MONDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 1974
The final series of the year with 3 division races yet to be decided and Al Kaline still 1 homerun shy of joining an very exclusive club: players with 3000 hits and 400 career homeruns. That club is presently limited to just 3 players: Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Stan Musial.
Kaline has 3 games left against the Baltimore Orioles to try and get that elusive homerun before he retires from the game. Tonight's contest at Tiger Stadium will see Kaline bat third as the designated hitter and face Ross Grimsley (19-12) of the Orioles. Mickey Lolich (15-20) takes the mound for Detroit.
The Tigers have what this season is an all to rare lead when Kaline steps to the plate in the bottom of the first. Ron LeFlore led off the game with a double and scored on a single off the bat of Gary Sutherland. Kaline's first at bat is an easy fly out to Paul Blair in centerfield.
The Detroit lead was short lived as the score is 6-1 Baltimore when Kaline steps to the plate in the third with two away and no one on. He slaps a ground ball right at Orioles shortstop Mark Belanger, who makes the throw to Earl Williams at first to retire Kaline for the second time this game.
Detroit's woes continue as the Orioles extend their lead to 10-1 when Kaline leads off the bottom of the sixth inning. What few fans are left in the great building at the corner of Michigan and Trumbell, cheer loudly in hopes of seeing Kaline achieve his milestone. It does not happen this at bat as Grimsley fans Kaline making him 0-for-3 on the day.
Kaline's final attempt of the evening comes with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th inning and the score now 15-3 for Baltimore. He gets a loud ovation as he slaps a single the other way past a diving Williams at first base. The base hit is the 3006th of his career but not the homerun fans came to see. The final score is 17-3.
DIVISION RACES
Oakland and California both had the day off in preparation for their 2 game season ending series against each other tomorrow and Wednesday. The A's need to win both games to force a 1-game playoff. Winner gets the New York Yankees, who at 99-61 are 8 games up on second place Baltimore in the American League East.
In the National League East Philadelphia and Pittsburgh remain tied for top spot after each won for the fifth straight game. The Phillies beat the Mets 5-2 in the opener of a season ending 3-game set at Shea. Larry Christenson got the win in his first start of the year while Mike Schmidt had 2 hits including his 26th homerun of the season. In Pittsburgh, Bruce Kison pitched 6 solid innings and got relief help from Ramon Hernandez and Dave Giusti as the Bucs beat the Cubs 2-1. Richie Hebner's fifth inning homer accounted for both Pittsburgh runs.
The National League West is also deadlocked with two games remaining. Doug Rau got his 17th win of the season to help the Los Angeles Dodgers past Houston 4-1 to improve their record to 99-61, tied with idle Cincinnati. The Dodgers have two more games in Houston while the Reds finish their season with two games at Atlanta.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 1, 1974
It certainly feels like playoff time as the calendar turns to October, but not for the Detroit Tigers who are a dismal 59-101 and would be in the basement of the American League East were it not for the equally inept Milwaukee Brewers (53-107). It is not a great athmosphere for legendary Tiger Al Kaline's swan song and Tiger Stadium is nearly empty on this afternoon as Kaline prepares to make another attempt at joining the 400 homerun club. Jim Palmer, who is normally the Orioles ace but has struggled through a 12-13 season, due in a great part to a lack of run support, will be facing Kaline for this afternoon's contest. Joe Coleman (12-19) gets the start for Detroit and is hoping to avoid joining teammates Mickey Lolich and Lerrin LaGrow in the 20-loss club this season. (In real life Lolich lost 21, LaGrow 19 and Coleman finished 14-12)
A Detroit error gives Baltimore a 1-0 lead as the Tigers come up in the first. Kaline, the DH, is batting third and steps to the plate with Ron LeFlore on second and 1 away. He gives the ball a ride against Palmer but it dies in Tiger Stadium's deep centerfield as Paul Blair hauls it in for a long out.
Detroit fails to score in the first and it remains 1-0 Orioles as Kaline faces Palmer for the second time. It is the bottom of the fourth and the bases are empty with one out. On the 3-1 pitch, Kaline finds a hole on the left side and perfectly places a hard grounder between Belanger and Brooks Robinson for his 3007th career base hit. A single.
Palmer is still going strong, having allowed just 3 Detroit hits, as Kaline leads off the bottom of the 7th with Detroit trailing 2-0. No homerun, but Kaline strokes a single over the head of second baseman Bobby Grich for his second base hit of the game. He advances no further and the score remains 2-0 after seven.
We go to the bottom of the ninth with the score still 2-0. Ron LeFlore leads off with a single and I start to thinking it would be something of Kaline could tie the game with a homerun. However, Willie Horton pinch-hits for Gary Sutherland and promptly grounds into a 6-4-3 doubleplay bringing Kaline to the plate with 2 out and the bases empty. Palmer is still in and looking for the complete game victory. He misses low with ball one. Kaline takes a cut at the next offering and pulls it on the ground down the third base line. Brooks Robinson makes a fine play to gobble it up and then easily tosses to first to retire Kaline and end the game. A tough loss for Joe Coleman, who allowed 2 runs on 6 hits over 8 and a third innings before giving way to Dave Lemanczyk to get the final out. As for Kaline, he has one last opportunity tomorrow.
PLAYOFF RACE
Joe Rudi went 3-for-4 with 2 homers and a double while driving in 4 runs to lead visiting Oakland to an 8-2 pounding of the California Angels. Catfish Hunter (19-12) got the win over Frank Tanana (22-12). The Oakland win cuts the Angels lead to 1 game on the A's atop the AL West with the two clubs finishing the season tomorrow in Anaheim. An Angels win will send them to the ALCS against the Yankees while an Oakland victory would force a 1-game playoff.
The Pirates and Phillies both won for the sixth straight time so the two clubs enter the final day of the season with identical 97-64 records. Philadelphia blanked the Mets 3-0 as Jim Lonborg won his 20th game of the season and Greg Luzinski and Mike Schmidt each homered. The Pirates beat Chicago 5-1 behind a complete game victory for Jerry Reuss (18-8, 2.12).
The Dodgers won their 100th game of the season and have a 1 game lead on the Cincinnati Reds in the NL West as we head to the final day of the season. Don Sutton improved to 24-7 and hit his first career homerun to lead the Dodgers to an 8-2 win in Houston. Meanwhile, the Reds fell a game off the pace after Buzz Capra and the Atlanta Braves beat them 2-0. Capra, who threw a no-hitter against Los Angeles earlier in the season, held the Reds scoreless for 8 and a third before Tom House took over and earned his 14th save. Jack Billingham (21-9) took the loss.
So we head to the final day of the 1974 season with the possibility of seeing 3 of the 4 divisions end in ties for first place and Al Kaline become just the 4th player in history to record 3000 hits and 400 homeruns in his career.
Tomorrow should be a good day to be a baseball fan.