Cooperstown Baseball League - Baltimore Orioles

boblight24 · 08-06-2009, 12:37 PM

I was watching the MLB Network the other day and they were talking about how Tim Lincecum would do if he had to face guys like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron and even Babe Ruth and it got me thinking that sometimes the media, baseball ‘experts,’ and even us regular folks try to compare one generation’s stars to another’s. It can’t be done, at least it shouldn’t be done because of all the difference in the generations from ballparks to spitballs, but it is done to the point of making baseball purists at heart get all warm and tingly when we think how Sandy Koufax would work David Ortiz in the bottom of the 7th inning in a World Series or how Ty Cobb would try to move Curtis Granderson over against Greg Maddux in an interleague showdown. That’s why I wanted to try something and I am inviting all of you along with me. I downloaded Cooperstown’s Cooperstown Baseball League the other day from PadresFan’s website and instantly fell in love with it. I advise any of you that are fans of the history of the game to download it if only to look at the detail that he put into creating it. Once I downloaded it and started taking a closer look at each team an idea struck me. Instead of playing a tradition season as AL vs NL let’s take all 30 teams, split them into 5 divisions of 6 teams, and run a 162 game season, THEN let’s have a March Madness style playoff system with the Top 16 teams making the ‘field,’ and see what kind of fun we can have. This way the Red Sox and Yankees can play the Pirates and Cubs each season. With the help of GMO I downloaded a 30 team, 1 subleague, 5 divisions of 6 teams schedule whereby division opponents play each other 18 times a season (6 series) and play out of division opponents once. It’s obviously geared towards divisional play (which you will think I’m crazy for trying when you see the alignment and the team that I’ve chosen), but this way all the teams will play each other at least once during the regular season. I’ve set injuries to low, there are no financials, there will of course be no trading or free agency, and once the season is over I will download all the stats into Excel and start all over again and each year adding the stats together to see what kind of number we end up with.

Now the part where you will think I’m fighting a losing battle, I’ve chosen to run the Baltimore Orioles. Looking over the roster names like Palmer, Cuellar, Mussina, Ripken, Powell, and Hoiles just leapt out at me and I knew this was the team I wanted to run. I have listed the team alignment below, so enjoy the ride and don’t expect too many pitchers’ duels!!

Code:

--Northeast Division--
New York (A) Yankees
Philadelphia Phillies
Boston Red Sox
Washington Nationals
Baltimore Orioles
New York (N) Mets

--Great Lakes Division--
Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
Detroit Tigers
Cincinnati Reds

--Southern Division--
Atlanta Braves
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Texas Rangers
Arizona Diamondbacks
Florida Marlins
Houston Astros

--Midwest Division--
Colorado Rockies
Kansas City Royals
St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago (A) White Sox
Chicago (N) Cubs
Minnesota Twins

--Western Division--
Oakland Athletics
San Francisco Giants
Seattle Mariners
California Angels
Los Angeles (N) Dodgers
San Diego Padres

It won't be easy going with the Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies on the schedule for 18 games each, BUT the playoffs are seeded based on overall record, not divisonal finish, so I still might be able to scratch out enough W's to make it to what we'll call October Madness!!

dsvitak · 08-06-2009, 01:07 PM

I believe that you will be surprised at the results of your teams.

Teams with excellent pitching staffs should, in my mind, drive down the stats for a good hitting team.

Having a team of five Pedro Martinez's, in his prime, with a WHIP of zero point something, aren't going to give up six runs a game.

Players FEAST on weaker teams. I would like to give you a case in point:

Albert Pujols friggin' OWNS the Royals, with 50 RBI in only 165 at bats, hitting .400 on the nose in their ballpark. This is crazy.

Albert getting Phat vs. inferior pitching is the way of the world. No doubt that the Babe, or Mickey, or Willie did just as well.

Let me check...Willie Mays vs. the expansion Houston Colt .45's and the New York Metropolitans, 1962.

Heh heh...OPS+ of 168, and 199, vs. those two teams.

Great pitching will shut down great hitting.

boblight24 · 08-06-2009, 01:36 PM

CLEVELAND INDIANS (0-0) at BALTIMORE ORIOLES (0-0)

Stadium - Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Baltimore 2 Cleveland 0

WP: Jim Palmer (1-0) LP: Bob Feller (0-1)
SV: Stu Miller (1)

Nothing like starting off a season facing Bob Feller, at least theO's were at home and countered with Jim Palmer. Palmer, in front of 48,093 at the ballpark, kept the Tribe hitless until the 3rd when Bobby Avila singled past George Sisler, but after two pop-ups the Indians still had a zero on the scoreboard. Frank Robinson got the O's on the board in the bottom of the 5th inning with a single off of Feller that scored Brady Anderson, Brian Roberts came in to score on the next play on a passed ball by Cleveland C Johnny Romano. That would be all the scoring in this one as Feller went 7 2/3 innings striking out 12 on 145 pitches, but the W went to Palmer who pitched 8 frames allowing only 6 hits and striking out 5, the save went to Stu Miller.

Cleveland 11 Baltimore 9

WP: Dave LaRoche (1-0) LP: Buddy Groom (0-1)
SV: Doug Jones (1)

Well the bats woke up in this one, 5 total home runs, Indians starter Gaylord Perry didn't last past the 2nd inning and Orioles starter Mike Mussina made it only 5. After Cleveland took a 2-0 lead after the 1st thanks to Jim Thome's 2-run blast that went 389 feet over the scoreboard in right, the O's answered right back when Frank Robinson deposited a homer to left field that measured 426 feet and scored George Sisler, after that the O's offense couldn't match the Tribe's. Cleveland scored 3 in the 2nd and 6 more in the 6th and even with Frank Robinson's second jack of the night it still wasn't enough for Baltimore to come back and win.

Cleveland 4 Baltimore 3 12 Innings

WP: Dave LaRoche (2-0) LP: Scott McGregor (0-1)

This one was just too good that the players didn't want it to end. This one matched Indians southpaw CC Sabathia against Baltimore's Dave McNally and the pitching match-up lived up to all the hype. Sabathia held the O's hitless until the 5th and allowed only 4 through 8 while striking out 3 and McNally K'd 6 Indians over his 7 innings, but the bullpens blew it. The Tribe had a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the 8th, but the O's scored twice in the 8th and then with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, George Sisler singled Willie Keeler (who was pinch running for Brooks Robinson) home with the tying run. The game remained scoreless until Albert Belle's 369 foot 12 inning go ahead homer off of Scott McGregor and that would be the difference as the Tribe take the series from the O's 2 games to 1.

It's going to be a tough road if I can't win a series that I should especially since the Yankees just swept the Reds, but fortunately for me I'm heading to Cincinnati next for 3 and I'm hoping to leave town with some W's.

boblight24 · 08-06-2009, 05:08 PM

BALTIMORE ORIOLES (1-2) at CINCINNATI REDS (0-3)

Stadium - Crosley Field

Cincinnati 3 Baltimore 1

WP: Mel Queen (1-0) LP: Mike Cuellar (0-1)
SV: Rob Dibble (1)

This one looked promising for the O's as a Jim Gentile solo shot (his first of the year) had Baltimore ahead 1-0 going into the 8th inning. Then after a single by George Foster scored Eric Davis, a double by Johnny Bench made it 2-1 Reds, Paul O'Neil finished off the scoring with a sac fly to make it 3-1 which ended up being the final score. Rob Dibble came in for the save and struck out the side in the ninth.

Baltimore 7 Cincinnati 3

WP: Mike Boddicker (1-0) LP: Jim Maloney (0-1)

Baltimore exploded for 5 runs in the first and after losing the game yesterday in the 8th inning it seems like there's no such thing as too many runs. Cal Ripken hit his first homer of the year and Rick Dempsey, in his first AB of the season, hit his first homer as well as Baltimore jumped out early in this one. Paul O'Neil hit his first homer in the 6th to cut it to 6-3, but a late run by the Birds secured the W here in the Queen City.

Cincinnati 7 Baltimore 1

WP: Johnny Vander Meer (1-1) LP: Jim Palmer (1-1)

Not too much to say about this one except that dropping 2 out of 3 in Cincy to a team that started 0-3 isn't going to make this season any easier. Baltimore left 26 men on base and even though they pounded out 12 hits, they weren't timely ones. Paul O'Neil went deep for the second straight day to help the Reds win the series.

1-2 to start this 9 game road trip isn't terrible, well it's not good considering our next 6 games are in Detroit and our first series against the Red Sox. I am thinking about bringing up some reserves players (Rich Dauer) to spark the offense a little, stay tuned...

boblight24 · 08-07-2009, 09:48 AM

BALTIMORE ORIOLES (2-4) at DETROIT TIGERS (2-4)

Stadium - Comerica Park

Baltimore 4 Detroit 3 (15 Innings)

WP: Tippy Martinez (1-0) LP:Willie Hernandez (0-1)
SV: Stu Miller (2)

Boy did we luck out in this series. I didn't realize, because I'm not a huge Tigers fan, that the Detroit line-up in this roster set is a MONSTER. Kaline, Greenberg, Cecil Fielder, Trammell, and don't forget the Georgia Peach. Lucky for us, Cobb was injured the day before we came to town while catching a Joe DiMaggio fly ball in an extra inning win over the Yankees in the Bronx. He was diagnosed with a mild hamstring strain and will be out about 2 weeks. The downside to this is that the Detroit outfield looks like this: LF- Greenberg, CF- Kaline, RF- Heilmann, so it's no day at the beach, but anytime you can keep someone with a speed rating of 112 off the bases, you're ahead of the game.

Anyway, on to the game. I mentioned in the previous series that I was thinking about tweaking the roster a little to spark the offense. I sent Mark Belanger to the reserve roster and brought up Melvin Mora. Don't I look smart!! Mora's line in his first game? 1 for 6 and 3 strikeouts with 8 left on base!! Mike Mussina started this one for the O's and went 8 strong innings striking out 6 and was actually outpitched by Hal Newhouser who lasted into the 10th and chalked up 10 punchouts, but neither factored in the decision. Cal Ripken broke the 3-3 tie in the top of the 15th with an RBI double to put Baltimore up 4-3. Stu Miller came in to close the game and before I could scream a dirty word it was 2nd and 3rd and nobody out in the inning. Now my "managerial sense" must come into play. I intentionally walked Lance Parrish to load the bases and set up a force at any base. Next batter hits a little pop to center that's not deep enough to score the runner from 3rd, 1out. Next batter strikes out and as I'm turning blue from holding my breath the final batter grounds to second to end the game. A win is a win, but this one was a tough one!

Baltimore 4 Detroit 2(11 Innings)

WP: Gregg Olson (1-0) LP: Denny McClain (0-2)
SV: Stu Miller (3)

Maybe one of these days we'll get a win in 9 innings. Not today. Jim Gentile put the Orioles ahead on the 6th with a 2-run double, but the Tigers came back in the bottom of the inning to tie it up when Norm Cash singled home Harry Heilmann. It stayed that way until the 11th when Ripken doubled, Brooks Robinson singled him home, and then Brian Roberts doubled home Robinson. Dave McNally got the start in this one, lasting 7 1/3 innings allowing only 3 hits and again, the Tigers starter McClain lasted into the 10th notching 8 strikeouts and getting the loss. Stu Miller came in, this time with no drama, and notched his 3rd save.

Baltimore 6 Detroit 4(10 Innings

WP: Gregg Olson (2-0) LP:Mike Henneman (0-1)
SV: Stu Miller (4)

No wonder the fans in Tigertown show up in force for these games, they know they'll get more than 9 innings of baseball. Another extra-inning game that was filled with drama. This one started with Justin Verlander taking on Mike Cuellar and it looked like a pitcher's duel for about 6 innings. Then the bats for the Birds came alive. George Sisler and Boog Powell both hit their first homers of the season and an inning later Jim Gentile added a round-tripper bringing his season total to 2, but it was Cal Ripken's 2-run blast in the top of the 10th that gave Baltimore the win in this one and Stu Miller came in and got the save in this one for his 3rd save in a row.

More importantly, that's a sweep, a big 3 game sweep of a very very tough team. We missed Jack Morris in the rotation, but still had some tough games. The Orioles are now 5-4 and within a game and a half of the front-running Yankees as they head to Boston to take on the Red Sox, in the opener it will be Mike Boddicker taking on Dutch Leonard. Let's hope the Birds can keep this winning streak going!!

boblight24 · 08-07-2009, 02:52 PM

BALTIMORE ORIOLES (5-4) at BOSTON RED SOX (4-5)

Stadium - Fenway Park

Boston 4 Baltimore 3
WP: Dutch Leonard (1-0) LP: Scott McGregor (0-1)
SV: Jonathan Papelbon (3)

Ugh, McGregor held the Sox hitless into the 4th until a lead-off walk came back to haunt him, thanks to Ted Williams hitting a 2-run homer into right field. After Wade Boggs added his own 2-run blast in the 6th there was no catching Boston. Dutch Leonard led the charge from the mound allowing only 3 hits over 8 innings, the only tense moments were when the O's loaded the bases in the top of the 8th and Gentile hit a bases clearing double, but then was left stranded at 2nd leaving the score 4-3 in favor of Boston. Papelbon, with his Stuff rating of 117, came in and closed the game on 6 pitches. Ugh.

Boston 9 Baltimore 7
WP: Bob Stanley (1-0) LP: Tippy Martinez (1-1)
SV: Jonathan Papelbon (4)

Ugh, part 2. This one slated Jim Palmer against Roger Clemens and I really thought this one was going to go well. The O's loaded the bases in the top of the 1st, but managed to score only 1 off of the Rocket, then Nomar hit a 2-run jack in the bottom of the frame and all of a sudden we're down 2-1. Then it became a see-saw battle, Jim Gentile's 3rd homer tied it at 2 in the 3rd, and Brooks Robinson's 1st homer of the season put the O's back up 5-3 in the 6th inning. Then came the end....after a Bobby Doerr 2-run single and a Wade Boggs sac fly, the Sox took a 6-5 lead, but the best was after George Sisler tied the game in the 8th with a solo shot, a passed ball by Rick Dempsey allowed the go ahead run to score in the bottom of the 8th, yippee!!

Boston 5 Baltimore 1
WP: Cy Young (2-1) LP: Mike Mussina (0-1)

How can we score runs if we leave 14 men on base, 9 of those in scoring position? At least Papelbon didn't make an appearance in this one. Mussina pitched a complete 8 innings, but did give up 11 hits, 5 earned runs en route to the loss. Cy Young ended up with only 3 K's over 9 innings, but managed to pitch well when it counted. Fred Lynn was forced to leave the game in the 3rd innings with back spasms which will hold him out of the line-up for at least 2 weeks.

Nothing like sweeping the Tigers then coming to Beantown and laying an egg. Now we head back to Baltimore for some crab cakes and oh yeah the Yankees are coming to town. We can beat the Yankees I know we can if we can just get some clutch hitting. A side note - Mickey Mantle won't play in the series due to a separated shoulder, but that means the Yankee outfield will be Ruth, DiMaggio, and Maris, oh boy!?!?

08-06-2009, 12:37 PM	#1
boblight24 All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Beyond Is Where I Roam Posts: 554 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	Cooperstown Baseball League - Baltimore Orioles I was watching the MLB Network the other day and they were talking about how Tim Lincecum would do if he had to face guys like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron and even Babe Ruth and it got me thinking that sometimes the media, baseball ‘experts,’ and even us regular folks try to compare one generation’s stars to another’s. It can’t be done, at least it shouldn’t be done because of all the difference in the generations from ballparks to spitballs, but it is done to the point of making baseball purists at heart get all warm and tingly when we think how Sandy Koufax would work David Ortiz in the bottom of the 7th inning in a World Series or how Ty Cobb would try to move Curtis Granderson over against Greg Maddux in an interleague showdown. That’s why I wanted to try something and I am inviting all of you along with me. I downloaded Cooperstown’s Cooperstown Baseball League the other day from PadresFan’s website and instantly fell in love with it. I advise any of you that are fans of the history of the game to download it if only to look at the detail that he put into creating it. Once I downloaded it and started taking a closer look at each team an idea struck me. Instead of playing a tradition season as AL vs NL let’s take all 30 teams, split them into 5 divisions of 6 teams, and run a 162 game season, THEN let’s have a March Madness style playoff system with the Top 16 teams making the ‘field,’ and see what kind of fun we can have. This way the Red Sox and Yankees can play the Pirates and Cubs each season. With the help of GMO I downloaded a 30 team, 1 subleague, 5 divisions of 6 teams schedule whereby division opponents play each other 18 times a season (6 series) and play out of division opponents once. It’s obviously geared towards divisional play (which you will think I’m crazy for trying when you see the alignment and the team that I’ve chosen), but this way all the teams will play each other at least once during the regular season. I’ve set injuries to low, there are no financials, there will of course be no trading or free agency, and once the season is over I will download all the stats into Excel and start all over again and each year adding the stats together to see what kind of number we end up with. Now the part where you will think I’m fighting a losing battle, I’ve chosen to run the Baltimore Orioles. Looking over the roster names like Palmer, Cuellar, Mussina, Ripken, Powell, and Hoiles just leapt out at me and I knew this was the team I wanted to run. I have listed the team alignment below, so enjoy the ride and don’t expect too many pitchers’ duels!! Code: --Northeast Division-- New York (A) Yankees Philadelphia Phillies Boston Red Sox Washington Nationals Baltimore Orioles New York (N) Mets --Great Lakes Division-- Toronto Blue Jays Cleveland Indians Milwaukee Brewers Pittsburgh Pirates Detroit Tigers Cincinnati Reds --Southern Division-- Atlanta Braves Tampa Bay Devil Rays Texas Rangers Arizona Diamondbacks Florida Marlins Houston Astros --Midwest Division-- Colorado Rockies Kansas City Royals St. Louis Cardinals Chicago (A) White Sox Chicago (N) Cubs Minnesota Twins --Western Division-- Oakland Athletics San Francisco Giants Seattle Mariners California Angels Los Angeles (N) Dodgers San Diego Padres It won't be easy going with the Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies on the schedule for 18 games each, BUT the playoffs are seeded based on overall record, not divisonal finish, so I still might be able to scratch out enough W's to make it to what we'll call October Madness!! __________________ "No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda "Good is not good enough, when better is expected." ~Vin Scully

08-06-2009, 01:36 PM	#3
boblight24 All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Beyond Is Where I Roam Posts: 554 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	CLEVELAND INDIANS (0-0) at BALTIMORE ORIOLES (0-0) Stadium - Oriole Park at Camden Yards Baltimore 2 Cleveland 0 WP: Jim Palmer (1-0) LP: Bob Feller (0-1) SV: Stu Miller (1) Nothing like starting off a season facing Bob Feller, at least theO's were at home and countered with Jim Palmer. Palmer, in front of 48,093 at the ballpark, kept the Tribe hitless until the 3rd when Bobby Avila singled past George Sisler, but after two pop-ups the Indians still had a zero on the scoreboard. Frank Robinson got the O's on the board in the bottom of the 5th inning with a single off of Feller that scored Brady Anderson, Brian Roberts came in to score on the next play on a passed ball by Cleveland C Johnny Romano. That would be all the scoring in this one as Feller went 7 2/3 innings striking out 12 on 145 pitches, but the W went to Palmer who pitched 8 frames allowing only 6 hits and striking out 5, the save went to Stu Miller. Cleveland 11 Baltimore 9 WP: Dave LaRoche (1-0) LP: Buddy Groom (0-1) SV: Doug Jones (1) Well the bats woke up in this one, 5 total home runs, Indians starter Gaylord Perry didn't last past the 2nd inning and Orioles starter Mike Mussina made it only 5. After Cleveland took a 2-0 lead after the 1st thanks to Jim Thome's 2-run blast that went 389 feet over the scoreboard in right, the O's answered right back when Frank Robinson deposited a homer to left field that measured 426 feet and scored George Sisler, after that the O's offense couldn't match the Tribe's. Cleveland scored 3 in the 2nd and 6 more in the 6th and even with Frank Robinson's second jack of the night it still wasn't enough for Baltimore to come back and win. Cleveland 4 Baltimore 3 12 Innings WP: Dave LaRoche (2-0) LP: Scott McGregor (0-1) This one was just too good that the players didn't want it to end. This one matched Indians southpaw CC Sabathia against Baltimore's Dave McNally and the pitching match-up lived up to all the hype. Sabathia held the O's hitless until the 5th and allowed only 4 through 8 while striking out 3 and McNally K'd 6 Indians over his 7 innings, but the bullpens blew it. The Tribe had a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the 8th, but the O's scored twice in the 8th and then with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, George Sisler singled Willie Keeler (who was pinch running for Brooks Robinson) home with the tying run. The game remained scoreless until Albert Belle's 369 foot 12 inning go ahead homer off of Scott McGregor and that would be the difference as the Tribe take the series from the O's 2 games to 1. It's going to be a tough road if I can't win a series that I should especially since the Yankees just swept the Reds, but fortunately for me I'm heading to Cincinnati next for 3 and I'm hoping to leave town with some W's. __________________ "No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda "Good is not good enough, when better is expected." ~Vin Scully Last edited by boblight24; 08-06-2009 at 04:26 PM.

08-06-2009, 05:08 PM	#4
boblight24 All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Beyond Is Where I Roam Posts: 554 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	BALTIMORE ORIOLES (1-2) at CINCINNATI REDS (0-3) Stadium - Crosley Field Cincinnati 3 Baltimore 1 WP: Mel Queen (1-0) LP: Mike Cuellar (0-1) SV: Rob Dibble (1) This one looked promising for the O's as a Jim Gentile solo shot (his first of the year) had Baltimore ahead 1-0 going into the 8th inning. Then after a single by George Foster scored Eric Davis, a double by Johnny Bench made it 2-1 Reds, Paul O'Neil finished off the scoring with a sac fly to make it 3-1 which ended up being the final score. Rob Dibble came in for the save and struck out the side in the ninth. Baltimore 7 Cincinnati 3 WP: Mike Boddicker (1-0) LP: Jim Maloney (0-1) Baltimore exploded for 5 runs in the first and after losing the game yesterday in the 8th inning it seems like there's no such thing as too many runs. Cal Ripken hit his first homer of the year and Rick Dempsey, in his first AB of the season, hit his first homer as well as Baltimore jumped out early in this one. Paul O'Neil hit his first homer in the 6th to cut it to 6-3, but a late run by the Birds secured the W here in the Queen City. Cincinnati 7 Baltimore 1 WP: Johnny Vander Meer (1-1) LP: Jim Palmer (1-1) Not too much to say about this one except that dropping 2 out of 3 in Cincy to a team that started 0-3 isn't going to make this season any easier. Baltimore left 26 men on base and even though they pounded out 12 hits, they weren't timely ones. Paul O'Neil went deep for the second straight day to help the Reds win the series. 1-2 to start this 9 game road trip isn't terrible, well it's not good considering our next 6 games are in Detroit and our first series against the Red Sox. I am thinking about bringing up some reserves players (Rich Dauer) to spark the offense a little, stay tuned... __________________ "No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda "Good is not good enough, when better is expected." ~Vin Scully

08-07-2009, 09:48 AM	#5
boblight24 All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Beyond Is Where I Roam Posts: 554 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	BALTIMORE ORIOLES (2-4) at DETROIT TIGERS (2-4) Stadium - Comerica Park Baltimore 4 Detroit 3 (15 Innings) WP: Tippy Martinez (1-0) LP:Willie Hernandez (0-1) SV: Stu Miller (2) Boy did we luck out in this series. I didn't realize, because I'm not a huge Tigers fan, that the Detroit line-up in this roster set is a MONSTER. Kaline, Greenberg, Cecil Fielder, Trammell, and don't forget the Georgia Peach. Lucky for us, Cobb was injured the day before we came to town while catching a Joe DiMaggio fly ball in an extra inning win over the Yankees in the Bronx. He was diagnosed with a mild hamstring strain and will be out about 2 weeks. The downside to this is that the Detroit outfield looks like this: LF- Greenberg, CF- Kaline, RF- Heilmann, so it's no day at the beach, but anytime you can keep someone with a speed rating of 112 off the bases, you're ahead of the game. Anyway, on to the game. I mentioned in the previous series that I was thinking about tweaking the roster a little to spark the offense. I sent Mark Belanger to the reserve roster and brought up Melvin Mora. Don't I look smart!! Mora's line in his first game? 1 for 6 and 3 strikeouts with 8 left on base!! Mike Mussina started this one for the O's and went 8 strong innings striking out 6 and was actually outpitched by Hal Newhouser who lasted into the 10th and chalked up 10 punchouts, but neither factored in the decision. Cal Ripken broke the 3-3 tie in the top of the 15th with an RBI double to put Baltimore up 4-3. Stu Miller came in to close the game and before I could scream a dirty word it was 2nd and 3rd and nobody out in the inning. Now my "managerial sense" must come into play. I intentionally walked Lance Parrish to load the bases and set up a force at any base. Next batter hits a little pop to center that's not deep enough to score the runner from 3rd, 1out. Next batter strikes out and as I'm turning blue from holding my breath the final batter grounds to second to end the game. A win is a win, but this one was a tough one! Baltimore 4 Detroit 2(11 Innings) WP: Gregg Olson (1-0) LP: Denny McClain (0-2) SV: Stu Miller (3) Maybe one of these days we'll get a win in 9 innings. Not today. Jim Gentile put the Orioles ahead on the 6th with a 2-run double, but the Tigers came back in the bottom of the inning to tie it up when Norm Cash singled home Harry Heilmann. It stayed that way until the 11th when Ripken doubled, Brooks Robinson singled him home, and then Brian Roberts doubled home Robinson. Dave McNally got the start in this one, lasting 7 1/3 innings allowing only 3 hits and again, the Tigers starter McClain lasted into the 10th notching 8 strikeouts and getting the loss. Stu Miller came in, this time with no drama, and notched his 3rd save. Baltimore 6 Detroit 4(10 Innings WP: Gregg Olson (2-0) LP:Mike Henneman (0-1) SV: Stu Miller (4) No wonder the fans in Tigertown show up in force for these games, they know they'll get more than 9 innings of baseball. Another extra-inning game that was filled with drama. This one started with Justin Verlander taking on Mike Cuellar and it looked like a pitcher's duel for about 6 innings. Then the bats for the Birds came alive. George Sisler and Boog Powell both hit their first homers of the season and an inning later Jim Gentile added a round-tripper bringing his season total to 2, but it was Cal Ripken's 2-run blast in the top of the 10th that gave Baltimore the win in this one and Stu Miller came in and got the save in this one for his 3rd save in a row. More importantly, that's a sweep, a big 3 game sweep of a very very tough team. We missed Jack Morris in the rotation, but still had some tough games. The Orioles are now 5-4 and within a game and a half of the front-running Yankees as they head to Boston to take on the Red Sox, in the opener it will be Mike Boddicker taking on Dutch Leonard. Let's hope the Birds can keep this winning streak going!! __________________ "No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda "Good is not good enough, when better is expected." ~Vin Scully

08-07-2009, 02:52 PM	#6
boblight24 All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Beyond Is Where I Roam Posts: 554 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	BALTIMORE ORIOLES (5-4) at BOSTON RED SOX (4-5) Stadium - Fenway Park Boston 4 Baltimore 3 WP: Dutch Leonard (1-0) LP: Scott McGregor (0-1) SV: Jonathan Papelbon (3) Ugh, McGregor held the Sox hitless into the 4th until a lead-off walk came back to haunt him, thanks to Ted Williams hitting a 2-run homer into right field. After Wade Boggs added his own 2-run blast in the 6th there was no catching Boston. Dutch Leonard led the charge from the mound allowing only 3 hits over 8 innings, the only tense moments were when the O's loaded the bases in the top of the 8th and Gentile hit a bases clearing double, but then was left stranded at 2nd leaving the score 4-3 in favor of Boston. Papelbon, with his Stuff rating of 117, came in and closed the game on 6 pitches. Ugh. Boston 9 Baltimore 7 WP: Bob Stanley (1-0) LP: Tippy Martinez (1-1) SV: Jonathan Papelbon (4) Ugh, part 2. This one slated Jim Palmer against Roger Clemens and I really thought this one was going to go well. The O's loaded the bases in the top of the 1st, but managed to score only 1 off of the Rocket, then Nomar hit a 2-run jack in the bottom of the frame and all of a sudden we're down 2-1. Then it became a see-saw battle, Jim Gentile's 3rd homer tied it at 2 in the 3rd, and Brooks Robinson's 1st homer of the season put the O's back up 5-3 in the 6th inning. Then came the end....after a Bobby Doerr 2-run single and a Wade Boggs sac fly, the Sox took a 6-5 lead, but the best was after George Sisler tied the game in the 8th with a solo shot, a passed ball by Rick Dempsey allowed the go ahead run to score in the bottom of the 8th, yippee!! Boston 5 Baltimore 1 WP: Cy Young (2-1) LP: Mike Mussina (0-1) How can we score runs if we leave 14 men on base, 9 of those in scoring position? At least Papelbon didn't make an appearance in this one. Mussina pitched a complete 8 innings, but did give up 11 hits, 5 earned runs en route to the loss. Cy Young ended up with only 3 K's over 9 innings, but managed to pitch well when it counted. Fred Lynn was forced to leave the game in the 3rd innings with back spasms which will hold him out of the line-up for at least 2 weeks. Nothing like sweeping the Tigers then coming to Beantown and laying an egg. Now we head back to Baltimore for some crab cakes and oh yeah the Yankees are coming to town. We can beat the Yankees I know we can if we can just get some clutch hitting. A side note - Mickey Mantle won't play in the series due to a separated shoulder, but that means the Yankee outfield will be Ruth, DiMaggio, and Maris, oh boy!?!? __________________ "No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda "Good is not good enough, when better is expected." ~Vin Scully

08-06-2009, 01:07 PM	#2
dsvitak Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 5,409	I believe that you will be surprised at the results of your teams. Teams with excellent pitching staffs should, in my mind, drive down the stats for a good hitting team. Having a team of five Pedro Martinez's, in his prime, with a WHIP of zero point something, aren't going to give up six runs a game. Players FEAST on weaker teams. I would like to give you a case in point: Albert Pujols friggin' OWNS the Royals, with 50 RBI in only 165 at bats, hitting .400 on the nose in their ballpark. This is crazy. Albert getting Phat vs. inferior pitching is the way of the world. No doubt that the Babe, or Mickey, or Willie did just as well. Let me check...Willie Mays vs. the expansion Houston Colt .45's and the New York Metropolitans, 1962. Heh heh...OPS+ of 168, and 199, vs. those two teams. Great pitching will shut down great hitting.