Friday 23rd June, 1972 – Homestead Grays (30-42) @ New York Lincoln Giants (36-36)
7.05pm ET, Olympic Field, New York NY
We're back for the fifth of this season's ten featured games showcasing every team in the EL, with the Grays travelling to the Big Apple to take on division rivals, the Lincoln Giants.
If the WC National is home to the perennially close race, then the WC American is the home to the revolving promise of a fairy tale. Last season saw the Liberty Stars go heartbreakingly close to a dream playoff run. This season, the LGs have stepped up for their turn to try on the proverbial glass slipper.
You can't say this is completely out of the blue. Despite three last place finishes and a third - all losing campaigns, with 76 wins in 1970 the club's best - in their four EL seasons to date, the LGs have caught the eye with some solid roster management and drafted astutely, enabling them to assemble the squad that seems to have found its zen this time around. Rickey Henderson, Jorge Polanco, Roberto Clemente and Edgar Martinez have been their high 1st-rounders over the past four Drafts - a solid core of future superstars on which to build sustained success.
And yet, already we have seen the shortcomings in this squad, almost all of which revolve around their fairly woeful staff. After a really strong 19-8 May, they have slipped back to just on a 500 record overall by dint of a poor June that has seen them lose 13 of 18. And, while their offence has been ticking along nicely, highly-placed in most metrics, their pitching has been the mirror-image, well down in almost every stat cat.
Tonight's pitcher has been their best so far, and is an NeLer worth a closer look at.
Webster McDonald had a long and fruitful career during the "Golden Era" of the Negro Leagues, posting an 87-56 record between 1922 and 1940, with the Philadelphia Stars - for whom he played his last eight seasons and managed as well - the team he is most closely linked with. He also recorded an unofficial 14-4 lifetime against MLB teams.
A submarine pitcher renowned for his control and mound smarts, Webster's vast array of pitches earned him the moniker "56 Varieties", and Jim Riley notes how well-liked and respected he was around the league.
The LGs drafted Mac 25th overall in the 1970 Draft, and his record entering this game sits at 24-24 lifetime with an ERA+ of 106. Only 22, Webster still has a fair bit of upside to his profile and one hopes the LGs will go out and get a few more like him.
What can I say about the Grays? After two playoff appearances in their first three seasons, this club looked set to compete year-in, year-out. Their third-place finish last season wasn't as bad as it sounds, with them finishing 83-76 and not far off the lead. It certainly gave no inkling into the disaster that has befallen them in the early part of the '72 campaign.
Neither does the composition of their squad, which is really well-rounded with a bunch of guys who impress mightily such as Ozzie Smith, Aledmys Diaz, Amos Otis, Sam Bennett and Esteban Montalvo among their position players, and an excellent rotation led by Louis Dula and recent addition Leon Day.
So, what gives?
Their 9th-rated ERA is as good a place as any to start, but their offence has sputtered as well. Another side with neither a 300 hitter nor a player with 10+ homers among them, their -4 run diff and -6 Pythagorean both suggest that this is simply a case of a group failing to gel and therefore underperforming on the field.
That said, they are only 6 GB their opponents tonight with plenty of games left to turn things around. They are also one of the league's more liquid clubs, so I expect they'll be busy in the offseason FA market irrespective of how the rest of this season plays out.
Mudcat Grant is up for the Grays tonight, and they'll want him to be better than he has been to this point, with a 5-8 / 5.01 record and some fairly nasty metrics including a 115 FIP-.
The LGs hold a 4-2 head-to-head lead this season, and here's how the two squads will front up.
A fairly stiff breeze blowing straight out to dead CF, so I'm expecting this to be a high-scoring affair. Let's see if I'm right.
After two scoreless, the Grays get a rally going and a Cleon Jones single opens the scoring. A second run comes in on a Diaz sac fly and Montalvo adds a third with a two-out hit.
The LGs bats begin quietly, but they do get a run in the 5th when Enrique Cruz doubles with two out and scores on a single by Jose Reyes.
With it still 3-1 halfway through the 6th, the home side gets a break when Montalvo spills one in RF, then take full advantage as Rickey Henderson puts one into the seats to tie the game at 3. They almost go ahead, when Pokey Reese singles with Roberto Clemente on second, but Montalvo redeems himself somewhat with a fine throw home that nails the runner and prolongs the tie.
The hosts waste an excellent scoring opportunity in the next when they leave two men stranded in scoring position, and pay for it in the top 8th when Montalvo further atones for his fielding gaffe with a two-out RBI single to give the Grays back the lead.
Singles to Henderson and Clemente give the LGs men at the points with none out in the bottom half of the same frame, and another hit by catcher Rod Barajas gets them back on level terms. McDonald is lifted for pinch-hitter Buddy Bradford, who duly singles in the go-ahead run and ends Grant's night, with William Linder coming on in relief. He gets the second out of the inning but then gives up a single to Reyes, which scores another run to make it 6-4 New York.
The LGs hand the ball to Ramon Ramirez to close it out, which he does with a clean inning.
The New York bats took their time, but their 15-hit onslaught was just too much for a Grays side that tried hard but came up short here tonight.