Tuesday 12th October, 1971 – Hilldale Athletic Club @ Philadelphia Liberty Stars
WELDY CONFERENCE, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION TIEBREAK GAME
7.05pm ET, 44th & Parkside Ballpark, Philadelphia PA
And so, for Hilldale and Philadelphia, the 1971 Eclipse league all comes down to this sudden-death tiebreaker.
Plenty of mixed emotions for me here. Given IRL I am an Oakland fan, the Hilldale Athletics have nominally become my adopted team in the EL. But if there is any justice in this world, even I'll concede the LibStars deserve the playoff spot.
Another aspect making me even more partial to the A's is the presence of a number of my favourite NeL players in their squad - namely Chino Smith, Pop Lloyd and the pitcher responsible for getting them the win tonight,
Dave "Lefty" Brown.
I am already most familiar with DB, as he was a star for us at Pittsburgh across in my Bucs save until his career was cut short by injury. He is now our Pitching Coach and was part of the 1935 Induction Class into the HoF.
IRL, Dave was a bit more of a mystery, mixing stellar on-field performances with some fairly shady dealings away from the game including an alleged highway robbery beat in the late 1910s that Rube Foster - for whose Chicago American Giants Dave was one of the stars - reportedly put up a $20k bond to get him off. Little mystery, however, surrounds the incident that forced his premature exit from the game in 1925. Out with teammates Oliver Marcell and Frank Wickware, Brown got into a barroom fight (some suggest a drug deal gone wrong) that resulted in a man's death. On the run from the FBI, Dave vanished and - despite numerous Elvis-esque reported sightings in the ensuing years - was never heard from again. He is said to have died under equally-mysterious circumstances in 1930 and, indeed, Seamheads has no data on his demise.
In between all this, he fashioned a cracking 79-33 record with a career ERA+ of 146 and is widely recognised among the best pitchers of his generation.
He is certainly living up to that billing in the EL since entering via the Inaugural Draft, with a career 54-34 record over that period, along with a 115 ERA+ and nearly 15 pWAR. The season currently in progress has seen him take it to the next level and join the league's elite pitching fraternity, with him putting together a 27-10 (most wins in the EL) campaign with a sub-3 ERA, including a 7-0 performance down the stretch that has been one of the integral reasons the A's are even in this game at all.
He and his A's teammates are unlikely to have things all their own way tonight, with
Rogelio Armenteros on the mound for the LibStars. Like Dave, Rogelio has been simply monumental this season with a 26-8 / 2.50 performance, and both are sure to be prominent come awards season.
This should be some sort of fierce contest. Here's how the two combatants will be lining up:
No doubt the visitors have a distinct class advantage here, but the heart these Philly boys have shown all year cannot be underestimated, especially with some 27000 screaming fans urging them on.
I know I am hyperbolising here, but tonight strikes me as two implacable opposing forces running full pelt toward each other - I sure hope the game lives up to the hype.
Let's get amongst it then, shall we?
A nervous start for the home side in the top 1st as McDowell singles and an error by Philly 3B Bobby Bonilla on a DP groundball puts Pop Lloyd aboard as well. A deep flyout to RF by Chino Smith gets McDowell to third but a risky steal attempt by Lloyd doesn't pay off. However, Willie Stargell comes through with a two-out hit to put the A's ahead.
History nearly repeats in the home 1st when, after Bonilla singles, a two-out error by Hilldale 3B Eric Chavez keeps the inning going. Unlike Armenteros, however, Brown is able to escape the jam unscathed as Carlos Delgado flies out harmlessly to end the inning.
In the 2nd, the A's stay aggressive as Ruben Mateo leads off with a single and steals second. He comes home on a Yordan Alvarez double and the visitors add a third on a sac fly by Brown.
You've never heard so many people suddenly make so little noise. Even more so when Lloyd leads off the next with an opposite-field jack. 4-0 A's.
Brown, meanwhile, looks cool, calm and collected, allowing just two singles over the first three frames.
The LibStars finally get something going in the 6th with doubles to Watson and Moore giving them their first run and the home fans some hope, and when yet another two-base hit by George Hendrick makes it 4-2, the crowd - and their heroes - are right back in the game.
Not for long, however, as a solo shot in the 7th by Hector Sanchez - just the second hit Armenteros has given up since the 4th - quickly douses the fire. It also ends Rogelio's night as he is hit for in the bottom half, with Kelvin Herrera coming in in relief for the 8th.
After a leadoff single by Lloyd, another Bonilla error puts him under immediate pressure as the pressure continues to play havoc with the hosts. Chino Smith, the lucky recipient, then steals second and a free pass to Stargell loads them up with none down. Herrera fans Chavez and when they get a forceout at home, followed by another strikeout, Philly has somehow escaped unhurt.
With rain starting to fall, the poor defensive game by the respective third-basemen continues as Chavez boots his second one for the night. This prompts Hilldale skipper Micah Romeo to go to the pen, with Armando Benitez called into action. He gets two outs but then walks Delgado to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of George Hendrick, who gets within about four feet of knotting it up as a deep fly to LF falls agonisingly short.
Gary Eave takes over on the mound for the home side and is greeted in the rudest fashion as a solo homer by Hector Sanchez all but ends it.
Then the heavens open and we are forced to sit through a 14-minute rain delay.
That doesn't seem to slow the Athletics as two singles and a Lloyd sac bunt put two men into scoring position with just one out and Chino Smith up. His flyout to CF is just deep enough for the run to score, making it 7 to 2. A run-scoring double by Stargell is the final nail in the LibStars' coffin and they go down quietly in the bottom 9th.
All of the Athletics' class was on full display tonight and in this sort of form you'd have to think they'll give the upcoming playoffs a real shake.
For the Liberty Stars, no amount of praise will do their efforts this season justice, nor soften the pain they'll feel whenever they think about this missed opportunity.