OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - The Bucs Start Here - A Pirates Do-Over

luckymann · 01-14-2024, 06:02 AM

Not quite the drama of the past few seasons, but still...

We certainly don’t waltz into the new month like a team intent on nailing down the division and switching to cruise control as we lose 4 of our first 5 games with some pretty clumsy baseball.

We finally get Al Oliver back after his long injury layoff but send him to Lincoln for a spot of rehab before summoning him back into the fold in mid-month.

We stumble badly awaiting his return, with the bats going completely AWOL in three shutout losses over a 4-game span and we end up scoring just 9 runs over a 7-game span. Worse than that, four of those are losses to the Mets to cut our lead to an uncomfortable 8. Worse again, the dreadful form slump that has hit Ron Guidry, who has gone from 11-0 / 1.30 to 12-6 / 2.56 since the start of July.

We lose two more against the Expos before finally getting two lucky extra-inning walkoff wins that might prove to be the two most important of the season. Nonetheless, in our desperation I recall Al Oliver and send Mitchell Page to AAA.

Still, it proves only a temporary reprieve as the dreadful hitting and pitching deterioration continue with three straight losses at Wrigley. I can’t remember seeing such an acute drop in offensive output and streakiness is definitely the huge knock against this group just as we have seen at our club in recent years.

That leaves us at 4-13 so far in August. Just putrid. We’re just lucky the Mets also lose a few in a row and only pick up one game on us but this utter freefall is approaching panic stations. We hold the most nervy 7-game lead in MLB history.
We move Derrel Thomas into the everyday 2B role as Wally Backman has basically disappeared. We get Ed Ott back from the IL to return us to full strength.

We are truly flying by the seat of our pants with just two walkoff wins to show for the next little bit but the Mets also stay cold and we hold our ground in the standings. Jason Thompson is putting in one of the worst stretches by a supposed top-flight player that I can remember and we’re seriously considering pushing him down the order or even benching him for Pops if he can’t get it together. Problem is, Pops is on his last legs as well so it’s doubtful he would make an improvement so looks like we just have to sweat on Jason returning to form soon.

We kick off a crucial West Coast swing with a pair of 10-inning wins against the Jints, navigating those tricky rapids OK and are sitting a slightly more comfortable 10 ½ clear of the Mets when they come to town for three, with the Expos now tied with them as well.

We escape with a lucky 3-2 win in the opener as Dave Parker belts a walkoff 2-run blast to get us home and do so again the next day on an 11th-inning solo shot by an improving Jason Thompson – his second of the game – for a 4-3 victory, before copping our first loss in eight despite pops reclaiming his glory days with a 4-4 performance.

Our MN dips into the single figures with less than 20 to play but we’ve still some work to do with six fixtures all told – four with the Expos and two with the Mets – still to be played against our nearest rivals.

Our form tails off again as we lose 8 of our next 9 including Rich Gossage’s first blown Save in 26 attempts, but then win the ones that really matter, beating the Mets in both of two games at Shea, then – in arguably the game of the season for the neutrals – knocking off the Expos 7-6 in 13 at Olympic Stadium to clinch, the first club this season to do so.

We finish W-L. We’re unsure as to what will happen with Pops next year and so we make sure he gets the chance to say goodbye just in case by starting him in the final game of the regular season, which just happens to be a home game for us. Sadly he doesn’t get a hit but Gorman Thomas sends him off with a bang, walking it off for a 7-6 win with a grand slam, pushing himself over the 100 RBI mark for the year in the process.

Thus ends the most stressful and least convincing 8-game division title win in the history of baseball.

Here are our various reports:

The Braves doggedly hold off the Reds to lock down just the third playoff appearance for the franchise in all locations and their first since the Boston version won their one and only title in 1933.

Both of the AL races go down to the final day with the Red Sox and Twins holding a one-game lead over the Tigers and A’s. The Red Sox lose to Cleveland but the Tigers fail to take advantage, also losing 7-5 to Milwaukee to hand the title to Boston.

The A’s don’t make the same mistake when the Twins drop their game against Chicago, beating the Royals 9-3 to force a tiebreak decider. But the Twins come ready to play in that one, blowing the A’s out early and going on to cruise to a 15-1 win to get through.

Batting titles to Bake McBride - who will unfortunately not take part in the playoffs after suffering a concussion - and Tim Raines, with McBride just edging out Cecil Cooper by a few bips. Gorman's 38 homers lead all comers, as do Cecil's 127 RBI.

We get a doozy of a battle between Ron LeFlore, Tim Raines and Rickey Henderson for the steals crown, with LeFlore edging Raines by one to set a new all-time mark with 140. Rickey ends up with 137.

Bob Welch, with 21, is the league's only 20-game winner this season, while Don Robinson has the low ERA with 2.00 even. Nolan nabs himself another King of K and Rich Gossage has the most saves of any player with 41.

Monthly Award Winners

August

American League

Batter – Cecil Cooper (Tigers): 359 / 6 HR / 31 RBI
Pitcher – Len Barker (Tigers): 6-0 / 2.85 / 42 K / 53.2 IP
Rookie – Chili Davis (Angels): 341 / 7 HR / 19 RBI

National League

Batter – Bob Horner (Braves): 421 / 12 HR / 23 RBI
Pitcher – Rick Reuschel (Cubs): 5-1 / 1.70 / 24 K / 53 IP
Rookie – Rod Scurry (Pirates): 4-1 / 0.64 / 9 K / 14 IP

September

American League

Batter – Steve Kemp (Twins): 374 / 5 HR / 18 RBI
Pitcher – Lynn McGlothen (Red Sox): 6-0 / 1.40 / 23 K / 45 IP
Rookie – Chili Davis (Angels): 258 / 7 HR / 21 RBI

National League

Batter – Dale Murphy (Braves): 385 / 5 HR / 19 RBI
Pitcher – Rollie Fingers (Cubs): 4-1 / 2.14 / 7 SV / 15 K / 21 IP
Rookie – Danny Boone (Cardinals): 1-1 / 2.49 / 6 SV / 8 K / 21.2 IP

Final Leaders and Top 20s

Milestones and Observations of Note

200 Wins: Tom Seaver

400 HR: Reggie Jackson

2500 Hits: Rusty Staub

A big out for the Astros at the very start of August as they lose ace JR Richard for the year to shoulder inflammation, while Baltimore’s Pete Falcone will be out until the very late section of next season after blowing out his elbow.

The Royals also lose a key player for a bit when George Brett is taken out of action for 5 weeks by an ankle sprain, although they are out of contention by this time.

The Red Sox aren’t, and will have to see things through without the services of veteran Tony Perez, who has his 1981 campaign ended early by a knee injury.

Same for the Braves and Twins, with Atlanta outfielder William Ewing done for the year courtesy of a hip strain and Minnesota’s Marty Bystrom gone as well due to shoulder problems, along with the aforementioned Bake McBride.

01-14-2024, 06:02 AM	#2567
luckymann Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2019 Posts: 13,923	The View from the Gangplank: end of regular season, 1981 Not quite the drama of the past few seasons, but still... We certainly don’t waltz into the new month like a team intent on nailing down the division and switching to cruise control as we lose 4 of our first 5 games with some pretty clumsy baseball. We finally get Al Oliver back after his long injury layoff but send him to Lincoln for a spot of rehab before summoning him back into the fold in mid-month. We stumble badly awaiting his return, with the bats going completely AWOL in three shutout losses over a 4-game span and we end up scoring just 9 runs over a 7-game span. Worse than that, four of those are losses to the Mets to cut our lead to an uncomfortable 8. Worse again, the dreadful form slump that has hit Ron Guidry, who has gone from 11-0 / 1.30 to 12-6 / 2.56 since the start of July. We lose two more against the Expos before finally getting two lucky extra-inning walkoff wins that might prove to be the two most important of the season. Nonetheless, in our desperation I recall Al Oliver and send Mitchell Page to AAA. Still, it proves only a temporary reprieve as the dreadful hitting and pitching deterioration continue with three straight losses at Wrigley. I can’t remember seeing such an acute drop in offensive output and streakiness is definitely the huge knock against this group just as we have seen at our club in recent years. That leaves us at 4-13 so far in August. Just putrid. We’re just lucky the Mets also lose a few in a row and only pick up one game on us but this utter freefall is approaching panic stations. We hold the most nervy 7-game lead in MLB history. We move Derrel Thomas into the everyday 2B role as Wally Backman has basically disappeared. We get Ed Ott back from the IL to return us to full strength. We are truly flying by the seat of our pants with just two walkoff wins to show for the next little bit but the Mets also stay cold and we hold our ground in the standings. Jason Thompson is putting in one of the worst stretches by a supposed top-flight player that I can remember and we’re seriously considering pushing him down the order or even benching him for Pops if he can’t get it together. Problem is, Pops is on his last legs as well so it’s doubtful he would make an improvement so looks like we just have to sweat on Jason returning to form soon. We kick off a crucial West Coast swing with a pair of 10-inning wins against the Jints, navigating those tricky rapids OK and are sitting a slightly more comfortable 10 ½ clear of the Mets when they come to town for three, with the Expos now tied with them as well. We escape with a lucky 3-2 win in the opener as Dave Parker belts a walkoff 2-run blast to get us home and do so again the next day on an 11th-inning solo shot by an improving Jason Thompson – his second of the game – for a 4-3 victory, before copping our first loss in eight despite pops reclaiming his glory days with a 4-4 performance. Our MN dips into the single figures with less than 20 to play but we’ve still some work to do with six fixtures all told – four with the Expos and two with the Mets – still to be played against our nearest rivals. Our form tails off again as we lose 8 of our next 9 including Rich Gossage’s first blown Save in 26 attempts, but then win the ones that really matter, beating the Mets in both of two games at Shea, then – in arguably the game of the season for the neutrals – knocking off the Expos 7-6 in 13 at Olympic Stadium to clinch, the first club this season to do so. We finish W-L. We’re unsure as to what will happen with Pops next year and so we make sure he gets the chance to say goodbye just in case by starting him in the final game of the regular season, which just happens to be a home game for us. Sadly he doesn’t get a hit but Gorman Thomas sends him off with a bang, walking it off for a 7-6 win with a grand slam, pushing himself over the 100 RBI mark for the year in the process. Thus ends the most stressful and least convincing 8-game division title win in the history of baseball. Here are our various reports: The Braves doggedly hold off the Reds to lock down just the third playoff appearance for the franchise in all locations and their first since the Boston version won their one and only title in 1933. Both of the AL races go down to the final day with the Red Sox and Twins holding a one-game lead over the Tigers and A’s. The Red Sox lose to Cleveland but the Tigers fail to take advantage, also losing 7-5 to Milwaukee to hand the title to Boston. The A’s don’t make the same mistake when the Twins drop their game against Chicago, beating the Royals 9-3 to force a tiebreak decider. But the Twins come ready to play in that one, blowing the A’s out early and going on to cruise to a 15-1 win to get through. Batting titles to Bake McBride - who will unfortunately not take part in the playoffs after suffering a concussion - and Tim Raines, with McBride just edging out Cecil Cooper by a few bips. Gorman's 38 homers lead all comers, as do Cecil's 127 RBI. We get a doozy of a battle between Ron LeFlore, Tim Raines and Rickey Henderson for the steals crown, with LeFlore edging Raines by one to set a new all-time mark with 140. Rickey ends up with 137. Bob Welch, with 21, is the league's only 20-game winner this season, while Don Robinson has the low ERA with 2.00 even. Nolan nabs himself another King of K and Rich Gossage has the most saves of any player with 41. Monthly Award Winners August *American League* Batter – Cecil Cooper (Tigers): 359 / 6 HR / 31 RBI Pitcher – Len Barker (Tigers): 6-0 / 2.85 / 42 K / 53.2 IP Rookie – Chili Davis (Angels): 341 / 7 HR / 19 RBI *National League* Batter – Bob Horner (Braves): 421 / 12 HR / 23 RBI Pitcher – Rick Reuschel (Cubs): 5-1 / 1.70 / 24 K / 53 IP Rookie – Rod Scurry (Pirates): 4-1 / 0.64 / 9 K / 14 IP September *American League* Batter – Steve Kemp (Twins): 374 / 5 HR / 18 RBI Pitcher – Lynn McGlothen (Red Sox): 6-0 / 1.40 / 23 K / 45 IP Rookie – Chili Davis (Angels): 258 / 7 HR / 21 RBI *National League* Batter – Dale Murphy (Braves): 385 / 5 HR / 19 RBI Pitcher – Rollie Fingers (Cubs): 4-1 / 2.14 / 7 SV / 15 K / 21 IP Rookie – Danny Boone (Cardinals): 1-1 / 2.49 / 6 SV / 8 K / 21.2 IP Final Leaders and Top 20s Milestones and Observations of Note 200 Wins: Tom Seaver 400 HR: Reggie Jackson 2500 Hits: Rusty Staub A big out for the Astros at the very start of August as they lose ace JR Richard for the year to shoulder inflammation, while Baltimore’s Pete Falcone will be out until the very late section of next season after blowing out his elbow. The Royals also lose a key player for a bit when George Brett is taken out of action for 5 weeks by an ankle sprain, although they are out of contention by this time. The Red Sox aren’t, and will have to see things through without the services of veteran Tony Perez, who has his 1981 campaign ended early by a knee injury. Same for the Braves and Twins, with Atlanta outfielder William Ewing done for the year courtesy of a hip strain and Minnesota’s Marty Bystrom gone as well due to shoulder problems, along with the aforementioned Bake McBride. __________________ HISTORICAL DO-OVERS A'S RED SOX DODGERS PIRATES 2.0 & MARINERS COMING SOON! CUSTOM SAVES LGB NEXUS Last edited by luckymann; 01-14-2024 at 06:17 AM.