1994 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
The Capitals are in their fifth consecutive postseason and have never lost in the FLCS in that stretch. The Capitals had by far the best pitching staff in the Federal League, while the offense was a bit slower than in previous years. From that offense they will also be without outfielder Dale Cleveland in this series. Star outfielder Jeffery Brown hit for .889 OPS this year, but hit only 12 home runs.
The Warriors came about out of nowhere with a tough-as-nails rotation headed by veteran Ricardo Torres (18-12, 3.23 ERA) and hotshot Aaron Anderson (16-15, 3.86 ERA). They won their division, however, with the second-worst slugging percentage and the least home runs in the league! In turn, they drew the most walks. One of their “biggest” offensive factors, 37-year old INF Manuel Flores, is out with a sprained ankle.
The Loggers won the CL North by simply outlasting the struggling competition and posted their first winning season ever. While they had a good pitching staff, their offense was rather mediocre. From their good pitching staff, SP Rafael Garcia and MR Raymond Leger are out with injuries. Led by outfielder Cristo Ramirez (.888 OPS), nobody on the team hit more than 11 homers this year.
The Thunder outlasted the Condors and Bayhawks despite a terrible bullpen (worst in the Continental League) thanks to a humming offense that scored 801 runs, which topped the CL. Their offense is powered by Will Jackson (.285, 26 HR, 113 RBI) and Vonne Calzado, the CL’s batting champion. Except for catcher Tashiro Ikeda and the pitcher, the Thunder can mount seven players batting .270 or more – and sometimes significantly more.
Prediction time: Capitals in six, Thunder in five, but I still hope for the Loggers to pull off a minor upset here.
Warriors @ Capitals … 2-0 … (Warriors lead 1-0) … SFW Aaron Anderson 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W;
Loggers @ Thunder … 2-4 … (Thunder lead 1-0) … OCT Jeff Martin 3-4, 2B, RBI (yeah, THAT Jeff Martin)
Warriors @ Capitals … 2-0 … (Warriors lead 2-0) … SFW Ricardo Torres 8.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, W; WAS Ramon Ortíz 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, L;
Loggers @ Thunder … 3-1 … (series tied 1-1)
Capitals @ Warriors … 0-3 … (Warriors lead 3-0) … SFW Jon Robinson 7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, W;
Thunder @ Loggers … 4-3 … (Thunder lead 2-1) … MIL CL James Jenkins blows 3-2 lead in the ninth
Capitals @ Warriors … 3-1 … (Warriors lead 3-1) … WAS Parker Montgomery 7.0 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W;
Thunder @ Loggers … 9-2 … (Thunder lead 3-1) … OCT Hector Ramirez 2-4, 3B, 3 RBI; Thunder score seven in the top 8th as the Loggers blow a 2-1 lead
Capitals @ Warriors … 0-3 … (Warriors win 4-1) … SFW Ricardo Torres 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W;
Thunder @ Loggers … 3-4 … (Thunder lead 3-2) … Loggers blow a late lead for the third time, but recover to walk off on Miguel Vela’s RBI double off Tony Simpson
Loggers @ Thunder … 7-2 … (series tied 3-3) … MIL Cristo Ramirez 4-5, 3 3B(!!!); MIL Augusto Garza 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; MIL Bob Grant 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI;
Cristo Ramirez set an ABL record with three triples in a single game, which nobody had ever done before!
Loggers @ Thunder … 4-5 … (Thunder win 4-3) … MIL James Jenkins blows one game too much; OCT Sonny Reece 4-5, HR, 2 RBI (walkoff home run); OCT Will Jackson 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; MIL Drake Evans 3-5, 2 2B, RBI;
First, let me express that I am STUNNED over the Capitals being shut out FOUR TIMES in the FLCS!!! I have never seen anything even remotely like that! (shakes head in disbelief)
Well, the Loggers led all seven games at one point or another, and just kept blowing up. This was not the best club to start with, and their bullpen really let them down massively in this series. Too bad.
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1994 WORLD SERIES
The 91-71 Thunder in turn didn’t sparkle either on offense, which makes the 89-73 Warriors and their stud-studded rotation look like the heavy favorites for the World Series. The Warriors were champions in 1978, while no CL South team has EVER won the title.
No matter which team walks off winners, they will rank among the least-winningest regular season ballclubs in history, “beaten” only by the 1989 Wolves, who went 88-74 over the year only to upset the Raccoons in the World Series, while two teams have before won the title after 91-71 seasons (matching the Thunder), the 1986 Blue Sox (who chewed up a 107-win Dallas team in that year’s FLCS) and the 1993 Raccoons.
Warriors @ Thunder … 2-3 … (Thunder lead 1-0) … SFW CL Ross McCallum blows 2-1 lead in the ninth; OCT Manuel Garza 8.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K;
Warriors @ Thunder … 8-2 … (series tied 1-1) … SFW Ricardo Torres 8.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W; SFW Dafe Heffer 3-5, BB, RBI; SFW John Hensley 3-4, BB, HR, RBI;
Thunder @ Warriors … 8-9 … (Warriors lead 2-1) … tied 4-4 at mid-8, the Warriors blow five runs on the Thunder pen before almost blowing that lead right afterwards
Thunder @ Warriors … 4-1 … (series tied 2-2) … OCT Jeff Martin 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; OCT Will Jackson 3-5, 2B, RBI;
Thunder @ Warriors … 3-1 … (Thunder lead 3-2) … BREAKING NEWS – SOMEBODY BEAT TORRES!!
Warriors @ Thunder … 5-3 … (series tied 3-3) … 23-yr old OCT SP Millard Wilson is jumped on for all five runs in less than four innings
For Game 7, the Warriors had Aaron Anderson (1-2, 2.17 ERA) available, while the Thunder had to hope for Makoto Kogawa (0-1, 5.57 ERA) to hold up.
Actually, both held up well, allowing single runs, and received no-decisions. The game went into overtime at 1-1, when with runners on the corners and one out OCT Rob Guidry grounded into a double play in the bottom 9th. In the top 11th, Travis Lange’s sac fly put the Warriors up 2-1, but in the bottom 11th Sonny Reece hit a leadoff double off Luciano Parrilla and scored on Jose Marquez’ 2-out RBI single to extend the game to a 12th inning.
In the top 12th, Oliver Rivera – who had only walked onto the roster due to injuries and had NOT ONE regular season at-bat in the majors!! – hit a 2-out, 3-run triple off reliever Terry Harris to give the Warriors a 4-2 lead.
Parrilla remained in the game for the bottom 12th, and struck out Jeff Martin to start the inning. He then walked Dave Browne, and surrendered an RBI triple to Vonne Calzado. 90 feet from tying it, the Thunder’s Will Jackson struck out, sending up Sonny Reece, who had brought the Thunder into the World Series in the first place with a walkoff home run in game 7 against the Loggers, stepped to the plate. 22 years, crackling with energy, at the plate. He went after Parrilla’s 0-1 pitch and sent a huge flyball right up the right field line. It was high, it was long, it was curving toward the foul pole. High, deep, INSIDE AND GONE!!!!
Warriors @ Thunder … 4-5 (12) … (Thunder win 4-3) … OCT Sonny Reece 3-6, HR, 2B, 2 RBI (walkoff home run!!); OCT Vonne Calzado 4-6, 3B, RBI; SFW Aaron Anderson 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K;
Sonny Reece swatted walkoff home runs in BOTH playoff rounds’ game 7s …!
Oh my … wow! (stunned)
1994 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Oklahoma City Thunder
(1st title)
And that Reece kid? Eight overall pick in 1991. He may have a hard time topping two game 7 come-from-behind walkoff home runs in one postseason in his career.