"The Game"

PerfectMisnomer · 07-25-2007, 11:59 AM

"The Game"

Fans of baseball will always remember where they were on the night of October 29, 1993. The Raleigh Rage and Las Vegas Stars of the PCBL met for the inaugural World Series. What happened in the next five hours will be passed on for generations to come.

"The Game" -- Written by Herb DeSpain

Eleven runs, twelve pitchers, thirty hits, thirty runners left on base, and seventeen innings. Those were the numbers left in the aftermath of game seven of the First Annual PCBL World Series. The starting matchup was a great one. Adrian Fernandez of the Stars was the winner in games one and four while Matt Knight of the Rage picked up the win in game three.

Through three innings Fernandez and Knight dominated. Each team managed a few baserunners and they had all been stranded or erased on double plays. Fernandez retired the Rage batters in order in the top of the fourth but Knight was not so lucky in the bottom of the inning. Las Vegas third sacker Ralph Delaney lead off the with a double down the third base line and was moved to third on a Kurt Pickett ground out to second. Delaney then scored the first run of the game on a Clyde Fox sac fly to right field.

In the top of the fifth Raleigh finally got on the board thanks to some help from the Stars fielding. Jeremiah McMann drew a one out walk and moved to second when Knight reached on an error by catcher Roy Huff on a sac bunt attempt. Rual Lopez then singled over the shortstop to score McMann and Knight giving the Rage a 2-1 lead.

All was quiet until the bottom of the sixth when Pedro Vargas hit his third homer of the series 335 feet over the left field wall to tie the game at 2-2. Knight walked two more batters in the inning to make things interesting before striking out Arturo Lerma on three pitches to end the inning.
Fernandez breezed through the top of the seventh inducing a groundout, a fly out, and a strike out on 10 pitches. In the bottom of the inning Knight gave up a single to Huff and a double to Cyrille Libertini before striking out Dan Sherman on a 3-2 curve ball. Tom Meadows was called upon from the Raleigh bullpen and he worked out of the jam after intentionally walking the bases loaded.

Righty Jose Montoya relieved Fernandez to start the eighth and promptly gave up a line drive single to Jose Martinez. Two outs later pinch hitter Donnie Lee slammed a double down the firstbase line that should have scored Martinez but didn't. It proved to be a costly mistake by Martinez as Maurice Peters grounded out weakly to Fox to end the threat.
The two teams bullpens worked scoreless through the twelfth inning with each team stranding a few runners along the way but neither ever really threatening to score.

In the thirteenth inning all hell broke loose. Las Vegas sent righty Javier Salinas to the mound and Martinez greeted him with a line drive single to right. Without throwing a single pitch to Rafael Bermudez, Salinas picked Martinez off first on a play that wasn't even close. Two pitches later Bermudez singled to center. Two more Salinas pitches later saw RF John Evans slam his second homer in two games 338 feet over the left field wall to give the Rage a 4-2 lead. Righty Mack Hardy came on for the Stars to face little used infielder Yifu Duan. Duan had entered the game in the eighth as a pinch hitter and had a grand total of 16 at bats in the regular season. Duan looked bad on two foul balls and found himself down 0-2 before hitting the next pitch 341 feet over the left field wall for a 5-2 Raleigh lead. Hardy retired the next two batters on ground balls and the Stars headed to the plate down by three runs.

Raleigh sent Chris Elkin to the mound to close out the game with a three run lead. Two singles and a walk later and Las Vegas had the bases loaded and no outs with all 35,000 of the capacity crowd on thier feet. Vargas grounded out to third and picked up an RBI as Libertini scored to cut the lead to 5-3 with runners on second and third and one out. Delaney then drew a walk to load the bases again before Dial scored Sherman on a 3-6 fielders choice that would have been a double play if not for the heads up slide of Delaney to break up the play at second. With Andy Carpenter on third and DIal on first Fox stepped into the box with two outs. First pitch swinging Fox mashed the ball to deep center that one hopped the wall to easily score Carpenter. Dial ran through the stop sign at third and motored toward home. CF Bill Gilmore played the ball perfectly off the wall and threw a strike to backup catcher Raul Sanchez who applied the tag to Dial as he attempted a wide slide to win the game. The entire stadium fell silent awaiting the call of the home plate umpire and you could tell which way the call went as the 35,000 Vegas fans showered the field in a chorus of boos. The game still undecided the two teams headed to the 14th tied 5-5.

Without much action the teams advanced to the seventeenth inning almost five hours after the game started. Little used righty Jeff Morris entered the game as the sixth Stars pitcher of the night and retired the first two batters on just eight pitches. A first pitch single by Duan, a double by Rage pitcher Jose Rocha, and a walk by McMann and Raleigh had the bases loaded with two outs. After watching Morris fall behind on three of the last four batters Sanchez stepped into the box and took exactly zero pitches punting a harmless, routine fly ball to center to leave the bases loaded.
Lerma led off the bottom of the 17th with a line drive into the leftfield corner that resulted in a double. Morris, the Stars pitcher, squared to bunt but pulled back to the surprise of everyone in the park including the Rage defenders as the ball lined over firstbaseman Jesus Cintron's head for a single. Lerma advanced to third base but did not score thanks to a heads up play by Duan to quickly scoop up the ball as he moved to cover first. With the infield in Libertini drove a hard grounder past a diving Duan to score Lerma with the Championship clinching run...exactly five hours and fourteen minutes after the first pitch.

The Pennant-Chase Baseball League is an OOTP:2007 Online Fictional League, based on the 1993 MLB Season.

PerfectMisnomer · 07-25-2007, 12:05 PM

This game was a perfect way to end our first year in the PCBL. This is without a doubt the best game I've ever witnessed. Las Vegas lead the series 3 games to 2, but Raleigh tied it up forcing this game seven.

Some things I find fascinating:
-Yifu Duan
The 34 year old was drafted in the 55th round of the PCBL Initial Draft, and spent a majority of the season in Triple A, where he hit just .251. He had 16 plate appearances for Raleigh, and just two hits.
-The 13th inning
A guy gets picked off for Raleigh, and Las Vegas' winning run at the plate is thrown out. Three runs each to square the game away. It's as if it was destined to go on longer.
-Jeff Morris, MR
There were no position players left in the 17th, so Morris was forced to hit. Why he didn't bunt is beyond me, but the ability to shoot that single into RF was amazing. This was his first MLB at bat.

ifspuds · 07-25-2007, 12:49 PM

Terrific story. Thanks for sharing. All kinds of amazing plays in there, but the 13th is an instant "where were you when..." moment.

1998 Yankees · 07-25-2007, 04:49 PM

"The Game" was great. THE game IS great.

myasu · 07-26-2007, 04:51 AM

Great read!
Enjoyed it very much!!

1998 Yankees · 07-26-2007, 09:40 AM

Living on the East Coast of the U.S., I estimate that it would have been close to 2AM when this game ended. IRL, I would have turned it off after the 13th inning when the score got tied up again, and I would have missed the dramatic ending due to my annoying need for sleep.

Burgandy · 07-26-2007, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PerfectMisnomer

CF Bill Gilmore played the ball perfectly off the wall and threw a strike to backup catcher Raul Sanchez who applied the tag to Dial as he attempted a wide slide to win the game.

That throw had to win an Espy! Who needs a cutoff man with a hose like that! Please tell me the stadium has an abnormally short "porch" in center.

Just kidding, great game... well worth remembering.

Mattymo · 07-26-2007, 03:06 PM

Wow...this game is amazing.

07-25-2007, 11:59 AM	#1
PerfectMisnomer All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 1,221	"The Game" "The Game" Fans of baseball will always remember where they were on the night of October 29, 1993. The Raleigh Rage and Las Vegas Stars of the PCBL met for the inaugural World Series. What happened in the next five hours will be passed on for generations to come. "The Game" -- Written by Herb DeSpain Eleven runs, twelve pitchers, thirty hits, thirty runners left on base, and seventeen innings. Those were the numbers left in the aftermath of game seven of the First Annual PCBL World Series. The starting matchup was a great one. Adrian Fernandez of the Stars was the winner in games one and four while Matt Knight of the Rage picked up the win in game three. Through three innings Fernandez and Knight dominated. Each team managed a few baserunners and they had all been stranded or erased on double plays. Fernandez retired the Rage batters in order in the top of the fourth but Knight was not so lucky in the bottom of the inning. Las Vegas third sacker Ralph Delaney lead off the with a double down the third base line and was moved to third on a Kurt Pickett ground out to second. Delaney then scored the first run of the game on a Clyde Fox sac fly to right field. In the top of the fifth Raleigh finally got on the board thanks to some help from the Stars fielding. Jeremiah McMann drew a one out walk and moved to second when Knight reached on an error by catcher Roy Huff on a sac bunt attempt. Rual Lopez then singled over the shortstop to score McMann and Knight giving the Rage a 2-1 lead. All was quiet until the bottom of the sixth when Pedro Vargas hit his third homer of the series 335 feet over the left field wall to tie the game at 2-2. Knight walked two more batters in the inning to make things interesting before striking out Arturo Lerma on three pitches to end the inning. Fernandez breezed through the top of the seventh inducing a groundout, a fly out, and a strike out on 10 pitches. In the bottom of the inning Knight gave up a single to Huff and a double to Cyrille Libertini before striking out Dan Sherman on a 3-2 curve ball. Tom Meadows was called upon from the Raleigh bullpen and he worked out of the jam after intentionally walking the bases loaded. Righty Jose Montoya relieved Fernandez to start the eighth and promptly gave up a line drive single to Jose Martinez. Two outs later pinch hitter Donnie Lee slammed a double down the firstbase line that should have scored Martinez but didn't. It proved to be a costly mistake by Martinez as Maurice Peters grounded out weakly to Fox to end the threat. The two teams bullpens worked scoreless through the twelfth inning with each team stranding a few runners along the way but neither ever really threatening to score. In the thirteenth inning all hell broke loose. Las Vegas sent righty Javier Salinas to the mound and Martinez greeted him with a line drive single to right. Without throwing a single pitch to Rafael Bermudez, Salinas picked Martinez off first on a play that wasn't even close. Two pitches later Bermudez singled to center. Two more Salinas pitches later saw RF John Evans slam his second homer in two games 338 feet over the left field wall to give the Rage a 4-2 lead. Righty Mack Hardy came on for the Stars to face little used infielder Yifu Duan. Duan had entered the game in the eighth as a pinch hitter and had a grand total of 16 at bats in the regular season. Duan looked bad on two foul balls and found himself down 0-2 before hitting the next pitch 341 feet over the left field wall for a 5-2 Raleigh lead. Hardy retired the next two batters on ground balls and the Stars headed to the plate down by three runs. Raleigh sent Chris Elkin to the mound to close out the game with a three run lead. Two singles and a walk later and Las Vegas had the bases loaded and no outs with all 35,000 of the capacity crowd on thier feet. Vargas grounded out to third and picked up an RBI as Libertini scored to cut the lead to 5-3 with runners on second and third and one out. Delaney then drew a walk to load the bases again before Dial scored Sherman on a 3-6 fielders choice that would have been a double play if not for the heads up slide of Delaney to break up the play at second. With Andy Carpenter on third and DIal on first Fox stepped into the box with two outs. First pitch swinging Fox mashed the ball to deep center that one hopped the wall to easily score Carpenter. Dial ran through the stop sign at third and motored toward home. CF Bill Gilmore played the ball perfectly off the wall and threw a strike to backup catcher Raul Sanchez who applied the tag to Dial as he attempted a wide slide to win the game. The entire stadium fell silent awaiting the call of the home plate umpire and you could tell which way the call went as the 35,000 Vegas fans showered the field in a chorus of boos. The game still undecided the two teams headed to the 14th tied 5-5. Without much action the teams advanced to the seventeenth inning almost five hours after the game started. Little used righty Jeff Morris entered the game as the sixth Stars pitcher of the night and retired the first two batters on just eight pitches. A first pitch single by Duan, a double by Rage pitcher Jose Rocha, and a walk by McMann and Raleigh had the bases loaded with two outs. After watching Morris fall behind on three of the last four batters Sanchez stepped into the box and took exactly zero pitches punting a harmless, routine fly ball to center to leave the bases loaded. Lerma led off the bottom of the 17th with a line drive into the leftfield corner that resulted in a double. Morris, the Stars pitcher, squared to bunt but pulled back to the surprise of everyone in the park including the Rage defenders as the ball lined over firstbaseman Jesus Cintron's head for a single. Lerma advanced to third base but did not score thanks to a heads up play by Duan to quickly scoop up the ball as he moved to cover first. With the infield in Libertini drove a hard grounder past a diving Duan to score Lerma with the Championship clinching run...exactly five hours and fourteen minutes after the first pitch. The Pennant-Chase Baseball League is an OOTP:2007 Online Fictional League, based on the 1993 MLB Season. __________________ PCBL -- Commissioner, Troy Heroes GM Current Avatar: SP Keith Ellison 20-8, 2.59 ERA and CL All-Star Game Starter

07-25-2007, 12:05 PM	#2
PerfectMisnomer All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 1,221	This game was a perfect way to end our first year in the PCBL. This is without a doubt the best game I've ever witnessed. Las Vegas lead the series 3 games to 2, but Raleigh tied it up forcing this game seven. Some things I find fascinating: -Yifu Duan The 34 year old was drafted in the 55th round of the PCBL Initial Draft, and spent a majority of the season in Triple A, where he hit just .251. He had 16 plate appearances for Raleigh, and just two hits. -The 13th inning A guy gets picked off for Raleigh, and Las Vegas' winning run at the plate is thrown out. Three runs each to square the game away. It's as if it was destined to go on longer. -Jeff Morris, MR There were no position players left in the 17th, so Morris was forced to hit. Why he didn't bunt is beyond me, but the ability to shoot that single into RF was amazing. This was his first MLB at bat. __________________ PCBL -- Commissioner, Troy Heroes GM Current Avatar: SP Keith Ellison 20-8, 2.59 ERA and CL All-Star Game Starter

07-25-2007, 12:49 PM	#3
ifspuds Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 2,117	Terrific story. Thanks for sharing. All kinds of amazing plays in there, but the 13th is an instant "where were you when..." moment. __________________ Jeff Watson Former dynasty writer and online league player, now mostly retired

07-26-2007, 04:51 AM	#5
myasu All Star Starter Join Date: May 2007 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 1,491	Great read! Enjoyed it very much!! __________________ myasu Bill Spaceman Lee- "The other day they asked me about mandatory drug testing. I said I believed in drug testing a long time ago. All through the sixties I tested everything."

07-25-2007, 04:49 PM	#4
1998 Yankees Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Yankee Stadium, back in 1998. Posts: 8,645	"The Game" was great. THE game IS great.

07-26-2007, 09:40 AM	#6
1998 Yankees Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Yankee Stadium, back in 1998. Posts: 8,645	Living on the East Coast of the U.S., I estimate that it would have been close to 2AM when this game ended. IRL, I would have turned it off after the 13th inning when the score got tied up again, and I would have missed the dramatic ending due to my annoying need for sleep.

07-26-2007, 03:06 PM	#8
Mattymo All Star Starter Join Date: May 2002 Location: Colchester, CT Posts: 1,448	Wow...this game is amazing.