Quote:
Originally Posted by so49as
We go into New York for 3 games next series, and we'll catch a little break as LF/DH Don Baylor will be serving a 3-game suspension for a bench-clearing brawl against the Twins.
My record against the other AL West teams:
4 - 2: Oakland
5 - 1: California
1 - 6: Minnesota
3 - 4: Seattle
5 - 2: Chicago
5 - 1: Texas
My last game against the big 3 in the AL East is August 18th. If we're still close by then, perhaps we can make a strong run to the finish.
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The real-life Royals were 64-51 on August 18th and went only 27-20 from there -- mostly because they had so much trouble with Seattle and Minnesota in September.
They got hot after the ASB and went 11-3 in the second half of July, then after a little dip went 11-4 from August 8-22, had another little dip in late August, and then went 12-1 over the first 14 days of September, surging to a 3-game lead in the division.
The Royals went 4-9 over 4 consecutive series against the Mariners & Twins in mid-to-late September and fell a game behind California before a critical 4-game series AT HOME against the Angels. They split the first two games but got stellar pitching from Bud Black and Danny Jackson to win the next two.
They clinched the division on a Willie Wilson RBI single in the 10th inning of a 5-4 win against Oakland on the next-to-last day of the season.
The rest is history.
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You're gonna get a nice lift when Danny Jackson gets back into the rotation. That will allow you to move Gura (or Gubicza) to the bullpen. I'd move Gura, but the 1985 Gubi is still a bit wild and inconsistent -- and maybe you'd not want to "reward" Gura for his tenacity by shoving him into the pen. Either way, it'll be nice having another quality arm in the pen when you need it down the stretch.
The hitting can still get better. But that's the biggest challenge with this team; piecing together a lineup that will go out and score runs on a regular basis -- especially against Minnesota and Seattle.