[jksander]

1908 MBA Championship Series
Louisville Rivermen (107-47) vs. Chicago Internationals (98-56)

OOC: Starting with this season I plan to play out the postseason games. These will be the only games I play out each year, the rest of the seasons will be completely simmed.

September 23, 1907: This game started out as you’d expect, with both teams’ aces locked in and ready to control the pace and rhythm of the game. In the bottom of the third, Ben Morris got off a great hit into right field for a double, driving in a a pair to put us up 2-0, but moments later Burgess took a ball to the shoulder ... HARD ... and we had to pull him from the game. That’s gonna hurt us! We’ll be moving Octavio Delgado over to shorstop for the remainder of the game, and bringing in Sam Leonard to play third base and take over Burgess’ spot in the lineup. The game stayed at that margin into the top of the eighth, when two consecutive errors at first base allowed Chicago’s Kyle Doak to score a run, cutting the margin to one run. A passed ball allowed the runner to advance to third, but a spectacular 6-5 double play eliminated the runner at third and we got out of the frame still up 2-1. Chicago got themselves a triple from Alex Larralde to start the top of the ninth, and the tying run scored on a flyout in deep center field, with Ralph Ladd warming up in the bullpen. With a runner on first and two outs, we brought Ladd in, and a grounder to third and a quick throw to first base got the out we needed. Alas, in the bottom of the inning we flew out three times in a row, and this one was headed for extra innings.

Trey Bledsoe got himself a standing double with one out in the bottom of the 11th, and they walked Octavio Delgado, but with two outs Bledsoe saw an opportunity to try for a steal of third only to be picked off to end the inning. Ladd got us through the top of the 12th safely with just a hit and a walk, and Sam Leonard doubled to start the bottom of the frame. Jeremy Smith hit a sac bunt that drove Leonard over to third, and Eduard de los Santos got a line drive up the middle to drive in the winning run! It took 12 innings and more than three hours, but we got it done and beat Chicago 3-2!

Mike Morris, who was a last minute choice to start game one, gave us 8.1 innings of solid work, allowing only six hits and two runs (one earned) while throwing 114 pitches. But Ralph Ladd was the night’s winner, staying in for the remaining 3.1 innings with only one hit and one walk, throwing 45 pitches and giving us enough room to eke out the win! We picked up 12 hits through this one, with Ben Morris, Sam Leonard, Bobby Johnson and Mike Morris each hitting twice. Ben Morris drove in two runs, while Leonard, Trent Hall and Mike Morris scored on the ground. Brad Burgess’ arm injury remains undiagnosed, so he’ll be almost certainly out for game two.

September 24, 1908: Still no word on Burgess, who is being treated by our trainers and is not available for this second game at the Ballpark of Louisville, so Delgado will stay at shortstop today, with Leonard starting at third and Sean Impagliazzo taking the mound for his first start of this year’s playoffs. An error at first to start the top of the first inning didn’t set us off on the best ground, and though we got two outs in a row to follow, they did score a run when David Cole hit an RBI single and Manny Debesa scored the unearned run to lead 1-0 in the middle of the first. Impagliazzo struck out two batters to get out of the second, but the Internationals added a run in the top of the third, giving them a 2-0 lead in the early stages. An RBI single in the top of the third by right fielder Bill Hill increased the margin to three runs in the top of the sixth, and they made it 4-0 in the top of the eighth with a run scoring off a groundout at first. In the bottom of the ninth, Ben Morris opened with a single, but Delgado hit into a double play. Jeremy Smith got a hit into left, reaching first, stole second and third, but Bobby Johnson hit a flyout to left and the game ended as a 4-0 shutout.

Impagliazzo pitched the complete game, allowing seven hits and four runs (three earned) while striking out a pair of batters, but we only were able to hit six times and we never got anything going that came close to a rally. Trey Bledsoe was visibly frustrated by the end, as he hit three times and was left stranded each time. Smith’s hit and two steals weren’t able to spark the desperate rally we needed, and we’ll head into hostile territory with the series tied 1-1, knowing that we need at least a win on the road to have a chance of bringing it back here to Louisville.

Thank God we just found out that Burgess’ injury is not going to keep him out the rest of the season, he just has a bruised shoulder. He will be available to play in Chicago when we play game three in two days’ time.