Your Expansion Seattle Mariners!!!

[BoilerRocketScientist]

We managed to use June and July to turn what was once an 8-game lead to a 2.5 game deficit. Despite all that, we're not panicking yet and we'll see if our deadline moves make a difference.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

08/06/1983 - Things were looking up for California as they had whittled away at Seattle's early 8-game lead and took a 2.5 game lead over Seattle as we moved into August. An early August 4-game series against the Mariners also started out well winning 2 of the first 3 to raise their lead to 3.5 games. Then, the Angels faithful got a double dose of bad news.

First, the diagnosis finally came in on starter Rick Reuschel and the news was bad - the discovery of bone chips in his pitching elbow will keep him out for the next 6-7 months. The 3-time All-Star was 11-9 with a 3.38 ERA in 24 starts when he left in a loss to Seattle. Reuschel had been pitching poorly losing his last 4 starts before it was decided to pull him against Seattle. Reuschel is the 3rd starting pitcher the Angels have lost this season losing Larry McWilliams and Dennis Eckersley earlier this season.

The latest injury news was the most distressing. The Angles star first baseman Greg Brock was injured delivering an RBI single in the top of the first in yesterday's 2-1 win over Seattle. Brock, the hands-down favorite for the AL MVP was diagnosed with a sports hernia and will miss the next 6 weeks. In his second season, Brock had already passed his career marks for HR's and RBI's. In 110 games, Brock was hitting .302 with 39 HR's and 118 RBI's, leading the AL in slugging % ( .615), OPS (.990), and total bases (267). The Angels will replace Brock with Arturo DeFreites who has only 47 at-bats so far this season.

Only time will tell if the Angels can withstand their latest setbacks and stay on top of the AL West hoping to dethrone 2-time champ Seattle.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

08/25/1983 - Pittsburgh beat Houston 9-6 yesterday at Three Rivers Stadium, but it still was a good game for Astros center fielder Cesar Cedeno, who went 3-for-4 and reached the 2000-hit mark. Cedeno boasts a career batting average of .277 with 2001 hits, 196 homers and 897 RBIs. Cedeno has spent his entire 14-year career with Houston.

In real life, Cedeno retired after the 1985 season hitting .285 with 2087 hits, 199 HR's, and 976 RBI's.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

08/31/1983 - "I wasn't trying to hit a homer. I just wanted to make contact."
That's what Jeff Burroughs told reporters after he made baseball history today at Veterans Stadium. The prolific slugger belted home run #300 in the Philadelphia Phillies 9-6 victory over the San Diego Padres.

The standout right fielder collected 1 hit in 2 at-bats with 3 runs batted in and 1 run scored.

"I guess this puts me in baseball's elite," said Burroughs. "I don't feel any different. I probably should, but I don't. Still, it is a nice achievement. I did get a little excited, didn't I?"

In 1708 games, Burroughs is a lifetime .265 hitter. He has knocked in 1045 runs, scored 879 times, hit 300 home runs, walked 810 times and has an on-base percentage of .348.

For 9 of the last 10 seasons Burroughs has hit no fewer than 26 HR's but Jeff is on pace to hit only 11 HR's in reduced action in Philadelphia this year.

In real life, Burroughs managed only 240 HR's and 831 RBI's while retiring after the 1985 season.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

AUGUST (15-14): The month ended exactly as it begun, with us behind the California Angels by 2.5 games but it was a long strange trip to get there. Most of the month was horrid with an 8-14 record and dropping as far as 6.5 games behind California. But we went on a tear at the end of the month winning 7 straight games. That coupled with a 3-game losing streak by the Angels brings us 2.5 games back with 28 games to go.

The offense remains near the top of the AL in most categories and has come alive as of lately. Tim Wallach came back from his 3rd stint in the DL and contributed 5 HR’s in 16 games. Wallach contributed to the team blasting 36 HR’s in August including 7 from Andre Thornton and 5 each from Ruppert Jones and Greg Walker. Bill Buckner led the team in August with a .319 average and 19 RBI’s. Newcomer Dale Murphy, obtained from Atlanta at the trading deadline, got off to a rough start but climbed back to hit .305 with 2 HR’s and 9 RBI’s for the month.

The starting pitchers fared better with Burt Hooton (3-0, 2.95) and Don Gullet (4-1, 3.12) leading the way. Closer Tom Gorman also got back to form going 1-1 with 6 saves and a 0.96 ERA in 10 appearances.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

We're surging again, only 2.5 games behind first place California with 28 games to go.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

Here's the standings after August.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

Holy smokes! I just realized that Harold Baines is in serious contention for the Triple Crown!!! California's Greg Brock is on the DL for most of the rest of this month clearing the way for Baines to try to take the HR crown. I do have spoilers in each of the 3 categories with Molitor vying for the batting title and Walker battling for the HR and RBI crowns.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

We're playing well and keep winning. We've reduced California's lead to 1.5 games but there's only 22 more games remaining.

Harold Baines (DET) continues his pursuit of the Triple Crown. He's currently leading the AL in batting average and RBI's but remains behind Greg Brock (still on the DL) by several HR's.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

09/11/1983 - The division leaders have 18-20 games remaining. Here's how the races are shaping up.

AL East: Boston holds a 4.5 game lead over Detroit with 19 games to go. The Red Sox face the Tigers in 6 of those games with Detroit holding a 4-3 lead in their previous appearances. Harold Baines (DET) continues his pursuit of the Triple Crown. He's leading the AL with 136 RBI's and second with a .319 average (behind Clint Hurdle at .322) and second in HR's with 37 (behind Greg Brock who's on the DL for another week with 39).

1. Boston 88-55
2. Detroit 84-60

AL West: Somehow, California has stayed in front of Seattle and hold a slim half-game lead with 18 games to go. Seattle has surged winning 13 of their last 16, reducing California's lead from 6.5 games in late July. California has been without MVP candidate Greg Brock for 5 weeks and won't get him back for another week. They've also been devastated on their pitching staff currently having 4 starting pitchers out for the remainder of the season and have used 13 different starters this season. California and Seattle don't face each other again this season.

1. California 79-65
2. Seattle 78-65

NL East: The New York Mets hold the largest lead in the majors leading Montreal by 8 games with 20 to go giving them a magic number of 13.

1. New York 85-57
2. Montreal 77-65

NL West: Cincinnati holds a 3.5 game lead over struggling Houston (2-8 in their last 10 games) with 18 games to go. Their season ends with a 3-game series against each other in Houston. So far this season, each team has won 6 games against each other.

1. Cincinnati 80-64
2. Houston 76-67

[BoilerRocketScientist]

08/14/1983 - It was a great day for Mike Schmidt, but not a good one for his New York Yankees. The 33-year-old second baseman reached a personal milestone with his 400th career homer, but it wasn't enough to beat the Milwaukee Brewers, who came away with a 11-9 victory. Schmidt finished the day with 2 hits, 4 runs batted in and 2 runs scored.

"Well, I've conceded the fact that you can't will yourself to hit a home run," he said. "I tried hard for the last few days. It was getting to be embarrassing with the crowd standing up every time I came to the plate."

During his career Schmidt has played in 1629 games, batted .266 with 400 home runs and 1552 base hits.

In real life Schmidt racked up 548 career homers when he retired after the 1989 season.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

09/18/1983 - The division leaders have 12-13 games remaining. Let's see how our leaders are doing.

AL East: Boston increased their lead over Detroit from 4.5 to 5 games with 12 to go giving them a Magic # of 8. The Red Sox won 2 of 3 against the Tigers with another 3-game series coming up this week. Harold Baines (DET) continues his pursuit of the Triple Crown. He has a commanding lead with 143 RBI's, 25 ahead of Greg Brock (CAL) and Greg Walker (SEA) and he's tied for the HR lead with 39 dingers with Brock. Baines is currently 2nd in batting average to KC's Clint Hurdle .326 to .321. Hurdle's 2-game 5/7 binge has provide the difference this week.

1. Boston 93-57
2. Detroit 88-62

AL West: The tightest race continues to rage in the AL West. Seattle managed to jump in front by 1 game but a 3-game losing streak coupled with a 2-game winning streak from California returned the Angels to first place with a 1-game lead with 13 games to go.

1. California 81-68
2. Seattle 80-69

NL East: The Mets and Expos played to identical 5-2 records for the week so Montreal's lead remains 8 game lead with only 13 games remaining. Montreal's Magic # drops to 6 games.

1. New York 90-59
2. Montreal 82-67

NL West: Cincinnati raised their lead over Houston from 4.5 to 6 games with 13 games to go. The Reds' Magic # is 9.

1. Cincinnati 83-66
2. Houston 78-71

[BoilerRocketScientist]

09/23/1983 - No hitters are rare. But the fans at Busch Stadium II received a special gift as Pete Falcone of the Cardinals tossed a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies. He was masterful as he struck out 7 and walked 4 in a 2-0 St. Louis victory. In all Falcone faced only 32 batters. Falcone did not appear to have his best stuff in the early innings, but soon got into a groove and made quick work of the Phillies. He was helped by several defensive gems along the way.

The Philadelphia manager said to the press after the no-hitter, "We had our chances in the first few innings, when he was hittable, but he shut us down totally in the last 4-5 innings."

"I had late movement that seemed to cause them a lot of trouble, especially from the fifth inning on," Falcone said to reporters.

In pitching stats this season Falcone has rung up 3 wins and 2 losses in 5 games. He has an ERA of 3.97 and has fanned 19 batters in 34 innings.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

09/24/1983 - This pitching staff is going to give me an ulcer! As usual, we give up a lot of home runs and always seem to make scrubs into All-Stars. In the past two games we've given up all of Carmelo Castillo's 5 hits this season including his first career home run in today's 7-6 loss to Texas. Overall, we gave up 4 homers - Castillo's first, catcher Mike Colbern's first, Carney Lansford's 5th (in over 600 plate appearances), and a legit bomb to Darryl Strawberry for his 32nd.

The loss coupled with California's win has dropped us to 2.5 games back with only 8 games to go. The frakking Angels somehow keep winning with a complete crapfest of a starting pitching staff due to having 4 starting pitchers out for the year. The number went up to 5 when today's starter Gary Wheelock was lost for 2 months with a torn meniscus but not after somehow pitching 7 innings giving up only 1 run on 3 hits. Somehow they keep winning.

Aaaaarrrrggggghhhhh!

[BoilerRocketScientist]

09/25/1983 - The division leaders have 6-7 games remaining. Let's see how our leaders are doing.

AL East: Boston lost 2 games in their lead to Detroit and only lead by 3 games with 6 games to go. Harold Baines continues to pursue the Triple Crown but Kansas City's Clint Hurdle is making him work for the batting title. Hurdle holds a .327 to .321 lead over Baines with 6 games to go. Baines (40 HR's, 147 RBI's) holds a 1 HR lead over California's Greg Brock and a 27 RBI lead over Seattle's Greg Walker.

1. Boston 95-51
2. Detroit 92-64

AL West: California just keeps winning despite their makeshift starting rotation. They've increased their lead to 2.5 games over Seattle who have been struggling lately.

1. California 86-70
2. Seattle 83-72

NL East: Despite losing 3-2 to Chicago yesterday, the New York Mets clinched the NL East when 2nd place Montreal lost 4-3 to Pittsburgh. The Mets clinched their second straight NL East crown behind MVP candidate Kent Hrbek who's close to his own Triple Crown. Hrbek (.332, 45 HR's, 151 RBI's) is leading the NL in HR's and RBI's but he's not likely to catch Wade Boggs (PIT) and his .360 average.

1. New York 93-63
2. Montreal 86-70

NL West: Cincinnati only managed 2 wins this past week but they lowered their Magic # to 1 by virtue of Houston's 0-6 record for this past week. The Reds hope to win their 2nd straight NL West crown to set up a rematch against the Mets.

1. Cincinnati 85-70
2. Houston 78-77

[BoilerRocketScientist]

09/26/1983 - Thanks to a big 4-run fifth inning, Cincinnati cruised to a 7-3 win over Los Angeles en route to their 2nd straight NL West crown! The big blow in the 5th was George Foster's grand slam, his 25th HR of the year. Tom Hume (18-11) gave up 3 run on 11 hits in 8 innings to earn the win while the Dodgers' Jim Clancy (11-13) got roughed up for 6 runs on 9 hits in 6 innings.

The Reds victory will setup a rematch for the NL pennant against the New York Mets. The Mets will be looking for revenge after going down last year in 5 games to the Reds.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

09/27/1983 - It's been a series of missed opportunities for Seattle these last 2 days. The California Angels somehow managed to lose 2 straight to the Toronto Blue Jays, owners of the worst record in the majors. Unfortunately, Seattle couldn't make up any ground as they lost 2-straight 1-run games to Kansas City and failed to make up and ground. Seattle is still 2.5 games behind California with only 5 more games to play. It's starting to look dubious for Seattle.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

09/28/1983 - We went into our game against Kansas City knowing that California had just lost their 3rd straight against doormat Toronto. This was a must win game and we started out hot building a 5-1 lead after 6 innings thanks to 2-run homers from Andre Thornton (21) and Dave Stapleton (8).

Then "we **** the bed", "we threw up all over ourselves", "we screwed the pooch", pick whichever colorful metaphor you want. We gave up a grand slam to Bill Schroeder (2) in the 7th, 3 runs including a 2-run homer to Lou Whitaker (14) in the 8th, and 4 more runs in the 9th. Tally all that up and we gave up 11 runs in the last 3 innings turning a 5-1 lead into a 12-5 deficit. We managed 2 inconsequential runs in the bottom of the 9th reduce the loss to 12-7 but a loss is a loss.

We've now lost 3 straight while California has lost 3 straight. Two of the games were 1-run losses while the other was an implosion of epic proportions. California's lead is still 2.5 games but we have only 4 games left giving the Angels a Magic # of 2.

[BoilerRocketScientist]

Just what is it about this game that drives us crazy?!? The only thing keeping me from yelling at my computer from this last loss is that I didn't want to look like a crazy person in front of my daughters. Why do we get so invested in this "stupid" game. Curse you Markus!!!!

[BoilerRocketScientist]

09/29/1983 - Down 2.5 games with 4 to go we get the chance to make up a half-game on first place California during their day off. At home for the last of a 4-game set against Kansas City we hope to end our 3-game losing streak against the Royals who are relishing playing the spoiler.

Burt Hooton was cruising along giving up only 1 run on 3 hits through 8 innings and carried a 2-1 lead into the 9th. Al Cowens met Hooton with a double to lead off the ninth and Hooton gave way to Enrique Romo to close out the game. An RBI double to Clint Hurdle, a single to Carmelo Martinez, and 2-run triple to Lou Whitaker and our bad luck continues as we leave the top of the 9th with a 4-2 deficit. In the bottom of the 9th we managed to load the bases with 2 outs against Steve Howe but Richie Zisk flew out to Al Cowens to end the game and all but put us out of our misery.

So, that's now 4-straight losses when I could've picked up games on California including two 1-run losses and two gut punch losses. FRAK! FRAK! FRAKITY-FRAK!!!!!!! California's Magic # is now 1 with 3 games to go.