I Don't Know What I'm Doing: The Snap Wilson Dynasty

[PadresFan]

Great thread!!! Keep it up!

[84Hammy]

You know, I wasn't going to do a historical league with this version, but you have me totally stoked about the possibilities! Thanks for the inspiration!

[Snap Wilson]

Glad you folks are liking it!

I thought I'd start doing some series by series recaps and see how that goes. Comments welcome.

vs. Houston Astros: May 2-4

May 2nd: Nolan Ryan (1-1, 4.23) vs. Bob Forsch (1-1, 4.13)
May 3rd: Joe Niekro (2-1, 2.74) vs. John Fulgham (1-2, 7.33)
May 4th: Vern Ruhle (1-2, 5.40) vs. John Martin (2-0, 2.18)

Game One: We tab Ryan early for three runs in the first as Durham gets his 20th and 21st RBIs of the season. Houston responds in the fourth with a solo home run from Jose Cruz. The Astros almost had another run, but Durham gunned down Cesar Cedeno at the plate. In the sixth, a triple from Dennis Littlejohn(!) chases Ryan, and he scores on a wild pitch (Ryan's final line score: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, 125 pitches). We blow the Astros open for another six runs in the seventh while Forsch pitches a gem, allowing one run over eight innings. Little and Littlefield combine to pitch a scoreless ninth. St. Louis 10, Houston 1

Game Two: St. Louis opens up the scoring in the first when Henderson comes around to score on a Keith Hernandez groundout, followed by "The Ignitor" scoring on a single from The Bull (RBI #22). Both pitchers traded donuts through five innings, and then Houston got a couple on the board in the sixth when Cruz tripled and came home on a Joe Morgan grounder (incidentally, Joe doesn't have fielding ratings for any positions--this is what happens when you're 36 years old) and Jeff Leonard doubled home Cedeno to tie it up. After one out and a single to Terry Puhl, I relieve Mulgham after 95 pitches. He gave me a quality start. I bring in Don-- er, Jim Otten, who closes out the inning. We go ahead in the seventh when Tommy Herr doubles home Durham, but Houston ties it up in the eighth when Dave Bergman doubles home Jeff Leonard. St. Louis pulls ahead in the bottom of the inning when Ozzie singled, stole second, advanced to third on pinch-hitter Jim Lentine's single (both balls hit in the vicinity of a sadly immobile Little Joe) and scored on a Niekro wild pitch. Niekro, going on 142 pitches, was finally relieved for Joe Sambito. Donnie Moore closes out the ninth for a Cardinal win. St. Louis 4, Houston 3

Game Three: Morgan, realizing that I was making fun of him, leads off the first with a double and scores on a Jamie Quirk triple. Jamie Quirk hits triples? Quirk himself scores on a Cedeno grounder and it's 2-0 'Stros. The Cards get those runs back in the bottom of the inning with a two-run single by Richie Zisk. Leon Durham, standing at second, looks on enviously. Houston comes back with a vengeance, tagging Martin for three runs in the top of the fifth. A Jeff Leonard two-run home run off of Little in the sixth breaks the game wide open for Houston. They cruise to the win. Houston 8, St. Louis 3

vs. San Francisco Giants: May 5-7

May 5: Allen Ripley (2-2, 7.77 ERA) vs. Pete Vuckovich (4-0, 2.84 ERA)
May 6: Vida Blue (2-2, 3.74 ERA) vs. Silvio Martinez (2-0, 2.08 ERA)
May 7: Ed Whitson (2-2, 4.60 ERA) vs. Bob Forsch (2-1, 3.47 ERA)

Game One: A wild game as the 'Stros took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth, only for reliever Tom Griffin to have a meltdown of Brobdingnagian porportions. He came in with a man (Henderson) on first and one out. Here's what transpired:

Hernandez singled, Rickey to second.
Durham forced Keith, Rickey to third.
Zisk doubled, Henderson and Durham scoring.
Herr walked.
Nolan walked.
Ozzie walked, Zisk scoring.
Tony Scott singled, Herr and Nolan scoring.

But is the game over? Unfortunately, no. I bring in the usually reliable Donnie Moore:

Milt May walks.
Terry Kennedy (hi, Terry!) singles.
Willie McCovey forces Kennedy at second, May to third.
Gary Sularsz singles, May scoring. An error by Zisk in right moves everyone up a base.

Okay, Moore's got nothing. I bring in Jeff Little.

Darrell Evans flies out, McCovey scoring.
Terry Whitfield lays down a squeeze bunt, Sularsz scoring, tying the game.
Little thankfully retires the next two batters, and pitched a scoreless tenth.

We scored in the bottom of the tenth in part due to errors by the shortstop and second baseman. Who were the shortstop and second baseman, you ask? Terry Kennedy and Willie McCovey. Have another slice of karma, you dirty cheaters. St. Louis 6, Houston 5 (10 innings)

Game Two: Silvio Martinez struggles and Vida Blue pitches all nine, allowing one run as the Giants romp. Giants 5, Cardinals 1

Game Three: Forschy gives us eight solid innings, allowing only three runs and Donnie Moore makes up for his last outing by notching his third save of the season. Cardinals 5, Giants 3

Standings Update
St. Louis sits at 17-7, five games up in the NL East. No other team in the division has a record above .500.

[Snap Wilson]

May 9-11: vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
May 9: Jerry Reuss (2-3, 6.57 ERA) vs. John Fulgham (1-2, 6.46 ERA)
May 10: Don Sutton (0-3, 10.73 ERA) vs. Pete Vuckovich (4-0, 2.86 ERA)
May 11: Fernando Valenzuela (4-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. John Martin (2-1, 3.86 ERA)

Game One: A freaking sixteen-inning nightmare, marred by Pedro Borbon allowing three ninth-inning runs to blow a two-run lead. We tied it in the bottom of the inning and it continued that way for seven more innings. The bad part was that I inadvertently put a pitcher in place of Rickey Henderson in left field, and my entire bench was spent. D'oh. Bullpen whipping boy John Littlefield was heroic, pitching *six scoreless innings* in relief to earn the win, legitimately this time. The game ended with an Ozzie sacrifice fly. Cardinals 9, Dodgers 8 (16 innings)

Game Two: Some weirdness. When I clicked to play the game it was already in the sixth inning How did that happen? At least we were leading 3-0 at the time. We hung on to win and Vuke pitched seven innings, allowing only one run and striking out nine. Most of those before I showed up. Cardinals 3, Dodgers 1

Game Three: Another extra-inning outing. This one we lose as the Dodgers touch Littlefield in the tenth. Martin pitched well, only allowing three earned runs over seven innings, and only because I left him in a batter too long. Dodgers 6, Cardinals 5 (10 innings)

[Snap Wilson]

Okay, I've decided that game recaps suck. I'll just move on to a more general season commentary and only comment on a given game if something exciting happens.

It's a work in progress, people! The Mona Lisa wasn't built in a day.

[CatKnight]

I used game recaps in another dynasty (not here.) It can work well, you just need to think about what you want to say.

The most successful style I saw ran something like this:

May 12: St. Louis 3 New York 1 (Get the total out of the way.)
Pete Vuckovich pitched 8 solid innings while a sixth inning shot by Durham put it away. (Brief and to the point.)
WP: Vuckovich (5-0) LP: Someone (0-1), SV: Somoene else (2)
HR: Durham (22) (Summary at the bottom)
.
.
.
(End of post)
Standings, Trades, any other league news we should know.


It seems to work for some people, but it's still a bit time consuming. It really depends how fast you want to go, and how much detail you want to put into it. There's a reverse proportion.

Incidentally, does Durham really have 21 HR by May 2? That's.... awful high for 1980. That's awful high for 2007.

[Snap Wilson]

Yeah, that's not a bad format. It's just too mechanical for my own personal tastes.

And that was 21 RBIs, not home runs, for the Bull. He has 25 through May 11. I don't think the team has hit a home run in the month of May, which seems a little strange to me.

[Snap Wilson]

Just a couple of notes and a couple of trades from Mid-May:

No sooner do I type that we haven't hit a home run than Rickey Henderson goes yard, his first of the year. Nice way to break out of the slump he's been in.

I decide to use the groovy "Shop Around" function to unload Jeff Burroughs, since I'd rather have a backup center fielder on my bench. The Yankees offer me a pretty good reliever, Tom Tellman (71/71) and I jump on it.

To make room for Tellman, I shop Pedro Borbon. The Yankees offer me a 41 year old Jim Kaat. The Kitty is still effective at 67/67, and he's pitched well so far this year with a 1.35 ERA. The reason he's available (in addition to being 41 years old) is that he's making $1 million this year. Yikes. But we're 17 million under budget and we need an effective lefty in the bullpen (Little ain't cutting it), and we're not obligated beyond this year, so why not? So the two trades, in total:

Yankees get: LF Jeff Burroughs, MR Pedro Borbon
Cardinals get: MR Tom Tellman, MR Jim Kaat

I was pleased to see that the fans went crazy over Kaat joining the club. C'mon, who doesn't like Kitty Kaat?

Bobby Bonds, whom the computer released without my approval at the beginning of this season hit three home runs in a game for Cleveland. Thank you, stupid computer.

Addendum: Keith wants to talk contract extension. He submitted a six year, $30 million deal. I'm fine with that, but I wanted to make the final year was a team option year, although I offered him a million dollar bonus for winning the MVP. Still haven't heard back from his agent.

[Snap Wilson]

Your June 1st Update

Keith Hernadez will remain a Cardinal for the next five (maybe six) years. He'll earn $5 million per year for the next six years, the last year being a team option. He gets a cool million if he wins the NL MVP Award.

Trade! We made trade!
Pittsburgh backstop Rick Dempsey was unhappy in Steeltown, and I figured he would make a good platoon partner with Nolan. Pittsburgh would have taken a pair of dirty sweatsocks for him, but we handed off Dennis Littlejohn instead. They called to make sure the dirty sweatsocks weren't available.

Pirates receive: Dennis Littlejohn, C
Cards receive: Rick Dempsey, C

Rick himself has a good arm and hits better than Littlejohn does.

So... how we doing?
The Cards sit at 26-18, still atop the NL East, still three games on top of Les Expos. That makes us... um... carry the two... 13-13 for the month of May, but playing not so good of late, 4-8 over the past two weeks.

The Expos maintained pace with us. Jerry White (.326/.404/.604), Warren Cromartie (.341/.371/.524) and 'Rock' Raines (.304/.428/.456) are the hitting stars, and they but they have a great young core with Raines, Andre Dawson and Gary Carter, and Tim Wallach sitting on their reserve roster. Vive Les Expos!

In the NL West, the Houston Astros have a five game lead on everyone else. They've got everything. Their top two starters, J.R. Richard and Nolan Ryan are a combined 11-3, and the rest of the rotation--Vern Ruhle, Joaquin Andujar (who I almost went after... loved Joaquin) and Joe Niekro are very solid. Closer Dave Smith is 4-0 with a 1.71 and 10 saves. Jose Cruz (.348/.393/.582) and Terry Puhl (.339/.411/.480) pace their league-leading offense. So yeah, they're good.

The Orioles are a half-game up on the Brewers in the AL East and the Rangers are 2.5 games up on the Royals. Go Royals! I'm shooting for an I-85 series. Don Denkinger will not be allowed on the premises.

Yeah, but who sucks?
Neither the Seattle Mariners (16-32, 16.5) or the California Angels (17-28, 14.0) will be printing playoff tickets this year, barring one heck of a comeback. The Atlanta Braves (17-29, 13.0) are the sad clowns of the NL.

The Yankees are at the bottom of the AL East, but they're only 7.5 games out, so hope springs eternal in the Bronx.

But you want competitive? The entire NL East is breathing down our neck, wit the last place team, the New York Mets, a mere 5.5 games out. A winning streak would be really nice right about now.

So what's wrong with your team?
Well, take a look at the scores over the past two weeks:

@SFN, Loss, 3-5
@LAN, Loss, 5-6
@LAN, Loss, 3-4
@LAN, Loss, 3-8
@SDN, Win, 7-3
vs. SDN, Win, 4-3
vs. SDN, Loss, 3-4
vs. NYN, Loss, 3-9
vs. NYN, Loss, 1-6
vs. NYN, Win, 5-3
vs. MON, Win, 12-11
vs. MON, Loss, 3-5

Our starting pitching is writing checks that our relief pitching can't cash. Here's a rundown of the staff. The first numbers are their season numbers to date, while the second numbers (in parentheses) their totals for May:

Starters
Pete Vuckovich: 5-2, 4.00 ERA (1-2, 5.20 ERA)
Bob Forsch: 5-2, 3.82 ERA (4-1, 3.63 ERA)
John Fulgham: 3-4, 5.40 ERA (2-2, 4.32 ERA)
John Martin: 3-3, 4.89 (1-3, 7.11 ERA)
Sylvio Martinez: 2-2, 3.97 (0-2, 5.14 ERA)

Forschy's been huge for us this month. It would be a complete disaster without him.

Relievers
John Littlefield: 3-3, 2.78 ERA
Jim Otten: 1-0, 3.48 ERA
Donnie Moore: 2-0, 2.84, 5 saves
Tom Tellman: 1-0, 6.10 ERA, 1 save
George Frazier: 0-0, 4.66 ERA, 5 saves
Jim Kaat: 0-0, 3.52 ERA

Tellman has been a disaster, allowing runs in five of his seven appearances, but the rest of the bullpen isn't bad. Our starting pitching is killing us, and I'm not convinced it can be much better than it is now. I don't have any good starters in reserve, either. What's there is pretty much it.

How about the offense?
We're first in OPS (.758) but only fifth in the league in runs scored. Part of it is my problems on the basepaths--I'm sure I lead the league in caught stealings--but the other problem is that we don't hit the longball. Only 20 so far. A look at the position players:

C Joe Nolan: .288/.317/.339
C Rick Dempsey: .222/.276/.333
Both throwing out runners pretty well, Nolan 38%, Dempsey 36%

Keith Hernandez, 1B: .376/.460/.543
Leads the league in OBP and Runs Created/27. An MVP candidate.

Tommy Herr, 2B: .314/.383/.407
He's cooled off a little bit, and I should really stop trying to steal bases with him (8/16), but he's been very solid at the plate and in the field for us. I've moved him up to the #2 spot in the lineup.

Paul Molitor, 3B: .328/.380/.497
A stud. He also enables me to keep a short bench because he can play four positions.

Ozzie Smith, SS: .219/.296/.252
Numbers are slightly below what he actually hit during the 1980 season, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio should be a lot better than it is (17/17). I hold out hope that the game will progress him correctly.

Rickey Henderson, LF: .288/.400/.384
Love the OBP. I've also swiped 17 bases with him (out of 26 attempts), a little more power would be nice.

Dale Murphy, CF: .321/.377/.431
I like the average and the walks (14 in 137 AB), but he only has seven extra-base hits. We need more power coming from his bat.

Leon Durham, RF: .292/.325/.500
He cooled off considerably in May (.244/.263/.372), but he still leads the team in home runs (7) and RBIs (30). In fact, I just realized that he's accounting for over a third of the team's home runs. Yeesh.

Richie Zisk, RF: .312/.365/.355
Good average, really disappointing power.

Next post: Black ink, plus some observations about the game so far.

[majormet]

So when exactly are you going to trade Mr Hernandez to the Mets for Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey LOL.

Good thread, I like the humor in it and this was a great time for baseball. That Astro pitching staff might be tough to handle, you might have to go out and try to get another starter to match up with them, perhaps Seattle wants to give up Mark Langston, or was he not around yet?

[Jordan]

Great read

[Snap Wilson]

Thanks for the comments, folks. Thread feedback is the manna of life.

Just Call Me "Trader Snap"
Feeling the need to get another reliable starter, I went fishing and found Len Barker in Cleveland. I offered up middle reliever Tom Tellman and pitcher Andy Rincon off of my reserve roster. Cleveland says they'll think about it, than comes back and asks if I can throw in Tito Landrum. Landrum will develop into a useful bench player, but hey, you have to give to get. Barker's rated a 77/77 and he could put us over the top this year. And I'm not giving up either Brett Butler or Brook Jacoby for him.

Indians get: MR Tom Tellman, SP Andy Rincon and LF Tito Landrum
Cardinals get: SP Len Barker.

I rework my rotation so that it's Barker, Vukovich, Forsch, Martin and Fulgham with Martinez as my spot starter/long reliever.

Note: I could have easily made a trade for a pitcher with a better future, like Danny Darwin, but Darwin is currently 8-1 with a 1.94 ERA for the Rangers... I couldn't justify them dealing him away. I would have been embarrassed to announce that trade, quite frankly.

Anyhoo, Barker has done the job so far in the month of June, going 3-1 with a 3.08 ERA, but the team is still struggling, going 13-14 and losing the division lead to Montreal going into the All-Star break. We're at 39-32, a game behind Les Expos.

Four Cardinals made the All-Star game (I just had the computer pick). Keith Hernandez (.339/.419/.518), Paul Molitor (.352/.391/.503), Pete Vuckovich (8-3, 3.71 ERA) and surprisingly, Len Barker, who I guess was selected on the basis of his combined AL/NL numbers (8-5, 3.49 ERA).

You know who else made the All-Star game? Bernie Carbo. He's hitting .360 with 12 home runs for Atlanta, or more home runs than anyone on my current roster. I think you owe him an apology, legendsports.

Rick Dempsey e-mailed to say he isn't happy with his current role. He wasn't happy in Pittsburgh, either. He's just not a happy person. You'd think for someone who was known for sliding on tarps during rain delays would have a better disposition. Rick, hit higher than .200 and we'll get you more playing time, buddy.

Note: I actually liked the real Rick Dempsey quite a bit. I got to meet him at some Dodger events when he was with L.A. Great guy, very funny. Also, incredibly strong for his size. I vividly remember him body-slamming an enraged Kal Daniels to keep him from attacking an umpire.

Wah!
Also unhappy is Richie Zisk. What's wrong with these guys? Zisk is hitting decently. I shop him around, but there's nothing of interest out there except for a young Bruce Hurst. If we fall out of the race, I may make that deal.

I continue to autoplay through July. The Expos and the Cards remain neck-and-neck throughout the month, but that might change as Montreal traded Steve Rogers (9-6, 3.74) for right fielder Johnny Grubb (.324/.387/.505).

The trade deadline looms and I don't make any moves. I demote John Fulgham (3-7, 5.51) and bring up middle reliever John Urrea.

Currently we're at 56-44, a game and a half behind the Expos for the NL East Lead. The formidable Houston Astros are winning the NL West going away with a 69-31 record. They lead the NL in runs scored and runs allowed. J.R. Richard and Nolan Ryan are a combined 22-6. They have seven regulars hitting .299 or better and five players with 18 or more stolen bases. Yikes.

For those wondering about the Junior Circuit, the Red Sox and Brewers are tied in the AL East with the Orioles four games behind. The West is a two-horse race between the Rangers and Royals (go Royals!) within a game of each other.

On the bright side, Leon Durham nabbed another Rookie of the Month award for July, hitting .364 with four home runs, 14 ribbies and 13 runs scored.

Ozzie has also raised his average to a respectable .267 with a .339 OBP. This makes me happy.

Since I've autosubbed, the computer actually knows how to steal bases a lot better than I do. Rickey has 52 stolen bases in 73 attempts. He won't catch Tim Raines (75 steals) this year, but he does the NL in on-base percentage and runs scored, and that's more important. Also, Paul Molitor leads the league in hits and Keith Hernandez leads the league in doubles. Leading the league in stuff is fun. Both Hernandez and Molitor are in the top ten in hitting and alive for the batting title. Bernie Carbo leads the league in slugging percentage and OPS but he doesn't play for my team.

We don't lead in any pitching categories, but Vuke is second in wins (13), WHIP and baserunners per 9 (all behind Fernando) and third in opponent batting average.

So who's struggling?
The Murph. He's down to .235/.295/.325 after a .160 June (ugh) and a .208 July. Murph, come back. We need you.

[Snap Wilson]

August Was Good
The Cards went 19-10 in August to retake the lead in the NL East. We're 77-55, two games up on the Expos. That's how you know things are tense. I'm calling them *the* Expos. Keith Hernandez was named the NL Employee of the Month, hitting .383 with 2 home runs, 18 RBIs and 25 runs scored. He also had 21 walks and a .481 on base percentage. He's very good.

Neon Leon Durham earned his third NL Rookie of the Month award, hitting .366 with 6 home runs and 23 RBIs. That's a good month.

But probably our best surprise over the past couple of months has been pitcher John Martin, who has gone 7-1 in July and August, with a 3.15 ERA. Currently, he's 14-6 on the season with a 3.37 ERA. All you could ask for out of the guy we had tabbed as our #4 starter.

Houston still continues to dominate the NL West with an iron fist, while Boston and Texas are firmly in control of their own divisions in the other league. Texas and KC were in a dead heat at the start of August, and now the Rangers have a ten game lead. Aw, Kansas City, are you always doomed to disappoint me? So our division is the only one still in doubt. No pressure, though.

I'll start doing some very brief game reviews now that we're in the stretch run as I keep track of the pennant race. Pennant fever, baby! Catch it!

[Snap Wilson]

The Pennant Race
This will be an experiment in format as I try to figure out what reads well, so bear with me.

September 5-7: at Houston
We take two out of three in Houston. In the first game, Donnie Moore blew a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth and we lost 6-5. We came back to win the next night as John Martin outdueled Vern Ruhle for a 2-1 victory, earning his 15th win of the season. In the third game, Bob Forsch allowed three runs over eight innings, beating Joe Niekro 4-3.

Montreal loses two of three to San Francisco, so we increase our lead to three games.

September 8-9: vs. Chicago
Sylvio Martinez pitches a gem, allowing one run over eight innings, and we win 4-1. We win a squeaker the following day as Len Barker allows only one run over seven innings, striking out eight batters. Our relief corp holds the fort for the remaining two, with Donnie Moore notching his 16th save. We take both games and Montreal has a day off before losing to the Mets. Our lead is 4.5 games.

September 10-11: vs. Pittsburgh
Vuckovich only makes it through four innings as Willie Stargell hits two home runs, and we lose 6-8. Fulgham gets bombed in relief of Martin in the second game, allowing five runs in two innings of work. Fulgham has good ratings, but sucks. The game, she is lying to me.

Montreal splits a pair with Chicago, so they decrease the lead to 3.5 games.

September 12-14: at Philly
Bob Forsch doesn't have it, allowing six runs (five earned) in seven innings and the Cards lose 6-2. We come back the next game and score five runs in the sixth inning, hanging on to win 7-6. The Cards take the rubber match as Paul Molitor goes 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBIs, including a triple and a home run. Molitor has 110 RBIs on the season. Keith Hernandez hits his *50th* double of the season. He's a doubling machine. Len Barker is wonky, allowing five runs in seven innings, but wins his 15th game of the year. Mike Schmidt hits his 33rd home run of the season, and then cries. Aw, it's okay, Mike.

Montreal wins two of three as well against Pittsburgh, so our lead remains 3.5 games.

The Standings
St. Louis: 83-59
Montreal: 80-63

Next post: Down to the wire!

[Snap Wilson]

We get some bad news as Molitor goes down for a couple of weeks. Actually, he only went down for one week, but stupid me decided to click on disable list and there was no way to back out of it, so I had to assign him to the 15-day list. Hey guys? Offering a "cancel" option out of that screen would be nice.

September 15-17: at Chicago
We score two runs in the top of the ninth to win the first game 4-3. Vuckovich wins his 18th game of the year. We come out and bomb the Cubs 9-3 the following night as Tommy Herr goes 3-for-5 and John Martin wins his 16th. The Cubs get revenge in the third game, touching up Forsch for five runs in a 5-2 loss.

The Expos had an off day and dropped two games to the Mets. We're five games up, with a day off and then a three game showdown with Montreal.

[307x]

Great read! Anxiously awaiting more. It's quick, to the point, and most of all entertaining! It's very easy to get into this story.

[Snap Wilson]

September 19-21: vs. Montreal

Barker gets tagged early, allowing five runs in three innings of work. He's relieved by Jim Kaat, who allows another three runs and that's all she wrote, as we drop the first game 8-6. Ron Leflore goes 4-for-5 against Cardinal pitching.

Game Two doesn't go much better. Vukovich allows six runs in seven innings, and suddenly our lead is only three games.

Game Three is a slaughter, as Montreal scores eight runs in the second inning on the way to 16-6 win. Martin only gets four batters out as he allows seven runs, and Mike Ramsey commits three errors at third base. Arrgh. Our lead is two games now.

September 22-23: vs. Philadelphia
Call Sylvio Martinez "the Stopper" as he pitches a shutout over Philly and gives our battered bullpen a rest. We win the next game as Forsch gives us a good outing, only allowing three runs in eight innings as we win 6-3. Philadelphia's Pete Rose had a good day, hitting a home run and winning a $250 dollar exacta in the fifth race at Fairmount. Way to go, Pete!

Meanwhile, Montreal splits a pair with Pittsburgh, dropping them back to three games out.

September 24-25: at Pittsburgh
We blast the Pirates 15-3 in the first game, tagging Rick Rhoden for six runs in four innings. Even worse was the relief appearance of Enrique Romo, who retired one batter and allowed five runs. Ozzie was named the player of the game, going 2-for-3, scoring two runs and driving in four(!). Ozzie is awesome. We saved two runs for the next game and it was all we needed, as Vuckovich allowed only one run over eight innings, winning his 19th of the year. Donnie Moore got his 20th save.

Montreal keeps pace with us, winning two against Chicago to stay within three games.

September 26-28: at New York
Keith Hernandez triples, driving home Rickey Henderson in the 10th inning to give us a 6-5 extra inning win. Durham went 2-for-4 and smacked his 22nd home run of the year. He drove in three runs, increasing his RBI total to 96.

Sylvio Martinez gave us another great start in the second game, allowing one run over eight innings in a 5-2 win. Glenn Frazier had his 21st save of the year.

We clobber Mets starter Pat Zachry in the third game, scoring five runs in the first inning on our way to a 7-2 win, our seventh in a row. Forschy gives us a complete game, winning his 13th of the year.

Montreal still keeps pace, sweeping Philly to stay within three games. They won't go away!

[Snap Wilson]

Originally Posted by 307x

Great read! Anxiously awaiting more. It's quick, to the point, and most of all entertaining! It's very easy to get into this story.

Thanks for the compliment. I try to write what I like to read. There will be some more tonight after I run and get some coffee. This game is incrediby addictive.

[Snap Wilson]

The Final Showdown

We roll into Stade Olympique for a three-gamer. The Expos can pull into a tie with us or we can put this race out of sight. Let's see what happens.

September 29-October 1
Bill Gullickson, Montreal's ace, is dandy for the Expos, allowing two runs through eight innings, but Lem Barker is even dandier, shutting out le Bleu, Blanc et Rouge through eight. Ah, but games are not eight innings long, are they? Mais non!

The Cards tag another two runs on the ninth against reliever Mike Marshall, for a seemingly indomitable 4-0 lead. We call upon the Kitty, Jim Kaat, to get some outs for us. Here's what happened:

Terry Crowley grounds out. One away.
Tim Raines walks, and takes second on a wild pitch.
Andre Dawson hits a home run. Cardinals 4, Expos 2.
Donnie Moore comes in to pitch.
Larry Parrish grounds out. Two away.
Gary Carter hits a home run. Cardinals 4, Expos 3.
Tony Bernazard up to bat.
Ball. 1-0.
Ball. 2-0.
Swinging Strike. 2-1.
A shot down the line. That's gonna fall in... no. Foul ball! 2-2.
Ball. 3-2. Full count.
A drive deep to left. Oh no, this one is gone... foul! Just outside the pole.
A pop into foul ground. Molitor on his horse. He ranges over, he dives... he caught it! Three away!
Cards win. Four games up on the 'Spos.

The following game Chris Speier hits a two run home run in the bottom of the eleventh to win the game 8-6. The Expos back within three. They crush us the next night as John Martin only gets five batters out, allowing seven runs on the way to a 12-4 loss. The lead is only two games now, with three games left to play.

Keith Hernandez was named player of the month for September, hitting .402 with three home runs, 27 RBIs and 21 runs scored. Since he was also the NL player of the month in August, that makes him the most valuable guy over the past two months, right? Can you say "MVP?"

Our final series is at home against the Mets. The Expos host Philadelphia. Molitor is back in the lineup after my disabled list gaffe.

October 3rd
The Mets score two runs in the eighth inning to go ahead 4-3 and they hold on to win it. The Expos win at Philly. Our lead is down to one game.

October 4th
We score five runs in the first inning off of Mets starter Craig Swan and win 7-2 going away. The Expos win again. Our lead remains at one game with one game to play. Win and we're in, baby. If we lose and the Expos win, we're going down to a playoff.

October 5th
We come out for the season finale with pepper in our jockstraps. Vuke is on the hill for us for the biggest game of the year. It's only fitting. Mike Scott is on the mound for the Mets. Vuke pitches a scoreless top of the first. In the bottom of the inning, Paul Molitor hits a three-run home run. Cardinals 3, Mets 0.

The second inning is scoreless, and Vuke sets them down in order in the third.

In the bottom of the third, Henderson leads off with a single. Herr doubles, Henderson scoring. 4-0 Cards. Hernandez singles, Herr scoring. 5-0 Cards. Leon Durham triples, Hernandez scoring. 6-0. That's all for Scott. He's relieved by Jeff Reardon. Nolan singles home Durham. 7-0. I'm feeling very confident right about now.

In the fourth, we add another run. Henderson triples and comes home on Herr's sac fly. 8-0 Cardinals.

In the fifth, Vuke starts to get a little wonky. A leadoff double to Jose Moreno. John Stearns strikes out. Reardon bunts Moreno to third. Mike Jorgenson singles, scoring Moreno. 7-1 Cardinals. Backman singles. Mazzilli singles, loading the bases. Vukovich walks in a run. 8-2 Cardinals. Ugh. I hate that. He gets the third out to stop the bleeding.

The Mets add another run in the sixth when Moreno reaches on an error and is doubled home by Ellis Valentine. Cardinals 8, Mets 3. Why am I nervous?

Burris comes in and pitches a scoreless sixth for the Mets.

Vuke opens the seventh by Walking Backman and Mazzili. John "The Hammer" Milner forces Mazz at second. Milner steals second. And then Vukovich BALKS. Backman scores. 8-4 Cardinals. Milner goes to third. Hubie Brooks hit's a deep fly ball, scoring Milner. 8-5 Cardinals. Oh crap. Then Bill Sample hits a solo home run. 8-6 Cardinals. Crap crap crap.

Burris sets us down in the bottom of the inning. Vuke manages to pitch a scoreless eighth. Willie Hernandez comes in to pitch the eighth for the Mets. Ozzie singles. Dempsey, the angry man, pinch hits for Vuke. He angrily singles. Rickey bunts them over. Zisk, not too happy either, pinch hits for Herr and strikes out. Two away. Molitor singles, scoring Ozzie. 9-6 Cards. And then beautiful, wonderful, better-damn-well-be-MVP Keith Hernandez hits a three-run home run. 12-6 Cardinals!!! And that's it. I know we're not going to blow a six run lead at this point. Littlefield sets them down in the ninth.

THE CARDINALS ARE NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST CHAMPIONS!!!

um, and the expos lost their final game against Philly, kinda rendering this game moot. Montreal, you tease.

[Snap Wilson]

Final NL East Standings

St. Louis	96-66	---
Montreal	94-68	2.0
Pittsburgh	81-81	19.0
Philadelphia	75-87	21.0
New York	73-89	23.0
Chicago		72-90	24.0

I'll admit, we were lucky this year. Our Pythagorean record was 90-72, which would have put us behind the Expos. The difference is that we were 27-19 in one-run games and they were 21-24. Clutch or lucky? I'll let you decide.

I had been paying so much attention to my own pennant race that I didn't keep up with the rest. Houston won their division, but it was only by one game over both the Dodgers and Padres. If I had known, I would have followed that one just as closely. Houston choked in the heat of September, going 9-18, while Los Angeles surged with an 18-9 record, while the Padres went 21-8 in August and 15-11 in September. Los Angeles had their final series against Houston, coming in trailing by two games. They lost the first game to them which eliminated the Dodgers. The Padres lost the following night in San Francisco, and the Astros were division champs. The Astros finished with only 93 wins, so we actually had the best record in the NL.

Over in the AL, the Milwaukee Brewers won the AL East with a 105-57 record, the best in baseball. The Rangers comfortably won the weak AL West with a 96-66 record.

Stats. We have Stats.
Your Cardinals in a yummy statistical nutshell.

Joe Nolan, C: .259/.325/.319
Rick Dempsey, C: .189/.243/.297

Nolan was okay, Dempsey was ass. I wonder if his anger contributed to his poor performance. In any event, I'll probably go with Nolan full-time in the playoffs.

Keith Hernandez, 1B: .350/.429/.532
Let's reflect on the glory that was Keith's season. He won the batting title, just edging teammate Paul Molitor. He also led the league in on-base percentage, OPS and Runs Created/27 outs (and probably Runs Created total, I'm guessing). He finished second in the league in VORP to Tim Raines, but that's only because Hernandez is a first baseman and Raines plays second. Hernandez's numbers are way better. He had 216 hits (4th in the NL), 53 doubles (3rd), nine triples (7th), 94 walks (T-6th) and 329 total bases (3rd). He scored and drove in 107 runs, and even stole 23 bases. MVP, people. MVP.

Tommy Herr, 2B: .320/.367/.413
What a great year from Herr. His .320 average and 214 hits were tops among second basemen. He was fourth in OBP and third in slugging among two-baggers as well. He hit 40 doubles, 11 triples, scored 100 runs and stole 46 bases. He was also caught 39 times, but let's just ignore that for right now. Keep it positive, people.

Paul Molitor, 3B: .347/.377/.509
A tremendous year from Molitor. He finished second in hitting to Hernandez, third in the league in slugging, fourth in OPS, 3rd in Runs Created/27, and 6th in VORP (but tops among third basemen). He had 214 hits (T-5th in the NL with Herr), 43 doubles (5th), 12 triples (4th) and 119 RBIs (T-2nd). I'm still pissed about the unnecessary lost week. He could have taken the RBI title from Andre Dawson if he hadn't been stuck on the DL. This will haunt me, I tell you. Anyway, Molitor should get some MVP votes as well. Great year.

Ozzie Smith, SS: .250/.319/.309
Credit him with 73 runs scored from the 8 spot in the lineup, 47 RBIs, 50 walks, and 37 stolen bases. Not a bad year. His fielding numbers were good, but not great. The Gold Glove will probably go to Jerry Royster or Rick Burleson, who finished ahead of him in most categories.

Rickey Henderson, LF: .322/.414/.410
Rickey led the league in runs scored with 133, which is what good leadoff hitters do. He finished second to Henderson in OBP, notched 214 hits (7th in the NL), drew 102 walks (2nd), and stole 84 bases (also 2nd). His 42.5 VORP was third among left fielders. Go Rickey.

Dale Murphy, CF: .243/.296/.350
The disappointment of the year. He hit 14 home runs (2nd on the team) and drove in 92, but he struck out 131 times, and we expect a lot more from him. He did have the second best range factor behind Omar Moreno and threw out nine baserunners.

Leon Durham, RF: .309/.346/.498
Definitely the surprise of the year for us. He hit 22 home runs to lead the team with 98 RBIs. Unlike the real Leon Durham, he was solid in the field. Hey, our Durham isn't shackled by the boundaries of reality. He hit well against lefties in 68 at bats, so we'll give him the full-time job next year and see how it goes.

Richie Zisk, RF: .300/.356/.408
Handled the back end of our right field platoon quite admirably. He's not happy with his role, so we'll try to move him in the offseason.

Next up: The pitching staff.