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

[hoopsguy]

Game #3: we are now into the point in the Tigers rotation where I ask "how do those guys rack up so many regular season and postseason wins?" and I still do not have an answer other than the lineup. We'll be looking to build on a win where Morris did not allow a run, as well as the shutout by Langston last time out for his first career postseason win.

Bottom of 1st - Langston works out of a two-on, one-out jam with a pair of fly outs.

Top of 2nd - a Scioscia double play wipes out a promising inning where the first two Cubs got base hits.

Bottom of 3rd - Sandberg pops out with two on to end the inning. He has not had a good postseason so far.

Top of 4th - Barfield leads off with a single and scores on a two run shot by Carter. 2-0 Chicago.

Top of 5th - Scioscia gets on base to start the inning after a Nichols error. Samuel walks, then Boggs singles to load the bases with one out and the middle of the lineup coming. Barfield fly out to deep right, bringing home Scioscia. Carter raps a single, once again filling the bases. We seem to have learned our lesson about running on the Tiger outfielders. But we only get one run when Smalley strikes out. 3-0 Chicago.

Top of 6th - once again we leave men on base. Two this time when Samuel flies out to make the third out.

Bottom of 7th - Brookens gets a two out double, the first man in scoring position for the Tigers in some time. But Stubbs grounds out to end the threat.

The Tigers never threaten, and the final score is 3-0 Chicago. Langston has caught fire at a great time, and we have recaptured home field advantage.

[hoopsguy]

Game #4: The Tigers are listing Havens as the starter for this game. Hmm, I guess I would be surprised to see this after he came out of the pen in Game #2, but Petry was injured in his last outing so maybe this will be the case. This is a golden opportunity for us to take control of the series.

Top of 1st - Petry does in fact take the mound to start the game. Samuel greets him with a single, moves to 2nd on a ground out, and scores on a base hit by Hall.

Top of 3rd - Oberkfell walks, then moves to second on a single by Samuel. Boggs fills the bases with another single; no outs, big opportunity here. Hall flies out to Gibson, who is unable to get Oberkfell at the plate. Griffey hits a two out double to bring Boggs in. Carter takes the next pitch for a ride, but it is caught in deep center. 3-0 Cubs.

Bottom of 3rd - Pettis singles and steals 2nd. But Carter throws him out when he tries to take 3rd on a fly out.

Top of 5th - Samuel singles and is aboard for the third time. He then steals 2nd and 3rd. But he is gunned down at the plate trying to tag on a fly to center. Very good throw by Pettis.

Top of 6th - Griffey singled with one out and moved to second on a Carter walk. Scioscia doubles both men in to make it 5-0. Gaetti is intentionally walked to create a force play, but with two outs Sameul clears the bases with a double. 7-0 Cubs and we now have a death grip on this game.

Bottom of 7th - The Tigers finally get to Viola, who had been cruising. Gibson led off with a double and scored on a Nichols single. Baines follows with a third straight Tiger hit. But Viola gets three quick outs to snuff the rally.

We're one game away from bringing the title back to Chicago.

[hoopsguy]

Game #5: last game of the year in Detroit. I would really love to find a way to beat Rozema to avoid another Morris showdown in Game #6. Although I'm ecstatic to be up 3-1 it does not take a ton of imagination to see how the Tigers could do to us what we did to the Reds.

Top of 1st - leadoff triple for Samuel, who comes home on a Boggs single. But the inning ends with a 4-6-3 double play by Griffey. 1-0 Cubs.

Bottom of 1st - two out double by Baines, followed by a Parrish single to tie up the game. Makes me wish we had pushed another run or two across the plate last inning. 1-1.

Bottom of 3rd - Gullickson gets Parrish to fly out with two men on to keep the game tied.

Top of 4th - Hall and Barfield hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. But Griffey hits into his 2nd double play. Ugh, can I just revoke his playoff share right now?

Bottom of 4th - Stubbs singles and moves to third on a one out single by Trammell. Nichols brings him in with a ground out. 2-1 Tigers.

Top of 5th - three straight hits to start the inning load the bases. Better yet, Griffey will not be coming to the plate for a few more batters. But Samuel flies out, no tag. Then Boggs bounces into a double play. Wow, I can feel this game slipping away from us already.

Top of 6th - we waste a leadoff double by Hall.

Bottom of 7th - Mariano Duncan walks, steals 2nd, and scores on a Gary Pettis single. 3-1 Tigers.

Top of 8th - leadoff homer for Samuel. C'mon, Cubs! Boggs follows with a double but we leave him in scoring position as our 3-4-5 hitters go down meekly.

We don't challenge in the 9th. A tough, tough 3-2 loss where we really let the Tigers off the hook.

[hoopsguy]

Game #6: back to Wrigley, we'll have Witt and Langston (if necessary) to give us a title. I'll take that every time, but last game still is not going down very easily.

Top of 1st - Sandberg and Baines single, but Witt works out of the jam. Stubbs recorded the third out on a deep fly to right field.

Bottom of 1st - Samuel singles, steals 2nd and 3rd, then scores on a Barfield ground out. This guy has been dynamite. 1-0 Cubs.

Top of 2nd - leadoff double for Trammell, and he scores on an error by Smalley. Has anyone come up smaller than our SS the last two postseasons? Mr. July, Roy Smalley. 1-1.

Bottom of 3rd - Scioscia leads off with a single. After two outs he decides to swipe 2nd. Boggs brings him home with a double. Barfield coaxes a walk and Carter extends the lead with a single. 3-1, and the inning ends with a Smalley strike out.

Top of 4th - The Tigers waste two on with one out when Witt fans Morris to end the inning.

Top of 5th - Pettis walks, never a good thing. He promptly steals 2nd and is sacrificed to 3rd. The run comes home on a Baines sacrifice fly. Great execution by Detroit, the lead is down to 3-2.

Bottom of 5th - Detroit walks Carter with two outs, putting two on for Smalley. Naturally, he strikes out. Still 3-2.

Bottom of 6th - we bring in Griffey to pinch hit for Witt. No runs this inning, Witt is out after throwing 84 pitches.

Top of 7th - Caudill strikes out the side, only throwing one ball as he mowed down Reggie Williams, Pettis, and Sandberg.

Top of 9th - Orosco is in and issues a one out walk to Nichols. But he does not crack, putting away Brookens and Kemp (deep fly to right) to end the game and give the Cubs their third title.

[hoopsguy]

AL Cy Young - Dave Stieb (Tor) 23-7 2.85 ERA, 12 CG, 1 SO, 196:103 K/BB, .198 BAA, 1.10 WHIP. 2nd 20 win season, recorded his 100th win and 1,000th strikeout in August of this year.
AL MVP - Darryl Strawberry (Mil) .292/44/109 w/38 steals. Missed his 40-40 three-peat but other stats up from previous year. Led league in home runs.
AL Rookie of the Year - Dan Pasqua (Mil) .264/29/83. One bright spot on 48-114 Twins.
AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year - Teddy Higuera (Tex) 15-13 3.87 ERA, 8 CG, 3 SO, 156:72 K/BB, .251 BAA, 1.27 WHIP. Only downside is his age (27) and lack of further potential (27).

AL Gold Glove Winners:
P Juan Agosto (KC) - I need to send a bug report on this, I think. Relievers winning the Gold Glove suck.
C Bill Schroeder (Tor) - three straight
1B Sid Bream (CHW)
2B Harold Reynolds (Sea)
3B Hubie Brooks (Tex) - third win for Hubie
SS Tony Fernandez (CHW)
LF George Bell (Mil)
CF Tony Gwynn (Tex)
RF Ron Kittle (KC) - three straight

AL Silver Sluggers:
C Lance Parrish (Det) - .253/32/90 - three in a row
1B Steve Balboni (Tor) - .277/36/97 w/20 steals - second time
2B Luis Salazar (Bal) - .265/14/61
3B Mike Marshall (Tor) - .278/29/102 - four consecutive awards
SS Robin Yount (Tex) - .265/14/71 - 3rd win, first in AL
LF Kirk Gibson (Det) - .278/24/104 - 2nd win, last was in 1980
CF Kevin McReynolds (Cle) - .309/29/113 w/23 steals
RF Darryl Strawberry (Mil) - .292/44/109 w/38 steals
DH Ryne Sandberg (Det) - .318/17/94 w/49 steals. Led league in hits, doubles, and on-base percentage.

[hoopsguy]

Steve, I'm going to upload the newest version of the game which includes some additional AI enhancements. I also want to see how things shake out when I'm forced to give up my #1, #2, and #4 starters in one season.

If I'm still rolling then I'll include the house rule you suggested. It is a good one and would significantly increase the difficulty.

[hoopsguy]

NL Cy Young - Matt Young (Hou) 20-9 2.14 ERA, 5 CG, 1 SO, 154:61 K/BB, .221 BAA, 1.08 WHIP. 20 wins this year is one more than he had his first two seasons. Good looking pitcher, should be consistent winner if team helps him out.
NL MVP - Kent Hrbek (Mon) .329/27/99. Led the league in Hits, On Base %, OPS, and Batting Average.
NL Rookie of the Year - Oddibe McDowell (Cin) .280/31/96 w/56 steals. At 23, still has some development left (66). If he fully matures he will be NL version of Strawberry.
NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year - Kirk McCaskill (Pit) 12-8 3.34 ERA, 5 CG, 2 SO, 140:66 K/BB, .250 BAA, 1.28 WHIP.

NL Gold Glove Winners:
P George Frazier (StL)
C Bruce Bochy (Hou)
1B Kent Hrbek (Mon) - 2nd win for him, first in NL
2B Tim Raines (Mon) - repeat winner
3B Carney Lansford (Mon)
SS Julio Franco (LA) - three straight
LF Brian Dayett (Mon)
CF Oddibe McDowell (Cin)
RF Jesse Barfield (Chi)

NL Silver Sluggers:
C Mickey Tettleton (SF) - .222/16/72. How in the world is this not going to Carter?
1B Kent Hrbek (Mon) - .329/27/99
2B Tim Hulett (StL) - .232/17/82
3B Kevin Mitchell (SF) - .275/19/86
SS Cal Ripken (Phi) - .297/24/96 - four straight, first in NL
LF Joe Carter (Chi) - .283/35/122 - led league in homers and RBI
CF Oddibe McDowell (Cin) - .280/3/96 - led league in runs
RF Jesse Barfield (Chi) - .279/26/110 - led league in walks

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Hitting:
Batting Average:
NL - Kent Hrbek (Mon) .329
AL - Al Cowens (CHW) .340
Top Cub - Hall .314 (tied 7th)

Home Runs:
NL - Joe Carter (Chi) 35
AL - Darryl Strawberry (Mil) 44 - 2nd home run title
Top Cub - Carter (5th)

Runs Batted In:
NL - Joe Carter (Chi) 122
AL - Kevin McReynolds (Cle) 113
Top Cub - Carter (1st)

Runs:
NL - Oddibe McDowell (Cin) 119
AL - Rupert Jones (Sea) 112
Top Cub - Joe Carter 99 (tied 6th)

Hits:
NL - Kent Hrbek (Mon) 207
AL - Ryne Sandberg (Det) 206
Top Cub - Wade Boggs 196 (6th)

Stolen Bases:
NL - Willie Mcgee (SD) 100 - repeat winner
AL - Rickey Henderson (Oak) 81 - repeat winner, has led AL four times overall
Top Cub - Juan Samuel 70 (6th)

On Base %:
NL - Kent Hrbek (Mon) .398
AL - Ryne Sandberg (Det) .382
Top Cub - Wade Boggs .374 (7th)

OPS:
NL - Kent Hrbek (Mon) .921
AL - Al Cowens (CHW) .948
Top Cub - Mel Hall .894 (7th)

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Pitching:
ERA:
NL - Jose DeLeon (Cin) - 1.76
AL - Dan Petry (Det) - 2.43
Top Cub - Bill Gullickson - 2.90 (15th)

Wins:
NL - Mike Witt (Chi), Matt Young (Hou) 20 - second time leading this category for Witt
AL - Dave Stieb (Tor) 23
Top Cub - Witt (tied 4th)

Saves:
NL - Jesse Orosco (Chi) 54
AL - Rob Murphy (Mil), Keith Atherton (Det) 52
Top Cub - Orosco

Innings Pitched:
NL - Dwight Gooden (StL) - 255.2
AL - Jeff Robinson (Oak) - 282
Top Cub - Mike Witt 230.1 (37th)

Complete Games:
NL - Bill Laskey (LA) - 9
AL - Jim Clancy (Tor) - 14
Top Cub - Ron Romanick 5 (tied 22nd)

Shutouts:
NL - Dwight Gooden (StL), Bill Laskey (LA) - 3. Gooden is repeat winner, Laskey also won in 1983.
AL - Teddy Higuera (Tex), Moose Haas (Mil) -3. 2nd time winning category for Haas.
Top Cubs - Mark Langston 2 (tied 5th)

Strikeouts:
NL - Dwight Gooden (StL) - 253. Repeat winner.
AL - Britt Burns (CHW) - 216. Two time winner.
Top Cub - Mike Witt 158 (24th)

Walks:
NL - Craig McMurtry (Mon) - 113
AL - Gene Nelson (Bal) - 121
Top Cub - Mark Langston 86 (tied 17th)

Run Support:
NL - Bill Laskey (LA) - 163
AL - Jim Clancy (Tor) - 149
Top Cub - Mike Witt 150 (2nd)

[hoopsguy]

Team Stats for 1985:
Offense: 774 Runs Scored - 1st (+49 Runs, same Rank)
Defense: 538 Runs Allowed - Tied 1st (+53 Runs, same Rank)
Total Salaries: $70,636,242 - 12th (+18 million versus same point last year, salary more towards middle than previous years)
Available Finances: some stupid amount
Approval Rating: 79/100 - not sure where to see compared to other teams (-1 from previous year)

OK, how did our approval go down after winning 111 games and the World Series? This metric is junk.

I have no idea what our biggest off-season priority should be, given the upheaval we are going to be facing with our pitching staff next year. It really depends on what kind of assets we get back. I would like to add one more speed player since I'm doubtful that we will be able to resign Samuel. Other than that, we'll look for "best available athlete".

Only one new record set last year.
Doubles - John Russell (SF) 47 breaks the old mark of 44 held by Chet Lemon and George Brett.

[hoopsguy]

Retirements:
Bump Wills - .267/19/186, 1980 All Star
Mike Caldwell - 54-61 3.69 ERA
Oscar Gamble - .270/83/280
Gary Gray - .265/55/198, 1981 All Star traded straight-up for Reggie Jackson
Greg Luzinski - .275/68/217, 1981 All Star
Rod Carew - .240/5/70
Bob Boone - .239/17/110, won a pair of titles in Chicago
John Wockenfuss - .267/55/217, 1982 All Star, won title in Detroit
Johnny Bench - .245/66/167
Jeff Burroughs - .243/51/164, won title in Chicago
Steve Rogers - 46-39, 3.17 ERA, 1982 All Star, one-time highest paid player in game
Mike Hargrove - .273/14/115, won title in Chicago
Joe Niekro - 8-14 2.84 ERA
J.R. Richard - 45-34 2.76 ERA
Mike Norris - 52-35 2.77 ERA. Retired at 31, apparently arm abuse in Oakland caught up to him. All Star in 1980, 1981, former highest paid player.

[hoopsguy]

The 1986 draft class is loaded. I'm sure most of these first round picks will be recognizable to anyone reading along with this dynasty.

Barry Bonds is the biggest name and he will certainly be gone by the time we pick. I would love to see Barry Larkin fall to us, but I'm not holding my breath.

The Twins pick first. I think there is at least a chance that they go cheap instead of picking Bonds, who is asking for 3.5 million.
#1 Minnesota - CF Barry Bonds. Good now, will be great.
#2 New York Mets - 1B Will Clark. Looks like he will grow into a very strong hitter, better power than I would expect.
#3 Baltimore - C Terry Steinbach. Blown pick, should not be in top 20.
#4 San Francisco - SP Doug Drabek. Best available pitcher, can not quibble with this one at all.
#5 Atlanta - LF John Kruk. He'll be a good hitter, but I think there were several better options available.
#6 Philadelphia - SS Barry Larkin. Why grab him when you have Ripken? I can only guess they are looking to convert him to 2B? Good player, but a bit of a reach here and they have a lot more holes to fill.
#7 Seattle - SP Chuck Finley. A project, I do not like this pick at all. Maybe they wanted Tawny Kittaen in the clubhouse?
#8 Cleveland - SP Greg Maddux. Also a project, but this 20 year old has a lot more upside than Finley. This pick is fine for a team who does not plan to contend immediately.
#9 Boston - LF Rafael Palmeiro. Two years from now he should be special.
#10 St. Louis - SP Kevin Brown. Charts somewhere between Finley and Maddux. If/when he develops he'll form a nasty 1-2 with Gooden but it won't be this year or next.
#11 San Diego - RF Ruben Sierra. Great pick, great value. My #2 pick in this draft.
#12 New York Yankees - 1B Fred McGriff. Already a powerful hitter, but needs to recognize his limited potential (46) to become a complete hitter.
#13 Texas - RF Pete Incaviglia. The player that the Yankees should have taken. Inky looks like a Tom Brunansky type slugger.
#14 California - 2B Jay Bell. Feels like a reach, especially with some of the guys left on board. I'm starting to feel really good about our prospects for both the 1st and 2nd rounds based on the picks up to this point.
#15 Kansas City - RF Cory Snyder. Worst case, he is Ron Kittle. Best case, maybe a better Barfield? Top five talent this year. Great pick.
#16 Los Angeles - C Benito Santiago. Bad pick for a team who can spend money to find one of 5-10 free agent catchers just like him.
#17 Houston - CL Dan Pleasac. He is going to be a terrific bullpen arm for 10-15 years. If that was a big need for them then good pick.
#18 Oakland - SS Kurt Stillwell. Could grow into a terrific hitter. Not a big name, but I think this will end up being a good pick.
#19 Montreal - LF Kal Daniels. Does everything well right now, still has some room for improvement. Great pick for a team that wants to contend right now.
#20 Pittsburgh - 2B Robby Thompson. I thought he should have been picked before Jay Bell. Versatile player who has a shot at being great. Best middle infielder in draft.

Five more picks to go, and here is my wish list: 3B Mark McGwire (will trade last years #1 pick, this guy is going to crush), 1B Wally Joyner (good hitter now with 100 potential), SP Bobby Witt (another Langston), SP Juan Nieves (better now than Maddux with same long-term potential), RF Bo Jackson (power/speed combo that never falls this late in draft)

#21 Milwaukee - 1B Kevin Seitzer. How you take him over Joyner is beyond me.
#22 Chicago White Sox - 2B Bip Roberts. Uninspiring pick, might have been available at this spot in 2nd round.
#23 Cincinnati - 3B Dale Sveum. Good player, but I would rather have Big Mac in that spot.
#24 Toronto - SP Jamie Moyer. High ceiling, maybe Toronto is looking to turn over some of their long-time starters?
#25 Detroit - 2B Mark Mclemore. Bad pick, only meaningful asset at this point is his speed.
#26 Chicago - never thought I would have my pick of all the guys I listed above. With the three starters moving on, I feel like I have to pick a starter here. But I also think that there is depth at SP in this draft and that I could still get a good one next round. Bah - I'm going to regret passing on McGwire, Joyner, and Bobby Bonilla ... all three looks like future All Stars. But I do the sensible thing and sign Nieves to a five year deal for 1.2 million per season.

2nd round:
- the Mets sign Glenn Braggs, who looks like a lesser version of Kal Daniels. Still, he could end up being a good one.
- Baltimore gets Bo Jackson, who is boom/bust. Great value for them in Round #2, especially after a bad "need" pick in first round.
- San Francisco picks Mike Aldrete. Some day Wally Joyner will haunt them for this.
- St. Louis gets John Smiley in the second round. Very nice pitcher, was probably #3 on my list of options behind Nieves and Witt. They have made strides with their rotation this draft.
- I'm getting my hopes up for one of the two hitters. Five picks to go ...
- Pittsburgh selects SS Craig Shipley, whose baseball career should have ended somewhere around Pony League. Unbelievably bad pick.
- Milwaukee adds SP David Cone, a reasonable flier on a pitching prospect. Still, how in the world are McGwire, Joyner, and Bonilla available still?
- The White Sox take 1B Russ Morman. Another guy for the list that Joyner will post on his locker.
- One more, as Cincy selects 1B Jim Lindemann.
- Toronto adds another quality SP, Bruce Ruffin. 1st round talent, they are just stockpiling arms.
- The Tigers add Kenny Williams (future GM of the White Sox). They must have made changes to their scouting department, because that is two straight gaffes.
- We are beyond pumped to take Mark McGwire in this spot. Only reason for him over Joyner is that I'm more committed to Boggs than Buechele/Gaetti. 4 years, 1.36 million.

Round #3:
- Baltimore gets CL Bobby Thigpen, who is an absolute steal at this point. Very little separates him from Pleasac.
- Boston gets LF Bobby Bonilla. Him + Palmeiro = awesome draft.
- St. Louis adds Joyner. Great draft for them as well, he is probably good enough to displace Keith Hernandez right now.
- I think I'm going to get Witt ... just a couple of more teams, as there has been a run on middle relievers.
- Yep, Bobby Witt signs for three years @ 1.65 million.

Last two rounds:
- The Giants add a quality starter in Eric King. Great value for 4th round.
- KC adds Dave Martinez. Rumor has it that the Tigers wanted him in the 2nd round but Sandberg squelched the deal.
- We grab Dave Magadan in the 4th round. He was the last remaining hitter that I would consider signing. Two years at just over 200K.
- The Giants get another really good arm in the 5th. Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams. I would absolutely have taken him if he had fallen to us.
- KC keeps adding pieces as well, this time MR Barry Jones.
- Our final pick is SP Scott Bankhead for one year, 1.1 million.

I'm worried that the latest update represents a step back in the drafting AI. By and large it was good in the first round, but the middle rounds were flush with terrible picks when there was value to be had.

[hoopsguy]

Free agency - we are carrying 36 players right now, so we already would need to trim some fat if we are going to pick up a player. Since I can not engage in 2:1 deals that means I'm going to have to release a player. We decide to bypass it entirely.

We cut Tolliver, who was in the last year of his deal. We have a ton of arms, so I don't anticipate missing him at all. All of our draft picks will start the season in the minors. I'm looking to have as much continuity as possible from last season. Here are the small adjustments that we are making:
1.) Platoon Buechele/Gaetti. I'm sticking Buechelle in against lefties. Both of these guys, as well as McGwire are right handed hitters.
2.) Samuel will get all the starts, Oberkfell will be coming off the bench.
3.) I'm contemplating working with one of our 3rd basemen to start working on SS. Smalley is getting up there in years. All three (including McGwire) are very good defensively at 3rd and capable of playing pretty much any other position at a reasonable level.

[hoopsguy]

PSPN projects us with the best record. Here are the rest of the top ten:
1. Chicago
2. Detroit
3. Pittsburgh - I think I'm more worried about Montreal this year, maybe St. Louis as well
4. Toronto
5. Boston - would be surprising, don't think they have the pitching
6. San Francisco - hard to believe they catch up to Cincinnati
7. Montreal
8. Cincinnati
9. California
10. St. Louis
21. Milwaukee (won about 90 games last year)
23. Minnesota - only won 48 last year
26. Chicago White Sox (won division last two seasons)

"Most Feared Hitters" does not include any Cubs. Why would anyone fear Barfield when Hubie Brooks is coming to a ballpark near you? But here are the names and projected totals.
Don Mattingly (SF)- .335/26. I'll take the under on average, although I think he will have a big year.
Pedro Guerrero (LA) .289/32
Hubie Brooks (Tex) .315/23
Darrell Porter (KC) .260/38. The 34 year old catcher has never hit more than 14 homers. I'll take the under on 19, let alone 38.
Kent Hrbek (Mon) .293/26
Greg Walker (Mil) .292/29
Fred Lynn (Bos) .272/29
Darryl Strawberry (Mil) .263/30. I'll take the over on both these values.
Lance Parrish (Det) .246/35

Pre-Season Payroll Report:
1. Detroit - $151,650,818
2. Toronto - $122,921,598
3. Montreal - $119,563,741
Guess the Canadian currency is doing well, eh?
4. Baltimore - $110,431,761
5. Atlanta - $103,717,420
6. Kansas City - $101,633,865
7. Pittsburgh - $101,290,400

14. St. Louis - $88,422,972
16. Chicago White Sox - $83,293,222
20. Chicago Cubs - $75,967,406
22. Cincinnati Reds - $71,346,639
26. Minnesota Twins - $54,205,957

[hoopsguy]

Not a ton of changes in the offseason, with one exception. Floyd Youmans had a quantum leap forward and his stuff is now at 98/100. I'll be looking for the first excuse to bring him up to the majors this year.

4/8 -4/10 @ St. Louis - nothing to test hitters like facing Dwight Gooden on a cold opening day. We fall 3-1, with the only run coming on a solo shot by Carter. Joyner is the opening day starter at first and goes 1-4. We bounce back with a 4-0 win in the second game of the two game series. Another homer for Carter. The Cardinals only mustered one hit off Witt (7 innings) and Boyd.

4/11 - 4/13 @ Pittsburgh: The Pirates get their first win of the year by a 5-1 score in the series opener. Mike Pagliarulo hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 9th to break the tie. We lose the following day against former Cub Mike Morgan. It is a Pirate sweep, with Candelaria showing us the door on Sunday in a 4-1 ballgame.

There are a couple of long hitting streaks so far.
#1 Strawberry is up to 20 games.
#2 Willie McGee (SF) is close behind at 18 games.

[hoopsguy]

4/15 - 4/17 @ Montreal: we are two back of the Expos and would like to avoid digging a big hole before our home opener. But Sanderson continues his mastery over us in an 8-2 win. Witt picks up his, and the team's, second win in an 8-6 affair. The bullpen gave up four in the ninth to make it close. So far, the pen has been a disaster. I'm giving them until the end of the month to get better. Carter hit another homer and had four RBIs.

Both hitting streaks fell short of the 23 game barrier.

4/18 - 4/20 vs Pittsburgh: it is ring ceremony day at Wrigley, but the team is still smarting from being swept in Pittsburgh last week. Well, they continue to smart after the Pirates shut us out 5-0. Candelaria has whipped us twice now. We lose again, 2-1 on Saturday after 14 long innings. The Pirates are now 6-4, which means they are 1-4 against teams not nicknamed "Cubs". We salvage the final game, 3-2 final. Once again the bullpen gives up all the runs and changes will be made now, not later.

#1 reliever was Caudill (11.57 ERA), is now Ontiveros (2.70 ERA)
#2 reliever was Boyd (4.09 ERA), is now Pena (0.00 ERA)

4/21 - 4/23 vs St. Louis: Gullickson picks up his first win and Barfield hits his 2nd homer in a 7-2 game. John Smiley did not give up a run in his first fifteen inning, but we put up a four spot in the 3rd to rally from down four to a 7-5 victory. And we complete the sweep the next day with another 7-2 win.

[hoopsguy]

4/24 - 4/27 vs Montreal: Samuel hits a leadoff homer and it is all the offense needed in a 2-0 shutout. Viola went seven innings for the win and has a 15 1/3 scoreless inning streak. The win streak stops at five in a 1-0 loss. We move back to .500 with a 6-0 win featuring a three run Butch Wynegar home run. But the Expos earn a split with a 7-5 win on Sunday afternoon. Boggs homered for the second straight game but was outdone by Kent Hrbek's two homers. Pena gave up the second, ending a string of good work by the bullpen since the shake-up.

4/28 - 4/29 @ San Diego: The Padres are 5-14, so we are hoping that we can get something going on the road here. That plan comes together in a 5-4 opening win featuring three runs in the top of the 9th. Viola extends his scoreless streak to 24 1/3 with a six hit shutout. Samuel had five hits in the 10-0 win. The win puts us over .500 for the first time all year.

4/30 @ Los Angeles: The Dodgers are 14-8 but struggling to keep up with red hot Cincinnati (13-4). We win the opener 5-2 to finish the month 11-9.

Standings:
AL East - The Brewers are on top with a 13-6 mark. Both Detroit and Toronto are struggling, with identical 9-11 records.

AL West - Seattle leads with a 13-8 record that is 1/2 game ahead of Texas. The White Sox lag four behind at 8-11.

NL East - The Mets (???) have won seven straight and are 14-5. That puts them 3.5 in front of us and Pittsburgh. The Cardinals started 5-13 but won three straight to close out the month.

NL West - Cincinnati is 14-4, which puts them 2.5 in front of LA and 3.5 ahead of San Francisco.

[hoopsguy]

Gary Gaetti is off to a wretched start this year, hitting .161 in 31 plate appearances. He struggled as a role player in 1984 as well, and I've got McGwire waiting in the wings along with Buechele. I think it is time to see what kind of value he has on the market. 28 years old, 2 years on his deal @ $2,873,046, still has 90 potential ... he should get us something in return.

Ideally, a middle infielder with some speed. Well, I can't find exactly that but the Mets Johnny Ray looks like a nice fit. He plays 2B/SS, is a switch hitter who has stolen 20+ bases the last three years, won a Gold Glove in '83, and hit about .275. Done. Plus we get one more year under contract, which is nice.

So I scoffed about Hubie Brooks prior to the season. Well, he tore the cover off the ball in April. .402/5/25. About the only thing he did not do well is steal bases; he was 0-3.

The highly compensated Atlanta Brave Vida Blue is out for a month. That guy gets paid more to do less than just about anyone in baseball.

5/1 @ Los Angeles: We lose 3-1. Pedro Guerrero hit a solo shot, building on his strong April (.348/8/19).

5/2 - 5/4 @ San Francisco: Witt moves to 4-0 with a 2-0 win over Doug Drabek. We follow it up with an 8-6 victory where we scored two in the 9th after giving away a 5-0 lead. Carter had a homer and 4 RBIs, as did San Francisco's Don Mattingly. We play two on Sunday and split the games. Viola took a shutout into the 9th before giving up a run, snapping his scoreless streak at 32 2/3 innings, in a 6-2 win. The Giants won the finale 5-2, thanks in part to three hits and a steal for Andy Van Slyke.

The Reds took three straight from the Mets in a battle of division leaders, allowing us to close within two games of first.

[hoopsguy]

5/6 - 5/8 vs Los Angeles: Gullickson survives another Guerrero homer in a 3-2 win. We bomb the Dodgers the next afternoon 9-1, sending Witt to 5-0. Buechele goes 3-5 with a homer and 4 RBIs. He appears to be settling into the 3B role. We lose the finale 6-5 in 12 innings. Rob Deer had two homers, including the game winner. Starter Mark Langston coughed up a 5-1 lead.

5/9 - 5/11 vs San Diego: Another strong outing for Viola in a 4-1 win. His ERA is down to 1.61. Orosco recorded his 10th save in as many tries. We lose the Saturday game 7-6 in 10 innings. I don't think we have won in extras yet this year. But we respond with a 3-0 win to close out the series.

The Mets win two of three in Shea against the Reds to maintain their two game lead over us. Jimmy Key moved to 5-0 on the year for the Amazings. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh lost eight in a row to dig themselves a very big hole.

Cal Ripken had a three homer day against Houston, bringing his numbers on the year to .333/6/23.

[hoopsguy]

5/13 - 5/14 vs San Francisco: we get a one run win in the opener, 5-4 in 12 innings. Buechele and Hall each had three hits. Hall has overcome a terrible first two weeks to bring his average up to .270. However, the "one run" mojo is no good the next day, as we fall 7-6. Mickey Tettleton had a pair of homers for the Giants. Buechele homered for the second straight day and Steve Ontiveros failed out of the pen for the second straight day. Time to see if Bob James can do any better with the #1 Reliever role.

5/16 - 5/18 @ Houston: I can't believe I have to trade Viola this year. He goes 11 innings to get a 4-0 win, throwing 117 pitches and striking out 11. The guy is just a monster right now. Romanick sucks away any momentum the following evening in a 7-3 loss. Ex-Cub Mike Krukow gets his first win of the year. Gullickson is up to 14 straight scoreless after throwing six in a 5-0 shutout win. Griffey hit a three run homer.

The win leaves us a half game back of New York. However, we also have company in chasing them down. The Expos have won six straight and now are only 2.5 out of first.

Greg Maddux has struggled with major league hitters over his first six weeks. He is 1-5 with a 9.14 ERA for the Indians. Opposing hitters are raking at a .389 clip and he has an 18:26 K/BB ratio and a 2.41 WHIP. Ugly, ugly, ugly. He has been removed from the rotation and is now pitching long relief.

Dodgers 1B Greg Brock is out two months with a torn hamstring.

[hoopsguy]

5/20 - 5/22 @ Atlanta: Witt takes his first loss of the year, 6-2. The offense did not get much going against Orel Hershiser. One guy who has been slumping most of the season is Jesse Barfield. His numbers are .212/5/16; we really need him to get going. At 27 years old he should be in his prime, not banging against the Mendoza line. The Braves set us down again the following day, 5-1 this time. Eddie Milner homered for the second straight day. We get a Viola win, 4-2, to close out the series.

5/23 - 5/25 vs Houston: Romanick falls to 2-5 in a 2-1 loss to the punchless Astros. It is good of us to keep Krukow in the majors by letting him collect wins against us, I guess. We get a comeback 5-3 win the following day that featured three Samuel steals and a solo shot for Carter. We close out the series with a 6-1 win. Another complete game for Witt. Hall hit a homer and had 4 RBIs.

The division continues to ebb and flow, with the Mets winning five straight to open up a 2.5 game lead on us. The Cardinals have won seven straight to move to 23-19. I'm still not sure how good any of these teams are, as we have basically played Pittsburgh and Montreal in our division.

[hoopsguy]

5/26 - 5/28 vs Cincinnati: The Reds have cooled off a little bit, but are still 25-16. And they move to 10 over .500 with a 2-1 win in the opener. We win the second game 4-2 despite only collecting five hits. Three runs came home on a pinch homer by Griffey. The swing game features Romanick on the hill and he falls to 2-6 with a 3-1 loss. We just can't win when he pitches. Their closer, Cecilio Guante gets his 16th save.

Cardinal Wally Joyner has hit his stride. He is at .325/4/31 and looks like yet another standout first baseman in our division.

Met Pat Tabler is up to 21 straight games with a hit.

5/30 - 6/1 vs Atlanta: the Braves hammer us 9-6. Hershiser beats us for the second time this year and homers while doing so. He was not the only one, as Dale Murphy knocked two out. Vida Blue pitched middle relief for the Braves. We come back with a vengeance the following day, winning 15-2. Barfield had a pair of homers and five RBIs. And we win the series behind Langston's pitching in a 2-0 ballgame. Good start to June, hopefully we can get going a little bit. Hall went 3-3 with a homer and both RBIs.

Standings:
AL East - Milwaukee is on top with a 28-20 record, just a half game in front of Baltimore and Boston. The Orioles were in front but have lost four straight. Detroit has won four straight to move within five games. The Jays are two games out of first.

AL West - Texas has the best record in the AL at 29-20. Oakland, at 3.5 back, is the only other team above .500 in the division.

NL East - The Mets are the best team in baseball at 30-17 and hold a 3.5 game lead on us and 5.5 on both Montreal and St. Louis.

NL West - Cincinnati is 29-18 and five games in front of San Francisco. The Dodgers have lost four straight to fall to .500.

[hoopsguy]

Tabler's streak ended at 22 games. No one will ever get to 23 games again, it seems.

Strawberry update: .291/13/34 w/11 steals.

Rookie of the Year update - Pete Incaviglia of the Rangers is hitting .263/17/42. He hits the ball far. But the guy who hit the ball the farthest this year is Barfield, who socked one 473' during the two homer game against the Braves last week.

6/2 - 6/4 @ Cincinnati: Viola moves to 8-1. He and Witt have been almost automatic while we've seen the other pitchers scramble for their wins. Romanick is now 2-7 and I'm pulling him from our rotation. This one was a 5-3 loss where he gave up all the runs in the first three innings. Gullickson gets bombed 9-1 and we lose this series. It may be time to move the first piece of our "Big Three" starters.

[hoopsguy]

It appears that Gullickson has almost zero trade value. I'm not sure what to make of this. Clearly it is going to make it monumentally harder to maintain our place in the pecking order when we lose front-of-the-rotation starters without any compensation. There are not any real natural matches for the other two guys other, although we do have more options. But the 25% rule precludes getting established players for the 1.5 million and 2 million dollar contracts of Witt and Viola. I call a team meeting and tell the players that we are going to keep the core group together until the end of the year, come what may. I still think we are better than the Mets, 5.5 game deficit be damned, but we have to show it on the field. Starting now.

6/5 - 6/8 @ St. Louis: Witt goes to 8-1 with a 5-3 win. Samuel knocks in three. We stack together wins, 3-2 this time with Barfield homering and knocking in all three runs. He is up to .241 now. Three straight when Viola does what he has done all year in a 4-1 triumph. Wynegar homers and knocks in three. And it is a four game road sweep when Youmans wins his big league debut 5-2, going eight and striking out ten.

While we won four straight the Mets lost four straight to the Pirates. Lead down to 1.5 games. Wow, I need to give speeches more often!

[hoopsguy]

6/9 - 6/11 @ Pittsburgh: well, obviously the Pirates are also red hot and they have handled us earlier. But we can't worry about that; we have a wouded division leader in our sights. No such luck, as their starter Sid Fernandez shuts us down 2-1. But we win the following day, with Witt beating former Cub Morgan (who is now 1-7) 6-4. Boggs, who has struggled over the last month, had three hits. The Wednesday game is a gutpunch. Orosco blows his first save of the year when Ron Roenicke hits a pinch triple to drive in two and give the Pirates a 3-2 win. We would have taken over first with a win, as the Mets were swept at home by the Phillies, sending them to seven straight losses.

6/13 - 6/14 vs St. Louis: 6-5 win in the opener. We rallied from down 5-0 with three in the 8th and three more in the 9th. Carter was 4-5 with three RBIs, including the game winning double. The Cards got homer #13 on the year from LF Mike Young, who has been one of the bigger surprises in the National League this year. We see Youmans match Romanick's win total in two starts, throwing seven shutout innings in a 2-0 win. Barfield hit a solo shot, his 10th of the year. And we are now in first by a half game. Gullickson keeps it going with a 5-0 shutout to close out the Cardinal series. The Pirates swept a double header from New York, so we are up two games in the division.

Our starting pitching has really turned it on over the past couple of weeks, but our offense continues to be a work in progress.
Samuel - .291
Boggs - .274 (seriously low for him)
Carter - .280
Barfield - .239
Buechele - .218 (need more or McGwire will take this job)
Smalley - .232 (will not be here any longer than needed)
Hall - .265
Scioscia - .272
Ray - .326

San Francisco starter Eric King is 8-1 with a 1.91 ERA. That is what we call a strong bid for Rookie Pitcher of the Year.

[hoopsguy]

6/16 - 6/18 vs Philadelphia: Barfield homers twice and Witt moves to 10-1 after our 9-1 win. His third complete game is one more than he had last season. The Phillies take the second game 5-2 as we are held to four hits. Viola matches Witt's record by winning the series finale 1-0.

6/19 - 6/22 @ New York: we come into the series with a three game lead on the Mets. Youmans makes sure we will leave with a lead by earning his third straight win in the opener, 9-4. The offense had 20 hits, including 4 by Carter. He also had a homer and five RBIs. We take the second game 7-5 in 11 innings, shaking off a badly blown save by Orosco. Their 1B Will Clark hit a homer. His numbers on the year are .277/7/35. We shred New York in the third game, 9-0. Two more dongs for Barfield, another complete game for Witt. That was against their ace, Jimmy Key, although most ofthe damage was against the pen. And one more shutout, for good measure, in the finale. 2-0 this time. I think we have now broken the spirit of the New York Mets.

[hoopsguy]

Lloyd Moseby of Toronto lost a 19 game hitting streak when he was brought in as a pinch hitter. I hate that.

6/23 - 6/25 @ Philadelphia: The opponent changes, but not the zeroes on the scoreboard. 4-0, #11 for Viola. He retired the first fifteen Phillies before giving up a single to John Morris. That was his only mistake on the day. 105 pitches, 9 K's, and as good an effort as we have seen from a Cub pitcher (not considering the overall meaning of the game) in 6.5 years of baseball. The Floyd Youmans victory train continues with a 3-2 win against Roger Clemens. He pitched eight innings and we took the lead with two in the top of the ninth, thanks to a Griffey homer. Dude is a great pinch hitter. The win streak hits eight with another 3-2 win. Carter and Hall each hit their 9th homers on the year.

6/27 - 6/29 vs New York: we start the series up nine, staring at their ace in the opener. But our guy, Witt, is no slouch and we win going away - 7-1 final. The win streak goes to ten with a 2-1 win the next afternoon. Carter was 3-3 with a homer and Samuel stole three more bases. We finish the series with a 3-2 win in 11 innings. We scored one apiece in the 8th/9th/11th. Hall hit a solo shot to send the fans home happy. Three more steals for Samuel, who has 38 on the year. 4 2/3 shutout innings for our bullpen. Everything has clicked this month.

So, I think Hubie Brooks is going to make the All Star team for the first time in his career. .380/10/50 after 74 games is pretty compelling. He is doing this in his walk year; Texas is going to have to break the bank to keep him.

Barry Bonds had an 18 game hitting streak for the Twins. He is hitting .299/8/25 with 17 steals. But he has his work cut out if he wants ROTY with Incaviglia around. .294/23/62 is tough to overlook.

[hoopsguy]

Cardinal OF Leon Durham will miss a month getting his knee cleaned up. Also on the DL is Atlanta middle reliever Vida Blue. Reconstructive elbow surgery will have him out for the rest of the year. The 37 year old is under contract for three years @ 15,235,200 a season. Worst contract ever?

Prince Fielder of Oakland is getting his first season as a full-time player. His partial season last year tracked pretty closely with what Barfield did prior to his bust out year. Fielder is putting up solid numbers: .280/13/46.

Standings:
AL East - Boston (43-32) has a half-game lead over Toronto and is one up on Baltimore. There are five teams over .500, including the Tigers at 39-36.

AL West - Oakland is 44-33 and 1.5 up on Texas. Oakland has won four straight to move within four of the lead.

NL East - our current eleven game win streak has us nine up on the Pirates. A 22-5 June, coupled with a 7-21 June for the Mets, has allowed us to make up 15.5 games this month.

NL West - The Reds and Dodgers are in a dead heat, both 11 over .500. The Giants are in striking distance, three back.

Cleveland (25-49) and San Diego (24-51) are the worst teams in baseball.

[hoopsguy]

6/30 - 7/2 vs Montreal: I've officially got a man-crush on Youmans, who has won his first five career starts. He tossed 6 1/3 shutout innings to lower his ERA to 2.04. He has 35 K's in 35 1/3 innings with only 3 walks, a BAA of .188 and a WHIP of 0.76. The thirteenth win is by a 4-3 margin, thanks to a shaky 9th for Orosco. Caudill came in to close it out and earn his 3rd save. It also appears that the Expos have put Scott Sanderson in their bullpen. He is only 30 and I find it very hard to believe they have five better arms. The win streak finally comes to an end just when I had started thinking about surpassing the Cardinals record 17 game streak from 1980. 7-3 final, with a Barfield error and a Gary Carter homer being the main contributors to the loss.

The Expos lineup has some pretty good names in it:
2B Tim Raines
3B Carney Lansford
LF Kal Daniels
1B Kent Hrbek
RF Tim Wallach
C Gary Carter
SS Shawon Dunston
CF John Cangelosi (ok, not much of a name)

However, none of them are hitting .300 this year. In fact, their 281 runs so far is 5th out of 6 in our division.

7/3 - 7/6 @ San Diego: We win a 10-7 slugfest to start a new win streak. Pena got the win to move to 4-1 and lower his ERA to 1.36. It is nice to see him succeed again after a couple of so-so years in the pen. The hits keep on coming on the 4th of July in a 13-7 victory. We rallied to tie it at 6 with three in the 9th and poured on 7 runs in the 12th inning.

Their closer, John Franco, has been a disaster. 1-5, 8.84 ERA with 6 blown saves to go with 13 actual saves. He'll be a really good pitcher, but he is not getting the job done for this sad sack team. Carter took him deep this time, giving him 50 RBIs on the year. Boyd hit his 2nd career grand slam in the 12th.

We lose on Saturday, with Romanick falling to 2-8 with a loss out of the pen. This one was 13 innings; no rest for the wicked. No decision for Youmans, although he left with a 5-3 lead. Gullickson threw a three hit shutout to finish the series.

[hoopsguy]

AL All Star starters:
3B Hubie Brooks (Tex) .373/12/57
RF Pete Incaviglia (Tex) .293/25/66
2B Paul Molitor (Tex) .342/9/47 - 2nd All Star team
LF Dan Pasqua (Min) .298/14/56
SS Ryne Sandberg (Det) .317/12/47 w/10 steals - repeat selection
CF Glenn Wilson (Bos) .320/11/45
1B Eddie Murray (Bal) .319/9/39
C Lance Parrish (Det) .256/12/38

AL Reserves:
RF Harold Baines (Det) .330/8/59 - 4th AS game
CF Dan Gladden (Bal) .330/3/30
RF Darryl Strawberry (Mil) .288/15/44 w/16 steals - repeat selection, 3rd AS game
1B Greg Walker (Mil) .282/14/52 - 3rd straight AS game
1B Franklin Stubbs (Det) .272/12/39
SS Alan Trammell (Det) .315/9/29 - 3rd AS game, only 16 games as SS, 60 at 3B
SS Danny Tartabull (NYY) .292/10/40

AL Pitching Staff:
SP Dennis Rasmussen (Cal) 11-3 1.90 ERA, 2 CG, 87:30 K/BB, .228 BAA, 1.12 WHIP
SP Shane Rawley (Bal) 11-3 2.92 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SO, 77:38 K/BB, .250 BAA, 1.25 WHIP
SP Dave Lapoint (Mil) 11-3 2.52 ERA, 3 CG, 83:38 K/BB, .230 BAA, 1.17 WHIP. At 27, this guy that has gotten better over last couple of seasons, could continue to improve.
CL Todd Worrell (Sea) 0-1 2.30 ERA, 30 saves, 2 blown, 1 hold, 20:11 K/BB, .244 BAA, 1.28 WHIP
MR Andy Mcgaffigan (Bos) 6-1 1.84 ERA, 1 save, 3 holds, 31:17 K/BB, .195 BAA, 1.11 WHIP
SP Scott McGregor (Bal) 9-4 2.59 ERA, 3 CG, 1 SO, 68:35 K/BB, .215 BAA, 1.09 WHIP. Repeat selection, collapsed in second half last year.
MR Keith Atherton (Det) 6-1 1.85 ERA, 2 saves, 2 holds, 32:17 K/BB, .176 BAA, 1.01 WHIP. 3rd straight year on AS team, first as middle reliever.
SP Teddy Higuera (Tex) 10-3 3.08 ERA, 2 CG, 93:51 K/BB, .217 BAA, 1.23 WHIP.
MR Chris Welsh (Bal) 2-1 2.06 ERA, 1 save, 18:15 K/BB, .208 BAA, 1.14 WHIP. 2nd AS game, must have been manager's discretion with only 8 appearances this season.
MR Tom Waddell (NYY) 3-3 2.58 ERA, 4 holds, 25:14 K/BB, .266 BAA, 1.35 WHIP

[hoopsguy]

NL All Star Starters:
LF Pedro Guerrero (LA) .320/16/39 w/11 steals. Repeat selection, 4th AS game.
1B Danny Heep (SF) .326/5/25
3B Bob Horner (Atl) .296/11/51. Repeat selection, 6th AS team.
CF Andy Van Slyke (SF) .288/12/55 w/24 steals. Already has career highs for homers and RBIs.
CF Dale Murphy (Atl) .291/11/42 w/27 steals. 3rd AS team, assume he is being started in RF.
SS Donnie Hill (NYM) .357/1/31. I'll be stunned if he ever makes another AS team.
2B Juan Samuel (Chi) .314/5/30 w/41 steals.
C Jody Davis (Cin) .255/9/37

NL Reserves:
LF Don Mattingly (SF) .305/17/53 - 3rd AS team
3B Mike Pagliarulo (Pit) .290/16/61 - career highs for homers and RBIs after platooning first two seasons
LF Rob Deer (LA) .258/16/38 - similar to Pagliarulo, career high in homers in first year as full time player
CF Willie McGee (SF) .330/3/36 w/39 steals
SS Cal Ripken (Phi) .284/11/50 - 5th straight AS game, how in the world is he behind the dude from Mets?
1B Kent Hrbek (Mon) .283/12/49 - repeat selection
3B Nick Esasky (LA) .288/8/34 - 3rd AS game

NL Pitching Staff:
SP Frank Viola (Chi) - 11-1 1.83 ERA, 3 CG, 3 SO, 106:35 K/BB, .208 BAA, 1.08 WHIP. 2nd AS game.
SP Mike Witt (Chi) 12-2 2.30 ERA, 4 CG, 1 SO, 97:39 K/BB, .223 BAA, 1.18 WHIP. 3rd AS game.
CL Cecilio Guante (Cin) 0-1 1.98 ERA, 28 saves, 1 blown, 24:7 K/BB, .188 BAA, 0.95 WHIP. 2nd AS game.
SP Dwight Gooden (StL) 9-4 2.24 ERA, 3 CG, 117:34 K/BB, .217 BAA, 1.10 WHIP. 2nd AS game.
SP Eric King (SF) 9-1 2.03 ERA, 1 CG, 69:43 K/BB, .203 BAA, 1.09 WHIP
SP Sid Fernandez (Pit) 9-3 2.27 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SO, 112:33 K/BB, .217 BAA, 1.13 WHIP
MR Dickie Noles (Phi) 5-0 2.21 ERA, 2 blown, 3 holds, 28:17 K/BB, .246 BAA, 1.28 WHIP
MR Dave Smith (Hou) 5-2 2.44 ERA, 2 blown, 6 holds, 36:11 K/BB, .262 BAA, 1.26 WHIP. 2nd AS game.
MR Tim Burke (Phi) 0-0 2.27 ERA, 1 blown, 7 holds, 27:12 K/BB, .188 BAA, 1.01 WHIP
MR Dave Stewart (Cin) 2-0 2.40 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown, 4 holds, 32:22 K/BB, .231 BAA, 1.34 WHIP. 2nd AS game.

[hoopsguy]

Time to see who we can bring back next year.

Nope - Gullickson, Witt, and Viola are all looking for 15+ million. And the last two deserve a multi-year deal making that kind of money, based on their age and performance this year. Gullickson is a little more questionable, as his best years may already be in the rearview at the age of 27. But he deserves whatever he can get, and it is almost certainly more than we can pay him. Our 5th round pick, Scott Bankhead, has never pitched in the majors and is asking for 10 million. That is way more than I would offer, but he is going to be a real find for someone. 23 year old FA pitchers just do not come around often. Someone will pay him.

Probably not - Griffey is 36 years old, which is retirement age. I can't see bringing him back at 3 million.

Maybe? - Pena is looking for 3.5 million, which may be more than I can afford. I've got arms in the minors that are looking for work. The same is even more true for James and his 3.2 million request. Perez is not good at AAA, but he would be depth for a franchise losing four starters. He is asking for something in the 1.2 million range.

Probably - Oberkfell is asking for 1.5 - 1.9 million, depending on years. He is a quality backup.

Lock him up now - Samuel four more years @ 4,331,839. That leaves $5,668,161.

Two years out - Aguilera wants 8 million, so he'll be gone. Maybe I should see if I can trade him now? Tempting, but I'll need arms next year. Romanick will re-up for about 3.5 million, and I'll probably take him and wave good-bye to the relievers. The other option would be to extend Orosco for 4.5 million and basically be done with my re-signings.

[hoopsguy]

7/8 - 7/9 @ San Francisco: back to the business of winning, as we take an 8-3 decision. Ray continues to be a stud with two hits, two walks, a steal and 3 RBIs. But Ed Whitson stifles us in a 3-0 shutout. Mattingly hit his 18th homer in the Giants win.

7/10 - 7/13 @ Los Angeles: this game, same as the last: 3-0 loss. Viola threw seven shutout innings only to watch Pena wet the bed, allowing a three run jack to Deer. But we win 13-10 the next game, getting two homers apiece from Hall and Barfield. Youmans moved to 6-0, getting a quality start before Romanick sucked in relief. All in all, there were 11 homers hit in this game. We then hand Bob Welch only his 2nd loss of the season in a 4-1 victory. Carter homered and had three RBIs. He is still trying to figure out how he was not an All Star this year. Fernando Valenzuela beats Witt to earn a split, 4-1 final on Sunday Night Baseball.

7/17 - 7/20 vs San Francisco: The 4-3 win moves Langston back above .500 on the year at 7-6. Buechele hits double digit home runs but is only hitting .206. McGwire will be here in August. Viola goes to 12-1 with a 6-2 win. Carter homers for the second straight game; he also had four hits and four RBIs. We survive a 4 RBI game from Van Slyke, including a 3 run homer in the 9th off Orosco to tie things up, to win 7-6 on Saturday. The Giants win the finale 6-3.

7/21 - 7/23 vs San Diego: we come back from a 3-0 hole to win 4-3 when Samuel hits a two run shot against Franco. We own him. The next day is easier, as we coast 12-1. Two homers for Buechele and Langston homered while throwing a two hitter. We get crushed 10-0 and lose Carter with a rib injury. He goes on the 15 day DL and we call up McGwire.

We see that the Tigers have lost eight in a row, but are still in striking distance in the AL East.

[hoopsguy]

7/25 - 7/27 vs Los Angeles: Youmans has his shortest outing of his career, lasting just 4 2/3 innings. He was in line to get his first loss until Mel Hall slugged a two run homer in the bottom of the 9th to give us a 4-3 win. We win again the following day, 5-4 as McGwire homers off Fernando Valenzuela on the first pitch he sees in the majors. Pena has a horrific outing to give away a win for Gullickson but we score three in the 9th to once again steal one from the Dodgers. We don't leave much suspense on Sunday, trouncing the visitors 13-0. Buechele homers and has six RBIs.

Ripken is dealt again, this time back to the American League. Philadelphia sends him to Seattle for RF Carmen Castillo. This appears to be a money move as Castillo is making 11 million less per year. Castillo is having a fine year (.290/12/39) but the 28 year old is done developing and does not have the same attributes as Ripken, plain and simple. He is the 1986 version of Gary Gray.

So Cory Snyder of Kansas City picked the wrong year to be a rookie. Normally .275/20/50 on July 28th would be in the mix, but Incaviglia is dwarfing him with .315/28/79. Meanwhile, here are the top three home run guys in the National League:
#1 John Russell (SF) .282/20/77
#2 Mike Pagliarulo (Pit) .285/19/68
#3 Jesse Barfield (Chi) .258/19/58

The NL Rookie of the Year is probably going to Joyner, who is at .318/14/60. The 1986 class is acquitting themselves very nicely.

Pedro Guerrero has a 17 game hitting streak - is this the man who will finally break through to 24 games?

[hoopsguy]

7/28 - 7/30 @ New York: Jim Gott stymies us in the opener 4-0. We pick up a 5-3 win the next day, despite a two run homer from former Cub Gary Gaetti. Orosco had his 30th save to close out this one. We win the swing game of the series 8-1, as Youmans moves to 7-0. Boggs had three hits and is up to .292.

We have one move to make at the trade deadline, potentially - moving Bankhead. Might as well get some value for our 5th round pick this year ... and one player that is perfectly legit in terms of my trade options is Nelson Simmons from Detroit. I'm so very, very tempted to make this trade because he is a 23 year old stud under contract for four seasons. But I also respect our rivalry and I'm not going to undermine it with deals like this one. Now if they end up signing Bankhead in the offseason I'll be steamed.

Closer to home, Kal Daniels of the Expos is a really attractive option. The downside would be facing Bankhead on a regular basis, but you have to give something to get something. I'm also not looking to acquire Daniels to put him on my bench which suggests I would be moving one of our starting outfielders. I'll keep looking for now, but if I go down this path I would want to map out trade options with those OF's first.

We see Rob Deer on Oakland as another trading partner and wonder how he got there. Looks like the Dodgers dealt him last week for Mike Davis, who looks like a guy that does everything pretty well but can't touch Deer in terms of power or impact in the batting order. Strange move for the Dodgers, who are very much in the NL West race. And they added salary ... I do not understand that deal.

Pittsburgh rookie 2B Robbie Thompson is a player I liked in the draft. He would fit, and I could move him into the starting lineup along with Samuel and keep Ray around for depth at both positions. It would also hasten the departure of Smalley, who has fallen out of favor. This seems like a really attractive option, although I don't think Thompson will ever be the hitter that Daniels will be ... hmm. I'm very pleased with all of these scenarios, so time to just pick one.

I pull the trigger on Thompson. We send Smalley down to the minors and put Thompson in the lineup against lefties, leaving Ray in against right-handers.

[hoopsguy]

Standings:
AL East - Toronto (58-45) is ahead of Boston by a half game. There are five teams within four games. The Tigers loom 3.5 back.

AL West - Texas (62-41) has separated themselves from the pack, thanks to the best offense in baseball (550 runs, Detroit is next w/514). Oakland is 5.5 back and the Angels are one behind them.

NL East - we are up 12.5 on Montreal and New York. The NL is one big pile of mediocre outside of our 66-34 mark. Our 316 runs allowed is 21 better than 2nd best Cincinnati.

NL West - LA leads the division with a 55-47 record. That is 1.5 better than Cincinnati and 2 ahead of San Francisco. The Dodgers are doing this despite being outscored by 18 runs on the year. The 30-18 record in the division makes up for a lot of ills.

[hoopsguy]

8/1 - 8/3 @ Philadelphia: August begins with a blown save for Orosco. He surrendered a three run shot to Bob Dernier to hand us a 6-5 loss. It is only his 2nd on the year, but his ERA is up to 4.41. He needs to tighten things up a bit. McGwire has his first two homer day the following evening in a 10-2 win that gave Witt fifteen wins on the season. We lose the final game 5-1, as Barfield supplied the only run with his 20th homer. Langston falls to 8-8 and I continue to wonder about my pitching staff for next season.

8/4 - 8/7 vs New York: we win the opener 6-5 thanks in part to six stolen bases against Mets catcher Bob Brenly. There is a buzz in the air for the Youmans start and he does not disappoint as we win 2-0. Samuel had three hits, one more than the Mets. The Mets take the third game 5-2 in a blah effort all around. We bounce back with a 4-2 win on getaway day, another Witt win.

Carter comes off the DL and we send Romanick down to the minors. He'll be back with us in September.

Rafael Palmeiro of the Red Sox has a 17 game hitting streak. Another solid rookie, he has put up .295/8/46 so far this year while being part of the best season in Boston in several years.

Cardinals starting pitcher Ron Darling is having work done on his pitching shoulder and will miss the remainder of the year.

[hoopsguy]

8/8 - 8/10 vs Philadelphia: we continue to struggle against the Phillies, falling 2-1. That drops Langston to 8-9 on the season. He can ask Romanick how well I accept losing records from starters on my teams. They put us down 8-5 the following day in what looks like the worst outing of the year for Viola. He has not been dominant since the All Star break, but up until this game was still giving us good starts. It is up to Youmans to break the hex against a red-hot Roger Clemens and he is up to the task in a 2-1 win. That moves him to 9-0. Carmen Castillo hit a homer for the Phillies for the second game in a row.

8/11 - 8/13 vs Pittsburgh: Gullickson loses again, this time 1-0 to Sid Fernandez. Our offense is not good so far this month. Witt gets 10 runs the next day as we trample former Cub Mike Morgan 10-1. McGwire hits his second grand slam in the last two weeks during the win. Langston takes care of the run support issue by not giving up any in a 5-0 win against Scott Bankhead. Langston knocked in a run himself for good measure.

I see that the Cardinals acquired Jack Clark from Baltimore prior to the trade deadline. It looks like a fire sale move by the Orioles, although Clark's 5 million salary is not exactly sky high. At 31, Clark still looks like a guy who can rake. But he failed to do so in his 2+ seasons in the American League.

Dale Murphy looks like he may be on his way to his 2nd NL MVP. .302/22/65 w/47 steals. He is still bringing it at the ripe old age of 30.

[hoopsguy]

8/14 - 8/17 @ Montreal: Viola rebounds with a 3-2 win featuring the 16th homer each for Hall and Carter. We have a double header on Friday and take both games: 7-2 (10 innings) and 12-2. Orosco blows another save in the first one. Samuel had seven hits between the two games and is now hitting .313. We roughed up Sanderson in the second game; we owe him a couple of more like that one for past injustices. A 2-1 win makes it four straight but the story there is another blown save for Orosco. He is now on double secret probation.

Witt was pulled from that game after seven innings for a pinch hitter. The score was 0-0, he had throw only 65 pitches, and allowed just one hit. He was totally dominating a good Expos lineup. He was in position for the win after we got an unearned run in the top of the 8th. But here is how the 9th inning went down for Orosco:
- pop out to 3rd, one out
- walk on four pitches
- walk on four pitches
- error by Griffey in outfield, man advances to 3rd
- strike out
- fly out
I'm sure Witt was thrilled watching that performance.

We win the finale 2-1 in 12 innings, sweeping five games from the Expos in their building. McGwire hit one out in the 12 inning to provide the win.

[hoopsguy]

Remember the Tigers trading for Harold Baines, giving the Sox Al Cowens? How is that deal looking now?
Baines (27 years old) - .328/15/84
Cowens (35 years old) - .281/2/15 in spot duty for a team that has gone from first to last in a year

The AL East race is jam packed.
Boston 66-53
Detroit 66-54
Toronto 66-54
Milwaukee 65-54

I'm guessing even friends and family of the Red Sox do not expect them to win that division.

8/19 - 8/21 vs Atlanta: we have our seven game win streak snapped, falling 3-1. Barfield hit a solo shot during the 9th inning to avoid the shutout. Hershiser dominated us. We respond with a 10-2 win the next day, pushing Youmans to 10-0 to start his big league career. Murphy hit #23 for the Braves. Carter and Hall again homered together, #18 for each. McGwire homered and stole the first base of his career. He has 21 RBIs in 20 games. Orosco blows another save and loses his closer gig. Nothing like giving up a 4-1 lead in the 9th. He keeps doing it to Gullickson, who just about has to think that it is personal at this point.

Caudill gets the closer job, but I'm holding auditions. If he does not run with it I'll keep trying.

[hoopsguy]

We see that the Phillies have rattled off eleven straight wins. They are 12 back of us, but now have the 2nd best record in the National League.

8/22 - 8/24 vs Cincinnati: Soto over Witt 5-2, with Orosco coming in a non-save situation and giving up two runs. He is wretched right now, no doubt about it. We lose 5-4 the next day, hitting four solo homers. Langston goes an inning too long, surrendering a five spot in the seventh. Our skipper needs to get him out of there, not make him finish an inning like that when we are protecting a 2-0 lead. Terrible. We pick up a 4-2 win on Sunday, with Boggs homering for the second straight game.

[hoopsguy]

8/25 - 8/27 @ Houston: 11-0, that is the Youmans mark after a 7-1 win. This win came against the defending Cy Young winner, Matt Young, who is 10-9 this season. Floyd got his first career complete game in this one. Kirby Puckett hit a solo homer for the 'Stros and has put together a really nice season: .320/18/76 w/18 steals. We win again the following day, 4-3, when Griffey doubles with the bases loaded in the 8th. Witt gets his 18th win of the year in the finale, 2-1.

8/29 - 8/31 vs Atlanta: Langston moves to 10-10 with a 5-2 win. We beat Hershiser; about time. The win streak advances to six with a 9-6 victory. Hall homered, had three hits, three RBIs, and three steals. Carter and Hall both hit their 20th in a 12-10 victory to close out the month. In another weird bit of symmetry, the game went ten innings and included ten homers. We scored four in the 9th (Carter's 2nd of day, 3 run shot) to force extras and Hall won it with his homer in the 10th.

Standings:
AL East - still very tight, but Boston leads heading into September. Their 73-58 mark is one better than Toronto. Milwaukee is 1.5 back and the Tigers are 2.5 out.

AL West - Texas has bludgeoned foes all year long and now holds a 77-54 record. That is 6.5 better than California. Oakland is holding out hope, but it is slim as they are 7.5 behind with 30 to play.

NL East - Philadelphia, at 72-58 has the second best record in the NL but are in the wrong division. 14 back.

NL West - The Reds are on top at 69-61, one in front of LA and two up on San Francisco. The Padres are the worst team in the league at 52-79.

Projecting the awards:
AL MVP - Straw (.297/27/72 w/27 steals) is heading for 30-30, but not 40-40. I would give it to Incaviglia, who may end up with the best power numbers of the decade (.321/39/113) and is leading a baseball renaissance in Texas.

AL Cy Young - Teddy Higuera (Tex) seems like a good candidate. 18-3, 2.91 ERA. The guys ahead of him in ERA (he is 7th) do not have enough wins, in my opinion.

AL ROY - Inky.

AL RPOY - no idea.

NL MVP - Don Mattingly seems like the lead candidate. .318/23/80 puts him near the top in just about all categories. His teammate John Russell is one of the main competitors, but I think the average is too low: .265/25/92. Ditto the RBI total for Pedro Guerrero: .326/20/55.

NL Cy Young - Witt has three more wins (18) than anyone else and is 5th in ERA. Gooden (14-4 2.18 ERA, 184 Ks) probably belongs in the conversation as well.

ROTY - Joyner (StL) .313/18/80 and I do not think it is that close.

RPOTY - Eric King (SF) is leading the league in ERA. 11-4 2.07 is getting it done, and his team is in contention for the NL West title. But I'm hoping that Youmans gets enough starts to catch him ... heck, he already has in wins and his ERA is a smidge lower.

[hoopsguy]

9/1 - 9/3 vs Houston: Eight straight, 2-1 final. Puckett hit a solo shot in the 9th to tie it, meaning that the bullpen blew another Gullickson win, and Smalley won it with an RBI double in the bottom of the inning. We win 5-4 the next day in 10 when McGwire hits a walk-off shot. The streak goes double digits on Wednesday thanks to a 6-2 win. Another homer for Big Mac; he now has double digits.

9/5 - 9/7 @ Cincinnati: three straight days with homers for McGwire, as we beat DeLeon and the Reds 5-1. We, technically we beat Doug Sisk as the game went 11 innings. McGwire runs his streak to four days, but our win streak is over at 11 after a 6-5 loss. McGwire! Five straight games with bombs, as we win the finale 4-3.

9/8 - 9/10 vs Philadelphia: all good things must come to an end. No McGwire homer, no win for us. We lose 6-3 and see Dernier hit two homers. He has six on the year, at least three against us. Someone please bean him next time he comes to the dish. We fall 7-2 the following day despite #14 from McGwire. But we need someone besides him to stat hitting. Viola and Romanick team on a two hit shutout, 9-0. Another McGwire homer. So that is seven of the last eight games. En fuego.

[hoopsguy]

9/12 - 9/14 @ Pittsburgh: It had to happen eventually; Youmans takes his first loss. He got away with an ugly outing earlier this month but he didn't have nearly enough run support to escape this time. 6-2 defeat at the hands of Mike Morgan, who moved to 6-15 on the year. Yuck. Floyd had a quality start, only giving up two runs in six innings but we did not score until the top of the 9th when we were down 6. Pagliarulo had five RBIs, moving him to 95 on the year. We get a 5-4 win the next day with Boggs going 5-5 and hitting his 9th homer. Witt finishes off the series with a 3-1 win, giving him his 19th victory on the year. Blyleven comes in to pitch the 9th, which is weird and sad. But I guess these things happen when you turn 35 years old.

9/15 - 9/16 @ Montreal: 6-4 loss, and Langston is once again below .500. I don't feel good for our future when I envision him and Romanick at the top of the rotation. Hopefully Youmans can sustain his excellence so I have at least one starter that inspires me every fifth game. It gets worse the next day: 1-0 loss. Waste of a great outing by Viola.

9/17 - 9/18 @ New York: The Youmans losing streak is at two after a 5-4 loss. I figure I should report it just as breathlessly as I did his win streak. Our magic number is down to three because the Phillies are not winning either, but I don't like what I see right now heading towards the playoffs. It is hard to get well against Jimmy Key, and we go down 5-1. Gullickson probably can't wait to get out of here. Here are his recent starts/decisions:
9/18 7 IP, 1 ER - loss
9/13 7 IP, 4 ER - no decision
9/7 7 IP, 3 ER - no decision
9/1 7 IP, 0 ER - no decision (blown save)
8/26 6 IP, 2 ER - no decision
8/21 7 IP, 1 ER - no decision (blown save)

In those six starts since his last win Gullickson has lowered his ERA from 3.04 to 2.91. Five of the six were quality starts. And I'll guess that the bullpen ERA in those starts is somewhere around 10.00.

I shuffle around the pen some more. Boyd moves up to #1 reliever as I drop James (a few bad outings in last week) and Orosco down further. In the words of Coach Singletary, "I want winners!" and right now I don't look at many guys in our bullpen as meeting that mandate.

[hoopsguy]

9/19 - 9/21 vs Pittsburgh: Witt gets his 20th in an 8-0 whitewashing of Pittsburgh. It is his 7th complete game, 3rd shutout on the year. Samuel hit a pair of homers, giving him 14 on the year. We are getting a lot of RBIs from both him and Boggs (77), which is probably contributing somewhat to the lower RBIs in the middle of the order. Langston brings his A game, moving back to .500 with a 1-0 win against Sid Fernandez. Sid is a top-five guy in the Cy Young race, with his 17-5 mark (for a losing team) and sub-3 ERA. Our only run came on McGwire's 17th homer of the year. Viola makes it back-to-back shutouts, throwing a five hitter for his 16th win. All four of his complete games have been shutouts. The win clinches the division.

9/22 - 9/23 vs Montreal: We push the win streak to four with a 4-3 win. Home sweet home, I guess. Three shutout innings by the pen (Boyd and Caudill) put a smile on my face. Gullickson goes 8 1/3 shutout innings in an 8-0 victory. Hall homered for the second straight day and is at 24 on the year.

9/24 - 9/25 vs New York: we crush them 13-1 to get our 100th win (100-52). Another complete game for Witt and four homers. Ray went 0-6 and is down below .300 for the first time since we acquired him. Boggs went 2-4 to get up to .300. And Hall stole four bases, giving him 37. The Mets score one less run the following day, falling 3-0. Langston has 7 Ks, giving him 200 on the year for the first time in his career.

[hoopsguy]

Down the stretch we come - about 8-10 games left for everyone:

AL East - it looks like a shocker! The Red Sox are 2.5 up on Milwaukee. Both Toronto and Detroit have faded, sitting 4.5 and 6.5 behind. Boston has surged to 87-65, so they have basically gone out and taken this while the usual suspects have just hovered around 10-15 games over .500. Not going to get the job done; this is not the AL West.

AL West - That wasn't a nice comment by me, considering that Texas has the best record in the AL at 89-63. They are 6.5 up on Oakland and have a magic number of 4.

NL East - it is all over, Cubs win again. I predict we will not clinch by this point next year; in fact, we may end up mathematically eliminated by now.

NL West - San Francisco and Cincinnati are tied with 80-73 records, one game in front of Los Angeles. I would prefer that someone besides the Reds win because I don't like going against their 1-2 punch for starting pitchers.

9/26 - 9/28 @ St. Louis: ugh, another 1-0 loss for Viola. So much for the seven game win streak. Krueger was the winner for the Cards, moving to 11-15 on the year although his ERA is still a smidge over 5.00. It appears that last year was the mirage with this guy. And Youmans takes a third straight loss in a 7-6 game. I think he has lost any chance at Rookie Pitcher of the Year at this point, and probably won't see the playoff rotation now that Langston is pitching better than him. Rookies McGwire (19) and Joyner (24 and 25) both put balls over the wall. Gullickson wins the final game, 5-2.

9/29 - 9/31 @ Philadelphia: Witt picks up his 22nd win by a 3-2 margin. Langston wins another, assuring himself of a winning record, in an 8-0 victory. His scoreless innings streak is up to 21 now. McGwire hit his 20th and Barfield added number 25. Viola takes another tough luck loss, 2-1, in the final game of the series. We see Philadelphia closer Lee Smith got his 39th save.

With three to play, we see that Texas has clinched and San Francisco has their magic number down to one. But Boston's lead over Milwuakee is down to one game. The Brewers are hosting Detroit for one and then heading to Toronto for three while the Red Sox have the Yankees in town for four.

10/2 - The Yankees give Red Sox starter Mike Brown a beatdown, 9-2 final. Pete O'Brien had a pair of homers. The Brewers also lost, 8-4 to the Tigers. Baines had a homer and 3 RBIs (.330/20/105).

10/3 - We get the Cards and see Youmans snap his three game losing streak in a 3-0 win. Another homer for McGwire. Both the Red Sox and Brewers are shut out, by big time pitchers Tom Underwood (6-6, 2.84 ERA) and Mark Gubicza (15-14, 3.91 ERA).

10/4 - 12-5 beating of the Cards, with another Barfield homer. Samuel had three hits and two steals, giving him 81 on the year. Cardinals rookie stater Kevin Brown finished the year 6-7 with a 7.05 ERA. The Yankees again bet up on the Red Sox 8-1 and this one hurt because the Brewers won 8-7. Eric Davis hit his 35th homer and the Brew Crew survived four Jays runs in the bottom of the 9th. Tied up with one game to play.

10/5 - Gooden beat Witt on the final day of the season, 4-2 final. The Cards had three solo homers, including one by assumed ROTY Joyner. Hall hit his 25th homer, giving us four players with 20+ homers and four with 80+ RBIs. The Red Sox got swept at home in a four game series by the Yankees, 12-7 final. Danny Tartabull hit his 28th for the Yankees as they bludgeoned starter Mike Stanley. But they still advance when the Jays beat the Brewers 6-5 in 11 innings. The Jays scored one in the 8th and one in the 9th to tie it at three. When the Brewers pushed two across in the top of the 11th the Jays responded with three in the bottom of the inning. Gut punch loss for Greg Walker (40th homer) and the rest of the gang. Time for one extra game to see who is in the playoffs.

10/6 - Well, the Red Sox could not beat the Yankees at Fenway but the Brewers were not a problem. 5-1 final, Tom Browning went 7 2/3 and only surrendered one to get the win and put the Red Sox in the playoffs. They will be attempting to end a 68 year title drought.

[hoopsguy]

Regular season recap:

RF/CF Jesse Barfield - his star has fallen a bit after this .250/26/84 season. He should be a much better hitter than he was three years ago, albeit with less power. But the .250 average does not support that theory. We think he could/should hit .275 and have 100 RBIs every year. He has helped create those expectations with numbers that dwarf what I'm proposing. And he is the guy we used our exemption on, forcing us to lose three stud starters at the same time this year. Looking back, that was a big mistake.

1B Wade Boggs - we were hoping he would get back over .300, but he finished at .295/10/84. The homers tie a career high and the RBIs are his best number so far. I'm hoping we see him in the .310 - .320 range over the next couple of seasons, even if he doesn't post quite the same RBI numbers. I'm also sad that he has very little shot of making any All Star games going forward with the amount of talent at his position in the NL.

SP/MR Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd - 7-3 1.68 ERA. His best season by far, and he enters the postseason as our #1 reliever. We think he will be a starter next season, although I'm expecting a pretty significant dropoff from what we got from our "Big Three".

3B Steve Buechele - .216/15/39, he gave way down the stretch to McGwire. He is going to be a good player in this league, but I'll strongly consider moving him next year to bring in talent at another position.

LF/RF Joe Carter - .260/23/86 w/10 steals. Followed the same pattern as Barfield, tailing off from a monster season to a solid/good season. I'm not as convinced about Carter being a consistent threat as Barfield, but if he continues to develop (he is only 26) and gets to bat in the middle of our lineup then he should be around 100 RBIs per year. He might have done that this year if he had not been out with injury for a couple of weeks.

MR/CL Bill Caudill - horrible first month, but he responded after that and did a good job with the closer role. 3-0, 3.00 ERA, 17 saves in 18 chances. At 30, he has started to see a bit of slippage from his dominating form earlier in the decade. Hopefully the decline is not too fast, as we have him for three more years.

RF/CF Ken Griffey - remains a great pinch hitter and spot starter. .312/8/36 this year. I'm expecting him to retire after this year when his contract expires.

SP Bill Gullickson - 14-9 2.86 ERA, probably should have had another 3-5 wins. 103 career wins for the Cubs, and we are hoping he can add to his 6-4 postseason mark. He'll be our #2 starter in the postseason.

CF/RF Mel Hall - .274/25/83 w/38 steals. I think he had the best season of our outfielders, although his .231 average against left-handers suggests we might want to think about a platoon at some point.

MR Bob James - 4-1 3.58 ERA, was having a good year until September. Not good timing for a meltdown, given that he is in the last year of his contract and I'm still weighing on what players to keep. I'm thinking he'll go to FA, where we might pick him up again a la Mel Hall.

SP Mark Langston - 14-12 3.26 ERA, really finished with a flurry, would love for that to be the guy we see next season. For whatever reason, a guy with 97 Endurance was not closing out game this year (1 CG).

1B Carmelo Martinez - .270/5/21 in 185 at bats. Will be our primary pinch hitter next year, would love to see him get 250-300 at bats without requiring a major injury to a starter.

3B Mark McGwire - .317/21/50 are monster numbers for a guy who was called up on July 24th. We're waiting to see if he has a Barfield-like breakthrough next season with 600 at-bats (221 this year). There is no way we expect him to sustain that batting average.

2B Ken Oberkfell - his Cubs career is going to end with him on the disabled list. Very solid contributor from 81-85, was relegated to spot duty this year with acquisitions of Ray and Thompson.

MR Steve Ontiveros - 0-2 3.26 ERA, he crashed and burned earlier in year but gradually earned back some trust. I'm expecting him to be one of our top 2-3 relievers next season.

MR Jesse Orosco - this guy just fell apart in August after having a strong first half of the year. I think this is the biggest reason for our falloff of six wins from last year to this year. 2-3, 5.51 ERA, 36 saves, 5 blown saves, .281 BAA, 1.59 WHIP. Those stats do not tell the whole story, as they were decent in first half of year. He was ghastly over last two months. Just ghastly, and I have no idea what guy we'll see next season.

MR Alejandro Pena - really stepped up this year in wake of bullpen-wide struggles, enters postseason as our #2 reliever. 9-3, 2.39 ERA w/12 holds. His 54 appearances are 21 more than he had in previous three seasons. If money is same for him and James then he earned it.

2B/SS Johnny Ray - it is always nice to acquire someone who gave you fits in the past. .295/1/64 - those are career highs for batting average and RBIs. I'm hoping he is our third middle infielder because the other two players are so good that they put him in that position.

2B/SS Juan Samuel - .299/14/70 w/82 steals. This dynamo in the leadoff spot is going to be around for a number of years. I'm stunned by how good a hitter he has been the last 1.5 years.

C Mike Scioscia - .250/5/37 in 352 at bats. Seems to have given away a lot of playing time this year and I'm not sure where they went. But a look at the numbers show he has never had more than 428 at bats, even when playing in 140+ games. At some point I would love to get a real force offensively at this position, but if those guys are not around then I'll take the steady Scioscia.

2B Robby Thompson - .270/5/33 w/21 steals in 452 at bats. We think we got a good one here, but he is going to have to earn his time ahead of Ray just like Samuel did over Oberkfell and Smalley.

MR Ed Vande Berg - remains a forgotten man in our pen, only getting seven appearances this year. But his talent just is not as high as most of the other guys, so I've been reluctant to give him a leading role. 0-0, 1.93 ERA.

SP Frank Viola - 16-6 2.43 ERA, not blessed with great run support in 2nd half of the year. I still think that he will end up with the best career of the Big Three despite having the "worst" career here. "Only" 76-42 with a 3 ERA and two All Star games. Will be #3 starter in postseason.

SP Mike Witt - 22-6 2.30 ERA, dominant and durable pitcher this year. Just missed 200 Ks (199), which was 41 better than previous best. Third time in six seasons leading NL in wins, finished with 109 for his Cubs career (38 losses). We expect him to get his 2nd Cy Young. #1 pitcher for postseason.

C Butch Wynegar - .277/8/29 in 202 at bats. Super backup player, I'm going to have to get younger at C soon, hopefully in the next two draft classes.

SP Floyd Youmans - 12-3 3.07 ERA, started off his big league career in spectacular fashion. Still has some work to do on control and endurance, but was most dominant strikeout pitcher we have seen with 133 in 140.2 innings. Will be on postseason roster, but probably not going to get any meaningful action.

[hoopsguy]

10/9:
ALCS - Texas won seven more games than Boston, did not choke down the stretch, and has the most explosive offense in the game. Their +161 runs scored is by far the best in the American League, and 58 better than runner-up Boston. The Rangers also have the best pitcher in the series, Teddy Higuera, who was 22-4 this season. If Higuera does not dominate them then the rest of the Boston staff matches up fairly well.

A low-scoring game early emerges, with the score tied 1-1 after 7 1/2 innings. But the Rangers put three on the board in the bottom of that inning. The key play was when Ivan Calderon beat a throw to first to avoid an inning-ending double play. Darnell Coles and Dave Henderson got back-to-back hits after that to open up a 4-1 lead. The score was 5-1 heading into the 9th but the Red Sox finally got to Higuera. Bob Melvin drew a bases loaded walk to cut the margin to 5-2. Then Glenn Wilson singled home a pair in the 13th pitch of an at bat (first 12 were all strikes or fouled off) to tie the game against reliever Mike Jackson. The Rangers responded with three hits in the bottom of the 9th, with Robin Yount knocking in the game-winner with a single. Wild game.

NLCS - The Cubs won twenty more games than San Francisco, thanks largely to their dominant starting pitching. The Cubs allowed a major league best 493 runs, a number that was 86 better than runner-up Philadelphia. Their 247 runs advantage is colossal in comparison to the Giants' +80. The Giants are starting a rookie 4th round pick in game 1 against a guy who is the odds-on favorite to win his second Cy Young. Their best best is to rely on their power lineup and get enough homers with men on base to outlast Chicago's deep and versatile starting lineups.

Mission accomplished in game 1. Eric King went six innings allowing only a solo shot by McGwire. Meanwhile, the Giants got their hits with men on base while the Cubs stranded 14 runners. 4-1 win for the visitors.

10/10
ALCS - Storm Davis (Tex) vs Bob Ojeda (Bos). These are not names that have come up often, if ever, in this dynasty. Davis won 16 this year, but his ERA was nearly 4.5. Well, his postseason ERA is 2.25 after going eight innings. Yount had three more hits, bringing his average up to .700 for the series. And the Rangers defended their home field advantage with a 5-2 win.

NLCS - the Giants send out a rookie for the second straight game, first round pick Doug Drabek. Drabek is going to be really good. He was pretty good this year, going 13-11 with a 3.29 ERA. But he was not ready for an angry Cubs lineup. The Cubs scored three each in the 2nd, 4th, and 5th innings to post a 9-0 win. Each of the 5-8 hitters had 2+ hits and Hall stole a pair of bases. Gullickson went the distance, allowing 8 hits. So far the Giant who has given us the most trouble is 2B Jim Pankovits who has gone 5-7. This guy would not play for the Iowa Cubs, but he is getting it done on the big stage for San Francisco.

[hoopsguy]

10/12
ALCS - with the season on the line the Red Sox turn to John Stuper. He was 10-10 with a 5.39 ERA this year. Ick. It is a good thing the hitters showed up because Stuper did not fool anyone on this day. This was a back-and-forth game; there were four lead changes. But the Rangers struck last, getting a two run Dave Henderson homer in the top of the 8th to take an 8-7 lead that they would not relinquish. Three more hits for Yount and four RBIs for both Hubie Brooks and Fred Lynn.

NLCS - I'm a little surprised that the Giants saved Mike Moore for game three. He is a pretty good pitcher and I would have put him in one of the games on the road. Still, things seem to have worked out just fine for them with a road split and a quality starter at home. The problem for the Giants is that they ran into a buzzsaw named Frank Viola. He absolutely handcuffed the Giants, throwing a four hit shutout. McGwire had three hits, bringing his average for the series up to .571.

10/13
ALCS - Dennis Eckersly is the man standing between the Rangers and a World Series berth. Again, I'm mystified by the playoff rotations of other teams; he should have started one of the first two games for Boston. But it really does not matter, as the Rangers win again to advance to the next round. The Rangers exploded for five in the 7th, breaking a 2-2 tie. Pete Incaviglia stroked a two run homer in the decisive inning. Gwynn, Molitor, and Yount all hit over .400 for the series.

This really is a loaded offense - Gwynn, Molitor, Yount, Brooks (batting champ in AL? w/100 RBIs this year), Incaviglia (MVP?). That is an amazing nucleus. They have a legit ace in Higuera and their rookie closer Mike Jackson looks like he will be really, really good. They are going to be a force if they can keep these hitters together for the next couple of seasons.

NLCS - The Giants don't have a good option for a fourth starter, so they roll out Ed Whitson against a red-hot Mark Langston. Whitson was 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA this year. The best thing you can say about his career is that he has been a durable innings eater, going 77-83 and throwing 200+ innings every year. But he now has a post-season win to his name, beating the Cubs 6-2. Mattingly hit a two run homer and Van Slyke had a pair of hits in the victory.

[hoopsguy]

10/14 - if I told you before the start of the game that the Giants would score twice in the first inning and that Mattingly would break out with a 4-5 game and homer twice I would expect the conclusion to be that San Francisco was heading to Wrigley with a 3-2 lead. But the Cubs hitters would not let that happen. Mike Scioscia went 3-4 with a homer and 4 RBIs. McGwire and Carter added solo shots. And we turned aside a determined Giants team to win 8-5 and take a series lead back home.

10/16 - we once again got some early offense against Drabek, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after two innings. That was all Gullickson needed in a 4-1 win. The bullpen made the lead stand up over the final two innings and we are headed back to the World Series. Gullickson was our series MVP for his clutch pitching performances, going 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA.