[ifspuds]

(written originally on the TWB boards, by jdw)

1973 National League Championship Series

After a wild season long dog fight in the NL East, the Pittsburgh Pirates are back in the post season for a historic seventh time in eight years. General Manager George Balwdin, returning from health issues that slowed him in 1972, showed he still is up to pulling off key deals to put his team over the top. Manager Vic Gorin leads a team into the post season for the ninth time in his career, a figure topped only by those Hall of Fame grand masters Carl Sweeney (10) and Ervin Greiner (11).

The offense was workman like rather than spectacular. As he has for more than a decade, third baseman Ben Trome has excelled from the number two spot with a second baseman in the leadoff role. His old mate Alberto Val is no longer in it, but his successor Terrell Phillips was terrific in the role when healthy. Cap Marcrum stepped into the number three hold and had an outstanding comeback season. Speaking of the former number three hitter, Asa Booker responded to whispers that he was through after a slow start to pick up his came to hit well as the season rolled on. For a while the talk was that the Cannonball didn't want to back into 3000 hits simply due to playing time, and instead want to show respectable form. The talk turned out to be an understatement as after getting to 3000 in mid August, Booker picked up his game to another level to will the Pirates offense into pennant race form. It brought back memories of 1971 as Booker almost single handedly shook the foundations of the offense to start a wicked stretch run for the team enroute to a division title. There's something magical to look down at the Pirates stats and see, in the middle of a tight race, that their best hitter in September is the incomperable Asa Booker.

The legenday Pirates rotation was treading water much of the year. That turned around when Baldwin traded for Jerome Gabbert to drop in Levi Sellers old spot of being the ying to George Adkison's yang. Gabby went 13-3 in the second half after coming over from the Phils, while Adkison went 10-5, including some of the best September pitching ever seen. With longtime number three Hipolito Castillo slowing a bit and finally getting injured in September, Harry Cutshall stepped up to pitch well for the team. Lynn Willmon has been the closer throughout the Pirates run, and he bounced back from an off season in 1972.

The San Francisco Giants are back in the post season for the first time since 1963. There is talk that the club is haunted, as that was the seventh World Series the team ventured to since 1921, all of which ended with the other team drinking the champagne. Manager Tom Howard played on three of those Giants team that game up short, and was a coach on the 1963 team that lost a Game 7 at home with their ace on the mound. General Manager Rex Rex Seelinger has his own demons when it comes to the post season - four trips in six seasons from 1950-55, annd coming up empty. A lot of ghosts in that organization, as the club has never won a series since Ervin Greiner had his falling out the the Stoneman family and was forced out of the General Manager and Manager roles. There are some longtime watchers who would point out that the Yankees have won six world series since Greiner moved across town from the Giants to the Yanks, five of them coming of Greiner's watch.

The Giants offense led the senior circuit with 794 runs, 60 more than the second best team in the NL. There was one reason for it: center fielder Dino Dinardo topping his 1972 BOY season. With the exception of new comers third baseman Buster Kerney and Renaldo Gre, the rest of the offense performed well below expecations. There were some signs late in September that left fielder Rich Stanley and catcher Bo Shepard were coming out of long slumps, which the club badly needs if it's going to advance.

The Giants also led the NL in ERA and runs allowed, again with by a wide margin of 67 runs. The Giants have just one top starter in Sal Fernandez, and even he didn't put up a dominating season. The key to the Giants run prevention was two fold. The first was that behind Fernandez were four starters who all bettered the league average in ERA. They all were healthy, which allowed the club to avoid going a month or more with a poor starter in the rotation. The pen followed the same form in not being overwhemingly dominant, but avoiding having a number of men getting hammered.

The second key is that, after the trade for Gre, the Giants could field one of the best defenses in the game. Gre and Kerney are among the best at theri positions, while Tom Breede is a strong defensive second baseman. Dinardo, Nunez and Stanley form one of the best defensvie outfields in the game. Bo Shepard's rocket arm behind the plate won him a pair of Gold Gloves in Houston. So while the Giants have but one top starter, the run out a number of other solid pitchers with a strong defense behind them. This year, at least, it added up to the best run prevention in the NL


My Prediction: Once they got there, the Pirates are made for the post season. Their big two of Adkison and Gabby trumps the Giants top of the rotation, while the Giants solid depth of pitchers that is an advantage is muted in a three-man rotation. The Pirates have better table setters at the top, and plenty of power in the middle to trouble the Giants. Adkison is one of the legendary post season pitchers of this era, while Bash Mahoney is one of the great post season hitters of any era. The Pirates may lose in the World Series, but they aren't going out in the NLCS. The Pirates in four.


Starting Lineups:

Pittsburgh Pirates
2B Terrell Phillips, .288/.393/.402/.795, 75 R, 78 BB
3B Ben Trome, .324/.368/.452/.820, 19 HR, 87 RBI
LF Cap Marcrum, .324/.400/.427/.827, 15 HR, 66 RBI
1B Al Mahoney, .290/.342/.433/.775, 20 HR, 84 RBI
CF Chuck Hart, .227/.272/.394/.667, 29 HR, 88 RBI
C Bill Horan, .290/.341/.374/.715, 58 R
RF Asa Booker, .292/.330/.448/.777, 16 HR, 69 RBI
SS Dennis Gill, .257/.339/.330/.670, 41 R

SP #1 - George Adkison, 20-10, 2.14 ERA
SP #2 - Jerome Gabbert, 20-9, 2.72 ERA
SP #3 - Harry Cutshall, 18-12, 3.30 ERA

Closer - Lynn Willmon, 6-7, 3.29 ERA, 33 SV

San Francisco Giants
1B Gene Smith, .267/.353/.349/.702, 10 HR, 93 RBI
2B Tom Breede, .284/.336/.392/.728, 11 HR, 78 R
LF Rich Stanley, .262/.368/.383/.751, 16 HR, 95 R
CF Dino Dinardo, .329/.373/.573/.946, 39 HR, 149 RBI
C Bo Shepard, .246/.342/.376/.719, 17 HR, 79 RBI
3B Buster Kerney, .271/.352/.435/.787, 23 HR, 83 R
RF Miguel Nunez, .234/.298/.395/.693, 16 HR, 70 RBI
SS Renaldo Gre, .301/.341/.383/.724, 61 R

SP #1 - Sal Fernandez, 24-10, 2.51 ERA
SP #2 - Eldon Holmes, 21-8, 3.22 ERA
SP #3 - Truman Foley, 17-11, 3.19 ERA

Emergency SP - Angel Garcia, 16-4, 3.21 ERA

Closer - Harlan Garrett, 0-5, 3.51 ERA, 32 SV