. Beniquez has no business on this team.

[hoopsguy]

NL Starters (in order of votes):
3B Bob Horner (Atl) - .313/23/48 w/10 steals just for good measure. 3rd straight season as starter.
RF Jack Clark (SF) - .307/17/59. 27 year old keeps getting better, great value for next 4 seasons at 3.4 million a year.
LF Leon Durham (StL) - .318/11/48 w/11 steals. Repeat All Star who is doing a nice job defending his batting title.
CF Gorman Thomas (Phi) - .287/15/49. In position to match/exceed his 10 million dollar contract this offseason.
1B Dan Driessen (Cin) - .283/9/47. 3rd straight All-Star team who I'm sorry that I slighted early in the dynasty.
SS Bill Almon (NYM) - .300/5/35. Won't be back, should not be here this year.
2B Mike Ramsey (StL) - .297/4/23. Indictment of the position in NL.
C Gary Carter (Mon) - .243/10/39. First All Star appearance for premier player at position in NL.


NL Reserves
3B Darrell Evans (SF) - .284/12/34. Second All Star appearance.
3B Mike Schmidt (Phi) - .301/11/43. Another Phillie in a walk year. First All Star appearance.
LF Jim Rice (Chi) - .292/12/44 w/9 steals. Repeat All Star.
LF Larry Herndon (SD) - .287/12/47 w/9 steals. His 1980 trade from SF for Gene Tenace must have been completed with a mask and a gun.
RF Dave Winfield (SD) - .276/11/44. Repeat All Star who is not going to match his production from last season.
1B Keith Hernandez (StL) - .272/9/46. 2nd All Star game for this raving egomaniac.
1B Wade Boggs (Chi) - .311/7/40. He is begging for full-time starting job in Chicago so he can lock up the ROTY.

NL Pitchers
Closer Ed Glynn (Phi) - 1-0 1.13 ERA, 24 saves, 1 blown, 1 hold, 16:8 K/BB, .213 BAA, 1.13 WHIP
Starter Bill Gullickson (Chi) - 11-2 1.54 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SO, 90:28 K/BB, .195 BAA, 0.94 WHIP. Repeat All Star.
Starter Mike Witt (Chi) - 10-3 2.02 ERA, 2 CG, 66:37 K/BB, .215 BAA, 1.10 WHIP. Repeat All Star.
Starter Bob Welch (LA) - 10-5 2.27 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SO, 97:32 K/BB, .235 BAA, 1.14 WHIP. In final year of his deal. Surely big spending Dodgers will lock up this 26 year old who is still developing (80 pot)?
Starter Mario Soto (Cin) - 9-3 2.03 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SO, 96:28 K/BB, .229 BAA, 1.10 WHIP. Repeat All Star will be in Reds uniform for next 5 years.
Starter Bert Blyleven (Pit) - 9-7 2.97 ERA, 74:38 K/BB, .206 BAA, 1.07 WHIP. Repeat All Star.
Reliever Dennis Lamp (Chi) - 6-0 1.44 ERA, 2 blown saves, 11 holds, 20:18 K/BB, .181 BAA, 0.94 WHIP. I'm sorry I said he would not ever be in another All Star game. Monster first half for this guy. Bravo!
Reliever Dennis Kinney (SD) - 3-1 1.29 ERA, 3 holds, 12:17 K/BB, .208 BAA, 1.26 WHIP. Treasure this time, Dennis.
Reliever Dave Rucker (Pit) - 4-2 1.77 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown, 1 hold, 14:14 K/BB, .252 BAA, 1.40 WHIP. Wow, Dave has been living right this year.
Reliever Cecilio Guante (Cin) - 2-0 1.93 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown, 5 holds, 33:13 K/BB, .218 BAA, 1.12 WHIP. This guy will be back. Great rookie.

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Hitting:
BA:
AL - .351 Fred Lynn (Bos)
NL - .318 Leon Durham (StL)
Top Cub - .311 Wade Boggs (6th)
Note - Willie McGee (SD) is hitting .397 but only has 141 at-bats and does not qualify. In fairness, two of the regulars in the OF are All Stars but c'mon.

HR:
AL - 22 Cal Ripken (Tex), Dwight Evans (Bos)
NL - 23 Bob Horner (Atl)
Top Cub - 12 Jim Rice (tied 16th)

RBI:
AL - 62 Dwight Evans (Bos)
NL - 59 Jack Clark (SF)
Top Cub - 44 Ben Ogilvie, Jim Rice (tied 17th). Note that this is 18 better than last year. We have six players with more RBIs than the 26 Kingman led with at this point last year.

Runs:
AL - 54 Fred Lynn (Bos)
NL - 54 Bob Horner (Atl)
Top Cub - 48 Jim Rice (tied 9th)

Hits:
AL - 105 Willie Wilson (KC)
NL - 105 Mookie Wilson (NYM)
Top Cub - 100 Robin Yount (3rd)

Stolen Bases:
AL - 63 Rickey Henderson (Oak) - 28 ahead of his league best last year
NL - 55 Mookie Wilson (NY)
Top Cub - 27 Robin Yount (tied 21st)

On Base %:
AL - .408 Fred Lynn (Bos)
NL - .391 Jack Clark (SF)
Top Cub - .379 Toby Harrah (tied 7th)

OPS:
AL - 1.007 Fred Lynn (Bos)
NL - .977 Bob Horner (Atl)
Top Cub - .848 Jim Rice (13th)

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Pitching:
ERA:
AL - 1.96 Jack Morris (Det)
NL - 1.54 Bill Gullickson (Chi)
Top Cub - Gullickson

Wins:
AL - 12 Jack Morris (Det)
NL - 11 Bill Gullickson (Chi)
Top Cub - Gullickson

Saves:
AL - 25 Mark Clear (Cal)
NL - 25 Joe Sambito (Hou), Rod Scurry (Pit)
Top Cub - 20 Lee Smith (tied 11th)

Innings Pitched:
AL - 158 Rick Langford (Oak)
NL - 127 Bob Welch (LA)
Top Cub - 117 Bill Gullickson (tied 46th)

Complete Games:
AL - 12 Rick Langford (Oak)
NL - 3 Scott Sanderson (Mon)
Top Cub - 2 Mike Witt (tied 31st)

Shutouts:
AL - 2 Richard Dotson (CHW)
NL - 1 (multiple players)
Top Cub - 1 Bill Gullickson (tied 2nd)

Strikeouts:
AL - 112 Steve Rodgers (Cal)
NL - 97 Bob Welch (LA)
Top Cub - 90 Bill Gullickson (10th)

Walks:
AL - 64 Don Aase (Cal)
NL - 58 Greg Harris (Mon)
Top Cub - 40 Dennis Martinez (tied 40th)

Run Support:
AL - 79 Rick Langford - down 17 from leader last season
NL - 68 Jim Gott (NYM)
Top Cub - 59 Bill Gullickson (tied 21st)

[hoopsguy]

Best Record: Chicago Cubs 52-31 .627
Best Record, AL: Detroit Tigers 49-34 .590
Worst Record: Seattle Mariners 29-55 .345
Worst Record, NL: San Francisco Giants 36-47 .434

Most Runs: 359 Boston Red Sox
Fewest Runs: 246 Los Angeles Dodgers
Most Runs Allowed: 394 Seattle Mariners
Fewest Runs Allowed: 245 Chicago Cubs
Best Run Differential: +90 Chicago Cubs
Worst Run Differential: -103 Seattle Mariners

Oldest Team: Cleveland Indians 29.48 years
Youngest Team: Boston Red Sox 27.00 years (everyone is 31 or younger)

[hoopsguy]

We extend Lamp for 2 years @ 3 million apiece. Thank you for your service. We had actually offered 3 but he declined.

I decide that it is also time to extend Gullickson, as I'm worried he might ask for even more next year in the final year of his deal. We push for the max 3 years @ 10 million. I would be very pleased to lock him in at that price as I feel that he is the best pitcher in the National League right now. He accepts.

Everyone else who has a contract issue can wait until later in the year to get addressed. I'm interested in seeing how some of these guys perform in the playoffs. There - I've said it. With an 8.5 game lead at the All Star break I am making playoff plans.

[hoopsguy]

Post All-Star break:
- we pay back Houston in their ballpark with a pair of low-scoring, 1 run wins.
- Cincinnati comes into our building and wins the first three games. We respond to beat Mario Soto in the finale. Still, we are scuffling right now. The lead remains 8.5 games.
- Mike Morgan moves to 6-3 with a home win against the Braves. He is our hottest pitcher right now, as shocking as that seems to me.
- Viola loses in that series to fall to 6-8, which is garbage on a team that is 21 games over .500. I'm not going to give a super-promising young pitcher the Reuschel treatment but I'm starting to give some thought to swamping him and Lamp. He is on notice.
- The Atlanta series was a 2-2 split.
- Three game sweep over Houston, with another win for Morgan. This one was a shutout, the first of his career.
- Toby Harrah has a two homer game @ Cincinnati, bringing his total to 11. He is asking for about 12 million per year, which feels like too much money but he has been very good for us this year.
- Ogilvie hits two the next day. His demands are much more reasonable, but we have to create room for our young outfielders in the starting lineup.
- We see a 5 game losing streak broken by the Reds, right as we notice that the Pirates had won 7 in a row. The lead remains 8.5 over the Phillies.
- Morgan moves to 8-3, winning 4-1 @ Cincinnati against Tom Seaver. Seaver is still one of the best in the league.
- The Braves want Bud Black, but we can't find anything they are offering that help us short or long term.
- Tom Brunansky should be in the conversation for AL Rookie of the Year. .247/21/70 for the morbid Mariners. He also has 11 assists and has developed a reputation of having the best arm of any LF in the game.
- St. Louis Cardinal Tom Herr has an 18 game hitting streak.
- We win 2 of 3 from the Reds.
- Harrah sustains a shoulder injury that is going to put him on the shelf. Yount can play some 3B so he'll probably pick up some time there along with Boone.

[hoopsguy]

More notes:
- Witt is in a funk right now, 0-4 in his last six starts. In fairness, three of those were quality starts but his history has been so good that this qualifies as a major slump.
- We split witht he Expos.
- The Phillies are fired up about getting us in the Vet. They are 8 games back, with the 2nd best record in the NL. They are now 55-45 and have won their last three. They series starts with Viola, which should set up well for them in terms of getting the back of the rotation. None of it matters, as the Phillies are summarily dispatched in four straight games. Game, set, match.

Standings:
AL East - The Tigers, who PSPN is predicting to come crashing back to earth, are 60-45 and lead Toronto by four games. Baltimore is fading, sitting six back.

AL West - separation is underway at the top, with Kansas City rolling up a 61-42 mark. But they are only 1.5 in front of California, who has won 5 straight. Oakland is trying to hang around, but they are 6.5 back despite winning their last four.

NL East - The margin is 12.

NL West - The 54-51 Padres are the "class" of the division. The Dodgers (2), Astros (3), and Reds (4.5) remain in striking distance despite having losing records.

[hoopsguy]

As of August 2nd, Gullickson has nearly a half run better ERA than anyone else. Vukovich of the Cards is second, at 1.86.

The Rangers are piling up young weapons with their draft picks. I've detailed the work of Cal Ripken several times already, but Tony Gwynn is also having an impact. He is tied for 8th in the majors in stolen bases in his rookie season with 46. He is not yet a hitting machine, but still has room for growth and years (22) to do so.

Our own Wade Boggs has a 13 game hitting streak. We'll keep an eye on it going forward.

Witt picks up a win at home against the Mets. Boggs homered to extend his hitting streak to 14. We swept the Mets, with Boggs eating chicken and getting hits in each game to move his streak up to 16 games.

The winning streak ends at 7 games, thanks to a strong outing by the Phillies Dick Ruthven. He only allowed five hits, one by Boggs, in earning a 2-1 decision over Morgan. That also snapped Morgan's personal five win (in five starts) streak. Boggs went 0-4 in an 11 inning win, ending his streak at 17 games. Yet another man who was not up to the pressure of the great Kirk Gibson's 21 game streak. Is that one of the most hallowed and unbreakable records in sports today?

[hoopsguy]

Lamp and Vande Berg are #1/#2 in holds, with 16 and 15. Guess that goes with the territory when you have the most records in the game. Rick Sutcliffe of the Dodgers is also on that list. I'm a bit surprised that he is not starting games ... guess the Dodgers must have a pretty good rotation to be using him in this role.

Ben Ogilvie has hit the longest homer in baseball on the season, clubbing on 474 feet. That was one of two he hit in a game against the Mets last week.

Our old friend Rick Reuschel, now of the Twins, has found himself on the DL with a rib cage injury. It is 50/50 whether or not he will return this season.

The Cubs win the remaining two games against the Phillies, then head to Montreal to sweep three. The Mets, in the second game of a series at Shea, stop the win streak at six. But the Cubbies are rolling right now. Both the starters and the relievers have been giving good efforts over the last three weeks. Lamp wins the middle game of the Mets series, bringing his record on the year to 10-0. We then sweep a double-header to finish off the series, winning four of five.

[hoopsguy]

Jack Clark of the Giants is tightening his grip on the NL MVP award. His numbers right now read .333/22/78 with about 40 games to play. If he is able to sustain that pace he has a real good shot of winning two of the three triple crown categories.

The Orioles appear to have sent Mike Norris down to the minors at some point, as they have just recalled him. He ended up throwing 32 2/3 innings for the Norfolk Tides. While making over 19 million per season. After winning six straight decisions and driving his ERA down 1 1/2 runs. With his team still in the AL East race (3.5 games back). Only to be listed as the #1 starter in the Orioles rotation on his return. This is frigging nuts.

Boston SP Dennis Eckersly has a broken fibula and will miss the rest of the year.

We host the Dodgers and win a two of three, with Barfield picking up two homers (one a walk off) in the series. The Padres are next, and they are red hot. They had won 7 of 8 but Wrigley is unkind to them as we take two of three. At least we are being fair and consistent to the NL West teams as they try to sort out their mess of a division race. Another 2 of 3 against the Giants. This is consistent with our season results, where we have won exactly 2/3 of our 129 games.

[hoopsguy]

Gullickson now has a three game losing streak, as do the Cubs, after a 2-1 loss in LA to Valenzuela. Witt has pulled into a tie for team wins, at 14, in salvaging the final game of that series. That brings us to September 1st, where it is time to add Von Hayes (.332/21/81) and a couple of other players to the big league roster. This is also a good time to take a look at the division races.

AL East - the Tigers and Blue Jays are tied, each 13 games above .500. Baltimore and the Yankees are 6 games back, so they are pretty much done given that they have to catch two teams.

AL West - the Angels have the best record in the AL at 76-54, 2.5 in front of KC. The A's are 4 back and would be leading the AL East by a half game.

NL East - The 70-61 Phillies wish they were in the West, since they are 16.5 back in the East.

NL West - The Padres have won six in a row to open up a 6.5 game lead on the Reds. The Dodgers, who are 7 back, are done with the news that slugger Pedro Guerrero will miss the remainder of the year with a broken wrist.

[hoopsguy]

Rice is the first Cub to get to 20 homers on the year, hitting it in a 6-1 win at San Francisco. Morgan lost his shutout bid in the 9th when he gave up a solo shot to the great Jack Clark.

A quick look at the starting lineup batting averages:
Boggs - .295
Yount - .288
Ogilvie - .267
Rice - .293
Hall - .255
Harrah - .296
Oberkfell - .288
Sciosia - .281

Not much to complain about here - at this point I'm just hoping that we don't see everyone go cold at the same time in the playoffs. This feels like a team loaded for a run.

[hoopsguy]

The Padres win streak hits eight before we arrive at Jack Murphy. It is looking like a foregone conclusion that these two teams will be playing for the right to appear in the World Series.

A tight game is 6-6 after 9 innings but we score 7 in the top of the tenth to blow it open. Harrah hit the big home run and Ogilvie piled on later in the inning. The next day is nowhere near as close, with Jesse Barfield leaving the yard three times! 11-1 is the final, with JB accounting for six of those runs personally. The Padres win the finale 7-2, getting to Witt early and often, with single runs in each of the first four innings.

Viola runs his mark to 11-8 with a victory over the Phillies. That is five straight winning decisions for him; it has been about 50 days since his last loss. The Phillies get us back the following night, handing Lamp his first loss on the season. Winning two out of three in the series drops our magic number to 4.

The Tigers have won six in a row to take a 1.5 game lead over the Blue Jays. Meanwhile, KC has tied up the Angels in the AL West.

Ripken is the first player in baseball to reach 100 RBIs.

We head to Montreal and sweep the Expos. But the Phillies keep winning and the magic number is one.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers have not yet given up on their season. They have won five straight and have pulled within 4.5 of the Padres.

Off to Pittsburgh to try and wrap this up, with Morgan on the hill. He gives us a fine outing, but it is not enough when recent arsonist Dennis Lamp surrenders the lead and the game in a 3-2 loss. But the Cards win in Philadelphia to give us our first division crown under current management. Since it is September 13th, we have a little bit of time to ease our way into the playoffs if we want to take that route.

One last celebratory note - Templeton is hitting .261.

[hoopsguy]

Lamp gives away his third game in the last ten days; what the heck has happened to our most reliable reliever? Whatever it is, it infects Caudill the next night and we are swept in Pittsburgh in a series where the starters were in line for wins all three nights.

The Tigers are now up three games on the Blue Jays; it looks like the cream is rising to the top out East. KC and California are in a dogfight that looks like it will go down to the final weekend. And the Padres have opened up a six game lead again.

We lose two of three in Montreal. Our hitters have been really flat since we clinched the division. I'm going to start mixing in some younger guys for the remainder of the season while still trying to put together lineups that can help Gullickson potentially get another Cy Young award.

Sandberg is 2nd in the majors in hits, with 176. He is only hitting .279, so he must swing at everything at this age. Our own Wade Boggs is 8th.

Gullickson moves to 17-5 with a home win against the Pirates. He is also leading the majors in WHIP and ERA, so hopefully one more win should do it for locking up his Cy.

Lamp picks up the win in our 100th victory of the season, a 6-4 triumph in front of the home fans against the Mets. Smith added his 41st save in this game. Boggs had four RBIs in this game, bringing him to 74 on the year. That is second best on the team, ten behind Ogilvie. But Boggs is doing this while spending a lot of time in the leadoff spot.

The Tigers have just destroyed the Blue Jays down the stretch. They are now 89-65, with a 7 game lead. I would say that race is over.

Meanwhile, KC has gone cold at the wrong time. They have lost five straight and are 2.5 behind the Angels.

The Dodgers have one last kick in them, and the Padres are helping them out by losing five in a row. That race is now down to two games with nine to play. Houston sits three back and wonders how the hell they are still in this with a 78-75 record.

[hoopsguy]

We waste a pair of Harrah home runs in St Louis. In fact, it was a lost weekend as the Redbirds swept us and gave Gullickson a 3-2 loss. Well, technically it was Smith who got the loss in that game after surrendering a pair in the 9th. Boo. Ex-Cub Doug Capilla picked up a pair of wins in that series. Hopefully our hitters are saving themselves for August?

Bob Horner is making a late push for NL MVP. He has been an RBI machine over the last month, bringing his numbers up to .312/39/95. Clark has fallen off, down to .307/28/98. Of course, neither of them is sniffing the playoffs or has a hint of speed so there is a chance that someone else could emerge as a surprise candidate, I suppose.

Viola helps us snap a four game skid, winning in Philadelphia 4-2. Hayes leaves the yard in Shea, bringing our winning streak to three games.

The Angels clinch the West after game #160. They Royals just did not have their usual finishing kick this year, as the Angels were not lights out in September. But they were good enough the rest of the year, allowing them to ease into the playoffs and a date with the Tigers.

Meanwhile, San Diego and LA are tied at 83-77, one game ahead of the Reds and two ahead of Houston. Cincinnati and Houston are matched up (Soto vs Ryan), while LA will send out Valenzuela against the Giants in San Francisco. The Padres host the hapless (67-93) Braves.

In Chicago news, Gullickson wins his 18th at home against St. Louis. 5-2 final. He finishes the regular season with a 1.88 ERA. Fricking Keith Hernandez went 4-4 in the Cardinal loss.

Soto won his 18th game to eliminate Houston from the playoffs, 2-0. The Braves bombed the choking Padres 13-2. And San Francisco withstood a furious Dodgers rally to win 5-4 by scratching across one run in the bottom of the 9th. That leaves a three way tie atop the West with one game to play.

[hoopsguy]

The Reds lose 8-0 on the final day of the season to the Astros. Way to come up small after an emotional win the day before. Mike Krukow picked up the win for Houston, his 10th on the season.

San Diego triumphed 4-3 over the Braves in 11 innings.

San Francisco put the Dodgers out of their misery with a 4-2 win. So the Padres made it a lot more interesting than it should have been, but they will advance to meet the Cubs in the 1982 playoffs. The good news for Cubs fans is that Steve Garvey is an Atlanta Brave.

[hoopsguy]

The Cubs finished the year with a record of 105-57. That is 21 games better than the Padres. The likely Game #1 starter for the Padres is 10-12 Steve Mura, a still-developing 27 year old with decent stuff.

Dave Winfield, the 1981 MVP, is the man to fear in this lineup. He hit .285 this year with 28 homers and 88 RBIs. Larry Herndon was also an All Star this season and he finished with numbers of .281/16/76. "ET" Willie McGee hit .350 as a platoon player in the outfield.

Randy Jones is probably the biggest name in the rotation. The 32 year old was 12-8 with a 3.08 ERA this season. But he spent a fair amount of time in the bullpen, for reasons that are difficult to fathom.

[hoopsguy]

A quick roster recap, as I'm heading into the post-season and making some financial decisions:

RF Jesse Barfield - hit .243/17/48 in 337 at-bats. Big-time power hitter who has not yet hit his ceiling at 23 years, I'm thinking that he will replace Ogilvie in the lineup next season. He is under contract for the next four seasons.

1B Wade Boggs - .309/9/79, under contract for four years, is 24 years old with unlimited potential. Franchise player in training, stud right now.

C/3B Bob Boone - 35 year old under contract for two years, remains a serviceable backup player. But that is it; would be fine putting him in minors next year if better options emerge. .262/3/29 in 301 at-bats this year.

RP Bill Caudill - 9-3 2.41 ERA, 5 saves, 10 holds, 3 blown, this 26 year old is a stud reliever. His deal is also up. He is making 3.7 million this year and wants to be making 3 million a year for 2-4 year deals. I think this is very acceptable given his talent, performance, and age. We give him a three year deal and immediately regret not making it four.

RP Doug Corbett - 30 year old with two years remaining. A little expensive considering his talent, but his numbers this year (2-1 1.52 ERA, great WHIP/BAA) suggest that he will earn that pay next season.

SP Bill Gullickson - only 23, already dominant, under contract for five years. 18-5 1.88 ERA, 169/53 K:BB ratio, .220 BAA, 1.06 WHIP.

CF Mel Hall - .262/12/58 w/37 steals in 474 at bats. Still a lot of potential for the 22 year old, if he grows into it then he'll be a guy that is a cornerstone player.

1B Mike Hargrove - .290/1/25 in 238 at bats. This 33 year old is going to be a productive player somewhere else next year. I'm not looking to hold him here as a backup or force him to learn another position (3B) that does not suit him.

3B Toby Harrah - .295/16/61 in only 438 at bats. This 34 year old missed some time with injuries and really did not drive many guys in after the All Star break. But he was a huge upgrade for us at the position this year and we are going to have a hard time replacing him. I'm just not willing to pay him the 10+ million that he wants for a deal given his age and the makeup of the rest of my team. Maybe if he was 27 ...

LF/CF Von Hayes - tore up AAA, this guy will be in the outfield rotation next year. 24 year old with a lot of potential, he is under contract for four seasons. He is right there with Hall and Barfield right now; should be interesting to see how they all shake out over the next couple of years.

MR Bob James - 0-0 2.89 ERA in 9 appearances. We had him in the minors most of the year but after his September call-up he has shown us that he belongs on the playoff roster. Signed for 5 years, this 24 year old should be a significant part of our future.

LF/RF Dave Kingman - .308/6/17 in 91 at bats. Man, I had forgotten that he was on this team. I've tried and failed to give him away. If he is here next year it will be with a similar role.

SP/MR Dennis Lamp - 11-3 2.19 ERA w/21 holds. Not great stuff, but fabulous production for most of the year. This 30 year old is under contract for three years. I hope that he is able to maintain a spot in our bullpen as we continue to develop talent.

SP Dennis Martinez - 9-7 3.01 ERA. His contract is up. Right now he charts as our #5 starter, after being passed during the year by Morgan. He is 27 years old and his contract demands are not out of line (4-5 million per year). I'm inclined to give him one more year and see where he fits after the draft. The worst case scenario is that he takes over the Dennis Lamp role next year.

SP Mike Morgan - 13-6 2.69 ERA w/3 complete games in a little more than a half season of work. This guy came on like crazy for us when we brought him up from Iowa. The 23 year old is still developing, under contract for four seasons.

2B Ken Oberkfell - .287/2/52 w/24 steals. Very reasonable contract (2 years, 1.3 million), he would be a fine sub and is an acceptable starter.

LF/RF Ben Ogilvie - .266/16/87, dude was a very clutch hitter in 2nd half of the year. His contract is up and I've got too much young talent to keep him around at the age of 33, even if he is not asking for a ton (3 million for multi-year deal). Hopefully someone pays him a ton on the free agent market, preferably someone in the American League.

3B Steve Ontiveros - .206/0/6 in 34 at bats. We've relegated him to minor league duty this year and expect him to return there next season as well unless free agency and trades yield nothing at 3B.

MR Jesse Orosco - 4-4 2.98 ERA, 4 holds. Good stuff, good future at 24 years of age. We've got him under contract for two seasons and will likely have to pay a decent price to keep him. But that is a worry for next season.

LF/CF Jim Rice - .297/25/76, he is the highest paid regular on the team at 9.5 million for two seasons. I feel a sense of loyalty to him, since we had really struggled in 1981 prior to signing him. But we'll see where that loyalty goes next year with the development of our younger players.

MR Enrique Romo - 3-0 0.86 ERA, 35 year old with good stuff and a big expiring salary. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. Age discrimination, coupled with loyalty to players we have drafted, makes this a surprisingly easy call.

C Mike Scioscia - .279/4/40 represents a nice upgrade from what I've seen in past out of this position. The 24 year old should continue to develop a bit, and we have him under contract for three seasons at a very reasonable number.

C Don Slaught - hit pretty well at AAA this season, he will have a shot at backup catcher duties over the next couple of seasons. But we'll definitely sign players over him as needed.

CL Lee Smith - 7 blown saves this year is a bit of a concern. But he does have 125 saves at the age of 25 and should continue to get better. We've got him locked up through 1983.

SS/2B Gary Templeton - .265/0/15. Pretty well compensated backup for Robin Yount, and we owe him money through 1984. I'll happily move him if needed, as he has been a whipping boy over the past two seasons. But at age 26 he should still have plenty of room for growth and I still wonder why he has not worked out a bit better.

MR Dick Tidrow - this 35 year old reliever has been relegated to AAA Iowa. Still good enough to pitch for a lot of teams, just not here. His contract runs through next season.

MR Ed Vande Berg - 4-1 2.17 ERA 16 holds, 4 saves. This 24 year old is a keeper. Under contract for three seasons. Definite building block in the pen.

SP Frank Viola - 13-9 3.81 ERA. Was eclipsed by Morgan, but should be the bigger star in the end. This 22 year old has massive potential, and is locked up for five seasons.

SP Mike Witt - 18-9 2.72 ERA. Could not quite match last seasons numbers, but is among best in the game and only 22 years old. Under contract for three years, some concern that he may be close to maxed out already. But that is nit-picking.

SS/3B Robin Yount - .280/12/53 w/45 steals. Still a lot of untapped potential for a 27 year old. We have him for three years. May end up playing 3B next season if we cannot find a good replacement for Harrah.

[hoopsguy]

Game #1:
ALCS: Jack Morris, who went 22-7 in the regular season, is postseason gold. This day sees him move to 6-0 lifetime with a 2.11 ERA, thanks to a 10-1 triumph against the Angels at Tiger Stadium. Steve Rodgers only lasted 3 2/3 innings. No one went yard, but John Wockenfuss had three hits and three RBIs.

NLCS: Steve Mura stymied the North siders in San Diego (huh? we were 21 games better than them?) as the Padres earn a 2-0 victory against the Cubs ace Bill Gullickson. Yount had three of the five Cub hits in the loss. Catcher Gary Redus hit a solo shot for the Padres.

Game #2:
ALCS: It was Dave Rozema's turn to stifle the Angels, as he held them to just four hits over 8 innings. Wockenfuss hit one out and the Tigers won this one 3-1 to move one step away from their third straight World Series appearance.

NLCS: Same storyline being written in the NLCS, as the home team pitching is dominant. Randy Jones threw six shutout innings and the bullpen did the rest in a 5-0 win. Jerry Mumphrey was 4-4 for the Padres. 18 innings of futility in San Diego for the Cubs; hopefully they enjoyed the beach weather. The postseason now rests in the hands of a rookie pitcher.

Game #3:
ALCS: The Angels strike back at home, posting five runs in the first three innings. Would it be enough? It did not feel like it when the Tigers answered with three in the top of the fifth, cutting the margin to one. But the bullpen held up and the Angels had their first win of the postseason. A total of five homers were hit in this game: Grich, Jason Thompson (2 run), Carney Lansford (2 run, 457'), Gibson, and Lance Parrish (3 run shot).

NLCS: Mike Morgan gave up a first inning run and the Cubs fans were holding their breath, dreading the worst from an offense that had not produced in the postseason. But Morgan kept posting zeroes and the bats awoke to post three runs in the 5th. Bob Boone was the unlikely hero, providing a two run homer on a flyball that just got into the basket in left field. Jesse Barfield's homer to left was much more convincing. Seven strong from Morgan and a perfect ninth by Smith. So far home teams are 6-0 in the playoffs, which is not a promising trend for Angels or Cubs fans.

[hoopsguy]

Game #4:
ALCS: The Angels just were not good enough offensively to hang with the Tigers in this series. Once again they were held to a single measly run and it was not enough. It was for five innings, but the Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the sixth and added another pair in the 9th. 4-1 final, series over. Wockenfuss was the player of the series, hitting .538 with 7 RBIs to lift his team to their third straight pennant.

NLCS: The Cubs got an early run off a solo homer by Rice and had built a 3-0 lead before Viola allowed the first two men to reach in the top of the 8th. He was pulled, but both inherited runners scored against Bill Caudill to set up a 3-2 game heading into the bottom of the 8th. That is when magic happened for long-time Cub Dave Kingman. Kong stroked a three run homer to left, putting his team up 6-2. The crowd roared for Kingman in a way that they never have over the past three seasons. The Cubs are hosting San Diego (2-3 format???) for a deciding game 5.

Game 5:
NLCS: The Padres received word before the start of the game that Larry Herndon would be unable to go today. He had left Game #4 with an injury early and was doubtful. Willie McGee gets the nod instead. Gullickson mows down the first five Padres before surrendering a double to Tim Flannery. Ozzie Smith follows with a bloop hit to right that was badly played by Hall, allowing a run to score.

Bottom of the 3rd - Cubs finally get a hit off Mura, but Scioscia is stranded at 2nd.

Bottom of the 4th - Yount singles to left, steals 2nd on a pitchout, and moves to 3rd on an error. Rice brings him home with a ground out to 2nd, advancing Ogilvie to 2nd. Hall singles, Ogilvie holds. Harrah hits into a fielders choice, scoring Ogilvie. Back-to-back hits by Oberkfell and Scioscia bring home a 3rd run. Further damage when Mumphrey makes a diving stab of a sinking Gullickson liner. But the best pitcher in the NL has a 3-1 lead, in his own park, with a World Series bid on the line.

Bottom of the 5th - Yount hits a long fly to left that is kept in by a driving wind.

Top of the 6th - Gullickson works out of a jam caused by an Oberkfell error. He is up to 84 pitches.

Bottom of 6th - 1st and 3rd, one out is wasted on a strike-out/throw-out play. Ugh, would have loved to have the insurance run.

Top of 7th - Gullickson walks the leadoff man, but gets out of the inning by inducing a ground out from McGee.

The latter innings just don't have much drama. Gullickson leaves for a pinch hitter; Lamp and Smith do not even give the Padres a sniff over the final two innings. So the Cubs ended up taking advantage of the 2-3 format and winning each of their home games to earn a shot against the Tigers.

Series MVP is Mike Morgan for his sterling Game 3 effort that brought life back to this team.

[hoopsguy]

World Series:

Game #1:
Morris vs. Gullickson. The Chicago fans will have their first opportunity in 37 years to watch a WS game at Wrigley Field. A chance to break a 74 year drought against the defending champions. For the Cubs, it is a rematch against the last team that they beat in a World Series, way back in 1908. We only have to go through the best big game pitcher in baseball to earn our first victory.

When you have a hitter like Mike Scioscia anything is possible. This will make more sense in a minute.

Top of 1st - leadoff hitter Ryne Sandberg singles and steals 2nd, but is stranded there.

Bottom of 1st - leadoff hitter Boggs works a 13 pitch at bat from Morris before grounding out to 2nd. Yount doubles, but is left there when Rice grounds out to end the inning after yet another 13 pitch at bat. No runs, but making Morris throw 32 pitches for the inning is an early moral victory.

Bottom of 2nd - another 13 pitch out, this time by Harrah, there is no way that Morris is going the distance against us.

Bottom of 3rd - two out rally, with Boggs tripling and getting knocked in on a double by Yount. 1-0.

Bottom of the 4th - Hall collects a single and steals 2nd. The Tigers intentionally walk Oberkfell with two outs to set up force plays for Scioscia. Big mistake, as he drives a 2-2 pitch over the wall in center for a three run bomb. 4-0 Cubs! That one was wind aided, no doubt about it, but those three runs count just the same.

Top of 6th - Tigers have Wockenfuss pinch-hit for Morris, who will not be in line for his 7th postseason win. I am surprised that Wockenfuss did not start after the season/post-season he had. He promptly singles to lead off the inning and moves to 2nd on a Sandberg single. But Hebner strikes out and Gullickson induces a 1-6-3 double play from Steve Kemp to end the threat. This one is not over with the wind blowing out, but that was a big opportunity wasted by the champs.

Top of 7th - leadoff homer for Lance Parrish to cut the margin to 4-1. Al Cowens collects a one-out double but is left there.

Bottom of 7th - Gullickson is left to bat for himself with two outs and no one on (pitch count is 87) and he drives one to deep center field that just sneaks over the wall. 5-1, on a second wind aided homer for the Cubs.

Top of 8th - Gullickson gives up a double to Sandberg, who later scores on a two out single by Kemp. Gullickson is left in to face Parrish, despite having thrown 101 pitches and given up a homer to him in his last at bat. Good result, as Parrish grounds out to third on the first pitch.

Bottom of 8th - more two out magic, this time against Dan Petry. Hall gets to second on an error by CF Rick Leach and scores on a Harrah single. Oberkfell gets a walk, setting up Scioscia to do what he does best: hit three run bombs in the World Series! Another one that rode the jetstream out to center, 9-2 Cubs now and the Bleacher Bums are going crazy!

Top of 9th - Gullickson closes out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth. Nice day at the office.

[hoopsguy]

Game #2.
Witt vs Rozema. Youth versus experience in this matchup. The Cubs fans are riding high, playing on their home field with the defending Cy Young winner taking the bump. They can almost smell a 2-0 series lead. Well, that is why they play the games.

Top of 1st - Witt has a three pitch inning. Nice and easy.

Bottom of 1st - Boggs walks and Yount hits a screaming liner in the gap. But Al Cowens makes a great play to spear it, the type of play that can change momentum in a hurry.

Top of 2nd - Parrish leads off with a single and moves to second on a one out base knock by Sandberg. But neither runner advances any further.

Bottom of 3rd - Boggs gets a two out double but is stranded when Rozema blows away Yount on three straight pitches after falling behind 2-0.

Bottom of 4th - Ogilvie leads off with a single, moves to second on a Rice walk, and the bases are loaded with no outs after a single to right by Hall. Harrah flies out to right, Ogilvie holds even though the ball went 285 feet. Oberkfell strikes out, bringing up Game #1 hero Scioscia. He hits an 0-1 pitch to shallow left but Kemp makes a great running catch to end the inning. Huge lift for the Tigers!

Top of 5th - Sandberg leads off with a double. He is killing us this series. Lynn Jones singles past second, and Sandberg barrels home. There is a play at the plate and he is ....

OUT! Jones moves to 2nd on the play. But Rozema singles Jones in and the fans sink into their seats again. Kemp doubles, then Alan Trammell brings home an additional run with another single. Witt finally retires Wockenfuss to end the threat but the Tigers are up 2-0.

Top 6th - leadoff double for Parrish, then Cowens walks. Leach hits a one out double to bring home Parrish and end the day for Witt. Jones hits a sacrifice fly to make the score 4-0. Tigers are in great shape to even up this series. Rozema stays in to bat and nearly tacks on another two runs, but Rice makes a web gem in center to end the threat.

Bottom of 6th - Hall gets a two out single and Harrah follows with a drive to deep left. But it only has warning track power, thanks to a stiff breeze. This does not feel like our day.

We never threaten again, so it is off to Detroit tied 1-1. I more or less expected a split but was disappointed to see how it transpired. We just did not match the Tigers' intensity in Game #2.

[hoopsguy]

Game #3:
Off to Tiger Stadium, where rookie Mike Morgan will face the crafty veteran Milt Wilcox. Our rookies really saved our bacon against San Diego, but how will they fare on the road in this series against a deep, experienced Tigers team?

Top of 1st - Ogilvie hits into a double play. He is having a very poor series.

Bottom of 2nd - Wockenfuss doubles to lead off the inning and advances to 3rd on a single by Trammell. A Cowens ground out brings home the first run of the game. Then Jones knocks in Trammell with a two out hit to make the score 2-0.

Top of 3rd - Boggs works a walk with two outs and moves to third on a double by Yount. Good old Ogilvie wastes the opportunity with a fly out.

Top of 4th - Hall has a fifteen pitch at bat that ends with a 428' fly out to center. God, that would have hit the scoreboard in Wrigley! Harrah follows with a 12 pitch at bat with another long fly out. Man, I did not realize just how cavernous this ballpark is.

Bottom of 4th - Cowens doubles with one out but is left stranded.

Top of 5th - Scioscia gets on base with a one out single. He advances to third on a double by DH Jesse Barfield. The bases are full after Boggs gets his second walk of the day. Yount knocks in one run with a sharply hit ball past a drawn in infield. Then Ogilvie hits a tailor made double play ball back to the pitcher. But Yount blows up Sandberg at second and the throw to first is a split second late! 2-2 game! Rice and Hall then get back-to-back walks, with the latter being a very borderline call on a 3-2 count. That puts the Cubs up one. Wilcox recovers to strike out Harrah and end the inning with his team still very much in the game.

Bottom of 6th - Wockenfuss gets a leadoff single and moves to 2nd on a hit by Trammell. Cowens looks uncomfortable in striking out. Leach flies out, but Jones singles to left and Wockenfuss is headed home. Ogilvie unleashes a strong throw and Wockenfuss is meat. Big play for the Cubbies!

Top of 7th - Petry comes in with one out. Ogilvie fouls off ten straight pitches before being retired to end the inning.

Bottom of the 8th - Cowens doubles with two outs but Leach grounds out to second to end the inning. Morgan has thrown 91 pitches through 8.

Top of 9th - Hargrove triples to start the inning, but is left there when the next three hitters can't get the ball out of the infield.

Bottom of the 9th - Smith is in for the save and just blows away Sandberg for the second out. Hebner lifts a lazy fly to right that should end it, but Hall gets a terrible jump on it and it drops for a hit! Kemp has a chance to be a hero, but Smith is having none of it. A fly out to left ends this one.

The Tigers had 12 hits but could only muster two runs in an aggravating loss in front of their home fans.

[hoopsguy]

Game #4:
It is Viola and Dan Schatzeder taking the mound for this game. Both looked good in their divisional appearance. Obviously this is a huge game for the Tigers, who have already re-surrendered home field advantage.

Top of 1st - The Cubs was two on with one out when Ogilvie strikes out and Harrah pops out to third to end the inning.

Bottom of 1st - Trammell hits the first pitch of the game back up the box and moves to second when Sandberg repeats the trick. Wockenfuss advances the runners with a ground out to the right side and Parrish hits a sac fly. 1-0 Tigers.

Top of 2nd - Boone singles and advances to second on a two out walk to Hall. Oberkfell ties the game with a clutch single to right.

Bottom of 6th - Trammell breaks a string of 13 straight retired by Viola with a leadoff single. But he goes no further, as Viola really appears locked in.

Bottom of 7th - Kemp hits one to deep center. 406' and no reward.

Bottom of 8th - Jones starts the inning off with a double. Gibson pops up to 2nd; he is having a series much like Ogilvie. The skipper calls for an intentional pass to Trammell, who is the only guy swinging the bat well against Viola. Sandberg flies out to center and Jones decides to test Rice's arm. Not a good decision at all, as he is called out at third.

Top of 9th - Schatzeder is still in and has been nearly as effective as Viola. He gets two quick outs before allowing a single to Boone on his 118th pitch. The next batter, Barfield, just crushes one to center to put the Cubs up 3-1. Wow. Schatzeder is pulled and replaced by Dave Tobik. I'm guessing the manager is going to hear some second guessing about leaving his starter in that long, especially when the bullpen was fresh.

Bottom of 9th - Wockenfuss singles to start things off. Parrish grounds out to 3rd but Cowens walks to put two on with one out for Kemp. Kemp grounds out to first, with the tying run advancing to 2nd. But Tom Brookens swings and misses a 3-2 pitch and the Cubs have taken a 3-1 lead in the series!

[hoopsguy]

Game #5:
Morris is faced with saving the season for Detroit, but he will have to pitch better than he did in Game #1 when he took his first ever postseason loss.

It just does not happen. No inning by inning recap required here, as this was a beatdown. 11-1 final, as the Cubs sweep three in Tigers Stadium to claim the crown!

Ben Ogilvie busted out huge, with a 4-4 game featuring two homers and five RBIs. Boggs, Rice, Hall, Scioscia, and Barfield all had multi-hit games as well. Morris only lasted three innings.

Gullickson was awarded the MVP for winning two games in the series, outdueling the Detroit ace. But that was more because there was no consistent hitting star over the five game set.

[Izulde]

Congratulations on winning the World Series, even if it is with those bloody Cubbies. ;)

[hoopsguy]

AL Cy Young - Jack Morris (Det) 22-7 2.48 ERA, 8 CG, 3 SO, 142:87 K/BB, .215 BAA, 1.14 WHIP. Led league in wins, ERA, and shutouts. Those first two categories alone are going to get you the Cy Young about 99% of the time.
AL MVP - Cal Ripken (Tex) .308/34/115. Led the league in homers, RBI, and slugging percentage while playing a premier defensive position.
AL Rookie of the Year - Tony Gwynn (Tex) .295/7/58 w/76 steals.
AL Rooke Pitcher of the Year - John Stuper (Bos) - 16-11 3.95 ERA, 5 CG, 1 SO, 97:90 K/BB, .260 BAA, 1.40 WHIP. It is good to have run support.

AL Gold Glove Winners:
P Dennis Eckersly (Bos)
C Butch Wynegar (Min)
1B Dave Revering (Oak)
2B Frank White (KC) - repeat winner
3B John Castino (Min) - also won in 1980
SS Ryne Sandberg (Det)
LF Steve Kemp (Det)
CF Dwayne Murphy (Oak) - also won in 1980
RF Al Cowens (Det)

AL Silver Sluggers:
C Rich Gedman (Bos) .302/17/74
1B Cecil Cooper (Mil) .283/25/88
2B Paul Molitor (Tex) .261/13/79 w/66 steals
3B Mike Marshall (Tor) .288/21/81
SS Cal Ripken (Tex) .308/34/115
LF Tom Brunansky (Sea) .279/34/112
CF Fred Lynn (Bos) .309/31/84
RF Dwight Evans (Bos) .289/34/109
DH Joe Charboneau (Cle) .278/32/95

Notes - youth was served, with Ripken, Brunansky, and Marshall all making a big impact during their second season. Gedman (23), Molitor (26), and Charboneau (27) are hardly old men either.

[hoopsguy]

NL Cy Young - Bill Gullickson (Chi) 18-5 1.88 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SO, 169:53 K/BB, .220 BAA, 1.06 WHIP.
NL MVP - Jack Clark (SF) .307/29/100. Led league in RBIs, walks, and OBP.
NL Rookie of the Year - Wade Boggs (Chi) .309/9/79
NL Rooke Pitcher of the Year - Dave Dravecky (Phi) 15-13 3.28 ERA, 1 CG, 122:81 K/BB, .249 BAA, 1.31 WHIP

NL Gold Glove Winners:
P Enrique Romo (Chi)
C Gary Carter (Mon) - repeat winner
1B Dan Driessen (Cin) - three time winner
2B Manny Trillo (Phi) - three time winner
3B Larry Parrish (Mon)
SS Dave Concepcion (LA)
LF Mickey Hatcher (Hou)
CF Dale Murphy (Oak) - repeat winner
RF Terry Puhl (Hou)

NL Silver Sluggers:
C Gary Carter (Mon) - .238/19/67. Repeat winner.
1B Dan Driessen (Cin) - .266/21/89
2B Glen Hubbard (Atl) - .249/11/62. Repeat winner.
3B Bob Horner (Atl) - .309/41/98. Repeat winner, led league in homers, OPS, and Slugging%.
SS Robin Yount (Chi) - .280/12/53 w/45 steals
LF Ben Ogilvie (Chi) - .266/16/87
CF Gorman Thomas (Phi) - .266/30/93. Repeat winner, with one in each league.
RF Jack Clark (SF) - .307/29/100

In comparison to AL, the position players are a significantly older group. The youngest players (Horner and Hubbard) are 25.

[hoopsguy]

Team Stats for 1982:
Offense: 674 Runs Scored - 6th (+87 Runs, +13 Rank)
Defense: 466 Runs Allowed - 1st (+3 Runs, same Rank)
Total Salaries: $67,406,690 - 1st (-10 million versus same point last year)
Available Finances: some stupid amount
Approval Rating: 51/100 - not sure where to see compared to other teams (+50 from previous year)

The salary shows much lower with guys like Harrah, Ogilvie, and Romo not on the payroll at the end of the season. In reality we probably carried something close to 85 million this year but I'm fine with these numbers as long as I run them at the same point each year.

Going into the draft/FA I would like to find a 3B or 2B that looks like a long-term solution. Other than that, everything should be about "best available athlete" or contract value. We've got a great young rotation that is locked in for awhile and some position players that look like building blocks as well.

I'm also going to apply the 1.84 patch after this post in order to take advantage of some new features. The AI is supposed to be better (probably not getting Wade Boggs off of it going forward if this is true) and options such as automatic stadium changes will be nice to have as well.

[hoopsguy]

Here is a list of guys who will be in the last year of their deals in 1983:
LF Jim Rice - big decision to be made
MR Doug Corbett - probably gone
Closer Lee Smith - expect to re-up him
LF Dave Kingman - sayanora
2B Ken Oberkfell - would love him as quality backup
MR Dick Tidrow - gone
3B Steve Ontiveros - see above
C Bob Boone - another aging vet who won't be back
MR Jesse Orosco - expect to resign
SP Bud Black - better have a good spring if he wants to stay here

[hoopsguy]

The GM Score moves up to 78/100. This has to be aggregate, right? After posting 105 wins and taking home the title I would expect better than this if it is only for one season. If it is aggregate then it would be nice to see the per-season numbers.

Records set last season:
OBP: 1982 Jack Clark (.391) beats 1981 Leon Durham (.385)
Slugging %: 1982 Bob Horner (.582) beats 1980 George Foster (.574)
OPS: 1982 Bob Horner (.952) beats 1980 George Foster (.938)
Home Runs: 1982 Bob Horner (41) beats 1980 Dale Murphy (40)
RBI: 1982 Cal Ripken (115) beats 1981 Mitchell Page (110)
Hits: 1982 Willie Wilson (198) beats 1980 Willie Wilson (197)

*** Stolen Bases: 1982 Rickey Henderson (140) beats 1980 Willie Wilson (97) ***

Losses: 1982 Roger Erickson (19) ties 1980 Jim Beattie (19)
Appearances: 1982 Gene Garber (83) beats two players who previously had 77
Games Started: 1982 Bob Knepper joins a group who have started 37 games in a season

[hoopsguy]

Retiring players:
Enrique Romo - hmm, thought he had something left in the tank and would be able to command a good salary this year. Went out with a Gold Glove, so he has that going for him.
Jim Kaat - leaving at 45 years of age.
Rollie Fingers - had 44 saves in 1980.
Phil Niekro - 44 years of age.
Reggie Jackson - had 46 homers in our association, the most I've seen so far for a retired player.
Pete Rose - "Hit King" is done at 42.

[hoopsguy]

Time to take a look at some league history. Hopefully it is starting to get a little interesting with three seasons of work behind us.

Top Five for each category:
Batting Average:
1. George Brett (KC) .306
2. Andre Dawson (Mon) .297
3. Leon Durham (StL) .295
4. Bob Horner (Atl) .293
5. Fred Lynn (Bos) .292

On Base %:
1. George Brett (KC) .374
2. Fred Lynn (Bos) .366
3. Kirk Gibson (Det) .360
3. Leon Durham (StL) .360
5. Bob Horner (Atl) .355

Slugging %:
1. Bob Horner (Atl) .538
2. George Foster (FA) .513
3. Dave Winfield (SD) .498
4. George Brett (KC) .493
5. Andre Dawson (Mon) .488

OPS:
1. Bob Horner (Atl) .893
2. George Brett (KC) .867
3. George Foster (FA) .855
4. Dave Winfield (SD) .852
5. Fred Lynn (Bos) .846

Home Runs:
1. Bob Horner (Atl) 110
2. Dave Winfield (SD) 90
2. Dale Murphy (SD) 90
4. Gorman Thomas (Phi) 85
5. George Foster (FA) 76
5. Tony Armas (Oak) 76

RBIs:
1. Dave Winfield (SD) 280
2. Mitchell Page (Oak) 260
3. Bob Horner (Atl) 255
4. Andre Dawson (Mon) 250
5. Harold Baines (CHW) 248

Runs:
1. Rickey Henderson (Oak) 296
2. Mookie Wilson (NYM) 283
3. Dale Murphy (Atl) 282
4. Carney Lansford (Cal) 277
5. Andre Dawson (Mon) 261

Hits:
1. Eddie Murray (Bal) 536
2. Willie Wilson (KC) 520
3. Andre Dawson (Mon) 514
4. Dave Winfield (SD) 508
5. Keith Hernandez (StL) 507
5. Carney Lansford (Cal) 507

Doubles:
1. Carney Lansford (Cal) 103
2. Kirk Gibson (Det) 99
3. Harold Baines (CHW) 98
4. Tom Brookens (Det) 97
5. Andre Dawson (Mon) 95
5. Eddie Murray (Bal) 95

Triples:
1. Willie Wilson (KC) 38
2. Mookie Wilson (NYM) 28
3. Craig Reynolds (Hou) 27
4. John Castino (Min) 23
4. Leon Durham (StL) 23

Stolen Bases:
1. Rickey Henderson (Oak) 314
2. Willie Wilson (KC) 255
3. Mookie Wilson (NYM) 211
4. Omar Moreno (Pit) 206
5. Ken Landreaux (Min) 194

Walks:
1. Rickey Henderson (Oak) 253
2. Jason Thompson (Cal) 243
3. Eddie Murray (Bal) 225
4. Jack Clark (SF) 210
5. Lee Mazzili (NYY) 205

ERA:
1. Mario Soto (Cin) 2.11
2. Tom Seaver (FA) 2.35
3. Pete Vukovich (StL0 2.38
4. Nolan Ryan (FA) 2.45
5. Bob Welch (LA) 2.56

Innings Pitched:
1. Rick Langford (Oak) 858
2. Dave Stieb (Tor) 847 1/3
3. Britt Burns (CHW) 836 2/3
4. Matt Keough (Oak) 826
5. Moose Haas (Mil) 822

Wins:
1. Dennis Leonard (KC) 60
2. Rick Langford (Oak) 58
3. Matt Keough (Oak) 57
4. Dave Stieb (Tor) 55
5. Mike Norris (FA) 52

Losses:
1. Richard Dotson (CHW) 51
2. Glenn Abbott (FA) 50
3. Frank Tanana (Cal) 48
3. Moose Haas (Mil) 48
3. Britt Burns (CHW) 48

Saves:
1. Dan Quizenberry (KC) 145
2. Joe Sambito (Hou) 141
3. Mark Clear (Cal) 137
4. Tom Hume (Cin) 134
5. George Frazier (StL) 131

Strikeouts:
1. Len Barker (Cle) 607
2. Mario Soto (Cin) 592
3. Britt Burns (CHW) 522
4. Bert Blyleven (Pit) 517
5. Steve Rogers (Cal) 505

Walks:
1. Jim Clancy (Tor) 318
2. Renie Martin (KC) 298
3. Matt Keough (Oak) 295
4. Britt Burns (CHW) 272
5. Mike Norris (FA) 268

Appearances:
1. John Urrea (StL) 212
2. Gene Garber (Atl) 201
3. Roy Thomas (StL) 200
4. John Littlefield (StL) 198
5. Rick Sutcliffe (FA) 197

Games Started:
1. Bob Knepper (KC) 108
1. Mike Caldwell (Mil) 108
3. John Candelaria (Pit) 107
3. Ed Whitson (SF) 107
5. 5 tied with 106

Complete Games:
1. Rick Langford (Oak) 48
2. Mike Norris (FA) 46
3. Britt Burns (CHW) 42
4. Matt Keough (Oak) 38
5. Dave Stieb (Tor) 35
5. Dennis Leonard (KC) 35

Shutouts:
1. Mike Norris (FA) 8
2. John Candelaria (Pit) 7
2. Rick Langford (Oak) 7
4. Dave Stieb (Tor) 6
4. Britt Burns (CHW) 6
4. Matt Keough (Oak) 6

[hoopsguy]

So there is one huge prize in this amateur draft - Darryl Strawberry. In my one previous association I played in this time period he was something like a 7 time MVP in ten seasons. He is asking for the moon - 11 million per year. Only three other players (Kevin McReynolds, Nick Esasky, and Andy Van Slyke) are even asking for seven figures a year. The biggest name in the pitcher class is Orel Hershiser.

Time to see who is willing to pay the piper for the monster talent. I certainly will if he somehow falls to me at #26.
1. Seattle - C Darren Daulton represents a decent player at a position that is tough to fill, but there were so many better players out there. Very cheap decision, but at least it is not a bust of a pitcher
2. Milwaukee - DARRYL! At least he is in the other league.
3. Atlanta - Orel Hershiser goes to a franchise that is in desperate need of arms. This signing suggests that the AI may actually know how to draft pitchers in this revision.
4. Chicago White Sox - SS Tony Fernandez does not look like a guy who is major league ready to me. High potential (81) but isn't that a given at #4 in the draft? Bad pick.
5. Pittsburgh - SP Sid Fernandez. The Pirates should add him immediately to their starting rotation. They already have a team that gives me some trouble and this guy won't help ease that pain.
6. Mets - RF Otis Nixon. Same thoughts here as I had for White Sox.
7. Cleveland - CF Kevin McReynolds does a lot of things pretty well and should do all of them even better in a couple of years. Nice player.
8. San Francisco - LF Andy Van Slyke. They are already swimming in talented outfielders, but this was clearly the best available hitter.
9. Boston - CF Phil Bradley. Potential replacement for Fred Lynn? He is a McReynolds-lite.
10. Minnesota - Greg Gagne. Could be a decent shortstop but feels like a bit of a reach in this spot.
11. Montreal - Tom Candiotti. He needs some work, reminds me of our own Bud Black. Feels like a fringe big leaguer.
12. Cardinals - SP Ron Darling. Has potential to be pretty good, but needs a lot of work right now. They had to choose pitching, as their staff was a disaster last year after Vukovich.
13. Yankees - SP Kevin Gross. I liked him a lot, had hoped he fell to us.
14. Astros - SP Matt Young. Asking for highest salary among pitchers at over 2.3 million a year. He will immediately join their rotation.
15. Texas - C Dann Bilardello. Has some pop, but doesn't look like there is much upside.
16. Cincinnati - SP Jose DeLeon. Another nice arm for the Reds, who feel like they are a good free agent period away from being the team to beat in the NL West.
17. Los Angeles - 3B Nick Esasky. Bummer, I was starting to get excited about him sliding towards us. I think he is going to be a good player and he has a chance to be great. We would have loved to add him to a position of need. Now I'm not really all that excited about our pick.
18. Baltimore - CF Dan Gladden. Fringe big leaguer now, already 26 years old. I'm not wild about this pick.
19. Philadelphia - SS Spike Owen. I guess they really needed a SS?
20. San Diego - SS Jose Oquendo. Much more potential than Owen, but will struggle to hit ball out of the infield.
21. Toronto - MR Bill Dawley. Immediate impact player for their bullpen. If they thought this is what they needed to catch Detroit then great pickup.
22. Oakland - MR Craig Lefferts. Run on relievers? Another quality arm, but I'm not wild about his age (26)
23. Kansas City - MR Jim Acker. A cut below the last two guys.
24. Detroit - MR Keith Atherton. Better than Acker, younger than Lefferts. I think they needed starters more than middle relief, but maybe they address that in free agency?
25. California - SP Dennis Rasmussen will have more impact than any of the relievers picked in front of him.
26. Chicago - Joe Carter is the best available player and should have been off the board by now. But I've already got three young OF that need to get their shot. 2B Juan Samuel probably is not ready to start for us, but has potential to replace Oberkfell and/or Templeton. Tim Teufel could play the same role, as well as be an outstanding utility player. SP Charles Hudson looks like major league ready right now. If 1B Carmelo Martinez could play third I would probably take him. In the end, we go with Juan Samuel, inking him to a four year deal for 350K per season.

Round 2:
- The White Sox sign Hudson, which helps make up for the 1st round blunder.
- The Indians sign Teufel. Bastards, I would have definitely taken him if he came back around. I think he is a nice 2nd round player.
- I'm clearly seeing more in Joe Carter than the rest of the league as he comes around for Round #2. Easy pick, in my mind. We give him 4 years @ 600K a season. I'll be aggressive in moving a young outfielder at some point this season.

Round #3 - MR Steve Brown is a warm body in the pen if we get desperate. The 26 year old has 1 potential, so what we see is what we get. 3 years, 300K.
Round #4 - SP Allan Ramirez has 68 potential, which means he has an outside chance of not sucking for his entire career. Sold, 3 years @ 150K.
Round #5 - SP Jay Pettibone gets the same review as Ramirez. 2 years @ 180K.

[rjolley]

Hoops, is that draft with 1.84RC1? If so, it looks like the AI may do a better job of drafting.

[hoopsguy]

Free agents of interest:
If I want to inject some infield power then options include Doug DeCinces, Mike Schmidt, or Bobby Grich. All are asking for 12+ million right now.

Harrah is looking for 8 million a year. We'll monitor his situation.

I don't see anything in the way of interesting young hitters. We've only got two roster spots open at the moment, but I'm more than willing to dump some of the dead wood that will be in our farm system for the right players. I'm just not seeing them right at this moment.

MR Alejandro Pena looks like a reliever that could stick with us for quite awhile. He is 24 and has a live arm. I normally like to try and fill these spots in the middle rounds of the draft but I just did not see much there this year. So we'll offer him four years at 1.3 million a season and see if that gets us our man.

Week 1 signings:
- Twins get Rick Sutcliffe for 3 years at 5 million per. Nice pickup, he should be a starter for them instead of stuck in pen like he was for LA.
- Seattle makes a major splash, adding Willie Upshaw for 2 years at nearly 15 million per. He'll team with Brunansky to give them a strong middle of the order.
- Detroit grabbed one of the more promising young players available, 25 year old Reid Nichols, for a 5 year/5 million dollar deal.
- Baltimore added 3B/2B Luis Salazar for 5 years/2 million. I thought about offering him, but did not when I could not bring up his defensive chart. That is one issue I have with the interface ... I want that info when evaluating free agents. I have access to it during the draft, but not Free Agency.
- Cleveland adds DeCinces for 3 years/17 million. Ooh.
- San Francisco keep Nolan Ryan in the division, picking him up for two years @ 17 million apiece. Big money this offseason!
- Seattle also adds Randy Jones, who was last seen beating us in the playoffs, for 2 years @ 3.7 million.

Week 2 signings:
- we note that the Padres have added Mike Boddicker for 4 years @ 1.2 million a year. I think he was a pretty good prospect when he came out ... may have to look him up.
- our old catcher Barry Foote has caught on in Toronto, signing a one year deal for 3 million.
- Oakland pays Johnny Bench 15 million per year for two seasons. Hmm, that guy looked pretty washed up to me.
- Baltimore takes Ozzie Smith away from San Diego for just 1.2 million a year over two seasons.

Week 3 signings:
- Yankees add Buckner for 4 years/5.7 million
- They also grab Harrah for one season at nearly 11 million. Good for him getting his cash.
- The Yankees are going nuts, adding Garvey for one year at 7.3 million. I guess if they spend enough money on corner outfielders that should help them climb the mountain that is the Detroit Tigers.

There are a couple of third basemen I have my eye on as short term solutions. Darrell Evans is looking for 6 million a year and Ron Cey wants 5 million. I'm hoping that one of them will take a lower offer from us in the middle stages, just as long as other teams don't gobble them up too fast.

Pena signs with us in Week 8, but that forces us to the end of the FA period since we do not have any other outstanding offers. Hmm, I wish that was a "yes/no" option rather than automatically moving me there.

We do end up grabbing Cey for five million dollars. It is stunning to me that no one was willing to pay Mike Schmidt his money, as he is currently on the scrap heap.

[hoopsguy]

Hoops, is that draft with 1.84RC1? If so, it looks like the AI may do a better job of drafting.

1.84RC2, actually. I updated my version after finish last season and before rolling into the new year. I agree that the drafting looks far superior to what I saw with 1.82.

[hoopsguy]

The folks at PSPN once again think we are the team to beat this season. Here is the rest of the top 10:
2. Detroit
3. Kansas City
4. Oakland
5. Baltimore
6. Pittsburgh (hmm, not sure I see it just yet)
7. San Francisco
8. Chicago White Sox (definitely do not see that)
9. Montreal
10. Toronto
Cardinals are #22.

Jim Rice makes the "most feared hitters" list. Here is what the PSPN scouts are projecting for some of the games best sluggers:
Eddie Murray (Bal) - .290/30
Jim Rice (Chi) - .293/32
Bob Horner (Atl) - .288/34
Willie Aikens (KC) - .297/29
George Brett (KC) - .297/27
Cal Ripken (Tex) - .310/23
Andre Dawson (Mon) - .292/27
Dave Winfield (SD) - .278/30

Top Payrolls:
1. Detroit - $115,571,307
2. Los Angeles - $112,153,143
3. New York Yankees - $107,151,680
4. Baltimore - $104,847,339
5. Cleveland - $101,834,110

We are #16 overall at $73,199,388. That makes sense to me as we let some big names go at the end of last year. We're investing heavily in some of our young position players in terms of time, if not yet money. We'll see if that allows us to adequately defend our title. If it does not look good then it will be time to test the new and improved 1.84 AI.

[hoopsguy]

Last cuts in camp - Carter, Black, Boyd, and Corbett. I'm kind of surprised by that one as well. I'll look to deal him early in the season because he is definitely a big league arm.

Viola projects as our #2 starter, knocking Witt down to #3. I hope that Frankie's performance validates that ranking.

Looking at our ratings changes from season to season, Gullickson took a big hit. He still is our #1 but I'm not expecting quite the same dominance when his velocity has dipped by 9 points. Mel Hall and Jim Rice probably had the best springs, per our scouts.

[hoopsguy]

We start the year at home against the Expos. There is a ring ceremony to commemorate the achievements of the 1982 team. It is also the last time that I plan on using last year as anything other than a whip to motivate this team.

Don't tell the Expos that Gullickson has lost anything off his heater. He dominated on a cold day at Wrigley, throwing eight innings of four hit ball. Dave Kingman, in for a gimpy Mel Hall, hit a solo shot that was the only scoring. We get to face rookie Craig McMurtry in the second game and he acquitted himself well, only allowing two runs over six innings. But Viola was even better and we got some late runs to pull out a 5-3 victory. Jesse Barfield hit a two run homer in the bottom of the 8th to break a 3-3 tie and provide the final margin.

Next stop, Cincinnati. The Reds are 0-2 after dropping a pair at home to Atlanta. We push them to 0-3. Ron Cey hits his first homer as a Cub and Witt throws a complete game in a 7-1 win. Both streaks continue on 4/9 as Morgan goes 8 1/3 shutout innings in a 6-0 win against Mario Soto. Yount and Barfield each had three RBIs. 5-0, as Barfield hits his third homer on the year in a 5-2 win. 6-0, as we get another shutout win. A four game sweep in Cincinnati - we look very motivated early on this year.

Nick Esasky did not waste much time getting himself acclimated to the bigs. He hit a 464' shot on 4/9, the longest of the year by a good twenty feet.

[hoopsguy]

Montreal gives us our first loss of the year, 4-0, in the opener of our trip to Olympic Stadium. It was McMurtry again doing good work against our hitters. Real good work, as we only had one hit and he had two by himself. Wow. Witt picked up his second win to give us a split, 4-2. Smith added his 5th save on the year.

The road trip continues in Pittsburgh, where the Pirates are off to a 1-7 start. I would love to bury them in April, if at all possible. But they have other ideas, winning the opener 5-1 behind a good outing by John Candelaria. We rebound against Blyleven the next day, tacking on a 9-1 triumph featuring yet another homer by Barfield. Starter Dennis Martinez was also raking, going 4-4 at the dish. Barfield supplied the only offense in the series finale, as we lost 4-1.

Man, the schedule makers did us no favors this April. It is off to Philadelphia. Once again we face a division rival who is struggling (2-8) and desperate for wins against us. We are not accommodating, as we sweep the three game set to pull 8.5 in front of them.

Despite our hot (11-3) start, we have not created all that much distance in the division race. Both the Mets and Cardinals are 9-5. Montreal sits a game behind them at 7-5.

Oakland has rattled off seven in a row in the AL West and is tied with Minnesota for the best record in the league at 11-4.

Pedro Guerrero is injured again, this time with a hammy that will sideline him for a month. That is the same timeframe that J.R. Richard faces in coming back from a shoulder injury for the Brewers. Injuries must be the in thing this spring, as Rich Gossage will also miss a month with some non-descript leg injury.

[hoopsguy]

We return home to face 8-7 San Francisco. The pitching is rock solid in the opener, a 6-0 win. But we see the pen blow up in the second game, with Alejandro Pena giving away a Gullickson win in a 5-2 loss. They are at it again the next day, as we lose 5-4 thanks to a blown save by Smith. Ugh - annoying series against a pretty decent team.

San Diego does what they could not do last October - beat us at Wrigley. 6-2 final, despite another Barfield homer. We split the next two games, which leaves us at 2-4 on this homestand. Not good at all.

Gullickson picks up his 3rd win in a 3-1 decision over the Dodgers at Wrigley. Then Viola slams the door on them in a 9-0 triumph. Everyone in the lineup had a hit that day, with seven players (including Viola) getting multiple hits. We sweep the Dodgers, with Barfield finishing off a torrid May with his 7th homer and 21 RBIs.

An early look at the division races reveals the following:
AL East - it is the Yankees on top with a 14-8 mark. Everyone but Milwaukee has a winning record; five teams are within two games of the Pinstripes.

AL West - Minnesota has the best record in baseball at 17-7. They are two in front of Oakland and 3.5 ahead of Texas. Everyone else is at least 7.5 games; that is unfamiliar territory for the Kansas City Royals and California Angels.

NL East - the Mets are running with us and at 15-7 sit a half game back. Montreal is 14-8 and very much in the mix as well. The Cards were along for the ride before they lost five straight but now find themselves 5.5 back.

NL West - San Francisco is 14-9, one up on Houston and 1.5 ahead of an improved Atlanta team.

[hoopsguy]

A couple of notes from around the league:
- we do not have anyone in the minors that is making a push for the big leagues, except Corbett. But he is pretty much a known entity. I should really look at dealing him sooner rather than later, just to see what we can realize in return.
- Boone is one of the oldest position players in the league. Only Seattle's Hal McRae, at 38, is older than the 36 year old Boone. Other 36 year olds still playing in the field include Fisk, Bench, and Hebner. Cey and Kingman are both 35 and in the geriatric team photo as well.
- Mookie Wilson now has an 18 game hitting streak.
- Barfield is leading the majors in RBIs. He is one in front of Baltimore's Murray and three in front of the closest NL competitor: Dusty Baker of the Dodgers.

Off to San Francisco to see if we do a little better against them our second time around. Not so much, as we lose 2-1 in the opener despite another bomb from Barfield. He is going to sue his fellow hitters for lack of support pretty soon. But Barfield does it again the following night as we earn a split with the Giants thanks to a 7-2 win.

Time for a quick look at the Cubs batting averages:
Oberkfell: .257
Boggs: .283
Rice: .305
Barfield: .301
Yount: .231
Hall: .217
Cey: .353
Scioscia: .264

I let Hall know that we need more from him. There is no need to push Yount, who is an accomplished big league player and I trust to turn it around on his own.

[hoopsguy]

We win a taut 1-0 affair against the Padres. Barfield knocked in Oberkfell with a sac fly in the 9th to get us the win. I do not think getting two hits is a good formula for victory. But getting shutouts is, as Viola demonstrates the following night in a 5-0 win. Viola threw a complete game shutout, allowing only one hit (two out double in bottom of 6th). Yount had a three run homer in the first that was all the offense we would need. We finish off the sweep in San Diego the following afternoon, 4-2 final after scoring three in the 9th to break a 1-1 tie.

We win our 5th in a row in LA, but that really is not the story on this day. No, that would be the 5th win in a row for the Expos. It was a 26-0 shellacking of the Braves in Atlanta. How would you like to pay for that ticket? The Expos "only" had 21 hits, but benefited from 3 Atlanta errors and 20 walks. I guess that the Atlanta bullpen really needed the rest ... check out this statline:

Rick Mahler (Atl) 8 IP, 20 hits, 26 runs, 23 earned runs, 20 walks, 0 Ks. His ERA jumped from 6.61 to 12.95 after this outing. Rick is considering going back to college to complete his graduate studies.

One more note on that game - it is a good thing that Glenn Hubbard has a pair of Silver Slugger awards because he is not winning a Gold Glove. He already has nine errors on the year.

Dennis Martinez moved to 4-0 with a 5-3 victory over the Dodgers. The pen gave him three great innings of relief, backed by save #13 for Smith. That completes a tidy little 6-1 road trip for the Cubs.

[rjolley]

1.84RC2, actually. I updated my version after finish last season and before rolling into the new year. I agree that the drafting looks far superior to what I saw with 1.82.
Didn't know RC2 was out. Haven't had a chance to play with RC1 yet.

[hoopsguy]

Home to face the Phillies, who have had a wretched season. They are 7-22, which is 14.5 back. On May 12th. Yeesh. But they find a win in the series opener by a 3-1 margin. Apparently Smith was not available to save a 1-0 game and Caudill was not up to the task of throwing two scoreless innings, giving up a three run double to Manny Trillo. Viola throws another gem and Barfield hits another homer. Nice formula, 2-0 victory. Same thing the next day in a 3-0 win where Witt gets a no-decision after throwing seven innings of one-hit ball. Barfield, you see, waited until the 8th inning to homer in this one. We close out the series with a 16-2 laugher that was good for the team batting averages. Everyone had a hit; starter Morgan had four of them.

Crap - I just realized that I did not post end of season numbers for last season's league leaders. PSPN will help bring them to us at some point. Here are the NL ones for 1982.

Batting Average - .314 Bill Madlock (Pit)
On Base % - .391 Jack Clark (SF)
Slugging % - .582 Bob Horner (Atl)
OPS - .952 Bob Horner (Atl)
Home Runs - 41 Bob Horner (Atl)
Stolen Bases - 90 Mookie Wilson (NYM)
Hits - 195 Wade Boggs (Chi)
Runs - 96 Dale Murphy (Atl)
RBI - 100 Jack Clark (SF)
ERA - 1.88 Bill Gullickson (Chi)
Wins - 19 Bob Welch (LA)
Saves - 48 Joe Sambito (Hou)
Strikeouts - 213 Mario Soto (Cin)
Complete Games - 6 Scott Sanderson (Mon)
Shutouts - 3 Scott Sanderson (Mon)
Innings Pitched - 246 2/3 Bob Welch (LA)

"Coldest Pitcher in the Association"
Rick Mahler:
Last 2 weeks: 15.50 ERA 0-3, 4 K, 31 BB
Season: 12.56 ERA, 0-4, 5K, 38 BB

Boggs is in a funk, hitting .125 over the past two weeks to bring his average down to .244. I expect he will snap out of it, but this is just weird to see after how productive he was last season.

[hoopsguy]

Martinez is off to his best season ever with the Cubs and seems determined to make me lock him up to a long-term deal. He moves to 5-0 with a win against the Braves. You-know-who homered again. In the second game we slap the Braves around 12-5. It was a sloppy game, with each side committing three errors. Everyone had a hit and Oberkfell had four RBIs. Horner had a three run homer in the loss.

The Reds are next to run into our buzzsaw at Wrigley. Viola improves to 5-1 and we up the winning streak to 6 in a 6-1 win. Boggs gets his first homer of the year in win #7, a 4-3 decision in 11 innings. The 8th win features a homer by Rice, who is having a pretty good year even if he is being overshadowed by Barfield. .293/6/23 through two months is not chopped liver by any means.

30-9 and off to Houston to play the 21-21 Astros. Make that 30-10, as ex-Cub Mike Krukow hands Martinez his first loss of the season in a 5-3 game. A quick peek at our stats shows that Templeton is hitting .129 this year. I'm not sure why I tolerate this. We fall 1-0 the following day; tough luck for Gullickson as we only gave up three hits. Joe Sambito, who led the NL is saves last year, is a middle reliever for Houston this year. He is now 5-0 on the season and Frank LaCorte picked up his 12th save on the year with a 3 strikeout 9th. So what does Viola do when we lose a game in front of him? Not give up runs; I think that is the third time this year. 2-0 win, and we pick up one game in Houston.

[hoopsguy]

Off to Atlanta, where Mahler is scheduled to start. We note that his ERA is down to 10.91, but he is still seeking his first win of the year. It does not come on this day. 10-4 final, but Mahler does bring his ERA down to 10.31 in the process of throwing 3 2/3 innings. Both Yount and Boggs had four hits. Morgan wins a showdown with Larry McWilliams; both of these guys have a shot at making the All Star team. The final was 3-2, thanks in part to a home run by The Penguin, Ron Cey. It has been awhile since I said this, but Barfield homered in a 7-0 effort that included a three hit shutout by "El Presidente". We finish the four game sweep off the following afternoon, 4-1 final. Gullickson over Hershiser. That Atlanta team has some good starters if you can get past Mahler in the rotation.

Back home to face the Astros, we run our win streak to 6 in an 8-7 decision. Smith gave up three in the 9th to tie the game at 7 but Hall cranked over the wall in center for the walk-off win. Witt is the winner in a 1-0 affair that takes the win streak to 7. He is now 6-0. Hall does it again, although not a walk-off this time, in win #8. 5-1 final and we swept Houston.

Meanwhile, the Mets hung with us in the standings for awhile before cracking. In a big way, as they have stumbled to nine straight losses and now sit at 27-23. The Expos have fallen off their pace a bit as well, but are still 28-21. Montreal actually has the second best record in all of baseball.

AL East - The Yankees are 27-21 and a half game ahead of Detroit. Six teams remain within 3 of first.

AL West - Oakland is on top at 28-22, just .5 ahead of Texas and one up on Minnesota. Only Seattle (17-34) is more than 4.5 back.

NL West - San Francisco is on top at 27-23. The Braves, Astros, and Dodgers are all two back.

[hoopsguy]

We surge to #9 in a row behind two more Barfield homers in a 7-6 win at home against the Pirates. The Mets snap their losing streak at 9. Our winning streak is officially in the double digits after a 5-2 win. Yount had two hits, 3 RBIs, and was caught stealing for the 7th time this year. Dude, exercise a little judgement, OK? The winning streak comes crashing down in a 9-1 loss led by Dale Berra and his two homers. We win the 4th game of the series 10-7. Templeton is up to .204 and has qualified to play 3B for us.

I decide it is time to set Doug Corbett free. Texas is willing to offer Gwynn, which does not make me feel great about the AI. But a closer look shows me that he is not playing for the Rangers; he only has 48 at bats on the year. Still, I'm not looking for more outfielders. But I can't resist grabbing Gary Gaetti from the Twins. The 25 year old 3B is having a down year at .208/1/13 while batting 9th but he is a plus defender who is still developing and I think he almost as good as Cey right now. Plus he is under contract for 5 years at 2.8 million, so he is not terribly expensive if he does not adapt well to Wrigley. Done. He is now platooning with Cey, getting the nod against lefties. We demote Juan Samuel to get him some at bats.

[hoopsguy]

So Strawberry has gotten hot and is looking like a shoe-in for AL ROTY. .343/14/34 with 27 steals after two months. He also has a 13 game hitting streak.

Meanwhile Ripken and Roy Smalley are waging war for the starting SS spot for the AL.
Ripken: .325/10/37
Smalley: .335/4/29

Baltimore's Eddie Murray has a 17 game streak. I think he would be a worthy successor to Gibson but all who have tried to get to 21 have failed. KC's Andre Thornton is just one game behind Murray.

Career year? Yep, that is what is happening for Pittsburgh's Vance Law. He is hitting .364 with an OPS of .929. He has never been better than .260/.700 in his first three years, so this should come crashing down sometime soon.

The Mets come calling and we engage in a wild one. 9-8 final, advantage good guys. Mike Scioscia hits two homers and we score 7 runs in the 9th to force extra innings! Scioscia's 2nd homer was a walk-off in the 10th inning. Rice homered and had three RBIs the following afternoon in a 4-1 win that gave Martinez his 8th win on the year.

The Angels won 7 in a row to get back in the mix in the AL West, but still trail three teams by 2.5 - 3 games.

Boston is very interested in acquiring MR Bob James but I'm not in the mood to abuse the AI and take Fred Lynn, even if he does hail from Chicago. But color me a little disappointed that I could have had 90% of the Red Sox roster for a good (but not great) middle reliever with a decent contract.

[hoopsguy]

The Cardinals are the next victims to visit Wrigley, but someone forgot to tell them to lay down for us. We lose the opener 5-2, despite homer #17 by Barfield. Oh, did I forget to mention that it was an EIGHTEEN INNING GAME? Gah, that sucks. They then proceed to hand Witt his first loss of the year in a 9-4 defeat. We beat Vukovich to take one game out of this set, 2-0 final. Morgan threw seven shutout innings, gave up two hits, and got a no decision because Barfield couldn't knock the ball out of the park until the bottom of the 8th.

Kansas City Royal 1B Andre Thornton broke the hit streak record, taking it out to 22 games. We are excited to see such a hallowed record change hands in our lifetime.

We travel to New York and lose to the Mets 4-1. Hmm, maybe we are finding a little funk right now. Confirmed after a 3-1 loss the next night. I guess these things happen. It is hard to get too angry about it when the team is 45-16 but I'm not sure how far they want to push me on this point. Viola gets the message, as well as his 9th win, in a 5-2 decision. Rice homers and has 4 RBIs on the night.

We head to St. Louis and get some revenge. Bob Sykes, who has his only win of the year against us, is the loser in the 9-4 opener. A homer and 5 RBIs for Cey and #19 for Barfield. Cey connects again the next night in a 6-2 win. And Martinez matches Viola for wins as he earns the decision in a 1-0 game to close out the series sweep. Smith adds save number twenty seven.

We move the win streak to five with a 6-1 win at Pittsburgh. That is the first loss (2-1 record) for Sid Fernandez in his career. The score is the same the next night, as we get homers from Rice (10), Barfield (20), and Gaetti (2). The 7th straight win is very satisfying, as it comes against a red-hot John Candelaria. 9-2 final, with homers by Hall (7), Barfield (21), and Yount (6). Candelaria is now 9-2 with a 1.67 ERA and pretty much an All-Star lock. We are just firing on all cylinders again, as Morgan wins another 1-0 game when Rice knocked in a run in the 9th. Blyleven was great, only allowing one hit over seven innings.

[hoopsguy]

As hot as Barfield is, he is not leading the majors in homers. That honor goes to Kansas City's Ron Kittle with 22. His .232/22/52 is not nearly as productive as our guy, but he does have the most balls over the wall. Tony Armas of Oakland also has 21 homers. .258/21/50 for Armas.

Vance Law is down to .316 now and has not had an RBI since I posted about his torrid start.

Oakland stud starter Rick Langford will miss 6 1/2 weeks with a calf injury.

We head to Montreal to face the Expos. They are 39-30 and playing some good ball. The main weapon has been Tim Wallach, who has 56 RBIs on the year. Our first game of the series is a slugfest; we win 10-8. Scioscia was 4-5 and Gaetti homered again to help us rally back after giving away a 6-2 lead early. It is not reasonable to expect the same kind of outburst against Ray Fontenot, who is 9-1 with a 2.01 ERA for Montreal. But we do it anyway, winning 10-6 to get our second double digit win streak on the year.

Kingman hit a three run homer but had to leave the game with a bicep injury. He'll be placed on the 15 day DL. We'll call up Joe Carter, who frankly still needs to work on contact at AAA Iowa.

Back to business with Montreal - we bring the streak to 11 with a 2-1 win. The game was scoreless through 9 but Hall tripled in a pair of runs in the top of the 10th. He had four hits on the night and is up to .299 on the season. The last game in Montreal is against Scott Sanderson, who is 10-2 with a 2.40 ERA. Make that 11-2, as our streak dies at 11. Barfield hits his 22nd but is overshadowed by Larry Parrish who has two homers and six RBIs.

[hoopsguy]

We do not waste time lamenting the loss, as Morgan throws 8 1/3 scoreless innings in a 7-0 win. Gaetti and Barfield each have multiple RBI efforts. The Pirates pay us back 4-2 the next evening as Mike Easler drives in 3. Gullickson picks up win #10 on the year, backed by Rice and Barfield homers, in a 10-6 win. Pirate Jerry Dybzinski had 5 RBIs in the loss, bringing his total to 8 on the year.

Montreal flies into Chicago coming off an 18 inning win in Philadelphia. Are they jet-lagged for the afternoon game? If so, they hide it well but still lose 2-1. We rough up Sanderson in a return engagement. Well, technically we rough up the pen as he only gave up three of the eleven runs in an 11-4 Cub victory. Scioscia, Yount, and Rice all left the building. Morgan gets his 10th win in a 4-0 win. Three more hits for Yount, who is up to .283.

We sweep a July 4th double-header against Montreal in contrasting styles: 13-0 and 2-1. Barfield hit two homers and had five RBIs in the opener (.294/24/75) to get Martinez his 10th win. Oberkfell knocked in the game winner in the 10th to get us a win in the second game and a sweep of the five game series.

Kittle hit a ball 480' - that is a long, long way.

Philly CF Gorman Thomas is out for a month with a bicep injury. Hmm, I wonder if there were any performance enhancing drugs in the game back in 1983?

[hoopsguy]

Steve, I'm having a lot of fun playing in this time period. I'm not sure if I would enjoy a 100% fictional universe as much, but that is just me.

I've certainly found some things that I think are "off" but on the whole I think that the statistical engine is very impressive. Especially for a free game. And the developer is actively working on this, as there have been numerous updates (1.80 to 1.84 RC2) in the six weeks or so since I originally downloaded the game.

As far as the powerhouse, I'm strongly considering putting in some house rules to see if I can even this out a little bit and create a better challenge. There is no sense in beating the game silly and winning 130 games every season when it is clearly exploitable. I just had not played enough prior to this dynasty (or with the amount of focus that I'm applying now) to really have much of a sense on how to set up those house rules.

[Izulde]

Man, it's crazy the numbers Barfield's putting up.

[hoopsguy]

Man, it's crazy the numbers Barfield's putting up.

He put up pretty strong power numbers last year in limited time (.243/17/48 in 337 at-bats). So I think you could assume that if I gave him 600 at-bats and put him in the cleanup spot that he had a chance to do some real damage (maybe 25/85?) but he already has those kind of numbers by the All-Star break.

Looking at his player page, he has seen his "Power" rating go up from mid-70s when he was drafted to 93 now. He still has 53 potential (24 years old) so there is a chance it will keep going up but I expect it to level off right around here for the next few years.

Every once in awhile our scouting department does its job with their picks :)

[hoopsguy]

Our last set of games before the All Star break takes us to San Francisco. The Giants are 45-36 and have opened a 4.5 game lead on the pack in their division. We just clobber them in the opener, by a score of 15-5. Hall homers twice and has 4 RBIs. Rice also homered and matched Hall's RBI total. All in all, we sent six balls over the wall against Vida Blue and company. We do not have as easy a time with Nolan Ryan, who wins his 9th game with a 2-1 decision. Barfield knocked in the only Cubs run. Jack Clark homered for the second straight game against us. We sweep a double-header on the July 10th to finish with 3 of 4 in San Francisco. Hall went 4-4 with a homer in one of those games. He is locked in right now.

[hoopsguy]

Here are your American League All Stars:

AL Starters (in order of votes):
RF Darryl Strawberry (Mil) - .303/22/50 w/34 steals. So it begins.
SS Cal Ripken (Tex) - .334/16/59. Repeat selection.
3B George Brett (KC) - .306/12/45. 3rd selection for Brett.
CF Tony Armas (Oak) - .260/21/59
1B Pat Putnam (Tex) - .305/8/35. Was an AS reserve in '81.
C Jim Essian (Min) - .320/7/34
LF Bill Sample (Tex) - .312/8/53. AL version of Vance Law (career year). Third Ranger hitter in lineup, their fans are rocking the vote.
2B Dave Stapleton (Bos) - .283/10/36. 3rd straight start in AS game.

AL Reserves
1B Steve Garvey (NYY) - .293/10/32. The Yankees have to call him up from AAA to participate in this game. Kind of embarrassing ...
CF Fred Lynn (Bos) - .305/10/35. 3rd straight AS game for Lynn.
1B Willie Aikens (KC) - .281/13/39
RF Harold Baines (Chi) - .300/12/50. 2nd straight AS game.
C Lance Parrish (Det) - .293/7/48. Also AS in 1981.
SS Roy Smalley (Min) - .322/5/36. 2nd straight AS game.
RF Ron Kittle (KC) - .230/24/55. Chicks dig the long ball.

AL Pitchers
Starter Jim Clancy (Tor) - 15-2 2.39 ERA, 4 CG, 2 SO, 83:50 K/BB, .205 BAA, 1.08 WHIP. Career .500 pitcher (44-44) coming into this year, he has exploded at age of 28.
Starter Chris Welsh (Bal) - 11-5 2.47 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SO, 57:46 K/BB, .230 BAA, 1.21 WHIP. Former ROY has started to learn how to win games.
Starter Charles Hudson (CHW) - 11-4 2.91 ERA, 2 CG, 84:45 K/BB, .239 BAA, 1.26 WHIP. Probably not the last AS game for this rookie.
Starter Matt Keough (Oak) - 8-8 2.23 ERA, 9 CG, 1 SO, 66:56 K/BB, .228 BAA, 1.21 WHIP. Quality start machine.
Starter Richard Dotson (CHW) - 9-7 2.64 ERA, 2 CG, 87:49 K/BB, .217 BAA, 1.15 WHIP. Very high potential young (24) pitcher on a team that is collecting good arms.
Closer Pete Ladd (Min) - 0-0 0.96 ERA, 29 saves, 0 blown, 20:13 K/BB, .210 BAA, 1.21 WHIP.
MR Dave Rozema (Det) - 8-6 2.80 ERA, 8 CG, 69:37 K/BB, .234 BAA, 1.14 WHIP. Detroit must be stocked with good arms to even consider putting him in relief role. Has 20 appearances, 17 of them are starts, so this seems like a recent change.
MR Dave Tobik (Det) - 5-1 1.75 ERA, 1 blown, 4 holds, 25:19 K/BB, .217 BAA, 1.17 WHIP. Tobik is a four time All Star; premier AL reliever?
MR Tom Neidenfuer (KC) - 5-3 1.85 ERA, 3 saves, 0 blown, 4 holds, 38:13 K/BB, .212 BAA, 1.05 WHIP. Tom has amazing stuff.
MR Don Carman (Min) - 2-3 1.83 ERA, 4 holds, 19:11 K/BB, .183 BAA, 0.99 WHIP

[hoopsguy]

And the NL All Stars:

NL Starters (in order of votes):
RF Jesse Barfield (Chi) - .292/26/77
3B Nick Esasky (LA) - .310/13/36 - I knew I wanted to draft him! ROY lock?
RF Jeffrey Leonard (StL) - .317/10/42 w/27 steals.
SS Robin Yount (Chi) - .298/8/47 w/17 steals. Also AS in 1981.
1B Dan Driessen (Cin) - .315/11/39. 4 time AS is a steal under current contract (1.5 million).
CF Jim Rice (Chi) - .288/14/54. 3rd straight AS game for Rice.
2B Vance Law (Pit) - .321/1/21
C Terry Kennedy (StL) - .311/3/41 - seamless transition from Ted Simmons

NL Reserves
3B Dale Berra (Pit) - .316/8/39. Already career high for homers, just 5 off best RBI total.
3B Bob Horner (Atl) - .295/13/47. 4th straight AS game, first as non-starter.
RF Jack Clark (SF) - .284/14/44. Repeat AS.
1B Keith Hernandez (StL) - .319/6/27. 3rd time as AS reserve. Can't stand that Driessen keeps winning the starting job AND the Gold Glove.
LF Don Mattingly (SF) - .293/9/53. Tough to get time in outfield w/Giants. Maybe a position change to 1B would make sense?
2B Tim Raines (Mon) - .319/2/25 w/22 steals
LF Pedro Guerrero (LA) - .286/8/29. Also an AS in 1980.

NL Pitchers
Starter Scott Sanderson (Mon) - 11-2 2.65 ERA, 2 CG, 110:34 K/BB, .214 BAA, 1.07 WHIP. Just one off his career high for wins, but I expect more seasons like this from him.
Starter Mike Morgan (Chi) - 10-1 2.42 ERA, 1 CG, 69:49 K/BB, .235 BAA, 1.29 WHIP.
Starter Bill Gullickson (CHI) - 10-3 2.34 ERA, 2 CG, 67:20 K/BB, .212 BAA, 0.95 WHIP. 3rd AS game, all with Cubs.
Starter John Candelaria (Pit) - 9-3 2.19 ERA, 3 CG, 1 SO, 83:24 K/BB, .215 BAA, 0.99 WHIP. In last year of deal, will get a ton of money if Pittsburgh allows him on FA market.
Closer Lee Smith (Chi) - 1-0 1.89 ERA, 32 saves, 1 blown, 25;11 K/BB, .228 BAA, 1.17 WHIP
Starter Frank Viola (Chi) - 10-2 2.52 ERA, 4 CG, 2 SO, 64:44 K/BB, .221 BAA, 1.18 WHIP.
MR Joe Sambito (Hou) - 6-1 0.88 ERA, 1 blown save, 5 holds, 33:10 K/BB, .174 BAA, 0.82 WHIP. This guy is having a monster year.
MR John Urrea (StL) - 1-0 1.45 ERA, 1 save, 5 holds, 31;23 K/BB, .208 BAA, 1.16 WHIP
MR Bud Anderson (Mon) - 4-6 1.70 ERA, 6 holds, 39:25 K/BB, .165 BAA, 0.96 WHIP. How does a guy with these stats have 6 losses?
MR Dave Stewart (Cin) - 3-2 2.17 ERA, 3 saves, 4 holds, 33:13 K/BB, .272 BAA, 1.31 WHIP. Yes, it is "that" Dave Stewart who apparently does not have much Endurance in this universe. Tempting to explore the editor capabilities to right this wrong.

[rjolley]

If the AI is drafting and signing free agents better, I would think powerhouse building would a lot harder to do. Before, it was easy to build a strong team because you could pick up good players every round of every draft, then trade the ones you didn't want for the position you needed.

I'm going to try out 1.84RC2 and see if that's still true.

[hoopsguy]

I'm not convinced that the AI does better with either FA signings or with trade logic. I definitely saw improvement in the draft - especially with pitching prospects.

I'm holding off on any house rules until the end of this season, but some of the ideas that I'm batting around are (won't do all of them together just yet):
- max number of years to sign players
- max salary that I can pay to a player or player group (starting pitchers = 20 million, for example)
- no multi-player trades (already largely follow this one)
- no trades that involve taking on salary
- no trades for players under the age of 25
- no trades for 1st round draft picks

I just want to make sure that when I do put the rules in place that I have a reasonable idea of the impact that they will impose and that the game will remain fun. Fun does not necessarily equal winning huge, but it does involve liking the team building process.

[hoopsguy]

Seeing as how we now have a 23.5 game lead after playing 85 games I'm going to dial back a little bit on the game-by-game details from now until the end of the season.

7/11 - we head to San Diego for our first post-All Star series. Barfield homers in his first game, #27 on the year. We sweep them. Rice adds his 15th homer in the finale.

7/14 - off to LA, Barfield with #28 in the opener, #29 the following day. We sweep the four game set to move our winning streak to 9.

Alejandro Pena is wondering what in the world he needs to do to get on an All Star team. Overall, I do not have many beefs about our representation - 6 of 25 players. But check out his numbers.
7-1 1.32 ERA, 2 blown saves, 9 holds, 20:6 K/BB, .206 BAA 0.99 WHIP

Mario Soto is having a dreadful year for the Reds. He is 1-8 with a 3.50 ERA. Obviously he is not getting run support with those numbers, but that ERA and a 1.27 WHIP are elevated for him compared to his career numbers. Actually, his WHIP has gone up every year:
1980: freakish 0.86
1981: very strong 1.03
1982: moving back to pack 1.23
1983: 1.27

He is only 27 years old so in theory he should be entering his prime right now. The Reds must hope so as he is signed for the next 4 seasons for nearly $10,000,000 each year.

Our own Mike Witt is going through a very ineffective streak. Back on 5/31 he was 6-0 with a 1.81 ERA. Now, nearly two months later he is 10-3 with a 3.83 ERA. Only three of his eight starts would be considered a "quality start". This is the kind of problem that is masked when you are winning 75% of your games, but I'm hoping that he can return to the dominant pitcher that we've seen for the first two years and two months in the league.

[hoopsguy]

Cincinnati is looking to acquire Von Hayes. I'm very interested in pursuing a deal. Barfield is a monster, Hall is a very productive player, and Rice is a three time All Star who is only 29 years old. I feel like my OF is set for awhile, unless I want to start messing around with house rules right now. Since I don't, I think it is time to start getting some value for our other young OFs sooner rather than later.

The Reds are willing to give us just about anyone on their roster - Soto, Driessen, and Charlie Liebrandt (pretty good starter, 27 years old) are some of the attractive options. The guy that they will not deal is Jose DeLeon, their 23 year old #2 starter. But there is not much in the way of young talent on this team so I decide to look elsewhere for trading partners.

But I honestly don't know what I want to add right at this moment.
C - Scioscia is probably not All Star material but he hits .260 and was clutch in the playoffs last year. I kind of like him as a player.
1B - Boggs is a guy I plan on leaving in the lineup for years.
2B - Oberkfell is the guy I would be most willing to replace. It is not a sure thing that Samuel grows into a good option.
SS - Yount is a guy I want around for years.
3B - I just traded for Gaetti earlier and he has been productive so far.
OF - covered those three spots earlier
SP - I've got great young starting pitching.
MR - I've got a deep bullpen right now at the majors
CL - Smith is up for a contract, so maybe here?


I think I would take a really strong reliever or a 2B as my preferred options right now.

The deal is struck with the New York Yankees, in exchange for Willie Randolph. I'll see over time if it is an upgrade from Oberkfell but it is at least a push and gives me another body to put in the infield mix. It also is not a trade that rapes the AI, such as the option I had to acquire Rickey Henderson from Oakland.

[hoopsguy]

7/19 - we host the Giants. And the 9 game winning streak comes to an end in a 6-0 loss. Another non-quality start for Witt. All six runs came in the 5th; he is getting killed by big innings lately. We lose two in a row but beat Nolan Ryan in the 3rd game. Fine performance by Martinez and another homer for Barfield.

7/22 - Padres come to town and we are once again shut out in the series opener by a non-stud pitcher. But Viola wins the 2nd game 1-0 on a Boggs homer. The offense feels like it has slid off track again since we moved Hayes. Witt comes back to win 5-0, firing a two hit shutout, in the finale against the Padres. Nice to see him have a good outing.

7/25 - Dodgers arrive at Wrigley. We win two of three. Yount hits a pair of homers (now 10 on year) in the finale.

The Brewers ask us for a deal involving Hall but then tell us that there is not a single player on their roster that they would trade straight-up for him. In other words, he is rated like Kingman. This is really confusing. Here are the numbers on the worthless Mel Hall:
Contact - 77/100
Power - 74/100
Eye - 63/100
Potential - 100/100
Range - 55/100
Arm - 50/100
Hands - 60/100
Speed - 66/100

He is 23 years old, in his 2nd season at the big league level, and is hitting .294/12/50 w/13 steals. I'm not expecting him to win Gold Gloves, but he is a legit 20/20 guy for the next decade and looks like he will settle in around .280. I'll take those guys every day and twice on Sunday.

Looking at the league leaders, Barfield has 95 RBIs and the next closest player (Gary Ward of Minnesota) has 71. Unreal.

[hoopsguy]

7/29 - Off to Philadelphia, where the Phillies still suck. 39-62 is my definition of suck. We take the broom to them over a three game set.

Around baseball, the Twins have been busy over the last two weeks. They have compiled an 11 game win streak to surge to the top of the AL West standings. 61-44 is 3.5 games better than the Oakland A's and five in front of the Texas Rangers.

The AL East is still almost anyone's to grab. Right now percentage points separate the Yankees and Tigers, with both 10 games over .500. They are a half game in front of Boston and one up on Toronto. The Blue Jays have also won six in a row to tighten this race up.

NL West - San Francisco remains on top, but only by a half game over Cincinnati. The Giants are 56-49. Atlanta is looming, three games off the pace.

Time to have some contract discussions with our players:
1.) Bud Black - with the newly competitive draft I think it probably makes sense to see if we can keep Bud around. He is only 26, and is showing signs of being a big league player. Heck, he would be a 5th starter or long reliever for a lot of teams. Terms are pretty reasonable, so we ask him back for 3 years at just over 1.5 million a season.
2.) Steve Ontiveros - good bye.
3.) Dick Tidrow - I hope that he can pick up with another team for a season or two, as he probably has enough left in his arm to help someone. I should have tried to move him for a bucket of balls before the deadline.
4.) Bob Boone - I would be fine having him become a scout or some kind of coach. But we are not re-signing him. We thank him for his service, especially his strong role off the bench in the playoffs last year.
5.) Ron Cey - has done his job as a one-year option, but we have dealt for a longer term solution.
6.) Dave Kingman - he has been a nice bench player the last two years. I wish we could have dealt him for something back in 1981. We will not be bringing him back.
7.) Ken Oberkfell - has been solid at 2B for us over last 2.5 years. Let's see how much of a raise he wants from his current 1.3 million dollar salary. Congratulation on your reasonable demands, Ken. Welcome back for three more years @ 1.9 per season.
8.) Jesse Orosco - here is a guy that I'm concerned will price himself out. He is making about 500K now and wants 5x that amount. It is not crazy money for a productive, young MR. I'll come back to him later.
9.) Jim Rice - hmm, I do not want to pay both him and Barfield crazy money at the same time and Barfield has another two years at his current deal. So I'm thinking of signing Rice to a two year extension. That is going to cost $15,000,000, or a 50% raise. Jim's agent sure does have a high opinion of his player. Again, I'll come back to this one. This is not a surprise but it is a big number.
10.) Lee Smith - I'm having a very hard time justifying paying a closer 9 million a year like Smith is requesting. I've got a lot of good arms and I think many of them would be capable of giving us 90% of what Smith has yielded over the past few years. I'm just about certain that he is gone, but we'll definitely bring back Orosco if we let him go.
11.) Mike Witt - has two years left on deal, but I'm thinking about seeing what the extension will run. The answer? Dirt cheap! We add another two years to his deal for just over 2 million per year. Biggest bargain in baseball? Intensely loyal guy? He just earned himself some loyalty back from this GM.

[hoopsguy]

Pretty big deal in the AL, where Seattle moves Willie Upshaw in exchange for Cleveland's Doug DeCinces. These were two of the biggest FA signings last year and both teams have failed to move up the standings. Cleveland is 14 under .500 while Seattle is the worst team in the league at 37-69. So maybe this is just a culture shake-up in both clubhouses? Their numbers are almost identical as well, once you look past the ages of the players.
3B DeCinces - .248/13/39. 33 years old, contract 3 years @ 17.6 million
1B Upshaw - .262/14/39. 26 years old, contract 2 years @ 14.9 million
Advantage - Cleveland. Just to cement that point, Upshaw hit two homers in his first game with Cleveland.

8/2 - off to St. Louis to see our old rivals. They are 50-55, just 32 games back but still mathematically alive. They close that gap in the first game, winning 2-0. Barfield hits #31 the next game and Boggs extends his hit streak to 12 games in an 11-5 win. Smith blows a save in the 3rd game of the series. We are only 5-4 against the Deadbirds - hopefully we can pick it up against these guys the rest of the year.

8/5 - The Mets arrive and we get back to winning games. Boggs homers and runs his hit streak up to 14 games. It ends there, but Barfield hits #32 the next day in a 9-0 win. Martinez won his 15th game and lowered his ERA to 2.69. The Mets won the finale to avert a sweep.

There was a wild game on this day between KC and Boston. It ended with a walk-off grand slam by Andre Thornton, 17-13 final in 11 innings.

Strawberry has now tied Barfield for the major league lead in homers. He is over 30 RBIs behind, but both of these guys look like good bets to shatter the home run mark (41) held by Bob Horner.

[hoopsguy]

8/9 - we host the Cardinals and are looking to administer a beating to these guys. Well, consider this a fail as we are shut out 3-0 in the opener. Hall and Rice both homer in the second game, an 11-7 win. Rice does it again the following day, for his 18th of the year, in a 5-4 win.

8/12 - it is off to Shea to lock horns with the Mets. My jokes about teams being mathematically eliminated are going to be true very soon. The Mets are 34 back with 48 to play. The "magic number" shrinks further as we win 2 of 3.

8/15 - Philadelphia is the place. The place where we find a team that is mathematically eliminated, since they are 45 back with 45 to play. That does not stop them from winning the series opener. We end up splitting the two game set.

Fred Lynn sustained a serious knee injury and is not expected back until the playoffs. Not that Boston is making the playoffs ...

On that note, time to take a look at the division races:
AL East - Toronto (68-53) is the current leader of the pack, one in front of Boston and two up on the Tigers. The Yankees have played themselves into a gaping hole, as they are now seven back along with Baltimore.

AL West - Oakland (70-52) has taken advantage of a five game losing streak by the Twins to assume a 3.5 game lead. Texas sits 5.5 back and everyone else is probably out of it.

NL West - The Reds have taken off, surging to a 68-52 mark and a six game lead over Atlanta. The Giants have lost five in a row and have seven games to make up if they want to win the division they led most of this year.

[hoopsguy]

8/18 - we host Atlanta, who is desperate for wins if they want to catch the Reds. Rick Mahler is on the mound, with his 1-9 record and 8.56 ERA. Martinez picks up his 17th win in this game, but had to work for it in a 3-2 decision. We split the other two games, with Barfield homering in the last game of the series. Just when I was starting to wonder about him :) Actually, it was a four game series and the players seemed as lost as I was in giving away the final game.

8/22 - The Reds come to town, and Soto has won his last three decisions to move to 4-8. He gets a no-decision in a 4-3 loss to us. We fall to them the next day, allowing them to break a 5 game losing streak. And again the next day, this one a 2-0 loss in 11 innings. This was not a very good home stand.

8/26 - off to Houston to see if we can recapture some magic. Nope, we lose 3-1 to a team 30 below .500. I'm getting sick of Mike Krukow having good outings every time he faces us. Barfield cranks #34 in the third game of this set, as we rallied to win the final two contests.

Armas is up to 34 homers and 86 RBIs. Professional slugger.

[hoopsguy]

8/29 - The Braves have lost three straight but are only 4.5 out of first in the NL West. They get to take another shot at us in this series. We pull out a 6-5 win in the opener with Rice hitting his 20th on the year. Kingman parks one 459', which is longer than any of the Barfield homers all year. Gullickson loses a start against Mahler and he is officially in a slump. His record has fallen to 14-8, his ERA is up to 2.90, and every other start is messy. We need him to square himself up before the playoffs or he will find someone else taking the bump for Game #1. The only good thing out of that game was homer #35 for Barfield.


Dusty Baker is up to 18 consecutive games with a hit. I'm sure Thornton is shaking in his boots.

Ray Fontenot, who has done a great job all year pitching for the Expos, will miss a month. He had a legitimate shot at the Cy Young if he closed strong. I think this race is way too close to call right now. But lets take a look at some of the candidates.

- Fontenot 13-4 2.31 ERA, 1 CG, 66:47 K/BB, .229 BAA, 1.13 WHIP
- Larry McWilliams (Atl) 13-7 2.37 ERA, 1 CG, 116:52 K/BB, .245 BAA, 1.24 WHIP
- Ray Burris (NYM) 13-3 2.45 ERA, 1 CG, 76:49 K/BB, .211 BAA, 1.10 WHIP
- John Candelaria (Pit) 13-5 2.45 ERA, 4 CG, 1 SO, 136:38 K/BB, .220 BAA, 1.01 WHIP
- Frank Viola (Chi) 14-4 2.49 ERA, 4 CG, 2 SO, 113:71 K/BB, .216 BAA, 1.17 WHIP
- Scott Sanderson (Mon) 16-4 2.59 ERA, 3 CG, 1 SO, 154:48 K/BB, .232 BAA, 1.13 WHIP
- Jose DeLeon (Cin) 15-5 2.66 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SO, 191:74 K/BB, .209 BAA, 1.18 WHIP
- Mike Morgan (Chi) 16-2 2.70 ERA, 2 CG, 112:70 K/BB, .231 BAA, 1.24 WHIP
- Dennis Martinez (Chi) 17-4 2.85 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SO, 87:46 K/BB, .231 BAA, 1.16 WHIP


I think that Candelaria is the guy who wins the award if the season ended today, with DeLeon and Sanderson also on the medal stand. But if one of our guys runs and hides with wins in the last month then who knows?

[hoopsguy]

8/31 - we travel to Cincinnati to try and bring more parity to the NL West race. All we can manage is a split of the two game set.

9/2 - back home to play the Astros and looking for some kind of groove for October. Morgan picks up his 17th win and Barfield goes deep again. Martinez pulls back ahead of Morgan for wins the next night in a 7-0 shutout. Gullickson extends the Astros scoreless streak and Barfield adds #37. Sweep. That was also win #100 on the year.

9/5 - host Montreal is the proud owner of a 76-60 record, second best in the NL. but they are already eliminated with a month to play. Just sick. We win two of three. Barfield is up to 38 homers and Hall had a pair in the finale to move to 21.

9/9 - it is Cardinals time again @ Wrigley. We blow the doors off them in the opener, 14-4. Win #19 for Martinez. Gullickson continues his on-again/off-again ways in a 6-4 loss that included #39 for Barfield. Then we are on the wrong end of a 1-0 shutout to wrap up the series. I hate those guys.

We brought up several players for the September call-ups and it is immediately apparent that Bud Black will be part of our playoff roster. The guy who is most likely taking the hit? Last year's hero, Dennis Lamp. Lamp is 0-5 this year with a 3.24 ERA.

[hoopsguy]

9/12 - we host Montreal and lose 8-7. Witt's ERA is now over 4.00. He is also the only Cub starter to have not won 15 games. We lose 8-6 the following day when Smith blows a save. Barfield is the first to 40 homers, hitting two and collecting 5 RBIs. .284/41/133. There is little doubt who is going to be MVP in the NL this year.

9/14 - We head to Pittsburgh next. It is therapeutic as we win a pair and see Smith pick up his 50th save on the year.

9/16 - two more homers for Barfield in the opener at Shea. I'm dismayed to see that Rice is now hitting .256 on the year. Apparently he is on a bit of a slide. It is hard to justify 15 million coming off a year where a guy tanks after the All Star break. We end up winning two of three in the series, with Morgan getting win #19.

Quick look at the division races:
AL East - Toronto is closing in on their first divisional crown, holding a 3.5 game lead on the Tigers with 11 to play. Neither team is sprinting to the finish. The Blue Jays are 84-67, which is a solid record but very gettable for the Tiger teams of yore.

AL West - Oakland (88-63) has their magic number down to 5. Texas is 7.5 back and the White Sox (79-70) are heading towards their first winning season in this dynasty.

NL West - The Reds hold a five game lead over San Francisco. Atlanta is six back, but they need the Reds to fold to have any chance.

9/19 - @ Philadelphia, Martinez wins #20. Barfield has another two homer game the next night. 45 and counting!

9/21 - back to Wrigley to face the Pirates. We are chasing history, knowing that the most ever in baseball history is 116. We are 109-42 right now, so we need to finish 8-3 to take sole possession of that mark. Winning % is not gettable, as the 1906 Cubs went 116-36. Well, our first game chasing history is a 6-4 loss. But Witt throws a shutout and pushes his ERA back under 4 to get us to 110.

9/23 - we host the Mets next. Morgan loses only his 3rd game of the year. Boo. Then Martinez loses 3-2 the next night. That probably will end up costing him the Cy Young as he really needed to pile on wins to have any hope of winning. Gullickson wins the finale, helped by a Rice homer.

9/26 - we are 48 games better than the Phillies at this point, although they have assured themselves of not losing 100 at this point. We club them like seals in the opener 14-1. 6-5 in second game. 113-45, we need to win out to get 117. 11-9, and Morgan has his 20th win although his ERA drifts over 3. Two more homers for Rice and another for Barfield.

Ripken has an 18 game hitting streak. Dare to dream.

Willie Upshaw has been crushing for Cleveland. He is up to .271/30/78. By comparison, DeCinces is .255/19/54.

[hoopsguy]

9/30 - We finish, appropriately enough, in St. Louis. 15-4 in the opener, another Barfield homer and two for Yount. 10-0 the next night. The man, the myth, the legend - Barfield goes yard again. Three hit shutout for Gullickson. We've now tied the most wins in a season. And a 3-1 win in the finale gives us sole possession of the mark. Seven straight wins to end the season.

Next up are the Cincinnati Reds, who finished 90-72. It will be Oakland (93-69) and Toronto (92-70) in the AL championship round.

Lets pause for a moment to acknowledge the Tigers on their strong run over the past three years. They made the World Series three straight seasons, winning one of them. This year was a disappointment, by comparison, as they finished 87-75 and five back of the Blue Jays.

[hoopsguy]

Congratulations on winning the World Series, even if it is with those bloody Cubbies. ;)

Heh - sorry that I missed this yesterday when putting up all the season recap stuff. I'm hoping that these bloody Cubbies are poised for a repeat. Either way, we'll see how stuff works in 1984 (tough year for Cub fans) and beyond as I try to artificially ratchet up the difficulty in the game.

[hoopsguy]

OK, time for a roster recap.

RF Jesse Barfield - season for the ages. .287/48/154, just shattering the old HR and RBI marks. If I want to be picky I could ask him to cut down on his 115 strikeouts? He is only 24, is under contract for 420K through 1985.

SP/MR Bud Black - 1-1 1.21 ERA in 14 September appearances. He has taken over the long relief role previously held by Lamp.

1B Wade Boggs - .318/10/70. I love the 80 walks compared to 79 Ks. OBP of .394 is off the charts good. I think he had 3 different 10+ hit streaks this season.

C/3B Bob Boone - .254/3/18. Epitomizes the transition from our first team (traded for Randy Martz) to now.

MR Bill Caudill - 7-3 3.50 ERA, 2 saves, 4 blown, 12 holds, 59:18 K/BB, .253 BAA, 1.26 WHIP. Mildly disappointing season from him, because his stuff is better than these numbers.

3B Ron Cey - .307/13/49 in 323 at bats. I loved our 3B platoon this year and hope that Gaetti can come close to matching it on his own next season.

3B Gary Gaetti - .245/14/55 in 433 at bats. Was only hitting .210 or so when we acquired him, so his production for us was better than these numbers by far. 25 year old is locked up for 5 years @ 2.8 million.

SP Bill Gullickson - 19-9 3.05 ERA, 5 CG, 2 SO, 133:45 K/BB, .232 BAA, 1.07 WHIP. Won his last four starts, final two were dominant, keeps his #1 starter in playoff position as a result.

CF/RF Mel Hall - .290/24/84 w/25 steals. Great season totally overshadowed by Barfield, Rice contract, and runaway win totals. I expect we'll have to pay dearly for him next season.

MR Bob James - 1-0 2.03 ERA, 3 holds, 25:12 K/BB, .235 BAA, 1.35 WHIP. Kind of a forgotten man this year but did his job well when called upon.

LF/RF Dave Kingman - .312/8/26 in 138 at bats. Really productive bench player for us this year. We'll end up missing him when he is gone, something that I would have been surprised to say back in 1981.

SP Dennis Martinez - 21-5 2.96 ERA, 2 CG, 2 SO, 106:59 K/BB, .238 BAA, 1.20 WHIP. By far the best run support of his career.

SP Mike Morgan - 20-3 3.07 ERA, 2 CG, 130:82 K/BB, .238 BAA, 1.26 WHIP. I would love to see his Control improve, but his results the first two years have been awesome.

2B Ken Oberkfell - .285/6/51 w/33 steals. Surrendered some playing time to Randolph down the stretch. Will be interesting to see if either one separates themselves next season.

MR Jesse Orosco - 7-1 1.69 ERA, 4 saves, 3 blown, 11 holds, 53:18 K/BB, .233 BAA, 1.17 WHIP. I extend him for 4 years @ 2.8 million per season. I wonder if he will be named closer next season?

MR Alejandro Pena - 7-2 0.95 ERA, 1 save, 2 blown, 11 holds, 39:15 K/BB, .179 BAA, 0.97 WHIP. If not Orosco as closer, then probably Pena.

2B Willie Randolph - .306/3/22 in 252 at bats. Will likely continue to platoon with Oberkfell unless something strange happens.

LF/CF Jim Rice - .268/25/93. I'm pretty much convinced that I will not be resigning him next year. That will be one of the first acts of tightening up the difficulty ... some sort of draconian salary rules. So > 13 million per season for Rice is out. Also, I can suggest that it would have sent a bad message to Barfield and Hall when they are working for pennies next year.

C Mike Scioscia - .291/7/49. I appreciate the heck out of him when I think back to Barry Foote.

Closer Lee Smith - 2-2 3.41 ERA, 56 saves, 5 blown, 42:16 K/BB, .250 BAA, 1.22 WHIP. Sorry you asked for so much cash, Lee.

SS/3B Garry Templeton .263/3/21 in 137 at bats. Amazingly productive season by his standards. Really high RBI numbers for such limited at bats. He will be around one more year, gone after that unless Samuel busts.

MR Ed Vande Berg - 0-0 0.48 ERA, 1 save, 19:1 K/BB, .200 BAA, 0.80 WHIP. Dude needed more than 21 appearances and 18.2 innings based on these results.

Starter Frank Viola - 17-6 2.63 ERA, 5 CG, 2 SO, 138:80 K/BB, .228 BAA, 1.20 WHIP. Serious stopper for us early in year, I like him so much better this year than I did during his rookie year.

Starter Mike Witt - 15-8 3.87 ERA, 6 CG, 2 SO, 126:82 K/BB, .237 BAA, 1.28 WHIP. Just had a number of bad outings; there were also a bunch of great ones mixed in. But I'm not used to him being so unpredictable.

SS Robin Yount - .313/18/100 w/29 steals. Would be a potential MVP if it was not for the other guy on our team. He is going to cost a ton next year.

[hoopsguy]

Game #1:
ALCS: As you would expect, both teams have heavyweight starters on the mound. Keough for the A's and Stieb for Toronto. Oakland scored a pair in the top of the third and that was enough for Keough. Steve Balboni had a solo homer in the bottom of the 7th, but it was one of only four hits for the Blue Jays. 2-1 final.

NLCS: Rice had a pair of hits and an RBI single to help us win the series opener 3-1. Gullickson outdueled Soto, posting six scoreless innings. Bud Black, in his first postseason action, had two shaky but scoreless innings of relief. Smith gave up a 9th inning homer to Leo Sutherland to allow the Reds to avoid the shutout, but otherwise it was smooth sailing for the Cubs at Riverfront.


Game #2:
ALCS: Oakland means business. They put two runs up in the first, with both coming home on a Dwayne Murphy triple and never looked back. Starter Rick Langford went eight innings before handing it over to closer Jeff Jones to complete the shutout. Right now Toronto this year is looking like the Angels last year - just not enough offense to hang with a better team. The Blue Jays will now have to win three straight in Oakland to advance, which seems like an impossible task after watching the last two games.

NLCS: The Reds just crushed Viola, posting 8 runs in 2 1/3 innings against the young left-hander. Meanwhile, the Cubs had 15 hits (5-5 for Rice) against the Reds but could only translate them into 3 runs. The end result is a frustrating 9-3 loss. Sutherland homered for the second straight day for the Reds, along with 3 RBIs and a steal. We'll head to Chicago in a better place than we were last year after the two road games, but that is about the only consolation I can take from this game.

Game #3:
ALCS: Luis Leal has been one of the underrated players in the AL this year, going 14-2 for the Jays. Well, he certainly took advantage of the big stage on this night by willing his team to a 3-2 victory on the road. He was backed by a two run homer off the bat of Bill Schroeder. Closer Bill Dawley recorded three strikeouts in the ninth to close this one out. 2-1 Oakland, with two more shots at home to wrap this up.

NLCS: So which Mike Witt could we expect to show up for this pivotal game? The guy who won the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards the past two seasons? Or the guy who was 0-2 in the postseason last year and prone to giving up big, fat crooked numbers one inning every game during the second half of this year? Even if we got the "good" Witt it might not be enough against a young stud pitcher like DeLeon. Well, we got a GREAT performance from Witt. He combined with Orosco to hold the Reds to 2 hits in a 5-0 win. Barfield hit a grand slam in the 7th to break the game open. We are one win away from our second straight World Series appearance.

[hoopsguy]

Game #4:
ALCS: If you like pitchers duels then this has been a wonderful postseason for you so far. The Jays/A's were at it again, posting a combined three runs. Oakland got their two in the first, then held on the rest of the way to advance to their first World Series. Murphy knocked in a run, stole two bases, and scored the other run in the victory.

NLCS: Again, only three combined runs in a Game #4, and the third run in this one did not cross the plate until the 11th inning. Pinch hitter Tom Foley delivered a two out hit to bring home Sutherland with the winning run. Jody Davis went 4-5 for the Reds. We'll have Gullickson vs Soto to determine who plays Oakland in the World Series.

Game #5:
NLCS: We had invoked the 116 win season of the 1906 Cubs earlier in this dynasty. Sadly, that baseball team lost in the World Series to the cross-town White Sox. Could we find ourselves on the same path, winning a ton of games and failing to bring home the hardware? Will our fans have to start yet another countdown of years/decades awaiting our next title if we fail here today?

Top of 2nd - The Reds put their first two men on with a Len Matuzek walk and a single by Davis. But Gullickson works his way out of the jam with three straight fly outs.

Top of 3rd - Two on, two out for Matuzek. But he grounds out to first to end the inning.

Bottom of 5th - Scioscia gets our first hit of the day but is stranded when Gullickson strikes out to end the inning.

Bottom of 6th - Rice gets a two out double. Barfield is intentionally walked to bring up Yount. Soto dominates him with a bevy of inside heat, striking him out on five pitches.

Top of 7th - Paul Householder hits a leadoff double but advances no further. Plus we get Soto out of the game for a pinch hitter. Nice.

Bottom of 8th - Jim Rice goes deep, deep, deep (!!!!) to center, 465' to put us on top 1-0!

Top of 9th - Smith gives up a two out double to Householder, but only needs three pitches to punch out Ray Knight and send us to our second World Series.

[hoopsguy]

World Series - Oakland vs Chicago.
Game #1: Matt Keough vs Bill Gullikson - nice start to this series. Gullickson rewarded us richly for keeping him in the #1 spot in our rotation, going 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in his two starts against the Reds. Keough, like all of the A's starters, routinely goes deep into games. He had a 1-0 record with a 1.13 ERA in his only start last round.

Top of 1st - Rickey Henderson starts the game off with a double, moves to third on a ground out and scores on a sac fly by Dwayne Murphy.

Bottom of 4th - Rice is on after an error by 3B Wayne Gross. He moves to second on a one out single by Yount, but is thrown out at the plate trying to score on a single by Hall. Hall moves to 2nd, setting up two men in scoring position for Cey. But the Penguin flies out to center. That damn Murphy is off to a strong start against us.

Bottom of 5th - Boggs hits a two out double, setting up men on 2nd and 3rd. Rice knocks in a run, but Boggs is stranded at third when Barfield strikes out. 1-1.

Top of 6th - Ugh, a one out walk to the pitcher Keough is followed by a two run job by Henderson. 3-1 A's.

Bottom of 6th - another web gem for Murphy, stealing a sure double from Yount.

Top of 7th - Gullickson falls apart, giving up hits to the first two batters, then an RBI single to Joel Skinner and a three run homer to John Shelby. I'm pretty sure that is game/set/match. The crowd at Wrigley is silent.

Bottom of 7th - Kingman pinch-hits for Gullickson to lead off the inning and socks a homer just over the wall in left/center.

That is all the scoring in this one. Disappointing start to the series. We should try not to give up so many homers with men on base. That is today's bit of deep baseball thinking.

[hoopsguy]

Game #2:
Will Viola manage to lower his 30.86 ERA? Can anyone hit the Oakland pitching staff? Just how big a choke would it be for the Cubs to lose this series? Those are the story lines for this game.

Top of 1st - once again Henderson is on base to start the game, this time with a single. He advances to second on a Whitaker walk. But Viola strikes out the next two batters and is the beneficiary of a huge defensive play by Rice in left field to end the inning. That has to be a lift for him, after the way the last start went down.

Top of the 4th - The A's waste a leadoff double by Tony Armas.

Bottom of 4th - Oberkfell is on for the second time today, hitting a triple to start the inning. Boggs flies out to left, 295' away and Oberkfell is going to try to score against Armas. Dead meat. Still scoreless.

Bottom of 6th - Scioscia draws a one-out walk and moves to 2nd on a two-out single by Oberkfell. Boggs drives a single past the diving Gross at third and Scioscia comes home for the first run of the game. Rice takes one for a ride, but only has warning track power.

Top of 7th - Black is in for Viola, who certainly did his job today. He gives us two very solid innings of work.

Bottom of 8th - Randolph singles to start the inning and moves to 2nd when Oberkfell walks. That is four times that Oberkfell has been on base this game. Boggs hits a single to load the bases with no outs. Rice pops out to 1st; he has left a ton of runner on today. And Barfield hits a shallow fly to RF, going only 263'. Randolph decides on his own to try and score, but Armas is once again up to the task. I'm just sick about blowing this opportunity.

Top of 9th - Smith does not permit any drama, needing only four pitches to get three routine outs.

The series is tied 1-1 and we are headed to Oakland. We'll need to have some better hitting from the middle of the order and less idiotic base running if we want to win this series.

[hoopsguy]

Game #3:
So who is the pressure on for this game? The 117 win Cubs or the A's as they try to defend home field advantage? The starting pitchers for this game are Witt and Steve McCatty.

Top of 1st - once again the first man of the game gets on base, and again it involves Henderson as he muffs a fly ball and allows Oberkfell to advance to 2nd. But we do not advance the runner. One interesting decision by the manager to bat Kingman 4th as the DH, dropping Barfield to 5th.

Top of 2nd - Barfield singles and advances to 2nd after an error by McCatty, who mishandled a grounder by Yount. But we again fail to capitalize.

Top of 3rd - Oberkfell is on again by error, this time by Armas! Three errors, compared to six outs - this is astonishing. Next play is a fly ball to Henderson, and he drops another one! A run comes in and Boggs is on 2nd. But again the heart of our order can't come up with any clutch hits. We should be up a lot more than 1-0 right now.

Top of 4th - Hall leads off with a single and moves to second on a Scioscia groundout. Gaetti brings him home with a hard hit ball up the middle. We don't add any more runs, but McCatty is already up to 84 pitches.

Bottom of 5th - Alfredo Griffin walks to start of the inning, but Witt doesn't allow him to advance thanks to a great catch on the run by Hall and a double play groundout.

Top of 6th - Yount doubles to left with two outs and scores when Scioscia hits a ball right at Henderson. Rickey butchers it, his third error on the day. 3-0 Chicago. McCatty has seen his defense commit five errors behind him and is not at all pleased about this fact.

Bottom of 7th - Armas knocks one over the wall in right, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Witt looks like he is laboring a little more this inning, but gets out without allowing anyone past first. His pitch count is at 100.

Top of 8th - Kingman answers Armas, depositing a ball in the left field bleachers. Out goes McCatty. Two batters later Hall clears the fence and we are up 5-1. We end up filling the bases with two outs thanks to some wildness by reliever Mike Armstrong but Boggs grounds out to the pitcher after a 15 pitch at bat to end the inning.

Bottom of 8th - Witt strikes out Armas with two on to end the inning. 125 pitches for Witt, who has looked masterful this postseason.

What an embarrassing game for the A's in front of their home fans. But we'll take it. Two more wins for us to become the first repeat champions of this era.

[hoopsguy]

Game #4:
We are expecting Oakland to come out fighting mad for this game. I'm hoping that we have started to figure out their pitching staff a little bit by now and get to see our big boppers contribute. Rice, who had a monster series against Cincinnati, has been quite. And the regular season Barfield has not shown up this October.

Bottom of 1st - Morganb fans the first two hitters before giving up a double to Murphy. Armas gets some good wood on the ball, but flies out to deep left to end the inning.

Bottom of 2nd - Griffen walks and moves to third on a double by Skinner. But Morgan takes care of Jamie Nelson to end the threat.

Top of 3rd - Scioscia walks and scores when Dave Kingman knocks the tar out of the ball, showing up his namesake (Brian Kingman) in a big way.

Bottom of 3rd - Henderson get a walk to start the inning but is thrown out on a pitch out. Nice job, skip!

Top of 5th - Kingman singles with one out, but is gunned down by Henderson at the plate after a two out double by Boggs. Honestly, we stink on the base paths right now.

Top of 6th - Yount gets aboard with a two out single and Hall collects a pair of RBIs with a round tripper. 4-0, and that lead feels pretty safe with the way Morgan is going right now.

Top of 7th - Scioscia and Kingman hit singles back-to-back to start the inning. But Oberkfell wipes out one of the runners when he hits into a 4-6-3 double play. Boggs picks him up with an RBI single down the first base line. 5-0 Cubs! Rice hits another long fly out, this one going 388'.

Bottom of 7th - Gross starts the inning with a double but goes no further.

Bottom of 8th - Mike Davis is on after a leadoff single and goes for broke on a one out double by Whitaker. He is broke, getting rung up by the long arm of Rice.

Bottom of 9th - Morgan closes out the game by retiring Skinner on a ground out to 3rd.

That was our most complete win this postseason. One more win to go.

[hoopsguy]

Game #5:
All eyes are on starting pitcher Bill Gullickson, who fell victim to the long ball in the series opener. If he pitches like he did against the Reds then we can start worrying about the design for our 1983 World Series rings.

Top of 1st - Oberkfell continues his strong series with a leadoff single and scores on a one-out double by Rice. Great to see him do something against this Oakland staff. Now if only Barfield would do the same, but he flies out to end the inning.

Bottom of 1st - Henderson lines the first pitch to left field for a base hit and moves to second when Yount boots a grounder by Whitaker. But Gullickson bears down, fanning Armas and getting Gross to ground out to end the threat.

Top of 2nd - we waste a leadoff double by Hall.

Bottom of 2nd - Griffen doubles with one away. Skinner walks, bringing up .165 hitting Jamie Nelson. Naturally he strokes a single to center. There is a play at the plate, but Griffen is safe and the runners advance to 2nd/3rd. Henderson singles home run #2 and Whitaker hits a shallow (252') fly. The runner tags and Rice does not challenge him at the plate??? Dude! 3-1 Oakland. Two more Oakland hits make it 4-1 and this game has officially gotten away from us. How in the world did Gullickson give up five hits in an inning, particularly to the weak links at the bottom of their order?

Top of 5th - Keough has been locked in with the lead but we finally mount something resembling a rally. Scioscia singles with one out and moves to second when Gaetti completes a 12 pitch at bat with a single. But Oberkfell hits a tailor-made double play ball. End of the inning.

Top of 6th - Kingman hits a solo shot with two outs. That is his 4th of the postseason. He is loving the DH role. 4-2 Oakland.

Top of 7th - Another Oakland error, this one by Whitaker with one away. Scioscia walks, putting two men aboard. Oberkfell then doubles to left, bringing home Yount and Scioscia. Tie game, 4-4! Boggs flies out to end the inning.

Top of 8th - Rice walks to lead off the inning and advances to 3rd on a two out single by Cey. But Yount flies out to center, leaving yet another runner in scoring position.

Bottom of 8th - Gullickson is pitching very angry, and Oakland is paying the price for that 2nd inning. They have not had a runner on 2nd since that time.

Top 9th - pinch hitter Randolph singles with one out and moves to 2nd on a single by Oberkfell. Out goes Keough, in comes Dave Beard. He does his job, inducing pop-ups to short by both Boggs and Rice. Ugh, how many opportunities are we going to waste???

Bottom of 9th - another 1-2-3 inning for Gullickson, who is up to 116 pitches.

Bottom of 10th - Whitaker leads off the inning with a single and Gullickson is done. In comes Black. He does not do his job, immediately giving up a two run homer to Murphy. Game over.

Gut punch loss. Back to Wrigley to see if Viola (or Witt, potentially) can put the pieces back together.

[hoopsguy]

Game #6:
Good news = Viola's ERA went down 22 runs last game.
Bad news = their pitcher, Langford, has an ERA of 0.60 this postseason.

I'm going to guess that runs will once again be at a premium for us, so we'll need Viola to bring his best stuff once again.

Top of 1st - Whitaker triples and comes home on a two out single by Gross. 1-0 Oakland.

Bottom of 1st - Boggs walks and comes home on a two run homer by Barfield. Great to see, and our fans are delirious.

Bottom of 2nd - Cey walks, advances to 2nd on a single by Viola, and scores when Oberkfell doubles. Viola stays at third, which is a shame because that damn Dwayne Murphy takes two runs off the board with a diving catch to end the inning. 3-1 Cubs.

Top of 3rd - Henderson starts the inning with a double and scores on a single by Murphy. 3-2 now.

Bottom of 3rd - leadoff homer for Rice. Yount singles and tries to score on a double to center by Cey. I say "tries" because he is thrown out at the plate by Murphy. Damn, that guy is single-handedly killing us these last two games. I officially hate him now. Welcome to #2 on my list behind Keith Hernandez.

Top of 4th - Skinner doubles with one out but is thrown out at 3rd on a failed sacrifice. Langford walks. Uh-oh. Henderson singles to load them up and Whitaker ties the game with a single. Up comes Murphy, and of course he gets a hit to make it 5-4. Armas follows with a single: 6-4. C'mon skipper - get another pitcher in here. This is the fricking World Series that you are letting slip away here! Single for Gross, 7-4 Oakland. Single for Griffin, 8-4 and finally a pitching change. What do you know - Caudill gets an out to end the inning. God, what a train wreck that was.

Bottom of 4th - Caudill draws a walk with one out and goes to third on a double by Oberkfell. Boggs flies out to left and Caudill comes home uncontested. I wonder why they did not throw home, as pretty much every throw beats our guys there. 8-5 Oakland. They intentionally walk Rice to get to Barfield. Are they nuts??? Nope, not when Jesse rewards them with a meek grounder to SS to end the inning.

Top of 5th - Nelson walks and Langford - yes, the pitcher - puts one over the wall in center. 10-5 Oakland, and this is officially not our day. Murphy gets another single and scores when Armas doubles. 11-5, when it rains it pours.

Bottom of 5th - Yount singles, moves to second on a walk to Cey, and scores when Scioscia knocks him in with a single. For some totally unfathomable reason we leave Caudill in to hit for himself, but he does the job by singling to load the bases. Oberkfell flies out and Cey tries to score .... SAFE! 11-7 now. Boggs singles to bring home another run, and suddenly Rice represents the tying run. Sadly, he grounds out on a 3-2 pitch.

Top of 6th - it would not be the World Series if Oakland did not make errors and they do so again to start this inning. Henderson drops a soft fly ball by Barfield. Hall singles with one out, putting runners on the corners. Scioscia brings home a run with a two out single. 11-9. This time we do pinch-hit for Caudill, but Kingman grounds out to 2nd.

Bottom of 7th - one out hit for Boggs, and that is followed by another single by Rice. Barfield hits a screamer to left, but Henderson makes up for his earlier blunder by making a great grab on the run to save a run or two. Then Yount flies out to center to end the threat. Darn, we are so close to making up this deficit.

Top of 8th - The A's load the bases with no outs against Black, who had pitched a good 7th. Nelson singles to bring home a run and we yank Black. But once again we've allowed the damage to already be done. Pena is absolutely masterful in working out of the jam without allowing any more runs, but we trail 12-9.

Bottom of 8th - we put men on the corners with two outs before Oberkfell flies out to end the inning. Damn.

Top of 9th - Pena gets out of a jam, stranding two A's. 12-9, do we have another comeback in us?

Bottom of 9th - nope.

[hoopsguy]

Game #7:
I'm very torn about who to start in this game. Witt has been great in his two playoff starts but Morgan has been a much more consistent pitcher this game. I'm also a bit annoyed about my rule of only assuming GM duties; the game management last game was awful.

In the end, we give the nod to Witt. He has the chance to add yet another chapter to his story - Rookie of the Year 1981, Cy Young 1982, Game 7 winner in World Series 1983.

The Chicago fans are stressed out of their minds after seeing their team lose these last two games. Just how much worse would they be if we had not won last year, and were staring 75 years in the face? God, it would be awful to root for a team that could not win a title for 75 years, right?

Top of 1st - one, two, three inning including a punch out of Murphy! The crows roars its approval.

Bottom of 1st - first pitch, Oberkfell singles to center. C'mon offense! No dice for the next two hitters but Barfield coaxes a walk and Hall makes McCatty pay by lacing a single past first. Armas comes up gunning but we are safe at home for once. 1-0, men on 2nd and 3rd. Yount drives the first pitch he sees over the wall in right center! 4-0! Wow, the wind helped that one out ... we could be headed for another high scoring game if that ball is any indication. Scioscia nearly does the same, flying out to Armas on the warning track. Great start!

Bottom of 3rd - a Yount double play wipes out a threat.

Top of 4th - The A's get their first hit with two outs when Armas knocks one past Gaetti. But Witt looks great so far. 4 innings, 44 pitches.

Bottom of 5th - Scioscia grounds out, leaving two men on. As good as Witt looks, I want some insurance runs with this wind.

Bottom of 6th - McCatty is out, Edwin Nunez is in. Welcome to game 7, pardner. Gaetti takes him out to left; that was no wind aided homer. Oberkfell walks, Boggs finally capitalizes on a long at bat (he had failed twice earlier in this game) to earn a single, and Rice loads the bases with another single. Barfield flies out to left, 337' away, and Oberkfell is out at the plate. Man, did he pull a hamstring running home? That is pretty embarrassing.

Top of 7th - another 1-2-3 inning, punctuated with a strikeout of Gross to end it. Still only one hit allowed. Damn, Witt is just owning this game!

Bottom of 7th - the inning ends with Witt grounding out. I'm fine with leaving him in, based on his pitch count (72) and dominance. I want to see him finish this one.

Top of 8th - Gaetti flashes some leather to retire Skinner. Yet another perfect frame for Witt. Three outs to go!

Bottom of 8th - bases loaded with one out for Hall, and he smokes a single past a drawn in infield. Scioscia delivers a two out hit to bring home two more runs. The fans are giddy, realizing that they have this one in the bag.

Top of 9th - Mike Davis gets the second Oakland hit of the day, a high fly ball that carries out to left. 8-1. Witt sets down the next three batters in order, with that jag Murphy recording the final out.

Back to back! What a pressure packed run through the playoffs! Gullickson came up huge in the first series and Witt gave us everything we could possibly ask for in this round. It is very gratifying as a GM to see your horses come through in big moments like this.

Time to celebrate, then take a look at what the new baseball landscape has in store for us in 1984.

[hoopsguy]

AL Cy Young - Chris Welsh (Bal) 24-7 2.52 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SO, 114:79 K/BB, .240 BAA, 1.22 WHIP. Led the league in wins.
AL MVP - Darryl Strawberry (Mil) .293/42/103 w/55 steals. Led the league in homers, runs, walks, and OPS. First 40-40 man in history of baseball (I think, probably should check Murphy's numbers from 1980).
AL Rookie of the Year - Darryl Strawberry (Mil)
AL Rooke Pitcher of the Year - Charles Hudson (CHW) 18-8 2.73 ERA, 5 CG, 149:85 K/BB, .229 BAA, 1.20 WHIP.


AL Gold Glove Winners:
P Keith Atherton (Det) - won by a reliever???
C Bill Schroeder (Tor)
1B Kent Hrbek (Bal)
2B Lou Whitaker (Oak)
3B Hubie Brooks (Tex) - also won in NL back in 1980
SS Jim Anderson (NYY)
LF Dave Henderson (KC)
CF Dwayne Murphy (Oak) - three time winner
RF Ron Kittle (Chi)

AL Silver Sluggers:
C Lance Parrish (Det) .302/15/80
1B Steve Balboni (Tor) .228/33/88 - previous career high for homers was 13.
2B Paul Molitor (Tex) .282/15/79 w/43 steals - repeat winner.
3B Mike Marshall (Tor) .273/22/77 - repeat winner.
SS Cal Ripken (Tex) .328/27/100 - repeat winner, is very sad that Strawberry is going to start taking his MVPs. Has only played in 160 games each of last three seasons. Led league in batting average, hits and OBP.
LF Gary Ward (Min) .287/21/93
CF Dwayne Murphy (Oak) .244/24/88 w/31 steals. Stole award after Lynn was injured.
RF Tony Armas (Oak) .265/42/108 - led league in homers and slugging %.
DH Tom Brunansky (Sea) .270/38/111 - repeat winner, although honored as LF last season. Led league in RBIs.

[hoopsguy]

NL Cy Young - Scott Sanderson (Mon) 22-4 2.20 ERA, 4 CG, 2 SO, 177:56 K/BB, .223 BAA, 1.07 WHIP. Led the league in ERA, Wins, SO, Innings Pitched (246).
NL MVP - Jesse Barfield (Chi) .287/48/154. Led league in homers, runs, RBIs, OPS, Slugging%.
NL Rookie of the Year - Nick Esasky (LA) .287/27/75
NL Rooke Pitcher of the Year - Jose DeLeon (Cin) 16-8 2.87 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SO, 228:87 K/BB, .215 BAA, 1.20 WHIP. Led league in strikeouts.

NL Gold Glove Winners:
P Dave Righetti (LA) - another reliever
C Mike Scioscia (Chi)
1B Keith Hernandez (StL)
2B Johnny Ray (NYM)
3B Buddy Bell (NYM)
SS Julio Franco (LA)
LF Don Mattingly (SF)
CF Mookie Wilson (NYM)
RF Leon Durham (StL) - also won in 1981

NL Silver Sluggers:
C Gary Carter (Mon) - .239/11/60. Three straight.
1B Wade Boggs (Chi) - .318/10/70. Led league in hits, walks, OBP.
2B Vance Law (Mon) - .302/7/57
3B Bob Horner (Atl) - .290/30/91. Three straight.
SS Robin Yount (Chi) - .313/18/100. Repeat winner, led league in triples (14).
LF Jim Rice (Chi) - .268/25/93.
CF Mel Hall (Chi) - .290/24/84 w/25 steals.
RF Jesse Barfield (Chi) - .287/48/154.

We had a clean sweep of the outfield. Plus two infielders. Damn. I can't imagine that happening again.

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Hitting:
BA:
AL - .328 Cal Ripken (Tex)
NL - .324 Larry Herndon (SF)
Top Cub - .318 Wade Boggs (3rd)

HR:
AL - 42 Tony Armas (Oak), Darryl Strawberry (Mil)
NL - 48 Jesse Barfield (Chi)
Top Cub - Jesse Barfield

RBI:
AL - 111 Tom Brunansky (Sea)
NL - 154 Jesse Barfield (Chi)
Top Cub - Jesse Barfield

Runs:
AL - 119 Darryl Strawberry (Mil)
NL - 106 Jesse Barfield (Chi)
Top Cub - Jesse Barfield

Hits:
AL - 203 Cal Ripken (Tex)
NL - 200 Wade Boggs (Chi)
Top Cub - Wade Boggs

Stolen Bases:
AL - 98 Rudy Law (Tor)
NL - 89 Mookie Wilson (NY)
Top Cub - 33 Ken Oberkfell (tied 27th)

On Base %:
AL - .392 Cal Ripken (Tex)
NL - .394 Wade Boggs (Chi)
Top Cub - Wade Boggs

OPS:
AL - .927 Darryl Strawberry (Mil)
NL - .897 Jesse Barfield (Chi)
Top Cub - Jesse Barfield

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Pitching:
ERA:
AL - 2.36 Matt Keough (Oak)
NL - 2.20 Scott Sanderson (Mon)
Top Cub - 2.63 Frank Viola (tied 8th)

Wins:
AL - 24 Chris Welsh (Bal)
NL - 22 Scott Sanderson (Mon)
Top Cub - 21 Dennis Martinez (4th)

Saves:
AL - 50 Larry Andersen (CHW)
NL - 56 Lee Smith (Chi)
Top Cub - Lee Smith

Innings Pitched:
AL - 297.2 Matt Keough (Oak)
NL - 246 Scott Sanderson (Mon)
Top Cub - 233.1 Bill Gullickson (28th)

Complete Games:
AL - 15 Scott McGregor (Bal)
NL - 7 Bill Laskey (LA)
Top Cub - 6 Mike Witt (tied 16th)

Shutouts:
AL - 2 cast of thousands
NL - 2 another slew of dudes
Top Cub - 2 (all starters except Viola)

Strikeouts:
AL - 203 Britt Burns (CHW)
NL - 228 Jose DeLeon (Cin)
Top Cub - 138 Frank Viola (tied 29th)

Walks:
AL - 113 Matt Keough (Oak)
NL - 121 Rick Mahler (Atl)
Top Cub - 82 Mike Witt, Mike Morgan (tied 27th)

Run Support:
AL - 152 Jack Morris (Det)
NL - 145 Mike Morgan (Chi), Dennis Martinez (Chi)
Top Cub - Mike Morgan and Dennis Martinez. All five starters in top 16.

[hoopsguy]

Team Stats for 1982:
Offense: 835 Runs Scored - 1st (+161 Runs, +5 Rank)
Defense: 485 Runs Allowed - 1st (-19 Runs, same Rank)
Total Salaries: $54,479,397 - 1st (-13 million versus same point last year)
Available Finances: some stupid amount
Approval Rating: 78/100 - not sure where to see compared to other teams (+27 from previous year)

The salary continues to plummet as we are letting Rice, Smith, and Cey (18 million in payroll) head onto greener pastures. I'm guessing that any gains above this payroll will be pretty modest.

Draft/FA needs - we are going to need another OF with Rice heading out, unless Carter is ready to play now. Maybe another MR, since someone is going to be moving into the closer role. Other than that, not too much.

I really thought this year would be tougher given the guys that we did not resign - Ogilvie and Harrah. We sort of replaced Harrah, although I don't think it was a equal trade. This year we'll lose two starters, a key pinch hitter (Kingman), and our closer. At some point I would expect that we are losing more than we are bringing in, and the league should start catching up in a hurry.

[hoopsguy]

Here is the list of guys who have one year left on their deals:
- Robin Yount
- Dennis Martinez
- Gary Templeton (I think I know how I will handle this one)
- Dennis Lamp
- Mike Scioscia
- Ed Vande Berg
- Mel Hall
- Oil Can Boyd (needs to improve like Black did)
- Jay Pettibone (gone)

So three starters (two of whom won Silver Slugger awards this year, the other a Gold Glove), a 20 game winner, and a very good reliever. Yep, there will be some interesting negotiations.

[hoopsguy]

The score goes up to 80. Hmm, just how far shy of 100 could I have been with that last season? 117 wins, World Series, MVP, most runs scored, fewest runs allowed, salary in the bottom 1/3 of the league. If that is not enough for a single season score of 100 then I really want to know what the criteria is for that rating.

Here is the description: "Your GM score is a measure of your overall performance running the team this season". Shrug - I don't get it.

New single season records:
BA - 1983 Ripken (.328) beats 1981 Durham (.323)
On Base % - 1983 Boggs (.394) beats 1982 Clark (.391)
Home Runs - 1983 Barfield (48) beats 1982 Horner (41)

*** RBI - 1983 Barfield (154) beats 1982 Ripken (115) ***

Runs - 1983 Strawberry (119) beats 1980 W. Wilson (113)
Hits - 1983 Ripken (203) beats 1980 W. Wilson (198)
Doubles - 1983 Brett (44) ties Lemon
Triples - 1983 Yount (14) ties Stearns
Walks - 1983 Caldwell (35) beats Eckersley (37)

[hoopsguy]

Initial house rules:
1.) Draft: sign players for descending years based on draft position. R1 = 5 years, R2 = 4, R3 = 3, etc
2.) I can spend up to $10,000,000 per year re-signing/extending players.
2a.) Readers can nominate a player that they would like to see extended outside of the salary cap. I can choose to exercise this once every two years. This will allow for potentially signing a player for more than the 10 million cap.
3.) Trades must match up, from a salary perspective, within 25% in either direction. I can, however, trade for players who have more years on their contracts as a way to try and circumvent the 10,000,000 rule.
4.) No FA signings allowed of players over 35 years of age. I don't think this happens often, but just in case older players lower their demands to sign for one last season.
5.) No plundering the Cardinals for trades in an effort to weaken them. I can sign the players they let go to free agency, however.
6.) I can spend up to $5,000,000 per year, plus whatever balance I have left from $10,000,000 in #2 above, on free agents.

I think those should provide some challenge initially, but would love to get feedback from others on whether these should make this a more interesting read or if you are concerned that it will diminish reading along.