Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

We finished the month with a 15-9 record, but just can't shake the Highlanders, who are just 2 1/2 games behind us. We suffered some minor injuries in June, but our team is completely healthy now, and I hope we can put some distance between first and second place in July

[NYY #23]

Another winning month, and we still hold a slim 1 1/2 game over the Yankees. It's definitely proving to be another tough year in St. Louis. Over in the NL the Pirates at 63-34 hold a big 9 1/2 game lead.

With 7 games against the Highlanders this month, I once again hope we can get some breathing room.

[NYY #23]

We are on pace for my best season yet with the Browns with a .639 winning percentage. We wrapped up August with a 18-10 record, and are up by 5 1/2 games over the Yankees. Those Pirates I talked about last month have struggled in August, and now hold just a slim 1 game lead.

I should have pointed out earlier in the year that The Only Nolan surpassed the 200 win mark and is the career leader with 206 wins. After all this time I just had to look up the origins of his nickname - The Only Nolan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[NYY #23]

A no hitter by The Only Nolan. Honestly I don't ever remember a pitcher on my team throwing a no-hitter. I didn't watch it, or anything, but still exciting news for me. Here is the news story:

There was magic on the mound today at South Side Park II/Comiskey Park as The Only Nolan of the St. Louis Browns no-hit the Chicago White Sox 5-0. He held them spellbound and hitless in a masterful display of pitching.

After the game he said, "It was like I was in a dream. The ball just went right where I wanted it to."

In his mound masterpiece Nolan rang up 7 strikeouts and issued 1 walk.

In pitching stats this season Nolan has rung up 18 wins and 12 losses in 32 games. He has an ERA of 2.42 and has fanned 136 batters in 275 innings.

[NYY #23]

With 5 games left in the season, the Browns have already matched my high for wins with 94, with 5 games left to play. With a return to the World Series for the fifth time, I'm hoping that the fifth time is the charm. 5 is my lucky number, and I do feel real good about my team as we hope to end the NL's dominance and end their 6 series World Series winning streak.

With our fifth trip to the World Series we will now hold the record for most appearances, one more than the Phillies.

[Bryan Swartz]

Good luck this time -- really enjoying this!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Bryan Swartz

Good luck this time -- really enjoying this!

Thank you!

[NYY #23]

The Pirates and my old friend Josh Beckett came to town for game 1, and we made a statement in the bottom of the first scoring 4 runs. That wasn't the only scoring we would do though, as we scored a run in each of the second and third, then exploded for 5 in the 5th. Didn't I just say that 5 was my lucky number?

On the mound Bret Saberhagen pitched like I've come to expect, pitching a 5 hitter while allowing a pair of runs in the 11-2 victory.

I'm very happy to have a 1-0 series lead!

[NYY #23]

Earlier this year I said that if I got to the World Series I was tempted to use a two man rotation. With a game 1 win I felt a little bit better about my decision to start The Only Nolan. His 200 games and no hitter made me too sentimental.

We scored 5 runs in the bottom of the first, and added another in the second then I watched as Nolan held on to the lead.

It got a bit hairy in the 9th, but we won 7-4 and now hold a 2-0 series lead. I haven't said anything about my offense this series, but Wally Joyner was today's star going 2-4 with 2 RBI.

[NYY #23]

Once again I stuck with my rotation and Harvey Haddix got the start. Allowing just 2 runs he did his job well, but we just couldn't hit, and Jim McCormick dominated us. In case you don't remember McCormick was part of the trade that netted us Rusty Staub. He's done pretty well in Pittsburgh, winning 24, 14, and 18 games respectively. Just for reference Rusty Staub hit .221 this year.

We lead the series 2-1.

[NYY #23]

A rematch between Saberhagen and Beckett, and Beckett redeemed himself from his game 1 bomb. Saberhagen struggled in the 4-3 loss.

We are all tied up folks.

[NYY #23]

I made the choice to bypass Nolan and went with Jack McDowell for the start. Despite his regular season success the Pirates jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and we never recovered. We scored three runs late, but lost 6-3.

We are now down 3-2 heading back home.

[NYY #23]

Bret Saberhagen got the start in game 6 in a must win game. We staked him to an early 2-0 lead, but in the 5th inning the bottom fell out. Nellie Fox committed 3 errors, Carlos Beltran made another error, and Saberhagen had a wild pitch. For those scoring at home that's 4 errors, 5 unearned runs, and we were down 5-2.

Nothing surprises me anymore with this game. The Pirates added another run in the 6th, but we came back and scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Wally Joyner and Keith Lampard each singled home a runner in the 8th to tie the score, and after a scoreless inning we went into extra innings.

Rick Peters reached on an error, and Dave Heaverlo sacrificed him over to third. The Pirates intentionally walked Wally Joyner, and John Russell hit a ball to short and Peters beat the throw to the plate.

We live to fight another day! Game 7 tomorrow!

[NYY #23]

Josh Beckett vs The Only Nolan was the pitching matchup, and the first four innings we saw all 0's on the scoreboard.

Scott Fletcher led off the fifth with a single, reached second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a groundout. With two outs in the inning Wally Joyner stepped to the plate and hit a grounder to the first baseman who booted the ball. E3 and we took a 1-0 lead.

Of course we have trouble holding any lead in the World Series and the Pirates promptly tied the score at 1 in the next half inning.

We exploded for 4 runs in the bottom of the sixth though, on RBI singles by Wally Joyner, Nellie Fox, and Rick Peters.

The score would stay at 5-1 until the bottom of the ninth, with Nolan still on the mound. Gus Williams hit a leadoff single, but the next two batters flew out. Of course nothing is easy for the Browns, as Nolan walked and then hit the next two batters.

Bases loaded, two outs and all I can picture is a grand slam to tie the game….

I have to intervene and bring in a reliever. With a left handed batter I brought in Harvey Haddix who induced a groundout to Wally Joyner. All I could think of was please don't turn in to Billy Buckner.

But it was uneventful, and we recorded the final out and finally won the World Series with St. Louis!!!

I want to say I can't wait to get out of this city, but I looked at the standing first. With both the Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals posting 59-95 records I have a choice to make. It doesn't look like I could go right with either team.

I believe that the rule I established last time would be I'd switch leagues in the case of a tie. If not that is my new rule. Also, looking at the pythagorean record, the Cardinals were actually worse. St Louis it is.

I'll be back to say goodbye to the Browns, and hello to the Cardinals. We'll be having a reunion of sorts with Greg Brock, Javier Valentin, and Bernie Friberg.

[yougo1000]

finally off the Browns

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by yougo1000

finally off the Browns

Finally! This first was pretty rough.

[NYY #23]

9 years, 7 winning seasons, and five World Series appearances before I was able to finally win a World Series with the Browns before knocking off the Pirates in seven games.

There were too many trades to count, multiple managers and only one player - The Only Nolan, who made it through each of the 9 years. His 211 career wins are the most in history, and Nolan is still the only 200 game winner after 10 seasons of stats. At 33 years old he may never get to 300 wins, but he certainly was my most valuable pitcher over the 9 years. Our most valuable hitter during my time in St Louis would have to be Rick Peters, who despite missing time almost every year with injury still was one of our best.

That's all for the Browns.

1 down, 29 to go:

History:
St Louis Browns - 54-86 (.386) 28 GB
1902 - St. Louis Browns 69-71 (.493) 20 GB (Season Score - 35)
1903 - St. Louis Browns 69-71 (.493) 11 GB (Season Score - 36)
1904 - St. Louis Browns 89-65 (.578) - GB, Lost World Series 4-3 to Pittsburgh Pirates (Season Score - 94)
1905 - St. Louis Browns 88-66 (.571) - GB, Lost World Series 4-2 to Pittsburgh Pirates (Season Score - 78)
1906 - St. Louis Browns 85-69 (.552) 3 GB (Season Score - 41)
1907 - St. Louis Browns 81-73 (.526) 19 GB (Season Score - 5)
1908 - St. Louis Browns 94-60 (.610) - GB, Lost World Series 4-2 to Philadelphia Phillies (Season Score - 93)
1909 - St. Louis Browns 86-68 (.558) - GB, Lost World Series 4-1 to Boston Doves (Season Score - 57)
1910 - St. Louis Browns 97-57 (.630) - GB, Won World Series 4-3 over Pittsburgh Pirates (Season Score - 97)

[illeracula]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

That's all for the Browns.

1 down, 29 to go

Congrats. Been a fun read so far.

[Bryan Swartz]

So let's see ... at nine years a team ...

it should only take you until 2171 to 'finish'. And then what would you do?!?

*grabs a pillow*

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by illeracula

Congrats. Been a fun read so far.

Thank you! Hopefully it goes a little more smooth with team 2!