[JerryShoe]

1968 “Playoffs”

1968 was the last pure pennant race. The only playoff series was the World Series with the only interleague games that counted. The way to the postseason was being the best of 10: no 4-team divisions, no wild card and definitely no play-in games
My opponents were the Pittsburgh Pirates (98-64), winners of the National League by 3 games in a 5-team fight. The lineup was mostly historically correct with Donn Clendenon (16 HRs), Bill Mazeroski (.263), Gene Alley, Roberto Clemente (.280, 20 HRs) and Willie Stargell (28 HRs) and no big names took the other places. The pitching featured Bob Moose (who OOTP blessed with a 1.10 ERA, well below his actual 2.74) , Bob Veale (1.96) with Luis Tiant (1.82) added to the mix. For some reason, relief ace Wilbur Wood (1.70, 26 Saves) was left off the postseason roster.
The Series opened at Pittsburgh and the home team started Bob Moose. He and Bahnsen had a pitcher’s duel going until the bottom of the 5th when the Pirates broke up the scoreless tie. With Adolfo Phillips, Pittsburgh elected to remove Moose so Freddie Patek could pinch-sacrifice Phillips to second, a questionable move since Moose had the Yankees handcuffed and he could have done the same thing himself. After a Bando error, Clemente was singled in the game’s first run but the rally ended when Howard threw Alley out at third. Southpaw Woody Fryman came in so when Gibb’s spot in the order came up in the 7th, Grote pinch-walked for him to load the bases. One out later Mota did what he hadn’t done much of this year: come through as a pinch-hitter, for Bahnsen, clearing the bases and giving NY a 3-1 lead. Hoerner and Wilhelm sealed the victory with 2 innings of relief each, with Stargell’s solo shot in the 8th making things interesting.
Pittsburgh evened things up in a thrilling game where my 2 relief aces, Hoerner and Wilhelm, were out of character in combining for a blown save and loss. Tiant and Wilson were locked in another pitcher’s duel in the opening frames. Campaneris scored in the 1st on groundout. Alley was once again thrown out on the basepaths, this time at home by White, to kill a threat in the bottom half. Clemente hit a tying solo shot in the 4h and things stayed quiet until the Pirate 7th when they scored twice on only a walk and 2 singles. The Yankees went ahead in the following frame with a 3-run rally after Mike McCormick, Pitt’s fourth hurler in the 8th, got 2 quick outs.
The go-ahead tally scored when Dock Ellis forced in a run when he walked Schofield, but the Yankees left the bases load and it cost them. After Wilson got the opening out, lefty Hoerner came in to face lefty Stargell but this strategy backfired when his homer tied it up. Campaneris was then stranded on third base after landing there with no one out (walk, steal and throwing error on it) with the big guns coming up, but said guns were silent. Finally, in the bottom of the 10th, Wilhelm faced what was going to be his last hitter, Pete Ward, with 2 away. Ward hit all of .204 but with 24 homers, and he was his last batter, but not in the way planned. He cleared the right-field wall to tie the Series.
Back in the Bronx, Game #3 was the third straight 1-run game (and third straight time Alley was thrown out on the base paths). Pittsburgh opened the scoring in the opening inning with 3 singles off of former Buc Steve Blass, an inning where Alley once again ran his team out of more runs. The Yankees started strong with White and Grote reaching base with the 3-4-5 punch coming up, but Mantle and Howard struck out and Bando grounded weakly to second. The Pirates added to their lead in the 4th when Phillips doubled in Jim Pagliaroni. The Yankees threatened in the home half with men on second and third with no outs, but could only come up with 1 run on a groundout. Bando soloed in the 6th to knot things and the game when into extra-inning for the second time in a row. My bullpen blew the game again with yet another of my relief aces, Segui, surrendering 4 hits and a hit batter in the 10th and was lucky to have given up only 1 run, but that was all Pittsburgh needed to go ahead 2 games to 1. Clemente had 3 hits and figured in the scoring of the first and last Pitt runs.
Finally, a blowout, and fortunately in my favor. It didn’t look that way to start when Clemente continued his hot hitting with a homer in the 1st off Bahnsen. The “Bombers” barely touched Moose in the 3rd with a sac fly and wild pitch leading to 2 runs and the lead. Single runs were scored in the 2 innings on but a single hit. Schofield’s double scoring Gibbs and a frame later White walked, stole second, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a balk. The Yanks had a 4-1 lead in the weakest of ways. The game opened up in the 6th when Bahnsen came up with the bases loaded and 1 down. Bahnsen was pitching well, the bullpen hadn’t been so far, and the only lefty bat on the bench belonged to Maris, who didn’t have a good finale this year (Clarke can’t possibly be counted on and is on the roster as a pinch-runner only). Taking a chance against the odds, Maris, like Mota in the opener, came thought in a big way…a grand slam! True to form, Segui gave up a run so I turned it over to an used starter, Stottlemyre, to close out the 8-2 win to tie the Series.
The Bronx finale was another slugfest, but I was on the receiving end this time. After throwing a perfect 2 innings, Wilson was touched for 2 runs on 2 sac flies by the bottom of the lineup sparked by Phillips’ legs (a steal and a score). They really opened things in the next frame with 4 runs after 2 out, culminating with Phillip’s power (a 3-run homer). I was trying to nurse Wilson through this, mainly because his bat was better than a lot of my bench, so I stayed with him too long. Not that it mattered, El Tiano was magnifico and the first run was all he needed in a 7-0 romp. Now I need a sweep in Pitt.
I got halfway to the sweep with a 9-3 thumping of the Pirates. I made all the wrong decisions early when I didn’t run White after he led off the game with single and Grote grounded into a DP, and did run him when he walked his next time up but weak-armed Pagliaroni nabbed him. Meanwhile, Stargell hit a 3-run homer off Blass in the 1st and the Yankees trailed right off. They knocked 2 runs off the lead in the 4th when Blass was lifted and Mota kept a rally going with another pinch-hit. The game was broken open in the 7th when the visitors scored 5 runs after 2 men were out, aided by another of my questionable moves that had Clarke replacing Schofield earlier in the game, depriving the team of a better glove and a potential pinch-runner all at once. It worked out though, as his single plated go-ahead and insurance runs, and later came around to score. He added another ribby in the 9th to cap the scoring. Hoerner earned a 3-inning save.
Brad K and Luckymann might like how this turned out: the Pirates as World Champions. Things looked good for Bahnsen to win Series MVP after pitching to a 2-0 and 0.75 ERA so far and staked to a 1st inning lead, but he gave it all back and more on a Stargell grand slam in the home half. NY clawed back with single runs in the 4th and 6th which was countered by 2 Buc runs in the 8th. The Yankees comeback try in the final frame fell short and Pittsburgh ruled with a 6-4 triumph. Tiant (1-0, 1.17, 1 save) had a hand (or arm) in 3 of the 4 wins and took MVP honors.

Next up, the 1969-76 Kansas City Royals (but in its own thread).